#otherwise i'd be doing the show a disservice

[americankimchi]

decided to rewatch tcw and i remembered just how hard it is for me to watch without constantly going "why the hell are they doing that" every other scene 😭😭

like they're doing that because this is a KID'S SHOW. logic is taking a backseat for the sake of the narrative. use the force to suspend ur disbelief baby because you won't make it otherwise!!!

[alexdswfan]

About Levi and Hange's communication skills

A concept I've always wanted to talk about that I haven't really seen many people discuss in the AoT fandom is the communication going on between Levi and Hange whose bond is greatly defined by this concept. They share in my opinion some of the best if not the best communication skills I've ever seen not only in AoT but also in any other form of media I've ever consumed. From the manga evidence I've gathered displaying these characteristics, we can deduce some interesting information about their relationship that I think is worth discussing. I think Levi and Hange are actually closer than what certain people might believe due to these incredible communication skills, and I'll show how communication and closeness affect one another.

A quick heads up, when I say Levi and Hange are close, it's not meant in a romantic way and it will be never be seen as such since neither Levi nor Hange have romantic canon ships in the story. Their closeness to each other will rather be regarded as platonic, almost feeling like a partnership between two friends, and after rereading the manga, I do think Isayama tried to write their bond as a very close partnership rather than some other kind of relationship. Additionally, the fact Levi and Hange are this close doesn't mean that Hange is more important to Levi than other characters with whom he shares a relationship just because he might be closer with them than with others. There's no hierarchy in Levi's heart in regard to his emotional connections with people, meaning that his friendship with Hange means as much to him as his friendships with other characters. Hange brings something in Levi's life other characters don't, but the other way around is also true. I'll only be focusing on the characteristics Hange brings to Levi in this post, but keep in mind that Levi's bonds with others all enrich him in different ways and they're all important to him, and stating otherwise in my opinion is to not understand the fundamentals of Levi's character.

But now back to Levi and Hange specifically, I've seen some people among fandom spaces claim instead that Levi hates Hange or that Levi doesn't care about Hange as much as he cares about other characters, and to that I'd like to counter-argument, explaining why these negative misconceptions can't be further from the truth and how they do a huge disservice to Levi's character in particular.

The first evidence to showcase Levi and Hange's communication skills in a way that's more significant than what we've seen so far happens in chapter 53, Smoke Signal, and is unfortunately a manga-only scene. For a bit of context, this chapter shows the experiments Eren is making in order to improve his hardening skills while the Survey Corps are into hiding, hunted by the Military Police. Then later, after the experimenting session is over, Eren asks about how the experiments went, and we see this interaction occur between Levi and Hange.

There are many details revealed in this scene about Levi's character and how Hange adapts to his personality. So, Levi has a very roundabout way with words when he explains something and no one really seems to understand him. However, Hange is the only person seen to kindly 'translate' what Levi just said so the others present with them in the room can understand better. And in the second panel, Levi acknowledges that Hange understood his words well as he thanks them for their clearer explanation.

This scene shows that Hange needs to have a high level of closeness with Levi in order to be the only person in the room to understand him. Communication is a hard skill to develop with others, therefore this interaction between them can't be explained simply by Hange's intelligence or by the fact that they're good at ‘getting people’. This then means Levi and Hange must communicate extremely well with one another if Hange can even pass as “Levi’s translator” for others. Hange needs to understand Levi's perspective on the world in order to explain his speech to others in a way they can understand as well, which is extremely hard to achieve. The most plausible explanation for this interaction is that Hange and Levi developed a level of communication unlike any other through the years they've known each other, allowing Hange to correctly interpret his words for others who aren't as familiar with his perspective as Hange is. It's possible that in order to reach that, Hange might've been helped by their own innate ability to understand people in general, just like Levi, but the fact remains that communication between them had to be honed and perfected for this scene to happen.

The second evidence that truly solidifies their communication skills happens later on in the manga and anime, and in the manga it happens in chapter 106, Brave Volunteers. For a bit of context, it's a scene that happens during the 4 years time-skip when the Survey Corps have captured a Marleyan ship and have met with Yelena and Onyankopon, the anti-Marleyan volunteers who want to work with Paradis to oppose Marley. Hange and Levi are in a meeting with them to discuss their motivations for going against Marley when this interaction occurs between Levi and Hange.

They are seen understanding each other simply through thoughts (as shown by thought bubbles), which is proof of how strong their communication skills are. They’re literally doing telepathy in a world where such superpower doesn’t exist. They understand each other so well that one glance from the other is all they need in order to communicate together. This level of communication they share is unmatched throughout the series, because in order to do telepathy with someone else, something almost unattainable in real life, the people involved need to have a perfect understanding of the other's mind, the other's inner thoughts, which is something that can be achieved only through getting to know enough that person, and even then it's no easy feat. While it is true that the conversation they've shared wasn't very complicated, it's still surreal that they managed to pull it off so effortlessly. This can only be explained by the numerous years they've spent constantly being at each other's side, and this scene is the literal manifestation of such closeness taking shape in their lives to the point they can understand one another simply through eye contact.

I've seen a few people question the legitimacy of this scene and claim that thought bubbles here mean that they whispered this conversation to each other, however the anime version of this scene is actually what backs up the telepathy theory and solidifies it even further. In season 4, character thoughts are shown through showing the eyes of the character without their lips moving while the voice actor speaks their thoughts in the background. These are two examples of Mikasa and Hange shown when they speak in their minds taken from Season 4 Part 1 Episode 10: A Sound Argument during their meeting with the Azumabito clan.

Back to the telepathy scene, this is how the anime decided to show it from Episode 9: Brave Volunteers.

Only their eyes are shown while their voice actors are speaking with a normal voice in the background. With the anime version, it's very clear to say they spoke through thoughts and not in whispers, which canonically proves they spoke through telepathy in this scene.

With these scenes, we can say that Levi and Hange share incredible communication skills, the best in the whole series, and we've established by now that Hange understands Levi extremely well, but communication has to go both ways: does Levi understand Hange too? The telepathy scene shows that Levi understands Hange as he communicates with them only through eye contact, but another evidence from the manga supports better the idea that Levi also gets Hange when he senses that something is wrong with Hange's demeanour in chapter 52, Krista Lenz. He brings Hange to speak up about what's been bothering them, which is Pastor Nick's death, and then slowly brings back the determination in Hange to fight back knowing full well how much Pastor Nick's death has affected them, which is also one of the reasons why he accepts to torture Pastor Nick's executioner for Hange's sake as seen in his line from chapter 55, Pain: "… That’s probably everything they did to Nick.” This evidence alone shows how much Levi understands Hange too as Levi is a very perceptive character, therefore we can say Levi understands Hange as well as Hange understands him.

These are the manga panels about Levi and Hange's conversation in order from chapter 52.

This is the manga panel of the torture scene from chapter 55.

Now that we've established that Levi and Hange share incredible communication skills and they both understand each other, what does it actually mean for their relationship? To have good communication with someone means that this person must be close to you because you understand the world view of this person. Closeness and communication are interconnected, as communication enhances emotional closeness, which is "the bond that forms through deep feelings of connection, understanding, and vulnerability between partners" (Gardenswartz, 2024) (although this article mainly alludes to romantic bonds, emotional closeness is not inherent to romantic relationships and may very well happen in platonic relationships too). Besides, high levels of closeness do improve one's perception of the other's emotions as this study suggests: "Close friends detected the onset of their partners’ angry and sad expressions earlier than acquaintances. Additionally, close friends were more accurate than acquaintances in identifying angry and sad expressions at the onset, particularly in non-vignette conditions when these expressions were void of context" (Parmley & Zhang, 2014). These findings are consistent with my own arguments about how Hange and Levi correctly perceiving the other's viewpoint and emotions makes them closer to one another.

I also do want to touch up on something I don't see many people discuss, but I genuinely think the events that happened in Shiganshina, namely Erwin's and the rest of the Survey Corps recruits and veterans' deaths, made Levi and Hange grow even closer than what they were before due to shared trauma. For some reason, bonding over trauma isn't regarded highly among fandoms, however it doesn't make the bond less valid because it happened under a traumatic event. Some people like to disregard the fact Levi and Hange remained the last two veterans alive and lost their common friend as if such experiences only affected them individually and not together, but these experiences are important to their bond and it wouldn't be far-fetched to say they both only grew closer from them despite the griefs they might have felt from such harrowing losses. This concept of shared trauma bringing people closer together might look obvious, but science supports that concept as well, as seen by the findings of this particular study: "Sharing painful experiences with other people, compared with a no-pain control treatment, promoted trusting interpersonal relationships by increasing perceived bonding among strangers" (Bastian, Jetten, & Ferris, 2014). An example from the manga somewhat supporting this theory could be Levi and Hange's telepathic discussion which happens years after the tragic events of Shiganshina, showcasing how close they've become to succeed at communicating only with their eyes.

Therefore, understanding Levi in the way Hange does shows they're humanizing Levi and see him for the person he is rather than the tool or weapon many other characters see him for, himself included. Hange took the time to understand Levi's perspective, his values and motivations which shows they care a lot about him. I would even argue that the main theme of Levi and Hange's relationship is this constant care they're mutually giving to each other throughout the series, and why Hange had to be the one to find a gravely injured Levi after his encounter with Zeke in chapter 115, Support, and then nurse him back to a relatively stable state. I believe that scene is the culmination of their theme, and although we could speculate on what other characters would've done for Levi if they were in Hange's position or whether Hange would've saved another soldier the way they saved Levi (they would've since Hange is a caring person), the fact remains that Hange had to be the person to find Levi in that critical state to make sense narratively speaking, as mutual care is all about the theme of their relationship.

To show how Hange's care towards Levi is showcased throughout the manga, I will include an example occurring before chapter 115 to further prove how this theme has been explored throughout the manga. It didn't magically start after Hange found an injured Levi. There are many instances when Hange is seen caring for Levi, but I'll be using an example directly showing Hange's worry about Levi and his squad's wellbeing taken from chapter 57, Kenny the Ripper. This happens in the Uprising arc when the Military Police is out hunting the Survey Corps, and we see a visibly upset Hange asking Erwin about Levi's squad's whereabouts.

