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genericpuff · 9 months ago

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Scamlords is at it again.

A few nights ago, there was a sudden blow-up in the /r/webtoons server showing a new announcement from Snailords -

For anyone unaware, Death : Rescheduled has been on mid-season hiatus since October. And it's now, and only now, that Snailords has suddenly decided the comic is ending after it returns, but readers can get an extra 20 episodes... if they fork over $1k in merch sales.

Now, this could be a lot worse. They could be threatening not to return to the series at all unless their readers hand over money. But considering it's practically just one degree away from that, it's still pretty nasty. Not to mention, the further they divulged in their reasoning around this "idea", the more confusing it got.

They also even revived their @snailordsrant account on IG which, for those of you who were there and can recall, was the same account they used to put one of their own fans on blast over some very mild criticism.

None of this makes any actual sense, for several reasons:

1.) I literally fail to see how getting $1k in less than 24 hours is worth shoving in an extra mini arc of 10 episodes if you don't even have it planned out. Why do that to your audience or to yourself? Why drag things out just to scrounge up an emergency $1k? Why not just be honest with your audience and run a GoFundMe or just say , "Hey everyone, I've run into some financial troubles, I would really appreciate it if you could FastPass my newest episodes or donate to my Patreon or buy some merch so I can cover the costs". It's really telling that this shithead doesn't have enough confidence in themselves or their audience that practically worships them that they have to resort to this kind of underhanded shit to get the money they need. I wanna make it clear that this is NOT like a Kickstarter stretch goal or anything that incentivizes readers to support their work, they're instead holding the length and future of their series over their audiences' head (which they've done before) for money. That's not an incentive, it's an ultimatum.

2.) Maybe I'm misreading / being stupid (someone pls explain if I'm missing something here) but I literally don't see how their comment about working 50 hours a week explains why they're suddenly getting their fans to pay out $1k worth of merch in less than 24 hours. For anyone who doesn't know, $1k per episode is an example Webtoons uses in its post discussing how they pay out creators (this came after the platform got called out 2 years ago for paying creators too little, there are undoubtedly creators getting paid less). And yet for some reason $1k is apparently the difference between 10 episodes and 20? How does that add up? And is the bit about them wanting to buy boba supposed to be a joke? Where's the punchline here?

3.) They say they have writer's block and they want to use the money to "motivate them", but then just a few slides later they say 10-15 episodes is what would make them the "happiest" so which is it? Do they want to write 10 episodes or do they want people to pay them to write 20 episodes so they can draw the fluff scenes that they apparently want to draw? If you have an ending planned out, why rush it or drag it out depending on how this "fundraiser" goes? Why not just write the ending you want to write that will serve your story best? Why shove in an extra mini arc that you don't even have full confidence in writing and then try to compare it to a "super expensive cake"? What are you doing? Speaking as someone who's had trouble getting motivated in the past, suddenly getting a month's rent worth of money to do it doesn't necessarily solve that, it just turns up the pressure, and if you're not someone who deals with pressure well, then you're more likely to wind up just burning out entirely rather than fulfilling that goal.

4.) The fact that they did, in fact, hit their goal just makes it all the shittier to think about because their audience is mostly made up of teenagers who worship the ground that they walk on. It's horrifying that they keep pulling these stunts with their audience, and getting away with it to boot - and Webtoons, as a company, keeps enabling it by allowing it to happen by hosting and promoting people like this.

Anyways, there's already a lot going on here that's sketchy, but then... they went and deleted their posts. At the time of this happening (as I was there to witness it all play out in real time) I assumed this meant that they had hit their $1k goal - especially as they had been showing their progress on their IG and they were already at $900 after just a couple hours - but it gave me a sinking feeling seeing them delete it because they had also been called out by some brave readers telling them that it wasn't exactly a good look to essentially blackmail their audience through their own content into giving them money.

Snailords deleting it gave me a stronger impression of "burying the evidence", especially now that they had the money. By all accounts, they could do whatever they wanted now.

So what did they decide to do?

. . . Huh?

Okay, take a second to actually think about what Snailords has done here. Because I know some of you will go "oh, it was for charity all along! that was nice of them!" but . . . I don't know about the legalities of collecting donation funds under false pretenses, but morally speaking, it's a really shitty thing to do. They stripped away the choices - limiting them to three - of what their readers could donate to, and what I think their readers don't understand - due to being mostly teenagers - is that they're tax-exempt individuals and they just unknowingly gave Snailords an easy $1k tax write-off. You really, really shouldn't collect donation funds like this without being honest, it's just a shitty thing to do, especially after you've already collected the money. It mostly just comes across as damage control on Snailords' part to make it seem like they were always planning to donate to charity, when in reality, if they wanted to donate to charity, they would have been honest about that at the start. Again, even if they wanted to do that from the start, it goes to show how little confidence they have in themselves or their audience that they have to stoop to methods like these instead of just doing it honestly.

And do you really think Snailords will actually do those extra episodes? Or donate that money? This is the same asshole who has manipulated their readers for money not once but twice, and now seems intent on doing it a third time just for the charm. This is the same person who practically sabotaged their own comic, Freaking Romance, because they apparently didn't like the romance genre and may as well have only done it for clout / views / etc.

What was especially odd - and I found this out from folks who actually read Death : Rescheduled (I do not) - was finding out that it wouldn't make sense for D : R to end in as many as 25 episodes, because apparently, the plot has basically just gotten going.

So it does seem like this is foreshadowing that D : R will wind up just like Freaking Romance, rushed into an ending that wasn't expected. And this, of course, has the people who read their work confused because D : R was supposed to be Snailords' passion project, their magnum opus, the project they wanted to do. So them holding the timing of an ending that shouldn't even be happening yet for ransom contradicts that original intention. Really, it just goes to show that Snailords has no passion, they're just in it purely for the money, to a degree that I can't even cheer them on for being a hustler because it's missing the honesty and integrity.

And of course, every single time Snailords finds a way to backpedal and take his audience for a ride, they hop right in without a single thought for themselves.

And no, none of this is to hate on the readers directly, I hold Snailords entirely responsible for this - they have an audience of impressionable, naive, gullible teenagers, and they know it, and take advantage of it every chance they get. It's why they weren't just honest about wanting to collect money for charity from the start. It's why they resorted to basically holding their own comic's progression for ransom during its midseason hiatus. It's why the deadline was 24 hours and why the posts are now gone.

Thankfully the Internet does what it does - any evidence that Snailords was trying to bury is now all over reddit, and hey, just for good measure, here's a post on Tumblr that's been sitting in my drafts for days now, days after people have already seemingly stopped talking about it. Don't let anyone bury or forget about the stunts Snailords is pulling on their audience, with a platform that they've been consistently given by Webtoons, because that's what they want you to do.

#snailords #webtoon critical

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discoknack · 5 months ago

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Skully's Punishment Part 2

Part 1 here

As always I got the idea from @sonicasura

Also spoilers for episode 10-11.

Hoshina crooned at the Yoju, stopwatch in hand, "Good~ good, keep breathing just like that."

Skully's breathing was measured and deliberate, but their small form would occasionally shudder with a suppressed sob.

"Keep those arms out, knees bent. Tuck that tail more, no cheating! Almost there... Five. Four. Three..."

Hoshina almost couldn't hear himself over Skully's sudden outburst - they roared and screamed, mouth wide open and fists tightening. But they held their position, even with their limbs shaking. Very good. When he reached zero with an "all done!" Skully finally collapsed, sprawling onto their belly.

Then Skully took a deep breath, chest expanding, and began to weep, whimpering softly like a deflating balloon.

Hoshina swept them off the floor, holding Skully up by their underarms and grinning. "Ya done good, Rookie! I'm proud of you! Think you'll listen to me next time~?"

Skully was almost limp in his hands. But then they began to wiggle, straightening and grabbing Hoshina's arms for support, whimpering with each effort. They looked him in the eyes with tears streaming down their face and nose. Hoshina was kinda hoping they'd reply with a defeated 'yeah' or an 'uh huh' at least, but instead the Yoju babbled at him for a good ten seconds or so. Their words slurred together and they stopped and started several times, interrupted by sobs. Their kaiju vocal cords weren't doing them any favors, either. There were only a few words Hoshina could make out: Papa... gigantic scary... hurt... something...

He got the gist of it anyhow.

"Well, aren't you a sweetie!" he said, bringing Skully closer and wrapping his arms around them. "Just like your mumma."

Hoshina rubbed the spines on Skully's back. Skully settled in immediately, rumbling and chirping.

"But I'm not just your Papa; I'm also your Vice-Captain. I have a duty to my soldiers, ya know." That didn't fully sound right. "I have a duty to my children, especially." That sounded weird still. But it was probably the best description. "So. You hafta listen to me double-time~" Hoshina nuzzled Skully's neck, provoking happy chirps.

Hoshina sighed. "Justtt like your mama..."

Of course Kafka's kid would be just like him. Incredibly loyal. Admirable, but he sets a bad example. That's what I get for bringing on a rookie just 'cuz I liked him, huh? "Don't get too attached to your comrades," I told him. "Anything can happen."

Kafka! You had better come back. You owe me that much!

Hoshina was glad he had sent Okonogi away and was alone with the Yoju. So no one else could see his face.

"Hibino Kafka." Captain Ashiro said, idly thumbing the barrel of her gun. The smaller one, that is - not the cannon, thank god.

Kafka had stopped stressing a few moments ago, no longer sensing his whelp's cries and figuring that, with how they tapered off, it was fine. But now he was on edge again. Did she notice him sigh? "Y-yes, Captain?"

"The little one..." Mina shifted her weight, seeming uncertain. Kafka couldn't place why. "It's yours, isn't it?"

Well, there was no sense in lying.

"Yeah."

"Are you...?" Mina asked, "Do you...? Did-?" Then some color came into her cheeks and she turned away. "Sorry. Inappropriate questions."

Kafka took a moment to understand...

"Ehhh?! You got me all wrong! There's no way I'd be fooling around with- eee! sorry sorry..." He shrank back down into his seat at the sight of all the guns trained on him.

After some moments had passed, and the gunmen slowly relaxed, Mina made an odd sound, and looked like she was about to throw up. Her whole body was tense.

She did it again, grabbing at her neck and making little "ahem"s. She had to close her eyes or else they'd bulge out of her skull.

"Mi-!"

"Captain are you alright?!" Kafka had been interrupted by one of the soldiers.

Mina's forehead creased and she covered her mouth, but she couldn't stop the giggle from finally escaping. She managed to quiet down quickly, but even still, her shoulders shook. Finally, she took a breath and then did it again, tears springing to her eyes.

On the third breath she had it handled, getting a proper hold of her gun. She slowly exhaled, sobering up, almost to the point of a slight frown. Blinking away the tears, unsmiling, she said, "yes."

#kaiju no. 8 #Soshiro Hoshina #Hoshina Soshiro #Mina Ashiro #Ashiro Mina #Kafka Hibino #Hibino Kafka #Not trying to ship it at all but I kinda do. Which pair? Yes. AnyWAY #Hoshina grapples with a couple things #Kafka can sort of unclench #Mina corpses #Skully Hoshina #Skully #Skully Kaiju 8-alpha #btw if you don't know #i designate skully as 8-alpha because I used to read the SCP wiki #and remembered that SCPs that reproduce are often labeled with just the number while their offspring have -A or -B or sometimes -1 appended #so kafka is just number 8 still and his Eightling is 8-alpha.#Getting some strong deja vu from kafka's dialogue so either I've got it on point or I'm ripping someone off. Let me know which.#I definitely think I'm repeating some things from the anime with Hoshina's thought paragraph cuz I member...zzzz #but oh well not sure how to express differently anyway. Bed time!

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rhymeswithchronic · 11 months ago

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Art by my sister-in-law and one of my best friends, plebianplant! I realized that, while I post a lot of art and chapter updates for this story, I never actually explained what What This World Has to Offer was! So, here's an introduction post for it! I'd like to do it for some of my other fanfics, too, but we'll have to see :3

“The Reign of Giants will come and go Shipwrecked will he, we'll never know When finally, the end of lives Begins with the fall of five”

A world fraying apart from the seams would do anything to save itself. If that means damning innocent souls to a neverending Hell, then so be it. The Host, The Young Heir, The Martyr, The Sister, and The One True Heir. The Host of Their Master The Young Heir to a Throne of Shadows The Martyr Who Gave Up Everything The Sister of the Monster in the Dark The One True Heir to a Kingdom of Bones Don't be afraid. This is what is meant to happen. This is what you're meant to be. After all, it's all happened before, and it will all happen again.

Part 1 - Reign of Giants: Chapter 1-50 Part 2 - The One True Heir: Chapter 51-67 Part 3 - The King’s Gambit: Chapter 68-? Part 4 - ?

What This World Has to Offer is posted by Pokemaniac5000, Moonweaver50, or Pokemaniac7000 depending on which site you read it on. It is a Don't Starve longfic with an estimated 109 chapters in all. At this point in time, 90 of these chapters have been written and posted, totaling roughly 294k words. Each part in this story has a different set of plotlines, but all follow the same characters, the same timeline, and the same story. Part 1 - Reign of Giants is largely episodic, focusing on events that only span a few chapters at a time instead of anything that requires longer sections of writing to cover. In this part, you can expect a lot more of the game elements to be explored such as sanity, seasonal changes, and of course, as the name implies, the Giants! This section also features the least content warnings, although the later chapters lean much closer to the darker subjects of the later chapters. Expect to see a whole lot of Webber, Wilson, and WX-78, and just a little bit of Winona at the tail end. Part 2 - The One True Heir features Webber and Wilbur almost exclusively and explores a bit of Shipwrecked and the Archipelago. This is when many of the content warnings lean towards mental health issues. This is the shortest part in the entire fic. Part 3 - The King's Gambit introduces and explores Adventure Mode, with a twist to the formula to make it unique from your own playthrough of it. While this is the darkest part of the story, this section also focuses a lot on concepts like love, friendship, and found family. Expect to see the worst angst but the lightest fluff. Part 4 - Dust, The Void, and Them is the current arc. Details I can reveal are sparce as I have just begun posting it :3 The original story was written back in 2015 and finished in 2016 by a plucky 13-year-old with no concept of story or character growth, so many may recognize it from its original version. The rewriting process started in 2017, and as such, earlier chapters tend to be shorter with less descriptive writing. I expect to finish the rewrite by the end of 2024, although it might be earlier than that if my intense excitement for the story continues the way it has. If you are new to WTWHTO, welcome and I hope you enjoy! It is certainly a bit of a commitment, but I hope you find it worth your time nonetheless. Expect lots of random art, a writer who is so scared of drawing humans that she avoids drawing them like the plague half the time, and a story filled with angst, hurt/comfort, and found family. If you are one of the poor souls who read the original version back in 2015, welcome back! I assure you, much of this story has changed in the past several years and there is so much more for you to explore as you reread. Also, uh, yeah, Winona's in this now! Enjoy! My inbox is always open for any questions or comments you may have! Read on Archive of Our Own, Fanfiction.net, or the Don't Starve Forums! Archive of Our Own Fanfiction.net Don't Starve Forums

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pretty-idol-hell · 7 months ago

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The PriPara 10th Anniversary video and Tweet is up again! I believe this information wasn't supposed to be released until after the concert, but someone released it early. Oops.

