#funny character on my screen have a confrontation I wish I could be animating instead

[fisherrprince]

you must imagine me sitting and sniling and blinking demurely like that art of the little jester while watching sophiebaybeys pov. on account of cinema you understand

[nellie-elizabeth]

The Legend of Vox Machina: The Trials of Vasselheim (2x02)

I've got to say, this show is bringing such joy into my life right now...

Cons:

I thought visually that Vasselheim wasn't quite as cool looking as I wanted it to be? Individual details were cool, but the first view of the city as a whole, that first big sweeping view, wasn't quite as impressive as what we saw of Emon or even Whitestone. I don't know, maybe I need to re-watch to appreciate it more.

This is an exposition-heavy episode, what with Highbearer Vord briefly meeting Vox Machina just to tell them no, then to the Slayer's Take, then down to see Osysa. It's a lot of information imparted very quickly, about the ancient history of this world, and setting up the Vestiges of Divergence fetch quest, and meanwhile we're cutting back to Grog's subplot. So once again I'm in the position of saying I enjoyed all the individual things I was seeing, but wish there was another five minutes so the transitions between all these different scenes and characters and concepts could have a bit more breathing room.

Pros:

But let's actually start with the Grog subplot stuff, because honestly I'm pretty impressed so far! Grog is a character who I think might be particularly hard to translate from stream to screen. It's the way Grog's utter stupidity is contrasted with Travis' performance of it, the way he is so very much in on the joke the whole way through. You can't really translate that to animated form. And yet, I think they've done a decent job! He's affable and ridiculous and sweet and also super violent, all of these things mixed together. He's too stupid to realize his evil magic sword is talking to him, even after Gilmore points out that it's sinister and Groon tells him it's a weakness to rely on it. But he's also smart enough to realize he's being asked a trick question during his trial with Groon, even if he can't quite get to the answer Groon is looking for.

I've got to say, the Grog butterfly meme moment was fucking hilarious to me, I don't care how stupid it is. I also really liked the moment when he asked Groon if perhaps he'd been told his name and then forgotten, as I think it shows that Grog, while not much of a thinker, does have some self-awareness about his own limitations. As a bonus, this episode also includes the famous Critter greeting, which is Grog's mishearing of the words "good day," as "bidet." It's so charming and funny and sweet that they managed to include that in there for us.

Also a nice little treat was getting to see Victor, although I was a little confused as to whether the explosion at the end was meant to be the demise of that character, or whether he'll get to have his heroic participation in the endgame too. Who knows. Either way, hearing Matt do that ridiculous voice was such a delight. And we get to be reminded of Anna Ripley, that lingering threat...

And then there's the Slayer's Take! I love the way they folded in the backstory that the show skipped over, incorporating it as part of Vex and Vax's past. Such a smart way to have Zahra feel like a familiar, established character, and get the purpose and function of the Slayer's Take established easily and seamlessly. Kash is one of my favorite side characters from all of Critical Role. Zahra too, but I just love Kash's dry delivery and snarky one-liners. The way he flatly expressed his disinterest in Vex's flirting was great. And the arrow through the wanted poster of the twins... what a jerk! In the best way, of course.

Instead of a bar-room brawl between Vox Machina and the Slayer's Take, instead we get a visit to Osysa, an ancient Sphynx who sponsors the Slayer's Take and acts as a representative for the Knowing Mistress on Exandria. Here, we get a test of wills, as all of the various members of Vox Machina confront their fears. I like how extremely fantasy-tropey this whole segment was, but I was also just so, so impressed with how Osysa's insight and delivery told us so much about the characters so succinctly. Keyleth fears failing her Aramente, she also fears becoming an Archdruid and outliving her support system. Vex seeks approval from a distant father. Vax relies entirely on his sister. Percy wallows in self-pity and yearns for forgiveness. Pike worries about saving her loved ones. And Scanlan... well, nobody cares about Scanlan, you see. (FUCK this is gonna hurt. If you know, you know.)

Once Pike leads the way in standing her ground and demanding to be heard, Osysa gives them the guidance they need. She explains about the Vestiges of Divergence, sending our heroes on a fetch quest to find powerful items to help defeat the dragon. The animation in showing the Vestiges, the history of the Calamity, was so beautiful and strange, and Osysa was so sinister and mysterious and gorgeous. This season feels a lot more D&D-ish, in a lot of ways, than season one did. We've got dragons, and now we've got this mission where our heroes need to track down magic items to save the day. I don't say that as a criticism, I actually kind of love it. I know where this is all going, broadly, but I continue to be delighted by the clever way they streamline, rearrange, cut, and add to this animated show!

Okay, onward to episode three. I'm sure everything will be fine. I'm sure I won't burst into tears at all.

8.5/10

[beyondstupidityblog]

On March 13th 2021, two friends and I did what never could have imagined possible, I watched Freddy Got Fingered for the ninth time, and it will by no means be the last. I’m explaining this to you, dear reader, so you and I have an important understanding between us. You will be reading the ramblings of one whose brain has curdled like milk left out in the hot afternoon sun. Now that introductions are out of the way, let us begin.

Freddy Got Fingered is a 2001 Comedy starring and directed by Tom Green as the Non-Titular Gordon Brody; an aspiring animator who goes to California to realize his dream, only to be constantly crushed under the weight of his father’s expectations. Sounds tame at first, but what lies beneath the veneer of mediocrity is truly impressive. Completely bombed,  audiences hated it, and critics loathed it. Roger Ebert got angry, saying “it isn’t even below the bottom of the barrel” and “Green should be flipping burgers somewhere.”. “Tasteless”, “appalling”, “offensive”, “gross”, and “poo poo,” are just some of the things people have had to say about this film. Animal genitalia can be seen on screen for much longer than anyone could have expected, Tom Green swinging a baby akin to a morning-star with its umbilical cord, said umbilical cord being stolen and taped onto his stomach, gratuitous caning of a nymphomaniac paraplegic, and the dissection of a deer carcass. It is an abrasive experience that leaves a terrible taste in the mouths of those who mention it. Nonetheless, I love this movie. 

You ever see a contemporary art exhibit that has a piece that just looks like garbage somebody left out but in actuality is a tongue-and-cheek allusion to the pitiful state of modern art? That garbage is Freddy Got Fingered, and that exhibit is Hollywood. At face value it just seems like a poorly done film by a comedian trying to use his name to get a few butts in the seats before his irrelevancy arrives, but when scrutinized as a commentary of comedy films do the pieces start to fall into place. Tropes like the Protagonist being an unremarkable honkey, gross-out designed to get some cheap quick chuckles, side-characters who occupy the space solely for comedic relief, a shoe-horned romantic side-plot, and an equally as shoehorned in happy ending are all present in a mocking fashion. So many of these Hollywood schlockfests that this movie is paying homage to abuse tropes in some vain attempt to trick the audience into thinking they’re having a good time, when in reality it just reminds viewers of films that they’ve already watched before and could be enjoying instead. All of the awkward and uncomfortable scenes of gross-out and romance are purposeful, because nothing is quite as awkward and uncomfortable than a film disengaging the audience with its own mediocrity. “This is what it’s like to endure this trash!” Drunkenly screams Freddy Got Fingered atop the tallest piece of furniture in the room, while also exposing its genitals to keep you from getting too comfortable around it. Unlike the films it is parodying, its obsession with making a fool out of audiences rips them away from the comfort of the cinema, making them genuinely ask if it is worth wasting their time watching a film called Freddy Got Fingered. Even the title is an intentional slight, as it seems to be completely untethered to the actual plotline and is instead a reference to a seemingly inconsequential scene. But then again, that is the point of it all. Tom Green is an artist, and on his canvas is a portrait of Hollywood with all of the ugly little imperfections that cause a movie like this to be created. But this is just the meta-narrative of Freddy Got Fingered, something that you could find all over the internet. Why do I resonate with it so much, and what about it makes it so exceptional that led to this unhealthy fascination?

    Every instance that I’ve rewatched Freddy Got Fingered has always brought about a new side to it, and in the process leaves me craving for more. Gord is an interesting take on the average leading man. He is on the surface bland and inoffensive, made so in order to allow the majority of the audience to immediately identify with him, said group being 20-something skater guys with unrealistic expectations of themselves. Made especially ironic when after the introduction of Gord as an adept skateboarding rebel escaping from authority, he starts to show that in reality he is an unlikeable, bratty, entitled, and all around unpleasant person. Barely a scene passes before we see him masturbate a horse while exclaiming he is a farmer to his father who is not present, seemingly a crude gag but is in reality an insight into his low self worth caused by his imposter syndrome stemming from distant paternal relationship. I would like to remind you, dear reader, that I am still writing of Freddy Got Fingered, in case you were beginning to think I have lost my mind (The answer is yes by the way). All throughout the film Gordon Brody puts on masks for different situations, never allowing himself to be who he is. When infiltrating the Animation studio where he wishes to pitch his cartoons, he pretends to be a mailman to get past reception and then impersonates a police officer when the former stops being effective. Donning the visage of a British Bobby, he dashes into the restaurant where the man he is searching for, Mr. Wallace, is eating. Showing him his cartoons, Wallace is impressed with the potential they have, but says that they are incoherent and lack real substance. Upon rejection, Gord puts a pistol in his mouth before Wallace stops him and advises what he should do to improve. Gord was genuinely ready to blow his brains out the back of his skull if he wasn’t able to get his show greenlit, and it hit me in that moment that he isn’t just some random jackass, but a victim of detrimentally low self-esteem.

The origins of his complex are made apparent when he goes back home to Oregon and are reintroduced to his Family. We see that his father Jim, played by Rip Torn, is disappointed in his return and begins to sneer at him for his failure. This father and son dynamic always has tension in every scene from this point onwards. Gord, who just wants to be accepted for who he is and not judged by what the world expects him to be, is always at the receiving end of Jim’s wrath, who values his idea of a successful life over the happiness of his sons. From here it becomes little wonder why Gord is the way he is, all his life he was told that who he was is not good enough, he has to be what his father wants if he is to be considered worthy of not only love, but being treated with a modicum of dignity. Whenever Gord acts eccentric or divulges his interests to his father, they are met with either resentment supplemented by verbal assault, or physical violence. After a late-night skateboard outing to escape from his father’s wrath goes awry, he visits his convalescing friend in the hospital, whereupon he meets one of the more interesting characters in relation to Gord, the love interest Betty.   

A horny wheelchair bound temptress may not seem like it upon first glance, but Betty is actually the most interesting character out of the entire cast. She feels genuine, introduced as a bored receptionist flipping a coffee creamer idly. Gord immediately strikes up a conversation, whereupon he and the audience find out she has an interest in physics, and apparently an interest in him as well. Betty is strangely well written for what most considered at the time to be a crass sexual joke, so much so that she would actually be a better protagonist than him. She is everything Gord is not, she’s smart, funny, ambitious, and  kind to a fault. Even her side plot to create a rocket powered wheelchair makes for a much more unique plot than the one given. Even Gord reciprocates this sentiment in their meeting, lying that he is a stockbroker in an attempt to impress her. In fact, sectioning her off as just the dull protagonist's love interest is a jab at how women in these movies are only there to serve in the development for the male protagonist, just nothing more than their muse. Nonetheless, without this relationship the movie would lose a lot of its soul. Romantic chemistry in comedy films is always hit or miss, but Gord and Betty do seem to have it surprisingly. They’re both silly and impulsive, creatively driven to a fault, but just different enough to eek out the best and worst in them. Gord  thinks that what he wants to do with his life is wasteful, but Betty doesn’t. Now I don’t mean that she directly affirms that he is worthwhile like most poorly written love interests would, stroking their lover’s(and by extension the director’s) ego, rather she confronts him with her optimism. He asks if she would feel stupid and like a loser if her experiment failed. Taken aback at first, she questions why she would, relaying that her failures are just as important as her successes. Gord’s self-worth is directly tied to his ability to succeed, whereas Betty doesn’t need this affirmation. Their dialogue further cements how detrimental his father’s overbearingness was to his outlook, and how he is slowly beginning to realize how destructive that mindset is. 

At their dinner date, Jim sees Gord and Betty across the restaurant, then reveals that Gord was lying to both him and her about his office job while poking fun at her disability, leading to a father-son scuffle that throws the entire floor into utter chaos. Cops show up, Gord and Jim are detained, and Betty bails Gord out. Most mediocre comedies at this point would have the love interest be upset that her significant other lied to her, leading to him having to make things right to repair their relationship before the happy ending. Breaking the mold, Betty does not get angry with Gord even a smidgen, choosing to be understanding of his situation now that she caught a glimpse into his home-life. She just plain likes Gord, willing to put up with him more than she really should, but still chooses to look past his lies and self-destructive nature for who he truly is, someone who just wants to be accepted by the world around him. Someone just like her.

Right after that enaction of social terrorism performed by the Brody father and son duo, they decide it would be best to go to family therapy and assail the audience with what I fondly refer to it as, “The Scene.” “The Scene” is Freddy Got Fingered’s statement to the world, it is what instills a man with the impetus to rewatch a glorified stoner daydream for the ninth time and leave him wanting more! Gord accuses his father, in a final act of defiance, of molesting his younger brother Freddy. During the ensuing confusion Gord picks up a bust of Sigmund Freud and throws it into the glass window pane, allowing him to escape into the evening sun. The authorities take Freddy away and send him to The Home for Molested Children, and the family slowly unravels from then on. Besides the heavy handed metaphor of Freud’s theories being used as a way for Gord to escape his predicament while simultaneously discrediting them, “The Scene” also recontextualizes Freddy, innocuous of a character as he is, as Gord’s foil. He is in the movie very little but when he is it is to serve one of two purposes: To be compared to Gord, or to be treated as an object. During breakfast much earlier in the film after a fight between Gord and Jim, Freddy tries to explain to his brother that he should grow up. Gord, surprisingly, talks down to him and halts the conversation.

Gord: “He's driving me insane.”

Freddy: “No. No, you're driving him insane. You're older than me and you still live at home. I have a job, you know. I pay my own way.”

Gord: “You work in a bank. Should I be dazzled?”

Freddy: “Well, at least I don't live at home!”

Gord: “No, you live in a tiny shithole and you come here to eat for free.”

With these lines it is plain to see that despite Freddy’s idea of success directly lining up with his father’s, he is even more pitiful than Gord. What little we know of him is to show that his acquiescence to his father’s expectations has left him bereft of not only genuine personal success, but of dignity itself. When child protective services come to take him away, he is half naked, mouth agape, watching open heart surgery on television, a palpable indication of emptiness. He isn’t treated as an adult either, as his protests to the police fall on deaf ears as both them and the psychologist infantilize him. Why would Tom Green name this movie after a character like Freddy, whose lack of presence and characterization make him little more than an afterthought when looking back on the story? Or did I just answer my own question? Freddy is not a character because he is not allowed to be one, he is just too passive and accepting of his circumstances for him to stand out. All he can be is a doll that Jim uses to dress up as the perfect son, and this passiveness leads to Gord, the “failure,” to both pity and resent what he let himself become. That’s why Gord accuses their father of molesting him, after all he does narratively violate Freddy’s autonomy by consistently making decisions for him. Evidently enough, as soon as Gord dons a suit for a quick bit Jim is elated because he believes that his son finally gave in to his demands for him to get a job, because he is acting more like his obedient brother. In this sense Freddy is the most tragic member of the Brody clan, a literal manchild whose growth was stunted by overbearing guardians. When I think of him, a bonsai tree comes to mind. Sure, it looks healthy, but when you realize that it could have grown into a much bigger plant if it were not for its small pot, that realization of wasted potential comes with a tinge of melancholy.

I want to end this essay with a moral that I took away from Freddy Got Fingered, as strange enough as that sounds, and what it has to say about art as a whole. Put simply, this is a story about revenge. Despite and because of his Father’s harsh ways, Gord managed to take from the trauma he sustained throughout his life and sublimated it into his animation. Creation not only lets him heal, but also acts as retaliation against Jim once he becomes successful. So long as you have the drive to prove everyone’s doubts and admonishments wrong by persevering out of wicked spite, you will have the last laugh. Freddy Got Fingered is a story about revenge through artistic expression, and I think that is quite beautiful.