The reason I'm showing more Hange's care towards Levi than Levi's care towards Hange is because Levi cares about everyone, and Hange is obviously included in that everyone. Levi is shown caring more about people than people are really shown caring back for Levi in the same way that he cares about them, so this is why this theme of mutual care between each other is particularly more important to show on Hange's side than on Levi's side. However, to prove how the manga is portraying his care for Hange, I'll use again one example among many taken from chapter 79, Perfect Game, during the Shiganshina arc where we see Levi muse about Hange and the others' whereabouts after Bertolt's explosion. He's even considering meeting with Hange's squad to check up on them when Zeke starts throwing his rocks at the Survey Corps. Similarly to Hange's worry about his wellbeing, we're seeing here Levi's own worry about Hange and their squad's wellbeing clearly displayed in the manga.

This brings me to the misconception still circulating in certain parts of the AoT fandom that Levi hates Hange, and how we can see it has been thoroughly debunked by the closeness they share together. Even so, I'll still analyze it in detail for the remaining sceptical people who stumbled on this post.

First, let's start with the fundamental question: does Levi hate Hange? The arguments I've seen for this claim are that Levi is rude towards Hange as he calls them by harsh nicknames, which can be debated as to how "mean" they actually are (his most used nickname for Hange is "four-eyes", so I'll let you be the judge of how "insulting" this nickname is) and that such a "clean freak" like him (in Hange's words from chapter 9.5, Side Story: Captain Levi) could never tolerate someone like Hange who isn't too keen on bath time. These arguments in my opinion are rather shallow as to why Levi could even hate someone because they "don't bathe as often as he would like", and it's a simplistic view of Levi's character. Levi would never hate someone for not sharing a similar lifestyle as him, especially him, the most non-judgemental character of the series. The only person we can clearly state he hates is Zeke, and that's due to how opposite Zeke is in theming to Levi. Zeke is Levi's narrative foil in where Levi values life and fights as hard as he can to not see people die anymore, Zeke has no remorse using people for his schemes and killing them in the process, seeing their deaths as justified for a greater cause. I would even argue that had Zeke shown some kind of remorse or grief to what he has done, anything that would have redeemed Zeke a bit in Levi's eyes, Levi wouldn't hate him as much as he currently does. This is why Levi is more accepting of the warriors like Reiner or Annie because they do feel grief and remorse for what they've done to the people of Paradis unlike Zeke. But we cannot compare Zeke to Hange, except maybe their intellect and the fact they both wear glasses, but the similarities end there. Hange is much closer to Levi in ideals than they are to Zeke. Simply that Hange is the one to have brought the Alliance together to stop Eren's genocide pretty much shows why Levi even accepted to be part of the Alliance as well, which puts Hange at a complete opposite pole from Zeke.

So then, it would make no sense for Levi to now become judgemental with Hange on the basis of such a trivial disagreement on their bathing routines. Besides, this bathing argument is nowhere to be found in the manga. It comes from side material that is sometimes highly exaggerated for jokes (like in Junior High for example). Therefore, I don't think these types of arguments should be taken seriously, and especially not to prove such an important claim that can unfortunately affect the way people in this fandom see Levi and Hange's bond.

Going back to the rather "rude" name-calling of Levi, this doesn't show Levi hates Hange or anyone for that matter, as Hange isn't the only one on the other side of his rude remarks. The majority of the AoT cast has been subjected to some of his name-callings, but that doesn't mean by any means that he is hateful towards these characters. It's his blunt way to communicate with others, which probably comes from his harsh upbringing, and this is something Hange understands about Levi as they have never been offended by his rude remarks and have instead played along with him, creating a certain kind of bantering between the two as we can see in this example from chapter 26, The Easy Path:

We see how Hange has no problems humouring Levi with their answer even if Levi's comment could be seen as unprofessional and borderline disrespectful by our rather polite society. So then again, on what grounds could Levi even hate Hange, the person who understands him the most in the story? The claim then falls flat, as it would be illogical to say Levi hates the person who understands his world view and can communicate with him the best.

Now, on to another misconception closely linked to the first one, namely that Levi cares more about other characters than Hange, or that his bond with Hange is not as special or as important as his bonds with other characters in the story, or even that Hange isn't crucial to Levi's story as they could've been erased from his story and it wouldn't have changed anything in Levi's story (and if some people believe these comments are too exaggerated, these are real comments I've received under a discussion thread, so no, these ideas unfortunately lurk in this fandom). So, we've already established how close Levi and Hange are due to their communication skills and shared trauma with different examples taken from the manga, and how the theme of their bond is mutual care. Why would their closeness and theme be regarded by the fandom as less important than any other themes from AoT, and more importantly, why would Levi in particular care less about his bond with Hange when Hange is the closest to him?

I've already expressed how Levi views all of his relationships equally in terms of emotional impact, and even more so, his care for others is such that he'll care about strangers as much as he cares about his own friends or family. I do think this is a difficult concept to grasp for some people in this fandom as we as human beings all prioritize our relationships with our family and friends rather than the ones we might have with acquaintances or strangers, and this is a totally normal behaviour to have. However, such behaviour doesn't apply to Levi as he is quite literally considered the ideal person, the archetype we should strive to reach as readers or anime viewers learning about his story. And so, to claim that Levi might have "favourites" in his life is completely inconsistent with Levi's own personal theme as a character, which is the value of life. What messages would a character representing such an important concept, even more so nowadays in our troubled times when clearly, the rights of certain people are seen as more valuable than the rights of others, send if he cared more about certain characters than others? It would make no sense thematically speaking, and even worse, it would mean that indeed, some characters' lives are actually more valuable than others, which would only shatter his theme. When I say that no character's life is more valuable to Levi, it's never in relation to the ranking of said character, because by that idea, then of course Erwin as commander is more valuable than anyone from the Survey Corps when Erwin was commander, but more in relation to the intrinsic aspect of life and how that character's life affects Levi, and on that level, the emotional importance level, everyone is equally important to Levi, no exceptions. This is why stating otherwise about Levi and his bond with Hange does a huge disservice to Levi's own character as it destroys the fundamentals of his theme in canon.

If someone isn't interested in such theme and prefers a fanon version of Levi's character, that's totally valid too and I'm not here discussing how people should see Levi fanonically as we all have different headcanons and ideas about him that are all worth exploring in fanon territory, but I do think it's important to make the difference between what themes Levi actually represents in AoT and ideas about him that are fanon, which is something some parts of this fandom struggle to make sometimes. It's okay if some people aren't interested by Levi's incredible empathy and selflessness and would rather see him care the most about their favourite character, but these people should keep in mind this isn't how Levi operates in canon, and therefore claims like Levi doesn't care as much about other characters that aren't their favourites, like Hange for instance that unfortunately receives a lot of these bad takes, should not really circulate among the fandom in the first place. These misconceptions lurk in the fandom because some people genuinely believe Levi canonically has favourites, and that's what I'm trying to debunk with this post that has now become an analysis about Levi's character too lolol. But basically, by saying he doesn't care as much about Hange as other characters paints an image of Levi that's inconsistent with the actions he's taking in canon, and it confuses the fandom as to whether these claims are actually correct or false.

Just to give an example of this doubt that's cast in the fandom about Levi, the main reasons I've seen for people to dislike Levi's character are rooted in this false narrative that Levi is obsessed with the promise to kill Zeke, and by some sort of extension to be obsessed with Erwin (as if the promise was just about Erwin, but I won't start on this topic for this post), which is why they don't like Levi. But what these people actually don't like is this fanon interpretation of Levi, which many other Levi fans and myself don't like either, and that's where the doubt is cast since many Levi haters really believe this is how Levi acts in canon, that he really just cares about Erwin or cares more about him than anyone else (and yes, these two misconceptions are part of the same coin, they're not different) because they've seen this take circulate in the fandom presented as a canon fact, so of course it can be difficult to spot the mistake. Therefore, it disrupts Levi's canon self by stating such misconceptions, going as far as making some people believe these misconceptions to be true. They're not seen how they should actually be seen, as some fanon interpretations that a portion of the AoT fandom has about Levi that you may like or not, this is a personal preference, but regardless of whether these fanon interpretations are liked or not, they're canonically incorrect.

To sum everything up, Levi and Hange are both incredible characters individually and together, and what makes them really strong is this closeness they share which results into mutual care and why such close scenes between each other like in chapter 115 or in chapter 126, Pride, where we see Hange physically take care of a wounded Levi in the forest, even exist in both the manga and in the anime. I also think it's interesting to see how the two "abnormals" of the story seem to be the ones to understand each other the most, which is definitely a very fitting theme for them. While I know it's impossible to stop established popular misconceptions from spreading in this fandom, I hope at least that this post shed a bit of light on Levi and Hange's bond and maybe more people will be discouraged to state Levi hates Hange or that Levi cares more about certain characters than others after stumbling on this post.

[peachjagiya]

Are You Sure?

Episodes 1 and 2 thoughts

I've had a chance to watch them properly now.

My main takeaway is absolute bafflement at the characterisation in that weird W article?! It's not even that they misinterpreted the show, it's almost like they didn't even watch it? JK is his sweet and soft silly self. Jimin is full big brother.

I have thoroughly and genuinely enjoyed it. I must confess, in the first episode they do seem awkward with contrasting energies. As they say, they haven't met up and I think it does feel like it for almost all of first ep. So I was worried how I'd handle 8 hours of that considering I get severe second hand emotions.

The shift seemed to take place at the meal prep at the camp site. I guess this is terra firma for them, a safe space reminiscent of ITS and the dorms etc.

I don't know if anyone will agree but the phone calls at the table seemed to put a lid on the awkwardness entirely. The switch to super comfortable besties was complete after those. I found that very interesting.

Did you notice the matched energies in the calls too? We've talked about Taekook's call a lot but we can't ignore how natural Jimin's voice was with Yoongi. I'm wondering maybe if they needed those moments with their closest members to put a line in the sand almost? I don't think I mean they were planned and forced as such but getting to be real in that moment must have been like a sigh of relief after such a long time dancing around the truth. Maybe this is delulu but I'd love your thoughts on it.

As for Taekook's call, I am now convinced Tae said something sweet or rude or otherwise disallowed that was muted when he first answered. Mainly because of how he then made clear they were filming. I also think that JK hung up because he was about to get a lecture about the bike and that his texts to Tae were jokingly apologetic like "sorry sorry I like you so much I love you forgive me that was just too funny"

I felt awful for Jimin and his tummy issues. On a BOAT?! And a HIKE? guys what the hell. Let him sleep.

I cannot with JK eating his way through Connecticut. Relatable king. Food is the only thing that will get me out of the house too actually.

I loved their dynamic in the second episode. It made me kind of peak mad at the Jikook ship- actually no. Not at the shipping. At the characterisation that goes with it. Because they're such great brothers, it does a disservice to the best bits of their dynamic to put them into gross alpha-omega dynamic when they're prototypical siblings. It's so enjoyable to watch.

