#but i feel like maybe its meant to be a parody ???? idk
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controversial tally hall opinion incoming. i actually kinda like two wuv as a song
#I MEAN OBVIOUSLY THE LYRICS ARE RLLY WEIRD and kinda creepy ngl#but i feel like maybe its meant to be a parody ???? idk#but when i listened to the whole album it was not in the list of Songs I Will Never Listen To Again lmao#tally hall#i had to like. google shit to make sure this song wasnt Weird weird#im still not clear on the answer lmao. i just like how it sounds rlly#even tho the lyrics still make me uncomfortable#chonny jash two wuv cover >>>>>>>>>>>
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Cursed Child rant? as a treat? 👉👈
Oh god. Where to even start. Listen, I know some people enjoy CC and I say more power to you. I'm not here to be the fun police and say what people can and can't like or write fic about or derive meaning from or whatever. But for me, personally, Cursed Child is an absolute mess of the worst kind that irritates me on a profound level.
First off, it's completely inconsistent with the canon characterizations and established rules of world building (and JKR didn't even do that much world building so there wasn't that much to keep track of and yet, they couldn't even bother to do that). I mean, Cedric, who tried to give the Triwizard Cup to Harry doesn't win and that somehow causes him to become a Death Eater??? Huh? It's not just ooc. It's bad storytelling. I mean, even if he was a hugely sore loser why would losing a tournament cause him to join an extremist blood purist paramilitary group? That has nothing to do with him losing. It's stupid and childish and nonsensical and SO bad.
And really? That's the best you can come up with? If the point of that whole thing was the tired trope of 'time travel goes wrong and makes things worse' they could've just had the gang expose Crouch earlier but instead of Voldemort not returning he just ends up returning but not using Harry's blood which allows him to do his original plan of growing his power in secret. And idk. Maybe then he takes over and he kills Harry and Harry doesn't come back. I didn't even put any effort into that. It's a bit dumb and inelegant but it gets the job done without wild character assassination and a lack of logic so profound it would insult the reasoning abilities of a fungus.
But ok, let's judge it as its own vaguely Harry Potter inspired thing rather than as an actual sequel to the canon series. You know what the result is? IT'S STILL BAD. It's just. SO BAD. I don't understand how it's a real thing.
It's like a parody of a bad play. It can't possibly be real. Harry suddenly has a phobia of pigeons? Why??? It's so...stupid. And I'm supposed to take that seriously? What? And the dialogue. The dialogue. "Bad" doesn't even cover it. The fact that "Wow. Squeak. My geekness is a-quivering" is a real actual line in the actual play causes me physical pain. WHO WRITES THAT?! AND THEN LEAVES IT IN THE FINAL DRAFT?!?!?
And Delphi. WHAT EVEN?! She's literally like a parody of a bad fanfic Mary Sue. Down to the blue streak in her hair. But we're supposed to take her seriously? As a villain? Tf? She's like a bad Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way knockoff. The whole play is like an unfunny parody of bad writing. But it's not supposed to be. It actually pretends to be a genuine drama. Which is so much worse. I truly think My Immortal is better. And way funnier.
No effort at all went into the story construction. Characters act incredibly childishly and unrealistically and simplistically. The story doesn't feel like it was written by adults. There's no feeling or depth or emotion. It's all plot contrivances and nauseatingly simplistic writing. It isn't a story. It's just some stuff that happens. Because the writers were just like 'eh it's Harry Potter it'll sell.' And that's not art. That's just churned out content. And it bothers me on such a profound level that they did it and got away with it.
I would be embarrassed to write that for myself, let alone to turn that in as a professional writer. It's so inconsistent with the original story that I legitimately think the 2 guys who wrote it didn't even read the books. They just glanced at the wiki and decided they were good to go. Despite being PAID to do this. How sloppy is that? Not to mention Harry Potter meant so much to so many people who were ecstatic to get more content yet the two clowns who wrote this just skimmed the wiki and then vomited out some of the worst lines ever penned in history and called it a day.
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GOS2 hillywood + poster dissection (spoilers!)
so, i think we all lost our collective MINDS today
when I saw that we have the release date I actually started SCREAMING (I got lots of dirty looks.) anyways I have lots and lots of thoughts that I just need to get down somewhere so buckle up cuz this will be long, rambly, and prolly won't make a whole lot of sense.
First of all, huge props to the whole hillywood team, this was a really high-quality production and I loved every second of it. I'm watching the behind the scenes vid while writing this and it's really interesting to see how such an amazing video was produced. so much work was put into it and it really paid off. Thank you guys so much for making this!
So, the scene where Crowley falls. this could just be something fun hillywood decided to do, but the fact that they worked so closely with Neil makes me wonder if this is something that we might get more of in s2. The scene with the fire (which was awesome btw) maybe not be so much, but Crowley falling from what seems to be heaven into a puddle of what I'm guessing is maybe meant to be sulphur? (I don't really know what sulphur is so correct me if I'm wrong, I'm just spewing stuff here so it could be complete nonsense) idk to me it seems like foreshadowing, especially considering that Crowley's fall isn't discussed in that much depth in s1. idk that could just be me stretching cuz I want pre-fall Crowley SO BAD. and OH MY GOD IN THE VIDEO THEY JUST CONFIRMED ITS MEANT TO BE SULPHUR I FUCKING SGHA ITS THE FALL FROM HEAVEN I KNEW IT.
The post-parody scenes AHHH. first of all, I loved how they stayed pretty much word accurate to the show, with only necessary things changed. I loved Neil in this, Maggie, and Daniel. Does more Daniel mean more Adam? he could just be there for like a fun cameo roll but it got me thinking. if weird shit was happening the first thing Crowley and aziraphale are gonna think is 'Ah shit it's the Antichrist again innit' So maybe more adam s2? idk.
(Maggie was literally me. 'DO THEY HOLD HANDS??' girl is literally the entire good omens fandom)
('the wait and see clause' SO FUNNY BUT ALSO SO MUCH PAINN)
Ok, poster time.
First off, the way they're sat back to back?? no space between them?? and IS AZ READING TO CROWLEY?? :( They make me wanna vomit /pos
Also, I noticed something in the back. a shop outside with 'give me' on the front? this could just be a generic shop but I feel like everything in the poster is deliberate. doesn't seem to mean much now but I reckon we should keep our eye out in the background of any other posters and teasers and stuff we might get. this could just be me going bonkers cuz I've been deprived of new content for SO LONG but idk I could be onto smth.
I also wanna talk about the lighting decisions. the bright light shining on aziraphale, cuz yk- he's an angel but also a little glimmer on Crowley? now it could be interpreted as like 'Oh not all hope is lost for him' but I see it differently. the fact that Crowley's light is coming from below and Azi's is coming from above?? bit on the nose. I think the fact that we've been told that Gabriel is gonna feature heavily in this, is gonna make us primarily focus on heaven (the biggest light being on Az) but that doesn't mean hells gonna be out of the picture. I think, that through the first few episodes, we're gonna be focusing on Heaven harassing Az and we won't notice hell spying on Crowley (Crowley's light being smaller, yet still very much there)
More on hell, something I didn't notice at first was a lil tiny lizard in the bottom left-hand corner. I'm pretty convinced this is supposed to be shax. I mean, we've been shown that like all the demons have some sort of animal form (Beelzebub- fly, Crowley- snake, ligur- chameleon, etc., etc.) but as far as I know, we haven't had a lizard like that yet. it has a little fire tail and it's pretty deliberately hidden (either that or I'm fucking stupid cuz I didn't notice until like 10 mins ago) I think the fact that he's not the center focus is again about how through this hell will just be kinda spying on them rather taking a center focus so that we have our guard down and are like 'WOAH' when hell does smth. but you can't fool ME Neil, I'm expecting it.
Final little closing thoughts on stuff that could be irrelevant but maybe isn't. The clock- both hands on 6, 6 episodes, what else is 6? Is half 6 a significant time? or is it just cuz 666 and like haha devil number? the old ass camera in the bottom right-hand corner, eluding to maybe olden days Crowley and aziraphale pictures?? I would die. maybe also references a scene abt the invention of the camera?? or is it just there cuz Az is nostalgic and likes antiques. am I going insane or is that a new Crowley haircut?? Crowley and Az being back to back they LOOK SO DOMESTIC ILL SOBB
again, thank you so much hillywood for this amazing parody. and thanks Neil for FINALLY answering our prayers while leaving us with like a MILLION more questions, love you Mr. Gaiman
if you actually read this, thanks! that means that someone else is as obsessed and slightly mad as me. let me know if you've got any other ideas or annotations, I love literally everything good omens so even if you think it's a reach I WANNA HEAR IT!
Edit: I'm a fukin idiot and also blind. there are 3 lizards, and literally everyone noticed them (I can't find the third one (I'm pretty sure I need glasses)) BUT YK I still reckon it's shax. or maybe the erics?? oo it might be the Erics now im thinking abt it
Another edit: I'm actually REALLY fuckin stupid. the give me sign outside is Nina's shop 'Give me coffee or give me death' (I kinda forgot there were new characters this season) BUT YK maybe still smth?? idfk
#good omens#the hillywood show#good omens parody#good omens parody spoilers#good omens 2#good omens poster#im going insane#neil gaiman
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I know that "people being fine with bad story and horrible characterization just because their favorite characters got to live" post might be more about bi-han, and it's true, he's more like a parody of sektor here than anything like The Real Bi-han, and if that's what we're going to get then I much rather wouldve liked him as a tragic figure. But I think I would also add smoke to that sentiment: his presence in the story amount to a big old NOTHING other than the team being like "look smoke is back!", like not only have they gotten rid of what couldve possibly made him interesting on his own (enenra, gone outside of being mentionned in like. a skin, an alternate universe self (ugh) and an intro dialogue... hoorayyy) but its also like. idk. Tomas is also a tragic figure meant to die early like bi-han and they genuinely dont know how to write him otherwise, so he is just standing there. At least him "dying"/being turned into a cyborg showed the threat of the cyber lin kuei in the og timeline to us AND sub zero while also making us feel sad for smoke and sub zero because they were friends yknow? Here smoke is yet again feeling so wasted. Maybe they'll do smth different with him next (or just. "kill" him again in some way), but its also so frustrating to have to wait 5+ years for the rest of the story
i was SHOCKED to see how little value smoke added to the story. i was prepared for havik and nitara and reiko to be jobber fuel only but i swear to god smoke got less screen time than any of those characters who also added very little value to the story.
my favorite part about smoke was his struggle to be good and his battle with darkness forced onto him. he was forced to be a cyber lin kuei and had to hunt down kuai liang, and despite that still proved to have a soul. enenra was forced into him and there was potential in that as a revenant, enenra had taken over him and smoke struggled with both not being a revenant anymore and also trying to free his soul from enenra. he doesn’t want to be a killing machine but it seems like he’s unable to escape that path be it via being a cyborg or being enenra.
to see smoke reduced to the adopted brother that bi-han is mean to is so gross. also the fact that the bios for each character made it seem like the story would delve into those backstories is so disheartening. we didn’t get to learn anything about the murder of his family or what it was like for smoke to grow up in the lin kuei as bi-han and kuai liang’s brother. we don’t even get any dynamic between kuai liang and tomas besides kuai liang saying “you’re my brother.” literally if they had bi-han just kill tomas in front of kuai liang he would have had more worth to the story even if that alternative also sucks.
also if we do see enenra again, it’s only going to be in form of an alternate timeline smoke and not the current timeline smoke which is so fucking tiring. like you have these characters so why not give them arcs and development instead of introducing these “what if” versions of characters?
i’ve said it a million times but these characters are worth sooooo much more than they are written as
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I just watched/listened to Daniel Thrasher's "Igowallah". (Otherwise titled, "How rap sounds to non-english speakers".)
It got me thinking about music and linguistics shit.
On the one hand - this kinda makes me think of Adriano Celentano's "Prisencolinensinainciusol" and Neil Cicierega's "Word Disassociation" in that it's meant to be gibberish. Tho I think the fact Celentano had a bit more of "a point" since he was Italian (presumably ESL), making a song blending phonemes in how he crafted that song. Just to grab this blurb from the wiki article:
The song is intended to sound to its Italian audience as if it is sung in English spoken with an American accent, however the lyrics are deliberately unintelligible gibberish with the exception of the words "all right".[8][9]... Celentano's intention with the song was not to create a humorous novelty song but to explore communication barriers. The intent was to demonstrate how English sounds to people who do not understand the language proficiently. "Ever since I started singing, I was very influenced by American music and everything Americans did. So at a certain point, because I like American slang—which, for a singer, is much easier to sing than Italian—I thought that I would write a song which would only have as its theme the inability to communicate. And to do this, I had to write a song where the lyrics didn't mean anything."[6]
And Neil's song also has a lovely, vaguely "fluent aphasia" sort of feeling. But like. Some of the strange couplings of the nonsense strings of actual words conjure surreal as hell imagery. Like what the hell even is, "My elusive hula yellow sketching creamy helium gentlemanly communique"?? ?
I don't really know what was like, the artistic intent behind Thrasher's song here - besides some kinda of parody of rap. Which I guess is fine? It is kinda of interesting - in comparing it w/ Adriano and Neil.
I'm just kinda iffy about some folks just being snobs about rap in the comments of it, man. It feels like this veers a bit dangerously close to how White people can mock Chinese (and Cino-adjacent) speech. Just because of the, well, distinctly Black American roots hip hop has.
As someone who probably has mild language processing issues with lyrical content anyways (so i typically first pay attention to instrumental/production elements), but also enjoys hip hop regardless... people just going off abt how that's just what rap sounds like to English speakers. Just gives me a bit of the ick? (Especially with me realizing that maybe, just maybe, hating on disco being popular was at least partially fueled on by antiblack attitudes... sooo...)
Can't really glean or comment on intent here (not really that familiar w/ Thrasher as an entertainer, so I'm trying to be charitable) - just commenting on some of the feedback I've seen there. Also also, just as a bit of writing care (like in art, not like casual txt conversation) - it's worthwhile to check if a key-smash bit of gibberish isn't some kind of obscure slur in a different language, just as a show of good faith. Because man, this song almost sounded like it was at least flirting with that mistake. (Just an experience I've seen from the larger writing community on world-building stuff.)
Basically there are things I do legitimately enjoy about this song that I got recc'd. There's some fascinating linguistics and art philosophy conversations to be had here. But there's also a just some background reservations I just wanted to ramble about.
Idk if any of this makes much sense. But. Yeah. :,D
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Fanfiction (and writing) pet peeve: Mid-story author commentary in a fic that isn’t meant to be meta or fourth-wall-breaking comedic does not belong in your story.
