#my portrayal has shifted drastically in a handful of ways since i first made the og blog and there are some hcs i had that i look back on

[insatiablelustforpower]

i missed it bc i'm the worst mun ever but i've been rping dio for 7 years as of a few days ago :)

[twistedtummies2]

Ele-May-ntary - Number 8

Welcome to Ele-May-ntary! All throughout the month of May, I’ve been counting down my Top 31 Favorite Portrayals of Sherlock Holmes, from movies, television, radio, and even video games! Today, we’ll be talking about an excellent and very recent take on Holmes, from a most unexpected source. Number 8 is…Makoto Furukawa.

Now, to some of you, this choice will be obvious. But to others, you’re probably thinking something along the lines of: “WHAT?! AN ANIME IN THE TOP TEN?! WHAT HERETICAL, BLASPHEMOUS JIGGERYPOKERY IS THIS?!” I’ve never actually been a HUGE aficionado of anime/manga. I don’t HATE it, either, however. There are, in fact, a lot of shows and franchises I really enjoy: Hellsing Ultimate, Pandora Hearts, Death Note, Black Butler, and Soul Eater are all old favorites of mine; as a kid I really loved Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh!; somewhat recently I’ve been introduced to FullMetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and My Hero Academia, and I love both a lot! This is discounting the amazing animated pictures by Studio Ghibli, as well as a small handful of other Japanese-made animated pictures I’ve seen. All this is just to name a few examples. BUT, I also don’t go out of my way to watch anime most of the time, and there are plenty of popular franchises and series I’ve just never been able to get into: I’ve never been a huge fan of Digimon or One Piece, for instance, and I’ve tried to get into Naruto and Dragonball a couple times, but they’ve just never been my cup of tea, either. So while I’m not someone who ADORES anime/manga, I’m also not someone who just deplores it on principle. It sort of depends on the show and what’s going on in it, if that makes sense. Keeping this in mind…I wasn’t really sure what to expect when I decided to check out “Moriarty the Patriot.” It certainly SOUNDED interesting, but I was slightly dubious, as I feared the “anime-ness” I was already anticipating might get in the way of my enjoyment of the characters, or that certain reinterpretations of characters might go against my personal tastes. Still, I remained cautiously optimistic…and, considering this show is not even finished with its second season yet as I type this, I can already safely say that this has become one of my all-time favorite takes on the Holmes canon EVER made, and is easily the best reimagining I’ve seen since “Sherlock” and the Guy Ritchie films. (More on those another time.) The premise of “Moriarty the Patriot” is twofold. First of all, nearly all of the major characters from the Conan Doyle canon are depicted as at least slightly younger than usual. (Because God forbid the main characters in an anime DON’T look like animated supermodels.) Second of all: the main character, as the title suggests, is NOT Holmes, but rather Professor Moriarty. Moriarty is depicted as a violent anti-hero, rather than a straightforward villain, who plans to use crime to call attention to social problems in the English Empire, all to hopefully shift the paradigm of power and create a more equal world. Holmes first meets Moriarty during a case aboard a cruise liner. Impressed – and slightly worried – by the detective’s brilliant intellect (a mind that very closely matches Moriarty’s own), the Professor decides to make Holmes his “official nemesis”: the person who will solve his crimes and hunt him down, to allow his elaborate scheme to function. After all, the perfect criminal NEEDS the perfect detective. While the “anime boi” look for Sherlock admittedly takes a little getting used to (and very obviously calls to mind Benedict Cumberbatch’s portrayal, in terms of features and color choices), the portrayal of the character is really interesting. The show purposefully uses anachronisms in its dialogue, with the characters living and working in a Victorian environment, but speaking in a more modern lingo. Holmes, himself, has a very modern approach to his character: smoking cigarettes instead of a pipe, dressed in short-cut, dark clothes, and with a skull ring on his finger. (Why Holmes would wear such a thing, I have no Earthly clue.) This interpretation latches onto Sherlock’s more childish side. Mrs. Hudson outright describes as being “a child” and he behaves accordingly: he’s quick to speak his mind, does drastic things to get attention or make a point, has a massively mischievous side, and throws tantrums or sulks when he doesn’t get what he wants. Despite this, he also has moments of clear maturity and introspection, and he takes his work deathly seriously. His relationship with Moriarty is also interesting: in this version, the two start out as friends before Holmes ever realizes the Professor is the secret mastermind behind several cases he’s been trying to crack. Holmes is obsessed with solving the ultimate mystery, and becomes fascinated by the Professor’s own mind and the way it matches his, just as Moriarty becomes interested in the detective’s brain. His relationships with the other characters – such as Watson and Inspector Lestrade – are pretty great, too. He’s a very unique but still worthy and surprisingly accurate interpretation of the famous gumshoe, and the power of the show is just as much a result of its strong interpretation of Holmes as its new and powerful depiction of the Napoleon of Crime. I don’t know what I expected from this anime, like I said before…but I did NOT expect it to so instantly and perfectly create such brilliant new takes on these characters and this world. I am so very glad it did. The countdown continues tomorrow! Who will be next? Check in and find out!

[giant-sketches]

I’m super excited to show you all this one because it’s just so cute!!! I loved drawing this part and I hope you keep enjoying my little narrative. I plan on making the next one a little animated since you all seem to enjoy those ones as well. I feel like you all are now starting to understand the story and my portrayal of these characters thus far, so if you have any questions about where this might be going or about the sides/their world please shoot me an ask! I’d love to answer them!!!

I’m also open for prompts, requests, and commission! ;3

Anyway, let’s get to this!!!

- Patton with Virgil in hand have entered into the fort to find Roman and Logan. Surprisingly, it’s actually Roman who finds them first. As they first stepped inside they caught a glimpse of him zipping down one of the distant corridors, only to pivot back around and begin sprinting towards the two. Roman seemed to be out of breath and frantic for some reason. Patton began to worry something drastic had happened while he was talking with Virgil in the facility. Roman was now in front of him with both hands gripping Patton’s shoulders.

Roman: “Patton! Where have you been?”

Patton: “Roman, I’m sorry I had something to do for a little bit inside the facility. You look really worked up, is everything okay?”

Roman: “What? Oh, yeah everything’s fine I just kind of overdid it with the workout and then Logan asked me to go looking for you since you hadn’t returned. I’ve been running all over! I had no idea you’d still be inside the facility.” 

Patton: “Goodness Roman you had me worried there for a second. I’m sorry I didn’t report in for so long, but everything’s okie dokie…or at least most of it. We do have a bit of a puzzle on our hands. More specifically in MY hands.”

- Roman gave Patton a confused look until he turned his attention down towards the elevated hand that carried a shrunken Virgil inside. Virgil the whole time had been gripping Patton’s thumb as Roman’s shoulder grab had caused him to shift around. Roman quickly released his grip and jumped back in surprise.

Roman: “AH!”

Patton: “Roman! There’s no need to shout.”

- Roman couldn’t help it! How else was he supposed to act when the last time he saw Virgil was a 1000 feet tall giant? It was a huge surprise to now see him so tiny and sitting on Patton’s palm. He gingerly moved back over to get a closer look. 

Roman: “Virgil? Ho-how did this happen?”

- Virgil tilted his head up to meet Roman’s gaze and gave him a weak smile. He still wasn’t sure how to act around Roman after hearing about how he acted during and after the experiment. He knew to trust in Patton’s words that Roman really cared for him, but it was still hard not to think back to those more painful moments. He hesitated before answering.

Virgil: “I-I’m not sure actually. I don’t remember a lot of what happened afterwards.”

Roman: “You don’t remember? Then you have no idea how big you grew?”

Virgil: “I didn’t at first so I asked Patton and he told me. I-It still sounds unbelievable to me but I know deep down it’s true.”

- Roman didn’t know what to say, for once. If Virgil knew about how massive he had become then there was no way he wouldn’t have asked Patton about their reactions. Roman felt like he had failed to keep his word to Virgil, to see him as family and not as a monster. He could feel the guilty lodging itself in his throat. Virgil noticed this and felt a nudge from behind. Patton was rubbing his fingers against Virgil’s back to encourage him to speak up. 

Virgil: “I heard that I might have rattled you back inside the facility. Instead of saying sorry I want to let you know that it’s okay to be scared of me sometimes.”

Roman: “You can’t mean that Virgil!”

Virgil: “I do. After shrinking down like this I’ve come to understand that you can’t help it. Even though you know you’re not in any danger, you have this instinctive feeling of fear when in front of something that big. It subsides quickly though so I know that right now instead of being constantly afraid of me, that the guilt you’re feeling right now is what’s eating you up inside and I don’t like to see you like that Roman. Know that I forgive you and it’s okay to forgive yourself too.”

- Roman’s face filled with relief at those words and he gave a loud sigh.

Roman: “Thank you Virgil. I really needed to hear that. I was going crazy from the guilt of how I felt after that testing session. I thought I was no good, that I was a bad person for being afraid of my friend. You’ve saved me from those dark thoughts.” 

- Virgil smiled gently at Roman and Roman smiled back.

Roman: “Anyway we should start making our way to Logan’s study to have a talk with him about what might have happened.”

Patton: “Yeah, let’s get going.”

- The three of them started moving down the halls towards Logan’s study. Roman first entered and announced their arrival with a single knock. Patton with Virgil followed second and it doesn’t take long for Logan to realize what has happened.

Logan: “Yet another unexpected development I see. This must be why you were gone for so long Patton. Can you explain what happened?”

Patton: “Sorry to say I can’t. I just found him like this on the floor of the facility and both Virgil and I have no explanation as to why.”

Logan: “How curious.”

- Logan stepped in for a closer look. Virgil on the other hand was worried he might want to do another round of testing. He gulped his nerves down the best he could.

Logan: “Are you unable to grow back?”

Virgil: “Yes. I think I’m still too worn out.”

Logan: “I see, then we’ll save any other tests for a future time. I personally have some ideas on what’s going on; However, even I can see that not only was the experience physically straining, but also caused quite a bit of mental exhaustion. It’s late so we should all get some rest, but first-”

- Logan had walked back over to his desk and opened up his right-hand drawer to look for something. Virgil wasn’t sure what was going on, but was relieved to hear he wouldn’t be asked to participate in any further testing for awhile. Logan then came back with a sticker sheet in hand. The sheet was covered in stars of different colors in six orderly, vertical lines. 

Logan: “Patton, you did a wonderful job today in finding Virgil, calming him down, and returning him to base. To show you my appreciation for your hard work I’ll give you a star. What color would you like this time?”

Patton: “Usually I go with blue, but I want a purple one today please. It reminds me of Virgil!”

- Virgil’s face turned to a bright red instantly from Patton’s remark. He pulled his hood up over his head to hide his embarrassment. Logan carefully peeled off one of the purple colored stars from the sheet and placed it on Patton’s cheek. Patton giggled a bit and smiled widely. 

Patton: “Thanks for the kiss Logan.”

- Logan’s face blushed slightly as he covered up his face to hide his crooked smile. Virgil was completely lost as to what was going on.

Virgil: “Patton, what do you mean by kiss? What are the stars for?”

Patton: “Oh I guess you wouldn’t know yet since you haven’t been here for very long. Logan doesn’t enjoy physical forms of affection like Roman and I do so to show his appreciation he gives out these stickers instead. Cute right?”

Logan: “It’s not meant to be cute Patton. I’ve already explained to you before it’s in order to boost morale and keep the status que of our relationships.”

Patton: “Sure, sure. Whatever you say Logan.”

- Virgil had never seen Logan so flustered and couldn’t help but let out a little chuckle. Logan glared at him with a look of caution and Virgil quickly ceased. Logan then felt eyes on him and turned his attention towards Roman who was shooting him pup dog eyes in anticipation. He sighed heavily.

Logan: “I can surmise from your expression that you too would also like a star Roman.” 

Roman: “Yes please!”

Logan: “Hmmm, I suppose that even though you ran ahead during the rescue operation and verbally harassed a comrade until they feld, you did show humility by apologizing and have thus made solid amends with them by talking it out.”

- Logan paused in contemplation. Roman left waiting anxiously.

Logan: “All right you can have a star for your efforts to correct your mistakes and grow from them. What color would you like?”

Roman: “Red please!”

- Logan once again gently peeled off another star, this time a bright red one, and placed it on his cheek.

Roman: “Thanks for the kiss love!” 

Logan: “….sure. Now I’d like to give one to Virgil as well for participating in the testing, but since he’s so small I’ll refrain for now. I hope you understand.”

- Virgil was somewhat disappointed he couldn’t receive a kiss from Logan like the others because of his current size, but he did understand.

Virgil: “I understand.”

Patton: “Awe Virgil don’t look so down kiddo! Here, I’ll give you a kiss instead!!!”

Virgil: “Wha-”

- Before Virgil could even utter a word he was lifted up towards Patton’s face and felt a pair of soft lips press up against him. It was such a pleasant feeling that he lost himself in it as he let himself curl up against them. Resting his face against Patton’s thumb and lips made him feel so warm and safe. Roman then suddenly joined in by wrapping his arms around Patton’s shoulders. The motion caught Virgil off guard for a moment, but he fell back into his previous position quickly.

Roman: “No fair! Don’t leave me out!”

- Roman then proceeded to kiss Patton on the head while keeping him in an embrace. The entire scene was full of love for one another and comfort. It was only broken from a slight cough coming from Logan who was the on-looker left out. All three turned their attention towards him.

Logan: “Not to cut this short, but as I stated before it has become rather late and I think it best for all of us to get some rest. It’s been a long day afterall.”

- Indeed it had. First Virgil was lured out by Deceit’s note to meet him in the forest, then the others went out to look for him only for Roman to chase him off even more. Virgil’s secret had been revealed and it took a lot of convincing to get him to come back to base where he would be safe. Afterwards apologies were given, but a sudden test was brought up by Logan when everything had just been resolved. That test later ended with extremely unexpected results, but all of this made the family stronger and more connected in the end. It was finally time to rest and start over fresh in the morning. 

Logan: “I presume you would like to keep watch over Virgil tonight, correct Patton?”

Patton: “Yes I would. He can sleep with me in my bed for the night.”

Virgil: “You want to share a bed?!”

Patton: “Sorry if it’s uncomfortable kiddo, but you need to stick with one of us when you’re stuck at that size.”

- Virgil understood why, but he was still nervous to share a bed. He’d never once slept with someone else before. How was he supposed to act?

Patton: “No need to look so worried. I promise that I won’t roll over on you or anything. Just think of it like a slumber party.”

