#did like the action on those films more but when it comes to character interactions these made me cry like a bitch LMAO also aunt may🥺🥺🥺

[hestzhyen]

Chapter 60 Plot Posting

Hi again, dear void. So, about those complaints I've had in regards to the pacing... and others that I've been holding off on to see how they'd be handled... this is a long and mostly negative yapfest that rambles about the chapter itself and some general writing choices.

Bad TL of Editor's note stuff:

First Page: 会議-!! [kaigi-!!], "A meeting-!!" Last Page: 征くは修羅の道...!! [yuku ha shura no michi...!!] "Leaving for battle on Asura's path...!"

Asura are the demigods who fought against the Devas in Hindu and Buddhist mythology, by-the-by. Basically, the gist is that Chihiro and the Masumi are heading out on a road fraught with carnage and strife to face an extremely powerful foe. Oh, and Hokazono-sensei clarified that the squad are indeed called "Masumi" and not "Makizumi"- the latter is a typo.

Before I rant, I got something wrong with my interpretation of the Japanese version last week. In the last panel here:

"Controlled the war" is still not the greatest way to phrase the line, but mine was way off too since I got too hung up on the literal meaning of a particular kanji (駆ける [kakeru]). The actual meaning of what John's saying there is more along the lines that Samura's an experienced war veteran, which isn't as cool but if that's the more accurate translation then so be it. Please do not ever trust my translations to be correct and I'll do a better job of relaying that I'm not to be trusted if I try to interpret something.

What the Fuck, Man

Alright, so... I'll get this out of the way. This chapter was a huge let-down for me.

It did all the necessary things but the proportion of time spent on what and the way they played out made my concerns about the fast pacing boil over. Come on, Hokazono-sensei. Slow down just a smidge to let us maintain our bonds with the characters.

Slower chapters are necessary to make it easier for the reader to keep their suspension of disbelief and stay immersed! A great story is more than racing from points A through Z with just the bare minimum detail to give context for the next cool action scene. When people ask for the pace to slow down or for there to be more "filler", what they're really asking for are more meaningful times spent with the characters interacting with each other and getting in their heads. Letting some emotional moments linger, bonds get set up and maintained outside of tense moments and strictly necessary plot events, things like that.

After such heavy chapters back-to-back for about a month with Samura's betrayal, I think most of us need a breather. Just some time to sit with the characters to reflect on everything that happened and how they feel about it, you know? A lot of stuff happened and Chihiro especially has a lot to process. We even had a time limit of a week set up to do that- surely one day or even half of one could be given over to letting the cast regroup and take a breath on-screen before the next beat. But Hokazono-sensei seems allergic to giving us time for quiet reflection so now I'm more exhausted than the protagonist who died and came back to life a few hours ago. Yes, Chihiro rested for a few days off-screen before rolling out but we didn't get to see it. So it's not a break for us.

I've been holding back on criticism of this because I wanted to see where the story was going and what the author would do but the pacing is an outright flaw as of this chapter. It's something that I wish had been left behind in the action movie genre; that kind of pacing works for films because you're doing 90ish-minute installments every few years. But it's terrible for a weekly manga.

I will eat a whole stick of apple cinnamon incense if this is some long-con on the author's part to eventually slap Chihiro down for running on fumes and force him to sleep for a week or something. But I'm only making this bet because by now I think it's clear that we're in thriller action movie pacing for the rest of the series' run. It's just something that will have to be accepted as part of the experience going forward. For me, it's a drawback. An acceptable one since everything else is still holding my interest (for now) but a major one nonetheless.

What Did we Not Rest For?

An administrative meeting, a Shiba & Chihiro conversation, and Minimura exposition; Hakuri was so unimportant that he gave an offscreen info dump and went back to sleep, apparently. That's a hell of a lot- there was a ton of yapping and all of it was related to the plot and keeping the momentum up. That's not appropriate downtime! It's the manga equivalent of working from home early Saturday morning after pulling all-nighters at the office from Monday through Friday.

Anyway... this chapter was dense as fuck. I don't catch everything each week but damn I feel like I'm missing a lot of things to speculate on this time. I don't have the brain power to get every little thing until we start tying up some existing threads; hopefully what I caught here is good enough until more room can be made. Early Bird Kamunabi Conference

Azami! Good to see you again! Please do stuff more often to give me a heads up so I can start preparing defense statements against those traitor allegations.

First up, the Kamunabi convening at a little after 3 in the morning. Using Magatsumi's still on the table despite the sealing process being partially complete, obviously. And based on the discussion it seems like we'll probably meet Subaru, the Sushi Chef Bearer from Sushi Subaru next. Sorry girl Bearer fans. Hope Ms. Masumi in a suit can tide you over until then.

In terms of Kamunabi member insights, I'm really warming up to the mask Kamunabi guy that was impressed by Hiyuki's evaluation of Chihiro (and helped Kunishige hide after the war). He's the one who cares about the well-being of others the most out of everyone who we got to hear from. I'm thinking he's also a true believer in the mission with a more compassionate bent to his philosophy than Mutton Chops. Mutton Chops is pretty competent when he's not being a Rokuhira Hater, though.

Everyone else is pretty much on the practical discussion side to get us away from a bunch of talking heads as soon as possible. Except Ear guy- he's still as flippant as ever. I've still got my eye on you for corruption and/or negligent incompetence, buddy.

They all get failing grades for sending Chihiro back out again so soon, though. Guess we won't be dealing with the political side of the conflict just yet. Samura using Owl to monitor all of Japan for Enchanted Blade signatures is pretty spooky though!

Shiba and Chihiro

[Slaps Shiba] This bad boy can fit so much misguided grief in it.

The long conversation was a must-have and I'm glad it happened! I just wish it had gone a bit differently. Less Minimura, more just the two of them, you know? (Or solo Chihiro reflecting on things before Shiba comes in!) They've got a lot of complicated emotions going on and I really wanted to see more of Shiba's conflict over how he wants to protect Chihiro but also feels like he can't. It's been there in the background since Chapter 1 and this would have been a great time to dig into it a little more. He just watched Chihiro die in his arms and some stern faces are all he can muster?! After shaking and nearly crying for comedic effect over the stunts Chihiro and Hakuri pulled in Ch. 46? And busting into the hospital room with a yell in Ch. 11? Call it a nit-pick if you like but it just feels weirdly subdued from Shiba's end when he's normally so emotive about Chihiro's well-being. I guess this is the "heavy feelings make the comedy guy get serious" trope in effect. Boo hiss bad application, let this man be more emotional about his adopted nephew!

I guess I can at least appreciate that Shiba being subdued contrasted with Chihiro being the most outwardly emotional we've ever seen him (in the present) when he echoes the words his dad spoke to him:

Passionate, glossy-eyed Chihiro gets anything he wants forever and ever no questions asked.

CHIHIROOOO you need to rest and get some hugs, not go out and kill more people! But we're already well aware of why he's out here doing this, so... damn it, you get to go. Just don't keep accumulating wounds and stuff, OK? And don't freakin' die again!

I understand why Shiba didn't put up much of a fight when Chihiro asked for Enten back. He's driven by guilt just as much as the rest of the major characters this arc, especially over failing to protect Kunishige. Won't commit on the exact reasons right now but they're probably along the lines of "If I hadn't failed that day then Chihiro wouldn't feel the need to do any of this, so the least I can do is train him and catch him when he falls". This is good stuff honestly! I just wish we'd gotten to see a bit more of his inner thoughts.

The second biggest thing I disliked about this chapter was the implication that Chihiro finally heard at least some of the truth of things from Shiba there in the hospital room but we the audience still can't know about it yet. Which is fine for us- it's tough being teased about it for so long but I don't mind. What bothers me is that I think this is something that's important enough for us to learn about the same time Chihiro does. So we can feel the weight of whatever this monstrous cover-up was, you know? We're supposed to be on this journey with him, seeing the world from his point of view and coming to understand things as he does. Something this massive should have been dropped on the reader and the protagonist at the same time! I don't want the reveal relegated to a flashback in the middle of a fight- give it the full attention it deserves. But maybe the author's cooking again. No choice but to wait and see anyway.

Zombie Chihiro?!

HMM...

Samura spared Chihiro, which makes sense. He just wants Chihiro to stop before he goes too far down this path. But of course Chihiro's gotta have that clash of ideals and say "I'm a sinner too".

I did feel really bad for Chihiro again this chapter. Being reminded that he's just a nice 18-year-old kid pushing himself to be a killer out of grief and feeling like he can't turn back hits right in the kokoro. I hope we can see how a Bearer bonds with their sword since his contract with Enten was severed...! Samura can sense blades with contracts when they're in use so I wonder how Chihiro will adjust to that too. He's watching all of Japan for signs of enchanted blade activity so Chihiro might have to use Enten as a regular sword for a while.

Chihiro's rapid recovery could either be ascribed to Samura's precision in slicing him or some other kind of power, possibly from Tobimune.... HMM... do we really need more little details to chew on in this chapter? Sure, why not. Let's add another thing to ponder on while we wait for resolution on the all the other hanging threads too. At least this one's tied to some blade or Chihiro sorcery lore. If it's a Tobimune power, wouldn't Chihiro know about it? Unless it's a True Realm ability that hasn't been documented. More things to theorize over, yay...

It's also the last remaining shred of hope for Uruha being alive despite apparently being in autopsy. I'll admit, it's pretty damn fishy that Shiba can't get info and Chihiro refuses to believe the man is dead, so I guess I can't complain if my favourite goofy ronin dude comes back somehow. Would still prefer it if he was left definitively dead though because we have more than enough "but maybe?!" threads hanging around already.

Not to get too gruesome, but... if this is a flag that the Kamunabi are doing unethical things to Uruha's corpse, hoo boy. Oh man. I'm not ready for that kind of development despite being a horror fan.

The Sore Spot

Couldn't you have saved this for next chapter?

And then... a lotta Minimura exposition yap.

I feel like this conversation could have been pushed to the next chapter with Minimura stepping into the hospital room as the cliffhanger to end this one. It's just too much information overload and exposition when we've been begging for Chihiro to rest for months now in real time. Even if the in-universe timeline remained the same, it would have given us readers a lull while Chihiro had the heart-to-heart with Shiba and thought about everything that just went down. Heck we might have even gotten some time with Hakuri too.

The last page of Chihiro and the Masumi stepping out in suits was cool as heck but it didn't land due to how sick I am of these characters running from plot point to plot point. Now it's Chihiro and the ninjas out there doing Things and Stuff to find their answers from Samura... I'm interested in the conflict that will arise from Samura's old guards -basically his little family- fighting against him, don't get me wrong. It's got some very tasty parallels to Hakuri's story and resonates deeply with Chihiro's need to know the truth about the people he cares for so much. Again for the millionth time though, I just wish this had gone down a little bit differently.

Hakuri Where?!

There's a lot of baseless venting here and some raw, barely-edited thoughts- sorry in advance. This chapter is kind of an information overload (and I'll be honest, I got super petty over Hakuri's status being hand-waved away). I just don't have it in me to condense it all like usual. Sorry.

Oh, he's just drowning in self-hatred offscreen. Don't worry about it we gotta get going.

