#i have a Lot thought out for it and honestly this stuff is decently spoilery

[whimsical-sonic]

i mentioned in the oc q&a that sting does contracted work for a former gun researcher by the name of taz nocturn. let's get into that!

pictured from left to right: dr. nocturn (she/her), vi the caracal (they/them), and sting himself

to explain why sting's working for taz, i need to explain a bit of what's going on with her. long story short, taz left gun to pursue what started as a pet project. she's been experimenting with chaos energy, studying how it interacts with the organic and inorganic, all with an ulterior motive in mind. her research is completely secret. so secret, in fact, that her lab is an abandoned subway system that had been repurposed to suit her needs

vi is taz's assistant. with taz's permission, vi hired sting, having learned about him via a newspaper ad (where he was promoting his services, he was a little desperate for cash). taz and her scientists don't usually leave the subway, and vi can only travel so far...sting is the one they rely on to get them new equipment, new material, new intel. sting is also the person they contact to help them, uh, find participants for their experiments

sting does not know what it is they're testing for nor do the scientists want him to know, can't let anyone on the outside know what it is they're researching. he gets paid well enough to not question it, but he can't help but get a little curious...

in terms of interactions, almost all work-related meetings are with vi. sting has only spoken to taz...maybe about 2 times? 3? taz doesn't really leave her research. she appreciates that sting isn't one for small talk, and he appreciates that she gets right to the point

during the events of my fanstory, a certain blue hedgehog and two-tailed fox start snooping a bit too close to the lab, assuming that eggman is up to something (fair assumption). not wanting to risk discovery, vi called upon sting to go deal with them

if this interests you, please consider voting for sting! 🦂 vote for him here 🦂

if you want to learn more about him, check out his socs2 tag here!

@sonic-oc-showdown

[oodlyenough]

life is strange true colours review

the non spoilery part: i LOVED this game, my personal fave game this year and the first franchise entry since the original that has really resonated with or moved me.

it's a life is strange game through and through, so if you don't like slice of life episodes or bonding with NPCs, it's not gonna be for you. but if you like the franchise, or even if you liked the first game but haven't been interested in/liked the other two instalments, i recommend giving this one a chance. i think it got closer to figuring out the formula while still doing something new and interesting.

more detailed spoilers and opinions:

alex

holy shit i love alex? bisexual chad... my darling... i'm gonna be real, a lot of the trailers and promo for this game made me worried she'd be kind of a dull wallflower Soft Girl character, but she's not! she's so funny, and even parts of her characterization i initially thought were maybe a bit of a stretch ended up making sense as i learned more about her. she stole the show. i straight up forgot how much loving the protag helps enjoyment of these kinds of games lmao ... finally a reason to click on everything in the room: to hear what alex will say about it.

i thought her backstory exploration in ep 5 especially was wonderful and emotive and great. broke my heart and explained so much about her :( baby girl

plot/choices

i loved the mystery. i don't think it was quite as Mysterious as the mystery in lis1, but that was okay, i was still invested in solving it. i also got invested enough in the NPCs around the town to make all the exploration bits really fun. i loved eavesdropping on the sagas of the random NPCs like bald man and ice cream couple... just fun little touches and narratives to follow that i enjoyed.

i really appreciated this script not being afraid to shy away from some messier emotions, even if in some cases i wish we spent more time on them. for example: alex feeling a bit jealous of the other people in town that got to know gabe better than her/spend more time with him than she did. or charlotte hating ethan!!! my jaw dropped, i thought that was so good, what a messy but realistic response.

I'm not entirely sure what all the ramifications of different choices are at this point, fresh off my first play. i ended up getting only part of the council to stand with me (eleanor & duckie) while losing pike and charlotte.

i do wish we saw a bit more fallout or exploration of what taking away emotion DOES. i took charlotte's anger, and obviously it meant she didn't stand up for me in the council meeting, but where does she go from there? does she like... ever return to feeling emotions lmao... I also think we probably should've had the opportunity to do that another time, instead of just 2 isolated events -- I think Diane would've been a good candidate.

the romance

i romanced steph, ofc, but i was surprised during the game how drawn i was to ryan too -- i really liked that Drama of him being the one who cut Gabe free, as well as later the drama of him being Jed's son. UNTIL HE DIDN'T BELIEVE ME... that made me mad lmfao, i have to learn what to do to make him believe me before i play a Ryan route bc i'll kill him lmfao.

the steph/alex romance was sweet... it didn't really, like, Consume Me as a ship, but by the end of the game I was still "aww"ing at their moments in the flashforward. steph was more rounded and flawed than i thought she might be, which i really appreciated! i was worried they'd just make her perfect idealized gf, but she has a bit of a temper and is kind of tempestuous and stuff... liked it. loved her standing up for alex so fiercely and immediately at the council meeting <3 and my main reservation about her in ep 4 was that i wanted alex to stay in haven, so when she offered to stay i was thrilled LOL

one semi-complaint i had was that something i loved so much about lis1 was how max and chloe's relationship was central to the entire game and story, it wasn't some extra thing on the side, it WAS the game... whereas here, the romance routes, especially steph's, felt like sidequests. I wish they'd found a way to incorporate those relationships a bit more into the main goings-on. I also wanted to spend more time with either romance option to feel like I knew them better -- splitting the time between Steph and Ryan means that I came away feeling like I didn't get quite as much of either of them as I would've liked, vs spending almost the entire game with Chloe lol.

however, this ended up not really bothering me too much because I DID really like the core mystery and themes, the exploration of grief and Emotion, etc.

other characters

considering everyone knew going into the game that gabe was going to die, i was impressed with how they did it, and how they managed to get me attached to gabe in a mere single episode. it's a tall order to introduce a character designed to die, who your audience KNOWS is going to die, and still make them work.

i thought this supporting cast was ... maybe the strongest in the franchise? or at least, they created scenarios where i felt invested in multiple people in the town, and was genuinely trying to build decent relationships with most of them. duckie cracked me tf up, i liked eleanor and riley, even diane and jeb were good for their roles. (fuck pike. i signed ur stupid thing and left your emotions alone and you still won't do shit? ACAB!!!) the choice to stay in haven or leave was a little harder than i expected honestly, considering how quickly i let arcadia bay burn to the ground lmfao.

gameplay/etc

also i know the whole internet has been dunking on "empathy" as a super power since the game was announced, and i get that it sounds corny and looks corny in the trailers, but i thought how they did it was really cool. i wish they'd branded it "Mindreading" more than empathy tbh because a lot of the cooler elements of it are more along those lines... using her power to manipulate people, potentially taking people's emotions away and what that does to them... very interesting imo!

i really liked the memory feature!!! cool way to give us character exposition and inform the story while encouraging exploration. finally a collectible that like, expands the story, instead of chloe drawing butts on the wall and sean taking 10 years to draw something.

it's definitely the most evolved-feeling LIS game, which it should be, given it's the newest. graphics looked really nice, loved getting to see the characters actually emote, even if there are still some scenes that were a lil comically blank-faced -- usually NPCs. i actually noticed this with Jed the most, which in retrospect maybe was somewhat intentional?

i had a number of visual glitches, nothing major but a little silly, like T-posing Alex, npcs t-posing in the windows, etc. i'm sure they'll get patched out soon.

anyway... i rly liked this game, i'm excited for the steph dlc and finally feel like i have reason to be optimistic about future LIS instalments. hooray!

