#if i had any ability to write entertaining comedic fiction i would

[couchcandy]

Psych x Community ??

I love psych and i love community so this vague concept of them existing in the same universe has been floating around in my head. 

The key connecting factor being the references to Shawn/Britta’s similarly eclectic off-screen pasts. They're close in age so I'm like okay - it would totally be possible for them to have known eachother/dated/whatever at some point before. 

psych aired from 2006 - 2014; Shawn born 1977

community aired from 2009 -2014; Britta born 1980

(Take these two quotes just as an example but it's referenced casually throughout both shows)

Britta’s Dad: I mean, every time we get too close, you run off. We sent you a birthday card to your apartment in New York, and the next week you’re setting fire to a Jamba Juice in San Jose.

Britta: How long is that gonna stick with me?

Britta’s Mom: Until arson is legal, sweetie.

Gus: Shawn, you’ve had fifty-seven jobs since we left high school.

Shawn: Yes I have. And they were all fun. But this one takes the cake.

Gus: Oh yeah? Better than the acupuncture clinic?

Shawn: I didn’t realize experience was necessary.

Gus: What about the summer you spent driving the weiner mobile?

Shawn: I did that for the hot dogs.

I think they fit somewhere in the ballpark of each other's types, both sluts(affectionate) and it makes sense for them to have crossed paths at some point during Britta's “anhercists” days. 

So that establishes a link between the groups, but what would it be like if they interacted? Take the arbitrary scenario; Shawn and Gus have gotten themselves and by extension the SBPD into another whacky shenanigan somehow who cares how i'm not writing this

I imagine initially everyone in the study group has a more or less positive impression of Shawn because he's charming, (with the notable exception of…you got it! Jeff)

JEFF

In typical jeff fashion is immediately threatened by Shawn because he has to be the coolestmostlikeabledude™ in the room at all times while simultaneously has to act like he doesn't care so he's quietly seething and - hey what's this new dude doing here making all my friends laugh that's my job! i must now make it my life's mission to prove this guys a fraud and reclaim my status no matter how much a fool i make of myself in the process (a la: advanced documentary filmmaking)

BRITTA

Normal standard “hey old friend” situation, remember when we *insane thing involving multiple felonies and property destruction* haha anyway let me introduce you to my friends - 

ANNIE

immediate skepticism that Shawn is able to sidestep pretty quickly by being charming/flirty (NOT in a gross way *hisses at the jeffannie shippers*) Her reaction being like when the dean “swaps bodies with jeff” or after abed’s don draper impression.

ABED

Knows Shawn isn't really psychic but goes along with it/doesn’t point out that Shawn’s hyper observant because he's invested in watching the psychic/cop show formula play out. He would! and I would too!

(quote from 5x03 Basic Intergluteal Numismatics):

Abed Nadir: [Pretending to read the crime scenes as a psychic] I see a man... using a social disorder as a procedural device. Wait, wait, wait, I see another man. Mildly autistic super detectives everywhere.

TROY

Obligatory: “you’re wrinkling my brain right now” and just general fascination, awe, and wonderment. Asks Shawn to tell him his future

SHIRLEY

Immediate judgment on Shawn's practices not being christian enough for her standards, but easily swayed to liking him once he picks up on something and comments on her ex husband being an idiot to lose her or something

PEIRCE

Does his peirce thing and tries to seem impressive and fails, something level five laser lotus blah blah - u get it thats enough on him 

THE DEAN

Is facilitating the psych crew being there because it might bring in good press for greendale and he def does the hand on shoulder thing when he meets him you know the one - omg and totally is into Lassiter furrowed brows “im packing heat” Carlton, please. – lassie is Not Amused™ 

CHANG

This depends on what point in community canon this interaction takes place because season 1 chang would prob be normal(for him), but like season 5 Chang would do/say something so insane and so chang that i can't even come up with it

As for our psych guys, Gus points out how weird and fucked up and bizarre Greendale is meanwhile Shawn is LIVING for it - signs them up for the Dean’s PA announcements class, and “Gus! buddy! I hope you don't mind. I used your credit card to sign us up for The History of Ice Cream. Come on, it starts in 20 minutes ! :D” Gus: “Shawn! >:0”

Lassie would just nonstop point out all the health and safety violations- he doesn't want to be here- calls a lot of people hippies, generally grumpy demeanor and we love him for it.

Starburns terribly hits on Jules - gets rejected, proceeds to try and sell her drugs - gets arrested.

[fgodestinyawakenings]

FGO Destiny Awakenings: Fujimaru Ritsuka and Fujimaru Ritsuko bio

My procrastination on life, writing my story, anything I needed to do is bad enough I’m surfing web day by day so.... Might as well get my ass to work on this

This is pretty long since it’s two people bio, so everything is under the cut! 

Note: In regards to their Magic Circuit quantity, neither FGO wiki or material gives any information about them. I’ve estimated them to be around Emiya Shirou’s level of circuit, but can be lower or higher... But more likely lower as they are only receiving magecraft training in the story

Note 2: Foreign languages in here are courtesy of google translate, if you’re able to improvise its grammar, please drop me an ask so I can edit

Note 3: Some of the info are quite spoilerly but not that much spoiler since it’s a base information for me on their personality, background, magecraft

Note 4: After reading the bio, I know some will be enrage with me at the sensitive topics I’m about to touch for this story. Some are imagination, some are based on what I experience, and I won’t revealed which of what is imagination or experiences in reality. The bio will contain sensitive potential topics such as Depression & Family abuse, you’re entering this at your own risk to read.

Reminder: Yes this is fiction, but you need to separate in from reality. I’m not your babysitter to cater your needs, I have put up 4 notes to remind you of the content you’re entering. And yes, I’ve pacing back and forth on their backstory knowing the backlash I received since this is Fate lore we’re going in out of consideration.

Fujimaru Ritsuka

Character Type: Human, Master, Magus

Affliliation: Chaldea Security Organization

Gender: Male

*Lineage: TBA

Birthday: December 6th

Height: 1.72m

Place of Origin: Japan

Alignment: Lawful Good

Likes: Meeting and getting to know historical figures, Magi*Mari, Reading and Researching about history

Dislikes: Needles

Talents: Stage Magic 

Circuit Quality: D

Circuit Quantity: D

Magic: Projection (Illusion), Hypnosis

Elemental Affinity: Air, particularly closest to Mist

Profile

Background

Ritsuka’s father divorced with his birth mother for unspoken circumstances and remarried to Ritsuko’s mother at the age of 11. At their first meeting, Ritsuka’s body was completely frail with his bones visible in plain view, wearing a dead emotionless face that shocked Ritsuko completely. His family situation was only described to young Ritsuko that Ritsuka’s father is doing everything it takes to ensure his mother will never come near him again.

But after spending more time with his new sister, Ritsuka gained back not only his weight, but his ability to speak, where first happened to yell at her for being reckless in fighting against their bullies. Though, he immediately regretted doing so and apologized afterwards when he knew all she did was to protect him.

Whenever someone brought up about his mom, Ritsuka immediately pushed the subject away to another topic. However when prodded further a little, he’s often described to be showing his real self by a broken look with a heartbreaking smile whenever he mentions about her

Personality

Intelligent, compassionate, self-conscious and rational with a reserved personality holding a snarky mouth, Ritsuka is considered the “brains” and leader to his sister and contracted Servants in their goal to restore humanity  

By many Servants and Chaldea Staff who are Mages, he’s often described as someone “born with a heart that’s unfitting to be a magus”. Ritsuka would often bring his tablet along in each Singularity to inquire and take photos of the historical in each singularity. His scrupulous attention to detail comes in handy when he is off creating strategies to win against the enemies in the Singularity. And his ability to learn magic quickly helps in fasten his pace to be a better Master, but sometimes his answers in avoiding his friends to find out his meeting with Merlin within his dreams leaves others questioning his credibility for his talent. 

Because of his strategic mindset, Ritsuka is highly perceptive to the others' feelings, and can figure out the source of most people's inner turmoil in a matter of a few important conversations.

“The last time someone falls in love with somebody, they had either--created a stepping stone to an illegitimate son to bring his father’s kingdom fall into ruins, trapped themselves forever in a land of utopia or even knocked up with his Master’s sister because why the hell not. No offense to you, Caster.”

-- Ritsuka to his sister while mentioning about Arthur’s, Merlin’s and Cu Chulainn’s love life  

However his lack of experience in love and holding low regards about it from reading tons of historical and mythology books, had made him completely oblivious to his own and other people who had fallen in love with him. Though this is mainly of his own low self-esteem of his own worth as a person may have stemmed from his childhood, despite being considered an ace in everything he does by his sister. Ritsuka usually hide this but immediately quickly putting back up the façade of “a reliable and dependable but also ridiculously goofy person” when someone notice.

Understanding how critical their situation is, Ritsuka often refuse to sit still when there’s a given chance to do anything to help Chaldea. He also seems to get a little annoyed sometimes when people think he's cute or adorable, as he wants to be taken seriously like a grown-up from people around him as at most times Ritsuka is more mature and wiser than others. 

When Ritsuka and Ritsuko are on their adventures in the Singularity, Ritsuka is the one to act as the leader because he is shown to be very brave and smart. He can be very protective of his sister, whenever she is in danger he is always there to help and will do anything to get her free.

It is also well mentioned that unlike his sister whom is open about her problems and sociable, Ritsuka is much more reserved and emotionally distant often avoiding talking about his past and himself. Even though he admired Heroic Spirits greatly and wished to understand them more, some would notice he often forced himself to draw a line from getting too close for some reason. But as the journey goes, Ritsuka has become greatly attached to everyone in Chaldea amd considered them strongly as his secondary family.

With his strong knowledge in history and novels, Ritsuka thinks much like an actual detective.

Despite his serious personality, living with Ritsuko his whole life (who is famous for her silly attitude) has caused him to indulge in childish activities with her. As such often either jokingly teased he’s forced to join with the shenanigans with the Child Servants, or mostly being the butt monkey teasing by them.

He also holds a huge soft spot towards children in particular to Jack and Mordred. When asked why in particular, Ritsuka easily gives his true smile that children like them deserve the love and acknowledgement they needed. But, he does a huge comedic soft spot to Alexandar and Ko-Gil, making his heart thumping when both used their charm while calling him “Onii-chan”.

He also seems to not mind breaking the rules in order to have some fun, which often having him to be scolded by Emiya when he does so. In particular habit is often staying up late or staying over at Romani’s room to watch Magi*Mari.

Abilities

“Merlin: After all, you and I are very similar, Ritsuka-kun. There shouldn’t be a problem for you to learn my tricks. Ritsuka: By similar, if you’re talking about having the same sexual reproductive organs... That’s captain obvious, Merlin.”

-- Ritsuka to Merlin on his first lesson with him

Illusion Magecraft

With his experience in entertainment magic, Merlin had taught him in magecraft of deception and proficiency in Projection. A magecraft that relies on fooling a being’s psyche to win, a magic which Ritsuka concluded only a mage like Merlin befits this magic for his notorious mischievous behavior.

Misdirection

Under the incantation chant “maintenant tu me vois maintenant tu ne”, Ritsuka will fool his enemy thinking that he had disappeared by their five senses. Rather than concealing his presence, Merlin described this spell as “Putting one’s attention focused strongly onto another. Like falling in love at first sight, where your world focus on that person alone!”

This spell Ritsuka commonly mostly to hide himself from enemy, and also additionally do a surprise attack from the back

However due to his quantity and quality of his magic circuits, Servants and enemies with strong sense and Clairvoyance are able to notice his whereabouts.

Projection (Illusion)

Unlike Emiya’s projection, Ritsuka’s projection creates objects based on his memories and imagination. A skill he’s able to do easily as though it’s strangely natural from his muscle memories, he currently lacks the learning to reinforce his projected works to a reality

Under Merlin’s teachings, Ritsuka is able to create an illusion of manipulating to fool his enemies five senses during battle. But, it may not work if one is able to see through eventually  

To perform this magecraft, he need to act/pretend of an action in order to project the desired item from his mind into reality. However because it’s like an illusion, not only it lasted for seconds to minutes, that item may not even appeared in his enemy vision if the latter noticed the truth.