[zoocross0vers]

HERE WE…GOOO!!!!🦔💨

Sorry for not posting this sooner, I had some problems with scanning and lighting but I’m glad that is finally done. Here are some doodles of Sonic/Zootopia crossover from my 2 favourite movies. Those two movies are complimenting each other. Remember when I told you how Tom👦 and Maddie👩🏾 (these are names of those characters from Sonic movie) remind me a lot of Nick🦊 and Judy🐰? Well, after I watched the movie (10 times in cinema, 15 times at home after pandemy, don’t judge me!), it turns out that they have lot in common indeed that I thought. Those are my favourite moments from movie with Nick and Judy as Tom and Maddie and so does other characters from Zootopia (I really enjoy also that scene akward conversation about shooting Sonic with tranq-gun, that is hilarious for me). Wish I could include more but unfortunately after I drew I realized that my paper is not big enough, dang it! Thankfully I was able for example including at least 3 important moments like Sonic looking at happy couple behind window wishing been part of company, because of fear of him all alone forever, which it saddening him (😢 „sniff“ can someone please give that kid a hug?!😭), Ozzy licking Sonic’s face (awwwwww :3) and of course “THE FINAL BATTLE WITH ROBOTNIK” (at least the confrontation). The only thing I didn’t include was Longclaw and echidna tribe, since they had small screen and I small space (dang it!). Which is bummer because I really like Longclaw, she is really interesting character and wish we could see more. There were only two scenes of her, the one from begging of the movie and the deleted where she end up in earth with Sonic for some time but died from s-sicknes-ss “sniff”😢 (I’m sorry for that but this moment always makes cry every-time I watching it😭, it’s just really personal for me for certain reasons.). I guess you questioning the Ozzy licking Sonic’s face scene considering there are no domestic animal, including dogs and Zootopia is world of anthromorphic mammals, so I thought I would use Yoshi as Ozzy as a cameo from Mario (you know because of friendly rivalry between Sonic and Mario) and also as a gift for Yoshifan, especially after seen many pictures of Nick and Yoshi who’s calling him “Mama Nick” and I found it pretty funny. After I started drawing I realized there are some obstacles that would be problem like (aside from Ozzy) raccoons, bear-head from Piston Pit, chilli-dogs (considering what meat they put on these things if, IF it is a meat), the Sonic’s shoes (the old and new ones) and of course Robotnik himself considering I don’t want to change him into some mammal. Like I said before Robotnik works better as human and he doesn’t need to change to an animal considering he put animals from Sonic’s world, anthromorphic and normal, always in danger or abuse (like making them into badniks, or robotized them). So, how are gonna fix it you ask? Well I have some idea. Like I said before for Ozzy I choose Yoshi for that role (and honestly I don’t have any other options, heheh. BUT you must admit that it is adorable 🥰), raccoons were a challenge so I came multiple ideas for example:

Instead of raccoons we use gerbil jerks from Zistopia concept art

Raccoons will be anthromorphic teens who like mess with Nick while eating from trashcans (like Mr. Big said, evolved but deep down still animals)

Since mammals are sentient how about use non-mammal “trash pandas”(lol, I like that nickname) like birds as ravens, crows or pigeons (pigeons are also known as “flying rats” – thank you Spies in Disguise)

Those are mine options, if you have other in mind I’m listening.

Then there’s taxidermy bear-head. Considering that pouching would classified as not just illegal but also as psycho (still not get over that taxidermy Moose-head from Sly 2. Yeah I know that was part of mission to blend in to not rise a suspicion but seriously, WHY those Moose have that head, did they just-…you know what let’s not think about it😖) I came up with idea instead of taxidermy bear-head how about some mask of unusual mascot like the manticore from Onward, eh eehh? (Or it can some dino but I rather prefer manticore). As for those motorbike gang at first I want to suggest those Ranger Scouts. That would be delightful punishing them that way (evil chuckle😈). But then I remembered the trash gang from Zootopia comic “A hard day’s work” and to be honest those characters are ideal for those roles: wildebeest could the black cowboy, elephant as the belly guy (oh come on, like you didn’t think same nickname after seen Sonic sprung out of his belly) and hyena with green Mohawk as of course the Bear-head jerk. But if you want combine them be my guest.😁

As for chilli-dogs since are Sonic’s favourite we cannot left them behind. Thankfully I was watching on YouTube where there mentioned Tails been vegetarian and one comment that said “Chilli-dog: Am I joke to you?” that made conversation about mobians been vegetarians. So in that case since Zootopia is filled birds (and sometimes bugs), and synthetic meat, proteins, probably tofu, we can assume that there are Chilli-dogs made especially in Zootopia universe (and honestly we do not really know, what exactly hot-dogs are truly made of).🌭

👟The shoes were honestly a very hard obstacle for me considering mammals don’t wear shoes since they are still animals, like our directors said, BUT that doesn’t mean they don’t exist in Zootopia.

Evidence 1: Gazelle – she’s wearing high heels from Preyda

Evidence 2: Poster of (parody) movie Cinderellephant, with elephant-size glass slipper

Evidence 3: Judy Hopps – she wears half-sockets in her police uniform (that still does count as a foot-wear)

So I came with headcanon that only celebrities and patients with sensitive feet wear shoes as a luxury or medical protection (I mean we have a lot of animals that can’t live on different area with their conditions, come on have someone of you seen a polar bear live in Sahara Square?) and in this case it’s the latter (plus there is in this story a human character that needs his own footwear) since Sonic is wearing his running shoes considering that his speed is high enough to burn his feet (ouch🤕).

And finally with Robotnik, we use that orphan idea and certain headcanon from Sonic X about planets that once were one until they divided and made their own time and space alterations, prof. Gerald Robotnik (Eggman’s grand-father) could study Mobius for finding cure for Maria, creating Shadow, G.U.N. etc. It could be three worlds (Sonic’s world/Mobius, Robotnik’s world/our world, and Zootopian’s world) or just two (Mobius and Zootopia), what works better.

As you can see there are some characters I included in in certain scene (aside from Yoshi), I present to you Judy’s niece named Cotton and one of Judy’s (many) sisters Violet Hopps. No, those are not an OC from any fandom, those are official characters from Zootopia universe. You already actually know Cotton but for those who don’t know who is Violet, she was introduced in Zootopia Graphic Novel in comic named “Brothers & Sisters” and considering how she is very overprotective of Judy (like any other Hopps) I thought she would fit perfectly for Rachel role (I don’t think she’s Cotton’s mother so don’t ask), and also she’s the only official Hopps sibling with name we know. I wanted also include another characters into this doodles but I like I said before I didn’t have enough space on one paper. So here are my character ideas: Clawhauser as Wade, Bogo as Major Bennington, Mayor Lionheart as Commander Walters (no surprise). For others like Crazy Carl and Agent Stone I had some problems.

For Crazy Carl I first thought about who would fit perfectly and I came up with a lot of ideas: first I thought about Duke Weaselton, since he has face for that crazyness but then I declined since he doesn’t fit on the character, then I thought about Pop-Pop Hopps but that was questionable considering in movie he had a huge aversion of foxes (red as devil) and comic he’s not biased but then I thought who could describe Crazy Carl better than well-known concept crazy theorist Honey Badger am I right?

As for agent Stone I had no idea what to do with him. I could let him stay as but that would make questions of humans and I didn’t want to put Bellwether into this position. If she was unhappy of been unappreciated and humiliated by predators then I don’t think she would really want to work with someone who is full of himself more than her and only see humanity as an excuse of stupidity and “herd of useless sheep (get it?)” and only relay on machines. And characters from Zootopia Crimes was not an option and Jack Savage was out of question no in my point. Not saying that Jack Savage could be a great option but I don’t think fans would appreciate another bad guy role for Jack and I already have something different for him in my mind. Then it came another that would fit for Stone and that is a certain platypus Dr. Starline from Sonic The Hedgehog IDW comics. He admires Eggman and his evil genius (questionable) and in comics he’s working as partner/assistant for him. But since he is mobian as Sonic we could use idea that government knows about it (partially) but does not tell and he thinks that he is an unusual zootopian platypus (after all he does wear clothes and looks “more” normal unlike Sonic) and we could do the same with Robotnik considering his past about grand-father and project Shadow if Jeff Fowler would follow some headcanons (I wouldn’t surprised if some government keeping some secrets even from employers). But then again we could use also Tony, a bunny from Zootopia Crime Files since he is shady and bland at once and already wear a suit, like agent Stone (great, now I don’t know which one to choose again).

You know what, I’ll give you an option who would fit for role of Agent Stone:

1. Dr. Starline, a platypus from Sonic The Hedgehog IDW comics

2. Tony, a bunny from Zootopia Crime Files

3. Jack Savage, a jackrabbit from Zootopia concept art/Savage Seas (you don’t have to take that third one too seriously, but just in case)

DONE (pass out from exhaustion). Haahhh so much work, editing fixing hands, oohh boyyy. You have no idea how hard this was for me to finally made it. I wish I could do more. But for now I’m so glad that I was able to draw at least some of my favourite moments because I feel they’re important for storytelling: first the introduction of main characters, their struggles, interactions and how they greatly compliment to each other (both Sonic and Zootopia). I mean you can’t just see Judy call Nick and Sonic cute and not imagine that, or there was also moment where Sonic dry like dog so his fur and quills(?) go puffy and Nick would look mesmerized by fluffiness. Come to think of it Sonic has lot in common with Nick and Judy that he would actually fit for the role as their son. You’re not believe? Well here are some examples.

Similarities between Sonic and-

-Judy🐰:

1. heroes in blue (get it?)🌀

2. pretty fast (Sonic more faster than Judy but still…)

3. impatient😤

4. first act then think (always put themselves into danger)

5. thing for get into trouble

6. sense for justice

7. never give up

8. preys but not rodents (that’s right hedgehogs are not rodents)

9. became a friend with fox (their natural predator, that was bullied in past, huh strange, just as strange as hedgehog be taken care of by owl that is also his natural predator)

-Nick🦊:

1. sly smile😏

2. mischievous trickster

3. green eyes

4. omnivores (hedgehogs eat melons, watermelons(what’s the difference?), berries (blueberries headcanon!) and insects, snails, frogs snakes🤢- uhhh I think chilli-dogs works better thank you)

5. cringy sense of humor😒

6. thing for nicknames (by Nick: Carrots, Buffalo Butt, Yakity yak, Flash Hundred Yard Dash, by Sonic: Donut Lord, Pretzel Lady, Eggman, Knucklehead, Super Observant Carl)

7. loyalty (they never left their friends behind)

8. never let them see they get to you (despite suffering a lot of emotional damage, thanks a lot SEGA)

9. smooth talker with heart of gold

-both🐰 🦊:

1. traumatic past

2. sacrifices for others

3. fight for what is right

See they had a lot in common. Anyway I am still glad I was finally able to finish this. It wasn’t easy but it was worth it.

But I guess, that I made it hard for you with those moments so how about this we use the final moments like in your fanfic Carcass Bride: FINAL BOSS BATTLE SONIC VS. ROBOTNIK because honestly this moment is epic (wish I could make it bigger), it would start Sonic running from Robotnik, like we’ve seen in beginning of the movie, get shot retelling in short whole story, like in movie only less detailed and faster the confrontation between Nick and Robotnik (Sonic would unconscious but still hear them and had a self-doubt like Naruto in first chapter/episode if you what mean until he hear the important words that’ll give him boost), the final battle and then epilogue (Sonic with his new family) with open ending (you know the Eggman in Mushroom planet and then Tails’s introuction). As for what kind of universe all of them would be I have another suggestions:

1. Sonic movie universe in Zootopia (but still happening in Green Hills only Zootopia would be San Francisco and Transamerica could be Palm Hotel like in Zistopia storyboard) and Night Howler Case never happened.

2. Night Howler case happened Nick and Judy are still cops, but later decided to live in Green Hills

3. Night Howler case happened but was solved instead of Judy and Nick by Jack and Skye who later became agents and don’t like Robotnik for his ego:

a) Nick come from Green Hills (Wachowskis live as police in GH for 50 years), but suffered from Ranger Scouts move to Zootopia became “shifty fox” until he’s saved by childhood friend Judy from Bunnyburrow (from wrong decision and targeting to become savage) and the return to Green Hills become sheriff along with his new wife.

b) Both Nick and Judy just heard about it in Green Hills.

I guess the first and third are more interesting.

Okaayy now I realized that this became more ambitious that I planned but I guess that happens when you try balancing two franchises so it can make sense (enough for headcanons). But I’m not saying that I’m proud of myself. So I’ll leave you the rest (the options and writing) so I can’t wait for one-shot fanfic good luck. And also (even though it’s late but still better than never) Happy birthday Sonic, this is for you! GOTTA GO FAST!🐰🦊🦔💨

#GottaGoFast🦔💨

#LongLiveWildeHopps🦊🐰

#StaySafe😷

#AlwaysRemember (this is for late actreesses that they will alway be remembered and in our hearts❤️)

....

Oh wow! This is really great! You put a lot of scenes from the film, this is awesome!I also see that you gave Yoshi a cameo, lol! @yoshifan30​ will definitely love that, lol! I like the collage look you gave the whole thing. Also, I just realized, is that supposed to be Cotton? Judy’s niece? Thank you so much for this! I will reblog this soon so I can read it more thoroughly and discuss anything I may have missed :) And once again, this...is...INCREDIBLE!!! <3 Fantastic Job Guest! You’re really talented! :D

[littlepurinsesu]

V Watches MagiReco - Episode 12 Review

*Spoilers for Magia Record Anime Episode 12*

I have been waiting for so long to see this chapter animated, and at long last!!! This week’s episode finally touches upon the secret truth of magical girls and reveals Yachiyo’s mysterious past!

There are, of course, some parts I wish were handled a little better, but overall, I wouldn’t say it was too shabby ^^ I have a lot to say about this episode, both the good and the meh, so let’s go~ (Tumblr, please don’t eat my post again I IMPORE YOU.)

(Oh, for clarification, I’m still using the name “Meru” instead of “Mel”, since that’s what her name was before the game was localised in English. Both are acceptable, but I guess I’m more used to this spelling xD)

I personally really liked how they began the episode with Kanae and Meru at Mikazuki Villa. The rain and dark lighting and overall silence of the scene was really well-done. It’s a nice way to “tease” their characters before properly introducing them and their roles in Yachiyo’s story. I really don’t have much else to say, but I just really, really liked that opening scene hehe

Speaking of openings, the anime continues to come up with creative ways to bring in the OP, and this week’s was another really interesting idea that I enjoyed a lot! I was just beginning to wonder if they were going to skip the OP this week because there was so much to cover, but I really liked what they came up with, so hats-off for the creativity and originality! ^^

Touka’s lecture really did seem even more lecture-like in the anime, with the lecture hall and screen and her pointer. She’s like a tiny, overly-enthusiastic professor trying to force a reluctant group of students to listen to her haha x) That being said, all the special effects were done very creatively in a way that is true to the PMMM style. It’s not only some impressive artwork, but it also prevents the lecture from becoming boring, since it’s literally just “info dumping” and a whole lot of exposition (most of it essentially being stuff that most of the audience already knows, too).

As for Touka herself, I’m really liking the anime’s portrayal of her. She’s extremely cute, but in a strange way that almost seems suspicious, and with just the right amount of “annoying-ness” that keeps her antagonistic role without making her so obnoxious that you can’t even bear to watch her. Each of her moves seems calculated in some way, and the way she leaps around and twirls her umbrella really does make her seem like a tiny fairy or pixie, and I love that contrast between her supposedly innocent image and the immoral deeds the Magius (and the Feathers) have been committing. A+ portrayal so far, and I hope they keep that up!

I was a bit confused at first when Touka addressed Kanae as “A” (since we know that in the game, “A” is Yachiyo, and Kanae is actually “C”), but I guess they weren’t planning on going ahead with the A-F naming of all 6 characters and this was just a one-off, so fair enough. However, I was a little annoyed that they showed the first secret in “lecture form” and then repeated it once more in “flashback form” once they got on the car thingy. I really felt that they could have skipped that first part and just focused on the flashbacks, because they’re essentially wasting time by telling one of the secrets twice in an episode that already has a lot to cover.

And this brings me to possibly my main issue with this episode: too fast. There was a lot of emotion in these flashbacks, and while the anime did bring them out decently, I just feel that they could have been even better if they had just managed the pacing a little more ideally. The tragedy and feels were definitely there, but it could have been even better. Another problem with this fast pacing is that we barely got to know Kanae and Meru before they met their respective downfalls, with the only clues to their individuality being Kanae’s guitar and Meru’s Tarot Cards. It tells us something, but it’s not enough. The result is that it becomes a lot harder for the audience to feel anything for these characters’ deaths, and Kanae and Meru ultimately become plot devices that serve to move Yachiyo and the others along on their journey. Granted, they were always kind of plot devices even in the game, but at least we got to know them a little better before their deaths, and this isn’t even counting their personal Magical Girl Stories.

But aside from these issues, the rest of the flashbacks were very well, in my opinion :) We as an audience may not have felt much for Kanae’s death because we barely knew her, but Yachiyo’s trembling hand as she tries in vain to purify her friend’s broken Soul Gem, the terrific voice acting, that tragic yet beautifully drawn shot of Kanae lying soulless (literally) on the ground... That was some impressive stuff that actually made me tear up.

The battle scenes also saw a huge improvement this week! Still could be better, but they’re a lot more action-packed and exciting than the quick and easy battles we’ve been seeing so far. I also really appreciate the show of teamwork between the old Team Mikazuki, not to mention that Meru’s use of magic looked absolutely amazing!!! But I would have liked it if she spoke a bit more before Witching out, and I was especially disappointed that she didn’t get to say that line about how today was her lucky day because she got to protect Yachiyo. That line says a lot about her as a character to me, and it was a shame that they only gave her an extremely shortened/simplified (and almost unfinished) version of it here. But I guess this is only because I’ve played the game and have expectations of what I want to see and what I think should be done. Maybe someone who hasn’t played the game at all wouldn’t have an issue with this minor detail haha :)

(By the way, I totally called it and guessed that they were going to release Meru’s Doppel Uncap with the debut of her Witch form in the anime mwahaha >:D Pretty good timing, though, and I like that attention to detail!)

Kyubey is a little sh*t in any and every timeline, and I did enjoy seeing Momoko yelling at him, even though obviously he gives no effs. Another nice nod to the original anime by having Kyubey using the same line about young girls and Witches, too (or maybe he’s had to defend himself so many times that he has the perfect justification memorised to use when needed? xD).

The scene with Mifuyu and Momoko was also a really nice way to show the difference in their personalities, through just the way they respond to and take in all the tragedy and shocking information. I loved the way they animated Mifuyu’s Witch/Doppel moment, and it’s always nice to see a Doppel shown in the anime! Another thing I liked was the way Touka seems to “control” the scene as she pleases, rewinding it like an actual video and pausing on particular frames. It was too easy to forget that these are scenes shown in the Memory Museum, and little details like this remind you that these aren’t just ordinary flashbacks shown in anime and movies.

Yachiyo was as cool ever in the very few (present) scenes she got. I especially loved her confrontation with Touka and how she literally just thrusts her weapon in her face haha. And the way she just ignores Touka talking and smashes open a path and just goes in there herself on foot? BADASS. I LOVE YACHIYO.

