#i’m very aware that the ‘there’s more to life than romance’ arc is bizarre for the conventionally attractive straight white man

[runninguplenorahills]

That’s not how in laws work.

Your brother or sister in law just means the sibling/s of your spouse and this dynamic does not work like a real sibling dynamic! That title stays between you and the siblings of your spouse, it does NOT get transferred to your siblings as well. Your siblings and the siblings of your spouse are NOT siblings in law!

Applying this to Jancy and Byler means Nancy and Will would be in laws and Jonathan and Mike would be in laws but neither Nancy and Jonathan nor Mike and Will would be in laws.

And as you said, neither of them except the existing siblings would be related to each other. As far as I know double in law weddings are also not something that’s frowned upon. There’s nothing controversial about it which means there’s absolutely Nothing to back up your claim that “they simply would not do it”.

It’s also not like we’d see Jancy or Byler get married anyway so it doesn’t actually matter at all that they would be double in laws (because you’re only in laws if you’re married. Yk, that’s why it’s called “in law”).

I also get the feeling that you’re not considering Nancy’s and Steve’s individual conflicts/scenes in s4 at all.

Very early on in the season it is established that Steve doesn’t know what he wants. He’s desperate to enter an actually meaningful relationship with a girl but there’s no girl he actually likes so he just asks out girl after girl and the dates all end in meaningless sex which frustrates Steve immensely. He wants to find “the one”, wants to get a sense of direction in his love life, and just like that the world turns to shit again and Nancy Wheeler walks back into his life. Steve longs for a time when he knew exactly what he wanted. Who he wanted. More than anything, Steve is being nostalgic in s4 because Nancy was the last girl he actually wanted and he wants to relive that feeling. He isn’t in love with Nancy, he just longs for the idea of being in love and being in a loving relationship.

Nancy on the other hand starts this season rambling about how much she loves Jonathan. She loves him very dearly but all this miscommunication between them frustrates her and makes her feel very insecure. Just like she tells Robin, Nancy is afraid that maybe Jonathan doesn’t love her anymore, that maybe he met someone else which is why she didn’t go to California. She was afraid that her visit would confirm her worst fears so not visiting was Nancy’s way of holding onto the hope that Jonathan still loves her as much as she loves him. Even so the insecurity that comes with the miscommunication and the long distance relationship in general bring sexual frustration and desperation for in person affection. I think Nancy isn’t really cut out for a long distance relationship, she needs her lover close.

And despite the fact that Nancy and Steve are not actually in love with each other, both of them are obviously attracted to each other. And desperate times call for desperate measures and that’s why Steve projects his wants onto Nancy, and why Nancy projects her needs onto Steve. That’s why we get all that sexual tension between them this season.

But there are also a couple of very important scenes in s4 that tell us that Steve and Nancy are not compatible/won’t end up together.

S2 makes it a point that Steve isn’t all that concerned with Barb’s death. Nancy is riddled with guilt and all Steve tells her is to relax and pretend like they’re normal teenagers. I’m not saying that he doesn’t care at all but he clearly doesn’t think it’s his fault that Barb died and he wasn’t actually friends with her so he lacks the need to avenge her. A need that Nancy has. Steve and Nancy aren’t on the same page about this subject which caused a lot of problems in their relationship and Nancy even tells Steve that “We killed Barb”. Now, s4 makes it a point to highlight Nancy’s trauma surrounding Barb’s death again. In her Vecna vision we see Barb dead in Steve’s pool, reminding us once again of what happened in s1 and how relevant it still is. Furthermore it shows us that Nancy has not even in the slightest moved on from it. Nancy is not coping well and considering the fact that her relationship with Steve is inseparably connected to Barb’s death in her mind this gives away that Nancy just could not handle a relationship with Steve again.

And I say this every time but the writers did not give Nancy all this trauma because her choosing Steve over Barb indirectly lead to Barb’s death only for Nancy to choose Steve again at the end of the story! What kind of conclusion would that be? An unsatisfactory one. An illogical one. A bad one.

Moving along, we have the 6 little nuggets speech from Steve which was not well received by Nancy. I guess the sentiment touches her in some way but she makes it clear that this is not the future She wants. 6 kids sounds like a nightmare to her and when it comes to having kids and what you want your future to look like you really should be on the same page which isn’t the case with Nancy and Steve at all. Steve’s speech is there to show us that these two aren’t compatible.

At the end of the season Nancy reunites with Jonathan who kinda tries to clear up what’s been going on (we couldn’t risk contact) and it ends in an embrace which is followed by Steve disappointingly looking down and Robin comfortingly looking at him as they walk away. It clearly shows us that Nancy was just passing time with Steve until Jonathan came back. It’s like spending all that time with Steve, becoming more and more aware of how incompatible they are made her long and miss Jonathan even more. Even so obviously not everything is sunshine and daisies between Nancy and Jonathan. They have problems in their relationship that s4 did not resolve which they still need to work through but I think they’re gonna work through them together as the last shot of the season foreshadows. You simply cannot claim that that shot foreshadows byler endgame only to then turn around and say that jancy will break up. That doesn’t make any sense.

Now, the only question that remains is why Eddie said that Nancy jumping into the water to save Steve was an act of true love. That’s what you’re confused about right? And I get that. It is kinda confusing but I actually think that s4 including Eddie’s line pretty clearly sets up Steve’s arc for s5 which is realizing that there’s more to life than romance.

Steve forces himself to go on dates with girls he doesn’t like because he’s so caught up in wanting romance even though he doesn’t have anyone he wants romance with. Steve isn’t in love. He just wants to be. He just can’t be happy if he’s single and that’s not healthy! Steve needs to learn that he doesn’t need to force romance if he doesn’t have it at the moment. He needs to learn to be content with not being in a relationship and above all he needs to learn that platonic love is just as meaningful as romantic love. Even more important in his case because the romantic love doesn’t actually exist at the moment. Nancy jumping into the water to save Steve is just as much an act of true love and just as meaningful if it’s platonic (which it is) and Steve needs to realize that. His 6 little nuggets are right there and Steve has to realize that (yes he even says that he had good practice for having future kids but he doesn’t realize that his dream is already true and that without him having to be in a romantic relationship. Not that he doesn’t deserve to be and I do hope some day he will meet the right girl, but his vision is so blurred with this obsession with romance that he doesn’t see what’s right in front of him).

I also think that the way Steve and Nancy’s connection is set up hints at them becoming friends instead of lovers. Steve and Nancy dated for about a year, broke up, didn’t have much contact for another year and then got back into contact. And that to me looks l a lot like exes becoming friends after having kept their distance for a wile due to their breakup. Nancy seeing Steve in a different light now (as she expresses to Jonathan at the end of the season) is her being ready to be friends with him, not falling in love. Though I don’t think Jonathan can tell (he’s obviously jealous when Nancy talks well about Steve) which will most likely be one reason for conflict between Nancy and Jonathan next season.

Stancy is going to be endgame. (probably)

Listen, okay. I don’t want it either but if you look at the straight facts it’s the only one that makes sense, unless Steve and Jonathan, el and will, Mike, or Nancy die. Which I don’t think any of you want

Let’s lay out the facts from season 4:

Jonathan will not be going to collage with Nancy

Jonathan also plans to slowly break up with her

Nancy and Steve rekindle their ‘friendship’

Steve confesses he can’t see himself with anyone else but her

“He’s actually not that bad”

Obviously they’re trying to hint at the breakup. I’m thinking this is a right person wrong time type of situation, but I think it goes deeper as well and may have accidentally been an accident.

Because hopper and Joyce are together now and because el was living with the Byers’s they became “family”. Jonathan and will call el their sister.

With Nancy and Mike also being siblings, this causes some problems.

If Nancy and Jonathan stay together and end up getting married, will and el, and Mike, now all become in laws. (Brother in law, sister in law) which would mean no matter what happens in the end (mileven or byler) they will still be in laws which happens sometimes in real life and yes they’re not actually related, BUT to put it in one of the highest ranking tv shows of our generation just isn’t possible. They simply would not do it.

And why would they rekindle romance between Nancy and Steve if it didn’t lead somewhere???

We know for a fact (probably) that Steve and Nancy or Jonathan and Nancy, and will and Mike or el and mike will happen (1 out of the two on each) and the only one that makes sense in my opinion is Steve and Nancy and mike and will because I think el is going to die (I can explain in a different post).

If both el and will die however, Jonathan and Nancy live happily ever after. So if you want them together that bad pray for that.

(There are all just my predictions but I’m pretty sure I’m right)

[carriagelamp]

Book Review - Summer Summary 2020

I didn’t get around to doing an individual post for the books I read in June/July/August, so I decided to choose a dozen that I read over the summer... I’d separate the wheat from the chaff for you so to speak. Though like you’re about to find out, that doesn’t necessarily mean they were all good by any means...

Crave

My girlfriend got this for me to “tide me over until Midnight Sun”. Between you and me, I think she was taking the piss. Anyway, Crave is very... standard fare paranormal YA school romance with the added flare of being written by an adult erotica writer, meaning the rhythm and tone of this novel is fucking bonkers. If you want to read the novel without reading the novel, just take Twilight and the entire Vampire Academy series, shove them in a blend, and force down the sludge you get from that. Normal Average Girl Goes To Secret School In Alaska For Vampire, Werewolves and Dragons. That’s this book. It is so big and so so so bad. I finished it out of spite, please don’t do that to yourself. Unless you are really craving (hurr hurr) some top tier trashy paranormal romance, in which case... no judgment.

The Last Firehawk

The Last Firehawk is a Scholastic “Branches” series, written for beginning readers (grade 1-3ish, depending on the child’s reading level). It has short stories, big text, and awesome pictures on every page. Guys. I unironically am adoring this series. It’s simple and is introducing children to a number of classic elements in the fantasy quest genre, but it is so charming. Friends Tag and Skyla discover a firehawk egg, and species that is supposed to have disappeared long ago. When Blaze hatches from it, the three are tasked with going out and finding the magical ember stone which was hidden long ago by the firehawks and which could be used to defeat the evil vulture Thorn and his dark magic... I read the first two books to second graders who ate it up and read the next four books because I personally wanted to continue the series. If you have young readers in your life (or just want a fun kid adventure) then please try these they’re the literary equivalent of nibbling on a chocolate chip cookie.

Lupin III: World’s Most Wanted #3

All the kind people that still follow my tumblr and haven’t tried to murder me because of my Lupin obsession are not going to be surprised by this one. I finally read one of the manga for this series and honestly I’m delighted. Somehow even hornier than the show, but hilariously funny. I felt like I was reading a more adult version of Spy Vs Spy. It’s a bunch of short, individual bits/adventures with lots of visual gags and an artstyle that is really different and delightful.

River of Teeth / Taste of Marrow (American Hippo series)

I’ve talked about River of Teeth before, but I finally finished the American Hippo duology and need to sing its praise. This is an alternate history series composed of two novellas that explore the question What would have happened if the States had decided to import hippos as livestock...? Anyways, my pitch for you: queer hippo cowboys. That’s all it took for me to read it. You have a gay gunslinger who loves his hippo to death, a nonbinary explosives-expert / poisoner who is the main love interest, a fat con artist who spoils her hippo and is the only voice of reason in this entire series, and a latina mother-to-be who is the scariest assassin in the entire series and is obviously scheming. The four of them are brought together on a job to deal with the Mississippi’s feral hippo problem.

IT’S A QUEER HIPPO COWBOY HEIST NOVEL GUYS I DON’T KNOW WHY I’M STILL TALKING AND YOU HAVEN’T JUST GONE TO READ THIS YET.

Petals to the Metal (The Adventure Zone series)

The graphic novel adaptation to the McElroy family’s DND podcast The Adventure Zone. Most of you are probably aware of this? It’s a great adaptation, it hits all the important beats, shows off the characters really well, and still gets lots of good gags in even while condensing entire arcs into single book stories. This one is probably my favourite so far just because Petals to the Metal was one of my favourite arcs in the show... but you can also see how the art has improved and the chaos of the race is fun to see drawn out.

If you like The Adventure Zone but haven’t tried the graphic novels yet -- would recommend! If you’ve always wanted to listen to The Adventure Zone but don’t have time for such a long series or struggle to focus on podcasts then pick up the first book of this series (Here There Be Gerblins) and try reading it! It really is an enjoyable adaptation.

Pony to the Rescue (Pony Pals series)

I continued my April/May theme of reading old-school chapter book series to combat Covid Brain Fry, so I picked up a few Pony Pals books. I read these as a kid and always enjoy them -- there’s just something so appealing to a child about having a horse. It gives your child characters a level of independence and ability to explore that you wouldn’t get otherwise. These books definitely read young, but they were nostalgic to revisit.

Small Spaces

A really cool middle grade horror novel I picked up. Maybe it’s because I live around a lot of corn fields, but farm/scarecrow themed horror absolutely does it for me. One evening, after seeing a woman try to destroy a strange, old book, eleven year old Ollie doesn’t stop to think, instead stealing the book and running. That’s how she becomes wrapped up in the strange, sinister story of a cursed family and creature called the Smiling Man that seems to live out in the foggy fields. While unsettling, Ollie tries to remind herself that it’s just a story... but this becomes more challenging when her school bus breaks down one day out their own set of fields, and a fog is rolling in...

“Avoid large spaces. Stick to small.”

