#some of the other movies just fall flat on the characterization

[tsunauticus]

@wayward-sherlock

Omg Wayli you just Get Me.

that scene in cap 2 when nick fury took that sharp turn and lost the fake cops after him and the gunshots subsided and his gps thing was like ‘getting you to a secure location’ and you really thought, you Really Thought!!!! he was Safe But then it got TOO quiet and fucking ominous music started playing in the background and the previously unfocused camera focused on this dude, decked in ALL Black, in the middle of the fucking street, holding a fucking Bazooka, and He BLOWS up furys suv, sees it coming straight for him, and takes ONE(1) nonchalant step to the Side???: UNPARALLELED 

[the-cat-and-the-birdie]

We talk about how mischaracterized Hobie is - which he is - but I honestly think someone else is characterized REALLY weirdly by fandom

Miguel O'Hara and Misrepresentation of His Rage: a.k.a Miguel has Ken Energy you fools

[this is a breakdown where I examine Miguel's trauma, his relationship with Miles, his role in The Society, and his personality]

I talk a lot of shit about the Hobie tag, but the over-saturation of smut in the Miguel tag is at critical mass.

And like Latino-fetishization aside, I feel like he's not written as a human.

He's written so flat.

I swear ya'll be writing him as the angriest, coldest, most anti-social man on earth. Ya'll be having him rude and avoidant with no friends whatsoever or a romantic soft latin lover and NO IN BETWEEN

which is so funny cause like... I feel like Miguel is Just A Guy

I know they're easy to overlook but I think about moments like these all the time

But I ALWAYS see him written him as friendless, and cold, or constantly irritated and angry but like - I feel like most of the time Miguel is just some dude. Like in a Good Way.

And he's fine with that.

Miguel runs a Society Full of Spider-people, and they're working for him voluntarily. Peter Parkers wouldn't work for someone they didn't think was genuinely, good-likeable, and level-headed.

He compliments Lego-Spider-Man. When Hobie was there he wasn't pissed he was just like 'not in the mood rn ngl'

and Hobie didn't take the piss outta him - because I feel like him and Hobie have a mutal understanding/relaxed relationship. All throughout the movie Hobie isn't talking bad about Miguel in specific - he never says anything about Miguel being annoying or evil - he's always taking about The Society Miguel has made.

Even Hobie - who will openly talk bad about the PM, doesn't really feel the need to diss Miguel's character in specific. Which I find very interesting.

I think this, along with a couple other things shows that the way we view Miguel in fandom is not really how he is, like..when he's not going buckwild insane.

Miguel and His Role as Canon

I could see Miguel taking his role as boss very seriously - the same way he took being a father.

Miguel has assumed the role of 'leader' over these Spider-people. In his eyes, it's his job to lead these people through their canon events to the other side, for the safety of the universe, and for them to become the people fate says they're supposed to be.

Because he made the mistake of 'going against fate'. A lot of the time we say that Miguel's justification is 'because I suffered, you must too'. But in his eyes, it's more like 'I tried to run from who I was supposed to be and it blew up in my face. Please don't make the same mistake - it's not worth it.'

Quiet literally 'Do what you're supposed to do, and things won't fall apart around you.'

And I think that really says a lot about how he feels about his own choices, and his own daughter.

Miguel broke canon to be with his daughter, and because of that, she - and billions of others, died. And Miguel feels directly responsible for that. In his eyes, he killed his daughter and murdered billions of people.

And although he loves his daughter - he sees it as not worth it. He sees taking her father's place as a mistake.

To Miguel, canon events and the pain they cause are much more 'worth it' and 'tolerable', than the pain and guilt of killing an entire universe.

Because with canon events, there is no fault. It's not your fault you couldn't catch Gwen Stacy. It's not that you're not fast enough, it's that it's suppose to happen. It's not your fault.

But in Miguel's case - it was his fault. It wasn't suppose to happen.

That's why Miles sets him off in a way others don't and can't. Because he wasn't supposed to happen.

When things are under control, Miguel is fine. When things aren't, Miguel isn't.

Miguel needs order. He needs canon. Not because he likes it, but because he feels beaten into submission by it. He feels safe in the idea that canon events happen even if you do everything right, because he still feels the guilt of having done something 'wrong'.

That's why he sees letting people die in canon events as 'the right thing'.

It's the trolley problem.

A trolley is hurtling at someone you love, on the other track there are 5 people. Do you let the one you love die, or do you hit the switch and save them - and take the blame for killing five people?

What's the right thing to do? Save your captain father and letting a universe die? Or letting your father die, but the universe will for sure live.

Miguel has already made his choice, even if he didn't know it at the time. By becoming a father, Miguel hit the switch. And he chose his daughter at the expense of a universe. And he regrets that decision. He feels guilt, like he's to blame.

When canon events happen, there's no one to blame. When anomalies happen, there is.

Miles and Miguel

Miles and Miguel have an interesting and unique dynamic with each other, one that I haven't seen anyone mention yet.

When I look at Miles and Miguel, especially in this scene:

I kinda see Miguel and a past version of himself. Miguel trying to stop what he sees - as someone about to make the same mistake he did.

When Miguel met his daughter, he didn't know about it's threat to the multiverse. And although it might be described as the best time in Miguel's life, he regrets it. If he would go back, he would have rather let his daughter live. Fatherless, but at least she would have lived.

Miguel didn't know. But Miles does. And that's what makes Miguel so furious.

Miles is going to go against canon, be with his dad, and threaten the multiverse. And Miguel believes that if Miles does this, billions of people and beings across a universe will die. 100% totality rate, 100% assured.

Miles is in the same position as Miguel once was. Miles has the same choice. To choose the one he loves over canon.

The only difference is Miles knows. He has a chance.

Miguel believes that Miles can spare himself the pain, and the guilt of murdering billions - if he just listened to him.

Miguel is the only Spider-person who has ever killed a Spider-verse. And he doesn't want that for Miles.

Miles being an anomaly was one thing. He was ready to calmly talk about that. But when Miguel sees him going down the same road as he once did, making the same choice even though Miguel is telling him not to - it makes it snap.

Because if Miguel could go back, knowing what he knows - if Miguel could only be in Miles' place - he wouldn't. Like Rio said - Miguel would kill to be in his place.

He sees Miguel like how Rio describes herself, oddly enough. Rio says she'd kill to be in Miles place, and she doesn't understand his 'irresponsible' behavior. But unbeknownst to her - his 'irresponsible' behavior is more heroic than she can understand.

Miguel is just the same. He sees Miles' choice as irresponsible, that he's making all the wrong choices even though people are throwing opportunity at him.

Miles is the only other Spider-person to risk what Miguel risked. And, genuinely believing everyone will die because of this - he's furious at Miles, the same way he's still furious at himself. He loved his daughter, and he knows Miles loves it dad. But having been on the other side of it all, he sees it as not worth it.

Miguel wants to be the only Spider-man who is the way he is. He doesn't want to Miles to do what he did, become what he is. Because he knows theres no coming back from that.

If Miguel could go back and shake himself and scream in his face to leave Gabriella alone, to just leave her dimension alone, he would. But he can't.

So he does it to Miles.

Miguel as a Boss

I don't think Miguel is an outright mean or abrasive person. I feel like outside of Miles, he's fairly calm, albeit a bit stressed. I could see him being really organized and good at time management -

And I can see Miguel being good with people. I don't think he's the kinda boss that'd be like 'Oh, you had a canon event last night? Your girlfriend fell off a building? Yeah, we get that a lot, get over it.'

And if anything - I think he'd want to help the Spider-people when it comes to processing canon events.

Miguel believes that canon events are necessary, not just to the multiverse, but to the development of who Spider-people are 'supposed' to be. So I think he'd set up support systems around HQ to help them process it, and he'd at least be a bit understanding.

I could absolutely see Miguel as the type to ask a teammate "Are you alright?" after something intense, or telling them to sit out. I could see him giving generous leave for Spiders who are going through stuff.

By Jess's response, it seems as if he leaves most of that to her, but I feel like the fact he stops to tell Gwen "Don't worry, kid." shows that he's use to comforting people, or prioritizes putting people at ease.

I mean, what Spider-man doesn't?

Miguel does seem to get along with people (aside from Miles and Gwen when he's scolding her), and it seems like people do like Miguel.

Miguel's Personality

Tbh - I don't think he's nearly as angry as fandom makes him out to be.

