#like romance is such an overdone thing in media to the point where they will add a love interest for no fucking reason

[sk3l3t0n444]

tonights mood in 9 songs

[hollowsswritingcorner]

January 2024 Review

Book: A Witch's Guide to Fake Dating a Demon

Author: Sarah Hawley

Series: Glimmer Falls book 1

Rating:🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑

All of the plot twists were pretty obvious beforehand, but I think that's part of the charm to this book. It was a really cute, fun, and cozy read.

I loved the environmentalist themes and the dynamic between the two main characters. The way Oz helped Mariel be more confident in herself was wonderful and something I think is really important to exhibit in media.

Book: A Demon's Guide to Wooing a Witch

Author: Sarah Hawley

Series: Glimmer Falls book 2

Rating:🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗

This book was even better than it's predecessor. I absolutely adored Calladia as a character and the way Astaroth treated her once they became closer. The female empowerment in this book is one of my favorite aspects about it.

It shares the same issue with the first book in it's series in that the plot is rather obvious, but again, I think it serves the cozy fantasy vibes. I'm not a huge fan of the amnesia trope as it's really overdone, but I still recommend this book.

Book: The Lavender Haze

Author: June Bates

Series: Standalone

Rating:🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑

Comfy, sapphic poetry. It was a super short and nice read, but it does contain mentions of familial homophobia. A lot of the poems were more like stylized journal entries though, which was a bit of an odd choice in writing.

Book: With Love, and Sunflowers

Author: Brittany Cline

Series: Standalone

Rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕

I really enjoyed this collection, and it even inspired some of my own work. The entire thing is able to be read in one sitting and has poems of all parts of a relationship, including the bad.

This is a super underrated book and I hope to see more by this author in the future.

Book: Gothikana

Author: RuNyx

Series: Standalone

Rating:🌕🌕🌕🌕🌖

The writing may not be the best, but I love this book with my entire being. The story is haunting and simply beautiful to the point where I can look past the moments where the writing is a little male gaze-y (mostly in the beginning).

Seeing psychosis in a romance novel means a lot to me as I have family members who are schizophrenic. Having an MC with hallucinations is a nice change of pace.

Please check the trigger warnings for this book as it can be very intense.

[joe-kewl]

I'm saying this as someone who has been following the hentai communities' many talented artists for almost a decade. Do not assume I am some religious puritan saying all sex should be removed. I am restating, it is because of the sheer lack of chemistry in characters having sex on screen, or the awkwardness of seeing it on screen around other people.

But you need to understand the average person is sick of seeing it, especially in groups. I know sex is one of the "bases" in a romance. It's become so overdone and so routine and so meaningless with how quickly and cheaply its thrown out. When you have unlimited access to the most raunchy hardcore shit on demand, that edge is gone. You long for something sincere. Thus, in tandem WITH the loneliness epidemic, a factor not the single driving force, you get the result of people seeing how naked (pardon the pun) an attempt to shock you it is.

Furthermore, do not come at me with the fucking civil rights angle. Do not insult my intelligence by telling me there NEEDS to be gay sex on screen so gay sex is not stigmatized. I get it, you really really wanted to see Sam and Dean french kiss. You need to understand that you are the outlier in these viewpoints. The average person is SICK TO DEATH with "queer representation". It's become to the point where media will create a basic level LGBT character with no real personality for the sake of being there, saying they're queer, and then fucking off except maybe to have gay sex later. We don't get anymore Rose Lalondes in modern media, where you have a profound and deep character who's sexuality is later revealed, but it's become the opposite where characters are their sexuality first.

And people FUCKING hate it. I've had coworkers talk to me about shows they're watching, and the response is usually to the effect of "so I'm enjoying it, but a character comes in, says they're gay (usually in more words by saying, for example, as a man, "my husband), and they say oh okay I don't have to care about you, cause I know you're just going to be two dudes kissing and fucking later. They lost all attachment cause they know this character's existence is completely hollow and superficial. It's just there to bait people like you who say they need to exist for gay rights or some shit. It's chum. It's scraps of trash meat thrown out to attract you because they know you'll slop it up because you have no fucking standards. But you get to convince yourself you're an ally for civil rights.

You don't need more civil rights pushing. Gay people have rights. They arguably have more rights than non gays. A gay couple can go into a 30 year old family bakery run by a Christian grandma, demand gay cake toppers, and if she refuses, no matter why or how politely, they can charge her with a hate crime. That isn't someone who's oppressed, that's someone who's in an advantageous, protected status.

And don't try to throw out the "homophobe" shit either, I'm Bi and most of my friends are some flavor of LGBT too, so don't try the internalized variant either.

Plus, I'm someone who enjoys stuff like Devil May Cry, Gundam, and Kamen Rider. I know full well how far stretched from realism media can get, and suspension of disbelief pushed to its limits. I do not need to be told that art takes creative liberties.

As for your notion on the quantity of things, no. There isn't a "right" amount of sex, but there is absolutely a "wrong" amount. Too much of a good thing is not a good thing, as they say.

The simple fact of the matter is, on almost every one of your arguments, in nearly every paragraph you present, you are wrong.

I have complicated feelings toward the content of this research.

ON THE ONE HAND: I agree friendship and non-romantic/non-sexual relationships are under-developed and under-appreciated in modern media. 100% true and 100% a problem in our media landscape. I absolutely agree the overall balance is off and recalibrating it would probably be beneficial and warranted.

ON THE OTHER HAND: I am REALLY frightened and disturbed by young liberal people internalizing the notion that sex needs to be "necessary" or "justified" in a piece of media. And here's why...

Because the idea of sex needing to be highly "justified" in order to exist a highly puritanical idea that -- at the deepest level -- is responsible for a lot of modern and historical queerphobia.

The reason it seemed logical to treat gay sex (and therefore queer people) as 'sinful'/bad/wrong/against God's plan/etc. is because it served "no purpose." It was just decadence with no "higher value" (i.e., procreation). That's the root of so much homophobia and queerphobia both now and in the past. And it truly scares me that young queer people are starting to uncritically reiterate that idea without any appreciation for how damaging it has been, and how much pain it has caused.

We need to be really, Really, REALLY, REALLY careful with this whole Is the Sex 'Justified' framework we are starting to bring (back) to the way we approach sexual content within the public sphere (entertainment media, social media, etc.). That framework treats sex as Guilty Until Proven Innocent. Which is VERY dangerous to queer communities and queer people.

~*~*~

And I do want to stress, it's not that I've never seen uses of sex in media that seemed perfunctory or gratuitous IN THE SENSE THAT it was clearly just so a woman could take her top off purely to be titillating, or a male character could be shown as extra ~macho~/manly because he fucks. I've seen that, and I don't love it either.

But we can critique those uses of sex in media WITHOUT falling into the trap of - Sex is BY DEFAULT Gratuitous/Guilty until Proven Innocent (innocent meaning justified 800 ways to Sunday). That is taking the whole thing way too far in the other direction. And believe me, most of history exists in that other direction and IT WAS VERY VERY BAD. You don't want any piece that, I assure you.

[booasaur]

Hey! Longtime follower here - love your taste and thoughtful reflection on wlw media. Including books! Saw the rec on hidden gems, like The One Who Eats Monsters and thought you might like another couple of books (whenever you're in a reading mood), that's sort of had a similar staying power in my head.

The Lowest Healer and the Highest Mage - somewhat twisty kind of story, with a hilariously sarcastic narrator (who doesn't spell out all the details...so we have to read between the lines), and a slow burn. Add a somewhat urban fantasy setting, that involves mages!

And the sequel - re-read this 3 times - some just incredibly visceral emotional moments

They're on Kindle Unlimited - where I discovered them, and immediately decided to buy them after

Hope you enjoy them, if you get a chance to check them out! And thanks again for the thousands of amazing recs you've shared over the years!

Hi, anon! This was such a pleasant, thoughtful ask to get, especially in the middle of my little melancholy.

As a matter of fact, probably because of how good the fic-reading was going--actually, I referred to fics a couple of times over these months, as a retreat, as a replacement, but even then, I was doing them a disservice. So many fics were so good, it reminded me of why I love media and fiction in the first place, the stories and the people sharing them. They're just good for their own sake. And femslash writers are truly heroic, when you see the difference in engagement they get.

But anyway, I was in a place to at least start the first book, just to get it off my plate and say I'd tried. I didn't think I'd like it, lol, not because I don't like recs or self-published, I just have a low hit rate on books in general, but it got me! It pulled me in at the start, precisely because, as you said, it didn't spell stuff out and just jumped into things. Bad introductory exposition is the absolute #1 reason I stop reading so this passed that, and then it was just a really engrossing read. I liked the story and romance and worldbuilding/magic system, and really did not expect the reveals and twists!

I might have overdone it on the reading, I finished it that first day, and then wasn't able to start book 2 (did go back to fics again) but I've bought both and will definitely try to read the second at some point. Any book time I get right now is devoted to the ARCs someone keeps requesting, lowering my Netgalley review rate.

Thanks again for the lovely ask and the successful rec!

[bookwyrminspiration]

Hey, what’s your take on Marella and Linh? I think out of all queer ships they have the most potential to be canon.

I think I agree with that assessment of their relationship, and I have no qualms with them that immediately come to mind. If any queer ships were to become canon, I'd assume it would be Marellinh

(I focused on their potential to be canon in this post, but if you'd like me to look more at their relationship and interactions, comparing and contrasting them, I can do that too!)

