#terms of writing and direction in general. i love mystery. i love compelling characters.

[cloudbends]

I have so many good things to say about pokemon horizons it genuinely just does so many things right

[deni-means-flor]

Duskwood & Moonvale

The highly anticipated sequel that is utter disappointment.

By: Dení 💜

Hey everyone, remember how I spent about 2 or 3 years singing my high praise for Everbyte Studios and Duskwood (which you can read all about here) and I was so excited for the release of Moonvale, the non-direct sequel set on the same universe?

Yeah? Well, scratch that. While it is too early for me to put a Cultural Studies spin on this review, since the game was released just last week, there's A LOT for us to unpack here, please join me during this first look at Everbyte Studios' Moonvale, out now for Google Play & App Store. And of course, beware for ⚠️ MASSIVE SPOILERS ⚠️ on the course of this text

To start off strong, not only is it highly disappointing that Everbyte decided to go through with AI bullshit assets instead of the beautiful pictures and generally minimalist art design that they got us used to on Duskwood, but then they add insult to injury by deciding to turn THOSE godawful profile pics and backgrounds into a gacha game?!

I'll let Cardi B explain my reaction to the newest Crate system implemented on Moonvale:

And aside from that bullshit, they turn around and decided to ditch the writing style that they had us hooked with on Duskwood (except that this time they improved the English localization very much, ngl) to provide us with an immediate opportunity to romance the first character we meet, almost completely breaking the immersion in the stakes of the whole detective drama plotline.

Though I am very much aware that MANY players loved going through that route with Jake on Duskwood, it does seem highly inappropriate in-universe to be told by Eric that Adam is missing and immediately replying with the equivalent of "omg that sucks for you, wanna date me?" while on Episode 1. The build-up of romantic tension between Main Character (MC) & Jake during the efforts to save Hannah was precisely what made the romantic route so compelling, but considering that the kickstart for most of the in-game events in Moonvale is the mystery surrounding Adam, it would seem common sense that in terms of plot, it would be best if Love as a gameplay option took a while to build up instead of being RIGHT THERE from the get-go (though I'm sadly aware that most of the fandom for Duskwood was CLAMORING for this option to be implemented on Everbyte's socials' comment section for actual years).

Another thing that would have been absolutely gorgeous to build up with higher anticipation is the Duskwood reveal on Moonvale Episode 1... You're really telling me that after all the odyssey to rescue Hannah, seeing Richy's ACTUAL DEATH on the mines, and being concerned for Jake's dissapearance, that our MC will crumble at the slightest pressure from a complete stranger (Ash) and break out the most private details of the story all willy-nilly?! After all this time?! If all this "Save your Duskwood code" and the conversation with Ash does not build up to a fully blown Jake reveal at the end via Adam's gang, this conversation where Duskwood's events are glossed over almost entirely will have been the most anticlimactic part of episode 1.

In my opinion, Everbyte has very much dropped the ball and high standards setup by their highly successful first game, and instead they churned out a rushed out cash grab in order to ride the coattails of the Duskwood fandom hype as fast as possible, with a subpar and very infantilized art design on both the interface and the mini games, because why is there no modern interface that reminisces us of the seriousness of trying to rescue Adam instead of reminding us that most mobile games these days are trying to imitate Candy Crush Saga and its very impressive revenue flow. Who knows?

Though the achievement system seems fascinating, and it provides helpful insights on the steps to follow, along with most useful diamonds needed to continue the plot advancement, wouldn't it have been more accesible for players like me (focused on story) to have an option to just buy the full game at once and opt-out of micro transactions from the get-go, like we did on Duskwood? One of the highest compliments I had for the first game, absolutely obliterated in this follow-up.

The introduction of the very serious envelope addressed to MC with a Tarot card, though very similar to what the Raven was in the story of Duskwood seems highly dissonant with the Moonvale interface art style, since this type of illustrations and backgrounds do not seem to get aligned with ANY of the story elements that Moonvale could potentially present in the next episodes, and whose harmony with the art style in the previous game made us get hooked onto the Duskwood storyline since episode 1...