I've gone from wondering why they bothered to thinking it's for the better that they did this. Getting to show what they really are to each other finally actually makes for much more interesting TV than I thought.

In conclusion: never seen a better representation of my ADHD than going for a sponge but getting distracted by guacamole.

💜💜💜 let's hope next week doesn't absolutely destroy it with editing nonsense 😂

[khruschevshoe]

Jim and Oluwande got the worst end of the deal. I'd even say they regressed as both characters and partners and anything they had built up in s1 was almost completely stripped away from them. The way they're portrayed together and apart in s2 is not only unlike the characters we saw in s1, but their rich storyline was reduced to extreme side characters used only as plot devices in a way they absolutely did not have to be used. I LOVED them in s1, and I was so disappointed by what s2 did to them and their potential growth, which I think applies to pretty much everything in s2, not only them.

Mind if I piggyback of this ask to go into all my critiques of the handling of Jim/Olu in Season 2? Thanks!

OFMD Critique: Tealoranges, Dropped Storylines, and Wasted Potential

God, the issues I have with the writing of Season 2 extend in so many directions. Jim's character, I felt, was well-handled for at least the first two episodes but then slowly starts skewing wrong as early as episode 3 (I am still chewing glass over the way their reunion scene with Oluwande was written- or, rather, NOT written). Episode 4 was good, but everything after that? Someone said that Jim in the back half of the season feels more like Vico than Jim, and though I do love and appreciate Vico, it's completely true. Jim doesn't feel like the same character we've come to know, whether from Season 1 or even what is set up in early season 2.

And yet, I STILL feel like they're written better than Olu, if you can believe it? So, I haven't talked about this much, but I feel like Olu is done dirty from almost the moment he is introduced in Season 2. At least Jim (through editing alone, but hey, we'll give the show the smallest benefit of the doubt) gets an acknowledgement that they miss Olu during that flashback sequences while they talk to Archie- Olu doesn't even get that. I read about a deleted scene that would have had Pete and Olu desperate to reunite with Lucius and Jim in episode 1 and I feel like that was DESPERATELY needed to make the Season 1 finale -> Season 2 jump make any sort of sense. I like Zheng, but for the love of God, her romance with Olu (which I had my own issues with for the disservice it does both their characters) is not worth destroying the tealoranges build up from Season 1. Just cut something from the first episode or one of the Zheng/Olu scenes from the second episode to make it make sense.

Then, moving onto later in the season- I've posted about how Olu and Jim deserved the grand, epic reunion otherwise 1x10 and everything set up with them in Season 1 doesn't make sense. Could the writers of the show have possibly redistributed some of the glorious cinematography from Ed and Stede over to Jim and Olu? All I need is one shot of their reunion (a proper, emotional one, not played for laughs or friendship or whatever) framed by the sun to parallel Ed and Stede's being framed by the moon and I would have been happy on that front.

And then later in the season...I was down for the poly elements if they could have been executed better. Fanfics have shown that the Archie plot could have been executed well. But the fact that Zheng is straight up NOT MENTIONED until 2x7 by Olu? And then Jim says that he's been pining for her the whole time? I'm sorry, but it doesn't compute. Show, don't tell. There's a reason why I'm down for Jim/Archie/Olu (if executed well), but can't see Zheng/Olu at all.

But of course, 2x7 comes along and we get the "family who fucked" line. And the implication that Olu could have ever left the Revenge without Jim, when in Season 1 he became a wreck because Jim left for A FEW DAYS, much less was FORCEFULLY SEPARATED from him for MONTHS. Then in the finale, at the lupete wedding, they were separated out, him with Zheng and them with Archie, and, well, at that point...I was tired. I'm not gonna lie. Because this wasn't questionable or problematic writing, it just fundamentally DIDN'T MAKE SENSE.

And this is just on a romantic relationship POV. I hated seeing Olu lose his leadership arc from Season 1 and his loyalty to Jim and his nuanced emotional level-headedness/sense of logic. Season 1 really felt like it was slowly building up the idea that the ideal Captain was neither Stede nor Blackbeard but someone a bit more rational, a bit more grounded, a bit more communicative with his crew- someone like Olu. And he gets shoved into the back in Season 2 and reduced to the guy who can't sort scrolls or know that the BOATS ON A MAP MATTER. He gets no influence on plot or major decisions when he was often the voice of reason in Season 1 (we all remember Lucius being a romantic voice of reason in Season 1, but rarely remember that Olu was a major supporting deciding factor in a number of decisions made on the Revenge).

And as for Jim, I wanted more exploration or even just acknowledgement of their trauma post episode-4. I wanted an actual organic continuation of their character arc post-vengeance quest and post-Blackbeard, not just them getting defined by "funny knife thrower with a girlfriend and an ex-boyfriend who they want to get with his crush." They were so much more than that, and it killed me to see the two people who were basically main character 3 and 4 in Season 1 get shoved aside for unneeded subplots about Ricky and Zheng or Gentlebeard's three separate breakups when Jim and Olu's plotline had so much more potential than any of that. They weren't just star-crossed lovers- they were a slow burn ship built of absolutely interesting, complicated, and well-developed characters who brought out the best in each other with a DEVASTATING midpoint to their arc and it honestly would have made a better season not just for them as characters, but for the show overall if someone had just realized that the parallels between a couple that fights and claws to stay together no matter what (tealoranges) and a main ship that was still figuring itself out (Gentlebeard) would have SLAPPED.

(I am now picturing a version of this season where instead of the Izzy fakeout death/Gentlebeard reunion in the beginning of the first episode, we get an Olu/Jim reunion in episode 3 to parallel whatever reunion the writers wanted to slap together for Stede/Ed. I would have actively cried over the Olu/Jim reunion and it would have drastically improved the season.)

[vasito-de-leche]

hello!! your writing is so good i am perceiving it /pos. i'm not sure if you do familial/platonic requests so ignore this if you don't but may i request click with a reader who he sees as an older sibling? it can be headcanons or like general thoughts i don't rlly care. thank you!! <3

;R1999 CLICK - Familial Headcanons

Compilation of headcanons and analysis about Click and an older sibling figure.

ty for the ask, nonnie <3 and yes, I do write for familial/platonic stuff too, not just romance! check the rules if you have any questions!

As far as I know, there's no information about Click's family nor their dynamics, and he doesn't seem to fit any of the stereotypical youngest/middle/eldest child labels. So, going by personality alone, I'd say that for Click to consider someone as his very own older sibling figure, they'd have to be somewhat similar to him!

Not necessarily a carbon copy of him, mind you - they don't have to share his passion for photography nor agree with him 24/7! Just someone who he can relate to and who brings him a sense of security. Perhaps someone like Zima! Insightful, with a strong core and sense of self, aiming to broaden his horizons.

Someone who has also seen the darker aspects of life, lived through tragedies and come out stronger - Click is proud of his job, but he knows that talking about heavy subjects isn't everyone's cup of tea. So he'd like to know that his older sibling figure can understand or is trying to understand where he comes from, that he doesn't mean to bring the mood down whenever he happens to bring up the subject of war. It's part of his life and his experiences, and pretending that it didn't happen would be a disservice to all the things he's witnessed.

Alternatively, Click would gravitate towards anyone who shows extreme passion for their craft, regardless of what it might be - creative people who are dedicated and who experience the world through different artistic mediums are a big inspiration for him. Someone who drags him into all sorts of situations, allowing Click to capture many different points of view that he would've otherwise missed. Someone like Regulus or Diggers!

Click tends to wander and disappear a lot. It's always up to you to find him.

Younger siblings tend to either follow after their older siblings all the time like puppies, or disappear off the face of the Earth and mind their business (I'm the youngest of 6 siblings, I can vouch for this). Click fits the latter!

It's common for him to just wander around and disappear for days on end to focus on taking the best pictures across the Wilderness, with nothing but his camera and his thoughts. Somehow, he always seems to know whenever you call out to him - he'll manifest beside you right away, hoping he's not gotten into trouble. It's a weird feeling, knowing people expect him to keep in touch and come back safe and sound, that no matter where he goes, he'll still hear your voice calling out to him because he's going to miss dinner (not that he even needs to eat). But it's a very nice, warm feeling, so he doesn't mind.

I like to think Click - and pretty much any ghost within the universe of R1999 - can just become invisible to the human eye at will, with arcanists (especially those of Spirit and Intelligence afflatus) being able to sense their presence. During particularly bad days, where PTSD might be giving Click a hard time, he'll just fade away so that no one can see him. And then, he'll pick a spot to sit and wait for it to blow over.

Sometimes, you find him anyway, no matter how much he tries to hide. Sometimes, he lets you know where he is. Either way, he lets you know that he'd like for you to stay and keep him company - I imagine there's a system you two come up with, should he feel too overwhelmed to talk. Knock once for yes, two for no. Tug on your shirt if he wants to lead you somewhere quieter, pat your hand to sit down with him, etc etc.

Everyone begins to see you as Click's guardian.

On a less sad note, whenever someone needs Click for anything, they always go to you first and foremost! Either because you're the only one who can figure out where he may be, or because they want to run their plans through you first.

Vertin specifically makes sure to know if you'd like to accompany him during missions that require his presence, or if you'd like to know the details of his next solo mission. It's something she does out of politeness and as a a formality - and because Click just seems to perk up just a tiny bit if she tells him that you expect him to do a proper job. Whenever Lilya is planning to give Click a ride to take better pictures, she always jokes around, saying that she'll bring your precious brother back in one piece. Pavia always jokingly threatens Click to snitch on him and tell his "big scary sibling" that he's been taking pictures of people when they sleep.

From an outsider's point of view - those who do not belong to this group - it feels like everyone is infantilizing Click. He's 19 and a war photographer! But one has to remember that everyone in this suitcase has lost family and friends to the "Storm".

Aside from being displaced and forced into unfamiliar waters, everyone is dealing with so many things on their own, like losing their lives and all the people they once knew and cared for. So knowing that Click was able to form such a strong bond with you, to trust and see you as family, despite everything? It really brings them hope for a brighter future - Vertin's goal to create a place for those who have nowhere else to go starts to make sense for them. And hey, most of them are willing to stop with their little jokes and such should they bother you or Click!

This specific point comes from me seeing Vertin's group as one huge found family - there's no way everyone will get along, but at the end of the day, everyone trusts and relies and takes care of each other. The dynamics within this found family are much too complex for me to get into right now and for people outside of it to even understand, just know that it's a thing!

