#if ur gonna reply/rb w comments u better be nice

[pathetickuroo]

i'm a film student. here's how i felt about the edge of sleep.

for a bit of background on my "credentials" so to speak: i'm in my second to last semester of studying digital media/journalism at my university. in my program you are required to take a "digital media core" that teaches you the technical aspect of film as well as analysis and a number of writing and screen/scriptwriting classes that respectfully i performed extremely well in. i don't throw "film student" around lightly even though my emphasis is in journalism.

and here's an obligatory disclaimer that this is about the show, not mark. anyway.

overall i found the show enjoyable. it was a very fun watch featuring (and produced by) a youtuber that i've been a fan of for almost a decade. i have to say this, though, and it's going to sound harsh before i get a chance to explain what i mean by it: there is a distinction between enjoyable and "good". i liked the five nights at freddy's movie. that doesn't mean it was good.

i'm not going to come on here and say edge of sleep was bad, because it wasn't! i do think it was good. however (and clearly mark's influence on these things is more than likely slim to nil so don't come into my replies yelling at me for criticizing the show), there were a lot of things that just were kind of okay to me.

firstly, the whale. i believe this was in episode one. frankly? terrible first impression. i found the pitched down voice entirely out of place. it would have been better i think (especially considering the whale only talks that one time and never again) for it to be whalesong with subtitles, the same way they provided subtitles with safet. to be quite honest i think if not for markiplier i maybe would have turned the show off or found it an irredeemable thing based on what had been shown so far, but because i am also a film student, it was likely exacerbated by the fact that i have the mind and knowledge for film. things like this affect "normal people" or "laymen" less, and even aside from what i'm studying i also know my standards in general are. um. high. lmao. in fairness yes for this point i am nitpicking, but a first episode is the "hook" of a show so for it to have had something in it that took me out of it so much was disheartening.

some of the writing felt a bit janky and to be fair i suspect that comes from it being adapted from long-form storytelling into a six-episode, twenty-minute-segment form. i'd like to point out specifically a lot of the problems that i have with the writing/character approach apply mostly to matteo's character. with him i felt there was a lot of, "what the fuck i can't believe this. well whatever i actually don't care anymore so let's do that." he continually, more than anyone else, went back and forth on what his hard limits were in that situation. there wasn't any scene where they were trying to convince him of something (or convince him to do something!) where i felt he actually put up any kind of resistance. it all felt too easy. he should have been more in the middle of the spectrum, for or against, or completely on one side or the other and taken a longer time to convince, rather than swinging from one end of the extreme to neutral in the span of 30 seconds. i like matteo as a character. i think his plot-related decisions were poorly written.

it was also difficult for me to find really any of the characters likeable or particularly interesting or feel sympathetic to them and their struggles. it felt almost as if the writers ran with the assumption that it would be natural to care about the characters because they're characters in the show and you "have to". as a viewer i was never able to really "build a relationship" with the characters. i didn't find linda particularly interesting. frankly i really didn't think dave was a very compelling protagonist either (but this could also be a criticism of the "chosen one" archetype). i didn't care much for ruth. i think the characters i liked the most were katie and dr. castaneda.

something with a technical aspect of the show and its sense of pacing: i thought the "x hours without sleep" endcards were. i mean. they did the job. they certainly did the job. i found them a bit lazy. is it possible for me to say both that "it was clever" and "it was lazy"? that's how i feel. after the initial sequence of dave and matteo driving to the party, it was never dark out again that i can recall. the characters weren't sleeping because they couldn't sleep. why did they never do anything at night? why did the directors (or the editor or whoever) choose the "cop-out" option over ever shooting at night? was it budgetary? was it a time constraint? regardless of the "why", it was noticeable. it felt like one endless day instead of several days on end. there was also (sorry to costuming and makeup) to me almost no visual change in the characters, or there was only sometimes a change. there was one scene where dave had deep circles under his eyes and i was like, "yeah, that's a guy who hasn't slept in a long time." other times later in the plot it was almost unnoticeable. the physical variables that could convey a passage of time (darkness, personal appearance) were missing, i thought.

perhaps they're leaving it open for a season 2, but the ending felt very "whatever" to me. like, okay, we're doing this now. sure. there's a war. okay. aristera. sure. whatever.

additionally: how did they know aristera was 1) real and 2) how to get there? there was no scene or glimpse of them looking on a map or googling (which they have to have been able to do because phones were working, unless the battery had ran out which was also not established in the text) it or anything, so how did they know? how did matteo know where to fly them? it just felt like there were a lot of things that only made sense because they had to magically make sense and not because there was an actual explanation.

to be honest i thought the acting was fine. i don't have anything glaring to comment on with the acting and also, that isn't my area of expertise anyway. i heard some people were saying the acting was too "meh", but i was talking to a friend about it and she pointed out, like, "they're supposed to be sleep deprived. the acting isn't gonna look like normal acting." there's that for your consideration as well.