[rhetoricalrogue]

I have a lot of feelings for this new boy, so I'm going to spill them over here. Technically, he's a backup character for the campaign I'm currently in, but I really hope I get to use him in another campaign (mostly because I love my bard so dang much and I'm going to do my best to keep her squishy self alive!) Plus he's an open book, whereas Lilian is like an oyster you've got to pry stuff out of at the risk of accidentally stabbing yourself (although I'm dying to spill the beans on her backstory. DYING, I say!) and I don't have any spoilers to hide from anyone with this guy.

Name: Sunny Hopeson. He got his name because the women who found him on their temple doorstep thought he was such a happy little baby who laughed all the time and was rarely upset. Since he didn't have a surname, they figured that "son of hope" would be a fitting one.

Age: 25

Height: 6'2"

Weight: 210 lbs, mostly all muscle

Appearance: TALL and BEEFY. He's mostly long, honey blonde hair with biceps, thighs, and a tree trunk torso with a bit of a soft belly. He tends to slouch to make himself look a little smaller and to fit under low doorframes.

Sunny likes to keep his almost mid-back length hair braided on both sides of his head and then kept loose around his shoulders or gathered in a low ponytail or a messy bun at the back of his head. He has dimples on both sides of his mouth when he smiles (which is often, he's honestly a happy guy) and is currently trying to grow out a beard after one of the nuns who lived in the same temple he does mentioned that he would look good in one. Right now he's got a decent head start with some thick stubble that's a shade darker than his hair. He has bright blue eyes and THICK eyelashes. His nose was broken once in a fight where he put himself between a woman and a man who was getting too handsy and is a little crooked because of it.

Class: Paladin/[REDACTED](multiclassing for this campaign only if I have to use him in case of a Lilian permadeath. It's kinda complicated and probably the ONLY spoilery thing with him.)

Occupation: Jack of all trades. He helps out in the temple to Sune where he was left at as a baby and grew up in under the care of the priestesses there, helps the farmers in the local village with planting and harvesting, moonlights as the village tavern's bouncer even though he was young but was already starting to sprout up and look intimidatingly built. When he was nineteen, he got a wild hair to become a bard, so he packed up his things and took off on the road for his first adventure.

Turns out that he can't carry a tune in a bucket, even though he really, really likes the act of making music. He's earnest and tries his best, but bless his heart, his best can make people's ears bleed. Even so, he decided to make a home in Ank'Harel and stay at the bard's college there, where a bard by the name of Lilian Mardoris took one look at him and adopted him on the spot because if she didn't, someone was going to pick this poor boy's pocket and make off with whatever valuables he had. Over the years, he and Lilian became close friends, even after he left the college and found a place in a local temple to Sune where he studied to become a paladin to his goddess. Lilian got him a kalimba for one of his birthdays that he can play somewhat decently, if not a little off-key most of the time.

Traits: Optimistic. So, SO optimistic. Living up to his name, people have to work hard to bring him down, but then he picks himself back up quickly with a laugh and a joke. The glass is half-full and if it were up to him, he'd find a pitcher to fill it to the brim. He'll help everyone he can, no matter the personal cost. Lilian did teach him some street smarts, so he's not as naïve as he had been when he first stepped foot in town, but he still believes in the inherent good in people. The trust he has in people, especially higher-ups in his temple, can be a flaw of his.

Polite. Calls everyone ma'am or sir. Respects women and will defend anyone who looks like they need his help. He's the type of guy who would go "Hey! Long time no see, how are you?" to a stranger who was being bothered by some creep and then offer to walk them somewhere safe/stay with them until their ride got there. He's also the type of guy who would let anyone who had too much to drink crash at his place and would make sure they were comfortable and put a glass of water and an empty bucket nearby for when they woke up with a massive hangover. Loves cats and dogs equally. Plant dad with a knack for being able to grow anything in any climate, probably a side effect of taking the Oath of the Ancients.

[bearpillowmonster]

Neo: The World Ends With You

I'm invested in the original game and its characters, I'm invested in this game and its characters. I've had a lot of time for the original game to marinate and I can say that I enjoy pretty much every character and their arc and while I don't exactly feel the same with this one, that's not disappointing to me and this was my most anticipated game of 2021 so I mean that. This is a sequel, I expected as much and it didn't let me down, it's even better than I thought.

This is a NONSPOILER review because I think it's best experienced by actually experiencing it so I'll keep a lot of character, story, and even gameplay details out other than how the very VERY beginning of the game starts out with Rindo and Fret.

Let me give credit where credit is due, Rindo is voiced by Paul Castro Jr. who is a new voice actor and I was honestly impressed by his voice more than anyone else in the game, I love his voice and while Rindo has some pretty big shoes to fill as the main, I think he does it. Rindo seems to act pretty accordingly to the situation he's put in. He's not as edgy as Neku but he has enough push to him to where he would be considered the "negative" of the group but I would rather call it "rational" because he brings up some valid points, stuff that I myself was asking. Putting yourself in his shoes, that seems pretty accurate.

Fret on the other hand is a bit of the opposite, an optimist if you will. He's not really a "bad" character, just in comparison to the others, he's not my favorite. I think that there needs to be someone in his position who tries to uplift the team, but he's just a little annoying about it sometimes. Also get ready to hear "Galaxy Brain, ACTIVATE!!" literally hundreds of times, as much as he talks, you'd think he'd add more variety.

IMPROVEMENTS:

I'm not going to complain about certain gameplay elements or limitations that carried over from the last game except one. The camera. It's fixed to where you have no control over it in the city areas and therefore can't get a proper look at everything, whether that works in its favor, I'm not sure because you get used to it but it's just a small peeve you start out with.

The combat is pretty loyal to the first game which is surprising. I personally didn't like the original gameplay because it was so limited on the DS, a lot of room for error, but having it on console expands the system and lets you use buttons rather than mashing a touch screen, improving on almost, if not all, gameplay fronts. However, because it's based on a game from 2007, the system may seem a little outdated to some, it's really up to you, it made a fan out of me, making it more fun.

I played the original in bites, not because of lack of enjoyment but because I felt like it was a game I could only get into for so long at a time but with this game it's the complete opposite. Maybe it was the DS hardware that hampered the original but I say it's a decent success on this game's part. I also felt that Persona 5 seemed a bit formulaic in its story context and gameplay layout with each castle but this game, while having patterns, it changes before you get the chance to really catch on. I could predict P5 but I couldn't predict this, each day was a mystery, I knew you'd fight people but I didn't always know who or when which is crazy considering that P5 had all the choices!