Click picks up on your mannerisms and speech pattern unconsciously.

Click isn't very talkative outside of the usual photography or artistic talk, he's more of a listener. And while he does become a little more talkative around you, opening up and whatnot, you tend to do most of the talking. And that's how he ends up picking up your mannerisms!

It's especially funny for everyone if you happen to have a very different and contrasting way of speech- the way Click just casually drops an F bomb in that soft-spoken voice whenever he fails to get the perfect shot will NEVER stop funny.

I like to think that, because of how observant he is, he also ends up picking up on your unique gestures. It's all an unconscious thing he does - if someone points it out Click won't even know what they're talking about, entirely oblivious to the fact that he now emotes and makes the same facial expressions as you do, the same gestures (at least when his hands are free, instead of clinging to that camera of his) and using the same phrases and whatnot.

[voxofthevoid]

Some people seem to forget that Yuji isn't the classic golden-hearted talk-no-jutsu forgive-and-forget-everyone MC like Naruto or the likes

Yes, he's incredibly kind and if given the possibility he can be open to giving a second chance (like we see with Sukuna at the end) but he also won't hesitate to punch the shit out of those who end up on his (s)hit-list

Yuji meeting Geto "Cult Leader Genocidal Racist (towards non-sorcerers) Delusional Queen" Suguru would absolutely hate him, and yes, maybe it could change over time if Geto showed signs of genuinely changing his views and methods for the better... But otherwise he would be kinda like Yuta was in the movie, who listened to him talk at first because he was hella confused when Geto first arrived but as soon as Geto started insulting Maki he switched immediately and basically told him to fuck off

I also don't think he would take it upon himself to make Geto a better person, either Geto gets his shit together on his own (or maybe with Gojo's help since, when it comes to Geto, Gojo is much more likely to actually care if he changes for the better) or Yuji isn't gonna do shit I fear

And now I'm imagining Yuji and Geto fighting/sparring (Gojo probably convinced Geto into partecipating) and since Geto hates non-sorcerers so much I could see Yuji punching the shit out of him with his raw strength, no divergent fist or curse energy-enhanced hits, just the pure strength he had when he was a "monkey" like everyone else

Negative talk of "sunshine Yuuji" characterization and Getou Suguru to follow. I'd recommend stopping here if you're a fan of either.

And previous anon, my rant below isn't directed at you but at certain JJK fandom trends I hate. I know you were just trying to help.

Some people seem to forget that Yuji isn't the classic golden-hearted talk-no-jutsu forgive-and-forget-everyone MC like Naruto or the likes

Would you care to guess why I say I don't read much fic in JJK? Because this is why. Sunshine Angel Yuuji, who shits out rainbows and cries if he hurts a fly, is going to be my villain origin story.

(Yes, there are plenty of stories that do characterize him right differently, but they're in the minority. I ran out of patience very quickly in the tags and no longer bother.)

He's a very compassionate, very forgiving kid who's boyishly charming and easy to love—the sunshine elements are certainly there, and I enjoy them. But reducing him to those does him a gross disservice. Yuuji's also extremely comfortable with violence, whether that's lethal violence toward curses or training/sparring with peers and mentors. The little we know of his pre-canon backstory features him beating up bullies, and he may not have been as dramatic about it as Megumi was, but the look on his face was sure something else. This is also the same kid who declared his intent to kill Mahito and said that it felt so true that it made everything else he'd ever said feel like a lie. And toward the end of the manga, we have him straight-up admitting that he could've been like Sukuna if not for luck and the man who raised him.

I find Yuuji to be such a fascinating character because his capacity for compassion is matched by his capacity for violence. He actively chooses the former over and over, but dear lord, he's not shy about using the latter. Even outside of physical violence, his personality isn't what I'd call soft. He's friendly and good with people, but he's also snarky, blunt, and at times rude. Also pretty damn insane. I could also go into how a lot (but not nearly all) of Yuuji's cheery demeanor seems like a mask; that kid is repressed as hell, it's just not obvious the way it is with other characters.

Anyway, the people Yuuji wants/resolves to kill are few and far in between, and he's fairly quick to forgive slights against himself, but he's got his lines in the same when it comes to other people's lives and he's willing to enforce them violently.

Personally, I think how he treats Sukuna at the end shows a degree of leniency he wouldn't extend to most people who'd kill indiscriminately. That was influenced significantly by his and Sukuna's respective situations in life and also possibly the intermingling of their souls. Like, nothing Mahito could've done would've spared him from Yuuji.

Getou would likely fall in between the two. His ideology is destructive and cruel (and fucking stupid, how the hell has no one poked holes the size of Texas in it), but it arises from a place of pain and compassion, which opens up certain avenues for discussion that would be lacking with, say, Mahito. Plus, in that fic scenario, Getou's essentially neutralized, and Yuuji's not confronting the direct effects of his actions the way he did with Mahito or Sukuna. In sum, he's not the kind of person Yuuji would write off, but he's also someone who thinks people like Yuuji's grandpa are "monkeys" who should die. I have zero intentions of wrangling their relationship into something good, functional, or mutually beneficial.

Re sparring, Getou's CE is blocked in that fic. Yuuji would devastate him. That's not even in question seeing that, without CE, no one except Tōji and post-awakening Maki would be able to handle Yuuji. This is also likely to make the situation worse, given Getou's experiences with Tōji. That whole angle will depend a lot on how Gojou handles/arranges the situation, which is something I'll likely only find out when I outline or write this properly.

[saemi-the-writer]

Like Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame? Then: Phoebus/Esme, Quasi/Esme, FrEsme please?

Oho, ohohoho? 😃 HERE I GO!!!

Phoebus/Esmeralda

Since it's Disney version we're talking about, HECK YES!! I loved them as a kid and I still love them as an adult. The two work very well together and have an excellent chemistry. I never agreed with the "Phoebus gets the girl only because he's handsome" and I get annoyed each time I hear/read a similar comment (especially when it's from a guy, incel much?).

The second movie did them dirty and a disservice so I'll ignore it because if these two had to face struggles as a married couple, there were more interesting things to work with like Phoebus struggling with PTSD or any sign/reminder that he's a war veteran and needs time to adjust, how would they live, what about their families, etc. That would have made them less bland and not made a fool out of Phoebus or Esmeralda accusing him unfairly of being judgemental when him not being was the whole reason she felt attracted to him to start with!

Quasimodo/Esmeralda

So far, I've only read two fanfics that had a characterization that made them work for me. Otherwise, I see them as platonic soulmates💞 I get why Quasimodo falls for Esmeralda (who doesn't? 😳) but let's not forget she's the first person/woman to show him compassion and to treat him with kindness and respect, and he idealises her, so it's more infatuation than true romantic love. Because yes, I do think and agree that they love each other deeply, just not romantically and that makes it even more touching in my eyes. I believe Quasimodo might find someone that will want to share their life with him as a spouse when he's ready too.

Frollo/Esmeralda

Now, I'm in a "divise subject" territory 😆

I understand why the pairing is popular, but too many fanfictions/art show Esmeralda as resigned and becoming submissive to Frollo's authority and sometimes cruelty for my taste. Sometimes, I feel like Esmeralda serves as a self-insert for some authors (which I don't mean as an insult btw) who are fond of the dominant man/submissive woman dynamic. To each their own, I guess, definitely not mine.

I'd like it a lot more if Esmeralda was the dominant one - and not just because I like femdom or out of spite or anything! Esmeralda is feisty, courageous and wouldn't just bow her head silently in my opinion; plus I am a big fan of the heroine/hero catching the villain off-guard and getting the upper hand (y'know, like they do in most stories but not to win/kill the villain here, see where I am going?) Show me Esmeralda getting things (cough) into her hands and making Frollo kneel!! It's a pairing I have difficulty seeing them have a happy ending without changing the characters quite drastically (not impossible though), so unless it's like canon: the one-sided and tragic end, I see it more as "it's complicated", star-crossed lovers at best or bittersweet, borderline or obviously toxic for the two of them.

[itsclydebitches]

Young girls and women who had the Maiden powers cannonball into their souls WITHOUT CONSENT or KNOWLEDGE and were then told by a stranger that the only way to get rid of them is for them to be killed AND that there are people out there who want to do that AND that they have to leave whatever life and family they had behind and never see them again, watching Ruby complain about her "burden": 😐🙄🙁😒🤨🙃

You know, that adds an interesting spin to the age-old Pyrrha debate that I'd never considered. Fans have long dragged Ozpin for (supposedly) manipulating her into taking the powers, citing everything from someone her age being unable to make an informed choice (despite everyone else her age being an adult capable of leading this war), to the lack of information negating any true ability to judge the decision (but information isn't necessary for other characters, like Ironwood). As my asides showcase, I've always felt that this is hypocritical nonsense and does a huge disservice to Pyrrha, both in terms of acknowledging what a hard choice that was and taking into account her own, fatal flaw of feeling like she has to be the hero. (If anything, Pyrrha should have gotten a "Being a leader is so hard and I'm crumbling under the pressure" arc, not Ruby.)

But all that aside, you raise a good point about how terrifyingly passive most Maidens are in this process, with the exception of those who steal the powers (Raven) or are in a highly coincidental position to willingly accept the powers right when a Maiden is dying (Penny). The fandom tried to paint Ironwood as "forcing" the powers on Winter, manipulating her into becoming a tool, but no one wants to acknowledge that Penny would have then done the same thing? At least Ironwood asked Winter, whereas Penny decided on her own who could safely wield the power, giving that to Winter whether she still wanted it or not. The fact that the story frames this as the correct decision by having Winter currently need the power to save herself from Ironwood doesn't erase the fact that she still wasn't given a choice during the actual transfer. Hope you're happy being responsible for the entirety of your Kingdom now, Winter, because you're literally the only one with the power to protect them from the grimm army your friends dropped them into.

Based on the historical implications, most Maidens have not chosen this, have been forced to grapple with all the horrors you've laid out, which puts things like the otherwise morally ambiguous aura machine into a new light. Yes, it still goes against the "natural" state of things according to Remnant culture and yes, Pyrrha was not given a perfect segue into this choice (for various reasons), but at least it was a choice. Regardless of what you think of how Ozpin went about it, that's MORE of a choice than most other Maidens get. Do you want to be somewhat prepped beforehand, given time to decide, have a support system in place to help guide and protect you... or do you want to have these powers slam into you one day with no context? Hell, if we go by what we know about the Maidens as a whole, Pyrrha was the best candidate according to the Inner Circle and the magic itself. It things had gone differently with Amber and Cinder's bug theft, the power might well have gone to Pyrrha anyway, simply by virtue of her being a young, powerful, heroic woman with a Fall-like aesthetic.