Would it be too presumptuous of me to tell you that I hated Ash, Charlie and Violet's lackluster personalities as soon as I was introduced to them? We can see that they may follow a very similar trope to some of the gang members from Duskwood with absolutely none of the charisma. If we were to define them in pairs, we get Ash and Lilly, Charlie and Richy, Violet and... idk, Cleo's mom who we briefly hear about on the last episodes of Duskwood? (Yeah, that's how little we hear about/from Violet on episode 1, her cat's name at most). If Eric will end up being a stubborn Thomas or hopeful Jesy type, it remains to be seen.

I cannot possibly be the only one who would have been willing to wait for a while longer until we could get a game as compelling and as beautifully designed as Duskwood, instead of what Moonvale is, at the end of the day.

If you have the opportunity to download Moonvale this early in release, I'd say: Waste it. The only reason I'm going to try to finish the Moonvale storyline is to see what are the Duskwood conclusions and easter eggs that we were promised for at least 2 years but so far, I'd give this game a 5/10, hoping very much that the storyline improves as we go along, and incredibly disappointed in the gacha/mini game mechanics and art style.

And I mean this critique with the utmost love and respect for the Everbyte team behind the development. Criticism is a labor of love, and all the love I have for the original game, means my highest hopes for improvement in this sequel. Though I commend your efforts, being a smaller development studio, all the opportunities for improvement are not lost on me.

Here's hoping the storyline makes up for the interface on the upcoming installments for Moonvale.

[secondhandsorrows]

Is Your Story High or Low Concept?

All stories are developed from an idea. In one way or another, they’re shaped from anything you draw inspiration from, from snippets of interesting conversation you’ve heard while sitting in a café, or a particular piece of art that captures your attention, or a character you’ve come up with that you just adore so much you just want a story with them in it. You may have a few general concepts in mind, but perhaps it’s not a story quite yet. In fact, you may not even have a premise. 

So how do you know whether your story idea is low concept or high concept?

First, let’s go over the two different types more in-depth…

Low-Concepts:

Low concepts are simple at first glance and tend to be broad and vague. They are mainly character-driven, usually centered around self-discovery, coming-of-age, or a relationship. They tell us of what the story is at its core — what it’s generally about and what to expect from it. It can be anything, from a widow learning to love again, or a girl beginning her first day of school, a detective solving a mystery. Because of its generic-ness, they can be easily identifiable and familiar to an audience. 

However, this doesn’t give us the exact story — just the basic essence of one in the simplest of terms. There’s no conflict or antagonist, yet, nor a definable goal. Rather, there’s no plot. In fact, this kind of concept isn’t easily explainable, as it could take on so many directions in many different ways. 

This doesn’t mean they can’t be interesting or that you shouldn’t write one. The main qualm with a low-concept is that they’re generally harder to pitch to agents or readers. 

Here’s a few examples that are low-concept.

- Jane Eyre

- Pride and Prejudice (in fact, most romance novels are low-concept)

- Lady Bird

Low concepts are usually fine on their own — you don’t need a grand hook or plot-heavy events to make make the story you want to tell. But what if you want to make it more compelling? What if you have a concept with a unique twist, goal, or setting? This is where high-concepts come in... 

High-Concepts:

On the other end, high concepts convey fresh, intriguing, or original ideas in just a few words or sentences. They can even put twists on original ideas, offering something completely revamped or unexpected (such as Titanic, taking a Romeo-and-Juliet love story onboard the famous ship). 

High-concepts deliver a prime situation, conflict, and a character arc, all luring its audience in with a hook. There’s a differentiating factor that acts as an attention-grabber that makes it high-concept, allowing the audience to have an idea in their heads of what the genre is and how the story might go, while also leaving room for bigger questions to string them along and leave them wanting more. 

Here’s some examples considered high-concept. 

- Lord of the Rings 

- The Maze Runner

- Mortal Engines

The main takeaway here is that the former is more focused on plot and a unique hook, and the latter has less of an emphasis on external events and more on character and emotion.

High-concepts can even be built off of low-concepts... or even work together in tandem. No matter which one you choose, both sides need at least some balance between internal and external — character and plot, I mean. Significant external events need to happen in a character-driven low-concept, and engaging characters with emotional changes and arcs are needed to experience the story through in a high-concept. (Whew, that’s kinda tough to explain. I’ve included a helpful link on this topic below, for clarity sake.)