Snot Girl #1 - #2

A Canadian graphic novel series by the creator of the Scott Pilgrim series! I love his work so I decided to give Snotgirl a try, even though it’s not generally my genre. I’m glad I did! First book took a while for me to get into, but by the time I hit the second I was really wrapped up in the mystery and character development. Snotgirl is about Lottie, a self-consumed fashion blogger whose biggest struggles are dealing with her allergies, frustration with her fellow-blogger friends, and how entirely her self-esteem is tied to her “beauty” and how people view her. But everything shifts in strange and horrifying ways when Lottie starts taking a new allergy medication, meets a new friend... and then witnesses that girl’s death. Or does she?

Seriously, or does she? I have no idea, I need to read the third book. This book is full of intrigue, complicated relationships, murder (or not?), and a healthy dose of magical realism to keep you guessing. If you like slice-of-life, crime, and abstract reality then this series is world a try. Plus the art is gorgeous.

Summer Wars #1 - #2

I recently rewatched Summer Wars (still one of my favourite movies) and decided to read the two-book manga adaptation. It was a really neat little adaptation. The creator of the movie gave the writer free range to tweak things to fit better in a manga format, which means some movie elements were allowed to fade into the background, whereas other aspects were fulled into the forefront and fleshed out to a greater degree. It was very cool, it kept the same story but gave you new things to think about which I wasn’t expecting. Reading this as a stand alone works just fine, but honestly if you’ve never watched the movie Summer Wars you should give it a try! It’s a great mix of slice-of-life, sprawling family dynamics that I relate to a little too well, cyber adventures, and fantasy. Super feel good.

This One Summer

Okay, last graphic novel, I swear. This One Summer was... weird and intense. It’s a coming-of-age Canadian graphic novel that follows a pair of pre-teens who meet up like they do every year at their family’s summer cottages. You see them both in the awkward phases between childhood and growing up to become teenagers, as they’re confronted with things like maturity, friendship, self-esteem, family problems, and sexuality. A beautiful read, but probably the heaviest out of all the books on my list.

Wild Thornberrys Novelization

I rewatched The Wild Thornberrys movie with my girlfriend earlier this year, and decided I wanted to hunt down the chapter book novelization because I’m kind of a sucker for novelizations. Honestly, this was about what you would expect from the era. 90s/00s novelizations, especially young novelizations, are generally just a transcript of the movie without much thought or effort put into them to make them anything but. That’s what this was. It was fine, and it really let me revisualize the entire movie, but honestly you’re probably better off just rewatching the movie unless you also really deeply love The Wild Thornberrys.

The Willoughbys

I saw that Netflix had done a funky looking adaptation of The Willoughbys and I decided I needed to read the book first before watching the movie. This was a little bizarre, I’m still not sure how I feel about it. Over all, I think it was a net-positive experience. It’s an obvious satire on classic children’s novels, especially the likes of Mary Poppins (real Mary Poppins, not the Disney version) and while a little heavy-handed, it does a Series of Unfortunate Events vibe that redeems it. The story is about a group of horrible children (The Ruthless Willoughbys) who decide they are sick of their parents and would rather become Worth Orphans... and to do that, they’re going to have to dispose of their inconvenient parents, obviously. Conveniently their parents are also sick of having children and decide to do away with them as well. The Willoughbys sets up three (or four?) different subplots that are gradually woven together through a series of schemes and exploits. It’s definitely more ruthless (hurr hurr) than the Netflix version, which tried to make the children more sympathetic, and in some ways I think that’s a definite point in the novel’s favour. I’m not sure I would go out of my way to recommend it, but it was a fun romp if you want something short and off the wall (and a lot more fleshed out than the Netflix version).

[saintcarlyon]

TL;DR is that I dislike the idea of a woman healing/bettering a broken man through the power of love (even if she doesn’t actively love him). Sure it can happen but I don’t buy that Sylvie and Loki are able to pull that off. I’m hoping for something a little different. Getting this off my chest before the last episode drops. Spoilers for the Loki series.

Episode 3 paired the two Lokis up in an attempt to escape Lamentis and teased the possibility that Variant Loki may have fallen for Sylvie. Episode 4 then had a bizarre nexus event at the moment Sylvie reached for Loki. Mobius later berates Loki (and the viewers!) for wanting a relationship with Sylvie. But, it’s worth noting Loki himself hasn’t put into words yet what impact Sylvie or Lamentis had on him. Even his final conversation with Sylvie is a little too vague to assume it’s a confession of love. Finally, in Episode 5 there’s a scene where the two Loki variants tentatively discuss their nexus event and feelings for one another.

I personally don’t care if a Loki is in love with another Loki or just wants to engage in a bit of hedonism. Yeah, it’s totally in character! It’s delightfully silly, perverse, and probably what most of us would do if given the opportunity. What I do take issue with is the narrative trope that another person, usually a woman, is going to somehow heal a broken person through the power of love. Especially if it pushes her narrative and needs into the background. And I think the Loki series risks that as it stands right now. 

Because I can’t help but ask myself; would Sylvie or a Lady Loki have been as fleshed out if she wasn’t a romantic lead? As the only female Variant we’ve seen it detracts from Sylvie as an individual because her role has become Loki’s muse and a savior. Another question that bothers me: if the metaphor is self-love, why is the show so insistent that each and every Loki is also a very different person*? And why is Sylvie -the- one to motivate Loki to change?

Contrast her relationship to Loki with Mobius, Classic Loki, or Kid Loki. Mobius is arguably much more encouraging and receptive to Loki, barring his meltdown in Episode 4. And even after Mobius has purposefully been hurtful to Loki he makes an effort to make amends and invalidate the cruel things he said before. And Mobius is able to do this while being aware of Loki’s worst impulses. That’s a good friend! Yet the show doesn’t frame Mobius as a source of inspiration or strength for Loki. Not until the farewell hug in Episode 5. There’s also Classic Loki or Kid Loki, both have given us compelling snippets of their lives and could have given Variant Loki reasons to find compassion and love for himself. But the narrative doesn’t let that happen.

So yeah, it’s the meta that her character arc and purpose are now constrained by the framing of a romantic interest that bothers me. Sylvie seemed to have so much potential to me as a viewer when she was a potential sister or best friend to Loki. And now that they seem to be leaving harder into romance it limits her and limits Loki’s character development.

But, maybe the writers are wise to that expectation and the trope. Maybe we’ll have a scene where Sylvie rejects being Loki’s muse (I mean, she’s had a rough life, give the girl a break and more friends). Maybe we’ll see that Loki has been projecting his own desire to be noble and resourceful onto Sylvie. She may end up not being the person Loki wanted her to be and that challenges him to develop independent of her. 

And I think there are some hints this could happen! Episode 5 laid most of the groundwork for my doubts. When telling his male counterparts about Sylvie, Loki eagerly proclaims, “She needs me!” Up to this point the show has made it fairly clear that Sylvie is more than capable on her own. When she’s needed Loki’s assistance it’s usually as a direct result of his interference. Sylvie’s history as a ruthless, determined Variant is brought up by Mobius and she justifies it as for the greater good. Sylvie is much more cautious about expressing feelings for Variant Loki when they discuss their nexus event. He’s the one taking risks and looking for a future together. She literally responds with, “Maybe.” Finally, Sylvie asks Loki for reassurances that he won’t betray her. He doesn’t think to ask her for the same. So perhaps Sylvie won’t be stuck in a role of the lady love who brings out the best of a bad man,

But I suspect we’ll see this trope played straight and Sylvie will be pruned in the MCU, yet again.

*tangent: anyone else feel like the writers glossed over Loki’s sexism? He’s used gendered insults at Black Widow, implies rape as a threat in Thor, and is utterly condescending to Sif, Valkyrie, and Jane when in speaking with them. The only two women who aren’t disrespected in this manner are his mother and Hela. Unless the “terrifying” quip in Episode 5 was a callback to this.

[the-chibi-devil]

The Best Transmigration and Isekai Mangas/Manhwas/Manhuas I’m Reading Right Now

Does anyone care about this list? Probably not, but I’m making it even if it’s only for my reference. So here they are, in no particular order.

* English Title: I’m a Villainous Daughter, so I’m going to keep the Last Boss * Japanese Title: Akuyaku Reijou nanode Last Boss wo Kattemimashita * Mangaka: Nagase Sarasa (story), Anko Yuzu (art) * Summary: “Avoid the BAD END! That's the goal of the villainess in this plot-twisting story!! She has been reborn into the world of an otome game as the villainess, Irene. Using her memories of her former life, she recognizes flags indicating she's en-route to the bad end, so she makes a plan to conquer the last boss (the evil king Claude), make him her lover, and see if she can open up a new route!” (MyAnimeList) * Why I Like This One: Irene is a very fun character! I love her sheer determination in everything she does. Her love interest (Claude) is nothing special imo - classic misunderstood character - but his relationship with Irene is pretty sweet. There are some interesting twists in the plot, too!

* Title: Miss Not-So Sidekick * Creator: Ellianyang * Summary: “Hyejung loved to read to escape her daily stress. But that’s before she woke up inside the bizarre world of her favorite novel! Instead of the main heroine who courts three eligible men, she is now Latte Ectrie – a minor villain that everyone hates?! One way or another, it’s a chance to live out her most beloved storyline, with popcorn in hand to watch all the drama! Taking charge of the narrative takes on a whole new meaning!” (1stKissManga) * Why I Like This One: Latte isn’t actually interested in romance! She would much rather watch how the narrative plays out than take an active role in it. Therefore, she decides to befriend the protagonist. However, just by virtue of being herself, Latte seems to have thrown the narrative off-course! (Not that she realizes that it’s her fault.) The developing relationships are fun to watch. However, this is very much a slow burn. Another fun thing about this manhwa is how Ellianyang throws in all sorts of references to other works such as Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure and Detective Conan!

* English Title: Of Course, I’ll Claim Palimony! * Japanese Title: Mochiron, Isharyou Seikyuu Itashimasu! * Mangaka: Soy (story), Mutou Tamura (story) * Summary: “"I'll annul our engagement!" my fiancé suddenly declared?! Apparently he's in love with the recently transferred count's daughter and is planning on making me the villain in order to annul the engagement. Although I have no lingering attachments about the engagement, I do have to claim a hefty consolation fee, don't I?” (MyAnimeList) * Why I Like This One: “Of Course, I’ll Claim Palimony!” does something very fun in that the otome novel that is being referenced exists within the story. The protagonists are very aware of this and the main heroine is most definitely willing to work within and with the narrative to turn things to her advantage.

* English Title: I Reincarnated into an Otome Game as a Villainess With Only Destruction Flags... * Japanese Title: Otome Game no Hametsu Flag shika Nai Akuyaku Reijou ni Tensei shiteshimatta... * Mangaka: Yamaguchi Satoru (story), Hidaka Nami (Art) * Summary: “ Katarina Claes is the eight-year-old daughter of a duke. One day, she hits her head and recovers the memories of her past life, and she comes a horrifying realization—she is in a world similar to that of an otome game she once played, and she is the main villain! To make matters worse, in every possible conclusion, whether exile or death, she is met with a terrible end. Using her knowledge of how the game unfolds, Katarina must now do whatever it takes to change her fate. Whether she must cultivate  her skills as a farmer or befriend every character that comes her way, nothing is ever too much for her to handle. As the years go on, everything seems to be going as planned. However, Katarina realizes that she made a mistake in her previous life, as she never actually finished the game before death; and so a new, secret route may just prove to be her undoing.” * Why I Like This One: This is the quintessential isekai! Katarina is a stubborn yet naive character. She is doing all she can to change the narrative, but she is always surprised by the results! Still, I like that the creators aren’t shying away from making lovely female characters besides Katarina. There were also some twists that I really wasn’t expecting from a manga like this! An anime adaptation is coming soon.

* English Title: Endo and Kobayashi’s Live Commentary on the Villainess! * Japanese Title: Tsundere Akuyaku Reijou Liselotte to Jikkyou no Endo-kun to Kaisetsu no Kobayashi-san * Mangaka: Enoshima Suzu, Sakakiri * Summary: “She’s always putting on that grumpy face even though she’s not actually that upset! Oh, why can’t she just be honest with herself…!? She is a tsundere, after all? When her embarrassment levels exceed a certain limit, she will explode into anger. However, the point that she’s suppressing under the surface is that she wouldn’t mind that sort of thing if it were in a less public place? As Endo-kun passionately reacts to the antics of Lady Liselotte, the villainess of an otome game, Kobayashi-san provides a painstaking breakdown of her tsundere behaviour. Suddenly, one person could hear their voices; Liselotte’s fiancée, Prince Siegward. That is where this story begins.” (MangaGo) * Why I Like This One: The characters within the narrative, Liselotte and Siegward, actually interest me way less than Endo and Kobayashi. I can’t wait to see how they handle this sudden change in their lives! And it seems that there is someone behind this magic game but the game wasn’t their intention? I’m curious.

