#overall the comics are enjoyable bordering on good at times

[bakerstreetbabble]

Granada TV Series Review: "The Greek Interpreter" (S02, E02)

"The Greek Interpreter," one of the adventures from The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, is of interest to Sherlock Holmes fans mainly due to its being our first glimpse of Mycroft, Sherlock's older brother. And Mycroft is certainly a fascinating character: described as "absolutely corpulent" by Watson, but with "the sharpness of expression which was so remarkable in that of his brother," Mycroft has, according to his younger brother, "better powers of observation than I." So the tale is notable for its expansion of the great detective's back story. Sadly, as the reader reaches the end of the story, it is profoundly disappointing compared to many of Holmes's other cases. The bad guys get away, and a man is dead. The Greek interpreter of the title survives, just barely.

Therefore, it's no wonder that the writers of the Granada adaptation felt the need to flesh out the plot considerably. As a result, the last ten minutes or so of the episode contain a plot original to the episode, that is frankly rather ridiculous. Sherlock, Watson and Mycroft go running (literally) after the villains, and confront them on a train. The whole thing becomes a "train adventure," complete with the violent death of one of the baddies, a smooth bit of pocket picking by Mycroft, and even a moment where Mycroft holds a pistol to the other bad guy's head. One gets the distinct impression that the writers knew the ending as Doyle wrote it was worthless, so they just took a sharp turn, and wrote the adventure they wanted to see the main characters have. 

Still the episode is not completely worthless. Charles Gray does an admirable job as Mycroft. (My impression was that he was too old to play the role,  but I see from a quick Wikipedia search that he was only 5 years older than Brett.) I don't know that Gray was quite as "stout" as Watson describes him in the story, and he doesn't seem nearly tall enough. However, considering the trend in many Holmes adaptations for a slim Mycroft (BBC Sherlock, Elementary, and Enola Holmes spring to mind), I think the casting was pretty good. And we are treated to a lovely scene at the Diogenes Club, wherein Sherlock and Mycroft trade deductions about a random guy in the street below, to Watson's very clear delight.

Speaking of Watson, I am always impressed by David Burke's Watson. I only wish that he had been able to continue the role after this first series. Edward Hardwicke was very good, too, but Burke was the best, in my opinion. Indeed, if I had to rank all the Watsons I've seen over the years, I believe David Burke would be at the top of my list. It is also important to remember that, at the time, Burke was a breath of fresh air for a role that had been largely defined by Nigel Bruce's comic portrayal of the character.

Overall, in "The Greek Interpreter," we are left with an episode that is enjoyable enough for its character development, but that inherits many of the defects of its source material, and tries to over-compensate with a new ending that borders on the ludicrous. So, not a complete waste of time, but not one of the better episodes I've seen thus far.

Postscript: The Nashville Scholars of the Three Pipe Problem, the Sherlockian group in which I participate here in Nashville, TN, just discussed this story a week ago at our monthly meeting. Many of the opinions I've shared above (about the original story and its adaptation by Granada) were voiced by other members of the group. Indeed, we had a lively discussion about the story. And a good time was had by all...

[kinetic-elaboration]

June 4: The Expanse 2x02

Got back to The Expanse after a shorter break this time. A lot did happen in this episode but it could have been half the length in terms of things that I was interested in, honestly. I still can’t get into the action sequences. I don’t know if that’s me or the show—probably mostly me but a little of both. I just zone completely out.

But I did appreciate and enjoy all the non-action stuff. I feel like Alex and Amos are both really growing on me; they’re both so weird, Amos and his inability to fully sit in the cliches of his archetype, and Alex and whatever that smooth country/rock DJ voice/persona is. I liked their little scene together. I feel like they both sort of border on being comic relief characters but I’m attached to that.

I liked the conscious-driven Commander whose name I didn’t catch. I have mixed feelings about, like, War Strategy type scenes. I like intricate little puzzles, but I don’t care about military maneuvers, so it depends on how I’m characterizing it. The opening and bar scenes were pretty solid. Has that high-stakes-machinations feel, makes a decent amount of clear and upfront sense.

I’m enjoying Miller’s integration into the group and his big Dr. McCoy energy, with the space-hating and all. (Trying not to get too attached to him, though.) His frustration with his trigger-happy crew was funny. And, given the ending, ironic!

The hive-mind VR scientists were very creepy. I don’t know what was going on, but I definitely got horror/sci fi from them. They seemed upset at separation from the central control, but not like they couldn’t literally live without it. But, that’s sort of what I thought at first. That whole exploring the ship sequence was really eerie and enjoyable.

I definitely did know that guy was going to get shot. That was just the beat of the scene pretty obviously. I… would enjoy more exposition from himm personally but I guess that was sort of the point: kill him off before he can explain too much to the audience too soon. I still don’t know how I feel about ‘actually also aliens though’ even though I do usually love aliens. Mad scientist uses people as experimental subjects for the greater good—warding off a greater future evil and/or great scientific achievement (why not both?!) is of course a pretty familiar yarn but I’m willing to stick with it and see how it goes. I think overall I still need more recap-type exposition so I can stay interested in what’s happening without feeling like I just don’t get enough of it, and also, less action, and more just like totally weirdo off-the-wall worldbuilding and good character moments.

[rainboq]

So I'm like actively mad at the LiS comic now

So far, I've been pretty on board with the comics. Yeah, it's super obvious that it was made more than the original 4 issues last minute, and yeah, the amberprice timeline had a lot of padding and avoided dealing with really serious emotional stuff. But I still enjoyed it, it was nice to see Max and (a) Rachel getting along, the Pricefield and AmberPrice was good, and it gave hints for what could be with AmberPricefield (but they're cowards for it being platonic). But then the latest issue came out. Spoiler talk under the cut.

Then this shit happened.

Max just admitted that the Max from the AmberPrice timeline is dead.

Fucking WHAT?!

I cannot fathom how this makes any fucking sense. Not only does it contradict one of the issues in Dust where Max goes to a timeline where she's dead, and it rejects her, but Max spent two years living in a timeline where she fucking died?!

She's a freelance photographer! Her livelihood depends on circulating her name! Did nobody bother doing basic background on the photographer they hired? Did nobody look at her social media and connect the dots?!

Did Max just not have a fucking bank account or credit card? Did she just not pay her taxes? Did Chloe and Rachel not bother looking into things with her at all? I honestly can't believe that Chloe wouldn't know that Max had died or gone missing.

And on that topic, what the fuck happened to this Max? Did she take Rachel's place? Did Nathan OD her and she ended up a missing person's poster? Did Jefferson just kill her? Did nobody who knew her at Blackwell (KATE?! HELLO?! KATE LITERALLY ONLY GETS ONE BACKGROUND PHOTOGRAPH ON THE MEMORIAL WALL FOR THE ENTIRE COMIC AND I AM BEYOND FURIOUS ABOUT IT!) keep searching for her after her disappearance? Someone who might, say, search social media for her occasionally and might stumble across her instagram or whatever she's using to promote herself? And the most infuriating part of this is: Emma didn't have to explain this! It's not important how Max was able to jump into that timeline! It literally doesn't matter! But then she chose to explain it poorly, and in a way that just makes no actual sense.

I guess let this be a lesson, dear reader: you don't have to explain everything. And if you feel it needs an explanation, make sure it's a good one, that makes sense. Because this falls apart if you think about it for a few seconds.

Also Kate deserved at least a cameo in the flickers, she's like, the only person at Blackwell Max was close to before shit hit the fan. The only people Max pulls out powers for are Chloe and Kate, and the only people she regularly has physical contact with. (Warren gets one awkward side hug after the rooftop, and maybe a hug/kiss in ep 5). She's someone who really mattered to Max, and she just gets crickets.

I'm going to end up writing a fix-it fic at some point, because I hate this, and the AmberPrice timeline deserves more closure.

[madamescarlette]

Webcomics For Your Consideration

This started out as a recommendation list for @magpie-trove, but as it started getting longer and longer I decided to make it its own post! I hear there's a general migratory shift to Webtoon since Wayne Family Adventures started, so I thought I would recommend some of my favorites here.

Gourmet Hound (Completed, 166 chapters): This will probably head the list of any recommendations I make because it is quite simply my forever favorite. This is a slice-of-life story about a girl with a heightened sense of smell (and thus taste) who is reeling after the death of her grandmother who raised her, and her friendship with a former chef who is struggling after leaving his former job. This is one of the very few pieces of media that is able to describe food in the same way that I love it, with all the wonder and joy of being near it, and while it is combined with the characters' trying to find their way towards healing after their respective losses, somehow it manages to make me instantly happy every time I read it. Light, fluffy, and deeply, deeply emotional in the best way!

Your Letter (Completed, 10 chapters): A quite short comic about an elementary schoolgirl who transfers to a new school and her adventures in finding letters from the boy who used to sit at her desk. It is incredibly solid, perhaps due to its being so short, and it brushes up against the joy of being alive in a very gracious, sweet manner.

Nothing Special (Ongoing, 150 chapters): This was created by an artist who is involved in traditional comics, and it shows to very good effect! A fun, delightful romp about a high school girl who lives on the border between the magical and modern worlds, and a boy she befriends who finds out he is magical for the first time. A good 25% of my enjoyment from reading this is just reading all the extra little messages scrawled in the margins or to the side of the main conversation, and overall the tone has a happy kookiness that makes it a delight to return to.

Marry Me! (Completed, 134 chapters): Another slice-of-life manga about a civil servant who through his work ends up marrying an unemployed women, and their whole story about what it means to be a family and to actively learn to care for other people. This is a comic where very little goes on except the everyday lives of the main characters, but the sweetness of watching these two form a little family and make deeper and better friendships and gradually care for each other is SO good and calming to my heart.

Seasons of Blossom (Ongoing, 95 chapters): This story is like a coming-of-age story distilled to its very essences. It follows a revolving set of characters and focuses on a different one for every arc, each of the cast being a high school or college student in modern-day Korea. This is another one of my favorites, though the second and third arcs deal closely with heavy themes (i.e. suicide, self-harm) but in all honesty it is done in such a gentle, kind way that is deeply comforting to me. But, if those are too heavy at present, the first arc (Spring) is pretty much entirely happy, joyful fluff about a girl who tries to avoid liking the same guy as her best friend and the hijinks that ensue that can be read like a self-encapsulated story.

House of Stars (Completed, 26 chapters): If any story on this list can be knitting-circle-coded, this one would be! Though I never watched enough to be able to say this, it has vague Alice Syfy vibes. It is the story of a girl who ends up in the land of stories who takes on a quest to save them from the reign of an evil queen who watches over them all. Primo fairytale vibes, that's all I'm saying.

Knights of Asherah (Ongoing, 86 chapters): This is probably the only story I've read since Percy Jackson that gives me the same feeling as the original series did, so bear that in mind! A story about a world where people have different elemental powers, an orphan girl who finds out about her own powers for the first time, and the training/adventures that she goes on.

The Last Human (in a Crowded Galaxy) (Ongoing, 39 chapters): The story of an alien spider who decides to raise and mother a human child, and their various difficulties with concealing the child's identity as a human. This is less comforting than most of the rest of these comics, but the core relationship is so strong and lovely that it is definitely worth the stress.