so do i think it was good? sure. i'd be more likely to say i thought it was fine. do i think for a non-fan it would be a must-see? probably not. do i think it was TECHNICALLY groundbreaking, in terms of direction writing et cetera? no. it had a lot to accomplish based on the source material in not a lot of time and not a lot of budget and you can tell. they did do a good job with what they were provided in terms of resources, but it could have been better.

i was also watching charlie(as in penguinz0 moist charlie)'s review of the show (got 2.5m in before i decided to write my own first) and he brought up a point i think cannot be understated: people who aren't already fans of mark will be less forgiving of these things. i think what happened with me was that i turned off the "markiplier goggles" and saw the show objectively instead of "markiplier did this".

there were also obviously constraints like i said before that would be out of mark's control (direction at large, budget, etc.) so i feel like it's also incredibly unfair and a misrepresentation of the project as a whole to just call it markiplier's thing. i think this whole whatever that's going on with amazon and this and iron lung is unfair, because mark did not write the edge of sleep. he DID write iron lung. for that to be hanging in the balance is absurd. any writing criticism like my own that gets directed towards the edge of sleep may also be unfairly applied to iron lung before it even has legs to stand on. so just in case it wasn't crystal clear: i know iron lung will be good. i want iron lung. that doesn't mean the edge of sleep couldn't have been better.

[kkukkung]

it makes me happy that wonho gets to go to his mums cafe? it seems like he goes there a lot and i wouldn't really expect him to get that much freedom or free time? so i'm really happy ahhh +other idols going there! i hope the other members go sometimes toooo

jdjfienzhd you’re so pretty!!!! I love your hair! 😭me too!!!!!! tbh i’m still so surprised he gets to do that??? feel like generally monsta x has a lot more freedom than they did in 2015 + the first half of 2016, especially bc i’m p sure they have their phones and idk… just generally they seem to be so much more comfortable navigating the industry and it makes me happy :’>

more replies (dated oldest to newest) under the cut~

youre so beautiful i cry

omg… i…. thank you im sry im replying so so late (so late that… i forgot the context for it….) but rly… thank u… idk how to respond adequately to kind anons but rly i think ur all so so lovely for taking the time just to tell someone something nice like this tyvm i hope ur faring well anon and ur… v beautiful too i Know it… 💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕

Don’t look @ me but minhyuk in the kihyun cooking vlive was S*xy he was a lil dirty and mean and Real Boy™ it was……h*t anyways whns he gonna kick flip me outta this hemisphere

shut up fjfkhsggjk me too he’s like… such a dirty sock sometimes but he’s MY dirty sock u know… my favourite minhyuk is when he peels off his 50000 layers of fake personas and u see a glimmer of chaotic glee flit by in his alien countenance i love him sm sm sm when he’s a bit gross n mean n Filthy…. that’s my boy!!!!!!! that’s my boY!!!

tbh i never really thought Kihyun is perverted so i was a little suprised when it came up, and some people are saying now that they felt it (lol?), u said you also knew it, im sorry this so stupid but im really confused, like i dunno i always knew kihyun had an attitude but a perv ? lmao (not conplaining, just confused and a little lost, love ya) bye

omg lol sorry darling this isn’t stupid at all! i was 50% kidding 50% srs… he’s not… like actually ~perverted~ (none of them rly are??? but mb ck has the most Curiosity and he + mh make the most… dirty jokes… + wonho sometimes but he’s more happy in his softness ANYWAY) idk this is a bit irrelevant but just to explain, language-wise i always associate korean closer w chinese so even if im watching smth in eng sub i translate the subs into… chinese… kind of… to understand it better… and the word 변태 (byuntae) is the equivalent of 变态 (biantai) in chinese and while it means pervert/perverted it’s also just a general term for being strange/abnormal (in fact that’s its correct/real meaning + the former is more slang)… i think minhyuk was playing around with the connotations of it as well as just poking fun at kihyun bc he likes seeing kihyun look indignant! that said my 50% srsness in relation to this is… bc… um… i see kihyun as being… mb… into Some Things skjhfgkj but i won’t elaborate here!

minhyuk called wonho “hoseokie-hyung” once during fighter promotions if you didn’t know already 👀

me: *digging a 165cm long hole in the exact shape of my body* this is fine

Kihyun just wants to take up space .. as much as possible 💦😩

(this was in relation to when i called him out for manspreading…) maximum surface area for more efficient diffusion of his [redacted] [redacted]