* English Title: The Death Mage That Doesn’t Want a Fourth Time * Japanese Title: Yondome wa Iya na Shizokusei Majutsushi * Mangaka: Densuke (story), Kojima Takehiro (Art) * Summary: “Amamiya Hiroto is unlucky. His life consisted of misfortune after misfortune, culminating in an unlucky death during an incident on a school boat trip, trying to save a girl he barely knew. After death, he met a god of reincarnation who requested that the hundred or so dead passengers—one of them being the girl he tried in vain to save—be reincarnated into another world. Yet a series of unfortunate events forced Hiroto to reincarnate with even less luck than before, starting with nothing but a tremendous amount of Mana. His second life, far worse than his first, came to a cruel end. However, upon meeting the god a second time, he was informed that there would be yet another reincarnation—one that had already been set in motion and could not be stopped. Not wanting Hiroto to endure a third life filled with suffering, the god cursed him before he was reborn in the hopes that he would either die quickly or commit suicide. Hiroto was reborn once more as a half-vampire, half-dark elf. A dhampir. Not wanting a fourth life, he is determined to live this third life with the only things remaining from his previous lives—Death Magic and his enormous Mana pool. “ (Light Novel Bastion) * Why I Like This One: Holy crap, those first chapters were dark. This manga is certainly proving that isekai isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Honestly, the real thing that keeps drawing me back is the found family dynamic. I could do without all the fanservice though...

* Title: Cheating Men Must Die * Creator: The King * Summary: “One moment oppressing scum yields a moment of satisfaction. Continuously oppressing scum yields continuous satisfaction. Our female main lead, Su Lüxia is bound to the Female Lead Counterattack System and transmigrates to several small worlds. Using elaborate means, she beats up countless cheating bastards and bitches. Su Lüxia: “Only a cheating bastard's tears of remorse, and the pained moans of a bitch unable to get what she wants bring me solace.” System: “Has my host tapped into her humanity today? Nope.”” (Manga Rock) * Why I Like This One: This manhua is just a long ride of schadenfreude. The story goes in arcs, and there is no doubt that Su Lüxia is going to trample those cheaters, but how she does it is always a surprise! The art is beautiful and the story wildly entertaining. Readers beware, however, as this manhua features themes such as sexual assault, suicide, and abuse.

* English Title: Though I May Be a Villainess, I’ll Show You I Can Obtain Happiness! * Japanese Title: Akuyaku Reijou Desuga, Shiawase ni Natte Mesemasu wa! * Mangakas: Hoshino Osome, Nekomata Doremi, Sorakura SHIJIKI, Yuuki Satoru, Kuroe Yui, Reiga Utsuhou, Yamashiro Umemayuge, Mafuyubi, Oshitsuji Ei, Mizuno Saaya * Summary: "Annuled Engagements, Take That’s, Condemnation Events, Doting, Royals, Reincarnated Heroines, Banishment Endings…it’s fully loaded with all the charms of Villainess’!! A comicalization of 5 popular villainess stories from Shousetsuka ni Narou!! An anthology of 5 oneshots with happy endings!!” (IsekaiScan) * Why I Like This One: This is an anthology and all the stories are very different. My personal favorites are “The Tale of the Noble Girl who will go to a Monastery after her Engagement Annulment,” “Shall We Walk Hand in Hand Down the Flowery Path of Evil?” and “The Villainess Trifles with the Second Prince’s First Love.”

* Title: IRIS - Lady with a Smartphone * Creators: Soo-Wan Yoo (author), Hye-Yi Yoon (artist) * Summary: “ The husband was in love with her cousin and the family was taken away by cigar. The moment I fell into despair and to end my life; the memory of my past life came to my mind.The life of a white-haired worker in Seoul, returning to the past, she decided. “I will not be abandoned by them again. Now I will forsake them!”Ian stare full gazed at Iris’ eyes, “Do you remember what I said the other day? Are you asking for a different fee?”“Yes. I want to get it now.” Iris, was a woman who had nothing. “I did not have a strong parent like other noble princess, nor did I have much money.”“What do you mean by yourself?” Iris blinked. He laughed and said. “Let’s have a relationship with me.” The eldest son of the line, the best of the empire, the best dancer Valencia is the perfect husband. The rope for the revenge makes me crave for more.” (1stKissManga) * Why I Like This One: Iris’ evolution is a delight to watch. The smartphone hasn’t actually played much of a role at this point, but the importance of it’s existence in Iris’ world is slowly being revealed. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the beautiful art and story!

[briangroth27]

Annabelle Comes Home Review

Annabelle Comes Home is a respectable and dependably spooky addition to the Conjuring franchise. It isn't the scariest—none of the spin-offs have been able to touch The Conjuring 1 or 2 yet—but this is my third-favorite film in this ever-growing horror shared universe and I had a lot of fun watching it!

Full Spoilers…

It was great to have Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) and Ed Warren (Patrick Wilson) back in more than just stock footage, even if they still had reduced roles. I’m glad they touched on the real-life questions surrounding the veracity of the Warrens’ investigations: that’s a good aspect to mine for drama, both for them and for Judy (McKenna Grace) with her peers at school. As far as the Warrens go, it’s hard to play that real-life public scrutiny any further than they do here: there’s no question whether ghosts are real in the movies since we can plainly see that they are. This film finds the Warrens in a more traditional horror setup, with them out of the house and the terrors affecting the teenagers left home alone, but the movie’s creators found the right balance to keep them recognizably “the Warrens” while also exploring that setup. Plus, Farmiga and Wilson are both so good in these roles that it’s nice to see them in whatever new situations the writers can cook up! This setup offered a peek into their home life when they’re not on an investigation and brought a little more variety to this cinematic universe’s offerings. The one thing I would’ve liked from Lorraine and Ed this time was a discussion about whether or not they should continue keeping their haunted vault room in their house with their daughter. They have to decide that they will, given it still exists in the Conjuring films, but I would’ve liked to hear the thought process behind keeping it. Did they have second thoughts at all? Do they just trust that the kids have learned their lesson? Did Judy reassure them that she’d be fine, either through her actions here or with a newfound strength uncovered by the film’s events? Might they even use the archives room to train Judy in the use of her paranormal sensitivity to some degree? (Probably not, given that would mean intentionally exposing her to dangerous demons). 

Like the Warrens, the rest of the characters were very likable and engaging. I greatly appreciated that the kids at the center of this film weren't the typical dumb teenagers messing with haunted things for fun or because of carelessness, but were instead aware of and at least a little respectful of the power of the Warren's archives. They were also capable in their own right (at least, as much as they could be in the face of this sort of danger). Judy's struggle with her burgeoning paranormal powers was well-handled and this was one hell of a first experience! The fallout at school from the questions about her parents' honesty was both a smart place to plant the seeds for the movie's main plot and to explore the unexpected (and until now, unexplored in this series) effects on Judy. I wonder if they’ll take liberties and have Judy grow up to follow in her parents’ footsteps someday, because Judy going from scared, lonely kid to opening herself up to the supernatural to save her friends was a great arc that could easily build into a new sub-franchise (particularly as we haven’t seen Lorraine’s early experiences with her supernatural abilities at an extended length). Grace did great with that transition and she was also really good at playing the more everyday character beats like Judy’s conflicting hesitancy and eagerness to open up to a new friend (Katie Sarife) despite pretty much everyone she knew thinking she was a freak (a very relatable tween/teen struggle). That development was a nice, grounded parallel to Judy’s sensitivity to the supernatural. I liked the idea that there would logically be good ghosts out there in addition to the demons the Warrens investigated, just like not all people are bad. That bit of wisdom was a cool moment for Judy’s babysitter and (initially) only friend Mary Ellen (Madison Iseman) to help Judy on her journey, giving Judy the courage to lean into her abilities to help save the day.

Mary Ellen was a refreshing change of pace as a responsible babysitter who truly cared about her charge. I liked her friendship with Judy and their scenes together felt totally natural and lived-in, as if their hangouts had been going on for years. I also enjoyed her displaying no hesitation to trying to put an end to the ghosts once she knew what was going on. Iseman’s acting and Mary Ellen’s writing also made good use of the push and pull between her responsibility to take care of Judy and Daniella’s intrusion into both the Warrens’ house and her romantic life. Mary Ellen’s awkward flirtation/burgeoning romance with Bob (Michael Cimino) was cute and the film included just enough of it to sell their mutual attraction and chemistry, while keeping it at a realistic level for teens who knew each other but didn't really hang out (so there was no "it's totally love already!"). The one beat that rang a little false for me was Mary Ellen and co. going “We’re totally fine!” at the end of all that terror: that was a touch too glib IMO, but as teens trying to save face in front of their peers—especially the guy she liked—it still worked. Besides that, I’m glad the horrors here weren’t just laughed off and there was an honest discussion with the Warrens about this being a serious incident.

Mary-Ellen's friend Daniella gets that talk and it was a nice show of responsibility that she’s the one who pushed Lorraine to call her out on her mistake. Throughout the movie, she was well-drawn not just as a dumb teen looking to stir up some ghosts for laughs, but as someone who had real pathos in wanting to see her dad (Anthony Wemmys) again. While you’re spending the movie thinking that she should absolutely not be exploring the vault and trying to contact her dad, her performance and the writing make it totally understandable that she would. I bought her sadness and guilt and thought she walked the line between accomplishing her agenda and genuinely caring about Mary Ellen and Judy very well. I also liked that she truly seemed interested in Judy as a person, even if she was also using her to see her dad again (if only she’d just asked Judy which artifact could help her!). All three of the central girls have a similar complexity to their characters, pulled between what they want and what’s been forced on them (Judy’s powers and the isolation caused by them and her parents’ reputation), what they’ve been hired to do (Mary Ellen, though she would still be Judy’s friend; her arc has the least tension), and what they’ve convinced themselves they have to do (Daniella seeing her dad again, which makes her a nice foil for Judy in that the paranormal is what she’s seeking but her pull away from it comes from befriending Judy). That’s a cool common building block to these characters that immediately makes them multi-dimensional, a state that’s only further enhanced by the actresses’ performances. Ben was fun as an awkward teen with a crush, and I liked that he wasn’t too toxic, like you might expect from a high school boy in a horror movie. Another refreshing twist (and a bonus gift stemming from the public scrutiny about the Warrens’ cases) was that all the kids readily accepted that ghosts were real rather than having to go through the motions of beginning to believe in them.

While this was entertaining, I’m over Annabelle as an antagonist at this point: she was fine here, but the other ghosts definitely felt like more of a threat and stole the show while it felt like the doll didn’t do much of anything (even though it was the object pulling the other ghosts to the house). I wouldn’t mind if this were the last Annabelle movie, as it seems like they’ve said all there is to say about the doll. They also included a nice full-circle tie back to Annabelle Creation with a brief vision of her human self (Samara Lee), making it feel even more like this is the last one. Thankfully, there was a sizable monster mash of new ghosts here too! While I would’ve liked some more focus on each of them (a longer haunting act would’ve been nice), I liked what we got and there was a solid variety to the types of scares they generated. The Ferryman was scary and I liked the mythology behind him as well as his appearance. The the coins hitting the floor and rolling in to view to herald his approach were really creepy-cool, and the rules about him appearing in the dark vs. disappearing in the light were used against and by him really effectively. At one point I was hoping the “werewolf” case would be the basis of Conjuring 3 since it seemed like an original take on both a possession and a werewolf movie, but I guess not. Still, I liked that they got some classic werewolf imagery out of the Black Shuck (Douglas Tait) when it ripped up the car. The Bride (Natalia Safran) and the typewriter brought a classic ghost sensibility to the mix and the Feeley Meeley game was bizarre even before it was haunted! The movie definitely left me wanting to know more about the other ghost artifacts in the Warrens’ vault, especially the cursed samurai armor and the future-telling TV. Maybe they could make a web series or something exploring the cases that brought the vault objects to the Warrens’ attention! 

Annabelle Comes Home has a strong cast with well-written and atypically alert characters facing a good variety of specters. The pacing’s solid: they take their time introducing us to the characters, which helped generate fear for them when they were put in danger and made the film feel like a throwback to 70s horror, which is fitting given the film’s setting. It also helped to defuse any knee-jerk “this is a real dumb plan” reactions to Daniella trying to contact her dad because she explained her mission enough for me to be invested in it (giving her such a strong a need to see him also avoids any “this is what you get for being stupid” reactions when her quest puts everyone in danger because I felt sorry for her). Jump scares don’t bother me—they’re fun too!—and this movie definitely has some effective ones along with the creepy visuals (like the denizens of a graveyard (Sheila McKellan and others) approaching the Warrens’ car that only Lorraine can see). The paranormal attacks seemed more intense overall in the Conjuring films and Annabelle Creation, which are probably the three scariest entries in this franchise so far (though I liked this one and these characters better than Creation’s). The music, both the score and the 70s songs, was well used to creepy effect.

This movie might not have been necessary, strictly-speaking, since we already saw Annabelle get loose in the first Conjuring, but it was definitely a lot of spooky fun! It's a solid haunted house flick with a strong cast and that’s exactly what it needed to be. It’s also a good ending to Annabelle’s spin-off trilogy and got me ready for the next Conjuring with the focus shifting back to the Warrens (and maybe Judy this time?). You should definitely check this out!

Check out more of my reviews, opinions, and original short stories here!

[lightsandlostbells]

Skam France episode 5

Wanted to say thank you to all translators of this show … it’s really generous to keep up with the clips, especially on top of how many social media updates there are. You are the best <3

Episode 5 reaction

Clip 1: coffee with Lucas

This scene felt so sterile to me? Largely because of how it is shot. The coloring is cool and blue, not bright and warm (watch the original clip and notice the stark difference), there are these big windows taking up part of the frame and this table with almost nothing on it that puts all this space between the camera and the characters. Part of this conversation is filmed at table-level, not at eye or face level, and it feels so removed. The space between them and their body language makes it look like an awkward first date and one of them is going to fake a sick grandmother in order to leave in 10 minutes. 