- Patton hadn’t fully understood Virgil’s woes and gave him a reassuring smile. Virgil wasn’t worried about being squashed by Patton, but he had never had a sleepover before so he was still perplexed. Would he even be able to calm down enough to sleep?

Logan: “Then I leave him to you, goodnight.”

Roman: “Sweet dreams!”

Patton: “Night, night!”

- Logan returned to his desk for a moment to organize a few things and Roman was the first to leave the study. Patton left right after and started towards his room. He took out his room key from a necklace he tucked underneath his clothes and walked inside. The lights turned on automatically and a soft, female voice said ‘Welcome Patton.’

Patton: “Hello room!”

- The interior was covered in warm, pastel colors. Mainly shades of blue, pink, and pale yellows. The walls were decorated with photos of the three hanging out, of cute animals, and a few motivational posters. There were quite a few of Logan’s star stickers too scattered around the room stuck to all sorts of objects. Patton had set Virgil down on the pillow on top of the bed as he went inside his closet to change.

Patton: “Virgil, I’ll change in here and you can change out there. Unless you like to sleep in your hoodie then I guess you can just wait for me.”

- Virgil usually didn’t sleep in his hoodie so he took it off and set it next to himself. Shortly after, Patton came out of the closet and walked around to the other side of the bed and climbed in. He then laid down facing Virgil and patted his hand on the pillow to motion for Virgil to lie down as well. Virgil did so and Patton proceeded to hand him a small cloth to use as a blanket. 

Patton: “Here you go kiddo, don’t want you getting cold. Also, hand me your jacket and I’ll put it on the nightstand for you.”

- Virgil did as he was instructed and snuggled himself into the tiny blanket. He smiled at Patton to let him know he was comfortable and Patton smiled back in response.

Patton: “Goodnight Virgil.”

Virgil: “Night Patton.”

Patton: “Goodnight room.”

- With that the female voice responded ‘Goodnight Patton’ and the lights turned off, followed by  a spinning night-light engaging to cast a pattern of stars on the ceiling. That’s so like Patton, Virgil thought to himself as he drifted off to sleep. He began to dream about the feelings he had felt when being held and kissed by Patton and he could feel his fatigue fading away and his body growing. 

To be continued.

@paranoidgurl @suckedinfandoms @pattonvirglsanders @crystalk17 @enby-phoenix @avenirunknown @gentlegiantdreamer @sanders-sides-virgil @bluegreeninbtwn @notkolaidoscop @just-some-gt-trash @lgbtqiaemo

[onetoomanysteps]

Regarding the problematic dilemma that is SnA’s eight episode

“The source of every crime, is some defect of the understanding; or some error in reasoning; or some sudden force of the passions.”

― Thomas Hobbes

..Okay, so, here I am again with a long-ass critic post about Shoukoku no Altair’s anime release.  Yes. It has been a while and the anime had long ended. I know. Maybe some of you would say that roasting the anime again after all of this time is moot point, since it’s less likely that many people will come and search for it as it’s already out of season. But then again... compulsory community service in the middle of holiday time unfortunately can’t manage to shift my saltiness towards SnA anime, and once again I decided to resume doing this review that I initially thought I would abandon at the pilot episode.

Whew. Okay then, OOT rant out, now time for some content.

Warning: Spoilers, as usual. Also, quite more opinionated than the first review. Differing opinions are welcome, but please relay it with class. 

Maybe some of you would be surprised when this particular episode became the next choice for my reluctant SnA anime bashing session: after all, compared to the other ones, this one is quite tame and consistent in regards to pacing, nothing out of ordinary as it was basically adapted from the interlude-type story of 4th volume of the manga. No sloppy scene cuts and merge like the ones littering the pilot episode, the seiyuus’ expertise shining through their well-executed lines delivered with emotive and fitting voice acting, fairly decent editing for supposedly dynamic scenes like Mahmut’s gambling parade (though a dark glittery effect and Katou-sensei used in the manga would make it 100X more awesome, as it added to Manga!Mahmut’s rightfully conspiratory look when he swindled the bar patrons’ money), the smoothness of it would not give the impression of another episode that messed up so bad that it needed a bashing post of its own.

Except that that was apparently not the case. As with most of its notable adaptations recently, there is a disturbing theme that repeats itself across some of Mappa’s recent adaptation works: For some god-knows-why reason, Mappa reeeally likes to change some aspect of the story, so that it diverges from the original source material and transform the show’s overall tone. This, in my opinion, is a kind of hit-or-miss situation; when it’s done well, it can make the story even more interesting and/or bringing out a kind of freshness to it, but when done poorly, it can destroy it into barely recognizable piece of... whatever it is instead.

Two of the most apparent examples of this theme is how Mappa did Dororo and Kakegurui’s anime adaptation. In Dororo, the important, plot-relevant differences shown since the beginning created a darker story that has a whole unique and interesting nuance compared to the more lighthearted original source. Meanwhile, in Kakegurui, in which the noisy, fanservice-laden changes only happened at the very end of the season, it felt abrupt and destroyed the tension that had been building since the first episode. For me, it gave an anti-climatic impression like the ending was written from a completely different story altogether and just slapped on the rest of the season like some kind of poorly made band-aid.

Apparently, it turns out that SnA anime also followed (or maybe some would say preceded, as it was aired even before Mappa!Dororo and aired together with Kakegurui) the same trend. To some extent. Here I see that SnA anime, as I had written about in the pilot episode critique, had changed some components of the story, in which the change didn’t really stem from technicalities and more of an artistic license to change the story’s overall tone. The problem is, the way that the anime changed scenes here and there is not consistent and overall not suited to the kind of story SnA is trying to tell us: the anime tried to somehow mix an image of Mahmut as a righteous, morally superior protagonist that always thrive in his every impulsive, ego-driven endeavors with a particular shape of world- building that centers on realpolitik-esque international politics, in which the highest reward would go to the actor that appeals the most to pragmatic rationality in ensuring their goal’s attainment. In this work, this mostly meant the characters’ goals regarding the wellbeing of their respective nations (i.e. national interest). In other words, the anime tried to blend two things that was supposedly not put together, and somehow tried to make it work. This made the overall tone inconsistent, as the anime was not clear on what kind of message it wanted to tell us.

This flaw was, in my opinion, most apparent in this particular episode. Why, you ask?

Because of this sly, sly, fabulous piece of work.

As some of you might already know, this magnificent bastard of a doge above is one of the, if not THE one, most pragmatic character SnA had to offer. Even more Machiavellian than other magnificent bastards such as Zaganos and Louis that has their own momentary emotion-controlled decision resulting in abject barbarism, Lucio for the most part managed to keep his underlying human emotions to himself, dividing his emotions as a human being with his rationality as a statesman with such surgical precision that even some of us sometimes forgot that he, like all other characters in the series, still has a heart underneath all of that smug diplomatic farce of his.

On one side the manga showcased his ability to create carefully balanced moves, crafted in order to maximize his city-state’s gain as a middle power with decent defensive capabilities and flourishing economy, but otherwise not immune to the effects of Turkiye and Baltrhein’s power struggle that reverberated throughout the region.

On the other hand, the manga also explored his inner, more vurnerable moments through carefully placed flashbacks and delicate showcase of blink-and-you’ll-miss micro-expression from time to time, creating a subtle nuance of conflicting desires in his mind that never truly surfaced for the whole world to see, painstakingly contained lest it becomes a crack that will rupture the delicate balance of his conscience and affect his decision-making abilities.  

This two images of Lucio that the manga expertly portrayed, to me, is a good crystalization of the implicit rules of pragmatism present in the SnA universe already mentioned above. The ‘rewards’ for his ideal behaviour are readily apparent throughout the storyline, up until now. Venedik, the city-state that Lucio currently leads, always occupies ‘safe zone’ in the manga’s plot progression: it never suffered a crippling destruction that robs it of its sovereignty (compare to Phoenicia and some of Rumeliana mainland’s city states); haven’t experienced the kind of back-and-forth win-and-losses that causes drastic depletion of its resources (compare to Baltrhein that lost a lot of human and material resources along with their territories, and Turkiye that also lost a lot of human resources, intellectual properties, and arguably their subjects’ trust); and last but not least, it is able to participate actively, according to its own terms, in securing its interest throughout the great war that engulfes the entire region (somewhat of a luxury, certainly not possessed by the Cuore that depends on the Alliance to conclude the war in favorable terms for them).

In my opinion, those advantages that Venedik has would not be there without Lucio’s careful and logic-driven way of directing Venedik’s domestic and foreign affairs and masterful management of his personal sentiments. This is especially apparent when we compare Lucio with other policy makers in the story, that more often than not commited grave errors when they let their personal sentiments cloud their judgement (Mahmut’s impatience to save Ibrahim regardless of his position that led to his demotion in the story’s early stages; Zaganos’ thirst for revenge that led to many unnecessary sacrifices in recent chapters; Constantinos’ pride that led to Phoenicia’s harsh subjugation by Lerederik’s troops; Louis’ apparent prejudice at other other states that emptied Baltrhein’s coffers to fund a costly war, et cetera). The message is quite clear: as a statesman/woman, it’s imperative to separate one’s personal sentiments from his/her job as clean as possible; or else he/she will suffer grave consequences as a result; it doesn’t care what kind of personal morality or quirks you have, it decides that you’re finished when you let them dictate your actions (although still, being shonen manga, Mahmut as the protagonist still gets more ‘redemption’ than most...). Despite it being a value that is somewhat a bit foreign and outdated in manga world, (especially when considering the modern world’s worship of Romanticism and animanga’s reputation as one of the most expressive medium of storytelling), this subtle nuance is what separates SnA from another works in the same medium, even the ones with the same umbrella genre of historical fiction.

It’s this whole nuance that the anime failed to capture in its entirety, thus creating an underwhelmingly generic show of shonen adventure that moves because of Hero vs. Villain plot based on black-and-white morality. The drastic change they did to Lucio’s character, the character that I thought of as the ‘It’ standard of the manga’s reward-and-punishment system, presented this error clearer especially when combined with their hideous portrayal of Mahmut throughout the series already realized by a lot of other manga reader. In the anime, I didn’t see the realpolitik-savvy, confidently prudent Doge that I know and admire. In here, I saw a man so insecure about his own political inclinations that his most trusted subordinate deliberately hid a crucial intel in anticipation of an error in his judgement.

As this is already quite long, here are some screenshots to ponder on. Go figure.

Manga:

An elaborate, brilliant piece of roasting that we never knew we needed, yet the anime never gives

Anime:

Seriously? That’s all?? How about.. the Magistros’ death?

Totally blindsided by an unanticipated jab on your personal sentiments thanks to some missing intels, possibly showing your weakness and incompetence in front of foreign politicians and your own subordinates. Fun indeed.

Um... I think this is not a matter of personal preferences anymore... do you really not trust each other that much??

....Who are you, and what have you done to Lucio?

[killjoy-loveit]

Breaking the Pattern

A/N: I would like to clarify that everything written in this story is complete fiction and isn’t to be taken as a true portrayal of reality. Tbh I personally think this piece is soft af, but that’s just me *shrugs*

Excerpt: Pursing your lips and flicking your eyes up, you’re ready to explain when the words catch in your throat. The guy standing in front of you is probably the most attractive person you’d ever laid eyes on.

Word Count: 1,608

Genre: Fluff (?)

    Life had always seemed rather trivial to Joshua. Personality wasn’t as valued as productiveness, so he learned how to box his playful/bubbly nature up and set it to the side. In doing so, he felt stifled, as anyone would. Boredom came the easiest when at work, sitting behind a computer all day- fixing problem after problem as they popped up. There were times he lost himself in daydreams filled with excitement and freedom, but each time it would end and his bubble of happiness was lost.

    It’s on a day like any other, solving problems behind the scenes for the company, when he decides he’s had enough. How long is he supposed to constrain himself to fit in? To become the perfect worker? Fingers flying over the keyboard, a resignation is quickly typed without an ounce of hesitation. Jumping up he rushes to the printer, snatching the paper the second it pops out and quickly jotting down his signature.

    Once he’s out of his office he makes his way to the elevator, pressing the button to go up. Joshua’s foot taps restlessly, the elevator feels like it’s going slower than usual. Finally it arrives and he squeezes in, punching the number of the floor his boss is on. Around him people chatter about meetings needing to be set, mergers that are happening soon, and the accounting period that’s about to end. Thankfully the elevator appears to be moving faster and it isn’t long before he exits, leaving the corporate chatter behind.

    A quick knock on the door grants him a barked, “Come in.”

    Entering the office Joshua comes to stand in front of his boss’ desk. She looks up at him, a small smile appearing briefly before speaking. “Joshua, one of my star employees. How can I help you?”

    “I’m putting in my two weeks notice. Here’s my resignation letter.” He replies, handing the paper over to her.

    Her mouth drops open, confusion apparent on her face as she takes his resignation letter. “Why are you resigning? Do we not pay you enough? Did another company poach you?”

    Joshua shakes his head, “No, that’s not it. It has nothing to do with another company nor my pay here.”

    “Is there any way we can make you stay? You’re such a valued employee, it would be a shame to lose you.”

    “Sorry, this is just something I have to do for myself.” He says affirmatively, shifting from one foot to the other.

    “Well… Alright. There are some papers I need you to fill out then, just let me find them.”

    And just like that, an end was put to his corporate career. That is, after his final two weeks pass, and then he’s free. Those two weeks seem to dredge on, time moving at the speed of molasses. Then finally his last day comes and as he leaves at the end of the day, there’s a smile present that is a prime example of pure elation.

    In the past two weeks Joshua had been planning on what to do once he left his corporate job. A few ideas were scratched out almost immediately after writing them down, as the logistics just didn’t seem to work out quite right. It was the thirteenth item on the list that struck gold: moving to the small coastal town a few hours away and either find work or open his own business. What the business would be he’d yet to figure out- but he was certain something would come to him. Thus the next day, after his last of corporate work, all of his stuff was quickly packed away into a moving truck and he was off.

                              ***Time Jump & POV Switch***

    Distraught as you were with the cash register deciding now was a good time to stop functioning, the tinkling sound meant to alert you of an incoming customer completely missed you. A groan of frustration slipped past your lips as you, unsuccessfully, tried to get the cash drawer to pop open. Come on, come on, come on! Even with these desperate words on replay in your mind, the drawer refused to cooperate. At this point you were about to give up and call the guy who owned the repair shop down the street. Admitting defeat and getting help would definitely make more sense than increasing your anger at the register.

    “Stupid. Freaking. Junk!” Each word came out harsh and was accentuated by a small wack to the offending object.