Of course, they have the classic fire/water theme going on, so I think that draws a lot of attention. It's a very obvious opposites attract but are also equals kind of situation, balancing each other out and understanding each other in a way no one else can. We've gotten so used to that kind of dynamic through various different medias that it only seems natural for it to happen in this story as well. There's also less risk of it being seen as just another overdone trope in kotlc because the target audience is younger and likely hasn't seen as many/any other stories do the fire and water thing. They might compare later fire/water pairings to keeper and be like "yea i've already seen that in kotlc"

there's also another key point: this queer ship doesn't contain any of the people from the love triangle. In terms of wlw pairings, a lot of the popular ones in the fandom include Sophie--sophiana, hekster, solinh--and I simply cannot see that happening. Sophie has very clearly been put into a het love triangle and her romance story is going to revolve around the boys also in that triangle. And I don't even think I want her to be in a queer relationship at this point. It's too far into the series and doing so would feel very forced, something done for the represenation points. I'd rather she stick to her love triangle situation. The same goes for Keefe and Fitz; they've both been wrapped up in this Sophie situation for long enough that giving either of them a queer relationship at this point would also feel forced. So if there is going to be a queer relationship in keeper, it's not going to be with the three of them, so Marellinh is a better option

and another thing: there's no past history between the two of them to work through like there is with other characters. Maruca got left behind by everyone in the group except for Linh, who wasn't part of said group at the time. There's nothing to hold against her. Where as a pairing between other characters like Stina and Biana would have a lot of fraught history and would take more time to work through, time Shannon doesn't have in the last two books. Linh and Marella have a clean foundation, so it would be significantly easier to give them a satisfying relationship.

I will say though that I have absolutely zero expectation of any queer ships becoming canon--or even hinted at--in kotlc. I love hearing about them in fandom spaces and seeing what people come up with, but the story itself has been very clearly focused on het ships and crushes, so I don't expect that to change in the last two books.

This doesn't mean I think it's impossible, as Shannon very well might surprise me. But! It does mean I'm not holding out hope and I anticipate that we will be seeing queer ships--even Marellinh with all it's potential--solely in fandom spaces.

I do love Marellinh and find them to be a few sweet queer couple when I do see art/read fic about them!! They have, in my opinion, the best chance of becoming canon out of all queer ships in the book, so we'll have to see what happens

[eabhaalynn]

My 11 Songs of the Decade (because 10 would be boring and is overdone.)

Cigarette Daydreams – Cage the Elephant

The song… This is the closing song of Cage the Elephant’s 2013 album, Melophobia, and the third single released from this album. It describes the pain of someone’s search for their own identity through the musings of a parted lover.

For me… To this day, this is the song I cry to. This always has been me and my friend Iona’s song. It will forever be inseparable from the Ulster Museum and Botanic Gardens in Belfast, from rainy summer’s days and rants about our seemingly massive problems with GCSEs and girls from school. When she went abroad for her gap year, I couldn’t bear to listen to it. It’s another one of these songs that manages to articulate what it feels like to be young and thinking too much.

Key lyric…If we can find a reason, a reason to change Looking for the answer If you can find a reason, a reason to stay Standing in the pouring rain

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvVJ0v6Vta8

Ribs – Lorde

The song… This is a deep house influenced electronica song that discusses Lorde’s stress over ageing. It was released on her debut album, Pure Heroine, in 2013. It begins ambiently and builds to become increasingly more frantic as the song progresses.

For me… Despite being released when I was a young teenager, this song was written when Lorde was sixteen or seventeen. It articulates exactly what it feels like to be that age, at that stage of life. I’m quite sure teenagers across the globe can relate to that. This song has been the soundtrack of my teenage years, the imagery is both relatable and accessible. Listening now, it gives me a sense of nostalgia, a yearning to be back where I was a year, or two or three years ago. Even now, it is the sound of being alone in a crowd. It is musically perfect, and a piece of exceptional songwriting.

Key lyric…This dream isn't feeling sweet We're reeling through the midnight streets And I've never felt more alone It feels so scary, getting old

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qaeoz_7cyE

Sign of the Times – Harry Styles

The song…  This is Harry Style’s debut single as a solo artist. It was released in early 2017 and appears on his self-titled debut album. It is a power ballad with eclectic influences from genres such as soft rock, indie rock, glam rock and psychedelic soul. It features Styles’ vocals alongside choral harmonies throughout. It is essentially about avoiding emotion during times of grief and hardship.

For me…This is the song of me leaving school (for the first time). Listening to it now coughs up all the feelings of relief, and yet uncertainty. Excitement, but also nerves. Summer 2017 was a turning point for me. I had had a terrible couple of years over my GCSEs, and overall, my second school was a far better place for me to be than my first one ever was. At the time though, I didn’t know this. Sure, how could I? This song helped me figure out my feelings, and make sense of feeling happy when I really didn’t know what I should have felt at all.

Key lyric…We don't talk enough, we should open up Before it's all too much Will we ever learn? We've been here before It's just what we know

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qN4ooNx77u0

Ride – Lana Del Rey

The song… This song comes from Lana Del Rey’s third EP, Paradise, released in 2012. It served as the first single of this re-release. It is a ballad that includes, among other themes, parental problems, loneliness and alcohol misuse. Del Rey sings over a string drenched, piano driven melody.

For me… This is the song of every summer. It has never been an exceptionally happy song for me, but it is the embodiment of what it is to feel young and alive, if a little bit tired. The glamour of it, alongside the acknowledgement that everything isn’t perfect, but that they will be okay if you just go with the flow, was exactly what I needed at the time it was released. The blissful uncertainty of the summers of being 14 and 15, partnered with the irrelevance of the future, is exactly what this song will always be about for me.

Key lyric… Been trying hard not to get into trouble But I, I've got a war in my mind I just ride, just ride

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Py_-3di1yx0

Don’t Delete the Kisses – Wolf Alice

The song… This is the second single from Wolf Alice’s second album, Visions of a Life. It is characterised as dream pop, synth pop, shoegaze and indie rock. Frontwoman Rowsell referred to it as “one of those, you know, ‘head out the window on a long drive’ kind of tunes.’

For me… If ‘ribs’ is the sound of being seventeen, then surely this is the sound of falling in love. This song is the ultimate love song. I am absolutely convinced of it. It is greater than any one person as it is simply the sound of the feeling. I am very lucky that I actually was falling in love for the first time at the time this was released. I will always be indebted to Ellie Rowsell for being there to tell me in plain English how I was feeling. This song has defined every ‘lovey dovey’ mood I have been in for the last two and a half years. I’m sure most people of my age feel the same. It was written for the era we are living in and it is perfectly suited to it.

Key lyric…I see the signs of a lifetime, you 'til I die

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqxE-zppu30

Motion Sickness – Phoebe Bridgers

The song… This is the third single from Phoebe Bridger’s 2017 Debut album ‘Stranger in the Alps.’ It describes “being in love with someone who is super mean to you… like conflicted feelings.” Bridger’s stated to radio station KCRW that the song was written about fellow musician Ryan Adams.

For me… Admittedly, I discovered this song late in the decade. But it’s a song about feelings. Like, really hard feelings. This decade, and especially the latter half of it, threw up a lot of feelings, about a lot of things. I suppose this is fairly standard for most people approaching the end of their teenage years. It’s angsty, without being too bothered about anything. It’s raw and honest; articulating everything I’ve felt about everyone at one stage or another, and I’m equally, I’m sure it articulates enough people’s feelings about me.

Key lyric… You said when you met me you were bored And you, you were in a band when I was born

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sfYpolGCu8

A & E – Brand New Friend

The song… This illustrates the rise and fall of a relationship, and in doing so highlights the more melancholic acoustic side of Northern Irish indie pop group Brand New Friend. It was initially released in 2016 as the closing song of their debut EP, American Wives, but was remastered and re-released on their 2017 album Seatbelts for Airplanes.

For me… This is the song of the medicine application. Bearing in mind I know this band, and know that there is a well-developed meaning to the song that has nothing to do with me, this is the song that I have listened to, and seen live, countless times from the day I decided I wanted to be a doctor to the day I got into medical school and beyond. It is a rare and beautiful connection to have to a song like this, and one for which I am forever going to be grateful. Now, I can’t hear the song live without bawling my wee eyes out. I have come so far, and the band have too, and the song has been with us every step of the way. That truly means the world to me.

Key lyric… She wants to be a paramedic / Wants to save a strangers life / Now she wants to hold my hand / Does she know she’s saving mine?

https://open.spotify.com/track/5RmOfF1s5zW2B942H9OGXT?si=hsauA8iXQN6mXQnL8s0fBw

Brazil – Declan McKenna

The song… McKenna initially self-released this song in December 2014. It is critical of FIFA, of their awarding of the 2014 World Cup to Brazil without addressing the deep rooted and extensive poverty affecting the Nations people. It gained widespread media attention throughout the FIFA corruption scandal, before featuring on his debut album, ‘What do you think about the Car?’ in July 2017. It is an indie rock song that is driven by guitars and synths.

For me… This song was the sound of 2016 and 2017. It was released a while before this but I was fairly late jumping on the bandwagon. It’s a political song, speaking of the injustices behind FIFA and their 2014 World Cup in Brazil. As an angry little leftist, I have always appreciated this. I can only appreciate it more knowing that Declan McKenna himself was only fourteen when he wrote it. For me the song has many happy memories attached to it, from the long summer walks from my house to the nearest village to see my friends who were working as sailing instructors, to attending a tiny gig of Declan McKenna’s in the Oh Yeah Centre in Belfast and being about 6 feet from his face while he was 6 feet from the cusp of fame.