Combat

Even if magic circuits is weak, Ritsuka makes it up by physical combat via kendo. In combat, Ritsuka will give commands to his Servants while fighting against the lower mobs summoned by enemy Servants. Lacking any fear towards death, Ritsuka won’t hesitate to step forward to deal against enemy Servants if needed to buy some time for his allies Servant to summon their Noble Phantasm

As such even facing against a professional magus, Ritsuka treats it as an experiment test nearly at the cost of his own life to find a weakness within them.

Role

Ritsuka acts both support and fights with their Servants in Chaldea. He has no specific Servant in mind as being dragged into the World of Magus. Ritsuka admired all Heroic Spirits, often near instantly switched into his fanboy mode when meeting those he admired. 

While he enjoys their company and wishes to personally know each of them better, he does get exasperated by some of the extremely colorful and chaotic Servants summoned in Chaldea.

But, Ritsuka instantly draws a line between him and the Servants from getting to close by often avoiding talking about himself and his own true feelings. Despite making himself distant from them, he cares a great deal about them and strongly hated the idea of treating them and anyone as tools or weapons to use.

Unlike his sister, he’s the one who supplies mana generally to most of the Servants via a technique Merlin taught him when he requested earnestly for his help.

Fujimaru Ritsuko

Character Type: Human, Master, Magus 

Affliliation: Chaldea Security Organization 

Gender: Female

Lineage: TBA

Birthday: May 29th

Height: 1.58m

Alignment: Lawful Good

Likes: Sports (mainly excel in softball and basketball), Morning workout as early as 4am, Sweets

Dislikes: Studying through reading of books, Anyone who hurts her brother and even attempting to bring up his family problems, House chores

Talents: Accuracy in throwing and quick learning speed taught via hands-on

Circuit Quality: D+

Circuit Quantity: D+

Magic: Nine Hand Seal Magecraft

Elemental Affinity: Fire

Profile

Background

Ritsuko mentions to Mash in Fuyuki Singulary Section 9 Part 1 that her real father disappeared on both her mother and her when she was a baby for reasons unknown. As such, it’s noted her mother has been raising her single-handedly by herself before remarrying Ritsuka’s father when she was 10.

At their first meeting, Ritsuko was completely horrified at Ritsuka’s body was completely frail with his bones visible in plain view, wearing a dead emotionless face that barely even respond to her when she first greeting him warmly. His family situation was only described to young Ritsuko when she asked was that Ritsuka’s father is doing everything it takes to ensure his mother will never come near him again, and will only explain to her when she grew older.

She mentioned though he was quiet, he was still receptive if not hesitant in answering to her. But after spending more time with his new sister, Ritsuka gained back not only his weight, but his ability to speak mainly to yell at her for being reckless in fighting against her bullies. Though at that time, Ritsuko chuckled she was unsure why she was crying while he apologized; whether it was the bullies, her brother scolded her, or the happiness she felt when she saw life in her brother’s eyes after months of wondering if the effort was futile to get closer to her new older brother. 

Personality

On the surface, Ritsuko is fierce, independent, and pugnacious, but beneath her tough exterior, she possesses a strong loyalty toward her friends and duty as the Humanity’s last Master with her brother. She also has an admirable compassion and devotion, demonstrated when she expresses love toward things such as her family and friends. Unlike the calmer and reserved Ritsuka, Ritsuko is similarly quick witted and impulsive, especially in heated situations. And, she lacked perception towards her rash decisions often resulted in her accidentally insulting others.

Ritsuko is tough, impatient, headstrong, sarcastic, and assertive. Due to her crush on Mash, she tends to pull her away and shield her from others who showed interest in her. Like her brother, Ritsuko fully embraced her position as the Humanity’s Last Master, but lamenting her weakness how she isn’t calm and level-headed as her brother. A trait of Ritsuka she admires greatly when they were kids, as she’ll always be grateful during the times she was in near trouble. Mainly Ritsuka’s willingness and accepting of her secret towards her interest in woman, as she didn’t want her mother to know out of fear of disappointing her.

Because of this, Ritsuko also tends to be protective and even more so than her brother when it comes to his own well-being. Her mother never told anything about Ritsuka’s parents, except as she quoted: 

“Mom said I was too young understand. Telling me Ritsuka’s mom did something really bad to him so Dad ensured his mom will never come close to meet Ritsuka again.”

As such, Ritsuko often keeps an eye on Ritsuka’s reaction whenever someone asks about his mom; ready to deflect or even pull him away at the uncomfortable situation.

Initially frightened and frozen with fear at Fuyuki Singularity, Ritsuko lamented with regret greatly how if her strength to save Mash from Artoria Alter’s Noble Phantasm could do the same for Olga Marie. But, she knew better she can’t wallow in grief, vowing to grow stronger and requested Emiya’s and Sadakuni’s aid to train her in combat and magecraft respectively.

Abilities

"Boomer-Dagger”

A pair of dagger crafted specially by Emiya after considering her skillset. It can be used for both physical combat and her magecraft. When thrown to her enemies, it returns to her via an invisible string connecting to her magic circuit. Also, it’s used as a placeholder on her talisman before conjuring her Nine Hand Seal Mudra Magecraft

Talisman

Her catalyst to invoke with her magecraft. Taught by Sadakuni, she needs to place it on her target before doing her Mudras to attack her opponent. Ritsuko often brings her mat of magic circle drawn by her blood to imbued powers into the talisman daily through meditation.

Onmyoudo Kuji-in aka Nine Hand Seals Magecraft

Taught by Section Chief Agano Sadakuni, Ritsuko mainly uses this magecraft for combat. This magecraft relies specifically on specific hand gesture and pattern to conjure her spells. From reinforcing her weapon and physical strength, to summoning fire magic for combat

Rin-Pyo-Toh, ready for battle: Enhancing her physical strength

Kai-Jin-Retsu, release: Conjure an explosion burst of flames

Jin-Pyo-Zai, bind: With ranged of 10 talisman connected by a burning magical rope to bind the target

Zai-Sha-Kai, heal: Transfer her mana for healing or empowering her Servant

Combat

Like her brother despite having slighter better circuits than him, Ritsuko sides along with her brother via physical combat. She often pairs with her brother, acting as a bait to go against the enemy, while Ritsuka pulls off a surprise ambush via his illusion magecraft.

In the face of an enemy Servant, Ritsuko steps back to give orders to the Servant she contracted with.

Role

While she treats Servants who are Kings or Queen with respect by their title, Ritsuko treats everyone equally with respect and as a friend. She’s shown to be more than willing to teach them about the modern technology and slang, also joining them in their crazy plans often resulted in chaotic humor, much to Ritsuka’s chagrin.

Like her brother, Ritsuko detested the idea of anyone treating Servants as tools or weapons as she view those who contracted her as their friend. This feeling also extend to her enemy Servant, believing they are living beings with their own free will and emotions.

While her brother generally supplies mana to their Servants, Ritsuko acts second-in-charge right after he finish mana transferring to their Servant which resulted him immobile and carried around by Emiya or Caster Cu Chulainn.

[joyofcrime-elinorhigh]

RWBY REVW:

** Disclaimer: When I do reviews, I make it my mission to point out both the good and the bad in whatever I'm reviewing. And I want to make it clear that me doing so is in no way meant to be taken as disrespect to anybody who worked on the show, especially the late Monty Oum. He was a visionary animator and it's a tragedy that he was taken from this world so soon. Anyway, with all that out of the way, let the regular review commence. **

**  **Hello everybody, my name is JoyofCrimeArt, and I've always had a particular fondness for web series. There's just a certain charm to online content that I don't think can be repudiated with other more conventional mediums. Unlike other mediums, web series have the most creative freedom to do whatever the heck they want. They don't have to adhere to studio notes, focus groups, or censorship guidelines. It's just a group of people, or sometimes even just one person, deciding to put something out there into the world. Simply because they want to see said thing exist. And I think that the freedom that can comes from that can result in some very unique and creative piece of entertainment that may not have been approved if they had been pitched to a more "main stream" outlets. Not to mention the fact that web series, when compared to film and television, are definitely the underdog. And who doesn't love a good underdog story?

 I've talked about several web series before, (like _Don't Hug Me, I'm Scared _and _Camp Camp) _and I'm defiantly going to talk about more in the future. However, today I wanna talk about a certain web series that managed to do something that very little other web original series have done. And that's break into main stream through sheer force of will. And that series is RWBY.

 RWBY, created by the late Monty Oum and produced by Rooster Teeth, is an anime inspired online series that premiered in 2013. Now in the middle of it's sixth season (Oh, I'm sorry. Not seasons. Volumes? Cause we have to be all different all of a sudden.) it is still going stronger than ever. Now Rooster Teeth had always been one of the biggest companies out there for online content, and have had plenty of success with their very popular Red vs Blue machinima series, along with other projects. So RWBY doesn't exactly have the same underdog story as most other web series out there. It was made by a studio, and had a decent budget behind it from the start. However, the thing that I find noticeable about the series, and the thing that drew me into the series in the first place, was just how different it looked compared to so many other web series out there.

 Animated web series as a genre is very much a dying breed. Sure, they were all the rage back in the early 2000's on sites like Newgrounds, and with shows like Homestar Runner and Eddsworld. But ever since the rise of Youtube and the algorithm shift they've become a bit of a dying art. (Outside of the "Animated Storytime Video" genre but that's kinda it's own separate thing.) Why spends weeks or even months on a three to five minute animation when you could just record a let's play or vlog in a fraction of the time, and get way more views in the process? And if you do decide to devote yourself to web animation than you gotta find a way to make it cost effect. This usually means short, comedic, easy to animate sketches. Often with some kind of parody element included to help get the viewers in. That way the series would (hopefully) become financially viable enough that more animations could be made. (Like How It Should of Ended as an example.) And this isn't necessarily a bad thing. There's nothing wrong with the shows that follow this formula. But I bring this up to show how much of a contrast RWBY is by comparison.

 A fully original action anime inspired series, not based on any pre-established i.p, where the animation was the main focus. Rather than being animated in flash it was animated with motion captured CG. And despite all of that the series had new episodes coming out on regular basis and getting millions of views with every released. This series broke every rule in the book, and somehow ended up becoming insanely popular in the process. There wasn't very many web series like it. Now, I've brought up this series several times in other reviews. Sometimes I praised it, other times I made fun of it. Which is why I think it's time to finally put the jokes aside, and give my honest on RWBY.

 Now there is a lot to go over with this series. Like, I said earlier, there are six sea-VOLUMES out as of the writing of this review. And given that this is a story based show with a changing status quo, it makes reviewing the show a bit tricky. And since I wanna have this review act somewhat as a introduction to the series for people who are on the fence about watching it or not, I'm going to try to keep spoilers somewhat light. But there will be some things I'll have to talk about, so if you want to go into the series COMPLETELY BLIND without knowing anything, you should probably drop off now. And if there's enough support in the comments (or if I just decide to at some point) I may come back to this series at a later date and do a more spoiler heavy review focused on events of the newer volumes. But with all that said, let's dive right in.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_x9zjk2MgVQ

The plot of RWBY is actually pretty simple. (GASP!-)

 The series follows a young teenager names Ruby Rose. She's a protege when it comes to the art of combat and dreams of being a huntress. What a huntress you may ask? Well hunters and huntresses are warriors who's job is to protect humanity from the Grimm? What are Grimm you may ask? Well Grimm are monsters that are manifestations of humanities negative emotions. Try to keep up. Anyway, Ruby, along with everyone else in this world, has aura. aura is used to channel there semblances. _WHAT ARE SEMBLANCES you may ask?! _Well there basically superpowers powered by aura used by hunters to fight Grimm. But then there's also Dust, which is not the same thing as a semblance or aura and is DEFINITELY not magic. Magic is a whole separate can of worms that comes up later. Dust is energy (not aura though) that hunters put into there weapons to fight Grimm. RWBY semblance is super speed and her weapon is Crescent Rose, which is a scythe that's also a gun. Understand that? Good, cause that's just the first three minutes. Don't worry, it's all very well explained, and not convoluted in the slightest. Anyway-

 Basically, the world functions like an JRPG. That's all you really need to know. There are random monsters everywhere, everyone has weapons and abilities, and they can equip the weapons with special elemental attributes attributes. After a chance encounter with some mysterious villains Ruby, despite only being fifteen, is selected to attend the worlds top school for hunters and training. Weapon Meister Academy, I mean Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, I mean UA Academy, I mean Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, I mean Beacon Academy! Yeah, that's the one!