And finally, about Team Momoko... A bit funny how Momoko was the one gearing up for the Big Talk but mostly just ended up standing there for the whole thing xD But anyway, I really, really loved Rena in this scene. It’s probably the first time we’ve seen her being so honest with her feelings by hugging Kaede and straight-up telling her how worried she was. It’s these small moments that really make me love Rena so much, no matter how harsh and prickly she can be most of the time. I really liked the scene in the game where she goes to Kaede’s place to comfort her (even if they ended up slapping each other lmao), because it really did show how much Rena cares for her friends. But this anime version was quite nice too and also does some good for Rena’s characterisation, so I’ll take it :)

As for Kaede... what happened to my sweet sunshine child? I’m not liking the dead look in her eyes and how she sounds like a zombie... almost like she’s in a trance? And also... what was with that line at the end? Did Kaede join the Wings of Magius? Is she brainwashed? Would that explain her strange behaviour and way of speech? If any of this is true, then this will probably be the biggest deviation the anime has done, and I’d be both scared and interested to see how they handle it lol.

So yeah, an interesting episode that could have been super impressive if it weren’t for some of the issues I discussed, but overall, still enjoyable and decently good :) I really think the majority of the MagiReco anime’s issues comes from the pacing. Which is understandable, because they’re pressed for time and there’s a lot to squeeze in. It’s just a bit of a shame that so many important scenes and moments don’t translate as amazingly as they could have due to time constraints :(

Next week’s episode will be the final one, right? I know nothing’s been confirmed, but I’m almost certain that there’s going to be another season/cour after this. (They wouldn’t just leave it hanging like that... right? O___O) My guess is that we’ll see Tsuruno, Felicia, and Sana join the Wings of Magius, Yachiyo split up the team, and possibly Iroha going up against the Rumour herself and declaring herself the leader. These are all really important plot points, and adding to the fact that next week will be the (season) finale, hopefully we can end it with a huge BANG! Will we see Holy Mami? Will we see Sayaka? Or will we perhaps see Kuroe, rounding up the season by going full circle and bringing us back to the hanging threads left from all the way back in Episode 1?

It’s almost surreal to think that we only have one more episode left of this season!!! Let’s hope that it’ll end in the best way possible (even if that means leaving us on a cliffhanger lololol) ٩(^ᴗ^)۶

[quirkless-and-embarrassed]

Regarding the character ask meme: I'd love to see your take on Tamaki!

HE IS ONE OF MY FAVES. As you can probably tell by my icon. I’m sorry this took me so long, but I couldn’t resist beginning the new season as I was working on this, aaand geeking out over the anime took up more time than I thought 😂

Answers under the cut because I could not resist including lots of images and because whoa this really got away from me. Spoilers for season 4 of the anime!

Favorite things about him:

tl;dr adorable+disaster+badass = instant KO

i. He’s never believed that the quirk makes the hero. Granted, it’s from his own insecurity that he believes that, but even when Mirio’s quirk was a liability, Amajiki looked up to him as a great hero. It’s especially refreshing to see because everyone else places so much emphasis on what their quirk can do.

ii. Also, his insecurity. Amajiki describes himself as a plain, boring person so terrified of failure that his brain goes blank when he even considers it. He’s not blush-y or stutter-y or those other tics associated with cutely shy characters—his face is kinda awkwardly inexpressive…he actually looks constipated when he attempts to address class 1-a during his debut…and I get a sense of stillness from him, like someone who freezes up instead of fidgeting. But he’s not fishing for encouragement. He’s likely to bluntly, unhappily shoot down any attempt to praise him because that makes the pressure even worse! No “thank you for believing in me, I’ll do my best,” no, “oh you’re too kind, that’s not true,” he’s like: “no, just…no. shit. what now? I’m not Mirio.”

iii. His relationship with Mirio. What he admires most about Mirio is how, when he goes down, Mirio always rises back up—like the sun—filled with warmth instead of with self-recrimination. He draws people in and fills them with energy. Amajiki painfully believes he isn’t capable of any of that, but he trusts Mirio, and Mirio tells him that there’s plenty of warmth to him even if Amajiki can’t sense it in himself, and even if Amajiki is filled by fear at the idea of failure, he, too, energizes Mirio when he faces his problems anyways. They talk, build each other up, and accept each others’ feelings. Amajiki still wants to be like Mirio (cue “imitation is the sincerest form of…”), but he’s learning that even though he’ll never be Mirio, he and Mirio are alike in the ways that matter most.

iv. it’s as gay as the day is long.

v. How steadfast he is. Given his anxiety, it’s not immediately obvious, but Amajiki’s doubts and insecurities center on his capabilities and self-worth—not on his principles or about what needs to be done. When he’s worried about something, he doesn’t even try to hide it, there’s something very forthright and grounded about the way he struggles to confront the current obstacle.

vi. He’s such a goofball when he’s alone with Mirio. Here he is pretending to sever his thumb. Look at that smile. And Mirio’s habit of pumping his arms when he’s excited is nearly as cute.

vii. His hero name is awesome. Suneater. Talk about names that represent your ideal self…

viii. Amajiki doesn’t win his battle against Overhaul’s thugs by discovering his confidence and whipping out a super move (which, incidentally, he attempts via flashback+miritama feels and it fails resoundingly). He wins with the power of friendship, but it’s not the typical Power of Friendship spiel.

He fights three side-characters whose names I never remember, so I call them the garbage trio: theft quirk guy (similar to how Amajiki “steals” the forms of what he eats), a guy who manifests crystals, and gluttony guy. Funnily enough, the three have terrible self-esteem issues! They’re fanatically loyal to Overhaul because he’s willing to use them as sacrificial pawns, and being a pawn is better than being rejected as garbage (which each has as his tragic past).

So the narrative presents Amajiki with two types of bonds. Will he identify with the trio’s loyalty to Overhaul, founded on their sense of worthlessness? Or will he identify with their loyalty to one another, founded on their empathy for each others’ tragic pasts? Essentially: what kind of relationship does he have with Mirio?

It’s not even a contest. Amajiki immediately and fully rejects the Overhaul-brand loyalty as brainwashing and focuses on the bond he understands, the “friends don’t eat friends” bond.

So Amajiki recognizes his opponents’ humanity when even they couldn’t. Even though they thought of themselves as nothing more than Overhaul’s tools, Amajiki intuited that the bonkers guy who shouts “eat! eat! eat!” wouldn’t bite his crystal friend when Amajiki used him as a shield. In doing this, Amajiki proved that their lives have more value to each other more than they ever will to Overhaul. He explicitly praises them for trusting each other—something they can take pride in because they forged it themselves—and ultimately removes their masks, symbolically freeing them from Overhaul’s ownership.

It was a cool idea because usually I see the protagonist summon up reserves of power he didn’t know he had in order to protect his comrades, but when Amajiki was inspired by remembering how Mirio believes in him, it doesn’t actually work because the garbage trio calls on their own bond to counter his power-up. Or usually it’s the antagonist who turns the protagonists’ love for each other against them, and here it was reversed. Except Amajiki used their friendship against them not out of contempt for their bond, “oh your love makes you so weak and predictable,” but out of respect for it, “love is what makes you strong, and I know that because it makes me strong, too.”

ix. His weird, pointy ears.

x. His dub voice acting: it’s stellar. Props to Aaron Dismuke, highly recommend watching his episodes in the dub.

Least favorite things about him:

His first name, Tamaki. It just never sticks in my mind—Amajiki is much more distinctive. (Apparently I have some sort of big three mental block, because I can rarely remember Mirio’s and Nejire’s last names, either.)

He didn’t really grow or learn anything from his fight against the garbage trio. He was already confident in his bond with Mirio, and the whole reason he volunteered to fight the trio was that he thought he could win, so it was basically a high-stakes training exercise in sticking to his guns. I think the purpose of the fight was to teach the audience that he and Mirio are a positive foil for bakudeku, providing another way Mirio is superior to Midoriya + amping Mirio up before his tragedy-slash-victory, so it’s a shame Amajiki’s most major scene wasn’t about himself.

I wish he had more screen time, I wish he had more development, I wish we got his reaction to Mirio losing his quirk, I wish had scenes with more characters than just Mirio, Kirishima, and Fat Gum, etc. The usual gripes about faves who are side characters.

Favorite lines:

Ch132 – I love how forthright he is lol. No attempt to put up a strong front.

Ch132 – When the thug Amajiki’s fighting shouts at him, his feelings are hurt 😂 also bonus for kiri trying to comfort him

Ch135 – cool as a cucumber

And two I won’t include the panels for…

His badass line in 141, “I might not understand your rage. Your grief. Everything that led you here…but I know all about solid bonds! And my friends don’t use each other! Because friends don’t eat friends.”

and when he collapses after beating the garbage trio:*THUD* Huh…why’s the floor so close to my face?doofus

BROTPs:

Kirishima!! His pep talks to Amajiki while they were on patrol were really cute. I can only imagine how he handles Kirishima and Tetsutetsu! He’s totally the third wheel, and normally he’s happy to be! But sometimes he watches the two hype each other up and gets depressed about it because he’s never that positive and encouraging. Sometimes Fat Gum leaves Amajiki in charge and it seriously stresses him out because Tetsutetsu occasionally charges off to do his own thing and it’s a whole ordeal to rein him in.

And oh shit, Nejire’s personality is just as cute as Amajiki’s, I’d love to see more of the two of them hanging out. (and just…more of Nejire in general, please. Her debut was so funny and then Horikoshi did nothing with her.)

In class-a, I’m curious to see how Amajiki and Yaoyorozu would get along. They’re both gifted students with confidence issues and quirks that depend on eating, so it would be nice to see them hit it off. I’d also be interested to see Amajiki and Bakugo interact, especially with Kirishima there.

Also, since Amajiki has such a preoccupation with exuberant, confident people, I’d love to see him somehow meet Inasa.

This isn’t a brotp, but I’ll bet Nighteye intimidated the shit out of Amajiki… Mirio told Amajiki endless anecdotes about Nighteye but it didn’t work, till the day he dies Amajiki will still get clammy any time he thinks of Nighteye’s glare or the purported tickle machine.

Again not a brotp, but I’d love to see Amajiki vs. Shigaraki. That sounds like an awesome fight. (…ideally before Shigaraki gets all OP and only Midoriya can beat him.)

OTP:

Mirio.

NOTP:

Nobody comes to mind.

Random headcanons:

Most of the food Amajiki eats goes into his quirk; he doesn’t properly extract its caloric and nutritional value, and if he’s not careful, he could accidentally become malnourished. (It also makes it difficult to put on muscle.) So he eats a ton, to make sure he has enough to fuel both his quirk and his body, and he’s self-conscious at how much more he eats than other people.

When Amajiki vomits, his quirk is weakened to the point it’s basically null. He has to take a break and chow down before he can use it again. …Re-ingesting the puke is…not an option.

Clothing is a big issue for his hero work. He could develop a really powerful fighting style, one that involves producing limbs from his back and torso, if he were willing to wear a little less…but that’s never going to happen. Mirio can run around naked, but Amajiki can’t!

I don’t know if this is a translation quirk or fanon or what, but I adore it when Nejire calls Amajiki “chicken-hearted” in fanfiction. It’s a short, cute joke about his quirk and I wholeheartedly hc it. I also think Amajiki is closer to Nejire than Mirio is.

Amajiki doesn’t deal with his self-esteem issues by minimizing his challenges. He doesn’t make cheap compromises like, “ok, I know I can do this because it’s so easy even someone like me can do it.” He goes for broke, for being the spectacular hero Suneater, because even if he can’t perceive his own positive qualities, he believes that they’re there.

One of the (many) reasons Amajiki admires Mirio is that Mirio admires him, and Amajiki wants to be able to like himself, too.

When it comes down to it, his self-worth is nowhere near as desperately poor as the garbage trio because he knows true friendship. Maybe if he’d never met Mirio, Amajiki would have been susceptible to their sort of devotion, but now he never will be because Mirio’s encouraged him to value himself. Amajiki won’t accept a bond that relies on degrading yourself—which is important to know, since Amajiki constantly compares himself to Mirio. But Amajiki’s sense of inferiority is chronic without being proportionately deep. He adopted the name Suneater to declare himself Mirio’s equal, and his climactic line of the garbage trio battle, “friends don’t eat friends,” is one that asserts equality and puts his quirky spin on it to show he’s made the principle his own. Amajiki may not like himself but he doesn’t let it get in the way of taking his place as Mirio’s peer.

Amajiki’s parents are also anxious people.

Mirio is his neighbor at the UA dorms. It’s perfect because Mirio can permeate their the shared wall and they can hang out after curfew. (Mirio keeps a pair of sweatpants in Amajiki’s room for those occasions lol.) Nejire is jealous and always talks about gate-crashing, but she never gets around to it. Even after Mirio loses his quirk, his sweatpants stay in Amajiki’s room because neither of them can quite bring themselves to give those times up.

I am a sucker for making characters’ quirks reflect something fundamental about their hearts, so here’s my take on manifest. Amajiki manifests what he eats, meaning he absorbs from his environment and re-creates it in his own style. It’s not imitation, since Amajiki with one cow hoof and one tentacle, kicking ass, resembles neither a cow or an octopus, but he takes the best from what’s around him and reinvents it. “Suneater”? Thanks to how his friendship with Mirio gave him a stable, nourishing environment, he’s absorbed his favorite of Mirio’s traits and manifests them in his own way, as his own strength, because as even name of his quirk implies—manifestation makes latent qualities visible.

Like Bakugo, Amajiki could have resented Mirio for his strengths; like the garbage trio, he could have let his failures convince him that he’s worthless; but Amajiki consistently makes the best of the cards he’s dealt, even though it involves plenty of doubt and self-flagellation that could lead him down a darker path…but don’t. He’s greater than his demons.

Unpopular opinion:

Amajiki’s shy, but…not that shy. He gets like stiffly shy.

Amajiki still has a ways to go before he’s ready to date Mirio. (Not sure what’s the popular opinion on this.)

I really wish class 1-a versus Mirio had been class 1-a versus Mirio and Amajiki. It would have been so cool to see what amazing teamwork they had and how their quirks were compatible.

Song I associate with him:

Titanium—absolutely. I like the versions by Sia, Boyce Avenue, and Kurt Schneider (I couldn’t choose). Circles by Veela reminds me of his spiraling anxiety. And, I can’t resist, so I’m adding Chasing the Sun by The Wanted on here.

Aaand my ship songs…Appreciated by Rixton, and All of Me by John Legend.

Favorite picture of him:

Ch141 – Ironclad certainty. I’m not even gonna apologize for the dimensions and the fact this is huge, just drink it in.

Ch132 – If this isn’t the cutest thing you’ve ever seen, I will never trust your judgment.

Ch152 – Unless it’s because this is the cutest.

Ch152 – When Mirio loses his quirk 💔

I’ve also answered these questions for Todoroki, Bakugo, Uraraka, Endeavor, Sir Nighteye, and Shinsou!

[miasswier]

miasswier’s ultimate glee ranking: no 45

45: Big Brother

Written by: Michael Hitchcock Directed by: Eric Stoltz

Overall Thoughts: This was the first official episode of Blee! Or, at least that’s what the media saw it as. Basically, the first episode where Blaine has a storyline outside of his relationship with Kurt. And boy, was it awesome. Now, I know a lot of people were frustrated that so much time was dedicated to Blaine and his one-off episode brother, but honestly, I think they still gave Quinn a lot of screentime, and even managed to fit in a little subplot of Puck telling Finn to think about himself for once, as if he hasn’t been exclusively thinking about himself non-stop since the pilot episode.

What I Like:

Cooper is so goddamn funny. He’s such an awesome character because he’s literally such a dink. Of course, he’s a lovable dink, and in the end he redeems himself. Even though I definitely wish Cooper had come back, it also feels like his story is pretty complete within this episode. It would have been cool to get more, but I don’t feel ripped off because I didn’t get more.

“Lazy idiots”

“First of all I have no idea who Porcelain is referring to, I’m assuming it’s very gay and niche”

Quinn and Artie make pretty cute friends! The scene where Quinn is going up the ramp is particularly adorable.

Cooper’s masterclass

“A-bro-ham Lincoln”

“I just learned to walk three years ago”

Blaine gets a major storyline! I think this is the first time that Blaine is the A plot. I think why so many people didn’t jive with it is because usually when a particular character (not a couple) is an A plot, they still get a lot of screentime with everyone else. Almost all of Blaine’s screentime was with Cooper, who is a one-off character. So, in that sense, I kind of get why some people didn’t like it, but I am not one of those people. I love every second that Blaine is on-screen and I would kill for about twenty more episodes just like this one.

The “Up, Up, Up” sequence is awesome. In particular, Kurt running super fast in the background when they get to Six Flags.

Honestly just all the songs, the music is really good in this episode

The scene when they’re trying to figure out what to do for Senior Ditch Day (until Rachel makes it all about herself in the guise of making it all about Quinn)

Rachel shaking Tina’s arm when Blaine and Cooper are fighting in the master class.

That Klaine scene at the end and how cute it is that Kurt took one of the animals Finn won for Rachel to give to Blaine.

The scene at the end with Blaine and Cooper which is so cute and funny.

All the jokes about pointing your finger

Joe telling Quinn that he’s praying that she’ll find peace no matter her situation. Probably unpopular opinion time, but I think Joe could have been good for Quinn if they’d actually let them explore that relationship. Not so much in an endgame sort of situation, but for where she was at this point in her life.