If you’re writing a story with the express intent to give off parody and joking vibes, then yes, it absolutely fits. But if you’re trying to write a story that is supposed to be taken seriously, then inserting your own commentary in the middle of a scene immediately breaks the illusion and atmosphere for a reader who has been invested in the scene up until that point. That’s what post-chapter notes are for.
Adding in a “jk, haha, you think I’d give away the plot this early?? xD” after an intentional cutoff in the midst of potentially-revealing dialogue destroys the intent of cutting it off in the first place. You’re trying to hint at something significant but refusing to give it away yet. That in and of itself is more of a tease than literally teasing the reader with a direct taunt. Let the writing speak for itself.
He felt like he might be forgetting something, but…no. He shook his head. It probably wasn’t anything important. (lolol spoiler it was definitely important)
…no. Don’t - don’t do that. You already drew attention to something being forgotten, and even if the character shook it off the reader most definitely didn’t. They already suspect he did forget something important. You don’t need to interrupt the scene with your own internal dialogue.
It took her maybe fifteen minutes to get to the cafe, but we’re just gonna skip that part because the author doesn’t feel like writing it–
Stop. Just stop. Unless you’re purposefully writing a meta comedy story, this kind of thing makes you sound like you don’t have confidence in what you’re writing and you’re not putting in effort. Fake it ‘til you make it. It might seem funny to add something like that in, but it gives off the same vibes as a summary that says “Idk how to write summaries, just read it for yourself”. It makes it sound like you don’t actually care about your story even if you definitely do.
Don’t get me wrong, authors can write however they want. This kind of thing works in some places. Hell, half the reason I read the Spy Gear series growing up was because the author added hilarious side notes at the bottom of certain pages that had little to do with the plot. The narrator was built into the story on purpose. But a random author’s aside in the middle of an emotionally significant moment when there hasn’t been any mention of author intrusion before that point? It hurts your work more than helps it.
Trust in your writing. Let it be powerful. Let it tell its own story. Laugh in the author’s notes and comment section, but let readers immerse themselves in the world you’ve brought to life.
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Idk if you ship Heahmund/Ivar but if you do, wanna write something with Hvitserk dealing with the fact that his brother is falling hard for a christian menace?
I don't ship them, but I thought I'd give this a go anyway. Unfortunately, it didn't go according to plan, and I ended up writing and re-writing it for over a week until I ended up with one single scene that... isn’t exactly what I intended to write. Still, I have to post it or I'll keep chipping away at it forever
Sorry if it's not what you were hoping for...
(Prompts are still open, by the way)
Seated on a bench in the hall of King Harold’s home, Hvitserk watched out of the corner of his eye as Ivar made his way slowly across the room. His brother leaned more heavily than usual on his crutch, his steps shorter and slower than they had been earlier in the day, and it was clear that he had spent too long on his feet.
Hvitserk knew why. He had been visiting the prisoner again, the Saxon priest that they had, for reasons known only to Ivar, brought back with them from England.
Ivar reached the table and carefully lowered himself onto the bench next to Hvitserk, but leaving some distance between them. He sat with his back to the table, then turned to meet Hvitserk’s eyes as though daring him to say something. Hvitserk declined the offer, and turned his attention instead to the cup of ale that sat on the table in front of him.
Hvitserk didn’t trust the prisoner. The priest had betrayed him once before, when he had left he and Ubbe bruised and bloodied before sending them back to Ivar as a message that there would be no peace between their peoples. It was a move that had precipitated the rift in their family, and even if he chose to believe that it had been fate, Hvitserk couldn’t help but hold the priest responsible.
Holding onto the table for leverage, Ivar leaned forward, grabbed one leg with his free hand, and hoisted it up onto the bench with his foot pointing toward Hvitserk. He began to unfasten the buckles on the leather straps that held the brace in place. “Problem, Hvitserk?” he asked.
“Uh…” Hvitserk picked up his cup of ale and downed it in a single gulp. “What?”
“You looked as though you had something to say,” Ivar told him. His voice was calm and measured. He looked Hvitserk in the eye as practised fingers continued to work on the straps. “Why don’t you just say it instead of grinding your teeth and glaring at me?”
Hvitserk tapped the back of a fingernail on the side of his empty cup, and considered the request. “Okay,” he said. “I will. He’s dangerous, and you shouldn’t trust him.”
Ivar’s fingers stilled on the final buckle of his brace, and his brows knotted into an exaggerated parody of a frown. A hint of an amused smile played on his lips. “Who are you talking about?”
Hvitserk scowled, not in the mood to play games. “You know exactly who I’m talking about.”
“No…” Ivar shook his head thoughtfully as his frown deepened. “No, I do not believe that I do. After all, I know a great many dangerous people.” He paused, then smiled somewhat pointedly. “I am a dangerous person myself.”
“I was talking about the Christian, Ivar.” Hvitserk told him. “As you well know.”
Ivar gave him a dismissive shake of the head and turned his attention back to his leg. He unfastened the final strap, then winced noticeably as he removed the brace. He placed it on the floor next to the bench, near to where he had rested his crutch, for some slave to collect and return to his room later.
“Heahmund?” he asked.
Hvitserk scowled at the sound of the man’s name. “Are there any other Christians around here?”
“How would I know?” Ivar asked with a dismissive shrug. “Probably not, but we are in a new place. King Harold’s kingdom could be rife with Christians for all I know. Anyway, Heahmund is a sly one. He tried to convert me to his faith. Perhaps he has succeeded with somebody more weak minded than myself.”
“He…” Hvitserk found himself smiling at the idea of the Christian attempting to convert Ivar of all people. “Really?”
“Really. It did not exactly go as he had hoped.”
No, he imagined not. Hvitserk shook his head. “But that’s exactly what I mean. He’s dangerous, and not just because he will try to poison our minds against the gods. He would kill you without a moment’s thought if he believed that his god wanted it.”
“I know,” Ivar told him, apparently unconcerned by the idea.
“But still you carry on visiting him like he’s an old friend, talking to him for hours at a time. It’s almost as though you are infatuated with him. Almost like you’re...” he stopped as a realisation hit him.
“Almost like I…?” Ivar said, waving a hand in the air as he prompted him to continue.
Suddenly Hvitserk understood. He knew what was happening between his brother and the Christian. He shook his head, as though he could shake loose the thought, but it was stuck fast. Ivar really was infatuated by the Christian. Perhaps he even loved him.
“Hvitserk?” Ivar said. He waved a hand before his eyes mockingly.
Hvitserk blinked. He couldn’t say that, not with everything that it might imply. Not yet, not when he had no idea how his brother might react.
“You… like him,” Hvitserk said instead.
Ivar chuckled quietly under his breath, then turned his attention back to his legs. He moved his other leg onto the bench and began the slow task of removing the slightly more complicated brace. As he did, he shook his head. “You’re crazy.”
“Am I? Why else would you have brought him here? And why else would you spend so much time talking with him?”
“I brought you back, didn’t I? Ivar said. He winced in pain again as he released one part of the brace and got to work on the next. “He’s a great warrior, he has insight I can use. I find him interesting, that is all.”
“He’s a Christian priest.”
Ivar shook his head. “A bishop, actually.”
Hvitserk frowned. “And what is the difference?”
“I don’t know, but perhaps I could ask him for you, and then we will know. And that is why he is useful; it is important to know as much as we can about our enemies, wouldn’t you agree, brother?”
Hvitserk rubbed a hand wearily across his face and reached for a jug of ale. “He would happily kill you, given half a chance.”
“I know he would,” Ivar told him, “and that is one of the interesting things about him. But don’t worry, brother. He’ll never get that chance, and even if he did, he wouldn’t take it.”
That was not a promise that Ivar could make. Hvitserk frowned, unconvinced.
“It is true,” Ivar assured him. “I haven’t simply been talking to him, I have been slowly winning him over, convincing him that I’m not the monster he thought I was. I think he’s starting to like me, too. Anyway, he knows that I am the only person keeping him alive. If he did manage to kill me, you would have him put to death immediately, and he doesn’t want to die. If he were so eager to join his god, he would have tried to do so already.
There was an undeniable logic to Ivar’s argument, as usual. Hvitserk forced down a stab of irritation. “One of these days, Ivar, you’re going to make an assumption like that and be wrong.”
Ivar shrugged. “Maybe. But not today.”
“You should still be careful. Take somebody in with you when you see him.”
“Having an armed bodyguard present is no way to build trust. I am hoping that he will fight for us, remember? Do you think he would do that if he thought I was afraid of him?
“You told him you would crucify him if he didn’t. Don’t you think that is incentive enough to fight for us?”
“Perhaps,” Ivar shrugged, “But I would prefer it if he wanted to do it. That way he is less likely to betray me to my enemies. Besides,” he reached to his belt and removed a short but dangerous looking knife, I am not so stupid as to go in there unarmed. After all, as you say, he would happily murder me if his god asked him to, and I am just a helpless cripple.”
Hvitserk reached for the jug of ale and refilled his cup, then poured one for Ivar too, and pushed it across the table toward his brother. “You are anything but helpless, Ivar, and you know that wasn’t what I meant.”
Ivar finished removing the second brace and placed it carefully next to the first, then accepted the drink with a nod. He smiled knowingly. “Oh, but that is exactly what you meant, brother.”
And once again, he was right. In a way, that was what he had meant. Ivar would be terrifying to face across the battlefield, coated in in the blood of his enemies, screaming a battle cry from his chariot, but in close, one-on-one combat, especially if he caught him off-guard, Heahmund would have the advantage. Even Ivar would have to admit that, surely.
“And you are right,” Ivar told him.
Hvitserk blinked in surprise. “What?”
Ivar slipped his knife back into its holster, produced a length of strong cloth from a pocket and tied it around his legs below the knees. “I said, you are right. Heahmund is a great warrior. I have no doubt that he would be able to overpower me if he chose to do so. In fact, I have no doubt he could overpower you too. But yet I am safe with him, as I have already explained to you.”
“It’s not only that he could hurt you,” Hvitserk told him. “You might find him…” he hesitated, “You might find him interesting, but I don’t think he feels the same way.”
Ivar laughed quietly. “Are you worried about me, brother?”
Hvitserk set his lips in a thin line. There were only so many ways that it could end, and there was no room for the possibility of happiness. He decided to change the direction of the argument. “Father had a Christian that he found interesting once,” he said. “Do you remember?”
“Athelstan.” Ivar shook his head. “Not really. I was too young when he died to really remember.”
“Well, I remember,” Hvitserk told him. He had been a child too, but he had been old enough to understand what had happened, and to follow what the adults around him were saying. “I just don’t want the same thing to happen to you as happened to father.”
Ivar rolled his eyes. “Ragnar was dropped into a pit of snakes by a king that we have since killed.” Ivar shook his head, then took a long gulp of his drink. “It is unlikely to happen again.”
He was playing dumb, of course. Or, perhaps he wasn’t, not completely. Ivar had been little more than an infant when Floki had killed the priest; a coddled and protected child who had had very little contact with his father. By the time he would have been old enough to understand, the people had stopped speaking of Ragnar and his pet Christian. There was a chance that Ivar didn’t know how deep their father’s feelings for the other man had been, or that after his death, Ragnar had never been the same.
Hvitserk sighed. “Yes, Ivar.” he said, returning to the question his brother had asked him a moment earlier. “I am worried about you. No matter what happens, Heahmund will eventually turn against you, and when he does, I think that it will break your heart.”
Ivar shook his head. “It would not be the first break I have had to endure.”
Hvitserk shook his head. “It’s not the same thing, Ivar. It’s not the same thing at all.”
“I disagree,” Ivar told him. “You think my heart didn’t break when Father died? Or Mother? When Floki climbed into a boat and disappeared into the open ocean? I know heartbreak, Hvitserk. I know it every bit as well as you do. Perhaps even more.”
Once again, his little brother was right. Hvitserk sighed and nodded. “Of course. I’m sorry, Ivar.”
“Anyway,” Ivar added, dismissing the moment with a wave of his hand. “If Heahmund betrays me, I will simply kill him, or have him killed.
“And you think you could just kill somebody that you love?”
Ivar frowned. “Whoever said anything about love?”
Hvitserk closed his eyes briefly. He hadn’t meant to say that, it had simply slipped out.
“Anyway,” Ivar added. “I am sure that if I could bury an ax in my own brother’s chest, I would have no trouble doing the same to a Christian priest. Whether I 'love' him, or not.”
Uninvited, the image of Sigurd staggering toward Ivar before dropping lifeless to the ground, forced its way into Hvitserk’s mind, and he took another swig of his drink as though he could wash it away. “He’s a bishop,” he reminded him, repeating Ivar’s words back to him.
Ivar smiled, apparently unaffected by the memory of their brother. “So he is.”
“And whatever you feel for him, Ivar, he doesn’t feel the same way about you.” Hvitserk was still thinking of Sigurd; he had already lost one brother, and after everything that had happened, he doubted that he could ever repair things between himself and Ubbe, or Björn either for that matter; they were trying to kill his mother after all. That left Ivar as the only family that he had left. He sighed deeply, trying not to think of everything that he had lost, but suddenly unable to think of anything else. “I don’t want to lose you as well.”
Apparently unmoved by the plea, Ivar finished his drink in a single gulp, put the cup down heavily on the table, pressed his palms into the bench to lift himself, then slid down to the ground. “You won’t,” he said. “I think we are stuck with each other, I am beginning to think the gods want us to stay together.”
With that, using his hands to move across the ground, he made his way to the door far more quickly than he had arrived on his feet.
For a moment, Hvitserk watched him go. “You might not love him yet, Ivar, but you’re halfway there,” he called after him. “Don’t deny it.”
Ivar paused briefly. He turned back to look at his brother with a smirk on his face, then continued on his way. As he reached the door, he turned again. “I deny it,” he said, then quickly pulled himself out of the door and disappeared out of Hvitserk’s sight, leaving behind nothing but his crutch and braces, and the sound of a quiet chuckle floating back into the room.
Hvitserk glared after his brother helplessly, left, as Ivar had no doubt intended, with two equally unappealing options; chasing after him and attempting to finish a conversation that Ivar clearly didn’t want to continue with, or shouting a response after him through the wall, with no idea whether Ivar had heard him.
Instead, Hvitserk finished his drink and poured himself another. For all that he still thought of Ivar as his little brother, he was a grown man, and he was capable of making his own mistakes. Hvitserk just hoped it wouldn’t be as costly a mistake as he feared…
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A Day of Curation
Unless its Wednesday, it should be around 11am right now when i get up. First things first, put in my headphones and go get some good music! Its Monday - time to listen to my Discover Weekly playlist, which Spotify usually tailors perfectly to my tastes.