I also noticed that the official Idol Land Twitter name and avatar has been changed. The name of the Twitter is now "Idol Land PriPara and PriPara 10th Anniversary", the new avatar features the 10th Anniversary logo, and the description explains that this account will be covering both Idol Land and the 10th Anniversary while it is ongoing.

(It's hard to imagine Idol Land ending during the 10th Anniversary, but having the official account being used for something else and the lack of a season 2 announcement today is a little concerning I have to admit.)

Okay, so about the actual announcement:

There will be a PriPara exhibition held this August 9th-25th 2024 in Tokyo, specifically Shibuya. They are also planning to bring the exhibition to Fukuoka and Osaka as well.

Having been to the Rainbow Live 10th Anniversary exhibition this past March, this honestly sounds very similar. They mention displaying PriPara's chronology (the Rainbow Live one had an episode-by-episode guide on the wall) and photo spots of Making Dramas and other scenes (same, we got a Prism Jump and Prism Stone shop as well as a bunch of mini ones), as well as stage costumes (well, we didn't get that at the RL one, instead we got merch and a guitar). The Rainbow Live one was cute, but very small. I was curious if this one might be bigger since they are taking it on tour but looking up the venue (地下1階, where it says "Event Space") this one looks equally small. So, perhaps not worth flying to Japan for, but be sure to check it out if you'll already be there!

Now, she's already made the rounds but the video also announced a brand new character. Not just for the 10th Anniversary, but the 1000th Anniversary!

Laalulu! She is a transfer student from the future, come to study about PriPara at the exhibition.

So... This is very funny for several reasons.

First of all, celebrating the 1000th Anniversary at the same time as the 10th is very on brand for PriPara considering it's long been canon that PriPara has existed for thousands of years, so why wouldn't it exist for thousands more?

And of course, although they don't acknowledge it directly, Laalulu is very clearly a fusion of Laala and Falulu.

Thus suggesting that Laala and Falulu's families become... intertwined at some point, somehow.

But at the same time, they are safeguarding themselves from suggesting she's a direct descendant since she's from so ridiculously far in the future. Yes, I know that vocal dolls, if she is one, can live for thousands of years. But, if she was already a thousand years old, why would she need to study PriPara in our age? So, I think she must be relatively young.

Or is she even a vocal doll at all? Because... not sure how that would be possible either.

My personal headcanon on this would be that perhaps Falulu or a Falulu clone becomes a real girl at some point, and meets up with a descendant of Laala.

Which, if true, would mean that they not only stole @moonlit-angel-serenity 's OC but mine as well, since that's what happens to Hinode in my canon LOL.

Haha, who knows. I'm pretty sure they will never explain it.

But, it seems to me this character is a character specifically made for the exhibition (especially since the logo features Laala and Falulu). Unless a voice actress is announced for her soon, I don't think they will be doing much of anything else with this character.

(In the video, Laala speaks to her and Laalulu replies back with text only, so it seems that she does not have one at this point.)

#Youtube #idol land pripara #pripara

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welcometothejianghu · 8 months ago

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Welcome to another round of W2 Tells You What You Should See, where W2 (me) tries to sell you (you) on something you should be watching. Today's choice: 叛逆者/The Rebel.

The Rebel is a 2021 period drama set during the 1930s and '40s as seen (mostly) from Shanghai by a patriotic young man who just keeps getting injured, ow, that poor baby.

It's a fairly realistic spy drama, by which I mean, there's not a bunch of cute costume changes or fun fake identities. Instead, this is a story about people who live entire other lives for years, keeping their true allegiances under wraps, doing what they can to help their side while sweating out what they can’t. It's way more John le Carré than Ian Fleming -- no James Bond flashiness or gizmos, all George Smiley subterfuge and paperwork. Actual spycraft is tough, kids!

Full disclaimer up front: This show is not a happy fun good time. It's a fascinating, gripping, tense piece of work about a thirteen-year period of history where a whole lot of miserable things were happening. The body count is frighteningly high. Be very careful about which characters you get attached to. Exactly one man has plot armor, so God help the rest of them.

However, if you're up for a quality drama with a serious tone that's so full of HISTORY! it's bursting at the seams, I have five reasons you should give this one a shot:

1. Starring the veins in Zhu Yilong's forehead

Do you feel like watching a beautiful man have a terrible day for 43 episodes straight?

This show is absolutely a Zhu Yilong vehicle. The rest of the cast is great (and more on them later), but he's the star -- and the show just loves to beat him up, both emotionally and physically. His character, Lin Nansheng, exists in a Murphy's-Law situation where if anything bad can happen to him, it will. If you like seeing this gorgeous gentleman in distress, this show has you covered.

Someone please care him.

2. Daddy Issues

Chen Moqun is a bad, bad man. He's a bastard in his first scene, and he's a bastard in his last. He is loyal to exactly one thing, and that is his own survival. He will ally with anyone and fuck anyone over if it means he gets to live another day.

He is also scaldingly hot in his bastardry.

Chen Moqun is the spymaster who pulls Lin Nansheng out of the regular military ranks and into the world of the intelligence services, despite Lin Nansheng's lack of experience in the field. This means that Lin Nansheng is Chen Moqun's little golden boy -- and that means Chen Moqun feels justified in making Lin Nansheng do whatever the hell he wants, and in getting all up in Lin Nansheng's business when he doesn't do it perfectly.

I know there are several of you out there whose tails just started wagging. Good, you've got it.

Alas that he is not in nearly as much of the series as his top billing suggests he would be. He's a major figure in the early arcs, but pretty soon after, Circumstances relocate him to somewhere Lin Nansheng isn't -- and because Lin Nansheng is our POV character, Chen Moqun all but vanishes from the show. He reappears later, but as a much less prominent figure. Still a self-serving bastard, though! Don't worry about that.

I like Chen Moqun as a character for a lot of reasons. He's slimy, but he's effective. He's smart, but he's not a supervillain. He's the kind of competent bastard that it's very fun to watch the good guys outwit. He kind of has to leave the narrative, because he's so sharp that much of the plot would be impossible under his supervision; he gets replaced by [spoiler], whose general incompetence makes him dangerous in a very different way, but who is so self-absorbed that he can't see when he's being played. Pulling the wool over Chen Moqun's eyes is a much nastier business.

At the same time, though, he's a coward. He'll sell out anything and anyone to save his own skin. His lack of inner conviction eventually reduces him to something pathetic, leaving him at the mercy of people he once abused, Lin Nansheng included. ...Ah, your tails are wagging harder now, I see.

Now, for those of you who are not into a Bad Daddy dynamic, may I sell you on how Lin Nansheng also has two Good Daddies?

Honestly, if this show had not been laboring under the weight of [gestures to the state of Chinese media and culture], I'm pretty sure they would have made at least one of these two Older Lifelong Bachelors textually gay. I'm just saying, throw-yourself-into-the-cause-style patriotism is a great cover for never marrying and being cagey about your entire personal life.

Also, I know their super-secret espionage meetups on park benches aren't intended to look like dudes cruising, but come on.

3. A startlingly good love story???

And I say "startlingly" because the love story comes in multiple stages, and I haaaaaate the first one. Fortunately, so does the show!

When Lin Nansheng and Zhu Yizhen start off their romance, she's a wealthy college schoolgirl (which comes off as more than a little creepy, since Tong Yao is clearly in her late thirties) and he's a TA at her school -- except she's actually a student activist working for the Communists, and he's a member of the KMT sent to seduce her and infiltrate her cell. It goes exactly as badly as you'd expect! And when it was clear it was over for good, I breathed a sigh of relief. I liked them both as individual characters, but as a romantic pairing, the amount of malicious deception involved really wasn't doing it for me, to say nothing of how I dislike teacher/student as a trope. (Also, they really have no chemistry together, but whatever, I'm used to c-drama hets by now.) Well, I thought, thank goodness all that's over and we'll never have to come back to it!

But here's the thing: They come together again later under different circumstances, and oh, that's some good stuff. She gets a haircut, he gets to be himself, and the two of them have to learn how to work together even when they can't entirely trust one another.

That amount of deception is great, because that's not lies -- it's opsec. They are both withholding colossal amounts of information from one another, and each one of them knows the other's doing it, even if they don't know what information is being withheld. They both want to know what the other person knows, but they also know that person would die before giving up their secrets.

This does lead to a number of points where you're hollering JUST TELL HIM/HER at the screen, which can get a little frustrating. But, like, you get it. They've got reasons for not sharing information, and grim little reason number one is, the bad guys can't torture out of you what you don't know.

This is not a romance drama; this is a drama that happens to have a complicated romance stitched all the way through it. Sometimes it's the main focus, but much of the time it's a side note. The two of them go years at a time without interacting. They each spend a fair amount of time believing the other is dead. When they do get to work together, they're great partners. When they're separated or at odds, they don't collapse.

I said earlier that Lin Nansheng is the POV character, which is mostly true. However, we do get a not-small amount of the story told from Zhu Yizhen's POV when he's not around, which goes a long way toward making her an actual person and not just an accessory to his story -- and that goes a long way toward making this romance something between equals, and not just a case where a nice guy feels real bad about how much he fucked over the girl he liked.

I'd say that if you're looking for a drama where the love story is a central point of interest, or for a drama without any love story at all, you'll be happier elsewhere. However, if you're a Goldilocks who enjoys a fraught love story when it's there but doesn't miss it when it's gone, this may strike a good balance for you!

This pair is also about as much as the show gets in terms of textual, onscreen romance. Howerver, there are also a number of couples in this show who have to pretend to be married, if that's a trope that does it for you. And speaking of those...

4. My Fair Lady

Lan Xinjie turned out to be maybe my favorite character in the show, which surprised the hell out of me, considering how she was introduced as a pretty throwaway character: Oh, look, a pretty and sophisticated woman at the dance hall, she can use her refined and wordly ways to make The Virgin Lin Nansheng sweat, it's great.

But then she comes back. In fact, she keeps exiting the narrative and then showing up again a couple episodes later! Her continued involvement with these spy boys keeps both ruining her life and saving it. Every time you think she's gotten out, circumstances pull her back into Lin Nansheng's catastrophe orbit, making her maybe the most tragic character in a series full of them.

Here's a thing that impressed me about the drama: Lan Xinjie is a sex worker, but the show never shits on her for that. The show presents what she's doing as negative, but mostly because she doesn't particularly enjoy doing it. She keeps doing it, though, because sometimes it's the best way for her to make money, and sometimes it's the only way for her to make money.

The thing is, Lan Xinjie herself never talks about what she's doing like it's some tragic fate. It's a job. She has to play nice with jackass men from all over the world, and she can do it because men fall all over a pretty girl like her. Whenever Lin Nansheng makes a sad face about it, she basically rolls her eyes at him. She has a very solid grasp of the way the world works, and she's going to do what she needs to do to keep herself and her loved ones alive.

Now: Lan Xinjie definitely functions in the narrative as a contrast to how Good and Pure Communist Girl-Next-Door Zhu Yizhen is. Lan Xinjie is a little too much of a Fallen Woman, so she's never going to threaten Zhu Yizhen's position as the main love interest. However, it would have been so easy to go all in on slut-shaming Lan Xinjie to make that contrast even starker, and the show does not do that. It does not judge her for her choices, in part because it understands that women like her very often doesn't have any.

On top of all of this, Zhu Zhu can act her damn face off. There are story beats that could have been melodramatic and unintentionally comic, but she sells them and makes them devastating. Arguably the best scenes in the entire show are when she and Zhu Yilong are working together, because the two of them consistently turn in stellar performances. This show is not exactly a font of subtlety (see my next point), but both of them manage to play their roles with restraint and dignity that make their moments together shine.

I won't spoil where exactly this goes, but to me, the complicated relationship between Lin Nansheng and Lan Xinjie is one of the highlights of the show. It's a lot of guilt and obligation intertwined with genuine affection, and because it can't be The Love Story, it winds up being a very fraught, intimate friendship that lasts through the best and worst parts of both of their lives.

Also, everything she wears is stunning. Marry me, Miss Lan.

5. Makes you feel real smart!

Hey, nerds! Do you like history? Because boy oh boy, is this a show about history!

It's so much a show about history, in fact, that it occasionally has to break into little documentary-style interludes, where you get to watch pictures of actual historical footage while one of the cast members narrates a small summary of what's going on with the geopolitical situation at that moment. Everyone in the main cast is fictional, but there are plenty of real names dropped all over the place. You aren't expected to know everything already, but you're definitely expected to keep up.

I will admit that I don't know the ins and outs of that historical period well enough to fact-check a lot of the particulars, so I can't swear to the accuracy of its various smaller moves. I do know enough about it to know, though, that this story is a little biased.

And by that I mean: This show is propaganda through and through. It’s all about how well the Righteous Communists did in their battle first against the Terrible Japanese, then against the Wicked KMT (the non-Communist Nationalists). Characters give stirring declarations of their principles at a rate of about one every other episode. There’s a whole scene where two dudes sit on a park bench and talk animatedly about what a great and prescient writer Mao was. Be prepared to be serenaded by a number of (what I assume are) stirring Communist anthems.

This all has zero emotional resonance to me. There were several points I could tell it was making references to events and people and speeches that are surely real historical things, but I lack most of the cultural competency that I’d need to recognize them without explanation. The climactic moment of Lin Nansheng’s joining the Communists (this is not a spoiler, you know it’s coming from the get-go) mostly seemed goofy to me, especially with the closed-fist salute that looks like you’re about to punch yourself in the head.