They do something really interesting with Artie in this episode, which is that he’s trying so hard to get Quinn to accept her situation, but it comes across more like he wants her to accept it because he can’t accept that her situation and his may not be the same. Similarly, they don’t even allow Quinn the chance to consider that maybe this will be her situation forever. She is so hell-bent that she won’t be paralyzed forever, you can’t help but wonder why she feels like her life will basically stop if that is the case. She would never tell Artie that he’s going to be stuck in Lima his whole life because he’s in a wheelchair, so why does she specify that she’s going to get out of Lima when she’s talking about getting out of the chair? I think they dealt with a lot of really complex emotions in this episode, from both Quinn and Artie, and while it sucks that they were kind of left in limbo and basically never dealt with again (I would have loved Artie to confront Quinn about the fact that she can still live her life the way she wants to even if she’s in a wheelchair, but he’s still sorry that he pushed the idea of it on her so hard because he had selfish motivations in doing so), I think it was important that they put them out there in the first place. Neither Quinn or Artie deal with this situation in the correct way, but they’re both trying, and, I mean, they’re teenagers. I always find it so refreshing when Glee allows it’s characters to be real and flawed.

What I Don’t Like:

This episode basically had fuck all to do with Finchel and yet somehow they bookended it. Like, I get the opening scene, because they had to show us that they didn’t actually get married, but that end scene was just like…? Like, why did it end on this and not on the optimistic scene between Blaine and Cooper? Also, why am I supposed to care about Finn and Rachel trying to decide which one of them is more important in their relationship when Quinn and Artie are dealing with real issues that I actually care about? And also way more important stuff is happening throughout the school?

Seriously, though, I hate that Finn’s story for the next few episodes is “Your dreams – even though you don’t have any – are just as important if not more important than your girlfriends”. It comes down to the fact that he doesn’t know what he wants to do. So why is he (and Puck and Will) making such a big fucking deal about how everything’s been about Rachel? Rachel knows where she wants to go and what she wants to do. You don’t. Why should your hypothetical come before her reality?

Also, does Finn really need people to tell him he’s the most important person in the world? I mean, Will Schuester spent the entirety of the first two seasons doing that. Do we really need to be hit over the head with it some more?

One final also, I just don’t care about the fact that Finn and Rachel have both been told that they’re the only people who matter and now oops, they’re realizing that they can’t be the only people who matter because sometimes their desires are conflicting and oh no! How do we decide which one of us matters more when we’re both the center of the universe? I really, really, really can’t stand how they set Finn and Rachel up for these situations, because all of this drama could have been avoided if they just took a second and said “neither of us are the most important people in the world, okay, now let’s deal with our problems”

Ah, the return of old ass ladies hitting on teenage boys and being seen as sexy instead of predatory and creepy as hell.

I do wish they’d dealt more with the fallout of Quinn and Artie’s argument about her being in the chair vs making a full recovery.

Songs:

I’m Still Standing: Such a fun song to start the episode off! I really love this cover

Rio/Hungry Like the Wolf: I really like this mashup and the performance is hilarious, but it still drives me crazy that they included the super autotuned part where Blaine goes “hungry like the wolf”

Fighter: One of the best Blaine solos! Love it so much, and its so fucking extra and dramatic. Ugh, so good.

Up, Up, Up: I like the performance of this one more so than the actual song, but it’s still fun and uplifting!

Somebody That I Used to Know: The original of this is one of my favourite songs of all time, so obviously having my favourite character sing it was a dream come true. I think they did it justice, and I’m really happy with how it turned out, even if the lyrics are a bit weird for brothers to be singing

Final Thoughts: If it weren’t for the Finchel/Individual Finn and Rachel elements of this episode, I think it would be a lot higher. I love the Quinn and Artie story, and obviously I love Blaine and Cooper’s story too. Also, it has a bunch of amazing one liners, like oh my god, I always forget but this episode is funny. Overall an awesome episode, though, and one I’ve watched way too many times to count.

[dreamwritesimagines]

Bad Habit 8 - Riverside [Billy Russo x Reader]

A.N.: Your feedback means so much to me, my lovelies! <3 Thank you, and merry Christmas! <3 

Characters: Billy Russo x Reader, Karen Page, Frank Castle, Matt Murdock, Foggy Nelson

Summary: Pinky promises are meant to be kept.

Click here for: Bad Habit 1, Bad Habit 2, Bad Habit 3  Bad Habit 4 Bad Habit 5 Bad Habit 6 Bad Habit 7

Click here to see the playlist for the first 4 parts!

Warning: Explicit language, cussing, mentions of sex, kissing.

Word Count: 4286

Please tell me what you think

Gif’s not mine!

You’d had your fair share of tense moments in your life. Incidents involving your brother, incidents involving confrontation, and everything between them, they all had made you feel like you were about to pass out from nervousness, but waiting for Matt in a questioning room took the cake.

And when he actually walked in, your head spun from the sudden relief.

“Matt!”

Matt shot the police a curt smile, “May I have a word with my client, officer?”

The police eyed you up and down and pushed his chair back, then left the room while you ran your fingers through your hair, bouncing your leg. Matt heaved a sigh as he heard the door close.

“Please tell me you didn’t say anything.”

You shook your head, then scowled at yourself in your head.

“No.”

“Did you sign anything?”

“I know what not to do.” You muttered, “No. I just waited for you.”

“Thank God…” Matt muttered and crossed his arms, “Karen and Foggy are outside by the way. He’s speaking to the cops and she says she will kill you with your own gun as soon as you walk outside.”

“Because I haven’t suffered enough today?”

“Well, it is still afternoon,” he stated and ran a hand over his face, “We leave you alone for like 5 minutes and you start shooting guns? Seriously?”

“I didn’t shoot anything!” You lowered your voice, “Besides, what the fuck happened to lawyer-client professionalism?”

“You don’t pay me.”

“I got you a round of shots last night, you ungrateful asshole.”

“Also, your fleeing the scene doesn’t exactly help.”

“I didn’t flee!”

“Usually, after an accident you wait for the police.”

“Oh really, Matty? You wait for the police?” You mimicked his deep voice, “It’s Hell’s Kitchen, who the fuck cares about that shit anymore?! New York has been invaded by the fucking aliens twice by now, Devil of Hell’s Kitchen runs around and saves people at night, there is a superhero in every corner and people flip over a gun shot? Jesus, priorities!” You leaned back, sulking, “Wasn’t even my gun.”

Matt closed his eyes, “I know you think it makes it better, but it actually makes it worse,” he said “Are you telling me you fired a gun you weren’t even allowed to have with you in the first place?”

“I didn’t fire shit!” You lowered your voice and Matt frowned,

“I don’t get it.”

“I-“ You cleared your throat, “I-um… someone was trying to hurt me last night.”

“Who?”

You bit inside your cheek, scratching at the table and Matt made a face as if he could hear it.

“Y/N,” he insisted, “Who?”

“My brother.”

Matt paused “I didn’t know you had a brother.”

“That would be because I wish I didn’t have a brother.” You mumbled and he drummed his fingertips on the table,

“Care to elaborate?”

You covered your face with your hands, then rubbed at your eyes, “Well …” You looked at him, “Okay, so, long story short. I have a brother, who’s a very, very dangerous psycho. He set up this mechanism in my apartment which looked like a booby trap and it’d basically… It’d shoot me as soon as I opened my door. But um… thankfully Billy was there, so the bullet didn’t hit me.” You pulled at your sleeves, “I can’t go to prison, Matt, I haven’t even watched Orange Is The New Black yet!”

That seemed to make him smile but only for a moment, “So no one was hurt?”

“No, it hit the wall.” You flinched in your chair as the door opened but Foggy walked inside.

“Any problems?”

Matt shook his head, “What are they saying?”

“I have some good news and some bad news.” Foggy said, “Good news is that, they’re gonna let you go. You’re welcome.”

You let out a breath and leaned your head to the table, “Can anyone else hear the Hallelujah Chorus, or is it just me?”

“Bad news…” Foggy trailed off, making you raise your head, “Now you’re also in debt to the police department.”

“Oh Jesus…”

“And um… You might want to pick up some extra shift at the café.” He put the document in front of you and you skimmed the lines, your eyes widening as you saw the number.

“Oh fuck!”

“That’s what irresponsibility gets you.”

Matt shook his head again, “Wasn’t her fault.” He muttered as you picked up the pen and signed the paper.

“Now, can we leave?”

After leaving the police station you decided you at least owed your friends a cup of coffee, so you, Foggy, Matt and Karen -who was still stubbornly glaring at you- made your way into the café. Vicky ran to you and hugged you tight.

“Vicky- Vicky my stitches-“ You coughed and she pulled back, her eyes filled with tears.

“I thought you’d get a life sentence!”

Foggy turned to stare at her, then elbowed Matt who looked like he was ready to burst into a laughter. Karen crossed her arms, biting inside her cheek.

“Vicky, you do know I didn’t kill anyone?”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell her.” Liz said after squeezing your arm in an assuring manner, “You okay?”

You nodded, “Is the boss here?”

“Nope. Sit down, I’ll bring you all coffee.”

Matt smiled at her politely and he and Foggy sat down, while Karen looked at you silently, her brows raised.

“Okay, let’s just get coffee and then you can fuck me up.” You said as you both sat down. Karen clicked her tongue.

“So let me get this straight.” She started, “You got attacked, -again, if I may add-, and after you got attacked, you decided your house wasn’t safe anymore-“

“It’ll be safe once I get the door fixed,” You said and Foggy got his phone out of his pocket and started typing something.

“On it. I know a guy who owes me a favor.”

“And then,” Karen continued as if no one had cut her off, “Then instead of calling me- your best friend- you decided to go and crash at a guy’s place whom you’ve known for a little over a week?”

“Um…” You swallowed and turned to Matt, “A little help here?”

“You’re on your own.”

“Shit- Okay, Karen-“ You took a deep breath, “I know how that sounds like and in my defense...” You cleared your throat, “He seduced me with his hair and his facial hair.”

Karen rolled her eyes, “You know what, I’m gonna shoot you and this time you could just crawl your way to Billy’s apartment, since he’s the guy-“

“Oh my God, I was almost shot, okay, show some compassion woman!”

“And I had to learn about you getting arrested from your friend, not from you-“

“What the fuck was I supposed to do, Karen? Was I supposed to text “Tfw police comes to pick you up, hashtag yolo?”

Karen raised her brows, “Yeah? What did you text Billy when we left the police station?”

You sulked, “Straight outta prison, hashtag badass.” You muttered and Matt snorted,

“One would think you weren’t shaking in fear when I walked inside.”

“Do you have any idea about how I felt?!” Karen snapped as Foggy slid down in his chair, his shoulders silently shaking with laughter. “You don’t go to a stranger’s house after you almost get shot, you come to your best friend-“

“My best friend would drag me to a hospital-“

“Fuck yeah I would drag you to a hospital, because that’s where people go when they get hurt!” She lowered her voice, “They don’t go to a guy’s house to play doctor.”

“She has a point.”

“Whose side are you on?!”

“Hers.” Both Matt and Foggy pointed at Karen, who looked smug and leaned back, you on the other hand crossed your arms.

“Fine, Karen, I’ll crawl and bleed on your couch the next time I get shot, I promise.” You muttered and turned to Matt and Foggy, “Thanks for saving my ass today, traitors.”

Matt waved a hand dismissively “I’m pretty sure you can pay us with shots.”

You snorted, “I’ll be lucky to have money to get food.” You grumbled and Karen’s frown deepened.

“What?”

“I’m supposed to pay this huge amount of money, because of the whole getting arrested thing also, I should just find a dead animal and leave it at my neighbor’s doorstep for intimidation like we do in Chicago, snitches get stitches-“

“I don’t really think that’s a thing, what part of Chicago did you use to live in?”

“Dangerous part of Chicago.” You answered Foggy and he shrugged,

“Why don’t you ask fancy boy?”

You snorted, “I’d rather shoot myself. Do you guys know any loan sharks?”

“Not funny.” Karen said as Vicky walked to your table with coffee cups.

“There you go.”

“Thank you.” Matt said politely and you took your cup, then took a sip.

“You’re feeling alright?”

“Prison changes a person, Vicky.”

“You stayed in custody for two hours.” Foggy commented and as if on cue, your phone started ringing. You lowered your glances to see Billy’s name flashing across your screen and you took a deep breath, then took the phone to your ear.

“You’re speaking to Al Capone?”

Karen rolled her eyes, shaking her head slightly and Billy heaved a sigh.

“I can’t tell if you’re serious or not on the phone, what’s going on?”

“Got arrested.” You sipped your coffee and Billy paused,

“I’m sorry?”

“Do you want me to make you an offer you can’t refuse?”

“I’m gonna be so pissed if I find a horse head in my apartment.” He said, “Are you serious?”

“Dead serious.”

“I left you alone for about an hour,” Billy stated incredulously. “How did you get arrested in an hour? For what?!”

“Discharge of arms last night.”

He groaned, “Fuck…”

You bit on your lip, trying to keep your mind off the gutter “Yeah so, I’m like extra dangerous now.”

“You’re extra ridiculous, that’s what you are.”

“Boy you’re really pushing your luck with the horse head-“

“Where are you? I’m sending a lawyer-“

“No need, we handled it.”

“We handled it?”

“Yeah, Matt and Foggy saved my ass.”

There was a pause and he clicked his tongue, “Did they?”

You nodded, “Anyway, I was gonna ask you out tonight. My treat, even if I can’t actually afford it. Consider it my thanks for last night.”

Foggy’s head shot up and he made a face, “Oh wow.”

You flipped him, “So?”

“Sure,” Billy’s voice was distant for some reason, “I could be a bit late though, is that okay?”

“Oh yeah, no problem, I can start before you.”

“Great. Will Matt be accompanying you until I get there?”

You pulled your brows together, “Huh?”

“Never mind.”  He said, “Listen, gotta catch a meeting, send me the address.” With that, he hung up and you stared at the phone, frowning.

“The hell just happened?”

You drummed your fingernails on the counter of the bar, playing with your phone. You were already on your third drink and somehow, it didn’t help the way you felt. You had no idea why Billy had reacted that way, but you could already tell that you didn’t like it.

As soon as you finished your drink and put the glass on table, somebody took the seat beside you.

“Hi.”

Great. Now you had another problem.

“Hello.” You smiled politely before turning back to your phone but the guy didn’t seem to take the hint.

“What’re you drinking?”

“Nothing special.” You said curtly and he smiled slightly.

“I’m Lucas, and you are?”

“Not interested.”  

“You’re this rude to everyone who’s nice to you? Wouldn’t kill you to smile.”

That got you to raise your head from the phone and you glared at him, “Buddy, I don’t know you, okay? I’m waiting for someone, so please…” You waved a hand dismissively and he shrugged.

“Just trying to make conversation.”

“I’d try my luck somewhere else.”

“Maybe I’m nice once you get to know me.”

“Jesus Christ-“ You started but before you could say anything else, your phone started ringing. It was a number you didn’t know so you frowned slightly, automatically distracted from the guy, and you held the phone in your hand for a couple of seconds before answering.

“Hello?”

“Hi sis.”

And just like that, all the buzz in your head was gone. Your breathing got way faster as you felt the familiar panic filling your system and you stood up from the seat, suddenly it had become way too hard to breathe in the bar. You pushed open the door and walked outside, holding the phone tightly in your hand.

“You still there?” The familiar drawl made you grit your teeth and you kept walking without knowing where you’d end up, in hopes to find somewhere calmer and more silent.

“Yeah. I’m here, asshole.”

“Good. Missed me?”

You stayed silent and leaned your head back to the brick wall of the alley, taking a deep breath.

He wasn’t here. And you were completely safe.

“The fuck you want?”

“That’s no way to talk to your brother.”

“You know what, I’m getting really tired of this shit where everyone tells me how to talk to someone. The fuck do you want?”

“I waited for you.” His voice was enough to send a chill down your spine, “In the hospital. You didn’t show up.”

“Yeah, sorry your plan for shooting me didn’t work exactly the way you thought it would.”

“Courtesy of your boyfriend I’m sure.”

Your grip around the phone tightened and he chuckled.

“What? Didn’t think I’d find out? I’m offended, my baby sis not telling me shit about her man. I should get to know him to see if he’s a good fit-“

“You don’t get close to him, dickhead,” You tried to keep your voice stable even if your eyes were already filled with tears, “You hear? If you do, I swear to God-“

“What?” his voice was taunting, “You’ll do what, lil sis?”

You only paused for a second,

“I will end you.”

“See, that might not work the way you want.”

You gulped and tried to see through the haze of anger and panic, and bit inside your cheek, ignoring the burning in your eyes.

“Why are you doing this?” Your voice came out as a whisper and you heard his chuckle before he took a deep breath.

“Told you,” he said, “Family over everything, sis.”

With that, he hung up and you looked at the screen, trying to pull yourself together and dug your fingernails into your palms, closing your eyes for a second.

No. It wasn’t the time for this.

You were gonna go inside, and have some fun with Billy and everything would be fine-

“Hey.”

Or not.

You threw your head back, adrenaline still pulsing through your veins and turned around to look at Lucas, who had his hands in his pockets, watching you.

“You seem stressed.”

“Jesus, what is this, a joke?” You snapped, “Dude, get the fucking clue, not interested.” You took a step to walk past him but before you could, he grabbed your arm, smiling at you.

You should’ve been scared. You knew you were supposed to be scared, but somehow, as the anger filled your veins, you were way too furious to feel any fear.

“Let go of my arm before you lose that hand.”

“Or what?”

Before you could open your mouth, your fist had already flown forward and as soon as he stumbled back, someone yanked him from behind and turned him around before punching him hard.

“Can’t say she didn’t warn you.” He said calmly as Lucas tried to find his balance, and lunged himself at Billy, but even you could tell it was a lost fight even before it began. Billy grabbed his wrist and twisted his hand before the sickening crack reached your ears and Lucas let out a scream of pain, which made you smile only for a second before you snapped out of it, shocked at yourself.