1. 🎶 SPOTIFY 🎶
Fun fact - this weeks "Discover Weekly" suggs. Usually I get the best music from there. I don't really recall the last time any of my friends really showed a song I didn't already know or was adequately good. Tho, I have to give Amelie some credit here, she constanly hits me with great Spanish tunes. (Also to Jasi and Safae which hit me up with some dope music from time to time) I mostly get inspiration from (sad to say but its true) tik tok or by randomly shazaming the world. I also really hate to limit myslfe to music i understand. On the contrary I LOVE LOVE LOVE music arround the world. Trust me i hear Tibetian Throat Singing to Russian Electro and even Islandic and Nativ American Tribal Music. To give you an impression of how important music consumption is for me:
Last Year i spent a total of 210 441 minutes on spotify alone. That is about 9 Hours a day. The average person uses Spotify for about 18 000 minutes a year. (My friend took the freedom to calculate how much money Spotify "looses" by my consumption. i pay $30 a year an Spotify gives $0,004891 per stream to the creator. An average of 3 minutes per song (70.000 streams) means spotify pays $342.37 to the creators. Thats $312.37 of deficit LOL)
Apart form that i cant really give Spotify a certain schedule when i listen to it cuz i listen to it all the time. During gaming, during coding, laundry, gym, work, class, before sleep. ✨Always✨
2. 💬 WhatsApp 💬
There is nothing better than sleeping for an eternity while everyone is already awake for probably 4 or more hours, working! *laughs in privileged design student* Since everyone is already living its live while I still drool, I gotta get up to date in the morning. Before i even leave bed, i checke my messages there. Similar to Spotify, I use WhatsApp the whole day and can't really tell when I would not use it. Except, my phone is always on silent (casual zennial phone call phobia) meaning i wont notice anything while zoning out or gaming (which usualy is the same).
3. 👨🏫 TEAMS 👩🏫
Yeah Yeah i can already hear it. "You wake up 5 minutes before class withouth breakfast or anything..." - bla bla bla. Yeah that is the case! I would usuly go on teams and enter the classroom, while preparing a breakfast (if you can call it breakfast after 12) sit down at my desk and listen to class. Causally everything that is too theoretical with music and whatsapp. Other classes that are interesting I`ll put my full attention to it.
But i hate teams in gerneral. Not cuz its sh**, no, usualy people that do their clases there have a weird way of using it. Finding material or looking up homeworks is such a struggle sometimes. (Props to you Kevin here, I have never seen anybody using teams in such a clean and struktured way than you do. Even tho you dont neccesarily use it as it was meant to be. (which might be the turning point on why its great))
4. 📺 YouTube 📺
Yup YouTube is usually the place to go after (sometimes during (I NEVER SAID THAT!)) class.
Actually, YouTube is the place to go for me. Relaxation, Entertainment, knowledge - anything! After class I'd usually watch "Cut" or other channels that produce let's plays or entertainment of some sort.
But it's also THE place to go during coding. I rather listen to Lofi or (Slowed, Reverbed) Music that doesnt really distract me. ALSO, during coding watch A SH*TLOAD OF TUTORIALS, cuz I am proud selftaught Zennial. #BestOfBothWorlds
5. 👨🍳 CHEFKOCH 👨🍳
I love to try new things and I constantly stalk the web for new recipes. Lately a lot of Asian and Vegan stuff. Chefkoch is the app to go where i also write down my own recipes to have them with me all the time. Great thing here is, i share this account with all my family members (currently 13, including my mom, aunts, other relatives). Great way to share the secret family recipes at any time!
(Cant recommend the recipe in the img, tho!)
6.🏐 ADDIDAS TRAINING🏐
Unlike all my sporty friends that used to hit the gym before covid and not got lazy, I started to use Training Apps like Addidas Training with its free Workout plans. I use it regularly and am happy i finally found a way to stay sporty.
7. ⌨️ VS CODE ⌨️
Its either Visual Studio Code, where I would code on my current project, or gaming. As mentioned above, I would get most of the inspiration from tutorials or using dev tools on different platforms.
8. 🎤 DISCORD 🎮
I´ll use Discord as a general term for Gaming since I play a lot but many different games, tho, always use discord to communicate with my freinds while gaming.
A great place to share random BS with friends and talk about anything that comes to my mind. I spent most of the evenings on Discord with my friends. Always did, in fact. Maybe the reason why I don't really feel so affected by the pandemic. I am used to being separated from my friends since they live all over Germany or the world in general. I always enjoy Online Live Events WITH my friends.
For me the web as always been a "with" not an "alone", which is why I never understand why so may struggle with feeling "alone" on live events online. JUST GRAB A FRIEND AND DISCOVER IT ✨TOGETHER✨!
9. 📼 DISNEY+ / NETFLIX 📼
Since I use both the same amount there is not thos or that. I never Really let anybody recommend me anything, cuz ... trust me, I WON'T watch it. IDK why that is, but I need a specific mood for each show. And nobody but myself can provide that. Probably why most ove the algorithms (esp Netflix) do not have an effect on me. I'm not in the mood for your ****, sorry!
Never the less, i periodically Binge a Series and then feel empty after it ended. Then i need some time to face reality again.
Funny tho, I binged Starwars Rebels on Disney+ and after it ended i just decide to buy 4 books on amazon that expand the story to starwars (#nerd i know). I will spend the next few months reading and probably not watching anything on both Streaming services.
10. 🤤 TIKTOK 🌈
... YUP.... I grew up with vine ... but TikTok got me. And honestly I don't regret it. It's the perfect algorithm that constantly finds the best videos that feed my thirsty queer ass. I mean ...
LOOK AT THE IMG ABOVE. YES, give me more....!
Its prolly not good for my digital wellbeing or my mental health but do I care at the moment..? noooooo...
Just give me more of Starwars Parodies, Sleepwalkers, Best off's of streamers, Queer content (cuz its time this heteronormativity world is fed with it! and no i do not indentify as anyting, im just the + at the very far end!) and yeah, even some sexy content if the creator feels good about it.
AND DONT YOU GIVE ME THAT SIDE EYE OF JUDGEMENT HERE - WE ALL THIRST FROM TIME TO TIME!
TOODLES!
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man fatphobia in tma fandom... i hated how none of the other characters were ever drawn as fat. no one else just the soft uwu squishy bean (how fandom characterized martin actually made me hate him by the 3rd season lol) which is like... i made me So Uncomfortable as a fat person. and the way jon was portrayed as unhealthy skinny got like.. borderline fetishy at times especially in fic and like. its hard for me to blame this on other people and i wouldnt want anyone who wrote him like this to see this ask and feel bad but the constant waxing poetic abt like his thin wrists and exposed ribcage and whatnot was genuinely super upsetting to me and really effected my body image especially because the only fat character they ever thought to write was like... idk how to describe it really but like there was a very clear disparity in the way they were described and meant to be related to by the reader u know?
also straighttma my beloathed... they had this like disgustingly fatphobic post about flesh avatars (cw for extreme fatphobia but if u just search for "straighttma fatphobia" in the search bar it should be the first thing). i understand its a parody blog but some of the posts and that post in particular especially was just legitimately upsetting. especially since it was anon submitted and i have no way of knowing if thats coming from a thin person or not... and in general i dont really find an expicitly bigoted version of a show particularly funny. like ive definitely made and enjoyed jokes about like characters being cishet reddit bros or whatever which i think comes with an implication of bigotry but... idk i just didnt like it
my response gets long so readmore time. i posted under some tags for bl, if youre in one of these tags and see this id prefer no reblogs on this
i never really got into fanfiction in general aside from reading maybe one or two on sparse occasion, so i cant lie and say ive experienced similar to you, but based on the art ive seen during my time liking the podcast, those descs of martin & jon do check out. (aside from that one artist with tall & fat jon, that was cool.) im sorry youve experienced that, i know one of the reasons people participate in fandom is to find belonging and seeing someone portray people like you in an unempathetic way in that setting must have been incredibly hurtful. i think its important for any media creator to understand that when they write diverse body types, sexuality, race... etc, that their intention shouldnt be to score diversity points, but to communicate to readers that arent cishet white thin abled (etc) that your artwork is also for these people
also god i forgot about straighttma... i couldnt find the post you were looking for bc tumblrs search is busted as hell. i think straighttma was kind of funny as like a 1-post idea maybe but as an entire blog idk, especially since the whole show was ALREADY full of shit youd expect from a white british guy. its sort of like, oh heres a way to sort of imagine awful people in a joking context (and i feel like white people are often looking for a reason to make racist jokes anyway), and also simultaneously makes the indirect statement of "arent we so grateful that the show and creators ARENT like that? arent we glad to get good representation?" even though the show and representation sucks ass honestly. its like the opposite of media criticism
i know i keep going back to this point and i absolutely dont intend to direct attention away from what youre saying bc youre 100% correct, but it feels like the fandom would have done everything in their power to kiss jonny sims pasty ass and defend him to the death. and it was incredibly stupid.
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Harrow the Ninth: Wordplay and Implication
So I started reading Harrow the Ninth last night(haven’t gotten far; I’m only on page 47), but some interesting stuff cropped up I wanted to yack about. Explaining it requires some Serious Spoilers tho, so don’t read past this point if you haven’t reader further than me and are also avoiding ...spoilers... X|
Ok so: Harrow is obvsl going through some Things. To begin with she seems to be having some manner of psychological break exacerbated by(possible caused by) the Lyctor transformation? A huge part of it is obvsl grief over Gideon -she seems to be avoiding any memory or thought of her and this mental block seems to be impacting her ability to access Gideon’s soul and thus her full Lyctor capabilities- but she’s also overwhelmed by her new senses and her inability to feel physical pain, and a bit unstuck in time? Some of that just might be her grief-driven illness, but so far there’s been some jumping around in the timeline/her memories so it’s possible this is also a side-effect of the Lyctor transformation and existing on both sides of life and death.
Anyway, there’s some nifty wordplay associated with all of this :>
the first one is in an edited memory, and it’s right at the start of it, in the chapter-title for said memory: “Parodos”.
Now most obvsl, that looks&sounds allot like “parody” and, while they aren’t directly related, the connection btwn the two is STILL intriguing: “parody” comes from para(side/beside/parallel) and oide(song), in the sense of a comical/mocking “parallel” to another song; parodos literally means entrance, though specifically it’s the name of a SIDE-entrance in greek theater-design which gave actors access to the stage, or the chorus access to the orchestra, BUT ALSO it was the name of the song(oide) the chorus sung upon first entering the play, coming after the prologue. The connection to an actual side-entrance makes me suspect the “par-” phoneme is from “para”, but I can’t find a constituent breakdown of “parodos” so it’ll have to remain a suspicion :T
Regardless: it is, in the manner of a proper parodos(even IF Harrow, here, is her own Chorus; this is a 3rd person perspective section), seeming to introduce us to the central conflict of the tale; Harrow is censoring Gideon from her mind, altering her perceptions and capacities in response to her grief, struggling with feelings that she is LOSING her mind(associated with, possibly embodied by, her “hallucinations” of The Body[1]), and clinging to this expression of control as a life-raft among all this trauma. At one point The Body even appears in this memory just to tell her it didn’t happen like this which “gave Harrow a curious strength”.
IntriguinglyER(and this is more of a stretch and idk if Muir really intended this implication) parodos is often popularly confused with/assumed to be related to “parados” which is a fortification embankment built to protect the rear of a military position(it’s basically the backside equivalent of parapet. Parapet=forward, parados=behind). What makes this intriguinger to me(aside from the fun of a FALSE pun for a FALSE memory :p), is that the false memory is part of Harrow’s mental DEFENSES, and in it she asks Ortus Nigenad to PROTECT her by keeping the secret that she is “insane” because, since opening the Locked Tomb and seeing the girl trapped there, she’s been experiencing full-spectrum sensory hallucinations of said girl(ie: seeing her, speaking with her, feeling The Body[the girl] touch her, the whole hog, etc etc). I feel like this is MOSTLY symbolic though, and the REAL secret she’s asking him to protect her from is Gideon’s death(and her “consumption” there of; since becoming a Lyctor The Body has had Gideon’s amber-colored eyes). Of course there’s another aspect to this and one of two OTHER potential secrets; Gideon’s body wasn’t recovered from Canaan House, Harrow does not seem to be in “possession” of her soul(though she does have SOME aspects of Lyctor abilities, so perhaps it’s partial or a connection?); so
it’s possible the SECRET Harrow is actl using Ortus to protect is that Gideon isn’t dead, that they healed her after defeating Cytherea and somehow undid the Lyctor process. OR
They’re keeping Gideon’s existence a secret for some reason
Now I think these are a bit out there theorywise because, while I’m not far into the book, I’m fairly certain that it’s only Harrow who is thinking Nigenad was her cavalier at this point. I mean: the Emperor would have spoken to Ianthe, and there’s no reason why she’d keep Gideon’s existence secret(also everytime the Emperor says Ortus Nigenad it’s attached to a description of his mouth moving oddly, so I’m fairly certain he’s actl saying Gideon Nav and her brain’s editing it to Ortus Nigenad to spare her facing Gideon’s death). Also and SUPER tellingly there’s this passage:
The Resurrecting King took on the expression of a man working out a very difficult and emotionally taxing anagram. He said, “Ortus,” again, but the bile was sputtering up into your throat...”
Now that just seems like an INVITATION to see what Ortus Nigenad can be an anagram of, doesn’t it? And, INCREDIBLY OBVIOUSLY it’s a partial anagram:
Ortus Nigenad
Gideon
Of Gideon’s name. Partial, because it doesn’t include “Nav”, and also there are these left-over letters
rtusna
Hmmm... What can THAT be an anagram of?
rtusna
Saturn
Well flog me with a spoon! I have NO IDEA what this, GIDEON SATURN, could POSSIBLY mean in the context of this convo or of the larger story(also: maybe this anagrams to other words? I honestly didn’t try too hard after this very obvs one. AtRSun??? Taurns?? OF COURSE Harrow would play Horde if she played WoW, but I’d imagine she’d’ve been a Forsaken Warlock, or Orc one at the very least :p), but that we have a character’s name being called an anagram by the narration and then that character’s name turns out to BE AN ANAGRAM of the first book’s, now(mysteriously[2]?) absent, protagonist plus the planet Saturn[3], seems an awful coincidence. Of course that doesn’t mean it ISN’T a Coincidence, nor that it means anything in relation to the story even if it IS intentional; it could be meant to throw off theorycrafters, or just as something Muir thought would be fun to do(making Gideon Nav, “the greatest cav the Ninth ever produced”, a near-anagram with Ortus Nigenad, one of it’s worst). Of course, it could also be a hint to Gideon’s origins, or where she/her body is now. For what it’s worth, I seem to recall the big contenders for her origins were Third through Fifth House, and those seem to be the most likely to be the Gas Giants&GG Moons(Third’s the wealth-house, and there’s probably more concentrated resources in Jupiter and Saturn than on any other planet in the solar system. And, for whateverMORE it’s worth, Saturn WAS the Roman god of wealth&the harvest. If Mars’s ...Martial[X| X|]... associations are a firm enough basis for its guess in the order, then why not Planet Fucking Saturn? Of course the trident theme suggests Neptune, but why in the cosmos would THAT be the third colonized planet in the system? Makes no damn sense |:T |:T).