Key lyric…Because you've had your chances, yeah you've had enough I'm gonna burn your house down to spread peace and love

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duHjQ3BE6D8

Robbers – The 1975

The song… This is the sixth single from the 1975’s self-titled debut album. It was released as a single in May 2014. The song’s concept follows an ill-fated robbery, and was inspired in part by the 1993 film ‘True Romance.’ It is essentially about a relationship in which the partners are too focused on each other to notice the destruction they are each causing.

For me… This song is fairly definitive of my teenage years as a whole. The narrative of a toxic relationship that the writer could not, or would not leave, was one that I always managed to connect to, across all aspects of my life as a young teenager, encountering uncomfortable situations within school and with different people and groups of friends. Matty Healy was (and honestly still is) one of the biggest crushes I’ve ever had. I’ve now heard this song live three different times, at three completely different phases of my life. It is a song with so much meaning, and yet one that has grown and evolved with me throughout the decade.

Key lyric… Now everybody's dead And they're driving past my old school And he's got his gun, he's got his suit on She says, 'Babe, you look so cool'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iyy3YOpxL2k

Get Well Soon – Ariana Grande

The song… This is the final song on Grande’s 2017 album ‘Sweetener,’ it is a soul ballad with layered vocals, and is inspired by Grande’s personal anxiety and trauma following the May 2017 terrorist attack following her concert in Manchester. In memory of the 22 victims of this attack, there is a 40 second moment of silence at the end of the song.

For me… I am, and have been, a very anxious person for a very long time. This is something I have never really hid away from, but also never felt up to talking openly about. This song manages to describe the feelings associated with anxiety in a way I have never heard any mainstream musician attempt before. Ariana’s concert which was attacked in May 2017, that which inspired this song, immediately followed her concert that my father and sister had attended, and so the whole song and sequence of events is and always has been very close to home for me.

Key lyric…I'm too much in my head, did you notice? (Girl, what’s wrong with you? Come back down)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXU4P6j3TNY

She’s Thunderstorms – Arctic Monkeys

The song… This is the first song from the fourth studio album by arctic monkeys; Suck it and See, released in 2011. It originated when Alex Turner was looking for a new way of complimenting someone. It begins with an Eastern inspired riff and is fairly heavily guitar led, characteristic of this period in the Arctic Monkey’s discography

For me… I’d be lying if I said this isn’t one of my favourite songs of all time. I chose it for this list because it is my favourite song by the arctic monkeys, who are my favourite band. Its subject, Alexa Chung, basically leads the life I wish I had. Even more so at the time this song was written than now. I remember being twelve or thirteen and just wanting someone to write something like this for me. The sheer detail of the lyrics is beautiful and so captivating, they played a huge part in helping me find my love for music in an accessible way. I loved, and still do love, the relationship they had. I feel like it translated so well into his music, and into the popular culture that shaped my teenage years exceptionally well.  

Key lyric…Here is your host, sounds as if she's pretty close When the heat starts growing horns She's thunderstorms

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQSQnHh4rPE

[littlemisssquiggles]

Hey squiggles ! I’m going around sending asks to blogs I want to get to know and I was wondering, what are some of your favorite tropes ? Just in general

Hey Dame. Pardon the late response. Umm…my favourite tropes? You mean like in general or for like anything specific---like romance tropes?

Well I guess to give you somewhat of an answer, when it comes to hero protagonists, this squiggle meister is a sucker for the “Spunky Happy Go Lucky---My Friends Are My Power” type of hero.

I love the type of carefree hero who is able to inspire and make friends with any and every one they meet; inclusive of villains. I like the type of protagonist/hero who is always able to see the good in others and is willing to stand by their beliefs even if it may not be the wisest choice.

I love a protagonist who thinks more with their hearts than their minds, y’know what I mean? To do what they believe is right because it’s for betterment of others.

While some may find those types of characters or even heroes boring and overdone, for me, I’ve always favoured those types of heroes overall since I find them more endearing and relatable in my opinion. They may not be the strongest fighter or the smartest strategist but due to their determined spirit, tenacity and sheer strength of will, they’re always able to overcome the odds through their hard-work and perseverance.  Since you know me mainly for my involvement in the RWBY FNDM, this helps explain why I love Ruby Rose so much as a protagonist. She basically embodies what I like most in a protagonist character. (I just…wished her development and overall story was handled much better…)

Bottom-line, I’m more or less open to pretty much any kind of character if their story is done right and handled well-enough that it engages me as the audience.

These days, I’m noticing a lot of modern day shows and media having this weird trend of making their protagonist or title characters “too perfect”. Meaning that there never really seems to be any hard work to how they achieve their newfound abilities or other accomplishments. Everything just gets handed to them without any kind of real effort and they’re always beloved by everyone they meet without any real need to establish a relationship; even when said title character has no good or redeeming qualities.

Lately I’ve noticed a weird trend where there doesn’t seem to be any kind of effort being put into actually developing stories or ideas.

Things just happen as they need to for that certain point in the plot even if it may contradict previous developments in the story. I’m not saying this is the case of all stories but I have spotted a couple. And it’s such a shame since that type of storytelling always falls flat to me. In my eyes, a well written story is no different than a well-cooked meal or dessert.

If it’s prepared well, there’s no need for the chef to really boast to me as the person dining how delicious their meal will taste since the proof will be in the pudding. In respect to stories, I’m not a fan of folks telling me that I should like or dislike a story just because it has X, Y and Z in it. If that is the case then as the reader or viewer, I should be able to see that in the story and judge it for myself as I see it.

That’s like telling me I should love or hate a slice of double chocolate cake just because it was made with a certain brand of chocolate that was known for its unique flavour because it was made from coco beans that were grown from the dung of some indigenous animal.

A cool artsy-fartsy titbit, yes, but….it doesn’t really tell me anything about the overall taste of the cake. That just mentions one of its ingredients which isn’t enough to tell me how much I’m going to enjoy said cake. The only way I will be able to know whether or not I’d like said cake is if I eat it for myself. Thus, if it was made with a certain type of ingredient---particularly one that’s described to be a key factor in its taste then by common sense reasons, I should be able to taste said key ingredient the moment I take the first bite, right?

The same can be said about stories. Going back to my food analogy, it’s exactly like I said---a great story is no different than a well-cooked meal. As I’ve mentioned several times in the past, I’m a glutton for detail, mainly in art but it’s the same for my interest in stories and writing. I love it when writers take their time to carefully craft their stories; perfectly blending all the key elements to their story together to make sure that everything---even the most minute of details---lines up and thus builds up to whatever narrative they’re trying to tell. Not sure if this counts as a “trope” but I guess it can help justify why I become so invested in certain types of stories and why I’m so adamant to certain elements of storytelling such as the importance of consistency.

I’m not too keen on what some might call “poor writing” or rather “sloppy storytelling”. Unlike a well-crafted story which allows for a bit of fun with literature when deciphering the tale (if you’re into that kind of stuff like yours truly when I’m coming up with theories), sloppy storytelling has the opposite effect. Sloppy stories aren’t nearly as fun to indulge in. Like their title suggests, they’re a mess. And from my observations, sloppy stories are always obvious in where their true problems lie and always result in hurting the narrative and inevitably killing the enjoyment or overall interest a viewer or reader might have in said story.

Again, not sure if this counts as a trope but hopefully my response at least lives up to helping you (and anyone else curiously reading this) in getting to know more about me and how I tend to think about certain things. Let me know if this answers you, fam.

~LittleMissSquiggles (2021)

[hypexion]

The Return of Doctor Mysterio combines Doctor Who with superheroes. Ignoring, for the moment that if Batman counts as superhero, the Doctor must be one as well. So grab your capes and masks, then put the cape back before you hurt yourself, because it’s hero time.

Grant “The Ghost” Gordon has an origin story straight from the comics - after helping an alien in trouble, he was exposed to a otherworldly gem, and acquired extraordinary powers. Which is to say, the Doctor nearly fell off a roof and told a sick child to take something, and hilarity ensured. Skip ahead two decades and Grant is the mysterious Ghost, flying around New York and saving people. While also not performing proper childcare, which the Doctor calls him out on but then the narrative immediately forgets. “Child neglect“ is not an appealing character trait, especially given how the Doctor caused this whole mess by looking after random children.

But where would a superhero be without a love interest to do the overdone secret identity romance with? In a much better place, honestly. Lucy Fletcher (or Lucy Lombard) fills that role with about as much dignity as is possible, being pretty much a straight pastiche of Lois Lane. Right down to not realising that Grant is the Ghost, even though she probably sees him a lot. Even the Doctor finds it the most galactically stupid thing he’s ever seen. Yet Lucy is also able to extract information more effectively than the Time Lords, simply by using a squeaky toy. I guess she sort of has the excuse that she’s only met the Ghost once, and he does actually wear a mask, so total embarrassment is avoided. It’s still something that can be done without, however.

Really, I’m not that sold on the Grant/Lucy relationship. Sure, I love a good “dorks in love“ plot, but I don’t think they quite hit the right notes for that, so it’s all kinds of awkward instead. Then there’s also the thing with Grant’s friend who did a runner in the backstory, because Steven Moffat is apparently incapable of writing a relationship without making everyone Deeply Uncomfortable. I’m sure there was a way to make it work, just not in the way it was done.