    “I don’t think hitting it is going to help anything.” Someone chuckles across from you.

    Pursing your lips and flicking your eyes up, you’re ready to explain when the words catch in your throat. The guy standing in front of you is probably the most attractive person you’d ever laid eyes on. Well, not probably, he most definitely is. His dark chocolate colored hair falls gently over his forehead, only a few wisps stray in an attempt to cover his eyes. Eyes that are looking at you in amusement, joined by a teasing grin.

    “Um… It won’t open, it’s been finicky since yesterday and nothing I do seems to make it open right now. I guess I’m getting a bit too frustrated.” You comment shyly, hand rubbing at the back of your neck.

    His head tilts slightly. “Would you mind if I took a look at it? I promise I’m not trying to rob you or anything- I worked at a store during college that used this kind of register. It always liked to act up too.”

    Brows furrowing and eyes narrowing, you gave him a cursory glance. In a soft gray sweater and dark jeans, he didn’t exactly look like a robber. Then again, was a robber just going to come in wearing the cartoon stereotype of a black and white striped shirt with a black bandana and matching hat?

    At your lack of response plus your scrutinizing gaze, the guy put his hands in front of him. “I swear! I just moved here, in that little blue house two streets over by the bakery.”

    Your eyebrows shot up as your mouth dropped open. “You’re the guy who moved into the old Rowe house yesterday? I live right across from you, the house with gray siding and a bunny statue by the driveway.”

    “It’s nice to meet a neighbor already, what a small world.”

    “Well, I mean, it is a pretty small town. You kinda know everyone that lives here, even if you don’t know them personally. I’m sure you’ll find out soon.” You pause, a thought popping up. “I’m so sorry, I totally forgot to introduce myself!”

    He laughs lightly at your sudden outburst. “It’s fine, I take it the name on the tag is yours?” You nod in affirmation. “Nice to meet you, I’m Joshua.”

    “Nice to meet you Joshua!” You take a step back, waving your hand at the register welcomingly. “If you really want to try your hand at fixing this, then go right ahead. Either way you can’t mess it up anymore.”

    Joshua strode around the counter before coming to stand beside you in front of the register. His mouth twisted a bit in concentration as his hands swept over the worn metal of it. Quickly he tapped the side of it three times while holding down two buttons. Surprisingly the cash drawer popped open, and he turned around to face you with a triumphant grin.

    “How did you do that?” You asked excitedly, rushing forward to double check that it was truly open.

    “It’s what always worked to get the one open when it was being finicky where I used to work.”

    “Oh my gods, please teach me that trick!” You turn, clutching his arm and staring at him with wide eyes.

    “Sure.”

    After this encounter, the two of you began the process of forming a quick friendship. It was common for the two of you to meet up for lunch on your breaks, filling the time by sharing stories from your past. Never a dull moment existed when the two of you got together. Every interaction was filled with jokes, teasing, and playful banter. This isn’t to say that neither of you broached serious topics, just that the serious conversations tended to occur when one of you had a few too many glasses of wine.

    It was over these glasses of wine shared in the evenings at one of your respective homes, that you learned of the deeper parts of each other. You confided in him, telling him of your fears of turning into your parents and never exploring anywhere outside the small beach town. He told you why he moved in the first place, how he was afraid of losing himself in the triviality of his corporate job. Though you had a hard time believing that anything could change his vibrant personality, it was obvious to see that was something he was truly afraid of. It shone in his eyes when he spoke of it, the air filled with unspoken emotions.

    This break in the pattern, this drastic change is exactly what was needed. Not only was Joshua able to freely be himself, without having to tame his personality, he’d also made great friends in the process. He could imagine a life in that small beach town, where everyone knew each other with not an unkind soul in sight. Everyday was different, filled with new obstacles and hurdles to find a solution to, but each night ended the same. Each night ended with the two of you sitting on your porch, facing the ocean, gazing up at the stars.

[mrsspidermanmaryjanewatsonparker]

Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows #13-15 Thoughts

Previous thoughts here.

Yes I know I couldn’t be later to this party but I started this series so I’m going to finish giving my thoughts on it.

I tried very hard to finish Houser’s run on RYV in time to read Spider-Girls but it just didn’t happen, I only made it up until just before the penultimate arc and I didn’t write up a proper post of my thoughts back then. So I re-read her first arc today with ambitions of re-reading the next 2 stories before finally experiencing the final arc and then Spider-Girls as part of reading over most of Spider-Geddon. What you will read below are a mixture of some initial thoughts I jotted down during my first read through and my thoughts upon revisiting the story, mostly the latter.

Oh SPOILERS I guess

So let me immediately get some obvious business about Renew Your Vows’ direction from here on in. The book, sans its covers, desperately misses Stegman. It also misses Conway but that is not a condemnation of Houser at all.

Houser in this arc does a good job with the situation presented by the new direction. Whether that new direction was her idea or editorials is unknown, though likely the latter.

And really that is the absolute worst thing about this story, the new direction itself.

It isn’t so much that it is bad unto itself but it is reductive that after 12 issues building a certain status quo, the one also built by the RYV Secret Wars mini-series and was promoted by Marvel prior and during the book’s initial release that we are abruptly changing course in a big way.

The book is still unique, at least the Spider-Books on the stands (even now). But it is less unique for various reasons.

Firstly we simply have way more teen heroes than pre-teen ones. Secondly a book that pays much attention to Spider-Man’s super powered teen daughter is going to either tread upon familiar ground that Spider-Girl stood on or else it will evoke Spider-Girl in the memories of the readers. Annie unto herself innately did this anyway, but that was offset when she was much younger than Mayday.

It also throws away the world building and set up Conway enacted in his initial arc, not to mention it just fast forwards a lot of Annie’s potential character development.

Does this render Annie uninteresting or the premise less likable? No because Houser has a strong handle on both the characters and more specifically what RYV as a book is.

Perhaps this is nowhere more apparent in how she structures her opening arc. Each issue shifts the POV to one of the Parker family, starting with Peter, then handing off to MJ and concluding with Annie, exactly like Conway’s first three issues did. This is a pretty clever way of conveying to readers Houser ‘gets’ the book and reassure readers who might not be thrilled about the time skip that these are the same characters just at different points in their lives, and not even that different, sans Annie.

This is rather realistic because Peter and MJ being the adults are comparatively less likely to change all that much even within 8 years whereas Annie inevitably will drastically change going from a pre-teen to an out-and-out teenager. Fittingly Houser compensates for this by showcasing Annie’s new state of being throughout the issues that are about Peter and MJ.

On the one hand this does somewhat undermine the idea that this book is about the family collectively as opposed being about Annie or placing Annie as the ‘first among equals’ in the team dynamic of the book.

On the other hand since the book is about the Parker family it adds up that so much of Peter and MJ’s characterization will stem from their relation to Annie; your child is after all the most important thing in your life.

So we get Annie’s somewhat more salty and disconnected relationship with a Peter who is very much starting to feel his age. Which is GOOD, the obnoxious proliferation of teen Spider-Man renders almost any older portrayal interesting by default. With MJ though, Annie seems to have a much more conciliatory relationship, its more that she exhausts her mother and seems more comfortable going to her about stuff. Also as a nice way of distinguishing her from Mayday, Annie seems to share her mother’s passion for fashion which Mayday actively didn’t.

Speaking of fashion lets talk about Annie’s new costume. I’ll level you all..it looks better than her prior costume, but also less unique but neither is...all that great. I guess when you have Mayday Parker and Spider-Gwen and all the Spider-Women running around, coming up with something thing that fits the general Spider-Man motif, looks unique and also is really dynamic can be difficult. I can see where the designer was going though. Peter, MJ and Annie share the same outlines for where the chest areas of their suits turn into another colour. Peter’s is red and blue, MJ’s red and white and Annie’s is blue to black. So the ‘shape’ of the suit lends to the ‘unified family’ idea. The colours also make her stand out but maybe too much. If her parents had red chests and then she has blue it’s kinda weird. If the idea was she was trying to strike out on her own sure but I don’t get that impression at all. It is kinda cool she has MJ’s mask design but I preferred her old mask which was a compromise between her parents’ masks.

As for the main plot, I think Houser could’ve milked it much more than she did, we could’ve done with much more of the slice of life stuff and the Lizard was underutilized. There is a strong element of family defining the Lizard’s character because of his wife and child. In a book about family I presumed that was where we were going when he showed up. But...no he was just used as a monster amidst monsters.

I’m not saying Houser got the Lizard wrong just that there was an obvious and more compelling angle to exploited in the story.

The two big reveals surrounding the plot, that there is a zoo full of near-human people, and that it’s being run by Mister Sinister was also...underwhelming.

Spider-Man has the best supporting cast and rogue’s gallery within Marvel comics. Not only does this mean we don’t really need to see non-Spider-Man characters (like the X-Men) pop up, it’s frankly less interesting when we do because they have little-no history with Spider-Man or his family.

It was also just kind of a reveal that didn’t land for me, I could not care at all.

Mister Sinister was a little different because, I like Sinister as a bad guy I really do...but not in Spider-Man. I get including and referencing the X-Men in this arc because for some reason they were practically supporting cast members in Conway’s run, so paying that off makes sense. But why double down upon it with a major X-villain? Like the Jackal, even Doc Ock, either of them would be more fitting villains in this type of story or where the series implies it will be leading onto later.

It didn’t help that when we met Sinister initially in disguise there was just very little gravitas to him because he obviously looked like a no-name 18th century circus reject.

The ending let this arc down is what I guess I’m getting at. Issue #13 and #14 had pretty nice hooks for the next issues.

What was a letdown throughout though was the action sequences. They were pretty pedestrian along with the art overall. Like it wasn’t BAD per se (except Peter’s eyebrows...wtf?), it just was a major step down from Stegman and even Stockman, the latter of whom I think the artwork was chosen to be more like. It had this softer undefined element to it, and not in a Romita Senior way.

Returning to the character though, I do commend Houser for having a good grip on everyone and efficiently finding a way to distinguish them from one another across the three issues.

Peter dealing with being older and now decidedly less cool and engaging to his teen daughter is delightful..even if at points it feels like the narrative is kind of undermining him, especially in the Wolverine scene at the start of the story...still Dad Joke Spider-Man is awesome. Even more awesome is how together he over all is. This isn’t an angst ridden Peter Parker or one who is introspectively questioning himself. Throughout the story he gives off this air of relaxed experience, like he knows what he’s doing and can tell the situation allows for a few jokes and a bit of fun. Refrshingly he doesn’t angst about not pursuing the bad guy at all.

Moving on, Houser probably dissing MJ’s place in the Iron books at the time with her reprimanding and smack down of Tony was awesome (although I don’t get why she was so miffed at him). Her playing Spider-Mom, and more poignantly dejectedly owning it, was hilarious. Her sense of exhaustion is relatable whether you’ve been a parent or just been around them. It very much taps into Conway’s characterization of MJ as a juggler

Houser’s Annie also shines. She is believably an older version of the kid Annie we once knew but also stands firmly as her own person. She’s somewhat embarrassed by her Dad and wants greater independence. She loves being a superhero, but is (also in contrast to Mayday) a more of a punch first think later kind of gal with a dash of overconfidence.

She is untrustworthy of the Lizard and more gung ho, whilst MJ and especially Peter (to my delight) are both more reigned in and trusting.

This is nicely explored in the family’s single page descent underground where Houser gives Peter a really great speech about what it means for Annie to accept the great responsibility of the mask, that it might mean trusting those who are not trustworthy for the sake of others. This serves to nicely develop Annie as its her Dad treating her as more of an adult for the first time. the fact that it’s her Dad, the iconic hero Spider-Man conveying this wisedom onto her is very fitting and helps further legitimize Annie as a Spider-Hero to the readers of RYV and legitimize the new teen version to those jumping aboard at this point.

Not to be outdone, MJ an issue earlier got a wonderful piece of dialogue about how in spite of how their lives might be messed up by being heroes she and her family will still endeavour to make plans and live normal lives. Which is both a wonderfully inspiring heroic statement but also so very true to who she and Peter are as people.

Some other small points:

I saw Carrion amidst Sinister’s menagerie

The underground nature of the story’s conclusion nicely evokes the first arc by Conway

Overall Houser sells/sold you on the new dynamic with this arc as much as I preferred the older one and wish they hadn’t changed.

B+

[violethowler]

A Report in Retrospect: An Examination of the Organization Founders' Redemption

It’s been more than a few hours shy of a week since I finished my first playthrough of Kingdom Hearts III, and some of my favorite characters in the whole game were Even, Ienzo, and Ansem. I loved the way the game handled the former two’s efforts to atone for the things they’d done as part of Organization XIII. But the reunion scene between Ansem and Ienzo got me thinking about is how our perception of the Organization’s founding members and their human selves has evolved over the years. Looking back, our only source of info on their original selves in the early years of the franchise was DiZ, who Kingdom Hearts II also established as bitter, vindictive, and single-mindedly focused on revenge. Clearly not an unbiased narrator. But I think it was only in recent years that we truly realized just how biased our perspective against them really was.

We first learn about the story of the six apprentices’ descent into Darkness and their role in the creation of Organization XIII through the Secret Ansem Reports collected throughout Kingdom Hearts II. In these reports, DiZ talks at length about how his apprentices betrayed him, giving audiences the impression that his banishment and the inhumane experiments that his apprentices had been conducting in his name were a group undertaking, and that all six continued these experiments fully cognizant of their betrayal. Their actions as Nobodies in Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts II support this narrative, and while they’re more sympathetic in 358/2 Days, they’re not there long enough to drastically change our perceptions of the characters.

Birth by Sleep is where the narrative shifts. We’re given a window into their lives prior to the founding of Organization XIII, and it doesn’t match up with what the previous games had established about their backstories. We knew Zexion was the youngest of the six, but it was a shock to learn that Ienzo was a child when he lost his heart, that he’d been DiZ’s adopted son in all but name. Xaldin and Lexaeus had been royal guards dedicated to the defense of their city. Vexen had been Ienzo’s reluctant chaperone who still cared about the boy deep down.

Their noble portrayal in BBS stands in direct contrast with DiZ’s recollection of his six apprentices as malicious backstabbers. If the last two apprentices had been portrayed as sympathetically in that game as the other four, their origin story would have been a tragic one, where all six were corrupted as their desire to see their research through to the end drove a wedge between them and their mentor. But the thing that made our knowledge of what transpired during the year between the end of Birth by Sleep and the founding of Organization XIII murkier stems from the actions of one person: Braig.  

