#my attempt at an actiony shot

[avampyone]

On the edge of my darkest nights-

[littleeyesofpallas]

of all the things I might make a point of posting more of here, it might end up being a(n attempted) liveblog of rewatching Sunred. It's a tokusatsu superhero parody with an energy pretty similar to Way of the HouseHusband, but rather than an outwardly thuggish man with a comically domestic lifestyle, it's about a superhero who's actually kind of a thug, fighting supervillains/monsters who are actually just very normal unassuming personalities.

Also there is the added joke of the whole thing taking place in the city of Kawasaki, which is definitely a major Japanese city, but also sort of on the lower end of that scale? It's a huge city, but it's also not a prefecture capital, which is a little odd. It's kind of like if a superhero comic was set in like, Atlanta, instead of New York, or San Francisco, or Chicago: in that it's not like Atlanta isn't a big city but it's just not really what anyone would think of as The Big City. (actually funny enough, Kawasaki's sister city is Baltimore, which is pretty fitting.)

One of my favorite bits right off the bat is that the OP is this fun actiony sequence with Sunred jumping around actual Kawasaki landmarks, doing his saturday morning hero shtick, in this cliche super sentai/power rangers outfit, which he never once actually wears in the show...

For the duration of the show he's just in a teeshirt, shorts, and sandals. but also his superhero helmet which he never removes. he even smokes thru it, somehow... And with this weird slacker/thug demeanor, they play with the sort of genre savvy idea that, yeah, if the hero always wins in the fight against evil, then it's kind of not really a "fight" is it? He's just kind of bullying these monsters. And while they're an Evil Organization, with a boss and underlings, and a HQ, and all that, what is the hero other than an unemployed meathead who just beats people up on the weekends?

The OP ends with an shot of Sunred racing down the highway in his cool themed motorcycle.... only to drop it off at a used car lot, where the final shot of the OP is a price tag that drops in price every episode as it remains unsold. Adjusted for inflation it looks like it drops over the course of the first season from around what would be today $7,200 to $1,600 before it disappears from the lot in the last OP sequence.

[oru-tree]

hmmm I want to talk about stuff I've been watching, but I've forgotten already what I wanted to talk about, lets see...

This anime season I'm watching:

Shy, Frieren and I favor the villainess

(no pictures from here on because Im lazy)

Cartoons I'm watching:

Star trek lower decks

Toku I'm watching:

King Ohger, Ultraman Blazar

More in depth thoughts under cut, but I think I'm going to do a post of its own about the villainess anime that is slighly more spoilery

Shy:

I think its cute, its like a mix of super hero and magical girl,like in universe they are heroes, but it has a lot of magical girl characteristics imo, uhh what more can I say about it, it looks good so far, I like Teru.

Frieren:

My fav out of the three so far, it follows the life of an elf with a really long lifespan and her life, I like that kind of stuff, it deals with mortality and life, idk, I like stories that are about that. Frieren is good, it's not actiony though, if you like that kind of stuff, its a calm series (so far, I dont think that will change)

I favor the villainess:

Ok, I feel this is the one I have the most to talk about but I think I will do so in another post, I have a lot to talk about because its also the one I have most issues with hah, for starters, it is an isekai, the mc was an adult in her previous life but its presented more like a "dont think too much about it" kind of way, I'm watching it because a couple of seasons ago there was another series of the like that I was curious about but unfortunately i didnt find funny in it, I have to find things funny to find the romance in there you know, and this one seemed more silly so it was like sure I'll give it a shot, as of episode two I still have some issues with it but I read some of the manga and something happened in it that surprised me enough that now I'm considering keeping up with it.

