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semi-imaginary-place · 7 months ago

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end of ffxv thoughts

i sort of piecemeal watched the ending of ffxv so i finally sat down and watched the while thing through and some thoughts from the last 1/3 of the game

magic universe ending protozoa. This is bullshit. I get that they wanted to go scifi but it doesn't work. Imagine if maleria caused the sun to go out. They should have just made it magic. Curses were used to explain diseases anyways and magic engineering is already established in this setting. It can just be a magic infectious disease instead of having magic daemon protozoa and then they tied the magic protozoa to the world ending destruction of light like huh thats not how protozoa work. Like you could just say daemons and daemonic energy itself is infectious. Eh I suppose this isnt the worst i'm coming around to it. Like if you go the protozoa route how does the oracle bloodline stop it and why does lunafreya and ravus dying accelerate it (probably ardyn's doing) but it leaves more questions.

So in the final fight ardyn is weakened enough his physical body is destroyed but he still could come back from the rainbow realm. Ardyn kinda obsessed with noctis ngl

Which brings me to the next point presummably Noctis needs the power of the previous Lucis kings to get rid of Ardun for good but I thought that was what the 10 years was for to attune to the ring's power but then there's the cutscene of all the kings joining the ring. Did that really have to take 10 years? It feels more that the writers wanted a timeskip. I should go look up an explanation. Edit ah timeskip was crystal power.

Liked episode prompto gotta love an existential crisis. I am confused whether from prompto's monologue whether he knew he was an mt clone or not because he was saying as a kid he was afraid of people knowing. I should look that up. also did he meet luna before noctis? im unclear on the timeline. i looked things up. part of what confused me about the clone reveal was that the MTs seemed to be robotic when damaged or cut apart. the clones weren't directly put into the armor suits there were used as food to cultivate the black stuff which was then processed into the cores powering MTs. idk how much consciousness was retained but prompto seems to believe so.

Gotta say i really respect tabata. He was dumped into the worst case scenario, development hell project that had been dragging on and accumulating detritus for a decade, engine changes, concept changes, nomura, like late stage director change wow what a mess. I think tabata resigned after the project too. And yet ffxv managed to pull itself together in the end. Despite one if the worst development cycles in history xv still managed to have a better story than xvi. It shouldn't really be controversial to but monarchy iant a good government system so I'm a hard sell on return of the rightful king and divine right of kings type stories, ffxv did pretty good.

Also let me say maybe its the acearo but i cant be the only one who keeps forgetting lunafreya is the love interest they really feel like close childhood friends more than romanic interests. But I didn't hate it, it was fine.

just a thought. if after the darkening all of crown city moved to lestallum how is that possible. insomia looked like a major metropolis like hyper urban the population has got to be over 1 million maybe even 10 million or more and lestallum looks like a mid sized city maybe 0.5 million (possibly smaller) no way they absorbed that many people not to mention from other areas.

why was lunafreya in insomnia in the beginning of the game anyways

brotherhood huh i thought prompto and noctis met in highschool. actually if prompto was part of some lucis military operation how'd he end up living a normal childhood. oh the dog prompto helped pryna that's how they met. interesting contrast between prompto being presented as the "normal" one in the group and then he's actually super special i don't know if i like it. also not everything needs to connect back to noct and luna like prompto could have decided on weightloss and an image change on his own or be cause he wanted acceptance by his classmates. so prompto just shove his way into noctis's life after stalking him for like 7 years. eh anime's pretty bad it's on part with other videogame animes which all tend to be pretty bad or mid at best. it relies on tropes as a cheap easy way to tell a story with out doing any of the ground work to develope a narrative. eh it explains some plot things i suppose

kingsglaive: luna what are you doing just standing there while regis is trying to buy you time. drautos.. wasn't that the traitor guy. if so why did he send crowe to her death if the hairpin is bugged. presumably niflhiem wanted the tracker on lunafreya. the hairpin ending up with her through nyx is coincidence. multiple problems would have been solved giving lunafreya or nyx a gun. my dude why is you only long/mid range weapon a knife. plot armor really is the best armor drautos/glauca really shrugs off the entirely of regis's security detail, cladudis and regis but can barely get up from ring blast. why are the giant golems only activating now after the king has died (edit: oh that's the old wall they were talking about. it's not a wall). oh the car broke down i was like why are you all standing in the street, you're going to walk to altissia?? that's literally 40 times slower than driving. not sure why she ditched libertus beside to fit the game.

is it weird that i like the movie more than the game. movie is an action film to the background of a political drama with is exactly in my lane same reason i liked ff12. game is a bros roadtrip which is fun but isn't quite as exciting. kingsglaive also retains that urban fantasy setting that was core to versus xiii. kinda tropey action movie wise and as a movie maybe 8/10 but that's better than any other videogame movie i've ever seen in the last 20 years.

also i figured out why regis' model was bothering me, his beard isn't as neat as you'd expect. I guessing it's a 3d modeling thing because i sometimes see the same problem with animal fur just took me a while to connect the dots. regis' beard is kinda scraggly where as if you look at the beards of most high profile men they tend to be more neatly shaven (which by the way is a lot of work maintaining a good looking beard is more work then shaving every day because you still have to shave like every other day or but this time you have to actually groom it instead of taking it all off). i also still think the lucis crown looks stupid

ngl pocket edition looks super charming reminds me of bravely default i might like it more than the full game. idk why they bothered to remake all the models and assets this whole project seems like a waste of resources but it caters to my specific niche audience. i guess squeenix had too much fxiv money to burn.

#ffxv

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masterhandss · 4 years ago

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Personally I don't see what you see in Geordo. He seems like such a scumbag to me and is the least likable charater in the whole series. He is always trying to get her alone to push her into things of a sexual/ more romantic nature without taking how she really feels into consideration. Like he "really wants her" and thats enough for him without caring what she really wants. Honestly he is the borderline non-con villian in my mind.

I mean, it's okay if you feel like that. To each their own.

Hmmm when I think about Geordo being sexually aggressive towards Katarina, I only really just think of the anime. The manga is a much more moe-fied and toned down version of the novels, and the novels does an okay job at balancing his desires for Katarina in all aspects. I'm not saying he doesn't have that trait in the other two mediums, I just think that they aren't as intense as the anime, so as someone who consumes all three versions I just tilt my head and go "huh." Of course I'm sure there are people who read the manga and novels that still feel uncomfortable about his behavior and that's valid too.

-> light novel spoilers ahead <-

tldr, there is a lot more going on to him than just someone who offers sweet words and questionable invitations to Katarina's ears, this may not be noticeable or acceptable to some people but we get to know more about how he thinks whenever the novels puts us in his point of view. You're free to dislike him as much as you want, but I like him & don't see him as a scumbag; and here's why:

I at least find it okay that Geordo is very serious about his pursuits for her because he is aware that she is dense and will not get it until you spell it in the sky. Everyone is just walking eggshells around Katarina hoping that the girl would just develop feelings for one of them to win the harem olympics. He knows that being dealt with a good card isn't enough, so he's actively taking action in order to win her heart. I mean I don't always agree with his methods either, like the "fait accompli" line or constantly inviting her to his room alone, but really, how much of that is something he really means to do vs how much of that is his excessive flirting + our minds assuming that he really means to claim her in that way?

Lines like that are really popular with japanese fans because it makes Geordo look "sexy" and "forward", which they enjoy in their fictional stories. He knows that his position gives him an advantage so he'll try to play his cards right and use it to increase his chances in victory.

It actually reminds me of a scene from the Hamefura StoryMe game, (don't really know how canon it is but I remember the JP ver. was advertised by @/hamhura) where Geordo indirectly asked Katarina how to woo a girl he really likes, and Katarina thinking he was referring to Maria, gives all the things he usually does in order to win her heart (visit her home, give her gift, dance with her in parties, be really forward about your feelings etc). I'm not saying Katarina approves of the ways Geordo attempts to win her heart, but there's some hilarity in knowing that Geordo already had and is constantly trying all the known ways to win over a girl in the world from a young age, and still has nothing to show for it. Like no awareness, much less any *feelings* lmao. So trying to make it obvious that he is interested in her romantically and sexually seems like the next logical step to him. I mean if you go by Geordo's logic and considering the time period this takes place in, he's pretty confident that he can get Katarina to love him back and they are engaged anyways so in his head he's in safe waters to attempt to make teases about such advancements if it gives him the smallest chance that Katarina would become at least aware of him through it.

Of course I know that stuff like that won't fly here in the real world, but maybe that's why I'm so lenient personally when it comes to his (debatably) sexual teases and advances, because it's a fictional story for a japanese audience. Doesn't mean I would approve any advances like that if it happens to me, it's just that it's hard to take his actions seriously when Katarina or the story doesn't take them seriously. Like, the girl would be pushed down to a bed by RufuSora and gives her a hickey and she still thinks the man is out for her blood.

He wouldn't even be entirely wrong, knowing the identities of the characters who Katarina knows has romantic interest in her in the novels, actions does speak louder than words when it comes to her. Like I said, whether or not Geordo really means what he says when the story teases the readers with sexual implications in his words and action depends on the reader in my opinion. They are there, I wont pretend they don't but I'd argue about the level of intent depending on what scene you're talking about.

The only scenes on the top of my head where he is very abrasive towards Katarina is the "fait accompli" scene, the Book scene form the anime (S1 EP8), saying he wants to lock her in his room (LN6) and the multiple times Geordo had invited her in his room at night alone (LN6 and LN8, i think).

I've already explained why I am okay with both Keith and Geordo's Book scenes from episode 8 of the first season because they are accurate representations of an exaggerated and unhinged versions of their desires towards Katarina so I won't bore you with those details again.

He mentioned in Volume 6 that he wants to lock Katarina in his room forever and keep her light to himself, which alarmed a few people when the book came out, but he said that in a moment where he feels super grateful and loving towards her because she knew how tired he was despite his fake face and without even saying anything. It was a moment where he felt so infatuated towards her that he wished the moment where he gets to rest in her arms would last forever, thus he made such a comment. I make it sound more dramatic than it was in Volume 6, it was just a quick comment honestly lmao.

For people who don't read the novels, that last part looks very sus and raises a few red flags I know, but to be fair we can't definitively say what his intentions are because Katarina never commits to those visits. Katarina has actually become wary of those invitations, because Keith and Mary have warned her that Geordo's intentions are sexual, but I'm not really trusting the word of the two people who are most distrustful and antagonistic to Geordo. They could be right, of course, but who can really say? We assume that they are correct because they care about Katarina and are wary of Geordo, but hamefura('s novels) is full of unreliable narrators anyways, it's not like Keith or Mary would consider the possibility of it being anything else because when it comes to the third prince they always fear the worst case scenario.

If you think about it, Geordo is probably aware that winning her over with a "fait accompli" won't work at all because it'll put him in a position that will make other people push him for the throne (which he doesn't want) or could ruin his reputation in high society if Katarina or her family react to it negatively. I'm not Geordo though, so I can't really say if he even have such fears and doubts in the first place, that's just my assessment based on the obstacles he has. On the outside he is really sure of himself and confident (which he arguably deserves) and on the inside he is very careful and insecure when it comes to Katarina.

Also like, spoilers but for someone who is very forward when it comes to his physical advances, Geordo is super weak when he is in the receiving end of those touches. He gets super embarrassed and easily flustered when its Katarina who is touching him, as if implying that to some extent that he's all just talk lmao.

I don't really agree that Geordo doesn't care about what Katarina feels at all, in fact his inner dilemma in the novels is that he doesn't know what to do because in every step he takes he might do something that could ruin his image in Katarina's eyes, be it pursuing or abandoning the throne or looking like a monster in front of her. He even halts his plans to make advances towards her during the Keith Kidnapping Arc, but threw it away because he knows how much finding Keith means to Katarina. He puts what Katarina want and doesn't want as his priority, so when what she feels is unclear that's when he acts on his own intuition. The only reason Geordo feels so confident to advance towards her sexually is because Katarina never rejected him before (because she doesn't know what they mean, and all of this is for the sake of simply making her aware in the first place)

I'm not trying to make anyone think that one has to read all the books in order to understand him, I think the manga does okay at conveying his feelings too. The anime really prioritizes on making him look "sexy" for the japanese female audience, so anything he does is sprinkled with spice whether we like it or not.

I'm sorry if it seems like I'm overanalyzing all his actions just to justify them, everyone has the right to be uncomfortable with his advances if it seems too much for you. It's just that his actions, while over the top and unnecessary, are done to please the type of audience that hamefura caters to, and it's hard to take him completely seriously when the story doesn't either in my opinion. Doesn't mean he's right or that any of it is okay, but it's his method of trying to put a dent on Katarina's bakashield. When you're in a race versus your friends who Katarina all loves equally, he's gonna use whatever card he can get in order to win.

I like Geordo; I like how much of his feelings for Katarina forces him to reexamine himself and realize that he isn't a perfect prince at all, that he has lots of problems and flaws that he needs to work out in order to be someone worthy of her. I like the way he falls more and more in love with her in every interaction they have because he finally gets to have a genuinely and caring interaction with someone. I like how Geordo wants to do better and be better for Katarina and the people around him, and he wants to be able to thank Katarina directly for that through being able to show his love. I like that despite how much of a chad he acts in front of her, he's a blushing mess at the thought of Katarina returning his feelings. I find it funny when his "sexual advances" fails and gets thwarted because he's trying them on the densest person and most protected lady to ever live. I like how Geordo is so head-over-heals in love with her and how much comfort and warmth she brings to him by simply being her caring and bubbly self.

I guess it's just a matter of different perspectives. If you find him unlikeable or a villain, then you do you. I try to explain why I personally excuse his actions, but I know it wont fly with everyone. We all see each character differently and absorb the material in different ways. In fact it's probably a bad idea for me to defend him with material that isn't the anime nor manga yet lmao. I mean I'm not that much of a fan of Mary anymore, and I'm kinda scared and wary of her, but I know people don't see her the way I do and I'm okay with that.

Maybe its just me, who is the kind of person who just goes with the flow and doesn't think too hard because it's all fiction anyways

It's hard to tell all this from simply watching the anime, so I laid all my feelings down in hopes that someone out there would understand why I like him so much.

Thank you for the ask, you can ask more questions or call me out if I said anything insensitive or wrong, I know a lot of this is me overanalyzing things which might look like I'm jus stretching. As someone who is aware of the things to come in Hamefura X, I can say that I am both excited and nervous as to how everyone will react for the direction of Geordo's character.

#mh ask #hamefura #my next life as a villainess #geordo stuart #katarina claes #geokata #for some reason tumblr wont type the letter E #anyways there are my thoughts please dont hate me lmao #if you dont like Geordo then thats fine #im not forcing anyone to like him #i just wanna explain my own perspective thats all #DONT THROW FIRE AT ME #bakarina #destruction flag otome #hamehura #hamefura spoilers

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lilover131 · 4 years ago

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Chapter 55 Thoughts

It’s been a while since I’ve taken the time to actually write down my reactions and thoughts about a chapter, but after a agonizing 3 month wait for a new chapter, I had a lot of time to think about a lot of things. The final day was certainly the most difficult, and I slept horribly trying to wait for this chapter to come out (it’d be nice if companies could regularly list like....a release time on a certain date so people aren’t literally refreshing the page every 5 minutes to see if it’s up. Or at least have some consistency!). My lack of sleep and constant thoughts about CCS though did manage to stir another CCS related dream, which I will talk about in a separate post.