You couldn’t. You weren’t supposed to find this satisfactory in any way.

“Billy- stop, okay, enough-”

He didn’t seem to hear you, instead he threw another punch at Lucas and you heard another crack, then saw the blood coming out of Lucas’s nose before he gripped it tight.

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry-“

“Doesn’t work like that, asshole.” He threw him towards the brick wall and Lucas hit the wall like a rag doll before he stumbled on his steps, still trying to find his balance before you got between him and Billy and Lucas used that opportunity to run away from him, getting out of the alley as fast as he could.

“Get out of the way.”

“No!” You snapped at him, “You need to stop- that’s- that’s enough.”

He turned to look at you, and you could see the wild fire burning in his dark eyes as he panted.

“That’s enough?” He repeated, his voice barely holding back his anger, “Do you have any idea what that fucker-“

“I know, okay? It’s not the first time, won’t be the last, but listen to me- Billy!” You raised your voice as he took a step and you pressed your hand to his chest, feeling his fast heart beat against your palm, “I’m fine.”

“Y/N-“

“Just some creepy guy, being creepy. Okay? I’m fine. Nothing happened.”

“Like fuck nothing happened, I’m gonna-“

“You’re gonna do nothing.”

“I’m gonna kill him-” he tried to walk past you but you pushed him back.

“I don’t have any idea about how conjugal visits work in New York, so you’re gonna chill the fuck down!”

But your snapping at him seemed to have no power on him, because he turned his back to pace in the alley, running a hand through his slicked back hair, breathing hard as if he didn’t know how to come back down from the high the anger gave him. It was as if it was all out of his control and you were witnessing a side of him neither you, nor he had any idea about how to keep in check.

And it was all too much. It was as if your brain had suddenly gone numb, all the panic, all the fear, everything was swallowed by this strange feeling that you couldn’t quite put your finger on.

“I-I don’t want you to leave, okay?” Your voice dropped a bit “Screw the guy, and stay, for me.”

Billy turned to look at you as you walked to him, and cupped his cheek.

“Please?” Your hand balled up into a fist as you held his shirt and stood on your tiptoes, planting a soft kiss to his lips, then wrapped your arms around his neck, scratching the back of his neck slowly. You let out a soft whine when he pressed you against the wall and pulled you into a deep kiss, your hands slipping to his chest.

“Y/N-“ He let out a breath when he pulled back, sounding physically hurt from being unable to decide what to do, and when you looked up at him, you were sure that your pupils were as wide as his, as if you both were high on something.

He held you tight on the back of your neck, the darkness in his eyes focused on you.

“You want me to stay?” he asked hoarsely, and you gulped, then nodded fervently as soon as it dawned on you.

Desire.

That was what you felt. That was what suffocated every other feeling in your mind. You couldn’t even think about anything else anymore, not the threats coming closer, not the asshole from the bar, nothing.  All you could feel was that you needed him, with you. In any way possible.

In a very specific way if possible, thank you very much.

“And then what?”

Your eyes snapped up to his, to see the gleam in them “W-What?”

“I can stay here…” He taunted, “But what do you want me to do?”

You were at lost for words, especially when he planted a kiss to your neck, holding you still. You arched your back, pressing your body against his without knowing what the hell you were doing.

“Billy-“

“What do you want us to do, Y/N?” Billy insisted and you tried to speak through the haze in your brain.

“An-anything?” You offered shakily, making him chuckle.

“Anything?” he repeated and you nodded, trying to silence the voice in your mind saying; Not anything, I don’t want to do ‘anything’ in a dark alley. Your hormones turned out to be stronger than your ration so you just waited until Billy spoke again

“So if I told you…” he dragged his fingertips on your arm “That I want to have you right here, right now…?”

“Billy-“ That didn’t come out as a sob, nope, not at all. His hands went under your shirt to feel your skin against his fingertips, but as soon as his grip tightened around your waist, pain shot through your wound and you held your breath, a yelp of pain escaping from your lips. That seemed to have the same effect on him as fire, because he pulled back as if you burned him.

“You okay? Did I hurt you?”

You tried to catch your breath and shook your head,

“No, not you- the stitches hurt.”

He nodded curtly and licked his lips, as if trying to control himself.

“I-um…” For the first time since you’ve met him, he stammered, “Do you want to go inside?”

That made you snap out of the bliss and you thought for a second, remembering why you were outside. Your hand involuntarily went to your pocket to check your phone as the panic dawned on you once again, out of nowhere and you shook your head.

“I need some fresh air.” You said, “Walk with me?”

Your walk to riverside was silent. Billy seemed to understand when you wanted to talk and when you didn’t, because he didn’t even open his mouth to attempt to start a conversation. When you reached the bench by the riverside, you uncapped your beer that you both had got on the way, and took a sip as you sat down. Billy sat down next to you and you inhaled the cold breeze, leaning forward, resting your elbows on your knees.

“I need to talk to you about something.”

“Okay.”

You took another sip from your beer, and gulped, biting inside your cheek. You could feel the burning behind your eyes but you blinked fast, desperate to keep the tears at bay, at least until you were done saying what you needed to say.

“I haven’t been completely honest with you,” You started, “I told you I left Chicago because me and my brother had a fight. It’s actually… It’s a lot complicated than that.”

He nodded silently, waiting for you to keep going.

“My brother, he’s-“ You cleared your throat, “I don’t need to tell you he’s dangerous. I think you’ve seen that. What you haven’t seen is…that little booby trap? That’s just the beginning of what he could do.”

“To you?”

“To anyone.” You stated and licked your lips, “But yeah. Especially to me.”

“Why?”

A bitter chuckle escaped from your lips as the cold breeze whipped your hair, and you swirled the liquid in the bottle, deep in thought.

“I’ve done something bad,” You said slowly, “At least… at least he thinks it’s bad. And then all hell broke loose.” You kept your eyes on the calm, still water. “The reason why I left Chicago wasn’t our argument. It was because of his revenge. I had this… I had this boyfriend.” You tried to swallow the lump in your throat, “Around the time I did what I did. My brother hurt him, very badly. In front of me.”

Billy frowned, “What did you do?”

You bit on your lip hard, ignoring his question,

“So um… I wanted to say-“ You tried to keep your voice from cracking, “This is, uh- This is my heads up. I’m in some really fucked up shit, so if you wanted-“ You forced yourself to shrug, “If it’s too much for you, you could leave. No hard feelings, I promise.”

He stared at you for a couple of seconds, and shook his head,

“I’m not leaving.”

“Are you listening to me? I’m dangerous-“

“No, I am listening to you. I just find it ironic that you beat me to it.”

You blinked dumbly “What?”

“This whole speech.” He waved a hand, “Never occurred to you, not even once, did it? That I might be bad for you?”

“I’m not talking about heartbreak.”

“Neither am I,” his voice was way too calm and you turned to look at him, “You really think you’re the only one with enemies here?”

That caused you to fall silent, and you licked your lips, looking him deep in the eye.

“You have enemies?”

He nodded and sipped his own beer,

“Yeah. I’ve got quite a lot, to be honest. And I’m planning to make more.”

“You’re planning to make more enemies.” You repeated, confused, “Why?”

He shrugged, keeping his eyes on the river,

“So, the same thing goes for you,” he stated, “You could leave. No hard feelings.”

For some reason, you could feel the goose bumps rising on your arm and a cold feeling running down your spine, but you ignored it and held out your pinky.

“I won’t if you won’t.”

That seemed to make him smile slightly and he eyed you up and down before entwining his finger with yours.

“Deal.”

Part 9 is up! 

[libralita]

May Wrap Up | 2018

I have graduated from community college. As I write this it still hasn’t really hit me that I will no longer be going to school in my hometown and that I will be leaving in the fall. It’s going to be crazy. This month was pretty productive for reading. I binged Fullmetal Alchemist, I read several books, and I read a few manga books on my Kindle!

The first book that I read in May was Fullmetal Alchemist volume 4 by Hiromu Arakawa:

I really read this mostly in April but I was too lazy to add it to my wrap up for April so I just waited to marked as finish until May first. Still counting it for May. Any way, I really loved this book because it made me cry many times. Finding out that Scar killed Winry’s parents and her crying for him to bring them back destroy my soul. How dare you Hiromu Arakawa. How dare. Havoc losing the ability to walk, also not okay. Destroyed. Five out of five stars.

I continued on with Fullmetal Alchemist volume 5:

This one was also really good. We see Envy’s true form and that was just a barrel full of nope. Like Envy is Koh the face stealer’s waifu. Bradley is a dick and Lin gets turned in Greed which is just insane. We get flashbacks to the civil war and Armstrong makes me cry so much. I really enjoyed this one. Five out of five stars.

Then I completed my 2018 reading goal with Fullmetal Alchemist volume 6:

This was another great one! We get to meet Armstrong’s older sister Olivier who is crazy but also has some nice moments. We find out who Pride is AND HOLY FUCK WHAT? It’s apparently Bradley’s kid; which is…weird. So weird. He also controls these…weird things. Like holy shit nope. Nope nope nope. This book was great. Five out of five stars.

I continued on with Fullmetal Alchemist and read volume 7:

I liked this one less that I have liked the other books. This one had a couple of battles just off screen which was a bit lazy. We didn’t get to see any of the Dhrachma-Brigg fight. We didn’t get to see Alex and Olivier fight. But there was a funny joke with the Armstrong fight so I’ll give Hiromu that. Though the ending was pretty awesome. We got to see Van’s backstory which was messed up. Pride is such an awesome character. Plus, Mustang’s crew it starting to reform! Four out of five stars.

AND THEN FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST VOLUME 8 HAPPENED:

Holy shit that was amazing! There were so many cool twists. So many characters were meeting up and splitting up. It was so cool and amazing! There was much action. We also get this really emotional scene where Roy has a chance to kill Envy and Scar, Ed, and Hawkeye talk him down. It’s so great! My second favorite fight scene in the whole series was Wrath V Greed. That was awesome. BUT THE ABSOLUTE BEST WAS THE ARMSTRONGS & CURTISES VS SLOTH! Holy crap I love all those characters and they were amazing. They work off so well together and I love them so much. Now shit is going downnnnn!!! Five out of five stars!

Then, I finally finished Fullmetal Alchemist with the last bind up:

This was a really great ending. The world ended…kind of? And there was epic battles. I think the battles were a little cooler in the last one but the big thing is that Al got his body back and Ed got his arm back. Roy got his vision back after losing it which was horrific. I cried when Al and Ed came home. It was such a sweet ending. Five out of five stars.

I didn’t just binge Fullmetal Alchemist I did a bit of rereading. First I reread Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson:

It wasn’t as good as I remember it being. It was still enjoyable but it didn’t have that punch it originally had. The ending was a little better though. I didn’t mind not getting the final battle and I did tear up when Scoot revealed to Lightsong they’re brothers. It was a really great scene. I still love Seb and Siri. I really wish we had the Nightblood book so we can see how Vivenna went from Warbreaker-Vivenna to Oathbringer-Vivenna. It’s still jarring. Five out of five stars regardless.

I also randomly picked up Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor:

This book was pretty good. It was my first Laini Taylor and I liked it. I often find that sometimes YA authors make their language too flowery but I think Taylor’s writing was pretty great. I enjoyed the characters. Lazlo and Sarai are both pretty great characters. I liked them equally as much. I liked the side characters. While Weep is interesting the godspawn’s powers are pretty much standard magic powers. Ghost manipulation, metal bending, fire bending, weather control, plant control. With the expectation of Sarai’s powers. Overall five out of five stars.

Then I reread Scarlet by Marissa Meyer:

This was about as good as I remember it. There were a few things that I forgot about like Scarlet’s dad and how sad her grandma dying was. Also I didn’t remember Kai being so bratty. He’s really bad at politicking. Like he just comes right out and tells Levana how much he knows about everything. It’s hard to explain but it’s very odd. Other than that I enjoyed this book. I think Scarlet and Wolf’s relationship is actually my favorite out of the four. It’s just so cute but passionate. Five out of five stars.

After reading Strange the Dreamer I decided to read Daughter of Smoke and Bone, also by Laini Taylor:

This one wasn’t as good as Strange the Dreamer. Karou was a little manic pixie dream girl and Akiva’s personality didn’t feel consistent. I also didn’t like that Madrigal’s backstory was just flung in towards the end of the book. It would have been nicer if Karou had dreams of her past just to give us hints. I still enjoy this book. I think I will continue with this story and I gave it four out of five stars.

Next I randomly picked up the audiobook book for My So-Called Bollywood Life by Nisha Sharma:

I enjoyed this book! My standards were kind of set low after When Dimple Met Rishi, so the fact that this book didn’t have “fuck people who are rich and/or white and/or male” message was a bonus. Some of the drama was a little exaggerated. Like Jenny was just a complete antagonist with no redeeming qualities. Dave and Winnie’s break up was a little force. However, I think the rest of the book was fun. Liked Winnie and Dave as characters and as a couple. I liked Winnie’s friends and family. I love India culture but I don’t know much about it and Sharma really does a great job describing it. This was a really nice book, so I gave it four out of five stars.

I then picked up Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi:

This book was pretty good. I had a couple of problems like the fact this was multi-perspective but they were all written in first person. I don’t think I’ve read a book like that since Allegiant and there’s a reason for that it’s incredibly difficult to pull of. Adeyemi doesn’t really. There are times when I forgot if I was in Zélie’s perspective or Arami’s because they just weren’t distinct enough. Second problem was in the beginning it was very Avatar: The Last Airbender. It started to diverge as the plot went along but there were a lot of similarities. However, I did really enjoy the characters and magic system. I’m interested to see where this story goes. I gave this one four out of five stars.

Because the Kindle edition was only a dollar I decided to buy and read A Silent Voice Vol. 1 by Yoshitoki Oima:

This was an interesting book. We get to see Shoko and Shoya’s backstory of him starting to bully her. It’s really sad to see all the classmates start to gang up on her. Even when people like Miyoko try, she ends up ditching Shoko. Then Shoya begins to get bullied and Shoko tries to befriend him but he keeps pushing away. This book didn’t give me as much emotions as I thought it would but it certainly is interesting. I can’t wait to continue! Five out of five stars.

Because I really loved the first volume I also bought the second volume A Silent Voice:

This one was also really good. We get to learn about Shoko’s sister. Who’s an interesting character and has some great interactions with Shoya. I think my favorite scene in this book was when Shoya’s mother confronts him about him planning to kill himself. It’s a really sad scene and ends up burning the money that he owed her. Another great book and pleaseeeee let the rest of series go on sale. Five out of five stars!

I discovered Prime Reading so I read the first Attack on Titan volume for free:

I knew vaguely about what Attack on Titan was about before reading this. While I enjoy the premise that art in here isn’t that great. The ending was pretty bad ass with Eren saving Armin. I think I’m just going to watch the anime. Long live Armin because he’s a cutie!!! Four out of five stars.

And the only other Prime Reading book I read was Archie #1 by Mark Waid and Fiona Staples:

This was awful. I love fourth wall breaking jokes but Archie felt more like a detached narrator than an actual character in his own book. We spent very little time with Archie, instead with three characters who I don’t even think were given names. They were unrealistically invested in getting Archie and Betty back together. It was just horribly written and Mark Waid does not understand how teenagers act. I could get through half a season of Riverdale but this was just really bad. One out of five stars.

Those are the books that I read in May! Now it’s summer vacation so I’ll hopefully be reading a lot more books, even though I’ll have transfer stuff to do. My birthday was also in May so I got 150 dollars worth of Amazon money so I will buying some books pretty soon!

[aion-rsa]

Star Wars From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back Review

https://ift.tt/31YVb0C

From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back is a fun anthology of Star Wars tales. Like its predecessor, it offers a variety of stories rather than simply evoking the dark second act of the original movie trilogy in particular. Here are slapstick comedies and lamentations, space battles and alien conclaves. Although some of the stories lack structure or feel unfinished, there are enough good ones here to please just about any Star Wars fan.

One sure crowd-pleaser is “Rendezvous Point,” a Rogue Squadron tale by Jason Fry. This is a fun jaunt back into the spirit of the old X-Wing books, down to the pilot slang, jokes, Z-95 Headhunters, and “uglies.” The dialogue is funny, sincere, heartfelt, and expresses exactly what it means to. It also provides a sweet look at the leaders of the Rebellion, whose disappearance after the Battle of Hoth in the movie provides the stakes. As Luke and Leia follow the journey on-screen, Wedge and his new squadron try to buy time in the hopes the twins will re-join the Rebel fleet. “There’s nothing in the galaxy that could keep Leia Organa from her duty, or Luke Skywalker from his friends.”

Fry’s story also acknowledges the characters’ worries and how hard the mix of open warfare and tense waiting has been on them. “It’s been what, three days? Wedge had to think about that for a moment — time had become a smear of anxiety and waiting for news that didn’t come.” I often found myself thinking about this line in the days leading up to the U.S. election.

Another stand-out was “There Is Always Another” by Mackenzi Lee. On the surface, this story explains why Obi-Wan Kenobi never told Luke that Vader was his father, especially as Luke was about to leave Dagobah against both of his Jedi Masters’ wishes. In part it’s a darkly humorous story about Obi-Wan’s long-suffering patience with Skywalker dramatics, but it’s also a story where Obi-Wan is forced to confront how much he loved Anakin, and the fact that Anakin intended to kill him. Luke is “the dumb, beautiful son of my dumb, beautiful friend who could never be talked out of anything he set his mind to.” A raw wound lurks underneath the laughter, and the tragedy of Obi-Wan and Anakin continues to be one of the greatest stories in the Star Wars saga.