 Ruby ends up getting sorted into her house-err, I mean-sorted into her team, Team RWBY. (convent, I know.) where she is joined by her half-sister Yang Xiao-Long, and her new teammates Weiss Schnee and Blake Belladonna. _Can these rag-tad team of huntresses in training learn to harness there abilities, and just maybe learn friendship along the way?! _Well if you've ever seen a piece of fiction before, you probably know the answer.

 Now, I know I just got done taking a ton of jabs at the shows premise for having so many similarities to so many other popular piece of media. But all jokes aside, I don't think that any of that is actually a problem. As they say, there are no original ideas. So taking some inspiration from other works isn't really an issue as long as you have your own unique execution and spin to it, which RWBY thankfully does. RWBY has this unique style and flair to it that's all it's own. And it really does help it stand out as it's own thing. Also, since it borrows from so many different genres and franchise, the series ends up being this really bizarre melting pot of concepts that I haven't really seen done in tandem before. There's elements of action, drama, fantasy, magical girl, superpowers, coming of age stories, giant robots on at least one occasion...and THAT'S pretty original.

 It's like the people at Rooster Teeth decided they wanted to make an anime, but couldn't decide on what kind of anime they wanted to make. So they just said, "Screw it!" and decided to do them all, And while that might sound like a criticism, it really isn't. I love how over the top and crazy this show can get. It's kinda part of the charm.

Now let's talk about the characters. I've seen a lot of people (mostly hard core anime fans) argue that the characters in this series are cliche and uninspired. And in my opinion at least, there both kinda right and kinda wrong. It's true that a lot of the cast do fall into the somewhat standard "anime" tropes. Ruby is the typical wide eyed genki girl who's greatest skill is her kindness and optimism. Weiss is the stuck up snob tsundere from an upper class family who has to learn the power of friendship. Blake is the quite bookish girl with a dark and mysterious past who learns to open up. and Yang is the hot blooded action girl slash cool older sister archetype. Basically, there's a waifu for every flavor.

 But like the series itself, the series makes up for some of these more cliche elements by adding more elements to the characters as the series goes on. These developments start fairly basic with things like "Oh, Ruby has to learn responsibility and leadership" or _"Oh, Weiss has to learn to stop being a fu*king BITCH for like the fifteenth time this week." _But as the series goes on we get much more complex and serious themes. From Ruby's history with her dead mom, Yang's struggles with PTSD, Weiss' broken family, or Blake' history of racial predigests. These are all themes that are tackled, and they are tackled well...for the most part. For a show that starts out pretty light it ends up in some dark places. But despite this it never deviates so much that it loses it's root, and becomes unrecognizable from where the series started. The series ages with the audience and the characters.

 In addition to Team RWBY we also have Team JNRP (Juniper). They're kinda like the "B-Team" of the series. However, they become more important as the series goes on, and are basically main characters in their own right too. They're's Pyrrha, a prodigy huntress, gifted with natural talent. She's smart, kind, popular, and a skillful leader, and is literally selected as the objective best student by the school's headmaster in volume three. But she's not a Mary-Sue or anything...she has problems! Like how people are intimidated by her because she's so perfect and...she's not a Mary-Sue I swear! We also have Jaune, the leader of the team. He's a pathetic loser who has no skill, no semblance, and literally had to lie his way into the school. So of course he's the one who Pyrrha has the hots for. Because wish fulfillment. There's Ren, a stoic but sensitive ninja warrior who, judging from his hair and season four redesign, really seems to like the color pink despite being...y'know, a ninja. And Nora, a hyperactive genki girl who's job is to hyperactive and generally genki when Ruby's not around. Also, there all named after cross-dressers for literally no reason.

 Like Team RWBY, while they all start kinda cliche they become more and more interesting as the series develops and we get more into there development. From Jaune's arc (Heh, get it?) of becoming a competent warrior to protect the people he cares for. To Ren and Nora connected tragic upbringing. To Pyrrah...being too perfect. Y'know, all good character arcs that really helps develop the cast.

 I don't know why I keep making fun of Pyrrha. I really do like her as a character, and her arc with Jaune is very captivating...She is a Mary-Sue though. 

 These arcs end up being just as interesting as the arcs the members of Team RWBY go through, an help make these "side characters" all the more interesting and human. Even if there not the stars of the show, I ended up finding this team just as interesting as our main protagonist, if not more so on certain occasions.

 And sure, the characters may rely a bit on common tropes, but it's all about the execution of these tropes that determine the quality. I'm not going to act like their the most complex characters ever made or anything, and a lot of the darker themes I talked about before have been explored better in other series. But that doesn't mean the cast is bad, by any sense. I was still invested in there stories, and felt suspense for them when I was suppose to. There's a real comradely with the teammates, and they good chemistry with each other. They feel like real friends, and that's what matters the most.

 Let's talk about the animation. I've seen a lot of people either really love or really hate the animation of the series, and I noticed that the difference seems to often be based on what standard it is being judged by. People who judge RWBY as a web series seem to be really impressed with the visuals and action scenes. While people who judge it as an "anime" seem to think that the show looks cheap and uninspired. And while I can understand the later viewpoint I do tend to find agreeing more with the viewpoint of the former. RWBY isn't an anime...

 _-**YES IT IS! SHUT UP! **_

 ...And while Rooster Teeth is a big company, but it's still not as large as other major anime productions. They obviously were on a budget, especially early on. And they were taking on a project on a scale much larger than anything they had done before. It's an all CG motion capture web series, featuring entirely new and original assets that had to build from the ground up from scratch. So yeah, or course it's not going to look as good as other animes. But I don't think that should be held against it to much, given the circumstances. Plus honestly, it's still probably one of, it not the, best looking web series I've ever seen. It's definitely one of the most ambitious.

 That being said though, I'm not going to be one hundred percent nice here. Looking back at early episodes, yeah, they look kinda rough. They still look good, especially by the standard of web series. But you can definitely see the budget show in some parts. It's clear they were biting off a bit more than they could chew in some respects. That being said though it is remarkable to see how much the shows animation has improved overtime. By the time we get to volume four, where a new animation engine was introduced, the show goes from "looking good by web animation standards." to "looking genuinely good by animation standards in general." I honestly really like the shows visuals a lot.

 And don't forget the action scenes! This is the part of the show that you can tell the most amount of effort was put into, and the part that the shows original creator, Monty Oum, was the most personally involved in. From the animation to the choreography, the action scenes are what gives the series it's sense of style. The action scenes are over the top, flashy, stylish, and such an array of pure insanity, and it's hard not to be blown away by them. And in a time where so many western cartoons are so comedy oriented, it's really a breath of fresh air to see an american action show with fight scenes as hype as the ones this show presents.

 The voice acting is also pretty good. Starting out with a cast mostly reusing actions known from Rooster Teeth's other works. I admit that there were some growing pains early on with the cast, but they really did grow into there roles pretty fast. And as they series goes on they get a lot more "high profile" actors. From the likes of Vic Mignogna, Aaron Dismuke, Chris Sabat, Yuri Lowenthal, and Cherami Leigh among others. All the actors do really good jobs preforming there characters, for the most part. If I had to nitpick any performances though, and these are nitpicks mind you, would be the performances of Ruby and Pyrrah. Maybe it's just me, but I never felt like either characters sounded like the ages they were suppose to be. Regardless, these are nitpicks, There more of just an observation rather than a "fault" in the series.

 So the show has good animation, good characters, amazing action scenes, and a pretty all star voice cast. Sounds like the show is pretty awesome show, right? Sure they've been some nitpicks and complaints here and there, but it's mostly been over all pretty minor stuff. Nothing that would impact the show that much.

 So, Let's talk about the shows writing.

 So remember when I said that this show was convoluted? This is a serious problem. Things in this show are often not explained very well. For example, in most stories where a character has a special powers, there powers would be shown off or explained right when the characters are introduced. We'd learn how they work, and what there limits are. There are several characters in RWBY who's semblances I still don't fully understand. Like Ruby's super speed. Does Ruby turns into roses peddles when she uses her super speed or is that just an artistic license thing? And there are some characters who we don't even figure out what there semblances do until WAY late into the series. Ren for example, who's introduced in volume one, semblance isn't shown until volume four! And it's not like he only unlocks his powers in volume four or something, he's always had them. It's just never mentioned or came up before, and you'd think it would be. Things like "How are characters powers work." are things that should be established early on!

 The show is also REALLY bad at set up. (Don't @ me!) They'll have these moments where a "big twist" is suppose to happen that's suppose to catch the audience off guard. And they do, but only the twist are set up in such minute ways, there's no way the audience can realistically be expected to see it coming. I know the idea is to help make these twist surprising, but they don't give the audience enough hints to piece things together. They'll be a minor, one off line in one episode, that'll be a major plot point volumes down the road, with nothing to imply that said line was significant. And since these twist aren't set up very well, a lot of these twist just end up feeling like, "um, okay. This is a thing now." I know it's probably all planned out from the beginning, but it's not properly set up. It sometimes feels like the people behind the show are just like "Hey, you know what would be cool?" and just throw things at the wall until they stick. This can work sometimes but other times it just feels random. The shows acts like "They got us." when really it's a problem with their own writing.

 The show also has a major problem with focus. I listed Team RWBY and Team JNPR as the main characters. That's EIGHT different characters to divide focus between, which is already a lot when you only have twelve to fourteen episodes per volume to work with. And while those eight character are the closest thing the show has to "definitive main characters" there are so many other side characters who  that I didn't mention in order to keep this review spoiler free/not ten thousand words long. addition to Team RWBY and JNPR, there's also _(Slight Spoiler Warning) _Team SUNN, Ozpin's circle, Cinder's group, Salem's group, the White Fang, Raven's tribe, the various teachers at the school, the characters extended families, That useless rabbit girl that the fandom likes for some reason. etcetera. (Spoilers Over) There's just too many characters to keep track of! And while there's nothing wrong with having a large cast, (personally I tend to gravitate more to shows that do.) it can defiantly be hard to juggle all that screen time. Sure these side characters are often interesting, but they end up distracting focus and taking time away from the main cast, and side characters shouldn't do that.

 Often, characters will only have a few moments per volume to really shine, due to just how much screen time they have to share. And sometimes it can make big character moments feel a bit undeserved, as there just isn't enough build up to make the moments feel as powerful as they should. And this is a problem that has gotten more and more prevalent overtime as the series has become more ensemble. But I'm hopeful that, given the series extending it's length from twelve episodes per volume to fourteen, as well as the episodes getting genuinely longer, this problem may be able to be fixed in the future. Maybe. Please...

 So to sum up, is RWBY a perfect series? No. It is a very flawed show. VERY FLAWED. Particularly in the writing and the story department. However, I do not think that the show is as bad as a lot of the more vocal hatedom seems to think it is. Just because a series is flawed, doesn't mean you can't enjoy the elements that do work. Even when the flaws are extremely glaring. And that's how I feel about this show. Sure it has problems, but in my opinion the positives out-way the negatives. The action is still done very well, the characters are all pretty fun to be around. The world, while a bit overly complicated at times is interesting. And more importantly, the series never feels like it's being lazy. You can feel the passion that went into the series, and the show can be a lot of fun. There are just some parts where you might need to turn your brain off for a bit. There are plenty of worse series out there that don't try as hard and provide a lot less. But overall, the element I think I enjoy the most about RWBY is what the show represents.