Lower decks:

I've kept with this one since the beginning maybe? I remember watching it because I wanted another space cartoon show after final space got cancelled, this one took a while to find its voice but over time I think it has kept improving, I'm having fun watching it, so far I've had my issues with each season but the next one they do something that I feel sort of acknowledges that kind of stuff and attempts to correct it, I read that it is getting a 5th season but its unclear if its getting more about it, tbh I think thats a good run for a cartoon series these days but I like it !! let it have more episodes, I want to see each combination of the characters have adventures together, oh this is a star trek cartoon btw, but I dont think you need a lot of star trek knowledge to enjoy it, I dont know much about star trek and I've been having fun :)

King Ohger:

I've been having fun with this one too! I think it took me a bit longer to get warmed up to it than when I was watching donbrothers but it's still nice imo, I like being able to call them bugs, I like watching the bug show every week, this is an universe where bugs are real, the characters are fun, I know I'm keeping things very vague but I dont know what to talk about regarding the series besides "I like it :)" uhh, theres a nonbinary character and I love them because they are good and funny and love moffun (this is moffun, moffun is good)

I think my main criticism of it is that I feel it takes a while to uh, feel like it is going? To find it's own rythm? Also the action scenes sometimes are a bit confusing due to relying too much on the cgi and maybe the fight scenes are not the best, but yeah

Ultraman Blazar:

I think Blazar is cute, it is much more slow paced than the other toku shows I've been watching, when I say I think blazar is cute I dont mean the series but the character of ultraman blazar, he is like a creature to me, every episode I await to see what he will do, the characters themselves in the show are good too, but blazar is my fav, I don't know what else to say

Look at him

[worldbuildguild]

Hi there!

This was my first attempt at a more dynamic actiony pose and I’m happy for the most part with out is turned out!

Buut it’s the lower half of her body that’s throwing me off a bit, it just feels like it doesn’t match up proportionately with her upper half. If it’s not too much to also ask, I’d like some pointers on how to make the hair look more natural in a dynamic poses like this one.

Thank you!

This is an interesting angle on a pose like this, it’s mostly frontal, but beckons the use of foreshortening to deal with the legs. I’ll give it a shot. 

First things first, the legs.  As you already observed in the original piece, the legs are a tiny bit too small to match up with the torso. Additionally, the torso needed a bit more girth and bulk to appear as if it was naturally “connected” to the pelvis and subsequently the legs. 

For the calf, ( and some of the thigh ) we have to utilize a bit of foreshortening to put it in perspective correctly. Foreshortening can be achieved through a number of techniques, but lovelifedrawing has a good article about this on here: 

https://www.lovelifedrawing.com/powerful-exercises-in-foreshortening/

Construction in foreshortening takes a bit of time going back and forth on your sketch, as you’re basically making qualified guesses as to how something may look.  

As for the hair, there will always be a point in aligning the larger volumes of hair to one direction ( in this case, from her front to her back ). If we assume that she is running towards the left corner ( in some sense towards us, the camera ) then all air resistance will come from the front, and push her locks backwards. Some behind her shoulders, others hovering slightly above them. Same for the ears, with the momentum your character has built up, it is likely that they would be pointing backwards as well depending on how fast she is moving. If she’s just jogging away casually, there’s a chance that small locks of hair, and her ears might tilt forward a little bit. But if she is sprinting ahead, which it seems she may be here - nearly everything will be pointing behind her. 

- Mod Wackart ( Ko-fi ) 

[taiblogcomics]

Flag On The Sun. How Did It Get There?

Hey there, nobles in the Court of Miracles. Well, I'm due a shipment soon. In the meantime, let's finish this story arc, yeah? Then maybe we'll get to some more of that Red Hood stuff, which honestly isn't as interesting as a mind-stealing kaiju~

Here's the cover:

This cover might not be as prog-rock as the previous one, but it's still pretty awesome. Not sure what Rick Flag thinks he's aiming at, though. The monster's over there, Rick. But yeah, cool cover. Very actiony, without being a general boring team shot or something. Good stuff~

So we open with a flashback of Killer Croc and June Moone reading together. Croc is reading from internet darling "I Want My Hat Back", and the scene then changes to present times where he's in a spaceship. He's eager to speed back to Earth and see June again. Killer Croc is so sweet. Meanwhile, the rest of the Squad try calling up Karin Grace. They need her to shut the door to the moon vault, because the Phantom Zone projector is kind of growing out of control and might swallow up the whole solar system. Unfortunately, she can't right now, because she's flying the Red Wave Monster into the sun. If it's not one thing, it's another, eh~?