On the darker side is the unflinching “The Final Order” by Seth Dickinson, which sometimes evokes Vietnam War fever dream The Things They Carried in its brutal, political look at an Imperial officer’s death. Later in the timeline of both the movie and the book, Martha Wells explores Ugnaught life with an authoritative voice. The second half of the book is overall stronger than the first; see also “The Man Who Built Cloud City” by Alexander Freed, which goes deep into the perspective of a Bespin vagrant. Like the best stories in the collection, it goes from grim to humorous without missing a beat. For all I’ve praised the second half of the collection, the very first story, “Eyes of the Empire” by Kiersten White is also a competent and optimistic tale of an Imperial intelligence worker switching sides.

Another standout is Catherynne Valente’s tale of the exogorth, the “space slug” that swallows the Millennium Falcon in the movie. Valente gives her all to this stylized epic that stretches far beyond the limits of the movies. Instead of feeling like a twee talking animal story or a human voice that happens to inhabit an alien body, the perspective is truly skewed and weird. And wonderfully softly so. The exogorth’s society prizes individuals who can nurture entire ecosystems in their cavernous guts. The story’s main character, Sy-O is mocked for merely containing mynocks. Sy-O’s melancholy and aspirations are deeply sad and beautiful. Valente took her commission to write about the space slug with deep seriousness and poetry, like a trapeze artist: skilled and theatrical. And the brief suggestion of Ben Solo growing up inside the belly of an exogorth, Han and Leia still alive and cared for but trapped forever in the space-faring monster, is exactly the kind of Star Wars spin-off weirdness I love.

Read more

TV

Star Wars Movie and TV Release Date Calendar

By John Saavedra

Books

Star Wars The Clone Wars: Stories of Light and Dark Review

By Megan Crouse

Speaking of the Sequel Trilogy, the Palpatine story weirdly dodges around any implications from The Rise of Skywalker. The story itself is a cool glimpse of an alternate universe.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Unfortunately, most of the other “talking animal” stories are a bust. Admittedly, they have some leeway because of Star Wars‘ always flexible attitude toward sapience. What is the difference between a monster and a person? But the stories based around the wampa and the tauntaun never convincingly get inside the head of their subjects. When they do, the result is schmaltzy, goopier even than the most dramatic swell of music in a nature documentary.

Like in the first book, some stories are tonally adrift, without a voice or a clear direction. Especially in the Hoth sequence, several in a row felt more like descriptions of a single scene than complete story arcs, leaning far too heavily on exposition.

The one thing you shouldn’t expect from this collection is for it to match the tone of The Empire Strikes Back at all times. The movie’s tragedy-tinged adventure and relatively deep character relationships are considered the best in the saga for a reason, and some of these stories simply left me wanting to see more of Luke, Han, and Leia. It may not live up to the movie, but it certainly is an effective advertisement for it.

With a range of styles and characters, there’s a lot here to talk about. The From A Certain Point of View series, tied around the 40th anniversary of each movie, continues to be a fun event and a way to see Star Wars takes from some of today’s top authors. If you liked the A New Hope installment, you’ll get a lot of bang for your buck from the second book.

The post Star Wars From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back Review appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2IbF2P3

[coe-lilium]

Would you be willing to rank the major Apocrypha characters (Masters and Servants) from best to worst? I'm curious as to how you would rank them

Gladly :D

Be warned that this will be 90% tastes and maybe 10% narrative/objective analysis. And sorry for taking so long to answer. Also, it got long ^^’

A concise, condensed ver before the cut

- 10+/10, tie between Mordred, Jeanne e Shirou

-  9.5/10: Semirams and Shishigou Kairi

- 8-7.5/10: Vlad, Achilles, Shakespeare, Caules 

- 7: Chiron, Fran, Atalanta, Karna, Fiore, Darnic

- 6, I start not caring: Gordes

- “wasted” and “still bitter after 5 years”, no numbers: Avicebron and Siegfried

- 5-4, it’s complicated: Astolfo

- 4: Sieg (and it might go down to 0, I’m serious)

- 3 to 0: Jack, Reika, Celenike 

Btw, I kept them vague, but spoilers/hints up to vol4 and 5

Rank “will fight the world for them, forever in Higashide’s debt, I wish one day for Nasu to write them himself because I trust the mushroom man to make me love them even more than I already do, 10+/10″: 

Mordred: SHE. Higashide’s best accomplishment in winning me over no matter other flaws. Tie with Gilgamesh as my favorite Nasuverse character ever.

There isn’t a single thing I don’t love about her (bar that atrocious “dress” under the armor, delete that). The armored and casual character design. The backstory as abused and exploited child who tries to break free of her mother influence and plots but ends up following them anyway because of her other parent rejection and, ultimately, how Morgan life lasting damage could not be undone without support. Her snarky, bratty, selfish and ferocious personality she show to the outside world and the hidden insecurities, the good heart and the ability to reflect on her flaws. Her loyalty and her desperate need for parental love and recognition as her own person. Her fighting style that is a delight to read or watch, truly a beast. Her chemistry and relationship with Shishigou, all of it. How it start in that cemetery, how develops over the course of the story, how she manage to open, connect and trust him and ultimately find a real father in him.

If I have to find a “wish this was expanded on” is her written in but not recognised by canon issues with gender/presentation which wasn’t a real issue for me until I read metas here and I’m now quite confused especially on how to write her (him?) in the future, when I’ll hopefully get at it.

The only reason I don’t completely wish for her and her Master to have been made MCs is the love I have for the following two guys and this couple steal too much of a spotlight from other characters.

Still, while theirs is a story more focused on personal growth and healing then deciding the fate of a great number of people or the world, in the end Mordred and Kairi saved each other so it could’ve still meshed neatly with the overall salvation theme. Sadly it was not meant to be but I’m more than content for what we got.

Jeanne: She. Who gets only second place and no caps lock because, a surprisingly good portrayal none withstanding, she could’ve been even better had Higashide done a bit more research (in his favour, I don’t know what kind of books on her are translated in Japanese and if the processes transcripts are among them).

For example I’ll forever maintain that, while the whole “romance” thing has a historical base (funny that, uh?), it required a way better realisation and as it’s written in Apocrypha does her character a disservice. Laeticia too, who was a potentially interesting “device” and could’ve been our outsider perspective, got derailed into more nonsense romance and aww poor Sieg and oh man, who-gives-a-damn: not me.

Also, not enough of a sarcastic spitfire or military prowess (“just waved the flag”, now that’s a funny way to write “half of Charles’ court was impressed by how good she was with every damn weapon”) for my tastes but I guess historical Jeanne is just that irreplaceable or TM chose to emphasise her piety and “sainthood” over other traits in order to avoid an Arturia 2.0.

Not a single mention to her mentors either, in 5 volumes (which is bad, extremely bad, Higashide why) and too much of Gilles de Rais nonsense but unfortunately Type Moon is committed to roll with it. Dunois, La Hire and d’Alencon never, poor me. 

That said, Fate!Jeanne is really a good interpretation, firmly rooted in history and I love, love her. 

Her faith and lack of hate are spot-on and are treated with respect instead of mocked. 

She’s allowed to have a no-nonsense and even ruthless soldier like attitude, a protective streak (which always remind me of that promise she made to a young noblewoman to keep her husband safe and bring him back to her, or how she took care of her young squire. Both survived her) and loth of empathy at the same time. 

She’s down to earth but can also be immature and have flaws and be tempted. 

This post is already long as it is, so here’s some more reasons I love Apo Jeanne: 

Novel Jeanne musing 1       

Jeanne meta from the manga 1

Jeanne meta from the manga 2

My eternal greatest disappointment will forever be the lack of a satisfying confrontation with Shirou. You write someone able to shake Jeanne d’Arc convictions, make her doubt her conduct and moral standing when the threat of torture and the Rouen process weren’t able do so... and you don’t follow on it? Unforgivable.   

Shirou: This guy. This absolute mess of a human being. I need more and no, GO, “evil alternative self” isn’t what I mean (but yeah, gimme him too). After discovering him in Apocrypha I started digging my university library to hunt down his IRL self story and there is no higher accomplishment for a Fateverse character for me.                                                                                    Fascinating person and fascinating take by TM, double so since I discovered dude’s still being vilified in contemporary Jp stories/entertainment and man do that enrage me.

It’s like someone mixed up a character I love (Kirei), one I loathe (Kiritsugu), shaked it and the result it’s the best possible one I could ask for. 

I like the character design (both), the historical and post 3HGW backstory and how it shaped him into a Jeanne opposite (for excellent reasons), the most “Kotomine” traits like the snark and trollish attitude and how they cover all the suffering, despair and hate boiling under the constant smirk. How Higashide avoided the “turned evil” interpretation that’s prevalent in jp entertainment and made him a good person and a hero, if a misguided one and also the trapping of a “void/hollow inside” personality and instead gave him those fragments where you see he’s still a 17yo kid. 

He’s not just interesting, he’s funny to read, even with all the angst going on.  

The interactions with Shakespeare are great and... his relationship with Semiramis. Man, that’s excellent, excellent stuff. Can’t gush enough about how much I love them together

My only great complaint -for now, until I see a certain late discovery with my own eyes- is that all the narrative build up and comparisons between him and Jeanne (done in-universe and acknowledged within the text mind you, I’m not headcanoning here) went wasted. 

How can you write two characters who mirror each other so perfectly, put them as “head” of their factions, in the same role both... and not deliver with a confrontation? The only thing that tried to do so was -ironically- the anime in ep #13, as their confrontation in the novels wasn’t as personal and as good as the anime.      

Rank “good, excellent civilisation, never get tired of them”, 9.5/10

Shishigou: best father ever, 100% should legally adopt Mordred. He was/is extremely enjoyable to read about, snarky, smart, his fucked-up magus backstory had long lasting effects but managed not to destroy him, on the outside your tough, broody mercenary making hard decision but actually a good, moral person with a caring nature and, again, a great father. 

As already said, his and Mordred narrative is less tied to the different views of salvation theme and more to the “people making their wishes come true” and they’re bit of outliers for the whole duration of the story but I wouldn’t change a thing (except one T_T). 

His relationship with Mordred is one of the absolute highlights of Apocrypha for me, in every medium.

Semiramis: shallow reason first: charming, scheming, hot asshole-ish royalty in league with a Kotomine troll, what more could’ve I asked for?                        That she was an interesting char in her own right, which is what I got.          

More in-depth, she’s another character I never have enough of. Begrudging sole responsible adult of red team, I couldn’t help but grin every time she had to deal with AKA team or single members, not to speak of her scenes with Shakespeare, which are both amusing and very good for characterisation. 

She may not have that much of screen time compared to other faves but earned her place by making what she had memorable. 

Her backstory is simple: abandoned child learns to exploit her society view on women to rise to the top and get everything she wants and fuck everything else. Which not only neatly establish how and why she became what she is but also why this broken kid, which is a sort of her exact opposite, fascinate her so much. 

Speaking about our broken resident Kotomine, her chemistry with Shirou is simply great, all of their scenes are a joy to read. They have fun plotting together, they (she, dude’s either too young to notice or just let it go) casually flirts, have a functioning, mostly open relationship from the get-go that works no matter how messed up they really are and get each other’s back until the very end. Most of the more lighthearted stuff is in vol 1-2, then things gets more interesting. 

See, as much as she seems to be (and like to present herself as such to enemies) the perfectly devoted Servant and is aiding Shirou… she’s also truly villainous, cold and ruthless as hell and is also very conflicted and switch back and forth on what she wants, not much as out of the War as instead from her Master in particular (don’t think bad… okay, do) for the whole series. Vol3 and 4 are a godsend for her character and you dunno how I wish we had more than a bare bone summary for vol 5 because god damn some things in that summary. 

With the many, many stay night or Zero parallels and homages in Apocrypha, she come off as a sort of reverse Zero Gilgamesh and Gilles in being, respectively, the devilish member of the  Kotomine - Servant pair and the “personal involvement/interest in the saint figure, sometimes verging on the creep-ish, predatory behaviour" one (Gilles was 100% full on creepy mode, Semiramis keeps her thoughts for herself and is just tempted. I strongly appreciate), “reverse” for being conflicted, but in the end being a better person than both dudes above and respecting and knowing her partner enough to let go of her worst desires/frustrations. There’s some really good stuff in these two’s relationship, let me tell you. 

If Mordred-Shishigou take the cake for best platonic relationship in Apo, Semiramis and Shirou single handy destroy every competition for the romantic one. 

Rank “You. I like you”, 8-7.5/10

Vlad: here’s someone I’m pretty content with how he’s written (I wouldn’t change a thing), but really wish had had more space just because I enjoyed him a lot. Higashide nailed him and I wanted more of a historical Vlad III who is a hero, a good ruler caring for his country and a ruthless warrior and executioner and none of this aspects negate the others. Plus, it was refreshing to see a Vlad III being so clearly separated from the “vampire” twist that his wish for the Grail was to erase book and legacy from existence.

Achilles: a simil Alexander, I dislike the IRL/myth dude but can’t stay mad with their Fate incarnations. I like his personality, his quirks, his relationships with Chiron and Atalanta. Loved the mocking duel (and the anime committee will hear me scream from the other side of the world if I get robbed of it  yeah, I wrote this part before ep17. Fuck you A1). 

I don’t even think he needed more screen time, he’s really fine with what’s shown. Not every character need to be a main one and Achilles manage to be a good secondary one, with enough development and characterisation.

Shakespeare: here’s an enjoyable dude I like to hate. Amusing character, his interactions with Semiramis and Shirou are a joy to read or watch, but, fuck this guy. May Moriarty and Saber Gilles have their way with you in Chaldea.

Caules: one of those rare beasts known as “perfectly functioning siblings” of the Nasuverese. Respect his Servant and tries to do her right till the end. A good dude.

Rank “could’ve shined more in a longer and more focused series, but okay” aka those who served their purpose, 7/10 

Chiron                                                                                                            Atalanta                                                                                                          Karna                                                                                                                Fran                                                            ��                                                     Fiore                                                                                                                Darnic

Not really anything to say about each one here. They’re fine as they are.            

Could’ve used more Darnic, the 3HGW is a fascinating subject no matter who the Einzbern decide to summon and his actions shaped the whole world of Apo. Personally I’d have cut the Jack business and expanded him as a character/treat, maybe to shed light into CT politics and magus society fuckery (because if there’s something the Yggdmillennia as a whole and each one of them in particular show is how the magi society is an aberration that twist and corrupt everything it touch). But in the end I know it was either Ygg vs CT as promised or Rulers against each other and I’ll gladly take the latter.  A longer series could’ve had space for both, who knows.

Rank “nice arc. There are more interesting people but I’ve come to appreciate you” 

Gordes: Probably the human character who experience more growth in the series.

Rank “wasted” and “decent what little is there, perhaps, but still bitter after five years”

Avicebron: also know as the poor thing similar to the antagonist in background and wish that could’ve worked with the themes while also being a personal foil to the protagonist in being a golem/artificial life creator and user but the writer couldn’t/wouldn’t bother with him for some reason and he only got to be the “Gilles de Rais summon Chtlulu and heroes have to team up to bring him down” of Apocrypha, with no other purpose than being a Zero “homage”. 

To add insult to injury, the Adam threat does literally jack shit on a narrative point because “Servant goes stray and threaten the world, Servants form both factions have to team up to defeat him” already happened, 2 episodes before for the anime, end of vol2 vs beginning of vol3 for the novel version. And Mordred and Shishigou making an alliance with the surviving Black members was already going to be a thing after the Gardens mess. Shame, shame and shame.

Siegfried:  tainbocuailnge here has written some good meta about him lately and, yeah, perhaps all of that was intended, and I can kinda appreciate it. The point is that I couldn’t give a single crap over the OC when for him to come into being means sacrificing freaking Siegfried. I may not have read as much or being already attached to the literature/epic character like other cases but… no, just no. Siegfried deserved way better than what he got in Type Moon. 

Add more personal bitterness because with such numbers I thought it was finally time for the Heroes to shine and for the Masters to be sidelined and instead we got super special super powered MC. To hell with it.  

If anything, Siegfried may be the only character the anime did more good than damage. He’s still there and sometimes get to act as a mentor instead of being a useful power up and then fucking off for the remaining 4 volumes.

Rank “I tried to like you, I wish I could like you, but I cannot stand you no matter what”, 5-4

Astolfo: I’ve tried to like him but to no avail (rest assured, though, that I’ll deck anyone who’ll try use that t*ap or “girl” bullshit). 

It has to be that unholy combination of extremely airhead personality and mannerism, all the screen time he gets that could’ve gone to my favourites, that idiotic attempt at a “love triangle” (for the love of God, Higashide) and a voice acting that, I swear, even if I already didn’t like him from the novel the anime would’ve been the nail in the coffin. All these combined make him grates on my nerves like few other Fate characters. Perhaps part of my distaste comes from being unable to shake the feeling that the author himself don’t respect him.

I realise it’s quite… unfair, because on the page he has everything I usually like: he’s brave, he’s kind, he has morals and will maintain them in front of everything, he stand up to assholes, he save and inspire people, you can overpower him as much as you like and he still won’t care and will still fight you. 

Astolfo is a good, decently written character and I really wish the franchise would just stop using him as a joke and stop being so gross to him in order to cater to even more gross “fans”. 

If I were to put tastes/guts feelings aside, I could praise him for pages. I simply can’t bring myself closing the gaps from appreciating the undeniable qualities to actually like the character. 

Rank: fluctuating between “your concept should’ve been handled by a more experienced narrator” and “goddamn, does your very existence piss me off”, pending more on the second as we go on, less than 4

Sieg: on the page kid’s got a good arc. An homunculus, a magus’s tool, trash to be used and disposed off, gains consciousness and, shaped by what he witness and the actions and sacrifices of heroic figures, rise to free his kin from their slavers and then find himself fighting to “save the world”. How he attained freedom and have come to interpret it and his experiences put him in the path of the antagonist and the two and their “ideologies” makes for an interesting double face of the coin, forced salvation vs free offer and answer to actual prayers. Sounds pretty great. 