I don’t know what to make of Lucas’ performance here. It’s like he enters the cafe knowing something is up and he’s alert to any relationship dysfunction. Almost like he’s humoring Emma. And he’s holding back amusement at her troubled romance with Yann.

I mean, if they’re keeping Isak’s involvement in this season much the same as in the original, Lucas bothers me a lot more? Because honestly, Isak’s meddling seemed more opportunistic than anything. I don’t think he had a grand master plan to break up Jonas and Eva, I think was just stumbling onto chances to mess with them and (with telling people about Eva and Chris) acting impulsively/drunkenly. That doesn’t excuse him, but I also don’t think he was sitting down and making bullet points about how to break them up. Lucas … I’m not saying he has a grand master plan and he’s writing bullet points, but this seems like he’s putting more effort into playing her. Like his “good advice” feels more like an act. Maybe it was Tarjei’s acting but I think he did a good balance of Isak being a snake but also kind of not keeping it entirely under control. You can see him start to smirk a little when he questions Eva about why she’s with Jonas. With Lucas, the way he walks in kind of smirking about Yann and Emma’s problems and then puts on this wide-eyed, concerned tone once he’s feeding her bad advice is a little alarming. 

Might be worth asking whether people have a different read on that original scene with Isak and Eva. Because I always thought Isak met up with her not really anticipating that she was going to ask about Jonas, and only caught on due to the nature of her questions, and pounced on that. But maybe other people thought he was expecting this conversation when he walked into the cafe?

If I wasn’t aware of the storyline, I’m not sure what I’d think here. On social media, Lucas and Emma seem to be pretty close and always doing goofy stuff together with Yann, but this really doesn’t feel like a conversation between friends. 

Clip 2: Daphne’s O-tales

I did like the opening shot leading into the girls on the bench.

FOR FUCK’S SAKE, CHARLES. Wrap up your dick. You grown-ass man.

Actually, adding a scene in which they establish Daphne buying condoms, only to tell us that Charles didn’t bother, makes him seem so so much worse.

Between Emma and Manon, the hat game was strong in this clip.

I wrote a post about this but Manon does seem like a more genial, easygoing kind of person than Noora. I like her and found her sweet here; her feminist comments are more gentle than Noora’s. But she’s also less forceful and confident, and that’s perhaps why some people are finding her more forgettable.

Wow Charles comes across like a MASSIVE dong here. Way more so than William. William kind of hurriedly walked by Vilde and kept his eyes averted and muttered hello. Charles seemed like he wanted to establish eye contact with Daphne for the specific purpose of ignoring her.

I did like that Emma approaching Alex seems like a more deliberate fuck-you to Yann. 

Daphne is so cute.

Clip 3 - Emma and Yann argue, then make up

The POV. …. ARGH

Whyyyyy did the camera follow Yann. Why.

Rewinding a bit, Yann and Emma are so much more forward then Jonas and Eva. Eva was a little hesitant to bring up the issue with Ingrid and Jonas was floundering a little when coming up with a story. You could see he wasn’t totally confident in his lie. Emma just gets straight to the point and Yann fires back at her. They’re very assertive in this argument. It’s way more confrontational, as are many things about their relationship.

Though it’s worth mentioning that when Eva did bring up Ingrid to Jonas, she was pretty assertive. She was reluctant at first but she held her ground.

Yann is so much more of a giant asshole in this conversation! He keeps telling her she’s annoying. Now Jonas told Eva to stop being insecure all the time and that also stings, but Yann is really out of line. He also seems a lot more aggressive when he asks if Emma wants a break. Jonas seemed fearful that Eva really wanted a break. Yann doesn’t say it like he’s scared of her saying yes. He just throws it in her face. 

I’m glad that Emma sticks up for herself and tells Yann not to speak to her that way because it was really inappropriate. (To a degree, though, I’m like … Eva’s character arc doesn’t exactly map onto Emma, it won’t feel as earned if they try to keep it exact.)

I do like this song. I’ve liked it before the show and when I saw it in the credits I was waiting for it to show up.

So this part in the original is very distinctive, when the camera keeps Eva and Jonas at a distance, and we watch them fight and make up without hearing them. It’s especially memorable because of how Skam tends to put us up close with the characters’ emotions, and in this instance they don’t let us in on the conversation. And I can see why Skam France didn’t want to just recreate that, because even though they’re redoing much of the original series, to redo that scene exactly as the original is … sort of pushing it. So I get it, they wanted to find a different outcome for the scene, but it really annoyed me that they went with this because of the choice of POV.

Emma walks away and they keep the camera on Yann. We see him make the decision to go after her while the music plays dramatically. But this is so strange, because it puts the emotional emphasis on Yann and his thought process when this is Emma’s season. We should see her thought process, we should have seen her walk away from the table heartbroken and upset and angry, done with Yann’s bullshit. It’s her decision not to put up with it anymore, it’s her development, her emotional state as a character. It’s just really odd that all of a sudden they gave this moment to Yann.

A comparison would be toward the end of season 2, when William is leaving for the airport and we see Noora walk away and call Eva on the phone. We see her emotional reaction to William leaving, all the way up to the car pulling up in the background and William going to her. We could have had that here, where we see Emma distraught and eventually see Yann run after her in the background. I just don’t like that they shut us out of this very important emotional moment for our lead character. We didn’t even see her face as she was walking away.

I know the original show didn’t stick to the POV of the protagonist 100%  of the time, but it did for the most part, and when it diverged during the season they were typically very brief moments. Off the top of my head, I can’t think of a comparable scene where most of the camera work and the emotional emphasis went to the love interest rather than the protagonist. It would be as if William got in the car and we saw him thinking it over as Penetrator Chris drove away, and we saw him tell Chris to go back, and we followed him as he went back to Noora. Or if, for example in season 3 when Even leaves the hotel room, we follow him as he goes out in the streets naked and we leave Isak behind. IDK, it’s just bizarre and a blatant divergence from the show’s structure. 

Clip 4 - Daphne, Daphne, Daphne

The intro effect was kind of odd, as if the girls had been plunged into a nightmare from which there was no escape and it was all about Daphne nonstop telling us about Charles.

I don’t know if we’re supposed to take Charles’ texts as legitimately about his basketball game or him just giving Daphne some BS excuses, but the part with him saying “the coach is putting so much pressure on me” is a thing I hope is real. Give Charles some motivation outside of his love life.

Alex asking for the topless pic of Daphne - well hello. Can this be foreshadowing for gay/bi Alex?

I actually like how this scene was paced and how the girls were kind of humoring her until it got to be too much.

So I found some of Imane’s previous interaction with Daphne unnecessarily mean, because it felt like she was putting down Daphne even when Daphne hadn’t merited that reaction (rather than being a response to Daphne saying something ignorant) but I liked her more here even though this is the most blunt she’s been so far. Maybe because she had a real reason to be blunt.

Also I haven’t commented on the social media much but there are texts where Imane acknowledges how harsh she was and says she will apologize to Daphne, which is nice. 

I think some of why Imane can come across harsher than Sana is because Daphne doesn’t really push back as much as Vilde did. Vilde would seem pretty steamed about the way Sana talked to her (like shushing her) even if she didn’t argue to her face. She was still mad about it to the other girls. In this scene she openly asked why Sana is rude to her. Daphne doesn’t even stand up for herself here, she just leaves upset.

Imane’s words about guys also resonate with Yann’s dramatic speech (showering you with compliments, etc.)

Clip 5 - Horror Comics

Right off the bat, I LOVE the costumes. Love love love. I would have the time of my life going to a party like this.

Alex as Annabelle and Manon as Georgie from It <3

The opening is a fun way to set up the party vibe and establish Daphne looking wistfully at Charles. I don’t know if this was intentional, but Harley Quinn is absolutely the costume you would wear if you were trying to get a guy’s attention. I don’t mean that in a “fake geek girls” way or that Harley cosplayers do so to look good for men. There’s just a sexual connotation with the character that doesn’t exist in demonic dolls or little boys in rain slickers who get murdered by evil clowns.

Alex sitting on the couch and not moving, just smiling creepily, is so perfect and IC for her costume, I love it.

Not to sound like a creep but Ingrid looked kind of hot in her horror makeup. 

I waver between whether they’re trying to make Raptor Alex/Emma a legit ship or to make him more of a jerk. Because kissing her forehead might seem kind of sweet, but then it’s like … oh yeah, that is actually inappropriate to do to a girl you barely know who has a boyfriend. And he doesn’t seem happy that she pushed him away.

It’s kind of funny to me that Camille is giving her this very, very teenage advice. Honey, at least one of you is in her 20s.

Camille is a sweetheart and I liked that she offered her number to Emma.

But also … the look of her confusion on her face as Emma left … c’mon dudes. I don’t mind little things like this, but you know, you can establish that suspicion/confusion while Emma is in the room witnessing it, like when Camille first walks in on her and Alex. That’s enough. We’re good.

The shot of Daphne watching Charles (with some random girl, btw, not Sara) was very Dramatique~ but I thought it was well done. Daphne sold it with her heartbreaking reaction.

Oh, Charles dressed as the Joker! That is actually great. Did Daphne know that he was going to dress that way, and planned to go as Harley Quinn accordingly? Or was it a coincidence? I’m going to take it as planned; she found out and decided to have a matching outfit with him, as a sort of couples’ costume. Even though he probably didn’t know about it. Ouch, Daphne.

(Was that an Edward Cullen at the party when Emma leaves? Lmao.)

The reveal of Yann smoking weed is dumb when Emma straight up saw Not Elias smoking with Yann and Lucas at the cabin. Like did it not occur to her…

And Yann posts about smoking weed on IG, what the fuck, this shouldn’t be too much of a surprise.

It really doesn’t make sense when Yann says that he didn’t tell Emma about smoking weed because of exactly the reaction she was having that moment, when Emma is just like, okay you’re smoking weed, meh. Eva actually got upset that Jonas was smoking weed and treated it like it was a big deal, so that made sense for him to say he didn’t tell her due to her predicted freakout. Emma barely gives a shit about Yann smoking weed and openly says so. She was more upset that he hadn’t told her and had lied. Yann is then like, well I didn’t tell you because of the reaction you’re having now. What?? So you lied to her about smoking weed … because you were afraid of her reaction where she is upset that you lied to her about smoking weed. The fuck? 

Sometimes I get the sense that they go through the scripts and make superficial changes but don’t bother with follow-through. Like someone said, “I don’t think Emma would care about him smoking marijuana,” so they changed that part, but stopped there without considering whether the dialogue and character motivations still made sense. This isn’t the first moment like this but it’s probably the most important, since Yann’s behavior in the first half of the season hinges on it.

Props to them for having some silence in this conversation, and for having Yann kiss Emma on the forehead - repeating the gesture Alex did earlier, unintentionally twisting the knife. Although the dialogue went a little OTT, as did Yann’s following text message, in terms of dramatic irony. I TRUST YOU SO MUCH EMMA, I’M SO HAPPY WE PUT THE LIES BEHIND US, I WAS STUPID TO THINK WE COULDN’T TELL EACH OTHER EVERYTHING. We get it. You don’t have to bang us over the head.

General Comments:

Daphne is still my favorite part of the show. Between her stealing the show and Lucas being not all that great so far, give her S3. 

Maybe I should get used to the POV not being as tight, but then you have to ask … what is the point of sticking to the story from Emma’s POV, other than the original doing it? For example, I’m watching the new season of Jessica Jones. The show is about Jessica Jones. She is the main character and has an arc. But she’s not the only character with development. The supporting cast has scenes without her, with their own story arcs, where they acquire information and do things that Jessica Jones does not know about. There’s nothing wrong with this because it’s the setup of the show. In fact it’s the setup of most shows. 

On the other hand, Skam’s one-person POV is pretty rare in terms of television shows. Actually I am struggling to think of another series told exclusively from another person’s perspective for more than a special episode. If you think about it, it’s rather inconvenient for most overarching plots. So why would you consciously choose this rather limited format? What is the benefit of it? To immerse yourself in the main’s head, to walk through their struggles and triumphs. If you’re going to cut that character out of their own emotional reactions, then why not do the multi-POV? And if you’re sticking to the single POV, then yeah, it is sloppy and worth mentioning. 

I mean, if you’re writing a book, you’ll be advised to keep your POV consistent. A novel with third person limited POV will receive criticism for messy writing if it strays. Harry Potter books don’t randomly jump to Ron’s POV in the middle of scenes. I feel like the same mindset is applicable here.

Not to Start Shit but at this point I definitely think the whole song and dance about “contractual obligations” to be faithful to the original Skam were mostly said to appease fans who didn’t like that the remake was such a close copy. I was skeptical about it when it was first said, but I mean. We’re now past the halfway mark, past when we were supposedly going to have the season diverge, but uh, it’s not. They have clearly been able to change some small things and add a few scenes here and there, so what exactly were these nebulous conditions that the remake had to follow? Did Julie Andem hand them an outline and say, “Here, you gotta do all the stuff on this list but go wild with everything else?” 