However, Rick Flag Jr pleads with her to do so in the name of everything that Rick Flag Sr tried to protect. It's his voice more than anything that convinces her, and she leaves the controls to reach the other end of the ship, where the door controls are. While the G-forces of the rocket are initially a struggle to get past, she manages to throw the switch and seal the vault just at the last minute, which also is just enough time for the Squad's shuttle to escape. It wouldn't be exciting if it wasn't last second for both of them! Now the Squad is free to go and help Karin with her own problem.

Back on Earth, we rejoin Amanda Waller's own group as they argue with King Faraday. She's kind of disgusted with him, since he's even colder than she is, sending a woman he loves to fly into the sun. But really, what choice does he have? He can't leave with the Red Wave's heart or it'll infect others, and he can't be apart from it either. That's taken all his willpower, and everything else he's done has been at the direction of the Red Wave. He's sent dozens of other soldiers up there to try and free it, and the Suicide Squad was his last attempt at it. The resiliance of the Squad was unexpected, but hey, he'll gladly take kiling the Red Wave if he can get it. Before we cut back to the Squad, Enchantress suddenly has a vision of Killer Croc's death or something.

So back in space, it turns out a bunch of '50s robots' tethers aren't enough to tie a kaiju to a space station. The Red Wave is flexing like mad, and it's breaking free of its restraints. If they can't get it into the sun now, it'll be too late. So Rick Flag orders them all out there to fight the Red Wave and kill it before it can escape. And yes, he still has the control for their brain bombs. Harley Quinn jumps into the space station to rescue Karin, while the rest of them attack the Red Wave. Unfortunately, it's a giant monster and also they're close enough to the sun that the whole place is on fire. As they're trying to retreat, the Red Wave grabs hold of Croc and begins dragging the rest of them along with him.

Rick Flag makes the hard call: cut Croc's tether and leave him behind. Croc begs not to be abandoned, and Katana unclips her own tether. She stabs the Red Wave in the brain, and the pair of them are last-minute pulled free as the Red Wave falls into the sun. They've all escaped, but they're pretty disgusted with Rick Flag, accusing him of being just like Waller, always willing to sacrifice them. So, to wrap up, Karin and Faraday are imprisoned in Belle Reve, since Waller can't be sure they aren't still carrying the Red Wave. And for some reason, Croc has either lost his mind or is pretending to, since he lashes out at June to drive her away. No more reading together, he's just a monster. So even if he's still alive, she's lost him. The vision was true.

And the last thing before wrapping up is to cut off the possibility of Rick Flag and Harley's relationship returning as well. She tells him it was mostly a relief when she thought he was dead. Now that he's back, she doesn't know how to process that. He calls her a coward and walks away, and she yells back at him that he's just another monster like the rest of them.

And finally, we have to wrap up that King Faraday backup story, even though it's no longer a flashback and could just be a continuation right here. In fact, it does continue right here. Faraday confesses it all to Karin, and she rejects him too, because this comic is where romance goes to die. The Red Wave left some sort of energy behind in Karin, and she's able to turn into a red Force ghost and just walk out of prison. Faraday explains, to both Waller on the security camera and to the reader, that Karin is definitely free of the Red Wave, but she has more things to take care of in Rick Flag Sr's name, and that Waller won't possibly be able to find her so don't even try. You know what, I bet Waller will try anyway~

This issue, I think, does live up to its cover, unlike last time. They definitely fight the Red Wave Monster while on fire, I’ll give them that. But this comic seems to go out of its way to kill off the Croc/June Moone romance for no real reason, and that was honestly one of the best parts of the comic. The Rick Flag/Harley romance I don’t care about, kinda glad that won’t be continuing. So while the conclusion of the Red Wave stuff and the entire rest of the issue is fine, I genuinely don’t see why Croc needed his happiness killed off too. Oh no, it’s a gritty dark book, we can’t allow our characters any chance of love or making them seem relatable. It just seems like a bad move that didn’t even serve the story. They could have concluded it without doing that, that’s what ticks me off about it~