Stray Souls (Ongoing, 105 chapters): Another of my favorites! It's hard to specifically describe what this is (since half the fun is figuring it out as you go along) but essentially, the story of a girl who has lost her memories and her quest to regain them and come to understand her own powers. It has my specific kryptonite in that the core relationship mirrors the princess-and-her-bodyguard dynamic that I love (if any of you read Yona of the Dawn, you'll know what I'm talking about) and the second main character is my favorite pathetic little dude that I've seen in a long while. Yet another story that I need SOMEBODY to scream over with, if anyone is out there!

Purple Hyacinth (Ongoing, 136 chapters): A crime/mystery steampunk thriller about a women who works as a detective in a city due to her obsession with an event that killed both her parents and her best friend, and how she comes to partner up with an assassin to take down the organization responsible from the inside out. This is by far the most violent option on this list, as it involves a murderous criminal organization, but the dynamic of the two main characters is again what sets it apart and helps it rise above. However, I would highly recommend building up a big backlog on this if you can, because they LOOOVE cliffhangers and the stress is. A Lot sometimes.

Like Wind on a Dry Branch (Ongoing, 91 chapters): A high fantasy story about a woman who is saved from the brink of death to be adopted into the duchy of an exiled prince who is at odds with his family. What I think is so special about this comic is that it is first and foremost the story of somebody who is coming back to life after being pushed to her limit in every other respect, and it is incredibly cathartic to watch the main character begin to want to learn and to live again. The angst is real with this one, though, but it encapsulates a good amount of restraint that I miss sorely in a lot of romance.

Swimming Lessons for a Mermaid (Completed, 101 chapters): A recent read of mine, that is all about a girl who was born a mermaid who never learned to swim, and who now resides on land with her father apart from the rest of her siblings, and a swimmer who offers to teach her to swim. This is purely sweet, happy fluff, all about kids in high school who care deeply for each other and are toddling around trying to learn how to navigate relationships with each other, but something about the simple sincerity of it touched my heart. A good read for when you just want something happy!

Extras not on Webtoon:

Plume: I read this on its original run, and though it's been a good five years since I read it last it sits well in my memory! This is the story of a girl whose father is a treasure hunter, and the magical guardian that he leaves to watch over her and their various adventures. This is a story with all the vibes of adventure films like The Mummy and Indiana Jones, combined with the very sweet friendships between the main characters that I remember fondly, and is now easily binged as its own pdf.

Megan Kearney's Beauty and the Beast: This is actually a rec I picked up from @ihaveonlymydreams (waves hi to Dr. Maria thank you darling!!!) that is just a simple, perfect adaption of BatB in comic form. It is just straight up sweet light happy fairytale, exactly what it says on the tin, and it's lovely.

[citrina-posts]

Avatar: Cultural Appreciation or Appropriation?

I love Avatar: the Last Airbender. Obviously I do, because I run a fan blog on it. But make no mistake: it is a show built upon cultural appropriation. And you know what? For the longest time, as an Asian-American kid, I never saw it that way.

There are plenty of reasons why I never realized this as a kid, but I’ve narrowed it down to a few reasons. One is that I was desperate to watch a show with characters that looked like me in it that wasn’t anime (nothing wrong with anime, it’s just not my thing). Another is that I am East Asian (I have Taiwanese and Korean ancestry) and in general, despite being the outward “bad guys”, the East Asian cultural aspects of Avatar are respected far more than South Asian, Middle Eastern, and other influences. A third is that it’s easy to dismiss the negative parts of a show you really like, so I kind of ignored the issue for a while. I’m going to explain my own perspective on these reasons, and why I think we need to have a nuanced discussion about it. This is pretty long, so if you want to keep reading, it’s under the cut.

Obviously, the leadership behind ATLA was mostly white. We all know the co-creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino (colloquially known as Bryke) are white. So were most of the other episodic directors and writers, like Aaron Ehasz, Lauren Montgomery, and Joaquim Dos Santos. This does not mean they were unable to treat Asian cultures with respect, and I honestly do believe that they tried their best! But it does mean they have certain blinders, certain perceptions of what is interesting and enjoyable to watch. Avatar was applauded in its time for being based mostly on Asian and Native American cultures, but one has to wonder: how much of that choice was based on actual respect for these people, and how much was based on what they considered to be “interesting”, “quirky”, or “exotic”?

The aesthetic of the show, with its bending styles based on various martial arts forms, written language all in Chinese text, and characters all decked out in the latest Han dynasty fashions, is obviously directly derivative of Asian cultures. Fine. That’s great! They hired real martial artists to copy the bending styles accurately, had an actual Chinese calligrapher do all the lettering, and clearly did their research on what clothing, hair, and makeup looked like. The animation studios were in South Korea, so Korean animators were the ones who did the work. Overall, this is looking more like appreciation for a beautiful culture, and that’s exactly what we want in a rapidly diversifying world of media.

But there’s always going to be some cherry-picking, because it’s inevitable. What’s easy to animate, what appeals to modern American audiences, and what is practical for the world all come to mind as reasons. It’s just that… they kinda lump cultures together weirdly. Song from Book 2 (that girl whose ostrich-horse Zuko steals) wears a hanbok, a traditionally Korean outfit. It’s immediately recognizable as a hanbok, and these dresses are exclusive to Korea. Are we meant to assume that this little corner of the mostly Chinese Earth Kingdom is Korea? Because otherwise, it’s just treated as another little corner of the Earth Kingdom. Korea isn’t part of China. It’s its own country with its own culture, history, and language. Other aspects of Korean culture are ignored, possibly because there wasn’t time for it, but also probably because the creators thought the hanbok was cute and therefore they could just stick it in somewhere. But this is a pretty minor issue in the grand scheme of things (super minor, compared to some other things which I will discuss later on).

It’s not the lack of research that’s the issue. It’s not even the lack of consideration. But any Asian-American can tell you: it’s all too easy for the Asian kids to get lumped together, to become pan-Asian. To become the equivalent of the Earth Kingdom, a mass of Asians without specific borders or national identities. It’s just sort of uncomfortable for someone with that experience to watch a show that does that and then gets praised for being so sensitive about it. I don’t want you to think I’m from China or Vietnam or Japan; not because there’s anything wrong with them, but because I’m not! How would a French person like to be called British? It would really piss them off. Yet this happens all the time to Asian-Americans and we are expected to go along with it. And… we kind of do, because we’ve been taught to.

1. Growing Up Asian-American

I grew up in the early to mid-2000s, the era of High School Musical and Hannah Montana and iCarly, the era of Spongebob and The Amazing World of Gumball and Fairly Odd Parents. So I didn’t really see a ton of Asian characters onscreen in popular shows (not anime) that I could talk about with my white friends at school. One exception I recall was London from Suite Life, who was hardly a role model and was mostly played up for laughs more than actual nuance. Shows for adults weren’t exactly up to par back then either, with characters like the painfully stereotypical Raj from Big Bang Theory being one of the era that comes to mind.

So I was so grateful, so happy, to see characters that looked like me in Avatar when I first watched it. Look! I could dress up as Azula for Halloween and not Mulan for the third time! Nice! I didn’t question it. These were Asian characters who actually looked Asian and did cool stuff like shoot fireballs and throw knives and were allowed to have depth and character development. This was the first reason why I never questioned this cultural appropriation. I was simply happy to get any representation at all. This is not the same for others, though.

2. My Own Biases

Obviously, one can only truly speak for what they experience in their own life. I am East Asian and that is arguably the only culture that is treated with great depth in Avatar.

I don’t speak for South Asians, but I’ve certainly seen many people criticize Guru Pathik, the only character who is explicitly South Asian (and rightly so. He’s a stereotype played up for laughs and the whole thing with chakras is in my opinion one of the biggest plotholes in the show). They’ve also discussed how Avatar: The Last Airbender lifts heavily from Hinduism (with chakras, the word Avatar itself, and the Eye of Shiva used by Combustion Man to blow things up). Others have expressed how they feel the sandbenders, who are portrayed as immoral thieves who deviously kidnap Appa for money, are a direct insult to Middle Eastern and North African cultures. People have noted that it makes no sense that a culture based on Inuit and other Native groups like the Water Tribe would become industrialized as they did in the North & South comics, since these are people that historically (and in modern day!) opposed extreme industrialization. The Air Nomads, based on the Tibetan people, are weirdly homogeneous in their Buddhist-inspired orange robes and hyperspiritual lifestyle. So too have Southeast Asians commented on the Foggy Swamp characters, whose lifestyles are made fun of as being dirty and somehow inferior. The list goes on.

These things, unlike the elaborate and highly researched elements of East Asian culture, were not treated with respect and are therefore cultural appropriation. As a kid, I had the privilege of not noticing these things. Now I do.

White privilege is real, but every person has privileges of some kind, and in this case, I was in the wrong for not realizing that. Yes, I was a kid; but it took a long time for me to see that not everyone’s culture was respected the way mine was. They weren’t considered *aesthetic* enough, and therefore weren’t worth researching and accurately portraying to the creators. It’s easy for a lot of East Asians to argue, “No! I’ve experienced racism! I’m not privileged!” News flash: I’ve experienced racism too. But I’ve also experienced privilege. If white people can take their privilege for granted, so too can other races. Shocking, I know. And I know now how my privilege blinded me to the fact that not everybody felt the same euphoria I did seeing characters that looked like them onscreen. Not if they were a narrow and offensive portrayal of their race. There are enough good-guy Asian characters that Fire Lord Ozai is allowed to be evil; but can you imagine if he was the only one?

3. What It Does Right

This is sounding really down on Avatar, which I don’t want to do. It’s a great show with a lot of fantastic themes that don’t show up a lot in kids’ media. It isn’t superficial or sugarcoating in its portrayal of the impacts of war, imperialism, colonialism, disability, and sexism, just to name a few. There are characters like Katara, a brown girl allowed to get angry but is not defined by it. There are characters like Aang, who is the complete opposite of toxic masculinity. There are characters like Toph, who is widely known as a great example of how to write a disabled character.

But all of these good things sort of masked the issues with the show. It’s easy to sweep an issue under the rug when there’s so many great things to stack on top and keep it down. Alternatively, one little problem in a show seems to make-or-break media for some people. Cancel culture is the most obvious example of this gone too far. Celebrity says one ignorant thing? Boom, cancelled. But… kind of not really, and also, they’re now terrified of saying anything at all because their apologies are mocked and their future decisions are scrutinized. It encourages a closed system of creators writing only what they know for fear of straying too far out of their lane. Avatar does do a lot of great things, and I think it would be silly and immature to say that its cultural appropriation invalidates all of these things. At the same time, this issue is an issue that should be addressed. Criticizing one part of the show doesn’t mean that the other parts of it aren’t good, or that you shouldn’t be a fan.

If Avatar’s cultural appropriation does make you uncomfortable enough to stop watching, go for it. Stop watching. No single show appeals to every single person. At the same time, if you’re a massive fan, take a sec (honestly, if you’ve made it this far, you’ve taken many secs) to check your own privilege, and think about how the blurred line between cultural appreciation (of East Asia) and appropriation (basically everybody else) formed. Is it because we as viewers were also captivated by the aesthetic and overall story, and so forgive the more problematic aspects? Is it because we’ve been conditioned so fully into never expecting rep that when we get it, we cling to it?