A small improvement that I'll suggest for combat is having short rhythm based moves or even QTEs, like how in the original Shiki had the directional pad moves which were annoying but still varied from the rest of the gameplay. There are definitely new things that you can do, but there are a few aspects worth complaining about. You can unlock certain abilities and once you enable them, you can't disable them. The only one that it personally applies with is the ability to enable individual health bars for enemies, rather than an overall one. Which sounds good but-

I personally don't like that it's always floating above their heads, if it was on the side screen, that'd be one thing but constantly above their heads? No deal. I actually had to go back and load up an old save to get rid of it. But with unlocking certain abilities comes with quality of life aspects so if you're not in love with the gameplay at first, give it a little bit because you might be able to unlock whatever piece you're missing.

There's also "soundsurfing" that adds to your groove meter that you can use when running around and it said that you press (in my case "X" on PS4) to the beat of the song which is a cool concept but it really isn't clear how to use it because I try matching the beat and I get nothing and have more success just button mashing. The groove meter can drop when it's not supposed to, like when you literally can't attack during the buffering of a special or switching between battles in a chain (The "Get Ready" screen) And if you're in a proper boss battle, you HAVE to fight, it's like a trainer battle in Pokémon which is especially annoying when you accidentally press "retry". It has no reason to be there when I already know that I'm not prepared for the boss and can't back out.

Do the trailers spoil it?

Originally, I only saw the first and or second trailer and knew I wanted it so there was no reason to see any more but it was kind of overwhelming with all the characters they were showing off in just a single trailer. I don't think they needed to go that far but I understand why they did. I understand why they showed a lot of things that they did but I think it's a bit easier to SWALLOW when it's introduced in-game. I even found myself doing all the side-quests and being engaged in the side-stuff in-game. But I knew about people pointing out spoilers so after I finished it, I went back and looked at the other trailers and OH BOY. The final trailer shows some stuff and I'm SO glad I didn't watch it. They straight up show some out of context death scenes as well as different alliances and betrayals, not to mention parts of the freaking ending. The launch trailer is no better, it's just like that trailer but cut down. You may not have context but you can draw some hefty conclusions and that alone makes me question, why? I'm not sure if there are many reveals that they DIDN'T tease, it's like they went out of their way to hit every single one. Whether it's Square or Nintendo, they need to figure out how to cut a trailer, heck, hire me, I at least have the editing skills and know what's interesting enough to show and what's too spoilery not to show, come on!

Is it newcomer friendly?

I heard a lot of things like "it drops you in without mercy so pay very close attention" (in terms of story, that is) so only people who played the original game will be able to get it. But I beg to differ, I think it does a pretty good job of filling you in while putting you in the shoes of a new player (both in the game and out) AND keeping the mystery of whatever happened since the last game coming in small pieces. Most of the dialogue text boxes are voice acted so it's not really a slog to read. To prove my point further, the premise starts out very similar so it should be easy to clue in what exactly happened in the last game. Of course you're going to get more enjoyment out of it if you played the original but I don't think you'd be totally lost if you started with this one and played to right before the ending because then it kinda has to do stuff without preface, so you're going to be confused by much of the emotional weight that it carries. But it still gives you plenty of time to catch up on the original, whether through the game, videos, or lore, this game has you ask the questions, so fill in the blank. It has a nice length to it so you'll have until the ending to figure it out. Also, Final Remix teased stuff that this game makes clarity on but I wouldn't call FR mandatory. (Except maybe no numbers on the hand? Maybe even I missed something there.)

[drummergirl231-2]

I don’t even know what to title this.

I’ve been trying to come up with a title for I don’t know how long and now I’m legit crying because I can’t even figure out how to start this post... so this will have to do.

I’m not okay. I can’t keep up with all this and everything going on in my life. I feel like I’m strapped into a car on a collision course for a brick wall and I’m just frozen in fear anticipating the impact. 

Everything has kind of been spiraling out of control in my personal life (if you want you can skip to the bolded headings for what’s relevant to this blog).

My parents - whom a lot of you know about from my GoFundMe - are moving from California to Tennessee. I can’t afford to stay in California so I have to go with them (though they insist my going with them is my choice and that I totally have other options... but whatever. At least I’ll be out of California). 

If my job can’t transfer me, I’ll lose it just when I was going to get the most hours (and therefore money) of the year, but my parents refuse to wait until after Christmas to sell.

My grandma recently died and even though my grandpa (step-grandfather) invited us up to the house at one point, his horrible son met us on the porch and rudely refused to let us in, telling us his father wasn’t seeing anyone. Now that his horrible son has left, grandpa invited my uncle and aunt up, but not my parents or me, and my uncle said he’s going to do what he can to bring us what we want of grandma’s. I didn’t get to say goodbye to my grandma because her death was sudden, and now I’m scared I won’t get to say goodbye to the only grandpa I’ve ever known, either, because I’m moving to Tennessee and he’s 89 and has heart problems and I’m scared he’ll die of a broken heart in every sense. I’d have liked to say goodbye to the house, too. My grandma didn’t want a funeral. She was one of those “Don’t fuss over me,” types who fussed over all of us. I have zero closure in this situation.

I have to get ready to move but have no idea how/when/where to start. I’m terrified of the 4 day journey to Tennessee, trapped in an SUV with my parents and five animals, including my poor elderly cat, Kira, whose anxiety makes mine look mild. I have Misophonia and so many food allergies I can’t eat out so I don’t know how I’ll do food for four days. My parents say they won’t bring the camping stove for me to warm up my lunches. It’s like they never raised an autistic child.

Things have been crazy for “Kristen,” me, but losing my grandparents, my home, possibly my job, and moving far from any family or friends I trust aside... things haven’t been easy for “DG,” me, either. 

As badly as I want to start a youtube channel about Autism, Misophonia, food allergies, gut health, emotional abuse, etc., I cannot find the answers no matter how much I google when it comes to the tech problems I’ve faced. And I’m not even sure when I’d be able to record these videos because my parents are almost never gone. And when they are it’s not for long, and I just want to relax, and breathe, and be in the living room, and talk and sing out loud, and do all the things I don’t get to do when they’re here for just a little bit. I stay in my room so much I feel like I’m a diver holding my breath and as soon as they leave I can surface and gasp for air. 

Also, I’m getting more and more self-conscious about my acne and this one tooth I have that’s crooked because my mom has enjoyed commenting on them lately and it makes me kind of scared to share my face with the internet and last night I legit had a dream about trying to get these things fixed with more braces and foundation. Like what even I literally don’t care about this stuff when people don’t comment on it. Why do I have to be so sensitive?

Problem is, I am figuring out why. I’ve been doing so much research on Narcissistic Personality Disorder and narcissistic abuse to try to understand my parents and childhood and young adult years, that not only have I been able to identify it in my abusers, but I’ve found some traits in myself. And I’ve searched and studied and tried to see if I have it and after this inward witch hunt I have to conclude I don’t have Narcissistic Personality Disorder, but I have a few signs of vulnerable narcissism. Even if they’re not enough for a label, they’re definitely things I need to work on (things like hypersensitivity, victim mentality, sulking and shut down, self-sabotage, things like that... and now apparently vanity, but only when people frequently give me flack about my face). Trouble is I don’t know how to work on these because I have no mentor, no counselor/therapist, no pastor, nothin’. And most of the videos about Narcissism are about identifying it or surviving it as the victim, not growing past the traits, because full-blown narcissists generally don’t acknowledge their flaws and try to fix them. So I’m at this annoying and fruitless phase of “self-improvement” where I just frequently scold myself for my thoughts.