 What RWBY shows is that it is possible for a web animated series to hit the main stream. You can get RWBY T-shirts and merch easily, not just online, but in actual retail stores without much effort. The series can be watched on Netflix and Cruchyroll._ _There are not one, but TWO tie in manga's. There's a spin-off comedy series that's on it's third season. It's one of the four franchises represented in _Blazblue: Cross Tag Battle! _And most importantly it is partially responsible for transforming Rooster Teeth from a fairly successful internet company known for video game parodies, to a studio that is seen in the same light as the likes of more main stream television outlets! Never in my life had I seen a web animated series see this level of success. And sure, you could say that all that just means that the show is just good at selling out or whatever, but I like to have a more positive perspective. I think the show deserves to be respected for it's accomplished.

 And to me, that's inspiring. It's like the weeb equivalent to the American dream! And that's why I have a RWBY poster hung over my work desk. As a reminder that there is no limitations to how far an online content can go. With just some hard work, determination, a studio of about three hundred employees, a stellar marketing team, a close connection to the anime dubbing industry, and a ton of money, you too can make your dreams a reality. And that's motivational...I think...maybe. And if they can make it, maybe I can make my own weeaboo dreams a reality...

_  **SPIRIT WARRIORS COMING OUT TWO THOUSAND AND NEVER!~

**_  So that's my review of RWBY. What do you think of the series, and would you like me to do another review of the series in the future? Maybe on volume six or something, kinda like what I do with my Dragon Ball Super reviews? Tell me all this in the comments down bellow. I'd love to start a conversation, even if you disagree with my points I made here. Please fav, follow, and comment if you liked the review and have a great day.

(I do not own any of the images or videos in this review all credit goes to there original owners.)

https://www.deviantart.com/joyofcrimeart/journal/RWBY-REVW-775726477 DA Link

[jordynwritesandresearches]

Introduction

I’m Jordyn Merritt, and it’s weird to be using tumblr dot com for academics when I’ve spent a solid eight years on this site sharing nonsense memes and yelling about The Discourse. If one can even call that writing experience, then that would encompass the majority of my social media writing experience. I do have a Facebook account, but I’ve had it for ten years and not made a single post, and frankly I find that too entertaining to break the streak now. Twitter as a media experience always seemed too formal for me to join casually, even when half of this entire website moved there for a bit after the horribly implemented nsfw ban the murdered the hopes and monetary stability of most of the artists I care about.

Outside of social media, I’ve been writing short fiction of various kinds since I was in kindergarden. I still have a box somewhere full of over a thousand loose-leaf lined papers bound together by staples and string, full of kinda awful and nonsensical stories that I nonetheless still smile reading. I’ve kept up the hobby through various media, mostly through documents on my computer of story planning and character driven scenes that will likely never see the light of day, but once through an elevated inside joke on a forum I used to frequent that evolved into a full-fledged story. Through that story, which was originally just two characters going through various in-jokes with sarcastic responses, I ended up developing a story writing style that I genuinely enjoy: pairing dry comedy and emotional tragedy! While this might sound either not genuine or just completely nonviable, the challenge of making a story that could be both genuinely funny and genuinely tragic was very fun for me. Comedy is often used as a coping mechanism, after all. Writing characters with deeply seated issues that they either express or avoid expressing through comedy helped me to think about characters as whole people instead of single ideas, and pushed me towards a style that was in itself dryly comedic but descriptive. At least, in my navel-gazing opinion it did.

As for academic and research related writing, I’ve done very little of that. I grew up in a military environment and moved every two to three years, and as such my formal education could be described as spotty at best. I somehow ended up not being in any science classes for my high school career, and the only writing I did was essays for AP exams and history classes, which I slogged through with all the care and attention of a sloth at gunpoint. My college career has also involved very little essay writing, instead mostly consisting of projects and presentations. When going into formal writing, the key concepts I had in mind for writing were the general idea of the introduction, body, and conclusion, and the idea my AP Literature teacher ground into my skull of never using the words “I” or “you.”

As for good writing, in a sentence, I think any writing which sets out with a clear goal and accomplishes it is good writing. That clear goal can be anything, it can even be to be confusing. It’s obvious when a writer sets off with no goal, however, and it’s far less interesting to read in either academic or casual contexts.

Looking forward for the quarter, I want to learn to write with more cohesion and in a slightly more concise way. Evidenced by this post, I can be a bit long-winded. I also want to experiment with more writing styles outside of my comfort zone of dry sarcasm, and have a more flexible ability to tailor my writing style to the context my writing is in. I also want to try writing less long and comma-heavy statements because oh wow I write almost exclusively in those.

[bakechochin]

The Book Ramblings of August

In place of book reviews, I will be writing these ‘book ramblings’. A lot of the texts I’ve been reading (or plan to read) in recent times are well-known classics, meaning I can’t really write book reviews as I’m used to. I’m reading books that either have already been read by everyone else (and so any attempt to give novel or insightful criticisms would be a tad pointless), or are so convoluted and odd that they defy being analysed as I would do a simpler text. These ramblings are pretty unorganised and hardly anything revolutionary, but I felt the need to write something review-related this year. I’ll upload a rambling compiling all my read books on a monthly basis.

A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole An American friend recommended me this (or I mean technically he’s Russian but I’m not going to get into that because it’s not important to this ramble), citing it as a legitimately hilarious book, an idea that my cynical mind was fully willing to haughtily scoff at. I opted to read it not only because of the really nice Penguin Clothbound edition, but because, from what I’d heard, it was a picaresque narrative set in a colourful New Orleans setting with plenty of memorable characters, and if I’m going to read any American literature, this seemed like a safe bet.  As it turns out, the fact that this story is a picaresque narrative isn’t what first stood out to me as this book’s main strength; this is very much a story defined by its characters, to the extent that the few short bits of secondary reading on this text write pretty much solely on Toole’s achievements in terms of the characters that he’s created. Ignatius J Reilly and Myrna Minkoff are honestly two of my favourite characters in any book, not because they’re necessarily likeable (because they really aren’t) but because they’re interesting and humorous and diametrically opposed in a fascinating way. These two are certainly the standout characters; the majority of the other characters are noteworthy, but perhaps only really as examples of stereotypical character moulds (niche and relevant only to the setting as said stereotypes may be). Much of the comedy in the text is based on evoking laughter at figures who you’d feel bad for laughing at, which is all good fun when such characters are such blustering caricatures that one cannot help but laugh at them, but in other cases it doesn’t really make for enjoyable reading. Ignatius’ mother, for instance, is such a pathetic and pitiful character in her own scenes that any intended comedy at her expense just seems a tad cruel. There is a recurrent theme in the text of characters who are seemingly only introduced for a very small scene in a very minor role are then roped into the overall grand story, and their exploits are narrated on for seemingly long after they have had any relevance to Ignatius, the book’s main driving force. This is perhaps ameliorated when said extra side stories follow characters who are interesting in their own rights; Jones, for instance, is a bloody hilarious character, even when absolutely bugger all is going on in his own story until Ignatius enters the fray again. The setting is very colourful, and made yet more absurd with its cast of caricatures and odd preponderance for utilising wacky costumes for comedic effect, and this absurdity perfectly reflects the story, a story that goes significantly more off the rails than I was anticipating. There are twists and turns and cases of mistaken identity and characters running into each other at hilariously inopportune moments, and whilst the plot takes a while to set all the pieces in motion, when it does it’s a fucking joy to read. I didn’t know how a picaresque narrative could properly end when it is comprised entirely of wacky self-enclosed encounters which all have their defined individual beginnings and endings, but this book’s ending is surprisingly satisfying, as well as being in keeping with the medieval wheel of fortune structure that is constantly brought up in Ignatius’ monologuing. This text is apparently now on some American school curriculums, which certainly adds up to me because, when reading it, I was put in mind of the texts that I looked at for GCSE, in that the text is defined by its few blatantly obvious central themes that don’t require much extrapolation, and subsequently result in there not being much in the way of innovative or novel secondary reading pieces on the text. Perhaps this tidbit of information can be extended to explain my rather petty and subjective complaints about the novel; I did this sort of shit with the texts I had to read for GCSE too. I’m glad that I read this out of choice as opposed to being forced to learn about, because it’s far better for enjoyment than for education in my opinion.

I didn’t actually read any more novels this month, so I made up for it by reading an absolute fuck tonne of short stories.

From Shadows of Carcosa: Tales of Cosmic Horror: ‘The Squaw’ (Bram Stoker) - a short and well-written little piece with an ending that was both satisfying and metal as fuck ‘Moxon’s Master’, ’That Damned Thing’ and ‘An Inhabitant of Carcosa’ (Ambrose Bierce)  - very well-written and compelling pieces, though varying in how memorable they are (my favourite probably being ’That Damned Thing’, because it seems less like a snippet of a wider story and more like a full pieced-together narrative) ‘The White People’ (Arthur Machen) - astounding writing both in its mind-bending discourse on the meaning of evil and its ability to uniquely convey the terrifying unknowableness of the cosmic horror genre with the narrative voice of a child, though I fail to see the connection between the two ‘The Willows’ (Algernon Blackwood) - excellent at imbuing a novel location with a unique sense of dread, though the past tense narration perhaps jumps the gun somewhat when it comes to revealing the fates of our characters (and perhaps the grand villainous entities from another dimension seem a tad incongruous in this rather small setting) ‘Seaton’s Aunt’ (Walter de la Mare) - very compelling writing that turns out to not be about much at all; a fantastic depiction of childhood fear that doesn’t really translate as well when the story’s characters reach adulthood ‘The Colour Out Of Space’ (HP Lovecraft) - a slow build-up of imaginative and fucked-up strangeness in a cool rural setting, really capturing the essence of the cosmic horror with a truly unknowable and unique threat

Miscellaneous short stories: ‘The Dualists’ (Bram Stoker) - certainly well-written but any thoughts that I have on it are completely overshadowed by the fact that this is among the most fucked-up short stories I’ve ever read - it goes beyond cheery Grand Guignol fun times entertainment and is instead just really fucked and unsatisfying ‘A Dream of Red Hands’ (Bram Stoker) - well-written and possesses a pleasant enough ending, but it was more Christian-centric than I expected and less gratuitously bloody for a story with such an evocative title ‘An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge’ (Ambrose Bierce) - absolutely fantastic from its exciting action sequence to its phenomenal ending, with American history nonsense just vague enough so as to be accessible ‘The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether’ (Edgar Allan Poe) - a short and darkly funny story with an absolutely fantastic chaotic dinner scene ‘Axolotl’ (Julio Cortazar) - delicately written and weirdly thought-provoking even though it’s seemingly not really about anything at all ‘Mr Miao/The Tiger Guest’ (Pu Songling) - a striking and dramatic story about social decorum and crazy animal curses, which was basically what I expected from my limited frame of reference to Chinese fiction (and had more in common with The Tiger Who Came to Tea than I would have reasonably expected)

[oilskirt7-blog]

The Best Women-Led Films of 2018

From blockbusters to unseen indies, 2018 was a damn strong year for women in cinema and not just those alongside leading men. 2018 was a year chockablock with movies founded on the female, whose existences are a blank slate of principal photography and production design without their women. Some are god-awful, and others are currently threatening the likes of Citizen Kane (1941) and Tokyo Story (1953), which is exactly what happens when everyone gets a fair shake. The shockwave of #MeToo ideology has reverberated throughout the nation and production studios have apparently realized that it isn’t just some zeitgeisty social trend. Film is actually better when everyone gets equal opportunity. [Owen Wilson voice] Wow! It’s as if the systematic oppression of an entire gender does not allow expression to flourish or benefit the societal whole. Would you look at that? As further proof of the obvious, here are 12 of the year’s best films led by women, of which I will be focusing on the performances therein. Like the list above, these 12 do not include films in which a leading man shared equal or greater importance. They are in no particular order.