I’ll happily admit to my mistakes if there are more official details on the remakes’ obligation to the original, and with four episodes left they could still throw a few curveballs. But do I think that’s likely to happen? Nah, not really. Possibly a slightly different outcome for Yann and Emma. I think maybe they’ll omit some scenes and some smaller story points for time reasons, but that’s it.

[acsversace-news]

Step-touching his way through the halls of the fictional Dalton High School—the hair perfectly parted, the navy blazer impeccably tailored, and amplifying an a capella rendition of a Katy Perry song through the sheer wattage of his all-American smile—a then-22-year-old Darren Criss, fresh out of college and making his debut as Blaine Anderson on a 2010 episode of Glee, was the epitome of the teenage dream.

Now, he’s the 30-year-old stuff of nightmares.

Well, he isn’t, exactly, but the serial killer he plays on The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story certainly is.

In many ways, Criss’ revelatory performance as Andrew Cunanan, the 27-year-old gay man who, after murdering five people including the famed fashion designer, became one of the most wanted serial killers in American history, is all the more unsettling because of its stark contrast to the genial crooner we were introduced to on Fox’s burned-fast-and-bright musical dramedy.

But then again, the surprise of a certain clean-cut progressiveness has been the hallmark of Criss’ still-young career.

“I think it’s really given me an alley-oop,” Criss says, referring to the initial shock a Glee fan might have to watching the actor as Cunanan, say, bind a rich john who hires him as an escort with duct tape and then gauge him with a hammer. “I’d like to think [audiences] would be interested and compelled anyway,” without this lingering image of Criss as Blaine, the consummate Nice Guy. “But I think it’s an extra nudge when you have that to juxtapose against.”

When we first met Darren Criss several years ago, he was wearing a thigh-length kimono and tending to his favorite blonde wig, remnants of sweat-sticky glitter smudging just about everything in sight—aided and abetted in its mission by the runoff from his sparkling go-go boots. We were in his dressing room backstage at the Belasco Theatre, high off the energy of his stage-scorching performance in as the titular transgender rocker in the 2015 musical revival Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

It was Criss’ first major gig after wrapping his run on Glee, and a thundering opening salvo in proving the breadth of his talents, let alone taste in projects.

Things are decidedly bleaker, or at the very least chillier, when we reunite two-and-a-half years later at a café in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York to talk Versace, inarguably the biggest and certainly darkest project of his career thus far. Still, Criss’ fashion choice is doing its part to dial up the fabulousness of the morning: a knee-length, forest green mohair overcoat he pets with pride when we compliment it. “One of the kids from Boy Band on Good Morning America this morning was like, ‘Yo bro, it looks like you skinned the Grinch!’” Criss laughs. “I’m like, that is indeed an apt observation.”

Just as when we talked before, Criss bubbles over with the kind of giddiness, but also navel-gazing introspection, that one might expect from a lifelong theater kid—which the 30-year-old actor absolutely is, having grown up attending performance arts schools and raised in the San Francisco theater scene he joined at a young age.

And so there’s a certain amount of objectivity and pragmatism as we discuss the arc of his career, not to mention a pinch-me enthusiasm in promoting a leading role in Ryan Murphy’s follow-up to the blockbuster The People v. O.J. Simpson series. There’s also a refreshing eagerness to engage thoughtfully in conversations about his sexuality and sex appeal—oh yeah, we talked about those nude photos—especially in relation to the coincidence that, though he identifies as straight, the three defining roles of his career have been gay characters.

For all the talk of teenage dreams and historical crime nightmares, Darren Criss is nothing if not woke.

The fact of the matter is that, while Versace’s 1997 murder is the catalyst for the series and crucial in instigating the conversations about sexuality and fame in ’90s America that it explores, Versace (played by Edgar Ramirez), his longtime boyfriend (played by Ricky Martin), and sister, Donatella (Penelope Cruz), are all minor characters. This is almost exclusively a showcase for Criss as Andrew Cunanan, the highly intelligent sociopath with tortured feelings about his own sexuality, driven to murder.

“The thing I keep saying is I feel like I made varsity,” Criss says, about leading the starry ensemble. “I feel like I’ve been lucky enough to be invited into the school, into the program. I put in enough games on J.V. Now they’re like, alright kid, it’s your shot.”

Murphy first floated the idea of playing Cunanan to Criss three years ago. Their working relationship on Glee only bolstered a purely superficial argument for the casting: Criss and Cunanan look uncannily similar, and share almost identical Filipino-American backgrounds. “I would have been happy to audition,” Criss stresses, grinning sheepishly. “I masochistically relish that process.”

He’s fully aware that people are fascinated by the idea of the Tiger Beat cover boy thwarting that image playing the sociopathic serial killer, just as they were by the idea of the straight cisgender teen idol actively pursuing the role of a transgender rock star when he booked meetings for Hedwig when Glee was ending.

“I keep telling reporters that I’m curious what the conversation would be if I started with Versace and then three years later I do this musical comedy,” he says. “And I do think the questions would be the same: ‘Darren you’re sort of this dark brooding dramatic guy and that’s what you’re known for. It must be such a departure to be playing this happy go lucky. When I was watching Versace I never thought I’d be watching this guy singing and dancing on Broadway.’ But we have to categorize. It’s how we keep ourselves sane.”

He chuckles. “My goal in life in all respects is to keep people as off-kilter as possible.”

Well, speaking of throwing fans for a loop, let’s talk about that naked Instagram photo.

While Blaine on Glee was certainly made out to be a handsome, crush-worthy romantic lead—all the more groundbreaking, of course, because the romance was a same-sex teenage one—there was something chaste and sort of juvenile about it. Not anymore. Now, Darren Criss exudes sex.

He’s damn hot, too, and clearly leaning into it. Ryan Murphy, god bless him, is nothing if not the Patron Saint of Sexualizing Male TV Stars, and thus had Criss shooting in nothing but a red Speedo very early on in the Versace shoot. One particular day ended with a sunburned Criss as red as his skimpy wardrobe. So, after getting the blessing of his girlfriend of seven years, Mia, Criss thought it would be funny to post a nude selfie, covering his naughty bits with the crumpled up bathing suit, on his Instagram.

The gay community collectively gasped in unison.

“I learned what the word ‘thirsty’ meant after that,” Criss laughs.

“My favorite part of the post was the caption, which was completely upstaged,” he says.

Uh, there was a caption?

“Exactly! That’s what’s so funny about these things. When something goes viral, all context gets thrown out the window.” (For the record, the caption mocked his sunburn: “So what’s more red? My sunburn, my Speedo, or YOUR FACE???”)

Criss takes it all in good humor, of course. “It tickles me, and I think it’s, in a weird, twisted way, endearing,” he says when we mention that his nude scene from the Versace premiere—a lingering look at his naked body and butt from behind—has already leaked and is circulating on gay porn sites. But he gets a little weary when all that becomes the focus of discussion around Cunanan. At the premiere in Los Angeles, for example, gossip rags bombarded him with questions about how he got into shape for the show, the usual tired questions about an actor’s exercise regimen. “I freaked out,” he says. “Like, no, no, no. Andrew’s not supposed to be a sexual object.”

You can take sex appeal out of the conversation, of course, but you can’t take sexuality out of it. And it’s an interesting, if complicated, conversation in relation to Criss’ career. As we mentioned earlier, Andrew Cunanan marks the third time Criss has played a LGBTQ character, after Blaine on Glee and Hedwig.

At a time when the visibility and normalization of gay characters is trumpeted in tandem with a cry for opportunity for LGBTQ performers and creators, it’s a coincidence that invites a certain amount of scrutiny for a straight actor whose career has benefited from these characters.

“I’ve been really fortunate in that, while I almost bizarrely invite that, there hasn’t really been any scrutiny,” Criss says. “As a straight, cisgender white guy, I can definitely see how people in the LGBTQ community could be a little weirded out about the consistency of these roles. But it’s not conscious. I’m not going, ooh, I’m going to go after all these queer roles. It’s sort of no different than a gay actor only doing straight roles. I think in our political climate those things are important to talk about and important to notice.”

“Especially for a community who’s had to fight for its voice to be heard and recognized for so fucking long, I completely understand the sensitivity to what my approach or reasonings are,” he continues. “But I think hopefully the art transcends the politics in that I’m an actor. Just plain and simple. Maybe that sounds pandering, or maybe it sounds like I’m trying to put that curiosity down. I’ve been thrilled that no one’s ever really given me grief for this. Because I think we all agree the stories are more important than the pieces that make them.”

Rather than shy away from questions about this, skittish that something he says might be deemed controversial, Criss actually continues to elaborate, saying “there’s so much to unpack here.”

“I like talking about it,” he says. “Because I feel like the gay community has embraced me when it really didn’t have to. I am aware that I’m an outsider. I didn’t grow up gay. I didn’t go through the same journey that a lot of gay men and women went through. That is something that binds the gay community together in a very real way. I would never deign to say that I deserve to be included, but I’ve been so touched and privileged to be a voice and connected to a part personally and professionally that I’m just thrilled there hasn’t really been any visible or audible backlash.”

Plus, he reaps the benefits of being a satellite member of the community, such as trusting whoever encouraged him to wear that fabulous—and hardly heteronormative—green overcoat.

“That’s true!” he laughs.

It reminds him of a joke that was in Hedwig at the expense of an actor, whom he’d rather not name now, talking about how he enjoyed “all the privileges of homosexuality and none of the responsibilities.” It always got a big laugh, to the point that when co-star Lena Hall filled in for him as Hedwig, he suggested that she make the same joke but using his name instead.

“I tend to step outside my body and look at this all from the back seat. I was like that is a really, really funny joke,” he says. “Because it’s true. I’ve been really lucky to have all the privileges, all the fun things of the gay community without all the responsibilities and burdens that come with it. And I’m so aware of that.”

He then launches into a story that he apologizes several times for having told before to other media outlets, but which seems to so genuinely reflect his attitude about his place in the gay community as an outsider who plays these characters.

“This is the nerdiest analogy,” he starts, before likening the experience to being given the Green Lantern ring from some LGBTQ powers-that-be and being told to be a symbol for the community, thinking in response: “Me? Are you sure?”

“But I’m glad it was me,” he says. “I’m glad that these things have fallen on my plate, and that things have happened in my life that I think actually make me a good candidate for being put in the position that I was put in, having grown up like I did in San Francisco, being raised basically by gay twentysomethings in theater. These are people who I looked up to. These are people who I wanted to be around. These are people who raised my adult consciousness without them even being aware of it. So later in life, yeah, fuck yeah, those are the people I want to be connected with. It is really cool. I really lucked out.”

Teenage dreams grow up, and even become realities. Darren Criss is in the midst of his.

[cherry-valentine]

Summer 2017 Anime Season: What I’m Watching:

Konbini Kareshi is a slice of life high school romance that seems to focus more on the male perspective. It prominently features two couples but it looks like it might touch on more couples as well. The show is cute and sweet and has a “feel good” vibe. The drama never gets too serious (so far) but there’s enough conflict to keep you interested. The art and music are pleasant enough. It’s not my favorite of the season, but it’s just cute enough to stay on my watch list.

Dive!! is a show I had high hopes for. Another swimming anime animated by a studio with a great track record? It sounds like a guaranteed hit. But Dive!! is no Free! and that becomes clear by the end of the first episode. Dive!! looks great, has interesting character designs, and decent animation. The problem is that it seemingly fails to realize what makes sports anime so fun. We don’t watch sports anime for the actual sports. We watch it because we become invested in the characters and we want to see them win. And we become invested in the characters through watching their lives, in and out of the sport. Dive!! takes itself way too seriously, focusing almost entirely on the sport of diving and spending very little time developing the characters. I’ve watched every episode so far and I honestly can’t name a single character in the show. I don’t feel like I know any of them. They barely interact with each other at all, so we don’t get the usual team dynamics of sports anime. There’s very little humor as well. Despite all this, I’m still watching the show because I feel like it has potential. The last couple of episodes have tried to throw in some drama for the protagonist outside the sport, and at least one character has a very interesting back story that would be great if it were fleshed out. Dive!! can still be a good show, if the writers can just figure out how to let the audience connect with these characters.

Chronos Rulers is a fairly generic action fantasy anime. There’s nothing new to see here as we follow two attractive male protagonists as they travel around fighting enemies while searching for something important to them. Already sounds familiar, right? But being familiar isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and Chronos Rulers is an entertaining series with a few interesting ideas (the relationship between the two male leads, as revealed at the end of episode one, is genuinely surprising and the concept of using time as a weapon is, if not completely original, at least presented in a fun and fresh way). The character designs are sleek and stylish and the battle scenes are fantastic. It’s pretty clear that they decided to use the whole animation budget on the action scenes because the non-action scenes look pretty shabby by comparison. Still, given the genre of the series, this was probably a good decision. Chronos Rulers will never be a favorite, but it’s definitely a fun watch.

Shoukoku no Altair is like a more realistic and serious Magi. It’s set in and around a fictional desert nation with vague Arabian undertones and inexplicably stars a young blonde man. But instead of well-timed comedy and magic, we get political intrigue and a hero who relies on his wits much more than his physical capabilities. It’s an interesting setup, as the hero legitimately wants to avoid conflict at all cost and his goal in nearly every situation is de-escalation. The political aspects are made compelling by the way the show zeroes in on individual characters and how the various shifts in power affect them personally. The series also looks great and has good music. I can’t spell or pronounce any of the main characters’ names, but it’s still a solid show.