YouTube ambitions and flaws aside, I have people waiting for the next chapter of my fanfic, and no one’s been pushy or anything, but there’s this huge weight on me to write, write, write, but with everything else going on in my life I just feel stuck. Like my brain is just “NERP.” And I feel guilty, like I’m the biggest disappointment to people.

And then there’s this blog itself. 

It’s begun to feel more like an obligation for me rather than recreation. Every week I dread the time after a new episode airs. I want to make posts at my pace, about what I want to talk about, like what I used to do. 

But sometimes the link I get has a weird video player window that I can’t make the right size to make decent gifs, and sometimes I can’t even take screenshots because when I pause it it’ll have the play triangle in the middle of the screen and the bottom of the screen will get dark, or sometimes the link just stops working. So I wait for the episode to go up on watchcartoononline because that’s where it works best for me but in the meantime I’m missing out on the fandom being online and by the time the episode goes up I’m just like, “What if the post I make of this moment gets like zero notes because it’s already been giffed and talked about a million times and I’m late to the party? What if I’m disappointing everyone?”

I try to not post anything until I can post about the episode properly, and I’ve asked people not to send me asks or messages with episode spoilers until they’ve seen proof on my blog that I’ve seen the episode, but that hasn’t stopped them. I get spoilery asks anyway.

I get a link relatively quickly but mainly I ask for people to wait for proof I’ve seen the episode because I want a chance to get my own thoughts on the episode out first before people ask me about specific things or straight up demand I talk about what they want me to talk about on my blog. 

For a couple weeks I even made all my posts and saved them as drafts first so real quick I could just post ‘em all in a row and get ‘em out, because I know the second I post one thing I’ll have everyone going “OMIGOSH SHE’S ONLINE,” and trying to send me asks and messages and I’ll be trying to juggle them all while trying to make more posts about what I want to talk about. I feel like I have to reply to those messages because if I don’t I’m scared they’ll see me make another post after they’ve sent their message and be like, “What the heck she’s online why won’t she reply to me?” So sometimes I’ll just stop posting and hope and pray they think they just missed me or something, which isn’t fair to them.

But then I’ll see something new on my dash - art from khionyohann, new screencaps for the upcoming episode that DuckTalks shared - and I’ll want to reblog it, but then I’ll think: “I can’t reblog anything... people will know I’m online then. And I still haven’t posted about the episode. I can’t do things out of order. They’ll think, ‘Why isn’t she talking about the new episode? Why isn’t she answering my asks? Why isn’t she replying to me?”

And by the time the episode gets posted on watchcartoononline (and as long as I don’t have a migraine and I’m not paralyzed with fear), I make my posts, but by then I feel like I’m super late and I don’t even know what the point is of me reblogging things anymore, if I even remember there were things I wanted to reblog.

My time here has become nothing but me trying to please people while simultaneously trying to hide from them.

So... blarg. All that to say, I’m closing my ask box for a while. And I’m sorry to disappoint people. I’m just so overwhelmed by everything right now. Extroverted thinking isn’t even a cognitive function that comes naturally to an INFJ! It’s utterly exhausting. 

And while I do still want to do more posts about the latest episode, I hope you’ll understand that things are just crazy for me right now and I’m not in a good place. I’m trying to be okay and I’m trying to be so excited about an episode that I get motivated enough find ways to blog about it no matter what but I don’t have the energy. I want to reblog stuff, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I want to interact. 

And for the few I consider true friends on here, please know I’m not asking you to leave me alone or anything. Just know I might not respond as soon as you message me... which, honestly, you’re probably all used to by now, but I still feel super guilty about it.

I just need to simplify my time on here a little bit because I’m not okay.

[naomilibicki]

liveblogging the Hugo Voter’s Packet, part 4/?

Novels: Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

See, this is much more my sort of book. As of page 149/480, I’m enjoying it a lot. I’m invested in the characters, the dialogue feels natural, I am honestly not sure how these plot threads are going to be resolved.

I mean, naturally I am disgruntled that there’s a fantasy author with the same first name as me who is much more successful than I am, but let’s leave that aside for the moment

A couple of things:

I am definitely in favor of a fantasy novel where the hero is a covetous Jewish moneylender! Unfortunately, this means that a lot of the book is about economics, and I am... not convinced that Naomi Novik is very solid on economics. Some of it is fairly minor stuff like people in a non-industrialized society buying pre-made dresses rather than making them themselves or having a tailor make them, but the bigger issue is that in order to present the moneylender heroine as a decent (if somewhat hard-hearted) person trying to make an honest living, NN seems to feel the need to present people borrowing money as greedy, lazy, bad at managing money, unscrupulous, or some combination of these. Also, both Miryem and Wanda start out the book poor and both of them manage to raise their standard of living and become comfortable--at least temporarily--through their own honest efforts, and we don’t really see any counterexamples to this (at least not yet) and the cumulative effect is that I get the rather unfortunate impression of the author scolding millennials for their student loans and their avocado toast.

I really do like the image of the Staryk roads, though! There hasn’t been much of Staryk characters or things happening in Staryk-land yet, although I get the impression that’s coming up pretty soon.

Also, more spoilery thoughts:

I felt like Irina’s point of view was introduced awkwardly; I’d gotten used to alternating Miryem and Wanda and I was confused for a few paragraphs until I finally figured out that it was a whole new POV. I also feel, and this is a little thing but it stood out to me, like it was unnecessary to have Miryem’s point of view on delivering the crown to Irina and then Irina’s POV on the exact same scene. It really robbed Irina’s scene of the impact it should have had.

Kinda disappointed that Miryem didn’t actually turn silver to gold with her awesome moneylender powers, though? Like, at all, if you think about it. The only thing she did was give Isaac the coins. Which I guess is in line with the original fairy tale, and makes Isaac Rumpelstlitskin in this scenario? Well, we’ll see if that ends up paying off somehow.

I have been spoiled for the fact that at least one of the heroines ends up in a relationship with a dude and none of them end up in relationships with each other, and honestly how.

Has anyone told Naomi Novik that it’s 2019 and we’re allowed to put gay characters in actual published books now? I feel like she might have missed the memo.

[drink-n-watch]

It’s good writing not to just give away the punch line right from the start. I’ve tried to become a better blogger by reading a number of writing guides and essays for post format. They suggest vague titles that give you a good idea of the content but don’t give away too much. Your posts are supposed to build up to something then end on a punch. You want to give your readers a reason to keep on reading so the payoff has to come at the end.

Don’t just show your hand right off the bat. And all I have to say about My Ill Deeds Are the Work of God (the episode’s title in case you’re confused), is dayum….