Which one is right for you? 

At the end of the day, what matters most is the kind of story you want to write. Are you more interested in stories with high-stakes, a realized villain/antagonist, and immersive settings, driven by a sequence of events? Or, are you more interested in cozy reads focused more on character and growth; something less action-packed or plot-heavy?

Don't let one kind of concept turn you off from the other. Both are valid ways of creating the foundation or heart of your story. Try looking at the stories you love, and try to identify which ones might be considered high concept or low concept. What is it about them that draws you in?

Happy writing!

[twistedtummies2]

Count-Down: Number 6

Welcome to Count-Down! All throughout the month of October, I’ve been counting down my Top 31 favorite portrayals and reimaginings of the King of the Vampires, Count Dracula! We’re getting closer to the end. Today’s pick, Young or Oldman, is always interesting. (No, I make no apologies for that TERRIBLE joke.) Number 6 is…Gary Oldman.

Oldman played Dracula in the 1992 adaptation of Dracula – often referred to as “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” – directed by Francis Ford Coppola. While not a perfect film – at times it’s perhaps a bit too over-the-top for its own good, and Keanu Reeves, bless his heart, just isn’t fooling anybody as Jonathan Harker – it’s widely regarded as one of the best and most accurate takes on Bram Stoker’s novel put to film. It keeps nearly every major detail from the book, in terms of characters and plot, while also adding in a fair share of things all its own, all within a runtime just a little over two hours, including credits. That’s a pretty impressive feat, and the film pulls it off with a lot of style and a unique aesthetic and directorial flair all its own. As we’ve seen already, this portrayal of the Count of Transylvania was not the first to make use of the “starts old then turns young” idea presented in the novel, nor was it the first to reinterpret Dracula as a more tragic and sympathetic villain, with a romantic sensibility, NOR was it even the first to present the idea of the fictional Dracula and the historical Dracula as being one and the same within this universe. Yet by combining ALL these elements – making Dracula still a frightening villain but one who you could feel sorry for and understand, and with these other little quirks added as well – the makers of this picture created what many consider to be something of the modern day equivalent to Bela Lugosi or Christopher Lee. Oldman’s is one of the most often spoofed and referenced takes on Dracula, and more modern takes seem to draw blood (so to speak) from this film than from any other recent adaptation within the past two decades. A big part of this, naturally, is Oldman’s performance, as well as the many creative choices surrounding his portrayal. Oldman’s Count is one of my top three favorites of his performances, and the only word I can think of when I think of his take on the Count is “decadent.” His Dracula is both tantalizing and terrifying all at once, with an unhinged mentality and a dangerous temper, yet a sort of alluring vulnerability underneath it all. He’s just as believable and fascinating cackling cruelly at his capture of Jonathan as he is caressing Mina Harker and cooing sweet nothings to her. He is a tragic and sad figure, but a deeply unsettling one as well; the raw sensuality of the vampire is captured here in rather carnal glory, but so is the real dread and horror the monster can spread. So often, especially nowadays, attempts to make Dracula more sympathetic and sad lead to making him more heroic, or turning him into a figure of fun. Oldman does neither, and it is this wonderful blend of sinister cruelty and genuine love and passion that makes his take on the vampire king so compelling. The film also goes out of its way to avoid making Oldman’s Dracula LOOK like the typical take on Dracula, and while I’ve never particularly liked the “Old Dracula” look in the film (it always makes me think of the Queen of Hearts), he looks rather dashing in his Victorian getup in later parts of the picture. He’s pretty much everything you could want Dracula to be: a savage beast, a powerful ruler, and a darkly mysterious lover, all rolled into one. Honestly, I feel bad for not placing Oldman higher…but the fact of the matter is, while in many ways he’s the most “complete” Dracula, he’s not necessarily the first version I think of when I think of Dracula in general. Which is to say, this isn’t a version I’m likely to reference in writing very often, myself, or take much inspiration from in terms of makeup and costume. He stands on his own and is iconic in his own way, but I think other versions just come quicker to the forefront of my mind when I think of the name “Dracula.” He’s absolutely brilliant and totally unique, and I cannot recommend this portrayal enough…but after much deliberation, I felt the one in the Top 5 were simply more iconic to me PERSONALLY, if that makes sense. On that note, tomorrow we move into the Top 5! I hope you’ll join me as I discuss my 5th Favorite Dracula! Hint: Often Imitated, Never Duplicated.