Unfortunately, Higashide aimed too high for his skills or didn’t learn well from Nasu and Shirou Emiya, or both. 

Otakus mad because he “got the waifu” aside, Sieg do come across as too damn lucky and overpowered and there is a limit on how much the in-universe reason “damn, the Counter Force had to work hard to give him a chance to stop a Heroic Spirit with hundreds time his experience” can go before the readers start getting annoyed at Heroes dropping dead or getting sidelined just to push him forward. 

I’m not a fan of these buzzwords, but the impression he’s a fan fiction OC that force the original and more interesting cast to revolve around/sacrifice for him or hijack their plots is damn strong. Scrap it, it’s not an impression, it’s exactly what happen. In at least 4 or 5 cases. 

There were also too many times he bore me to death so not really what you want from your protagonist. 

Another thing, more grave than personal preferences: his wish/fight firstly go nowhere, then get resolved too quickly without a fuss and then, once his goal has been effortlessly achieved, he proceeds to tag along and stole duels and confrontations from other characters, on which he had no stakes nor reason to be. What kind of writing is this?! He get the contract with Astolfo, walks in the castle and the Yggd agree on releasing the homunculi. And that’s it. Wow?

Also here’s my 100% personal reason for not having an ounce of interest in Sieg, godly writing skills or not: for once, just once, we could’ve got our first Fate solo female protagonist. An all-around badass but, at the same time, not an Arturia nor Shiki nor Arc nor Aoko clone. Who just happened to be my favourite historical figure ever.

Could’ve kept the same theme of opposing concepts of salvation, brought the Ruler vs Ruler/Saint vs Saint thing in the spotlight, with all their nice baggage of similar lives resulting in  opposite views by different regrets and traumas, faith or lack (that instead got all swept under the rug, and man if the self awareness of vol4 isn’t something to behold) and after five years I still feel personally robbed of all of this, especially when it became clear Apocrypha was yet another “male protagonist with the world revolving around him while the female heroine gets to be his support/sidekick. Oh, and as already said, he get the confrontation with whom the narrative builds as her rival”. Because of course he does. 

You don’t sideline Jeanne frigging d’Arc and expect me to forgive you for it.

Rank “why are you even here, why are we wasting anything on you”

Jack and Reika: ye god, why. The concept behind this Jack the Ripper? I find Fake ver superior but I’m on board. Then, first, that fucking character design. Sorry BL, reddit, MAL and whatever: putting a child in a thong is a revolting choice of character design and no, there’s no “well, she learned from prostitutes” that count.    I appreciate at least the connection made with Atalanta. But the execution. Their “plot” drag and drag on and goes nowhere (hilariously so in the anime. What was the point of Jack killing some random homunculi and disappearing for the whole arc, again?). Their only narrative purpose is doing ???? for roughly three volumes, *do that* to Atalanta and shaking Sieg’s worldview. At least they grant Jeanne some badass solo scenes and to us more insight on her character. Still the equivalent of a anime-only filler, and a bad one. 

Pity, really, because a child Jack who 1. is a child and act as one and 2. get heavily influenced by her/their Master and thus could either become a better person or be exploited wasn’t that bad of a twist for a famous figure but the pair was never allowed to be more than “Apo pair of rogue murderers”. 

Celenike: just… begone. I cheered when she died in the novel, cheered loudly when she died in the anime and will cheer even more loudly when she will die in the manga. 

[joshuabeck1001]

Go, Go- A Power Rangers Review

WI grew up on Power Rangers. It was definitely a campy, over-the-top, poorly acted/written show, but I loved it. So did many. For me, it was essential Saturday morning viewing, right up there with the Batman Animated Series. I watched it from the original all the way through Lost Galaxy. I have no delusions about it; it was bad. But I still love it. 

So, naturally, as I became a writer, I started working in my spare time on my own Power Rangers reboot. I thought that it could be done, and be done right, in a way that wasn’t so campy, but was totally cool. I envisioned something related to the Transformers movies in visual style (I mean, Zords are totally the same as Transformers from a visual standpoint). I even had a casting list in mind, and everything.

Of course, I didn’t have the rights to the series, and I’m still unpublished, and my own books have always been my priority, so my Power Rangers adaptation became a passion project that I’d only dust off and work on when writers block struck. And, of course, as we reach the fifth Transformers film, and the Marvel cinematic universe is in full swing, other studios no doubt began looking for similar properties that weren’t tied down under contracts. And Lionsgate announced a Power Rangers reboot.

This hit me with mixed feelings. I’ve wanted to see a big screen reboot for years, but I also felt I had a good story that I personally wanted to do. I was excited to see what they did, but ultimately, I was disappointed that I wasn’t going to be the one to do it.

But enough about me. What about the movie? I saw it yesterday, and I have some things to say about it. But for a short review, if someone asked me if it is worth it, what would I say? “Go, go!”

It is not the greatest movie ever made. It is not even the greatest movie I’ve seen this year, or probably even this week. Power Rangers falls somewhere above shitty adaptations like Super Mario Bros. and Dragonball and under Iron Man. It is good, not great. But I loved it.

Overall, it was very well made. And it is a fine start to a larger series. The actors are great, and the chemistry between the “rangers”, arguably the most important aspect of the movie, is spot on. Each of the Rangers are fun to watch, and get their moment to shine. Equally impressive is Elizabeth Banks as Rita, who surprisingly is terrifying. I was not expecting that performance out of her. Brian Cranston is a good Zordon (as good as anyone could be, for a character that is a floating head), and Bill Hader is a much better Alpha-5 than the trailers let on. 

The movie starts (SPOILERS) by showing Zordon’s ship crashing on Earth. As he crawls from the wreckage, past the bodies of his dying rangers (oddly very similar to how I intended to open my version), he hides the power coins in the ground, only to be revealed when those who are worthy are near. He is then confronted by Rita the Green Ranger, who has turned against him (again, oddly similar to what I had planned, except in my version it was Zedd who was the rebellious White Ranger).

Skip ahead to the present, and we meet the five kids. The story is a little contrived as to how they all end up in the same place at the same time to find the coins, but honestly, it is probably way more realistic than it was in the original show. And the rest is pretty straightforward; they get the coins, they meet Zordon and Alpha, they train to fight Rita, etc and so forth.

The movie is funny, and at times campy, but it is actually at it’s best when it is so. It struggles more when it tries to take itself too seriously. Overall it is very well paced, spending most of the time with the “teens with attitude” training and becoming a team, and friends. This is probably the best part of the movie, and I really enjoyed the dynamic between the kids. I almost didn’t want Rita to come in and ruin it all.

Where the movie suffers most, to me, is the third act. While very full of Ranger-y action, it felt a little too fast. The rangers spent most of the movie trying to earn the ability to morph, but when they finally got their armor, they spent only about two minutes fighting in said armor before moving on to the Zords. If this had been my story, I would honestly not have even introduced the Zords in the first movie, except maybe as a tease for things to come (For comparison, in my version, Zords weren’t going to be introduced until the third story, based on Turbo, as they would have been built from the remnants of the Machine Empire featured in the second story, which was based on Zeo). I know, I know, the Zords are an essential part of Power Rangers lore, but for a movie that spent so long on the leads earning the suits themselves, I would have spent longer on them earning these giant machines that can cause as much destruction as the monsters they fight it with. The fight against Goldar should have been as epic as the fights in Pacific Rim, but it just felt too rushed. It almost felt like the third act was fan service more than it was the conclusion of the story, where the bulk of the movie spent time reinventing the Power Rangers, the third act was heavy on classic lines and shots that mimicked the show. It almost felt like they didn’t know how to end this story.

The movie also has a major villain problem. Elizabeth Banks was fandamntastic as Rita. I cannot say enough of how much I really enjoyed her version of the villain. That said, while she was the main antagonist, as per Power Rangers usual, the Rangers weren’t fighting her head on, but instead facing off against her army of rock monsters (Putties) and Goldar. I loved how the Putties were formed from the ground and whatever materials were available. Same went for Goldar, as he was made out of pure gold. However, the never explain why Rita must use Goldar specifically to pull the Zeo Crystal out of the ground (nor do they explain why she wants the Zeo Crystal so bad, beyond wanting “more power”). Is it heavy? Can it only be touched by gold? What happens if she just made a really big rock Putty to pick it up? I know that Goldar served as Rita’s “monster of the week” that the Rangers had to face off against, but given the history that they spent time building for Rita, her backstory and connection to Zordon, I would have much preferred this story to be more of a personal fight between her and the Rangers, and, like the Zords, have her resort to sending more powerful monsters after the Rangers in subsequent movies. Again, not bad, and this isn’t the first movie to have a lackluster villain, but I wish there was more. 

The story of the teens definitely borrows from movies like The Breakfast Club, but it suffers when it drops this for the more sci-fi elements; for instance, they make a big deal about the fact that Jason has a ankle monitor on, but once Billy is able to deactivate it, it doesn't play into the plot anymore, which is odd, since his dad has been very hard on him about it. Just because it has been deactivated doesn’t mean that he isn’t supposed to be home at a certain time. It would have paid off more if this had been a struggle between Jason and his father throughout the story, and made it more of an impact when Jason rescues him at the end of the movie. But the movie gets right more than it misses. Billy, my favorite character, is somewhat autistic, which I think speaks volumes that you don't have to be the star quarterback to be the superhero, and that even those with disabilities can be heroes (in fact, Billy is the first one to earn his armor). Trini is also possibly a closet lesbian. I've read other reviews that were upset by this, as why not just make her out and proud, but really I think showing her as confused about who she is speaks more to teens in high school, many of whom are struggling with discovering who they are, and many, like Trini, who are dealing with families that refuse to acknowledge or disapprove of their children in these situations. Showing that a superhero faces those same struggles is monumental. We can spend the sequels watch her accept who she is, personally as well as with the Rangers.

As I said, the movie suffered most when it took itself too seriously. I wish they had embraced the source material a little more (which is the opposite of what I had intended to do with my story... maybe it’s a good thing I’ll never get to finish it). It should have been just a little more fun, and a little less grim. And that’s a problem that a lot of movies are facing right now. DC cannot, for the life of them, get the balance between humor and darkness. Everyone is trying to copy the Marvel formula, and no one is succeeding. With Power Rangers, I can’t help but wish they had gone closer to the source material and had more fun with it. Embrace the campiness of the story. Go full on Guardians of the Galaxy with it, and just embrace what makes it silly and unique. When the movie does this, it is at it’s best. 

Also... I want the full rock theme next time, instead of whatever this was. But kudos for using a new version of the song from the original movie. That said, the music for this movie was sort of bland. I mean, by now we’ve heard people say that Marvel has a music problem, and Power Rangers went and hired one of the men primarily responsible for that problem. While Brian Tyler (who did scores for Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, and Avengers: Age of Ultron) is definitely not a bad composer, his score for Power Rangers is a little too generic. If you played a track from it without telling me, my first thought is that it from Transformers or any number of similar movies. Parts of it, to me, sounded like Kick-Ass or Interstellar or Man of Steel or Iron Man, but nothing ever felt original an unique. It never had a moment that felt unequivocally Power Rangers, save for the use of the original theme, which even that felt like it was thrown together in five minutes, and felt sort of out-of-place in the movie when we got it. Don’t get me wrong, I was thrilled to hear any version of the original theme, but since the rest of the movie never even hinted at the theme, it didn’t feel like it was supposed to be there.

In fact, that comes to another criticism that I’ve read in many reviews: this is a reboot that doesn’t want to be connected to the source material. And, to an extent, this is true. To me, the movie is at it’s best when it is reminiscent of the show. Sure, it didn’t need to go full camp with bad dialogue and overly exaggerated reactions, but for the most part the movie tries to reinvent the Rangers into a modern-day, post-Marvel hero story. It borrows a lot of visual ques from movies like Man of Steel. Which means when we get scenes like the Zords charging towards Angel Grove (to the original theme, no less), or lines from Rita like “make my monster grow!” (or really most of anything in the third act) they, again, feel a little out of place. And, again, don’t get me wrong; I loved seeing those moments. I felt like cheering when I saw the Zords charging. But the movie didn’t feel like it had been leading up to a moment like that, and thus it was a little disjointed.

Hopefully, the next installments will do a better job balancing the story. Like I said, I really enjoyed this one, I think it is a great start, but I definitely think they could do better. With the (SPOILERS) tease of Tommy Oliver coming in the sequel, I have high hopes. I also hope the story takes them beyond Angel Grove; I know the television series primarily stuck to the streets of Angel Grove, but given that the movie teased Zordon and Rita’s origins as Rangers, it would be awesome to get to see more of where Zordon and Rita came from. Learn how many ranger teams there are out in the galaxy, if there are any others left, and if not, what happened to them. Learn why Alpha is number 5. Learn what the rangers were responsible for, besides fighting Rita. I think there so much potential for some interesting stories and fleshing out backstories that haven’t been done on the television show. This first movie was a great introduction to what we already know, but updated. Next I want to see something new, and epic. 

So, overall, I really enjoyed this movie. Hell, I’d say I loved it. But I still had some minor irks with it. And honestly, I probably picked this apart more than I would have if I hadn’t been working on my own version of this story for the last few years. I will always feel that this movie could have done more, and could have done some things differently. But I definitely enjoyed the hell out of it, and I cannot wait to see what comes next (in the six planned sequels). 

Extra Tidbit: Since I probably won’t continue working on it, over the next few days I may post some of the designs I came up with for my Rangers series, including costume design and whatnot. If anyone’s interested in seeing such things. 

[linandara]

My Last Jedi review

I like how this has been a bit of a "coming out" season: Serious, edicated, professional people suddenly post Star Wars reviews, sometime very critical, and I realise they really care, and are crazy life long fans just as I am.

Here is my contribution. I watched The Last Jedi (TLJ) twice. Discussed it with the family, then read other reviews. I did enjoyed quite a lot of it and may watch it again but my overall opinion is, sadly, negative. Spoilers are coming.

The biggest, greatest mistake is the lack of good strong relationships. Space is cold, but ALL previous Star Wars movies always had plenty of warmth from the the various forms of love and affection: between children and parents (Luke's towards his father, Anakin and his mum, Jyn Erso and her dad), best friends (Han, Luke, Chewie, Lando), siblings (Luke and Leia), teachers and students (Obi-Van and Qui-Gon, Obi-Van and Anakin, Luke and Obi-Van, Luke and Yoda), lovers (Leia and Han, Padme and Anakin). Where are any of these in the new movie?

Whatever was developing between Rey and Finn, Finn and Poe in The Force Awakens (TFA) is mostly forgotten. Rey and Luke are not getting along, which is particularly disappointing. Finding a lost close relative (father, sister) always was a Star Wars shortcut to developing a relationship and strong feelings. Alternatively, people spend years "in the same boat" and have got to the same point, when they knew and cared for each other. Rian Johnson did none of those. It seemed for a while that there was a spark between Rey and Ben Solo but it went nowhere when they parted. A glimpse of something between Finn and Rose was at the very end. A very short heart warming scene with Luke and Leia and that's it. I really liked the moment when Yoda said he missed Luke in his nicely mocking way. But all was just some rare raindrops in a wast emotional desert. Even through Luke had known Obi-Van for a day or so, he was so upset when the old man died. Yet Rey and his own sister didn't spared a tear for him. Like saying "this was for the best".

I really liked TFA and "Rogue One". I was looking forward to seeing TLJ a great deal. Now I like TFA less as its promises went unfulfilled.

Plot holes and apparent disregard for the laws of nature was another blow. Did rebels abolished autopilots? Why did they need to sacrifice pilots with their ships? How they better than the First Order then? Why can the admiral trust her soldiers and explain the situation avoiding a mutiny?

Creating a consistant fantasy reality or suspension of disbelief is essential to fictional stories. Only once before this was broken for me in Star Wars: in the Revenge of the Sith when Anakin turns to the dark side. His downward ark was badly written which was a pity because the first half of that movie was really good and strong. In TLJ this was happening several times! Leia floating in space didn't work. Lots of aliens were badly made (including Yoda himself). I thought we are past this with the modern technology! The "Luke milking an alien" scene was disturbing because in Star Wars it is often difficult to distinguish between intelligent and non-intelligent species. One of the frases Rey said to Luke sounded definitely awful. Why wasn't it retaken? The Luke's face when he was thinking of slaying teenage Ben in his sleep was so wrong, probably because Mark just couldn't believe his character, who saved Darth Vader despite all odds, would do that.

I think, the Luke's last stand and dying scenes were good. Well made, dramatic and original. I think, him projecting through the space rather than being here in person was necessary because he was already too weak to face Kylo Ren. That's the reason he never got back. He appeared to his former student and Leia younger, as he would look like before his exile, because he wanted to be remembered strong, proper Jedi, not a broken old man already dying far away, alone.

I wish it all happened in the next movie because I just have nothing to look forward any more. Unless JJ will have a lot of Luke's ghost appearances - which would be something new for the series. Luke was the most unique and alive character in TLJ. Grumpy, weird, but thinking and feeling. None of the young characters are good enough for me to care. Especially when Rey is now really nobody from nowhere, which is boring (unless Ben lies about her parents). And she is a "Mary Sue", which is boring again. Pity, because she had a good potential to be a great character after TFA. Ben has tantrums, which is funny but I can't take him seriously. Finn, Rose and Poe are just you average token generic good rebels, nothing much to say. They are nice and are played by good actors, but it's not enough. We need true heroes for these movies to work. Luke was a simple rebel character in the New Hope which never was my favourite Star Wars movie. But he grew steeply into a proper wise knight, which was the main point of the original series to me. Rian Johnson made him broken by guilt and fear, destroying everything he had achieved. That I could potentially forgive because he finally redeems Luke and brings my favourite ever fictional character back, when he returns to Leia and confronts Ben Solo. I wanted more so much - but instead he dies.