Anyhow, the villians are Harmony Shoal, the brain people from the last episode. They are now the actual baddies, and are doing a classic body-snatching alien invasion. Which is perhaps the only invasion you can do when you’re a species of bodyless brains. The brains are a pretty creepy idea, but perhaps suffer from being in the superhero episode. They also have a decent plan to acquire all the bodies they - fake an alien attack on New York, then use their undestroyed building as bait. Then they can replace world leader’s brains with themselves. Ultimately, Harmony Shoal are defeated, but one of the brains escapes. Into a UNIT soldier, who will be shortly laid off when UNIT is disbanded, leading the plot thread to go nowhere.

Nardole is also in this episode. Mostly he is the same comedy guy he was last time, but he is beginning to morph into a more serious guy. He is concerned about the Doctor now that River time is over. Honestly Nardole doesn’t do much and could be dropped.

Ultimately, like a lot of superhero media, The Return of Doctor Mysterio makes for easy watching, as long as you don’t overthink it. There’s the classic “why are they not using their powers“ scene, and the implications of the Doctor knowing an actual superhero are soundly ignored. I can think of several future episodes where calling the Ghost would be a much better solution than what actually happens. But as episodes go, it’s not too bad, which at this point in Doctor Who is not something you can rely on.

[monkey-network]

Good Stuff's Best of 2019

WARNING: Just wanted to say cheers to you for making it through another year. I send you best wishes for next year to be fruitful. Thank you, take care out there, and enjoy. (Best of 2017) (Best of 2018)

Dedicated to Russi Taylor, John Witherspoon, Rip Torn, Tartar Sauce, Caroll Spinney, Peter Matthews, and the many of KyoAni lost in the arson incident. You all did wonderful; rest in peace.

Welp, I figured the last year of this decade would be the most chaotic one by far, then again everything peak after 2012. As for now, I am counting down the best cartoons/animations/comics I’ve seen and loved this year in no particular order other than #1. Same rules apply: No sneak previews of future projects, no repeats, and this time anything goes.

Runner Ups: Superman Smashes the Klan, Marvel’s Aero, Infinity Train, Enter the Florpus, Amphibia, Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart, Helluva Boss, Meta Runner, Lego Movie 2, Forky Asks a Question

Anyways, Badda boom bang whiz, let’s do this shizz...

10. Super Mario Bros GT

Nostalgia can be quite a mystery, especially one that can come out of nowhere. Super Mario Bros Z kicked so much ass as a kid that now, it still frustrates me to this that it got a cease & desist from Nintendo, even the reboot from the same person couldn’t last long. But the gods have offered a slight miracle in the form of this new spiritual successor that has heart and soul put into every pixelated frame. There is much to celebrate with Youtube animation, where many say it’s dying due to the algorithm and all of the site’s corporate bullshit, but it’s stuff like this which helps me understand why we should celebrate. Against all odds, channels like Smasher Block willfully put their works out their for the people and continues to because on top of getting a little dough, it’s what they want to do.

9. DC SUPER HERO GIRLS (2019)

Awwwwww yeah, this is She-Ra and the Princesses of Power done right. Diverse female squad, each given a quality screen time to truly shine (Beecher especially) on their which makes the episodes where they’re all together feel earned and joyous to watch. Certainly reminds me of Friendship is Magic, which is coincidental since they were created by the same woman. I’d like to think this and MLP G4 were the answers to Faust’s cancelled project Milky Way and the Galaxy Girls where multiple personalities collide to one extraordinary superhero team of girls capable great feats that are lifted from their insecurities or drawbacks. And on top of this being a fun series to kick back to all around, it’s a comforting, somewhat aspiring thought to consider.

8. JOKER

I am somebody that rarely goes to the theaters to watch a film; you have to hook my tight just for me to even think of buying a ticket, no less plan to. But honestly, Joker was worth the hype, the ticket, and the fact that it wasn’t the incel uprising that buttfuck normies tried to make it out as. It’s lower on the list because in thought, there definitely could’ve been some tweaks to the dialogue and a couple scenes that I felt didn’t work in the long run. But really, this movie to me worked because of the escalation that leads to a cathartic climax and ending that left me in actual tears. I don’t give a shit if it “doesn’t fit”, having Frank Sinatra sing the film's credits put me in shambles. Joaquin Phoenix was phenomenal as Arthur, and this movie felt authentic in its many details. This is definitely up there with my favorite comic book films of all time. Good thing, too, Spider-Man was taking up most of that shelf.

7. TUCA & BERTIE

This series being what I can’t help but say is a spin-off to Bojack Horseman, a show I respect, was enough to pull me into watching it. But it being like Bojack where it’s tight-roping between a bouncy comedy and a grounded drama was what kept me around for more. It is a damn shame this was cancelled after one season (while 13 Reasons Why gets FOUR seasons like what the fuck), because while this did feel enough like a complete series, I was certainly interested for more because I really enjoyed it all. I have my issue with a couple choices in the show, but I am sure this series would’ve addressed them later down the line. I can see why some women would find this personally endearing, it felt like the personal stories of actual people, and it deserved better. Either way, I enjoyed this series and I recommend it just as much as Bojack.

6. PRIMAL

Genndy Tartakovsky is that kind of cartoon creator where you feel he’ll go beyond if you give him the right amount of space. He’s not a perfectionist like John “Dirty Diddler” Kricfalusi, but with things like Hotel Transylvania and Samurai Jack, he certainly has proven to have the range in animation where you know how he plays. Primal showcasing his noted skill in dialogue-less storytelling and dynamic action scenes, able to convey everything clear with its ruthless yet careful protagonist and his dinosaur friend, all on top of the most luscious backgrounds. This is a series that definitely feels like Genndy’s taken what he’s used from his previous works and putting it together for a brutal yet passionate look at the prehistoric life. He truly brought us an adult series to enjoy and to look forward to more in the coming year.

5. SPINEL

Bet you didn’t expect a character to be on this list, eh? Spinel is the best thing to come out of Steven Universe in general; makes me wish she was in a better movie. The crew certainly did their darndest to make her not only an enjoyable and connectable character through and through, but a very versatile character that the fandom could take in any which way. Call it corny, but Spinel perfectly represents SU as a whole: a lovable goof that can certainly mean business but deep down is deserved of a hug because of what she’s gone through. Wish she had a more satisfying resolution in her respective debut, but really it’s the balance between those three elements mentioned that makes Spinel almost eternally wonderful.

4. MOB PSYCHO 100 II

As someone that doesn’t like reading, I’m a firm believer that the best animations or visual medias elevate the writing to a memorable degree; the visuals hook to the point where you want to think about what you saw and how it was conveyed. Mob Psycho 100, for two seasons now, does this in spades where Studio Bones throw them bones in animating one of the most dynamic animes of the modern era, providing the writing and characters a proper chance to flex its muscles. The characters are especially what makes this and MP100 as a whole work so well, the story being about a boy learning to be more sociable as well as emotionally stronger all while helping others understand maturity and empathy. For more on this, I recommend Hiding in Public’s video(s) on Mob. But with the animation, Bones was able to provide a sense of impact and immersion to the moments that matter, not making it an overstimulating mess, and putting some respect on ONE’s webcomic art style. 

3. KLAUS

Hands down, this is a great Christmas movie. Take away the animation and you have a charming, wanna say ground and authentic, story about the makings of Santa Claus. With memorable and likable characters, a nice escalation in terms of the plot, and moments that are/can be so satisfying, they can bring you to tears. A couple overdone tropes in the road that doesn’t make this the most perfected story, but those sincerely minor compared to everything else that makes this story the best. Now. Add in the animation, and you have a gold, nay a platinum animated story of the year where the visuals definitely enhance the story to a degree where they’re undoubtedly inseparable. The visuals alone is enough to check this movie out and it’s eye-opening when you learn of how it’s all done. Klaus is a film that did it’s job and then some, and I hope this will be well remembered as a classic holiday film for it deserves that status.

2. BEASTARS

I’ll be fair, I’m mostly referring to the manga and not the anime but since the anime premiered this fall, it counts. Because be it the anime or the series overall, Beastars has such well intricate world building all while offering a little something for everyone (violence, romance, slice of life). The story is well paced and even when we aren’t focusing on the main characters momentarily, Itagaki is surprisingly able to make every supporting/side character we come across memorable in their own way; like I said before, the city is much a character in this story. Oh yeah, and the mangaka is the daughter of Keisuke “Grappler Baki” Itagaki, that in itself is a treasuring bit of trivia for this. Everything about Beastars is enticing and Studio Orange certainly helped in giving this series more of a following.

1. GREEN EGGS & HAM

Well, well, well. Guess Netflix is three for three in terms of bringing its best foot forward among its few steps back each year. The best term to describe this series is surprising. Surprising that this is a Dr. Seuss story that got expanded a 13 episode series, that has fleshed out characters, fun hijinks, an easy story, lovely emotional, more quieter moments... on top of being 2D hand drawn animated. I mean, what else is there to say? Green Eggs and Ham is to Dr. Seuss what Seven was for Final Fantasy, what Friendship is Magic was for MLP, what watermelon was before a nice menthol cigarette. This definitely took the top spot because to me, it was able to bring many good elements from the previous entries and knot it all together into a well kept bow that I never knew I wanted until now. I’m genuinely glad this show got to exist the way it is and I am hoping, praying, that the second season keeps that momentum up.