[ultraericthered]

So I just recently learned of the true Rokkenjima Tragedy, a tragedy that not only explains why Umineko Chiru failed to quite live up to Higurashi Kai as the latter volume of a set (it peaks in it’s first arc, EP5, and then has a lot of unworked issues plaguing the remaining three) and why the entire When They Cry franchise just hasn’t felt quite the same after Umineko ended, almost as though Ryukishi07 reached his limit and hit creative burnout upon finally finishing it. 

I’m referring to the loss of Ryukishi07’s dearest friend, BT, in 2009. 

As the blog post states, BT was “a person who was deeply involved in the creation of the WTC titles”, as not only was he like a second brother to Ryukishi07 but he was the guy he always had in mind first and foremost when writing his work, as he anticipated him reading it and giving him reactions, thoughts, and even suggestions. TV Tropes puts it that BT was his go-to guy for advice on the plot; he was like an unofficial editor. So without him to bounce off of, some of Ryukishi’s’ less than good ideas didn’t get vetted before going into his finalized works, both in Umineko and beyond (looking at you now, SotsuGou). 

Not only that, but as classified under Creator Breakdown, following BT’s death, Umineko took on a notably different tone and direction from EP6 onwards. EP5 turned out so great because it’s the only one that was fully planned out and largely finished in terms of the writing process by the time of BT’s sudden death (he died in July of 2009 - EP5 then came out the next month). But with the remaining three arcs, how they got effected becomes very easy to spot once you’re aware of BT’s death. Both EP6 and EP7 center heavily around dealing with the fallout of a loved one passing away (Beatrice in both cases). BATTLER attempting to ressurect Beato only to create Chick Beato instead and feeling anguish over their relationship not being the same was likely inspired by Ryukishi missing BT and finding that sharing his stories with other non-BT colleagues wasn’t the same as what he’d lost. Ikuko/Featherine getting introduced most likely ahead of schedule (thus Ange’s entire presence in an arc where she doesn’t really do much) and dialing up the meta commentary on storytelling techniques, tropes, characters, creating mysteries and such, and everything to do with the Love Trials from those goddamn twins were probably not pre-planned either. A lot of the poor writing choices in EP7 like the presentation of Kinzo’s backstory, the gross amount of leniency bestowed upon Kinzo in general, Maria’s out-of-character moment, and that whole “Clair” nonsense most likely could’ve been avoided had BT still been around. EP7 makes a point of how the person to uncover the whole truth of everything, hear Yasu's story as it is told, and understand their true character (Willard Wright) is not the person Yasu had hoped would be the one to do so (Battler), a possible reference to how BT died before Ryukishi could ever reveal to him in full the truth of Yasu and of the story as he'd planned out. How oppressively bleak EP7 got in general is owed to Ryukishi’s grief-stricken state of mind following BT’s death. I already did a post detailing improvements that the manga adaptation of EP8 had to make to the story because Ryukishi missed the mark the initial go round, and even in the final Tea Party, Featherine briefly mentions a piece of advice given by her "old friend who is now gone".

In the end I think that Umineko, even with the sins of its latter 3 arcs, made it through this tragedy still relatively unscathed, cohesive, and rewarding as a whole, enough to be considered a Mangum Opus right alongside Higurashi. Ryukishi and 07th Expansion have gone on to create other compelling and enjoyable stories since then. But in terms of WTC which started it all, the old passion, dedication, and...well, magic, just hasn’t been there. Sadly, that blog post had it right:

I’m worried that he will lose his will to keep writing. Ryukishi07 knows well that stop writing will not make BT happy so he says that he will keep going. I don’t know if it’ll ever be the same for him. His best friend was the reason why he started making these games now that he’s gone Ryukishi07’s writing won’t be the same. This loss will without a doubt have a more powerful effect in his work.