I’m no media critic or expert on race, cultural appropriation, or anything of the sort. I’m just an Asian-American teenager who hopes that her own opinion can be put out there into the world, and maybe resonate with someone else. I hope that it’s given you new insight into why Avatar: The Last Airbender is a show with both cultural appropriation and appreciation, and why these things coexist. Thank you for reading!

[that-shamrock-vibe]

Movie Review: The New Mutants (Spoilers)

Spoiler Warning: I am posting this review the week following the movie first airing in the U.K, so if you haven’t yet seen The New Mutants do not read on until you have.

General Reaction:

A three year delay for the final instalment of a twenty-year franchise, was it ultimately worth it? Well as an X-Men fanatic I am always going to say yes, it wasn’t a swan song or a wrap up to the X-Men Cinematic Universe, far from as it was originally pitched as the start of a trilogy and does sew the seeds for that. However, while Dark Phoenix did feel like a sombre instalment not only for that “First Class” timeline but also the team movies as a whole, this had an air of sadness to it because this is the last time I will see anything X-Men related on the big screen for who knows how long.

In that sense, this was an emotional movie for me, more than just the fact that the emotion of fear is a running theme through the movie. However, in terms of my actual enjoyment of the movie, it was a very good movie for what it was.

When your very final movie is effectively an origin movie then there’s always going to be that sense of incompleteness, and what this movie teases both for these characters and who is the big bad behind all of this, it’s really frustrating to know it’s over before it truly starts.

With that in mind, The New Mutants is very slow to get started as there’s a lot of exposition and because it feels like it’s own branch of the X-Men Cinematic Franchise, similar to Deadpool, there is a level of “Beginner’s Guide to Mutants 101″ at play here with the explanation of what a Mutant is and when a young or “New Mutant” first discovers their powers that, to give this movie credit, I have never truly seen explored properly outside of the comics other than a quick explanation from Storm to Jubilee in the first episode of X-Men: The Animated Series.

It’s also disappointing to know that unlike X-Men: The Last Stand or Dark Phoenix, there isn’t a sense of finality for these characters as we have just been introduced to them. Outside of Sunspot who has briefly appeared in X-Men: Days of Future Past, this is the first cinematic appearance for all of these characters. The X-Men are briefly mentioned and Professor X is alluded to quite cleverly but every character outside of Sunspot is debuting here and to know they’re never going to be seen in this continuity again with a chance to develop is very sad.

In terms of the “horror” aspects of this movie I have to say this is very comic-book horror as in how Blade in the late 90s was horror. If you know the jump scares in this movie are coming then there are no jump scares, so basically if you’ve seen the trailers you know the jump scares.

As a horror movie, it felt very much like It-lite in terms of the theme of bringing nightmares into reality, only without the hard R-rating of the blood and gore because outside of one maybe two scenes there is nothing truly horrific to look at here.

There’s also a great parallel to the Gentlemen from Buffy the Vampire Slayer shown from their episode in this movie and the Smiley Men who are Illyana’s nightmare brought to life. They’re creepy like them but they’re not as sinister as them...and that is a great choice of wording considering who the big bad behind the scenes of this movie is.

As an X-Men movie, which is what this is as the New Mutants in the comics are basically younger versions of the X-Men, as I say the first half of this movie isn’t that power heavy but is about introducing and establishing this team, the second half/last third on the other hand is power heavy. Not exactly Days of Future Past or Apocalypse heavy but still heavy for the powers this group of Mutants have.

Overall generally as both an X-Men movie and a comic-book movie, this was really a great movie particularly for the first new movie I have seen since lockdown.

Characters:

So this breakdown will be easy as there’s only really six characters to talk about but I’m going to make it a seven-character breakdown as the looming presence in the shadows of this movie deserves their own section.

Illyana Rasputin:

Alright so it is somewhat difficult to say if Illyana is my favourite or if Rahne is my favourite but I ultimately landed on Illyana for first as Anya Taylor-Joy is really in the spotlight the entire way through this movie. Every time she’s in a scene she commands the attention, and all five of the New Mutants have solo scenes so for Illyana to stand out the most, this is why she is #1 for me.

I’m not entirely sure where this movie takes place in terms of the overall X-Men timeline...but considering it’s supposedly in the revised timeline and Colossus is a member of the X-Men in the late noughties/early 2010s, I imagine this is either around the same time or can even be modern day (2017 or 2020).

Anya Taylor-Joy is as suited to the role of Magik as Channing Tatum would have been as Gambit in my opinion. Not only does she have a reasonable Russian accent but she just simply looks like how Magik looks in the comics.

I loved the rebel teen angst she had all the way through from when we first meet her to the very end, not only is it fitting for the movie but in my opinion it’s fitting for the character. This is a girl that literally goes through some resemblance of hell and is effectively a serial killer so of course she is going to have this icy dark exterior.

In terms of powers, I am slightly disappointed she never fully armoured up, it was always just her left arm that she had armoured complete with Soulsword, whereas in the comics her main look is her entire body. I guess the argument could be made the majority of it is simply a uniform and her arm is the only part armoured but I would have liked to have at least seen her crown.

But Magik’s powers for me here are an interesting combination of Zatanna and Nightcrawler which is a very good combination. The scene where she first appears through limbo fighting the Smiley Men was very impressive.

I would have also enjoyed it if we had spent more time in Limbo, given that we always saw cameo flashes of it whenever she manifested a portal, but we never actually had a full scene of her in her “special place”.

Not being too familiar with the comics however, I am almost completely unaware of Lockheed as a character. My only prior knowledge is his appearance in Pryde of the X-Men as a pest and I have to say I much prefer him here. The animation of both Lockheed and the Demon Bear were stellar.

As I say, I feel we have only just scratched the surface with where this version of Magik could go. I doubt very much Kevin Feige would bring Anya Taylor-Joy back if/when he does bring the character into the MCU because he doesn’t like playing with used toys but if ever there was an exception I would hope it would be her.

Rahne Sinclair:

It is slightly obvious to think of when Maisie Williams was filming for this movie as her hair, unless it’s a wig, is in that “Arry” phase of her Game of Thrones tenure.

Because of the current entertainment climate and the non-starting stance this movie finds itself released in, I think the lesbian romance between Rahne and Dani is going to go unnoticed. But considering this is the first major LGBT romance in a comic-book property I feel this movie will be cheated out of that representation in favour of what is to eventually come from Marvel.

Outside of the romance, I feel Rahne’s story rooted in her religion and mutation was fantastic. I love me some werewolf action and I feel I saw enough actual wolf to satisfy Rahne spending most of her time in “halfway form” as the character has been known to do in the comics.

The fact her nightmare was that religious leader branding her as a werewolf and thereby a monster, not only was it believable given her character but also the parallels to devout religious views on homosexuality were subtle but there.

I do feel the character spent way too much time screaming towards the end of the movie. This girl is a werewolf but spent most of the final battle as the screaming protector of her unconscious lover, I mean she was I guess helpful in waking Dani back up but never truly let rip like I feel the character could have.

I’m not entirely sure if Williams has any Scottish heritage about her but the slipping in and out of the accent was slightly distracting at times. When she was able to be loud the accent was often broken but in her quieter moments or longer dialogue scenes you could hear it.

I do appreciate keeping the nationality of the character from the comics, considering the mess they made of Banshee and Moira MacTaggert, and I do understand having an at the time name talent like Maisie Williams in the role, but there are surely Scottish actresses out there and the casting pool wasn’t exactly high for this movie.

Dani:

The main character in this movie, or focal character I guess as it’s an ensemble movie, is either Illyana or Dani, but because we start with Dani and are introduced to the other characters through Dani I guess she is the focal character.

Again, I give credit to the movie for keeping the nationality of the characters from the comics, but while Anya Taylor-Joy and Maisie Williams border on appropriation as they are not Russian or Scottish themselves, although Anya is of Scottish Argentine descent, Blu Hunt is at least Native-American as Dani is. I think they come from different tribes but I don’t think people are going to focus too much on that technicality.

Similarly to all these characters I don’t really know much about Dani so have no frame of reference to compare her to. I remember she appeared in one episode of X-Men: Evolution and I know her powers involve dreams, which similarly to the majority of the characters in this movie lends itself beautifully to a horror movie, but that’s about it.

I felt her relationship with Rahne was genuine and her own “survivors guilt” over being the only member of her family still alive after the Demon Bear attack was well explained.

I just didn’t understand why it was decided that Reyes had to kill Dani because of the severity of her powers, maybe it was the unpredictability of her powers because their limitations are literally the power of imagination, but I thought Reyes was responsible for sorting out those capable of being killers...surely the power to bring nightmares to life as many times as it takes to kill the person qualifies?

With the Demon Bear being tamed at the end of the movie, I kind of don’t see anywhere for Dani to go if they did continue, she still has the power to solidify nightmares, and I guess she can always call on the Demon Bear, but unlike Rahne or Magik I do not see any further development for her.

Sam:

Sam Guthrie aka Cannonball was an interesting one for me as I knew the character and I knew the actor, but hadn’t properly seen either one fully explored before. I have not watched Stranger Things so do not really know Charlie Heaton’s acting potential...but what I do know is he is from Yorkshire and cannot really do a Kentucky accent.

As for the character of Cannonball, I thought that early scene of him strapping himself to that weight while zooming through the air to either test himself or hurt himself was really well realised. There wasn’t enough of him going full cannonball throughout the movie, mostly it just came across as a sort of super speed which in a way I guess it is but projecting that force-field while he is zooming about is what makes the power set unique.

Similarly to Dani he had guilt over his nightmare which was him causing a mining accident which killed his co-workers and dad, but unlike Dani who never really developed the thought of it being her fault for her family’s death because of her conjuring the Demon Bear, Sam did at least hold a lot of guilt over what had happened...despite his nightmare being probably the weakest as the main effect it had was totalling a washing machine.

I also didn’t understand the back-to-back scenes of Sam suggesting he was meant to be in the hospital and felt he had to be there, but then in the next scene him trying to walk out saying he doesn’t belong there. Maybe it was the editing but it just seemed like a complete 180 from scenes that were literally back-to-back.

Roberto:

As I said this is Sunspot’s second cinematic appearance and I guess in the revised timeline he has gone from being portrayed by Mexican actor Adan Canto to now Brazilian actor Henry Zaga.

I didn’t feel the boys in this movie had that much to do, with both Sam and Berto it did feel like them simply coming to terms with their powers. I did like how both had that fear of hurting people and both had to learn I guess to push past that fear.

With Berto’s fear though, I do feel his power first manifesting in conjunction to him reaching sexual maturity was very well explored, because of course the combination of testosterone and becoming a living solar flare are not exactly two things anyone wants to mix. So when the result is burning your girlfriend to a crisp it is going to shake you.

Outside of his powers though there wasn’t a lot to the character and it is hard to remember a good line that he or Sam had that weren’t douchey, but for what we got he was a good character.

Reyes:

Wow this woman deserved to be eaten by the Demon Bear, which by the way I found almost as humorous as Katie McGrath being carried away by a pterodactyl in Jurassic World.

But yes, this doctor was the “villain” of the movie as she was the agent of the big bad Essex Corporation in charge of determining the new mutants’ powers and whether or not they’re worth progressing to their facility.

Outside of that I didn’t really think much of her as a character, she wasn’t a sympathetic character, she wasn’t believing to be doing this for the benefit of these young mutants, she was simply following orders.