The last thing(two things?) that I wanted to bring up, though it’s not really related to any of the above, is Alecto, the name for the next book. Presumably, this is The Body/The Girl. Alecto means “Implacable/Unceasing Anger”, and it is the name of one of the Erinyes; the Furies; the goddesses and purveyors of Vengeance. The Furies, according to Hesiod, were born from the blood of Ouranos spilled when Kronos castrated him. Interestingly, the way Necromancy works in this universe(as explained in these early pages) is that the Cohort “breaches” a planet, after which point its “thalergy”(life energy; presumably metabolism-produced energy since necros aren’t snacking on ambient heat&light) begins converting to “thanergy”(death energy, tho it’d be more precise to call it the energy generated by the detachment of a soul from a body), which Necros can use to do Necromancy. The microbiology within a planet’s soil can similarly be drained, as can the animals and plants, and the process of “breaching” allows Necros to draw on the thalery/thanergy of all of these. So Necromancy is a metaphor for environmental/planetary destruction&exploitation. Kronos is a harvest-god(his name is obscure, but probably means something like “the cutter” or “the striker”); Ouranos is the sky(probably a raingod with a name related, hilariously, to the verb for “to piss” :p :p), but at the same time still a planetary deity. Coincidentally, the primary antagonists so far in the book are “Resurrection Beasts” which seem to have been created by The Emperor Necrotising the Nine planets of Dominicus, and who have been pursuing him and his Lyctors to destroy them for this/for becoming Lyctors(Lyctordom is legit called “the indelible sin” by the Emperor himself) ever since. Sounds allot like the Furies, doesn’t it?
In this context, the Kronos Ouranos myth can be read as a story of planetary exploitation/injury(caution: I am NOT saying that’s the intended meaning of the myth originally, just that it is a possible application of it as a lens of analysis[it being referenced by the series through Alecto] to this story), and THAT suggests that Alecto, the Fury, may have been associated with this initial Necrotization(The Resurrection/Nine Resurrections, which SEEMS given what little I’ve read so far to be what they call the initial Necrotization of the Nine planets of the Sol System? Though maybe they were already Necrotized&all used up, and the Emperor revitalized them somehow?? I’m not sure yet), may be something instanced to stop it, or may be a “Resurrection Beast” herself; perhaps the initial form they took before 10k years of thwarted rage pushed them to become more monstrous. Alternately, I wonder if Alecto might be a manifestation or servant of Death? There’s a repeated focus on the Emperor having “defeated” Death, and The Body in the Locked Tomb is repeatedly referred to as a foe he defeated once but could not defeat again, so there are good reasons to disregard all the mythological trappings and focus on the clearer, less metatextual possibility.
Of course: it’s probably none of this and I’m just spinning Fantasy wholecloth from between my entirely metaphorical ears :p :p :p
[1]The Body is The Girl in the Locked Tomb which Harrow fell in love with. I’ll get to why this is relevant very soon after this footnote
[2]I mean we watched her force Harrow into Lyctorship by killing herself, so I’m still more convinced this is all trauma response. Her corpse IS MISSING, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t super-dead. Though: Camilla and Palamedes DID have a contingency, and Gideon DID wink at Harrow post-Lyctoring, and it was ambiguous if this was her impaled body or her spirit/hallucination doing the winking, so I can see ppl running with this theorywise...
[3]which is one of the Houses, obvsl(or at least it’s moons), though I’m only really confident on Sixth House(Mercury), Ninth House(Pluto), and 2nd House(Mars) at the moment. Seventh House is PROBABLY Venus, giving all its connections to poison, wasting disease, and Aphrodite(Cytherea is another name of the goddess), but that’s all just thematic suggestion. Oh also, I figured I should throw this in here given the large digression on Kronos and Uoranos, Kronos is Saturn’s Greek equivalent(or at least, the Romans considered him so).
#Tamsyn Muir#Harrow the Ninth#Harrow the Ninth Spoilers#TLT Theories#The Locked Tomb Series#HtN Analysis#Greek Myth#analytic posts#zA's Wildeyed Guessings
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so I caught up to yaoi the fanime yesterday (I was made aware of it two years ago for a confession and didn’t watch past the first ep, idk I forgot to) and something i had been thinking for a while, but couldn’t really put into words somehow, became very clear and I felt the need to make this post.
maybe I’m wrong, but I feel like within the community itself there’s kind of a fear to be completely genuine? like there’s a worry about being too heartfelt, so you have to wrap your work in a layer of irony or bullshit or something. i feel like the popularity of things like nyan neko sugar girls might have promoted that idea, not to imply that they didn’t put time into it. that, and the existence of let’s watchers ragging on things made 12 years ago that may not have been great, but were completely genuine.
i feel like since the outsiders’ perspective of fanime is almost always nyan neko sugar girls, that the stuff that tends to get really popular are things that are coated in that irony. that things that you make when you’re being 100% sincere are the ones that are considered embarrassing, so we have to make wobbly ms paint characters when we would rather be doing something else because otherwise it’s going to get overlooked, or worse, it’s going to get blasted on some dude’s YouTube channel because we dared to tell a story in that medium.
yaoi the fanime helped me find the wording for this because I think it’s a good example. to start, I do like this fanime and dont mean anything here as a drag. it’s very obvious from the stock poses, character names (Pittsburgh, Cockslut, Literally The Dial Up Computer Noise), and all the voices being text to speech that this was meant to be presented in a jokey, ironic way. don’t take it too seriously. but then i actually start watching past the first episode, and though the situations are outlandish and comical, the subtleties really speak to me. they recognize the reality that a friend of theirs was killed, dial recounts fond memories of him, all the characters bond with the limo driver. right down to even smaller things like pittsburgh’s resistance to the word “monotonous” and an offhand guy fieri joke having substance in a later episode.
not to look into things too much, but I do often look into things too much. I feel like a lot of thought, a lot of care was put into this. there’s a story here that I’m genuinely invested in. these characters are more than just the names they’ve been given. and it really does make me wonder how differently this story would hit if the characters were drawn in a different style, if they had names besides Cockslut, and it wasn’t called “yaoi the fanime.”
it reminds me how often i feel that for my own fanime projects that I need to add in some layer of irony. I’ve said before that finishing your fanime surpasses making it look perfect, and I still stand by that. but I feel like whether we want to or mean to, we take it a step further and put in all of these other details to signal to viewers Hey, Don’t Take It Serious, It’s A Joke. I know I rag on nnsg a lot, but even that series, the one that arguably perpetuates this need to hide behind irony, has its own story. I feel like even the creator of that series wanted to do more, and it shows that by the end, there’s a significant jump in animation as tragedy unfolds.
I feel as though I’m circling around, but I feel like series like that, yaoi the fanime, and others use that irony to get you interested so that their genuine feelings come through. Series like Tokyo Magic Star (which started as a stealth parody) and Panties Warfront (premise alone) ended up shedding their irony to be serious, to be genuine with you and me, the viewers. I look up to them a lot for it. But I don’t fault the people who have to use that irony out of fear of judgment, or to just get people to even watch their series in the first place, because I fall under that category too (see: Trashbag Cupid)
I’m not sure I had a point here, or if people even agree with me, because I might be looking into it too much. But I wish it didn’t have to be this way, is all.
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Spring 2018 Anime Final Review
So, uh, this is six months late. I’ve had half of this post in my drafts forever. To make it short, as I’ve mentioned previously, mom lost her job, which has not only been a heavy hit to my sense of stability for the last six months, but also means my time to watch anime was seriously reduced and even now a slight change of plans fucks up my whole schedule and sets me back for a full week. Anyway, nobody cares about any of these shows anymore so let’s get straight to it? I’m gonna ommit the two-cours that continued into the Summer - hopefully I’ll be able to make that post soonish? idk. Worst to best, same as usual
The crappy gender politics pit of shame
Darling in the FRANXX: I think everyone has ripped this show to threads at this point and there isn’t much I could add to that. It is quite funny to me to see how many people flipped out when the show went completely bananas in its last few episodes. Feels a bit like KADO, I’ve been telling y’all this was a ton of empty crap since episode 2, it just took the writing to completely self-destruct for everyone else to notice. A part of me feels tempted to do a long post breaking down just how badly the show collapsed in its final shebang, specifically how every single twist and turn completely nulled any remote kind of message or central thesis the show may have had, but at the same time it doesn’t seem worth the time. In the end, I may have given What is Internal Consistency, The anime way too much credit. It’s not hateful antigay propaganda, it’s just dumb as shits, with a writer and creators who didn’t think for half a second of the implications of what they were doing, and who were so incompetent they couldn’t even conserve the minimal plot and character coherency within a single episode, let alone 24. In other words, Darling isn’t saying “gays shouldn’t exist” but “I have no idea of anything regarding gay people”. What makes it egregious is that the show spent so much time acting like it was “meaningful” and “important” and yet it ended saying absolutely fucking nothing. Except mayb “have babies”. Down to oblivion you go, along with the likes of KADO, to the void of shows that couldn’t even be offensively bad and no one will remember a year from now. Bonus garbage points for the half-assed “bury your gays”.
Nil of Libra Admirari or whatever this show was called: I’m not trying to diss on the show, I just genuinely never remember the title because I have the JP and EN all mixed up. Not that it matters much, as far as I could tell, the show could call Shalabalabatuna and it would have the same significance in regard to the content. But the title isn’t important. In fact, it may be a bit unfair to have this show in this section. For the most part, Main Girl is very self-determined and has an active role in the story.... but then the last two episodes heavily featured a lot of rape threats or rape themes and forced pregnancy (real and threat) and I don’t really understand why they’d go there all of a sudden. One of them was treated relatively well, even empowering the victim in the process, but when the ikemen bad guy was rambling endlessly about how he wanted to impregnate the protagonist it really turned me off :/ I’m also not a fan of “main boy was her secret fiancé all along”, but at least they also handled that somewhat decently. It’s a very disposable series, but since I watched all of Amnesia, I think I owe every otoge adaptation at least the smallest chance to clear that very low bar, and Libra of Nil does it, more competently than most other stuff in the same genre.
Hisone to Masotan: I really, really wanted to love this show. Even now, as I put it in the pit of shame category, I’m pained. There was a good show in this, and a lot of it made it to the screen: an adorable, charming little story about a woman finding her place in the world, making new friends, finding her calling and bonding with an adorable dragon. Unfortunately, it got buried down under this opressing, horrendous gender politics that tried to do something with bringing attention to sexism in the military only to cancel it out making the one dude that embodied that sexism getting rewarded with the affections of a girl he explicitly tried to crush. It also called back on the virgin or whore fallacy and even managed to shove in a “bury your gays” trope. Even though Hisone challenges the ritual bullshit, it’s too little, too late, and she does end up carrying it out anyway, so the defiance to the status quo is of little importance in terms of problematizing the ritual itself. Sorry BONES, it wasn’t meant to be this time.
The ni fu ni fa section
Ni fu ni fa is a Mexican colloquialism for “It was okay but it didn’t change my life.”
Binan Koukou Chikyuu Boueibu HAPPY KISS: This soft reboot of the franchise had some really great episodes and did an actually good job of developping its characters. For the most part, it achieved what its predecessor did in terms of satirical comedy and I enjoyed it quite a bit. However, what bunked it down so low in the list was the final episode. At some point, the writers forgot they were doing a parody and made the show somewhat self-serious, way closer in tone to the magical girl anime it was supposed to be making fun of, rather than the satire its predecessor was. Whereas S1 ended with the whole Magical boy stuff being revealed as a crappy space reality TV show, this one ended with a real cheesy conflict about happiness and family and blablabla. Which is not bad by itself if this were a Precure show, but that kind of self-serious plot development just didn’t work for this series. I still enjoyed it, and the fanservice episode is one of the best of the whole franchise, but I’m a bit sad the finale missed the mark so badly.
Hinamatsuri: Hinamatsuri was very hit-or-miss for me. There were some truly brilliant episodes, a lot of funny vignettes and heart-warming stories, and then there was some stuff that made me uncomfortable -like every single Hitomi story- or felt unnecessary and dry. It also threw me off that the superpower dynamic completely disappeared in the second half of the show, especially in Anzu’s part of the story. It was okay but I feel like I needed something that felt like a closing, and choosing to end it with Mao who featured very minimally in the show overall didn’t cut it. It’s a fun show, I’d reccommend people check it out, but it felt a bit too disjointed for me
Persona 5: The Animation: This is a hard show to place because I love the looks of it and I think the concept is interesting and pretty cool, but there is something that’s keeping me from connecting emotionally to the story. The part where changing the villains’ heart makes them repent from their sins and become “good” feels very artificial and very tasteless when you’re dealing with rapists and abusers. I ended dropping it at episode 16, I just couldn’t find the motivation to catch up with the 6 episodes i’d fallen behind on because my schedule is a tragedy
Tokyo Ghoul: Re: I guess it’s fair to say I’ve kind of outgrown Tokyo Ghoul. There’s something messy and confusing about how this season panned out, and there comes a point in which misery porn just doesn’t cut it anymore. I still watch because Ishida has a way to make every single goddamn character extremely sympathetic, which makes for an emotionally engaging viewing even when you’re not sure of what the plot is supposed to be or who you should be rooting for. I tried picking up the new season that just started airing and immediately found I had no idea of what was going on, who was on who’s side and in general, who the fuck were 90% of the characters, so I dropped it.
Nanatsu no Taizai: Imashime no Fukkatsu: I’ve mentioned it before, this second season had the opposite problem than the first one: the pace was too slow. It took more than half of it to get to Escanor, and then the season ends at a kind of random spot. I really thought we’d get further along on the story, since Gowther’s backstory was hinted at in the openings, but no such thing happened. They did manage to give us a variety of cool moments and fights, and I love Ban so his scenes with Zhivago and Elaine made me quite happy, though I really wish the romance between Elizabeth and Meliodas wasn’t su dubious and cringy. In light of some revelations that take place further along the manga, going out of their way to emphasize that Meliodas was a sort of mentor figure for Elizabeth when she was a toddler seems unncessary and just very squeamish. I do hope we get a third season though, and an OVA of the Vampires of whatever side story would be great too.