I never learn

As has been pointed out by astute readers, so far I have had a marked weak sport for the episode arcs of Bungo Stray Dogs which are based on Light Novels rather than the manga proper. It’s not that I don’t like the main storyline, I obviously do, but the mini arcs have been more satisfying for me, so far. This is why I wanted that opener to last as long as possible. Nevertheless, I was looking forward to the main action of this season.

Not that many of you read these reviews, and I assume less bother to go through the comments, but those who have know that I was eagerly looking forward to Dostoyevsky’s grand entrance. This is not just some national kinship between russians and surprisingly it’s not entirely due to my appreciation of the character design either. Rather it has to do with the myriad of connections between Bungo Stray Dogs’ narrative and the real world counterparts of the characters.

I have no clue who Ace is suppose to be

This anime has led me down a rabbit hole of classical literature and authors biographies like no other. I thought for a while of creating a post entirely on the subject but instead, I’m going to pepper the easter eggs I particularly like in my reviews, whenever pertinent. And the reason I was looking forward to this season is because of the novel No Longer Human.

No longer Human is the name of Dazai’s ability. It is also the best known novel of the real world Osamu Dazai (although my favourite is Otogizōshi). In this book, which is widely acknowledged to be a lightly fictionalized autobiography, we follow the slow and seemingly inevitable decline of a young man called Ōba as he becomes increasingly disenchanted with people in general and himself in particular. Right before the last act, as Ōba seems to be slowly getting his life back together after a particularly dark period, he is visited by an old friend and bad influence that hammers the last nail in his coffin and sends him swan diving into oblivion.

appropriate and spoilery!

The scene that marks the final and ultimate turn for Ōba shows him and Horiki (said old friend) discussing Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment. It is a pivotal moment in Ōba’s life and therefore Dazai’s, and Dostoevsky is a symbol of it.

Bringing the two together in the narrative of Bungo Stray Dogs was bound to be interesting as the story has been delightfully meticulous in integrating the real life events and works of the authors that serve as namesakes to the cast.

But we have not yet seen these two together. In fact, apart from a few brief glimpses (guest appearances really) of Mori and Koyo, all the characters in this episode were complete strangers to me. I had no connection or attachment to them, aside from my feelings for real world Dostoevsky, whose entire bibliography I had to read for school at one time or another. It was a simple establishing episode to introduce Fyodor’s character, ment as mostly informational. And I was mesmerised.

oh Karma…

I cared and feared for those people whose names I can’t tell you. I was a little nervous throughout those conversations. Ace, the Port Mafia executive vying to overthrow Mori was a decent enough bad guy, with an interesting design but an impractical power, while Karma (I had to look up his name) seemed like a promising conflicted villain. I can’t say that the characters themselves were all that special but something in the pacing and presentation made me constantly worry for them. Especially Karma.

And that something is Fyodor. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t exactly a one man show. Those two were fantastic foil that really brought out the potential of the character. But boy is Dostoevsky the antagonist I’ve been waiting for. He’s chilling and exhilarating at once. His presence is bound to revitalize this franchise. And his voice actor is tremendous. I don’t usually go for these lighter more sing songy voices but his delivery was spot on. How can such a pleasant tone be so scary? He might just be my favourite in the cast.

tell me more!

From the little we know he seems to be the disturbingly calm mastermind with a lighthearted attitude but deadly intent, type. That was a lot of words in a row. I do not know how to identify types properly. Basically, he falls into the exact same category as Dazai, Mori and to a lesser extent Ranpo. Maybe someday I’ll tell you about the real Dostoevsky he had quite a life, although nothing compared to those Japanese authors. Honestly, true to life biographies may have been more extravagant and difficult to believe than the show!

The other thing we know about Dostoevsky  is that he is ruthless. Much more than is usual for this series and that explosive ending caught me by surprise. I wasn’t expecting things to be quite that intense in the main story. Suffice it to say that this season has my full attention right now. And after getting a bit of a better look at Fyodor, as much s I do want to see the confrontation with Dazai, I really want to see him take on Mori. So far, that does seem to be the plan!

I have some news for you…

Besides that, we got ur first look at the min OP and EDs. hat OP sure was fancy with all the CG and stuff. I actually liked it even though I sounded snippy just there. I did notice someone that looks a bit like Natsume Soseki (we saw him with Oda in season 2). Soseki is possibly one of the best known classical Japanese novelists and I’m surprised he hasn’t been ore present in the series so far.

Speaking of Oda, we also see him in the ED. Not sure if it’s just an image for fans of the show or whether we’re actually going to see him a bit again this season. Either way, I was glad he isn’t forgotten. I do have a soft spot for the man.

All in all this was a powerful start to the third season and I can’t wait to see more. I hope you’re all enjoying it as much as I am. Let’s share this ride!

and I’m here for it!

Of course I took a ton of caps but this is actually a lot less than I thought I would have ended up with. Discipline!

Bungo Stray Dogs 3 – 4: Red Dawn It's good writing not to just give away the punch line right from the start. I've tried to become a better blogger by reading a number of writing guides and essays for post format.

[luckyladylily]

Steven Universe S5E25 Thoughts

This is going to be very spoilery, so stuff after the cut!

We only have one episode this time so there is not a ton to talk about but things moved quickly! The most interesting stuff was about the diamonds.

It doesn’t really seem like Blue and Yellow get what is going on with Steven/Pink. That is fine, I figured it would be some time before things got fully sorted out.

Blue and Yellow were softened greatly in this episode in a way I absolutely loved. They are still very much them but now we see them when they are calm. Blue is just really happy all the time, while Yellow is just exasperated at everything happening. Interesting to see that between the three of them they can restore a gem but not permanently.

Also interesting is that the attack was supposed to destroy, not corrupt. My bet is that was White’s doing. Frankly, I wonder if she decided that the tortured existence of corruption was a better punishment.

Another thing! Apparently the diamonds did not wait to confirm all their troops had evacuated before launching their attack. This is pretty damning as the crystal gems really gave no indication that they wanted to leave earth so they were not on any time table of when they needed to launch the attack. I again wonder if this was white’s doing. Frankly, Yellow and Blue seem much more practical than that.

I actually wonder if launching said attack was white’s idea/done at her insistence in the first place. 

Of all the things Steven Universe has explored the only thing we have never come up against is a character that cannot be redeemed. So far from what we have seen with white we might have hit that character. Like, what the fuck did she do to her pearl?

White diamond was clearly designed to be deeply unsettling. Not just frightening but wrong in a fundamental way. There has been a lot of talk about how gem society is kinda fucked up. No matter how happy the tone of the show is 99% of the time some of the stuff that happened is undeniably evil. It is hard to reconcile these things with a redemption arc. That doesn’t mean it can’t be done, but another possibility is that the SU crew can find a place to put the blame. Like no matter what it is clear both Blue and Yellow have a lot to make up for but if they were also controlled by a more powerful gem then that relieves some of what they need to answer for.