It’s a deviance from the comics where Reyes is a hero and member of the X-Men, whereas here she is far from it.

Alice Braga is also regionally appropriately cast as she is Brazilian whereas the character is Puerto Rican, although whenever she spoke I kept thinking about Gal Gadot a lot, even looks wise there are similarities.

Sinister:

Now let’s talk about the looming big bad who I imagine would have been the major big bad of this supposed trilogy. Despite the new mutants believing the facility to be owned and run by the X-Men, it is in fact run by the Essex Corporation...Essex as in Dr. Nathaniel Essex, a biologist obsessed with evolution who became the Mutate supervillain Mister Sinister.

I want to see Mister Sinister in a live-action movie so badly it’s unreal, they’ve done Apocalypse so why they can’t do Sinister I don’t know.

This isn’t the first time Sinister has been alluded to as the Essex Corporation was in an end credits scene of X-Men: Apocalypse that acquired samples of Wolverine’s blood presumably to create X-23, but because those events took place in the 80s and these events take place in somewhat modern day it’s hard to correlate the two.

Obviously we are no longer going to get X-Men movies in this universe and continuity, but with the seeds being sown for Sinister more than once now, the baton has been laid down for Feige to finally bring this villain to life.

Reccomendation:

If like me you are more or less interested in just completing the twenty-year franchise because you love these characters and any interpretation of them then this is the movie for you. However, don’t expect wall to wall action, and I would recommend not getting too attached to these characters. It’s too late for me with Illyana I already love her and already feel Anya Taylor-Joy has set a high bar for whoever plays Magik next.

But for me personally, this franchise has been my favourite movie franchise and my favourite property. Even the bad movies I can at least find something good about them regardless of if the overall movies have been good or not. But just to reiterate, I do feel this is one of the good movies.

In a ranking of the 13 movies (not counting Once Upon a Deadpool), this ranks somewhere between #6-8 for me.

Overall I rate the movie a solid 8/10, by no means the best or a perfect X-Men movie but by no means one of the worst. The movie benefits from new characters (aside from Sunspot) but suffers due to the inevitability of this being the definitive end for the current franchise.

So what did you guys think? Post your comments and check out more Movie Reviews as well as other posts.

[nathanneedsausername]

The MCU (So Far) Ranked

With Avengers: Endgame right around the corner now feels like a good time to talk about all 21 films that brought us to this moment.

#21 -  Thor: The Dark World (Alan Taylor) 

Rating - 3/10

Look, there always has to be one.

Thor: The Dark World suffers from the same problem that most bad comic book movies do it is simply forgettable, this is the worst type of film to write about because I have noting to say. Far from being insultingly bad but also far from being any good. Honestly if you ever plan on cramming these films again do yourself a favour and skip this one.

#20 -  The Incredible Hulk (Louis Leterrier)

Rating - 4/10

You can skip this one too. 

The Incredible Hulk is a product of its time, in the late ‘00s this was about as good as action movies not called The Dark Knight got. This one isn’t unwatchable and the bit were The Hulk kicks Tim Roth into a tree is pretty cool but given how little this film has effected the franchise going forward you really wont miss anything by skipping it.

#19 - Iron Man 2 (Jon Favreau)

Rating - 4/10

I get why they made this movie, but I’d rather they hadn’t.

Iron Man 2 is basically just a teaser trailer for the better movies that were about to come out. This movie consists of boring conversations between Tony Stark and Nick Fury and even more boring scenes with the villains that really kicked of the cliché that these movies have boring villains. The suitcase Iron Man suit is really dope though.

#18 - Ant-Man and the Wasp (Peyton Reed)

Rating - 6/10

Meh.

Ant-Man and the Wasp is actually pretty good. Paul Rudd is allowed to fully explore his comedic talent making this a very watchable film however the script lacks any focus and it is ultimately difficult to stay invested in anything happening on screen. It’s a mixed bag but it’s pretty fun.

#17 - Thor (Kenneth Branagh)

Rating - 6/10

Kenneth Branagh made a super-hero movie, this is about as good as that idea could ever have been.

Thor is a surprisingly small movie, revisiting this film now feels slightly strange given what we have since seen of the character. Branagh was always the wrong choice to direct a Marvel movie especially during a time were the studio had far more say than any of their filmmakers. It’s worth revising this film to set up the Avengers but other than that it isn’t anything special.

#16 - Avengers: Age of Ultron (Joss Whedon)

Rating - 6/10

It took me a long time to come to terms with the fact that this movie is just ok.

Avengers: Age of Ultron should be so much better than it is but it ended up being the poster child for when a studio gets cold feet and tries to take over on directors vision. Joss Whedon is an excellent story teller but this does not so off his talents at all. Once again this certainly isn’t a bad film it just isn’t great, there is some good dialogue and the introduction of both Scarlet Witch and Vision is worth seeing.

#15 - Captain America: The First Avenger (Joe Johnston)

Rating - 7/10

Way more camp than I remember .

Captain America: The First Avenger feels as though it has taken the framework of a more conventional war drama and just thrown in some superhero stuff and I don’t necessarily think that is a bad thing. When this film embraces its campness it can be very entertaining. Chris Evans was a prefect casting choice for Steve Rodgers and this film does go in an unexpected direction by making Captain America basically just a mascot but once again the villain is weak and large sections of the plot are forgettable. Overall worth re-watching it is probably better than you remember. 

#14 -  Captain Marvel (Ryan Fleck, Anna Boden)

Rating - 7/10

I’m sorry, I like this one.

Captain Marvel might be the most controversial film in the whole franchise. I have some grievances with this one, namely lack of any style or originality in the writing or direction but the chemistry between Brie Larson and Samuel L Jackson helps to make this an enjoyable watch. I know you probably don’t agree with me but this is my list and I like this movie, so there!

#13 - Iron Man (Jon Favreau)

Rating - 7/10

Not as great as I remember but still pretty good.

Iron Man will forever be remembered as a film that changed cinema witch is so weird to me having re-watched it recently. This is a rather slow and somewhat  cliché 2000s action flick with a paper-thin plot. Robert Downey Jr. and Jeff Bridges both give it their all and I have nothing but respect for Jon Favreau for turning RDJ’s mad ramblings into a coherent film.

#12 - Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (James Gunn)

Rating - 7/10

I’m still not sure how to take this.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is the most visually stunning film in the MCU, almost every shot could be used as a laptop wallpaper. This also has quite possibly the strongest theming as its story about fatherhood and toxic relationships can bring a tear to your eye if you let it. So it is such a shame that this film is full of jokes that just do not land and weird side plots that feel like set-ups for movies that Marvel would probably never let James Gunn make. I kinda love this movie but this is as high as I can put it on this list.

#11 -  Captain America: Civil War (Anthony Russo, Joe Russo)

Rating - 8/10

The fight scene though!

Captain America: Civil War is one great fight scene that is all anyone ever wants to talk about. I think the rest of the movie is also pretty good, this was our first look at how the Russo brothers would handle a larger ensemble cast and every character gets the screen time they deserve. Really though the airport fight is amazing!

#10 - Doctor Strange (Scott Derrickson)

Rating - 8/10

The word Strange is in the title.

Doctor Strange has a remarkably safe plot given the source materiel, although that can all be forgiven given how amazing the visual effects are. This is a very entertaining film mainly for the creative and ingenious uses of special effects. This film can drag a bit but it is worth it to see something that gives the end of 2001 a run for its money.

#9 - Iron Man 3 (Shane Black)

Rating - 8/10

And you thought my views on Captain Marvel were controversial!

Iron Man 3 is great and I will not change my mind on that. This was the first team up between Robert Downey Jr. and screenwriter/director Shane Black since 2005′s Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and it was worth the wait. The dialogue is sharp and the plot with Tony Stark dealing with P.T.S.D. after the events of The Avengers makes for a great character study. 

I am aware that the general consensus is that the plot twist sucks but with Ben Kingsley’s fantastic performance and the wonderfully absurd way that it is reveled I can’t help but love it. In all honesty I just to big a Shane Black fan to hate this (the same logic does not apply to The Predator).

#8 - Ant-Man (Peyton Reed)

Rating - 8/10

I can only image how great the Edgar Wright version of this would have been.

Ant-Man is so much better than people give it credit for. The dialogue is constantly funny and the screenplay is paced perfectly so that the film never has a dull moment even in the quieter character scenes. Moments like the train-set fight and the first time Scott Lang uses the Ant-Man suit are among the best scenes in the whole franchise. Like most people I have to believe that the Edgar Wright version would have been better but I must say that Peyton Reed did a pretty great job piecing what he had together.  

#7 - Black Panther (Ryan Coogler)

Rating - 8/10

Marvel’s little awards season darling.

Black Panther is somehow one of the most important and talked about films of the decade and in all honesty it sort of deserves it. Coogler does what other MCU filmmakers would never do and dives head first into real world political issue, ending his film with a poignant note about free trade and open borders. Michael B. Jordan as Killmonger adds a nuance that is missing in most comic book movies. Overall Black Panther is a breath of fresh air in an over-saturated genre. 

P.S that soundtrack is awesome!

#6 - Thor: Ragnarok (Taika Waititi)

Rating - 8/10

How did this happen?

Thor: Ragnarok is everything I wanted it to be. Taika Waititi is one of the most interesting filmmakers working today and it is great to see a major studio allow such a unique voice to make the exact film that they wanted to without sacrificing their creativity. This is not only one of the best Marvel films but one of the best straight comedies of the decade. I cannot wait to see what Waititi has in store in the future.

#5 - Spider-Man: Homecoming (Jon Watts)

Rating - 8/10

Things are looking up for Spider-Man.

Spider-Man: Homecoming was my favourite Spider-Man movie up until very recently. This genuinely feels like watching an 80s John Hughes film in the 2010s that also happens to action sequences in it. The scene where Peter Parker and Adrian Toomes are in the car together is brilliantly tense and shows of the dramatic range of both Tom Holland and Michael Keaton. The characters feel real and fleshed out and the breezy feel of the editing brings the world to life through the naive eyes of a young Peter Parker. I honestly can’t believe how good this ended up being.

#4 - Avengers: Infinity War (Joe Russo, Anthony Russo)

Rating - 9/10

This simply should not have worked.

Avengers: Infinity War is one of the most ambitious films in cinema history. I have so much respect for the Russo brothers for managing to make a film with this many characters and this many plot points feels cohesive and endlessly entertaining. I think the real triumph of Infinity War is how watchable and fun this movie is despite being 2 1/2 hours long, full of characters and constantly hitting you in the face with really depressing stuff. Let’s hope that the Russo brothers can pull of the same trick twice. 

#3 - The Avengers (Joss Whedon)

Rating - 9/10

This movie isn’t given enough credit anyone.

The Avengers was a huge gamble back in 2012 and although it may now feel quaint given the achievement that was last year’s Infinity War Joss Whedon was able change the landscape of blockbuster cinema and make this whole thing possible. Almost every plot point in this film has since become cliché, Whedon and Feige laid out a blueprint for success that no one else has been able to copy since. The Joss Whedon humour and snarky dialogue  helped to pave the way that these characters would interact in the future and his unique approach to  utilizing an ensemble cast makes this film worth revisiting over and over again.  