[sheyshen]

Prompt: “Come cuddle.” Series: SWtoR: Star Wars the Old Republic Pairing: Kara/Arcann/Theron (post-Ossus - no spoilers aside from Kara sided pubs)

This took longer to write than I had expected, so sorry for the really long delay on it. This was the second prompt I recieved from @valleniel from this prompt list. I tried to go for more of a funny fic but I’m not sure if I captured that as much as I had hoped to! Either way it is what it is. Thank you again for sending these prompts my way!! It was fun to write and I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it!

            It had been a long day for Theron, between meetings with Republic officials, various requests from the Alliance specialists, updates from Ossus, and keeping tabs on the general moral of the various members of the Alliance, especially the former Imperials that may be more than a little disappointed in their Commander’s choice of allies. All in all, he was more than ready for a break.

            As he walked into his quarters he found he wasn’t the only one who decided they were done working for the night. He raised an eyebrow at his wife who was lounging on the couch covered in blankets as Arcann set up a holovid.

            “Movie night?” Theron asked.

            “Yup,” Kara gestured him over. “Come here and join!”

            He shook his head, chuckling as he did as asked, plopping himself down next to her and wrapping his arm around her shoulder before kissing her. “So what’s the movie?”

            “Not sure,” Arcann answered, “I think it’s an action movie, Hylo leant it to me.”

            “Wait, it’s another of Hylo’s? Wasn’t the last one she leant us porn?” Kara grinned when he grumbled in response.

            “How was I supposed to know Gault switched the discs?”

            Theron snorted a laugh before attempting to mask it with a cough, the look his lovers gave him made it clear it wasn’t hidden as well as he had hoped, though Kara was clearly more entertained by it than Arcann had been.

            “It ended up being fine, we made the most of the mistake. What was the name of it again, “Debbie does Taris”?” Kara pulled a bowl of popcorn over to her with the Force and handed it to Theron.

            “Bound for the Brig.” Arcann corrected as he pressed a few buttons and got the vid started. “The bounty hunter and the sith, right?”

            “Oh, yeah. That was it.”

            “Didn’t Debbie get bitten by a rakghoul when they filmed that?” Theron asked, pulling up a blanket to cover himself up and create a nice little resting spot for the bowl so he wouldn’t spill popcorn. That’s the last thing he needed at the moment.

            Kara’s eyebrows shot up, “Really? They actually filmed it on Taris? That’s…” She shook her head.

            “Yeah. Not so hot.”

            “Not at all.” Kara looked up at Arcann as he gathered a few bowls of snacks and put them on the table. “C’mere love, cuddle with us.” She grinned at him, earning a smile from the scarred prince as he grabbed a drink and made himself comfortable next to her. She shifted so she could lean on Theron and hug on to Arcann as well.

            “I think there might be too many blankets.” Arcann shifted and pulled a pillow free, dropping it on the floor before scooting down so he was leaning on her. Reaching over he snagged a handful of popcorn and started eating just in time for the commercials to end and the vid to begin.

            It did end up being an action movie as claimed, though early in it wasn’t nearly as actiony as was promised. They lay there watching it, shifting occasionally to make it more comfortable or to toss some blankets as Kara finally admitted that she had indeed grabbed way too many.

            “This isn’t much of an action movie.” Kara pushed herself up and shifted so she was practically laying on Arcann’s lap as Theron scooted over to lean on him, and gently rubbed Kara’s legs when she stretched and laid them across his own.

            “At least thirty people have died and there’s tons of explosions.” Theron rose an eyebrow at her, “How is that not an action movie?”

            “The heroine also has taken her shirt twice…” She paused, pointing at the screen, “Three times.”

            “That’s part of the movie.”