But hot damn was this chapter worth the wait! It certainly wasn’t what I expected, but it was really great in a lot of ways!

ANYWAYS, I’ve rambled enough. My thoughts on this chapter are below the cut!

So I will start off by praising the hell out of Sakura for her quick thinking in using SIEGE. That was definitely a wow moment for me and really shows her growth as a magic user and as a person honestly. This action not only spoke to her skill but also to how quick thinking she is in such an uncertain situation. Surely, having never had any reason to doubt Kaito or question his abilities before, It is almost unbelievable that she managed to think of that and do that in the mere seconds she had to respond after Syaoran made his accusation of Kaito. I’ve noticed as of late that her instincts in particular seem to be really really on point. She starting to trust herself and her feelings, and because of this, she is able to act without hesitation, and I have a feeling that is going to be extremely vital later on.

Sakura starts off by asking the real important questions and things I would ask myself in her shoes having just met another magic user, especially one with unclear intentions like Kaito. She seemed like she was studying him to gauge him and the reasons for his actions or what he might do. What intrigues me about this part is she first asks him if he knows about her being able to use cards. He answers with a simple “Yes”. But when she asks about if he knows about Syaoran, his answer is far less simple, and that might potentially be telling. Kaito stated that he knows Syaoran to be a “extremely gifted sorcerer” and “the next head of the Li clan”. Now, perhaps I’m overthinking this, but he could have just answered ‘yes’ like he did with Sakura, but instead he listed specific details about him that shows Sakura he has done his research and knows a lot about him. Now, we already knew that he had this information of course, but why does he want Sakura to know this in that moment? I’m fascinated by this and what he was trying to tell Sakura by telling her he had this sort of knowledge. Additionally, why is it that when it pertains to Syaoran, Kaito behaves so much differently than he does with anyone else? I’ll probably delve into that in another post, but I have some theories on that.

After making this statement, Sakura and Kaito exchange some meaningful looks, though it’s unclear what the both of them are thinking in that moment. Sakura turns to look back at Akiho and Syaoran and appears nervous, like she’s concerned about something (I have a theory to that as well, but I’ll leave that for another time). Then, Sakura mentions Momo and asks where she went, indicating that she has not forgotten about the other person around earlier. Sakura seems to really be evaluating her situation with these questions she’s asking, but unbeknownst to her, Momo has been cut off from her tv drama and is pouting in the mansion. hahahaha!

Momo, while upset that she can’t see what’s going on anymore, praises Sakura for her for her quick thinking and mentions that neither she or Akiho’s mother accurately predicted how powerful Sakura would become. The implications of this are unknown as it is unclear what they are trying to stop to begin with.

The scene changes back to Kaito and Sakura’s ‘standoff’, and Kaito states that Sakura cannot stay hidden in SIEGE’s field forever. I believe he was trying to stir a reaction and speed things up as probably the longer he has his time spell up, the more it affects his body, so he cannot afford to waste any more time. In what appears to be his way of showing desperation (at least in my opinion), he points his staff in Syaoran’s direction and threatens Sakura by stating that “He will make the first move” if she won’t. My jaw dropped a this, and though I don’t believe he actually had any intentions of hurting Syaoran, just the implications and threat of it was enough to make my blood boil. Lmao.

BUT ONCE AGAIN, SAKURA IS QUEEN and reacts ridiculously fast to protect her man and uses one of her newest cards, TRANSFER, to switch places with Kaito and....well...she put him in a box. Hahahaha!! Seeing Kaito all crammed in that small space inside of SIEGE was honestly so satisfying and it was nice to see him on the losing side for once. I can’t imagine he was happy about it either. He’s used to things going his way, and in this particular venture, it has been anything but.

However, this unfortunately also becomes Sakura’s downfall. By switching places with him, she put herself out of the protection she had before and was now affected by Kaito’s time magic. She managed to take a few steps, running towards Syaoran, before she ultimately was stopped. Kaito makes mention of her progress. When you think about it, she’s gone from being able to move a pinky to moving as far as she did this time, so it’s a significant growth.

He goes on to talk, though it’s unclear if Sakura could hear him at all, about a phrase Akiho had learned in her Japanese dictionary one time about “growing leaps and bounds”. He seemed lost in a memory where Akiho spoke of how she wished to improve her Japanese so she could become even better friends with Sakura and the others, and how happy she looked when she spoke of this. Honestly, this sentiment from Akiho is super relatable and resonated with me. I am fortunate to have so many friends in so many different parts of the world, and I absolutely love learning about their cultures and words of their native language so that I can become closer to them. But what also makes this moment so meaningful is that in this particular moment, Kaito is thinking about Akiho and her smile. One may wonder “Why is he saying this right now?”, but it really does display how much Akiho is on his mind and how much he cares about her and his reasons for doing all of this.

Shortly after saying this, he seems to be in pain again, showing once again the deterioration of his body the more he uses time magic, and it seems clear that he really is getting closer to his own demise. He even says as much when he pleads to Sakura to please make the card he needs soon, before he runs out of time. I don’t think he’s necessarily displaying a will to live or anything yet, but more a “I have to get this done before I perish, or it will all be for nothing”.

Disappointingly, time is rewound once again, and he takes it back to before he and Akiho decided on a location for their outing. @meimi-haneoka mentioned this, and I agree with her, but he could have rewound to any point in time and could have completely undone their entire day, but he chose to still have that outing with her anyways. It was a conscious choice he made, though he quite casually made sure they changed the choice of location (for obvious reasons). Lmao!!!

Now we get to the really exciting part. So after Kaito rewound time, I gave a big sigh and thought “Well, here we go again”, but something was very different this time. Sakura’s serious expression standing in her hallway said it all, and she suddenly grabbed her phone from her purse and called Syaoran, saying “We need to talk. It’s important”.

So Syaoran, being the most adorable worried boyfriend he is, runs into her house literally in the next panel and immediately asks if Sakura is okay. I can imagine that he probably ran the entire way to her house too, and it’s just so wholesome I can’t even. It’s crazy how well CLAMP shows the strength of their love just through small actions like these, and it really is a work of art with its subtleties.

Kero and Suppi have not been told why Sakura’s behaving so seriously, as she was waiting for Syaoran to get there first, but soon enough she tells them all at once about how she remembers using SIEGE at the botanical garden. This understandably confuses Syaoran, since in his mind they haven’t even gone there yet. But, she goes on to explain that she remembers using SIEGE, but more importantly that she remembers seeing Kaito using magic. This is HUGE. Not only is this progress (have we finally gotten out of rewind hell?), but this means that Sakura likely will not be nearly as affected by any time magic in the future. And if Kaito cannot make her forget about him using magic, that makes every action he does in the future very precarious. It’s unclear what the implications are of this revelation, but it’s going to entirely change how she reacts around Kaito, perhaps how she reacts around Akiho, and the dialogue she has with Syaoran. Syaoran should theoretically be able to talk to her now about Kaito and what he’s done so far and what they know, and I’m so so curious to see what Sakura will do with this knowledge. Will she be upset? Will she be mad? Certainly she won’t be happy to know that Kaito’s been forcibly keeping Syaoran silent, but Sakura is a forgiving person in nature, so it’s hard to say what she’ll do.

Anyways, this chapter was incredible and I cannot wait to see how this develops from now on. I have a feeling things are going to get real intense here soon now that Kaito can’t control things like he’s been doing a majority of the series. Things are definitely different now, and honestly it’s about fucking time.

#cardcaptor sakura #clear card #chapter 55 #spoilers #chrissy talks a lot #theories #analyzation #summary #thoughts #kaito #sakura #syaoran #akiho #momo #manga #clamp

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rachelbethhines · 4 years ago

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Tangled Salt Marathon - Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf

Ok, so I’ve tried and tried several times to get this posted, we’ll see if this is the time it goes through. Half the reason why this review series has slowed down is not just the multitude of real life stuff I have to deal with, but also Tumblr just refusing to work with me and deleting my posts. I also can’t save my work else where due to Tumblr messing up the formatting. It’s been a frustrating mess and so far no one @staff has come up with a tech solution or work around.

Summary: Rapunzel helps to rebuild Old Corona, (after its near destruction from the Black Rocks) which will become the permanent home of Red and Angry, who have returned to Corona to settle down. However, she begins to notice strange footprints around the area, as well as the livestock becoming more unruly and fearful. The group comes across a monster hunter named Creighton, who explains to the group that the area is being stalked by a werewolf, who possessed one of Corona's citizens. Aiming to save this person rather than kill them, Rapunzel sets out to find who it is.

When Was This Decided?

No seriously, when was this decided? It’s a pretty big leap go from ‘the rocks makes various towns inhabitable’ to ‘let’s rebuild!’ What’s changed here? Cause the rocks haven’t been removed and Rapunzel failed in her mission to nullify their power. In fact the rocks were not only reawaken in the second season finale but shown to be under the power of someone who’s intentions were made unclear to the heroes.

So I ask again; who thought this was safe thing to do now? What provisions have been made to accommodate the rocks? They blocked the well, remember, and destroyed the fields; how are the people getting food and water?

And most importantly why wasn’t the audience informed beforehand? When you change up the status quo in a story you need to provide just cause to the viewers. I legit thought I had accidently skipped an episode when I first watched because this plot point was not set up properly.

Why Were They Ever Left Alone to Begin With?

In a story where neglect is a central theme and motivating factor for all the main characters, it is super tone deaf to have those same characters perpetuating neglect themselves. The decision to live on their own should not be left up to Angry and Red because they are children. Children are not mature enough to provide for themselves neither emotionally nor physically and when placed in situations where they have to do so it psychologically damages them. Which the series already showcased with Varian so why is this suddenly deemed ok?

This Completely Undermines the Past Two Seasons

The entire conflict of the past two seasons was the rocks forcing people out of their homes. Eugene was made an orphan from them, Varian lost his entire support group because them, they drove out the Saporians from their encampment which prompted them to invade Corona, and Rapunzel and company spent an entire year on the road trying to find a way to stop them from spreading supposedly.

All of that has now been flushed down the drain with this decision. And its super insulting to watch because it’s the writers telling us that we’ve wasted our time caring about this plot for two years. You don’t resolve major conflicts off screen and without explanation; it’s lazy!

Also Where Is Varian and Quirin During All This?

This is not only their home and legal charge, but it’s also the ending to their ongoing story, and they’re not even here in a silent cameo.

Wouldn’t Quirin be overseeing the rebuilding of his town? Wouldn’t Varian be using his skills to find workable engineering solutions for them, fulling his season one goal of saving his home and making his village better with his inventions? Also wouldn’t Edmund want to catch up with his brother and help out now that he’s here?

In fact not a single person who actually lives in Old Corona is to be found in these opening shots.

Oh, But We Do Get Earl

Earl might be from Old Corona, or he might not be. We’ve literally never seen him before. The artists had to create a brand new character model for this character, the writers had to write new lines for him, and the casting director had to hire an actor and have him record these lines for only less than a minute of screen time, never to be seen again. Even though they legit had shepherd models already to go from season one that they could have used. It’s a waste of resources and a prime example of the mismanagement going on in this show.

It’s Too Late In the Series to Waste Time On a New One Off Villain

Speaking of a waste, Creighton might have more story reasons to appear in this episode than Earl does but her inclusion is still a poor decision. The show already has an overabundance of villains, so many in fact that they shipped the bulk of them off in season two, and this is the final season; the season where we should be wrapping up plots and minor characters stories not kicking off new ones.

Taken on her own Creighton isn’t a bad character presa, she works for the episode, but when we could have gotten a resolution to Caine’s, Hector’s, or the Disciples’ story arcs instead it highlights how misused the series assets are.

All This Lore Will Be Forgotten In Just a Few Episodes Time

We finally get like some magical rules and backstory only for future episodes to ignore it from here on afterwards. Red can turn into a werewolf whenever she pleases, night or day, with little explanation as for why.

Just Arrest Her Rapunzel

You’re the acting queen. You have the power and the right to arrest or even merely detain someone who is threating your citizens and refuses to leave. In fact it’s kind of your job. You don't even have to throw her in a dungeon if you thought that too cruel. Just lock her up in a nice room somewhere in the castle until you’ve sorted out the mess yourself.

The series wants to treat Rapunzel as the underdog when she isn’t, and her failure to wield her power effectively doesn’t make her look ‘nice’ it just makes her look stupid and grossly incompetent. This is a conflict that didn’t need to have happened and Rapunzel let it happen.

Oh, So Now Y'all Riot

You didn’t complain when the king orphaned children with his crack down on crime. You rolled over as he dolled out overly harsh punishments to poor people who committed minor offences. You gleefully went along with the royals as they scapegoated a child for their mistakes, even as they endangered your homes. And ya’ll sat on your asses while invaders pulled off a coup and enslaved you.

But this is what you get mad over? A rumor about a mythical creature existing that your princess has zero control over. Seriously?

Man, I hate the townspeople in this show.

Pointless Dream Sequence Is Pointless

This scene tells the audience nothing new and just wastes screen time.

This Is the Wrong Lesson to Focus On Rapunzel

We do not tell the 12 year old to unload their phycological issues onto their baby sister!

You’re telling me parents were involved in writing this show? What the hell!?

Rapunzel you are the adult here. At 20 now you should be more adept to handle listening to the deep seated emotional traumas of a little girl than a fucking 10 year old! And if you’re not, or don’t want to, then it’s your job to find another adult who will.

That’s the core problem with this entire episode. It treats Red’s and Angry’s problems as some eternal issue that they need to work out and not as the inherent failure of the adults around them that it is.

It is neither Red’s nor Angry’s decision on weather or not they get live on their own. Nor is it their responsibility to be each other’s therapist. Yes, a change in living arrangements is always stressful and for children with abandonment issues it can be hard to readjust, but that’s when you need to step it up and deal with the problem; not shove it off onto the kids themselves!

Monty Is Useless

Is this all Monty is good for? Being a red herring in ridiculously simple mysteries? Is this why we wasted a whole episode introducing him back in season one? Really?

Why Are We Still Treating Old Corona As Being Separate from Corona Itself?

Look, I get that it’s a joke, but it’s a joke that highlights how poorly thought out the worldbuilding is in the series. Is the Coronan government in charge of Old Corona or not? If so then you can just make those lease laws yourself as the acting regent Eugene. If not then Frederic shouldn’t have had any say in the matter of relocating Old Corona’s citizens nor putting a child outside of his jurisdiction under arrest.

But more importantly this is a just a repeat of that vague level of responsibility Rapunzel has for people who live off the island. She can’t order a whole village to be rebuilt while simultaneously claiming that she bares no accountability for Varian and Quirin’s problems in season one.