So, Chihiro's the MC and this is his story. Stuff with him will usually take precedence over other characters. But when you barely acknowledge Hakuri -ostensibly one of the most important characters in the cast other than Chihiro himself- in the aftermath of a series of major events that he was directly involved in like this, I gotta wonder.

I'd be happier if he wasn't mentioned or shown at all beyond still being alive because that would mean there was more to say that needed proper time to be allocated. But much like Chihiro waking up alone and the Shiba and Chihiro conversation, a prime chance for character and/or relationship quality time was skimmed over to keep the plot moving at mach five.

"Finer details not necessary."

I'm not saying this because I wanted HakuHiro hospital fluff that badly. I'm saying this as a Hakuri fan who's worried that he'll be reduced to an exposition and gag delivery tool. It's happened to some of my favourites before despite the prominent billing they got, and I hoped it wouldn't happen again here after the Rakuzaichi arc set Hakuri up to be second only to Chihiro in terms of narrative importance. But shoving him offscreen so we get updates about him indirectly -giving us no time to even see him wake up or express anything directly- feels like side-character treatment. You know, how Hinao was treated in Chapter 11 (where's she been lately?).

The best that can be hoped for is that he gives us a PoV that lets us explore the Kamunabi side more via his hospital stay somehow. Feels bad when the author clearly hates deviating from the action to do those kinds of scenes, so I wonder how much we'll actually see of Hakuri struggling and working through his issues while he's setting up plot points for other characters and the larger narrative. All while Chihiro's shoving him out of mind for one reason or another to keep focusing on the story events too.

Chihiro not checking in on Hakuri after he wakes up isn't a huge issue- that can readily be ascribed to guilt thanks to the panel of him recalling how he said he'd rely on Hakuri's help with a sad expression. He's worried in general too even if it would have been better if he'd been more proactive about expressing it. It's not like Chihiro has to wake up in a cold sweat and demand answers but shouldn't he be a little more concerned about his "equal partner"? Especially after all the emphasis put on how important they are to each other during the last arc?

Chihiro seems hesitant to broach the subject of Hakuri at all despite obviously caring a great deal.

The most generous interpretation I can make of this is that Chihiro and Hakuri are both too guilty to face each other right now. Chihiro's got a lot of other stuff going on anyway, so he can avoid thinking about the guilt of dragging Hakuri in to his mess by continuing on his mission. Meanwhile Hakuri's clearly thrashing himself something fierce. The panel of him curled up on the bed under Minimura's narration combined with him requesting the Masumi to help Chihiro in his stead is all we need to see based on what we already know- Hakuri is absolutely drowning in self-loathing right now. So he probably doesn't want to see Chihiro either even if he can get out of bed and walk himself over.

I don't want to go on a fuckhuge tangent about this but I've not got a lot of hope that these guys will interact or resolve the situation any time soon. It seems like very small potatoes compared to facing Samura, dealing with the Hishaku, and whatever's yet to come with the Kamunabi. Honestly, though? I just plain hate miscommunication drama. It's realistic here and very understandable from both sides but please, for the love of god, don't drag it out for the rest of the arc. Let them talk when Chihiro gets back or so help me God I really will think the author is pulling their relationship beats out of a generic BL tropes bin.

After Having Calmed Down...

Alright, alright. Enough of that. At least a few days passed between Chihiro waking up and rolling out again, we just didn't get to see it. So maybe they did meet up at some point. Or maybe the avoidance is to follow up on the "friendship" flags set up by Hiruhiko. Something about how they should still be relying on each other in situations like this instead of flagellating themselves in isolation. That's classic shounen, right? At any rate, we have Hiruhiko and Hakuri one-sidedly calling themselves Chihiro's friends for a reason, so we'll just have to wait and see what comes of that. I don't think that will end with Hakuri and Chihiro not being friends somehow.

Also, despite the dialogue about Hakuri not having much hope for healing his damage nerves, I'm pretty sure he will at least partially recover at some point. I just hope it's not entirely off-screen. The vast majority of character development in Kagurabachi happens through combat and the direct lead-up to the fights, which is a big strength of the series. But that also means that characters who can't fight don't get much on-screen development.

Hakuri's going to have some time to examine his circumstances in a future chapter after all the set up he got earlier in the arc. His thing will probably be learning to value himself; most likely in the sense that he's not just a tool, but a person. Hard to see how that will happen while he's stuck in recovery mode though. Will the author change tack and start having more scenes of talking heads and political drama to explore between action scenes? Seriously doubt it. So either Hakuri gets put on an expedited recovery schedule of his own or he'll be out of the story until he's useful to Chihiro('s story) as a sorcerer again. ...Not great vibes with so much of his trauma being tied to "utility=worthiness of love" but maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised? I hope?

It'll be really tough for him to learn his lesson for this arc if he's burnt out after failing to save someone he swore to protect, too. A day after finally proving himself to be a genius of rare talents capable of doing so no less. God this poor kid. He finally got everything he wanted and deserved and lost it all... well he didn't lose Chihiro and Shiba, but he probably thinks he deserves to right now. Especially since Chihiro seems to have left without seeing him even once.

Which would have just made his guilt worse anyway because of what happened to him and Uruha. Hakuri summoned Chihiro back in a panic and got him killed too! And now he's totally burnt out and may be forever, so he can't even try to make up for it by training his power and "earning" redemption by becoming stronger and saving more lives. The last thing he did with his abilities was fail to save a life he promised to protect and get his friend killed. He was already being crushed under the weight of what happened to Ice Lady and now...

Huh, wouldn't that kind of be a good point to make though? That you have to forgive yourself before the guilt eats you alive. Else you'll never stop self-destructing... wonder if the author will go that route for Hakuri and/or Chihiro.

... Man. The feelings I have about Hakuri are really messy and way too closely tied to my own life experiences, so it's hard for me to be objective about him and how I want him to be handled. His journey mirrors my own in so many ways and made this series a ride or die for me based on how he was written last arc. In terms of Current Events, though? From a neutral standpoint, I think we'll get scenes of him interacting with other characters for side-plot reasons while the focus is on Chihiro's exploits. From a personal standpoint, I want in-depth explorations of him like we got in the Rakuzaichi arc. I want to see more of that, as much as possible. Even if it means deviating away from cool spreads and Chihiro doing awesome stunts more often. (In other words: the author's priorities and mine probably don't overlap right now.) So even though I know objectively that it's just not time to get back to Hakuri yet, I'm anxious that even when we do it won't be handled with grace because he can't be directly tied to the action scenes.

There are a lot of complicated thoughts about how Chihiro interacts with people in general, too... Hakuri's not the only one who does the emotional heavy lifting when it comes to depicting the relationship between them. A lot of character screen time is devoted to establishing bonds and such with Chihiro but rarely from Chihiro's point of view in return. He's completely consumed by plot things and we don't know how he feels about the people close to him directly for the most part. Hakuri is actually the lucky one who got a whole few sentences of Chihiro's inner thoughts acknowledging him as someone stronger that one time! Everything else is left to context and facial expressions -which is appropriate for a relatively reticent MC- but it would be nice get in his head to hear what he thinks about Shiba, Hakuri, and others more often.

Normally I work all that feelings stuff out in a private draft, but I'll leave it here in case you were starting to think I was anything more than a sad sack mad man, dear void. Depending on how next week goes I might not post; maybe not until after New Year's if life keeps being difficult. Be kind if you're given a choice, okay? Take care out there.

[olderthannetfic]

I know about the origins of the Bechdel Test, but I do think it's inaccurate to say it's not meant as a criticism of movies that don't do that. I think that when people stop thinking in binary terms of "is this feminist?" or "is this anti-feminist?" and instead look at things more holistically, that you can recognize both that a character like Mako Mori is great, a step in the right direction for female characters in action movies and especially WOC, go forth and stan her and write all the fanfic you want.... but yeah, it is also a valid criticism of the movie (and many others like it) that she doesn't talk to or have relationships with any other woman in the film.

I think one thing to help people realize just HOW much of women's lives are being left out of media representation when we never talk to other named women about something other than a man in movies, is to just think about your own life. I talk to my mom every day, and if we are not talking about my stepdad or my brother-in-law (and I don't think we've ever had a conversation that wasn't at least IN PART not about them or another man), then it passes the test. I'm a professor and when I talk to a female student about her homework or project (which is, again, something that happens pretty much every day I teach), that's passing the test. If I order food from a female cashier and she has a name tag, that's passing the Bechdel Test! It's literally just constant for the vast majority of women on the planet, and that's what's being left out of our stories.

Like, I like the takes I've seen about how part of the joke in Dykes to Watch Out For is that this is *particularly* alienating to lesbians - as a lesbian myself I agree - but I also think it should be frustrating to straight and bi and ace women as well, because like unless you are like exclusively interacting with your husband or male relatives every single day + you work in a workplace where you are literally the only woman, you are almost certainly passing the test constantly. That's a pretty big part of women's lives that Hollywood is leaving out!

But I think it's important to view it as just one piece of the discussion about feminism and women's representation in film, not the final judge on if a film is feminist or not. Which it wasn't intended to be - as you said, it was mostly a joke on the extreme maleness of 80s action movies. Honestly, I do not miss those days on Tumblr where people were obsessed with declaring certain movies/TV shows/other fandoms they liked as "feminist" or "anti-feminist" and the really bizarre granular discussions people would have between two works that BOTH had a long way to go in terms of representing women. I remember people in the Fullmetal Alchemist fandom would use this to argue about if the original anime or Brotherhood/the manga was better - when both have some fantastic female supporting characters, but are ultimately male-centered stories where even a lot of those women's lives and stories are centered around their male love interests and family members. It's better than a lot of shounen, but if that's your bar for feminism - either version - you have a long way to go (and need to watch WAY more anime because there's sooooo much of it that is female-centric). I also remember people coming up with other tests that were blatantly silly: like I thought the Mako Mori test about "if a woman has a motivation/story that isn't centered on a man" was fair because it did point out a legitimate criticism, but there was that ridiculous "Tauriel Test" where it was "a woman who is good at her job." And it was entirely about someone just disliking that movie critics and feminist commentators alike were down on the Hobbit movie trilogy, which a) were bad movies, sorry you have bad taste, b) are absolutely not where you should focus your attention if you're so concerned about women's representation in film, Tolkein has always been a sausage fest! And her big thing was being mad that people thought Judi Dench's M in Skyfall was a better female character, and so she arbitrarily decided she was "bad at her job" and Tauriel was "good at her job" even though that's completely subjective and can be challenged in both cases.... but also, once again, why are you looking to the fucking JAMES BOND franchise for movie feminism! There's nothing like comparing the relative "feminism levels" of JAMES BOND and LOTR to make it obvious that this is 100% about validating your subjective taste preferences by giving it a "progressive" excuse, not actually about feminism and not actually caring about women's representation beyond how it makes you look good. And yet SO many people took that transparently stupid post seriously. I'd see professional articles mention the Tauriel Test as "one of the new tests" like there was anything serious about it.

And then on the flip side, over-reliance on the Bechdel Test alone led to some clueless conclusions especially in anime fandom, given that anime has an abundance of shows that exclusively feature female characters in school clubs being cute, where those characters are nonetheless two-dimensional archetypes designed for the male gaze. Someone like fandomsandfeminism did a presentation at an anime con that called one of those types of shows "feminist" and some Japanese user eviscerated it, but that just led to the equally shallow fandom analysis of "everything a Japanese person says about anime is automatically more valid" and "any Westerner who wants to criticize anime on feminist/progressive grounds is culturally appropriating and ultimately coming from a place of ignorance, even if they literally have a degree in Asian studies."