He was raising a child. I imagine that for the most part, he's pretty patient.

Like if you call him a name, he's not gonna get pissed. I feel like he's more likely to be like "Haha. Very funny." Or just pinch his nose bridge and be like "You done?"

I mean I know with all the gnashing and clawing and yelling and going apeshit, it can be easy to imagine Miguel as JUST that.

But I also like to imagine that most of the time, he's just like that normal boss as Target.

And a lot of his day is spent doing boring mundane things.

He's not always standing there brooding over videos of him and his dead daughter. He only does that when he's psyching himself up to yell at Miles.

Outside of that, he probably has a lot more things to do, realistically speaking. Organizing missions, checking status reports, looking over intake forms of anomalies, okaying and vetoing different protocols. Approving new technology, taking complaints from members, dealing with Hobie (an extra job in its own right), fixing things MayDay breaks, etc, etc.

And he's completely fine with that. Maybe he even finds calmness in it. When there's order, and routine, and everyone is working together and there's no kinks in the hose per say, he can operate.

Like yeah he's a little irritated and looks like he only slept 4 hours - but he's here and he's going to work with his team and employees, make sure things run smoothly, and make sure everyone gets home safe.

He's gonna try and make the society a nice place to be and make sure people on the team (like Lego) feel appreciated and odd-one-outs like Hobie get to hang and do what they want without much kickback.

The other Spider-people - like Pavi - wouldn't have joined otherwise.

If Pavi had showed up and Miguel was all stern and cold and rude, he probably would've been like 'no thanks my friend'

Miguel knew Peter B. before he lost Gabriella. So he had to become friends with Peter some way. He was putting up with Peter and his humor by choice, and in return Peter must have found Miguel cool enough to hang out with.

I think it's because Miguel is good with people, a lot of different types of people.

He's pretty down to earth, even if he is a work-aholic. He can be fun to chill or hang out with, even if he's a bit of a tight-ass.

Sure his humor may be dry, and his personality tame, but he's just him.

But I can see him as being a guy who you see at the gym routinely and never say hi to but you just nod at each other in silent respect while doing your workouts sometime.

Or the dude at your job you only see at the coffee machine - you know he does other stuff, but you never run into him anywhere else.

Or the dude who'll stop on the street when you ask for the time and lift one earphone before telling you it, then walking away without another word.

DO YOU GET WHAT I MEAN DO YOU GET THAT VIBE Like just Dude He's like a dad but not like a 'Dad vibe' with like sneakers or anything but like 'Dad who comes to PTA meeting but doesn't talk to anybody and quietly leaves when it's over'.

DO YOU UNDERSTAND PLEASE TELL ME IF YOU UNDERSTAND THIS VIBE It's giving Ken.

Anyways stop avoiding Miguel's Kenergy.

[wisteria-lodge]

What do you think JKR did best in Harry Potter, and what do you think she did worst?

I'll just do the first five good and first five bad that pop into my head.

GOOD

JKR writes about grief and fear extremely well. It's complex, nuanced, visceral, messy. When I pull out really good passages of her writing, that's almost always what they're about.

She has a good eye for friend group dynamics. Harry, Ron and Hermione work. The way they crack and splinter, the way that two of them will gang up on the third and then work it out, that's really well observed. Their banter works. Their arguments work.

She has an incredible knack for side characters. There are SO MANY of them, and most spend very little time on screen. But the details we get are memorable, interesting and well-chosen - not only do you remember who all these people are, it's perfectly reasonable that your favorite character is like, Tonks - even though we barely see her.

JKR never wastes a transition. These books have a *lot* of scene transitions, and they are used to drop characterization, clues, worldbuilding, or build suspense. You never get "Harry was late to class." You get "Harry was late to class because Peeves had vanished two-thirds of the stairs up to the astronomy tower." It's a good trick for making a world feel alive, and make a mystery feel satisfying. Also, JKR ends *chapters* really well.

She's good at naming things. Good place names, product names, character names. They're memorable, whimsical, build a really strong brand identity and no wonder themed entertainment based off this series does so well. It's hard to invent a word that means something to your audience, but she's good at it. Dementor, apparate, muggle, Slytherin, Gryffindor. There's a ton of specialized vocab in this universe, and that's how she gets away with it.

BAD

... she's good at naming so long as the thing she's naming exists in Western Europe. The second it doesn't, we run into problems *real* quick. No-Maj? Cho Chang? Ilvermorny and the four houses Wampus, Pukwudgie, Horned Serpent and Thunderbird?

JKR can't write romance. It's strange, because her grasp of family and group dynamics is so good, but she just can't write a romantic couple being romantic. She can write pining, she can write longing, she can write cringingly awkward couple, arguably she can even write exes - but she will bend over backwards so the two halves of a romantic couple never actually have to be in the same scene, interacting with each other. In HP this mostly shows up in the way the Harry/Ginny stuff (and the Ron/Hermione stuff...) falls flat, and Remus/Tonks comes out of absolutely nowhere. But the Cormoran Strike books and the Fantastic Beasts movies clearly *want* to be romances, and she just can't do it.

Being uber-femme/girly in the Harry Potter books is consistently a very negative trait. Pink, bows, ruffles, painted nails, styled hair, being interested in fashion, being interested in boys (versus boys being interested in you...) It hovers somewhere around being pathetic and being villainous. If you're girly, you can redeem yourself by becoming a mother (like Fleur) or you can reject girliness (like Hermione - who can look all pretty and femme for the Yule Ball, but "that's far too much bother to do everyday.")

There is often a disconnect between a character's actions and the way the way that character is framed by the text. Like, JKR obviously has a very clear idea in her head of who Severus Snape or Draco Malfoy or Molly Weasley is... and that idea does not 100% make it onto the page. Most characters are hit with this to some degree. Someone like Ron is the exception: I do think that the version of him on the page and the version of him in JKR's head are exactly the same.

There is a very *young* sort of moral simplicity in these books... kind of. The Ministry of Magic gets more nuanced and grey as the story goes on, Dumbledore and his plan gets more nuanced and grey... JKR clearly wants to make the thematic underpinnings of her story more complex and adult... but the Slytherins are all just the bad guys. That's not a stereotype, that's not 12 year old Harry with a simplified worldview, they're all just like that. They all run away from the final battle (and/or want to turn Harry over to Voldemort.) She goes out of her way to make Snape an honorary Gryffindor, when it would have been easier and better to just... say that this is a guy who used slytherin traits in a positive way? There is something very deep in her that just wants an infallible force to pick out the Good People, and then put the Good People in charge. that's literally the plot of fantastic beasts 3.

[sxnniiwrites]

So, you want to write fanfics.

Here are my top fanfic writing tips!

You don't have to waste time on physical descriptions of characters, since your target audience already knows them, UNLESS: - their appearance is different in your fic in some way (timeskip, different verse, etc) - OR it's genuinely significant, like character A being struck by character B's beauty at first sight and having to swoon over their gorgeous features. Other than this, if it's not plot significant nor important to the readers' perception of the story, then don't worry about it if you aren't confident with physical descriptions!

Pay attention to character voice. What's that, you ask? Well, everyone's inner thoughts sound different, right? It matches your own personality and speech patterns. This is the same with characters. This is much easier if the franchise you're writing for is a book series, of course; you already have somewhere to go to reference the style this character's thoughts are written in. With shows and movies, it's a bit harder to find each character's voice, but important nonetheless. If you don't have distinct voices for each character's POV, the writing and characterization can fall flat. A good way to find character voice is to write a few diary entries for each character (even if your story isn't going to be in first person POV, do it for this exercise). This will help establish individual voices, and then your characters will really start feeling like their canon selves.

Cater to your audience. This is the nature of fanfic. But seriously, don't be afraid of cliches! If your fandom loves hurt/comfort for a certain pairing, write that in! If your fandom is obsessed with tooth rotting wholesome fluff for a pairing, try that too! You don't have to, of course, but this can help keep your target audience interested and attract more readers through tags.

USE BETA READERS. Oh my gosh I used to not use betas and would just "edit" my fics all on my own, which of course meant scanning it briefly for bad typos because my brain was so fried from writing it that I didn't want to thoroughly read the whole thing and look for in-depth edits. I know it's scary to have someone else pick through your work but trust me, they LOVE what you wrote, regardless of how many edit suggestions they leave. They'll also help you see things from a reader's perspective that you may not have caught before. Remember, critique is just opportunity for improvement.