Then yeeeeaaah. Look, Ruby has been through it. I'm not denying that. But the show really failed imo to both highlight the appropriate tragedies and allow her to navigate that grief in a way that didn't come across as incredibly selfish. Her actively striving for authority since Volume 4, becoming arrogant in her abilities, losing things and people due in large part to her own stupid mistakes (you kept the Lamp out, Ruby, you lied to Ironwood, you had the bright idea to turn Penny human and therefore vulnerable), the fact that she's surrounded by cursed Maidens and cursed immortals and cursed hosts and cursed aged-up allies and an entire dead village... and then the breakdown is, 'Woe is me, cheering people up is so hard'? Not that the story would ever go there, but I WISH Oscar had been in that scene, just so he could side-eye the hell out of her. "I'm sorry, which of us has been forced to participate in this war and burdened with the responsibility of leadership? Who is slowly losing themselves in the process, to the point where they're no longer recognizable from who they once were? You? Are you sure, Ruby?"

The writers really aren't aware of how that comes across in a story with so much horror going on, or they do and they just didn't bother to acknowledge and grapple with that limited, child-like perspective. We could have simply gotten an arc where Ruby is grieving Penny and, as a result, thinking on all the other people she's lost/how she might have failed those of Atlas and Mantle. Introducing these failures through the lens of her leadership really muddled things though. You chose this. You've supposedly been making decisions as a group. There's too many inconsistencies and retcons attached to Ruby's leadership - and too many other characters going through Objectively Horrific Things - to write the breakdown that way without Ruby coming across as completely oblivious to anyone else around her. And yes, I say that for a character who has been ignored by her team all Volume. She's also ignoring Jaune understandably grieving a whole village of people! All of them are awful nowadays! I miss when the group was actually kind and considerate and fun to watch lol

[tokiro07]

Undead Unluck ep.24 thoughts

[It's the End of the Show as We Know It]

(Contents: reflection)

And with that, season 1 of Undead Unluck's anime comes to a close

I can't say it was everything I hoped it would be, but I can say it was a lot better than I feared it could have been. Strange usage of recaps, blinding color scheme choices at odd moments, and certain scenes composed in ways that sadly cut down their impact from the source material hampered it from being the next big thing, but unique interpretations and embellishments on the source material mixed with several moments of fantastic animation and great voice acting absolutely prevented it from being a cookie cutter, bland adaptation

And of course, keeping in line with the rest of the series, the final episode made sure to encompass every single one of the above aspects

Now, to its credit, almost all of the recap in this episode was in the manga, it's just very funny that a show that was like 10% recap concluded on a chapter that was, itself, 50% recap. Plus, what recap there was that wasn't originally in the manga was actually handled quite elegantly, being brief moments of establishing information rather than just replaying entire scenes - y'know, the way that a recap is supposed to be!

We still got the garish red gel over the final fight, but I think because we've seen it so many times now, I'm kind of used to it, and the action itself was pretty damn good. The addition of a meteor to the final stroke of Unluck made that final pass at Autumn a lot more visually impactful than it otherwise would have been, and Anno Un's death being an explosion of ink rather than just fading into dust added a nice bit of flair that I think makes their nature as an ink construct much clearer

Overall, a fitting conclusion given the rollercoaster of odd and pleasantly surprising creative choices, and naturally it ended with one final befuddlement. While the beginning of the episode cut the opening theme, we ended up getting it at the end of the episode, which would be pretty standard for a finale, if it wasn't immediately followed by the sequel hook which, itself, was both truncated AND followed by the ending theme! If they'd just cut at least the ending theme, we could have had the full scene of Juiz approaching Billy! Hell, if they'd cut the opening too, we could have gotten the full explanation for how Akira knew the future! Sure, that wasn't entirely necessary, but it could have helped, and getting it recapped at the beginning of season 2 will probably be completely out of place

This was a solid episode, I really enjoyed it, and I feel the same way about the season as a whole, but god damn was this a baffling experience from beginning to end. I will definitely end up looking back on this later as a quirky experience, a fun bit of trivia that we as a community will have a chuckle about and appreciate that it's not Promised Neverland Season 2, but until someone posts a deep dive explaining how those creative decisions came about, I'm probably just going to be obsessing over how it came together so strangely

Definitively, the manga is better; this adaptation does not in any way surpass or in my opinion even match the quality of the manga, but at the very least, it does not do it a total disservice. The goods were good and the bads were weird, and I hope the experience will convince newcomers to check out the manga, if not for the desire to see more, then at least for the curiosity of what spawned this madness

If you were able to stick with it the whole time, I hope you all enjoyed this season as much or more than I did. We're supposedly going to be getting some kind of announcement soon, hopefully for season 2 or a movie. I definitely hope that Yuki Yase won't be at the helm next time, but on some level I think I'd appreciate the consistency if he does return. I'd certainly take that over getting someone worse

Until next time, let's enjoy life!

[reikunrei]

Sorry, but how would it be a disservice to Will’s character for him to have powers?

i have to spend some time articulating my thoughts about this better, and i am currently planning on watching the show again to do some proper analyzing about the details of it and whatnot

HOWEVER the long and the short of it, imo, when it comes to my opinion on powers being a "disservice" to his character, i instantly think of how he, at his core, is a purely nonviolent character. that's something i think most people agree on, and this is shown by the way he always runs, hides, or deescalates a situation rather than choosing to fight (i'd argue that the closest we get to him "fighting" is when he tells the shadow/mf to "go away" but, obviously, that didn't work)

when we see powers in the show, they are, first and foremost, presented as a weapon. now, i don't think that the powers themselves are inherently meant to be a weapon, that's just how they're "useful" to Brenner and hnl/that's how El uses them to keep herself and her friends safe, so that's the lens we've most commonly seen them through

could Will have powers that aren't weapon-based/similar to how we see them presented in the show? absolutely! and i should say that i'm not against Will having powers. there's a lot of evidence that potentially points to him having powers that's impossible to ignore, and, done right and done well, i think it would be super cool (i even have a lot of thoughts about that opening s1 dnd session where he's choosing between casting protection or fireball, and how, rather than his powers being something he could wield, like a fireball to cause damage, he has something more akin to a "shielding" ability)

however, and i guess i could have made this more clear but also it was just a stupid jokey post so why should i have made it into an essay, i suppose that i often jump to "i don't think will should have powers" because the fandom likes to give Will powers like El or One, in which he can throw things around, or make him control the shadow/mf, or has some sort of ability that he can use against the shadow and essentially winds up putting a weapon in his hand, and i think that's stupid

as i said at the top, we're shown time and again that Will is a nonviolent character. in the s1 shed scene, he has the gun in his hand, ready and loaded, and he can't pull the trigger. i'm even tempted by the idea of him having/gaining powers, only to refuse to use them at all, but that's just me having fun speculating. because we're shown that, even when he has the resources and capability to do something, he can't bring himself to actually do it

another big factor for me is that this kid has been through hell and back several times over. he's Seen Some Shit. and yet, he remains the sweet, kind, quiet, sensitive kid we were told he was at the very start of the show. he very well could have become hardened and cold and jaded, but that didn't happen (mostly by virtue of having as excellent a support network he could have asked for)

and i have a lot of thoughts on this specifically in how it ties in with Henry being the sort of "blueprint" character for El and Will, but i can't quite articulate my thoughts on it at the moment in a way that won't seem ramble-y and weird and all over the place, so i'll save that for another time. but it's something about his experiences changing him, and how Will is shown to have not changed after his experiences in the UD and his experiences with the shadow in s2, and he continues to not change and that's always framed as a good thing/most everyone can agree that him becoming a "hardened badass" would be a bad turn for his character and wouldn't make sense

so, just based on how i've seen people talk about his powers in the fandom, and how he'd basically be wielding this big powerful weapon to beat Vecna once and for all... it feels weird

but i guess i'll just stop myself here otherwise this answer will become way too long when i meant to keep it short!! oops sorry!! i have a lot of other thoughts about how this sort of thing ties in to his relationship with Mike, how any sort of "arc" he has involving powers is/was already covered by El, and how i feel like his purpose as a character in the grand scheme of things is to remain as he is, "unchanged" (tho like. obviously he is changed by his hardships. the trauma he has is No Joke, but you get what i mean) by any hardships, and to be an example of someone who can defeat evil without needing to be hugely overpowered

[byneddiedingo]

Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty in Bonnie and Clyde (Arthur Penn, 1967)

Cast: Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Michael J. Pollard, Gene Hackman, Estelle Parsons, Denver Pyle, Dub Taylor, Evans Evans, Gene Wilder. Screenplay: David Newman, Robert Benton. Cinematography: Burnett Guffey. Art direction: Dean Tavoularis. Film editing: Dede Allen. Music: Charles Strouse.

Calling a film a landmark, as Bonnie and Clyde so often has been called, does it a disservice in that it prioritizes historical significance over the aesthetic ones. It makes it difficult to appreciate or criticize the movie without recalling what it was like to see and to talk about the first time you saw it -- if, like me, you saw it in a theater when it was first released. It's a landmark because its success showed the Hollywood studios, which were mere surviving remnants of the old movie factories of the '30s and '40s, that there was an audience for something other than the big musicals and epics that had dominated American movies during the 1960s. There was a young audience out there that had grown up with the French New Wave and the great Italian and Japanese films of that decade, and was resistant to piety and platitudes. Along with The Graduate (Mike Nichols, 1967), Bonnie and Clyde gave this audience something they were looking for, and fed the revolution in filmmaking that made the 1970s one of the most adventurous decades in film history. It's no surprise that the screenwriters, Robert Benton and David Newman, were so familiar with the New Wave that they wanted François Truffaut or Jean-Luc Godard to direct their movie. And even today Warren Beatty, in the opening scenes of Bonnie and Clyde, is bound to remind one of Jean-Paul Belmondo in Breathless (Godard, 1960). It was a movie that launched the careers of Faye Dunaway and Gene Hackman, not to mention giving Beatty a boost into superstardom. It also put an end to some careers, most notably that of Bosley Crowther, who had been the New York Times's film critic since 1940 but was undone by his vitriolic attack on  Bonnie and Clyde, which he denounced not only in his initial review but also, after protests from the movie's admirers, in two subsequent articles. Crowther was replaced as the Times critic in 1968. On the other hand, Newsweek's critic, Joe Morgenstern, initially panned the film but, after being urged by readers to reconsider, recanted his original critique. So the question persists: Historical significance aside, is Bonnie and Clyde really any good? I'd have to say, after seeing it again for the first time in many years, that it holds up as entertainment. The acting is superb, and Burnett Guffey's cinematography, Dean Tavoularis's art direction, and Theadora van Runkle's costuming all provide a fine 1960s interpretation of 1930s style. Where it falls down for me is in substance: The screenplay, which was worked over by Robert Towne, is too preoccupied with Bonnie and Clyde as lovers with (especially Clyde) some psychosexual hangups. It only feints at demonstrating why the pair became cult figures in the Great Depression, most notably in a scene when Clyde refuses to take the money of a farmer who is in the bank they're robbing, and in a scene in which the wounded couple and C.W. Moss (endearingly played by Michael J. Pollard) stop for help at a bleak migrant camp. Only in scenes like these do we get a sense of the deep background of Depression-era misery, a fuller treatment of which might have elevated the film into greatness, the way Francis Ford Coppola's first two Godfather films  (1972, 1974) turned Mario Puzo's popular novel into an American myth. Otherwise, the criticism that it glamorizes the outlaws by turning them into fashion-model beauties still has some merit.