Wow, this turned into a rant about the history of bad "feminist media criticism" on this website. Sorry about that, I think I had a point in here somewhere. I guess that the Bechdel Test is indeed a joke and those origins should be understood, but also, I don't think it's wrong to say that it identifies a real problem and one that people could probably take MORE seriously than they do - but as just one part of the conversation, not the Feminism Litmus Test, and certainly not as a dick-measuring contest about whose fandom gets them more progressive brownie points.

--

I think as long as we grasp that the joke is "The bar is so far under the ground that we might as well go home and eat popcorn there", it's fine.

The real issue with the test is that people started thinking a pass was meaningful.

If you say something like "X% of 2020s movies can't even manage this weaksauce level of women existing", that's a meaningful statistic. Even if you got a couple of data points wrong, you're not factually wrong enough for it to matter because X is going to be some massive, massive percentage, and the overall trend is so clear.

But a pass is nothing to celebrate, and that's where we went wrong.

Like you say, litigating which of two big franchises that barely do anything with women wins on tumblr points is idiocy.

I think people are so unaware of what media that genuinely centers women even looks like that it's hard for them to even begin having a discussion.

I personally have been a massive fujoshi type from adolescence, and media that centers female characters isn't actually what I typically want. (Though media that is by and for women and that doesn't give a fuck what men think of this is.) I am also not much of a fan of slice of life in general...

But when I was coming out and figuring my shit out, being able to go buy collections of Dykes to Watch Out For was incredibly valuable to me.

Ditto the other lesbian comic books that were just sitting there in the bookstore. I'm sure if I went back and reread them all now, I could find things to nitpick or ways they were more for lesbians and less for me as a bi girl, but the really distinctive thing they did was let me exist in a world where media isn't all 80s sausagefest action movies where women are not people.

In fact, they were a world where men don't matter terribly much—not because they're dramatically rejecting men in some facile and reactionary way but because... who cares? They just had other priorities... and this was normal.

It feels like people who've never taken a vacation from really mainstream media just have no concept of what it would feel like to exist in some other space.

And I think that's a pity even if, like me, they later choose to go read mostly BL later instead of focusing on female characters or they genuinely love trash 80s action movies despite everything wrong with them. It's not just sexist media that's the issue: it's that feeling like the fish can't see the water it's swimming in.

[spaceorphan18]

Aggressive shipping annoys me so much - I'm scared Luke and Nicola will stop interacting or will not want to show up in future seasons anymore.. especially Luke who gets attacked for having a girlfriend everyday. I just love their friendship and I love Polin and I don't want to lose it😭😭

*sigh* Okay. Let's talk about this. Because, honestly, I don't really like talking about this stuff. (I'd rather be talking about the characters)

I'll preface this with... I don't care what the actors are doing in their personal lives. Did I watch all of the promo tour? Yes I did - because it's fun watching them (and by them, not just Nicola and Luke) do silly things like build furniture and answer stupid questions. It's a part of the illusion.

Do I need to know what they actually do in their personal time? No, I do not. Unless they're being genuinely bad people (and neither Nicola or Luke seem like that) then I do not care.

That said -- I hear you Nonny, I feel you Nonny, I getcha Nonny <3 This is now the third fandom in which I got to witness this first hand and it's not fun, and it's a bit uncomfortable. And it is always sad to see people end up in the crossfire of the nasty side of fandom.

Nicola Coughlan is a goddamn professional when it comes to handling all of this. She is just so on top of it, and I think (and I hope) that she and Luke were/are smart enough to have had conversations where they addressed how to navigate all of this. (as much as one can navigate things like this.) I think Nicola will be just fine. It's hard to read Luke because he seems like a more inward person and I haven't not interacted with any thing he's done outside of Bridgerton and the Bridgerton press tour, so I just don't know.

I will also say this... there does seem to be a genuine friendship/bond between the two of them. I reckon it's like those stories you hear about people who've been to war together and when they return, only they really know what they went through. I can only assume that filming something that's as intense and vulnerable as a romance might give you that type of bond as well. They seem very comfortable with each other -- in a way that may transcend friendship a little. But what I think the most unfortunate thing is that people (fans) don't seem to get that that bond can be special without it having anything to do with sex or physical intimacy.

And so, if I can offer a little reassurance, they both seem professional enough that it'll be through other opportunities (or, god forbid, the show deciding their story is done) that they leave the show. I think the fictional characters will remain intact and fine.

As for the actors themselves -- whose to say. So, I guess I'll offer this -- block all the idiots you stumble across. Continue to support Nicola and Luke and the Bridgerton team in a positive and respectful way. And appreciate the stuff we got. There are always going to be the crazies out there - and unfortunately, there's not much we can do about that. But at least we can continue to have a sense of decorum in our own actions.

<3 <3

[therese-lokidottir]

For me, Natasha Romanoff is a character that took time for me to like and I appreciate her more when I rewatch Avengers. For the first few movies, Iron Man 2 and Avengers, she came across more as a generic strong female character™. Not necessarily a bad character and not the worst example by far, but it wasn't until Winter Soldier that I really started liking her and for me, it did take CAWS and AoU for her to be such a character. It took seeing that softer more vulnerable side of Natasha has, it makes sense why it took longer to see that side of her and I have to say taking that time is part of what makes the character. The seeds are set in Avengers that I can go back and watch and appreciate Black Widow as a character, but without those later films, it wouldn't work.

The MCU being a series of films it's perfectly fine that Natasha was developed in that way. I still think she should have gotten her own movie sooner, but it is perfectly fine that they took their time developing her within the film themselves. Because so much content now feels not only like instant disposable grand action but also all set up with no payoff Black Widow to me at least stands out as almost an innovative character.

Even in films and television that I like, I feel some characters are dragged down because writers don't understand that strong female character™ doesn't always mean said character is literally strong and powerful. Sometimes it does come from their relationship with others and how they interact in the world. 

I wish more writers understood it's okay to take time and build the character gradually instead of trying to get an instant hit and check all the boxes of what a character is supposed to be to be popular. 

[soyboylinus]

despite being someone who is typically pejoratively but not inaccurately referred to as a “hater,” i actually liked creep ep 5 a lot? the more i think about it the more i think it utilized the found footage medium in a very unique and fitting sort of way. also i have things to say about episode 6 (which i also liked). unorganized and general thoughts below

1) ep 5 is the shift where mr creep is Thee Subject, but he is still the one filming. he has been established to be an unreliable narrator by other more objective sources (those who have filmed him before), so it’s not at all unfitting that his film about himself and by himself would be less literal than previous ones

2) found footage is inherently a limiting medium when it comes to introspection. there is no possible way to show his inner thoughts outside of collective actions and what he chooses to voice aloud. HOWEVER, since he is a liar and unreliable, a lot of what he says is kind of meaningless (outside of the themes of what he does say/the space left by what he doesn’t say). it seems fitting that the only way to get an accurate snapshot of his thoughts/“the truth” would be through a physical representation or manifestation for him to interact with.

3) i liked the interactions. i thought it was fun. the closet scene was verse tense.

4) perhaps controversial: most movies and shows portray identity incongruence really fucking poorly, but i think ep 5 actually did it (within the medium and within the pre established parameters of the character) really well. obviously the “person who has weird psychosexual issues and also kills and also has identity incongruence” trope is severely overdone, but what i appreciate about the series is that it didn’t dive into this head-first. it spent years kind of sidling up to it. it colored in the backdrop before subject, and it didn’t feel like a surprise and didn’t feel shoehorned in. based on everything we know by then about creep/peachfuzz, it doesn’t even add anything to the character so much as just connect a few loose ends. i also think there’s merit in that peachfuzz isn’t portrayed as a separate identity exactly (a la dissociative identity disorder), but instead just an incongruent facet of himself that is other but still him (something closer to identity incongruence in cptsd, bpd, or other dissociative disorders, which is not addressed in media basically ever, even indirectly). imo it makes for a more interesting narrative than “oh no, the killer is actually innocent, but he has a powerful alter who is bloodthirsty!” or anything similar. creep is peachfuzz and peachfuzz is creep, and while there’s a strong internal separation between these two parts of himself (for reasons that are further elaborated on in episode 6), and i think it’s a more realistic and sympathetic take than any alternative

5) re: episode 6, i don’t think any of the incest stuff was out of left field, and it cements the basis of sooooo much of his personality and neuroses. i love that they were explicit about the incest and didn’t dance around it. like, here it is guys: this is why he is damaged. the killing people thing is secondary to this (it is a horror series after all: would as many people watch a show or movie series about this same guy if he didn’t kill people? of course not), and i am really impressed at how accurately some of the real life consequences of this sort of abuse is shown (especially in the larger context of the show and series as a whole). his attachment issues, identity incongruence, memory disorganization, etc are all sourced in his enmeshment and incestuous relationship w his mother… simple as. he’s a victim my dude.

obviously he is not a 1:1 reference for what this looks like irl, but it’s a shockingly sympathetic and realistic portrayal for an otherwise goofy found footage horror series. i think horror as a genre has definitely gotten better the past decade or so in showing less inaccurate psychology/not contributing as severely to the spread of blatant misinformation, but it’s still ultimately entertainment and certain things are still too taboo to show or talk about. incest is complex and difficult to dissect even in an academic or non-entertainment sort of context. so i am impressed overall!

i have more thoughts but i will make another post ✌️ thank u for reading

[rootsofdreams]

I have never felt this impacted by a movie in my life—my in-depth reflection of Your Name (Kimi no na wa)

It Was Fate I Came Across This

I watched Your Name (Kimi no na wa) for the first time about a week ago and I realized I had never felt anything like that before. I am still obsessed over it a week later and feel more invested in that world than my own. I didn't want to lose this feeling. I even put off watching anything else for that week. 

I did watch this during a low point in my life. I've been quite depressed, social life fell apart, and took the next semester off from college. I also had never really watched much anime outside of Miyazaki before coming across this. Put all of those together and this film literally came at just the right time, with just the right story to destroy me. Almost like fate! I don't know how to describe this, but nothing I have watched prior to this has impacted me this much before. I have never cried while watching a movie. I am generally very good at hiding my emotions. But this... It felt almost ethereal, even days later. I still cannot figure out exactly why. I really wanted to figure out why. I rewatched the movie a second time.

Replaying the Kataware Doki scene and every time it's like my heart is going to melt. I can see the raw emotion on Mitsuha's face, her tears, the scratches on her skin... All of that determination, that struggle to find Taki unsure if she will ever find him, the realization that she had died, her deepest regrets... All just comes to a boiling point and explodes in that moment. Watching it, I just want her to be happy. I needed her to be okay. I think this was the first time I had cried in years. 

What Mitsuha Meant To Taki

When I rewatched the part where it was revealed Mitsuha was dead, I realized why I cared so much about her character. Mitsuha and Taki have never met before, their bond is not driven by any sort of logic, yet it still develops without any sort of interaction at all. It's interesting for a love story because they resonate with each other from experiencing the things that are unspoken; observed. You come to realize that Taki's determination to save Mitsuha at this point isn't because he wants her for himself, but because he grew to love her life, her friends, and family. He sees what she has been through, her struggles with identity and family, her loss, but most importantly how much her life is worth to her loved ones and her community. He and only he knows how truly strong Mitsuha really is.