Please don't stop because you're embarrassed. Trust me, I've been there. For a while I didn't write fic because I felt "cringey" and was scared of my irls finding my fandom works. But honestly? Screw that. Write for yourself. Write because you love it. Cringe culture is dead, so write the stories you want to tell, and to hell with anyone who thinks it's weird. Besides, there are probably more fandom "weirdos" around you than you think.

Don't be afraid of creation. Happy writing!

[bvckbiter]

some thoughts on characterization of the seven in hoo, VERY long post ahead:

for each of the five books in the series, i read them right as they came out and endured the year-long wait til the next release. like many readers, i was thrown off by the introduction of the new trio in the lost hero. but that was offset by 1) the seemingly more mature vibe/themes that riordan wanted to explore, 2) the monumental tension that was being built around the greek-roman separation, and 3) percy's comeback in son of neptune, even as an amnesiac.

mark of athena, released october 2012, was extremely anticipated because it was set to be the long-awaited percabeth reunion as well as the true crossover for the greek and roman spheres. there were a lot of theories being made at the time. would piper be able to mediate between eons-long enemies in a genuinely diplomatic way, or was she going to brainwash charmspeak them into compliance? how is reyna going to take jason suddenly having another girl and a new set of friends and another life after abruptly disappearing? will we get to learn more about jason's relationships within camp jupiter? would nico be dealing with any fallout from essentially boating along two riverbanks (translated directly from a tagalog idiom, so if the wording seems clunky thats why)? it didn't help that the first avengers movie came out in 2012, so the idea of a huge crossover event was all the hype then.

the published work, in my opinion... fell considerably short of expectations.

to be fair, we got some very good character moments. i did not find the judo flip scene cute, just kinda weird in the sense that i felt the author didn't know how to handle such a huge emotional turning point, but percabeth for the most part of moa was enjoyable, really giving you the high of this teenage couple finally being able to resume the honeymoon period they were probably in after four years of pining and a war lol. everything the fans wanted! unfortunately, we didn't get the same with other characters.

while i wouldn't say that percabeth was the reason, the difference in spotlight is nonetheless very staggering. the roman-greek reunification goes bad, sure, but it begins due to outside interference more rather than any actual intrinsic differences between the two camps; so the built-up tension from the previous books kinda falls flat. we get none of jason's backstory, so next to percy, he barely leaves an impression on the reader. hazel, frank, and leo get shafted into this weird love triangle where their enemy is leo's long-dead ancestor who ultimately makes no impact on the plot other than to have hazel and leo intersect somehow, contributing to leo's man-angst of being the seventh wheel. frank, who arguably has the most interesting set of powers and lineage, is basically relegated to being the muscle and hazel's (understandably) jealous boyfriend. piper... good lord. thats probably a whole other post, so i'll just say: cornucopia.

and yet, despite the disparity in characterization... you don't really feel that percabeth has a character arc or development per se. it's an odd contrast, with percy and annabeth getting a lot of time but pretty much remaining stagnant characters, as opposed to the other five who are written pretty blandly, but have valid, explicit inner struggles and questions they must face. for jason, it's being greek or roman. for hazel and leo, they want to parse their connection, even at the expense of frank, who is still struggling with his self-esteem. piper comes into her own power.

so despite being a book full of twists and turns, especially for percabeth, this is where you really feel the stakes begin to slump. decisions are being made to move the plot from point a to point b pretty straightforwardly, but there's not a ton of effort to make you invested in these characters other than what we know about them from previous books and the fact that they have a role to play in this apocalyptic second great prophecy.

but there's still two books left! the yearlong wait demands patience and creativity. surely percabeth falling into tartarus is going to make for some interesting development and impact. it was a brilliant plot twist, after all. with the darker turn that hoo was seemingly taking, there could have been so many consequences. percabeth could shut the doors of death from their side and come back alive, but come back wrong—unearthing old traumas, questioning and ultimately foreswearing their loyalty to the gods, threatening the reunification of the greek and roman aspects, etc.

and once again, house of hades... only semi-delivered? the tartarus chapters were certainly harrowing: percy choking akhlys is still a Scene of All Time to me because it felt earned, after all that percy has been through and what the series has been building up to! annabeth also having to face all the times she's been abandoned in her life, while less focused on, was also a very poignant moment for her character. they were events that seemed to push for development.

back on the argo ii, there's a continuing case of kind of low-effort writing on the other characters. frank and his mars blessing, for one; you kind of understand what rick was getting at, but... what! piper... girl idk what she was doing other than seeing visions in her dagger. leo... ue ue ue. jason commits to chb, but ofc he does because neither he nor we know/remember much about cj, so we don't really feel the loss! but there is one exception for his part, and that is of course the (in)famous cupid scene with nico, but i'll talk about nico much later.

hazel is an interesting case, so here's another paragraph for her. she gets to come into (more of) her powers just like piper did in the previous books, but from my viewpoint, it was considerably less engaged with who she was as a character compared to piper. in mark of athena, piper still struggles with being a daughter of aphrodite and how she can be "useful" as we know she struggles with internalized misogyny. on the other hand, hazel gets in touch with her mother's background... kinda? idk if controlling the mist can be considered equivalent to marie's voodoo; i dont think so. she certainly gains more understanding of her pluto heritage, too, and has this nice back-and-forth with hecate about creating her own path, but you don't really get the sense that doing so has consequences, or that she concretely shirked other paths to get where she was at.

where mark of athena fell flat with character stakes, house of hades to its credit does manage to up the ante—but only truly for percabeth. with all the resolutions to the character arcs in this book, you don't feel that the characters have anymore stakes or reasons to fight gaea other than the fact that she's still coming for them and they are in turn prophesied to defeat her. the one big thing that could be personal to them, which are the camps, ultimately fall under the purview of coach hedge, nico, and reyna, who are side characters, upgraded to main characters in the last book of a series already overbloated by shifting povs and favoritism.

ultimately, this is why blood of olympus falls apart. the best characterization work done, which is on percabeth and their time in tartarus, is in the end of no consequence and is barely mentioned. it's as if nothing has happened. all the build-up and investment fizzles out because in boo and beyond, even though they went through literal hell, they just shook it off (because accdg to rick demigods are extra resilient and don't get traumatized lmfao). the climactic face-off against gaea is headed by jason, piper, and leo, and it has no pay off. the books haven't dwelled on them as a trio after tlh because leo was too busy angsting about his love triangle, and jason's and piper's arcs, both individual and romantic, are shoddy, to say the least. to add insult to injury, leo's sacrifice is a fake-out! so he can finally shed the fucking seventh wheel arc that came about not because of a genuine exploration of how he has been outcasted all his life, but because the argo ii mysteriously became demigod tinder and also because rick thought "haha how funny that the latino is the outrageous flirt!" frank and hazel... just get shafted im so sorry babygirls T_T

what saves boo is not the cast of the seven that we have spent the five books journeying with. no, what saves boo is the three side characters suddenly made main characters because. well, fan favoritism and pandering. nico, reyna, and coach hedge comprised the only arc that wasn't an absolute slog to read through—high stakes, chemistry, and well-rounded character arcs that complemented each other. no hoo scene is honestly more heartwarming than reyna embracing nico. it makes you question if hoo's length and frankly shocking quantity of main ensemble members even constricted the narrative that could've been told, as opposed to the original intention of expanding the world of percy jackson through more povs. five books with at least 700-800+ pages each for five years. what a tremendous amount of time and energy to be wasted.

and there is, of course, the question of "should percabeth have been in hoo." until house of hades, my answer was yes. the fact that their tartarus arc fizzled into nothingness changed my answer to no. taking the whole series into perspective, if their treatment in boo was all that the hype and tension would amount to, it would've been better if they'd been relegated to side characters with mentor/helper roles as opposed to taking the spotlight away from the rest of the seven. their succeeding cameos in the other series + the new college reco trilogy makes the blunder all the more grievous.

heroes of olympus did give us a new cast of characters to love. along with all its racist stereotypes and pitfalls, it also diversified the percy jackson world. if not for the mid-2010s fandom who took up the slack of unexplored storylines and potential, these characters would be very much not impressioned on us. and as a successor to a series that was so deeply driven by family, friendship, love, and belonging, that it couldn't consistently humanize its main cast was the biggest sin.