[deonideatta]

hi hi i heard you like chief kim and i'm here to get all the intel on why it's a good drama 😊 and what you love about park jae bum's other dramas 😊 pls let me know if there's romance bc that's the oxygen i breathe when i watch a show 💕

Hello!!! Thank you for asking me about Chief Kim!!!! I can go on about it for ages lol. This got a bit long so i’m putting it under a cut

Chief Kim (aka Good Manager) is a comedy office drama with 20 eps, and it aired in 2017. There isn’t a main romance plotline, but don’t let that put you off! It’s an incredible drama in so many ways. (tho there is a subtle romance side plot, but it doesn’t involve the main character and it’s never the main focus, though it is cute). It does feature a bromance that was so great that the two actors literally won an award for it tho lol, so there’s also that!

In a way, the general premise is somewhat similar to Vincenzo in that it’s the main character and an unlikely team of others fighting a big corporation. The comedic tone is also more or less the same. The drama follows Kim Seong Ryong (the titular Chief Kim, played by Namgoong Min), a man with a talent for handling numbers who goes from running a seedy accounting firm to quite accidentally becoming a champion of employees rights in one of the biggest corporations in the country. He originally joins the company with the goal of embezzling a lot money and moving abroad, but he gets swept up in office politics surrounding high executives and the sinister goings on surrounding the position he was recruited for, as well as the shady things the higher-ups want him to do and the suspicion of the other members of his department. Eventually he starts to work alongside them to fight the corruption of the higher ups, and quickly becomes the bane of top management’s existence by being so incredibly annoying that they begin to regret hiring him.

It’s the kind of drama that really gets you to laugh, while still being incredibly heartwarming. The main character is so unashamedly funny, and the character dynamics are all so warm, and none of it ever seems forced. The first tag for the drama on MyDramaList is “character development”, and that says a lot! There’s so much growth that goes on for all the characters, even some of the villains! It’s especially funny because to begin with all the good things Kim Seong Ryeong does are completely by accident, and he’s annoyed but also pleased with all the attention it gets him. Over time he begins to own it, and begins to actively try to stand up to the corrupt people at the top of the company. The other highlight for me besides the humor is definitely the characters. From the eccentric main character, to the no-nonsense second in command in his department Yoon Ha Kyung, to the aggressive finance director Seo Yul who is always eating (one of my all time favourite characters, played by 2PM’s Junho), to the janitor lady who always roasts everyone, there isn’t a single dull character, whether good or bad. And Seo Yul gets one of the best character arcs I’ve ever seen in a kdrama. You get to watch the characters struggle and triumph, and you feel for them because their struggles feel so real, and the drama really gets you invested in them. You see the ways in which they fight to survive as normal working class citizens and you want them to win.

It differs from Vincenzo in that the main character isn’t considered evil and loses his less savoury traits over the course of the drama (his character arc is one of becoming a more upstanding citizen), and the message is one of fighting against corporate greed using the corporate system against itself in order to make things better for the average working citizen. But there’s the same plotting, and the same feeling of rooting for the protagonist team to win as you watch them plot and plan. I never rewatch things, but i’ve rewatched Chief Kim twice already and i’m looking forward to rewatching it again soon (just writing about it is making me want to rewatch it right now lol). It especially hits well for me because i love office dramas, and the humor and the bromance are just right. (Also, not entirely related, but it’s the first drama Kim Seonho was in!)

Another Park Jaebum drama i can definitely recommend is The Fiery Priest! It’s also a comedy action drama with 20 eps (released in 2019), and it follows Kim Hae Il (Kim Nam Gil), a catholic priest with a real temper, as he works to solve the mystery surrounding the death of a senior priest. No romance there either, but it’s got the same humor as Chief Kim and Vincenzo, and the same overarching found family trope (that really shines for this one). It’s darker than Chief Kim, but not as dark as Vincenzo. The plot is very intriguing, and it’s the kind of drama you feel compelled to keep watching to see what happens next. And the host of characters in that drama is still one of my favourites to this day. Every character was incredibly written, and they all played vital roles in the overall story. Again, lots of character development all round, and great character arcs not just for the main character (even for a few of the villains!). Plus it was lovely to watch the various characters interact, get closer, and build relationships. Such an iconic squad. Not to mention how funny it is?? And the fight scenes??? In fact, I enjoyed it so much that when I checked Park Jaebum’s page on MyDramaList after watching it around June last year and saw Vincenzo as an upcoming project, I added it to my plan to watch list immediately even though there was only a single line of synopsis lol. It’s also got an absolute banger of a soundtrack!