#2 -  Guardians of the Galaxy (James Gunn)

Rating - 9/10

James Gunn hit the mainstream with a movie about a talking raccoon, I can never complain about the Hollywood system ever again.

Guardians of the Galaxy should not work on most levels but Gunn was just crazy enough to pull it off. The character interactions here rival the Wheadon penned interactions in The Avengers and the Gunn’s direction brings the strange worlds he has created to live in striking ways. Gunn was given a chance to showcase his humour and he ran with it, Guardians goes from dark and meandering to fun and rapidly paced within seconds and it is a complete joy to watch no matter how many times you have seen it.

#1 - Captain America: The Winter Soldier (Joe Russo, Anthony Russo)

Rating - 9/10

The Russo brothers came out swinging.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is an entertaining, tightly directed, brilliantly acted, fast paced and well edited action film that just so happens to be a squeal to the First Avenger. Many of the best moments in the franchise are in this film including the elevator scene and the fight on the bridge, this film also has great character interactions especially with Steve Rodgers and Nick Fury. This feels like an update on classic James Bond stories with a modern edge, this is everything that a comic book movie could be and I highly recommend checking it out again if you haven’t seen it in a while. There is no question that The Winter Soldier is the best of the MCU.

Franchise Rating - 7.1/10

Nathan Needs A Username’s Must See Movies: https://letterboxd.com/nathan_r_l/list/nathan-needs-a-usernames-must-see-movies/

Nathan Needs A Username’s Avoid At All Cost Movies: https://letterboxd.com/nathan_r_l/list/nathan-needs-a-usernames-avoid-at-all-cost/

[clair-audients]

How's boogiepop? I'm wondering if I watch it or no

gonna be honest here since you’re asking about it. despite all the gifs of it i’ve posted from it, i didn’t end up liking it very much and thought it was a complete letdown. and i’d been looking forward to this show ever since it was announced, i was unbelievably hyped when that first PV dropped (and then discovered nothing from the PV would actually be in the show).

i’ve seen a lot of people calling it confusing, and it sorta is, intentionally so. however there’s a lot of moments in the first half of the show where a lot of scenes get jumbled up for no good reason and it ends up confusing viewers in ways that i’m sure the creators didn’t intend to (for what it’s worth, i read the first books a while before the show began, and i was STILL confused at what was going on in the anime because of some really strange directing choices).

i’m not really sure how i feel about the writing overall. it’s very chuuni at times and sometimes borders on comical. the show feels a lot more like an avenue for the author/writers to drop some philosophy on you without the proper build-up or context for it. like you know how in evangelion’s later episodes the characters start standing around and telling shinji how to live life? well there’s a lot of that in this show but with characters that don’t really get enough screentime for anyone to really care about so when they start getting philosophical it’s like, that’s nice, but it just feels like preaching at times. and i mean, it’s an LN adaptation. i wasn’t a huge fan of the prose/dialogue in the LNs either but i thought the actual plots of the books were interesting enough to keep me reading. they’re very easy to read and pretty enjoyable.

as far as technical aspects go there were like one or two standout moments of animation but the show is just really bland and dull from character designs to backgrounds and layouts. i don’t know how a show with shingo natsume directing looked this bad but i guess madhouse found a way. the first 3 episodes had some nice backgrounds though, not sure what happened after that. the music is good but hardly kensuke ushio’s best (same guy who did the OST for ping pong, devilman, liz and the blue bird, and a silent voice).

i can’t really recommend it. and i’m not sure if i’d really recommend the LNs on their own. but i DO recommend reading the first book and watching boogiepop phantom (the 2000 anime that serves as a sequel to the first book) because boogiepop phantom is in my eyes a near masterpiece and way better than boogiepop 2019. 

i don’t want to say that anyone’s wrong for liking it but these are just my feelings about it. so sorry to anyone who liked the show (looking at the boogiepop tag on here though i’m not sure if that many people kept up with it). if you haven’t seen it i’d encourage you to try it out just so you can form your own opinion about it.

sorry for the wall of text too, but this show was something i had been really excited about before it began and left me really frustrated when it actually aired.

[ims-monbebe]

Heavy Dirty Soul

A/N: I am back with a second update.. lol. All I wanted to say is that with this chapter will continue to the next chapter. I didn’t want this one to be too long? So yeah I guess this is part 1/2. I really wanted to emphasize interactions between characters in this chapter more than anything. So the continuation of this chapter will be more action... shit is gonna go down that's all the tea I gotta say lol. 

Warings: Nothing too bad... just really bad language lol, I apologize in advance.

You can read chapter 8 here.

Enjoy as always!

Chapter 9: Betters No Excuse For Tonight.

Wonho's POV

 "Hanna!" I call out as I climb the stairs that lead to the second story of Jade's house.

 "Shit," I mumble to myself.

 I have a feeling she wouldn't be anywhere in these rooms. It's just like Jooheon to make a big deal over nothing. That emotionally constipated fuck. Does he ever hear anyone out? Nope. He'd rather hurt everyone just to prove a point. These last few days he's been making it harder and harder to be his friend. It's not even Hanna coming in between us or anything, it really isn't. It's just his actions, his communication, his flat-out rudeness towards me. He's making me more frustrated and I swear one day I'm really going to kick his ass.

 Right now though, that wouldn't really help my case. Of course, I like Hanna. I have since the first moment I laid my eyes on her some years ago. She's funny, smart, opinionated, the most beautiful girl I ever laid my eyes on. Hell, I probably can write an epic poem just about her big brown eyes, and the way they droop a little when she stares into your eyes or the way her nose scrunches up when she laughs.

 I've always wanted to tell her my feelings, but it would be strange since I never got her attention, I always observed her from afar. A few weeks ago when Jooheon told us that someone was going to record the gig for us, I was surprised to who he had in mind, because I never heard of that person. When he said a girl named Heather, I was just like whatever.

 But when I saw Hanna sitting on the chair in the backyard playing with her camera my heart couldn't help but skip beats inside my chest. Will I ever share this information with her? Maybe. For years I just waited to make myself known to her, and I finally took my chance yesterday, and Jooheon is out here ruining the whole thing. I know I'm obvious about my feelings towards her, I'm trying to be. I'm trying to show her that I'm an open book, someone who can understand her and be there easily. I'm trying to show her a better side of me, one that she can rely on when she needs it, I'm showing her the man I am, not some little boy.

 I hope she understands my feelings when the time comes.

 Is that time right now? Nope. Here I am, in the middle of Jade's second floor trying to figure out where she ran off to. I turn my head to the left and see the long passageway that the hall in this house has to offer, at the end I see a door open wide, the sun shining its light against the white walls of the house. I make my way towards the sunlight and find myself outside on a balcony. I look up and see a set of stairs that lead up to the rooftop. I begin to climb the ladder and pretty soon I'm on top of the roof of Jade's house. I see Hanna leaning on the edge. I look around and notice that the roof is like an outside lounge. It has glass borders and Christmas lights hanging on them. It has a patio set up and a bar with a pool table. This is probably meant for fun parties on warm nights. I walk towards Hanna and put my arms on the ledge. She looks up and sighs.

 "How did you find me?"

 "Easy, you forgot to close the door."

 "I wanna be alone right now Wonho."

 I sigh. "No wants to be alone Hanna. Trust me I would know."

 "You have everything figured out don't you?"

 I shake my head. "Not necessarily, but what I do have figured out is that I want to know if you're okay."

 "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to come off as rude." She finally looks at me. "Jooheon is annoying, we haven't even been here 24 full hours and I want to rip off his head already. How are you his friend?"

 I shrug. "He's usually not this emotionally constipated."

 "Then how is he usually?"

 I shrug. "Funny, enjoyable to be around. He and I always fight, but it's never been this much. I don't know what's gotten into him."

 She looks up at me. "Maybe fix things with him?"

 I look over the roof and into Jade's backyard, I notice her pool on the other side of the back house she has. I nod my head and look down at her. "I think you're right?"

 "About?"

 "Fixing things with Jooheon. Like I say all the time he's suffering from a bad case of emotional constipation, he won't come to me first."

 She nods. "I agree with you, but do you have an idea why he would care about me falling asleep in your bed?"

 "He just has a big cocky ego, and it sounds kind of gross and wrong but.."

 "But what?"

 I laugh a little. "We always subconsciously I guess fight over who can get the most girls."

 She shoves me slightly. "Oh please, you two aren't fighting over me."

 "Nope, it wouldn't be much of a fight because I'd sweep you off your feet any day."

 "Right." She laughs. "You're kind of in the same boat as him. Girls are not prizes to be won."

 "I never said to me they are, it's for him. It feeds his ego. I personally don't mind who he sleeps with. That's his business."

 "So you're saying he wants to sleep with me? Is that why he made the assumption at the table?"

 I laugh. "Now don't be putting words in my mouth Hanna, I never said that. You know, he's just complicated. You'll never find unless you talk to him."

 "Yesterday you said don't be fooled by him, and that he's actually a nice guy. Do you still stand by that statement?"

 "Yes. Don't let him fool you, his heart is much softer when he trusts you and opens up to you. He's caring and loyal. Overall he's a really good friend. We just bump heads a lot."

 She nods. "I get it, he just comes off as a dick to me. And he isn't doing anything to help his case."

 "I don't think anyone can help his case. The only person he never fights with is Changkyun. If they were to ever get in a fight you know one of them would have to fuck up."

 "Really? They've never fought?"

 "Nah, not since I've known them."

 She smiles. "I find Changkyun adorable, who can ever fight with him?"

 "I'm the leader of the Changkyun protection club. I'll hurt anyone if they hurt him."

 "What if Shownu hurts him?"

 "Then he's catching these hands, I protect Changkyun over everyone."

 She pushes me slightly and I laugh at her attempt. "You're so dumb."

 "I'll leave you alone now." I look at her again. "You said you wanted to be alone. I just wanted to see if you were okay, so my job here is done."

 I begin walking away and I hear Hanna sigh. "Wonho?"

 "Yeah?" I turn to look at her.

 "Thank you for caring."

 I smile. "I always will."

---------

Jooheon's POV -later that same day-

 "Changkyun," I knock on his room door. "Open up please."

 "It's open already!" I hear him half yell at me.

 I open the door and walk into his room. He's sitting in the middle of the room on a bean bag playing a game on what I assume is an Xbox. I look around and look at the two full bookshelves of games Jade has in this room.

 "Shit, this is a lot of games."

 "Enough for me to stay in here for years probably."

 I sit down on the bean bag next to him. "What game are you playing right now?"

 "Skyrim," He mumbles as his eyes are still fixated on the screen. "Is there anything I can help you with or are you going to keep distracting me?"

 "Come on, I can't chill with my best friend?"

 "Not when I'm playing Skyrim."

 "This is why you never get laid, it's because you're a nerd."

 "Nerds are the new hot boy toy this year for your information. Maybe a girl will get all wet someday if I show her my games and comics collection."

 "Don't forget your science room, she'll probably really beg for your dick on top of your experiment tables."

 "Fuck off Jooheon that's not ever what it's called. You know what whatever, what do you want?"

 "I have a dilemma." I look down at my thumbs. "Jade invited me to her room later."

 "And this is a problem why? Jade is hot, get laid." He says as he continues looking at his screen.

 "I'm not sure if I should."