Of the five apprentices whose names aren’t Xehanort, Braig is the only one of the Organization’s founding members who is not portrayed sympathetically at all during the entirety of Birth by Sleep. We see him first as a greedy, ambitious opportunist who wanted a Keyblade for himself and eagerly helped Xehanort in the hopes of receiving one. (And this is without getting into the reveal of his true agenda at the end of Kingdom Hearts III) So, when the secret ending shows Braig beginning to put ideas in the amnesiac Xehanort’s head, it muddies the waters and raises a whole host of questions: How involved were the other four in the infamous experiments? Was Ienzo spurring Ansem into building the lab his own idea, or had Xehanort coached him knowing that the king of Radiant Garden would never refuse his surrogate son? Did the other four have qualms about the immorality of their experiments that Xehanort and Braig convinced them to ignore? And was DiZ’s banishment really the work of all six, or had Xehanort and Braig acted alone, leaving DiZ to bitterly assume that the other four had supported the coup?

So, when Ienzo revealed that he’d been told his adopted father had abandoned him, the pieces began to fit into place. If Ienzo had been kept in the dark about DiZ’s fate, then the odds were good that the king’s banishment had been the work of Xehanort and Braig alone. Given Even’s protectiveness of him in BBS, and the reveal that he was kept out of the loop regarding Ansem’s fate, the evidence indicates that Ienzo wasn’t directly involved in any of the horrific experiments, while Even, given his guilt and atonement in Kingdom Hearts III, had an active hand in them. Dilan and Aeleus don’t speak at all in Kingdom Hearts III (likely because they couldn’t get their previous voice actors back to record), but judging from their portrayal in Birth by Sleep and the fact that they don’t seen to feel like they need to go to similar lengths as Even to atone, it’s likely that their level of involvement in the experiments was closer to Ienzo’s than to Evens. Which makes sense when we learn that half of the apprentices were guards, not full-time researchers.

So when Even, Ienzo, and Ansem collaborate to engineer Roxas and Xions' resurrection, it works. And it's because of the fact that the Reports that are collected in each game are not always intended to be taken as hard, immutable facts. The reports serve as journals that reflect a character's thoughts and emotions about what they're doing based on the information they have available to them. Their value to the audience is in how each author's reminiscing adds new context to their on-screen actions. And because DiZ was already established as an angry, bitter man hardened by Xehanort's betrayal in Kingdom Hearts 2, it's entirely within his established character for him to remember his six pupils and the events surrounding his banishment in a worse light. 

And given how his quest for revenge against Organization XIII was primarily directed at Xemnas specifically, it suggests that despite projecting his anger onto all six, Xehanort was the one he was truly angry with. And unlike the first time he's trapped on the Dark Margin, where he escaped by focusing solely on his anger and desire for revenge, he's had at least a year to contemplate and reflect on his life. It's easier, then, for him to reconcile with the ones still in Radiant Garden when he didn't truly hate them to begin with. Ever since Birth by Sleep, when Ansem's apprentices were depicted as ordinary people instead of the treacherous mad scientists their embittered mentor remembered them as, the audience's perception of the apprentices as characters has been slowly shifting, culminating in their quest for atonement in Kingdom Hearts III.

[mk-otro]

RP Advice No One Wanted: CONT’D

I wrote this six years ago. It was about roleplaying villains, but due to roleplay (or RP) circumstances I've encountered lately, I’ve made the mistake of revisiting it. The fact I still roleplay somewhere on the internet is surprising in itself; I haven't been fully persuaded to quit altogether just yet. Key words, there.

So here's a few additional RP-related bits of advice -- maybe some repeats of what I've said before, but all still relevant:

Concerning IC Character Portrayal and Development

I still stand by the fact that researching and reviewing canon is key to staying true to the character in question, especially if it's a villain. If a villain is serious, then be serious. If the character is bombastic? Be BOMBASTIC. If they're freaking terrible, go be terrible. HOwever, if there's enough wiggle room for personality you can slip in stuff that you think fits into the situation they currently find themselves in. As I've said before: a well-rounded character is a good character.

(This can also fall in with playing heroes and good guys. Take away the titles and it's really all the same concept.)

“But what if canon materials differ from each other? What if there are contradictions?” To that I say find the most prominent traits and work in what you can. (This probably goes for American comics since they're notorious for retconning their storylines every so many years. THERE'S JUST TOO MUCH, STOP)

Of Course, Development is A Whole 'Nother Monster

In-Game (or In-Character/IC) Development is like a double-edged sword. It's good to have a character progress from where they first started, it may not always turn out for the better. Sometimes the progression can get worse. Still, development shouldn't be drastically shifting every time Something Happens. It's a lot more haphazard, like the rings on a tree stump. Or something like that. What it shouldn't be is a consistent pattern of ups and downs.

For instance, a character can be really stubborn until something breaks that streak. Or, as another example, a character acts cowardly until they decide they need to step up and hold their ground. To have a character bounce back and forth between these changes messes up the progression.

Trying to balance out the effects of the scenarios can be exhausting unless you really know what you're doing with the information you have at hand. But no matter the changes, the core of the character should still be, y'know, identifiable. Distinguishable. If the changes are too extreme and you can't recognize who the character is supposed to be, then there's something wrong.

A character not changing at all is also something wrong. Maybe not wrong, but it feels...weird. I'm not sure how to describe it. Flat? Two-Dimensional? Same diff?

And Now Something A Little Different, But Still Relevant To The Topic of RP

I know RP isn't Serious Business ™ , but I find it crazy that people get very emotionally-involved on both the IC and OOC sides of text-based games. Not that being emotional is a bad thing; too much of it, on the other hand, can put a damper on everything that goes into playing fictional characters in fictional settings. So, some things to keep in mind:

- If you want to play with others, ask. If you have an idea for a scene or plot, that's even better!

- Common Sense says Communication is a Two-Way Street. You can ask for RP. They can ask for RP. If you want to do it, you accept. If not, then you decline politely. Same thing for goes for them. Not that difficult.

- While it's good to have fun, make sure you're all having fun. It's not fun when only one person reaps the rewards. Everyone has a part to play. If you're not the one running a scene, thank the people who do. They put a lot a work into it.

- No one can force anyone to do anything they don't want to do. Usually people are good at hashing out stuff for RP fun times, but there are some people who like to place their personal agendas on the unsuspecting without their full knowledge. You have to remember PEOPLE ARE PEOPLE, with real blood and guts and a brain and everything squishy. They're just like you! Not every detail will be agreed upon! That's just how it is! Talk it out. Brainstorm. Compromise if you have to! But if the answer is no, accept it and move on.

- Nobody wants to be That Person who harasses others because they didn't get their way. Unfortunately, some people either aren't socialized properly to understand 'no' as a statement and need more explanation for why they were refused. Others just don't take 'no' for an answer, which makes them Trash for undermining the reasons laid down in the first place.

* (In case there is no Moderator or Staff figure present to notify about a player behavior, it would be good to promptly end all communications with them. Anyone who is uncomfortable and Done ™ with such behavior is allowed to cut things short.)

- - - - -

So TL;DR; Some more guidelines to RPing that aren't THE guidlines but are good things to keep in mindSHUT UP, MK, you're not my mother, who needs to READ on a text-based game anyway-- I'M SHARING MY EXPERIENCES WITH YOU BECAUSE I WANT TO I'm too old for this.

RP is tiring, but it can be fun if you let it be! But if you ask to do something without putting in the effort, or ask why x is happening and what it has to do with anything, then I have to ask you one question in return: Why Are You Even Here?

[pass-the-bechdel]

Nikita season two full review

How many episodes pass the Bechdel test?

91.3% (twenty-one of twenty-three)

What is the average percentage per episode of female characters with names and lines?

38.91%

How many episodes have a cast that is at least 40% female?

Twelve, which is essentially half the episodes so I’m not gonna list them all here. 

How many episodes have a cast that is less than 20% female?

Zero.

How many female characters (with names and lines) are there?

Nineteen. Ten who appear in more than one episode, four who appear in at least half the episodes, and two who appear in every episode.

How many male characters (with names and lines) are there?

Sixty-two. Seventeen who appear in more than one episode, five who appear in at least half the episodes, and one who appears in every episode.

Positive Content Status:

High quality; a consistently uplifting strong-women narrative, with all of the complexity and grit to make it real instead of just flimsy box-ticking (average rating of 3.08). 

General Season Quality:

Also high quality; sometimes I missed the simpler, more contained narratives of the first season, but the expansion of scope and implication was a natural development which this season embraces to the full, and that makes for a plot that barely pauses to catch its breath, and yet never becomes too overwrought to be believed.

MORE INFO (and potential spoilers) under the cut:

Gotta say, I think this show, more than any other, keeps me guessing as to what will come next at every turn. I mean, LOST was a wild ride chock-full of plot twists, but that was a very deliberate part of the show’s hook so it was never shocking that it was shocking, if you follow. Nikita is a different level; it doesn’t have a you’ll-never-guess-what-happens-next approach, it’s kinda like the show just rolls along, doing what it does, totally oblivious to the fact that its plot is moving at breakneck speed and never giving the audience long enough to try and navigate its trajectory in advance. I am very pleasantly surprised at how well they’ve made that work for them, though as you have all seen it still kinda throws me for a loop when I’m trying to offer some kind of episode-by-episode commentary. As I’ve said before, that really ain’t a bad thing.

Like any show, they have their missteps (Sean needs work; still not exactly sold on the Cassandra/Max stuff; Amanda gets less fun the more we learn about her), but by and large they’re recognising their strengths and playing to them. Most notable and wonderful being Maggie Q as their lead character, of course; the fact that the show is literally named after Nikita might make it seem obvious that she’d be treated to the most narrative attention and given the most meaty story to sink her teeth into, but in all honesty I was still surprised by how dedicated the show is to Nikita’s position at its centre. Considering she’s a woman - and not even a white one! - I would have been wholly un-surprised if they had served us a more ‘balanced’ narrative in which her co-stars had similarly-weighted personal arcs (as much as I bemoaned Alex’s B-plot status through much of this season, it was born primarily of a desire for Alex to be more directly linked to Nikita’s story and to the relationship they had shared in season one; certainly not any desire to see Nikita herself less centralised). I believe I’ve been rather transparent about how deeply I have fallen in love with Nikita as a character and with Maggie’s portrayal of her, and I remain frankly astonished at the nuance and complexity of the work being done there: Nikita is certainly not just a Strong Female Character cliche, and as sexy and badass as she is the story never allows either of those things to be considered defining traits. 

I’m gonna talk a bit about Nikita’s relationship with Michael this season, because in a show that changes drastically over the course of a handful of episodes (to say nothing of the cosmic shifts from one season to the next), that relationship stands out to me as having formed a backbone-consistency that both builds upon the existing structure from season one, and improves vastly upon it. Yeah, the thing with Cassandra and Max was kinda weird and convenient and - while it worked out better as a narrative decision than I expected - not one of their stronger moves this season, but Nikita handled the revelation like a champ and weathered the situation with Michael as a supportive partner; even though this represented a very real prospect for them going their separate ways, the personal connection underpinning the relationship remained strong and unalterable. In the first season, I was dubious; it seemed awful cliche for them to be attracted to one another, it made for some awkward machinations sometimes in order to keep them antagonistic-but-not-enemies despite being very literally expected to kill one another at the first opportunity, and in flashbacks to Nikita’s time as a recruit Michael’s interest in her sometimes had a vaguely predatory flavour. Once they got together, however, the show made a very wise decision - supported unwaveringly throughout season two - to make that connection the least-complicated part of their lives. Which is a breath of fresh air since unnecessary romance drama is a mainstay of television despite being THE WORST, and it also allows them to explore a very adult relationship for its strengths instead of its trials. These are pragmatic people, highly trained spysassins, and it would be unrealistic for them to become ‘soft’ in relationships, since that kind of emotional vulnerability is only good for getting everyone dead. But, by the same token, they’re still human and like any human they’ll find a way to explore their emotions within their context, and since they’re both in the same boat there’s no need for them to internalise everything until it manifests in unhealthy ways. Consequently, they navigate obstacles together, they see one another’s shortcomings and work with or around them rather than trying to ‘change’ one another, and they allow room for argument and conflict in the knowledge that surface tension is normal and does not imply a rotten foundation. In short (ha, from me?), the relationship is healthy. It’s the ‘two broken people’ cliche, but believable. Full of mess, no fairy tale or magic fix, just two people being good for each other. It’s a wonderful thing.

Contrast that with Alex’s arbitrary bland-good-guy love interests; Sean is above and beyond better than Nathan, but he’s still not doing a thing to subvert the cliche and give the impression that he has any real narrative function beyond ‘but we gotta give Alex a boyfriend! For, like, reasons!’. While I appreciate that that in itself is something of a subversion of the old ‘hot-chick-with-zero-personality’ love interest cliche for male characters, it’s still some rubbishy hetero nonsense; if the character has no function outside of forming a romantic or sexual relationship with one of your actually-functional characters, delete them. Stop pretending that not being single is of vital importance, as if fully-rounded and fulfilled single people don’t exist (also, entertainment media could do us a favour and stop acting like being single for more than a couple of months is CRAZY AND UNBEARABLE. When I was a kid I was under the firm impression that dating was like a full-time job from the age of sixteen onwards, with only about a month of holiday time accrued per year during which it was considered acceptable to be single. But anyway, I digress). I am also tired of female characters struggling to make it a single season of tv without having a guy thrown at them, as though there’s some fear of them not being relatable or interesting without a man around. Hence, also, part (but not all) of my reason for being displeased at the Amanda/Ari connect, as well as the implication of some unrequited interest from Amanda directed at Percy. It’s unnecessary and it undermines Amanda’s own lust for power by combining it with a sexual interest in powerful men and an irrationality associated with romantic competition or rejection (the suggestion that she only deposed Percy after he shattered her fantasy of partnership with him; her instantaneous hatred of Carla culminating in a literal kill order). The idea that she’s secretly been with Ari for 10+ years doesn’t seem to gel with anything else and comes across more as the writers just trying to be shocking (and as I noted at the beginning of this, one of their strengths is in being nonchalant about their twists), and even if Amanda ends up turning on him as soon as he’s no longer useful to her the whole thing kinda stinks of the implication that her desire for power itself is undercut by willingness to share it or even just play second fiddle to a man; in effect, that she’s trying to ‘marry in’ to positions of power by attaching herself to already-powerful men, and that is desperately at odds with the idea that a person of her talents and ruthlessness would be hell-bent on being Head Bitch in Charge in the first place. There was no need to even mention her being interested in Percy, nor does she need to be literally in bed with Ari (for the last decade!) in order for them to be figuratively in bed as business partners. No one suggests that Ari or Percy or any other powerful male in the narrative needs to have a sexual stake in the matter in order to form an allegiance with a potential rival. I’m jus’ sayin’. Hope they resolve their Amanda issues next season instead of making them worse.