Rokuhoudou Yotsuiro Biyori: I was pleasantly surprised by this show, and it’s closer to being one of my top of the season than it is to “meh”. It had some weaker, cheesier segments, but it also managed great whacky moments and a genuine soothing atmosphere. What surprised me most is that the vanilla looking cast of moderately handsome dudes managed to develop into interesting, funny individuals with a dynamic that made every episode enjoyable. A solid reccommendation for anyone wanting to see delicious looking food and moderately handsome dudes being ridiculous. Also, the cat episode is the best episode of anime ever produced.
The I’m probably the only person alive who enjoys these shows
Mahou Shoujo Ore: This is a difficult show to place because it wasn’t quite as great as I wanted it to be and its parodic nature took me by surprise, but somehow I was still seriously entertained more often than not. The twists in the final quarter and the absolutely bonkers finale was a total riot, but I definitely advise caution before going in, given that some of the jokes may seem insensitive or in poor taste in regards to gender presentation, sexuality and there are even some mild harrassment jokes that certainly made me roll my eyes.
Yowamushi Pedal: Glory Line: I don’t know if anyone’s noticed, but I think through half of the show’s 25 episode run, I was convinced the title was actually Glory Road. It’s kind of anticlimactic that it’s called Glory Line if they don’t actually reach the final Goal btw. Anyway, I feel I say this a lot, but really, if you didn’t like the previous Yowapeda seasons, there’s nothing here for you, and if you did, you’re probably not gonna hop off this late in the game. This season does suffer from the same dragging than its predecessors, with the added issue of being quite pessimistic for no reason in about half the episodes, and a diminished presence for Onoda. I really wish they hadn’t dragged the Day 2 goal so long, I really hoped we’d see the end of the race, but no such luck I guess. Still love most of it and hope we get one more season or a movie to complete the story.
The favorites of the season
Golden Kamuy: In spite of its pacing issues, terrible animation and general clunkiness, I can’t help but love this show. When season 1 ended my feelings for it had mellowed quite a bit, but as soon as I picked up season 2 this Fall I just fell in love all over again. It’s fun, unique, over-the-top in some ways, incredibly grounded in others, and the dynamics between the characters are incredibly charming.
Hozuki no Reitetsu: It’s hard to talk about this one because it feels repetitive, given how tonally the show remains just the same across its three seasons. It could’ve very well been a one-season, 36 episode show, for how little it changes in spite of the time that transpired between the first season and the second. But in short, the comedy continues to be as spot on as always, the Zashikiwarashi twins are the best addition to the cast. It’s definitely a show I could watch endless episodes off, and the rare case of an episodic series with no overarching plot that I can enjoy wholeheartedly.
Card Captor Sakura: Clear Card arc: Over the course of the series, I’ve expressed a few concerns and misgivings about how the story of this 20th anniversary sequel was playing out. The final episode was particularly troublesome in that it left the story unfinished in spite of deviating from the manga. In spite of this, more than anything I’m very happy that this continuation still retains what made the original so special, that they captured the magic behind Sakura’s “everything will be alright” spell and gave us the chance to spend more time with these beloved characters and see their stories continue. The slow but sweet development of Sakura and Syaoran’s puppy love is a definite highlight. Needs more Touya/Yukito and Yue in general.
Piano no Mori: This show got heavily overlooked because it was kidnapped by Netflix (pls stop immediately), and then when it was finally unceremoniously dumped a month or two ago, it came under fire for the wonky CGI during the piano scenes -and it is indeed very wonky-. But beyond that, I found the story very engaging, especially because Kai is such a fascinating protagonist, his intense rivalry-friendship with Megane-kun (sorry, it’s been six months, i can’t remember names) is exactly the type I can’t help but root for. Kai’s participation in the final episode gave me goosebumps. I’m very happy we’re getting a continuation, can’t wait to see how the Chopin competition develops.
Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii: Sweet, funny and absolutely delightful from start to finish, Wotakoi was easily one of the highlights of the season. Although there were some aspects about Cosplayer-senpai and Yuri Otaku-senpai’s (I’m really trying to remember the names, I’m sorry!! ;---;) that didn’t work for me -namely the izakaya segment- Narumi and Hirotaka more than made up for it with their clumsy yet adorable romance. I spent the entirety of the amusement park episode screeching. I really hope we get a continuation -and get a chance to see more of Hirotaka’s brother and his gamer friend too- and that in general we can get more anime about adult stories
Megalobox: Who would’ve thought that a show that wasn’t even in my radar before the season started would’ve end as one of my favorites, possibly of the year? Even as someone who’s only marginally acquainted with Ashita no Joe and has no interst in the sport of boxing, I was completely enthralled by the style and passion of this production. As I said a bit above, intense rivalries are very appealing to me, and the build up in the tension between Joe and Yuri was almost palpable, their mutual respect gave me chills. Definitely the surprise of the season, made even better by its optimistic happy ending to contrast with its predecessor’s tragedy. Megalobox is a unique anniversary project that is closer to an homage and it works perfectly. Definitely check it out.
That’s it for the Spring season! I hope i can do the summer season this weekend and maaaybe even my watchlist for the Fall season. Fingers crossed i won’t get swallowed up in other stuff :’D
#anime final impressions#spring anime#god i've forgotten 95% of my tags#darling in the franxx#megalobox#wotaku ni koi wa muzukashii#piano no mori#card captor sakura clear card arc#hozuki no reitetsu#golden kamuy#yowapeda#mahou shoujo ore#rokuhoudou yotsuiro biyori#nanatsu no taizai#persona 5#tokyo ghoul: re#hinamatsuri#hisone to masotan#binan koukou chikyuu boueibu
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I'm kinda afraid to ask, but what was the panel that made you hate Ennis so much?
Ugh. So, dunno how long you’ve been following me, but three things that you probably know about me because I am the least subtle person that ever lived and also once I find a point to harp on about I hammer that point over and over until that point is dead and extinct and then I go to necromancy school, learn how to resurrect that point and do it all over again.
Hey, I’m a work in progress, ok?
But yeah. 1) Kyle Rayner is one of my three favorite superheroes and I identify with him and project on him way more than is probably healthy because what is moderation even. 2) I have absolutely zero chill when it comes to how rape is treated and handled by media and entertainment, and the quickest way to get me to hate your guts is making a joke of it or not treat it seriously. 3) Number two, repeated, but with emphasis.
Mix that together, with some additional rage because racist stereotypes and also DC’s track record with rape in their comics in general, and I have super strong feelings on the otherwise forgettable miniseries that was the JLA/Hitman crossover.
So first off, Ennis created this parody character. For lack of a better word. No idea who or what he’s meant to be a parody of or what the hell Ennis was aiming for in general (if he was aiming for anything at all, I mean, his brand is basically being offensive is fun, yay). I mean, I guess you could call him a joke character, maybe, except there’s nothing remotely funny about him…look, idk. He’s disgusting, everything about this character is disgusting.
His name’s Bueno Excellente and here’s the summary of his character they have on comicvine, copied and pasted word for word. Its completely accurate based on what I remember of his appearances. I give this character summary alone trigger warnings for anti-latine racism, fatphobia, sexual assault and rape. Which says a lot right there.
And I’m not even slightly joking about these trigger warnings. Take them seriously in regards to whether or not you even want to know.
“Bueno Excellente is a pervert and more than likely a dangerous sadist who just so happens to be a member of a superhero team in the DC Universe, Section 8. The team consists of a bunch of delusional superhero wannabes and Bueno, who is just sort of there.Bueno Excellente fights evil with the powers of perversion. How exactly this works in a non-Vertigo/DC property is never exactly made clear. The audience gets glimpses and their minds must do the rest.Bueno is an overweight, constantly sweating hispanic male who only ever says “Excellente!” or “Bueno”, which is usually preceeded with a chuckle. At one team meeting, one of his fellow teammates yells at him to stop poking him under the table, while Bueno’s hands are both clearly shown to be folded neatly above the table; which just makes one wonder what exactly is happening and feel dirty.In combat, Bueno is typically shown just appearing behind an enemy when they aren’t paying attention. He says one or the other of his words and the “camera” cuts away with a scream sound effect. After one such instance, we later see the headline of a Gotham City newspaper that the person Bueno had snuck up behind had essentially been fatally sodomized, in the craftiest, most family friendly terms they could get this message across in within a non-Vertigo/ DC publication.”
Yeah. So that’s a character that actually exists, thanks to Ennis. I mean, I’d hate him on that alone (and I do), but then you’ve got JLA/Hitman #1, where he takes it one step further, with this throwaway panel.
And this is the crossover where Ennis uses his awesome little caricature character, so this is 100% a deliberate reference to an encounter with Bueno Excellente, by the creator of said character.
So yeah, thanks to a story that will never be referenced again but still very much exists, there’s canon of Kyle being a rape survivor by virtue of being drugged and assaulted by a character whose sole reason for existing is to…rape people. Because, why not, apparently.
Its absolutely a throwaway ‘joke’ that isn’t meant to be treated seriously, but that doesn’t make it better IMO, it makes it worse. There’s absolutely no reason any of this needed to exist, I have no clue WHAT the fuck it exists for, beyond Ennis thinking it was funny I guess? Because again…why? Who fucking knows.
But yeah, everything about it is gross, and it really doesn’t even have anything to do with it being Kyle in specific, I’d hate it just as much no matter what character was used there. But because he is a favorite character and I’ve read pretty much everything he’s in, this particular little goody springs to mind far more often than it probably would if it had been a character I don’t have strong associations for in my head, with it at least potentially being able to slip out of sight, out of mind for me over time. But because its one of my all time faves and I do have good recall for stuff involving characters I really like and emotionally invest in, there’s no avoiding this ‘joke’ even though it always pisses me off all over again to remember it happened.
Not to mention the fact that BECAUSE it was such a stupid random crossover that nobody ever bothered acknowledging after the fact, there’s the additional awareness of the fact that this thing that just…exists, will never again be referenced and thus never given the proper attention and serious scrutiny I strongly feel any instance of writing a character as having been raped actually deserves. And that bothers me. A LOT. Like this nagging itch that’ll never be scratched.
Like, I don’t want to fucking read about characters being raped just because. If you do that to a character, it DAMN well better be because you’re focused on writing the aftermath, the recovery, the part where it isn’t just a thing that happened, its a thing that the person it happened to has to live with, and always will. If that’s not why you’re writing it, I just really fucking wish you wouldn’t.
And it reeeeeally doesn’t help that thanks to this one little fucking panel, ALL THREE of my all time favorite superheroes, the heroes I identify with more than any other and have been emotionally invested in since I was a kid, more than just about any other fictional characters period…..thanks to this panel, ALL THREE of those heroes, Kyle Rayner, Dick Grayson and Bobby Drake, have all been raped in canon stories. With the further commonality between ALL THREE being that not a single one of those instances has ever actually been acknowledged for what they are, by anyone in canon.
And thus all three will never see any followup, aftermath, or any actual STORY about what this having happened to each of these characters actually means, how did it affect them, how did they deal. Those events are just things that happened and then on with the rest of the story as if nothing had just happened, nothing worth mentioning anyway, no need for anyone either in story or out of story to acknowledge what those events actually were and actually like….do something about that.
And that really, REALLY pisses me off and always will.
Just one more reason why I feel so strongly about creator responsibility.
This shit MATTERS. It may not matter to you, the writer, but that doesn’t mean its not gonna matter to your readers, and if you’re gonna be the one to decide hey, this story needs this to happen for whatever reason, this is something that readers need to read happening and be impacted by in whatever ways they end up impacted…then you damn well better be the one to treat that thing you wrote with the gravitas it deserves.
You don’t get to decide it matters enough to be worth MAKING IT HAPPEN only to then turn around and decide it just doesn’t matter enough for there to be a reason why you felt it needed to.
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My 10 pages long essay and Powerpoint on The World’s End and Gary King
(aka why The World’s End and Gary King are two of the most precious things that exist, aka why I love The World’s End and Gary King)
(Based on my own original idea and written after I read this post - @ineverhadadoubt thanks again for sending it to me-
Also please check out this amazing post about the pubs in the movie.)
(I thought I’d tag some people that seemed to agree with my original post and might be interested in reading this. It’s fine if you don’t btw: @smashing-anarchist-poet @jessefandomunited @shakespeareanmemes @jesusinanalcove @aknownlegend @snovyda @smuggsy @immortal-gamora @doodlerdoodle @zane-garrett @lady-dragonfruit @nogoatshere @hum4n3rror @theforceawakcns @duskteeth - wasn’t gonna tag everyone, some I couldn’t even tag so that’ll do-)
Before I begin, I’d like for you to be aware of a few things.
First off, this is gonna be a very very veeeeeery long post so bare with me if you can. I’m probably gonna keep apologizing for the lenght of it in between two things I’m talking about but I’m passionate, sorry.
It’s also a very big post because there’s pictures and a lot of gifs tbh.
Like... i think like, don’t even try to read this on your phone? Idk what it will do to it. tumblr mobile ain’t that strong i think
There’s so much to be said about this movie.
TW: There’s going to be mentions of suicide, depression, addiction, ...
Also, I’m probably going to forget a lot of the points I’d like to illustrate and talk about, that’s one of the downsides of running on a three hours of sleep schedule.
You can check the tags for some trivia on this whole post.
So if anyone wants to add something, feel free. I’d love for people to give me their opinion on the movie, etc.
I’m also probably not gonna mention the direction of the movie too much. I love Edgar Wright with all my stone-cold heart but if I have to talk about how much of a fucking genius he is when it comes to comedy and his movies, we’re literally gonna be there all week, plus I’m not actually planning on writing a 10 pages long essay -or am I?-.
If you haven’t seen the movie, SPOILER ALERT. Seriously though. There’s some stuff in the movie you probably don’t want to know by reading this if you’re planning on watching it and I’m going to talk about everything so.
Finally, I’m going to talk about why I think the movie is not as popular as Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, and the rest will mostly be about Gary King and why he’s a great character but also why he’s an important one.
Well. Let’s go. This is gonna be a wild ride.
In this essay, I will...
Ok, in all seriousness.
So I guess there’s supposed to be an introduction here. This is very unprofessionnal, and I’ve learned how to write essays so shame on me. Oh, well. We’re here to talk about Gary Fucking King. It’s ok if it’s a mess, the guy’s a living mess on his own. So, when Simon Pegg comes to mind, the Cornetto Trilogy usually does as well. At least, the first movie that you probably think of is Shaun of the Dead. And often, Hot Fuzz is mentionned as well. But I never ever hear anything about the World’s End. God, even Stephen Colbert got the name wrong while talking to Simon, calling it “The End of the World”. Granted the movie wasn’t the subject, but... Why did it happen? Why is The World’s End seen as “the weakest one”, as “not as good as the first two”, is the one people don’t remember, and is assimilited to other weird claims of the sort?