  He pauses his game and puts the remote down on his lap. "Why not?" He turns to me. "What could be wrong with busting a nut?"

 "Because I know how much she likes me. I don't want to mess with her emotions any more than I already have."

 "What if she isn't looking for any emotions in return? What if she just wants sex? What a concept no?"

 "Changkyun that's not the-"

 "Stop complaining that some hot girl wants to fuck you when all I have to do is play Skyrim and jack off to said hot girls porn collection. You got it good dude, don't complain to the guy who has nothing but his right hand... and sometimes his left one if I want to spice himself up."

 "So you're saying I should sleep with her?"

 "Exactly what I'm saying. Do you know what I would do to get laid right now? I'd like eat something I don't like, or whatever."

 "You sound ridiculous."

 "Hey, I'm just the nerd who never gets pussy according to you."

 "At least you're a cute nerd, with a good ass taste in music and a handsome brother from another mother." I smile at him.

 "I always considered you a little ugly, girls only like you for your dimples."

 "Fuck you, and this is why you never get laid you scrawny nerd of a twig."

 "Fuck off, you know what actually go get fucked so I can enjoy playing Skyrim in peace. Thanks."

 "I'll start a go fund me page for you," I say as I begin to walk out of his room. "I'll title it '22-year-old virgin desperately wants to fuck but can't afford condoms, any penny counts.' Huh? How does that sound?"

 He flips me off as he turns his attention to his game again. "Fuck you, I never thought you'd pull out my virgin card on me. You are officially dismissed. Goodbye!"

 I laugh as I shut his door. I make my way towards the stairs and up to the main bedroom. Once I'm in front of it I nervously knock on it a couple of times. After a few moments, Jade opens the door.

 "How did you know where my room was?"

 "I assumed the master bedroom is the only one with double doors. Are you busy?"

 "No," She shakes her head. "Come in."

 She opens the door wider for me and I walk inside. I look around and notice the huge canopy bed in the middle of her room. "You have a really nice room, I kinda expected it though. This whole place is nice."

 She sits down on the bed and pats the spot next to her. I walk over to her and sit down, I instantly rest my head on her shoulder and she begins to run her fingers through the curls of my hair.

 "What's on your mind honey?"

 I slightly shake my head. "I honestly just want to be held, Jade." I look up at her. "Hold me please?"

 She smiles as she wraps her arms around me. "Of course, now tell me what's on your mind."

  I look up at her and press my lips onto her own. Her eyes widen but she instantly closes them. I pull away and smile. "No talking please, just actions yeah?"

 She nods as she starts to take off my jacket. She reconnects our lips and climbs on top of me. "Don't worry, I'll take care of you right now."

 I smile up at her as I put my arms behind my head. "I know you always do kitten."

 She smiles as she leans down and presses more kisses onto my lips. Despite Jade being on top of me right now, my thoughts can only drift to one thing.

 Hanna.

[lukparkergamest1]

Week 2 home study. Wednesday

Gris: a minimalist platformer with an allure based on music and giving just enough to keep you engaged

Hollow knight: a game based on platforming, with gameplay based on making the player character fun to control whilst they defeat bosses.

scott pilgrim vs the world the game has a cartoony artstyle and gets a decent amount of its popularity from it being based on a movie.

Adventure time has a hand drawn cartoon style. it is loved for witty writing and good songs.

spiderman into the spiderverse has a cartoony style, however that style varies wildly. Each of the spidermen have their own drawing styles based on the comics they originated from and as a result there is a variety of styles in use, yet they never clash in a negative way.

Regular show is designed as a cartoonish sitcom, based on two characters attempting and failing to do a simple task to comedic effect.

Paul Robertson is an animator that uses a pixel artstyle that can best be described as (by me) a mixture of multiple psychedelic drugs and a carnival parade .The animations typically scroll upwards, with multiple different sprites repeating the same animation whilst they appear on the screen.

Army of trolls is a pixel artist that focuses more on the game world itself than individual elements, making beautiful backgrounds and animals, yet struggling to distinguish individual sprites without a white border.

Waneela is a pixel background artist that makes detailed and animated backgrounds, but refrains from creating anything sprite-wise 

Ivan dixon is a pixel artist that focuses on fluid movement in his art and typically simpler backgrounds.

Pedro Miederos produces pixel arts for most of everything for a game, and is most well known for their work in Celeste. They also have tutorials for a variety of animation types

Rieko kodama is known for their work on sonic. Their artstyle can best be described as anime like when they are given a sufficient amount of pixels to work with.

Games

In shovel knight, the artstyle contains lots of detail, with helmets especially being pleasant to look at, the fluid movement of the animation provides all the detail the player needs to know whilst also not creating feelings of input lag. The artstyle works great for the game, having plenty of detail in the important characters, whilst reducing the detail just enough in the common enemies to the point where they are distinct from one another.

in terraria, the detail is poor. Many sprites have not been updated in years, and as such may look jarring compared to new sprites made in journey’s end. Despite this the simplicity is used well in some aspects of the game, making it easy to run and allowing for the screen to not get too cluttered. The animations tend to be simple, and the player character, while they get a lot of customisation struggles to appear all too unique from one another.

Guacamelee has a vibrant artstyle, yet simultaneously has the characters easy to spot due to the use of colour schemes. The majority of enemies lack the colours blue and pink, which are the colours the player characters are. 

Compared to terraria, Guacamelee uses much more detailed sprites and animations, with punches feeling dynamic, whilst in Terraria most weapons simply swing over the players head and potentially have additional effects too. The simple artstyle of terraria works for the game however, as it is about building and customisation, which works well with simpler tiles as it gives more variety in use. Meanwhile Guacamelee is much less of a sandbox game, and as such can use the complexity in a more meaningfull way

Overall, the artstyles for the two games work for their individual genres and they are both quite enjoyable games to play

[666sbetbaccaratbcsv317-blog]

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[wolveria]

Taylor: (4, 8, 14). Valeria: (14). Cat-Lady: (1, 11). Malcolm: (15). Julius: (9, 12). Werewolf Girl: (7). And 20 for all if you feel like it lol.

Taylor (Planet of the Apes):

4: Post a snippet fromyour writing in which another OC describes your OC.

Caesar caught the look onTaylor’s face and his eyes narrowed. For just a moment, she looked regretful,but then it was quickly replaced by the slightly-unfriendly expression sheusually wore. She glanced down at Cedar and motioned for her to get on thehorse with a small jerk of her head. The female chimp blinked, expecting thatshe would have to walk on foot for their journey, but Taylor clearly didn’tintend to let her do that. Not when they could both share the horse.

It made Caesar wonder who Taylor was trying to fool whenshe acted aloof or combative, because he certainly wasn’t convinced of her act.Not after he had witnessed her actions at the border camp, and how far she waswilling to go to do what she believed was fair and just.

8: Describe one of yourOC’s bad habits.

Taylor is horribly blunt and tends to speak her mind whenit would be wiser to remain silent. She’s sometimes tactless too.

14: What is one of yourOC’s secrets?

She’s in love with the king of the apes. It’s so secreteven she doesn’t know it yet. Bwahahaha. (yeah I know I copped out of that one,but I can’t reveal her good secrets yet!)

Valeria (Planet of the Apes Human Gladiator AU):

14: What is one of yourOC’s secrets?

Valeria is a noblewoman in Ancient Rome, but she issecretly working with the rebellion in order to overthrow the Emperor.

Alien Cat Lady (unnamed OC for Black Panther fic):

1: List five basicfacts about your OC.

You know she’s a brand new OC and yet you ask me thislmao Kicking my ass into gear.

1) She is a Mephitisoid, an alien race of cat-people thatappear in some of the X-Men comics

2) Unnamed cat lady is a low-class engineer on thePrincess’ starship

3) She has golden fur with dappled black spots on herback, legs, and arms

4) She has a mental implant that can translate any spokenlanguage when given a large enough samle

5) She generally hates her life and only finds enjoymentwhen she can visit other planets with the royal fleet

11: What does your OCwant for their birthday?

A day off from grueling labor and getting to explore somefar-off alien planet

Malcolm (a vampire character from my original story):

15: Your OC is given thechance to go back in time. Where do they go and what do they do?

At one point in his life he would have been tempted to goback in time and prevent himself from being turned, but he’s come to terms withthe fact he’s a vampire. Instead he would go back to save his family, who wereslaughtered by the vampire who turned him in retaliation for him escaping hercaptivity.

Julius (a vampire character from my original story):

9: Your OC is having anightmare. What is it?

Julius doesn’t have nightmares, he is the nightmare.

Just kidding lol can you imagine. I think Julius isafraid of outliving humanity and being left on the planet completely alone. He’sthousands of years old, he probably feels disconnected already, so that’s whyhe checks in on Malcolm once in a while. The dude gets lonely.

12: What does your OCgive another OC for their birthday?

What would Julius give Malcolm for his birthday? I cansee him giving gifts that have sentimental value. Maybe he spent years trackingdown some object that belonged to Malcolm’s mother, and gives it to him as asurprise. Ahh, good ol Julius.

Elizabeth (werewolf character from my original story):

7: Describe your OC’sfashion sense.

Black pleather jacket with dark blue jeans is hersignature look. She dresses like a grungy biker chick without the actual bike,piercings, or tattoos. She keeps her grey hair cut about midway down her neck,and she’s got this overall “don’t fuck with me” vibe going on. Veryintimidating.

20: Post a picture orgif that describes your OC.

I put them under each entry ;) Thank you so much you are the best!!

[the-record-columns]

Dec. 25, 2019: Columns

Junior Johnson holding court among friends at one of his famous breakfasts - just the way we like to remember him

I didn't know Junior Johnson, but I liked him...

BY KEN WELBORN

Record Editor

Some folks are what you would call die-hard racing fans.

Others, like me, would have been called a casual racing fan who, when NASCAR pulled our race from the North Wilkesboro Speedway, felt as though we had been abandoned, and pretty much abandoned them back.

Did that make any sense?

Okay. 

Now enter Junior Johnson.

I, like about everyone who can walk and chew gum, had heard about Johnson all my life.  I had watched him race—of course pulling for the local guy—but really had no real means of getting to know him—and I never did. 

In fact, I really had only one conversation with Junior Johnson in my life during a chance encounter at Smithey's Goodwill Department Store on Tenth Street in North Wilkesboro.  It was in the 1980’s; for me, the old Thursday Magazine days, for him, a retired driver and now car owner.  I was at the back of the line at the lunch counter in the Goodwill waiting to take lunch back to work for me and Joyce Newman—an amazing worker who also liked those special Smithey burgers every much as me.  I happened to look out the corner of my eye to the guy who walked up behind me and, lo and behold, it was Junior Johnson, dressed, as he so often was, in bib overalls

We nodded and spoke, and instantly began talking about the hamburger like no other, the Smithey Burger.  I made my favorite comment about them which is "…not since the Lord blessed the loaves and fishes has anyone taken five pounds of hamburger and stretched it this far," to which Johnson replied, "If eating these burgers would kill you, I would have been dead a long time ago."  (With a quick nod to the late Max Ferree, I confess that I stole that line from Junior and have used it ever since.)

In no time, more folks came in and they all wanted to talk with Junior—and he accommodated them to a man, clearly glad to see them and even signed several scraps of paper held up to him.