...seriously though, name me another tv show that is 1) more than five years old, and 2) has a non-white female lead character - not a co-lead, an actual singular Main Character who is neither white nor male. There are few enough I’m aware of in recent shows, but back when Nikita started, or before that? I got nothing. Please share if you think of one.

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Latest story from https://movietvtechgeeks.com/supernatural-patience-hard-watch-maybe-thats-point/

'Supernatural' Patience: Hard to watch, but maybe that's the point

I was excited to watch last week’s Supernatural episode while at a Supernatural convention in, of all perfect places for this particular show, New Orleans. I made sure to be in my hotel room ten minutes early, ready to tweet, anticipation building…only to find that one of the many versions of CSI was airing on the local CW affiliate. BOO. I managed to watch the episode the next day on my phone, but that’s not the sort of viewing I was hoping for so this is more review than recap. Nevertheless, here are some thoughts on the third episode of Season 13. Don't forget to check out our Supernatural Gift Guide as the holidays are almost here and there's something for #SPNFamily member in it and even those that are #SPN curious. It’s hard to say I enjoyed the episode, because much of it wasn’t what I would call enjoyable to watch – this show I love is like that sometimes. It draws me in and then stabs me in the heart, because I care about these characters so much. When they’re hurting, I’m hurting. And right now? The Winchesters are hurting. Add to that several other characters who I’ve come to like a lot – who are also hurting – and that’s a lot of hurt for one poor fangirl to endure in 42 minutes of television. Let’s talk about those other two first. Missouri Mosely was one of my favorite characters from the early seasons of Supernatural. She was wise and warm and took no crap from the Winchester boys. She was a little bit of mother figure for them in a time when they didn’t have one at all, long before Mary came back or Jody Mills played a bit of that role for them.  She was also one of the first women of color to appear on the show. Loretta Devine invested the character with so much personality; she lit up every scene she was in. I always wished they’d have her back, and was thrilled to find out that was finally happening. Loretta did just as fabulous a job as ever, and I loved being able to see both Missouri’s obvious care for the Winchesters (and Baby) and that she’s as capable of sassing them right back as ever. Dean’s quiet “yes ma’am” and Missouri’s returned warmth was one of those small emotional moments that carries a big impact, hearkening back to early seasons and reminding me who Dean really is and how much the people who cared about him in those early days meant to him. On the other hand, I was sad to see Missouri be killed so quickly. It made sense in the context of setting up the Wayward Sisters episode, allowing Patience to find out about her own psychic abilities. Her death could be a motivation for Patience to begin hunting too, but it still was hard to watch. I did love how Missouri went out, though, on her own terms and courageous right up to the end. The wraith wanted to hear her scream? Missouri: Tough. I wonder if we’ll see Missouri and Loretta back, though. There was careful attention paid to Missouri giving her young granddaughter that brooch that would always keep her with Patience, and to Patience taking it out of its box and holding it. Will that anchor Missouri to her as a ghost, or allow her to contact Patience in some other way from beyond? Let’s just say I hope so! Let’s talk a little more about Patience, too. I don’t know her well enough yet to care so much that her hurt also hurts me, but Clark Backo did a great job showing us the new character’s fortitude as well as her grief (which is the theme of this season so far, and certainly of this episode). Patience does not get rattled easily. She, much like her grandmother, doesn’t give the wraith much satisfaction as far as being the stereotypical screaming hysterical tied up woman – instead, she keeps her wits about her and tries to talk him out of eating her brains. When that doesn’t work, she utilizes her vision to save the lives of her dad, Jody, and Dean. (I was a bit put off by a vision that was so specific, she could tell people exactly when to duck out of the way – that seems like a talent that’s too on the nose to be practical for the show or its spinoff – but maybe that was a one-time thing. Beginner’s luck?) James, Patience’s dad, and Missouri’s son, was also a memorable character. Not all that likable, but memorable. The premise that he shut his mother out of his life because she didn’t foresee his wife’s death from cancer accurately seemed unlikely, unless he was some sort of jerk already – but that isn’t how he’s written. So that was confusing (Dean and Jody seemed confused by it as well).  I was thrown out of the story for a second by that to go huh? James also seemed to resent his mother’s hunting and not being around much, perhaps a nod to Dean and Sam’s difficulty with Mary after her return doing a similar thing – or to Sam and Dean’s childhood with John where he constantly disappeared and left them frightened and alone. James does have a reaction when he hears his mother has been killed, and he’s clearly regretting hanging up on her the day before, but wow, too little too late, buddy. It hurt to think that Missouri had been cut out of her son’s and granddaughter’s lives for twelve years – twelve years! And that James had manufactured a lie to keep Patience from seeking her out. I don’t know, James, that’s a tough one for me to swallow. I suppose that may also set Patience up to go to Jody eventually, but all that wasn’t pleasant to watch – maybe because it pinged my own mom emotions too much. Cut out of your child’s life?  I can’t think of anything more painful. I guess in a sense, James’ story fits into the overall theme of the season so far. It was his grief over his wife’s death that pushed him to take such drastic steps, to cut his mother out of his life – to inflict pain on others. Dean, in his overwhelming grief and sense of helplessness, is sort of doing the same thing. A lot of anger comes from grief, that’s for sure. Of course, the other character I’ve come to care about who is hurting terribly is Jack. I have to really hand it to Supernatural and to Alex Calvert, because I really do care about him. Yes, I know he’s Lucifer’s son, but Calvert and the writers have shown me a person who’s young and naïve and vulnerable, and I can’t help but want him to be okay. I’m actually a bit dumbfounded by how much I care about Jack already – I didn’t expect to. Not like this. Jack is struggling so hard to figure out who he is – it’s like all that identity exploration we all have to go through in adolescence has been packed into four days for poor Jack. The character pulls strongly for identification for many fans – he’s a mix of very different things, half this and half that, contrasting attributes that make it difficult for him to figure out who he really is. He’s impulsive like every adolescent ever, but for Jack that impulsivity could be literally life-threatening for lots of people. Like, everyone everywhere, the whole planet. How do you deal with that kind of power when you don’t even know how to control your own emotions? When you don’t even know how you’re supposed to feel or who you’re supposed to care about?  Like Sam eventually realizes, that has to be terrifying. Jack is dealing with grief too, just like Dean and Sam are, and with the feelings of abandonment that inevitably come with it. His mother has abandoned him (through no fault of her own) by dying, and to make matters so much worse, Jack feels responsible. Technically, he is responsible, but again, not his fault. He certainly didn’t ask to be created or born, but knowing that your mother died giving birth to you has got to be an awful knowledge to bear. Alex did a magnificent job in the scene where Jack listens to Kelly’s message for him, recorded before he was born. You can see his eagerness to connect with her, and the awful longing, knowing this is all he has of her – all he’ll ever have. Jack has mentioned feeling connected to his mother before he was born, that she told him things and taught him things, which must make the loss so much more poignant. It’s not like he never knew her – he did. And yet he never got to be held by her, or to hear her voice except on a laptop. How tragic. This theme of parental loss and separation that’s running through the season, and especially this episode, is really hard to watch. Did I already say ouch? Jack’s grief isn’t just about his mother either. He’s also lost Castiel, who he expected to be there, to take care of him. Jack was also connected to Cas somehow before he was born, and that connection has also been broken with Castiel’s death. Jack is truly alone, except for the Winchesters. And even that is a story of grief and loss. That brings me to Winchesters, and why their story was also hard to watch in this episode. We’ve been prepared for Sam and Dean to be “on a different page” when it comes to Jack since way back at Comic Con last summer, but somehow I didn’t expect it to be this painful.  First I want to give all the kudos to Jared Padalecki. It’s been a while since he’s been able to really demonstrate his acting chops like this, especially his ability to portray hurt and anger in Sam. Padalecki is wonderful this season with his subtle portrayal of Sam’s shifting and conflicted emotions – you can watch his face and see the realizations happen, the connections spark, the emotions flare. I love the character of Sam Winchester, and this episode reminded me why. Sam is determined not to give up on Jack. After all Sam went through with Lucifer, all the torture and abject terror and years and years of dealing with the rage and pain Lucifer left in him; Sam Winchester is still capable of giving Lucifer’s son the benefit of the doubt. He refuses to judge Jack by who his father is, determined to see him as his own person. Can you even imagine the strength that takes? Sam is a character so capable of empathy that he looks at Jack and instead of seeing the monster-to-be that Dean does, Sam sees a wounded boy who sees himself reflected in others’ eyes as a freak. And Sam knows that feeling. It breaks my heart to have to remember all those times when Sam felt like he was the monster – when the people he loved felt that way too. When his own father told his brother that he might have to kill him. KILL HIM. When the brother he adores told him that if he didn’t know him, he’d be hunting him. Looked at him like a freak, with fear and disgust. I was reminded of all that incredible pain that Sam Winchester has been through, and yet here he is, hunching down so he’s on Jack’s level to talk to him when Jack has curled up on the floor, distraught and hopeless and convinced he’s both evil and a failure. As much as Sam does want to help Jack harness his powers, both for humanity’s safety and maybe to breach the wall and find their mother, he also has genuine empathy for Jack. When he sees how much Jack is hurting, how overwhelmed he is by trying to do what Sam wants – by trying to be “good” – Sam drops all those practical concerns and just holds his hand out to Jack.  He isn’t afraid to offer an apology, an admission that he was pushing too hard. And how rare is that in this world, both online and off, real world and fantasy? When someone has the guts to say, you know what? I was wrong. Let me do this differently. Sam Winchester? He’s got those guts. I started to tear up during that scene, because Jared showed us all those emotions in Sam so clearly that I was pulled right in too, right along with him. I’m tearing up now just thinking about it. It’s a beautiful moment, when Sam reaches down and Jack reaches up and clasps his hand, lets Sam pull him up. Literally, but also metaphorically. Jack, afraid to believe in that kindness or acceptance, asks why Sam is being so nice to him. Sam: Because I know what it feels like to feel like you don’t belong. To feel like there’s this darkness inside of you. To be scared of who you are and what you can can do. Dean…Cas…my family helped me through that. So I want to help you. Because you’re not evil, Jack. God, did I ever love Sam Winchester at that moment. Dean, as we’ve known for a long time, is not exactly on the same page. When Missouri calls asking for help, Dean is all too ready to get out of the bunker and “go to work” – instead of trying to help Jack. I hate when the brothers split up, so I hated seeing Dean leave Sam behind, especially after snapping at him for what he’s trying to do with Jack. All that grief that Dean is trying to bottle up with alcohol and repression? Not surprisingly, it’s exploding in a lot of anger. Also not surprisingly, those explosions are raining shrapnel down on the person Dean is closest to – his brother. Even more unsurprising, I hate watching that. Anyone who reads my reviews, or has even a passing acquaintance with me, knows that I love the bond between the brothers. When they argue, or when god forbid they hurt each other even unintentionally, it hurts my heart. So the other person hurting a lot during this episode? That was me. That first scene between Dean and Sam hurt, but it was nothing compared to their next conversation. I love love love that they DID have a conversation, even if it was actually more of an argument, because there’s nothing worse than the brothers not interacting at all and both of them bottling up their feelings from each other.  Sam, who is just the most courageous person ever in this episode, doesn’t let Dean get away with coming back from the wraith hunt and just heading off to his bedroom with a six pack or two. He confronts Dean about saying he would kill Jack. Dean at first tries to avoid, insisting that’s not exactly how it happened. But Sam doesn’t let his brother off the hook. Dean’s favorite defense mechanisms are repression, denial, and avoidance, and Sam knows those aren’t going to keep working. So he pushes. Like I said, courageous. And as he pushes, Dean’s wall of repression starts to crack – and then there’s that explosion. Shrapnel all over Sam, and Padalecki lets us see that it’s hurting him, that Sam is bleeding from it, but he takes it. He lets Dean vent and yell and get right up in his face, all that rage and pain and grief coming to the surface. He doesn’t back away, and in his eyes there’s almost a softness. Sam knows his brother. He knows how much Dean is hurting and he knows that’s why he’s lashing out – at Jack and now at Sam himself. And somehow, because Sam Winchester is something to aspire to, he manages not to lash out in return. He manages to hang onto his empathy for his brother just as he did for Jack and lets Dean get it all out. It was tremendously painful to watch, but my jaw was hanging open in awe of Sam even as tears were once again overflowing. Sam tells Dean that Jack is messed up, and Dean agrees. Sam: No. Because of you, Dean. Finally called on the ramifications of his anger, Dean’s defensiveness goes into overdrive. Dean: I told him the truth! See, you think you can use this freak, but I know how this ends, and it ends bad. Sam: (and you can see the anger that’s brewing inside him now, at the use of the word ‘freak’ that brings back so many painful memories): I didn’t. Dean: (clearly caught off guard, because he’s been so caught up in his own grief and rage that he doesn’t realize how similar this situation is to the one Sam found himself in with the demon blood drinking – a parallel fandom has been screaming about for several weeks now) What? Sam: I didn’t end bad! When I was the “freak.” When I was drinking demon blood. You could have put a bullet in me. Dad TOLD you to put a bullet in me, but you didn’t! You saved me. So help me save him! Dean still can’t hear it, can’t let himself think of these two situations as having any similarity at all. He still needs to hang onto his rage at Jack, because if he lets it go, where does all that grief and anger go? If Jack’s not to blame, right here to be punished, then what does Dean do with all that rage? Who has to pay for the death of Castiel and Mary? Dean: You deserved to be saved. He doesn’t. Sam: Yes he does, Dean! Of course he does! Dean: Look I know you think you can use him as some sort of inter-dimensional can opener and that’s fine, but don’t act like you care about him because you only care about what he can do for you. So if you want to pretend, that’s fine. But me? I can hardly look at the kid. Cause when I do, all I see is everybody we’ve lost. Sam tries to argue, tries to use logic and reason. Sam: Mom CHOSE to take that shot on Lucifer. That is not on Jack! Dean: (now practically spitting at Sam, he’s so out of control angry – and Ackles shows off his equally amazing acting skills here – he doesn’t hold back, showing us the depths of Dean’s pain and rage for the first time): What about Cas?? He manipulated him, made him promises, said paradise on earth, and Cas bought it. And you know what that got him? It got him dead! Now you might be able to forget about that, but I can’t! Dean, in his anger, lashes out at Sam, trying to hurt him by accusing him of not caring about Castiel even though he knows that’s not true. He knows that Sam is suffering also, is trying to deal with his own grief and loss and anger. But in that moment, that awareness is lost to Dean. He’s so drowning in his own pain; he’s hurting the person he cares about most. Just like James did, when he cut Missouri out of his life in his grief over losing his wife and his need to blame someone. Just like John did, when he couldn’t take care of his sons because all he could feel was the need to inflict pain on the person he held responsible for killing his wife. It’s a theme in the show, and it’s a reality in the real world too. People do hurtful things when they are hurting. I understand all this with my psychologist hat on, but underneath my fangirl hat, I’m sobbing. I talked to Jensen about how hard that scene was for me to watch, and how uncomfortable it is for me to see Dean hurting Sam – and Jack. Because the thing that sealed my own tears? We get to witness this rageful, painful scene between the brothers through Jack’s perspective. While Dean calls him a freak and accuses Sam of not caring about him, just using him, Jack sits on the other side of the wall, listening. Alex Calvert shows us just how deep the wound from every hurtful word goes, the pain on his face and in his eyes excruciating. Dean and Sam fighting like that would have hurt me anyway, but seeing what it did to Jack? Oh my god, Robert Berens, (the episode’s writer) too much. OUCH OUCH OUCH. I asked Jensen if it was even harder to watch the scene than to act it, because it’s filmed through Jack’s perspective, and that came through to him as well. Of course he reminded me that if I’m feeling that much emotion, everyone on the show is doing their job and doing it in a bang-up way. I reminded him that I still don’t have to like it! I appreciate it, but I don’t enjoy having my heart yanked out of my chest and stomped on like that. Of course, I’m still passionately watching twelve plus years later so… Jared reminded us at the convention that Dean and Sam are very different people. They’re like yin and yang, but that’s why their relationship works. And I know that’s true, and I know that it will continue to work after they hash their way through their very different ways of grieving and of moving forward. Jared: Sam researches and goes intellectual, and Dean is more instinctual, off the cuff. Kinda the yin and the yang. That’s why they make a good team. I know, Jared. I know. But damn, it hurts. There were more epic fight scenes, which we got so see in two different versions thanks to Patience’s vision and then the same thing more or less playing out (with less deadly outcomes, thanks to Patience’s on the nose warnings). We got to see courageous Sam in this episode, and we also get to see badass Dean, as he kills the wraith. Kudos to guest actor Jon Cor for making the wraith so easy to hate and making his death at the hands of Dean Winchester so epic! The theme of being normal (whatever the hell that means) is also a theme of Supernatural, and was touched on quite a bit in this episode. Feeling like you don’t belong, like you’re not normal, is one of the most painful things anyone can experience. It’s part of how we evolved, to value belonging – back in the day, if you didn’t belong to the group, you found yourself alone on the savannah about to be eaten by something big and hungry. So we sort of panic when we feel abnormal and at risk of not being accepted. Sam felt that way, and he knows that Jack feels that way right now. Dean is currently playing the part of the rest of the world – critical, harsh, judgmental. Reacting out of fear. Patience, much like young Sam Winchester, just wants to be normal. She doesn’t want to feel like a freak; she doesn’t want to be judged as different. She doesn’t want psychic powers; she doesn’t want visions, she just wants to put it all behind her and go to Calculus class. She’s smart, ambitious, focused on school. Just like young Sam Winchester. Wraith drama over, Patience tells Dean and Jody that she’s going to listen to her dad, and try to do just that – get back to normal. Dean surprises Jody by agreeing. Dean: This life, there’s nothing but pain and horror and death. So if you get a chance at normal? You take it. At first, I was as shocked as Jody. This is Dean’s depression talking, of course, so that’s part of it. Then I noticed something telling. The ‘Family Theme’ was playing during Dean’s speech, that distinctive piece of music that lets us all know that something is happening that is core to the show, and to the show’s theme of family. At first I thought, maybe it’s because we’re about to set up the Wayward Sisters spinoff, with its theme of found family? But then I looked at Dean’s face more closely, and I wondered if in fact, it was something else. If Dean was thinking about Sam at that moment, and that long ago time when he went back and pulled Sam out of “normal”. Of that time when Sam almost got out, almost went off to school and became a lawyer and married Jessica. I think there’s a part of Dean that still feels guilty for pulling Sam back into “the life’, for wanting Sam to be there beside him. (Even though the Yellow Eyed Demon really made that decision for them). That regret is all wrapped into the grief and loss he’s struggling with right now, his hopelessness, infused with the guilt that Dean Winchester always heaps on himself. Guilty for every time he didn’t welcome his mother back with open arms, that he couldn’t protect Cas from Lucifer, for every time he admitted to wanting Sam to keep hunting with him. So many emotions all stuffed down inside one tormented man, and you can see that on Dean’s face as he encourages Patience to get away, to escape it all.  It’s all that repressed, swirling, boiling emotion that explodes out of Dean when he gets back to the bunker and is in the relatively safe environment with the person he feels the safest with, Sam. Patience seems to reluctantly agree with Dean, but Jody steps up to offer a different perspective. I must admit, I got really excited at that moment. All I could think was “OMG this is it, this is Wayward Sisters beginning, right here, right now.” Jody reminds Patience that it’s her choice, and tells her that if she ever wants to talk, or needs a place to go, she has one. And Wayward Sisters, here we come! We end with Sam and Dean’s painful argument, and Jack’s agony while listening. Once again, he hears how much Castiel figures in all this, and Jack’s pain at losing the angel who was supposed to watch over him is ignited by Dean’s pain. “Castiel,” Jack calls out in his mind, and his eyes begin to glow. What happens next would have been unbelievably awesome if we didn’t all know that Cas was back in this episode. I suddenly wished like hell that I didn’t know that, that spoilers were not impossible to avoid now, that it was season 2 again and I could be shocked and awed by a scene like the next one. Because there is Castiel, face down in utter blackness. And as Jack calls, he opens his eyes and starts to get up. That should have been an amazing moment, one that would have had me screaming at the screen OMG HE’S ALIVE! I could appreciate it for what it should have been, but it didn’t have that impact because I knew it was coming. The network even put Misha’s credit at the end of the episode, which is confusing because they did their part in spoiling his return. I guess that’s just too much of a big reveal to keep under wraps, but it’s a shame. So Cas is back, but where is he? Word on the street is that he’s in the “Empty”, which we’ve heard about for a while. It’s what Billie the reaper threatened. And Cas was the one who killed her. [caption id="attachment_50550" align="aligncenter" width="696"] Thanks to @kayb625 for the beautiful caps that show the actors’ skills and the characters’ emotions so well.[/caption] The theme of separation is certainly at work this season too – Cas in the Empty, Mary in the AU, Dean cut off from his feelings, Jack trying to figure out how to break through his mental walls. I suppose Jensen is right; they must be doing something well if I’m this tied in knots about the show this season. I’ll be sure to have lots of tissues handy for Supernatural 1304 which you can check out the trailer for above!