I personally feel like it’s because it’s more layered than the other two movies, actually, it’s a bit more complicated. I’m not saying here “if you didn’t get it you’re dumb” or “only smart people will get the message”. Not at all. I had to watch it a couple of times before I started to get a lot of things about Gary and the movie in general, and even today, when I watch it, I notice new things and tiny details that I never realized were there before. That happens with the whole trilogy because the three movies are amazingly well done, but I feel like it’s harder to grasp with The World’s End. But why?
I think it’s because we directly know what Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz are about. The three movies are about more than an apocalyptic scenario or living surrounded by a cult made of murderers. There’s always a message behind the main themes.
With Shaun of the Dead, it’s kind of a given, really. The little introduction of the environment shows you that it looks like the town is filled with z****es before they even actually arrive and just with that, the scene is set, we know what -behind the parody and other elements of the film- Simon and Edgar decided to criticize about society (it becomes deeper with Shaun’s character but I’ll get to that later, same with Angel).
In Hot Fuzz, the critic of society is a bit more subtle, but still there for people to see. That’s the point right? Send a message without making you feel like you’re “being thaught a lesson”, or something like that, and these movies do it brilliantly. Because that’s the thing. People watching the Cornetto Trilogy sit down in front of their screen to have a good time, have a laugh and go one with their day. But The World’s End is different. It’s still extremely funny, but it doesn’t give off the same vibe as SotD and HF. You feel like there’s something more, you feel that it’s actually a tragic movie.
Yes, it still has the same kind of message, here with how much of a fuck up a human being can be, how humans are stubborn even if they make mistakes, but that it’s part of life and a word with “perfect beings” wouldn’t necessarily be better. It’s about growing up and accepting that you have to leave your childhood or teenage years at some point, and all that stuff surrounding these themes. You think it was the better part of your life, but often... it isn’t (again, I’ll come back to this later). It’s just harder to grasp because of the tone and maybe because people don’t like to hear this kind of things.
So the problem is, people often miss (or dismiss) the point.
I don’t think you know about this but there’s this French website called Betaseries.
On it, you can have an account and have a list with the tv shows you’re currently watching or the films you’ve watched or want to watch.
You can download subtitles for the new episodes you wanna watch if you need them, you can rate movies, comment to give your opinion, you can tick which episodes you’ve seen so that you can keep track of what you’re watching and not forget where you’re at, etc. Pretty useful website, I’m always on it.
So, I obviously went to see what people thought of The World’s End. It’s got a good enough rating, really, 3.62 out of 5 stars. It’s not a four or a five but only because of two users who didn’t like it all that much. So I read their reviews. One was a 2/5 and one was a 3/5:
“To summarize the movie: the world is invaded by a pacifist extra-terrestrial entity that kills human to exchange them with clones but that accept to leave the planet if you ask (with insults, please!) ???
To use one of the movie’s favorite expression: WTF?????!!!!!
I liked the story of “Shaun of the Dead” better ^^”
“Having liked "Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz”, I was impatient to see Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg’s new movie, unfortunately, it isn’t as “good” as the last two. Technically perfect, the story drags on and the mid-life crisis Simon Pegg’s character goes through becomes tedious after some time… but not everything’s good for the trash! The English humor is really present, the play-on-words, the references… you don’t mind watching it. I feel like you need to watch it a second time to appreciate its real worth.
Naturally, watching it in VO is absolutely necessary.”
The other people that commented had all 4 or 5 stars and were only saying that the movie was very funny, therefore enjoyable and good.
I think that’s the thing. When you think “Cornetto Trilogy”, you think “having a good time”. You watch it, you can see that there’s a message behind it, but you don’t spend your time focusing on it or looking for it, because it’s usually pretty simple to get. You pay more attention to the comedy, the references, etc.
And that is where The World’s End becomes different. It’s not focused on the comedy or the references (well, yes it is and it’s still incredibly funny, it was meant to be), but you have to focus on what is actually going on with Gary King to get it all. That’s why the big meanie leaves “just because they asked”. Remember what it says before leaving (and destroying the world btw)?
That’s something that’s been said to Gary a few times throughout the movie, but here, it’s clearly aimed at the three of them, hence at the humans, because they’re speaking for their entire race. That’s why it leaves. Because the message is “it’s pointless arguing with humans, they’re going to do whatever they want anyway, you can’t change their mind, etc., they have to learn thanks to their own mistakes so you have to let them make them, not force them to be perfect.” This kind of things.
But when you read the reviews above... These are the only two reviews where you can see that they really tried to get what was going on, but maybe missed it, and because of that, they didn’t like the movie all that much and rated it badly. Gary King isn’t just going through “a mid-life crisis”. He really isn’t. There is so much more to him that it drives me actually crazy that this movie isn’t as praised as the rest of the trilogy. Literally nuts.
With that being said, I think it’s time to really get into who Gary King is, why he is such an amazing character and why there’s more to him than a “mid-life crisis”. So I’m going to talk about him (obviously), about his effect on others, about his relationship with his friends, his addiction, etc., and why it just makes the plot so much better. I hope you’re still with me. And that it’s been understandable up to this point because I really can’t express my ideas the way I want to easily, sorry about that.
The Cornetto trilogy doesn’t just have these hidden messages, morals, … A common thing between these movies is that the characters played by Simon Pegg are all flawed. They’re just flawed human beings. And these characters have to work on themselves to become better. The plot is usually what makes them realize things and help them grow to become their best self.
In Shaun of the Dead, Shaun is going nowhere with his life, he’s stuck in a routine with a dead-end job and a relationship he’s screwing up because Liz is the only one working on it. It’s not that he hates his life, but he doesn’t do anything to make it better either, he doesn’t really see the point. . He’s just there so he does what he’s got to do, but he doesn’t get out of his way to do more. And like Pete says, Shaun needs to sort his life out and do something. Here, killing z****e is apparently the way to a healthy and more positive life. (and no, I will not say the z-word and you shouldn’t either)
In Hot Fuzz, Nicholas Angel puts his work before anything else. That’s why his very serious relationship ended, it even caused him to be disliked by his colleagues and superiors. Like Janine says, he won’t ever be able to turn off if he doesn’t find someone he cares about more than his job. And throughout the movie, you see how Nicholas becomes, but also how other characters become thanks to him. I could talk about this masterpiece, about the foreshadowing in it and especially about Danny Butterman for hours on end but I’m not here for that today.
Also, Shaun had Pete to tell him what was wrong with him. Nicholas had Janine to tell him what was wrong with him. Who does that for Gary King? Because again, Gary is a very flawed character who needs to change as well. But first, we have to ask ourselves one question:
Who is Gary King?
Let’s get some answers.
Well, I’d give you a lot of answers if I had them but… we don’t really know much about Gary King, do we? Well, what we know about his past is what he told the people in the rehabilitation session. That he was The King. But it’s only later on in the movie that we’re able to get new details about him that help us get a clearer idea of who he is.
The King, the leader of their little group, the popular kid, is also selfish and self-centered. He’s injured his friends with his reckless behavior, he injured himself, he was already a heavy drinker and was using drugs. We don’t know much about his real past, about his family, or else. We know he hasn’t spoken to his mother in eight months when the movie takes place. He arrived in a psychiatric hospital after a suicide attempt but hasn’t told anyone, clearly. His mother doesn’t even know. He doesn’t like the way the hospital was “helping” him and after a quick decision, he got out of it to regroup his old friends and make an attempt at the Golden Mile again.
We know he isn’t happy. He’s bitter and sad, clinging onto a past he thinks better than anything else he could ever have. Addicted for most of his life and depressed to the point where he tried to kill himself. In the movie, he clearly just tries to reassure himself about his life, always lying to himself and to others.
Whenever reality catches up to him, he shies away from it, he’s not even able to look at Andy anymore. And the problem is, his friends are the reality and he’s the lie. He’s convinced himself of things so much that he believes in them and he can’t hear another version of the events that have happened, he needs to keep his embellished memories intact because he’d rather believe in a lie than in what he is.
He desperately needs the attention, because he’s so alone. He needs to live in his lie, to relive that great night, that moment when he could seduce Oliver’s sister, when his friends would have followed him to the end of the world, to finally prove himself right. And like Andy says, he’s never wrong, is he? He’d rather lie about his mother dying than face rejection and where he’s at. He’d rather have people stay with him because they pity him than because they want to be with him.
He lies about it as a last attempt to convince Andy to come along to Newton Haven, after also giving him money he had been owning him. (I’ll talk about the rest of this scene later on, it’s a very important thing to mention.)
And then, when reality is thrown at his face by Andy again, he miserably tries to get his sympathy once more, despite Andy not having it:
Just after that scene and right before they find out the truth about his mother, Peter says “I can’t help but feel sorry for him”, what Gary intended to do. He manipulates and is upset that things don’t go his way, no matter for what reason he is actually manipulating them. He wouldn’t admit it’s because he’s lonely and unhappy and that because he needs them to feel better, he’s fine with hurting their feelings again.
When he leaves the table to go to the restroom, he looks at himself and finally lets some real emotion out, only to realize what he’s doing.
He’s not proud of it. His friends have changed, yes, but he hasn’t. He’s still the same impulsive and selfish young man he used to be, but now he realizes that’s not how life works. Life doesn’t just go his way like it used to, or like he thought it used to. Life happens to you, you're not in control, and he probably realized that months ago, as he tried to end it.
Still, when the teenager arrives in the restroom, he puts his walls back up again directly, tries to show off and to befriend the young man by impressing him. He sees himself in him, a young and free man who just enjoys his time with his friends.
That’s why he was looking at them this way earlier in the pub:
Or when both groups crossed path outside in the afternoon. Yet, when the boy doesn’t respond and ignores him, he gets upset again and is ready to provoke a teenage boy for not paying attention to a drunk guy inviting him to drink with him and his friends.
Yes, the alcohol and the built-up frustration of the evening made him provoke that boy, but it doesn’t mean he’s not aware of the gravity of his actions every time he does something. He’s clearly aware that he manipulates his friends, that he only thinks about himself. It’s always in very short moments that you see him look away or having a hard time processing everything, because he knows the way he acts and as much as he hates himself for it, he can’t help it. To the point where he uses the terrible situation of Newton Haven, no matter if they might die, to finish the pub crawl. Why? He doesn’t care if he dies. At all. It’d probably be easier for him.
He can’t stand himself, but he can’t be someone else. He got upset at the boy’s silence, taking it as an insult, a way of being disrespectful towards him and in his head, no one should disrespect Gary King. There was a time when he loved being himself but like Sam rightfully says:
So with that in mind, what is Gary King?
That, I believe, is one of the most exciting part of the character. He’s as much the villain as he is the hero of the movie.
He’s a villain in his behavior, always has been. He liked being a “bad boy”, but he really did hurt his own friends and has been selfish for a long time. A lot of things that he did and still does make him a villain in this story. Yet, he doesn’t flinch in front of danger, he throws himself in battles the way he used to when Peter would get bullied. He fights for his life and stands his ground in front of the “big boss”, speaking on behalf of the entire human race so that the enemy would leave them be. He’s obnoxious, but he’s also very lovable. Again, like Sam said:
He wouldn’t be able to make someone else happy, or maybe for a while, but he probably wouldn’t be able to resist getting back to his old antics. He’s not meant to live a quiet life with a family, he needs his freedom, as he calls it, but deep down, he’s never actually been a Bad Person™ . He does care about his friends, in his own fucked up way, but he’s too damaged to do any good around him, it doesn’t matter if he’d like to or not.
That’s why he leaves again in the end. He can’t stay there and face everything that has happened. He saw his chance to start all over again and let his remaining friends be happy together, without getting in the way. He did the right thing by getting sober, but he regained his freedom, is still a rebel by staying with a bunch of blanks and not humans, and he’s with the version of his friends he’s always wanted to be with again. Maybe it’s a bit unhealthy for him to stay with these specific blanks, but it’s a better coping mechanism than alcohol and drugs. He’s his true self, but he’s sober and definitely feels better, like he belongs there.
Now, the time has come. Let’s really introduce his friends, talk about his relationship with them before talking about how he takes responsibility for his actions and how he deals with change. (yes I’m sorry this is endless)
All his friends have little stories to tell about his behavior during the movie. He injured all of them as well as he injured himself, and even if Oliver is the only one who didn’t receive a scar, he got his own birthmark removed because of the nickname they would always use. Gary was the only one using it still during the movie, despite being told off.
I’ll introduce them using Gary’s words in the beginning of the movie. It allows us to see the way he perceives them. Keep in mind that it’s the only way he could ever see them at that point, as he doesn’t know what they became and who they really are at that point in their lives. What we, as viewers, know, is that they seem to have all become pretty successful when it comes to their careers, and they just seem to have a good life in general, compared to Gary who is in that hospital and dealing with his addictions.
So, we’ve got Oliver Chamberlain. Gary introduces him by saying: “Ollie was funny, he fancied himself as a bit of a player, but really, he was all mouth. We called him O-man because he had a birthmark on his forehead that looked like a six. He loved it.”
He certainly did not love it. Like I said, he got the birthmark removed because it annoyed him so much to be called O-man. We don’t know much about Oliver, really. He manages a boutique estate agency in North London, he’s doing good, he’s always working. His sister is Sam Chamberlain, Steve has had a crush on her since high school and Gary had sex with her in the disabled. He’s in a sort of competition with Steve to win her over. We know Oliver was already acting like a business man in school. During their first attempt at the Golden Mile, he was out of commission after the 6th pub.
He’s also often mentioning Gary’s drug abuse throughout the movie.
He was clearly uninterested in going back to Newton Haven, he was very reluctant at the idea, but Gary succeeded in tricking him to go back. During the movie, Gary says a couple of times that Oliver is doing really good, as he didn’t go that far in the crawl the first time. He obviously doesn’t know he has been replaced by a blank in the middle of the crawl but he does say that he likes the new Oliver, the one that seems to be fine with following him around, who is able to go on with the crawl and encourages the others to join the party.
Now, Peter Page. Gary says: “Pete was the baby of the group. He wasn’t the kind of kid we’d usually hang out with, but he was good for a laugh. And he was absolutely minted.”
The cool guy hanging out with the most bullied kid in school? He indicates there that his wealth was one of the reasons he was friend with Peter, despite saying that “he was good for a laugh.” You can see that they get along pretty well during the movie, once Peter is relaxed with the alcohol. They joke around and laugh together quite easily. During the first attempt at the Golden Mile, after smoking marijuana in The Smokehouse, he was left on a park bench while Gary, Steve and Andy kept on going. He still works with his father and became his business partner. He’s the one who sold The Beast to Gary back in the day.