[coldgoldlazarus]

Metroid Movie/TV Series Style Options, from most to least likely, because I have brainrot

- Live action with a more 'realistic' sci-fi aesthetic, probably leaning into the Alien influence. Could be really good, especially as a way to honor that inspiration, but could easily fall flat. Most likely to actually happen, but my least favored. If this is the route taken, I just hope it wouldn't go the way of the Halo Paramount show.

- CGI Animated with style and rendering pretty similar to the games, particularly Prime and Dread. The most simple and sensible option and so also very likely, but also a tad boring just because the games are already doing that.

- Live-action tokusatsu show. Not trying for 'realism' so much as coolness, and just really embracing Samus as a Kamen Rider. Maybe not my preferred option, but I would still love to see it just for the uniqueness of the vibes.

- The sort of in-between compromise between 'realism' and tokusatsu approaches to live-action (plus some very obvious CGI) that characterized the Prime and Fusion commercials. Not very likely at all, and would probably not land as well as just leaning fully into one direction or the other, but it would be a fun and unique approach to see, especially if it has the same sort of blend of genuine moody atmosphere and cheesy tryhard edginess as those commercials.

- 2D Animation, Genndy Tartakovsky directing. Would be super cool and stylized, and probably absolutely nail the atmosphere and indirect narrative style best, but I think outside of that one Clone Wars series, the man prefers to work on his own original projects.

- 2D Animation; just a straight-up Metroid Anime. Not impossible, but tbh probably even less likely just because while it's niche over here, my understanding is that Metroid is ironically not really successful at all in Japan itself. Nintendo has called on western developers for basically every game since Fusion for a reason, and so while they could probably call up Studio Trigger or someone to make it happen, I don't think there's too much inclination to take that route. (Especially if Zelda, the way more anime-plausible series, is being given to Hollywood as is.) But it would be pretty cool.

- That specific fucking excellent blended style that characterized the late 90s and early 00s in animated movies. A mix of like, CGI and Rotoscoping and 2D Animation, Mike Mignola influenced character designs, the works. Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Spirit, The Iron Giant, Titan AE, Lilo & Stitch, Treasure Planet, Sinbad, Road To El Dorado, Tarzan, Emperor's New Groove, Brother Bear, ect. A throwback to the Animation Golden Age IMO, basically. (In particular, Atlantis, Treasure Planet, and Lilo & Stitch having the most direct visual comparison/inspiration.) This would be an utterly perfect style for Bionicle, but work slightly less well for Metroid, admittedly, just given the vibe favors grandiosity more than eeriness, and I also don't expect it to happen at all in the first place. But I want it SO MUCH.

[rancid-zinnia-onthepatio]

MCU's Mysterio was lackluster.

DISCLAIMER: if you like MCU Mysterio THAT IS FINE. I probably love a character you dislike! This is my opinion, it’s not fact.

I become very passionate about characterization, so it’s likely this can be seen as an overreaction to other people. But this is what I like to do so :DDD (I love over-analyzing characters)

So, I���ve obviously been in a Mysterio phase the past little while. I watched Far From Home because I had only heard from people around me about the MCU version of the character. I never watched any MCU movies (besides NWH when it came out), so I didn't know what to expect. At this point, I have watched all of TSSM, read Mysterio’s first issue and a couple others from that era, watched his episodes in the ‘94 cartoon, read Webspinners, and Amazing Mary Jane. I say I have some understanding of what/who Mysterio essentially is.

MCU’s Mysterio, in my opinion, isn’t a good representation of who Mysterio is as a character. The movie seems to only understand him at a surface level. What similarities does MCU’s version have with the common comic consensus? He’s good with technology (and some acting), he’s a liar and a manipulator, and was underappreciated by the people around him. They both also mention illusions, as that is Mysterio’s ENTIRE shtick.

However, I’d argue MCU’s version doesn’t really delve as much into that aspect as it could. Yes, at the time of Mysterio’s debut in the comics, CGI wasn’t really a thing. Perhaps the MCU decided to “modernize” him. But instead, it felt to me, like someone painting an old Victorian house beige to modernize it. Changing his practical effects/magician knowledge to an understanding of holograms feels cheap. Comic Mysterio would absolutely HATE exclusively using CGI. Do other variants use holograms? Yes, TSSM used them a few times. But he also included practical props and magic tricks. Mysterio is a multi-media creative, not just a technician. (To me, anyway.)

The last scene of the movie that features Beck had the perfect opportunity for him to use a robotic clone instead of ANOTHER hologram to trick Peter while he was dying. The smoke surrounding him could've been emitted by the drones, but it was holographic too.

But, holograms are all MCU Beck knows. The other members of his crew had all of the creative or technical traits that the multi-talented stuntman of the comics would have. His character, Quentin, wasn’t even his idea. (Quentin isn’t even his real name, apparently. But we never find out his real name, we just know him as Beck.)

He’s a liar and a manipulator, sure, but that's the most he has that's really in line with who Mysterio is.

He doesn’t have that signature ego the traditional Mysterio is solely reliant on. (To the point where most jabs about him made by Spidey are about said pride. Even in an old PS2 game he called a large robot version of Mysterio “almost as big as [his] ego.”)

When he saves the city from the water elemental, he simply salutes and leaves while the crowd cheers. Mysterio would encourage the cheering, revel in it, as that’s who he is. Hell, even while fighting every elemental in the movie, he does not even try to make a snarky remark or make himself seem cool. (He never even speaks! Only when Peter joins him in fighting does he speak during fights, but it's only to Peter.) Webspinners gave us the idea that Beck knows he’s not the coolest guy ever, but as Mysterio, he can be greater. There is no separation between Beck and Mysterio in the movie, there’s hardly a mask he is putting on (or rather fishbowl). Sure, he tells Spider-Man that “Mysterio is the truth!” seemingly to make Mysterio a symbol, but it falls flat for me.

Usually, Beck and Mysterio are almost two distinct people. Mysterio in the movie has no signature voice or way of speech that makes him grander than the average joe Beck is.

MCU Beck’s given backstory can be interesting, if it weren’t for how it is framed. Note: I do not care about Tony Stark or any of his friends, everything I know about him is surface level. Beck expresses that his holographic technology was taken by Stark and insulted. Supposedly, Beck was fired for being, as he put it, “unstable.” We do not see what this really means. How this scene read to me is that a rich man took advantage of an employee, and thus framed him as mentally unwell to discredit him should he speak up. It could be from my knowledge of Disney’s employee treatment that gives me this icky feeling seeing this scene being framed as “unreasonable” in a way. How dare Beck, a man who’s life's work was stolen and insulted by someone much more powerful than him, get angry at the MCU’s golden boy?

Could Beck be an unreliable narrator here? Absolutely, but from what I heard this is not the first time something like this happens in regards to Stark.

Beck, to me, didn’t read like a loser who puts on a fishbowl to take on a much bigger personality. He feels like a man who you could replace with anyone, and it wouldn’t make that much of a change.

It is such a difference watching that movie, then watching any of his variants in cartoons or reading them in the comics. It’s not even an interesting difference. It’s not a twist on his character that makes me go “Oh, that’s cool.” I'm just left disappointed.

If Beck wasn’t framed as an irrational, short-tempered monster after his “twist reveal,” there could be something to say about his character. He has a legitimate reason to be upset, but it sucks that that is the only motivation he has (and that this motivation drives him so up the wall that he’s willing to kill Peter and mass amounts of people. Mysterio is rarely framed as a killer, from what I’ve seen.).

Yes, Beck is traditionally a very petty man. But my issue is that the backstory also just HAS to include Tony for the sake of Disney's meatriding of him and for Peter's grief the whole movie.

If we use this backstory for him, it could be a representation of lower wage employees being treated as disposable. It could give him some much needed depth. This depth is lost when he gets the “angry killer” characterization after his reveal. It no longer feels like a backstory that makes the audience sympathetic towards him, it feels like we’re just supposed to see that story as the supporting evidence for him being “unstable.” (Because Disney doesn’t want us to side with the lower wage employees that they regularly take advantage of. Look guys! He’s the villain for a reason!)

I could be wrong. This could be a show of how a grudge can turn you into a shell of your former self and lead you down a bad path. Perhaps Beck did have some mental health issues that enhanced his irrationality and anger, but I don’t think that was the intent at all. The framing doesn't feel like we're supposed to feel bad for him. But I do to an extent.

MCU “Quentin” Beck does not feel like Mysterio. He just feels like a guy who knows how to make holograms and maybe says the word "illusion" five or so times.