Vatican Kiseki Chousakan is one of my favorites this season, for one primary reason: the show neither glorifies nor vilifies the Catholic religion which features so prominently in the story. The series takes a fairly neutral stance on religion itself, which is refreshing. The two main characters are priests, and present a positive view of Catholicism, but at the same time, the show doesn’t shy away from portraying negative aspects as well. For example, there’s probably one major negative thing that comes to mind when you think of Catholic priests, right? Yes, this series goes there. It also makes the concept of miracles, and whether they exist or not, the defining plot point of the show. It’s all very interesting stuff, helped by the gorgeous art (the backgrounds are amazing) and the likable leads, Roberto and Hiraga. I also admired the guts it took to start the series with a multi-episode arc in an age where most anime open with a self-contained episode to introduce us to the setting and characters. At its core, this show is a mystery/thriller, and has enough creepy moments to make it good Halloween viewing, so keep that in mind for this fall. It also seems like it would lend itself well to marathon watching. High on my watch list.

Ballroom e Youkoso is very entertaining, in spite of or perhaps because of some flat-out weirdness. I have to say this first: The intense looks on the characters’ faces while they’re dancing are absolutely hilarious. They’re bizarre as hell, but still hilarious. It’s also hilarious that some of these characters look like they’re in their late 20‘s but are apparently fifteen. The female lead honestly looks waaaay too old for her supposed age. The exaggerated long-limbed and lanky figures add to this problem. Much of the anatomy and posing are downright impossible, but all this strangeness somehow adds to the show’s charm. The protagonist is, as per usual in shows like this, a likable, relatable underdog. Watching him grow through ballroom dancing is very satisfying. I honestly didn’t know ballroom dancing could be so much fun to watch, but I’ve learned that anime can make anything interesting if it’s done with the right mix of humor and tension. And this show has nailed that mix. Also, just gotta add, I would watch this show for the dresses alone. They're absolutely gorgeous and make me wanna cry rivers over the fact that I can't wear them.

Hitorijime My Hero is a BL series that caught my attention mainly by the fact that the protagonist is not the usual doe-eyed uke we see in shows like this (though there is an actual doe-eyed uke in the show, he’s a side character). Protagonist Setagawa is a pierced, bleached blonde delinquent trying to get his life back on track after separating from a bad group of guys, which automatically makes him a refreshing lead. He’s not naive. When the show’s lead seme (who does seem more like a traditional seme) toys with him, Seta is fully aware of it, and his reactions are more believable. This makes their relationship as a whole very interesting. The secondary relationship, between Seta’s best friend and a classmate, is more in line with the usual BL setup, and is unfortunately steeped in some of the worst BL tropes (manipulation and emotional blackmail galore). At least these negative tropes are presented in a more honest way in the main relationship, where the seme’s problematic tendencies are called out as being just that: problematic. Aside from that, the art is very nice, with very attractive character designs (Seta’s eyes are drawn in an usual way for a bishounen style but they give him personality). The music is also peppy and fun. Overall, it’s one of my favorites of the season.

Katsugeki/Touken Ranbu is basically a dream come true. A few seasons back, there was another Touken Ranbu anime and I talked about the fact that, after the first episode, I thought it was going to be my favorite of the season. The art was gorgeous (those outfits! those backgrounds! that generally fluid animation!) and the characters were likable. And the basic concept was really cool. Then the series went from an action fantasy series with awesome sword fights to a fluffy slice-of-life series about cute sword-boys doing laundry and opening butler cafes and going shopping. Like I said back then, it was cute and all, but I really wish it had stayed focused on the action elements because they were much more interesting. And now we have this anime, Katsugeki, and it’s pretty much everything I wanted from the first Touken Ranbu anime. The focus is squarely on the sword battles and the missions the characters go on to protect history from monstrous creatures. Yes, we get some humor and some silly hijinks but they are scattered lightly amongst the bloody battles. Katsugeki is awesome, and it’s at the very top of my watch list.

Cleanliness Boy Aoyama-kun is a comedy/parody series lightly disguised as a sports anime. You’d be forgiven for watching the first episode and dropping it, assuming it was a one-note series with not much to offer. But continue and watch episode two. I dare you watch the second half of the episode without cracking up. Aoyama-kun gives similar vibes to last year’s Handa-kun, as both feature a quiet protagonist seemingly obvlivious to the fact that he is surrounded by admirers who will sometimes go to extreme (and hilarious) lengths to help him. The major difference is that Handa wasn’t anywhere near as cool as everyone thought he was and assumed everyone hated him, whereas Aoyama is actually cool (even if he doesn’t know it) and is only vaguely aware that people like him. I think Handa-kun’s setup was more funny, but Aoyama-kun is still pretty good. The art is fine, with some nice comedic facial expressions, and the music is a good fit for the show. At its core, Aoyama-kun is a silly little show that is surprisingly entertaining if you give it a chance.      

[lordbelatiel]

A Court of Wings and Ruin (Sarah J Maas)

5 stars Spoilers linger ahead, turn back if thou hast not read ACOWAR. “I would have waited five hundred more years for you. A thousand years. And if this was all the time we were allowed to have... the wait was worth it.” I think that, luckily, I didn't go into this book expecting ACOMAF. Why? Because it's the end of an arc, there's war, destruction, pain, whilst ACOMAF was about healing, and joy and wonder. I also went into this with my heart in my throat, wondering whether, as a bisexual wlw, I would find this book as offensive as the internet had been saying. I was actually in quite a dark place starting this book, my grandmother had just died, I was 1000 miles from home and horribly homesick, I could feel my anxiety as a constant pressure in my chest. The ACOTAR series has always been like a comfort blanket for me, too many times I've curled up with 'don’t let the hard days win' on my lips. The thought that had been planted in me, that this book could hurt me, made me feel ill, I desperately didn’t want it to be true. I made sure to read it critically, listening to what people had been saying, but, personally, as a bi woman I didn't find any of it offensive (though I agree, the acephobic is painfully acephobic). There are definitely one or two things I would love to just sit down and educate Sarah about, namely NB genders, but I felt that there was a real effort made to include more diverse identities in this book. I've seen a lot of people saying that Sarah ignores the comments made about her lack of diversity, but I think this book really does show that she's listening. ACOWAR begins maybe a week after ACOMAF left off, with Feyre infiltrating the Spring Court, now allied with Hybern, and gathering information for the Court of Dreamers. Feyre is playing the part of a 'perfect Bride of Spring', painting, helping organize festivals…sowing unrest and discord in the Court. When commanders from Hybern arrive in the Court, alongside the dastardly Jurian, so begins a dangerous game… I will start by saying that I know this book, or indeed any of Sarah's books, are not for everyone. This entire series is about love, romance and sex, so if that's not your cup of tea then you might as well pick up another book. There are lines in here that I find incredibly beautiful and others find incredibly cheesy. I'm pretty sure that a couple of years ago I would not have enjoyed this series as much as I do now. How we enjoy books is never based entirely on the books, but also on things we have experienced, things that have happened to us… 'Night Triumphant- and the Stars Eternal. If he was the sweet, terrifying darkness, I was the glittering light that only his shadows could make clear.' If you don't subscribe to the soulmate philosophy, then I can just tell you straight off the bat that some parts of this will make you want to scream. I am, however, an enormous romantic; the idea of finding a partner where both of you are the better for your partnership, just makes me well up. The relationship between Feyre and Rhysand across this series is just so perfect, so secure and safe and heartfelt, it's really going to be hard to find another couple that can even come close. They're just so good for each other, both feeling able to lower their masks and open their hearts to one another. The mating bond is definitely a magical extension of the intuitive nature of some relationships. I also really enjoyed that there were some times where the two of them stepped on one another's toes, where they annoyed or worried the other. I honestly don't think a relationship is as strong as it originally seems until you've seen it weather a storm, or ford a river crossing. Arguments are natural, expected, it would be bizarre if couples didn't disagree about some things. Feyre Feyre's growth as a character in this book was just incredible. Watching her embrace her fears and say and do the things that had always lived somewhere deep in her heart was just so gratifying. Feyre, the woman who had survived homelessness, starvation, torture, accepting her past, accepting herself and mastering the mirror…wow, I was so impressed with her arc. I also enjoyed that she wasn't instinctively good at flying, did not master the skill in an unbelievable time frame and would probably need to keep working on it even after the end of the book. Watching Feyre grow into a true High Lady, and how her relationships blossomed with the other members of the Court of Dreamers, drawing out the truth of each of the characters…ah, I'm so ready to reread and experience that all again. Rhys I'd seen some comments that Rhysand seemed out of character, 'too soft', in this book and I have a lot of thoughts and opinions about that. In ACOTAR we saw only the mask, in ACOMAF the mask slipped away, in ACOWAR we saw the heart of Rhys. I honestly believe that, from the end of ACOMAF, Rhys knew that he would die, that his gentleness in this book came from constant integration of every possibility and the realization that all of them ended in his death. He takes every moment of happiness he possibly can, makes sure, with every moment, that Feyre knows that he loves her and would spend every second of eternity with her if he could. “The great joy and honour of my life has been to know you. To call you my family. And I am grateful - more than I can possibly say - that I was given this time with you all” I know that a lot of people relate to Feyre, but, personally, I relate more with Rhysand. Feyre's depression is very visible, very obvious, whilst Rhys hides his behind a mask of half smiles and glib comments, isolating himself from those he loves because he considers himself a burden. Feyre wastes away, Rhys is actively reckless with his life, spending every ounce of himself and his self worth upon those he loves. Even his beast form, with its cruel talons and inhuman face, seems like a metaphor for internalised self loathing, a part of himself that he really hates to let others see. You feel as if Rhys has always been hiding parts of himself, well before Amarantha's torture, that from a young age he was aware of the suffering around him and that it pained him. 'Everyone insists Rhysand is soulless, wicked. But the male I knew was the most decent of them all.' (Jurian) He was written so well, so honestly, that I could almost know what he was going to do before he did it. The respect that he has for Feyre, his trust in her and her abilities honestly made me well up in places. Feeling and caring, sensitivity and gentleness and love does not make someone weak, and I didn't really like the implication that Rhysand was in this book. If you think that a man dealing with trauma and fear and the coming of war is 'weak', then you're part of the problem and you can come and fight me to be honest. The Court of Dreams I won't lie, the moment we met Cassian in the snow of the Winter Court, I wanted to be the one to throw my arms around his chest. I missed my Court of Dreamers so much in the Spring Court, I missed their laughter, joy and support for one another. Seeing Feyre becoming an integral part of that circle, to see their love for Rhys become love for Feyre…eugh, my heart. I think the dynamic of the Court, watching as Nesta, Elain and, towards the end, Lucien, became enveloped to varying extents into their circle, was just…I loved it. I liked Cassian and Azriel in ACOMAF, but, after finishing ACOWAR I adored them. Seeing how much they cared for Feyre, not just as Rhys' mate, not just as High Lady, but as a friend…how they would die for her and for her sisters, I have no words for how much I felt about that. Azriel's rage at hearing how Tamlin had turned violent around Feyre, his gentleness around broken Elain, Cassian's desperation to save Nesta even when his body was broken…the depth of their love for those around them is just unbounded. I personally, would love to see Azriel and Elain happy together, multiple times throughout the book Sarah's pointed out that sometimes the mating bond just doesn't work, just isn't right and I think even Lucien has come to see their bond as something strange and inexplicable. I ship Lucien with Vassa to be honest, I feel that would be one hell of a relationship, and I really think he deserves someone who loves him as much as he loves them, especially after all that Ianthe did to him. Gentle Elain with her green fingers, her love of beauty and her fierce loyalty to her family, Azriel whose life has been shadows and pain but has seen the joy of love from afar…I just want them to be happy. If that happiness is together or in another pairing I don't mind, just let them be happy. Nesta and Cassian were just…I already enjoyed their relationship in ACOMAF, but there's so much more depth in ACOWAR, with even Nesta letting her own mask slip when concerned about the Illyrian General. I will be disappointed, to say the least, if one of the novels is not about these two, I think there is so much more to be said with them, bear in mind that they only met one another in a time of war when so much else was at stake. Does it matter whether the mating bond snaps into place for them? Not really, I always got the feeling that being 'mated' was actually not all that common, a little like finding your soul mate and, I almost wonder whether you kind of had to be looking for your soulmate for that to happen. I can't imagine that was particularly high on either Nesta or Cassian's priorities. Relationships are different for everyone and I don't think a relationship without a mating bond is lesser to one with. But who knows, maybe it will snap into place at some point in the next few books. I've seen some people say that they think the inner circle are a bit too blasé, a bit silly almost and I have some things to say about that. I'm a 'military brat', I grew up surrounded by battle hardened soldiers and one thing they have almost universally is the most childish sense of humour I have ever come across, sure it dips into darkness every now and then, but for the majority of the time eye rolling and tongue sticking out it entirely par for course. I mean, even for me as a Doctor, do you honestly think we're serious all the time. Dealing with death painfully often makes you more likely to be cracking dumb jokes and not giving a crap what anyone thinks about it, because you know too much about the frailty of life. I felt really bad for Mor in this book, really bad…it seemed that, whilst the situation was terrible for everyone, it was really unravelling for her. Being forced to interact with abusers…watching compromise having to be made with those abusers, I mean, there was no choice, without the Autumn Court, without Keir's forces, they would not have won, but still, it would really have had a serious impact on Mor's security. For her to maybe no longer feel that she's safe in her own city, eugh, my heart hurt reading that part. My heart hurt when Feyre yelled at her about things she couldn't understand, when she struggled to find a way to explain to Azriel that she could not love him that way, when Feyre tricked her into letting her go to the Middle…seriously, Mor really got dealt some of the most painful blows in this book. I just hope that Sarah gives her a wonderful, loving lady in later books, and I hope that the splintering of the relationship between her and the rest of the circle is healed with time. Sexual Identity Since Rhys' mask came down in ACOMAF, I've read him as demisexual, someone who feels sexual attraction only to those they have an emotional bond with. The emotional bond doesn't have to be 'true love', just emotional intimacy and trust. I don't think Sarah wrote him that way intentionally, I just honestly think that lots of people are demisexual but maybe have never considered that part of themselves. It's an identity that I've been turning over in my hands, trying to get a feel for, wondering whether it might apply to me for a while, and I read a lot of my own feelings in Rhys, his flirtations with those other than Feyre not filled with any real sexual desire. You get the feeling he'd never really act on anything without truly knowing them, truly feeling as if he could trust them. The idea that much of that had to do with his trauma at the hands of Amarantha, doesn't make his potential demisexuality any less valid. Being hurt and betrayed by others can definitely impact on your romantic and sexual identities. That leads very much into the next point that I've been thinking about a lot. I came into this book expecting that I might find problems with the way that Mor 'being a lesbian' was handled, only to find that she wasn't even a lesbian at all! From what I understand as a bi wlw, Mor is a homoromantic bisexual, which means that she enjoys sex with more than one gender but is more often than not only romantically attracted to her own gender. 'I prefer females' seems to be the line that has confused people. The thing is, it is perfectly valid as a bi person to be more attracted to a specific gender, bisexuality is a spectrum and it is perfectly normal to feel more attraction to certain genders than others and still consider yourself attracted to all. The fact that she seems unsatisfied after her sex with Helion seems more to do with the fact she was only having sex with Helion to avoid having to talk to Azriel than the fact that she didn't like taking male lovers. 'I do find pleasure in them. In both. But I've known, since I was little more than a child, that I prefer females. That I'm…attracted to them more over males. That I connect with them, care for them more on that soul-deep level.' Homoromantic bisexual…that is literally what she is describing. She's not bad lesbian rep because she's not a lesbian at all. It is not homophobic for Mor to say that sometimes she wants male lovers, because she's bisexual, and erasing that part of her identity is just gross, please stop. I actually found Mor's story heartbreaking because I see so many similarities with myself. 'It was Nephelle and her lover- now her wife, I suppose- who made me dare to try. They made me so jealous. Not of them personally, but just…of what they had. Their openness.' Because being in the closet off the internet can be so heartbreakingly difficult. Seeing people so open in their love and just not being able to find it in yourself to explain the way that you feel to family and friends because some part of you is so scared that it could tear everything asunder, destroy everything that you have. Even the part of Mor that can’t love Azriel, I relate to that so much…I once had a friend that I adored, one of the best friends I ever had, and he loved me in a different way to how I loved him. I tried a relationship because part of me thought that being lovers can't be that different to being friends, but every time he kissed me or touched me I felt repulsed, because I just didn't love him that way and in the end I had to explain that and it destroyed our friendship. It wasn't that I didn't love him that way that hurt, it was that I had lied to myself and lied to him about the fact I just didn’t see him that way. So, I don’t think Mor's story is bad rep, I think that it's complicated rep, maybe too complicated for a YA book (not that I really think ACOTAR is YA) but at the same time, reading through ACOMAF I honestly think that Mor has been queer right from the start and I was really happy to see parts of myself in Sarah's books where there had been very few queer identities before. There are two more points about sexual identity that I want to deal with, Helion and that acephobic paragraph. 'Dagdan and Brannagh had listened to her fawning with enough boredom that I was starting to wonder if the two of them perhaps preferred no one's company but each other's. In whatever unholy capacity. Not a blink of interest toward the beauty who often made males and females stop to gape. Perhaps any sort of physical passion had long ago been drained away, alongside their souls.' Everytime I see that paragraph I groan because it is acephobic, I don't think she intended it to be, I genuinely think she was probably horrified when she found out. It reads more like ignorance than malice. Two characters, evil, twins, probably incestuous…literally, this paragraph causes me physical pain because I can just see how hurtful it could be to people and I just honestly don't believe that Sarah had any idea that it was the case. Being on the internet, learning about different sexual identities, having asexual friends has opened my eyes, but if you haven't had that kind of awakening…I know lots of people who hold a lot of internalised bullshit that they've not yet worked through. This reads a lot like that, and I hope that it leads to some reading that stops it happening again. I honestly don't believe that a single person exists on this planet who doesn't hold some kind of internal bigotry, the important part is recognizing that and working to erase it from your thought process and prevent it from hurting others. Now, Helion…I've also seen some very angry stuff online about how he's a trope, how he's a hypersexualised stereotype and biphobic, which I don't agree with? Not all bisexuals fit into a nice little box, some of us really like sex, others not so much, some of us are poly, others not…saying a bisexual character is biphobic for enjoying sex or wanting a threesome is kind of hurtful. Is someone's bisexuality less valid if they like these things? That sounds an awful lot like slut shaming. I can understand some people not seeing it as representative of their bisexuality but I think it's disingenuous to say it is outright biphobic, not when other bisexual characters such as Rhy Maresh and Monty (A Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue) also are shown as louche and flirtatious and don't get half of the vitriol. Helion's love of sex is literally mentioned once, at that point, and, if I remember correctly, not again after that. He has a really interesting character development, and a story that I hope Sarah goes into more detail in later books. I'm really fascinated to see how the news that he is Lucien's father goes down!! Diversity So, one of the things that Sarah has been panned for in the past is her lack of diversity, and I agree, most of Throne of Glass was the whitest, most hetero thing I have ever read. You can tell from ACOWAR that she is really listening and trying. Many of the High Lords we are introduced to in this books are POC, Drakon and Miryam are POC, Lucien is biracial, Illyrians are confirmed as brown, not simply tan, making Rhys, the main love interest, not white. There are definitely some identities missing, for example, trans and NB characters and more varied sexualities, but this book was almost unrecognizable to the white out of TOG and is substantially more diverse than many fantasy books I've read recently. Conclusion I think it's obvious from this enormous review that I have a LOT of thoughts about this book and what it does well and maybe what it does not so well. I knew when I started reading that it would not be another ACOMAF, this is book about pain, war and loss, about the fear of waking up one more to a world without the one you love. The ending filled my heart with joy. It was 3am and I was sitting in the dark, clutching my kindle and sobbing because I was just so satisfied and so excited to see more of the world that Sarah has created. Maybe not perfect, but complicated and beautiful. 