Movie TV Tech Geeks News

[iris-sistibly]

Encantadia 2016-2017: The Final Verdict (Part 2)

Part 1 here: http://iris-sistibly.tumblr.com/post/160857700329/encantadia-2016-2017-the-final-verdict-part-1

Characters and Cast Members

The Dark Horses

These are the characters and cast members who has the best development/biggest improvements in terms of narrative, performance and characterization:

1. Alena (Gabbi Garcia)- her character definitely has the biggest development throughout the entire series. Her development was probably the slowest I must say yet it was so, so worth the wait! I was disappointed at how bad her characterization was in the first book (plus Gabbi’s pabebe acting that time), but like I mentioned earlier, Book one was all about perfect timing. By the time Alena chose to let go I was like, “FINALLY!” at laaast! Encantadia did not stick to the norms of the first love never dies rule of the Filipino romance genre. Her character continued to shine for the rest of the series and I couldn’t be more proud especially at Gabbi who was my least favorite cast member of the first book. Compared to the rest of the cast, Gabbi’s performance isn’t up there, but for a lesser experienced actress like her, it was more than enough to impress me, I have seen her evolve from a pabebe actress to a more mature, serious performer. One of the few things I would rave about the show’s 10-month run is Alena being crowned as queen of Lireo. Her original counterpart’s narrative focused on romance but, I love how they changed Alena’s story in the most drastic yet exciting way possible and they turned her into a strong, independent, confidently beautiful woman with a heart. She is the perfect queen for Lireo, very much like Mine-a I must say. And yes, surprise surprise, despite of me being an Amihan fanatic, Alena is my top pick in this category.

2. Amihan (Kylie Padilla)- if you have been following the 4R’s series I have mentioned so many times before how disappointed I was at Kylie for literally bringing my favorite sang’gre down. But just like Alena, Kylie’s Amihan had her own time to shine. And ever since the Amihan’s fall arc, Kylie has been nailing her character scene after scene after scene. Never in my whole fan girl existence did I imagine that she would nail a character such as Amihan, a mother, a queen, a warrior, a woman. She and Gabbi were clearly the dark horses of the show. What I really love about Amihan’s narrative and Kylie’s portrayal was that, they made me look deeper into Amihan not just as a character but as a woman in general which is why I appreciated Amihan more than ever now. I guess my only disappointment is Kylie leaving the show because of her pregnancy but still, until her last scene, Kylie has proven that even though she can no longer be a part of the show anymore, she is and will always be Amihan 2016.

3. Ybarro/Ybrahim (Ruru Madrid)- when I first saw him, my first impression was: “hm…he’s cute, but he’s too young to play the character.” BUT, I ate every word I said. For me, Ruru and his character has one of the most beautiful transition from being Ybarro, a childish mandirigma to Ybrahim, Rehav and eventually Rama of Sapiro. I must say, his team up with Kylie really helped him become more mature and serious actor (same goes for Kylie). His closeness with Mikee helped him nail his role as a father which again, I never thought he’d nail. And I became more drawn to his character and appreciate Ruru as an actor for being consistently excellent with his performance despite of his ridiculous character narrative in book 2. Sad that his story did not focus more on him being a King of Sapiro and what will he do to rebuild his kingdom, he was ripped into pieces when his daughter died but you know, there was no clear development on how the pain of losing his loved ones turned him into a wiser and stronger persona like Alena. He became too dependent in Lireo and he babied Lira way too much and while I understand that she is his everything, I never saw his development from being an overly protective dad to a more understanding type—understanding enough to realize that Lira is no longer a little girl (pff! As if Lira matured 🙄), I wish they added some sort of conflict between father and daughter that will pave way to the maturity of both characters. Anyhoo, this guy deserves an award, this guy deserves more projects, this guy deserves to be praised. He maybe young, but when I look at Ruru, I always forget that he’s only 19 years old, I see Ybrahim, King of Sapiro, Lira and Kahlil’s dad, and Amihan’s beloved. For that, I already consider him in line with the country’s elite actors like John Lloyd Cruz, Dingdong Dantes, Piolo Pascual and so much more.

Rating: 10 out of 10💎s

The Elites

Characters who has the most complex personality and interesting narrative. Cast Members who were consistently excellent in terms of performance.

1. Pirena (Glaiza de Castro)- it’s no surprise that Glaiza is my top pick in this category, from the moment I saw that promotional photo on the internet, I knew Glaiza was the perfect choice for Pirena. From her very first appearance up to the finale, she was consistent, and that’s extremely important for me when I am rooting for a character and an actress. She nailed every side of Pirena, every aspect of her character. Pirena is one of the most complex character and very difficult to portray, but Glaiza was just so freakin’ effortless, I saw her passion for acting and Pirena’s fiery character beautifully synced in one persona, she was so snappy at shifting from one emotion to another, and for that, kudos to Glaiza for being one of the first few actors to give justice to such an iconic character like Pirena. Narrative-wise, there is a little bit rant about the part of her story with Azulan but I don’t really mind that much because I know that the second book is rushed and AzPiren’s relationship didn’t have the chance to blossom and develop like YbraMihan, but still Glaiza and Marx nailed their team up.

2. Hagorn (John Arcilla)- it was a close fight between him and Glaiza but what made him second is not his performance but his story. I’m so bummed that his character was never redeemed in this version in contrast to his original counterpart, his narrative was so good in the first book but it deteriorated at the second half of the show’s long run. There wasn’t even a closure between him, Pirena and Lila Sari for goodness’ sake! John Arcilla is no doubt a good actor, it’s like every word of compliment I use to describe him is an understatement, he’s beyond excellent and he never failed to wow me every single time he appears on TV.

3. Mira (Kate Valdez)- now this girl is definitely one of the biggest surprise in this show, this Hathorian heiress sure inherited her skills from mommy Piry and grandpa Haggy. Opposite to the original Mira, I am glad that her character played a role during the final war and contributed a lot to the development of the story especially in book 1, although I wish her role was more pivotal in the second book. I still hate the fact that she and Lira didn’t have their moment to shine and will now be forever remembered as Pirena’s baby (just like Lira), there was no transition from being a diwani to a sang’gre level kind of diwata which I am disappointed since they promised character developments for the super twins, and she never had the chance to meet her bio-dad. Still—great job bes!

4. Danaya (Sanya Lopez)- Sanya! How to be you po? Another newbie has proven that she can keep up with the likes of Glaiza and John my ghad! I am glad that the writers made us see Dany’s softer and vulnerable side, I love Sanya’s Danaya, ang chaka nga lang that they did not elaborate the DanQuil love story more, although I am happy that they made us see her struggles as queen, I would have appreciated it more if there was this balance between Danaya’s narrative as Hara and her narrative as a woman. In this version, it was more on Hara Danaya.

5. Cassiopeia (Solenn Heussaff)- She was the perfect choice for the character, I love how Solenn really made it seem like En-Chan is her mother tongue, and it’s really hard to act without talking, for me she has the most difficult role, being the only one who doesn’t talk by mouth most of the time, but I am very proud of Solenn for giving justice to Cassiopeia. BTW, I ship CassRe 😂

6. Gurna (Vaness Del Moral)- One of the most effective villains in the show! I have to say, Vaness will forever be remembered by her acting prowess, I hope she will be given more projects in the future. GMA 7 DO NOT WASTE THIS PRECIOUS GEM! She deserves to be recognized as one of the network’s A-list actresses.

7. Agane (Rochelle Pangilinan)- Ah, another rave-worthy actress! I remember my grade school self watching her dancing with the Sex Bomb girls in my favorite EB segment Laban o Bawi. Look at her now, still shining in her own way, I love how Agane’s not all baddie and also has her own story to tell which was something new. Hands down to Rochelle for being so freakin’ GOOD, her performance as Agane is EVERYTHING.