Even though Taki has a decent life and never wanted to be in this situation to begin with, by the end he is willing to sacrifice everything to save her even if he thought he knows he might not see her ever again. This is why he writes “I love you” on her hand instead of his name. He feels he doesn't matter at this point, he just need that one last chance to tell Mitsuha what her life meant to him.

What The Film Meant To Me

I think I subconsciously related this to my own life. How my childhood is over and I won't be able to see my old friends again. How I won't be able to experience being a teen again. Those days free of worry and responsibility are over. I have had no one I could really talk to for years now, no one I felt real close with, no one I can say I truly care for or cares about me. I have felt aimless and uncertain about my future. College is a strange place. I understand Taki’s actions now. I think I would sacrifice my life for someone like Mitsuha. Despite seemingly being a “nobody” from the goonies, despite her imperfections, mundane daily activities, and dissatisfaction with her life—she has a purpose, she has people who care about her, her life matters to the people around her. She deserves to live. If I could save a life like that, I think I would have fulfilled mine.

This feeling of heartache and emptiness also comes from a sort of longing, I suppose, not just the fact that I will likely never share such a strong connection with someone that it feels like we were destined for each other, but also that I will never experience what Mitsuha/Taki did. Sounds cringe, but I cannot help but wish it would happen to me. My social skills were never all that good and I missed out on teenage love or having any close bonds with people. I think my true deepest desire is to find a true connection with someone (even just platonic), something I had never really experienced. I just want to give Mitsuha/Taki a hug and tell them how much they mean to me. 

Final Thoughts

I know this film is years old (I am full of regret not seeing it sooner), but it is one of the most beautiful pieces of art I have ever witnessed. Everything from the gorgeously drawn art of the animations, down to the characters you grow so attached to. You can overlook all of the plot holes because the experience just strikes you at your very core as a human being, at least for me. It is probably one of the few movies that I would rate a 10/10.

Thanks for reading.

[hamliet]

It's A Boys' Love Story, Your Honor: Be Gay, Do Crimes

This review is often satirical and sometimes facetious. Or is it?

Anyways I got dragged into watching HIGH&LOW, a Japanese action show full of pretty boys punching each other. Aside from me wondering how all of them don't have CTE and screaming CHEST COMPRESSIONS when one character codes and the nurse like... walks away (he's ok the power of friendship is stronger than any defibrillator), it turned out to be a surprisingly excellent, enjoyable, and even poignant watch.

The plot is vibes at best and the narrative ideas are less formed than, say, those of Kinnporsche. But, what it does have down pat is characters. Pretty much every character is compelling from their introductory scene (except for the Mighty Warriors who exist purely to suck). The characters may not necessarily be the most complex or psychologically challenging, but they come across as intriguing enough, flawed enough, to carry series on their own. Like, I would honestly watch a full series based on any one of them.

To be honest, this show does more to establish who a character is, what they want, and make them interesting within a character's first 30 seconds than some high-brow directors do with three hours of film. I would honestly recommend it to anyone trying to understand how to characterize.

Also, it's basically a yaoi but with fighting instead of f*cking. It's just dripping in homoeroticism that they infuse with just enough plausible deniability that insecure straight guys can watch it too!

Although, being straight in this 'verse is pretty much a misery sentence for everyone except Kizzy and Kaito. I haven't seen such flagrant use of bury/break up your straights since Togashi.

But:

It's not a yaoi! you say.

To which I shall respond with numerous examples of what the f*ck is this then? The power of (b)romance?

Doubt. (Heh ifkyk.)

Cobra + Murayama

The same episode we get a girl having a crush on Murayama he's shown as completely disinterested because he's too hung up on Cobra. This leads to him seeking Cobra out. And also to him having realizations about himself. He's then kind to the girl, but not romantically interested. The framing of this Cobra-Murayama realization about himself with the episodes opening with a girl pining and ending with his kindness to her is clearly to get the audience thinking about romance and the other interactions in light of that.

Murayama embarrassingly asks to join Cobra in front of all the other gangs.

Murayama calls him Cobra-chan and sides with Cobra when all the other leaders of SWORD refuse. All three others have left but Murayama still tells Cobra he has his vote, even though it's not going to do anything, just so Cobra knows Murayama's on his side.

In End of Sky Murayama literally going behind Cobra's back to get Hyuga to agree to join Cobra's alliance to protect him, at personal risk to Murayama, even though Cobra will never know what he did for him, when even those most loyal to Cobra have abandoned him, is literally a romance trope as old as time. And it's literally set to inspirational music.

Murayama calls him Cobra-chan and sides with Cobra when all the other leaders of SWORD refuse. All three others have left but Murayama still tells Cobra he has his vote, even though it's not going to do anything, just so Cobra knows Murayama's on his side.

At the end of the movies, Murayama gets a motorcycle and is implied to join Sannoh eventually with clever color symbolism as @eatprayworm points out.

As if we didn't get it, The Worst literally shows us Murayama calling Cobra-chan on his phone and tells us that he frequently drunk calls Cobra by having him say that he's not calling about bikes... this time. This phone call shows 0 narrative purpose besides reminding us that Murayama's endgame is with Cobra.

Chiharu + Yamato

Yamato saves his life and then is told he has to "take responsibility for" Chiharu, which is totally not a reference to the common idea of a guy taking responsibility for knocking a girl up--

except it is explicitly because even Yamato's mom directly asks if he knocked someone up when she hears that he has to "take responsibility" for someone.

When they finally reconcile after Chiharu confesses to drugs Tetsu tells them "you look good together."

Chiharu then takes a bullet for Yamato. I mean, not actually, because it was a blank, but no one, not even the person firing the gun, knew it was a blank.

Tetsu + Dan

Whenever Dan expresses interest in a girl Tetsu gets mad at him and when Tetsu cuts off his dreads to be more appealing to girls Dan gets mad at him. They're in love your honor.

They'll leave a gang for one another.

They exist only in proximity with each other.

Tatsuya/Kohaku/Tsukumo

These old men are so gay. They started the fall. And by old I mean they're supposed to be like 26 but they are clearly played by actors in their mid-40s and so I'll just pack off and head to the Villages then.

Smok(e)y + Hiroto

Ah yes when you're wandering around Nameless Street looking for your older brother and he's not there so you and your other brother decide to leave but then! then! a sickly man wasting away everywhere but his hair (which remains luscious) walks in front of you, barely glances at you, and you instantaneously walk away from your brother and your life to go follow the twink. Much straight.

Rocky + Koo

Here.

They also use "anata" for one another. Which means "you," but also is frequently translated as "dear" because it's what married couples often refer to each other as.

The manga also implies they live together.

Yasushi + Kiyoshi

Everyone in canon refers to them as "Yasukiyo." They exist in a state of symbiosis with weird hair and insanity.

If anyone implies Yasushi was involved with drugs Kiyoshi will fight to defend his honor.

"He sacrificed himself for me!" ?????? That's a love trope, Your Honor. Don't worry, though. They're gay, so Kiyoshi survives his sacrifice.

Odajima + Todoroki

Fellas is it gay to spot a man across a battlefield and be so in awe you run over to him right away?

Is it gay if you then ask said man "you're different from the others. Want to play with me?"

Tsukasa + Fujio

Tsukasa mopes around like Bella after Edward left after Fujio moves away for like a week.

Tsukasa takes a bus ride across the country for the chance to fight his BFF again in the rain (wet, what is symbolism) and then tells him "I'll be waiting for you." And also "I should move here because it's boring without you."

Tsukasa might be held as a hostage but he knows Fujio will come for him. In fact his relationship with Fujio is explicitly paralleled with Amagai and Suzaki's.

Amagai + Suzaki

The redemptive power of love, as beautifully written by @eatprayworm here.

I mean Suzaki literally can barely stand and limps over to protect Amagai when Amagai is experiencing the consequences of his actions and then saves Amagai from himself.

At the end of the day all he wants is to be boyfriends with Amagai.

Probably my favorite ship because it's everything I love, meaning one of them is too good for this world and one is a bastard.

Nakagoshi + Nakaoka

Nakagoshi sacrifices himself for Nakaoka even in a parallel to Yasushi and Kiyoshi (don't worry, they're gay, so they live too).

Tsuji + Shibaaan

Do I even need to comment here?

And I didn't even get into Sachio's sunset conversation with Fujio, in which you visibly see the twink fall and then they, not knowing who the other is, subsequently meet and recognized each other on the battlefield like Mr and Mrs Smith.

Themes Too!

High&Low isn't exactly an uber-deep thematic exploration of what it means to be gay and do crimes, but the themes it does do it does pretty well.

One of those is indeed the redemptive power of love, which involves being seen and known. Y'know, that mortifying ordeal. Because love itself leads to freedom. It's true for Chiharu, it's true for Noboru, it's true for Arata.

Rocky and Kizzy/Kaito's story is kind of one of the best examples of the redeeming power of (platonic) love leading to freedom, and it takes like... 3 minutes? of the story. And it's not left unexplored; it's just succinct. Kizzy and Kaito are trafficking women and Rocky comes to stop them, and when fighting, notices that Kizzy is actually a transwoman. He stops the fight and says that he doesn't fight women. That's enough for Kizzy and Kaito to follow Rocky, giving up their life of cruel crime and atoning--truly atoning--by spending the rest of their lives doing exactly the opposite of their crimes: fighting to free women from traffickers and protect them.

The significance of that moment is that by seeing Kizzy as she really was, Rocky pointed out to Kizzy that she was engaging in self-harm, keeping herself trapped (symbolically) and never able to live as she could. But for Kizzy, to be truly free to be herself means helping other women also be free. It's also, even if unintentional, a good twist on the transphobic trope and conservative talking point of a transwoman trying to harm women (cough, she who shall not be named).

Kizzy also never styles herself super feminine even after gender confirmation surgery (as implied by Rocky that she received), but she still is a woman, and her being herself leads to redemption and freedom for everyone around her. We stan Kizzy and her loyal boyfriend (husband?) Kaito in this house.

Another theme, and connected to the idea of self-discovery and freedom and love and all that, is how to handle the past, a question everyone is always asking because as long as we're alive, we're evolving. Obviously we see that with the Amamiya brothers and the Mugen backstory, and we also see that in the present with Murayama and Todoroki. But we also see this most sharply highlighted in the conflict between Cain and Smokey.

Cain is not subtly named after the first murderer in the Bible, who kills his brother. Cain, of course, kills Smokey in cold blood, with Smokey asking him "did you come here to kill me?" and Cain affirming that he did indeed because if he doesn't, he won't be able to completely erase his past.

But the thing is, you can't kill your past without killing yourself. You have to embrace it and let it live. And something as precious as a life won't be so easily destroyed. To live, you have to live with all of yourself, the past and the present and the hope of a future. It's a struggle, it's a fight--but with people beside you, it's worth it. Almost like the fights in the series are a metaphor for struggling through life or something.