The illusion Peter is stuck in before he gets hit by a train is actually the only scene I like. There are creative visuals and trippy imagery. But that's one scene, and it's not even that long. Disney, you made the pink elephants on parade segment, do that more.

I simply wished we got the pathetic theater major we ("we" as in Mysterio likers) know and love.

tagged: @mango-water, @cronchyy2, @bluebutterflytears

[eowynstwin]

same anon who sent the ask abt price: MW3's writing was embarrassing tbh. i agree 100% that narratively, its the most logical and sensible for price to be the one who takes the fall. what you wrote i flat out completely agree with, and its deeply disappointing that we are stuck with an extremely poorly written and rushed story. the game was a hot steamy pile. everyone was slightly out of character, they all growled their lines like mad dogs, and the missions were ass. i cant believe no one talks about the mission where you get anti arab hate crimed. what was that??? what was the reason??? (the only thing i liked about that game were the 9 minutes of nikolai. i just find him entertaining.) i was replaying mw2019 while super high and got to the mission where you threaten the butchers wife and son and just thought to myself; that lady and that kid are gonna have nightmares about price for the rest of their lives. that room is going to come back to them again and again and again. they literally did nothing wrong except the crime of being the butchers family. what price and gaz did is never going to leave them, and gaz was right to question price on that. of course, the game doesn't care at all. they're disposable NPCS for a shock value scene. i dunno, the fact that the game doesn't really give a fuck, and seemingly even condones what happened, just kinda hit different and i had to put the game down for the evening. i guess that hit at that moment bc i had also read a fic a bit earlier where the reader was price's civvy gf and gets kidnapped by his enemies. it bent my brain a bit bc, the thing in the fic is literally a canon event perpetuated by price, portrayed as a good thing by the source material, that now price is the victim of. it was a very weird feeling for my weed addled brain to try and process. think i blue screened actually. i wanna put price in a jar and shake him vigorously. pin him to a board like a entomology insect. i want to bite him. i do love him i swear. but maybe make him actually face a single real consequence for his war crimes? (disappointing that it will never happen on screen bc these games are all gas no breaks outright propaganda. not to mention real war crimes are happening constantly in front of everyone's eyes and going completely unpunished) sorry this is really long, i have no one to talk to abt these games and i dont understand my feelings toward that British man

Yeah. The thing about Price is that he's not a good person in the slightest. We write fiction about the kind of man he can be--the best version of himself, a version we can all stomach--but the real Price is distinct from that, and the best people in this fandom recognize that.

Soap and Ghost have some plausible deniability simply because we haven't seen them doing anything other than action movie stuff. Gaz is on the road to becoming Price--Price is doing his damndest to turn Gaz into himself--but he isn't there yet. (@391780 did a GREAT analysis of the driving scene in mw19 and how Price subtly manipulates Gaz, but I can't find it.)

EDIT: Early kindly provided.

We, as the audience, are not actually supposed to worry that much about the Butcher's family, because Price is one of the Good Guys who would never let something Bad actually happen. Infinity Ward does not take the Butcher's family seriously, and does not want us to take the family seriously, because they are just a convenient vehicle with which to move the plot along. Their presence is, in the end, shock value. We are meant to stare, wide-eyed, wondering is Price really going to go that far? while in the back of our minds knowing of course he's not, because he's our hero. He's just doing whatever it takes. The family is not meant to be anything other than fodder for Price's characterization.

Same with Samara. We are not supposed to care all that much about her, personally--we're supposed to marvel over Makarov's canny brutality, his bRiLLiANcE in recognizing the obvious fact that an Arab woman would make a perfect scapegoat for a plane bombing. Samara does not matter to MW3. Only the shocking way she dies. None of these Arab characters matter to Call of Duty--only the entertainment value of their pain.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but I am reminded of when Price threw a man restrained into a bomb jacket off a balcony, with not a shred of remorse afterword. I'm forced to ask the question--who would Price scapegoat, then, if he felt justified enough?

And yeah, he's never going to suffer the consequences of his actions, because Infinity Ward doesn't think he's actually done anything wrong. We throw the word propaganda around a lot without actually defining it, but Price is emblematic of how the propaganda of Call of Duty works. Price does something reprehensible, and is shown to be justified in doing it--implying that real men like him are justified, too, because don't you understand how little choice Price had? Don't you get that there's no good choice to be made? This is how he has to act, and this is how all soldiers have to act, because war is a dirty business, and someone needs to be willing to do it for the benefit of the ignorant public.

The question of why any of this should be happening at all is never asked.

[ethanhuntfemmefatale]

fuck it. ethan hair ranking

it's saturday im bored i don't want to practice mozart anymore. let's go

I'm gonna rank bottom to top this time and include visual aids. none of my choices are going to be much of a surprise to anyone who knows my particular tastes I think.

7. Dead Reckoning Part 1

Ethan is just gorgeous in this movie but his hair doesn’t do it for me. It’s short enough that it can’t have the same personality as it does at Fallout or MI1 length. It looks good on him! But it’s kinda flat. It's just fine. Also it doesn’t strike me as being a character choice so much as a “McQ likes TC’s hair better short” choice

6. Fallout

I would like to formally apologize to arc @callmearcturus i am sorry for slandering your boy like this. I love him too. fallout ethan is objectively the finest look that ethan has ever had I love him even above my dearly beloved MI1 ethan. He's deeply beautiful and i love him so much my heart hurts. but for me it's not the hair it's the Vibes. the vibes are here but the hair is just. it's a haircut. It's just normal to me, it’s floofy which I appreciate but. still. It’s a nice looking cut. Good for cosplaying a man. Utilitarian. It works well on Ethan but it doesn't capture my fascination.

5. MI3

it might also be time for me to formally apologize to mar @malewifebillcage for slandering her boy.......mi3 ethan's hair is also just a cut to me. and objectively i think the fallout cut even looks better on him. but I love MI3 hair dearly and deeply for character reasons because it’s such an aggressively rom com cut it really feels like Ethan googled “house husband” for reference pics. so i like it better cause it amuses me

4. MI1

I'd like to formally apologize to myself for slandering my own boy. (Also Luther in the back hi Luther I love you.) Ethan's hair in this movie is also excellent characterization and provides a perfect baseline for all my Ethan Hunt hair meta thoughts. And it’s so expressive! I love how spiky it is! That being said while it has a lot of personality it is simply not as aesthetically gorgeous to me as some of the cuts I ranked higher. MI1 Ethan I’m sorry

3. Rogue Nation

rogue nation Ethan literally takes my breath away at times with how beautiful he is. I am obsessed with the subtle length and swoop and the way it falls over his forehead. It’s the kind of hair that says “I had my gender crisis years ago and decided my gender was Gorgeous”. And yet it isn’t Character Driven enough for me to have it at the top

2. MI2

mi2 hair i think about you all the time.

both rich in Character Implication and mind-blowingly pretty. This is his hot girl summer hair his cherry bomb by the runaways hair it’s his ‘blew up my dad who wants me’ hair. It’s so far from the MI1 ingenue that it leaves manwhore in the dust and wraps back around to ingenue again. This is the hair of a man (????) who is trying so very hard to be absolutely anything other than what he is that he becomes exactly what he doesn’t like being. Every single image of him with this hair is like a masterclass in gender and rebellion and trauma and self discovery. and I Want To Run My Hands Through It.

But! there is something about the MI2 hair that feels. Styled and calculated and superficial. Hair for an Effect. Which is part of what I love about it! It’s also why this hair isn’t my absolute favorite. That title goes to:

Ghost Protocol

Ghost Protocol hair my absolute fucking beloved. What tips this hair over the edge for me is the way it looks when he’s tired and disheveled, in the prison breakout scene, in the car after the Kremlin, etc. This hair feels so natural for him, it’s a bit wild and floppy and makes him look kinda like a Creature instead of a man (I mean this in the most flattering way possible). He’s not trying to claim gender the way he is in MI2 or MI3, he’s…doing his own thing. It’s somehow both a utilitarianism and an indulgence. He’s not trying to fit in anywhere, he’s not trying to be anything, he’s in his base state and it’s fucking gorgeous. I guess for me this is the thing—MI4 is the movie where Ethan doesn’t have to function as a member of society, and has been free of functioning as a member of society for a while now. And this is the result. I could stare at him forever<3

[forthegothicheroine]

One of my favorite negative reviews

I can’t find a full text of it online, so I’m going to copy out some big chunks of Stephen Hunter’s retrospective on Gone with the Wind, which apparently resulted in lots of angry letters to the editor.