Replacing Guns with Crossbows Isn’t the Safe Option That the Censors Think It Is

I find it kind of amusing that censors will ban showing a 17th century blunderbuss but allow it to be replaced by a weapon that is still mass produced today and can be bought in any Walmart across the country. Like I’m a major advocate for gun regulation in real life, but even I have to find this to be a bit silly. Crossbows aren’t some fantasy weapon. People still own and use them. But it would be seriously hard to get ahold of a working antique firearm.

Seriously This Is How the Girls Have Been Living and the Adults Haven’t Done Anything About It Until Now?

I feel like I’m beating a dead horse by now, but it’s so engrained into the episode I have to keep bringing it up. The show itself is visually telling us that Red and Angry can’t keep living this way, but it never wants to call Rapunzel and the other adults out for not rescuing them from this life sooner.

So All This Tells Me Is That Rapunzel Could Have Easily Checked Up On Varian In Painter’s Block, But Didn’t.

Remember they’re right next to Old Corona; meaning that Janus Point is also right next to Old Corona. Meaning that Rapunzel could easily have checked up on Varian right after Painter’s Block and choose not to. With each passing episode Rapunzel has less and less excuse for her behavior in season one.

Yeah Remember that Plot Point That Wound Up Being Entirely Irrelevant to the Story?

In jokes don’t cover your ass when you make poor writing choices. Quite the opposite in fact as all you’ve done is remind the audience of all the various dangling plot threads that you will fail to follow up on. The disciples plot goes no where and serves no purpose, and it should not have been introduced as this big important thing if you weren’t going to do anything with it.

Nice Idea, Poor Execution

I’ve heard fans of this episode tell me that they enjoy it because of this scene with Red. If you’re a naturally introverted person or neurodivergent and have trouble communicating at times then Red’s speech here can strike a cord. Which is cool; I’ll never deny someone’s feelings and if a piece of media speaks to you on a personal level for whatever reason that is great. What I’m here to discuss though is story structure and whether or not the story’s themes are presented well in context of what it’s set up.

The conflict here does not work from a pure structural standpoint because it’s a surface level deflection of the real issues. Red’s problem isn’t that she is being ignored, it's that she’s been abandoned. Now communication issues can arise from that abandonment and feeling heard can be step forward in working those issues out, but Red’s central trauma isn’t going to be magically fixed by people ‘listening’ to her, i.e. being granted whatever she wants, but by providing her with a real home and with a real guardian to look after her.

Because what Red wants on a surface level is harmful to her, and the reasons why she wants what she wants needs to be addressed more so than then sedating her angry outbursts in the moment. This is treating the symptoms not the cause.

So What Is or Isn’t Real About the Curse?

Once again, we finally get some actual lore and rules for magic and the writers are already throwing it away during the same episode they are introduced. I now have as little context for how the wolf curse works within the Tangled world as I did before the episode started.

This Is Sweet, But Once Again Context Brings It Down.

So just to reiterate, this a surface level resolution to the conflict of the episode that doesn’t actually address anything. It might feel like an appropriate ending but only if you ignore the fact that Red and Angry are orphans who’ve been abandoned but the adults.

Angry apologizing here to Red does not solve any of their problems, especially since Angry, as a child herself, is not responsible for her sister’s behavior, feelings, nor well being. That falls to the adults and they fail to address Red’s core issues and their own failings to her in their apologies as well. Not to mention that the very next scene undermines any optional progress that could have been made here.

Listening to Someone Does Not Mean Giving Them Whatever They Want

This does not fix anything. Red and Angry are still left to live on their own without any real supervision. Giving them a big play house is not providing for them, it’s spoiling them. Would you let all the other orphans in the local orphanage roam free without an adult to take care of them? No!? Gee I wonder why? Could it be because letting a 12 and 10 year old raise themselves is a very stupid idea? One that will potentially damage them later in life assuming that they don't get themselves killed in the meantime.

Moreover this is yet another example of the series overall problem with not understanding that compromise and resolving conflicts does not mean rewarding the characters at the end with everything that they want without having them work for it. That’s not how life works and it’s not how good story telling works.

This Is Beyond Irresponsible

No! Bad Show! Bad!

You do not get to pretend that negligence is the same thing as compromise. Yes I know Eugene said to come to him when they have a problem, but as demonstrated by this very episode children do not always know when to ask for help nor can they always find it when needed, that is why parents exist!

Nor does the show get a free pass for turning it’s main characters into child abusers who neglected three minors multiple times now. Even when they themselves are victims of that same abuse!

How utterly blinkered do you have to be to not see the problem here?

It’s the Return of the Pointless Parallels

Let me count the ways for how stupid this is.

Red and Angry’s conflict has no impact on the on going narrative. Even with them now being reoccurring characters they still manage to contribute nothing to the future storylines involving Cass.

Neither Rapunzel nor Cassandra learn anything from Red and Angry’s spat; Rapunzel because she refuses to acknowledge her own flaws and Cassandra’s not even here for any of it.

The sister’s dynamic between Raps and Cass is not well established and the writers mange to piss all over it by series end because of gay baiting and poor writing. Therefore relying on lazy parallels to other siblings in the show to bolster this connection falls flat.

Red and Angry’s argument has nothing in common with Rapunzel and Cass’s current fighting. One is about abandonment issues and the other is about shallow validation. Trying to tie these two themes together actually winds up undermining both conflicts.

Red and Angry are children. Rapunzel and Cassandra are not. That very much matters.

Red and Angry didn’t drag innocent people into their petty bitch fight and endanger them because they wanted to feel special.

This Makes Zero Sense

I don’t know; she looked pretty happy during Crossing the Line.

She was also able to control the rocks just fine then, so what happened?

Not to mention soon after this Zhan Tiri is telling her she needs some sort of incantation to control the rocks, despite being able to already control the rocks....

It’s almost as if the writers are full of shit and don’t actually know what they’re doing.

So Are We Remembering the Burnt Hand or Not?

Does the hand matter or not? Is it ever a motivating factor in what Cassandra decides to do? Is her waning control over the rocks connected to her burnt hand; even though having a burnt hand is what allowed her grab the moonstone in the first place? Did the moonstone heal the hand? Does Raps singing the healing incantation later on heal it? Does Cass have a forever burnt hand?

Who the fuck knows!

Not the writers that’s for sure, cause it never comes up again.

Don’t introduce plot points and then not resolve them. That’s writing 101 guys.

Wait if she needs the incantation to control the rocks and the angry thing is a lie, then how the heck is she controlling them just now? Make up your dang mind show!

I swear I lose brain cells whenever I have to rewatch the evil Cassandra plot. It is so dumb you guys.... so, so dumb.

Conclusion

It’s not the worst thing ever but series has far better episodes on offer than this one. Even in a season as suck ass as season three.

So there’s praying that this review posts this time and if you enjoy my writing and would like to support me in my projects feel free to leave a tip on my Ko-Fi. Thank you.

https://ko-fi.com/rachelbethhines

#tangled #tangled the series #rapunzel's tangled adventure #anti-tangled #anti-rapunzel #anti-Cassandra

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itsclydebitches · 4 years ago

Text

YYH Recaps: Koenma Appears

Welcome to episode two, everyone! Before we get to the recap proper, I want to continue down Nostalgia Lane for a moment. Remember how last time I mentioned a Hiei bookmark I used daily back in middle school? Well, I tore through an old "treasure box" I created as a kid (a collection containing everything from a shark tooth to a small book on witchcraft. You know, the important things every child needs) hoping to find it... but I didn't. It's a hard life we lead.

However, I did find some other YYH relics that I thought you all might enjoy seeing. Behold — and, if you'd like, laugh at — my collection:

First up is a picture of young Toguro and Genkai that I wanted to use as my bookmark, but found that it was too wide. For the record, I didn't (and still don't) care about Toguro much, he was just the byproduct of finding a cool Genkai picture. Not shown is the back of the image with the names of my classmates because I made them all sign this along with our yearbook.

God bless my friends for putting up with me.

Second is a collection of very pretty trading cards that I ordered from god only knows where. I have vague memories of not finding any at my local comics shop and convincing my mom to let me order on The Olde Internet. Did I want the trading cards to trade them? Absolutely not. They exist to sparkle and make my heart happy.

Finally, I've saved what is perhaps the best for last. Now, you have to understand that grade to middle school age Clyde did not have the education that she would receive later on, which includes a knowledge of the ephemeral nature of fanworks and the importance of accurate record keeping. What this means is that I have absolutely no context for this. No author, no explanation... just the image itself.

Was this a standalone fanart? A part of a fic? Some specific request or just the will of the artist? I cannot answer these questions. I tried a reverse image search (which is, admittedly, the extent of my tech skills) and you know what the single hit I got was? "Fiction." Thanks, google. So yeah, I can only assume that my child self considered Kurama giving a de-aged Hiei a bubble bath adorable enough to save, but the artist wasn't important enough to jot down for future viewing. Sorry about that, mystery artist. And, as should go without saying, if anyone does know where this came from please let me know! Though I suspect that this is a case of a YYH-specific site closing down and the fanworks getting lost along with it. That happened a great deal before the age of AO3 when volunteers decided to put their time and talent towards saving fanworks of all sorts...

But enough of all that. Let's get to recapping!

As we established last episode, Yusuke and Botan are on their way to the spirit world to kickstart Yusuke's ordeal. Watching this after over a decade of consuming other media, I really appreciate that Yusuke acts like a human person and asks lots of questions about this. When Botan is cryptic for the sake of the audience — we're going to see "the person" who can explain everything — Yusuke is justifiably like, and what person would that be?? I mean, this is also a way to establish basic facts for the viewer and it simultaneously feeds into Yusuke being someone who is difficult for the sake of being difficult — "If someone wants to say something, they should come to me!" — but it's just nice to see a character who doesn't accept cryptic BS because the story needs them to. If Botan gives an unclear, but ~dramatic~ explanation, Yusuke is going to call her out on that.

So she explains that they're going to see King Yama and Yusuke is all whoa whoa whoa, there's royalty involved? Suddenly, he's not so adamant that they come to him.

Botan tries to reinforce this rare spark of humility and demands that Yusuke be on his best behavior from here on out.

Pff. Yeah right.

But “he can send you to oblivion forever if he wants to!” is a suitable enough threat to cow Yusuke for now. Which is interesting considering that a few hours ago he was happy to accept hell as his rightful ending. Granted, we could argue that there's a big difference between hell and oblivion — a character may not be afraid of punishment in the same way they are a lack of existence — but I'd say this ties more into Yusuke's development at the wake. Now that he's accepted that people care for him and that he should strive to return to them, the threat of having it snatched away actually means something. Even if that line is otherwise positioned as a comedic moment.

Botan flies them through a portal where we see the River Styx below and Yusuke comments on how big everything is. At first I was like, "What are you talking about? You were just flying over some major city in fictional Japan, wasn't that big too?" but this line makes more sense when they reach the palace and you realize that yeah, it's big. As in, the camera blurs while tilting down its length to show how insanely tall it is. Yusuke and Botan are tiny gnats at the gate's entrance.

"Oh man, what a pad!" Yusuke says and sure, that's one way to look at it lol.

Botan announces that she has a "new arrival" and the gates open for them, but so far there's no one else around. One part of me wants to question the time and budget put into this scene because shouldn't there be, like, thousands of people? Even just waiting outside? The idea that this is the hub of the underworld and that Botan is responsible for ferrying all the souls, yet she is guiding just this one (1) dude for a solid day is, from a world building perspective, kind of nuts. But beyond the need to develop Botan as a character (she can't be a part of the story if her job is treated realistically, with all the endless work that entails), I think this choice functions rather well from an atmospheric perspective too. Meaning, this moment is supposed to be rather tense for Yusuke. He just died, just found out the afterlife exists, just discovered a desire to get his life back, and is now about to meet a King who can toss him into oblivion if he's rude — which Yusuke always is. So this is a Very Dangerous Moment and their relative isolation feeds into that. As does the setting. Yusuke flinches back from the hallway, saying that it looks like a giant throat, so he is now literally walking into the belly of the beast.

Suddenly, the size of the palace isn't an indicator of awesome wealth, just general intimidation. Also, check out the spikey purple mountains in the background and the harsh reds of the scene, especially compared to the soft yellow of the river. All of it is designed to create an, "Oh shit" reaction in both Yusuke and the audience.

Yusuke's image of King Yama matches these surroundings:

Oh wait! Wrong character ;)

He's massive, red, shadowed, and poses a formidable threat. And how does Yusuke deal with threats? By fighting them! Even those he can't hope to beat. Remember, this isn't a situation where Yusuke has any power here, but he still desperately holds onto the possibility that he might. What if he gets off a punch on King Yama's nose? Then goes for his eyes? Yeah, that'll work!

Overlooking the fact that it absolutely would not — Yusuke's fantasy conveniently skips how he escapes Yama's clutches — what exactly is Yusuke hoping to accomplish here? Somehow take over the entire underworld? Escape as a ghost and live out his afterlife in hiding? We don't know and that's because Yusuke doesn't know. He doesn't think ahead, he just obeys this instinct to fight. An instinct that, crucially, overrides everything else. Botan has already told him that all Yusuke needs to do is be polite and everything will be fine, but it's not even that Yusuke believes that he can't achieve that; that he knows himself too well and, fearing a slip, starts planning for a potentially inevitable confrontation. There are simply no plans outside of battle plans. Yusuke just hears about someone vaguely intimidating and his brain jumps straight to, "How do I beat him in a fight?" no matter the odds, or that other options are readily available to him. Again, much of YYH's characterization occurs though its comedy, so outside of the general humor of witnessing this fantasy, it actually does a stellar job of reinforcing precisely who Yusuke is. In life the only thing he had going for him was his ability to fight. It was his one joy, his one skill, arguably the one good thing he did if we frame those reflexes as "saving" the kid... so is it any wonder that fighting dominates his every thought? It's all he knows.

And, as we'll see down the line, that single-minded obsession is very useful to the spirit world.

For now though, Yusuke finishes his absurd plans to take down King Yama and Botan asks what in the world he's muttering about back there. Which is an unintentionally hilarious line because by the end Yusuke is not muttering, but full on shouting. Botan. How did you not hear him?

Not important. They reach the next door and we get our first inkling that all is not as Yusuke (and we) expect when Botan leans into an intercom to say that they've arrived. Tech in a fantasy spirit world? This feels not only out of place, but rather... mundane? That's the point. When the doors open Yusuke expects his super scary monster, but gets... a whole lot of monsters that aren't scary at all!

The underworld is run by various demons (or ogres), though their looks are contrasted with the harried office worker personalities they've got going on. Someone is running by with a comically tall stack of papers. Someone else is shouting into a cell phone. The first two demons we see cross paths, looking like they're about to punch one another, just as Yusuke expects... except they're just dramatically getting out of the other's way, worried not about the hierarchy of this realm, but the fact that someone is behind schedule. The nerve!

"This place is a madhouse!" we hear somehow shout and yeah, that's the joke. The afterlife is just as chaotic, overworked, and — ultimately — boring as any human office. For all the strangeness of seeing hundreds of demons, this is familiar.