Fast forward to the days of The Record.  We would have occasion call on him now and again for a quote or something, and he would always take our call or call hack promptly.  One time that sticks in my mind is a postal carrier who was retiring with about a million and a half miles without an accident. The carrier didn't want a cake or a party—he just wanted his picture taken with his hero—Junior Johnson.  The postmaster called us, and our Editor Jerry Lankford called Junior, and he gladly came to town for the retirement ceremony. 

I tell those two little vignettes to illustrate what I liked best about Junior Johnson.

In fact, when interviewed by a NASCAR program about the 50th Anniversary of Thomas Wolfe's "Last American Hero" story about Junior from 1965, I was asked what I liked best about Junior Johnson. 

"That’s easy," I said, "Unlike NASCAR, Junior Johnson hasn't forgotten his fans, the folks who made him famous."

  As ever, I value loyalty above all else, and, while I didn't really know Junior Johnson, I liked him.

                                Robert Glenn "Junior" Johnson

                                              Rest in Peace

  Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas guilty of child abuse

By AMBASSADOR EARL COX and KATHLEEN COX

Undoubtedly the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) will meet (multiple times) in 2020 to again go through their regular routine of condemning Israel for one trumped up violation or another yet they will ignore the atrocities committed by Hamas and the Palestinian Authority. 

For more than two decades, Palestinian children have been taught that terrorist murderers are heroes; that Jews are evil pigs deserving of death; that Israel has no right to exist and is, in fact, the enemy of all Muslims and the enemy of the entire world. 

Messages such as these are taught in Palestinian schools and are themes woven into children’s cartoons broadcast on PA television. In Palestinian culture, there is no escaping these negative, brainwashing messages which are used by Hamas and the PA to mobilize and recruit Palestinian youth to become actively involved in acts of terror against Israel.

If the stakes were not so high and the consequences not a matter of life and death, the circumstances would be almost comical.  When Hamas uses these messages to target and recruit children to participate in their weekly confrontations against Israel at the Gaza border, the PA is publicly critical yet the PA uses the same tactics making it just as guilty.  A clear example of the pot calling the kettle black.

The UNHRC finds it perfectly acceptable to blame Israel for the deaths of those killed during the weekly border confrontations yet finds nothing wrong with the PA and Hamas brainwashing and poisoning young Palestinian hearts and minds thus enabling them to use their children for fodder during these border confrontations. While the UNHRC claims to be a protector of human rights, it’s simply not true otherwise it would condemn Hamas and the PA for indoctrinating generations of Palestinians to hate Israel and the Jews.  By creating little killing machines, the PA and Hamas are guilty of the worst kind of child abuse. Palestinian youth have been robbed of their innocence.  They are being raised in a culture that promotes violence and martyrdom as ideals for which they should strive. The PA and Hamas are grooming and using their children as combatants which is a violation of international law. 

As the New Year dawns, we must commit anew to standing, without fear or intimidation, for that which is right. Israel must not suffer condemnation for acting in self defense no matter the age of the perpetrator(s).  The use of children in committing acts of terror is illegal and morally unacceptable. Hamas and the PA must be held accountable.

  “YES, VIRGINIA, THERE IS A SANTA CLAUS”

Eight-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor of New York’s Sun, and the quick response was printed as an unsigned editorial Sept. 21, 1897. The work of veteran newsman Francis Pharcellus Church has since become history’s most reprinted newspaper editorial, appearing in part or whole in dozens of languages in books, movies, and other editorials, and on posters and stamps

THE EDITORIAL

DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, ‘If you see it in THE SUN it’s so.’ Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?

VIRGINIA O’HANLON. 115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET.

 VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

A Christmas Morning Story

By CARL WHITE

Life in the Carolinas

It was a long time ago on Christmas morning that little Timmy and his sister Sara woke up early and ran downstairs to see what Santa had brought. They did not expect much, but there was always something special under the tree.

The year had been long and difficult for the Watson family and so many others. Ken and his wife, Mary, both worked for a company that had been in business for almost 100 years.

There had been concerns for years that the factory was losing so much to competition that it might not be able to survive.

With all the good efforts of everyone the dreadful day arrived. It seemed as if it was the worst of all days.  

The family-owned factory employed more than anyone in town. The company supported the schools, the healthcare system, the arts and almost everything else in town. For almost 10 decades it was a family company that cared for everyone in the community.

The Watson family was now in its third generation. Ken’s father and grandfather worked of the factory and little Timmy looked forward to going to work with his father. That would make four generations of Watsons. This however it was not to be.

As soon as it was announced that the factory would close Ken and Mary both started to look for other employment. The problem was that almost 2,000 other people were doing the same thing and in a small town that did not have another large factory that was hiring a lot of people this presented a significant problem for just about everyone.

Most of the people who had lost their jobs were highly skilled people with solid work history. The type of people that any company would love to have. The few openings that were available in the area were quickly filled with the first applicants. And that’s when things got complicated.

Ken and Mary were not in the group of people who quickly got new jobs. They were putting in applications everywhere and getting the same response. “We would love to hire you, but we don’t have an opening”

The Watson family always attended Wednesday night church service. The local minister was aware of the stress in the community over the factory closing, so his messages were focused on giving hope and inspirations.

On one of the weekly midweek services Pastor Simpson delivered a message that sparked and idea for both Ken and Mary. He said, it’s true that we have lost one big company but what would happen if there were a lot of new smaller companies started.

That night when the Watson family returned home. While having tea at the kitchen table Ken and Mary looked at each other and at the same time said. “Let’s start our own business”.

For years Ken had been a furniture designer and Mary had worked in the business office. So, she knew all the administrative basics and Ken knew how to design and make furniture.

Timmy and Sara overheard the conversation and smiled big for the first time in months. They could just tell something good was going to happen.

Ken and Mary stayed up all night long talking over the idea and planning. Before they knew it, it was time for breakfast and the plan was set.

Ken would do what he always wanted to do. He would design and make high quality wooden toys. It would be a balance for Christmas gifting. The idea was not to replace all the high-tech toys and gifts but add to the options. A gift that would not have a short life but would last a lifetime if taken car of.

Ken and Mary’s Forever Gifts would become a household name for those who love the look and feel of real wood. Gifts there stir the imagination and nostalgia that you didn’t even know existed.

In case you are wondering Little Timmy got the first prototype of an airplane that Ken made. That’s the one that launched the company. Sara received the prototype of the first carved wooden ornament that her mother Mary designed.

Other gifts were under the tree as well, however those are the ones that the brother and sister would cherish and share with there children.

 Carl White is the executive producer and host of the award-winning syndicated TV show Carl White’s Life In the Carolinas. The weekly show is now in its eleventh year of syndication.   For more on the show visit  www.lifeinthecarolinas.com and join the free weekly email list. It’s a great way to keep up with the show and things going on in the Carolinas. You can email Carl White at Carl@lifeinthecarolinas.com.  

[hedgehogvampire]

Comic Reviews (Sonic the Hedgehog #0) part 1

  I want to start to reviewing comics on Tumblr. I’ve been on Tumblr since like 2013 or 2014 and I want to get more involve and do more then just reposting stuff. Also I really love comics and want to talk about them too. So let me know if this is cool and that you guys are interested. 🙂

   The first comic that I want to review is the Sonic the Hedgehog the Beginning graphic novel. It was originally a miniseries that Archie put out before turning it into an on-going series. Hey its perfect place to start on my part, the comic has just ended it’s run with Archie and just got picked up by IDW. Sonic the Hedgehog was actually what got me into comics to begin with. I remember being at the midnight release party for the 5th Harry Potter book at Borders (remember when those were around) and I was looking around at the comic book section and then there it was Sonic the Hedgehog #124 and ever since then I’ve been reading comics. ☺️

 The cover art for the graphic novel is awesome. Spaz did a great job on it, I always loved his covers. Too bad he didn’t really do that much interior work for the series. I also love the little gag with the three Sallys, that got a laugh out of me.It would be cool to see an updated version with Sally’s current design added in.

 Anyways to the actual comic itself I’m starting with #0 for the first review and will do each issue separate. I just think that will be easer then shoving all four issues in one review. The two stories in #0 was “Don’t Cry for me, Mobius” and “Oh No-Robo! No Mo’ Mobo!” And they both were pretty good. Yeah, the stories were lighthearted fluff but they were enjoyable fluff. And man the early comics were really different in tone then the later ones, not that its a bad thing it just takes some getting use too.

“Don’t Cry for me, Mobius”

-The intros to the characters were nice and rememberable. When you first see Sonic and Robotnik they are fighting each other, when you first see Tails he's geeking out to Sonic and trying to copy one of Sonic’s moves (and falling flat on his face), Sonic and Sally have that weird flirty thing going on, and Antione is the wet blanket. I just like how you can automatically know the type a person they are from their first first scene.

-After nearly 15 years from reading comics this is still one of my favorite panels.

-The one thing that I do think is weird is that even though this story is less then one issue long it has multiple parts. What is even the point of that? Was that just common for comics back then? 

-I love all of Robotnik’s titles for himself, I’m not sure which one I love more: “puppy kicker”, “Holiday Hater”, or “Insurance Salesman.” 😆

-Apparently there are trees on Mobius that can cry and have feelings. Because why wouldn’t there be. :P  I think this is the only time we ever see the Weeping Willows in the comics. Also now that I think about it, it wasn’t the brightest idea for the freedom fighters to build a secret underground base under a bunch of emotional plants. That seems like a disaster waiting to happen.

-Ha! Antione jumping in a bush makes me laugh. I have no idea why I’m laughing so hard at that.

-Cute ending with the freedom fighters planting more trees. Overall this was a good start and a good first story for Sonic. I thought it did a pretty good job with introducing use to the characters and showing off their personality and relationship with each other. And Scott Shaw!’s art is great in this, its a shame he only did the first three issues of the comic. It would of been cool to see how he did some of the later stories. The Weeping Willows was a little on the random and unnecessary side but it didn’t take a way from the story. I give this a 7/10. 🙂

I’m going to do the second story from issue #0 on a separate post so the post don’t get too long. If it not to much to ask could you guys give a like (you don’t have to if you don’t want to) but it would be nice to see if people actually did read the stuff that I typed. 🙂

[citrina-posts]

Avatar: Cultural Appreciation or Appropriation?

I love Avatar: the Last Airbender. Obviously I do, because I run a fan blog on it. But make no mistake: it is a show built upon cultural appropriation. And you know what? For the longest time, as an Asian-American kid, I never saw it that way.

There are plenty of reasons why I never realized this as a kid, but I’ve narrowed it down to a few reasons. One is that I was desperate to watch a show with characters that looked like me in it that wasn’t anime (nothing wrong with anime, it’s just not my thing). Another is that I am East Asian (I have Taiwanese and Korean ancestry) and in general, despite being the outward “bad guys”, the East Asian cultural aspects of Avatar are respected far more than South Asian, Middle Eastern, and other influences. A third is that it’s easy to dismiss the negative parts of a show you really like, so I kind of ignored the issue for a while. I’m going to explain my own perspective on these reasons, and why I think we need to have a nuanced discussion about it. 