I think it is important to remember that the gems are alien, to some extent we cannot judge their actions by human morality metrics. For humans “I was following orders” is not really an excuse, but for gems, who were created in the most conformist society possible this side of the borg, the idea of not being a cog in the machine is completely alien. To put a point on it, gems are not people in the same way humans are. To quote Rose, “I am not a real person.” They are created to be a tool for use by the higher up gems, which are themselves tools for gems even higher up the pyramid. As far as we can tell that goes up to the diamonds, and then Pink, Blue, and Yellow are tools to White.

It took a “flawed” gem observing an alien world to even conceive of the idea that it was possible to not be a cog in the machine, and the general response gems take to having a free thought is “I should be immediately destroyed and replaced”. Because they are literally pieces of a larger machine. They know their purpose and self determination is not it. In a species like that it is a lot easier to shift blame upwards. It probably never even occurred to Yellow and Blue that they could be something besides puppets to White because the idea of self determination is alien.

I think this theory, to some extent, is borne out by what little we see of White diamond. She seems utterly uneffected by the fact that Pink is alive, at least in terms of anything like an emotional response. It feels much more like White is happy to see that, hey! That tool I like isn’t broken after all, how great!

It also would explain why the attack on the earth gems was necessary from Diamond’s point of view. The crystal gems were contained on earth and so she was going to let Pink figure it out, but when that plan broke down with Pink’s supposed shattering the true level of the threat was shown. Non conformity was spreading. This more than anything is what threatens gem society as it existed. Wiping out all the crystal gems and any gem that was on earth at the time makes complete sense - don’t let the poison spread. It is worth wiping out a colony to make sure. And to top it off, lets annihilate the planet with that ‘cluster’ idea we have been meaning to test.

Of course this is all conjecture and honestly unlikely. Steven Universe is a show about reconciliation and redemption, it seems unlikely that they would abandon that theme so late in the game. But it is worth considering.

Other things:

I wonder what a Yellow/blue fusion would be like? Big and green, probably. Also, a triple diamond fusion might be a possible solution to the corruption problem that doesn’t involve White.

I was really hoping to see Jasper! She is due for a redemption arc IMO. As important as she was to the story early on I bet she has a decently big part to play in this later portion.

Sad we didn’t get to see lapis and peridot again. I want to see if they get new outfits.

[burnbrightdoll]

arrow : characters

okay y’all - this is going to my ‘review’ of arrow’s season one. this not going to be spoiler free - so you guys have been warned. overall, this has been a really good season. i have mentioned before that i am not a comic book fan, so i don’t know how accurate everything is. so this is just a joan regular person take on it. this will also be long, so get a drink and be ready to hear my thought’s or don’t. your choice. 

it will all be under the cut so spoiler’s (or honestly it prob won’t be that terribly spoilery but better to be safe than sorry. god, that sounded like a safe sex ad.)

i will be doing three posts. i realized they would be a billion pages long if i put them all together. the character’s, the relationships, and the plot - are going to be what i choose to focus on. you can look at all of the posts if you go to my blog and search: lila rambles a lot - other rambles and reviews will be there too!

this will be focusing on the characters and my feelings on them! we are going to skip talking about shado, yao fei , slade wilson and edward fyre - as that whole island thing is very a big part and as i continue to watch, a post will be coming about them. i will talk about the flashbacks in my plot post. 

the characters / character’s not in flashbacks :

let us talk about the protagonist, oliver queen for a moment. i like oliver. i like the way the writers made him grow as a person. they made him grow from the rich playboy who would cheat on someone he cares about. the island changed him and maybe in some ways for the better. he takes on a persona of someone who wants to right wrongs and i applaud him for that. he is guarded and only lets a few people know her alter ego. over the course of the season, you see him not only change for the better and his alter ego change as well. he is a person you want to punch in the face and kiss simultaneously. he is a likeable character who i am very excited to see grow and evolve. 

now, keeping on the theme of the queen’s - i am going to talk briefly about thea for a second. i love thea. she was hurt by her brother’s and father’s presumed death and her actions clearly showed that. she turned to drugs and underage drinking to cope with something out of her control. since oliver coming back into her life, she has made some bad decisions. driving at eighteen under the drug vertigo  - is not a good life choice. but being forced to work with laurel, clearly has had a positive effect on her. she meets roy because of it and seemed to have developed what may be a pretty decent relationship. like oliver, i am excited to see her character grow and become better. 

i am going to ignore robert (because i don’t really have an opinion on him) and go straight to the matriarch of the queen family. moira. good freaking lord woman. i have such conflicting views on her. she seems so happy and great with her kids and then the show tells us what she did. she is conspiring with malcolm and doing bad things. she bothers me but the writers did a good job creating her that way. even having oliver back, has seemed to have no effect on choosing to go on the ‘light’ side of things. i am intrigued where they will take her. 

now, onto walter steele. i like walter honestly. they made him a strong person who does have a lot of love for the queen’s. i liked how close thea and him became and his relationship with moira is something. it is turbulent in the sense of lies and deceit are so prevalent. he really does work for the plot, as he puts everything into motion. maybe not everything but a lot of stuff that seems to be coming to a boil. i just like walter and hope he doesn’t turn out to be bad. 

now, i am going to talk about the ladies of this show. starting with one felicity smoak. i will say it - i stan felicity already. she is hilarious and rambles a lot (which i feel on a personal level). the chemistry between her and oliver is really well done and the stuff she says to him is amazing. she is such a friendly face inside the darkness of all the hood stuff, and oliver and diggle are so lucky to have them in her life. also - s/o to green arrow for making her a tech girl! i am way too excited to see her become more confident and happy. 

now, laurel lance. what a bamf. she lost her boyfriend, her sister, and her parents (sorta) in one swoop. she is a an amazing character who is so strong and she doesn’t back down. laurel is also a character who is emotionally compromised but it works for her. she develops a relationship (which i will talk about in my next two posts) with tommy - which i feel like made her character a little bit better. i want to see more of laurel in court and being more awesome. 

skipping over sara and dinah - we are going to talk about quentin lance. he is your typical, grieving father who is a badass cop - on paper. but they made him more than that. he is a strong character who loves his daughters so very much. he is very ambitious and is hellbent on catching the vigilante - which i do admire actually. quentin is the person you don’t want to mess with and i am so glad he is in the show honestly. he adds something to the show. 

now - let's talk about the better of the merlyn father and son duo - tommy merlyn. i liked tommy. he stood his ground when oliver essentially jerked him around and made him out to be nothing more than a secret keeper. tommy did have his low points, breaking up with laurel seemed bad but he clearly had his reasons. he is a good friend to oliver, and like so he goes through a transformation over the course of the season. he becomes less of a party boy and more responsible. i am impressed with the way they handled him. 

malcolm freaking merlyn. that man, ugh. i hate that i like him. he is a horrible person but i love john barrowman so i love him. his character reminds me of charles manson tbh. he is charming and good looking like manson, and they both have been associated with such destruction and death. i am excited to see how long simmering things go with him.

finally let’s talk about john diggle. that man is a god send. he tries to get oliver to see the light with things and he is a sweet man. he had gone through so much and doesn’t let it get to him. he tries so hard with oliver and it seems to work sometimes. he wants one thing and he stands his ground so well when it all comes down to it. i love diggle and can’t wait to see him do more in season 2.