See what I mean?

All of which is to say: The propaganda did not bother me, because I mostly found it abstract and funny. And for heaven's sake, I'm from the US; I learned how to laugh my way through unsubtle pro-government propaganda watching Saturday morning cartoons.

However, I can imagine people closer to these cultures and events having MUCH stronger reactions. If this is you, yeah, be careful.

What's kind of sad (and by sad I mean funny) is how much the blatant Communism! Fuck Yeah! just turns the show into the "How do you do, fellow kids?" of propaganda. If it had just told the story, it honestly would have done a better job of making the Communists seem like the cool underdogs against the overpowering forces of authoritarian jackassery. But when you have someone all but turn to the camera damn near every episode to make sure you, the viewer, know how good and noble and smart its brave communist characters are, it sure spoils the effect.

I honestly don't know enough about the production team to know how accidental or intentional this was. Is it possible the drama is actually subtly lampooning these hyper-patriotic tropes? Sure, maybe! Is it possible that it actually believes this cringe with all its heart? Could be! Is it maybe neutral on matters of personal belief but playing up this version of history to get the show approved by party censors during the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CCP? Ah, yeah, that's the most likely one. Believe what you want about its motivations. Those who are inclined to be moved by its ideologies probably will be. The rest of us, probably the opposite.

All that said: I actually think it's useful and good to hear obviously biased takes on historical events, especially from unfamiliar and non-western perspectives. This is because all takes on historical events are biased, and it's dangerous and stupid to pretend they're not! Looking at how someone tells a story is as instructive as looking at the story they tell. If you go into the Rebel with that in mind, it adds a meta-layer of interest that I (a historian) find fascinating.

Ready to watch, comrade?

This one's an iQiyi exclusive -- and it's not a VIP exclusive, so if you're willing to put up with some ads, you can watch it all for free.

This is a show I'm probably never going to watch all the way through again, on account of how heavy it is. However, it is also a show I'm very glad I watched, because I find myself thinking about it a lot. Even when it's being hokey and jingoistic, it never stops being interesting. It's just a well-made drama that contains multitudes.

And, of course, one of those is this beautiful man's beautiful face.

#the rebel #叛逆者 #lin nansheng #i made this #rec post

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sonkitty · 8 months ago

Text

The Sideburns Scheme Post #10

(For reference: The Sideburns Scheme)

Crowley, Good Omens 2, Episode 1, The Arrival, storming out

This post was last updated 08/07/2024.

Due to how this part of the episode is structured, this post requires a different format than usual to start.

I am going to start with a specific sequence but cover several things after that sequence in the rest of the post.

This sequence is very important and very special. It is going to demonstrate several game mechanics to the audience in a tutorial.

I strongly believe in my guesses that there are 2 fake Crowleys in this sequence.

Crowley is going to walk from the threshold of his private meeting room with Aziraphale, into the main bookshop first floor area, through the bookshop's overall threshold, and into the street, stopping specifically at the center of the street.

Let's begin.

When leaving the room, Crowley's sideburns have become longer than being in the room but not as long as when he encountered Gabriel. I strongly suspect this fake is Gabriel.

Then there is a cut.

This fake Crowley—who is probably Aziraphale—stiffly walks his way past a cardboard box with visibly long sideburns that are likely to be the same length as when Presumably Actual Crowley encountered Gabriel as shown earlier in the episode.

Then there is another cut.

Now we have a blurry Crowley. This version does not show us enough to guess the sideburn length. Instead, the sequence focuses on an avoided plate of Eccles cakes while a right hand picks up Crowley's sunglasses. This draft previously noted him as a possible fake, but by this point, I do think it is Crowley. I will explain that in further detail later.

Then there is another cut.

A human walks past Now Presumably Actual Crowley. His sideburns are shorter than the Aziraphale-Crowley but not as short as when he initially entered the bookshop. He has passed the bookshop's threshold.

Then there is another cut.

Now Crowley's left profile view almost looks like it matches his left profile view before he entered the bookshop with the left sideburn. It seems to be a little longer still.

If the sideburns had not fully shortened in the preceding cut, they have here when Crowley is going to tighten his face in anger. I'll go over this part in more detail in the Earthly Objects section, along with the complex window scene that follows it.

...

Sideburns Check

Okay, so this storming out sequence told us the story was blatantly lying to us but not because the sideburns changed in length. It's other things detailed in the Earthly Objects section.

When first trying to figure out the sideburns, I saw this sequence, made a post about it, thought it over, and grew exasperated. How else am I supposed to figure out how the sideburns work if I know the story is so blatantly lying on things that are not the sideburns? That's the trick to it right there. The answer is in the question. There is no other way to know. If I want to keep playing the sideburns game—because I sincerely think someone or something in the story wants me to find their meaning, I have to believe there was a hidden message within the lie that was true. This sequence just told me some important things about how the sideburns work. It was a sideburns tutorial.

Proximity to Gabriel will make the sideburns longer. Proximity to humans, or a private space with Aziraphale, will make the sideburns shorter. There can be a length in between the two types with distance involving the thresholds of the bookshop.

Playing the game without that assumption makes the game much, much harder.

Reaching that conclusion took several days of just plain thinking, trying to make more posts, and otherwise living my life. I had to go back and thoroughly update my initial post.

The longer sideburns in the lie are also a clue that Gabriel was there after all, in whatever really happened.

Here is what it takes playing the whole game of season 2 to understand even more. There is an invisible supernatural border between Aziraphale's bookshop and Crowley's car when the car is parked across the street. The bookshop is Aziraphale's home. The car is Crowley's home.

Because this border exists as a human-dominant space, Crowley's sideburns will shorten to the length they usually are around humans once he has reached the proper distance—currently the center of the street—between these two special, supernatural places.

This border will disappear—or expand as a radius—at the end of episode 4 when Crowley visibly crosses the bookshop threshold and walks with Aziraphale all the way to his car while they both hold cardboard boxes of Crowley's plants. As noted in my main sideburns post, I think that's from the shared loan of the homes to form a special connection. After all I have been through with my limited progress in the Rainbow Connection for The Pocket Trick, I am all the more convinced. At my best guesses going over my archive here on Tumblr, I came up with the word "connection" in my main sideburns post a little over a month before I found The Pocket Trick, then took another few weeks to find the Rainbow Connection in The Pocket Trick's Pocket Chain existed.

After the border expands, Crowley has to drive far enough away and give the sideburns enough time to shorten to the desired length for being read as human in the street again.

The story demonstrates such an action with episode 5 showing him arriving back from a drive. A player has to give into the admittedly questionable chronology of the story for that conclusion as well.

...

Brighter Red Streak Check

For Gabriel-Crowley starting off the sequence, I cannot find the brighter red streak of hair.

For Aziraphale-Crowley, there is something lighter in shade compared to the rest of the hair above the center of his left eye, but that's not the same thing as being more saturated in red.

For Crowley exiting the bookshop, it is mostly gone. It is only when he is about to stop in the street that I can finally see something that looks like more saturated red in the same general area I found it before he entered the bookshop. That is the only thing that might be the streak, and it is small. The above image is not brightened. When I tried to brighten an image to check, that part looked even less plausible to be the streak.

After that, I cannot find it.

...

Hairstyle Changes

The hair changes quite a bit during the whole thing.

For Gabriel-Crowley, the middle area of the front goes up and to his right some. There's something like a curl behind it on the top of the head.

For Aziraphale-Crowley, the style is more tidy. The front top swoops up and back.

For Actual Crowley, the style looks similar to before he entered but darker and with the tendrils on top positioned a little differently. I like this one too. It is very distracting in trying to make this post because I like it so much.

When Crowley's face tightens in anger, the cut ensures not being able to see if the brighter red streak is there.

After that, his hair looks to be losing its stronger red saturation before the lightning itself is actually released. It looks more relaxed too.

From what can be seen, the hair is getting darker.

...

Earthly Objects

(For reference: Earthly Objects | Earthly Objects Study - Windows Part 1 | Earthly Objects Study - Crowley's Sunglasses)

Whoa, there is a lot happening with Earthly Objects here.

So, the way I interpret the storming out sequence to right before a human passes by Crowley past the bookshop's threshold is that is basic rule-breaking in Earthly Objects on purpose.

It might not be, but that's how I like to think of it in the way I play the game as an audience member. Plus, I can name a place where I think the rule-breaking ends and the rule-following starts.

Aziraphale—or Crowley as Aziraphale—is in the chair. Gabriel-Crowley touches the door on the push plate, and somebody picks up those sunglasses. So, there are touches.

However, the main earthly objects meant to be noticed are the cardboard box and the plate of Eccles cakes because they were both left untouched with the box also being unquestioned. Dialogue is lacking when the fakes are on screen.

As I said in my main first post about Crowley and Muriel, Actual Crowley is a top tier player in Earthly Objects who is incredibly deliberate in what he touches, especially with his hands. He's also someone who tends to ask questions.

This part is not the Metatron editing the Book of Life. This part is Crowley, Aziraphale, and Gabriel collectively working together for their edit in the story through breaking the rules of the game, Earthly Objects. That rule-breaking then informs the audience of the lie.

When Crowley is leaving the bookshop, two fingers are touching the sunglasses. That is not enough to earn credit for touching them as an accessory yet. That is the end of the rule-breaking.

A human passes by, and then he is touching the sunglasses with at least three fingers. So, rule-following has started. The rule-breaking edit ended, and we have entered the main draft of the story.

By hiding the thumb, that helped put the sunglasses into Accessory Mode too and earning a point for that touch.

Crowley angrily mutters, "Just breathe, that's what humans do...then they count to ten before they do anything stupid!" The number "ten" is a dialogue point. That is Crowley's second point in this solo set.

Now here's where things get even more weird and tricky, but thanks to the annoying, difficult pocket mechanics that are so silly and emphasize a human presence in The Pocket Trick, I have a stronger belief in this ridiculous theory.

Crowley is creating a very specific context to allow him to earn a point by touching the sunglasses with his face.

Once he reaches the center of the street and stopped, the sideburns are shortened to the desired length for human spaces. He is being read as human. Humans use sunglasses as accessories. While pockets are what tend to use lighting as clues, in the cut where he is stopping, there is extra light on his left sunglasses lens that could very well be a clue about the sideburns, this incoming touch, and a couple of pockets of hair shown by toward the end of the cut. There is a lightning imprint visible on the forehead yet again.

Crowley tightens his face in anger. The cut itself focuses on the act, and the subtitles note he grunts. The eyebrows lower for an active touch on the top of the rims of his sunglasses and the cheeks rise for an active touch on the bottom of the rims of his sunglasses.

When Nina sees Crowley, she refers to him as "that bloke," so there is even further confirmation that yes, here is a human looking at Crowley and seeing him as human after he has done that particular touch.

So, a benefit to the short sideburns is that it allows him a face touch on the sunglasses in this special context. That doesn't seem like much, but it's valuable to Crowley because, if this theory is right, he does it two more times during Good Omens 2. That would make 3 face touches in a game with a Rule of Three.

He plays this game like it is a competition. He is likely the top tier player because he makes choices like this one: short sideburns for a slight advantage in earning 3 special accessory points across the game during the entire season.

...

Moving on, it is time for the story's first complex window scene!

These scenes have three steps, and this part is the game's initial tutorial on those steps.

The steps are:

Step 1: The looker looks.

Step 2: The window sees.

Step 3: The looker is seen clearly behind the window pane with at least some of the window frame visible.

When Nina gets Maggie to look, there is a shared blur between the two. That blur is the main one that made me think they mean pass or share in the game. When Maggie looks, she is known to have been attending to her tea, but if she is touching an earthly object, the touch itself is not on screen. She is at the threshold of the window touch with this particular look.

There will be more complex window scenes that will do the same thing to help further confirm this threshold component. For instance, in the next one, Maggie is doing a self-touch with her hand in her mouth and then actually removes the touch during the look. This threshold component is important because of figuring out the steps Crowley is following in The Window Trick without knowing whatever further advanced pocket mechanics might be involved.

For the window seeing, that would be the cut with Maggie and Nina shown from the back while Crowley is seen through the window. Generally, these parts make sure a window frame is somewhere in the cut.

Maggie is seen behind the window pane when the lightning shoots out. While it is a little blurry because of the lightning, that blur is not the same type as what the game uses for the passes and shares, so I think she is still considered to be seen clearly enough to earn the point for looking. The reflection of Crowley's lower body is in the window pane with his lightning.

While Maggie and Nina are looking, Crowley is still busy earning his own solo points, which the game focuses on when not focusing on Maggie and Nina.

I think it goes that one set is the hopping on the ground is point #1 as a touch. Shouting the number "Ten!" is point #2 through dialogue. The lightning actually hitting the coffee shop twice is point #3 as a touch.

The lightning earns its own 3 points with 3 different touches on the door. I eventually took that sequence as a clue about the Rule of Three in Earthly Objects.

For Crowley's next set, his lightning is channeling out of his own neck and striking him. There are actually three specific points on his body where the lightning is channeling out from him, like little nodes. I'm hoping I'm not supposed to count how many are doing what where because I won't do that, and it's mainly communicating the lightning is striking him for a point here.

Maggie will remind the audience in the dialogue that lightning striking someone or something is what lightning does on Earth. Hence, that is how Crowley earns that point.

With Maggie finally forced to see Crowley, the surrounding Soho people react oddly, almost in tune with her. They were moving when she first saw Crowley, but in the next cut, almost everyone is stopped and looking at Crowley. They see him release the lightning. Maggie says she thinks he was struck by lightning—which technically he was because of his own lightning striking him. As if in response, everyone in the street moves on as if nothing happened.

Another theoretical point for Crowley is bringing his teeth together in a chomp. The rules for supernatural beings and self-touches are very confusing because they look like they don't exist for various reasons, but Crowley's play especially suggests there is something like requiring an earthly object touch in several instances for him. This chomp would be one such time. Crowley can do it because of the lightning striking him. The chomp is so fast, I can only ever see it going frame by frame, but I don't think he gets a second point any other way, even with whatever he is doing with pockets.

The third point would then be Crowley letting the smoke hit him as he grunts.