Vox Lux

Natalie Portman is a star. She’s truly one of Hollywood’s most radiant, creative, and impressive talents. But she is not Vox Lux’s standout performer. That title belongs to none other than English newcomer, Raffey Cassidy (Tomorrowland, The Killing of a Sacred Deer). Rarely does anyone get to play two distinct roles in any film, much less opposite Jude Law, Natalie Portman, Jennifer Ehle, and Stacy Martin. But what is star power to a 16-year-old who’s already worked with Brad Bird, Yorgos Lanthimos, Tim Burton, and Robert Zemeckis, and performed significant roles alongside George Clooney, Nicole Kidman, and Colin Farrell? She introduces the film through her portrayal of the young, traumatized, yet composed and determined, version of Portman’s edgy pop star, Celeste. And when we think we leave Cassidy to time hop into Portman’s stellar performance an hour into the movie, Cassidy is surprisingly still there, doubling as Celeste’s daughter, Albertine, to remind us what Celeste once was and continue rocking her perfectly stunned performance. She was already someone to look out for, but with major roles in two wildly provocative films in The Killing of a Sacred Deer and now Vox Lux, Cassidy has proven she has terrific taste in screenplays and is up for any challenge. Without her, the film would have no heart.

Thoroughbreds

Thoroughbreds is one of the most overlooked movies of 2018. It’s bizarre, engrossing, and it takes risks aplenty. It should be dear to everyone’s heart for cradling one of Anton Yelchin’s (a name worth breaking the Bechdel test for) last post-humous performances—and a very good one at that—but this film is ultimately nothing without the women who command it. Both relatively fresh on the scene, Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch, Split) and Olivia Cooke (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Ready Player One) drive the thrilling film from start to finish with tremendous intrigue. Cooke plays an emotionally unavailable (to put it lightly) ex-best friend with inhumane one-liners to boot while Taylor-Joy counters with her hypersensitivity and deep hatred for her step-father. Together they deliver a deliciously robust cocktail stirred with dark comedic bitters and the tiniest touch of sweet simple syrup.

Tully

Charlize Theron’s ability to physically morph her body for a role is uncanny. Less than a year before Tully premiered, she gave us the kickass, vodka-guzzling Lorraine Broughton of Atomic Blonde (2017) whose acrobatic tendencies were probably drawing the eye of Cirque de Soleil recruiters. In 2018, we met her as Marlo, an exhausted, bloated, bleary-eyed mother of two who just added a newborn to her laundry list of overwhelming responsibilities. In her second collaboration with Jason Reitman (Young Adult), Theron shines in her portrayal of fading enthusiasm, exponential exhaustion, dwindling hope, and aging fear—a deeply relatable humanity for anyone who can relate to the ever-growing and suffocating responsibilities of adulthood, and an even more relatable existence for those who know the mammoth responsibility of creating a life (or three).

Eighth Grade

15-year-old Elsie Fisher (Despicable Me; McFarland, USA) set the film-loving world on fire this summer with her endearing, hilarious, and important role as a middle school girl in 2018. She captures the distinct comedy of Bo Burnham as if she’d inherited it from birth, much like we all expected from anyone cast in the titular role of his first feature as writer and director. But she exceeded all expectations with the degree of genuine emotion, eager hope, and nearly transcendent self-awareness she put on display. You leave Eighth Grade just wanting to be good to people. What other movies seriously make us feel that way? So many try and fail, but this is not one of them. Fisher is an extraordinary talent who braves the emotionally turbulent world of middle school on screen just as she had the previous year in real life. Whether it propels her into career stardom or not, her performance in Eighth Grade is good enough to make the film biblical in its teaching—we are always growing and changing, and we must be kind, hopeful, and forgiving in the process because everyone else is, too. Gucci 👌🏻

The Kindergarten Teacher

One of the more underappreciated films this year, The Kindergarten Teacher is utterly unique in plot and absolutely flooring in performance. Maggie Gyllenhaal (Stranger Than Fiction, Crazy Heart) might be a god, albeit an eagerly flawed one according to her role as Lisa Spinelli, a kindergarten teacher who falls in love with the poetry of one of her prodigious students. Balancing sincere appreciation with creepy adoration and beleaguering banality, she brings nuance and unconventional reality to the forefront in a role that 99.9% of the world’s acting pool wouldn’t know what the hell to do with. It’s a humbly marketed film that for whatever reason refuses to clue you in on its sagacity from afar, but it’s waiting for you on Netflix right now. And it will shock you.

Madeline’s Madeline

Welcome, 2018’s most prodigious young actress, Helena Howard. If you haven’t witnessed her wonder on screen yet, Amazon is currently streaming it for you and it’s 93 minutes long so you have no excuse. If you have, you didn’t flinch at that opening sentence. Howard is, without question, a master of her craft. And she is 20. Madeline writer/director Josephine Decker stumbled upon Howard at a talent showcase she was judging and promptly wept while introducing herself, still overcome by the monologue Howard had just performed. The film they’ve put together this year is nothing like you have ever seen. I really mean it. Decker’s writing and direction are completely novel, and Howard’s performance matches it in its utmost acuity. Incredible accompanying performances by Miranda July as a helicopter mom and Molly Parker as a slightly kooky experimental drama coach make it that much more unforgettable.

The Tale

Is it any surprise that one of the best female-driven films of 2018 is helmed by the eternally profound Laura Dern (Wild at Heart, Big Little Lies)? We already knew she feared nothing, yet every Earth-shattering project she commands makes that truth feel like a revelation all over again. This time she is accompanied by a stellar cast in Elizabeth Debicki, Ellen Burnstyn, and 15-year-old Isabelle Nélisse in a gut-wrenching memoir of sorts by writer/director Jennifer Fox that deals with the instinctual erasure and eruptive torment of reverberating trauma caused by sexual assault. Don’t go into this one lightly, but, more importantly, don’t miss it. Fox and Dern have given us a text on childhood sexual abuse and its effects that is vital viewing for those who have not experienced it themselves. You will shudder in disgust at the idea of doubting the next woman who bravely exposes the kind of destructive sexual trauma that so many females have faced in their lives. This is essential cinema.

The Favourite

Rachel Weisz, Emma Stone, and Olivia Colman have given us one of the greatest gifts of 2018. The trio held nothing back in their triangular ensemble performance of deceit, jealousy, brutality, and comeuppance. Each of them embodies an inimitable persona. Weisz is an insistent, imposing, and wry political advisor/best friend to Colman’s Queen Anne, the tempestuous, romantic, and powerful monarch of early 18th century Britain. Stone plays a feverish, conniving, and dubious servant who will stop at nothing to achieve a more prolific status in the queen’s chambers. All three constantly test one another in their wittiness and devotion, making the film a straight two-hour romp of absurdity and juicy entertainment. The period drama needed a fresh, new style and tone, and this is so much more than what any of us expected.

Support the Girls

Casual, cool, and unpronounced, Support the Girls skated past everyone’s radar in 2018 and the film scene was worse without it. Lately, in the season of year-end lists, it’s bubbled up into prominence plainly because it deserves to be. Regina Hall (Girls Trip, The Hate U Give) plays Lisa, the manager of a Hooters-equivalent sports bar staffed with lovely ladies played Haley Lu Richardson, Shayna McHayle (a.k.a. Junglepussy), Dylan Gelula, AJ Michalka, and others. It’s an eclectic crew that ranges from blindly optimistic to sour and sarcastic, and Lisa is their commonplace queen. We follow Lisa for a day and find ourselves sucked into her world where she tries her best to handle all the banal drama brewing around her. It’s heartwarming, hilarious, perfectly performed across the board, and ultimately humanizing in a way that cinema needs more of in 2018. It manages to hold so many walks of life in its little 93-minute hand and it does them all (and all women, by proxy) supreme justice by leveling the playing field in its final scene.

Roma

Non-actor Yalitza Aparicio is the centrifugal force of one of the year’s most compelling pictures in Roma. It is the story of a meek Mexican maid, Cleo, of an affluent family in 1970s Mexico City. Wrapped up in revolution and familial friction, Cleo is dealt a difficult hand that brings her to the edge of humanity’s most basic instinct—survival. Aparicio showcases the wounds of an underprivileged woman with poise and power, never shying away from her professional or personal responsibilities, but brandishing all the fear that accompanies the unpredictability of the human existence. Nothing about her role feels produced or put-on, which makes for a startling mode of raw emotion that pervades the film. I’m sure I’m not the first person to tell you, but you would be remiss not to watch it this very second even if, [sigh], your only option is a computer screen.

Widows

Though polarizing in the emotional effect it had on viewers, Widows is not attracting any dissenters for its performances. Led by a powerhouse performance from Viola Davis (Doubt, Fences), the film is overflowing with spellbinding performances by several women who face abuse or oppression in one way or another. Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, and Cynthia Erivo fortify a stunning supporting cast, while Jacki Weaver and Carrie Coon round out some bit roles. It is a feminist tale of redemption, freedom, and escape from captivity, all of which are granted to its focal women and none of which require the “strength of a man” to be won.

Annihilation

Last, but certainly not least, my favorite film of the entire year across all genders and genres anchored by my favorite performance: Natalie Portman as Lena, a brilliant biologist tenured at Johns Hopkins who cannot beat the bruising loss of her husband who disappeared on a military mission one year prior. After randomly wandering into the house one evening, he quickly reveals that he is not himself anymore. Soon enough, Lena embarks on a pain-channeling trip into the extra-terrestrial phenomena, known as the Shimmer, that she discovers was responsible for his vanishing. She is equal parts philosophical, fanatical, fascinated, tender, and terse in her ethereal and timeless (yes, I’m calling this one early) performance. I’m tearing up just thinking about the vast scope it encapsulates. And it would be criminal to go without mentioning her diverse and original supporting cast in Tessa Thompson, Gina Rodriguez, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tuva Novotny, and Sonoya Mizuno (as the mimetic humanoid). Everyone crushes their role and adds significant depth to the film for it.

Honorable Mentions

Ocean’s 8, Proud Mary, Lara Croft, Red Sparrow, A Wrinkle in Time, Shirkers, Incredibles 2, Halloween, The Girls in the Spider’s Web, Crazy Rich Asians, A Simple Favor, Colette, The Miseducation of Cameron Post, Traffik, Dumplin’, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Mortal Engines, Winchester, Lizzie, Book Club, Peppermint, Cam, Revenge, Bumblebee, Leave No Trace, Mary Poppins Returns, The Hate U Give, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, The Spy Who Dumped Me, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, Disobedience, Unsane, RBG, Mary Queen of Scots, Acrimony, Never Goin’ Back, Claire’s Camera, Gemini, Nancy, Love After Love, and many more.

Source: https://filmschoolrejects.com/best-women-led-films-2018/

[gloriascott93]

It’s been suggested to me by more than one person in the last 24 hours that i try and put my thoughts on the show out into some other forum to reach the wider audience. That’s not something I plan on doing.

If anyone wants to use my line of reasoning in the Contradictions in Creator Quotes post and it is only one line of reasoning - I prefer @xistentislangst’s personally - feel free to use it. But I don’t want personally want to push that out to a wider audience so as to pull in a wider queer fan base for what I read as a queer story that doesn’t in the end deliver. I am not part of the tjlc fandom. I was reading the canon queerly long before this show existed. I have resisted most of the time identifying myself with Johnlock. Because to me it’s not a ship, it’s the plot. This is one adaptation. It is fan fiction. At times brilliant fanfiction that illuminates aspects of canon. And this fandom has been a place to discuss and celebrate these characters as queer. But for me that was always rooted in canon. The show was an incredibly exciting opportunity for that reading to be explored. Just once. The wider canon fandom remains male driven and incredibly heteronormative. The canon meta that comes from the BSI centered world - the grand game - pales in comparison for the most part to the ingenuity and analytic ability of the fandom this show sparked. I gave up my BSI subscription as a result. It had nothing on the discussions here for intellectual provocation, insightfulness and sheer humor and entertainment.

But I have always been at a tiny table off to the side in this fandom. There are others who have wanted to have a wider platform. That is not me. That post I wrote was for me first draft writing. Getting it off my chest. It hit a nerve. The ideas in it are free. They can be taken by anyone.