The scar Gary gave him was when Peter let him drive his 50cc Suzuki. Gary rolled over his leg.
He clearly was looking up to Gary at the time, probably because he was defending him whenever he’d get bullied.
There are a few moments where you can also see how submissive Peter still is, traumatized by the extreme bullying he went through in high school. He hates confrontation. He hides behind his newspaper when his kids are “fighting” at the table. It’s impossible for him to say anything when he meets his bully in one of the pubs and whenever a fight explodes, he’s the first one to try and hide, not fight.
He was killed and replaced after finally standing up against the blank that replaced his bully.
Steven Prince. Gary doesn’t have much to say about him: “Steve was a pretty cool guy. We jammed together, chased the girls. I think he saw us as rivals. Sweet, really.”
Like Oliver, we don’t have many information about his life. He had his own construction company, and he was bought out in ’05. At the beginning of the movie, he’s going out with a 26-year-old fitness instructor but the person he truly loves is Oliver’s sister, Sam. Gary and Steve got along just fine, but with what Gary says, you can see he thought he was better than Steve in different ways (shocking, I know). Gary and he used to play music together but stopped when Gary sold Steve’s bass to buy drugs.
In 1987, so when they were around fourteen, while they were playing cricket, Gary accidentally pushed Steven onto a broken bottle and Steve was left with a scar… well, on his ass. Now, we don’t know the origin of the bottle, but you certainly don’t need it to play cricket, from what I know? We also don’t know what they were drinking, so maybe I’m reaching by saying it could have already been Gary’s if he was already drinking alcohol, but we wouldn’t know so again, I might just be reaching! not confirming anything. Still, Gary injured him as well.
He wasn’t really happy when he saw Gary again for the first time, but still ends up going back. During the first Golden Mile, Steve was still there at the end. Even if they didn’t finish it, he was with Andy and Gary on the hills at sunset.
Now, Andy is the most important one, obviously. It wasn’t a surprise. Simon and Nick always play the two main characters and they always have a very strong bond. And Gary’s relationship with Andy is quite fascinating to say the least. For someone with as much pride as Gary King, talking about the way he feels is not all that easy. At least not without disguising it a little. Before we get into that part, here’s Andy’s introduction. This time, I’ll just explain who he is, and then show Gary’s words because I’ll talk about them more.
So, from what we know, Andy used to play rugby when he was younger. When the film takes place, he’s a corporate lawyer, he’s married and has kids. He seems to be doing quite well, even though we learn he and his wife are separated at the moment and that he's trying to get her back.
During the first pub crawl, he made it to the end of the night with Gary and Steve, ending up on the hills at sunset and failing the Golden Mile. Back in ’86, Gary injured him as well when they reenacted the knife game from Alien. Gary accidentally stabbed him in the middle finger.
We know that he remained friends with Gary until December 1997. Gary overdosed and Andy, while being extremely drunk, attempted to drive him to the hospital. He crashed his car and he had to go through a life-saving surgery that lasted for 12 hours before getting arrested. At that point, Gary who had made a “miraculous fucking recovery”, as Andy puts it, had abandoned him on the scene of the crash. After these events, Andy stopped talking to Gary and also stopped drinking.
It seems that “the accident”, as it’s referred as in the movie, drove them amm apart. We at least know they were still talking to each other in ’92, two years after they left school, because that’s when they decided to stop calling him “Fearless Leader”.
So they probably kept hanging out until the accident. Gary was certainly the glue sticking the group together but finally took it too far.
Now, when talking about Andy, Gary says this:
“And Andy. Andy was my wingman. The one guy I could rely on to back me up. He loved me, and I’m not being funny, but I loved him.”
Why would he be funny by saying that? Because admitting he loves his friend makes him less of a badass? No, he really liked his friends. But he loved Andy so much.
And I’m not talking as a shipper or anything. I’m really not. Actually, I’ve never shipped Gary with anyone if I have to be honest. Like Sam says, he’s not boyfriend material. I’m talking about platonic friendship. A very strong friendship that still existed despite “the accident”. That’s why Andrew keeps following Gary until they arrived at The World’s End, because he still cares, and he can’t watch him destroying himself like that. That’s why they all went back. Because in a way, they cared. They kept complaining but seeing everyone wasn’t that bad. They did laugh together, even with Gary, despite being pissed at him. They also weren’t expecting much of him, they know him:
But Gary’s relationship with Andy is special.
Andy is kind of the one who made everyone come back. They clearly didn’t go back for Gary. They went because of Gary, but each of them has asked if Andy would be there first. Probably because Andy’s presence would mean that if he could get past Gary’s mistakes, then maybe they could and should give it a try. And Andy went back with the hope that maybe Gary has changed, even just a little bit. When they are sitting outside while Gary’s playing Need for Speed (for someone who hasn’t seen it, this might sound like a weird as fuck movie), he says this:
Well, of course, he then learned he got money from the other three and gets mad, but you know. He did hope for a split second that he wasn’t exactly the same and that maybe, it was really because of what he told him in his office that Gary wanted to do that again. That’s also why he cuts him some slack at the beginning)
Speaking of the dialogue in his office! Remember I said I would come back to that scene at some point? Well, here we are. Yes, you might have forgotten because this post is very long and I ramble but if you’re still with me, well… it’s not almost the end but we’re getting there. Anyway! So, Gary lies about his mom dying and that’s the following conversation:
Again, maybe I’m reaching, but he seems so honest that I wouldn’t be surprised if he was actually using his mom’s death as a metaphor for his own suicide attempt. It got him thinking about the old days. He never really stopped thinking about them. He still has The Beast, he still has the tape Steve made him and that he was still always listening to, but these last months were probably extremely rough for him and got him really thinking about all of this in a more depressing way than he ever did. His life had been going downhill since he got out of school, but he finally hit rock bottom really hard.
He says his mother has always really liked Andy, but he might as well be speaking about his own feelings. He even says that he likes the guys, but that Andy was the best friend he’s ever had (and probably the only one he ever felt this way for.)
He has a weird behavior around Andy. He’s always acting so confident, but throughout the movie, he keeps seeking some kind of reassurance from Andy. Either because he wants his approval but also because he wants to prove himself right, or because he wants to believe everything is fine between them.
He has a really hard time expressing his true feelings, probably because he’s used to hiding them all the time. Every time he does express them, we can see how miserable he is and why Simon calls him “a walking tragedy”.
This leads me to the three most powerful dialogues in this movie, I think. I mean, in my opinion, they are the most telling about Gary’s truth, even though the movie is sprinkled with hints on what’s going on, like with this very obvious line:
We clearly know that it was something that was told directly to him, we know where, despite him acting like it’s just some trivia.
So the first dialogue I have in mind is the one with Sam. Sorry, loads of gifs are coming your way:
I feel like for the first time in the movie, he’s kinf of done with his own behavior and he’s ready to have a serious talk and admit some important things. Like when he says Steve is better than him, because he knows he’s a fuck up but now he’s ready to admit it. And in a few lines, you see something else. No, it’s not all about that night, it never was. Life doesn’t have purpose for only one night in your life. Yes, maybe it was the happiest night that there ever was, if it even was, but it doesn’t mean shit, really. But Gary holds on to it like his life was depending on it. Well, in this scenario, it kind of is. Sam tells him that it doesn’t have to be all about that night, kind of letting him know he has the choice to leave it behind and finally move on. And she can see that he gets it. But then, if Gary can’t hold onto that night, he at least wants to keep some things from it, hence his questions about the disableds. Sam agrees, giving him at least that because either way, he’s losing against his own life. If at least he’s trying, she can let him hold onto that memory.
It makes me think of the moment Gary tells Andy that the Golden Mile is all he’s got. There could be so much more, but Gary feels like he’s got nothing else, unlike his friends who have “everything”, like he says. That’s wy he fights for it, because it’s what’s important to him, like Andy is fighting for his marriage.
The second dialogue would be this one:
No, it wasn’t his fault that Andy crashed the car. He didn’t overdose on purpose, and Andy chose to drive him to the hospital while drunk and driving four times over the limit. But he did choose to flee the scene and leave Andy to die. And Andy wouldn’t be so angry and resentful if it hadn’t hurt him so much. It hurt him because he loved Gary.
Remember, when introducing Andy, Gary himself says that Andy was the one guy he could rely on. You’d think it would be the same for Andy, but Gary betrayed him.
Before the third dialogue, I want to elaborate on this, on Gary taking responsibility, kind of? He doesn’t talk about his mistakes.
Every time someone points out one of his past mistake or how his behavior is inappropriate, he changes the subject or tries to get his way.
He doesn’t want to face the things he’s done because he knows he can only blame himself for these situations and he already hates himself enough, he doesn’t need to be reminded of these things again and again.
And it’s also because he wouldn’t like to see his friends discover the way he really feels. Whenever his suicide attempt could get discovered or whenever he thinks about it, he quickly tries to hide the truth.
At first, I’m pretty sure he thought that Andy knew about his attempt, because he’s so surprised when he asks to see his arm. Then, when Andy tells him what injury he wants to see, he’s in full defensive mode and changes the subject again, trying to prove he’s him thanks to his memory, and not a scar.
Andy was ready to bash his head right in if for one second he believed he was a blank, but even then, Gary won’t show his arm, because he can’t let them know he hit rock bottom.
It’s the same with Sam:
The same old gary. Gary doesn’t like change. He hates it. He hates to see that his friends have changed and he knows that in a way, he changed as well, no matter how hard he tries to remain the same old Gary, the one that was happy.
When he learns that there are robots and that it’s not them that have changed but the town, he’s ecstatic.
And finally, the third dialogue I was talking about:
Getting help put Gary in emotional pain, even worse than what he already had before, because of the way he was treated. He hated it, he felt so miserable. Feeling like he’s living a lie, like nothing is what it’s supposed to be, feeling like he has absolutely no control. He doesn’t, not on life, but he could decide to do better. He just doesn’t have the courage.
Andy was already caring, way before that. And he’s always known Gary needed help. At that moment:
Andy wants to finally put the limit. It’s true, it’s the last one. Then, Gary will have completed the Golden Mile. Then, what? That’s not the point but what would Gary have done after that? He would have no purpose and like he says, the Golden Mile is all he’s got. Still, Andy doesn’t let him have one more drink.
Back in the tenth pub, he seemed to happy that Gary was accepting to let it go, to have one last drink and put an end to the crawl. He was still hoping for change.
I feel like this scene just shows how hard it is to overcome addictions just by yourself. He tried, when he got in the hospital, and he ended up leaving. He was really drinking his last beer, at that moment, but he couldn’t resist, once again, and had to have the other two. He really wanted to try, but the temptation was so strong.
Andy follows him because like his marriage, Gary is important, and he fights for what’s important to him.
Maybe Andy was able to make it on his own after the accident, but Gary isn’t Andy. He knows that Gary can’t make it on his own. He was never able to. It doesn’t mean he isn’t strong. Andy knows how strong Gary is, living through his addictions for so long, seeing that he tried to kill himself. He knows he’s strong, but it doesn’t mean he can’t have some help from people who really care about him. Now, he knows that can’t happen unless you force him to. So if he has to actually physically fight Gary to stop him, he will, because he knows his friend wouldn’t be able to stop unless being actually knocked the fuck out. He could let him have the last pint of the Golden Mile, but it would mean he allows him to do what he wants one more time. He puts a stop to it because the Golden Mile doesn’t matter, Gary matters. If he has to shatter his last chance of completing the crawl, even if he’s so close he can almost feel the beer on his tongue, he will if that’s what it takes to make him come to his senses.
Besides, he knows that Gary regrets what he’s done, both in the past and that day. He doesn’t constantly mean to hurt his friends. He does it because he can’t help it, but like Sam says, he’s not a bad person.
By the way, I often wonder what would have happened if they had forced him to show his arm when checking everyone’s scars. If Andy, Peter and Steve had discovered about his suicide attempt at that point.
Would they have understood that Gary was on a suicide mission, at that moment?
And that it was only making it all the more exciting for him?
This is Gary King, everyone.
Also, funnily and terribly enough, he relieved the night the same way he first lived it back in 1990. Some gifs and images as evidence:
Which begs the question; was the first night even that great to begin with?
I think I covered everything I had in mind (not bloody quite but well). I don’t even know. It wasn’t supposed to turn out like this but I’m glad it did, I got to ramble about my favorite trilogy for hours on end so. And also... I’m pretty sure I was trying to prove something with all this but my point is: I’m in love with Simon Pegg.
No, ok. Again. Seriously.
The World’s End is such an underrated movie. And Gary King is such an important character. The movie depicts human nature in the realest way, with all its flaws. And Gary King is depicting mental illness, was written by someone who went through this kind of things. The movie is very personal for both Simon and Edgar, actually. I don’t know much about Edgar, to be perfectly honest. I love his movies, he’s an genius, but I don’t know much about his personal life. I just do know this movie is important for him too. I do know that Simon has dealt with alcoholism, if I’m not mistaken he’s been sober since 2010, he knows what it’s like to battle addiction and depression.
The movie doesn’t romanticize these problems one bit. It shows how bad it can be, and how it can be perceived as by people not knowing much about these things. Remember that comment talking about the fact that the “mid-life crisis” Gary’s going through gets annoying after a while? Welp.
Could you imagine actually living in Gary King’s head for more than an hour. Unbearable. Especially since he’s aware of some of the fucked up things he’s doing and must hate himself for it.
Yes, there’s the humor and the crazy robot stuff going on on the side, but that was my point at the beginning. That’s why the big weird entity that invaded earth isn’t the big villain of the movie.
I always say the same thing about villains. Take Thanos in the MCU for example. He’s the fucking worst and yet, his actions are justified. Careful. Not excusable, justifiable. You understand that there’s a point for him, that he firmly believes in what he’s doing, that he’s sure his actions are what’s supposed to be done to make Earth a better world, that what he does is right. Yet, because we’re rational and fucking decent, we know that’s not the way you solve problems. Here, the enemy believes it needs to replace humanity with perfect beings, to… make Earth perfect, or something. You know that it’s pointless, because like they show, only three humans in Newton Haven were spared. Earth is filled with flawed humans, you’d have to replace everyone to make it better. And yet, these actions are “justified” by a thought process. Doesn’t mean turning humans into compost is excusable. That creature’s definitely a villain, but not the main one in the movie.
The end of the world ain’t even a bad thing in the movie. On the contrary. A lot of people survived and Andy himself says things are simpler. They’re kind of back to the Dark Age and they realized that all their problems seemed very small in comparison to such events, and they’re happier.