Originally posted at Moon Magister Reviews.

[merryfortune]

On Changing Tides

@seasaltmemories wrote a Serena meta and it gave me some ideas. So I wrote this last night at midnight instead of doing my assignment. I don’t know when i’ll post this on ao3 because I have a rule that I have to update PBL after every 4 new/updated fics.

Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc V

Ship: Serenadeshipping (Serena/Yuzu)

Alternate Universe - Pirates

Synopsis: Serena is a traitor to Admiral Akaba Leo’s Navy. But she’d rather be lawless than without morals so she’s joined the infamous Lancer Pirates to pursue adventure, justice, and romance.

Words: 2, 172

Warnings: Blood, swearing, light medical procedure, injury, possible gore, violence, that sort of thing

  Corruption festered beneath the names of nobility and justice. It was like a terrible rot beneath the facade of brilliant flower. With a blade at her command, Serena shall cut it all away or else dishonour shall be the death of her. She refuses to fight for it any longer. Not now, not when she’s seen the people she had hurt in the flesh and fury.

  Fleet Captain Yuri approached Serena. He scowled. His cutlass was drawn as was a cruel smile and deviant eyes.

  ‘Now, now, Serena. Surely you understand still that we are of the most gallant goals.’ he said.

  He reached out with his blade. The upward tip of his cutlass poked upon Serena’s breast lightly. He disgusted her and she had no problems letting him now. Her face soured. She lifted her chin and looked down upon him. Her free hand turned to a fist. She raised her own cutlass.

  ‘Duel me.’ she snarled.

  ‘Come now, surely we can settle this civilly.’

  ‘You haven’t a pleasant bone in your body. You and I both know you wouldn’t hesitate to cut my tongue out of my mouth it meant you didn’t have to listen to the truth!’ Serena spat.

  His eyes fluttered closed; he tutted: ‘After all these years…’ he lamented. ‘I still can’t fool you. And yet? You are Admiral Akaba’s favourite soldier.’

  ‘Tell him to stick it where the sun don’t shine!’ barked Serena. ‘Now, duel me!’

  He sighed and discarded his scarlet cape. He smiled sinisterly; his eyes gleamed with bloodlust.

  ‘Very well, if you insist.’

  Serena steeled her resolve. She remembered the stories of civilians and pirates had given her. True, consistent accounts of the atrocities the Navy had committed under the evil ambition of Akaba Leo. She would avenge them. It was her duty to restore order and enforce justice. She would no longer be part of a system that desecrates the very morals she had brought into her life; even if it meant becoming lawless for it was better to be lawless than without moral.

  Yuri surged forth first. His slashes were precise and deadly. But he had sparred Serena many times. She knew his pattern. He knew hers. She parried his blade and ducked beneath it; surprising him with an uppercut.

  He stumbled backwards. He thought he knew her patterns.

  Serena spun on her heel and this time landed a strike with her blade. She swept in for a kick and got him across his ribs. He held onto himself and sputtered. Spittle flecked his mouth. He glared at her.

  ‘You lowly, conniving, bitch!’ he cursed.

  He charged forth. He was lost in rage. He raised his blade high and it cut on sunlight. It glinted. With a harsh strike, he ravaged what was beneath which happened to be Serena’s shoulder. His cutlass slid through her surgically but left much destruction. Serena howled in pain as fabric and skin tore. Blood spurted. Yuri relished it.

  ‘That’s what you get for using dirty tactics.’ he snarled. He looked down on Serena as she collapsed.

  She numbly clamped her hand over her injury. Blood stained her hands.

  ‘You bastard! I won’t forgive you!’ Serena yelled.

  ‘Please, you won’t get the time in Hell, traitor.’ Yuri replied; his voice was low.

  He propped up Serena’s chin with his bloodied cutlass. He smiled. He savoured the terror that shaped Serena’s faces; the way her lips quivered and her arms shook. The way her eyes widened before him like he was some destructive force of nature.

  ‘I believe you may want to reconsider that.’

  A new, cold voice descended on the pair of them. Yuri straightened up; he felt his back brush against the mouth of a gun.

�� ‘Akaba Reiji… I’d know that voice anywhere. The prodigal son returns.’ Yuri drawled playfully. He sighed, shrugged.

  ‘You leave my crewman alone or else you’ll be the one in Hell.’ Reiji warned. He took his revolver off safety.

  Yuri sneered. ‘When one falls, one falls far.’

  ‘I am proud to call myself the latest recruit!’ Serena yelled.

  She pulled herself to her feet even though she was in shambles. Her grip on her cutlass was loose but it would not take much feat to slash open Yuri’s smug little face. She threw back her sword-arm and lashed forth. Her blade ate into the side of Yuri’s face. He screamed and screamed. Reiji pulled back; readjusted his glasses then called out to the remainder of the crew.

  Yuzu came back first. She plodded along in rags and smiles.

  ‘What on Earth…?’ she howled.

  ‘You can take care of Serena, as our resident medic. I need to attend to the others. Are they well?’ Reiji asked.

  ‘Y-Yeah, you can count on me, Reiji. They’re alive. Don’t you worry.’

  ‘Good. We can’t risk losing numbers. Not when our mission is becoming so critical.’ Reiji continued and he strode off. He readjusted the safety of his revolver and strapped it to his thigh.

  Yuzu crept forward. Serena scrambled to her weak legs once more. She was puffed up and proud like the cat that got the cream.

  ‘Well aren’t you a sight for sore eyes, sweetness?’ flirted Serena.

  She had to be delirious.

  Yuzu swallowed at the sight of blood. Not just Serena’s, she suspected as she saw the other body – Fleet Captain Yuri’s – twitch as he tried to keep his face whole rather than like the pages of a flayed book.

  Yuzu swung her brown bag around from off her back. She riffled through it and Serena trudged towards her.

  ‘You don’t have to be strong for me, Serena. I’m the doctor.’ Yuzu tittered.

  ‘I just want to get away from that motherfucker before he decides we can keep going pound for pound of flesh.’ Serena laughed through her agony.

  She powered onwards. Yuzu scampered behind her. Together, the women collapsed outside the Captain’s Quarters of this naval ship. They would be safe here. The remainders of the crew had subjugated the rest of the team Fleet Captain Yuri had brought on his personal ship, Starve Venom. Further down the deck, they heard Yugo teasing the marine grunts they had captured. That had to be a good sign; or a beg for disaster. They could hear Reiji counting heads and making orders; no doubt telling Yuto and Shun to ransack the Marine’s supplies.