[tardispowered]

Doctor Who Book Review: Only Human

Summary

Non-Spoilery Review: Absolute garbage.

Spoilers Below the cut.

To put it simply, this book was a mess. The writing was good in that it flowed well. In that the dialogue was clever and there were times when I laughed. There were moments when it almost reached something profound. Where I thought it would examine something interesting. It never did, but the potential was there. It could have been a lot better. But it’s not the wasted potential that annoys me the most. Not even the skewed characterization of everyone besides Rose. And even she had moments where I had to squint. No. It’s the hateful bits that really got me, written under the name of comedy.

But let’s break this down one thing at a time.

Plot: An absolute mess, especially as it went on. It was easy enough to follow from point A to point B, but there was both too much and too little going on. You had caveman Das who was transported to te modern day and has to stay because …reasons. You had Jack who had to stay with him.

You had Noble Savages Neanderthals where were just as Smart as the Humans but didn’t Lie so you knew they were Good. (Not that you see any more of them beyond the Noble Savage part  save for Das who became ‘civilized’ so it’s all right then) You had the primitive  Humans who will eventually be Evil and Wipe Out all the Neanderthals because that’s humanity for you. Also Rose marries into them…for reasons.

You have the time traveling humans living in this time period with them. Oh and also they have restricted emotions because emotions bad… Oh and one of them is evil and creating the perfect Humans called Hy-Bractor…who just do whatever she says and also eat people. (no comment on how the perfect human is perfectly subservient). You have Quillien who is a time traveler who refuses to express his emotions and is ostensibly the hero of the story…and does fuck all to earn it…

All of this in a little over 200 pages.

You also got a book that tried really hard to be a light and frothy adventure that dipped a bit into the Tim Burton well for no reason whatever near the end. Other than to be…well it’s a cool visual I guess. Chantal opens 9 up and does some surgical stuff. Cool imagery I guess. Nothing really comes of it. Rose is decapitated for a while? Cool imagery I guess. She’s not too too bothered.

And I mean, hey, there’s nothing wrong with a light and frothy adventure.

But it would be even better if it wasn’t A] Mean spirited as hell and B| kept characters in freaking character.

Let’s tackle B first… because whoo boy.

The Doctor

The weirdest thing is that 9 doesn’t sound too different than he should. His voice is in place. His mannerisms are in place. And then he drops words like ‘copping’ (which is UK slang for getting together yeah yeah yeah. Though at least somewhat innocent in that context) and says at one point: ‘tough titty.’

I just

I am still not over that one, frankly.

Tough titty.

Really?

Also his underlying sadness and grief that is very much a part of his character with the beginning is only touched on briefly (and cheaply). Now, I’m not saying that every 9 book has to be a slog in the Marsh of Sad, but the only mention of it is when he gets the Mood Lifter pills and is like: “Yeah my planet blew up and I used to be sad about but I’m not for some reason”

OH GEE. Glad the Time War wasn’t a BIG FREAKING DEAL that severely impacted your personality or anything. Whew!

(also apparently these mood lifters also act as mind control? Which isn’t very well explained and seems to suggest that if you feel good and blasé you’ll automatically listen to what the controller says which…what?)

Also he gooses someone to get a reaction out of them—which is just no. I can’t imagine any Doctor doing that, let alone 9. Especially not in that context.

When Rose gets married to the caveman Tillun…for reasons… and the Doctor takes her away, Tillun tries to attack and 9 basically trips him to the ground and the Doctor says something broadly like: It sucks to be used. Doesn’t it? You’ll get over it. And later Rose says the Doctor enjoyed doing that and it’s implied that he did.

And yeah 9 can be a little bit show-offy when faced with a rival to Rose’s affection. Like with Jack (who was kind of too full of himself) and Adam (who was definitely too full of himself) But aside from attacking 9, Tillun was a pretty ok guy. Rose seemed to like him.

I mean, 9 or hell, even Rose. Why not go out on a limb? Could just talk to him and convince him that they were asking the right thing. Tillun could have gotten more characterization and so could they. It could have been a negotiation and an understanding rather than just violence. But I mean the Doctor is cooler tripping someone to the ground and showing his badassitude.

Also he somehow makes the humans temporarily able to breathe fire to fight back against the newly created Hy-Bractor and nearly wipes out the entire species but isn’t too worried about it. Like obvs 9 has no problem with genocide. Even of a violent species out to kill him. It’s not like Rose convinced him to save a dalek or anything. Also good thing they Hy-Bractors have nothing more complex beyond basic emotions or personalities so we don’t have to feel bad for them dying.

Lucky us. 8|

Rose

I  thought Rose was pretty alright. She was actually the most solidly characterized even if there were parts where I was like ….wut? For instance she found Tillun hot because he was fit (which is understandable) and thought he had kissable floppy hair. I mean… this is a time before basic hygiene. I am not sure that his hair would be all that kissable. Just saying. Oh and for some reason she keeps thinking Quillien is a lech even though he doesn’t do a damn thing to her. But then when she decides to get married to convince the idiots to save themselves, she ends up in the equivalent of a fur bikini (because of course she does) and Quillien gives her a lusty stare (because of course he does) and it’s just kind of brushed aside.

Yeahh…that’s great.

Wonderful.

Just what a 9th Doctor book needs honestly 8|

 Jack

Basically, the story had no idea what to do with Jack and it shows. He’s just packaged off to look after Das, a caveman shunted forward into the present day. And he doesn’t do much but report on what Das is doing. And I mean it isn’t great, but it isn’t horrible—

Well it wasn’t horrible. Until Anna Marie.

Das likes Anna Marie. She’s attractive to him. She’s short and fat and has facial hair and a big nose, and doesn’t laugh much. Oh and her friends call her, and I quote: “Big Fat Anna Marie No Mates.”

Because it’s FUNNY. Because she’s UNATTRACTIVE. Ha ha. The Neanderthal likes the seriously ugly girl. Let’s all laugh at this side-splitting situation.

And that would be bad enough—but Jack is so damn judge-y about it too.

Jack.

Jack.

He would sleep with a yeti if it took him out for coffee and yet oh no god forbid a girl is short and fat and hairy. She’s obviously a Neanderthal. And he keeps shaking his head like how could Das like her. Ew.

But it’s a JOKE. HUMOR. HA HA

Thanks, I hate it 8|

And since we’re segueing into it, when Das said he wanted to marry Anna Marie, her father cried because he thought she’d never find someone not like her stick thin conventionally attractive sister.

It doesn’t matter if Anna Marie finds Das attractive or not. We never find out. But she doesn’t matter as a person. All she matters is as the butt of a joke. But look she’s happy so it’s okay. Only she’s happy because it’s implied no one else will give her the time of day because she’s so ugly. And it’s apparently okay to call her out on it because God Forbid she not be fuckable. It doesn’t matter what her personality is. Doesn’t matter what her hopes and fears are. Her talents and her flaws. Just that she has facial hair and so is basically worthless so she should thank god this Neanderthal came along and wanted her otherwise she’d really be useless.