Which, alongside Botan's bubbly nature contrasting assumptions about the Grim Reaper, is one of the first instances of YYH undercutting the viewer's expectations in terms of looks. No one entirely looks the part they play in this tale and if you're trying to teach people to look past surface characteristics... there are worse ways to do it. Horrifying creatures with horns and sharp teeth? Nah, they're just chill dudes trying to do their job. Cutesy girl who looks like she belongs in a mall reading magazines? Nah, she's the Grim Reaper. Terrifying delinquent with a spine-chilling reputation? Nah, he makes faces at kids and saves them from cars.

Of course, the "nah" isn't accurate either. These are monsters with horns, Botan is a cutesy girl, and Yusuke is a delinquent with that reputation. The message isn't so much that people look like Thing A, but get to know them and you'll discover they're actually Thing B, it's the idea that you can be A and B (and C, D, E...) simultaneously. People — or rather, seemingly simple archetypes — can, in fact, embody multiple characteristics at once.

We'll get our third example in just a second.

Yusuke makes a comment about this being the "dead people stock exchange" — accurate — and Botan leads him to a more ornate door past all the desks. It's clear they've arrived at King Yama's office, since she's bowing and formally presenting him to... someone. Yusuke looks around for the giant beast he's imagined, only for a tiny voice to hail him from the ground.

Looks are deceiving!

“This is Yusuke Urameshi and he’s honored to meet you." Botan knows what's up. She knows Yusuke isn't going to express anything of the sort without some prompting. Too bad he's busy cracking up at this apparent child running the show. Side note: Yusuke has a fantastic laugh.

He even goes so far as to accuse Botan of lying to him.

“Why would I lie about such a thing?!”

“Why would the spirit world be run by a toddler?”

It's true! That’s a legitimate question! I love that Yusuke asks questions. The "toddler" goes on to explain that he's actually the "mighty Koenma," son of King Yama, though he's lived fifty times as long as Yusuke, "so watch your mouth." Assuming Koenma knows and/or remembers how old Yusuke is — fourteen — and is good at math, that puts him at seven hundred years old. He looks good for his age!

"And in addition to knowing the secrets of the universe," he says, "I am quite potty trained."

You've gotta love Koenma.

Yusuke's attitude changes drastically once they get down to business. Koenma produces an egg, saying that Yusuke's ordeal is to hatch it and face what comes out. The hatching part isn't difficult, all he needs to do is keep it on his person. The challenge is in the fact that this egg will feed off his spirit energy and that energy in turn will change what kind of creature develops. If his spirit is wicked and cruel, so will be the beast and it will devour Yusuke upon hatching.

However, if his spirit is good and kind, the beast will become a sort of guardian, guiding him back to his living body.

Note though that throughout this conversation the egg is always a "beast." It's a "monster." It's not necessarily intentional, but there's a strong bend towards the negative here in the description that really emphasizes the whole "ordeal" aspect. Koenma briefly reassures Yusuke that he can remain a ghost if he prefers, but he's already made up his mind. Despite another threat of being lost to a void — this time through spiritual digestion — Yusuke takes the egg almost without hesitation.

He regrets it later though.

"I can't believe I did that."

Can we blame him? I'd be nervous about some egg feeding off the energy of my soul too and I'm a former, almost straight A student (damn you, math) with no life-altering regrets and a general desire to put as much good into this world as I'm able. I’m boring. But what if those occasional, mean little thoughts you have add up? What if the prejudices you're still unlearning stack against you? Does the egg care about what you do, or only how you feel about the act? This sort of test would eat me alive!

Maybe literally.

Good thing Yusuke doesn't have time for an existential crisis!

Just as he's beginning to regret this decision, Botan points out that it won't matter if he passes if he doesn't have a body to return to. Now, why wouldn't he have a body? Maybe because his mom is set to cremate him tomorrow.

Whoopsie.

Yusuke is, understandably, distraught. We get another excellent exchange:

“Botan, is there any way for ghosts to communicate with living people?”

“Yes.”

“SO ARE YOU GONNA TELL ME?”

I swear, Yusuke is the only smart protagonist. I mean, he's dumb as a sack of bricks at times, but that's neither here nor there. Bless this fictional boy for reacting like an actual person.

Botan explains that people are more attuned to the spirit world when they're asleep, so Yusuke can deliver a message to someone in their dreams. Seems easy enough. They first head to Atsuko, but find that she's raging drunk and nowhere near sleep.

"You fool!" she yells. "No one gave you permission to die!" Atsuko continues to yell about how plenty of people survive car accidents, so why couldn't you? "Were you mad at me, Yusuke? Didn't I raise you right?"

Botan comments on how sad the display is. Yusuke's response?

“The only thing that’s sad is now she’s got one more excuse to act that way."

Y'all, that's some mature shit for a goofy shonen anime. Yeah, Yusuke recognizes that, while she's obviously heartbroken, his death has just given her another reason to do what she's been doing for years: drinking herself into a stupor. Toss in Atsuko putting the blame on Yusuke — "No one gave you permission to die!" — plus the belief that she did do a good job — "Didn't I raise you right?" — and it paints a rather bleak picture. This is by no means an uncommon theme. Negligent parents, whether they're framed that way or not, are pretty common in shonen series, but it's still rather jarring to re-watch this as an adult and go, "Oh. The situation’s like that." It's honestly a lot when you remove it from YYH's otherwise humorous, casual context.

Yusuke heads to Keiko's next and finds her sound asleep, commenting on how her room looks more "girly" than when they were kids. Check out that smile!

He's about to try and deliver his message, but Keiko is in the midst of a nightmare. “She’s crying… what’s wrong?”

Oh my god. Remember how I just said Yusuke is also the densest protagonist around? Example A right here. You just died, you fool! You just saw Keiko collapse at your funeral. What do you think is wrong??

We get a peek at Keiko's dream where she is — shockingly! — thinking of Yusuke. He's far out of reach, walking away and unresponsive to her calls. Keiko soon trips and Yusuke disappears completely.

Luckily, she has the real thing at her bedside. Yusuke tries talking to her and at first it's unclear if this supernatural stuff is really working. That is, until Keiko murmurs about how heavy he is.

Reassured, Yusuke delivers his message that Keiko needs to help Atsuko pull herself together and, most importantly, call off burning his body. We get this very soft and pretty background to establish their yet unspoken feelings for one another, though Yusuke gets close with, “I’m coming back. I don’t want to see you cry anymore" as he brushes her tears away. Aww.

Keiko wakes, thinking at first it was just a dream, but no, "I'm sure I felt it."

The next morning she heads to Atsuko's to explain the dream, only to first hear that Atsuko had a dream too, this one about Yusuke "living in some other world full of ogres and he kept knocking them down until he became their leader." It sounds absurd, of course, but it brings Atsuko some comfort to think of her boy in a place like that and Keiko backs down. Right, she'd only had a comforting dream too.

Now, there are two important parts to this exchange. The first is that this is an excellent example of how you let the characters drive the story, rather than forcing the characters adhere to the plot you've come up with. Meaning, in the latter situation, our cast would have needed to have their personalities twisted and the viewer's suspicion of disbelief tested to give Yusuke what he needs: a sleeping family member willing to believe his message. But it absolutely makes sense for Atsuko to be drunk rather than sound asleep, so Yusuke can't rely on her. Likewise, it absolutely makes sense for Keiko to be asleep, but not believe the dream once she's woken up. After all, how many times have we been persuaded by something in the dead of night only for things to look more logical and less likely in the morning? The characters act both like themselves and like people who do normal, people-ish things, which means that Yusuke runs into more conflicts. That's good! It not only raises the tension and stakes — now he has less than a day to convince someone — but makes his inevitable success feel that much sweeter. A less well written show (cough-RWBY-cough) would have had the characters change their personalities, behave in unlikely ways, or just come up with a sudden, contradictory solution because Yusuke needs to keep his body. Instead, Yusuke actually has to work for that within the bounds of the rules established and the likeliness of each plan succeeding. The first one fails? Move onto plan #2.

Second, this dream of Atsuko's has some cool implications within YYH's world. Meaning, we're about to learn in just a moment that some people are naturally more aware of the supernatural than others, even when they're not asleep. We'll also see down the line that spiritual awareness tends to run in families... so perhaps Atsuko possesses more than the average mother? I'm not saying it's necessarily intentional on the author(s) part, but we can choose to read this dream as evidence of spiritual awareness — true insight into the world Yusuke was just in and the fantasies he'd had about conquering it — rather than just a coincidental joke for the viewer. After all, Yusuke gets his own spiritual awareness from somewhere...

(Okay, so there's totally another, canonical reason for that, but we can have both!)

So, as Yusuke puts it, “This dream business isn’t gonna cut it.”

“There’s always the final method," Botan says.

“You always this vague?”

I am literally living for these interactions.

Botan explains that the more extreme form of communication is possessing a living person, but there are two rules attached: it has to be someone you know and the vessel has to be someone who is quite spiritually aware, as discussed above. Atsuko isn't a contender because the story hasn't acknowledged that she might be sensitive, that's just my own headcanon now. Yusuke outright says, “In that case I’m screwed. There’s no one like that!"

Cut to good old Kuwabara.

At first it looks as if he's just oh so conveniently sensing a spirit right when the audience has learned he has this power, but in reality it's Yusuke and Botan flying behind him that sets it off. Again: this show is pretty good about keeping things internally consistent, rather than making choices because That's Just How Stories Work, I Guess. Kuwabara's friends note that he's acting strangely and I love this detail that apparently one of the guys is new to their group because the other two need to explain that this is the "tickle feeling." Ever since Kuwabara was a boy he's been able to sense the dead around him. Some nice, some... not so nice.

He looks directly at Yusuke — even though he's not able to see him — and declares that what's following them is “A puny low-level ghost, like a haunted racoon or something.”

I'd support Yusuke's anger more if he hadn't just exclaimed his surprise that Kuwabara serves a purpose 😂

Yusuke is pissed enough though to proclaim that he won't do it, nuh-uh, no way is he possessing this guy's body. Botan's response is one of my FAVORITES in the WHOLE SERIES:

"Here's my impression of Yusuke: look at me, I’m burning!”

Literally 75% of this series is just about a found family sassing one another and I love it.

Obviously this helps Yusuke remember his priorities and he grudgingly agrees to the plan. Botan prepares Kuwabara's body somehow — idk, spiritual magic or whatever — and warns Yusuke that he only has an hour to find someone and warn them because a human body can't handle possession any longer than that. Sure. I buy it.

So Yusuke takes control and please ignore the incredible ethical issues here. The show will never acknowledge them again.

He blurts out, “Hey, check it out! I’m inside Kuwabara, feeling smooth!"

Istg I don't remember the series being this unintentionally gay. I don't even ship Yusuke/Kuwabara and I'm digging the possibilities here lol.

Back on track, his friends drag him with, “Looks like he’s back to normal” because again, 75%. What's not normal though is Kuwabara (Yusuke) suddenly charging down the street to leave them behind. He heads straight to the restaurant where Keiko's parents work, demanding to see her. They're rightly concerned about this stranger barging in and screaming for their daughter.

Upon asking who he is/why they should tell him, Yusuke makes his biggest mistake: “Because it’s me, you guys, I’m Yusuke!”

Obviously the time limit and raw emotion of knowing who he is has outweighed the knowledge that, you know, no one would believe that. Yusuke has spent the last two days bopping around as a ghost and familiarizing himself with some of the afterlife's insanity. The knowledge of what's normal for everyone else — AKA, not dead boys appearing in strangers' bodies — is not at the forefront of Yusuke's mind.

So, Keiko's parents react accordingly! The father in particular is disgusted by this claim, going so far as to threaten Yusuke with his knife and outright insult Kuwabara's looks: “Yusuke was never ugly like you… we were close family friends with that boy!" His wife chimes in that this kind of joke is particularly heinous on the day of his funeral. Between Atsuko drunkenly blaming Yusuke for his death and Mr. Takenaka grieving for what he might have been, this is one of the few times we see someone just sad for Yusuke's passing, exactly as he was and without regrets or criticism. "We were close family friends with that boy" paints a nice contrast to the delinquent persona Yusuke was cultivating.

As he's thrown out of the restaurant he says, “We should have special passwords for times like this!” Fun fact, my family does! Well, not this exact situation lol. I was given a password as a child to memorize in case my parents ever needed to send someone else to pick me up or interact with me in any way. If the stranger didn't know the password, I was to kick up a fuss. I rest easy with the knowledge that this password would not doubt assist me if I was ever in Yusuke's position!

With Keiko's parents a bust, Yusuke starts sprinting to everywhere she frequents with the hope of running into her. Or at least he tries.

Yusuke is suddenly waylaid by a group of nameless teens with a bone to pick with Kuwabara. And you know what? I like it. I wonder how much of my praise stems from coming off of RWBY Volume 8, but it's just so nice to watch a story where the plot — simple as it is — hangs together. We've established that Kuwabara is a street fighter. Last episode we watched him start a fight with Yusuke. Yusuke is on a time limit. Now Kuwabara's tendencies have created a new hurdle for Yusuke!

Needless to say, Yusuke kicks butt, even in Kuwabara’s body.

As one guy is passing out he says, “Man that hurt! I didn’t think anyone could throw punches that hardcore except Yusuke Urameshi."

Yusuke: “Darn, giving Kuwabara a good name." LOL

You think this challenge is finished though? Nah. Over the course of about half an hour Yusuke encounters a comical number of people trying to get even with Kuwabara.

As always, I like the nods towards this writing decision to help justify it, with Yusuke wondering how Kuwabara has pissed this many people off. If you want to pull off something that has a low chance of happening, it can help to give the characters a "Seriously?" moment. If both they and the audience are on the same page over how ridiculous this situation is, the audience is more likely to accept it once the character does.

By the time Yusuke escapes his hour is nearly up. However, thanks to some coincidental plotting, he spots Keiko's friends just across the street!

YYH does a decent job of making its characters feel like they have their own lives outside of what's immediately happening on screen and we get a good example of that here. We pick up the girls' conversation partway through, both of them worried about Keiko's state of mind and, given that we'll see in a second that Keiko was in the store with them, it implies that something happened to reignite this worry. They're off enjoying their day, doing their own thing, there was an event we're not privy to, and now we catch the response to that. It just helps make the characters feel more well-rounded even though they are, at their core, one-dimensional background characters who don’t even have names yet.

Case in point: the one girl is still concerned with their image. "People are starting to say things!"

Yeah, your friend's childhood friend just died. Hopefully they're saying, "Poor thing."

Anyway, Yusuke runs up to ask where Keiko is only for both girls to run away screaming. Turns out his face is messed up from the numerous fights and Keiko's friends are easily scared.

Luckily, Keiko comes out just a second later and Yusuke is faced with the challenge of how to convince her in, oh, about five minutes. Remember, we've already established through Keiko's parents that just saying, "I'm Yusuke" doesn't work. That's why he hesitates. It's not just drama for the sake of drama, he's stuck.

“I’ve known her my whole life, there must be something between us that only I would do!”

Yeeeeaah. About that 😬

Suddenly inspired (I suppose that's one way to put it...) Yusuke runs up behind Keiko and grabs her breasts. “Keiko, nice uniform! They’re so squishy!”