Long, stupid, ugly and, alas, back for the sixth time (in theaters, innumerable television showings have preceded this rerelease), it is probably the most beloved bad movie of all time, as its adjusted box office gross of $5 billion makes clear. If you love it, that is fine; but don’t confuse its gooeyness, its spiritual ugliness, its solemn self-importance, with either art or craft, for it boasts none of the former and only a bit of the latter. It is one of the least remarkable films of that most remarkable of American movie years, 1939. In fact, far from being one of the greatest American films ever made, I make it merely the twenty-eighth best film of 1939! It may not even have been the best movie that opened on December 15, 1939! It is overrated, overlong, and overdue for oblivion.

Of the various characters and actors:

It’s profoundly misogynistic...the secret pleasure of the film is watching Scarlett O’Hara being punished for the sin of selfhood. The movie delights in her crucifixion, even to the point of conjuring the death of a child as apt punishment for her ambitions. Her sin, really, is the male sin: the pride which goeth before the fall...

Leslie Howard was a great actor and a brave man, who raced home to join his unit when World War II broke out, thereby missing the famous December Atlanta premiere. He was killed in 1943 when the Nazis shot down a plane he was in. Let us lament him as we lament all the men who gave their lives to stop that evil. That said, the truth remains that on screen, he was a feathery creature, best cast as the foil to Bogart’s brutish Duke Mantee in The Petrified Forest, where his cathedral-abutment cheekbones gave him the look of an alabaster saint in the wall of an Italian church. But he was about as believable as a sexual object as he would have been as Duke Mantee...

The wondrous Olivia de Havilland was an actress of spunk and pizazz, and she gave as good as she got, even across from such hammy scene stealers as her longtime costar Flynn. But she, too, is trashed by Gone with the Wind as sugary Melanie Wilkes, a character of such selfless sweetness she could give Santa Claus a toothache.

Of the film as art:

Too much spectacle, not enough action. David O. Selznick, who produced the film and rode it to immortality, didn’t understand the difference between the two. Thus the film has a fabulous but inert look to it; the story is rarely expressed in action but only in diorama-like scenes. It is curiously flat and unexciting. Even the burning of Atlanta lacks dynamism and danger; it’s just a dapple of flickering orange filling the screen without the power and hunger of a real fire. And the movie’s most famous shot- the camera pulling back to reveal Scarlett in a rail yard of thousands of bleeding, tattered Confederate soldiers- makes exactly the wrong point. It seems to be suggesting that Scarlett has begun to understand that the war is much bigger than she is. And yet she never changes. The shot means nothing in terms of character; it’s an editorial aside that really misleads us.

Of the film’s message:

From its opening credits, which characterize the South as a lost land of lords and ladies, to its final images of Tara nestling among the Georgia dogwood, the movie buys into a myth that completely robs the region of its truth. Love it or hate it, it’s a land (as Faulkner knew) in which the nobility of its heroism lived side by side with the ugliness of its Original Sin: slavery. I’m not attacking the South here, just Margaret Michell and Selznick’s version of it. Other movies or 1939 were beginning to find the courage to express some subtle ideas. One of them was John Ford’s Young Mr. Lincoln.

Of its comparison to other 1939 movies:

I found 797 titles from the year 1939, had seen fewer than a tenth of them, and even on that small list there were 27 that struck me as fundamentally better than Gone with the Wind, movies that I would watch again with utter delight. They are: Allegheny Uprising, Another Thin Man, Babes in Arms, Beau Geste, Confessions of a Nazi Spy, Dark Victory, Dodge City, Drums Along the Mohawk, Golden Boy, Gunga Din, Juarez, The Light that Failed, Made for Each Other, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Ninotchka, Of Mice and Men, The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, The Real Glory, The Roaring Twenties, Stagecoach, The Story of Alexander Graham Bell, The Three Musketeers, Union Pacific, The Wizard of Oz, The Women, Wuthering Heights, and Young Mr. Lincoln.

Dammit, my dear, I’m just being frank.

[synthmusic91]

my full review of past lives (2023) dir. celine song

this movie really wanted me to believe i watched a better movie.

the characters are flat as hell, and the only reason this is as widely acclaimed as it is is because it looks like a movie that would win a bunch of awards. it’s an attempt to reverse causality by appropriating the indicators of something that would be a tear-jerker without actually having any depth whatsoever. other people have mentioned this already, though, so I won’t rehash it here.

what i’m wondering is like, what did celine song even want to accomplish here? there’s the transcendent romance angle, which is thoroughly undercut by 1. nora not even remembering hae sung’s name and 2. her insisting from the beginning that they have no chance together AND 3. NORA BEING A CALLOUS PERSON. did anyone else get that vibe? throughout the movie, we’re given zero indication that she cares about hae sung’s general wellbeing. he’s always just following her around like a lost puppy. it’s been 24 years, man. this is childish.

then there’s the pragmatism angle, which i think fits better…but still doesn’t fit well. because in order for the pragmatism to work, we’d need to see a lot more of nora’s mundane life. she wouldn’t still be chasing after white people’s silly awards. more importantly, PRAGMATISM INVOLVES GRIEF. pragmatism is letting go of dreams and ideals to maintain the current moment. it’s loss of childhood innocence, of freedom, of home, etc. but is this grief present throughout the movie? no. “but she cries at the end!” no. this is again an attempt to reverse causality. as if this single event recontextualizes her 24 years of glibness. IT DOESN’T!!! she does NOT feel grief here!!! song’s refusal to engage with such a fundamental aspect of pragmatism means this theme falls flat as well.

the theming is so muddled. it seems like the only constant here is that nora refuses to even entertain the idea of a life with hae sung. she callously leaves him again and again and again. amidst all of this poor characterization and nebulous writing, one thing is for certain: nora and hae sung never had a chance. the west (and only the west, because her passionless marriage certainly isn't tugging on anyone's heartstrings) was nora’s only choice.

but nora isn’t some savant. she’s “just some girl from Korea”. she’s actually rather plain. why the insistence, then, that “Korea was too small for her”? was there really no room for doubt, for hope that Korea could offer her similar opportunities?

apparently this movie is semi-autobiographical which…makes a lot of sense. as an east asian american woman, i’ve noticed that there’s a subgenre of east asian american woman that 1. loves navel gazing and 2. pathologically denies the possibility that they’ve ever made the wrong choices in life. past lives feels like a product of these two decidedly art-ruining drives. despite the outward insistence that hae sung and nora could’ve been something, their story only exists so nora can knock it back down. past lives feels dogmatic��not like a story in its own right, but like a platitude, someone’s attempt to justify the choices they’ve made for themselves.

[pickypickypeak]

thoughts on wish. (spoilers below)

just a nice, harmless, old-fashioned disney movie. not disney's best by far, but far far FAR from bad

animation was good. full stop

the soundtrack. julia michaels is an amazing songwriter and I feel like her style gives this movie soundtrack a very unique vibe among disney classics. maybe she went just a little too pop-ish in some parts that required more broadway styled tunes and lyrics

loved the introduction with the classic disney book

some critic said the disney easter eggs and references were distracting or like,, they were trying to cover up a bad plot with easter eggs for fanservice. well not true lol. I don’t consider bambi’s mom blink and miss cameo as fanservice I consider it childhood trauma coming back. where’s the fanservice in it

people from all over the world coming to rosas. liked that

“welcome to rosas” was okay I just wonder if she does this for any person coming to rosas. like. like it’s a job? she’s getting paid?

asha is a nice character, despite falling a bit under the "adorkable" main girl stereotype. I still feel like she's well characterized, she is stubborn, selfless and will do anything for her family. stan

valentino's not annoying as you'd think

asha's friends are so cool please I love them all so much HOWEVER some of their lines felt a little flat?? they could have been WAY more fun easily I just wish they had more screen time

gabo is wasted potential you can't tell me otherwise

dahlia was literally nerfed you know that

I love that they picked simon to be the depressed one (he’s meant to represent sleepy from seven dwarfs)

bazeema randomly disappearing because she's an introvert she's so right we do that sometimes

I've seen people complaining about disney being politically correct (as always...) for finally making a movie with a classic villain and then making him redeemable, well he's not?? movie ends up bad for him just like with old villains?? this is literally what we’ve been asking for, a villain who is just a villain. king magnifico has motivations of course but still does bad things and gets punishment for that. classic old school disney villain. don’t know what you want

queen amaya, my love whom I owe my life, marry me

“at all costs” listen. this felt a little out of place. that’s because they apparently changed the context to the song. it was supposed to be a love duet between asha and a scrapped human version of star who was like. a jack frost-y character who fell in love with asha. in the final movie, asha and magnifico are singing to the wishes. it still kinda works, but I really wish we got to see the other way round. looks like they really didn’t want to go full classic love story route, but it’s a shame. I’m sure that would have been beautiful and very very disney. the demo version sung by julia michaels and benjamin rice gives you a glimpse of what might have been and it’s just so good, you should really listen to it

actually listen to all the song demos

that one lady screaming in the crowd I forgot her name but shout out to her

asha's family was there

her grandfather turning 100 just like disney and wishing to inspire people and then composing when you wish upon a star after the credits?? so what??? this man is disney???? wtf????? crying

“this wish” bop. next

star’s not annoying as you’d think

the animals were cute john the bear my beloved also the mushrooms please

“I’m a star” actually empowered me okay!!! you know what that squirrel is fucking right we are fucking stars!!!!