When you think about it, all three (Chief Kim, TFP and Vincenzo) can be simplified to “guy with dubious past sets out to fight corruption and creates a great support circle in the process”. All three are dramas of finding people who care about you and are willing to fight alongside you, and fighting for your convictions/what you think is right. Each main character starts out as a somewhat solitary figure, and you get to watch as they each find people who are willing to fight alongside them and support them. What exactly those specific convictions are varies in each drama, but Park Jaebum writes the character development arcs incredibly each time, and the relationships between the characters are so real and so satisfying to watch. And yet the integrity of the main character in each drama is never compromised either, it’s shown that they can grow and become better without losing themselves. The growth is also in the way that they learn to work with and rely on others, because teamwork makes the dream work. And then to cap it all off he lets them have victories, and he makes it SO satisfying??? There are highs and there are lows, and you feel all of those right there with the characters, which makes the victories feel so so good. In each we see the ensemble cast get involved with the fight and the plotting, and we get to see all their epic plans and their execution, and the victories they win that build up over time. And it’s so satisfying to me! I love it a lot, just thinking about it is making me smile lol. It also shows how well humor and darker/more serious plotlines/events are balanced in the dramas, neither is compromised in favour of the other, but it always works so well that the humor never feels forced or out of place. As someone who doesn’t like overbearingly dark shows, I really appreciate that. They all give you lots to laugh at, while not losing any of the plot to the funny.

Of course there are differences, notably the romance, and the fact that Vincenzo is bad vs bad rather than good vs bad like the other two. They deal more with redemption (especially The Fiery Priest), but that works for the stories that are being told, and it’s very well executed.

It’s worth noting that Park Jaebum also wrote Good Doctor and 4 seasons of God’s Quiz. I haven’t checked those out yet, but I’ve heard good things about all of them. He also wrote Blood, I haven’t seen that one either but opinions seem to be split on how good it was. All of those are medical dramas (which is the reason I haven’t watched them lol, i can’t stand medical dramas) from before 2017, when he wrote Chief Kim. It seems he’s been on a roll since then, good for him and good for us lol. You can see everything he’s written on his MyDramaList page.

Overall I enjoyed the Park Jaebum dramas I have seen for first and foremost the comedy, but also for the warmth of the character relationships and for how well developed/written each character is. And I love how he balances the humor with more poignant/darker moments, I laughed a lot watching all three dramas, but I’ve cried over each of them as well. It’s a good balance to have, it gives you a good plot to be interested in, but doesn’t keep you stressed and sombre the whole way through. I’ve seen people say that Vincenzo wouldn’t be as good if it wasn’t so wacky, and I fully agree. It’s the same for both TFP and Chief Kim, and that balance is definitely what I appreciate most in Park Jaebum’s dramas. I know I will laugh, but I also know I will get an incredible plot and incredible characters, and that’s really important for me. Plus I know I can trust that there will be a good ending because the writer cares about his characters.

I definitely recommend checking out both TFP and Chief Kim after Vincenzo is done, especially since they’re so similar in terms of comedic tone and basic plot direction. If you ever get to watching either of them feel free to hmu to chat about it!! There’s lots of plot stuff that can be can discussed.

lol this got v long (i have lots to say about how much i love these dramas haha), but I hope it’s helpful!!!

[snkpolls]

SnK Episode 66 Poll Results (for Anime Only Watchers)

The poll closed with 102 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Please note that these are the results for the Anime Only Watchers’ poll. If you wish to see the results for the Manga Readers’ poll, click here.

Anime only watchers, beware of spoilers if you venture over to the manga readers’ poll results.