Tjlc has been a wing of fandom seeking attention from TBTB. That’s not me. I said before s4 aired - do not ask for permission. As a queer person my own sense of validation cannot come from this show. It doesn’t come from this show. I would have loved this show to have been the depiction of my longtime queer heroes in action. It would have radically altered the experience of being a queer canon fan who reads the canon queerly. But it didn’t deliver. It isn’t that. It lands in a very straight place. With Mary Morstan as the narrator and (as I see it) makes her the most important person to impact John’s life. He ends up back at 221b because of her. Sherlock is in 2nd place.

I agree the show doesn’t make sense that way.

Seeing the end montage without the Mary epilogue was for me an actual more emotionally moving experience and not in a good way. Instead of being frustrated and confused by the choice it made me feel sad. To see visually where we landed. How far from the original characters I have loved they were. Others see it as more hopeful. I’m not there. Not yet anyway. Who knows.

Because of the success of this show it is now far less likely that anyone anytime soon will now make a queer Holmes adaptation. Unless someone has the balls to do a prequel to Ian McKellan’s movie. Or if the next RDJ movie shifts gear. But I fear tonally its tone is too comedic to be taken seriously.

And having accepted Moffat and Gatiss at their word, I have no expectation they would change the direction of the story now based on fan pressure and it will if it ever happens be I would imagine 5 years away anyway.

So the person to push those ideas out is not me. Because I never needing much convincing. No amount of tjlc “evidence” shifted me from the place that I started. I didn’t need to be convinced. That the canon is a closeted queer story and this BBC adaptation was heavily queer coded that created an emotional queer story arc for the central characters at the heart of the show. An arc that then went off course. Right now it ends with TLD. “It is what it is” really reminds me of “the maybe there’s hope” in the final scene of the original run of The X Files. A show that lost course but for all its flaws delivered a truly beautiful ending. Filled with loss and fragility and fear but emotionally *honest*. Where the emotional cost was real. But so too was the bond it had sealed between the characters. Their lives bound together in a way no other relationship could come close to for its significance bar that with the child they had to let go of - a deep wound.

It is so resonant and then came TFP and took all that hope and pushed the focus on a whole other relationship with a character we had no emotional connection to. And suddenly this one has to matter more. There is I think a reading of TFP - and it is only one reading of many one could make - that it is a *figuratively* incestuous adaptation of Jane Eyre. I can’t yet wrap my mind around it.

Anyway, this is just a very tangential and rambling way of saying, it leaves me saddened. It’s not the first show I’ve seen that landed on an end note i struggled to fathom. There have been many. And being a queer reader of canon has always meant being an object of ridicule by the establishment. Things have fractionally improved on that front from what I can tell but only fractionally. You only get to the table if you are willing to play by someone else’s rules. So with this show.

But it is fanfiction in the end. And the canon is more important to me. So please feel free to take any idea and push it out but I don’t intend to. The ratings for the finale speak for themselves. Others will find this space and join these conversations but I am content with assuming that will happen by itself if it is meant to happen.

The disappointment will ease. The queerbaiting bruises will mend. The conversation here will evolve. And if it doesn’t I’ll move on. For now I don’t plan on walking away. But I’m not interested in being an evangelist for the show at this moment in time.

If anyone else does, god speed. I wish you the best. I’m interested to see what comes next.

[pod7]

Fall Anime* 2016 Lightning Review

*Just the shows I watched of course

Shows Included: 3-gatsu no Lion, All Out!!, Bernard-jou Iwaku, Bishoujo Yuugi Unit Crane Game Girls Galaxy, Cheating Craft, DAYS, Drifters, Fune wo Amu, Getsuyoubi no Tawawa, Kaijuu Girls: Ultra Kaijuu Gijinka Keikaku, Keijo!!!!!!!!, Kiitarou Shounen no Youkai Enikki, Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku, Nanbaka, Nazotokine, Nobunaga no Shinobi, Occultic;Nine, Okusama ga Seitokaichou!+!, Saiki Kusuo no Ψ-nan, Shakunetsu no Takkyuu Musume, Sousei no Onmyouji, Soushin Shoujo Matoi, Stella no Mahou, Teekyuu 8, Tiger Mask W, To Be Hero, Udon no Kuni no Kiniro Kemari, Watashi ga Motete Dousunda, WWW. Working!!

A really mixed bag this season, though a much better season than the summer!

3-gatsu no Lion As expected of SHAFT, a great character driven coming-of-age story that is practically flawless. I really enjoy any time the three sisters are on screen, but I also appreciate the appearances that his step-sister has made. She’s just sympathetic enough that you feel bad for feeling bad for her, but she’s also cruel enough to make you tense up the moment she comes on screen. The one thing I don’t like about this show is the thing it seems to get the most hype for, which is it’s intro song. I just don’t feel like it fits the attitude of the show. Otherwise though, yet another home run from SHAFT. Series continues! Highest recommendation

All Out!! This isn’t the best show, I wouldn’t even say it’s better than DAYS, but it was enjoyable enough. If the retired pro player turned coach hadn’t of shown up, I might have dropped it, truth be told. Once he shows up the, the season really picked up. The show is continuing, so hopefully that upward trend is here to stay. Series continues!

Bernard-jou Iwaku I’m not much of a book nerd, so a lot of this was lost on me, but there were still some great laughs to be had. If you’re into science fiction and novels in general they have a lot of interesting factoids about books and you could probably pick up some good recommendations from it. 7/10

Bishoujo Yuugi Unit Crane Game Girls Galaxy The series got a budget this time around, so it was actually pretty well animated (for flash), and they were able to have a lot more detail as well. I loved the inclusion of Dark Cherry, they were great foils to CRANE GAMU. It was more of a nonsense comedy this season, as opposed to “crane game tips as brought to you by an idol anime” that the first season had. Ended on a pretty wild note with Kyouko and Rei seemingly becoming a couple out of nowhere, though in hindsight they make a great pair. 8/10

Cheating Craft A really weird show, like, it would be hard to even explain what it is without being incredibly vague. The characters were great, especially the home room teacher. One of several shows this season that had some surprise GL in it. 6/10

DAYS I still think that the coach from this team would have been fired already, for letting someone that inexperienced play in such important matches. I also feel like the show contradicted itself quite a bit; they said that all the starters are starters because they are out for themselves, but they were willing to play with a no-experience player AS A STARTER. Maybe it’s just a sports thing I don’t understand, but every time someone said “it’s not your fault” I was audibly saying “no, it really was!” Ubukata was great, but I feel bad for Tsukushi’s childhood friend basically getting zero screen time after the first episode. I would have liked for Tsukushi’s mom to have been more of a factor in the show as well. For a sports anime, it was good, but there were a lot of things I had problems with. 7/10

Drifters It’s a cool concept, of course, but I worry about the execution of it all. This great nation of Orte that some of the characters wish to protect was founded by Adolf Hitler, who is supposedly a Drifter, which makes him a good guy by default, since that’s what the protagonists are. If I need to spell out why that’s fishy at best, then you need to go back to school or at least watch the History channel once in a while. I also would have liked to have seen at some point in this season some kind of selection process for why someone ends up a Drifter and why someone ends up as an End. If the Black King isn’t Merlin, I will be incredibly shocked, because he’s the only historical figure I can think of that would also be excusable as such an all powerful deity type figure that can give other people powers, as well as using alchemy. I love the harsh art style, it fits the attitude of the show quite well. As a history nerd, I think it would be really funny if Teddy Roosevelt showed up with the Rough RIders to go ham on the Ends, but will just have to see what the next season holds. 8/10

Fune wo Amu I had originally thought this would be a much different series. After the first episode I actually looked it up to see if it was going to be something I’d actually be able to watch three episodes of without falling asleep. The synopsis I read was pretty misleading, though it may have been for the live action adaptation that came out before; it basically said that the protagonist would be tasked with defining “love”, and through that he would complete this dictionary and learn to live life to the fullest and so on. Unfortunately, for the animated adaptation at least, that’s pretty much a lie. He realizes he has feelings for his landlord’s grand-daughter, and then four episodes later they’ve been married for over a decade, her as a successful chef, and he on the cusp of completing the dictionary. It felt like they cut out an entire third (or even half) of the story just to fit it into 12 episodes, which was really disappointing to me. It wasn’t bad, but I felt like it could have made it’s point about seeing things through and the importance of words a lot clearer with just a few more episodes. 7/10

Getsuyoubi no Tawawa I’m kind of surprised that this show didn’t get a lot of shit, to be frank. It’s everything people love to guffaw about when it comes to anime; a large-chested girl who is too young for the guy she is talking to in most cases and is doing everything but dragging him to a love hotel. I’m not even sure what this would be categorized as; I wouldn’t call it a romcom, because there weren’t really any gags or jokes to it, and if you just call it a romance then people expect drama when there wasn’t any of that either. So... if you want to see a well-endowed girl flirt with nameless, faceless men for 12 episodes, this is the one for you. 6/10

Kaijuu Girls: Ultra Kaijuu Gijinka Keikaku There isn’t really much to say about this show other than if you like kaijuu and chibi/SD characters, you’ll probably like this show. If it had been more than a five minute show, I think it would have become boring, because they don’t really end up doing that much over the course of the season. Just a short, silly comedy about girls learning to use powers, basically. 7/10

Keijo!!!!!!!! I really want to compare this to Valkyrie Drive, because it was good, but... it was just a little too much. If they had dialed back the ecchi during the times they weren’t in a match, I think it would have had a greater comedic impact when it came to the action. Instead towards the end it was like “wow they are laying it on thick this episode.” Still, I salute them for just going all out with it. I usually complain about “boring sports” anime needing to rely on silly gimmicks for their characters to make the show more interesting, but Keijo already had it’s silly gimmick in place, so the super moves/abilities weren’t far as far fetched as say, a mahjong player that does better because there is a full moon out that night. The foley artists should be commended specifically for this show, they did an incredible job. 8/10

Kiitarou Shounen no Youkai Enikki This show came and went by in a flash. I didn’t even realize it had ended until I started writing this; it didn’t have a very definitive finale I guess. if you’re into Japanese folklore/yokai/bakemono/etc, but also are okay with those characters used in a comedic setting, you should give this show a shot. 7/10

Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku I don’t really know how to feel about this at this point. The character design bothered me a lot in the beginning, and by the time I got used to it, other problems sprang forth. It was another one of those “subversion of the genre” mahou shoujo series, which has become a genre on it’s own at this point because so many people are doing it. Out of all the girls, Swim Swim’s arc was the best, though I wish they had explained why she had her super OP power (since most of the others depended on what they wanted to do or their personality, seemingly.) It was also interesting that in the end they kept their powers, even though they broke their communicators from Fav, which was a nice change of pace. 7/10

Nanbaka This was a very strange show. At first I thought it was going to be like JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure because of the aesthetic, but instead it was just a fun gag show about a larger than life prison. Of course the highlight of the show for me was once again, Yuu Kobayashi as the warden, stealing the spotlight in a fairly minor role. I think I enjoyed it more as a comedy, because towards the end it gets pretty serious with some action mixed in too, and it just felt kind of like “Okay let’s get back to the gags now.” Overall though a pretty entertaining show. 8/10

Nazotokine An OL who works as secretary to the CEO of a major company finds excitement in her every day life, but suddenly gets sucked into a weird dimension where she is tasked with solving puzzles in order to go back to her normal life. Unfortunately, many of the puzzles involved Japanese words I didn’t know, so I was basically just watching for the performances (thought the two or three that didn’t I was able to solve.) A good premise, I think it could have been fleshed out a lot more. It seems like the kind of thing that was based off of a mobile game or even just a series of puzzle books. I just thought it was funny that this and Tiger Mask W aired in the same season because in TMW they show New Japan Pro Wrestling all the time, and in Nazotokine during one episode they go to an All Japan Pro Wrestling show. Would like to see more but I doubt it will happen. 8/10

Nobunaga no Shinobi A nice, short gag comedy about a little ninja girl who is super effective with her work but kind of a ditz otherwise. A cute show that can be surprisingly bloody, but most of the time it’s just goofball type humor. Series continues!