UPDATE START (for this part):

For the Tied Hands, while I have not fully figured out retying mechanics, I have found an assortment of patterns that suggest retying actually happens every time a threshold is crossed. A clasp at a lapel edge is the easiest clue to find that retying is possibly happening, but it's not actually required every time. The clasps can align with other edges, as can actual thumb joints, especially Crowley's already significant left thumb CMC joint for the touches in The Pocket Trick.

Among those patterns were some I noted in a previous draft of this post. This tutorial has a findable word puzzle of "smoke and mirrors" to conclude an instance of retying. Reflections were involved as part of it.

These patterns also suggest that both Gabriel-Crowley and Aziraphale-Crowley still had to manage both the Tied Hands and the Belt Head.

Gabriel-Crowley shows the face of Crowley's watch. As the cut progresses, multiple lights can be found to his right and above his right ear, suiting an angel. I can't see a tassel clearly touching the Belt Head, but I can tell that such a thing is plausible given the position and movement of this character. A clasp actually does strike a lapel edge.

Aziraphale-Crowley also receives right-side Overhead Lights. He aligns his actual right thumb CMC joint along a jacket edge near a lapel. That's another theoretical sign of retying.

UPDATE END (for this part).

Regarding whatever else is going on with pockets, Gabriel-Crowley has pockets existing while visually in the door frame before leaving. After he closes the door and starts walking, the tie strands switch though as they switch, only one of the clasps is visible. As he keeps moving and does another two switches, both clasps are not visible.

Aziraphale-Crowley makes a few pockets with his arms as he walks.

Now onto the blurry Crowley who I finally think is Crowley. Crowley makes a pocket with the left arm, then more pockets with the legs, waist, and dark horse statue holding the sunglasses. The left hand does end up in a pocket between the body and dark horse statue as the sunglasses are grabbed, creating even more pockets within. In this pocket itself, the left thumb CMC joint lines up with an edge of the rug in the background.

The camera work is giving heavy focus to the dark horse statue with the sunglasses on it and to the plate of Eccles cakes. At the start of the cut, the strongest light behind Crowley is to his left and above his left ear. Lights can be found on the sunglasses themselves. Pocket trickery uses lighting as clues. All of these factors combined are why I finally think this blurry Crowley is Crowley.

When Crowley is exiting the bookshop, the tie strands are visibly off his chest before pulling back in as his arm obscures them. They looked about to switch, but he hides confirmation of if that happened with his right hand and blurred movement.

After that, the pocket mechanics finally let up a little bit to give the face touch on the sunglasses and the complex window scene the focus they deserve for what they are. The scene does show at least one human pocket-user glance in his direction during that face touch.

Crowley creates a pocket with his legs after he is done hopping and the lightning is shooting out from him. In his angered grunt of letting the smoke hit him, his right hand aligns with the jacket, so that an actual thumb joint is at an edge before re-tying of the Tied Hands is done.

Usually, when I refer to a thumb joint, I am specifically referring to the carpometacarpal joint (CMC joint)—but in this case, the thumb joint would actually be the metacarpophalangeal joint. The MCP joint is within the thumb itself whereas the CMC joint is what connects the thumb to the rest of the hand. I had to look up this thumb stuff. I don't magically know these things.

Further into the movement, the left thumb is visually over the assumed lapel area and avoiding a visual touch on the actual tie strands.

The pocket made with his legs opens to reveal little bit of reflected red light from the road. The CMC joint of the thumb is visually touching a different reflection of red light.

The Belt Head is partly visible between the smoke and likely has a tassel tip near it.

Yet another pocket is formed in the process with the left arm and torso of the jacket. As Crowley's position changes, that pocket opens. The left thumb tip is carefully managed to visually touch the edge of the jacket torso while a pocket is created using the left thumb, left arm, and torso. This pocket includes a red light that is not a reflection found on the road.

There is another red light by the right arm. So, this one is not reflected from the road, but these two red lights by the arms exist as a visual mirror to the camera. A human helps separate the red lights of the car by the right arm by being pocketed between those red lights and having their foot visually touch behind part of Crowley's arm.

I'm assuming these are all factors that help get the job done for retying: "smoke and mirrors".

So, given how much pocket care is being done, yes, I do believe the Tied Hands needed retying after all and required considerable effort to get it done.

I'll go over Muriel later where the phrase "earthly object" is at last uttered in the story after these tutorials the game is giving.

...

Story Commentary

For the record, I am going to use the phrase "appearance swap" and not "body swap" because I actually do believe Neil Gaiman on saying so here.

Unfortunately, I did not save a lot of valuable posts I skimmed or just read when I was first trying to understand what was happening in Good Omens 2 and not knowing I would eventually be making posts of my own. I'm not the first person to think that Crowley was Gabriel leaving the room, but I have long since lost the link and took a long time to come around to that idea.

Likewise, I didn't have another link where someone speculated Aziraphale is later trying to grab Gabriel's hand as if about to do an appearance swap when about to do the little miracle to hide Gabriel. I found the post in a reblogged form, but its original post has been deleted. Still, I at least had those things in the back of my mind when eventually figuring this sequence must indeed include some fake Crowleys involving appearance swaps.

The main reason I eventually accepted the idea of the fake Aziraphale was comparing the stiff walk he does in this episode compared to the stiff walk he does at the end of season 1:

They were close enough for me because the shoulders don't move as much compared to Crowley's usual walk. Gabriel-Crowley emphasized the shoulder movement for contrast in the preceding cut. This particular Tumblr post and a couple of comments for it helped point out the stiffness in season 1: Crowley's signature swagger walk.

I suspect that cardboard box was touched and questioned. Somebody might have even eaten some Eccles cakes. Crowley was willing to help Gabriel sooner with understanding the situation better through whatever he learned about the box. I don't know if Muriel was literally on Earth, but they seem to have had a big role in whatever happened because I sincerely believe Crowley has a deep trust in Muriel. I assume Muriel earned it. Beelzebub may have a had a role in things as well.

As I have said in another post, I theorize the original draft had a Big Miracle where the Book of Life was put in the matchbox. It might be more elaborate than that because of so many other things that happened after, but I suspect at least that much.

Still, such things are not in this draft of the story. Whatever really happened has been hidden from the audience for now and replaced with this obvious lie.

Recognizing the fake Crowleys—especially Aziraphale—is crucial because it is extremely important to understand that Aziraphale knows about the sideburns even if Aziraphale never explicitly comments on their changing length. Without believing Aziraphale knows, the sideburns game is, again, much harder.

The lightning itself might be a cover for whatever really happened or part of an elaborate set up for what is going to happen.

It shot out multiple times. Generally, it went upward, spread somewhat in the back and to Crowley's left to do its thing to the coffee shop. It most assuredly did not strike toward the bookshop.

Regardless of its intention, this type of thing is what I love to see in fiction with my favorite characters. I love the anger and the release of actual lightning power. I live for that stuff.

When Maggie and Nina are starting to realize they are locked in, there is a figure that looks meant to be Crowley that can be seen as blurry near the car through the window. The figure has reddish hair and dark clothing. A previous draft of this post remarked that this figure could be another fake. I don't think it is.

The red is questionable since Crowley's hair looked darkened through the smoke with the camera in front of him in the street. The hair will be dark in the next scene later, which admittedly takes place at night. A hopeful clue I have is that the darkened hair was most notable on Crowley's right. The hair on his left tends to be lighter and more saturated in general during Good Omens 2, so that might be the same intent here. All other clues, in my opinion, suggest that this Crowley is indeed Crowley.

A past draft of this post remarked more on the color of the car, but I realize the car itself has different parts of it with different colors and shades. It seems more black when the lightning shot out and more blue through the window in this segment. If such colors mean anything in particular, it's beyond me to figure it out.

I used to think it was related to the fake Crowleys shown earlier, such as also being fake, but given everything else, I don't think that anymore.

...

Muriel

(For reference: Bookend Buddies - Crowley and Muriel (Part 2))

Well, now that we've had tutorials, it's time to learn the name of the game—the Big One that is. I don't think the word "sideburns" is ever said in Good Omens 2. I just made up "Sideburns Scheme" after awhile, but given the word play for pocket mechanics, it might be a name I was supposed to find too. Back to the one I initially meant, Uriel will eventually say "earthly object".

After Nina and Maggie realize their phones are dead, the story cuts to Heaven. The scene starts with Michael and Uriel, leading to the arrival of Saraqael and Muriel.

As noted in other posts, thumb tips are relevant to Door Mode. It is my guess that given how the game works—especially with Crowley's sunglasses in The Sunglasses Trick and pockets in The Pocket Trick, a thumb tip could be like a password to activate whatever is in the matchbox.

Saraqael is even giving a clue to an audience member playing Earthly Objects that's possible by actively adjusting their hands to hide their own right thumb before Muriel reveals the matchbox. Thanks Saraqael!

Muriel brings out the matchbox from behind a folder. A thumb tip is visible, but there is a little shadow added to it, I assume to help cast doubt given how the rest of the scene goes. Muriel seems to be a hidden pocket expert and is making a pocket with their legs, among other things happening in the framing, so that likely contributes too.

At first, Uriel uses the phrase "material object" to describe the matchbox Muriel shows to all of them. Well, I assume it's Uriel. The subtitles technically say "Saraqael", but it sounds more like Uriel to me.

Muriel is holding the matchbox with their index, middle, and ring fingers. The touch is avoiding the palm and the pinky. The thumb is nearby and keeping the thumb tip off the matchbox.

Michael had their legs crossed early in the scene, but the legs are uncrossed by the time Muriel steps forward to place the matchbox on the desk.

When the matchbox is set down, Muriel's right thumb is touching a corner, ensuring the thumb tip is not actually touching the matchbox. Meanwhile, the pinky tip is touching the side with the quote from the Book of Job. The subtitles do not inform the audience of the following. In my opinion, the sound that object makes is that of a disguised magical book, possibly a heavy one at that.

Another interesting thing I'm noticing as I type this post is that Muriel avoids having their digits touch their reflections. By this point in the story, Crowley has actually shown his index finger touch its reflection on his phone and a thumb tip touching its reflection during The Perfect Entrance Trick.

Still, the sound effect is part of why I think the Book of Life is in that matchbox. I also suspect Muriel's methodical touch is why that sound is heard with Muriel's touch but not what will happen with Michael's various touches.

Someone or something turns that matchbox around without us seeing it because the Job quote side was facing away from Michael when Muriel set the matchbox down. It is facing toward Michael when Michael touches it. By this point of my play in the game with my latest update on this post, I think the matchbox turned itself around due to how it wanted to be seen by Michael.

Michael touches the matchbox at the top with their index finger. The object does not react.

Michael nervously uses both index fingers, so that the left one holds the object from the top and the right shoves the inner box to Michael's left. Michael's thumb tip is actually visible and even touched by Michael's hand at one point within a pocket formed between the matchbox and Michael's hands. That's still not enough. The object does not react.

Michael nervously does another touch looking similar in reverse but not quite the same. The right index finger holds the matchbox from the top as the left index finger pushes the inner box to Michael's right. The pocket formed between hands and matchbox have the left thumb tip notably away from the touch and the right thumb generally hidden with maybe a right thumb joint visible. The object does not react.

With another last nervous effort, both index fingers work together to shove the inner box back into the outer box. The thumb is shown to be clearly aligned off the matchbox and by the bottom of the index finger in a cut. In the next cut, the right thumb might be visually over the matchbox, but it is understood to be not touching the matchbox because of its previously shown position. The object does not react.

As the whole affair concludes, we at last hear Uriel say, "That's definitely an earthly object." That is our key phrase, merely missing its plural form. The name of the game we've been watching at play in this story is Earthly Objects. All of that touching was a clue that Earthly Objects is a game based on touching. The matchbox was touched properly to remain an "earthly object" and theoretically not touched properly for Door Mode to fully activate and reveal whatever supernatural object it is actually hiding.

The scene in Heaven ends shortly thereafter with Uriel remarking they think "he" went to Earth. One would guess Uriel means Gabriel, but it is Crowley shown on Earth in the next cut.

That transition allows this Muriel scene to act as a front bookend to another Crowley scene. In fact, the next Crowley will scene will have the next touch of The Sunglasses Trick. This incoming touch will be the first of the Triple that eventually becomes a Single. As such, this scene is yet another bookend connection to the Threshold Tricks overall.

...

That's it for this post. Sometimes I edit my posts, FYI.

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Main post:

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#crowley #good omens 2 #good omens #good omens s2 #david tennant #good omens season 2 #good omens meta #good omens analysis #good omens crowley #crowley good omens #crowley sideburns #crowley s2 hair project #muriel #maggie #nina #michael #uriel #gabriel #aziraphale

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panda-puma · 1 year ago

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I'm a little baffled by your post about the one piece anime, because while I would also recommend people read the manga instead, it still is a vastly more accurate adaption than the opla? like, opla is lovely for what it is, but oda being involved in it doesn't change the fact that they took huuuge liberties that the anime just... doesn't? which is perfectly fine for an adaption, I'm just mentioning it because it sounded like you were focused on the character dynamics, which are just... vastly, vastly different in the manga AND anime vs the live action. I'm thinking about Nami and Sanji in particular (and Usopp as well to a degree), who all kind of feel like watered-down versions of their actual selves (Nami isn't greedy enough, Usopp not cowardly enough, Sanji... well, I'm not saying Sanji being different is a bad thing asdf). Again, perfectly fine for an adaption that doesn't mean to adapt its source material beat for beat, but it just leaves me really confused over how the opla is possibly a more faithful/a better adaption than the anime? Which, as far as I can recall, has severe pacing issues, annoying fillers and leaves out things like the cover stories, but still sticks waaaay closer to the actual story and dynamics as they are in the manga.

(First of all: you can like the Anime. As I said before, I've watched the entire Anime 3 times this last year. But you can enjoy something and still know it's flawed. Very flawed, even.)

Uf, I will try to make this as short as possible xD If i sound dry or "angy", sorry, English is not my first language ^^

What baffles me is that most people really think the Anime of One Piece is a faithful 1 to 1 adaptation, or that everything on it is canon (except the fillers), or that Oda approves the changes they make. For context: it was very common in the 90s/2000s to just take a manga that was doing good and make an animation that took the characters and story and did whatever they wanted with it. One Piece is not the only victim of this treatment.