[monstermonstre]

31 days of horror 2023 (part 1/?)

Every year in October I challenge myself to watch 31 horror movies, 1 for each day, with varying success. If you're new here, I love horror and so the challenge is more about the commitment, than pushing myself to do something I wouldn't enjoy or do otherwise (thankfully).

So far, so good, I haven't watched anything that angered me or bored me to death. Those first 11 days were actually pretty great overall, and with only 2 rewatches.

Cherry Falls (2000): I thought a slasher starring Brittany Murphy would be an easy like but instead this was the only film in the bunch I did not care for. The attempted subversion of one of the genre's best known tropes (the Virgin Will Be Spared) was not done in a way that felt compelling; the script felt like there were too many cooks in the kitchen, like so many hands had touched it that the original intent had been lost; and aside from that one subversion it was just too bland, too unremarkable. And the transphobia didn't help. Brittany Murphy was stellar tho.

Possibly in Michigan (1983): Day 2 found me already scrambling for a short film as my day was ending, and lucky me otherwise I might have never watched this classic. "80s feminist cannibalism musical" feels like it's maybe doing it a disservice but it's what got me to watch it and I wouldn't know how to begin to talk about it in a more substantial way. If that tagline appeals to you in any way, it's on Youtube, go watch it.

The Exorcist (1973): I had seen that movie once as a teenager, when I was still very new to horror, and all I remembered from it were the scares. Watching it now, the scares are the least of the impressions the movie made on me. If I was a sadist with a cinema I'd program a triple feature on loneliness, alienation, and the loss of the body with this, Lake Mungo, and the original Cat People. (P.S.: I really recommend the following video essay.)

4. The Exorcist III (1990): First time watching and it scared the shit out of me. I loved it but I haven't been scared like that in a while. Again, there's nothing I could say about this that hasn't been said before. It had some of the worst (honorary) and best things I've ever seen. There is a carp swimming up and down in my brain.

5. Chucky S3E1: Yes episodes of TV count. Anyway, Chucky is back, it's my favourite horror franchise and the show has been, so far, one of the most fun I've had following a TV show ever. That season 3 premiere was a bit underwhelming for me, but certainly not bad. I'm looking forward to the rest.

6. Tucker and Dale vs. Evil (2010): Suffering depression from watching the two Exorcist movies back to back, I decided that rewatching a horror comedy I loved was in order. I used to worship Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, but now...it felt very "eh". I've been damaged by too many excellent films and some of the jokes from this classic just didn't do it as much for me anymore (aside from the "howdy-oh officer, we've had a doozy of a day" bit that makes me crack up every time). However it was still a good time and Dale is still one of the hottest man in horror.

7. Motel Hell (1980): Found out about this one through Stephen Graham Jones' Indian Lake trilogy and I wasn't expecting much from it so I was delighted when I found out how funny it was. Great time for slasher lovers, darkly funny, great performances, some really neat imagery (altho I could've done without the sound the "plants" made, like nails on a chalkboard). Just a silly good time.

8. No One Will Save You (2023): I appreciated the risks this movie took and its story but I struggled to get invested at all. Maybe the alien element just wasn't for me, the minute I saw one of the aliens (which kudos to the film for not beating around the bush and going straight into it) I just stopped caring. I did have a good time overall tho and I was pleasantly surprised at, again, the risks taken and the resistance to spelling every thing out to the audience. The ending was pretty neat.

9. Shutter (2004): The winner of my little poll and I'm grateful to everyone who voted for it. I have no idea how this film ended up on my watchlist but I had been putting it off for while because ghost movies are still one of the subgenres of horror that terrifies me the most. I am glad I was pushed to see this because not only was I not that scared (no really, I didn't even jump that much, I certainly was much calmer than when watching Exorcist III, I am so brave) but I really loved the film's atmosphere and visuals. It's rare, I feel, to see a horror movie so awash with light more or less constantly and still retaining a very compelling moodiness and tension. Very unique atmosphere and that ending wowed me. Also was I the only one to read Natre as trans? I even felt like the film was implying it for a while.

10. Creep (2014): Creep was also in my little poll and, when it ended, I realised I felt slightly disappointed it hadn't won. So instead of waiting on an excuse to watch it, and feeling emboldened by my frankly supernatural bravery during Shutter, I decided to just watch it. And it was the calmest I've ever felt during a found footage film. Seriously not one of the jumpscares got me, that's absolutely unheard of with me. But that didn't make me have any less of a good time. I thought it was hilarious (but obviously not funny in a way that I would recommend it to most people I know), Duplass was magnetic, and I really enjoyed the storytelling. It was also pretty close in some ways to a wrestling storyline that I'm very invested in at the moment so maybe that contributed to how tranquil a time I had. Again, if I owned a cinema and was sick in the head I'd do a double feature with this and the 2022 documentary Mister Organ.

11. Creep 2 (2017): I hate those Reader X Fictional Character fics that haunt tags on here but that's what that film was and I had a good time with it.

If you've read this far: wow. (and see you soon for part 2)

[majorbaby]

you're right about the overwhelming whiteness in mash fandom; somebody made a post about soon-lee (an on-screen woc) not receiving as much content and attention compared to peg and there were people who seemed to a) brush it off, b) actually be bothered by it, or c) equate their experiences??? like ???? and don't even mention how much of the racism toward klinger is brushed off

exactly. i think you explained it well but lemme unpack further:

peg appears on screen twice but never in corporal form next to any of the other characters. and her appearances are marred by the fact that she exists in the narrative only in relation to BJ. as his life-line and a source of his pain. that is not my interpretation of what she should be, it's how she was written. i'm not saying she's not important or that BJ does not love her and I'm not commenting even on the state of their marriage right now, i'm just saying peg as a human person with thoughts, feelings, ambitions is not something that the narrative focuses on. where there is Peg, there is always BJ somewhere - either having a meltdown because he misses his life back home or reminding us that he loves his wife and child.

i never did publish my fridging essay because it was long and it became about dc comics rather than MASH but... the suggestion that the peg character is 'fridged' or otherwise 'ignored' by the fandom is funny to me because, well, the show did it first. if you want something to rally against, why not start with the dudes who actually wrote her as being a phantom limb of BJ's and then i can maybe listen to you make the connection between that and how and why fandom is the way that it is about women characters. provided you expand that argument to at least include margaret because i don't i could be convinced using just peg as an example.

i could go on and on about peg's portrayal as being the real being affront to stereotypes of 50s women on MASH as compared to like, the various nurse ables or even Margaret but that would be touching the s1-3 vs 4-11 mess for the second time today so let's move on.

soon-lee is a strong, though not perfect, departure from that. like. really strong, imo. she's got 2 hours to make an impression on us and she does. she does not exist in association to klinger. she's had a life before klinger and though she expresses her sadness around it, she's willing to give up a life with him if she has to in order to find her family. and that one line in no way does justice to soon-lee's footprint on the show, but that's another post that i will write eventually.

basically, soon-lee is the heavylift for the show wrt women AND race, which isn't exactly fair to her to have to do but i'm still grateful for soon-lee. she seems to be an intentional contribution to the western tv canon of varied representations of racialized women and they did that in 1982. we haven't done much better since then on shows that primarily center white experiences, so that's why i think she's of note.

it does both women a disservice to equate their experiences in the narrative and also their treatment in the fandom - both are uneven. peg has way less agency in the narrative than soon-lee, yet soon-lee is nowhere near as present in fanwork as peg.

why is that? lots of reasons i think: peg being closely associated to BJ and BJ being the most popular character in fandom (next to hawkeye but i'm starting to wonder if he actually eclipses hawkeye) gets peg some points. people feeling out of their depth with what exactly to do with klinger and soon-lee's relationship bc it's pretty well resolved by the end - there are absolutely opportunities for future conflict with them being like, a mixed korean-lebanese couple in post-police-action korea but i admit even for me, someone who might be interested in writing something about that, i'd feel a certain responsibility to do my homework.

then again i've seen (and done) all manner and depth of academic research conducted by fanartists to write slowburn white m/m slash or even m/f fic so i'm not taking the race out of the picture completely. and that's the last, important, uncomfortable difference between peg and soon-lee - peg is white and soon-lee is not. i respect and appreciate the goal of any call to diversify the space (provided it doesn't come with any sort of weird guilt trip, which is a line i try to toe all the time) but we have to be careful that in doing that we're not denying racialized people their experiences. or at least acknowledging that there are different ways to move through the world.

[todayisafridaynight]

It's been wonderful being able to talk about these things for me too! I haven't really had the opportunity since Y7 came out, so I'm positively buzzing. And no worries about the tone of your post about Daigo's article haha, I appreciate it when issues are pointed that I might've missed otherwise since that's at least something actionable.

But I'm obviously not going to stop anyone from venting frustrations with the wiki or with Fandom as a platform; I frequently find myself frustrated too! It's one of the things that keeps people editing the wiki. I'm honestly fine with whatever as long as it's not accusing us of being fujoshi for the billionth time lol, but for better or worse I do like to clarify what we're trying to do if there's any confusion.

Speaking of, Mine's relationship tags are kind of a funny story! So a lot of them have these dotted underlines and question marks, right? You're supposed to be able to hover over underlined terms to see a short definition (on desktop) and click the question mark to see an article with all the definitions on mobile, since hover actions aren't possible on a touchscreen.