And then we have gentrification. Let's just say the horrors of it are not exaggerated. Smokey's death--and life--offer poignant social commentary on what happens when people treat others like they don't deserve to live, like they are forgotten, like they don't exist. Because they do exist, because they love.

When Cain kills Smokey, Smokey tells him--in all sincerity, despite being abandoned by his parents, living in a homeless slum, and being terminally ill his entire life because the rich poisoned the people in the slum--that he lived "the best life." Why? Because the scenes flash back to him meeting his adopted sister Lala, caring for Eri, meeting his gang. He had a family, and he loved them, and they loved him. When he dies, he's buried in that same slum and Takeshi comments that "to Smokey, this [place] is heaven." And it is, because heaven is love.

(Also, the "rich poisoning people by being careless because these people don't matter" is hardly unrealistic. Bhopal would like a word with you, Dow Inc, you sh*theads.)

In Conclusion

Things you'll have to endure: multiple Mighty Warrior music videos.

Things you get to enjoy: Hyuga being a Barbie girl in a Barbie world who shows up to fights with all the Durama Ikka and planned choreography and bespoke songs.

Things you get to enjoy: multiple twinks needing rescue from being dragged into the drug trade to save their loved ones only to get whumped in true hurt/comfort fanfic fashion before sobbing in the arms of their friends who welcome them home.

Things you have to endure: Noboru trying to convince Cobra et al to join the Mojo Dojo Casa House Kuryu Group.

Things you get to enjoy: The power of friendship saving Noboru from himself, Rocky from dying alone, Smokey from having no meaning to his life, Amagai from himself, Murayama from himself, Todoroki from himself, Arata from himself, setting captives free, and rich bastards who trod all over the poor getting what they deserve.

Things you have to just not think too hard about: gangs seeing drugs as the biggest taboo which I'm pretty sure is not usually the case but hey, hoodlums have standards, and also the evil guys keeping their secrets in a folder literally stamped with the label TOP SECRET.

Things you have to endure: Smokey dying. I'm not over it. Someone fight me to bring him back. But also it's one of the most beautiful death scenes in fiction.

Things you get to enjoy: Generally no one, unless you're Smokey, straight (Takeru), or yakuza (no one cares).

Things you have to ignore: why no one ever studies at these high schools and why they all look like they're in their 30s-40s.

Things you get to enjoy: pretty great rep of a trans woman that directly counters some of the most harmful tropes.

Things you have to endure: Noboru being resurrected by the power of True Love's Handholding, because the nurse literally RAN AWAY from a coding patient to "get the doctor" but it's okay, his friends beg him to live and he does.

Things you get to enjoy: a series that founds its premise in action and violence that offers a surprisingly wholesome, kind message on relationships, humanity, redemption, and love... whether that love is platonic or romantic.

But, I mean, Final Mission literally ends with the gangs defeating the evil corporation with a rainbow-colored smoke that takes over the sky of the city. So it's gay.

[askew-d]

Hello...Have you watched Haikyuu movies? It's great....And we got lots of Kuroken moments and "that"one Kagehina moment.... So, as Kagehina shipper, have you ever ship Hinata or Kageyama with other character? For me, I have read Kageyama with Oikawa fic (I enjoy it but not really into that ship, all the time thinking of Iwaoi) and Hinata with Atsumu fic (one of my friend love that ship, wrote a fic and asked me to read them). And as much as they're all good, my otp will always be Kagehina. Like they were made for each other and it has to be them...

Do you also have other ships that you love from MDZS and TGCF? Sorry, if you asked me this, I have at least 8 ships in total from those two series, all of them are non canon (Xuexiao, Xiyao, Zhuiling, Beafleaf, Fengqing, Quanyin, Peihuang, Xuyue)....

Sorry for this random and long ask, hope you don't mind....

hello, anon!! sorry i am late for this, hope you understand. life has been crazy, haha. anyway, let us go: i did watch the haikyuu films and recently in was at the cinema with a friend watching the dumpster battle, let me tell you i was OVERJOYED!!! heavens, i could not control my anxiety. though my friend also likes the anime, she isnt as obsessed as me and didnt even finish the last season when we talked about watching the brand new release, so i had the OUTSTANDING experience of rewatching it with her so we could buy the tickets after!! i lost count of how many times i watched it and how many times i made other friends try it out (at some point, i recommended it to even one of my students during a totally unrelated discourse, hahahaha, hope he shares his opinions once this winter break finishes).

since i watched haikyuu about... five years ago? i must have rewatched some seasons more than ten times. its my comfort show! love every film also. about the ships, kagehina is my endgame, but i definitely love kuroken, iwaoi, bokuaka and sakuatsu (though i consume kagehina content much more). of course every ship is valid, i cannot judge anyone, however, i personally cant see hinata or kageyama with anyone else and do not read stories too focused on other relationships :) i can comprehend why fans see something with oikawa and kageyama, or even oikawa and hinata (considering their interaction in rio), but i do not settle with it in my heart. its just profiles and options, anyway! dont mind, dont mind.

i agree with you. for me, they are soulmates through and through. perfect for each other. one is the promise, the other is the anchor. they might be one of the couples i have seen anywhere that matches each other's vibe the best.

about mxtxt works, my favorite side ships are moshang and beefleaf. i can see the appeals in each one you mentioned, but i just never quite got interested to the point of reading about it, sorry!! some of them maybe its because they did not have a finale extra shot, or at least they were not as spoken/seen together as they were individually. for fengqing, though i like them as a side couple in hualian fanfics, i never quite got engaged in their story together, many times they just annoyed me (god, im scared of saying that and people coming at me, but there you go). but i know they have their values and some interactions i could almost forget my light, petty resentment for their actions and laugh along. beefleaf though? mobei-jun and his creator shang qinghua? heavens, i wanted to see more of them.

so, this is it! do not worry about asking whatever and whenever you want to ask. i love coming here to answer them when i have the time. thank you!! hope you can spot a nice sunset and take a relaxing shower today.

[hrodvitnon]

Some Thoughts on GxK

So, now that I’ve had a bit of time to collect my thoughts regarding GxK, I figured I’d share them in more detail. So without further ado, here goes!

Pros:

- The action was absolutely fantastic, although I do wish some of the fight scenes had been a little longer.

- I enjoyed all four of the main human characters in this one: I thought Ilene Andrews & Jia’s relationship was actually really well-done, and the dynamic between Trapper & Bernie was hilarious. Also, I feel like Trapper is definitely the Steve Irwin of Monarch in terms of how he views & interacts with the Titans. 😄

- Highlight was definitely the scenes that focused just on the interactions between the Titans, especially Kong & Suko, the first meeting between Kong & the other Great Apes, and the reunion of Godzilla & Mothra (which was absolutely adorable).

- Goji channeling his inner cat and taking that nap in the Colosseum was amazing, and the fact that he went back to take another nap there at the end of the movie was a perfect cherry on top. 😂 (Although I wish Mothra had gone back there with him at the end.)

- Skar King was a really fun villain; he might not be quite as imposing as Ghidorah or Mechagodzilla, but he’s just as scary, and I feel like he definitely made up for not being as physically powerful by having so much personality & intelligence.

- Shimo is so sweet, and I love her so much! 🥺 They did a really good job of making her sympathetic; I felt so bad for her while she was under Skar King’s control, and the way she acted after she finally got her freedom was so pure and sweet. Also, I love that she technically got to kill her abuser, even if Kong was the one who finished him off after she froze him.

- All the new Hollow Earth creatures were really cool, and Doug popping in and stealing part of Kong’s lunch legitimately cracked me up. 🤭

- Cool to see Scylla’s return and Tiamat’s onscreen debut, even if they didn’t last very long. I also couldn’t help but laugh a little at the fact that Godzilla killed both of them using his “Kiss of Death” tactic from the 2014 movie.

- I’d seen some of the rumors & leaks regarding Mothra beforehand, but I still got so excited when they finally name-dropped her, and her glorious return did not disappoint! Also, again, her reunion with Godzilla was super-cute, and I love the little detail that despite all of his aggressive behavior in the previous movie and most of this one, he visibly calms down as soon as she shows up and stays that way for the rest of the film.

Cons:

- Some of the film did feel kinda rushed. It wasn’t too bad, but I feel like they definitely could’ve extended it by a half-hour to expand some of the action scenes and some of the character development a little more. The Rio fight, in particular, felt a little too rushed & short compared to the final battles of the other MonsterVerse movies.

- Like I said, I’m really glad that we finally got Mothra back, but the whole “Iwi prophecy” explanation for her return felt kinda weird & unnecessary. Why is Jia somehow the only person who can wake Mothra up? Where did Mothra’s new incarnation come from, since it seems like it wasn’t from the egg that Monarch found in the credits of KOTM? Why is her cocoon invisible until Jia touches it? (I guess that last one’s probably for camouflage purposes, but it did seem kinda weird.) I feel like they probably could’ve just had her already be awake & protecting the Iwi in her new body, and ditch the whole prophecy subplot in favor of Jia just bonding more with the Hollow-Earth Iwi tribe instead.

- The fact that both Scylla and Tiamat were killed off as soon as they showed up was a bummer, although I did enjoy both of those fights.

- And although I do like the look of Godzilla’s new Evolved form, it didn’t really feel very important, if that makes sense? Like, when he unlocked his Burning form against Ghidorah back in KOTM, it was really important in terms of the story and also gave his character some additional depth by emphasizing his symbiotic relationship with Mothra, but here it felt like he could’ve played the exact same role in the story without that new transformation.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one! Not my favorite of the MonsterVerse films (currently, I’d say my ranking from favorite to least favorite is KOTM, GvK, GxK, G2014, and KSI), but it was still a solid, fun Kaiju film, and I’m definitely planning on seeing it again while it’s still in theaters.

Oh yeah, big same all around! I definitely also expected the Rio fight to have more going on, and it would have been cool if Shimo was the one to end Skar King rightly in repayment for the hell he put her through. Mothra just suddenly appearing out of nowhere like that had me tilting my head, like what if her egg (somehow) was brought to the Hollow Earth and was chilling out on that pyramid in the cocoon stage, finally releasing when Jia did her thing (I didn't read it as Mothra's cocoon being invisible... time for a second viewing!); also surprising that Ilene didn't mention "oh yeah, Mothra, she laid an egg last time she was alive" or at least work in some way that Mothra could feasibly show up. The sudden prophecy subplot was odd, but okay movie, you do you. Maybe this will get cleared up in the novelization?

[oh-a-very-toxic-octopus]

Finally got around to watching the Terminator films. We've seen 1–3 so far and I fucking love them. Spoilers in my rave below the cut.

The Terminator

Yeah, it's old and the score is cheap & doesn't rise like a modern audience expects and some of the dialogue is unintentionally silly, but the pacing of this film is mind-blowingly perfect and Linda Hamilton is just the coolest person on the planet. (Shout out to the invisible hand of Gale Anne Hurd, who surely did a lot here.)

The early character work is intensely 80s but I fell in love with Sarah and her buddies so quickly. Their chemistry is brilliant.

I love the stakes of the story and how succinctly they're explained. A lifetime of struggle and a near-impossible victory could be undone in an instant. Hhhh. We don't even need to see much of the future — its impact is evident in Reese (who I thought was Rhys, btw, so I died when it was revealed Reese was his surname and his first name was KYLE) and how battered and war-wearied he is.