            “Right, and if we don’t get an ass shot before it’s half over I’ll be surprised.” Kara hummed, “My boobs are nicer than hers.”

            “Yes they are.” Arcann agreed.

            “Mhmm.” Theron nodded.

            Exactly as Kara had expected, a little after halfway through the movie not only did the heroine complete strip down, there was also an extremely explicit sex scene followed by another, and another.

            Kara held up her cup, “Ha! Called it! I knew this wasn’t an action movie.”

            “I don’t think Gault switched the discs this time.” Theron teased, earning a tired huff from Arcann. “Ah nothing we can do about it now.” He grinned.

            “Except make the most of it?” Arcann gave him a smirk, he went to say something else but the scene of the movie shifted and the three of them cocked their head to the side trying to figure out what kind of angle the filmmakers had been going for. “That does not look safe.”

            “Is that real fire right next to her arm?” Kara made a face of concerned disbelief, like she just couldn’t believe that they would endanger their actress like that for a terribly acted out scene.

            “I think it is.” Theron hummed, “And I think that’s a blaster he’s-” The sound of a blaster being fired by the man in the scene and a HK droid de-cloaking and dropping to the ground followed. “Oh, that didn’t go the way I expected, that’s good.”

            Kara laughed, “And now she’s apparently going to keep thanking him very vigorously it seems.”

            “So it seems.” Arcann leaned over to kiss Kara as he stood up and dropped a good number of blankets on the floor, “And it also seems that’s the movie. I’ll be sure to let Hylo know I won’t be borrowing vids from her again. But first…” He kneeled down on the couch to hover over her, “I think we mentioned making the most of this?” He kissed her again, before taking the bowl of popcorn and dropping it on the floor and kissing Theron as well.

            “Sounds perfect to me.” Theron stood up, hauling his wife up with him and holding her in his arms. “How about we take this to the bed and see where this goes.” He winked at her earning a laugh and a passionate kiss.

            “As long as there’s no fire involved.” She teased as Theron carried her up the stairs to the bed the three of them shared before adding in, “Or blasters.”

             “The night’s still young, it may come to that.” Arcann grinned at her as she gave him a mock look of surprise from over Theron’s shoulder before returning his grin. He followed after them, gesturing at the holoprojector to shut it off with the Force. “Let’s see if we run out of ideas before we get to that.”

[biromantic-nerd]

a way too long review of the gay shows i've been watching until my brain can read words again

Manner of Death

do i rec? yes!

Kept seeing this and gave it a shot. Love it

Since when do gay dramas understand how to portray relationships with healthy understandings of consent?? What a glow up the gay drama world has had!! i am living for this (and this is why i started binging a bunch of gay dramas; i was hoping that they all had better consent than like two years ago when i first found out that gay dramas exist. Some did! Some... didn't)

Pro: 1. enemies to friends to lovers trope AND there was only one bed trope. 2. healthy depiction of consent. 3. murder mystery. 4. great acting. seriously great job. going to the next shows felt kinda disappointing afterwards bc the two main actors are Great here imo. 5. They are adults and not high schoolers. (although actually i forgot that the secondary ship is teenager/teenager - but no age gap there so Nice) 6. no sexuality crises! very fun to just watch a show with characters who are confident in their sexualities and have crises about other things instead lol 7. one of the main characters says the most tender things i've ever seen in my whole life and i'm a little too bi to watch that! my heart??

Con: 1. uh HEAVY trigger warnings plotwise. did not realize that beforehand lol whoops so check those before you watch. obvious murder mystery warnings but like there's another plot and That one is heavier. 2. heavy makeout scenes (probably a pro for some of y'all) but i don't skip them since sometimes there's soft things like forehead smooches. 3. releases occassionally which risks the chance of you forgetting to keep up with it. 4. Bun's expressions are amazing - but in the beginning I wasn't familair with them so I personally misread his "i'm gay" look as slightly uncomfortable at first. But on a rewatch after knowing him better, it's easy to see that tose are his very gay (and sometimes flirty?? how did i mistake it so badly??) expressions

HIStory 3: Trapped

do i rec? yes

Came recommended to me after watching Manner of Death. Really enjoyed it.