That leads us to the actual number one which is

1. STEVEN UNIVERSE FUT-

Total Dramarama is now the two time World Heavyweight Champion, babey. Will 2020 give us a quality contender? Will the streak last another year?

Stay tuned, and always seek out the Good Stuff.

[agwitow]

Uh, it mostly involves how two characters meet. I read a post on here that people are basically "oh no" when the main hetero couple meet, and they catch each other's gaze and all, but in my story the main couple are LGBTQ+, people mistake them for straight, but one of them has premonition dreams, so she actually dreams up of when she meets the main guy but she's rather shaken about it because she didn't think it would actually happen. They don't really fall in love until much later though

Hi there, Nonny! Sorry I didn’t reply right away. Mobile was not being my friend. >.

Now, if I’ve misunderstood what you’re asking, please let me know and I’ll try to give you a better answer.

So, there are many tropes that are considered “tired” when it comes to white, cis, hetero characters. That’s entirely because of the overabundance of such characters in literature and other media. I remember reading a thing where someone compared it to chocolate cake. WCH people have been served chocolate cake for so long, they’re sick of it. Now they want lemon cake. Or maybe even a pie. But people who aren’t WCH have hardly ever gotten to enjoy chocolate cake, so they still enjoy it.

Even among the WCH crowd, there are some people who will never get sick of chocolate cake. So there is definitely a large chunk of people who will enjoy the “tired trope.” Don’t worry if someone (or even several someones) tell you it’s overdone. There are still people who will love it.

Okay, onto what I feel like is the second part of the question.

You’ve got a seemingly hetero pairing, even though they are both LGTBQ. As long as it’s clear they are LGTBQ, it is still serving that chocolate cake to people who don’t get it very often. Case in point, I’m a bi woman married to a cis man. I don’t know that I’ve ever read a romance involving that type of pairing (at least, not where it hasn’t also been implied that the woman wasn’t actually bi. As in, she was just “experimenting” or that he “cured” her, or some other HIGHLY offensive nonsense). And there are lots of ways two people can appear to be hetero while also being LGTBQ, so I don’t think that detracts in any way from the chocolate cake you’re serving.

Now, I’m not sure if I’m reading too much into your ask, but I feel that you might also be wondering about having the gal have a vision of the meet cute, but then not having it actually happen until later. And/or, they have the meet cute but don’t realize it’s a “meet cute” until much later.

Personally, I squeed a little when I read that. It sounds super adorable. (No clue your genre or anything else about the story, but it just seems really cute to me) 

Honestly, I don’t see any inherent problems with any of the these things. Can they be overdone? Sure. But it really depends on how it’s executed. The concepts themselves are perfectly fine.

I hope that helped, and wish you all the luck in your writing journey.

xoxo

[grass-skirt]

As promised, here’s my Overlord review! Overall? It’s pretty good! Is it perfect? Nah. There are some parts where the story feels like it hits a lull for a bit too long. There are also complaint’s about the anime’s visual quality in the 3rd season. And while Albedo obsessing over Ainz is can be funny, 

I feel like it keeps her from being a more developed and interesting character. (Plus some of the early fanservicy moments with Albedo were kind of mortifying to watch for me in the anime.) 

Still, what I like about it is something I’ve mentioned before, which is that it’s a story that primarily follows monsters who are largely indifferent (or worse) to humans, but not without principles. An anon asked me about Overlord being dull because of how overpowered Ainz is, and yeah. Sure there are villains to fight, but so far there is no big bad guy, or even big good hero, out there to pose a serious threat to Skeletor and the Monster Mash crew because they’re level 99 monsters in a world that, for the most part, might as well be Stardew Valley to them. But that doesn’t prevent it from being fun, exciting, and compelling! For starters, Ainz isn’t just an overpowered Overlord going around wasting everyone. Think of him this way: he’s a regular guy who got stuck in the edgy body of his D&D character in a new and unknown world and now he has to fake it till he makes it

Plus, the story isn’t exclusively about him and his overpowered squad. The story also follows plucky adventurers, washed up famous swordsmen, lizardpeople romance, royal politics, a small village where humans and goblins live together

and more. A lot of the plot and a lot of the tension and drama builds up here, with the supporting cast and the world that the series builds. It’s also what makes the story feel unique and interesting. Ainz and company don’t think of themselves as evil. But they also don’t think of themselves as good. Sometimes they do good things for other people, and other times they do things that are truly villainous. And we see and feel that from both sides. We don’t just get attached to the monsters who are our protagonists--the story also makes sure that we get attached to both the people they help and the people they hurt. The further along the story gets, the more Ainz and his monsters become both the heroes and the villains of the same story

That also leads into one of the reasons why some people won’t want to get into this series. It’s legitimately hard to root for them sometimes when they’re acting in callous or downright pointlessly cruel ways. Just because I find it interesting as part of the larger narrative doesn’t mean I think it’s always fun to see. It gets graphically brutal at points, and likable people who did nothing wrong get killed. The series may be filled with comedy, but it gets tragic too. And this is also the area where the series goes fully Edgy every now and then. 

But if that’s not a deterrent then Overlord is a solid series with a great cast, especially for people who love monsters, a fun take on an overdone premise, and an interesting plot that gets more complex as the story goes on, all wrapped up in a neat medieval fantasy world (which I know I’m always a sucker for). For anyone interested, there’s the light novel (the official/true canon version), the anime, and manga (which is pretty far behind the other two, FYI). Obviously there are differences between them, but rather than trying to tell you that you should read the novels or debate the strengths and weakness between the anime and manga, I think people should just go ahead with the type of media they prefer! 

[novarasalas]

Second Look Review: Launch Date

I’m back!

Yeah, it’s been almost two months since the season dropped, but I think that’s how long it took me to get around to post my S7 reviews too.

I’m not gonna lie, one of the reasons this has taken so long is that I was so upset in the aftermath. I knew there was no point in trying to go back and have another look until I calmed down. 

And I have calmed down. And here we are.

So we start with my thoughts on episode 1, categorized into sections to cut down on the rambling. 

- - - - - 

Old school Voltron

-

The old school Voltron gag was a welcome surprise. Hunk's run down was perfect.

Hunk: Did you watch it, Lance? Ah, it’s so cool! It’s so cool! 

They got you spot on, but Coran is like, he’s all superserious and stuff. And Allura is a little....I dunno, she’s different. 

Keith is friendly! He’s happy all the time.

I mean, they got it so wrong.

For all its flaws,  let's agree on one thing:  this run of Voltron was a definite improvement over the original.

-

Girl Time

-

First, Romelle says this:

Romelle: She has a date...with pointy chin!

And I’m like...which one?

And I still love Colleen.

In fact, I’m in love with all of the girls. There’s so many of them, and they’re all so different. The great diversity of characters really did become a strong point in the show. It’s all very natural, not forced or stereotyped. These could be real people that you meet in your everyday life.

And how about the mall? I’d briefly forgotten that we’re in the post-apocalyptic stage on Earth.

Once again, we’re not really given a time frame on all of this. In my mind, it’s been nearly a year since their last battle. And in that time, Earth hasn’t rebuilt much. It’s to be expected, but I found it a bit jarring. Points for realism, I suppose.

Here's the episode spanning gag again:

Pidge is a terrible goblin child and I love her.

I gotta say, I love the outfits they all chose for Allura.

This one:

It’s very 1980s female-power-executive. I remember this style well; I still have nightmares about mandatory shoulder pads. It was...not a good look.

And this:

This was the exact outfit my mom stopped me from wearing to the 1st grade, c. 1993. Actually, though, it looks very familiar, like it’s a callback to something I should remember outright, but I can’t for the life of me recall. It’s very 80s/90s, though.

-

Keith

-

Now, before I get into the meat of this, I wanna travel back all the way to Season 3.

Season 3 is where I started watching the show. I’d been hearing that it was good, but I hesitated before trying it out. After all, it was Voltron. Probably just made to sell toys like the old show, and it was for kids anyway.

But I started hearing something more, something about...Klance? A bedroom scene?

I’m perpetually late to the game when it comes to media. I had just come off of my Yuri on Ice high (holy shit they did that!), and with as much as I was hearing about these two boys getting together, well...I just had to investigate.

I started out with the first episode, as one does, and I was hooked. So I watched the next, and the one after that, and the one after that. After the fourth episode, I took the internet to find the exact moment of the aforementioned Keith and Lance interaction. Because if these two pull it together in such a short amount of time, I said to myself, I will be very impressed.

…...haaaaa…..

Well, that was not as advertised. Lance goes to Keith for reassurance, and Keith can’t deliver because he’s awkward as hell. It showed me two young men insecure in their roles – roles that they were now set up to grow into.

This scene in this episode? That’s a callback.

Lance comes to Keith for reassurance, not because he’s the leader, but because he’s a friend. And Keith delivers, because now he’s grown and matured.

I was very, very happy to see these two interacting this way. To be honest, I was so sick of their stupid rivalry. It was overdone in the first episode, let alone the rest of the series up to this point. So this was a very, very welcome change.

And the way the conversation goes? This tells me that they’ve talked about this before. Even though Keith is much better as this sort of thing now, he’s still not that great. Yet, here he is with the exact right words for Lance. Not only is he remembering an unseen-to-us conversation, but he’s remembering “the bedroom scene”, that one moment before that he couldn’t help Lance.