It goes without saying that, like flipping her skirt up, this isn't okay. More specifically, the problem lies in the story framing this as a joke for the audience, something to laugh at despite Keiko's discomfort, rather than the concept of two childhood friends actually be that comfortable with one another. But, as already established, this is one of the more ehhhh aspects of Yusuke's characterization that, luckily, will mostly disappear as the story goes on.

Note though that the show clearly wants us to think highly of this. Not just as a "joke," but as a smart solution to his problem and more evidence of their inevitable relationship — the background becomes the same soft, bubbly background we saw during their dream conversation. And, admittedly, it does work. Keiko instinctively slaps Yusuke hard enough to knock him to the ground and he starts laughing, saying that he doesn't care what anyone on the street says, she hits the hardest.

What I do like about this is that the assault isn't the only thing Keiko bases her faith on. Not only has she already had the dream, we get to see Yusuke from her perspective, showing all the mannerisms she picks up on by superimposing Yusuke's real body over Kuwabara's. Indeed, she says as much: “I knew it was you from the first time you spoke…and it’s not just your stupid gags, or how you laugh. There are ways you move and speak that in a hundred years I wouldn’t forget."

Catch me crying in this club!

Knowing she believes him and that he's almost out of time, Yusuke reiterates his message: please don't burn my body and also keep Mom on track. Only, you know, it's phrased far better than that lol. As he speaks, both Yusuke's and Kuwabara's voices overlap until the latter grows fainter and only Yusuke's voice remains. His body too. It's a nice touch, avoiding the awkwardness of Keiko having this moment with a stranger, even if that is what's happening on some level.

“I know I’ve been a bum to you at times, but please wait for me."

His hour up, now we can get the awkwardness! Kuwabara comes out of his weird trance thing to find Keiko crying against his chest. Wow, he thinks, this girl must be really into me!

God, to have the confidence of Kuwabara.

Of course, Keiko quickly realizes it's not Yusuke anymore and slaps him too for cuddling her closer. My favorite thing is that when she does this a crowd INSTANTLY appears. I mean they TELEPORT in. We needed an audience for Kuwabara's shame and YYH delivered, all logic be damned.

“Um, sorry about that!” Keiko yells as she runs away, because she's a good person who recognizes that weird spirit things just went on and Kuwabara isn't actually to blame.

“No, that’s okay. I probably deserved it," Kuwabara responds because he's also a good person and I didn't appreciate him nearly as much as I should have as a kid.

Keiko runs all the way to Atsuko's place where she finds her dressed for Yusuke's funeral. She blurts that Yusuke might still be coming back and Atsuko goes, "He already has." Turns out she opened his coffin to "smack him one more time for leaving me" — yikes — and found that his heart had started beating again, just as Koenma said it would.

Being in a shonen anime, they apparently decide to just trust Keiko's message rather than, idk, taking him to a hospital or something.

The camera tilts up to show that Yusuke has been watching all this, including that both women break down again and comfort one another. Aww. How heartwarming.

What's less fuzzy though is this mysterious egg. Yusuke takes another look and finds that it has developed a heartbeat too, presumably in time with his body's. He theorizes that he did decent things today, right? But Botan (teasingly) points out that he did beat up a lot of other kids. Rather than getting angry, Yusuke remains uncharacteristically pensive, emphasizing the magnitude of what this means for him. He's got to get it right.

No pressure or anything! We'll have to see how Yusuke balances his karmic scales in the next episode. Until then, I'll try not to put all my TV time into Star Trek: Voyager :D

See you then! 💜

#YYH #Yu Yu Hakusho #YYH recaps #mymetas

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dudeandduchess · 5 years ago

Note

Can we have Giyuu starting a family? He has a sweet waifu and a baby, he's super happy with them and there's lots of love. Plz he needs it.

Ahhh hello, bby! My friend also requested this, so I hope both of you like it. UwU It’s not entirely complete bc I feel like I need to think more on how Giyuu will be with an actual baby. So there might be a part two??? But I hope this is fine for now. :D

Redemption week. Redemption week. I will write nothing but happiness for Giyuu this streak. Ahaha.

Also, another note: Two hundred yen in the Taishō era was worth alot of money. Just to avoid confusion. Okay, that’s it. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk. Ahaha. 💖

***

Giyuu x F!Reader: Accidental Pregnancy (SFW Scenario):

“Alright, place your bets, everyone,” Shinobu chimed excitedly as she dropped a few bills and coins inside a box Mitsuri had found within Headquarters.

Readily, all the Hashira present— save for Gyōmei and Muichiro— dug into their pockets and counted out ample amounts of bills, before dropping them in with Shinobu’s bet. Then, deftly, the Insect Hashira quickly counted through the money.

“We have two-hundred Yen here, whoever guesses correctly gets all the money. If more than one person guesses correctly, then they have to share,” Shinobu explained patiently, all while some of her comrades eyed the reward money in her hands hotly. Two-hundred Yen was already a lot of money; it could get them two-hundred dozen eggs, and maybe a a hundred pounds of cured meat.

So, suffice to say that all of them wanted it.

“Does everyone still have the same bets? Or would anyone like to change their prior bet?” At the prompt, Uzui sniffed haughtily as he crossed his arms over his chest.

And then, the Sound Hashira said, “It might not be flamboyant, but I’m betting that Tomioka will get (L/n) pregnant. That’s how those two will admit their feelings for each other.”

Shinobu nodded in complete agreement, while the others— namely: Rengoku, Shinazugawa, and Iguro— shook their heads. Kanroji, in typical fashion, looked to be a little lost— as she was the only one who had an entirely different opinion.

“Tomioka won’t do it. He’s not brave enough to confess to (Y/n),” The Flame Hashira announced with a laugh, which his cohorts agreed to with noncommittal hums.

“They might think they’re being sly by fucking behind our backs, but when someone says something about it they’re going to stop,” Sanemi added with a scoff, before looking right at Uzui— as if to directly oppose his opinion.

Iguro let his eyes flit over all of his comrades— lingering on Kanroji for a while— before landing right on Shinobu. “That’s most likely the reason why Oyakata-sama is talking to them right now.”

A collective silence hung over all the Hashira, as all of them contemplated their own opinions— which Kanroji took as her chance to air out her thoughts.

“Well, I think that Tomioka-san will take (Y/n)-chan out to a candlelit dinner, and he’ll confess to her there.”

All eyes landed on the Love Hashira, and all of them looked at her as if she had sprouted a new head. Her opinion was outlandish at best, but no one dared to say anything about it.

After all, she was entitled to live in her own fantasy world— no matter how inaccurate her portrayal of the Water Hashira was.

“I still don’t think this is right. Gambling is an unskillful activity. As Buddha once said, ‘In winning one begets hatred; in losing one mourns the loss of one’s wealth,’” Himejima uttered in that solemn tone of his, and it made his comrades all second-guess their decision.

But when they saw the box of prize money still in Shinobu’s hands, the Stone Hashira’s words practically floated away.

“Be careful, (Y/n).” All the Hashira looked up at Giyuu’s familiar tone, only to sport differing reactions when they saw the Water Hashira and the Snow Hashira round the corner with their hands intertwined.

At the sight, Uzui and Shinobu traded knowing looks, while the three who’d opposed their opinion furrowed their eyebrows in mild frustration. Meanwhile, Kanroji almost clapped her hands in joy at the sweet sight.

(Y/n) rolled her eyes at her lover’s overly worried words, as it was all she could do so as not to swoon at how attentive he was being. Ever since she’d told him about the news, he had made a more conscious effort to be around her— and she would be damned if she didn’t admit that it was making her fall even harder for him.

Not that she would ever say it out loud. She was fine with keeping her feelings to herself, thank you very much.

Unless Giyuu confessed first; only then would she admit to feeling the same way.

“Oh? All of you are still here?” (Y/n) asked in mild surprise when she caught sight of the huddled forms of her comrades. “I guess it makes it easier for-”

However, the Snow Hashira had to pause when she caught sight of the box filled with money in Shinobu’s hands. She immediately narrowed her eyes at the Insect Hashira, before stating flatly, “You were betting on this? Why am I not surprised?”

“How long have all of you known about us?” Giyuu asked in his usual tone, which had everyone— save for (Y/n)— looking at him much like they had at Kanroji.

“Everyone had always known, dumbass. You two weren’t exactly discrete about it,” Sanemi practically spat at Giyuu, which made Giyuu frown. He simply didn’t understand why the Wind Hashira was so rude to him.

As if sensing the upcoming squabble, Rengoku stepped in and quelled it before it could even take root in anyone’s mind. “So, would you mind telling us why Oyakata-sama asked both of you to stay?”

“Ah… that…” (Y/n)’s voice rose in pitch, as a blush made its way onto her cheeks. And, reflexively, her free hand moved to cradle her very faint baby bump.

All eyes zeroed in on that minute movement, and she had to quirk an eyebrow at Sanemi and Obanai who had cursed irately before crossing their arms over their respective chests.

“(Y/n)’s three months pregnant,” Giyuu announced, as the faintest of smiles graced his lips. He then looked down at where his lover’s hand pressed against her belly, and he couldn’t help but feel his own gaze soften at the tiny bump. “It’s mine.”

It all felt surreal when (Y/n) had first told him a month ago, but he wasn’t mad. He had never told anyone, but he’d always wanted to have a wife and children.

He had half of that solved, he just had to work on the other half. Hopefully, she wouldn’t make it him work too hard for her hand in marriage.

“Who else’s would it be, Tomioka-san?” Shinobu chimed in with a giggle, as she quickly counted half of the prize money and gave it to Uzui.

And with a smug smirk, the Sound Hashira fanned out the paper bills in his right hand, before using it to fan himself. “Thank you for making me a hundred Yen richer.”

“Yes, thank you. Let’s do this again sometime.” Shinobu laughed once more, before carefully pocketing her prize.

“All of you are insufferable. Come on, Giyuu. Let’s go.” With that, (Y/n) tugged at her lover’s hand to get both of them out of there.

***

So came the days when Giyuu was required to change from a stoic, single man, to a doting, and very-much-in love father-to-be.

He didn’t have a single complaint about his predicament. Not once did he think ill of (Y/n), nor did he resent her for getting pregnant. After all, it took two to make a baby. Besides, he was simply ecstatic at the thought of having a mini version of him and (Y/n) around the house.

Giyuu couldn’t wait to add more babies to their family.

However, the one thing that always got him down was (Y/n)’s lack of response to his feelings. He tried to convey his love for her through all of his gestures, and she was grateful towards him, but it seemed that she was still hiding part of herself from him.

It wasn’t a secret that he was bad at verbalizing his affections— or verbalizing anything, really— but he just wanted some confirmation that she felt the same way towards him.

Gratefulness was one thing, but genuine feelings were another thing entirely. He craved to let her know just how much he loved her, yet he was always hindered from doing so because of the unclear boundaries between them.

“Giyuu…” (Y/n) whispered in the dead of the night, as she propped herself up against her right elbow and gently rubbed her lover’s chest to wake him up. “Giyuu, wake up. Giyuu.”

Reluctantly, the Water Hashira opened his eyes, only to snap them wide open when he realized that (Y/n) was close to his face. He then bolted upright and turned to her, with worry shining in his eyes. “What’s wrong? Are you okay? Is it time?”

(Y/n)’s eyes widened at that, before she offered him a sheepish grin. It was so adorable that it calmed Giyuu’s racing heart. “I’m sorry for startling you, but… I want to eat something sweet and tart. Like sakura no mi, or yama ichigo. Please?”

He’d been woken up to go berry picking, which was already trivial enough; but to make matters worse, the sun wasn’t even up yet. If he checked his pocket watch, he would probably see that it was only half past two in the morning.

Still, Giyuu didn’t mind. Because he loved (Y/n), and that was the least he could do for her.

So, he slowly got up and out of their shared futon, then pressed a lazy kiss to the top of her head, before getting dressed to go foraging.

It didn’t take long for him to fill a small basket up with the berries she’d requested— as they were in season, and Giyuu knew the area like the back of his hand.

So he was surprised when he came back home, only to find (Y/n) already bustling around in the kitchen. From what he could smell, she was making okayu from what they had in the kitchen.

“(Y/n)? What are you doing out of bed?” The Hashira asked, clearly confused as to why she would be cooking at such an early hour— when she preferred to start her mornings a little later than him.

“I…” She began hesitantly, while she kept her head down to hide the blush on her cheeks.

Normally, her cravings were something easy to make, or something ready to eat in the kitchen, but it was the first time that she’d sent Giyuu out on an errand and she felt bad about it. So she decided to make it worth his while by making something for him.

She just didn’t think that he would be back so soon.

“(Y/n)?”

“I felt bad about sending you out this early… so I thought-” (Y/n) answered softly— but was cut off when Giyuu marched up to her, turned her around, then pressed his lips to hers.

The action served to make her eyes widen, as a blush warmed her entire body— from the tips of her toes to the top of her head.

She didn’t know why, but she was always reduced to a flustered mess whenever Giyuu did something remotely sweet.

Who was she kidding though? She knew exactly why she acted that way around Giyuu; it was because she loved him— immensely. She just couldn’t admit it out loud to him, at the risk of ruining whatever unspoken agreement they had.

“Here. Your berries,” He announced in his usual cool tone— even though he felt so lightheaded from what he’d done that he just wanted to lay down.

In her excitement, (Y/n) as good as forgot her jumbled emotions; so she reached out and grasped the basket with both hands. All the while, she eyed the plump wild berries so covetously that Giyuu felt he was intruding on something private. “Ah! Thank you, Giyuu! I love you even more for this.”

Giyuu, in his surprise, choked on air as his eyes widened at the casually-thrown surprise. He immediately turned away from (Y/n)— more to hide his completely red face than anything else— and began to walk away from her.

He wanted to ask her about her words, and the war he waged with himself was long and bloody, but he eventually relented. So, with his back still to her, and his hand still covering the lower half of his face, he asked, “Did you mean it?”

“Did I mean what?” The young woman asked happily as she popped the first yama ichigo into her mouth. All of her thoughts and trepidations from their earlier exchange had clearly been pushed aside to savor the taste of her berries.

“That you love me?”

That brought pause to (Y/n)’s actions, and she swallowed what was in her mouth before worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. It was now or never, really.

“Of course. I always have, Giyuu. I wouldn’t have been with you in the first place if I didn’t.” Her hands deftly fussed with the sides of the wicker basket— running the pads of her fingers over the rough grooves and indentations of the pattern— to ease her nerves.

“I… I love you, too. You and the baby. I always have, as well.” He was about to continue, when he felt his lover’s warm body press against his back, as her arms wrapped tightly around his middle.

“Good. Because you’re stuck with us now, anata.”

#giyuu tomioka x reader #kimetsu no yaiba tomioka #tomioka giyū #tomioka #tomioka giyuu #tomioka giyuu x reader #demon slayer tomioka #demon slayer fanfic #demon slayer #demon slayer requests #kny x reader #kny requests #kimetsu no yaiba fanfic #kimetsu no yaiba #kimetsu no yaiba scenarios #demon slayer imagines

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bewitching-elizabeth-olsen · 4 years ago

Text

Press/Gallery: Elizabeth Olsen Is Ready to Lead the MCU

An ambitious new Disney+ series might just give the strongest Avenger the happy ending she deserves.