Pro: 1. Adults again! 2. starts off with a cool introduction to the plot that has likeable main characters right off the bat. 3. enemies to friends to lovers Again Baby 4. the whole season is finished, so you can binge the whole thing! 5. very actiony and hurt/comfort

Con: 1. a little cheesy at parts. 2. one scene tw attempted sexual assualt (of a major character) 3. not the greatest depiction of consent. idk how to explain like not Terrible but not great - very on par with the average straight tv romance consent so like 😐. example: a character is kinda pressured into dating someone/kissing. and i'm supposed to think this is cute? no ty 4. more makeout scenes (again though depends on your cup of tea) 5. the second secondary pairing (lol i guess the third?) was so boring to me. It was probably bc i dislike age gaps bc i just didn't enjoy them. She could have been a cooler character had it not been for this romance arc and I think she deserved a way better storyline 6. there's a couple makeouts

HIStory 2 uhhh idk the name but this one will have spoilers lol - okay it's HIStory 3: Make Our Days Count

do i rec? No!!! 😡

did not enjoy it! i actually hated every romance plot in it and only stuck around bc i enjoyed the depiction of a group of teenage boys being tender idiotic friends ☺️ like Yeah they really felt like high schoolers like Soft and Stupid ones

Pro: 1. after the "bullying" thing (which is cultural so not my place to speak) the group of friends was the Literal reason i watched this show. i really enjoyed watching them be goofy and tender. 2. it could have been such a cool queer mentor arc but like,,,, because he ends up dating a teenager 😡 their interactions all felt gross - so not actually a pro? 3. the group of friends secretly read a gay comic in order to understand their gay friend lol i Love these stupidly supportive idiots and like i said the friendship of these teenage boys is the only things that kept me watching. 4. the actors were decent, so i Will give them that. it's not their fault i didn't like it. Particularly the two main actors were good.

Con: 1. uhh the whole thing? lol? 2. Personally I don't enjoy romances where the one who gets bullied dates their bully! But even besides that, I just didn't enjoy it. 3. top beef here!!! a grown ass man dates a teenager??? 😡 WHAT?? who allowed this?? gross. 4. even excluding the adult/child relationship: still had bad consent. didn't like it. no outright sexual assault but like. bad consent. worse than average tv maybe. 5. it wasn't an ED but a character doesn't eat due to bejng poor but the onscreen effect is still not great for people who have/had EDs 6. makeout scenes (and a sex scene that was kid/adult) 7. a gay character gets outed by someone else. 8. homophobia exists and is a Theme. 9. uh apparently it's another bury your gays trope bc - and this is kudos to the good acting since i didn't care about any of the romances in this at all - the tragic ending made me Upset like who gave them the right to do that even though I hated this show??

We Best Love; No.1 For You

do i rec? yeah why not

(I don't actually know if there are more episodes than that! I stopped at 6! i don't remember why? I think I just got distracted and then was satsified with 1-6 enough to not seek out more)

pro: 1. the main character (after ep1) is likeable 2. the cinematic shot of the lights turning into hearts bc we were seeing through Gao Shide's pov? I cannot get over it. That frame lives rent free in my mind, it is a cinematic masterpiece. 3. it's a fairly lighthearted show with not a lot of stress, so it's good for a distraction 4. i don't think there were any makeout scenes, just normal kiss scenes 5. the main friends were cute and i wish there was more of that dynamic in the show

con: 1. the first episode. I almost stopped watching. I had such bad secondhand embarrassment??? and i thought he was gonna end up bullying this dude while trying to "prank" him? 2. a main character blackmails another character. it's pretty lighthearted overall bc it ends up that the character was just trying to help but at the initial blackmail I was like Yikes. 3. a character secretly manipulates a situation to make it so that another character has to spend the night with him. which it's just a slumber party-esque vibe and not at all malicious but still. 4. OH YEAH lol i totally forgot until i just looked up the show to double check the name. There's sort of a secondary gay pairing and I thought they were so boring and didn't enjoy their characters at all. However, one of those guys was shot down in such a great way a the main character that I enjoyed. It really shot down the "you owe me bc i like you" trope that I've seen. Those two dudes? Con. That rejection? Pro.