I respect the animators and Seiyuus, they do their jobs good and are what makes the Anime enjoyable. But I really can not understand the Directors and the changes they decided to make to the characters (and this applies to the whole series, not only 20 years ago).

The changes you see in OPLA are necessary to translate a drawing (Manga) to a series acted by real people. Also, condensing 95 chapters of Manga in 8 episodes and trying to bring the essence of the characters to the screen, translating Japanese funny gags to an International Audience and also having the input of 25 years of Oda thinking "huh, maybe this could have been explained better" it's obviously going to make things change.

The Anime has none of those excuses. It's also a drawing so no need to tone down, supposed to have the same Audience (even tho they really tried to make it for little kids and it shows), they clearly don't have an issue with the length of the series and they don't ask Oda for nearly any of the changes they make!

Pretending Oda being involved or not doesn't matter is just so weird to me. You know all One Piece characters are Oda's OCs, right? He is the original creator of the characters. He knows them better than anyone else. He knows where the story is going, what is acceptable, what is on character and what is not. Just because they are very famous characters it doesn't mean they are not someones Original Characters. He loves them and cares for them. Not respecting him as the only one that can say something is canon or not is completely disrespectful and dehumanizing.

About watering down characters in OPLA: again, they are real people acting the characters. In the Manga they are exaggerated to a comical effect that wouldn't translate as comical if it's real people who do it, it'd just be weird. That's because it's different mediums and different audience. But the core of the characters is very present, just less cartoony. On the other hand, the Anime reduces the characters to just this comical effect, taking away nearly everything else of the characters, making them just gags.

Answering to the specific points you make about OPLA:

Nami not being greedy enough: Nami's greed before Arlong Park Arc is just her trying to save enough to free her people. We don't really see her greed until after she is free. We haven't reached this point yet in OPLA, apart of her wanting to dress nice and enjoy a bath.

Usopp not being cowardly enough: they can not spend 5 minutes of an 50 minute episode showing him screaming around or running away. But they did show him running as first reaction in Kaya's Mansion, twice. They showed him wanting to go back home after encountering Garp. He does say cowardly things all the time, like wanting to leave, stay on the Merry, not fight the Fish Men, running away the second Chu payed attention to him… It's just less cartoony. They are also not showing inner dialogue of the characters, it's just shown by their acting.

Sanji not being a pervert: Not only is Sanji's perversion waaaay exaggerated in the Anime, to an unpalatable degree, it's also a very Japanese Funny Gag that wouldn't translate good to an International Audience. Sanji in the Manga has, on top of everything else, a friendly relationship with Nami. He can talk to her like a human being. They are friends that can agree or disagree without drama, that join forces to fix things very often and act very calm around each other unless something "special" happens and Sanji is lovestruck, but even so, he usually comes back to being normal pretty fast. Of course he likes her and he is attracted to her, but he also sees her as a person... unlike the Anime. This translated to into the Live Action to a man that tries to flirt and has no success, but that can take a no as an answer without being offended. Also, Oda probably wanted to show on the Live Action that the real reason Sanji is on the crew is no other than him following Luffy (that is also a thing that the Anime waters down: Sanji's dedication to Luffy)

The main point is: yes, OPLA is an Alternative Universe where things are shown a bit differently, but the core of the characters is the same. You see them and you see real people, just like in the Manga.

And let's see about the faithfulness of the Anime... just because the Arcs are called the same and things kind of happen the same, it doesn't mean it's a faithful adaptation. The most important thing in a story is the characters and how they interact and react to the world. These are just some differences between the Anime and the Manga that I can think of off the top of my head, just from the East Blue Saga. (without any particular order)

-- Zoro's real backstory (Manga) is that he had been in the Shimotsuki Dojo probably since birth, practicing his 2 Sword Style and only starting the 3 Sword Style to carry Kuina's Soul with him. [((spoilers from Wano: now we know Zoro is also a Shimotsuki, so he was training in his family's Dojo. It also explains why Koushirou gave Kuina's sword to Zoro so easily: they are family, and Zoro would carry the Shimotsuki name to the top of Swordmanship))].

Zoro's backstory in the Anime is completely changed to make it look like he is a random funny kid that came out of nowhere and one day appeared in the Dojo. His signature 3 sword style is also made like he just "wanted to use as many swords as possible".

I don't think it's very necessary to explain why this changes are just... terrible for the character and continuity.

[Edit: the following is not correct! Check the reblog for the correction :D] The Anime also makes Zoro's departure from Shimotsuki Village like something he planned to do, saying goodbye to Kuina's Grave and Koushiro… when in the Manga he literally tells Luffy he was kicking pirates out of his village and he got lost and didn't know how to get back. [/end of incorrect part]

Changing Zoro's character at every turn is something they love to do in the Anime.

Usopp in the Manga wants Luffy&co. to meet Kaya, because he cares about her well being. He wants her to make new friends, to be able help them and feel useful doing it. Usopp knows what Kaya needs is contact with the world and tries to bring it to her.

Usopp in the Anime is jealous and secretive of her. He doesn't want the others to go meet her, even knowing they are good people. He'd rather have her to himself.

This is a fatal change to the character of Usopp. He is a kind hearted lovely man that wants what's best for his friend... but the Anime just shows a jealous asshole.

In the battle against Cabaji, Zoro cuts his own wound, so his opponent can't use it as an advantage anymore.

In the Anime, he lowers his defense on purpose and lets Cabaji cut his wound.

The first one shows how far he can go to prove himself, also shows he is not at all worried because he doesn't consider Cabaji up to his level. I'm not sure what the second one is supposed to show apart from "children can not see self-harm".

Also in Orange Town in Manga, Luffy is fighting as much as possible against the cage he is trapped in, biting the bars. And afterwards he is very worried asking Zoro to leave him and not carry him or he will get worse from his wounds. In the Anime he is just surprised that Zoro can carry him like that. He doesn't really fight his predicament.

The Anime usually shows Luffy as an uncaring friend, which is sad when he is a character that cares so much and has so much empathy.

In the Manga, Zeff cuts his own leg and eats it to survive after giving all the food they have to Sanji.

In the Anime, Zeff lost his leg because it got caught in the ships broken pieces, and he had to cut it to survive. (i guess he survived 80 days thanks to the Holy Spirit or something) (again with being palatable to children)

In the Manga, the first encounter between Tashigi and Zoro is brief, Zoro gives her back the glasses and carries on (even tho tilted by her looking so similar to Kuina).

In the Anime, Zoro breaks Tashigi's glasses with the shock and she proceeds to be the meanest person ever insulting him in many ways (isn't she supposed to be a good person?) and forcing him to work for her to pay her glasses back, even tho she has no need for the money.

The Anime shows Zoro as a pushover, when in reality he is not. He was "pushed over" by Luffy out of the blue because it is Luffy, not because Zoro would let someone random do that to him. This type of "Zoro gets messed up easily by anyone" is very repeated through the Anime, taking away the importance of his relationship with Luffy and the other few he pays really attention to.

In the Manga, Sanji wants to be famous and have his face seen in the Newspaper. That's why he gets mad when Usopp is in Luffy's Wanted Poster and he isn't.

In the Anime, he is already a famous cook. We can see it in one of the many filler in Loguetown, where another cook has been wanting to surpass him for a long time.

[((spoiler of Whole Cake Island: This collides directly with how his Wanted Poster makes his bio Family looks for him to use him, after knowing he is still alive.))]

Also in Loguetown, in the Manga Luffy goes directly to the place Roger was executed.

In the Anime they make him get lost a hundred times for comical effect. He also meets Smoker, Buggy and others on the way… taking away all the surprise.

In the Manga, Zoro and Luffy are pretty confused with Sanji's romantic reaction to Nami. They don't get why she's getting special treatment. Zoro even wonders if she bewitched him somehow.

In the Anime, as soon as Sanji starts flirting with Nami, Zoro gets irritated and Luffy gets uncomfortable.

In the Anime they try hard to make Zoro have a romance with any girl that shows up, adding reactions that are never present in the Manga.

And well, a huge one that needs more elaboration, because it is the core of the Manga: Luffy is shown observing and judging situations and people constantly. Every time something is happening that shows the true nature of people, he is specifically shown paying attention.

In the Anime this is translated as him being an empty headed kid that barely thinks or cares about anyone. He is a shell of a man, who only repeats that he wants to be King of the Pirates...

This is a very tiny list of examples that explain themselves without going into extensive detail…

I can go on and on about more changes that make no sense or change characters personalities, but if I do, I will dedicate its own blog to it to not clutter this one. I need bigger posts to explain the changes I see in dynamics between the characters xD

And as I said: if all of these changes were approved by Oda, I would be happy to accept them. But sadly they are not.

So to me, the One Piece Anime is just a fan-made adaptation that takes too many liberties. Or, as Animes are really considered in Japan: just advertisement for the Mangas.

On the other hand, OPLA changes were approved after negotiations and struggles and years of back and forth. Oda was very invested in it, trying to really show his vision and his world as good as possible. That's why i consider the Live Action as a faithful adaptation of the story.

Of course you may not consider these things important, but they are for me. In the end, you are free to enjoy One Piece as you wish! ^^

Anyways, thanks for reading so much! xD This ended up not being short at all, but i controlled myself as much as possible, i swear uvuU

#ask #one piece manga #one piece anime #comparison #one piece #very long post #one piece live action

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shion-yu · 1 year ago

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Out of the Woods (part 2)

Part 1 | Rey's toyhouse link

It was near midnight when they reached the village. Felix haphazardly tied the horses up and ran into the inn with Rey, shouting for them to call the doctor. Rey was limp and burning in his arms, completely unresponsive since his intense moment of panic earlier. They were shuffled into a room, the hostess seemingly annoyed that they’d burst so unceremoniously into her business but Felix couldn't bring himself to even pretend to care. His only concern was Rey.

There was no healer in the village, only a traditional doctor who looked so old that Felix’s first instinct was to have little faith in him. Thankfully he was more competent than he appeared and worked quickly examining Rey. He quickly diagnosed Rey with scarlatina and told Felix they'd need to quarantine for perhaps several weeks until Rey’s rash was gone. “Better to do it at my place where there are no children around,” he said. “Can you carry him?” Felix nodded.

The innkeeper was of course near hysterics when she was told the sheets Rey had touched would need to be burned. Felix didn't have time for this tantrum and simply slammed a handful of gold coins on her bar before they left. It would more than cover the price of new sheets - and hopefully encourage her from causing any more fuss. The last thing he needed was trouble and for someone to recognize Rey, especially while he was too ill to be moved.

Felix carried Rey bridal style to the doctor's home. The old man lived alone and told Felix that it was unlikely himself or Felix would contract the disease as they were adults. Felix pointed out that Rey, too, was an adult. But at only twenty and likely having been exposed to fewer childhood illnesses than the average person growing up inside the castle, Felix wasn't surprised that Rey of all people would manage to get the disease. Once inside the doctor instructed Felix to get the horses while he gave Rey a cool bath to work on lowering the fever. Felix was worried about leaving Rey, lest he wake up and become frightened in an unfamiliar place. He also doubted the doctor would be able to handle Rey if he went into one of his fits. Small as Rey was, he always surprised Felix with his inert strength when he had one of his episodes. Plus, he wasn't looking forward to explaining the extensive scarring that covered Rey’s body. He tried to explain this with as few details as possible and thankfully the doctor understood. He went to get the horses and left Felix in charge of bathing Rey instead.

Felix had never bathed another person before and felt awkward touching the prince in such an intimate way. But getting Rey’s fever down took priority over modesty, so he looked to the side as much as possible as he undressed Rey and lifted him into the tub. Rey’s eyes opened for the first time in hours and he screeched as if the water were ice cold. Felix had to hold him down as he lurched aimlessly forward. “Rey, it’s okay, I just need to get your fever down,” Felix said, but he could tell none of the words were getting through. Rey’s eyes were entirely vacant and he reached blindly into the air in front of him.

Realizing Rey might hurt himself if this continued, Felix quickly stripped down to his underwear and joined Rey in the tub. He sat behind him and held Rey close, shushing him. To Felix’s relief it worked and Rey stopped fighting. He was still shivering violently though. “I know, I’m sorry,” Felix murmured, running his fingers through Rey’s hair in a way he hoped was comforting. Normally he would never do this, but they were in extenuating circumstances. And, Felix figured, Rey must likely wouldn't remember it either.

Felix wasn't sure how long he was supposed to keep Rey in the bath. Once the water turned too cold for Felix himself to be comfortable, he made the decision to pick Rey up and dry him off with the towels the doctor had left them. He left their used clothes in a pile as the doctor had instructed him to be burned later.

The bedroom the doctor had directed them to use was small and had only one twin bed. Felix suspected he'd be sleeping on the couch in the living room - that or the floor. At least for tonight it'd be the floor; there was no way he was leaving Rey by himself right now even if it was just one room over. He dressed both Rey and himself in night clothes that he assumed had been left out for them and then placed Rey under the sheets. He sighed and sat cross legged next to the bed on the floor, exhausted. Rey was mumbling to himself feverishly and Felix watched him with a great level of concern. Would it really take a few weeks for Rey to recover from this? That seemed like such a long time. Felix had been aware of scarlet fever before, but knew little about it firsthand.

He heard the doctor return through the front door which was confirmed by the old man’s knock. “Come in,” Felix said.

“Ah, good, you’re settled,” the doctor said pleasantly at the sight of Rey in bed. “Did his fever go down at all?”

“I think a bit,” Felix said. “Um... I’m sorry. What was your name?”

The man chuckled, though not unkindly. “Dr. Kraven,” he said. “I’ve got some medicine brewing, we’ll give it to him soon.”

“Thank you,” Felix said. “And thank you for inviting us into your home on such short notice.”

Dr. Kraven shook his head. “It’s not a bother. And it’s safer for everyone if he stays away from other people for now. He’s very contagious while he still has that rash. Has he been itching?”

“When he’s awake,” Felix said. Which hadn’t been much.

“I have ointment we can put on him too,” the doctor said. “But better to let him sleep while he’s already sleeping. You should rest, too. There’s a couch in the other room.”

“I know,” Felix said. “But I’m staying right here.” He was afraid if he took his eyes off Rey, something would happen that would make him regret doing so.