8. Ether (Janice Hung)- the queen of wushu, I personally don’t like her voice and I would have liked it if she just used her own voice and maybe add some sort of special effects on it to make her sound like a goddess bitch, but wow, just wow. Her martial arts skills is on fire, her portrayal of the character is so good, she’s very effective as a villain, and I hope to see more of her.

Rating: 10 out of 10 💎s

The Saviors

Characters with badly written narratives yet were “saved” by the actors with their impressive performances.

1. Lira (Mikee Quintos)- Disappointed that they did not tell her story in such a way that she will be remembered as Encantadia’s hero/savior, it’s a total bummer how she was reduced from being a highly respected princess to being the captain of the YA and DanQuil ship, now don’t get me wrong, I ship both YA and DQ, it’s just that I believe Lira can give so much more if they just gave her and Mira a chance. And Mikee, kudos to this girl for saving Lira’s character.

2. Avria (Eula Valdes)- Despite of me knowing the story of Avria (based on the original Etheria), I would have appreciated it if they wrote her character the way they wrote Hagorn’s. She was an all out baddie but they never narrated why, remember, a baddie will never be a baddie if they didn’t have some shitty past right? They can’t be just some psycho who wants a diwata overkill for no reason, heck even murderers have their own dark past that triggered them to do such thing.

3. Andora (Rochelle Pangilinan)- Ugh, Rochelle what will Andora do without you? They just turned her into a pawn aka Mashna when she is a Heran, HERAN! She’s supposed to play a pivotal role in this book but…sigh.

4. Emre (Zoren Legaspi)- I just feel so bad that Zoren had to work extra hard to make Emre a loveable character when clearly he’s not, his story just had too many plot holes that I just can’t appreciate it. And although it’s interesting to see a powerless Emre, it was such a failure for me.

5. Aquil (Rocco Nacino)- Man! Mas gusto ko pa ‘yung na tegi nalang si Aquil, it’s another bummer that Rocco didn’t really have the chance to contribute more to the story’s progress despite the fact that he is considered as one of the major characters in the story, he was downgraded into a love sick guy who’s all about Danaya. Dude, what about patriotism? Camaraderie? That is so unlikely of Aquil.

6. Asval (Neil Ryan Sese)- Such a waste character, there was nothing special about him, he is the most stereotype among all the villains. At least the original Asval had the chance to redeem himself in the final war unlike this shit. Thank God Neil Ryan played the character, otherwise, Asval would have been one of my biggest disappointments in the show.

Rating: 8 out of 10💎s

The Underdogs

Underrated characters and actors yet so deserving to be recognized

1. Muros (Carlo Gonzales)- Come on! The dude deserves to be recognized and he deserves to be happy!

2. Hitano (Pancho Magno)- I said this once and I’ll say it again, I love Hitano. He’s the kind of guy who will do anything for his beloved and will remain faithful to you until the end, too bad Alena and Lila Sari failed to see how incredible this guy is. Well maybe he’s just too good for them.

3. Muyak (Klea Pineda)- I am so annoyed that she died just like that, but I think Klea did a really good job at playing Muyak, her story was insipiring, too bad they focused on “plot twists” way too much that there was no character build up for her.

4. Manik (Joross Gamboa)- One of the most promising villains ever! If the Ybriana romance worked, I would have rooted for a duel between Ybrahim and Manik.

5. Wantuk (Buboy Villar)- My happy pill, never failed to make me laugh despite of him being a recurring character instead of being Ybrahim’s confidante and adviser.

Rating: 8 out of 10💎s

The Raspberry Awardees

Characters with the worst narrative and cast members with the face-palming performances.

1. Ariana (Arra San Agustin)- WORST NARRATIVE. WORST PERFORMANCE. She will always be my biggest disappointment and I will forever hate the team for choosing her to play the character. But in all fairness naman, she did pretty well in the finale, I wish she showed more of that in the previous episodes, maybe I won’t be hating on her so much, and people would have appreciated her efforts to continue Amihan’s story. It was because of her that the YA love story fucked up big time.

2. Pao Pao (Phytos Ramirez)- Narrative wise, come on, Pao was Amihan’s protégé and he was turned into a completely useless kid? Dude!

3. Deshna (Inah de Belen)- Her story would have been rave worthy, sigh, why the hell did y’all focused on the sarkosi plot?!

4. Juvila (Jinri Park)- I can’t take her seriously as a villain, she clearly struggles at speaking Tagalog and En-Chan that she always sounded like she’s reading the script. Am I the only one who thinks the baddies all have one emotion and that’s hatred? No variety or play of emotions, no story that would make people understand why they act the way the do, writers seriously!

5. Odessa (Sheree)- “Who the hell is she again?”  that’s how unmemorable she is

6. Haliyah (Valeen Montenegro)- most useless character ever.

7. Memfes (Lance Serrano)- ARC FILLERRRRRRR!

Runner-up for Rasberry Awardee: Kahlil (Avery Paraiso)- was expecting so much from him but like Lira and Mira he wasn't never given a chance (in Book 2)

Rating: Do I even have to rate this? Okay fine, 4 out of 10💎s

-Total: 8 out of 10💎s

[godsandvillainsrpg-blog]

Congratulations ANGELA! You have been accepted as AURORA GIORDANO.

Note from Admin Jade: This application demonstrated such a beautiful portrayal of Aurora from start to finish. From the delicate naïveté shown in your sample to your description of the icy queen that now stands in the place of the slain princess, you’ve painted a stunning multi-faceted portrait of this complex character. We can’t wait to see what you and your Aurora bring to the dash!

OUT OF CHARACTER

Name: Angela Age: 25+ Preferred Pronouns: she/her Timezone: CST Activity Level: I work a full time job with 12 hour shifts, so there are some days that I cannot get on and do much, but I am still a very active RPer and at least check in every day even if I cannot write a big reply. I always let my admins and partners know what’s going on. Triggers: REMOVED Anything Else? Some very minor tweaks since last time, specifically in the motives section.

IN CHARACTER

Desired Character: Aurora Marice Giordano

Aurora: Dawn Marice: “Star of the sea” (Latin) or bitterness (Hebrew) - the dichotomy in meaning is particularly appropriate for this stage in Aurora’s life Giordano: Descend or Flow Down

Describe this character in your own words:

Aurora is a girl whose upbringing was steeped in fairy tales and wonder until it all come crashing down around her. She was beautiful, protected, bright, and adored; the image of her mother and the joy of her father. Her family delved into darkness but none of it seemed capable of attaching itself to her. She was like a creature from an old hollywood film, beautiful and untouchable. Incorruptible. Audrey Hepburn mixed with Grace Kelly and Cinderella. Her life was enchanted, perfect, and as lovely as she was. A hopeless romantic, she was content to wait for true love, the kind of love that existed in fairy tales. When she met Christian, that was exactly what she believed she found.

Her brother’s best friend made her heart leap like no one had before. He was brilliant and gorgeous despite his lonesome upbringing. The fact that he had her brother’s friendship and her father’s blessing made it all the more clear that they were meant to be together. He treated her like the princess she had always considered herself to be, playing the part of the princely gentleman to perfection.

They say hindsight is 20/20 and Aurora never fully understood what that meant until her wedding day. Her sister in a white gown, the love of her life leaving her broken hearted and humiliated. All of a sudden those little things she’d let blur into nothing as she focused on her love came into sharp focus. The way Christian and Giuliana would whisper to each other. The questions about what her family did and how they did it. The way he’d wormed his way into the heart of the business through her and her brother. And she’d been so stupid, so blinded by her love for him that she had given him everything. Love like that, all consuming, could not survive. It burned too hotly, too fiercely to be extinguished, it could only rage and burn itself out until she had nothing left but hurt, betrayal, and the desperate need for revenge.

Christian LeFevre would regret this action until the moment he died, hopefully at the hand of a Giordano. And Giuliana? Her betrayal would be her undoing, Aurora would see to that herself. Gone is the naive heroine of the fairy tale, gone is the little girl who dreamed and danced and knew nothing of the darkness. That darkness was her birthright and had always lurked in her soul, waiting for the right catalyst. The fact that she was able to distance herself from it for so long only makes it stronger now. There is a hissing in her ear, a voice similar to Christian’s, telling her that no one is trustworthy, they all have their own agendas so she might as well serve only her own. She cannot trust anyone but herself. Given the right motivation, anyone and everyone will turn on you.

They might have killed the princess, but in her place stands a queen, icy and untouchable.

What are this character’s motives? What drives this character? What are their goals?

Since the aborted wedding, Aurora’s goals and motivations have changed drastically. Once she wanted to live happily ever after, now she truly understands that was never an option. She stayed out of the family business before, but now she’s going to make up for lost time. Christian’s love may have been a lie, but she still learned things about the man when they’d been sharing their lives and her bed. The gauzy, immaterial goals for her future that she’d clung to as a child have warped, crystallized and hardened, focused with laser precision on the destruction of the Lefevre’s stolen empire.

Giordanos have ruled in this city for generations and she will do whatever it takes to ensure that they continue to do so, regardless of the personal cost. She has to find a way to hurt those who hurt her family, who hurt her, and to make such an impression with the pain that they’ll never be able to get up and try again. You do not cross the Giordano family and live to tell about it. It is a lesson she is all too eager to teach her selfish, ungrateful sister and that bastard husband of hers. With the anger burning so hotly inside her, it is difficult for her to flesh out a truly poetic plan the way she knows she needs to, but it will come to her. It might be temporarily satisfying to burst into their home and mow them down with a machine gun, but she knows it’s will be far more satisfying to destroy their marriage, their very souls, before they are taken out entirely. The games have only just begun.

Despite this, Aurora is not as reckless as her little sister, actually going out in the night and committing acts of violence herself, but she can understand Alessia’s choices in theory. She still wants to protect her and would prefer if she let those hired to do the unsavory aspects do their work in peace but Aurora can identify with the need to make sure it’s getting done. It might even comfort her to know that her little sister is smart enough to make sure she doesn’t let anyone get under her defences.

At this point in her life, self preservation comes first. And second. No one will ever hurt her the way Christian and Giulianna did. Never again will she allow herself to be in a position where that could happen. There must always be a piece of her she keeps back, something held in reserve to ensure she cannot be broken so completely. Additionally, she has started keeping track of the things that can be used against others if needed, even those she loves. Or tries to remember how to love. Minor grievances that would have once been shrugged off are now carefully catalogued in her memory. She ignored the red flags once, but never again.

What potential plots do you foresee for this character? Where do you see this character’s story going? What potential storylines would you like to explore, both with the character themselves and as a part of the group as a whole?

REMOVED

Would you be open to this character’s death? Though we’d love to keep all characters alive and well in an ideal world, the nature of this group may put some characters’ lives in danger at one point or another. Should your character’s death be necessary for the furthering of the plot, would you be open to the idea of killing them off and working with the admin team to create a new role for you to take on? Absolutely. I’m all for it if it’s in the best interest of the RP.

PARA SAMPLE

The day of the wedding dawned bright and clear, the sky a brilliant blue and the air sweet with flowers and birdsongs. Though Aurora had hardly slept, she bounded out of bed with a smile and began her preparations. Nothing could slow her down or dampen her spirits. Not today. The morning flew by in a whirlwind of manicures, hair appointments, makeup, and photographs. It was everything she dreamed it would be and more. She was the center of attention, the golden princess buoyed up by love and joy and excitement. This was her fairy tale, the start of her own happily ever after.

He loves me.

People kept asking if she was nervous, if she had any cold feet and she could tell them honestly that she did not. Christian was her soulmate, she could no more doubt true love than she could doubt that the stars shone in the sky. She was so blinded by her own devotion that she completely missed the snarl behind her oldest sister’s smile and the fact that she wasn’t getting ready with the rest of them. Giuliana had her hair and makeup done, the style remarkably similar to Aurora’s own, but she had yet to put on her dress as she sipped a glass of champagne. The wedding planner would make sure her sister got ready in time, Aurora wasn’t worried.

He loves me.

Before she knew it, guests had poured in and everything was set. It was time.

Christian and the rest of the groomsmen stood at the front of the large church and Aurora couldn’t help peeking in to see them. It was bad luck to see him before the wedding, but surely this didn’t count. The wedding was practically underway. He looked as handsome as ever in his crisp black tuxedo standing beside her brother and the priest. Her heart thumped madly in her chest. This was it. The processional began, her mother taking her seat up front before the bridesmaids began to walk down the long aisle to the front of the church.

“Where is Giuliana?” Aurora hissed at her father, clutching his arm as they prepared for their turn. Alessia turned over her shoulder and shrugged. “I thought she was right behind me.”

Waving the younger girl on, Cassius sent the wedding planner to look for his eldest daughter. The woman had no sooner rounded the corner than Giuliana emerged. She was not dressed in the rose pink gown the rest of the bridesmaids wore, but in all white, right down to her bouquet.

Aurora blinked at her, dumbstruck. “What are you doing? What are you wearing?”

Giuliana didn’t answer, she merely moved in front of her sister as the wedding march began to play and strode confidently down the aisle. Whispers rustled through the crowd as the people realized this was not the Giordano they’d come to see married. Christian beamed at her, looking at her like she was the sun, an expression so full of triumph and adoration that Aurora thought she was going to be sick. She stood at the back of the church watching her sister take her place beside her fiancee. Franco looked as though you could knock him over with a feather, Alessia’s face was a dark cloud, and Bella looked confused. Was she supposed to be happy for the couple in front of her or upset for Aurora?

“Dearly beloved,” the priest began, not missing a beat. This had been planned. Extensively planned. Giuliana and Christian were getting married and they’d hijacked her wedding to do it. Heads darted back and forth between the wedding happening in the front of the church and the spurned bride standing at the back as if waiting for the punchline that would never come. A strangled sob sounded from her throat and she turned and fled, dropping her flowers along the way.

He loves me not.

EXTRAS

http://rebelscumwrites.tumblr.com/tagged/muse:%20aurora

http://weheartit.com/thebutlerdidit/collections/114139526-aurora

[nirikeehan]

Power, Politics and Star Wars: Armitage Hux Edition

I read this article that tried to explain what Hux did in TROS and justify it and I was just not feeling it so I wrote a whole thing about it. So I thought, why not post it.

https://dorksideoftheforce.com/2019/12/22/star-wars-tros-general-hux/

I just wanna start by saying yes, I understand the logic of what happened in the film as explained by this article. I'm just here to challenge exactly what happened, why, and the article writer's attempts to justify it, because I don't find them to be an accurate summation of Hux's character. 