They’ve both had such good growth throughout the series.

…..seriously, y’all had me thinking they kissed in S3. Or at lease a confession. I still have no idea which show y’all were watching.

Now, I want to talk about Keith himself.

Shiro said to “spend time with the ones you love.” And here’s Keith, alone. Again.

When I watched this the first time, I just kind of rolled my eyes. He’s back on his loner bullshit, I see. And as much as I loved his talk with Lance, I was disappointed when he showed up. I thought it would either be Shiro, or Krolia.

At the time, I put it aside. I'm and introvert like Keith, so to see him enjoying some solitude in a familiar setting wasn't off-putting for me. He's been running around the world, checking up on defenses and being, generally,  a good leader. He's gotta be exhausted from all that, right?

As for no one besides Lance coming to see him,  well….I mean, after all, Krolia and Shiro are going back into space with him. And Shiro is a damned workaholic that probably has a lot of stuff to oversee before take off. I figured at the time that the rest of the season would fix this.

Welp.

-

The Date

-

We have to talk about this.

I don’t want to, thought.

This is the part that tripped me up. I would start this review, then stop when I got to here, and I did that several times.

It just hurts.

When I first watched this whole sequence, my heart was full. They look so good, all dressed up. Everything was soft and sweet, and it was all so tender and loving.

And it wall happened the way I figured it would, with Allura talking about family, and feeling alone. And then Lance offered to be her family.

He kinda...that’s kinda….he proposed, really.

Lance: Allura, I love you. I have for a long time. I wanna be your family.

And then they kissed and it was all so great. I say that as someone that usually doesn’t care about romance in media at all. It’s usually so cheesy and out of character for both parties and completely unrealistic. But this got me feeling some kinda way, and for once, I was into it.

Then the scene ended with Allura returning to find out about the Altean and Haggar, and I actually said out loud to myself “Jesus...they’re not gonna let her have anything, are they?”

And how.

Watching it now, my heart is hollow.

Of course, I see that the moment of her healing the tree and the rest of the garden was foreshadowing, and I picked up on that the first time.

It didn’t have to be like this, though.

I’ve consumed a lot of media in my time, from books and comics, to movies and video games. Every story has it’s ups and downs, it’s happy and sad. If it’s a story that I love, thought, I deal with the sadness and press on, such is my enjoyment of it. And if one of these stories gets me down too much, I know how to back off and let myself process the situation. When I come back to them with a fresh mind, I can view the happy times in a bittersweet way.

It didn’t happen this time. I love Voltron, but this still feels like a bridge too far.

Allura was on her way to finding happiness in this new world. It was healing, to see a character that had lost so much find people to support her, people that would be there for her no matter what.

In the end, I wish this had never happened. I wish this date had been left out.

The saying is “better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.”

Fucking try it, then get back to me.

-

Other Things

-

As best I can, I’m going to try to leave these reviews on a happy note.

So here’s a few good things that I didn’t make room for in the review proper.

1. Hunk is the best wingman.

And so is Romelle:

2. Coran is a big damn troll.

Also...what the hell?

In summary:

It was still one of those episodes that gives you emotional whiplash,  going from happy to depressing all too quickly. But in all, it was a strong opening.  

Up next:  gather round for Honerva's learn-along.

[mad-madam-m]

Everbody seems to be *hating* the Voltron finale, so I wanted to ask your thoughts on it.

First off, I am sorry this took so long to answer, but I’ve been stupidly, stupidly busy since even before the season aired, so I haven’t had much time to respond.

A very short version: I didn’t hate the final season. Although there are many aspects of it that disappointed me or that I wasn’t happy with, there were also many aspects that I really liked or even loved, so my feelings are mixed and bittersweet.

I think I wanted to like it more than I did, but I also didn’t hate it as much as most people did, and processing all those feelings has taken me a while and I’ve mostly stayed off social media to do it. I can handle hearing disappointment/hurt one-on-one from friends, but I absolutely cannot deal with the unfiltered wave of emotion on places like Twitter and Tumblr right now. What little of it I did see was enough to stress me out badly (and the holidays are stressful enough already, oof), so I’ve mostly been hanging out on Dreamwidth, playing a 3-sentence ficathon, or searching for Tiger & Bunny art because it’s my happy place.

So, yeah, that’s kind of my brief thoughts on season 8. If you want the (much) longer version, including a more detailed breakdown of what I liked and what I didn’t, read on:

Things I loved:

- Hunk. Y’all. I loved Hunk. My headcanon for him has always been that he either ends up opening a restaurant, or that he becomes a diplomat who uses food to help bridge the differences between alien races. To actually see that happen in canon brought me so much joy, you have no idea.

- Pidge, particularly Pidge and her mom. Every scene they had together was fantastic. I especially loved their bargaining in the Clear Day episode. The Olkraion episode was also heartbreaking.

- The entire first episode. Oh my God, I thought the first episode was hilarious. The references to the previous series had me burying my face in my pillow so I wouldn’t wake anybody up with my laughter. The mall trip was absolutely fantastic, and I adored getting to see all the girls hang out together. And the scene with Coran and Lance? Hysterical. (Also, had to love that painting of Coran and Alfor; Coran, you are not subtle at all.)

- Lance and Allura. They were fucking adorable, which still astounds me because I wouldn’t have even been close to liking this ship in seasons 1 and 2. But they were super cute together and all of their scenes were very sweet.  

- Lance and Keith having a couple of surprisingly nice conversations? I missed their bickering, but I did like getting to see them actually being friendly with each other.

- The theme that people can change and find redemption, although I don’t know that it was handled as well here as I would’ve liked (see below), it is one of my favorite themes and I do think some of the .

- Zethrid and Ezor! Alien girlfriends reunited!

- Veronica being unendingly sweet and friendly to Acxa and Acxa being awkward and not knowing how to handle that is my fucking jam, you guys. I could’ve watched another 3 episodes of that easily.

- How much Keith has grown since season 1 and him acknowledging that growth. My chest actually clenched.

- I thought the documentary episode was cute. (Although admittedly, the scenes where the dog carried the camera, I had to stop watching because they were giving me motion sickness.) And I adored Hunk making the Altean dessert for the Alteans they’d recovered.

- The Clear Day episode. Really, the light-hearted funny episodes have always been my favorites, so I liked that we got more than one this season.

- Pidge and Allura having some truly great scenes together. We don’t see the two of them together very often, and the shopping in the first episode and the episode on Olkarion were both great for that. (And Pidge helping Lance get something shiny for Allura the way he helped her get the game system in Space Mall was just wonderful.)

- Everybody getting to talk to the previous Paladins. God, my heart. Even if I wasn’t particularly happy with that part of the plot, I really did like getting to see more of all the original Paladins, and the way it felt like the story was really coming full circle.

- I choked up when Atlas and Voltron combined to form one giant dual robot. I thought they were going to leave Shiro behind for the final confrontation with Honerva, but no. I loved getting to see the six of them fighting together, side-by-side, and that Shiro was there with them for the end of it.

- The final shot of the five of them watching their Lions fly away, with the focus on Keith and Shiro together as Black’s Paladins.

- And the final final shot of the Lions and Allura in the nebula. In the original Beast King GoLion series (the Japanese series that Voltron was cribbed from), there was a goddess at the center of the universe responsible for all creation (if I’m remembering it correctly), and that’s what this reminded me of. I don’t know if that’s the implication they intended—that Allura had become the goddess—but that’s what I took from it.

Things I didn’t love:

- Not enough Shiro, and I missed the little moments with him and Keith that we’ve seen sprinkled throughout most of the seasons. (I don’t expect The Black Paladins every episode, but good lord, would it have killed them to just have a couple of minutes of Shiro and Keith walking around the Clear Day carnival together? Hanging out on the night before launch day? Hell, just put Shiro on Black with Keith and Kosmo and give them a couple of lines of conversation before Lance comes up. It wouldn’t have been hard.)

- Allura actually letting the tiny evil creature inside her and then…nothing really happens? Like?? I really thought there was going to be more of a consequence for her taking that inside her because it’s pretty clear it can’t be controlled and I was seriously thinking she was not far away from going full darkside for at least an episode. But it just…did exactly what they wanted to do and that was that?

- Where the hell did Ezor even come from?! Like, I’m a-okay that she lived, but. Uh. What? I really wish that had been better explained, especially because she apparently had a pretty significant come-to-Jesus moment sometime between season 7 and season 8. (There were several moments like this, where like…I thought someone was dead, and they turned out to be alive, or they just randomly showed up somewhere after I thought they were somewhere else. It was confusing and a little bit annoying.)

- Much as I like to see villains getting redemption, by the end of the season, it felt…overdone? Like, they brought back a lot of previous villains and almost all of them either had reformed (the Warden and Ezor, for example) or were reformed by their interactions with the heroes (Zethrid, Honerva). Redemption arcs are hard to do well and I think the problem here was that there wasn’t enough time in 13 episodes to do that many proper justice, especially for someone like Honerva, who, uh…yeah. When your main villain for the season has literally destroyed almost all of reality and gets redeemed in less time than it took me to write this sentence, it doesn’t really give that arc the importance it needs.