GALLERY LINKS

Studio Photoshoots > 2021 > Session 001

ELLE: We can’t keep meeting Elizabeth Olsen like this. By “this,” I mean in the throes of catastrophe or bereavement, or, to put it plainly, when she’s an emotional wreck. In the 2018 Facebook Watch drama Sorry For Your Loss, Olsen assumes the role of Leigh Shaw, a young widow grappling with the unexpected loss of her husband and all the painful nuisances that come with death: the unbearable waves of sadness, the clichéd condolences, a grief support group that runs out of donuts. At one point, Leigh says through a cracked voice, “I’m just mad all the time.” It’s hard not to draw parallels to Olsen’s other angry character. After all, “mad” is exactly how 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron introduced us to Wanda Maximoff.

Defined by tragedy since her Marvel debut, Wanda (aka the Scarlet Witch) is an orphan with telekinetic powers. When not saving the world, she spends most of her time onscreen grieving the deaths of her parents, twin brother, or lover. Wanda’s never been allowed to fully exist outside the confines of her grief and anger, but with the launch of WandaVision—Marvel’s foray into serialized content for streaming—she may just be getting the happy ending she deserves.

Partly inspired by The Vision comic book, which follows synthezoid superhero Vision and his family as they move to the suburbs of Washington, D.C., the Disney+ series is an ode to the TV sitcoms we’ve come to love, with Wanda and Vision (Paul Bettany) basking in newlywed bliss—except Vision’s been very dead (killed twice, in fact) since the events of 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War. It’s unclear exactly how these starcrossed characters got to suburbia, but for now, it’s a delight to see the typically solemn duo sink their teeth into slapstick comedy.

“The show is like a blank slate for them,” Olsen tells me over Zoom, her light brown fringe a departure from Wanda’s red waves. The Scarlet Witch’s doleful glare is also long gone; in its place, Olsen’s eyes are wide with excitement. “Wanda and Vision’s journey to this point is a story of pure, innocent love and deep connection with another person,” she explains. “It was also very traumatizing. Tragedy has always been their story. In our show, we kind of wipe that clean and start fresh.”

But Wanda’s complicated past looms over WandaVision. Age of Ultron saw her and her twin brother, Pietro, initially opposing the Avengers (the siblings volunteered for a series of experiments with Hydra—a super evil organization within the MCU—after the deaths of their parents at the hands of Tony Stark’s Stark Industries) before switching sides to help save the Earth. The movie ends in victory for our superheroes, but yet another tragedy for Wanda when Pietro dies in battle. She finds comfort in the arms of Vision, an android created from the remains of Tony’s J.A.R.V.I.S. program, but even that bliss is short-lived. You see, Vision can only live with the help of the Mind Stone, which Mad Titan Thanos needs to take over the universe. In Infinity War, Vision asks Wanda to sacrifice him, and Wanda reluctantly agrees—but Thanos reverses time to gain control of the stone, killing the robot for a second time. Wanda’s pain is palpable: Imagine sacrificing the love of your life to save everyone else, just to watch him brought back to life and killed again—by the very villain you’re trying to defeat.

Though the thrill of playing a character with superhuman abilities is enticing for any actress, Olsen says it was Wanda’s internal battle with mental health that attracted her to the role in the first place. “[Joss Whedon] explained to me that Wanda Maximoff has always been this pillar of the struggle of mental health, from her pain and depression and traumatic experiences to how she completely alters the reality of the comics,” Olsen says of her early conversations with the Age of Ultron director. “The thing I held onto after reading the initial script was that she was not only powerful because of her abilities, but because of her emotions.”

In fact, MCU theorists would argue she’s one of, if not the, strongest Avenger. She can infiltrate the others’ minds to reveal their biggest fears (Age of Ultron). She can overpower Vision and send him plunging through several floors to break up a fight between warring superheroes (Avengers: Civil War). She can even bring Thanos to his knees, snapping his sword in half and forcibly removing his armor piece by piece (Infinity War).

Still, “they keep slapping her over the head with more grief,” Olsen quips.

As phase one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe began with the sound of clanging metal on May 2, 2008, phase four kicked off on January 15, 2021 with a kitschy 1950s sitcom theme: “She’s a magical gal in a small town locale / he’s a hubby who’s part machine / How will this duo fit in and pull through? Oh, by sharing a love / like you’ve never seen.”

With WandaVision, Marvel steers clear of the typical superhero trappings: no destructive battles at a Berlin airport or across the streets of New York City; no blonde-haired god time-traveling to other realms; no tree-like alien fight alongside a raccoon. Wandavision takes place after the events of Endgame in a fictional suburban town called Westview, and the biggest problem the newlyweds face in the show’s opening moments is creating a convincing backstory to get nosy neighbor Agnes (Kathryn Hahn) off their backs.

“They are just trying to fit in,” Olsen explains. “They’re trying to not be found out by their neighbors that they’re super-powered beings.” Now, if only we can figure out what the hell is actually going on. Olsen remains tight-lipped: “The reason it’s a sitcom shows itself later in the show,” she hints. “When Kevin [Feige] told me, it didn’t feel so bizarre. It felt like a great way to start our story.”

“With our show, you don’t know what the villain is, or if there is one at all.”

So, is Wanda stuck in the first stage of grief, denial? Has she altered reality as a coping mechanism for Vision’s death? Is she being held hostage by a terrorist organization (ahem, Hydra!)? One thing we do know is that someone is watching the couple and taking notes. At the end of episode 1, the camera pans out from a retro TV playing an episode of WandaVision (meta!) to show a hand jotting down notes. There’s a strange sword symbol on the notebook and a nearby control board, and in episode 2, the same sign appears on a toy helicopter lodged in the couple’s front yard. Later, when a mysterious beekeeper crawls out of the sewer on the couple’s street, the symbol is seen on the back of his suit. In its 20-plus movies, Marvel villains have always existed in plain sight. But with a new, less obvious darkness lurking at every turn, Wanda may have to return to her world-saving roots.

“Someone said to me when you watch any of these hero movies, you know when the villain’s about to show themselves, and you also have an idea of who the villain is,” Olsen says. “With our show, you don’t know what the villain is, or if there is one at all.” For now, WandaVision allows for glimmers of hope and optimism for Wanda and Vision, despite what darkness tries to threaten their happiness. “Wanda is trying to protect everything in her bubble, protect what she and Vision have and this experience,” Olsen says. “I think everything she does is in response to keeping things together.”

In addition to exploding the concept of the superhero onscreen, WandaVision toys with a different era of TV in each episode. The pilot takes viewers to the ‘50s with an episode filmed in front of a live studio audience, and Wanda dresses up in the quintessential housewife garb, not a hair out of place in her voluminous bob. By the time we click on episode 2, she trades in her apron and kitten heels for a more pared-down ‘60s look, while episode 3 gives a nod to the ‘70s, complete with a Brady Bunch-style staircase and a shag haircut for Vision.

While dressing up was the fun part, time-hopping through the eras required a lot of binge-watching old sitcoms to get the mannerisms down right. Olsen studied series like The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Brady Bunch, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and Bewitched to “understand the tones of each era” and get a grasp of how Wanda and Vision should act as a couple. (One of her favorite TV pairings was Jane Kaczmarek and Bryan Cranston from Malcolm in the Middle.) She was fascinated by the way female characters evolved through the decades: “You have to learn appropriate manners—what’s considered being polite or proper. That coincides with women’s voices changing,” she explains. “I enjoyed challenging myself to match the syntax and the lyricism. I live in a very chest-register kind of deep voice. I had to remember not to bring it up at certain moments.”

For so long, Wanda served as a supporting character to Marvel’s biggest names, and the formulaic mundanity of the major theatrical releases made it easy to get comfortable. WandaVision offered Olsen a much-needed challenge. “I’ve only been working for 10 years, but there is this feeling where you start to get comfortable,” she says. “WandaVision was the furthest thing from comfortable for me. It felt intimidating. The character is a completely different thing.”

And fans hoping for a little Marvel action won’t be disappointed. “We still live up to what Marvel does,” she promises. “We just tell the story in a completely different way. It’s a very emotional, female story and it’s a story they haven’t told yet for either of our characters.” Whatever your theory is, keep the cliché condolences to yourself. No one will be uttering, “Sorry for your loss” in Wanda’s world.

Press/Gallery: Elizabeth Olsen Is Ready to Lead the MCU was originally published on Elizabeth Olsen Source • Your source for everything Elizabeth Olsen

#Elizabeth Olsen #WandaVision #Avengers #Scarlet Witch #Wanda Maximoff #Sorry For Your Loss #Avengers Infinity War #Avengers Age of Ultron #Captain America Civil War #Ingrid Goes West #Godzilla

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hecallsmehischild · 4 years ago

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Recent Media Consumed

Books

Half Bad, Half Wild, and Half Lost by Sally Green. Re-read Half Bad so I got all the details down, then blew through the next two books. Well. Doesn’t get any more light-hearted. Ending is super bittersweet, and I’d say heavier on the bitter. There’s a beauty to the story, but there’s so very much despair and blood and torture and… *glances back at my fanfics*… yeah, well… this… feels like it’s right up my alley for sure.

The Rational Bible: Genesis by Dennis Prager. Occasionally I find myself leaping up and yelling, “Oh no, absolutely not, that’s not what that meant! How even…?” Occasionally I shake my head or shrug at lesser disagreements. But overall? Very informative. I wish some arguments were more in depth, or made with more clarity, or were backed up more, but the chicken I’m finding is rather good. *tosses out the bones*

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky. I read Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment and this book, and it’s hard to read these books without wondering why nearly every character in the cast seems to be on the verge of a mental breakdown. Again, there are very long monologues that are often spoken with a sense of mania, completely unfocused and barely coming back around to the speaker’s point. I don’t know if this is a literary style? Or if people in Russia were like this during the time period Dostoevsky was writing about? Or what… but after trying his work for two books, I don’t particularly enjoy it and will not be pursuing further titles by him. I do get the feeling I’m missing something, here, and that this probably is an important piece of literature, but that doesn’t make me magically “get” it.

Movies

The Marksman. Usually action movies like this aren’t MY pick, they’re Sergey’s pick when it’s his turn to choose what we watch, but often I end up enjoying his pick anyway. No exception here. We joke that Liam Neeson is “Jack Bauer Lite” and tends to play that role in most of his movies, but this one went a little deeper. I’m still trying to figure out where I stand on the immigration issues, and what I like about this movie is that it implies problems/asks questions with all sides of the issue. Nobody, not even the cartel villain (by the end), is a complete cardboard cutout. The situation is screwed up and complex and difficult, and this movie gives a taste of that. I really like that. Almost feel like it could be a good conversation starter for this topic. That aside, the writing was pretty good for the most part, too. There was one point where I was unclear how the villains found our protagonists again (felt a little too magically accurate), but aside from that every step was reasonably explained and accounted for, so on the storytelling end this was also quite good. Much like 24, the movie made me step back from my self appointed moral high ground on several points and ask myself, “Okay, but what if that was me? What do I choose to do in this situation?”

The Founder. Dramatization about the guy who made McDonalds what it is today. My thoughts: Human communication is ridiculous and difficult. If you can manage not to hate the protagonist anti-hero for the cut-throat way he maneuvers, you may be able to see glimpses of admirable things in him. Even moments where you know he’s right and the other person is wrong. But that happens for almost every character in this situation, you see where they’re right and also wrong. You see where peoples’ goals aren’t necessarily bad, but misaligned with each other so badly that it ends in burned bridges all over. On the acting front, this is stellar. There’s a bit near the beginning where three men are in a restaurant, talking about how they started their first burger stand, and the way they speak is nearly poetry for its rhythm and beat and back-and-forth. On the one hand I was thinking, “Nobody talks like this. It’s impossible to finish sentences for each other so perfectly like this.” On the other hand, “They sound like a routine. It’s nearly musical to hear.” If you can manage the stress of watching peoples’ goals be at loggerheads, then some rise while others crash’n’burn. If you can stomach this kind of anti-hero (who is also a stellar actor). Then you might enjoy this.

Munich. *long inhale, long exhale* So. In the 1972 olympics, in Munich, most of the Israeli team was captured and held hostage by Palestinians. Rescues were botched, and all hostages died. This movie, Munich, picks up directly after when Israel launched Operation Wrath of God to assassinate everyone connected with orchestrating this situation. This movie follows one of the teams. You see some of the targets and their humanity. You see the team members slowly fall apart with guilt or PTSD or doubt. Even the confident leader of this team comes back with much less of himself than he started. It’s heavy. There’s a whole lot of blood and nudity. It’s not your typical action film where everything’s clear cut about who’s virtuous and who’s evil. It’s something more complex than that, and I respect it for that. I also would like to curl up with some fantasy for a while because the world is cruel.

Luca. I was lucky enough to see this when I was in a full on downswing. I say lucky because watching this film was enough to derail me from the downswing and restore me to normalcy by the mid-point. It’s colorful. It’s simple. It’s delightful. Santa Mozzerella, was this one a joy to watch.

Shows

Wandavision. I enjoyed this on several levels. I love the comparison of sitcoms from decade to decade, and the slow reveal was unsettling all throughout. The implications of Wanda’s mind control are fully explored and it is pretty horrifying. I didn’t really understand what happened with Vision toward the end, but aside from that, very enjoyable watch.

Games

Superliminal. Oh this was a fun game. Definitely creepy at times, but fun. I caution people who get simulator sickness easily (like me) to play around with the mouse sensitivity on this one. This has a combination Stanley Parable and Portal-like feel to it, exploring the dream state in a puzzle-solving situation. Really cool idea.

#child loves books #child loves movies #child loves shows #n00b gamer child #recent media consumed

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wigwurq · 4 years ago

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WIG REVIEW: HILLBILLY ELEGY

I ACTUALLY WATCHED THIS MOVIE Y’ALL. I promised I would watch some Oscar movies instead of prestige TV shows with bad red wigs so I sorta did that: I watched Oscar bait. Because lordt knows this movie is not winning any Oscars (and if it does, it is truly the asterisk Oscars). THIS YEAR YOU GUYS. There is so much to discuss in this movie. Yes, the wigs too. Also there are lots of spoilers but here’s the thing: THIS MOVIE IS AWFUL AND YOU SHOULD ABSOLUTELY NOT WATCH IT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES AND INSTEAD JUST READ THIS REVIEW. I WATCHED THIS HORROR SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO! YOU ARE WELCOME!

We begin in Kentucky 1997. AND EVERYTHING IS JUST SO KENTUCKY 1997. All landscapes/cars/people are beige and broken and depressed. We meet JD who is good at biking and saving turtles and spending the summer with his messed up family. HE IS ALSO A TERRIBLE ACTOR AS IS THE OLDER VERSION OF HIM. Important note: I did not read this book and the real JD is an awful Libertarian asshole and nothing about his story, his book, or this movie should be supported. I AM HERE FOR THE WIGS, Y’ALL. MOVING ON!