Cherry Magic

do i rec? yes!!! absolutely! 💖

I'm actually rewatching it back to back after having Just finished it.

i know i said this in its own post but! things that i did not expect Cherry Magic to have but here we are:

• the best quality of consent I've ever seen in a romance show (seriously, i cannot get over how the comfort/discomfort levels of the characters Matter)

• an aromantic character potrayed positively!!! and with such warmth!!!

• a great depiction of someone neurodivergent that has anxiety + low self esteem

• the attention to detail! the crewmbers that did all this detailwork did such an outstanding job wow

• no onscreen sex and/or makeout scenes. Finally. a show that keeps all "fanservice" off screen. thank you so much, i was not expecting this from a show that starts out with talking about virginity

• speaking of: the concept of everyone taking their time (and consent) at their own pace is so refreshing.

Pro: 1. tender, soft, funny, loved it. 2. the plot starts out with a quirky premise, but it progresses really believably and you quickly forget the initial "what the heck is this??" and just enjoy it 3. lovable characters. seriously enjoyed the characterizations - and the amazing acting definitely helped. Incredible acting. the range of different emoting smiles for kurosawa is incredible. 4. I've said it in the above but wow the detailwork in this is insane. 5. love to see good aro rep! 6. the character dynamics - platonic and romantic - are all really interesting and progress nicely. like it starts off with characters that are likeable but builds up quickly instead beloved characters. 7. if adachi isn't autistic then what is the point of self projection? he's def autistic. love to see it. 8. neurodivergents with low self esteem getting love is what i live for. and this show does an amazing job representing people with self esteem issues + anxiety without ever blaming them for it or being condenscending

Con: 1. Didn't care for the secondary pairing! Even though they are both adults, I'm not a fan of age gaps. The especially baby-faced younger actor threw me off of the pairing completely. But even without my personal distaste, I just felt like it was boring and the rest of the show was so good that I always wanted to skip back to the main plot. (but didn't in fear that I wouldn't understand later on. which now i think that you can skip them and still understand) 2. The first episode I spent most of it dreading what was going to happen bc of how it starts off making a big deal that he's a virgin. I needn't have worried but at the time I hadn't known that! 3. tw for sexual assault. Now even though this is under con, I do think the show handled it really well. One instance of a character being catcalled. And a different scene where a character is groped and disturbed by that; two other characters imply that the character should have been happy to endure the situation. But the show definitely does the situation well and the audience knows that the character was not okay with being groped and - no matter what the two others said - that it was wrong of her to have groped him. So con because groping but it was well executed in combating victim shaming.

In conclusion:

• Queer shows have, in general over all, improved in consent quality in just a couple years; I can't wait to see how they continue to improve in the future. (please let them stop doing age gaps soon lol)

• Right now, Cherry Magic is my favorite hands down. Manner of Death is amazing too but way, way darker in plot.

[creative-type]

So I saw Murder on the Orient express today and what struck me most was how the movie addressed the moral quandary presented at the end differently than the book. It’s always interesting to see how an adaptation plays out, and this was definitely a movie made with a 2017 audience in mind. 

Just in case there’s someone who hasn’t read the book and is unaware of the ending, be warned: There be spoilers below the cut

I want to focus specifically on the difference between the book and movie ending here. Other people can and will talk about how Murder on the Orient Express fares as an adaptation and a movie. My hot take: The cinematography is nice - for example, there’s a shot through the perspective of a mirror that they use when a suspect is lying that makes their face warp that made for some nice symbolism - but it felt like a cheap knock-off of the Robert Downy, Jr Sherlock movies rather than something starring Poirot. Too much effort in being politically correct and actiony, not enough use of the little grey cells.