“thank you for not eating me john” “you’re welcome bambi” that was wild

breakdancing chickens and it didn’t feel cringe. a miracle perhaps

asha’s friends are so normal about star

simon being sad about making star sad… certified good guy

did I mention I wish we got more of asha’s friends

anyway why does star only grant the animals’ wishes. why do all animals just wish they can talk human

I'm thinking screaming lady's name was sania maybe??

“this is the thanks I get?!” is the perfect song for magnifico. way more in character than “at all costs”

magnifico coming to asha’s house was scary

asha really can swim is she also moana or smth

simon betraying her broke me. never trusting a himbo again

“knowing what I know now” instant bop. please all of them singing together about magnifico being a bastard? queen amaya suddenly entering the room and the music stops and they all just stand there like oh man we fucked up? and then the queen just slams the door and bursts into singing about her husband being a bastard too?? that gave me major chills like yeah girl leave him take me instead

asha and wands: a love story

the bunnies please

“this wish (reprise)” they really defeated the villain with the power of friendship AND by singing this is the most disney movie to ever disney

queen amaya becoming the single queen she deserves to be you go girl (but I'll still have her if she wants me)

simon my man we forgive you you were depressed. it’s not your fault

asha becoming a fairy godmother is actually kind of cool

"oh so you wanna fly? nice. meet peter pan" honey you say it so casually

A BIT SALTY ABOUT THE ENDING. it's not bad but that would have been WAY more emotional if they let us see asha say goodbye to star. especially because they say it's gonna happen soon, so what's the point in not showing us?? asha and star hugging and crying and then star flying up to the sky. asha looking up at the stars, smiling with tears in her eyes and then the camera moves up to the sky and star has become THE star like the one in pinocchio and princess and the frog. all of this with the "this wish" instrumental. that was a perfect way to wrap it!! also oh my gosh imagine asha saying goodbye to star boy!!! ç_ç

the credits with various characters were a nice touch but why on sweet planet earth did they put yokai as a representative of big hero 6

the credits song, "a wish worth making" just... exists. the lyrics though. they hit hard

I really stayed until the end of the credits just to watch 3 seconds of sabino playing music

final verdict: was ALL the hate for this movie deserved? hell no maybe you should just remember you’re a star and relax

[rubyashes]

Since the start of last year, I've decided to watch every episode of every season of Precure (and their related movies and such). Yesterday I finally finished watching Heartcatch, and decided it best to start logging my feelings on the generations for the most part.

Since this is the first of hopefully many posts, I'll just shotgun my feelings of everything leading up to Heartcatch, starting with:

Futari wa Precure/Max Heart: As far as precure seasons go, the first gen is great at making action and combat scenes engaging while also taking special care to make trying to recreate them as safe as possible through little things like a focus on guarded body blows and the girls landing flat on their backs instead of their limbs or heads. More importantly though, it was a believable depiction of the relationship between Nagisa and Honoka (and eventually Hikari) as middle school girls, along with their growth as people over the course of 2 years. Totally worth a watch as a piece of media.

Splash Star: This might be a bit disingenuous, but for the most part Splash Star copies a lot of Futari Wa's homework on story structure, with even some of the episode progression feeling like a beat for beat retelling. However, even in these parts it still tells a story of the girls' personal growth. Where it has an edge as a series though is easily in fostering a sense of community between the precure, their school and the town as a whole, as well as really hammering in the importance of not giving up into the minds of the younger generation. It's a bit of an inherent second placer, but it's got strengths that no other season so far has been able to meet.

Yes! Precure 5/5 Go Go!: Even when not immediately touching on the problems with Coco and Nuts as a whole, I can't say the precure 5 did all too much for me as a group. I love the French aesthetic of the city they live in, but it felt underexplored as far as landmarks went. Rin and Karen being rivals, along with the episodes where Urara got to follow her singing endeavours were good, but I just feel like they were phoning it in overall. Precure 5 de chance is still the best animated episode(s) in the series so far though, so you can watch it just for that.

Fresh Precure: Where the precure 5 felt like they weren't giving their best at what they were doing, Fresh Precure felt like they didn't know what to give their best to. It felt like a lot of episodes were dedicated to exploring a type of storytelling style that could engage the new, older audience they were gunning for, but for the most part their inability to commit cost them some points. Still, I appreciated how the finale was handled a lot, and I think if they spread that a bit more over the series it would have done a lot to help the narrative.

Heartcatch Precure: Giving credit where it's due, this season did try a bit harder to give the girls unique skillsets, even if it's still just energy blasts and shields. It helped with characterization and was generally good design. The Desert Apostles are also distinctively unique to the point they could be sole antagonists of their own arcs, and seeing them interact with each other was always endearing. I probably still like Dark Fall better as an evil organization, but The Desert Apostles are a strong second place.

I still have a long way to go, but I'm happy I started this journey, and I hope Suite Precure innovates even further.

[luna-rainbow]

Oh no I totally agree that it is undoubtedly fair, truly warranted, to criticize the way the attempt to rewrite his victim hood into him being at fault. I less so sent that ask towards you (bc I’ve followed you for a long time and know how you feel) and more so in a response to other anons. Truly, the erasure of Bucky being a victim sends me over the edge and the whole thunderbolts thing has me raging. That wasn’t really what I was trying to get at in my first ask. And I very very much agree that the whole ‘amends’ and Sam’s (ooc) line of basically tell him to man up and work harder, etc., was all rooted in toxic masculinity from the writers. I was more so trying to say that even though TFATWS did have some major issues, I don’t think Bucky was completely off from his prior characterization, unfortunately they did seem to teeter back and forth and be contradictory with his trauma. Especially considering some of the stuff the cast and crew have said in interviews that do lean towards Bucky being a victim. But when you look at a majority of his actual behaviors and personality, it’s pretty fitting unlike some people try to argue. While the whole going to Zemo thing was wildly unlike Bucky, I do think that him being shitty to Sam doesn’t really fall into the same category. I say that because some times, just real people, characters can be assholes and they have flaws, and you know in the end he knew he was in the wrong and partially didn’t understand Sam’s reasoning. So I do think that isn’t a mistake on the writers part but that’s just my personal opinion. In all, while I do think he wasn’t done justice or utilized properly, Bucky’s primary characterization wasn’t wrong. It was more so the way the storyline tried to depict him and how some of the other characters treated him.

Ah, thanks for coming back to provide more context 😅

To be honest, I credit Seb with 90% of Bucky’s characterisation in the movies and the show. Let’s face it, Bucky’s characterisation was pretty thin if we’re going off the scripts alone (including the movies). He was a plot device for Steve, not a fully written person. Seb was the one who made Bucky give the long weighty looks to Steve during the war, the child-like confusion during the conversation with Pierce, and those sad reflective half-smiles during CACW/IW/EG. He’s a small side character with an exceptional narrative importance, and a lesser actor would have just peeled off the lines and called it a day. Seb went hard into it - he researched vets and PTSD, he made headcanons for Bucky’s relationship with Steve and even his fighting style, for a character that had 15 lines in the movie with his name in the title and only 2 emotive scenes, he’s tried very hard to make it a believable, human emotional journey.