“I’ll bring you a chair,” Dr. Kraven said. Thankfully, he was used to the brusqueness of worried companions. Felix thanked him quietly.

Rey slept for a few hours and Felix dozed in the chair next to him, his arms crossed and his head bobbing forward. Freya had made a small nest at the end of the bed near Rey’s feet and slept, seemingly aware that she needed to be calm and quiet while Rey was ill. Shortly before dawn, Rey began to moan continuously and Felix felt his face. Panicking at the absurd fever Rey was running, Felix replaced the wet towels on his forehead and neck. Rey’s eyes opened and he grabbed at Felix blindly. Felix shushed him and held his hand for the rest of the night.

The next morning Rey didn’t seem any better, but Felix told himself that this would take time. At least they weren’t stuck outside anymore. Dr. Kraven frequently coaxed Rey to drink from a kettle that had a long spigot at the end. Rey was too out of it to refuse but he seemed to have great difficulty swallowing and much of it dribbled down his chin, adding to the wetness on the bed from the damp compresses and sweat. The atmosphere was stale with sickness and Felix only left a few times to stretch and take several deep breaths of fresh air outside the home.

The delirium hadn’t improved, either. Felix gave him another bath, but this time Rey’s reaction was much more severe. He screamed in a way that Felix was sure was ripping his already damaged throat to shreds. Felix tried to hold him down as he had last night, a task that proved difficult when Rey bit down on his arm, hard.

Felix couldn’t help it, he hit Rey accompanied by several choice swear words. Rey let go and glared at him like a wounded animal, his mostly naked form pressed against the edge of the tub as far as he could away from Felix. A modest amount of blood dripped from Felix’s forearm into the bath and bloomed in the water like red smoke. Felix was a patient man, yes, but his patience could only go so far. Biting definitely crossed that line.

He left Rey in the tub with a scowl and wrapped a towel around his bleeding arm, wrapping a second one around his waist as he went to go find Dr. Kraven. The man was at the stove stirring yet another concoction he was brewing for Rey. “What happened?” He asked when he saw Felix dripping all over his kitchen floor.

“The brat bit me,” Felix muttered angrily.

He showed Dr. Kraven his arm by request. “I don’t think it requires sutures, but he certainly did get you good,” Dr. Kraven said. Felix told himself not to get too annoyed at the slight tone of amusement in his voice. “We’ll clean and bandage it - where’s Rey?”

“Still in the bath,” Felix said.

“He shouldn’t be alone,” Dr. Kraven said, which caused a pang of guilt to shoot through Felix’s chest. He knew that, but he also couldn’t fully fault himself for losing his temper when Rey had literally bit him. “Let’s go together,” Dr. Kraven said, sensing Felix’s apprehension.

In the bathroom, they found Rey huddling in the corner surrounded by a large puddle of water. He’d somehow managed to get himself out of the tub and was crying, which made Felix feel even worse. Dr. Kraven knelt in front of Rey using a calm and steady tone as he said, “There there, boy, you’re alright. Let’s get you dried off.”

Rey shook his head no, eyes wide with fear. He didn’t know who this man was - he only trusted Felix. Felix, who he now realized had blood running down his hand... Rey threw himself forward and grabbed Felix’s arm. All too late did Felix realize what was happening, confused until Rey’s eyes began to glow a piercing bright blue. He shook Rey, panicking and glancing at Dr. Kraven to gauge the man’s response. He couldn’t read the doctor’s expression. “Rey, stop it, I’m fine,” he said quickly, his tone desperate. “Stop it, you’re already sick.” If Rey actually used his powers, it’d doubtlessly make the prince’s condition much worse. He hid his injured arm behind his back out of sight, hoping for a simple solution.

It seemed to work. Rey’s eyes went back to normal and he fell forward against Felix’s chest, shivering. Felix sighed and held him close. What a troublesome man his prince was. He toweled Rey off and carried him to bed. Rey was mumbling something and Felix leaned in close to hear. “I couldn’t save her. Anita, I’m sorry.”

Felix felt an acute lump in his throat. Anita - one of the girls who’d been kidnapped with Rey for those two long years before Felix had come along. Felix didn’t know the details of the experiment, but he knew she’d been drowned - and that Rey had been unable to bring her back. He shushed Rey, stroking Rey’s wet hair in a way he hoped was comforting. “Rest, Rey. Nobody’s in danger anymore.”

Rey looked at him tearfully. “I failed,” he whispered.

“You didn’t fail,” Felix said. “Shh. Sleep.” Rey closed his eyes, tears running down his face. To Felix’s relief, Rey fell asleep almost immediately. He sighed and sat back in the chair next to the bed, hand still resting on Rey’s head. He could feel the presence of Dr. Kraven, who had now seen both Rey’s scars and proof that Rey wasn’t quite normal at all. He anticipated questions that he didn’t know how to answer, but to his surprise Dr. Kraven simply left and returned with antiseptic and bandages.

Felix was quiet as Dr. Kraven cleaned and wrapped his arm up. “You have questions,” Felix said quietly once it was finished.

“I’ve seen enough in my time to know my only business is to take care of those who are suffering,” the doctor said. “It’s neither my responsibility nor to my best advantage to ask. Isn’t that right?” He looked Felix dead in the eyes and Felix felt a rush of gratitude towards the man.

“That’s right,” he answered quietly. “It’s safer that way.” Dr. Kraven nodded and went back to the kitchen, leaving Felix and Rey in the bedroom by themselves. Felix hung his head and held Rey’s hand. He was so very tired and just wanted Rey to go back to normal - his usual snarky self that drove Felix crazy.

Things very slowly began to improve after that day. Rey’s fever wasn’t quite as high and he didn’t actually attack Felix again, although there were several instances where Felix had to hold Rey down because he was struggling to escape to some unknown place after waking from nightmares. Thankfully Felix was far stronger than the prince and managed to keep him in bed without Rey hurting either of them. He refused to sleep on the couch until he knew for sure that Rey was in the clear, and even then only did so because Dr. Kraven insisted with the promise that he wouldn’t leave Rey alone while he rested.

By the end of the first week, Rey was able to stay awake for more than a few minutes at a time and sit up with assistance. By the end of the second week he’d migrated from the bedroom to the living room couch and was able to keep small bites of food down. His fever had broken and he was no longer delirious, although he still woke up confused and troubled with nightmares. Felix was always there to calm him down, though. The old doctor was always nearby too and Rey learned to trust him if only because Felix did. He knew he was fortunate to have recovered, mostly thanks to Dr. Kraven. So he tried not to snap too much when the doctor fussed over him being up for too long or insisted that Rey drink more medicine even when he didn’t want to. Regardless, he got a death glare from Felix every time he did complain.

“When can we leave?” Rey asked the two of them in the middle of the third week. He was sitting on the couch propped up by pillows. The skin where his rash had been had peeled - something he’d found disgusting - and was now mostly healed.

“Sometime this week,” Dr. Kraven said with a confident smile. “You’ve done very well.”

“You need to be able to walk,” Felix reminded him.

“I can walk,” Rey huffed.

“And ride a horse,” Felix added. Rey looked away, unable to confidently claim he could accomplish that skill. But eventually, that too would be possible. Like the doctor had predicted, it had been slightly over three weeks since the evening they’d burst through the door of the tavern, Felix begging for someone to help Rey. The prince was still physically weak and tired easily, but he was finally well enough to move on towards their next destination. Felix insisted that Dr. Kraven examine Rey completely a final time before they left, which Rey reluctantly submitted to.

“I give you a clean bill of health,” the doctor said almost proudly, smiling at Rey. “Just take it easy, alright? You won’t be completely back to top shape for some time. If you push yourself, you could become very ill again.”

Felix gave Rey a look that clearly communicated: ‘Hear that? No idiocy.’ Rey rolled his eyes at Felix but shook Dr. Kraven’s hand gratefully, thanking him for essentially saving his life. He of course handed Dr. Kraven a rather large bag of gold coins as well which contained a sum far more than what was typical for a doctor’s bill. The good man tried to refuse but Rey insisted he take it.

“You can use it to help other people as you helped us,” Rey said, which was what made Dr. Kraven give in. He bid the pair adieu, reminding Felix once again to keep Rey from doing anything too strenuous for a while as they headed out.

“Heed that,” Felix said to him, glancing at the prince on his horse behind him. “We’re going to take it slow.”

“Yes, yes,” Rey sighed. He stopped his horse when Felix did so rather suddenly, narrowly avoiding crashing into the other man. “What was that for?!”

“I’m serious, Rey,” Felix said. “You were really sick. Let’s not do this again.”

Rey looked down, embarrassed. “I got it the first time,” he said.

“Good,” Felix said. “Now come on. You’ve got a lady who’s been waiting for you very patiently in the next town.”

Rey made a distasteful face - the same face he always did whenever the actual purpose of their journey was mentioned. Felix smirked and they started moving again. True to his word, Rey didn’t complain when Felix made them take three times as many rest stops as usual. But when they arrived at the next village and Rey went back to being the absolute brat he was in the face of meeting yet another potential suitor, Felix was finally able to relax. Things were back to normal and Rey would be alright. Now they just needed to find Rey a wife.

Fin.

#shionwrites #oc: rey #whump #sickfic #male whump #sicknario #sick whump #fever whump #illness whump #fever #hurt comfort #hurt/comfort #caretaking #whump community #whump writing #whumblr #angst

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infinite-mess · 5 months ago

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Welcome to my infinite mess.

This shall be my cozy little cave, where I shall go to watch all sorts of animated movies, series, etc. I’ve always had a passion for the medium, and I think it’s time to put my so-called “excellent writing” skills to use with this here blog.

My love for animated media isn’t the ONLY reason I decided to start this blog, however. I’ve had struggles in figuring out how to deal with certain media. Usually, whenever I have found even slightly unfavorable aspects of media, I would throw the entire thing out like it was nothing. But I’ve seen so many people who, although they also draw the line somewhere, love certain pieces of media while also criticizing it at the very same time. But…how can one LOVE or even LIKE a piece of media with issues in it? I felt like starting a blog could serve as a healthy outlet to explore my thoughts, as well as to potentially find some new pieces of media to add to my small pile of favorite movies, shows, etc.

I was mainly inspired to make this blog by a website known as AnimeFeminist, as well as several of the team’s outstanding WordPress blogs, as well as some blogs here on Tumblr. I found Tumblr to be the easiest and most efficient site for me to make this kind of blog on, so that’s what I’m doing.

How will this blog work? Well:

I will do polls where you guys can decide which shows/movies I should watch

Near the end of each month (unless stated otherwise in the following month’s post) I’ll update you all on my media progress with “progress posts”!!!

I will probably do reviews on finished shows/movies, stating my opinions on them as well as stating wether or not I would recommend them to anyone

A lot of what I may be watching will be anime. It’s not the ONLY form of animated media I want to cover, but anime may end up being the majority of what I end up covering.

I will PROBABLY not be doing seasonal anime watches. I prefer to watch shows that are either already finished, have an end in sight, or have otherwise gone on for a while.

The exception to this rule is a concept called “Wild Cards”! With these, I will only limit myself to watching an episode of that show on a weekly, biweekly, etc. basis depending on how long the show is, and the shows that qualify to be wild cards have to have a confirmed new season coming, or at least be confirmed to still be going. Most of these wild cards will be anime, and every 3 months, I will do a poll which will decide the new wild card entry.

For certain media, I’ve wanted to do “watchalongs”, which are posts discussing a specific portion of a show (like 5-15 episodes each or SOMETHING, depending on how long the show is). This was inspired by AnimeFeminist’s watchalong podcasts, but instead of a podcast, it’s a Tumblr post, and instead of there being multiple people, there’s just one person (me). Not all of the media I discuss will have watchalongs!!!

Recommendations are ALWAYS welcome! Wether you decide to comment on THIS post, on my progress posts, on poll posts, or even on my reviews of certain media, I can never get enough of recommendations from people. Please note, however, that I can say no to any recommendations for multiple reasons. There will be some shows or movies that I just won’t watch for one reason or another, and there are places where I will draw the line on which media I watch.

With any and all media I watch, the minimum amount of episodes of a show I have to watch before deciding wether to continue is 3, and I have to at least watch a 1/4th of a movie before deciding as well. (if they make me uncomfortable enough, however, I don’t have to follow these rules)

I’m unsure of what the results of this blog attempt will be, as well as wether it’ll actually be able to live up to my expectations, but the only way for me to find out is try! So again, welcome to this infinite mess.

#infinite mess #aniblogging #blog

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buildingshitwithcrab · 4 months ago

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Cincinnati Chili [edible]

Hooboy. Recently--as in, tonight--Ballistic BBQ on youtube had an episode on how to copycat Skyline coneys (chili dogs.) And gdi, I am A Chili Person now because I Have Issues with his lack of research into the subject. I had a comment written out, trying to be both CORRECTIVE yet polite, but you know what? Fuck it. I'm gonna save my long-time, hard-won experience with you fine folk, instead.

Recipe first, then notes:

For those non-fluent in Chickenscratch:

2T peanut oil (optional) 28oz tomato puree 1lb ground beef 1lb ground pork 6 cloves garlic, minced 2t cinnamon 1T cumin 2T Worcestershire 3 bay leaves (optional) 4T white vinegar 2 15oz cans kidney beans, drained & rinsed (see notes) 4T pure chili powder (see notes) 2t allspice 4T unsweetened cocoa powder 2t regular Tabasco sauce

toppings: 1 small finely chopped white onion (optional) yellow mustard (hella optional) finely shredded cheddar cheese (not optional)

Put oil into stock pot; on med heat, sweat 1/4 to 1/2 of garlic until fragrant. Add meat and cook until pink is gone, stirring thoroughly to break grounds into crumbles. No chunks. Skim away fat; does not need to be thoroughly drained unless desired (see notes.) Add puree and remainder of garlic. Stir to combine. Add liquids, stir. Add powders, through a sifter if possible. Otherwise, stir, making sure any balls of cocoa powder get broken down. If adding beans directly into chili (see notes), add them now, and stir to combine.

If eating chili right away, heat until hot, stirring fairly frequently; if making in advance, transfer to a lidded container, allow to cool, and refrigerate until needed. Flavors will develop and meld very nicely over 24 hours, but the hot, fresh chili will still be spicy and tasty.