"It’s not hard to miss that the way The Last Jedi framed his character was very different from what we saw in The Force Awakens. At first, it almost felt as though he was a completely different character, having gone from Nazi-like general to an officer everyone refused to take seriously."

Right, and I think it's worth trying to examine why that shift in portrayal happened – behind the scenes. The writing changed hands from TFA with Lawrence Kasdan & JJ Abrams to Rian Johnson. So, clearly Johnson decided to go in a different direction with Hux. But why? Was it a continuing ploy to "subvert expectations" like he did so much in TLJ? Hence, if Hux was big and scary in the first film (obvious Nazi parallels in imagery and speech, commits literal genocide while hordes of stormtroopers look on), he had to be... silly, ineffectual and easily mocked in the second? Why?

Maybe it fits into a larger theme with Rian Johnson's writing, like... it seems like authority figures can (and should, maybe?) not be taken seriously? Think of all the authority figures in the Last Jedi. With the notable exception of Leia (who has such an iconic history) and Holdo I guess (random insert without much substance in my opinion), every single character who is, could be or once was in a position of power is cut down to size in some way. 

Luke Skywalker - crotchety old man. 

Poe - too hotheaded, needs to learn his place. 

Kylo - emo boy in a mask. 

Hux - butt of yo mama jokes. 

Snoke - literally cut in half. 

While I like this technique in some ways (I think I'm in the minority as someone who actually liked Luke being a disillusioned asshole lol, I thought it made him more interesting; and pointing out the obvious that Kylo is a conflicted try hard made him way more human and relatable to me), doing it to this extent was excessive. Especially in a film series that is supposed to have clearly defined villains. While I like the murder of Snoke because it was unexpected and it let Kylo actually have some agency to try to take over the galaxy on his own, you can't do it with every villain, or the audience isn't going to think anything is at stake anymore. So it always played really weird to me that Hux was taken from General Genocide to the target of slapstick humor. Which brings me to the next point...

"Looking back, it’s possible to interpret this as the result of how other characters viewed and treated him from that point forward, rather than an actual drastic change to the way he was portrayed. It’s possible that after Starkiller Base, the masses lost great respect for him — on both sides. He is no longer a man to fear. He’s General Hugs. He doesn’t scare anyone."

I just don't see how this is possible, to be honest. Like yeah, Starkiller base was lost, but surely not before it destroyed the entire Hosnian system, which, from what I understand, contained the entire seat of New Republic government. So I assume that means the president, vice president, whoever else was in the executive branch, all of the Senate, etc etc. Like imagine some terrorist leader called down a laser from space and obliterated all of Washington, D.C. while the President and all staff were in the White House, Congress was in session and the Supreme Court was hearing cases. We'd be like, oh my god, everyone's gone, we have no federal government, what the fuck. Even if the American army managed to destroy the weapon that did it, there'd still be basically irreparable damage to the very structure of the government and its ability to function. (Sounds like the plot of a future Michael Bay movie, but I digress.) 

The point is, whoever was responsible for the attack would probably still be pretty fearsome to the masses. And in Hux's case, considering his goal in TFA seems to be to usurp the New Republic and replace it with the First Order, at the end of the first film, he seems to be in a perfect position to do exactly that... which is why I was super confused as to why he spent TLJ chasing down like 30 rebels, who were already basically defeated?? Like, now would have been the time to take over! Don't just leave that power vacuum sitting there, buddy! Someone else is gonna fill it if you don't! (More proof I don't think Rian Johnson has cracked many history books, but the lack of coherent political framework is a major failing of the sequels in general, so it's not all entirely on his shoulders. He did seem like he was trying to engage with some of these ideas i.e. Canto Bight illustrating the evils of the military industrial complex, but they fell so flat because he just wasn't that informed about the socio-political commentary he was trying to make.) 

"This is further evidenced by the way Kylo Ren treats him the moment he becomes Supreme Leader of the First Order. Kylo quite literally begins pushing him around, constantly putting him in his place, belittling him, and making him look incompetent and expendable."

LOL this is such a fundamental misinterpretation of Kylo and Hux's relationship at the end of TLJ. Kylo didn't start pushing Hux around because everyone had lost respect for his authority. Kylo starts pushing Hux around because Kylo killed Snoke and took the Supreme Leader role himself, giving himself a BIG promotion over Hux. He went from like, army commander to freaking king. He's on a power trip, trying to assert his authority not just over Hux, but literally everyone in the First Order. The dialogue (handily linked by the article above) between them after Snoke's death very clearly states this:

Hux: Who do you think you're talking to? You presume to command my army? Our Supreme Leader is dead! We have no ruler!

Kylo: *starts choking him* The Supreme Leader is dead.

Hux: *choking* Long live the Supreme Leader. 

Kylo is subduing Hux by violence and coercion and filling the power vacuum himself (see, that's what happens to power vacuums, usually the most brutal asshole around arrives to fill it!). That's not something Hux brought upon himself in any way; it's something Kylo took by force. Hux isn't the only one following Kylo's orders by the Battle of Crait, the rest of the First Order army is also because they're all too terrified of Kylo to question him. Somehow making this only about Hux and Kylo as individuals is a really narrow-minded, boring interpretation of pretty much my favorite part of TLJ. 

"And here lies the deep change within Hux that leads us into The Rise of Skywalker. General Hux knew he would never regain anyone’s respect. He knew that Kylo Ren would continue to publicly humiliate him. He knew his chances of ever being able to regain power in the traditional sense were lost."

I still don't see how this is possible, especially since as far as I know there's no supplementary canon material to back this idea up. The article writer is grasping at straws trying to make sense of TROS's nonsensical character choices for Hux. There's all sorts of ways Hux could still regain power. I don't even know what "in the traditional sense" means? Hoping for a promotion, maybe? Sure, he could suck up to Kylo and make himself invaluable to Kylo's continued status as Supreme Leader (this is the route I took in my fanfic, since it seemed pretty plausible; Hux is set up to be the brain to Kylo's brawn). He could have Kylo assassinated and take over himself. He could recruit a whole faction of people to mutiny against Kylo. He could even sell out Kylo to the Resistance, sure, which I guess is what he was doing in TROS, but all of that is still in service of regaining power for himself.

"Hux is so angry with Kylo Ren, and filled with so much rage toward all he is and all he stands for, that he decides it does not matter which side of the war wins as long as the Supreme Leader isn’t on the winning team."

Again, I don't think this has shown to be true at all before TROS. By all appearances, Hux's goal has always been obtaining power, and the supplementary canon with his backstory seems to support this. There's so much with his father being an old Imperial and Hux growing up with the old imperial ideology and the belief that returning to some semblance of the Empire would be the most ideal outcome of the First Order's war on the New Republic. And by this logic, shouldn't Hux be thrilled by the (totally outlandish) possibility that Emperor Palpatine himself would come back to rule? Imagine all the Nazi holdovers after World War II finding out Hitler had RISEN FROM THE DEAD. They'd probably be pretty excited, no? 

But this is why reducing Hux's character to some petty asshole who has no personal values or larger ideology and just "wants to see Kylo Ren lose" is so dumb and boring to me. It means he literally no longer cares about his own personal ambitions or that of his larger ideological ones. Everything he worked for his whole life, countless hours of blood, sweat and tears, deciding to commit genocide of billions of innocent people to get the galaxy to fall in line with his vision........ amounts to literally nothing. As long as Kylo loses their little schoolyard tiff. 

Nah, I don't buy it. 

But this just speaks to generally larger problems in the sequel trilogy with the writers not having a strong grasp on the mechanisms of political power in the universe they're working with. In the films, who's fighting who and why has always been painfully vague and often confusing (why wasn't the Resistance just the New Republic army in TFA? etc), but while at least Rian Johnson used TLJ to try to engage with some of these questions of politics and power – albeit at times with cringeworthy naïveté  – TROS abandons it completely. It never once clarifies who's actually in charge here. Ostensibly it should be Kylo since he’s still got the title “Supreme Leader” in the opening scrawl, but he's running around chasing zombie Palpy! And the First Order is still very obviously still just a military operation focusing on the Resistance, so are all of the galaxy's sectors just... self-governing right now? If so, why? 

TROS's complete abandonment of the notion that anyone in this universe could even want power was completely baffling to me. It's always about power. The original trilogy was about power. Even the prequels were about power (to a micromanage-y, super boring degree. Embargoes! Trade disputes! Senate meetings with votes of no confidence!) To bring Palpatine back from the dead to make him some weirdo with a death cult who just wants the whole galaxy to die (I guess?)... none of that's compelling to me. And it seems to completely misunderstand (or willingly sidestep) any kind of interesting real world parallels, of which the original trilogy had plenty (and the 90s era EU/Legends novels in particular were really good at engaging with, probably why they're my favorite entries in the whole franchise). Which does play into my cynical suspicion that TROS was deliberately sterilized of any potential political commentary by Disney to appease the increasingly authoritarian governments in their international market. Can't have those pesky human rights cutting into their profits. :/

[doomonfilm]

Review : Roma (2018)

Word about Roma has been on my radar since right around November of 2018, and all of it was good.  Children of Men was quite the experience, and Gravity has been on my watch queue for ages, but the buzz about Roma had the film climbing up the list fast.  In the wake of its wins at the Golden Globes, my sense of urgency kicked in, and I am glad that I finally took the time to enjoy this wonderful film.

Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio) is a caretaker for a group of young children born to doctor Antonio (Fernando Grediaga) and biochemist/professor Sofia (Marina de Tavira).  The children she cares for are the young inquisitive Pepe (Marco Graf), his older sister Sofi (Daniela Demesa), and the quarreling oldest boys Tono (Diego Cortina) and Paco (Carlos Peralta), and with the help of their grandmother Teresa (Veronica Garcia), Cleo does her best to shield them from the cold truth of their father’s extramarital affairs and absenteeism.  While hanging out with friend and coworker Adela (Nancy Garcia) and Adela’s boyfriend Ramon (Jose Manuel Guerrero), Cleo is introduced to Fermin (Jorge Antonio Guerrero), a young man with a penchant for martial arts, and a romantic fling evolves, leading to Cleo’s pregnancy.  Rather than face the truth, Fermin decides to flee, leaving Cleo to deal with a newborn baby on the way, as well as the problems growing with the family she cares for.  As Sofia does all that she can to keep herself and her family together, Cleo tries her best to keep her life together, all while both women attempt to protect themselves and their families from the madness of the political turmoil that surrounds them, as well as the sometimes cruel nature of the world itself.

One of the major set of themes in Roma is a focus on class systems and cultural values.  When it comes to the upper class, the focus is on the luxury of the entitled in the form of both material goods and the ability to afford time for things like vacations and extramarital escapades.  In the world that Antonio and Sofia inhabit, honking a horn brings the help to open your garage doors, and the help will put your kids to bed for you.  Cleo is shown genuine love by Sofia in tandem with the responsibility she is given... a deep trust to take care of Sofia’s kids.  Cleo becomes so connected to Sofia’s family that we only really ever hear of Cleo’s actual family rather than see them.  The family she cares for deals with mostly first world problems like a car too big for its garage or bickering kids mostly.  Luckily, Soifa and Antonio don’t go overboard with their extravagance, like their extended family and the collection of mounted dog heads they proudly display.

In contrast, the glimpses we get into Cleo’s life outside of the family are mostly somber and pensive, reflecting her blue collar life.  Cleo, Fermin and the rest of their peers seek pleasure in moments and shared experiences rather than objects and wealth, even if that pleasure is as drastically diverse as romance or governmental protest.  These people do have a unified quality despite their diverse motives : the fact that they must work for everything they have rather than accept everything being given too them.  The film provides layers of symbolism to display how problems mount in the lower social class world, sometimes to a seemingly unsurmountable degree, like the pregnancy reveal in the theater versus the onscreen symbolism in the movie theater, or the earthquake that takes place while Cleo is observing newborn babies.

Cleo and Sofia show that spited and scorned women can be found in all of the spectrums of life, be it the upper or lower classes.  Cleo finds herself an observer to many, many embarrassing and sad moments that she must remain silent about, be they examples of infidelity or secrets that could rock the family she cares for.  Cleo, by that rationale, finds herself in the impossible position of being unable to help either her blood family or her family that she cares for.  Cleo also finds herself so focused on these tasks she can never complete that the truths she learns about Fermin, the man who impregnated her, are devastating in contrast to the tender moments they initially shared.

In terms of production, Cuaron provides astounding cinematography via a fixed, observational camera that is ever scanning and surveying the surroundings.  The camera moves feel mechanical and unnatural in the 1970s surroundings of the film.  The stark black and white photography adds a timeless feel to the proceedings.  The period piece aspects are so well woven into the film that they are barely noticeable, and they only serve to further enrich the world and all of its texture and culture.  The pacing of the story allows moments to resonate and images to permeate, pulling the viewer deeper and deeper into the film.  Many moments and framings of scenes echo those of Federico Fellini.  One of my favorite, eye-opening aspects of the films was the reveal/callback to what we were really seeing in the opening credits, just as issues with the family really were beginning to reveal themselves.  The reference to Gravity nestled in one of the movie theater sequences made me laugh.  The constant juxtaposition of manmade and natural tragedies against peaceful moments that resonate the best parts of life really help bolster the emotional waves of this film.

Yalitza Aparicio shows a grace, dignity and compassion in the face of seemingly insurmountable issues and odds, carrying both her and the viewer through the mess Cleo lives in.  Marina de Tavira’s tragic portrayal of a mother falling apart in the face of an unfaithful husband is heartbreaking.  Fernando Grediaga’s carefree spirit and inability to show love for anyone other than himself paints him as protagonist in the face of the family.  Jorge Antonio Guerrero gives a dynamic performance as a seemingly high quality and high character man, and one with integrity in the face of political turmoil, but one that runs away from the responsibility of fatherhood.  Marco Graf brings innocence and childlike insight as the youngest of the cared for family, Diego Cortina and Carlos Peralta provide the quarreling and boundless energy of young boys, while Daniela Demesa is the reserved and quiet child.  Veronica Garcia’s tender but firm hand is always present as the grandmother of the cared for family.  Appearances by Nancy Garcia, Jose Manuel Guerrero and a special appearance by Latin Lover round out the top notch cast.

It’s funny how films so seemingly quiet and low key are so powerful and introspective.  This one was definitely a quiet storm, and one with enough impact to shift my top ten list for 2018.  If you’ve not done so already, carve out a couple of hours of Netflix time and check out Roma.