The props and prosthetics are about as bad as you'd expect, but the team knew it and mitigated that by keeping those shots short. I loved the stop-motion terminator regardless. It's kinda charming and the final fight is so good I was carried away by the action.

Terminator 2

Jim is of the opinion this is the best Terminator film, so I went into it primed to be contrary, naturally. But I liked it!

I'm sad time and pop culture has removed the big reveal at the start; I can only imagine how fckn awesome it must have been to watch a contemporary screening of this film and experience the heel-face turn unspoiled.

The T-1000 is just plain cool, and the old CGI was clearly such a labour of love (and money) that it stands up remarkably well.

I love love the film's focus on what future sight really does to you, but I kinda hate it when characters go crazy, so I didn't much enjoy Sarah's early scenes.

I didn't much enjoy the sniper sequence either.

But in an unusual turn... I liked the kid actor and his interaction with the Terminator. The slang sounds even more ridiculous now than I imagine it did then, but it's fun.

As a result, I died at the end. When his arm was ripped off, I piped up all "omg, but they have another one for him in John's backpack!" Apparently Jim watched me from that point onwards and saw the moment my little heart broke, lmfao.

Terminator 3

I know this film gets a lot of hate, and I agree it skews too silly/kiddy in places, but the T-X was a really good active threat and seemed even more focused on her target than the T-1000. The boob joke was the only miss with her, in my opinion.

I enjoyed the film, liked the way it explored the impact of a supposed victory on John and then spanked him with that original fate/choices quote.

Kate was pretty cool but underutilized towards the end; I felt they failed to capitalise on the idea that she sent this Terminator back after it had killed her fckn husband. Not to understate how brilliant the final twist was to watch, but I wanted more Kate in the scene just before it; that final showdown shouldn't have been solely between Terminators, which 2 had clearly recognised.

I wish John's move with the T-800 in the hangar hadn't worked. Honestly it felt like Arnie had a hero clause or something; clearly the most impactful thing to happen there was a mirror of things to come, his attachment to a robot leading to his demise. Kate could have rescued him somehow and then have that image in her damn brain for decades until he's terminated in the future. I just... Yeah. Your main villain can control machines and she only hacks the good Terminator for three minutes? When there's so much emotional material to tap into with the betrayal? Boooo.

Overall I think 3 ties thematically into the other two films, so I like it and I'm unimpressed they've tried to hide it from the world. Might watch Dark Fate next and see how it fares as a replacement.

[sarndonic]

My ramblings on RE: Death Island

Y'all RE: Death Island opened in PH cinemas today and here are my thoughts on some of the scenes. Leaks have been going around on TW since this morning, so I'm dividing my ramblings into four sections.

WARNING: HEAVY SPOILERS AHEAD

Can confirm:

-Definitely Jill's time to shine. Everyone was like..."If there's Jill, there's hope..."

-She even has a big ass plasma rifle scene (probably a tribute to re3r)

-Movie more or less confirms that Jill has met Leon and Claire before. Their first scenes with Jill were like "hey, how's it going?" situations.

-Chris and Claire sibling interactions! We haven't been blessed with those since Code Veronica, nice.

Want to clear out:

-Pertaining to an early leak which caused quite a ruckus on TW: Maria was climbing over Leon like a koala to a tree during their fight scenes, but never once did he flirt with her or anyone else for that matter. He even called Maria "Arias' bitch" who could finally be with her Dad again after she died by Leon's hands. Kinda brutal coming from Leon if you ask me.

-This Leon came in with a luggage-ful of cringey but kinda funny one-liners. He reminds me of Damnation!Leon and I didn't sense any undertones of depression in him! Though he still hates his job (he refers to it as just a "living"), Leon seems to be in a much better place this time around. This scene literally happened:

Leon blurts out a one liner

Jill musters up an Oscar-worthy "Ugh...really?" reaction

Jill, probably:

Want to add:

-Movie was about how people respond to trauma differently. Dylan practically experienced the same sh*t as the main cast in RC, but he had chosen to side with the villains.

-Really nice to see this new model of Leon in action, doing re4r-esque stunts. That was kinda missing in ID, tbh. Also Leon and bikes look hot together, but can never be good news.

-Other character relationships in a nutshell, for those who are interested.

Jill and Leon -> This was definitely their buddy cop movie. I know people like to bully Leon for being "dumb" or for whatever reason, but Jill clearly respects his skills the same way Leon respects hers.

Jill and Chris -> Movie makes it clear that Chris absolutely cares about Jill. You can interpret it as both platonic and romantic (not very much so on the latter, though). I love Chris' "Welcome back!" line to Jill in the end and their little fist bump.

Chris and Leon -> I'd say they're like old co-workers who definitely know how to defeat BOWs. That's about it. They are mostly in action scenes together, with very little dialogue.

Rebecca and Claire -> Had great moments of nerdiness together (I mean that in an affectionate way), but very few action scenes compared to the other 3 mains. 

Can't say much about the other character combos, tbh. There was no mention of the ID conflict bet Leon and Claire. They have very little interactions in the film, probably less than a min. of dialogue? Just Leon saying Claire's name when they saw each other for the first time in the film (not even sure if that was Chris or him even), and then a scene where he ordered her and Rebecca to go mess around with the computers (ala ID).

-That character with a special mention in the early leaks -> It was Chris talking about Piers from re6. Unfortunately, there were no surprise appearances from other fan-fave characters. 

-The ending was your classic "heroes staring into the sunset after one hella fight" cliche, but t'was nice nonetheless haha

Overall:

It's everything you expect from a Resident Evil movie. Campy and with a weak plot, but gets redeemed by featuring a sh*t ton of welcome fan service (both good and bad). I like it better than Vendetta. 

Supposedly a 10/10, but that licker scene was a disservice to Jill, so 9/10.

[randomalistic]

I just watched Star Wars a new hope for the first-ish time. And . I have a lot of thoughts about the way movies are Preserved and re-presented and how they Interact with society. And this is also just a general review lol

KEEP IN MIND THIS IS COMING FROM SOMEONE WHO NEVER ENGAGED IN STAR WARS MEDIA EVER so I’m very biased towards Not Getting It. I know this is a deeply beloved franchise so I have to. Speak carefully.

Maybe I just had super high expectations due to the Entire Cultural Phenomenon thing. Like who wouldn’t have high expectations this is literally “The Movie of All Time”. It’s kind of unfortunate how much pressure there is on it in that sense.

TLDR: My favorite parts were when r2d2 screamed like WRREEOOOWWWWWW !!!!!!!!!

ANYWAYS. My opinion (uh oh)

The sets and the effects were OUTSTANDING. As expected. I just wanted a little more main character depth but I suppose that’s what sequels are for

I had fun watching it the special effects and all the weird creatures and robots were my ultra favorite part but…….. UM) the pacing was weird and there wasn't enough tension. Was that just me ? Maybe I was just tired . But .. idk man…

Actually no I can forgive first installments for being a little shaky and awkward. This was literally made like 45 years ago. Like there weren’t a lot of insane movies like this back then so this is kinda just what you got.

But yeah some character depth was left to be desired. Some characters were a little too cold and emotionless like Luke's HOME was destroyed and his Aunt and Uncle were INCINERATED TO SMOKING SKELETONS & he had almost no reaction. Like can the characters be a little traumatized please . nobody cried in this movie. I know they're going through a space war so maybe Leia is a little more cold and callused. But Luke?? Luke is just a kid… even if he didn’t care about his aunt and uncle That much, he should have had a stronger reaction.

I completely get that this was 1977 and there was probably a lot of stigma for a protagonist male character expressing that amount of vulnerability and grief in a MOVIE. That would have been unheard of. At least I assume so.

But it’s such a shame because Luke is the person we’re viewing this movie through he’s like the audience stand in. And unfortunately when he doesn’t care/show emotion, I also find it more difficult to care and get invested. Not that I DIDNT care. It just made me take it less seriously and affected tension. That combined with the funky pacing also affected the tension poorly… so I was finding it hard to stay engaged. aside from seeing the silly creatures every once in a while. But maybe that’s also because my dog kept interrupting me lol. Again ☹️ this movie was meant to be watched in a huge theater… 40 years ago.. maybe it just doesn’t translate ?

I was also not a fan of leia and Luke becoming instant love interests like. how did that even happen they just met. have they had a single conversation. AGAIN it’s just because it’s an old movie I should cut it some slack. But it just left a lot to be desired. I think that’s because what I care about in movies the most is the characters and their personalities.

I think this movie was definitely more of a “this is a technological marvel with an amazing score and incredible sci-fi action!!” And less of a “this is a movie showcasing AMAZING and COMPLEX CHARACTERS” the human characters are pretty basic im sorry to say. But like. how can I criticize that when this was like the first movie to make those character types basic

Maybe it’s because living in a hugely inspired-by-Star-Wars-world it’s just gotten so.. old? Exhausting maybe? Western society expects that you’ve seen Star Wars. “You haven’t seen Star Wars?? Are you kidding!! It’s a classic!!” Maybe I’ve just seen these tropes so many times I’m unable to properly appreciate the sheer creativity and groundbreaking nature of the original. Which if that’s true, is genuinely unfortunate. I wish this film could properly translate itself to newer generations but you would have to consume it in a vacuum I swear. Which is weird. Because a movie with similar cultural impact like the Matrix still had me engaged when I saw it. I DONT KNOW MAN. THIS MIGHT JUST BE A ME PROBLEM.

I’m just saying its popularity lessens the impact of the franchise and changes the viewing experience a lot.. especially with the longer you wait to watch it. Which wasn’t a problem for the people watching it in the theater for the first time!! Of course it was magical and unlike anything people had ever seen before!! In that era It hadn’t become obnoxiously popular yet (I mean this in the nicest way possible.)

Anyways. Characters I did like. R2D2 was cute and him and c3po had divorced couple energy. I think their scenes were my favorite. It’s a big scary world out their for a couple of silly gay droids. I mean what.

Han solo was kind of a lovable asshole until he decided to be a mysoginist.. 💔I am used to taking old movies with a grain of salt but should I really have to tolerate that kind of stuff. SORRY ITS AN OLD AND VERY ICONIC MOVIE . I NEED TO GIVE IT A MASSIVE GRAIN OF SALT. But yeah Leia is the only female character besides Luke’s aunt. It was 1977. At least they made her badass and shoot things yaaay

(Unfortunately I watched it on a stretched out DVD version but this gif looks like better quality lmao. AGAIN… LOSING THE ARTIST INTENTION BY WATCHING ON A DVD💔 it’s so sad man.)

OK FINALLY SOMETHING ELSE I LIKED. (Everything I don’t complain about you have to assume I Enjoyed okay. I just don’t have much to say about those things lmfao) but yes I liked Obi Wan and Luke’s mentor-student(?) relationship it was very sweet. I liked their interactions!

It’s kind of funny he cared more about Obi-Wan dying more than his house and family LOL. BUT THAT SAYS SOMETHING!!! THAT REALLY SAYS SOMETHING. IT SHOWS HE CARED. HE SCREAMED “NO!!!!” WHEN HE SAW IT HAPPEN. And he felt awful afterwards and Leia comforted him, IF ONLY FOR A BRIEF MOMENT before flying around and having fun again. But that was THERE!! and that was real character depth okay.