Obviously, the leadership behind ATLA was mostly white. We all know the co-creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino (colloquially known as Bryke) are white. So were most of the other episodic directors and writers, like Aaron Ehasz, Lauren Montgomery, and Joaquim Dos Santos. This does not mean they were unable to treat Asian cultures with respect, and I honestly do believe that they tried their best! But it does mean they have certain blinders, certain perceptions of what is interesting and enjoyable to watch. Avatar was applauded in its time for being based mostly on Asian and Native American cultures, but one has to wonder: how much of that choice was based on actual respect for these people, and how much was based on what they considered to be “interesting”, “quirky”, or “exotic”?

The aesthetic of the show, with its bending styles based on various martial arts forms, written language all in Chinese text, and characters all decked out in the latest Han dynasty fashions, is obviously directly derivative of Asian cultures. Fine. That’s great! They hired real martial artists to copy the bending styles accurately, had an actual Chinese calligrapher do all the lettering, and clearly did their research on what clothing, hair, and makeup looked like. The animation studios were in South Korea, so Korean animators were the ones who did the work. Overall, this is looking more like appreciation for a beautiful culture, and that’s exactly what we want in a rapidly diversifying world of media.

But there’s always going to be some cherry-picking, because it’s inevitable. What’s easy to animate, what appeals to modern American audiences, and what is practical for the world all come to mind as reasons. It’s just that… they kinda lump cultures together weirdly. Song from Book 2 (that girl whose ostrich-horse Zuko steals) wears a hanbok, a traditionally Korean outfit. It’s immediately recognizable as a hanbok, and these dresses are exclusive to Korea. Are we meant to assume that this little corner of the mostly Chinese Earth Kingdom is Korea? Because otherwise, it’s just treated as another little corner of the Earth Kingdom. Korea isn’t part of China. It’s its own country with its own culture, history, and language. Other aspects of Korean culture are ignored, possibly because there wasn’t time for it, but also probably because the creators thought the hanbok was cute and therefore they could just stick it in somewhere. But this is a pretty minor issue in the grand scheme of things (super minor, compared to some other things which I will discuss later on).

It’s not the lack of research that’s the issue. It’s not even the lack of consideration. But any Asian-American can tell you: it’s all too easy for the Asian kids to get lumped together, to become pan-Asian. To become the equivalent of the Earth Kingdom, a mass of Asians without specific borders or national identities. It’s just sort of uncomfortable for someone with that experience to watch a show that does that and then gets praised for being so sensitive about it. I don’t want you to think I’m from China or Vietnam or Japan; not because there’s anything wrong with them, but because I’m not! How would a French person like to be called British? It would really piss them off. Yet this happens all the time to Asian-Americans and we are expected to go along with it. And… we kind of do, because we’ve been taught to.

1. Growing Up Asian-American

I grew up in the early to mid-2000s, the era of High School Musical and Hannah Montana and iCarly, the era of Spongebob and The Amazing World of Gumball and Fairly Odd Parents. So I didn’t really see a ton of Asian characters onscreen in popular shows (not anime) that I could talk about with my white friends at school. One exception I recall was London from Suite Life, who was hardly a role model and was mostly played up for laughs more than actual nuance. Shows for adults weren’t exactly up to par back then either, with characters like the painfully stereotypical Raj from Big Bang Theory being one of the era that comes to mind.

So I was so grateful, so happy, to see characters that looked like me in Avatar when I first watched it. Look! I could dress up as Azula for Halloween and not Mulan for the third time! Nice! I didn’t question it. These were Asian characters who actually looked Asian and did cool stuff like shoot fireballs and throw knives and were allowed to have depth and character development. This was the first reason why I never questioned this cultural appropriation. I was simply happy to get any representation at all. This is not the same for others, though.

2. My Own Biases

Obviously, one can only truly speak for what they experience in their own life. I am East Asian and that is arguably the only culture that is treated with great depth in Avatar.

I don’t speak for South Asians, but I’ve certainly seen many people criticize Guru Pathik, the only character who is explicitly South Asian (and rightly so. He’s a stereotype played up for laughs and the whole thing with chakras is in my opinion one of the biggest plotholes in the show). They’ve also discussed how Avatar: The Last Airbender lifts heavily from Hinduism (with chakras, the word Avatar itself, and the Eye of Shiva used by Combustion Man to blow things up). Others have expressed how they feel the sandbenders, who are portrayed as immoral thieves who deviously kidnap Appa for money, are a direct insult to Middle Eastern and North African cultures. People have noted that it makes no sense that a culture based on Inuit and other Native groups like the Water Tribe would become industrialized as they did in the North & South comics, since these are people that historically (and in modern day!) opposed extreme industrialization. The Air Nomads, based on the Tibetan people, are weirdly homogeneous in their Buddhist-inspired orange robes and hyperspiritual lifestyle. So too have Southeast Asians commented on the Foggy Swamp characters, whose lifestyles are made fun of as being dirty and somehow inferior. The list goes on.

These things, unlike the elaborate and highly researched elements of East Asian culture, were not treated with respect and are therefore cultural appropriation. As a kid, I had the privilege of not noticing these things. Now I do.

White privilege is real, but every person has privileges of some kind, and in this case, I was in the wrong for not realizing that. Yes, I was a kid; but it took a long time for me to see that not everyone’s culture was respected the way mine was. They weren’t considered *aesthetic* enough, and therefore weren’t worth researching and accurately portraying to the creators. It’s easy for a lot of East Asians to argue, “No! I’ve experienced racism! I’m not privileged!” News flash: I’ve experienced racism too. But I’ve also experienced privilege. If white people can take their privilege for granted, so too can other races. Shocking, I know. And I know now how my privilege blinded me to the fact that not everybody felt the same euphoria I did seeing characters that looked like them onscreen. Not if they were a narrow and offensive portrayal of their race. There are enough good-guy Asian characters that Fire Lord Ozai is allowed to be evil; but can you imagine if he was the only one?

3. What It Does Right

This is sounding really down on Avatar, which I don’t want to do. It’s a great show with a lot of fantastic themes that don’t show up a lot in kids’ media. It isn’t superficial or sugarcoating in its portrayal of the impacts of war, imperialism, colonialism, disability, and sexism, just to name a few. There are characters like Katara, a brown girl allowed to get angry but is not defined by it. There are characters like Aang, who is the complete opposite of toxic masculinity. There are characters like Toph, who is widely known as a great example of how to write a disabled character.

But all of these good things sort of masked the issues with the show. It’s easy to sweep an issue under the rug when there’s so many great things to stack on top and keep it down. Alternatively, one little problem in a show seems to make-or-break media for some people. Cancel culture is the most obvious example of this gone too far. Celebrity says one ignorant thing? Boom, cancelled. But… kind of not really, and also, they’re now terrified of saying anything at all because their apologies are mocked and their future decisions are scrutinized. It encourages a closed system of creators writing only what they know for fear of straying too far out of their lane. Avatar does do a lot of great things, and I think it would be silly and immature to say that its cultural appropriation invalidates all of these things. At the same time, this issue is an issue that should be addressed. Criticizing one part of the show doesn’t mean that the other parts of it aren’t good, or that you shouldn’t be a fan.

If Avatar’s cultural appropriation does make you uncomfortable enough to stop watching, go for it. Stop watching. No single show appeals to every single person. At the same time, if you’re a massive fan, take a sec (honestly, if you’ve made it this far, you’ve taken many secs) to check your own privilege, and think about how the blurred line between cultural appreciation (of East Asia) and appropriation (basically everybody else) formed. Is it because we as viewers were also captivated by the aesthetic and overall story, and so forgive the more problematic aspects? Is it because we’ve been conditioned so fully into never expecting rep that when we get it, we cling to it?

I’m no media critic or expert on race, cultural appropriation, or anything of the sort. I’m just an Asian-American teenager who hopes that her own opinion can be put out there into the world, and maybe resonate with someone else. I hope that it’s given you new insight into why Avatar: The Last Airbender is a show with both cultural appropriation and appreciation, and why these things coexist. Thank you for reading!

[tomorrowwoman]

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

A story with a lot of fun sci-fi world building that’s certainly enjoyable though not as deep as one would hope and has quite a few plot holes or questions that it raises and never really elaborates on.

But let’s chat. Thoughts etc.. and of course, plenty of spoilers.

The opening alone set to Space Oddity by David Bowie is just pure unbridled joy. Like. I want that as humanity’s real life future. True co-existence and unity. It’s so amazing that I’d totally read a series JUST on its set up of that universe’s Alliance of Planets. And Alpha is just beautiful.

The intro of the Pearl’s was also rather interesting and lovely.

Soon after we’re introduced to Valerian and Laureline who are really odd matches. One really has to wonder exactly how these two came to be partners, let alone love interests. Still as we slowly see teased in the film both do care about one another and have seemingly had an off and on thing between the two explaining a lot of the weirdness of the two to me.

The Market infiltrated while fun wasn’t well explained. Parts of it are in other dimensions? Planets? Is everything thus essentially using advanced teleportation abilities to simulate what is essentially internet shopping? Or just numerous out of phase dimensions occupying the same space?

The villain while painfully obvious in the story feels sensible. By the time the films begun the idea of humanity as having transcended borders and hate is set up that it’s all too easy to realize, nope it’s never that easy in reality. There’s always SOMEONE you can abuse as we see with the Pearl’s.

Bubble’s part is...awkward. Rihanna is of course stunning. But the sexy show is both completely unnecessary and worse even, absolutely the dumbest possible thing in that instance. “Oh Laureline’s in immediate danger but I will stop to ogle this amazingly hot shapeshifter.” It doesn’t help that Bubble’s role is ultimately virtually non existent as she dies almost right away. Which isn’t a good sign either with one of the few actor’s of color in the film with any particular role.

The explanation of how Mul was obliterated raises a lot of questions. The film itself largely treats the planets destruction as only the General’s (Flint?) action, not representing humanity, but...there were presumably dozens if not hundreds of people at his command who followed him and would have no reason to not know what he did. With one person (sadly one of the other few PoC in the film) simply killed as if he was the only loose end.

Similarly if there was a war over Mul...what for? Especially if the story presents it as if a battle simply erupted over Mul that ONE day. So it can’t have been for the converters... or anything the planet had as no one seemed aware of the Pearl’s until the last second.

And if there was a war what enemy was there that they fought? Wouldn’t they similarly know about Mul’s destruction of did the General somehow kill that entire species too?

Perhaps the oddest completely unanswered bit was...what happened to the prior expeditions sent to the “Red Zone”? We’re told and shown that multiple groups attempted to enter. The Pearl’s are shown as complete pacifists. But...those people are never mentioned again. Did the Pearl’s capture them? Were they actually killed? Perhaps by the General to cover his tracks?

There’s also sadly a lot of cringe with soem of the phrases. Including a “Haha I’m a crazy woman.” line that really was...just..what? I’m not even sure if that makes sense to be something said in that setting.

Perhaps the oddest story bit was Valerian’s initial unwillingness to give over the Converter. Apparently in the comics the story originates from Valerian’s a very by the books tough guy with Laureline as the heart/empathetic but equally tough one. It makes sense for the comic Valerian to act that way regarding the converter. But the cocky guy in the film who feels like a rule breaker and doesn't really care for protocol it’s hard to see that story bit and no wonder where he suddenly changed character (especially after JUST decking his superior). Had they switched who did what the film’s Laureline would’ve made sense to have initial misgivings and be unsure of giving it back.

What sayeth ye readers?

I give the film overall a 7.5-8.5 out of 10.