Also, it was pointed out that her family is Irish. Which, granted I am not from the UK but this feels particularly racist to me.

Because yes, this is the kind of story we want from the 9th Doctor. The Doctor who struggled to cover up depression. Who did the hard thing because he thought it was the right thing. Who cared about people.

More than that, the Doctor that was played by Christopher Eccleston who fought to keep his Manchester Accent. To make the initial run of DW like it was. Rose was a chav. It didn’t matter. The Doctor was rough around the edges and didn’t speak in Received Pronunciation. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was they were who they were. They were worthy of love and respect. Rose didn’t have to be super intelligent to fly with the Doctor. The Doctor didn’t have to sound like he fell from London to be the Doctor. And, more than anything, that is who the 9th Doctor is and should be.

So no. No. There is so much more wrong with this book (like a particularly egregious cult of the Doctor moment) but I am not giving it any more of my time. It’s not in my headcanon. I don’t want it anywhere near me.

I give it half a star for decent writing but beyond that it can die in a fire.

[amboato]

Wonder Woman was so good, y’all. Like it did things I didn’t exactly agree with re: Diana’s origins, but the tone of the movie was good, it wasn’t bogged down by manpain like BvS, and I really really love how Gal Gadot plays Wonder Woman. I didn’t giggle once during aserious and/or emotional scene. Spoilery thoughts under the cut. 

They overused slow-mo shots, but that was more hammy than actual bad. I almost died of delight when they used Steve Trevor’s death to give Diana the motivation she needed to defeat Aries; I love that they turned the fridging trope on its head. I saw a review that said the team Steve rounded up was made up of stereotypes, but it really wasn’t. The Irish guy drank because he was suffering from PTSD, and he was trying to drown out the war horrors he had seen and committed. The black (Indian?) guy wanted to be an actor, and so was doing a lot of undercover spy stuff. The Native American is the only one I’m iffy on, since he was their guide, but he also seemed to be the one keeping them together. Some of the humor was heavy handed, but honestly it mostly felt right. 

But I mean Gal Gadot played Diana’s innocence perfectly. She didn’t seem stupid, just naive. Her reaction to the town being destroyed felt so genuine.And the romance was decently built up, though that dance scene could have been shorter. 

And the twist of who Aries actually was. I thought for sure if it wasn’t the General it was going to be Moreau, but I was floored when it was actually the English general. I didn’t see that coming at all. 

[harmonization]

my thoughts on the assassin’s creed film

NOTE: I am a huge fan of the original games. I liked the movie so my review will be mostly positive.

Non-spoilery stuff: I wanted to see this when it came out in Aussie on New Year’s Day, but due to scheduling conflicts with my friends (who are all huge fans of the AC games too) I couldn’t actually watch it until today, the only day we all had free time together. I did, however, hear that a lot of people didn’t like it. I still wanted to watch it anyway due to my love and loyalty for the games.

Honestly, I liked it. People have mentioned that you’re more likely to enjoy the film if you’ve never had experience with the games before, but I'm very familiar with the games and I still liked it. However, this was because I had no trouble separating the two - I think that the people whom I heard bad opinions from didn’t like it because of what dissimilarities there were to the original games. There were a few but they didn’t bother me at all.

I think it’s important to approach this film as a movie on its own and not mentally put it on the same level as the games. They have to adapt to the cinematic medium so of course things are gonna be different from the games (for example, the Animus design. In the original games you basically like ... lie down on a table right? Who really wants to see that in a Hollywood film? That’s boring as hell. The filmmakers adapted. They made the Animus a spectacular thing to look at, because this is cinema. I actually liked that they did that. And also, movies are spent being more heavily story-driven/plot-driven every single second. It’s not like a videogame where you spend half the time running around, collecting items, etc).

So yeah, I walked into the movie theater with this mindset and I ended up enjoying the film. I think it’s quite well-structured, it feels like Assassin’s Creed to me, the fighting’s decent and the parkour’s really good, and I liked which details from the games they chose to include/exclude (more of this in the spoilery part of my review). Some things that worked well in the games would not have worked cinematically and I think the filmmakers were quite wise in their approach.

There were a few things that I felt needed improvement, but they’re not really huge issues. Now for the spoilery part of my review:

I’ve heard people complain about how they wished there were more of the past/historical scenes than the modern-day scenes, but I personally thought the film struck a good balance. I feel like if they’d crammed in more of the past scenes, the present-day plotline wouldn’t have been as “clean”. It actually feels nice and “clean” to me (i.e. no loose ends, it finished in a satisfying way etc) because they focused on making sure that the modern-day plotline was fully laid out. So I have no complaints.

I also liked that they continually cut back to show Callum syncing with Aguilar during the past scenes. I don’t know if other people maybe didn’t like those visual interruptions but they kept me grounded, so you can think about both plotlines (the past and the modern-day) at the same time. I enjoyed that.

I loved the little ragtag crew of Assassins at the end lol! They made their own little family there.

A lot of things that came from the games had me excited when they appeared. I love how heavily the hidden blades featured in the movie, I loved the Brotherhood insignias, I loved the eagle & leap of faith, the Creed itself, the Apple of Eden, the eternal Templars vs. Assassins conflict, the parkour, all of that stuff. Awesome. And as I mentioned before, I also liked that they chose not to include some details from the games - e.g. the Juno stuff. I feel like that wouldn’t have worked for the movie; if anyone watches that sort of thing and they’ve never played the game before, they’d be like “WTF”

However, despite that, I do feel like a deeper portrayal into the Apple’s origins and exactly what it does and how exactly the Templars would weaponize it would’ve improved the film. That kind of detail would’ve added maybe an extra ten minutes to the film’s runtime but it would leave me fully satisfied. I felt kinda “meh” about how Rikkins just held it up and it started activating ... and then he got assassinated lol. I feel like the full scope of what the Apple is wasn’t explored thorougly enough just from that (nor the simple explanation that it contains the genetic code for free will. I would’ve liked it if they’d showed more).

This is the same with the Brotherhood itself too. We got so much focus on the two main Assassins working on their own, it didn’t show much of the Brotherhood other than the opening scene of the movie. I wished they’d given us a little more.

I also found myself kinda unable to empathize with the sultan and his kid lol. It’s a horrible thing to say but I didn’t know enough about them as characters to really care about what happens to them. Maybe the film should’ve showed a little bit more of them the very first time Callum enters the Animus. I know the kid was being caged up etc but he was kind of a passive presence there so it didn’t do much for me.

This isn’t the movie’s fault (it’s mine for being dumb), but I wasn’t too clear about Sophia’s motivations at the end. Was she going into full Templar mode and wanting to get the Apple back from Callum for her own ends? (If that’s what was happening, I suspect that the filmmakers were leaving an open ending in case of any sequels). Can someone explain it to me?

And lol this is just me nitpicking but I wish they’d shown us the full leap of faith. Not just the jump without the landing.

Anyway LOL TL;DR I enjoyed it for what it was. I felt it was pretty good and I plan to watch it again once it’s released on DVD :)

If anyone’s reading this, let me know your opinions too!