Anyway, at the end of the novel after presenting his summation of events Poirot famously lets the murderers go free and presents an alternate solution to the police. Unlike the movie, none of the passengers had attempted to harm him, and some (Princess Dragomiroff in particular) seemed resigned to their fate once they realized Poirot had taken the case.

“If you will excuse me, Monsieur,” she said, “but may I ask your name? Your face is somehow familiar to me.”

“My name, Madame, is Hercule Poirot--at your service.”

She was silent a minute, then: “Hercule Poirot,” she said. “Yes, I remember now. This is Destiny.”

The vast majority of the novel is spent asking the question “Who done it?” but throughout the course of the investigation a second, more difficult question emerges: Was justice served? 

Christie paints an unambiguous picture with Ratchett. He’s as guilty as sin for the kidnapping and murder of little Daisy Armstrong, and the way the characters remember the Armstrong family would have been pure narm if it weren’t so damn sad. Daisy was a perfect child, Colonel Armstrong was a war hero, Susanne the French maid was driven to suicide for a crime she had no part of, etc., etc. 

The narrative gives Ratchett absolutely zero redeeming qualities, to the point where Poirot has nothing to do with him based on looks alone, while the Armstrong family is presented as lambs led to slaughter. The fact that the courts failed to find him guilty was a gross miscarriage of justice - something the twelve men and women complicit in his murder were seeking to correct.

Colonel Arbuthnot puts it best:

“You prefer law and order to private vengeance?”

“Well, you can’t go about having blood feuds and stabbing each other like Corsicans or the Mafia,” said the Colonel. “Say what you like, trail by jury is a sound system.”

A point Poirot brings up again in his summation:

“Ratchett had escaped justice in America. There was no question as to his guilt. I visualized a self-appointed jury of twelve people who condemned him to death and were forced by exigencies of the case to be their own executioners.”

A few pages later, Poirot lets the passengers go without so much as a fuss. There is no angst, there is no drama. Justice has been served.

The movie, on the other hand, takes a much different approach. Instead of acting as jury and executioner, the twelve men and women who murdered Ratchett were broken souls in need of closure. I don’t think it’s an accident that during the summation they collectively are framed the same way as the disciples in da Vinci’s The Last Supper.

Early on, movie!Poirot makes a comment that there is right and wrong and nothing in between, and during the last voice over is forced to amend that statement. Before making his decision whether or not to go to the police with the correct solution he presents Linda Arden, the mother of the dead Mrs. Armstrong and in this version the mastermind of events, with a test. He offers her a gun that she thinks is loaded and says that if she wants to get away with what she’s done, she’ll have to kill him first.

Instead Arden attempts to shoot herself. Obviously it wasn’t loaded and she breaks down with the knowledge that she will have to live with what she’s done for the rest of her life. Then, and only then, does Poirot come to the conclusion that there are no murderers aboard the train and let them go free.

That’s the difference between 1934 and 2017. In one the morality is presented as black and white, with none of the parties feeling the slightest bit of guilt for correcting a mistake made years ago. In the other a man is murdered and there is no justice, only twelve men and women left trying to pick up the shattered pieces of their broken lives. 

It’s that interpretation that makes adaptations so fascinating. Different creators will inevitably have different opinions on questions of morality, ethics, and justice (or what their audience will perceive as such. Don’t want to alienate the audience, eh?). I’m not going to say that Murder on the Orient Express (2017) is a great movie, because it’s not. The brilliance of the mystery itself is not conveyed well, but then again, I’m of the opinion that adapting Poirot’s specific brand of solving crime would be difficult no matter was at the helm. After all, it’s not that visually interesting to film someone sitting down and thinking.

But where the plot of Murder on the Orient Express is famous to the point of being trite and cliche, this question of morality still has room to grow and evolve and become more complex over time. Do I think the movie executed on this potential as well as it could have? No, not at all. But I do think that it’s at least worth talking about.