I SWEAR I ENJOYED IT. I WILL PROBABLY WATCH EMPIRE STRIKES BACK JUST TO SEE IF IT IMPROVES BC IVE HEARD THATS THE BEST ONE. but yeah. silly and cheesy sci fi adventure with tons of creatures of COURSE I liked it. It’s an AMAZING MOVIE and it’s ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL MOVIES IN ALL OF HUMAN HISTORY. But that means IT SUFFERS. It suffers because of Society. I’m the joker now and here’s my Star Wars unpopular opinion. I didn’t expect anybody to read that far. Thanks.

BUT I HAVE. one last bitchy complaint. I know the opening scrolling text is the most iconic movie thing on earth and I should Appreciate that. but TALK ABOUT INACCESSIBLE LOL I COULD BARELY READ THAT SHIT. IT FELT LIKE I WAS WATCHING WINDOWS MOVIE MAKER. THE SLANT MADE IT SO HARD TO READ. You could only read the full sentence when it’s like in the Middle of the screen and by then it’s already shrinking and scrolling AWAYYYYY!!! GHAAHA it’s so bad. (affectionate) but I think it’s charming how Bad the opening scroll objectively is and yet it’s still so beloved and iconic. (I promise I mean well.)

Ok on second thought maybe it was the DVD that messed it up even more. Sigh. Because this looks perfectly fine. THATS SO UNFORTUNATE THAT SOMEONES MOVIE EXPERIENCE CAN BE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT DEPENDING ON IF ITS WATCHED ON A DVD OR IN A THEATER OR ALONE OR WITH OTHERS AND THERES SO MANY FACTORS UGH!!! This cannot continue.

[themultiversemercs]

Who inspires you?

Are there any FC’s you believe should be used more? Why?

What calms you down after negativity?

What’s your best RP experience?

Are there any small details you tend to like in roleplays?

What genres do you like writing the most?

What tends to bring out your muse the most? What inspires you?

(I'd send the symbols but tumblr won't let me copy them)

So! in order:

Who inspires you?

In life, it's the three people that made sure I'm still here (avoiding too much detail to avoid TW) they did so much for my mental health just being themselves, and I'll always be thankful for that.

As for within RP... Everyone, honestly. It's kind of baked into the characters I play, the idea that they all interact, the Arch that knows @koikuro101-rp-hub 's now absent Jill is the same Arch who knows @txngledbxnds 's Duch and so on. I love building this great militia of sorts that fights for those who can't, who deserve to not have that kind of blood on their hands!

Like MW2019 Price's quote:

"End of the day, someone has the make the enemy scared of the dark. We get dirty, and the world stays clean. That's the mission."

Are there any FCs you believe should be used more? Why?

Generally, I feel people's FC's are pretty varied and unique, maybe it's just my unfortunate luck of having more of them that are smaller like Jason so there isn't as much in terms of edits or whatnot for them. I do feel like more gruff men could be present though, maybe it's just who I follow but I don't see that many.

What calms you down after negativity?

Oh boy, this is a question.

Thanks to my spacca status (AuDHD) I can be affected by negativity for a while and randomly too. I'm sure people have noticed it in my writing when Arch is suddenly colder or standoffish.

As for how I deal with it, if I know it'll kill the vibe of the thread I try to back off and leave the thread alone until I feel better, usually by spending time with my partner, or by otherwise putting some distance from stuff.

What's your best RP experience?

Ooooo, now that is a good one! I have a few favourite threads which now I never shut up about. 😅

The big one is called The Shattered Illusion with @txngledbxnds, where after Duch's husband is killed, a cleaner is sent to make sure Arch's mutagen does not fall into enemy hands, but is caught by Duch when he's ransacking her and her late husband's apartment. He ends up sticking around to take over STEALTH in this timeline, but the feelings and memories that belonged to his predecessor soon seep into his mind, making him question his relations to this woman who he's never met prior.

Another one that I wish I could have expanded on is Mistake with @noonegetsleftbehind playing a Chris and Jill where despite being in a relationship with each other both of them are cheating with Arch, and when it all comes out it's quite explosive!

And of course @koikuro101-rp-hub's Jill Valentine. Where Agent came from, where one of Arch's better endings come from, and where one of Arch's canon events comes from. Arch is tasked with helping to get Jill out of Africa during the events of Resident Evil 5, but she is killed in the process and Arch is blamed, ensuring any collaboration between STEALTH and the BSAA is ruined.

Are there any small details you like in roleplays?

For me it's small things, when characters actually do human things when in the thread, like eating, drinking, smoking, that kind of thing. Other than that another thing is when the other person adds things that are part of their world, or special interests to them, like me with my firearms.

What genres do you like writing the most?

Action and angst mostly, romance is still wonderful even if I'm determined to make my characters suffer!

What tends to bring your muse out the most? What inspires you?

Music, music, and music.

That and the films I watch, for example I love the idea of Agent going out like T-800 in T2.

[thelaurenshippen]

Finally listed to Rebel Robin (the Audio show, not the book) and honestly it was not what I was expecting, I guess more in-line with the actual Stranger Things tv show. But of course that wouldn’t make sense.

Anyways, when listening to it I honestly find it really poetic, I don’t know if the subjects it tackles relates to the current climate but I find it now more important than ever.

One question I have is how do you direct Actors (those who act on screen or a visual medium) to perform for audio?

OH HI I CAN FINALLY ANSWER THIS QUESTION I'M SO EXCITED

(the SAG strike is over!! while podcasts were never struck work, bc Surviving Hawkins is a Netflix/Stranger Things show, I was considering anything related to it to be struck, so haven't wanted to post or promote it in any way! but we're finally done!)

I'm really glad you listened to the show and that it surprised you and felt relevant - it was a careful balance of making the show feel like it fits into the ST universe while also understanding that it takes place well before Robin knows anything about the Upside Down, so the story is going to be very different from any other ST story.

in terms of directing screen actors in audio...so many of the principles are the same! most of the actors I work with are TV/film actors not voiceover artists (though of course screen actors do VO and VO actors do screen, there are differences when it comes to those career paths).

(this got so long, putting it under the cut)

the thing that is hardest about screen acting in my opinion is the fact that you have to hold a million details/tasks in your head at once while also acting. stage acting is similar - you have to remember your blocking, make sure to project and be turned out to the audience, etc., but usually when you're acting on stage, you're doing the same show over and over again. for film - and especially TV - actors every day brings new scenes, new blocking, new physical actions. you have to hit your mark exactly, make sure you're in your light, find your eyeline, work with props, and memorize lines that you've sometimes been given that day. and then you have to make sure to give an emotional performance on top of that.

plus, in a show like ST, you're often interacting with things that are not there (every time I watch the demobat fight in the most recent season I'm so curious how they did it/what was providing the tension for them to pull on the bats, hit them, etc.). a lot of the actors I work with come from genre stuff, where a lot of their work is imagining that the green box they're in is actually a spaceship and the green stick they're holding is actually a magical staff or whatever. which adds another layer to the work.

which is all to say--audio is the opposite of that. you don't memorize your lines, you just have to make sure you're speaking into the mic, and that's it. but you also are only using your imagination to conjure up the setting and the actions your character is taking. so a lot of my work as a director is making sure the actors feel free to experiment, make mistakes, and be physical, even if we can't see it. oftentimes, a screen actor will come into a recording feeling like they have to do a particular thing, treat voiceover differently. my job is often just to remind them to treat it like anything else.

pretty much every actor I've ever worked with has commented on just how fun it is to focus on only the acting and nothing else. there's of course so much fun to be had running around and fighting monsters, but I find that voice acting provides a nice bit of variety. with Maya - and with the nature of the SH scripts - it was just about creating an atmosphere that felt conducive to natural conversation. because of ST filming scheduling, we actually didn't get to record her and Sean together at all, which was a bummer, but we still had someone reading the other characters' lines so it would feel like two people having a conversation.

in terms of specific direction, I'm usually focused on finding different shades of emotion from take to take - let's do this one angrier, let's do this one where you're scared and trying not to show it, etc. the only time I ever really have to voice direct is if something is getting mumbled or mispronounced or if I need something physical - the character running, smiling, etc. in those instances, I'll just tell the actor exactly what I need and we'll just pick up that individual line.

I hope this answers your question! especially since I wrote such a massive answer, lol. but the long and short of it is that directing is the same across mediums in many ways: you're focused on story, emotion, and chemistry and the lovely thing about podcasts is that you get to focus on those things and those things alone.

[ellieellieoxenfree]

52 weeks, 52 movies: june

you will die at twenty (sudan) — at birth, sakina (islam mubarak) is told that her baby son muzamil (moatesem rashed, as a child, and mustafa shehata, as an adult) is cursed to die on his twentieth birthday. the incident fractures the family, sending his father (talal afifi) away and pushing sakina into an overprotective frenzy.

mm, this was crunchy — up until a point. it comes out swinging as a critique of religious dogmatism, showing how sakina lets her faith dictate how her son interacts, or doesn’t, with the world. muzamil grows up isolated and alienated, trying to find a place among the other children in his village, but his curse and his mother’s strict rules keep him from ever truly belonging. when he does finally coax enough freedom from her to be allowed to study the quran, he’s violently bullied — ‘son of death, let’s play a fun game,’ his schoolmates proclaim, staging a mock funeral for him and stowing him away in a trunk. even his mastery of his studies means nothing. ‘this boy could have been a great scholar, but nothing lasts in this world,’ his teacher says somberly. muzamil is consistently reminded that he’s damned to be nothing more than a tragic figure and a cautionary tale, denied his own humanity from the moment of his birth.

light comes in the forms of sulaiman (mahmoud maysara elsaraj), a former expat who returns to sudan for mysterious reasons and brings untold riches from the world beyond muzamil’s village. muzamil is able to grasp at pieces of agency here — exposed to sulaiman’s stories and film reels, he explores breaking out of the shell his mother created for him, and grasps at forbidden pleasures like romance with a local girl (bunna khalid). a powerful scene comes with the return of his father, who he rejects with a cruel, if accurate, line about sulaiman being like a father to him, which feels justified in the context of his father’s 19-year abandonment. but it’s his father who ultimately also saves him from himself late in the movie, in contrast to sulaiman, whose arc takes an ugly sharp turn that sends the film off the rails. the movie’s third-act dramatics don’t feel in line with the rest of the movie, and muzamil himself feels like he’s shifted into an entirely separate character. there’s a shockingly brutal scene that made my stomach turn, and retroactively ruined much of the goodness that had come before.

the end is inconclusive; a title card suggests this is all an allegory for victims of the sudanese revolution. this makes it harder to parse everything that’s come before and sift through what’s real vs imagined. it makes for uncomfortable viewing; was this a story of one boy’s personal dehumanization, or was he merely a faceless figurehead for thousands or millions of others? if the latter, it gets murky. director amjad abu alala has been appearing to make a powerful case against stripping autonomy and identity throughout the movie, only to suggest in the closing sections that muzamil is nothing more than vapor at all.

it’s a gorgeous film, with handsomely-mounted set pieces that convey the bleak expanse of the sudanese desert, and imagery that lingers in the mind. (sakina, who has no calendar, marks each day of muzamil’s life down on a wall with chalk, until the entire wall is a series of scrawled lines.) but it also isn’t quite sure of itself and what it’s trying to say. in service of being a religious critique, a coming-of-age story, and an allegorical tale, it never quite succeeds as any of them.