But since the article was and still is under construction, Fandom doesn't show the link to logged-out users. So I had no idea it just looks like we're saying the tag is ambiguous lol. It's up now though, so it's hopefully easier to understand what we're trying to do!

I just found it funny I specifically added that feature to reduce confusion. Half the grief we get over Mine's "romantic interest" tag is because people assume we're saying it's mutual (we chose the term to try and avoid the "mutual" connotations of "love interest," but I guess that didn't work out). I also thought it might help with somewhat esoteric tags like "co-parent" (which was put in place for Jo and Arakawa and then I kept thinking of others) and "surrogate son." Turns out it's tough to boil complex relationships down to one term!

I definitely have SO many questions about New Year's Day and I probably always will; for the space of only one night, it's a huge blank. I certainly do have to wonder if shipping Masato off to America was decided then and there. There's a lot that could possibly be expanded on in RGGO (further interactions between Arakawa and Jo included lol), so I've got hope for that too now that we're back to random events. I'd be really interested to see how you'd portray it someday!

Talking about Nakai and Tsutsumi reminded me, Nakai mentioned he read the whole script in a day so he "wouldn't do a disservice to Arakawa or Sawashiro's characters." That kind of stuck out to me precisely because there are so few scenes between them compared to like, Arakawa and Ichi, and they're all relatively low-impact in comparison.

Of course, it could be marketing on account of him and Tsutsumi getting to co-star again, or the scenes could simply have stood out to him more for that reason, or he could've had a different impression of the ratios having read the script rather than played the game. But the part of me that makes me want to go Off The Deep End speculating is kind of wondering if there were other scenes planned?

And absolutely! I'm not able to reblog often because the post editor's been crashing whenever I try to tag my posts, but I hope you know I love your work and I'll support pretty much anything you put out! I'm very excited to share my findings as well.

A lot of it's to do with Mine's relationship to Western culture vs. Japanese culture (his "westabooism," basically), so that's specific to him, but there a lot of interesting concepts and theories in Japanese psychology regarding familial bonds, met and unmet emotional needs. They work as an explanation for his probable feelings of alienation from Japanese culture, but I feel they would make for an interesting lens to examine the Arakawas through as well.

I actually hadn't ever considered the similarity with regard to Mine and Jo's dads, but that makes so much sense! If I were to take it a step further, I think feelings of "abandonment" by their fathers have had long-lasting effects on both them and Masato. Jo we've been talking about, his father was technically still "there," but he wasn't in his corner, which feels much the same as abandonment to a child.

I think Mine's internalized a lot of the same feelings even though his father never meant to abandon him (I guess Jo's may not have, necessarily; alcoholism can destroy a family whether the individual wants that to happen or not). Like, unfairness, displacement, lack of control, the loss of the only support you have and so on. I think dwelling on that is what sent Mine's mental state spiraling, and what made it imperative to just believe Daigo was "dead" to try and move on as soon as possible. He didn't want to be hurt the same way again.

It's also probably what he was projecting in his ridiculous villain speech during The Orphanage Scene; the reason offering kids support in the way Kiryu does is a form of "victimization" in his eyes, at that moment, is because that support can be ripped away from you at any time. The scene is kind of hilarious to me because it's like, "okay we need Mine to have a kick-the-dog moment, his actions have been too understandable," but I do get it from that angle.

Similarly, I think those feelings of abandonment are why Arakawa faces the brunt of Aoki's abuse, because it's like, "YOUR negligence is why I had to go through all of that." So I get why Jo, like your sister, wouldn't want the finger pointed at him, but at the same time… damn. Perhaps if Arakawa had never had that talk with Masato, things might've been different. I get the impression he wouldn't be able to endure keeping things to himself for as long as Jo, though, given things like the letter he sent Ichi in prison.

Oh, yeah, Jo is CRAZY protective of Masato too! "If anything happens to him, killing you a thousand times would be insufficient!" I think part of his overreaction to having Masato's money is also that if Ichi can't listen to orders that fundamental, who's to say he listened to the orders to keep Masato safe? I guess if you see Ichiban as incompetent to the point of almost being a malicious actor, you might think that.

I'm sooo so glad you've noticed the rest of those similarities haha, I've been rotating them around in my brain like a cube for ages. A Venn diagram would be so fun to see! That's such an insightful look at the differences between Mine and Jo's offices too. I was a little confused about the placement of the social spaces, or even that they're there, but if you look at it as clearly separate from his personal spaces, it does make sense.

Also, not to harp on the books in the offices too much, but I compared the textures a little earlier. Mine's are basically all (very expensive) encyclopedias and language phrasebooks in English, Italian, French, and German, in contrast to Jo's discrete hardcovers and series of art history books. They're probably all stock assets lol, but I think they're surprisingly good fits; Mine dumping considerable time, money, and energy into his fascination with Western culture and Jo being the type to not want people to know what he's reading totally works for me.

But yes! It's kind of funny, because Yokoyama wasn't much of a Mine fan in his early days, but I hope he and the others keep on writing characters like him. I think of it as Mine's "legacy" in a series where past characters aren't acknowledged too often; the most I can recall are that Hakuho mention in 4 and the fencing around the Touto roof perimeter.

Speaking of, I love Mine's missed shots in the finale specifically because he's an excellent marksman in his Okinawa character story. Why? How? Who Knows, He's Perfect. (Probably not as good of a shot as Daigo though lol)

And yeahhh, there are other interviews, but it ain't the same! It was the most in-depth one I know of. I think this is one of the only remnants, and I shall entrust it to you.

But yes, exactly! And I'm also glad Y7 introduced more people to them (myself included), Tsutsumi's my favorite actor of all time and Nakai's brilliant. They make a great combi! Of the things I've seen where they co-star, I think Princess Toyotomi and Hero SP are both solid; the latter is a special for a longer show, but I honestly didn't even notice lol. Musashi I wasn't personally able to get through even though I've read the book, so I'm not sure how it plays out between them.

Also I DIDN'T KNOW TORU DIED IN PURE??? That came out of nowhere oh my god T___T But if you're ever looking for anything rare, feel free to ask! I might know a guy (gender neutral) with a stash, Fly, Daddy, Fly included.

OH MAN MINE'S WIKI ENTRY I've definitely made my opinions about it known, but now knowing the truth behind it it's kind of funny and still so unfortunate. I'd almost want to recommend a section dedicated to the topic since it's such an integral part of his character, though I also understand wanting to keep the wiki strictly to factual information and to exclude speculation (or "speculation" anyhow- it's definitely more of a concrete situation, especially going off of the information provided in your pinned post on the topic. If anything, that sort of information would belong to the "Trivia" tab wouldn't it- but again, it's such a deep situation it can't really be summarized in one or two sentences) and the topic being too niche to have a page dedicated to it. It's nice to know that the subject isn't trying to be brushed under the rug though and it's just a matter of awkward formatting/incomplete work!

Furthermore on The New Years Event, I would LOVE RGGO to expand on the topic since they've been so liberal with the stories they make and the depth those stories add to the characters. Honestly, I was expecting Masato's card to have that as its accompanying character story, so it's unfortunate that he doesn't get it or any story as far as I'm aware (or maybe he does have one and my poor pull luck has just prevented me from getting the card to find out myself, but I've looked as much as I could and couldn't find an upload of it). Oh well, I guess it's the old "if you want something done you gotta do it yourself-" not that anything I could make could ever be up to scratch, so I'm glad I do have people interested in what I have in mind :)

About Nakai, I wouldn't feel wrong trying to accredit his comment to a time before he knew the full plot or saw the full game and was just debriefed on the general story/character relationships, and I also wouldn't put it past RGG to have deleted scenes/ideas (if those do exist, RGG please let me in your vault I'd like to take a peak...)!

The psychology of Mine is another topic I've been wanting to officially tackle for a while now, so I'm glad I have this chance to share some of what I have mental bullet points for.

Moreover, Mine's dad and how he "left" Mine undeniably impacted him significantly beyond physically leaving him alone, and it definitely manifests in The Orphanage Scene and his idea that killing Daigo would be "putting him out of his misery". In those instances, he sees Daigo and the orphans as victims of an unfair reality, Daigo being comatose, and the orphans having the endure the struggles of being orphans (and that added-on, projected anxiety that their comfortable lives now could vanish at any second like it did for Mine). Mine's mustache-twirling villainy is funny for its absurdity, but I also genuinely appreciate it since it lets us peak into his warps philosophy better. It doesn't justify his actions by any means, but it explains to us why he can justify his actions as from a place of love or pity as opposed to thoughtless evil.

To add on, Mine's relationship with his father, from what we're allowed to gather, was healthy and positive. Because of their positive relationship, the removal of such adds credence as to why Mine's desperate to get that love again. It especially makes sense considering Japan's horrendous attitude and negligence towards orphaned children that was even demonstrated during Mine's childhood while his father was alive.

And as an inverse aside, Jo's relationship with his dad was toxic, whether it was due to blatant abuse or combined negligence. It's fair to assume that Jo never got to experience genuine, secure love growing up, so as a result, it's not something he actively seeks out. He's been without it long enough that it's not something he necessarily craves like Mine who used to have it until it was taken from him.

Masato certainly makes it clear he felt isolated despite the efforts Jo and Arakawa repeatedly went through for him, and it's apparent it's an unfortunate side affect of internalized ableism. It definitely doesn't help anyone's case that Masato had seemingly been informed of the night of his birthday's events (from Arakawa's point of view, obviously), and it's clear that knowledge gives ammunition as to why he resents him.

You're right on Jo potentially seeing Ichi as a bad actor, it's not as if he has disdain for him for no reason! Like even if Ichiban hadn't taken Masato's money the way Jo could have imagined, the idea that Ichi can't be responsible in one avenue can easily lead back to Ichi having the potential to look after Masato, especially when he seems to be the one who predominately looks after him when he's tasked to.

I've already got my program open to make my little chart and have my reference pictures ready, so hopefully I can have that silly thing out soon haha- I'm glad you're interested in seeing it, and I hope other people will like to see it too! Jo and Mine really are my favorite antagonists, so it's funny (and I guess not surprising) that they have parallels to them.

To add on to that though, I think it's fun to look at the extra details, no matter how small; I'm probably more happy than I should be that you looked at their office's books, but I can't help be a fan of the details you found (whether they're generic models or not, I'm running with them- I've done more with less before lmao)! Mine having language books is definitely in-line with his interests, but Jo having art history books is weirdly endearing (and dare I say another point for "these are the same picture" comparing it to Mine's own love for art). Jo being so private to the point of blocking out the binds of the books he owns is so accurate to him and his secrecy, and the concept that he likes to read about art in his spare time is a new favorite concept for me.