Do you check out blogs?? hehe

yes sure jus like…. link me… jkfshg i tend to follow content creators/ppl who write interesting tags and i try not to follow anyone too much younger/older than me, that’s abt all! :>

minhyuk cuddling on jooheon during the no exist prologue was so 👌👌 sapping all of jooheon’s warmth while looking so soft and cute how does minhyuk do it 😩😩

it’s rly his Thing hm hm not to get… sappy but he’s so… full of love and jus wants to be physically close w everyone also when will he stop playing w his bottom lip… official minhyuk emoticon: >:3c

Annie your new mobile theme is so pink and pretty!!!!

tysm!!! sorry this is a late reply so it’s not… entirely relevant anymore jhsgfg but… i think i’m always going to have a pastel colour + bunny theme on this blog it’s my Branding now…. ty ty! 💖

“Reminds me of raw chicken” lmaooooo same 😂😂

(in relation to this post fjdkshg) i lov my uncooked chicken boy

U kno that clip of Michael Scott on the office where he yells “I’m gonna kill myself and it’s your fault” that’s me…. every time monsta x do something….. every time they change their hair colour….. I want death….I’m such a dramatic hoe

me!!!! too!!!! rly a lot more excited for monsta x’s new hair colours than i am… abt Most Things lol… happy w everyone’s hair colours except wonho’s ://// pls go darker

i legit think your tags are the best thing ever 

lov u! my tags are v messy and mostly whatever goes thru my mind in that given moment before i hit the rb tbh but i’m glad u enjoy them! 💖💖

What’s your favorite wonho pic?

currently:

Omg have u seen that mnet ep that had mx on right after their debut and it had hyorin and soyou on too and minhyuk was litrally. Losing his mind like they talked about his ideal type comment I think and soyou called him cute and then later he got put on soyou’s team for some game and he straight up lost his mind he was so excited dlfmgnk can he. Relax for one sec

jkdfshggkjsjdkfh i don’t remember this???? i feel like i probably watched smth like it a long time ago like i rmbr a few very awkward mx/sistar interactions after they just debuted. but this. i have to find this and watch it gjkshkjdfg. minhyuk has… no chill he’s not capable of being a normal human being… but also why is this me i would.. die if soyou looked @ me so umm……………lov my relatable man… my love rival… real talk it’s v cute that he likes her n i think generally lmh has a good people sense/knows what he wants from others

(the anon w the younger brother here!) he .. actually said wonho looked like a wolf???? im so ?????? abt that like where did it come from … also jooheon looks like a friend, changkyun just looks “overwhelmingly fed up” apparently????, and according to him hyungwon just has the （ ͡° _ゝ ͡° ） face ,,v interesting …

(part 1 of this!) omgggg this is still v cute i don’t see the ?? wolfiness of wonho (i am… after all… tumgler user bunnywonho…), but i can see how jooheon is shaped like a friend + ck is… finished… done… a lil bit dead inside-looking but not Really like that, n hyungwon… sjhfg i can… kinda see that too… ty for sharing this btw it’s v wholesome

♥️ sending you good vibes –an admirer

omg PLEASE “an admirer” ur too much… thank u though im sending good vibes back sweetheart 💕💕💕💕 got plenty of Good Feelings lately ily thank u thank u 💕

MINHYUK MAKES YOU THINK HE’S GOOD AND PURE. THEN HE BECOMES THIS EVIL LITTLE THING. LIKE A PUPPY CONSTANTLY BITING YOUR FEET

i feel like minhyuk stans are divided btwn… wanting to Love him intensely n lowkey wanting 2 smack him ??

BYE WHAT TH DOES “Die under kihyun” MEAN

(in relation to the tags on this post jkgfhsjkhf) IDK i think i just meant he isn’t as…. bullied w kihyun as the other members often are?? they operate on the same level… it wasn’t anything dirty if u were thinking it was…👀👀👀 im a pure stan w a bunny themed blog… 

So do you have a link to this sexuality analysis 👀

SORRY for the late reply it’s just here! don’t rly agree w some of it but other parts were insightful!

jdjfienzhd you’re so pretty!!!! I love your hair! 😭

hfddsjfkjsfjk thank u i’m jus…. a bean…. navigating the cosmos at the same time as monsta x…. and u, cutie……….. tysm my ego grows bigger w every nice msg i get… hope smth good happens to u today ily! 💓💓

that video of the guy ripping his pants n his dick flopping out is wonhos nightmare during every performance when he has to wear tight clothes

BE QUIET JKSHGSF I NEVER READ THIS ASK

is wonho turning 25 or 26?? im confused

he was born in 1993 officially (altho there is some speculation abt whether or not he was rly born in 92) but if we’re going by that then technically he’s turned 24, korean age 25 (bc ur 1 when ur born)… but he’s 26 by the lunar calendar… v confusing i know

Wow can’t believe youre a wonhoe anti 😕😕😕😖😖😖😧😧😧🤒🤒🤒🤒🤒

shh sdhjgkf but real talk i love wonho + minhyuk in v different… unquantifiable ways :’00