Makes... gawd... 4-6 adult servings of chili spaghetti, or can cover about 16 hot dogs. We tend to get 2 separate meals of 3 generous adult portions & sometimes a little leftover for dip, from one batch.

(blurry 35mm photos from like 2003)

Notes:

this recipe originated from The Frugal Gourmet Cooks American; as presented here, it has inclusions from the original, and adjustments (usually omissions) I have made over 20-some years of cooking it. I cook it to eat it, not to adhere to best practices nor perfect authenticity.

peanut oil is optional if you go straight to browning the meat and then at the garlic after skimming most of the fat. It's just in the original recipe, and just for sweating the garlic. would NOT recommend subbing any oil with a distinct flavor (olive, sunflower, etc.)

I originally added the bay leaves a few times, but never really noticed them adding much to the mix. safe to omit, if you don't have any.

coneys do not really have beans, unless requested. if you're only going to use the chili on hot dogs, or just don't want them, you can choose not to use any. if you'd like smaller beans on/in coney chili, rinsed black beans work well, also. I like the beans in general, and add them in for convenience, since I'm usually going to have one meal of coneys and one of spaghetti. typically, the beans are a separate topping on the chili, and not folded into the chili itself. people from Cincinnati will judge you. I'm from Dayton, though, so I won't.

ALL Cincinnati chili comes with finely shredded cheddar (looking at YOU, Ballistic BBQ.) it's technically a garnish, but it's a big flavor component of the entire dish. you will not find store-bought cheese shredded as finely as the parlors use. this is expected, and okay.

"chili powder" in grocery stores tends to be a blend of several different spices anymore. I don't know when this happened. additional cumin, any oregano, etc. will noticeably alter this recipe's taste, and in my opinion, not in a good way. BE AWARE that grocers that have sections for Indian ingredients may have jars of "pure chili powder", but these are MUCH HOTTER than the chilis in US blends. Maybe you want that, but don't find out by accident like I did. I recommend cutting to the chase and ordering pure chili powder from MexGrocer.com. I get their California and New Mexico powders, both nice and reasonable, and combine them. one packet of each should yield enough powder for this recipe, with a little left over. a neighborhood Mexican grocery is likely to have pure powders, too, but I don't know the specific types to recommend. some of those can pretty hot by surprise, as well.

skimming the fat is up to you. if you do, your chili will be thicker and a bit brighter in spice. if you don't, it will be thinner (more like parlor chili, tbh,) and a little bit mellowed. the viscosity is the biggest difference. thicker doesn't drip off of coney as easily, but you might want thinner to soak deeper into your spaghetti. however you normally approach excess meat juices should be fine.

another spice altering aspect: you can leave out the ground pork and just use 1lb ground beef, to save money. your chili will have a slightly stronger tomato flavor, and a little more spice. you can also leave out the pork and use 2lb beef, the pork is just ~authentic~ because Cincinnati has a shitload of pork processors. you could probably sub ground turkey for the pork, as I understand it absorbs other meats' flavors, but you'd still need the beef to flavor it. another matter of personal tastes or circumstances.

and another: a spoonful of sour cream on spaghetti chili will mild it down very nicely while still being delicious, if it's too spicy for someone. for coneys or a chip dip, mix your desired ratio aside in a bowl, and enjoy.

by "cocoa powder", the recipe means like Baker's Corner, Hershey's--the same stuff you'd bake with or add to hot milk, just unsweetened. Some people (BBBQ) like to make it sound fancy with "cacao", but it's just unsweetened cocoa.

salt is not included as an ingredient, because my family has cut way back on using it at all for... probably the same 20 years I've been making chili. my dad got diagnosed with high blood pressure when he retired, and to help him out, my mom and I both decided it wasn't our favorite spice in the world anyway, and started leaving it out when it's not necessary (it's necessary in baking. don't fuck too much with baking recipes.) I also find that vinegar has a lot of same zing flavor that salt does, without the salt, and this recipe has a lot of vinegar, plus salt in the Worcestershire, Tabasco, and cheese. that's plenty for us, but feel free to add salt to taste, if you'd like more.

toppings: frankly, everything but the chili itself is one. chili + cheese + hotdog = coney. chili + cheese + spaghetti = 3-way. add onion = 4-way. add beans = 5-way. the mustard is always optional, it's just very popular. I... have never gone there, and don't intend to. parlors also offer very basic cayenne hot sauces, to add heat without much flavor distraction. this is just for authenticity; hot sauce it however you like.

Cincinnati chili, itself, is not Greek--Skyline's founder is. Skyline did not invent the chili. Macedonian immigrants did. Skyline certainly added some Greek influence to their family variation, and a lot of people like it, but BBBQ did not research the history beyond Skyline as a company, and made assumptions. do not make assumptions about history a whole city has civic pride in. shit, just admit you don't know, you're just there to make some good chili dogs, and youtube commenters will fill in those gaps for you.

#crab in a kitchen #recipes #cincinnati chili #because someone on the internet was wrong

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pastelhousewithlegs · 8 months ago

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I watched the Netflix Avatar the Laster Airbender series and wrote down all my thoughts.

Overall: 6/10

I think the casting was good, the effects were impressive, the costumes and sets overall looked great. I can believe that someone at least skimmed the source material.

The story seems weirdly rushed and really slow in odd parts? I didn’t want a shot for shot remake of the show, but it’s, we’ll say

/interesting/ to learn what Netflix has decided are important pieces of story they want to draw out and which characters are given spotlight.

From a story perspective, it feels like they took someone who saw the animated series several years ago and asked them to retell the story from memory. There’s a lot of recognizable content for fans but it does feel disjointed because of which stories they chose to combine.

Thoughts below the thing. No context given, spoilers but I don’t think they make much sense. If I spelled anything wrong, it’s speech to text and I barely proof read

Why are they excited to see him do that? They are also Airbenders.

Do they not have sky bison?

Okay I actually like Gyatzo and Aangs dynamic

How long until the comet comes this is awfully close

Man really trying to shove character into exposition here

Good tension

She should have kept fighting with him

That actually sounded pretty convincing

Little early to be spouting that kind of wisdom Iroh

Why are they having? Why are they saying this? Why put it directly into the script you already had your opening?

It’s kind of sad that they took this realization from Kara

It’s kind of sad that they had to steam roll Aangs optimism about this kind of stuff for the sake of time

really took away the heaviness of the fire nation boat, especially when it’s Katara‘s hideout now and not fully forbidden

Love that they wanted to do over on the waters sphere from the first live action

Well, it’s been like 30 seconds and you didn’t really wanna make a lot of chitchat

I like the effects they’re very good

I’m kind of sad they’re forced to exposition a lot of this. I feel like a lot of it. It would be really good to get this kind of slower but again I get it.

OK, he is a prisoner and you suspect that he will be brutally tortured. This is too casual.

OK, I think he’d probably noticed that he was literally working on it

Interesting they had him talk himself down instead of Katara

Way to… “things happen for a reason Katara”

Hey that was a joke

What an odd way to turn around. But we are getting a sense of Zuko’s youngness?

He just rode off on a sky bison. What are you talking about?

So they don’t have a plan anymore. Their original thing was that they were going to go to the northern water tribe so Aang could learn water bending with Kotara and Kiyoshi was a stop on the way.

Though they did get lost

It’s like they’re trying to make jokes With Sokka, but it’s not working

OK, well I guess we’re not getting the pirate episode

Interesting they just came back on for information instead of a destroyed boat

Zuko was excellently cast

Well, there’s a remnants of the misogyny they forgot to scrub

The Kyoshi warrior uniforms look really good

Did they remove Suki as the leader of the Koshi Warriors?

I don’t know how to feel about Suki

And I don’t know how to feel about the interaction either because 1/2 of it was flirting

Why? how is this a good cover?

If that’s your cover, Iroh should’ve been the one to ask

Man, they really did just put themselves on the sus list

This is very nitpicky, but I kind of wish that he was excited to learn from her

I know it’s not just I don’t wanna learn from her, but it’s kind of sad because he was very much excited to learn from her

OK, well they’re gonna keep using his air bending as like levitation so we’ll see how useful this ends up being in this version

Well, just kind of takes the wind out of Suki because she’s not really proud to be where she is

They kinda gave her the I want more role, which is fine, but a big part of her is her being incredibly proud of who she is and what she’s done

God she’s trying to impress him

This is an interesting take on his peer’s perception of him

Oh, is this a mix from the avatar day episode too?

I can’t remember how he learned that in the show.

What does this random guy know that?

Oh, this is the “she teaches him and he’s immediately better than her and then she becomes his sidekick” trope

Oh, they really sped run this control over going the spirit world

Does he know her name yet?

They really nuked Suki.

Wait are you telling me that was the avatar state?

Kyoshi was more chill in the series. Or I guess more level headed

I guess that’s on par with what Kyoshi was

They moved Katara protecting Aang and while he’s in the avatar state from the northern water tribe episode

Are they gonna try and do it again later?

So much for sacrifice, Aang doesn’t even want to leave.

I guess he did have a good few love interests but they really playing it up

Oh, and also training water bending like it’s the second thought or something

What was Zuko about to say?

They making him seem larger and intimidating

It’s the honor student

Is that Azula?

Is this foreshadowing ba sing se that I see?

I didn’t expect Ozai to wanna get his hands dirty so soon

I guess this is how they convey the propaganda parts of the fire nation

I don’t know who he’s referring to when he says that.

He’s talking about Zuko

Were they not able to recognize her with her hair up?

So do they know already?

Well, actually, you asked him to catch the avatar and he hasn’t done that yet

I don’t like Aang and Katar‘s dynamic yet

Did he already know water bending because he’s kind of teaching her?

I think the creators forgot that we are also supposed to laugh at Sokka instead of Aang and Katara just doing that

Is this jet?

Okay well there goes that plot thread

New Azula seems really outwardly insecure

That shot lasted for way too long. You should’ve cut it.

Wait a minute they’re doing the secret tunnel

So what are they trying to do with a blimp?

Because cabbage man is so iconic

Does she know who she is? I don’t think he saw her.

The fighting sequences look OK

Oh man, they really over blew that one

I don’t know what storyline they’re taking this from

But they were looking for a fire bender, a thing that he definitely isn’t

Are they doing the blue spirit?

Where is Katara?

Why? what?

Hey, Flopsy!

OK, well no mystery with Bumi then

OK, well he’s a different kind of crazy now

Is Bumi jealous of him?

It sounds like you have too Aang

Do we get the secret tunnel song?

The subtitles suggest that both Oma and Shu were women and I don’t know if they did that on purpose

Really skipping over the whole journey there I know probably for time but it’s very odd to have someone that is not Katara read it

Oh, it’s this bit. Do you think Zuko’s going to find him with a sandal?

No, just the lotus tile

But he doesn’t know earth bending yet?

Yeah, what is he trying to prove?

Whose characteristics does Bumi have now?

If the traveler knew that, why didn’t they just tell them instead of the stupid hints?

This Katara seems sadder? And I’m not really sure what it’s doing for the story or her character.

Well, that was unnecessary

OK more exposition, it’s fine. We’re eating a broccoli.

He was a general

Really developing Zuko and Irohs past which is touching

Well, he’s already the avatar so that’s not really necessary

Hey, there’s no real reason for that again he’s already the avatar. I don’t really know what point you’re trying to

Wait, so the crystals are fully wrong?

So they wanted both of the reasons that they got out of the cave why not just pick one?

OK, so he’s angry? Why he didn’t really have control over that

Also, I like how Bumi is just fully willing to kill the avatar

Well, at least the fight is familiar to

Already?

I mean, I guess

Are we meeting haibi?

Man, it’s like they sporadically remember he’s supposed to be funny

Well, that’s that reference

Are we getting the blue spirit soon with the archers?

kind of undermining Azula being a prodigy.

Oh well, this is new

Zuko is funnier than Sokka

OK, so they skipped over that episode funny the play did too

Hey, it’s June

Ew? That is the exact exact opposite of how it was but sure

OK, so straight frogs are common

Is that oh? Isn’t he supposed to be in the library?

This Azula is very emotional

It seems like Iroh is the one finding the avatar

I think that was supposed to be funny

Is the fox supposed to be hot for him?

This series is the story of Sokka

You can hardly call them jokes

Oh, I thought Aang was supposed to see the vision of Toph

And we haven’t met Yue yet

So did she just lose her face?

Okay rearranging things, sure

OK, so there goes his credibility

Did they both just lose their faces?

Oh, it’s this storyline now interesting that they splice it in

I don’t know why he thought that would be a good idea. He’s very much in Fire nation territory.

So how does how does she originally do the tracking?

And how do they know the thing they picked up is relevant?

I’m so confused how do you know how to do this also wasn’t it Roku, who was the original one to help him out because he was the avatar before him

And you just stole it for funzies?

Oh, is that guy outside bacon now?

why would you go out that way?

is June going to give him a peptalk?

Who are these guys

And yet you didn’t use them

I can’t believe he’s doing like a customer service survey

Damn shot for shot on this

You stole like 2 pages

Wow exposition exposition

Does Aang still have that totem on him?

Okay that was actually funny

Ozai would never admit to that

Say it louder so everyone knows what zuko did.

I think they’ve used everything around the pirate episode

About 30 seconds

Did they ship in earth benders for her to beat up?

Was as she a bender in the show?

Why didnt they have paku tell her that?

What do much for Yue respecting her duties

Why didn’t he see Kuruk before koh?

I don’t know anything about Kuruk except his wife got face stolen

This is a very odd lesson of “you must walk this journey alone”

Ummm why is this important now?

Why is she telling him this

Uhh what

That’s a bad plan and no well thought out

if that means Azula? They haven’t really shown her to be as one of her main characteristics.

Is he grading her?

Why does she know how to do that?

Who taught her that

I guess i’m glad Sokka is supportive, but I’m kind of upset that she needs that kind of support every 30 seconds or else she can’t function

Well, they really had to tone down this battle

And she just accepts that?

Uh yeah she did loose, it’s fine but she did

That’s great but why though

Uhhh were just gonna say he’s the plan guy?

What thing did he have to do?

More blasting jelly?

Also idk if they made the connection that sai made those. I guess the balloon model

Katara wasn’t even the one to convince him to respect her. She sort of inspired people to do it for her. Kind of

Ummm, he knows she has no war training

Yeah she’s not,

Uhhh it what now?