Mine really isn't acknowledged much after 4; in comparison to Ryuji and Nishiki, he's remembered throughout the series the least (you can argue the same for Ryuji, but considering he gets a whole new life in Dead Souls, I think it's fair to say that makes up for the mainline series forgetting about him. Though I guess the same could be Mine getting a prominent role as Hijikata in Ishin... Definitely not as cool of a spot as to be a playable protagonist with a machine gun arm if I'm honest). In that, it's great that his likelihood can exist in future characters, and I hope they continue the trend of phenomenal antagonists in LaD8 and onward!

I'm eternally grateful for this frame you've gifted me thank you so much- Nakai's smile is such a blessing honestly, I'm glad if anything survived from the interview it can be this shot at least.

I've got Princess Toyotomi and Hero SP added to my watch list, DEFINITELY something I'll be excited to check out as a reward once I have all my important business taken care of this week! Honestly, I haven't seen Musashi either: while I was looking through their filmography I saw it was a project they did, but I've always been bad at watching long series so I didn't take the time to see their performance together.

For things I have seen though... yeah he dies SORRY IF THAT WAS HOW YOU FOUND OUT </3</3 Honestly I didn't expect myself to love the series as much as I did (admittedly it was predominately because of the leads and their relationship), but when it happened I was both- dare I say crushed- a little humored a little funny in a dark-comedy way.

And if you do have access to harder-to-get films, I'd absolutely be interested in hearing about it. One of Nakai's movies Good Morning Show has been haunting me for weeks: it sounds like such a fun movie yet I can't find it anywhere </3

[skaruresonic]

Heh, I just remembered: Metroid fans have been waiting for Prime 4 literally for as long as HL fans have for HL3: since 2007

You guys got Alyx which teases HL3 while we got an announcement trailer in 2017 followed by a notice in 2018 that development was starting over from scratch with a new team and we haven't heard anything since.

To be fair, we did get a thinly-veiled "update" in the form of Marc Laidlaw publishing his written treatment for a possible Episode 3 with various character names changed, called Epistle 3, in 2017. Until Half-Life: Alyx, we got radio silence, and all we had to go off of was Epistle 3.

And it was, uh. Weird. And OOC. ...no shade to Laidlaw, he's an excellent prose writer. It's just... his ideas and characterization tend to be exaggerated to the point of near-cartoonishness. That is to say, his treatments are definitely rough drafts. You'll find that even with previous written treatments of his, Valve winds up heavily editing his work to the point where they come off as different pieces of fiction entirely. The rest of the team polish the general ideas to suit the game and world they're trying to craft. Evaluating the series finale by judging what was essentially a quick sketch may have been unfair, but it was also like, Valve, you'd had years to work on this thing: why was a written treatment the most you had to show for it?

Then again, if '06 taught us anything, it's that it's better to have a late and excellent product than a forever-rushed one. I'd rather not have an HL3 at all if Valve simply developed it just to get people off their backs. In addition, I have my issues with HLA in regard to how it relates to the series as a whole. As excellent as the game is, I really do think it should have been a standalone prequel rather than a bridge between Episodes 2 and 3. I feel like that does it a disservice. The ending feels tacked-on. Like previous HL games, it uses yet another cliffhanger to postpone the next chapter: a narrative device that, at this point, 25 years on, has overstayed its welcome. (I'm starting to think Valve simply doesn't know how the series will end.) The first twenty minutes of Episode 3 could have just as easily reversed Eli's death if it wanted to - I feel it simply detracts from HLA's otherwise solid narrative to retcon the previous game.

[saint-ambrosef]

Hi! I sent the Shadow and Bones anon to @that-catholic-shinobi and saw your replies! So now I'm curious and I love when people rant about things, in the show what do you think they got right? And what did you feel was done wrong? Was there scenes that they did from the books that were close to the source material, but felt different in tone/ect or were just wrong? Was the Matthias and Nina romance in the main trilogy or the Six of Crows section of books? (I watched the show, I felt weird with how hot/cold they would be in such a short amount of screen time, like being on a roller coaster, I think it made the romance feel extra sudden and strange to me)

Anyways, I hope all these questions don't bug you, I'd love to hear your thoughts cause you seem like you really enjoyed the books and know your stuff. I do think I will give the books a try cause you and that-catholic-shinobi made them sound pretty interesting! Thanks!

Oh hello! I love sharing my thoughts on stuff like this. :)

The first thing to know is that the duology and trilogy occur in the same world, but the stories are relatively unrelated. SOC is also set several years after the end of the trilogy. So none of the duology characters (Kaz, Inej, Jesper, Nina, Matthias) existed in Alina's story.

By combining these two distinctly separate stories, the plot felt disconnected and bloated. Cramming eight protagonists into one TV show spread the screen time too thin. The only reason they shoehorned in the SOC characters that otherwise have nothing to do with Alina's story is because they're fan favorites who will draw views - but then each character gets a fraction of their book counterpart's development. (Not to mention major side characters like Genya who barely show up at all).

The consequence is bad pacing. Stuffing the show with so many plot lines necessarily speeds up each. E.g: In the book, Alina is at the Little Palace for months, accounting for half the novel. So much happens: her friendship with Genya, the breakdown between her and Mal, dicey Grisha politics, the delicate balance with the Grand Palace, the lavishness between training and Small Army assignments, propaganda, in-depth exploration of Grisha magic system (!!!), tensions between the First Army and Second Army, etc. The show had to cut all of that to make room for the other story lines. It makes her story feel so shallow.

I mean, Kaz, Jesper, and Inej show up and look cool and do cool stuff but you don’t really find out much about them besides vague suggestions that Kaz wants revenge, Jesper is gay and gambles, and Inej is religious. It's such a disservice to their characters.

Most of Alina's story in the show is pretty similar to the book plot. There's just lots of little changes that don't make sense to me, portrayals of specific characters or scenes.

Was the Matthias and Nina romance in the main trilogy or the Six of Crows section of books?

It was in SOC. Even then, it's told as a series of flashbacks. Where they left off at the end of S1 (Nina pressing charges against Matthias to save him) is where they start off in the books. So they start off with a complicated, bitter relationship that is only gradually explained through Nina's flashbacks as the duology progresses.

Was there scenes that they did from the books that were close to the source material, but felt different in tone/ect or were just wrong?

Many lol. The main one that jumps to mind is the scene where the Darkling and Alina kiss. In the books, the Darkling's motivations are described as rough, wild, possessive, desperate without passion; he even says she's just a sexual distraction, and it's later revealed to be a manipulation tactic. It's disturbing and contributes to the theme of predatory authority. But the show depicts it as sweet, romantic, and motivated by affection. It made me gag.

The reason they did that was again for fan service. Book!Darkling is characterized as a cruel, possessive, power hungry man who would manipulate anyone and everyone for more power (literal or political). But of course many fans popularly decided he was a sexyboi with a secret heart and shipped him with Alina. So the show re-characterizes him as more sympathetic, emphasized his loneliness, downplayed his self-preservation and trumped up his "All I want to do his help Grisha" motivation.

The show additionally added in a sympathetic backstory to explain his creation of the Shadow Fold – that his pregnant wife (girlfriend?) was murdered in cold blood by muggles for no reason!! He just wanted revenge and justice!! This never happened in the book; he was just power hungry and wanted to terrify his enemies and Ravka by tapping into a power he couldn’t ultimately control

There's also the fact that they totally glossed over Genya's tragedy. She's a tailor grisha, which is rare. In the book, the Darkling "gives her talents" as a gift (aka enslaves her) to the Queen (who abuses her), and she becomes the very unwilling mistress to the King (which the Darkling relishes because now she can spy for him). Her life is miserable and she's considered an outsider even amongst Grisha. This is why she bonds with Alina. And that's why Genya's betrayal at the end of Book 1 hits so hard - she feels compelled to side with her ultimate abuser, the Darkling, because of his terrifying power. In the show we only have like three scenes of her and Alina interacting, yet they still act like Genya siding with him was some major betrayal.

But we don't have time for that subplot because the show-runners needed to shoehorn in all of Nina and Matthias' completely irrelevant scenes and focus on fucking Fyodor for some reason.

Characterization aside, the overall choice regarding which scenes to focus on was odd, too. The entire last episode was only like a 15 page scene in the book. They invented scenes of her and the Darkling yet breezed over the history of amplifiers and Morozova’s three legendary beasts. The first episode spends so much time embellishing how Mal and Alina end up going into the Unsea. Or the whole story the show concocted about West Ravka seeking independence (which is not a bad plot idea, but this show was already so bloated, why!!).

Then there were the details they changed for seemingly no reason. E.g. Book!Alina is an orphan born at Dva Stolba on the Shu Han border, which would seamlessly explain why show!Alina is half-Shu. But they changed it so her parents were destroyed by the Shadow Fold?? Why? And in the show, the court is suspicious of Alina because she’s Shu. But in the books, non-Ravkan Grisha (Shu, Fjerdan, Suli, etc) were quite common in the Second Army, as Ravka was known as the one place Grisha weren’t persecuted. So a half-Shu Sun Summoner wouldn’t have been that big of a deal. These are subtle changes that don’t really affect the show, but they are nonetheless unnecessary and/or slightly change the tone of a given scene.

Oh, also, they fucked up Zoya's characterization. They made her so cringy!!! She’s supposed to be this gorgeous, hot-headed, effortlessly smooth but sorta bratty squaller. Look how they massacred my girl...

There were definitely some casting wins. Ben Barnes as the Darkling was perfect. Kit Young portrayed Jesper perfectly and I cannot express enough how well he nailed the character. I thought the actors for Nina and Matthias did a good job too.

My most controversial opinion is that Freddy Carter as Kaz was a miscast. He's a good actor, he's just way too delicate and aristocratic looking to play a convincing street rat/bastard of the barrel.

Anyways. As a stand-alone television show, Shadow and Bone is quite good. The production value is impressive compared to most Netflix shows, with great cinematography, scene direction, and decent effects. It felt comparable to the big screen. Some of the actors were perfectly cast and the acting overall was positive. But ultimately, this show is a book adaptation. So of course there will be comparison to the original novel. To me, it's not a particularly faithful adaptation - everything felt pretty similar and yet slightly to the left, if that makes sense.

I really wish they made S&B and SOC separate shows. Or have their original stories run parallel to each other without interacting (sorta like the first few seasons of GOT with its different story lines).

Read the books!!!