--

RATE THE EPISODE 96 Responses

“Assault” got fantastic reviews from anime watchers, with the majority (93.8%) ranked the episode a 4 or a 5. No one seemed to have negative feelings about the episode this week. 

can't wait for the next

epic

amazing 

BEST

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING ACTION MOMENTS WAS YOUR FAVORITE? 96 Responses

The most favored action moment among anime watchers, at 29.2%, was seeing Eren using Porco’s titan as a nutcracker to defeat Lady Tybur. Following closely behind, at 27.1%, people most enjoyed Armin’s reintroduction as he blew up the harbor with his Colossal atomic blast. 24% most enjoyed seeing Mikasa fillet Porco’s legs, and a small 9.4% felt the most hype when Sasha and Jean helped take the Cart Titan and the Panzer Unit out of the fight. 

armin supremacy

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING MOMENTS MADE YOU FEEL THE MOST EMOTIONAL? 95 Responses

In contrast to the action were the scenes that made us feel some emotions. 25.3% were most emotionally affected at Mikasa’s sorrow watching Eren doing something cruel to another human being. 26.8% felt the most for Armin in this episode as he looks down on the horrific aftermath of his explosion. 12.6% empathized most with Reiner as he made himself wake up despite still wishing to die. The remaining scenes that got people choked up, in order: Finally getting to see Hange again, Porco’s pleas as he’s forced to kill Lara Tybur, Gabi and Falco yelling out for Reiner to save Porco and help them, and Falco pleading with Jean not to kill Pieck. 

Hange <3

ON A SCALE OF 1-5, HOW EERIE DID YOU FIND THIS IMAGE OF THE WAR HAMMER TITAN? 94 Responses

MAPPA drew an eerie shot of the War Hammer Titan near the beginning of the episode as she takes her final blow against Eren. Overall, people seemed to be neutral about the image, though more people found it to be closer to the stuff of nightmares than those who did not.

REGARDLESS OF HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT GABI’S CHARACTER, HER SEIYUU TRULY WENT ALL IN ON HER SCREAMS FOR REINER. ON A SCALE OF 1-5, HOW BONE CHILLING WAS HER PERFORMANCE? 93 Responses

The majority of anime viewers were taken aback by Gabi’s seiyuu’s performance, with 64.5% ranking it a 4 or 5. A smaller amount (14%) were less impressed by the acting and found the screams more annoying instead. 21.5% were more or less neutral. 

Gaby's scream were... So desperate, so real.... I was chilled to the bones.

SOME FANDOM SPACES SEEM TO BE MORE POSITIVELY RECEPTIVE ABOUT THE CGI IN THIS EPISODE. WHERE DO YOU FALL ON THE SPECTRUM? 94 Responses

Overall, the reception to the CGI this episode has vastly improved over last week. 82% total felt that MAPPA’s use of CGI was a big improvement and that they continue to get better at it. Only 5 people felt more continued disappointment this week.

EREN MENTIONS THAT LARA TYBUR IS CRYSTALLIZED LIKE ANNIE, AND THAT HIS TEETH ARE USELESS AGAINST THAT. DOES THIS MEAN THAT THE SURVEY CORPS HAS TRIED TO HAVE ANNIE EATEN? 93 Responses

In general, respondents didn’t want to make a call either way about whether the Survey Corps has tried to have Annie eaten or not, with 40.9% voting a simple “maybe.” 34.4% believe that Eren’s words insinuated that he has experienced an attempt to eat a crystallized shifter before, while 24.7% feel certain that Annie has been left untouched all this time.

WE SEE EREN TRANSFORM FOR THE THIRD TIME IN A SHORT PERIOD IN THIS EPISODE, A STARK CONTRAST TO THE BEGINNING OF SEASON 3 WHEN HE COULDN’T DO SO WITHOUT HIS TITAN SEVERELY DEPLETING IN STRENGTH. WITH THIS, ALONG WITH HIS ABILITY TO REGENERATE QUICKLY BY HIS OWN WILL, HOW IMPRESSED ARE YOU WITH HIS MUCH IMPROVED ABILITY TO HANDLE HIS TITAN POWER? 92 Responses

Eren has improved vastly in terms of controlling his titan power since the earlier seasons of the anime. 73.9% altogether felt very impressed with his improvement, while 18.5% didn’t think it was any big deal at all.

Eren is such a badass. I am totally proud of him.