As promised, Glenn Close as JD’s grandma MAMAW (YES THAT IS HER CHARACTER NAME) looks exactly like Gene Shalit. A friend of mine made this comparison and I cannot unsee it. Amy Adams, straight off (ok maybe several years off?) deglamming for Sharp Objects is just completely frizzed (and kinda strung) out. These wigs are truly abominable as is this film. Anyway, they leave Kentucky and go back to Ohio where they live and where it is somehow more depressing than Kentucky.

But ok the wig, y’all. Amy Adams hair is is as shitty and unmanageable as her character which might have been a choice? Still, this wig is a tangled, dried out nightmare that cannot be defended (nor can this character’s child abuse and drug problems). Within moments of returning to Ohio, Amy Adams scolds her child for allowing a gifted dog to pee on her wall to wall carpeting and then the cops have to break up a car slap fight (of her slapping her child!) that spills out into a neighbor’s house. SHE MIGHT BE THE WORST MOM IN HISTORY BUT SHE SHOULD DEFINITELY BE ARRESTED FOR WIG CRIMES.

ONTO GLENN CLOSE - SHE LOOKS LIKE GENE SHALIT. THE END. Whoever approved this wig is a huge fan of American film critic Gene Shalit sans mustache. It is the only possible explanation. AND THIS PATCHY MAKEUP. I CANNOT YOU GUYS. I realize that everyone was aiming for deglam Oscars but they went too far.

ANYWAY. This film flashes between 1997 and 2011, where older JD (again also a terrible actor) is somehow in law school at Yale (OK?) and dating Freida Pinto who this film claims is normal law school age (FUN FACT: she’s 37). Older JD kind of has his life together other than the fact that all the snobs of law school cannot deal with this hillbilly kid who doesn’t know what a salad fork is. And then JD’s sister (played by Haley Bennett aka offbrand Jennifer Lawrence who I actually prefer more) calls and says that MOM IS IN TROUBLE PLEASE RUIN ANY LAW PROSPECTS AND COME HOME EVEN THOUGH MOM IS ABSOLUTELY THE WORST. AND HE DOES YOU GUYS!

Amy Adams’ 2011 wig/makeup/everything is probably the visualization of 2020? I assume this wig was made from leftover parts from Glenn Close’s Gene Shalit wig grafted onto a Halloween fright wig. It could very easily work for a swamp witch costume if you didn’t care about the quality of your swamp witch wig. IT IS THE WORST AS IS SHE. So she was in trouble because she overdosed on heroin...of course she did. After driving all night to get to Ohio, JD gets a call for a second interview at an important law whatever and just HAS TO GET BACK TO NEW HAVEN in the next like 6 hours which still feel like 600. The whole time he’s dealing with Amy Adams and her fright wig, it is a race against time to see if he’ll make it back and secure his future. I guess this is the plot of the movie? I could honestly not tell you. Basically the whole film (if you can call it that?) is strung together vignettes of strung out Amy Adams and yelling Glenn Close that never really add up to anything? BUT THERE IS SO MUCH YELLING ALWAYS. It’s like the opposite of a slow burn - it’s just constant flames and not the cool gay kind.

In any case, we flash back to the ‘90s where Amy Adams’ wig is basically everything Tonya Harding ever hoped and dreamed for (other than that Olympic medal...also Amy Adams would have been a much better casting choice in I, TONYA which had vastly superior wigs BUT I DIGRESS). We see how this drug habit developed - Amy Adams was a nurse and hoarded pills! This leads to the most truly outrageous film sequence I have seen in a long time where high as hell Amy Adams roller skates through the halls of the hospital where she works in her damn nurses scrubs and obviously immediately gets fired. Also her dad dies! Also she tries to kill herself and ends up screaming bloody murder (also covered in blood) in the middle of street and then goes to rehab (rehab doesn’t work). And then gets married to some rando. And then she gets some new job and needs JD to lend her some pee so she can still be a nurse. This all happens in the course of like 10 minutes. Like I said, this movie is constant insane vignettes - it’s like 100 plots at once and also no plot at all.

And then JD - definitely out of nowhere - develops a gang of terrible drug addicted teenage friends (sure!) who steal/crash cars and make everyone super pissed at JD. ALSO! For reasons unknown or ever explained, Glenn Close ends up in the hospital herself and then has the realization that only she can save JD from his effed up life AND TEARS ALL THE IVS OUT OF HER ARM AND STORMS OUT OF THE HOSPITAL WITH NO CONSEQUENCES OR EXPLANATIONS AS TO WHY SHE WAS THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE! YOU GUYS.

Also! JD tries to steal a graphing calculator for school from Radio Shack (this is for sure the most 90s sentence I’ve written in a while!) AND GLENN CLOSE IS PISSED! She lays down the law and also buys the graphic calculator herself even though that means they have to live off meals on wheels. BUT! Then he gets the best grade of the entire class on his math quiz and I DEMAND TO KNOW HOW HE KNEW HE HAD THE BEST GRADE IN THE ENTIRE CLASS AS THIS IS NEVER EXPLAINED OR SHOWN AND I NEED ANSWERS! Regardless, the graphing calculator not only saved JD’s grade point average but maybe set him on the path to Yale??? The concept that consumerism is the only thing that will help you as a “hillbilly” is really troubling and bespeaks the issues with this work of non-fiction as a whole. Anyway this movie really want you to know that GRAPHING CALCULATORS SAVE LIVES!!!

There is also a wig battle royale between Amy Adams and Glenn Close wherein there are absolutely no winners (but we, the viewer, definitely loses most!) It is honestly unclear to me how this fight ends (or how any fights end in this movie) because every interaction turns immediately into a fight and when said fight reaches its zenith, the movie cuts away to another vignette! Regardless, the wigs are complete garbage AS IS THIS MOVIE.

Back in 2011, Amy Adams refuses to be admitted to a rehab facility and older JD drives her back to her druggie boyfriend’s house which looks like this and I was like...hold up where have I seen this house before?

The answer is: 2010′s THE FIGHTER ALSO STARRING AMY ADAMS DEGLAMMING HERSELF FOR AN OSCAR SHE DIDN’T WIN! Ok actually in comparison, these houses aren’t that similar other than they are depressing houses with multitier front porches BUT STILL.

Anyway, JD leaves Amy Adams and her sad swamp witch wig at some random motel where nothing is resolved between them at all and then he drives all night back to New Haven whilst talking to Freida Pinto on the phone (SHE NEEDS TO SLEEP TOO, DUDE! HOW DO YOU THINK SHE IS PLAYING 14 YEARS HER JUNIOR! SLEEP!) And then...he does get to the interview and....the movie ends!! WHAT!TRULY AND FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART: WHAT DID I JUST WATCH AND WAS IT A MOVIE? I STILL DON’T KNOW!

There is an epilogue of pictures of the real people and you guys: MAMAW LOOKED NOTHING LIKE GENE SHALIT. Also why do I even care about these real people???? Yes the real JD made something of himself....he wrote the book on which this movie is based and became a Libertarian asshole and worked with Peter Theil?!?! OK??? I guess the full story is in the epilogue? But this movie absolutely begins and ends nowhere and in between we are treated to a lot of nonsensical yelling and terrible, awful, no good wigs. I IMPLORE YOU: DO NOT WATCH THIS MOVIE!!!!!! MAYBE WATCH SOME YOUTUBE CLIPS OF GENE SHALIT INSTEAD!

VERDICT: DOESN’T WURQ

#wigwurq #hillbillyelegy #glennclose #amyadams #deglammedforoscar #oscarbait #swampwitchwigs #geneshalit

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fruitso · 5 years ago

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Anemone: Eureka Seven Hi-Evolution Analysis + Theories!

Okay, so here are my thoughts/ramblings on what’s going on in “Anemone: Eureka Seven Hi-Evolution” and what it means for the series and the future. Obviously spoilers, so read below at your own discretion.

The biggest question for anyone going in who is familiar with the series is: where are we? The world we see is obviously NOT the one we’re introduced to in the first film. This is an Earth that is not covered by the scab coral, so is it from the past? An alternate dimension? It’s similar to the alternate Earth we see in Eureka Seven AO (there’s even a Generation Bleu sign in one of the backgrounds), though there aren’t any LFO or IFOs.

Now, this film does establish that alternate worlds exist, so that latter option isn’t too far fetched. However that doesn’t explain why certain characters like Anemone and Mischa exist in this world, while others like Renton or the rest of the Gekko crew don’t. And if you recall from the first film, there were posters of Anemone around, so SHE clearly existed in some form in that world.

And then there’s Dewey. He’s the biggest clue to what is really going on, since he is the one with seeming knowledge about these alternate worlds. It’s not entirely clear yet what his deal is, or even how he got there. The last time we saw him, he’d been attacked by the Silver Box’s red ribbons, but appeared to be okay afterward—if a little shaken. From what Dr. Bear says, they found Dewey shortly after the scab coral began appearing in their world, and Dewey mentions something about being caught up in it. So was Dewey somehow split into two worlds following the events of the Summer of Love? And what’s going on with his eyes when he releases himself at the end? I assume we’ll find that out in the following film (though I’m guessing it has something to do with Silver Box), but as to how he arrived in this world, I have a theory, which also ties into what’s going on with Eureka.

So when explaining what’s going on to Dr. Bear and Anemone, Dewey talks about a Child of God being chosen to be sacrificed, and that where he came from it was Renton who was chosen and subsequently killed. It’s hard to tell whether Dewey is simply mad at this point, but he does go on to talk about how the Child of God was sent to show God’s mercy, but not to use that power for evil. He also says that the child fell to the “witch”—the witch being Eureka. However there’s later a discrepancy, at the end of the film when the scab coral mutates into that monstrous form, Dewey tells Dr. Bear that the Child was “swallowed up” by God’s power and then abandoned when he tried to demonstrate that power “fairly”. Before he kills(?) Dr. Bear, Dewey says that since the Child won’t do it, HE will, and then proclaims that the incarnation is “complete” and that the world will be overwritten by him. So I think it’s safe to say he was lying about Renton dying—or he was unclear about what happened to Renton. However this still doesn’t explain what he’s talking about, since Renton was only a kid when the Summer of Love happened. Unless the ‘sacrifice’ he’s talking about was when Eureka went through Acperience…

Okay, so this point is muddled partly because the first film did such a poor job of providing clarity, but this is what I think happened. In the first film, after the Summer of Love, Eureka is placed within the custody of Facility Guard—that universe’s version of the Gekko State. The purpose of the Guard is ostensibly to keep a watch over Eureka, but Holland plans on going rogue and taking her and the Nirvash away from the Federation. Now either before or after this rebellion, the Gekko arrives in Bell Forest where Renton is attending a middle-school/military academy while his adoptive parents, Charles and Ray, are taking vacation. Eureka and the Nirvash crash into Renton’s home, just like in the series, and presumably that’s when Renton decides to join the Gekko. Renton ends up developing feelings for Eureka and wants to ‘free’ her like she did for him, and so they somehow end up trying to go through Acperience. How and why is never clear (though according to Eureka’s dialogue in the second film, it’s because they went to the Silver Box, though the first film doesn’t clarify this) but afterward Eureka ends up in her scab form, at which point Holland forbids Renton from contact with Eureka and he runs away.

SO, this is probably what Dewey is talking about when he mentions that the Child was “swallowed up” by God’s power, since during the Acperience we see that Eureka’s arm begins mutating and threatens to swallow up Renton. But how he could be aware of this is unclear, as is what Dewey believes is the ‘proper’ use of God’s power. (I’m also assuming “God’s power” in this case is the Nirvash, and/or the Amita Drive).

Speaking of Acperience and Eureka, this is also an important point of divergence between the two films. In that first film, we saw that Renton stopped the Acperience when he grabbed the Amita Drive before Eureka’s arm could swallow him, and afterward discovered Eureka had reversed into her Scab form. BUT in the second film, when Anemone finally confronts Eureka, she claims that she did kill Renton when her arm swallowed him, and that she woke up alone in her scab form. At that point Eureka says she began to use the Silver Box’s power to dream up alternate realities in an effort to bring Renton back to life. We’re then treated to a montage of various scenes and images from all the entries in the Eureka Seven franchise—the series, 2009 film, AO, Hi-Evolution, and even the video game and manga! (I have thoughts on this, but I’ll get to them later)

This is apparently why the scab coral were taking over Anemone’s world, as each dream Eureka tried to conjure into existence ended up forming more of the scab. However it’s shown that Eureka was wrong: Renton didn’t die. At the end of the film, the Nirvash type Z appears out of an egg (which Dewey calls the “Guide to Nirvana” and apparently its “final form”?) which Eureka feels is calling her, before the scene transitions literally to another world where we see Renton holding up the Compact Drive (and also wearing his costume from episode 50).

So what I think this means is that Renton and Eureka went to the Silver Box where they were sucked into Acperience. Renton managed to get them out, but a part of Eureka was absorbed into Silver Box, and that part believed she had killed Renton and thus fell into despair, and at that point started dreaming up those alternate realities. This somehow began manifesting in Anemone’s world as giant scab coral which began to overtake the planet. Dewey somehow ended up in that world and taken prisoner, where he revealed that the scab’s core was Eureka. Thus dubbed “Eureka Seven”, the government formed ASSID and Anemone’s father found a way to enter the scab’s consciousness through “diving” technology. He, and a team of girls labeled the Super Six tried to infiltrate and destroy the scab through the inside, but each of them were absorbed by the scab, later manifesting as the cores of the giant mech Nirvash X which appears to defend the scab coral from attackers.

Now at this point, what is still unclear is what happened between the end of Hi-Evo 1 and this film; when we left Renton in the first film he was on his way to reunite with Eureka (and the text tells us this would occur within 18 hours). It was also before Charles and Ray were to attack the Gekko to kill Eureka on orders from the Federation. But at the end of the second film, after Anemone and Eureka escape the Command Cluster and/or Silver Box, the crew of the Gekko as well as Charles and Ray appear from the destroyed scab coral, as well as the girls of the Super Six. However Renton is still apparently on another world. So why did the Gekko and the Beams appear? My theory: it has something to do with the Eureka that Renton managed to rescue from Acperience. In the first film, we clearly see that Eureka was conscious after Renton pulled her out from the scab. And when we left things off in that film, the Gekko was about to be attacked by Charles and Ray, like we saw in the original series. So I think something happened with Eureka when Charles and Ray infiltrated the Gekko which absorbed them all and transported them into the scab coral forming in Anemone’s world. Of course this raises the question of what happened to the Eureka of that world, and how far the “Eureka Seven” scab coral was spreading—was it just Anemone’s world, or were more realities affected?

The answers I feel all lie with Silver Box and the nature of all these alternate worlds. There’s still a lot about Silver Box that we don’t know, but it’s clear it can reveal and affect multiple worlds. When Adrock stops the Summer of Love event, he sees a vision of multiple planets and an infinity symbol which morphs into a cube. At the end of the second film when we transition to Renton on the other world, we see that same cube again briefly, but red. Could this be similar to the Quartz from AO, which allowed the scab to travel to alternate dimensions? Adroc does say something about what he sees being the “true world”.