the pied piper (czech republic) — the town of hamelin offers a mysterious hooded piper a thousand gold coins to rid them of their rat infestation, only to inadvertently seal their own dooms.

deaf crocodile, those beautiful bastards, did it again with this one. this is a bite-sized masterpiece of stop-motion, live action, and a brief interlude of painted 2-d animation. it’s startlingly beautiful, terrifying for children (although it’s czech, so it probably is viewed in the cradle), and a deliciously creepy indictment of greed. it’s also a technological marvel, with a thousand moving parts in every frame. (watching the gears move alone is wondrous.) hamelin is both hideous — all shades of drab brown, peopled exclusively by petty, greedy skinflints — and stunning, a sort of dollhouse come to life. director jiří barta chose to juxtapose the wooden citizens of the town against real rats, which is incredibly effective in conveying the rats’ outside invader status. the rats burrow and chew and skitter and slither throughout barta’s clockwork town, so adorable in their bright-eyed inquisitiveness that their inevitable deaths are the only ones we actually feel.

the townspeople, on the other hand, have no saving graces. they are nasty, grasping, and brutish, savaging anything good and innocent. barta revels in showing their vile natures, and their bad ends were more than earned. from a technological standpoint, they’re as incredible as the sets around them; as characters, we cheer for their demise.

the story is vicious, tragic, and funny in equal measure. it also clocks in at a mere 53 minutes, telling its story briskly and ducking out before overstaying its welcome (or, more likely, preventing the studio from going bankrupt in its creation). its gloomy, spooky vibes make it a perfect october watch, but really, watching bad things happen to bad people is always in style.

the legend of the stardust brothers (japan) — scouted by a mysterious producer (ozaki kiyohiko), amateur rock star enemies kan (takagi kan) and shingo (kubota shingo) are promised fame and fortune, as long as they agree to perform together as a duo called the stardust brothers.

i first started this movie back in march or so, and made it about ten minutes before my interest waned. i knew it was me and not the movie, but it kept sitting on my plex taunting me and waiting for me to come back and finish it. but it was never the right time, and it felt unfair to force myself to watch it when i knew i wouldn’t give it a fair shake.

and i finally did give it a fair shake in june, which did turn out to be the right time, and the movie rewarded me for my patience by giving me one of the most batshit insane, off-the-wall, incomprehensible, inexplicable experiences possible. it was absolutely fantastic. the story of its production is pure 1980s — a studio album made for a nonexistent movie, picked up by the 22-year-old untested son of tezuka osamu, driven by his dabbling in arthouse shorts, starring his friends, and supplemented by trippy animated sequences from a horror manga artist. it all sounds completely insane, and it is completely insane. its plot is simple on the face of it, but the execution is hilarious, sad, wacky, outrageous, horrifying, and practically every other adjective you can think of. it skewers the music industry mercilessly, but thinking of it as an industry satire would be to exclude all the 900 other things happening in it.

i don’t think the weirdness of this movie can be adequately explained, only witnessed. even the photosets and gifsets don’t quite convey what an oddball experience it is — in part because you really need to hear the music. (spotify is a bastard and doesn’t have the soundtrack on there, at least in america. i just checked.) the whole thing is this riotous explosion of color and noise and music and absolutely insane plot twists. it is the entire neighborhood’s worth of kitchen sinks in under two hours, all gathered around chikada haruo’s earworm melodies.

the founder of third window films, the UK distributor i picked this up from (i tend to have a lot of UK distributors who i have to snag things from for the weirder titles i own), considers this movie his personal favorite of the company’s entire catalog. i remember reading that way back when and thinking, well, i hope it lives up to that reputation once i finally watch it. and i did watch it, and it did live up to that reputation, and i hope that if you ever find yourself three months past first considering watching it for the first time, that you also sit down and have your mind blown the same way i did. join me. join the stardust brothers. let’s take a trip.

sweet thing (usa) — neglected by their alcoholic father and abandoned by their mother, two siblings (lana and nico rockwell) try to find their own way in life.

well, this movie sucked. it sucked long before i found out the dipshit director, alexandre rockwell, just cast his own family (wife and kids) in it, and it sucked a lot more after i found out that he went after critic roger moore and threw a tantrum in his comments section about a mean review. (i cannot express enough how much you should read moore ripping his ass a new one.)

it is poverty porn. it is pointless, unfocused, needless misery with faux-artistic touches, marinating in unsubtle voyeurism and begging noxiously for a love it never earns. i love black-and-white cinematography. this made me hate black-and-white cinematography because rockwell clearly only did it because he thinks he’s an Auteur. one of the characters is named billie, and so she is regularly visited by the ghost of billie holiday, a technique that works about as well as pissing on a power line without consequence. everything in this is reductive. every stereotype you think would be in a movie about poverty-stricken children in a broken home is in there. does their father, adam (will patton), ruin christmas with his alcoholism? you bet he does! does he also traumatize his children through destroying something of theirs? of course! (it’s the old drunken haircut scene. yeehaw.) does their mother, eve (i know. I KNOW.), have a shitty child molester boyfriend? reader, you know the answer. you know the fucking answer. if it can wallow in tiresome bullshit, it does, and it does at length. it is maddening. it is thoroughly unpleasant to watch. it sort of lazily takes stabs at a plot — adam goes to rehab, at which point the kids are saddled with the disinterested eve and her diddler boyfriend — which it then squanders with a no-resolution resolution.

i felt rather dirty watching it. there’s something about a movie that’s so explicitly about childhood misery, with no optimistic payoff, that’s already going to be dicey for some people, but to put your own children into it just feels exploitative and unfeeling. whether the kids have talent (they’re fine. they’re adequate. i didn’t have any strong feelings on them as actors, quite honestly) is irrelevant to the discussion. the entire thing just being a strange masturbatory exercise where rockwell’s wife is a disconnected boozehound and his kids are neglected and unloved stinks all the way down. per his slapfight with moore, he’s exorcising his own childhood demons, which on the face of it isn’t objectionable — plenty of good art is born out of deep-seated pain. but taking his own children into the equation to safely playact his own therapy is objectionable and quite frankly, loathsome. alexandre rockwell is a shithead.

(PS: i hope he sees this and i hope he knows i think he’s a shithead. come create a tumblr and whine about it, fuckstick.)

other viewing

singin’ in the rain* (usa)

you’ll never be alone (chile)

the people next door (1970) (usa)

just good friends s2 (uk)

just good friends s3 (uk)

love on the run (usa)

alex wheatle (uk)

education (uk)

shrinking s1 (usa)

more than two days (qatar)

studio (sudan)

maria chapdelaine (2021) (canada)

dance of the 41 (mexico)

three deaths (usa)

the matrix* (usa)

game changer (thailand)

infinity (china)

intern detective oh kye-on sik (south korea)

a business proposal (south korea)

miyuki (2011) (usa)

blik (netherlands)

hudson (2018) (usa)

street angel (usa)

bad ben (usa)

icebergs (switzerland)

sprung s1 (usa)

show people (usa)

codependent space lesbian seeks same (usa)

breakin’ (usa)

are we lost forever? (sweden)

voyage of the rock aliens (usa)

both he and i are grooms (japan)

the wedding banquet (taiwan)

the last autumn (iceland)

bake me please (thailand)

unprisoned s1 (usa)

love child s1 (australia)

love child s2 (australia)

the binding of itzik (usa)

history of the world part I (usa)*

[rallamajoop]

1. Have you seen the re6 promo campaign, the butcher shop one? I think it was in London. There are some photos, and while I think it's kinda cool to get any sort of creative campaign to promote a video game, I felt majorly grossed out by it. Which was likely the intent lol, but I also felt it was pretty misleading? Like, it implied that there was cannibalism involved in the plot. 2. Would you ever like to get another resident evil co-op game? And if so, what would you like it to be - the characters, the plot, the time line, etc.

So, I don't know if I've managed to be too subtle about the fact I think RE + co-op was always a terrible idea the last, er, every time I've ever mentioned it, but, well, I think RE + co-op is a terrible idea. I have never even played an RE co-op game (I'm very open about the fact my opinions on RE5&6 come entirely from watching cutscene compilations and let's plays) and the fact they are co-op is among the reasons I don't want to play them. I'm just not interested in co-op experiences, they're too contrary to what I'm generally looking for in games.

It's questionable whether horror + co-op + narrative is ever a good mix. It's hard to do atmosphere with multiple different players alternately screaming, laughing and ribbing each other, and co-op is too good at generating its own narratives via player interactions to gel with a strong narrative horror experience. I've heard of online multiplayer games working in horror settings ‒ scenarios where you're basically playing as the ubiquitous team of cannon fodder from every other horror film, whose job is mostly to get picked off one by one. But I honestly can't think of a single example of a co-op game with a strong narrative where the co-op is more than an awkwardly tacked-on gimmick. I mean, by all means, send me counter-examples here if you know of any, but the best I've got is, "well, I hear the Portal 2 co-op campaign was actually pretty good, but me and my sister couldn't get it working even back when we were still living together, so we never actually played it."

This is not to say that narrative + co-op is necessarily an unworkable combination. The one genuinely interesting thing I've ever heard of being done in a co-op/horror experience is that one sequence in Dead Space 3 which one player character spends hallucinating, so the two players are seeing very different things. And I'm sure there's way more that could be done with asymmetric gameplay experiences, not just in the sense of giving characters different weapons (or whatever else you're all about to tell me they totally did in that one RE Revelations game), but actively splitting them up, letting decisions made by one player affect the experiences of the other, building trust issues directly into the narrative ‒ you can't tell me there aren't possibilities there.

But the trouble with all those kinds of ideas is that they depend on someone building co-op in as a core part of the whole design, rather than an optional extra, and the audience for an experience that needs exactly two people to work (rather than one person, who can play without having to synchronise with anyone else's schedule, or a variable group of however many of your friends are free today for online multiplayer) doesn't easily justify the amount of extra work that'd require. Add in all the extra issues with local vs remote co-op, and whether the whole conceit falls apart if your two players talk to each other about bits the other guy isn't meant to have seen, and you can see why games like this don't get made. And even if they did, I don't know why you'd try to retrofit that many new ideas into a Resident Evil game, other than for cheap name recognition. I mean, you might as well try to sell me a Final Fantasy as a single player action game [insert sad laughter here].

As for the RE6 promo campaign, no I hadn't heard of it, and now that I've looked it up, my thoughts are, "oh, a pop-up butcher selling cuts of meat constructed to look like human body parts? Yeah, sure, that seems pretty on-brand." A few fake body parts are not going to seriously gross me out (what made RE6 genuinely unpleasant for me was a mix of misery porn, toxic masculinity, and the random injection of bouncing-titty-monsters in the middle of yet more misery porn). Nothing really misleading about it either: RE has zombies, and zombies eat people. It's a publicity stunt, not a game trailer ‒ it's only there to get your attention in the broadest way they can come up with to grab some headlines (but if you wanna talk about real misleading advertising in game advertisements, that's a rabbit hole that probably goes all the way to China). But I'm guessing they probably weren't even really selling that shit, so you can always feel misled on that front if you like.