  ‘C’mon, Serena, let me have a look.’ Yuzu cooed.

  Serena hesitantly let go of her wound. It was deep and Yuzu sighed.

  ‘You just had to piss him off, didn’t you?’

  ‘Fuck yeah I did!’ Serena boasted. She reverted back to her usual self before being consumed by the pain. She groaned as she brought her arms back to her side stiffly; her eyes wide and teeth gritted.

  ‘Don’t move your arms!’ Yuzu scolded.

  It took five or so minutes but soon, Serena was back in working order or somewhere close. She was hopped up on pain killers, a little bit of opium, and a fair few windings of bandages. She’d be good to fight soon again, or at least until Yuzu can get Serena onto her medical table where she can get proper attention.

  Serena’s eyes were dreamy which was definitely the result of pain killers. ‘Thanks, sweetness.’ She smiled smugly. ‘C’mon, lemme give you a little bit of sugar.’

  ‘I also accept dessert.’ Yuzu teased.

  She flushed a little bit when Serena pecked her cheek.

  ‘I’d literally kill ten thousand people for you.’ Serena said in a serious, gravelly voice. Serena clasped onto Yuzu’s hands for maximum effect. Their gaze held for an unusually long time.

  ‘I am well aware.’ Yuzu replied.

  ‘I literally love you. I’m glad we met. I’m glad I’m one of the Lancer Pirates.’ Serena continued.

  ‘You are literally high right now.’

  ‘Fuck yeah I am. Being around you puts me on cloud nine.’ Serena flirted.

  ‘We’ll see.’ Yuzu replied cynically.

  From further down the deck, people started to yell at them. Things were getting too cushy between them; they were risking Yuri’s revival at this point and a resurrected Yuri would be demon spawn to deal with so it was time for the Lancer Pirates to make their great and theatrical escapes. Like they always did. They had become known for it at this point.

   Yuzu shouted back at her comrades who jeered at her in good nature back. She got up. She flattened her skirt and Serena copied; brushing her hands over her brown-red, once white, trousers. Serena hooked her good arm over Yuzu.

  ‘Carry me.’ Serena whined.

  ‘I will, I will. I’d never expect my most critically injured patient to walk herself to our ship.’ Yuzu replied soothingly.

  Together they plodded off. They regrouped and everyone was there. Serena smiled and laughed. It was bizarre to see her like that; the smell of pain killers on her solved that mystery. Yuya hefted up Serena from the other side and Mieru fluffed around them, making sure that Serena’s chakras or whatnot were aligned for optimal recovery. She also couldn’t let them risk straining Serena’s legs or sides as they carried her so poorly.

  Once more, the Lancer Pirates – a odd motley crew of misfits and never-do-wells – set off on their next voyage; to their next battle be it between themselves over who got seconds or between a shopkeeper and got away with pickpocketing or between themselves and their true enemies. It was a mystery. It was an adventure.

  The strong, salty breeze of the distant oceans picked up. Their sails puffed outwards and proudly bore their emblem; the horseback skeleton knight armed with a lance. It felt good to be back.

  It had been two weeks since the skirmish on Starve Venom. On their ship, two weeks may as well have been a different life in between the violence and domesticity. Serena had been summoned to Yuzu’s office two hours ago. She swung her legs idly; wondered when she would be permitted to leave. It seemed soon though. Yuzu smiled as she put away her things.

  ‘So, what’s the verdict, sweetness?’ Serena asked.

  ‘Here, you deserve it. Don’t tell Sora I stole it though.’ Yuzu said. ‘All good patients get a lollipop from their doctors after a check-up. At least from the city I’m from anyway. They might do it differently in Academia.’

  ‘They most certainly do.’ Serena replied with a shiver.

  She accepted the lollipop. She tore off the plastic and lobbed it at the nearby bin. She popped it in her mouth and was accosted by the intense raspberry tang that burst on her tongue. She cringed. How did Sora eat these?

  Yuzu, noting Serena’s expression, shrugged. She guessed what Serena was thinking.

  ‘We never said he was a good confectioner.’ Yuzu joked. ‘Well… You’re all good to go. For now, if you get into another fight with that prick Yuri, you might end up with a permanently fucked up shoulder. Assuming you live to tell the tale; which I trust you would. But still, be careful. He’s out for blood now, no doubt. You’ve probably left him with a very nasty scar and for a vain man like that, well, that’s a crime punishable by a thousand deaths.’

  Yuzu rambled. Serena smiled. She liked to listen to Yuzu’s voice.

  ‘Do you remember?’ Serena asked, abruptly interrupting Serena who had moved onto lecturing her on the importance of keeping flexible.

  ‘Remember what?’ Yuzu asked; happily skipping to Serena’s jump of conversation.

  ‘What I told you after you dosed me with opium?’

  ‘That you loved me?’ Yuzu replied, simply. ‘It’s fine. Everyone gets high differently. You become a sap, it’s fine. It’s the same for Shun.’

  ‘I’m glad you remember though.’ Serena said. She stopped swinging her legs and her eyes brightened; became mischievous. She hopped down from Yuzu’s cold, tall bed that she used for general check-ups.

  Serena prowled around Yuzu before pouncing on her with a hug. ‘I’m very glad. Because I meant it, sweetness. I really am glad to have met you. To have fallen in love with you.’

  ‘Oh.’ Yuzu gasped.  

  Serena pecked Yuzu’s lips. She held onto Yuzu’s shoulder and made a point to remember this moment: what was around them, how it felt, and what it meant. She remembered the Yuzu’s lips were reminiscent of her the fruity, rosy balms she used. She remembered the chill of the office and where the placement of Yuzu’s things were; not just what Reiji had given her so his medical suite could be functional.

  ‘Now, it’s poker night with the boys.’ Serena continued. ‘It’s time to have a little fun.’

  Yuzu placed her hand over Serena’s. ‘Have fun.’

  Serena took a breath. This was her life now. And she couldn’t be happier. She was surrounded by love and by friends. She had good food and good laughs. She could want for nothing on this stingy ship. And best of all?

  Every day was a new adventure and she couldn’t lap it up enough.

  ‘Fuck yeah, I will.’

[recentanimenews]

RABUJOI’s Top 10 Anime of 2018

We watched over forty shows this year – not a record by any means, but definitely a product of our commitment only to watch the best shows available (with some notable exceptions in cases where we’re too far behind with certain franchises). As a result, a quick glance at our Big Board will show a lot of blue, indicating a lot of 8’s and 9’s with a handful 0f 10’s mixed in.

It’s not that we just like everything; it’s that we (usually) set a high standard for what we watch. If something is consistently scoring below 8 or 7, we’ll probably drop it, since there’s just not enough time to waste on subpar show. That being said, even among these forty shows (out of the 100+ that aired) there are a select few we would recommend over the rest; the Cream of the Crop…The Best of The Best of The Best (with honors).

Ok, enough cliches…let’s get down to it, shall we? Say you were incredibly strapped for time this year, and couldn’t watch any anime. To binge forty shows now, with just a couple weeks left in the year, would not be good for your health. So we’re making it easy for you: watch the ten shows below, and you’re sure to be satisfied!

Our tastes may differ a tad from the masses here at RABUJOI so we’ve included weighted scores from both MyAnimeList and Anime News Network, and then very unscientifically averaged them with our own scores for the final ranking.

10. Darling in the FranXX

7.82 | RAB: 8.92 | MAL: 7.61 | ANN: 6.93

The adolescent male-female pilot pairs of the titular FranXX live to fight the mysterious yet deadly enemy, and nothing else; they weren’t given a choice in the matter. This is a story of the bonds they share, the joys and trials of living together, falling in love, stumbling into adulthood, and finally coming to question the roles assigned to them by the adults. It features Trigger’s signature visual flair and compelling performances from Tomatsu Haruka and breakout newcomer Ichinose Kana. It wasn’t perfect by any means but it was thoroughly exhilarating more often than not.

9. Koi wa Ameagari no You ni (After the Rain)

7.92 | RAB 8.58 | MAL 7.61 | ANN 7.56

A high school student falling for the 45-year-old single parent manager of the restaurant where she works could have been a landmine, but their story is handled with a deftness, sensitivity, realism and beauty, matched by achingly gorgeous animation and character design and some powerful voice work from the HanaKana-channeling Watabe Sayumi.

8. Yagate Kimi ni Naru (Bloom into You)

8.28 | RAB: 8.80 | MAL: 7.76 | ANN: n/a

Perhaps the best pure romance of the year despite not being over yet and one half of the couple quite adamant she doesn’t have feelings for the other. Yet she seems to be gradually coming to like her senpai—wonderfully voiced by Kotobuki Minako—more and more, which is exactly how my love for this series has progressed: like a blooming flower.

7. Shokugeki no Souma: San no Sara – Toutsuki Ressha-hen (Food Wars! The Third Plate: Totsuki Train Arc)

8.35 | RAB: 8.75 | MAL 8.37 | ANN: 7.93

Food Wars is definitely one of those shows you’re either all-in from the beginning or hopelessly lost, but this second arc of the third season was one of the strongest due in no small part to watching how Souma and his numerous allies closed ranks and started to fight Azami’s oppressive new culinary regime. Best of all, it means Erina and Souma finally on the same side. Not to mention there are few shows that so seamlessly integrate the art and science of cooking, not to mention leave their audience hungry both for the next episode and for the food that had been presented.

6. Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan) Season 3

8.39 | RAB: 8.75 | MAL: 8.52 | ANN: 7.91

Like Food Wars, those who sign up for Titan are well aware they’re in it for the long haul. Indeed, the mysteries that have unfolded in the manga may never be put to the screen, with the show’s apparent primary goals to simply entice its audience into consuming the source material. But while we only got twelve episodes this time, not a single one was wasted. A lot of secrets were revealed, and the girl formerly known as Krista Lenz took her rightful place beside Eren as one of the chief protagonists of the series with a bizarre (this is Titan) and utterly righteous arc.

5. Hinamatsuri

8.45 | RAB: 8.83 | MAL: 8.34 | ANN: 8.18

Perhaps the best pure comedy of the year, Hinamatsuri is full of interesting, colorful, and imminently rootable characters, from the yakuza with a heart of gold and a love of antiques, to the young woman with telekinetic powers who suddenly enter and complicate his life, to that girl’s ridiculously hardworking classmate who ends up tending bar (and being pretty damn good at it). But while the comedy is almost omnipresent, there’s still some pockets of meaty character drama within the dozen episodes.

4. Steins;Gate 0

8.50 | RAB: 8.96 | MAL: 8.65 | ANN: 7.89

Seven years is a long time to wait between an anime and its sequel, though I only had to wait three since I got into the first series late. I���m glad I did, though; it’s one of my favorite (if not favorite, full stop) shows, animated or otherwise, whose emotionally dizzying heights were matched only by its emotionally hellish lows. 0 spends much of its time in the depths, with Okabe never not mourning the loss of his beloved Kristina, even if it meant saving his beloved Mayuri. But thanks to a little help from friends old and new, including a virtual version of Kurisu called Amadeus, Okabe gets his groove back and foils the plans of a scientist even madder than he.

3. Violet Evergarden

8.68 | RAB: 9.15 | MAL: 8.59 | ANN: 8.30

VE has the distinct air of the anime equivalent of “Oscar Bait,” as goes to almost obsessive lengths to demonstrate its peerless quality of animation, music, and melodrama. I don’t usually go for Oscar Bait movies, myself, but doggone it, Violet Evergarden, despite being a bit pretentious, is nevertheless a gorgeous, marvelously-crafted, and exceedingly enjoyable piece of entertainment. Watching its deeply wounded inside-and-out titular heroine gradually gain the humanity that had been repressed in her bloody past is never not spellbinding.

2. Sora yori mo Tooi Basho (A Place Further than the Universe)

8.75 | RAB: 9.15 | MAL: 8.61 | ANN: 8.50

Ordinary girls seek an extraordinary adventure, and end up forming bonds that will last and memories they’ll cherish for a lifetime. That those ordinary girls are in Japan and the adventure they seek is all the way in Antarctica makes heir goal feel unattainable at first, even naive. But Shirase, Mari, Hinata, and Yuzuki gradually make believer of us. And that they manage to actually achieve the feat of going to the literal end of the earth is just the beginning. Overflowing with charm, love, and camaraderie, Yorimoi is a Must-Not-Miss.

1. 3-gatsu no Lion 2 (March Comes In Like a Lion 2), Second Cour

8.92 | RAB: 9.18 | MAL: 9.05 | ANN: 8.54

We don’t consider it cheating that a show that first aired in 2017 gets the top billing here. First of all, the eleven episodes of the sequel all aired in 2018, and secondly, it was just that damn good. Indeed some of the best episode sof the entire series took place this year, as examination of Rei’s depression gave way to those of his fellow shogi players like the ethereal (and profoundly lonely) Souya, as well as his young friend Hinata, who despite being quite simply one of the kindest souls alive became the target of horrendously cruel school bullying. Since Hina was one of the people instrumental in saving him, Rei considers it his duty to return the favor, with overwhelmingly gratifying, life-affirming results. No anime this year exuded love as powerfully or consistently as Lion. For that and many other merits to its name, it was the best of 2018.

  By: rabujoistaff