- I really wish they’d left all the epilogues out entirely and just had the show end with the Lions flying off at the end and our original five Paladins standing together, watching them go. The epilogues felt a little hasty and last-minute, and I have to wonder if Shiro’s in particular was added only to deal with some of the backlash they got after season 7. Which, while I can appreciate that it’s a huge deal to actually show a same-sex kiss in a children’s animated series like this, it really does come across like it was just done for the sake of scoring diversity points/dealing with the aforementioned backlash, instead of allowing Shiro to have an actual on-screen romance like Lance and Allura.

- I’m still not sure how I feel about Allura’s ending. On the one hand, I don’t hate that there was a sacrifice like that that needed to be made, and I kind of wondered if they’d do something like that since, you know, series finale, saving all realities, etc. etc. But on the other hand, I feel like it could’ve been executed/explained much better (e.g., giving Coran a chance to say good-bye to her, at the very least), and I mean. Come on. I would’ve by far preferred it if Allura lived and got to go back to help rebuild her planet/people.

So yeah. Like I said, mixed feelings overall. I had intended to rewatch the whole thing before s8 came out, but I didn’t have time, so I may do that later, once the holidays are over and I’ve binged some of the other stuff I have on my list. I’m also sure rewatching will give me a different feeling on season 8 once I see it in context with everything else, so you know. We’ll see how that goes. XD

[airasora]

out of curiosity, what stuff in crossover vids do you think are overdone, or stuff you hate seeing? and what stuff would you like to see more of?

There are certain plot lines that I definitely have lost interest in. I can still enjoy the video just fine, because I can still appreciate the editing and work gone into it, but there’s stories I think have been done to death in the editing community that personally don’t interest me anymore. But the same goes for movies... sometimes. I don’t know, some of the plots I mention here can still intrigue me, but only if they’re done in a unique way or with different types of characters than usual.

The star-crossed lovers. Here, I’m mostly referring to the commoner and royal type of thing. I have loved this type of story for years and have been consuming it so much that I think I’ve reached a point where it’s just kinda meh to me. I’ve seen it too many times.

The love triangle. Look... the only time a love triangle works for me personally is when it’s about ridiculous and funny jealousy. NOT when anyone is sad about it. I love stories about someone being jealous and being really petty and over the top about it. But when sadness is involved? Naw, dude, that’s not my kinda sad story line xD

The misunderstanding. OK, so again this can work if done like... uniquely or whatever, but the typical rom-com: “I saw something that seems like something it’s totally not and now I’m heartbroken” is so fucking overdone x’D

I think something I hate seeing in general is inconsistency I guess? Like... look, I’ve studied media, I’ve had to make short movies and I have studied movie making for a whole year. I’m usually pretty aware of the dos and donts in the movie making world and they often apply to the editing world. Something that can literally hurt my SOUL is if someone massed up the perspective. Like if character A is supposed to look at character B, but they’re looking to the left even though we just saw that character B is to the right... IT HURTS ME X’D

And I guess lightning or coloring mistakes. Like if a character is all bright and daylike in a nighttime setting. I don’t care if the colors or lightning isn’t done perfectly, but I care if I can see that the editor didn’t even TRY to make the character match the background xD

And this one is gonna upset some people, but I have to say it: I do not consider Amalthea (non)Disney. The animation style in The Last Unicorn looks much more like an anime than western animation, even though I know it’s not. I hate seeing Amalthea next to (non)Disney characters, it might as well be a Disney/anime crossover to me. Which is fine, I can dig that sometimes, but I hate that she’s considered (non)Disney and I don’t get it AT ALL x’D

Surprisingly enough, given that this is 100% what I focus on most of the time too... the thing I want to see more in the editing community is NON-romantic stuff. Like, anything that doesn’t include romance at this point intrigues me. 99% of us editors do romance or semi-romantic things. Like, a demon seducing someone isn’t romantic as such, but it still focuses on that type of thing and... I wanna see something else. Literally anything else is welcome.

And I promise to try and do more non-romantic things in the future too x’D

I want to see more anthro characters. I want to see more children. I want to see more elderly characters. I wanna see more underused characters. I want to hear non-pop music x’D

The list can be long, but I’ll hold back and stop here xD

[scentedglitter]

Pitch Perfect 3 Feelings

I joked about doing this after I finally saw Pitch Perfect 3 like a week ago but I brushed it off because I was too busy (& look I’m really not in the fandom as such on here so I doubt this’ll be read much at all), but hey I still have thoughts so let’s do it. Also, for what it’s worth, I’m 20 so probably well above the age the movie is targeted at, but I was target age when the first was released so here I am.

Under the break, prepare for a very very long review of pitch perfect 3, focused extensively on adherence to earlier canon & the social messaging it sends.

Spoiler alert for pretty much all of it.

Pitch Perfect 3 was bad. Partially, it was the good kind of ‘bad’ that a lot of that kind of movie gets branded as because there was no real meaning to it, but it was silly and a bit of fun and it was nice to see the Bellas together again.

Except the plot was past silly, it wasn’t the Bellas, and Pitch Perfect 3 did have a lot of meaning woven through it, and it wasn’t good.

Plot

It’s been mentioned a lot that the movie was too quickly paced and rushed in how it was cut, and I agree with that to a degree, but there’s not much more to say on that.

The plot itself was ridiculous, though. As I mention below, it didn’t leave space for a lot of the characters to actually exist as people, and the complete lack of previous indication Fat Amy’s family was involved in massive criminal activity makes its sudden appearance here just weird. I’ll let the lack of police/military/general security protection around the girls on a USO tour and around Fat Amy if her Dad was that kind of person slide for the sake of plot because a lot of movies seem to pretend international policing isn’t a thing, but it is silly.

I was worried before I saw it that the USO tour thing would be forced and odd but the tie-in with Aubrey’s Dad made it a lot better. I won’t comment further on it because I’m not American so that cultural relationship with military isn’t something I’m familiar with.

I couldn’t tell if the other groups on the tour were meant to be seen as villains (see: DSM, The Trebles) because in the riff-off, they came off better than the Bellas as they embraced a new concept and ran with it collaboratively (the latter appearing to just be bitter and afraid of developing themselves). Their placing as villains later on (particularly Evermoist) seemed to be only because of the competition, which, yeah whatever I’ll go with that.

I think my biggest problem with the plot was the weird number of threads that were started and then left hanging. The Bechloe boob-grabbing incident is one, but I’ll get to that under “and finally fuck queerbaiting” below, obviously. Lily and the DJ from that rap duo could’ve been an interesting thing to come back to at the end, more so than what they did, but it was nothing. The “blowing up Fat Amy’s Dad’s boat” thing wasn’t even tied up properly. In the finale, the camera kept moving to Theo and Chicago when Beca motioned for the Bellas to join her on stage, as if they had maybe had some hand in helping her convince DJ Khaled to let her do that while keeping the record deal herself - but then nothing happened. Was it really just pointing to them because of the romance plots? Because it didn’t work if it was.

Oh, and Chloe/Chicago was the worst bit of plot I’ve ever had the misfortune of having watched, but I’ll get to that under bad messaging too.

Wait, how was it not the Bellas?

See my tweet just after I saw the movie for a summary:

Aubrey’s character was the closest to pitch perfect 1 and 2 canon. I disliked Aubrey in the earlier movies, but in Pitch Perfect 3, she was familiar, and she had a storyline around her father that wasn’t overdone and gave the character room for personal development. The minor characters that had little personality to work on in the first place were either clearly canon or changes were explainable as personal growth: Stacie, CR, Emily, Flo.

Jessica & Ashley were largely ignored, although that’s not exactly new for the franchise (which, hey, if this is meant to be a movie about female friendships and girls working together, is a pretty bad plot line in itself!). Lily also barely existed in this one, which was a shame, because I liked her as a comedy element more than Amy in the earlier movies.

Fat Amy was annoying. Her wild, unreliable and selfish antics were present in the first two films, and I know that they’re part of her value as the comedy character, but previously she showed some degree of care and friendship towards the others. So, she rescues them all at the end, but even that is entirely inconsistent with her actions for the rest of the movie - her little outburst after Aubrey opens up about being upset her Dad couldn’t make it isn’t funny. It’s insensitive and selfish and a marker of the worst kind of person. And, hey, everyone responds to childhood trauma differently so I can’t comment on her wildly different behaviours between interacting with her Dad and otherwise and the fact that there wasn’t even the slightest hint of her having links to wild criminal activities in the earlier movies, or the fact that she doesn’t ever take two seconds to explain what the fuck is going on to any of her “friends” who she’s actively putting in danger.

Also, I have a feeling her storyline is probably meant to have a joke for non-Australians of “hahah australia is so quiet and peaceful as if massive criminal networks would exist there”, which like. They exist. Australia’s not the idyllic little nothing island that it gets marked as in storylines. As an Australian, that storyline just made me remember what a shit show Underbelly is and how I can’t believe they’re bringing the damn thing back again, and that the Cayman Islands money Fat Amy had was definitely dirty money that the AFP should be seizing.

Beca isn’t too far from canon, although at this point it mostly looks like Anna Kendrick is playing “Anna Kendrick but she’s a music producer not an actress”, but that was probably more on the fact that Beca’s character had so few points in the movie where she could demonstrate some kind of personality or reaction to literally anything because the whole thing jumped around too much. Beca’s reaction to Theo was entirely in-character and I’m so happy that Anna Kendrick did push for that to not become a romantic relationship because it would’ve been a horrible message, but also entirely out of character for PP1/PP2 Beca.