Here, Gary is his friends’ enemy, he’s the blank leader’s enemy, and he is his own worst enemy. He hurts absolutely everyone, himself included. Because of his own addictions and depression. That’s what can really happen in real life and that’s something I really like about the movie.
And he ends up alone. He took the decision to leave but you don’t have a dumb female love interest that falls for the bad boy and make the worst decision she could by getting with him at the end so that we’d have a happy end and so would Gary. Sam’s very honest with him, she tells him how things are until he finally understands and agrees with her. He makes the right choice (“for once,” like he says) and makes her save herself and is fine with her ending up with Steve.
He’s always known the truth, but he had to accept it and he does. It’s difficult, but he does.
I don’t think Gary’s end’s a happy one. I have mixed feelings about Gary’s end because I don’t think he’s going to be satisfied on the long term and he does deserve some happiness at that point in his life. He excluded himself from everyone and is still stuck in that circle of not growing up. He’s definitely happier and he’s sober. But what is going to happen? He’s going to grow old and the blanks won’t change and then what? How is he going to feel about that?
It’s a real ending, not a cheesy one. But at least he always has that option of coming back at some point. He did once. And he would be more welcomed, and he’d act the right way.
Like he told his teacher back in high school, all he ever wanted was to have a good time. With the four blanks, he’s traveling and having his own fun, he does what he wants, he has the freedom he always wanted to have, he kind of found his path. That’s all he ever wanted, he just found a new way to do so. At least, he’s got that, and he knows his friends have what they want as well. Earth is destroyed but Steven is with the love of his life, and Andy got back together with his wife and lives happily.
Well. I think that’s about all I wanted to say. I hope. That was long enough. I just hope you guys are still reading, and that you “enjoyed” this thing that took me forever to write. I’d love your opinion. I’d love it if it made other people watch the movie or enjoy it more than they did at first. I just love this movie so much. And I just love Gary King so much.
I rest my case. Lets’ Boo-Boo.
#i started writing this on wednesday but i had so much to do... well ok one activity was rewatching Spaced all over again but still#the world's end#gary king#simon pegg#edgar wright#the cornetto trilogy#shaun of the dead#long post#hot fuzz#nick frost#it's sometimes really hard to explain some stuff when it's not in your first language but i think i did ok#i've been procrasting a lot with this yes i wanted to post it ages ago but at least it's done#i can't even tell you how many times i've watched the movie to do this#actually i could i've been keeping counts of the number of times i've seen the three movies but anyway#when i thought i was done i watched the movie once again and noted everything that came to my mind while watching it#then i checked what i had already talked about and found myself adding a lot of stuff#this was a cool thing to do#i might do more but i'm not sure#i thought i'd actually do a post with the foreshadowing in hot fuzz#like showing what scene or line foreshadow what scene or line or whatever#or all the spaced references in shaun of the dead#stuff like that#so i'm tagging this post as 'my take on' so that if i do more stuff like that i have a tag for it#my take on#also um i love gary king#and this movie#that's about it#i think#oh yeah and making these gifs took me so fucking long i sure as fuck hope you can read them#and i've eaten i don't know how many cornettos while doing this but WHATEVER AM I RIGHT
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Horror Movie Reviews
This is a redo of my post on my main, minus the gifs that way I can make it as long as I want. That being said, this post gets long. Not in any order really though towards the end it’s in order of me watching or remembering movies I’ve seen.
Keep in mind: These are just my personal opinions/reviews.
Rating Key - Pumpkins
🎃🔶🔶🔶🔶 - HATED IT
🎃🎃🔶🔶🔶 - Really didn’t like it but it wasn’t that horrible
🎃🎃🎃🔶🔶 - It was decent. Neutral. No strong opinion.
🎃🎃🎃🎃🔶 - Really liked it but probably wouldn’t watch it again.
🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃 - LOVED IT. 10/10. Would watch again. (Probably already have)
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Halloween (1978)
🎃🎃🎃🔶🔶 3/5 Pumpkins
It was very slow to me. Didn’t seem to really get going until the last 10-20 minutes. I don’t like movies that do ADR honestly but it’s to be expected from older movies. It was a nice start to the series. Don’t hate it. Ending definitely worked to make me watch the next one.
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Halloween II (1981)
🎃🎃🎃🎃🔶 (4/5 Pumpkins)
Not sure why but I liked this one better even though I didn’t get answers to most of my questions. More action, some VERY nice camera shots (in my opinion) and cool lil moments that make you gasp.
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Halloween The Curse of Michael Myers (1995)
🎃🎃🔶🔶🔶 (2/5 Pumpkins)
I left with even more questions and very few answers… Looks much better effects/fake wound wise though.
I was super happy to see Paul Rudd. Nice surprise, I didn’t know he was in it.
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Freddy vs Jason (2003)
🎃🎃🎃🎃🔶
Very enjoyable to watch. (I of course was rooting for Jason the whole time. Just not a fan of Freddy). Didn’t need to watch either original movie/series to understand the two. (I’ve only seen parts of Nightmare on Elm Street, and honestly never watched Friday the 13th.)
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The Boy (2016)
🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃 (5/5 Pumpkins)
I LOVE Brahms and CAN’T WAIT for the sequel. Movie kept me guessing and shocked me at the end (I was pleasantly shocked). The scares weren’t too in your face and the movie kept me interested the whole time. Definitely going to watch again.
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House of Wax (2005)
🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃 (5/5 Pumpkins)
Loved it. I’ve already watched multiple times. I feel so bad for Vincent (pretty much any mask man from horror movies I seem to love. Idk why). Loved the effects and set/props (wax stuff obviously lol). Never really liked the opening scenes though, I’d rather we get right to the House of Wax but understand it’s necessary.
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Child’s Play/ Chucky Movies [1-6] (1988-2013)
🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃 (5/5 Pumpkins)
(I’m going to do each one at some point so grouping these all together just for now).
I’ve rewatched these so much. I find 4 (Bride of Chucky) and 5 (Seed of Chucky) more funny than scary honestly.
Though no idea what they were thinking after that, the one after Seed is no good in my opinion. They should have ended it after Seed. BUT (See below)
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Cult of Chucky (2017)
🎃🎃🎃🎃🔶 (4/5 Pumpkins)
Watched this only cause it was on Netflix and I gotta say it wasn’t that bad. I actually loved the ending though I’m usually one for happy endings. Probably wouldn’t watch it again but it was better than the one before
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The Lost Boys (1987)
🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃 (5/5 Pumpkins)
Love it so much I have it on DVD. Watched it as a kid and never found it too scary but it that’s just cause I fell in love with the characters.... Love Kiefer Sutherland. Didn’t care for any of the sequels.
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Friday the 13th (1980)
🎃🎃🔶🔶🔶 (2/5 Pumpkins)
It’s one of those that was probably super scary at the time it came out. I was between 2-3 Pumpkins for the rating. 1) I knew who the killer was. Hard to avoid spoilers when the movie came out in the 80s 2) I could figure out who survived 3) I like the acting by “Alice” but “Marcy” and “Annie” (omfg).... don’t get me started on Annie.
I am however excited to see the next one. Gimmie some Jason.
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Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
🎃🎃🎃🎃🔶 (4/5 Pumpkins)
Liked it much better than the first. Acting was better. I like how this (like Halloween II) basically showed the ending of the first movie as a reminder (though I didn’t like that it was shown as a nightmare Alice had) And I had a few issues. 1) MUFFIN 2) WHERE’S PAUL? (What was real? What was a dream?)
I also have played the Friday The 13th The Game and it was cool to see one of the maps and basically one of the challenges kill for kill. I didn’t know the challenges were based off the movies, I knew the maps were.
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Friday the 13th - Part III (1982)
🎃🎃🎃🎃🔶 (4/5 Pumpkins)
I liked this one but was left with questions that I don’t know if I missed the answer or what.
Idk how I feel about them changing Jason’s face. Part 2 his face was half deformed (and he had hair!) And now suddenly it’s his whole face and he’s bald. (which, don’t get me wrong, I don’t care what he looks like. I’m just confused as to why they changed it.)
Again cool to see a place the game has as a map (I knew what rooms were what lol) and again how certain people died. And now that kill in the barn (in game not movie) makes sense to be called a revenge kill.
Can’t wait to watch the next one.
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Friday the 13th The Final Chapter (1984)
🎃🎃🎃🎃🔶 (4/5 Pumpkins)
First off…. Yay tiny Cory Feldman. Second … WHAT THE WHAT?! So I liked this one and only had a few problems with it. Namely.. I thought Jason only killed people who we teens/“being bad”/on his land. The family of three had to have been there during the 3rd movie, it was only like a day after the end of that one. I think he shouldn’t have killed the only blonde mom (maybe he doesn’t trust anyone who looks like his mom anymore). And the kid did nothing
WHICH BRINGS ME TO TOMMY. (Who I didn’t know was a kid in the movies…) Why and how did him making himself look like a young Jason work? A simple “he moved” would have assured his sister he wasn’t going insane. And also, what did Jason possess him at the end?? (Or was it just to show he’d grow up to like hacking people?)
And my last problem was… Why did the “peace” girl have to die?! She wasn’t doing anything!
Also … Trish… Why didn’t you just jump over that body…you did going back. Anyway I liked it. (XD)
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Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The beginning (2006)
🎃🎃🎃🎃🔶 (4/5 Pumpkins)
Well right off the bat I want to hug Thomas and never let go. (I also want to maim everyone who insults him and calls him the R word. I really HATE that word). Honestly didn’t know about the whole cannibal aspect to the movie(s) I just knew about the face wearing. “Hoyt” gave me the fucking creeps but I did like how he defended Thomas in the beginning. I still have to watch the movie that came before this and the originals (Where his name isn’t Thomas apparently. I like it as Thomas) but Thomas has been added to the list of Slashers I like.
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Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2
🎃🎃🎃🔶🔶 (3/5 Pumpkins)
This one was meant to be a dark comedy, which I can see how but yikes...
I watched this one before the first one just because I heard that he ends up liking a girl in it and I love Bubba so I wanted to see that. Now I know where the “Wiggles” gif comes from. I find him so adorable even though he makes the girl wear a face… I like him a bit better than the one in the first movie only cause we see more of him not just chasing someone. I’m a sucker for anything even slightly romantic.
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Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
🎃🎃 🔶 🔶 🔶(2/5 Pumpkins)
I honestly started it and stopped it so much just cause I was bored... I kinda knew what happened so maybe that had something to do with it but for most of the movies I knew what was gonna happen, this one just kept loosing me anyways.
One of those movies that makes you wanna scream at the victims for how stupid they were. Who goes up to a house and after not getting a response the first five or so times GOES INTO THE HOUSE. That’s trespassing and STUPID.
I really both loved and hated the way Sally screamed the ENTIRE time she ran. It really made her sound actually terrified but also...if he lost sight of her it wouldn’t matter cause he could just follow the screams.
I prefer Thomas’ family better cause they’re not as mean to him...
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Scream (1996)
🎃🎃🎃🎃🔶 (4/5 Pumpkins)
I had seen Scary Movie, which is a spoof/parody of this movie, so even if I didn’t already know who Billy was I would’ve known who the killer(s) was. Probably actually scary for its time but also I don’t personally get too scared by horror movies like this. Billy is very yummy though…
Took me forever to realize where I knew Stu from… The live action Scooby-Do movies… XD
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Jason Lives Friday 13th Part VI (1986)
🎃🎃🎃🎃 🎃 (5/5 Pumpkins)
Okay.. just reading the lil blurb on Show Box… TOMMY DID WHAT NOW? How do you accidentally… I’m just gonna watch the movie…
Was it supposed to be as funny as it was? XD The whole thing could’ve been avoided if Tommy just didn’t stab his body during a storm. (Also... Tommy is very yummy, omg)
I would honestly watch it again just because it’s so funny and I don’t mind looking at Tommy.
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The Babadook
🎃🎃🎃🎃 🎃 (5/5 Pumpkins)
I loved this. Technically a “drama/thriller” but damn some scenes got me. I loved the meaning behind it all and would definitely watch it again.
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Working on watching more movies. Below is what I still need to watch.
Friday the 13th A New Beginning (1985)
(which apparently isn’t even Jason so I’m probably going to skip it)
Friday the 13th Part VII The New Blood (1988)
Friday The 13th Part VIII Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)
(What is he, a giant monster like Godzilla now?)
Jason Goes to Hell The Final Friday (1993)
Jason X (2001)
Halloween (2007)
Halloween II (2009)
Scream 2 (1997)
Scream 3 (2000)
Scream 4 (2011)
House at the End of the Street (2012)
Probably a ton more I need to see but that’s all I can think of for now. Got a movie suggestion? Lemme know.
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Grading Looneytunes Peter Lorre caricatures part 2
•Dr. Lorre-Birth of a notion(1947)
I wanna throw this lil fucker at a wall. I do not like him. Its mainly his voice. Yknow that old 90s commercial for the weird voice editing toy where the kid edits his voice to be deeper and creepily pretends to be his dad saying "hi kids, we're home early". This lil cunts voice reminds me of that. Also he's so mean to poor leapold. 5/10. Would've been a 4 but I bumped him up cause he kinda has a fat ass
•Boxcars-Tinytoon adventures(1990-1992(couldnt find the specific year his episode came out, sorry))
Boxcars is also creepy but I like him more. Idk maybe it's his big stupid hat and his evil laughter. I enjoy the animation of his big head squeezing through the train door aswell. Generally I enjoy when peter caricatures get to make a lot of crazy facial expressions instead of just looking vaguely like they've never experienced joy. 7/10
•Tweety Pie-Carrotblanca(1995)
Not a big Tweety fan, but I appreciate seeing a parody of a specific Peter Lorre character instead of just the general idea of him. I feel like it would've made more sense(and been more cathartic for me) if Sylvester was the Rick Blaine parody, but I guess that's neither here nor there for this list. I do like seeing that weird lil tweety pie/peter lorre fusion walking around like he owns the joint. I think it surprisingly works well combining tweety-who's so stereotypically cute that he bounces back and looks kinda uncanny and the typical elements of a Peter lorre parody which are meant to be uncanny and weird, but in a cute way. 6/10
•Dr. Lorre-Looneytunes back in action(2003)
Love this guy! He has a fun dynamic with evil Steve Martin, I like his smooth, buttery voice, I like watching him excitedly clap his hands, laugh and hop around at the prospect of torturing someone and I like his colour scheme. Idk something about the very red lips that contrast with his lil crooked teeth, the faint hint of blue in those very dark eyes and the nasty washed out skin tone are all very 👌.Also, naturally hes another very animated bouncy boy. 9/10
Welp! There you have it. I think thats all of them, but if I missed any do tell me
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