Wait huh? Is that the story from the series? We learned that from koh

Speak a little faster please

Umm did they just give Irohs speech to Kuruk

I guess they got bored of animating the lemur

Theyre gonna ask the moon spirit to heal a lemur?

Is this supposed to be tense?

Or is this just how we got into the sanctuary

Is that different from your current plan?

So where did her skill come from? We haven’t seen her be taught?

Actually she didn’t, that comment didn’t make any sense

This Ozai yeah

He should totally kill the moon spirit while he’s got it in his hands

These characters really like to talk

Is Aang going to become the moon spirit?

Is this because he doesn’t know how to water bend so it can’t be him doing this?

Well, they really nailed Zuko being a hothead

Does he mean Azula? Who is he talking about?

I’m sure that’s true, but Azula is supposed to be a prodigy

Why not make momo give his life back?

They really said Iroh is a spiritual master and then gave him nothing to do with it

Yeah, a thing he’s not started at all

Man these guys really love the single year down the cheek

Again? Ozai really only tries the “wait what’s that over there” technique

It’s an Ozai sandwich, why did we cut away

#avatar the last airbender #netflix #natla #spoilers #avatar the last airbender spoilers #atla #atla netflix

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finethingswellworn · 1 year ago

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Thinking about Crowley. Thinking about Crowley and the Job business and "our side," and accountability,and THAT ENDING and how it all fits together.

So, I've already spilled my thoughts on the Job episode. I know. But it's been spinning around in my head since I watched it. I think it might be my favorite bit in S2. And it will never stop being fascinating to me.

Today, I want to focus on Crowley's feelings at the end of it.

I do believe that this is one of the first little inklings, the first seeds of hope, that Crowley has regarding Aziraphale.

We see in season 1 that he's disgusted that Aziraphale could attempt to justify the flood. This, to Crowley, is a morally reprehensible action and the fact that Aziraphale even pretends to be alright with it makes him almost lose respect for Aziraphale. At the very least it makes him severely uncomfortable and we see this in their first few interactions afterward with Job. Crowley is bitter and angry because of what is being done to Job and his family and angry and bitter at Aziraphale, too.

At this point, I don't think Crowley has any hope of being on the same side as Aziraphale.

All that changes when Aziraphale lies to heaven. Of course, he does it for Crowley, to cover his demonic reputation. Word certainly can't be allowed to spread that Crowley isn't as wicked as he likes people to believe. It would get him into a great deal of trouble.

Even more importantly to Crowley, though, the lie confirms what Crowley has long suspected and secretly hoped for: that Aziraphale is more moral than his fellow angels. Not that he's necessarily more angelic, to be clear. He's not. This is when we see Aziraphale first consume human food, something every other angel in heaven has absolutely no desire to do, after all.

No, it's because Aziraphale doesn't lie just for Crowley. He primarily lies for Job and his family. He lies to save them. He lies because it's the right thing to do. He lies because he's an angel who can only go along with heaven as far as he can. And he can't possibly justify the needless misery for the sake of a bet.

So, I think that Crowley thinks Aziraphale is more deserving, in Crowley's mind anyway, of Angel as a title, as something more than a sarcastic jibe, but said instead with genuine fondness.

Because the thing about Crowley is, much as he's loathed to admit it, he adores that Aziraphale is so dedicated to being an angel. Not that he's aligned with heaven mind. He hates that. But he adores Aziraphale's commitment to really truly wanting to do good in the world.

That's why he laughs at the thought of Aziraphale falling, why he can't allow him to fall, even if Aziraphale technically thwarted the will of the Almighty.

So Crowley thinks: "He'll get there in the end. He's too good to go along with heaven for ever. He'll see what they truly are eventually. And I'll wait. I have eternity to wait. And then we can be Us. I've just got to wait and see."

And he does.

Now, the ending.

Gabriel pops off to the stars. Earth, to Gabriel, is a mildly interesting curiosity. Sure, it's fun and all, but when it comes down to it, he's totally fine with leaving it behind for other things.

Aziraphale is not.

Even when he goes to heaven, he does so with the intent of making change because he loves Earth so much.

We talk a lot in the fandom about Crowley feeling unworthy of heaven. The more times I watch, however, the more I realize that he doesn't feel unworthy at all. No, he thinks heaven is unworthy of, not only himself, but especially Aziraphale.

So, from Crowley's point of view, he's waited ever so patiently, thousands and thousands of years, for Aziraphale to finally realize that the two of them are better than heaven or hell, that he, Aziraphale, is better.

He's sure Aziraphale loves him now. They're on their side. He's all set to define the relationship because, deep down, there's a part of him that's sick of waiting, that wants to know exactly where he stands. He's just seen an angel and a demon run off together and he thinks he wants that, too...

Then, Aziraphale drops the bomb on him.

We, like Crowley, know what heaven's plans are. We know they're orchestrating the Second-Coming. But Crowley has no idea what the Metatron told Aziraphale. Or, more importantly, what he left out until the very last possible moment when it was far too late for Aziraphale to object and back out.

What it comes down to for Crowley is this: he admires and loves Aziraphale for his goodness and sense of justice. Ever since Job, he's watched him grapple with moral quandaries and learn from his mistakes. but... BUT...

Crowley can't and won't respect Aziraphale's decision if he thinks what Aziraphale is doing is wrong. And I think Crowley believes the Metatron told him what the plan was which would mean that Aziraphale has agreed to go along with it. And there simply can't be an "our side" for Crowley under those circumstances.

Yes, they still love each other. Very much. More than anything or anyone in the universe.

At the end of the day, though, they're not like every other angel and demon. They could never be G and B. and forget their responsibilities to the world and humanity. In fact, I don't think they would love or respect each other nearly as much if they did, because neither of them want the other to change who they are fundamentally. They care too much about each other and about Earth for that. They are too good at holding each other accountable.

And this is what it has all been about, hasn't it? Crowley holding Aziraphale accountable throughout the centuries. Aziraphale doing the same for Crowley.

That's what Job was about. And the grave digging episode. That's what the ending was about. That's what love is about, sometimes, and it's a nightmarish, painful thing to have to do, but something they do time and time again for each other.

The Ineffables are interesting for so many reasons, but that's one of the big ones.

#gos2 spoilers #good omens season two #good omens #good omens spoilers #ineffable husbands #Crowley #Aziraphale

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knickynoo · 1 year ago

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Back to the Future: The Animated Series, s02ep01 “Mac the Black” Review and Commentary

Previous episodes linked here.

In this episode: Marty is a liar, liar, pants on fire, Doc and Clara seriously need to work on keeping the DeLorean locked up, and I am nearly broken by the funniest scene this goofy cartoon has ever done.

Took about a month off from doing these reviews, but I'm back and ready to tackle season 2. I still don't know if Tumblr fixed the issue with the photo and gifsets getting messed up (and won't until I post this), so if the images are getting stacked again, it isn't my fault.

Let's jump right in.

Doc's season 2 opening broadcast begins on a deserted island, on which Doc has become stranded while attempting to sail to Jamaica.

He was trying to follow the same route a pirate did in the 1600s—using only his sail and the wind to guide him. It did not go well. Doc lets us know that he forgot to bring along a compass. What a goofball.

His predicament reminds him of something, and he says, "You know, at one time, my son Verne wanted to be a pirate. Well, actually, what he really wanted was an earring. Or was it a tattoo? This one's a bit complicated, so I'll let Marty explain it." This then brings us right into the cartoon, where Marty takes over telling the story.

Hope you get off that island, Doc!

As we head into the cartoon portion of the episode, Marty tells us that the whole thing started when he lied to Jennifer about a concert. *sigh* If anyone was hoping that Season 2 Marty would be better than Season 1 Marty, I regret to inform you that we're not off to a great start. You see, Marty was supposed to get tickets for himself and Jen for the "Walk DMC" concert (ha! clever), but he didn't. In fact, we learn that Jennifer had asked him two months prior to get the tickets, but he forgot. So far, this is typical Marty behavior. He tries to smooth-talk a guy who works at the concert venue and explain his sad story. Because apparently, it wasn't just that he said he'd get the tickets. He told Jennifer he was "a friend of a friend of the drummer" and they could get front-row seats. He also told her they could join the band's after-show party and have pizza with them.

You lie?? You tell MULTIPLE LIES to Jennifer?? Jail for Marty.

The worker responds by tying a nearby garden hose to the railing to craft a large slingshot to put Marty in and catapult him away. And you know what? Good for him.

After flying through an alleyway and crashing into several garbage cans, Marty lands in front of Jen wearing a look of shame on his face and a banana peel on his head.

So sad. Poor little garbage-covered banana-head boy. Maybe don't tell lies; ever think about that?

Jennifer asks why Marty couldn't just remember to buy the tickets in the first place. Instead of owning up to his forgetfulness, Marty doubles down and lies even more, trying to convince Jen that the whole band got sick and had to go home. She is not happy with him. The jock from last season who Jen was tutoring (Kelp) comes by then and asks her if she's doing anything tonight. "Yes, I'm saying goodbye to Marty McFibber," Jen replies as she hops into Kelp's car.

Wonderful. 10/10 reponse, Jennifer.

We leave Marty running after the car as the scene transitions to Doc's house, where he's working on a machine that will help them all with the tedious process of canning all the tomatoes from their garden. As expected, it malfunctions immediately. Doc gets sucked into the machine, and IT CANS HIM.

I need you all to understand how long I laughed at this scene.

Please. I—

That is a whole entire man in that little glass jar. Look at him!! He is just sitting on the counter inside a container! Doc can be easily stored in a cupboard now!! Even though the quality is terrible, you can see the distress on his face. This machine seriously just sucked him up and smooshed his 6'1" frame into a jar!!

The series should have ended right then and there, with this being the last scene because I don't think there's anything that can possibly come close to this in terms of cartoony humor. It can only be downhill from here. I had actual tears in my eyes while trying to grab these screenshots.

After freeing himself from the jar, Doc discovers that the problem was due to a washer being missing from the machine. He soon finds it when Verne wanders in showing off his cool new earring (made using the washer and a piece of bubble gum).

Verne explains that he wants an earring so that the cool kids will stop teasing him for always wearing his coonskin cap. Clara and Doc forbid him from piercing his ears, and Verne stalks off angrily. He puts on the TV and starts watching a pirate movie, which gives him the idea that he'd be able to get an earring if he was a pirate. Uh oh.

Verne sneaks out of the house to steal the time machine, which he does a lot, by the way. You'd think that Doc and Clara would have that thing securely locked up given their youngest child's tendency to just take off into the night like that.

As he's speeding off down the road, Verne runs into (and almost runs over) Marty, who is sadly walking down the road. Marty cheers up at seeing his little buddy and asks Verne to give him a ride to his car. No, "Hey, Verne, what are you doing out all on your own?" or "Whoa! You're eight-years-old; you shouldn't be driving!!" He just. Gets in the car and lets Verne continue to operate the vehicle.

Verne is happy to give Marty a lift to his own car, except he has to run an errand first. The display panel has been set for the Caribbean in 1697, and Marty is pumped to go hang out at the beach. He makes zero attempts to talk Verne out of this.

After arriving and donning some time-period appropriate clothing, the boys head straight into town, where Marty immediately gets himself into trouble. He overhears a pretty girl named Maria talking about how she can't return home to Spain until she meets the man of her dreams she's been waiting for: Mac the Black. Marty decides it's a very good idea to pretend he's Mac the Black (on account of he and Jennifer had a fight, remember? So, I guess he's just decided to throw the whole relationship away and pursue a relationship with the first girl he meets in 1697.)

Well, it turns out that Mac the Black is a wanted man, so a bunch of guys with swords chase Marty all around for a while. He then meets a group of pirates who are honored to meet him and have traveled far to find him. They've got a whole crew and a ship, and they put him in command of it and carry him off.

Meanwhile, Verne comes across a flyer advertising a cabin boy job on pirate ship. "Low wages, bad food, free earring," the paper says, and Verne is thrilled. He ends up on the same ship Marty is on, though Marty is less than enthused about the situation. He wants to just get back home and suggests he and Verne sneak out using a smaller boat.

Verne refuses to leave without his earring, though. Marty is soon informed that they're heading to "Smiling Skull Island" to meet up with some of his "old crew." After arriving, Marty's act swiftly falls apart when he's met by the REAL Mac the Black. After a series of truly ridiculous events, Marty and Verne are captured and forced to walk the plank. They're saved from their fate at the last minute when the Spanish army attacks.

We learn that Maria, who Marty had met earlier, is actually "Special Agent Señorita Maria Estrada of the Spanish Armada." She's been trying to capture Mac the Black—along with the stolen Spanish fleet's ship—and thanks Marty for his help.

With all the peril finally behind them, Marty and Verne hop back into the DeLorean and head home. Marty has learned a very valuable lesson about telling lies, and we get a scene of him and Jennifer on her porch, where Jen is finishing reading an apology letter Marty has written to her.

"Oh, Marty, that's the sweetest letter you've ever written. The longest, but the sweetest," Jen says as we get a look at her entire porch filled with paper. Marty had a lot to apologize for.

Also, I still don't understand why Jen's character design looks like that. That is NOT Jennifer.

We return to Real Doc, who is still stranded on the desert island. He spots a ship in the distance, but it turns out to be a pirate ship that's about to shoot a cannonball at him. This brings us to our experiment portion of the episode, where we learn how to make a "cannon" using a soda bottle, vinegar, baking soda, and a cork. Watching it in action made me have fond memories from my youth of dropping Mentos into bottles of diet soda and watching it explode in the backyard. Good times.

After the experiment, we go back to Doc for a moment. He announces that he's off to the store to buy the supplies to make a soda bottle cannon to fire back at the ship (this man has problems). The pirates fire at Doc but miss, and he sticks his tongue out and blows raspberries at them in a taunting manner. The episode ends there. Doc's just. He's stuck on that island, I guess.

This was a weird one. Not really that enjoyable on account of Marty being (as usual) terribly out of character. Unfortunately, this is just Who He Is in the world of the cartoon. Very sad. I also am disappointed that we only got a few seconds of Clara and Jules. But the scene of Doc in that glass jar was phenomenal. Five out of five stars.

Join me next time to see Doc run into an old enemy from college who tries to eliminate him, Jules, Verne, and Marty by luring them into an active volcano.

#back to the future #bttf #bttf: the animated series

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