Occultic;Nine The first third and last third of this season were okay, but the middle part was really boring and a lot of the side stuff going on felt unnecessary. Spending so much time on the little girl practicing black magic and the guy using astral projection just to have a way to explain how time passes for you as a scandium ghost was a little much. The cast wasn’t particularly relatable either. I did like the reveal of the person who was going around “deleting” the ghosts, though, and the FBI with psychometry was really great (would have preferred to see the story from her perspective honestly.) It felt like someone who wrote a Persona teamed up with a studio that wants to be SHAFT. 5/10

Okusama ga Seitokaichou!+! Wasn’t a fan of this season as much as the last one. It felt like they had a meeting and said “Okay, the framing is established with season one, so now we can just go all out with erotica!” The problem was is that, they can only go so far, so showing what is basically the same thing over and over with just different characters makes it lose any ecchi power it may have had originally. 6/10

Saiki Kusuo no Ψ-nan An absolute joy of a show. I would not mind if I was still writing about this show in these season wrap-up reviews this time next year, it’s that good. Nendou-kun has grown on me a lot as the show has gone on, and Teruhashi has become my favorite character I think. 10/10

Shakunetsu no Takkyuu Musume I started to have the same problem with this show that I did with Saki (the mahjong anime), wherein they feel like the characters or action aren’t strong enough, so they have to give the players these goofy gimmicks that are beyond ridiculous. I really could not stand the green-haired yandere chick in this show, and was incredibly happened when that mini-arc ended. The beginning third of the show, I can understand people being perturbed at the lack of sport in this sport anime in favor of so much ~moe, but I think the episodes after the practice match arc are a great example of the show at it’s best, with a great balance of moe and sport. It’s not for everyone, but it has a fun, memorable cast. Reminded me quite a lot of KanaMemo, actually. 8/10

Sousei no Onmyouji Well, I would say the ride was fun, but it really wasn’t for the most part. The first arc of the show was pretty good, then they had a lovebirds arc which was horrendously stupid, and then it got into more action again and it was fine for a while but then you could tell the original writer started stalling at a certain point and it was really obnoxious how so little of what was going on week to week felt like it mattered in the grand scheme of things. It was like the series couldn’t decided to be a supernatural action show or a romcom, and you can’t really half-ass doing both when you have a masterpiece like Katanagatari out there. It had promise, but just took way too long to deliver, if it ever will. Dropped

Soushin Shoujo Matoi I don’t know if I’ve just watched too much anime by now or what, but I felt like I had seen this show a hundred times already. Nothing felt new or refreshing. It’s a very pretty show, at least, so I watched it all the way through, but I don’t think I’ll remember the name of this show next week, let alone next year. 7/10

Stella no Mahou I was a little worried about this show at the beginning because of how babyish the protagonist was, but she matures pretty quickly, and the remnants of her babyness become part of her charm. This felt like if you mixed Yuru Yuri and Wakaba Girl together, which is a pretty good combo. It also reminded me a bit of Saekano, even down to the girl in charge of music getting the least screen time. I would like to see another season of this but I think it would need to move about more into a more serious mood, like maybe they decide to debut at Comiket for real this time and put everything they have into a new game. 9/10

Teekyuu 8 I always love Teekyuu content, if you’ve followed me for a while then you know that quite well. 10/10

Tiger Mask W What knowledge I DON’T have from never having seen the previous Tiger Mask anime, the knowledge I have of him as an IRL pro wrestler and the current Japanese wrestling scene and attitude has made up for anything I would have otherwise missed. If nobody noticed, Monopoly is meant to be the WWE, and New Japan’s partnership with this series is a pretty clear showing on how they feel about WWE’s current move to basically create pro-wrestling colonies on other continents. There’s a lot of other BTS politics involved, but it’s interesting to see it as fodder for what amounts to a kids’ show. The main problem I have with the series so far is the inconsistency in violence and how much is tolerated. One of Tiger’s early foes causes him to bleed profusely and beats the piss out of him, but he says his match with Tiger the Dark was his hardest yet and he was barely even scratched. Also, a guy with a sword shows up in one episode, which is just bad, since he can never realistically use it (even in a cartoon setting.) Series continues!

To Be Hero I haven’t read anything about the behind-the-scenes of this series, but it would not surprise me in the least if it was a jab at One Punch Man. The dialogue is the star of the show here, with every character getting at least one really great monologue. The ending was actually pretty touching for a show about a guy that got superpowers from taking a dump. 8/10

Udon no Kuni no Kiniro Kemari This show was great, but towards the end, it felt kind of forced. It had a great thing going, and then it was like they thought, “Wait, Poco is still a tanuki?! Crap, what are we going to do?” I think this would have been better served about a guy reconciling with his decision to go to Tokyo, and having a son he didn’t know about to deal with in the process. Maybe Souta left for Tokyo for the same reason, but while he was there, he dated a foreigner, and they broke up, which lead to him getting into a rut at his job, and then finally moving back home to take care of his father’s effects post-mortem, where he finds his dad had taken in the child his girlfriend never told him about. SOMETHING like that. There was also a great missed opportunity I think with Nakaji and Rinko. One of Nakaji’s problems in the season is that his parents are hounding him about getting married, so what if he hadn’t been even looking because he was having an affair with Rinko? It honestly felt like that’s where they were going with it to me. She tells him he should stop smoking, and he eats her cooking despite knowing it’s bad, and then when she tells him she’s pregnant, it just honestly felt like that scene was written out as her telling him it’s his, and he’s the first to know she’s pregnant. It was also kind of disappointing that Udon didn’t really have all that much to do with the show, despite being in the title. Kana Hanazawa’s character is about as big of a red herring as you can get in this kind of show, as well. It’s cute and genuinely funny, but could have been much better and poignant in another world. 8/10

Watashi ga Motete Dousunda I imagine the manga won’t end the same way the show did (assuming the manga continues from there), but I think the writers of the show ended it the best way they could. Say what you will about the comedy based around liking gay fiction (admittedly exploitative fiction) making you a weirdo, but I feel like when it came to Nishina, they treated her respectfully, even showing her as a true rival, an equal, amongst the other suitors that Kae genuinely considered. That in itself should be celebrated. Yuu Kobayashi is easily top 3 seiyuu for me, so any show that she is the focal point is always one that I will enjoy all the way through. 9/10

WWW. Working!! I had a pretty big falling out with the main Working!! series, but there were several things that I did enjoy about it. I’m happy to say that those things are present in this spinoff as well, not only that, but I feel like WWW does it even better. In the main series, several of the characters were a pain in the ass with no payoff, but in WWW, they wrap up everything nicely in one season, without any characters feeling annoying or worthless. My favorite, as per usual, was one of the characters with the least amount of screen time, Kisaki. Of course, the manager was my fav character from the main series, and since they share many traits, it shouldn’t be that much of a surprise. It almost felt like this was a reboot in retrospect, considering how similar some of the characters are to the main series cast; they were just written better this time around. 9/10

[madethisforclasstim-blog]

Feature #1: Animation With Foundation w/ Reflection

Timothy Geard is discovered by Walt Disney Concert Hall for his character inspiration makeup looks.

By Timothy Heath

When you grow up watching cartoon versions of heroes, you tend to start to look up to them and replicate their character. Timothy Geard’s main source of makeup inspiration came from his interest in animation. Instead of trying to be more like another live action figure, he tried connecting to the vision of animations and how the hues correspond the mood of each show and character to deeply understand that character. 

His concept of taking a regular person and morphing the basic base with many other exaggerated features for visual illusions takes you more in depth into Geard’s fantasy world. The transformations can range from a kawaii perspective of becoming “Sailor Moon” to the exaggerated evil in transforming a human face into a more modern version of Hades from Hercules. 

The makeup community has a comedic phrase “beating your face” that can also be described as “painting,” more generally used in the drag queen community to describe the process of applying your makeup, that would also be compared to the arts of famous painters. “My face is a canvas so that I can make my look a masterpiece. I’m driven by the story of these fictional characters,” Geard said.

In his young adult years, Geard had always been the vibrant figure in his group of friends. He knew all about the top skin care, makeup reviews, and anything cosmetic and in his field of play. “Just like theatre, if you want to be good at something you enjoy a lot, you have to practice.” 

Geard said he has always been inspired by animated television shows, as he explains, “I’ve always grown up watching shows like Teen Titans and I was intrigued by the distinction of colors associated with character. It gives each character their own story if you ask me.”

He learned a lot of information from social media like Instagram and YouTube. Many other aspiring makeup artists share their unique skills on these apps in hope of business inquires or strictly for entertainment.

After quickly learning how to apply a basic coat of base foundation through attending courses at Stephen F. Austin State University, Geard’s makeup inspiration led his potential straight to California soon after he graduated in 2008. While attending courses as a graduate student at UCLA, Geard continued to expand his makeup abilities by matching corresponding makeup with different themes for school events (i.e. Homecoming, awareness months, etc.). 

Growing up in the suburbs of north Texas near the DFW area is only a part of the colorful personality of Geard. He always dreamed of moving away from his hometown in hope to move somewhere with more open views and opportunities for men who do makeup.

“I mean come on, we all know Texas is mostly a conservative state and I am a man doing my makeup … but that’s why we have ‘H-Town hotties’ like Megan Thee Stallion to inspire ‘hot girls/boys’ like me to do what I want to do with my life and grind my way to the top! She has always inspired me to never stop trying to achieve my goals,” Geard said.

Megan Thee Stallion is a rising new female rap artist that also does her own makeup and has her own trademark, “Hot Girl Summer” where those followers are known as “hot girls/hot boys.” Being a “hot girl/boy” is all about empowerment, confidence, and dedication.

Moving to the west coast for Geard has been a dream he is always awake for. The change of scenery, the vibes, even the possibilities to encounter another one of his idols. “Being in this state just allows me to open up more than I could in the past.” 

Geard opens up about his experiences with bullying for being considered more feminine than most of the other men in his life. He has always felt isolated from social norms and lived a private life, as he was afraid of any forms of criticism. “To add the cherry on top, I am also in love with theatre, so I am training myself to take that criticism and run with it!” Geard expresses. His theatre experiences through high school give him his charismatic and creative drive. His high school theatre teacher, Mrs. Brittany Gonzalez, has been one of his personal connections in his career. “She should definitely be taking this position for the concert hall in my opinion. She’s the best one to push my creative boundaries when projects seem too easy.” 

Geard eventually got his name out to cosmetic companies such as Sephora and Mac, holding at least three to four years of experience from each position held. Many people in the L.A. area request Geard by popular demand.

“I absolutely LOVE seeing all of my regulars. It’s like another one of my friends coming to talk about your day with. I love what I do and so do they!” 

- Timothy Geard

As his experience grew, Geard felt more at home with his fellow aspiring makeup artists around him, but he also began to miss the theatre. “L.A. has a lot of opportunities inside of it. I can do as many of them as I really want,” Geard explains as he then broadens his job field out to bigger companies.

Geard expresses his happiness upon the offer from Walt Disney Concert Hall as the Head MUA (makeup artist) as “the biggest achievement [he’s] made,” working his way up in his career. Geard is excited to someday work on some of his favorite musicals while employed, including “Aladdin,” and he hopes that he can “do a bomb cherry blossom eye shadow look to convince the production team to choose Mulan!”

Geard continues to regularly post more of his animation inspired makeup looks. His great imagination has taken him across states and given him a source of income with an activity he enjoys. His one wish that he hopes to keep is that he will have enough time to catch up with his animated television shows because “how else am I supposed to be inspired without a little creativity time? I also want to simply watch TV.”

As I worked on the first feature assignment from the rough draft to the final draft, I have learned that my writing can include many patted words to ensure word count, failure to fully connect the flow of my paragraphs, and GSP errors. Reading the many handouts we received in class definitely helped inspire my writing since this assignment was to be made up of our future career. I ran into issues prior to the due date of the rough draft from having far too many ideas. I did not know how to naturally connect all of my similar ideas without sounding too repetitive. My corrections were mainly GSP related, but I also think I can work on separating my paragraphs without causing confusion.