I really hoped Luke will leave his exile and go on a quest (several quests - even better) together with Rey, his new apprentice for years to come, building a strong relationship, whether they related by blood or not. When I've seen the casino pictures I thought by some reason that this will be one of their destinations, like great scenes with Obi-Van and Anakin, Obi-Van, Han and Luke, Rey and Finn in alien bars. Nope.

As Han dies quite suddenly and frankly pointlessly in TFA, a connection between the generations seems to be unfortunately lost. I think Han should have been very seriously injured but survived his meeting with his son for a better plot.

Lots of plot lines in TLJ lead nowhere. One can say this is what real life is but if the movies will be "nothing in particular happened on that day" what would be the point of watching them? Art is in selecting and prioritising what's matters, in making good stories, not simply copying the mundane.

There was so much of an introduction from Maz for the master code breaker - and then another one chosen. And then it all was unnecessary after all. A silly Rose monologue about evils of arms dealing and revenge on the rich, just to erase all that by showing that the rebels shop for their x-wing fighters at the same casino planet… Incidentally, were rebel generals so overdressed because they were planning to go arms shopping here after the battle? I loved the costumes and the jewellery (even hope to buy some replicas) but it was too much for the rebel situation. The casino planet, as Finn noticed, was beautiful - apart from some badly made aliens. And captive animals suddenly released in the wild are not likely to survive, Rose and Finn! Whole "rebels loose all the time" situation reminded me of Blake's Seven, which I find very depressing.

Were Knights of Ren got to? Phasma was easily killed without any chance to do or to say anything important. Characters which don't enrich the story are not necessary. It's not a tv series, time on the screen is pressious.

The sword battle in the Red room was very good and the way Ben killed overconfident Snoke was, I thought, excellent. Although unfortunately we didn't learn a thing about Snoke.

Unlike many critics I liked the humour in TLJ. Luke winking to C3PO, brushing dust of his cloak and saying to Ben something like "see you around" just before he died was good. The red sand planet was hauntingly beautiful. Riding the huge alien beasts was fun to watch althrough that whole part of the story was pointless. I liked Rey in the "dark side" cave but the scene didn't gave as anything apart from feeling weird. What is the dark side about? What is the attraction?

The movie is criticised for paving the way for merchandise to be sold. Rubbish. I wish me and my friends, teenagers in the Soviet Union, had any merchandise to cherish when we watched the Original Trilogy. Instead we had to stop the videotape and take black and white photos to have at least something.

The music score in TLJ was the worst of Star Wars. Especially painful because TFA and Rogue One scores were so good. Almost no unique tracks to listen, just a mishmash of old tunes plus something reminding totally childish Harry Potter music.

Another big problem is the meaning of good and evil. How Snoke got to Ben? Why did Ben chose the dark side? Why Rey didn't? It is good that Luke admits the Jedi Order's flaws to Rey but why didn't he went to the dark side knowing all that? This is a big problem for the whole Star Wars saga. In real life people do horrible things thinking they are doing good. Nobody "chooses evil side". So Snoke, a vilian for the sake of being a vilian, already was a mistake in TFA. I think it was Aristotel who said that confrontation in a story should be between relatives or former friends to keep us engaged. This is why Luke, Leia or Han are needed to oppose Ben. Unless Rey is Ben's cousin after all. An opportunity for a romance (which would bring some necessary viewer engagement) for those two young people, I think, is already lost as nothing even started so far, after two movies.

TLJ is very entertaining to watch but that's not good enough for Star Wars. For Jurassic Park or James Bond, yes. A Star Wars story needs a strong emotional connection with the viewer and the latest doing lots of thinking about "What is Good?" because of what he sees.

All the flaws were very surprising considering that movies are done by groups of people. Could somebody brave point the mistakes and the weak moments to the director? How so many "professional" reviews ignored them and why?

I hope JJ will rescue the ending of this three parter but not in a way in which the ending of Lost was done, ruining the series! And maybe in a few years time somebody will make good quality CGI movies or an Dragon Age Inquisition/Witcher-like choice game, either set in alternative reality or in between The Return of Jedi and TFA. To give Luke, Han and Leia a bit more screen time they deserve and to reestablish the good proper heroes they originally were.

Saying that, I think all movies, games and books should come with a waring "To avoid disappointment, write your own stories" ;)

So here's the list of Star Wars movies in the order I rate them, from the favourite and much loved ones to the less loved.

The Return of Jedi

Empire Strickes Back

Rogue One

Attack of the Clones

The Force Awakens

A New Hope

Revenge of the Sith

The Phantom Menace

The Last Jedi

Still, I think it's the best film series made so far on this planet and any one is far ahead (in my rating) of other sci-fi, adventure and fantasy movies I ever enjoyed watching. Honestly I tried to find other good stoies and other good heroes many times since I was 15. Maybe I will one day.

[mymoviesnob]

A Movie Snob Predicts the Oscars - 2017 Edition

Hello again! Welcome to the 2017 edition of A Movie Snob Predicts the Oscars.

As I have been preparing to write this, I’ve been going back over the list of nominees and I noticed a few themes in the films across categories… from overcoming adversity in Hidden Figures and Hacksaw Ridge. to complicated families in Fences. Moonlight and Manchester by the Sea. But the theme I found the most compelling is that of refugees fleeing war torn countries to find a better life for their children in several documentaries, 4.1 Miles, The White Helmets, Fire at Sea and to some extent, Ennemis Interieurs.  The Academy was certainly trying to shine a bright light on this global issue and I hope the nominations brought more viewers to hear these stories.  

While many of the films were heavy in subject matter, there were a few bright spots as well with small movies like Captain Fantastic, A Man Called Ove, La Femme et la TGV and the not so small and much beloved La La Land.

I typically wrestle with the films I personally enjoyed the most vs those which I believe will actually win. … because, let’s face it, I like being right. This year, I feel like the Academy and I will be pretty well lined up in that regard.  

And as the whitest white girl ever, I can’t claim that the diversity issue from past years has been resolved, but this year feels like a step in the right direction.

So, without further ado, here are my picks for the 89th Annual Academy Awards.

 Best Picture

Arrival – A film about aliens who land on earth and the linguists who attempt to communicate with them.  I found the concept to be interesting, but I could have done without the whole “special powers” thing that Amy Adams’ character experienced. Not a favorite.

Fences – Adapted from August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize winning play, it was one of this year’s best. Solid performances all around and full of flawed characters and quick dialog.

Hacksaw Ridge – A lot of people who saw this one before I did raved about it. Maybe my expectations going in were too high but I personally did not love it. I agree that this man’s story is miraculous and he’s a true hero. I’m glad his story has been told, but this is not my choice for Best Picture. And who casts Vince Vaughn as a drill sergeant?? Seriously? 

Hell or High Water – The Dude, Chris Pine, Ben Foster… some bank robberies and lots of dirt. Good flick, but not the best in this bunch. See it though. I liked it.

Hidden Figures – this is another story I’m glad was told. I had no idea that these women had a hand in getting our space program off the ground. I thoroughly enjoyed it but I don’t think it’s the best.

La La Land – Hands down my favorite movie I’ve seen in years. I’m not typically one for glossy romances, let alone musicals, but this movie is pure magic. It was shot in Cinemascope and from the opening sequence, it had me. This is a throwback to the old Hollywood that made me fall in love with movies. And yes, I actually loved the singing and dancing and even the mushy stuff. This year I will not agonize about my favorite vs. the critical darling because they are one in the same! With all the darkness out there, it was refreshing to have a little light. Anyway.. much more gushing over this one later.

Lion – The amazing true story of a little boy who gets separated from his family in India and adopted by an Australian family. I found this to be more interesting than I expected but it was probably my least favorite of this bunch.

Manchester by the Sea – This is a heartbreaking story of a man who is forced to confront a dark past to care for his nephew after his brother passes away unexpectedly. This is slow and sad and looks at how people deal with loss and grief. This is one I had to reflect upon a bit. Initially, I was not a fan, but it’s not meant to be the “feel good movie of the year” and it accomplishes what it sets out to do.

Moonlight – this is one I saw almost as soon as it came out, not knowing anything at all about it. I went in with no expectations and left pleasantly surprised. Again, not a “feel good” movie, but one that tells the story of a boy, growing up in a drug infested community with a mother who is an addict and a drug dealer as his role model. and father figure. It follows him through three stages in his life and the internal conflict he experiences as he learns who he is. See it.

 Actress:

Isabelle Huppert – Elle – I wasn’t able to see this movie… it’s not available anywhere yet in the States, but she did win the Golden Globe so I think she has a shot.

Ruth Negga – Loving – Good movie… I’m surprised it didn’t get more nominations.

Natalie Portman – Jackie – I think she was good in this, but I found the character to be super annoying. I realize she was playing a real person… so maybe that means I would have found Jackie Kennedy to be super annoying? Anyway, not my favorite.

Emma Stone – La La Land – She’s my pick. Singing and dancing and being vulnerable in that way made me love her.

Meryl Streep – Florence Foster Jenkins – She can do no wrong… we all know this. 

 Supporting Actress:

Viola Davis – Fences – Hands down, no brainer, this is her night. She was AMAZING. She put Denzel in his place like her life depended on it. She will win and if she doesn’t it will be a travesty!

Naomi Harris – Moonlight – She was great as the crack addicted mother in this film. I also saw an interview with her later and realized she’s not American… accent was spot on. I would never had guessed!

Nicole Kidman – Lion – I’m not sure why she’s in this bunch. I like her, but I don’t get it this year.

Octavia Spenser – Hidden Figures – Another great performance from her, but Viola kicked her butt this go round.  

Michelle Williams – Manchester by the Sea – I don’t think she got enough screen time to warrant a nomination. Sure, she was good when we saw her, but she didn’t make a huge impression for me.

 Actor:

Casey Affleck – Manchester by the Sea – He gave a heart wrenching performance of an incredibly complicated character. It was more nuanced, less in your face than the other front runner and that is my reason for going with him.  He gets my vote but I’ve read that there have been some recent harassment suits brought against him that may cause him to lose votes.

Andrew Garfield – Hacksaw Ridge – nope.

Ryan Gosling – La La Land – I don’t think he will win, but I need to say that he proved to be more than a pretty face (and perfect abs, etc, etc). He sang. He danced. And as I was leaving the theater, I immediately looked up whether or not he played his own piano to find that HE DID! I find that to be incredibly impressive. And can we talk about his speech at the Golden Globes where he thanked his lady for being home raising their daughters while he was making this movie? Love him.

Viggo Mortensen – Captain Fantastic – I had no idea what this movie was until it was nominated and I really, really liked it. He plays a single father, living off the grid with his six children. I know that sounds riveting, but it was surprisingly sweet and funny and entertaining. I recommend it.

Denzel Washington – Fences – If Affleck doesn’t take it, it’s got to go to Denzel. He’s Denzel.  And delivering those lines had to have been one hell of a challenge.  Someone i feel it must be “easier” to be bold and boastful as he was in this performance vs quiet and subdued as Affleck was. 

 Supporting Actor:

Mahershala Ali – Moonlight – He’s my favorite to win. He’s that character you’re not supposed to like by the nature of what he does, but you find out that he’s a compassionate guy doing what he had to in order to survive.

Jeff Bridges – Hell of High Water – He’s THE DUDE! No other explanation necessary … you know that means he is, and always will be, awesome.

Lucas Hedges – Manchester by the Sea – He’s the teenager dealing with the loss of his father and an uncertain future.

Dev Patel – Lion – He’s the lost Indian boy, all grown up and trying to find his family. I’m not sure who he was “supporting” though... he was the main guy in this movie... 

Michael Shannon – Nocturnal Animals – He’s a cop with nothing to lose… (you know you want to read that in the “movie announcer voice”). Anyway, he is a great actor. Does great with creepy and/or crazy characters. This is not his year though. I wish this nomination had gone to his counterpart in this film,  Aaron Taylor-Johnson, instead. He played a really good psychopath. 

 Animated Feature:

Kubo and the Two Strings

Moana – I loved this, and I think it would win if not for Zootopia

My Life as a Zucchini

The Red Turtle

Zootopia – this is our winner

 Cinematography:

Arrival

La La Land

Lion

Moonlight

Silence

Costume Design:

Allied

Fantastic Beasts and where to Find Them

Florence Foster Jenkins

Jackie

La La Land

 Director:

Damien Chazelle – La La Land – yes, yes, yes a thousand times, yes, he should win. He also directed Whiplash (which was amazing… you should see it)  and is likely becoming my new favorite director! He’s brave and only 32 years old. I’m looking forward to his long, beautiful, brilliant career!

Mel Gibson – Hacksaw Ridge – I’m just glad he wasn’t IN this movie. And I hold him responsible for the whole “Vince Vaughn as a drill sergeant” thing.

Barry Jenkins – Moonlight

Kenneth Lonergan – Manchester by the Sea

Denis Villeneuve – Arrival

 Documentary Feature:

Fire at Sea – about refugees fleeing the African coast for a small Italian island, and the people who rescue them

I am not your Negro

Life, Animated – this is about an autistic boy who grew up relating life to what he learned watching Disney movies. I liked it.

O.J:. Made in America – I think this will win due to its pure scope and scale. It literally goes on for days… (ok… 7 hours and 47 min but that felt like days..) and I did walk away having learned things I didn’t know about him and the murder trial.

The 13th – This is the one I secretly hope will win.

 Documentary Short Film:

Extremis – about doctor’s helping terminally ill patients and their families make difficult end of life decisions

4.1 Miles – about Syrian refugee’s fleeing for a small Greek island

Joe’s Violin – about a 92 year old holocaust survivor’s violin which has been passed on to a young music student at a school for immigrant girls in the Bronx. As the one not about the refugee crisis, it stands out, which is why I think it will win.

Watani: My Homeland

The White Helmets  - about a group of men, former builders, tailors, blacksmiths, etc, who risk their lives volunteering to save civilians (from either side of the fight) in Aleppo as bombs fall around them.  Everyone who believes that we should not allow refugees in to our country should see this movie. I realize that things are more complicated than that, but there is nothing complicated about parents not wanting to have to teach their toddlers the difference between the sound of a regular plane and the sound of one carrying bombs or not wanting to have to dig them out of a pile of concrete that used to be their home or school. I’ve heard the “if it’s so bad, they should leave” argument… but they need a place to go.

 Film Editing:

Arrival

Hacksaw Ridge

Hell or High Water

La La Land – let’s keep this lovefest going…

Moonlight

 Foreign Language Film:

Land of Mine

A Man Called Ove - really, really enjoyed this one. 

The Salesman – for political reasons, I think this will win

Tanna

Toni Erdmann

 Makeup and Hairstyling:

A Man Called Ove 

Star Trek Beyond – because of the Spock ears and stuff. (BTW… I hate these movies)

Suicide Squad – I can’t believe I sat through this garbage.

 Original Score:

Jackie

La La Land – YES! The music is as much a part of this movie as Stone and Gosling.

Lion

Moonlight

Passengers

 Original Song:

Audition (The Fools Who Dream) –  La La Land – I love this! And I had a really hard time between this and City of Stars…

Can’t Stop the Feeling! – Trolls – as much as I would like to see JT win an Oscar, I don’t think this will win, even if it is the only song in this bunch that most of you  know.

City of Stars – La La Land – this is the one I’ve had stuck in my head since I saw the movie. I love it!

The Empty Chair – Jim: The James Foley Story

How Far I’ll Go – Moana – I want Lin-Manuel Miranda to win, but not this year

 Production Design:

Arrival

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Hail, Caesar!

La La Land - the sets are amazing!

Passengers

 Animated Short Film:

Blind Vaysha

Borrowed Time

Pear Cider and Cigarettes

Pearl – this one is made to be viewed in virtual reality so its ground breaking and cool… I think it could win. But Piper is Pixar so... 

Piper –  will win… and it’s cute.

 Live Action Short Film:

Ennemis Interieurs – this is about the interrogation of an Algerian man who has lived in France for years but is trying to gain official citizenship. I hope this doesn’t happen in real life but something tells me it is likely not far off from reality…

La Femme et la TGV-about a woman who lives alongside the tracks of a high speed train and strikes up a friendship with the train operator she’s never met.

Silent Nights – didn’t love it.

Sing – about a girl who wants to join her school choir and a teacher who is hell bent on them winning a competition. I really liked this one too. 

Timecode  - silly and weirdly sweet

 Sound Editing:

Arrival

Deepwater Horizon – I sat through this garbage too. Marky Mark needs to go away

Hacksaw Ridge – this is where I throw this one a bone…

La La Land – if Hacksaw doesn’t take it

Sully

 Sound Mixing:

Arrival

Hacksaw Ridge

La La Land – because it’s a musical

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi

 Visual Effects:

Deepwater Horizon

Doctor Strange

The Jungle Book

Kubo and the Two Strings

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

 Adapted Screenplay:

Arrival

Fences – I’m torn…

Hidden Figures

Lion

Moonlight – I’m going with this, but Fences may take it.

 Original Screenplay:

Hell or High Water

La La Land – again, torn, but…

The Lobster – quite possibly the weirdest movie I’ve ever enjoyed. Very, very strange.

Manchester by the Sea- I’m going with my gut and saying this is the winner

20th Century Women

Well, there you have it! 

This year I’ve been fortunate enough to have brought a few more friends into the “watch all the movies” challenge and it’s been so much fun! Can’t wait to see what next year brings!