And this ties into the montage when Eureka talks about the realities she created. Dewey mentions that these worlds are garbage remnants created by a false God, as opposed to the true worlds. I don’t think this is supposed to mean that all the previous entries in the Eureka Seven franchise are ‘false’; when we see the worlds that Eureka came up with in the scab coral, they’re just random scenarios from the series that have nothing to do with the other entries. However I think when we see that montage, it’s supposed to represent the alternate worlds that Eureka saw when she was within the Silver Box, not necessarily the ones she created, because she says that no matter how many times she dreamed she couldn’t bring Renton back to life, even though Renton never dies in any of the other E7 entries.

So what will happen next? Well I think it’s clear that Eureka is going to take the Nirvash Z and use it to find Renton, which supposedly will bring them to ‘Nirvana’. What is Nirvana? My guess is that it’s something that will tie into all the alternate universes. Dewey says that God doesn’t destroy a world he creates, but rather “washes away the evil society and rebuilds it”. This sounds a lot like the Limit of Questions, which in the original series was explained as an event which would collapse reality if too much sentient life existed in the same space, and I imagine that Dewey’s role in the next film will be to bring about a similar event across all the alternate worlds.

#Eureka Seven #Anemone #Hi-Evolution #anime

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i-am-worm · 5 years ago

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DOUBLE BONUS BLUE

So my sister @feral-deer went to Disneyland Florida for her honeymoon (and frankly just in time it seems x.x) and she brought me back an Alebrije as featured in the movie ‘Coco’. She even picked out the most ‘dinosaur looking one’ for me she said. XD

But...I’d never seen Coco! I had actually avoided it as I felt it was Disney stealing form ‘The book of life’. But I had heard some good things and my sister lent me the DVD before the lock down. This way I could understand where my ‘Spirit Guide’ creature was about (TECHNICALLY they’re a Mexican art from developed in the 1930s but I do like how Disney entwined them into something more spiritual).

He sits on my coincidental skull shrine.

So here is my little dino. I feel like maybe it should have been more angular and more of a ‘dinosaur meets a flowery armadillo’ thing. Maybe I’ll, come back to it later.

As for Coco...(long-winded babble below about the film and belated spoilers).

Well it is a good film, it’s got heart to it and the titular ‘Coco’ was wonderful. I enjoyed the songs, the visuals and it’s perfectly serviceable as a classic Disney film. And has a real heart-warming ending and a good touch on how life exists through memories. it’s definately worth a watch if nothing else.

But they totally stole the base story form ‘The book of life; and it shows. ‘The book of life’ was pitched to Pixar first and it was initially rejected and considering Disney tried to trade mark ‘Dia de los Muertos‘...yeah they’d totally do something like that.

Overall the feeling from those who worked on ‘The book of life’ was ‘Hey! You get two cakes!’ in regard to Disney also making a day of the dead film so there is no hard feelings it seems (asides form aforementioned trade mark).

This website does a great job of showing the similarities and differences and shares my overall feelings about the films:

https://sweetanimatedfilms.wordpress.com/2018/01/21/coco-vs-the-book-of-life/

But Coco had these unresolved or unclear bits that felt like they came about because they were piggybacking.

- Miguel sort of...falling into the land of the dead. No reason given. The dead family briefly suggest it’s because he stole from the dead and is now ‘cursed’ but it’s super glossed over. @scifer and I think it's because the idea of a family member playing music is ‘cursed’. Miguel sort of drops lines like ‘I’d play even if I die” and “I’ must be cursed” through the intro. But Disney films are usually more on the nose than that. In ‘The book of life’ the main character is killed in order to get to the land of the dead. It felt like Disney couldn’t have a child dying but wasn’t sure how to approach it otherwise.

- The dead have these Alebrije animal spirit guides...sort of. They only feature here and there and it’s not clear why they have them. The dead in this world don’t seem to make a ‘journey’ or have trials they have to go through. Its almost like normal-life in fact (complete with bureaucracy!). So why do they need a guide? Where was Hector guide? Pretty sure he needed one! They were such a cool idea but felt really under utilized.

Heck- Dante (who turns out to BE an Alebrije - which make sense as the breed were meant to be guides for the dead) could have dragged Miguel into the land of the dead to help Hecktor, who Dante is meant to be guiding to peace in the afterlife. There. Fixed two points.

- Finally, the ending has the bad guy get his posthumous comeuppance in the living world and the family get over their 50-YEARS OR MORE utter HATRED of music. How? How did Miguel explain or find evidence of that one? I thought they were going to show Miguel finding his dads song book in the tomb or something like that.

When he lost his dad’s photo and I thought it would have been good (and even a bit dark) if Coco never regained her memory of her father, but instead remembered who Miguel is. Then she gives Miguel a secret earlier song book (or even hidden letters with songs) belonging to her father Hecktor. With the evidence he wrote the songs, and was coming home; and the family along with the towns folk then remember Hecktor more fondly. Thus giving him more ‘life’...in the afterlife (and then punish Ernesto de la Cruz by abandoning his shrine because they agree there must have been ‘foul play’).

I don’t know. I am throwing muddy ideas at the walls here. Disney films need the bad guy losing and the heroes ‘winning’- it doesn’t have to be perfect story wise (but it should be >8O ).

All this is serviceable in the terms of a Disney film and doesn’t out right break the plot, but they stood out to me. This is not to say that ‘The book of life’ doesn’t have its deus ex machina moments, but it felt like the plot was more thought out and grounded. It also had the excuse that it was a story being told by trickster gods to modern day children.

Speaking of which- when is present day Coco supposed to be based time period wise? Miguel had video tapes of 50′s-60′s films, so was this the 80′s?

#Alebrijes #coco #dinosaur #the book of life #disney #inktober52 #blue #day of the dead

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actually-2000-mice · 6 years ago

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Can we please

CAN WE PLEASE

CaN We PlEaSe

talk about how fucking gorgeous the finale of les mis is

Like these isnt a single part of this song that isn’t just amazing

I particularly love “take my love for love is ever lasting, and remember the truth that once was spoken to love another person is to see the face of god” like if that isnt the most beautiful gorgeous shit ever then what the fuck is. Like just this whole musical is amazing and I love it with all my heart and I just every single character is amazing and essential to the story and just fuck man.

I also think it is also very interesting because now you finally see Valjean just.. tired.. He has lost everything, then gained everything, then lost everything again over the course of his life. He is tired his life has been hard and difficult and honestly I think this adds so much more meaning to the words “come with me where chains will never bind you, all your grief at last at last behind you, lord in heaven look down on him in mercy” Up until the end he is constantly on edge that he is going to be sent back to prison in his mind the law is always chasing him and he is waiting for it to catch back up to him because honestly in the end I don’t think he still fully believes he deserves to be free and that’s why he is willing to give himself up to Javert as soon as he makes sure Cosette and Marius are okay and that Cosette is going to be safe. He doesn’t stay out of jail because he believes that he is a good man who deserves to be out of jail he stays out of jail because Cosette needs him an he loves Cosette. In death he is being freed by this fear of going back to jail and fear that he deserves to go back to jail as Fantine extends out her hand with this offer of come with me, come to a place where chains will never bind you. She then goes on to say “ all your grief at last at last behind you” His whole life has been full of grief from the very beginning, I mean he stole bread to help his sister and then his sister fucking abandoned him, although he wasn’t super close to Fantine he genuinely cared about everyone and losing her was a pain in itself especially cause he blamed himself (or at least probably blamed himself for this loss) he was there when all the barricade boys died, he thought he lost his daughter and son in law. She is once against extending this hand to allow him to put away his pain his grief his fucking hard as fuck life and go be happy finally and truly I mean this poor man. I then find the line “lord in heaven look down on him in mercy” then continued by him saying “forgive me all my trespasses and take me to your glory” fascinating because like idk maybe this just is me not understanding something about mainstream Christianity cause turns out my cult was a bit different but in the end Valjean was a fundamentally good man even down to the reason he was in prison, he might not believe it but his whole life was centered around helping other people, he didn’t care for his own life he wasn’t selfish even before jail, did jail harden him a bit yes but the bishop melted away that hardness and you see this amazing selfless man who just wants to help other people emerge and I think thats amazing. I don’t really see what needs forgiving and this might be coming from the same person who didn’t understand why we needed to repent every single day but I don’t think he really has anything that needs forgiving he was the literal definition of a g o o d person. Idk if anyone made it this far in this post and understands that line feel free to explain it.

The song then segments into some of my favorite lines in the entire show “take my hand and lead me to salvation, take my love for love is ever lasting, and remember the truth that once was spoken to love another person is to see the face of god” Now part of what is so fascinating about these lines is who says them The first line and second lines are said by Eponine and Fantine and the third line is said by Valjean, Eponine, and Fantine. Now I find this fact particularly fascinating because If you think about it Eponine and Fantine both lived lives that were God damn hard and might even be seen as bad lives or get them marked as bad people by others but in the end they were fundamentally GOOD people who both were given a terrible hand in life and died young. Fantine probably died around 23 ish the brick is really unclear on it but she was young she couldn’t have been older then 17 when she had cosette she was basically the equivalent of some teen who “falls” for a college dude gets knocked up and dumped but on top of that she also was an orphan living on her own. She then needed to provide for her child whom she had living with other people to avoid stigma and she loved her child so deeply that she was willing to give her life to help her child potentially have a better one. She ends up wrongfully getting fired and has to turn to prostitution in order to help her child, she didn’t want to turn to prostitution but she had no other choice this is a 21-22 year old CHILD we are talking about here. She ended up dying without ever seeing her child again even though she desperately wanted to this was the child she gave her life for and she never got to see her again and she was only about 23. Now there’s Eponine Eponine appears to be the antithesis to Cosette, where cosette had a childhood but a good life 8+ Eponine had a relatively good childhood but a terrible life after about the time cosette left. there lives parallel each others in a way but not really at the same time but what makes it that she only appears to be the antithesis to Cosette is the fact that she is a very good person who genuinely cares about the people that she loves very much like cosette. They show the audience and reader how how and where someone was raised really determines so much in their life and in the end compliment each other rather quite lovely if you think about it. But Eponine was handed a very bad hand in life a hand that led to her dying at no older then probably about 16-17 (I don’t remember is her exact age is if stated) to an outside viewer she was a scammer and a thief when in fact she was a good caring person in a bad situation being abused by her father and just doing what she had to in order to survive and in the end she ended up dying with no one to really truly remember her with in a few years. Now this makes the fact that the two of them are the ones who are saying “take my hand and lead me to salvation, take my love for love is ever lasting” very very interesting because of two reasons 1) because “lead me to salvation” they’re both people to who outside people look like beyond saving I mean you have a prostitute and a thief most people will look at that and judge and think they can’t be saved but here they are looking out to salvation looking to make it to salvation who will make it to salvation because they’re at heart really good people and were doing what they had to in order to survive and help the ones they love 2) “take my love for love is everlasting” Love is all they had to give its all they had to offer but they obviously loved fiercely because thats all they have to give but it is everlasting and is what really really matters in the end. Look at Fantine and Cosette and Eponine and Azelma and Eponine and Marius. Love is all they really had to offer those people but they gave every ounce of love they had and they did everything in their power to help those people cause they loved them dearly. I think it is also very important that it is the two of them saying it cause it gives these words so much more meaning then if literally any other character had been saying it because of their extremely specific life circumstances and how they ended up living and dying. Now we get to the third line “and remember the truth that once was spoken, to love another person is to see the face of God” This is said by all three of them if I ever get a phrase fucking tattooed on me its gonna be this one because h o l y f u c k okay so like Valjean pitches into this one. these three characters have arguably gone through the most out of almost every single other character in this story their lives have been thing after thing after thing gone wrong and hardship after hardship. Now I would say it means more that valjean stayed out of the last one because he had money he had the ability to give more then just love even though he did give so much love it gives the words more meaning that thats all the other two really had to give. But with this line he pitches in to love another person is to see the face of god, the highest best thing you can do is to love another person. In loving another person you see the face of god himself, it is the closest you can get to seeing god’s hand in all of this and I find that beautiful. These three loved with all their might they saw the face of god through all the pain all the suffering because they loved. It speaks to the importance of love because in the end this story would not be the same without the love that is intertwined throughout it, the love that shown through the suffering. In the end honestly I would say this can be applied to our own lives because love trumps all and that’s something I feel like the world has always failed to see love can and will win in the end and you really see this with this beautiful musical.

So then (sorry y’all thought I was done but nope bitch I’ve got more to say) the music transitions to the kinda reprise of do you hear the people sing. “do you hear the people sing lost in the valley of the night it is the music of a people who are climbing to the light. For the wretched of the earth there is a flame that never dies. Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise. They will live again in freedom in the garden of the lord. They will walk behind the plow shed they will put away the sword. The chain will be broken and all men will have their reward. will you join in our crusade who will be strong and stand with me somewhere beyond the barricade is there a world you long to see, do you hear the people sing say do you hear the distant drums it is the future that they bring when tomorrow comes. will you join in our crusade who will be strong and stand with me somewhere beyond the barricade is there a world you long to see do you hear the people sing say do you hear the distant drums it is the future that they bring when tomorrow comes” Okay oh boy oh boy oh boy do I have stuff to say about this part. Okay so theres a lot to this and I doubt y’all want to hear another 2000 words from me but lets start from the beginning of this. What I find so cool about this is that it really connects the little blurb at the beginning of the brick “So long as there shall exist, by reason of law and custom, a social condemnation which, in the midst of civilization, artificially creates a hell on earth, and complicates with human fatality a destiny that is divine; so long as the three problems of the century - the degradation of man by the exploitation of his labour, the ruin of women by starvation and the atrophy of childhood by physical and spiritual night are not solved; so long as, in certain regions, social asphyxia shall be possible; in other words and from a still broader point of view, so long as ignorance and misery remain on earth, there should be a need for books such as this.” to the musical because it really is a call to action to us now. They don’t end the musical with Valjean dying to they choose to reprise do you hear the people sing they don’t let the story end because the story isn’t fucking over. Nothing ever got solved in the book because it is a story about the miserables, about the poor, about the disadvantaged, the hurting the people of france. There are no “bad guys” in the book because all of them are suffering and there is no clean ending to it all because they were all still suffering and still are. Thats why this story drags in so many fans even now over 100 years later because all of this still largely holds true today because there are still injustices people are still hurting and need help and we need to fucking do something. That future is still on the horizon it is still coming and we need to do something about helping it bring it to past. I could do deeper analysis on each of these lines and the connections in les mis but that would easily be another 2000 works and so I will spare y’all this time. Sorry for the long post I hope y’all enjoy it.

#To anyone who says fantine should be left out of the musical I will physically fight you #to the friend who has said said thing who might see this lmao love you sorry #but also nope wouldn't be the same without fantine #thisis highkey 2442 ish words I'm so sorry #I just really love les mis okay #les mis #les miserables #victor hugo #fantine #eponine #jea valjean #jean valjean*#valjean #the brick #les mis the musical #musicals #analyze #analysis #I decide to speak

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