[recentanimenews]

Staff Picks: Our Favorite Anime of 2016

After a bit of a delay, we're back with our third and final set of Staff Picks. David, Ink, Evan, and Jared rattle off their top three new anime titles of 2016 (that means retro releases are disqualified, though there were a lot of good ones this year). Taking a look at both the breadth of genres and the artistic ambition of these series and movies, it's easy to see that 2016 was a pretty fantastic year for anime. Here's to another one.

David Estrella

Kizumonogatari Parts One and Two

To no one’s surprise, Kizumonogatari Parts One and Two are the best anime of 2016. In all likelihood, Kizumonogatari Part Three will be the best anime of 2017, having missed the cut off by about six days. “Best Anime of 2017” is looking like a title defense without any promising contenders on the horizon, save for perhaps Makoto Shinkai’s runaway monster hit your name., staggering into the US a year after its heroic Japanese theatrical run like a favorite uncle that always arrives at the end of your birthday party. Will there be an anime that’s as impactful with the violence, as seductive with the visuals, and as hypnotically scripted as Kizumonogatari? Takeshi Koike’s Redline and its infamous “seven hand-drawn years” development cycle is perhaps the closest analogue to the experience of having to wait this long for a project that many assumed just wasn’t happening anymore. Well, Kizumonogatari did happen, I flew out to Japan to see it, to live and breathe it on opening day, and just that one hour runtime for the first part alone blew the doors out the theater. Everything after Kizumonogatari is an exercise in disappointment, an eternal trial for my commitment to the medium in this monochromatic post-Kizumonogatari world.

Ink

Picking three titles for AOTY (Anime of the Year) is nerve-racking when you consider the sheer number of series that debut (let alone continue) per season. For every title that deserves recognition for its animation, there’s another that’s got a great story, another that has great art, and another that’s of social value. And while it feels like any Sayo Yamamoto work should be included on principle alone, sometimes there’s just too few accommodating slots.

#3 Mob Psycho 100

I like stories that surprise, stories that upend or skew expected methods of execution or outcome. Most fans of Mob Psycho 100 will immediately cite the art and animation as its main draw, and that’s because there seems to be nothing else praiseworthy in the first two episodes. The story of an inept boss taking advantage of and credit for his employee’s true talents is a little too real to be funny and too overused to be engrossing, and the associated humor is as stale as the aforementioned concept. But what this series does to avoid that trench is turn the narrative away from that situation to focus on the main character’s inner turmoil, turn away again to focus on his relationship with his brother, and link everything together by heading down another avenue. The world expands organically and without contrivance. It’s a grand bit of storytelling, told with an unexpected tenderness spiced with laughter, under an umbrella of raw and powerful art and animation that’s portrayed some of the best action scenes this year.

#2 Keijo!!!!!!!!

It’s just about to wrap up for the season as I write this, so I’m probably a little biased, but this is the best damned anime comedy of 2016. Every single episode literally made me laugh out loud multiple times, and as a man who values the healing power of laughter, and given the ever-sinking shithole that is 2016, I can honestly say that this is a healing anime. On more than one occasion, I’ve elicited the concern of neighbors and housemate alike for my post-guffaw, out-of-breath wheezing/gasping. That’s because the show approaches a fictitious sport with earnest exuberance for the elaborate exaggerations within. That is to say Keijo!!!!!!!! takes itself seriously and reaps the benefit of humor through contrast. The show also manages to all but bench fanservice while being all about T&A, which is a rather incredible feat. That’s not to say this show is particularly empowering, but it knows how to make fun of and thereby negate its own offensiveness while being wildly entertaining with its absurdity. What I thought would surely be the worst of the season turned out to be one of the most enjoyable of the year.

#1: Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju

Brilliant in its staging and how that relates to story, characters, and concept, this Showa-era anime centers around two comedic storytelling practitioners who grow up like brothers and fight like them too. This show wows with the subtlety of its own storytelling and the storytelling capabilities of its VAs as rakugo performers. The level of detail in the character and background art, the dedication of trained camera focus, and degree of imaginative storyboarding of this period piece are also commendable. Set outside of traditional classrooms and featuring a large range of ages, this is also a great anime with which to introduce anime to people who don’t normally watch anime. It’s drama, pure and simple, told in an engrossing and visually appealing manner. I’ve heard of rakugo before via an anime comedy but didn’t realize that focusing on that art form and (the fictional lives of) its performers could be this interesting! For an in-depth discussion, listen to Episode 001 of the Oldtaku no Radio podcast. The second season airs in the winter 2017 season, so catch up quick!

Best Anime Short:

#3 Ojisan and Marshmallow

#2 Yamishibai S3

#1 To Be Hero

Best Anime We Never Got:

Konnichiwa Onara Gorou

Biggest Disappointment:

Flip Flappers

Evan Minto

#3: Erased

Originally considered by many as a shoe-in for Anime of the Year, Erased stumbling a bit at the finish line was enough to condemn it as a failure in the eyes of some fans. The series builds up a tense, time-traveling murder mystery in its first 11 episodes that the finale doesn't quite deliver on, but the journey is so immaculately executed that it's hard to dock it too many points. There's so much to love in Erased that it's hard to sum it all up: evocative cinematography, authentic depictions of grade-school friendships, nail-biting cliffhangers.... But what really stands out is the unexpected ability of director Tomohiko Ito (Sword Art Online) and A-1 Pictures to replicate the escalating tension and complex relationships of American "prestige" TV series like Breaking Bad and Mr. Robot. By the end, Erased may not weave quite as intricate a web as it seemingly sets out to, but along the way, it reminds us that TV anime is still capable of breaking into the sort of mature adult storytelling that has often been the exclusive purview of live-action TV.

#2: Mob Psycho 100

Last year webcomic artist One burst onto the anime scene with the smash-hit animated version of One-Punch Man, but the anime was based on artist Yusuke Murata (Eyeshield 21)’s Shonen Jump version of the series (adapted from One’s original webcomic). The real test for One was his second anime adaptation, this time without the filter of Murata's art. Appropriately, Mob Psycho 100 leaves behind One-Punch Man's grandiose action tendencies in favor of surprisingly heartfelt teenage soul-seeking, all while One maintains his off-kilter sense of humor and penchant for the grotesque. On top of that, Studio BONES delivers what might be some of their best work yet, as their animators attempt to one-up their coworker, Shingo Natsume, who directed the animator showcase that is One-Punch Man. The psychic powers in Mob create a kaleidoscopic world in which reality bends and distorts at the whim of its characters, who are themselves animated with wildly exaggerated expressions despite One's remarkably simplistic designs. If One-Punch Man introduced One's shockingly unique style to an anime world plagued by sameness, Mob Psycho 100 has cemented his place among this decade's most essential new creators.

#1: Space Patrol Luluco

In a shocking twist, a series featuring Inferno Cop made my Anime Staff Picks list! Space Patrol Luluco is a shameless work of self-congratulation, combining characters and settings from Studio Trigger's entire catalog into a mashup which clearly draws inspiration, at least in part, from the Marvel comics that director Hiroyuki Imaishi & co. love so much. That this feat has so rarely been attempted in anime should come as no surprise to anyone who's been keeping up with Trigger; they've consistently pushed the envelope in anime, whether its lo-fi comedy like Inferno Cop or Disney-esque family-friendly animation like Little Witch Academia. Not only does Luluco feature Imaishi's trademark breakneck dialogue and manic animation, but it builds nicely into something with real heart to it — not unlike Kill la Kill (though KLK screenwriter Kazuki Nakashima sat this project out).  Peppering the core story, itself full of nonsense about space shoplifting and black holes, are cameos and references from every Trigger project so far, including Kill la Kill and Little Witch Academia and even Ninja Slayer and Kiznaiver. But it's the unrelenting energy and clear creative passion that makes Luluco shine so brightly in a sea of phoned-in anime cash grabs. Long live Studio Trigger! 

Jared Nelson

#3: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 4: Diamond is Unbreakable

David Production hasn't gotten anywhere near the credit they deserve for their work on JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 4: Diamond is Unbreakable. I never thought I'd be living in a time where people could grow accustomed to having anime adaptations of Hirohiko Araki’s legendary manga. In my opinion, Part 4 stands as the best JoJo anime yet made. While Part 3 had an epic, globetrotting scale and told of an ancient evil and the battle to end a family curse. With Part 4, Araki went in the opposite direction, exploring the lives of the residents in the town of Morioh. A lesser creator may have failed to exceed the iconic Part 3, but Araki not only delivered, he surpassed himself. Part 4's stories and characters show Araki at his most creative yet. The Stand users in this series have extraordinarily imaginative powers that lead to sometimes zany, sometimes dramatic stories that leaving you guessing what could happen next. The craziness rose to a whole new level and capturing Araki's genius was a monumental task, but the animation staff at David Production did a marvelous job of bringing the crazy, noisy, bizarre town of Morioh to life. It’s one thing to create a work of genius, it's entirely another to adapt the work of a genius and heighten its impact even further. Diamond is Unbreakable deserves a spot as one of the best anime of 2016.

#2: Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu

Ink and I covered this show extensively in our (extremely long) debut episode of Oldtaku no Radio because it blew us both away for a whole host of reasons. From its debut episode, Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu stood apart as a mature, artful tale worthy of celebration. In a time where nearly all anime seem to revolve around adolescent concerns it was so refreshing to see a (period!) drama aimed at adults and featuring adult characters. It introduced the Japanese art of Rakugo to a broader audience and its depiction of Rakugo storytelling could itself be a masterclass in storytelling. Not only did the Rakugo performances leave me spellbound in and of themselves, they also advanced the larger plot of the show and the character arcs of the performers all at the same time. I’ve never seen layered storytelling so skillfully interwoven throughout an anime. Rakugo also depicted nuanced, complex relationships between its principal characters, particularly Shin (Sukeroku) and Bon (Kikuhiko/Yakumo the 8th). Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu stands out as a compelling story of passion, drama, and tragedy. After seeing it, I was convinced it would be my Anime of the Year, and I can’t wait to see its second season. It looked like 2016 would pass without any other show even coming close to matching it…then Sayo Yamamoto said “hold my beer and watch this.” Well, probably not. But that’s sorta what happened.

#1: Yuri!!! on Ice

Yuri!!! on Ice took anime by storm this Fall and it’s my pick as Anime of the Year 2016. This show has all the hallmarks of a strong show: memorable characters, a great score, and excellent storytelling. How it uses all those qualities sets it above all the rest. Yuri’s personal growth over the course of the series results in a very satisfying character arc. You can’t help but cheer Yuri on as he breaks through the barriers of his own self-doubt to reach greater heights as a competitor, artist, and person. As the series progresses we learn more about each skater’s motivations while advancing the overall plot at that same time. It turns out figure skating is a perfect vehicle for this kind of layered storytelling!

Like Diamond is Unbreakable, Yuri on Ice has memorable characters. Like Showa Rakugo, Yuri on Ice portrays nuanced dramatic relationships between its three leading characters. But unlike the other two, Yuri on Ice combines all of these qualities into one show, a show that isn’t based on prior work, but an original work from Sayo Yamamoto and Mitsurou Kubo. But above all those reasons, this show is an important show because it prominently and proudly features a healthy, open homosexual relationship. Yuri and Victor’s relationship isn’t played up for laughs or just suggested, their relationship is the heart of the show. So many times in the past, we’ve seen LGBTQ characters in anime exist simply as a punchline or as degenerates. With Yuri on Ice, we finally have a mainstream hit that treats gay men with the respect they deserve. Yuri on Ice is the best show of 2016 for a host of reasons and I won’t be the first to say so. I’m just happy that I get to say it at all. It’s definitely a show born to make history.

That's it for our Staff Picks. What are some of your favorite anime of 2016?

Check out our picks for manga and video games too!

Staff Picks: Our Favorite Anime of 2016 originally appeared on Ani-Gamers on January 25, 2017 at 7:48 PM.

By: David Estrella