Did Beca’s reaction to the offer from DJ Khaled fit her canon? It’s hard to say. At the start of the first movie, Beca would’ve been all for that and left the Bellas behind, but her friendship with the Bellas and being less of an intentional loner was a major point in her character development in both movies, so maybe it could just be more of that.

Theo himself was still a creep, for what it’s worth - the staring/closeness/constant following and interaction still had the air of him trying to personally pursue her, not just recruiting her on behalf of DJ Khaled. Also, the whole bribing her into recording something that was then passed on without her knowledge was a huge dick move.

Chicago, on the other hand, didn’t necessarily do anything wrong (except in relation to Fat Amy - see below). He didn’t seem hugely interested in Chloe until vague hints later in the movie after she’d already thrown herself all over him.

Chloe was a shitshow. Chloe in the first two movies was strong, she seemed to naturally fall into the leadership role of the Bellas and she didn’t dumb herself down for guys in the few occasions where they were mentioned. Chloe’s emotional plea to sing with the girls again did fit with her previous reluctance to move on from college, but her weird babbling that became her hallmark in this movie was completely new to her character and conflicted with her clear-headed leadership in the earlier movies.

Her reaction to Chicago was ridiculous and entirely out-of-character, but I’ll go into that more below.

Hey, let’s send a bunch of worrying messages to a target audience of teenage girls!

I’m going to start with one throwaway comment that was made by Fat Amy, because it’s a good indication of how I probably read too much into cash-cow media like PP3 but how this movie got a lot of things wrong: “he called it the Fat Dingo Bitch, that was what he called my Mum” [wording not exact it’s been a week]

That joke probably means little to Americans, and I don’t know if it was scripted or Rebel Wilson ad-libbing. Either way, as someone who has grown up in rural Australia, it struck me as laughing at some of the worst of Australia cultural reality. Middle-aged men who actively hate their wives is apparently not uncommon across western cultures (and is a whole conversation itself), but the way and extent that Australian men are culturally encouraged to insult, berate and diminish their wives in an entirely casual fashion and using particular language appears to be unique to us. “He called my Mum ‘Fat Dingo Bitch’” is a statement that I could imagine a worryingly large number of people I know being able to say. Yeah, Fat Amy’s Dad was the villain, but how the boat was named wasn’t marked as part of his villainous behaviour. It was just “a thing Australian men do”. Yeah, it is. It’s something we let slide as a culture. It’s not funny and normalising it as part of our culture by throwing it in a movie targeted at non-Australian audiences is problematic.

Military Dudes/Fat Amy Fat Amy & her many boyfriends have been joking at the concept fatphobia in romantic situations for the entire franchise, but they’ve managed to make it less problematic by making it entirely believable to all the other girls that Fat Amy has however many boyfriends she says she has. The way that Chicago and whats-his-face at the first army base reacted to her was the opposite. They could’ve reacted to that in a number of ways (”that’s not appropriate” could’ve been one of them, definitely) but obvious disgust wasn’t the right way to do it. You’re better than that, pitch perfect.

(and I’m not really the right person to talk about this any further, so I’ll leave it there)

Chloe/Chicago oh boy. I’ve been trying not to swear too much in this review but that ain’t gonna continue now.

As above, I don’t think Chicago necessarily did anything wrong as a character: he looked mildly weirded out by Chloe’s advances initially, gradually grew more comfortable with them, and then pursued something with her at the end, which honestly seemed like a fairly natural progression.

Chloe wasn’t Chloe in how she interacted with Chicago, and everything about it was painfully forced. Chloe lost her identity to fawn over some dude she just met. He said some things about the Bellas and family that even “I’d do literally anything to sing with you guys again” Chloe at the start of the movie would have emphatically agreed with but instead she just made half-hearted and self-minimising agreeing noises and stared at him. If this movie is meant to be targeted at young girls, about friendship and female empowerment and whatever, then why the fuck are they doing something like this? Like, sure, throw yourself at whatever consenting person you want to but don’t encourage girls to lose their entire identity in the process of doing so.

And oh my god, the fucking shots of her eyes were so painfully forcing the relationship between them. It was almost as if they were trying to intentionally make it ridiculous and forced as a fourth-wall-breaking joke, but that doesn’t explain the kiss at the end and if they were trying to fourth-wall-break they did a terrible job of it.

I’m with Beca’s annoyed, disgusted face at that ending kiss. I also got the vibe that were this not a PG-13 (?) movie Beca would’ve thrown in a “fuck off, Theo” there too instead of just “hey you work for me now have fun with that”.

and finally, fuck queerbaiting seriously fuck queerbaiting I’m so tired it’s 20gayteen get your fucking act together mass media

Obviously, there were Bechloe moments in the movie, and you can read more in to so many little things as well as the two major points (boob-grab, Beca’s disgust at the kiss), as the fandom has done. But they actively made a point of not making Bechloe happen with that forced Chloe/Chicago relationship (and probably with the potential Beca/Theo that Kendrick apparently shut down).

I don’t blame the cast for talking positively about Bechloe. I know they’re not actively dicks about it, although sometimes I am cautious about Rebel Wilson’s support this time around and whether it was genuine or belittling (but, hey, I’m Australian, and she’s not exactly the most well-liked over here so I may be over-suspicious of her). I know there’s been a lot of debate about whether it mattered that Bechloe wasn’t happening, if it really was queerbaiting if the movie wasn’t about romantic relationships, if queerbaiting even matters, if Bechloe fans are selfish for campaigning so intensely for Bechloe to be canon.

For what it’s worth, I never thought it was going to be, because I always expect disappointment when it comes to representation of wlw because hey, it’s easier!

As at the end of PP1, yeah, it probably would’ve been totally fine for Bechloe to just not be a thing. Then they pushed it. The studio talked about it. They advertised with it. They made it seem like it was a possibility. They threw a (questionable) Bechloe moment into PP2, but PP2 only barely touched on relationships and mostly in the form of Fat Amy/Bumper so that was a bit whatever.

You can’t say PP3 wasn’t about relationships (see: Chloe/Chicago, Beca/Theo). You also can’t say PP3 wasn’t advertised with Bechloe because they literally posted a video of Anna Kendrick and Brittany Snow almost kissing with the caption “get tickets for more of this”. Pitch Perfect 3 was the most extreme example of advertisement queerbaiting I’ve ever seen. That ad explicitly said “this movie will have Beca/Chloe so you need to get tickets”.

People involved with the movie admitted that some fans would be disappointed with the outcome of the movie because it was “too difficult” to do what everyone wanted, ie, Bechloe. Okay, cool, it was too difficult to even hint towards relationship development between two characters with years of established interactions and a fanbase that already assumes something between them so could easily believe it; but inventing a massive criminal family member and blowing up a boat in a movie about collegiate acapella was easy. Sure.

Maybe it was too difficult to do Bechloe. Not because it was difficult to write, but because someone with enough power to control the direction of a movie released under a particular franchise chose not to do it for market/financial/American boycott group reasons. And maybe that’s why I knew it wouldn’t happen, because it’s easier to let homophobes win when you’re some (group of) straight probably-dude(s), isn’t it?

But queerbaiting does matter, and I don’t want to go into that rabbit hole here because this is already way way way way too long. But queerbaiting because having a f/f couple is “too difficult” sends the message to a bunch of young wlw that their identity isn’t worth the effort of representation. And it is. 

So yeah, Pitch Perfect 3?

Bad.

[oneweekoneband]

“First Love”

A young age and a sharp songwriting talent for that age set Utada apart from most of the pop artists of the time. The fresh R&B sound showed unique taste not found in any producer or singer, but it was a surface fixation compared to her lyrics. Her points of view toward love and romance in her music carried a maturity more similar to records by singers in her twenties, or at least a woman who already experienced a few rough patches. Perhaps, then, it’s apt for “First Love,” the title track to her debut album, to not sing about a flowery daydream of the titular experience but the aftermath of it coming to a close.

This being a ballad, Utada sets aside cool to serve sentimentality. She’s not immune to cheesiness: her opening line mentioning the taste of her last kiss being a flavor of cigarettes, and the actual use of flavor in English, is slightly overdone for the sake of imagery. But if you’re looking for where her studying of R&B pays off, it’s in the chorus and build leading to it. She goes bold with a key change and the part that follows. I’ll leave it up to you to decide whether or not she succeeded, especially those high notes behind “be the one.”

Utada writes that cigarette-flavor imagery as a metaphor to her bittersweet end as well as a line to debunk pop’s romanticizing of love. It’s also a lyric that suggests experience: Not only had she already had her first kiss, it was with a person who smoked — an older partner or at least one who wanted to seem more adult. Here and there, she catalogs a good amount of experience to be had for a 15-year-old in her debut album. “Movin’ on Without You,” for one, is a rather intense back-and-forth leading to a break-up. Keeping her up until 3 a.m. by ignoring her attempts to reach them? That’s not child’s play.

Vivid as she writes about her hardships, however, to consider all this narrative to be autobiography, though, would be incorrect. Looking back at her beginnings, Utada shares how she actually didn’t have any romantic experience during the years when she wrote her First Love singles. She instead pulled from what she knew about love from TV, books or movies.

“The information I got from those places felt the most real to me,” she explained. “I was an only child, so since I was a kid, I played with that world like it was everything. It was something that was very personal, real and with me at all times.” Creating fiction from secondhand experience shared through media: It’s what teens do best. Telling it like the real thing, only a few can do it so well.