If you look purely at Bucky’s lines in TFATWS — particularly his to-and-fro with his therapist, Zemo and even some of the ones with Sam, under a different actor they could have been aggravating, petulant and caustic. Sebastian kept it consistent with Bucky’s journey up to now — he was weary, uneasy and always a little vulnerable under the gruffness. Sebastian is very good at doing vulnerable, and that alone saved Bucky from being a flat alpha male. Under a different directorial/writer team I would have said they did a good job with the consistency, but MCU directors since Russo’s are notorious for letting their actors take the reins with their characters especially for emotional beats. By and large, because they’ve been so lucky with their casting, that’s worked, but it’s going to fray at the seams eventually.

I think one of the reasons why people say Bucky was out of character (apart from some of the decisions) was that he had a period of healing in Wakanda, and when we saw him in IW he was smiling and friendly. When we meet Bucky in TFATWS he’s raw and nervous again, and something has made his recovery go backwards. The series then avoids the giant elephant in the room for both Sam and Bucky, which was how much hurt EG!Steve’s decision caused both of them…so while we can understand the context for Bucky’s anger, that context was never acknowledged to be true…and if we ignore that context, then there’s no reason his recovery should have gone backwards.

TFATWS was full of crappy contradictions like this.

[din-skywalker]

Haven't done this before, not big on social media in general honestly, but I found your blog and it's the first one I've seen that doesn't want to either just lust after Miguel or push his complex character down into some evil person to despise. He's not black and white, his decisions are backed by circumstances too complicated to just be labelled as bad and thrown away, and he is trying to do the right thing. How is it some horrid thing to not want to watch another universe fall apart? I mean the train bit was harsh lmao, but I can imagine he wasn't thinking right for a multitude of reasons. I saw the movie and decided to finally do an in depth read of his comics after prodding at them over the years, and I'm sure you can imagine my disappointment when I realised how different everyone else thinks of him after falling in love with his complex characterisation when deciding to branch out and if I could possibly find people who also enjoy it. Not to mention the lack of good fanfiction, which I might have to try and fix myself. Everyone's too focused on romance, with children of all people, or painting him as this monstrous person. But I digress. I'm rambling a little. I saw you have a discord and I was curious about if I could possibly join? It'd be nice to be around other people who actually enjoy his comics and don't grossly misinterpret his character. Pardon in advance if anything I say doesn't make sense, I'm dyslexic and sometimes stringing words together cohesively is difficult.

everything you said makes sense! i'm glad my blog was a nice change for you <3

i agree with everything you have said as well- he's either misinterpreted for being super sexy and lustful or evil and horrible. both boiling him down to a flat characterization.

as for the server- yes! you may join!

if anyone else is interested keep in mind this server is for EVERY kind of miguel and not just the movie, there are no minors allowed, and nsfw is highly discouraged (there is only one channel where those discussions are allowed). if you're still interested, here's an invite! we'll probably be closing invites soon so join quickly :)

[brucenorris007]

When has it ever been called a Super Star?

It’s Power Star you uncultured.... Ugh.

Super Star is the term they occasionally use in Mario Party games

NOT A POWER UP

They did get Mario’s curiosity right; even while he’s worried the whole way through about Luigi, he’s still looking all around this new world with awe and wonder.

Not sure about him being cocky, even if it’s to compensate for the fact that people have been telling him he’s destined for failure all his life, but as new takes on established characters go, it’s all right.

Nice of Peach to not once ask Mario his name the whole night he trained.

And again, BRO DIDN’T SLEEP; ATE MUSHROOMS TILL HE MADE HIMSELF SICK, AND DIDN’T SLEEP! If anyone tries to spin this movie into another dumbass theory that Mario secretly hates Luigi, it’s grounds for maiming.

And Luigi’s first scene in the Mushroom world, just after he gets through the door and bolts it against the Dry Bones and thinks he’s safe?

Shy Guys as the hidden threat revealed with a flash of lightning were the perfect choice.

Creepy as fuck!

Mario’s obvious discomfort being in the spotlight, that’s spot on; as his career spans over the years, he’ll learn to shrug it off, but it’s so clear that he really didn’t anticipate being involved in such a huge conflict just to find his brother.

Toad was the character who got the most of an overhaul I feel and the little dude was funny, crazy, and brought some of the wacky cartoon energy the movie needed.

The dialogue is... Well. It is.

The storytelling aspects from a visual standpoint were done well; power ups, facial expressions, characterization through how each of the cast moves their bodies. And yes, the animation working in motion was stellar.

Sometimes the spoken stuff just falls flat. Exchanges between the bros are still always cute and wholesome (and of course anything the brothers have to say about each other is cute and wholesome “HE’S MY BROTHER MARIO AND HE’S THE BEST GUY IN THE WHOLE WO-HO-HO-HORLD!”), Bowser is clearly having the most fun of all the cast (rightfully so, as JB is the one with the most VA experience, and he gets to be musical in the movie so he could not be more stoked) and like I said, Toad’s a crazy fun little dude. Rogen was rough, not gonna lie.

That only really accounts for a bit more than half the overall dialogue though, is the thing. Doesn’t quite bring the movie down, but there could’ve been a little more polish. And at times things like Peach’s vocalized love of the world isn’t necessary; could’ve let the facial expressions and her mannerisms and the scenery speak for itself. Pratt exceeded expectations in that he didn’t sour the movie as whole, but his performance didn’t make me look forward to hearing Mario, the titular character, speak unless it tied back to Luigi. Which is... not great.

“We’ve never been apart this long.” Toss up for how long the trek to the Kongs actually took, but visually it’s Mario’s second night in the Mushroom world. Less than 48 hours, and he says, melancholy and matter of fact that they’ve never been separated for that long.

The bros are ride or die for each other. I cannot stress enough how important it was the movie got this so so right.

It is baffling to me that they couldn’t work out a longer run time; perhaps not significantly longer, maybe not even breaking the two hour mark, but there are moments when things could have been fleshed out, just pump the brakes a little bit. I’m definitely guilty of abusing the in medias res style of writing to keep things moving, but just a little more time seeing how Peach handles being in charge before she encounters Mario, more time with the characters before the by-the-book switch-of-focus to the other brother.

I mean, if you wanna sell a grand epic adventure as a grand epic adventure, how things play out and are affected on the smaller scale is just as important as the breathtaking panning shots and global scale destruction.

This is pretty basic stuff; the global threat moves the Plot, and the effect said threat has on the characters moves the Viewers/Readers/Players. Gets us invested. Like, okay, Peach as an asskicking action girl-sure, yeah, we can work with that as a take so long as people aren’t weird about how she’s characterized in the games because that also works-but just enough time between her marching out of the war room and encountering Mario for us to see the toll being in charge during wartime has on her.

She’s tired, stressed, and spread thin because as one of her Toads pointed out, her people aren’t exactly built for combat. Then she meets Mario, a man just as willing to throw himself at this power-hungry insane dragon, if for his own reasons, and suddenly she’s not heading out on this pivotal mission by herself. She was going either way, and obviously she makes sure this little red man won’t get himself killed, but even if marginally it’s a relief that there’s someone next to her.

Just little things that show how the conflict affects the cast, gets the viewers invested, convinced of the stakes, all that. I know the visuals could’ve carried a lot of that storytelling because it does some of that like I said, characterizing the cast visually.

Also, as most any writer or viewer on this site will tell you breathing time between action scenes or major plot points does not always constitute filler. PACING, PEOPLE!

By the way, the Rainbow Road sequence is my favorite of the movie and I won’t be taking questions.

Of course Mario’s low point in the movie would be the WATER LEVEL. Okay, all right, yeah movie, if you did that on purpose, that’s some good self-awareness.

Though it is weird that the film says “Oh this heart-to-heart packed with barbs between rivals-turned-reluctant-allies can’t go on too long because it doesn’t fit in with this wacky cartoon video game movie” but somehow the Doomsaying Luma suits things? I dunno.

DK and Mario’s antagonistic not-friendship works real well. They were enemies for a long time in the franchise, stands to reason that they can’t stand each other even while working together.

DK really doesn’t have enough on-screen time for his end of the not-quite heart-to-heart, but then, a lot of potential for character moments seem to have been pushed aside to make space for some admittedly beautiful animation sequences. Which I love, obviously, but ideally you shouldn’t have to sacrifice one for the other, which ties back into what I mentioned about the runtime.

I have other thoughts, but that’s for other, more organized posts.