ZEKE CRYPTICALLY DECLARED THAT EREN IS “NOT HIS ENEMY.” WHAT DO YOU THINK THIS MEANS? 90 Responses

We haven’t had a lot of insight into Zeke’s thoughts and feelings much this season, so hearing him declare Eren as not being his enemy may have taken some by surprise, though he quickly follows this statement up by stating Levi comes first. 34.4% of viewers believe that this was a heartfelt statement and that it has something to do with Zeke telling Eren back in Shiganshina that he was going to save him. 22.2% believe it was a dismissive statement and that Zeke didn’t see Eren as a threat so much as he wanted to deal with getting Levi out of the picture first. 15.6% took this as a signal that Zeke’s loyalties may not be with Marley at all. The remaining respondents have already been spoiled about future plot developments.

WE FINALLY GET TO SEE ARMIN - AND HIS COLOSSAL TITAN! WHICH COLOSSAL TITAN DESIGN DO YOU PREFER? 96 Responses

This episode marks the first time we get to see Armin’s Colossal Titan form, so we asked which design fans prefer between Armin and Bertolt. It came close, though the slight majority think that Armin’s Colossal design is just a bit better than Bertolt’s classic mascot design.

ARMIN ASKS, “ARE THESE THE SIGHTS THAT YOU SAW, BERTOLT?” DO YOU THINK HE HAS SEEN SOME OF BERTOLT’S MEMORIES? 90 Responses

The majority (62.2%) believe Armin’s words prove that he has seen some of Bertolt’s memories over the last few years. 27.8% aren’t sure and simply voted “maybe.” A small 10% feel certain that Armin hasn’t seen any of Bertolt’s memories and can merely only speculate about the horrors Bertolt witnessed as the Colossal Titan.

LEVI TOOK DOWN ZEKE RATHER EASILY. IS ZEKE DEAD? 89 Responses

Just about everyone, aside from those who are already spoiled about future happenings, believe that Zeke went down way too easily for it to be true. 55.1% believe that he has gone completely unscathed from Levi’s attack one way or another. 10.1% believe that he’s at least injured, just not dead. A small handful don’t want to make a call either way and just a tiny sliver of the pie believes that Zeke may actually be dead for real. 

It is a plane

JEAN’S THUNDER SPEAR DOESN’T HIT FALCO AND PIECK. HE QUESTIONS HIMSELF ON WHETHER IT’S BECAUSE OF HIM OR BECAUSE OF THE STEAM PIECK EMITTED. WHAT DO YOU THINK? 89 Responses

We’ve seen Jean struggle to kill another person before, so it’s not surprising to see him struggle with it once again when said person is just a child begging for the carnage to stop. 65.2% of respondents feel that the reason the thunder spear missed was ultimately due to Jean’s hesitation and unwillingness to harm an innocent child. 22.5% believe he had steeled himself to kill Falco but was only thwarted by Pieck’s steam. Some feel unsure about what ultimately affected the outcome, though some write-ins think it’s a combination of both. 

I think it's a combination of both, I think that the steam and his reluctance to kill an innocent child is what caused him to completely miss.

I think both

both

Both?

WHO IS ONYANKOPON? 89 Responses

Hange and Armin were seen in the blimp with a new character named Onyankopon piloting it. But… where did he come from? 43.8% seem to believe that he is someone from another nation that has allied with the Survey Corps. 20.2% suspect that he is originally from Marley but has chosen to switch sides, and only 13.5% think that he’s a Paradis native we’ve never seen before. 

I have no idea!!!

Jesus himself

WHERE DID THE SURVEY CORPS GET THE BLIMP? 89 Responses

Just as much as the new character is a mystery, so is the acquisition of an entire blimp! 30.3% believe that the blimp is something borrowed from an ally nation. 22.5% believe that it is stolen from Marley itself. 15.7% aren’t sure what to speculate, and only 11.2% believe that Paradis managed to figure this one out themselves.

WE SEE EREN’S TITAN SWALLOW THE BLOOD FROM LARA TYBUR. WHAT DO YOU THINK, DID HE SUCCESSFULLY STEAL THE WAR HAMMER TITAN’S POWER? 89 Responses

Nearly half of respondents are confident that Eren succeeded in his task to take the War Hammer Titan from the enemy. 25.8% think he most likely did, but are feeling confused as it’s been previously stated titans only transfer their power via spinal fluid. A small handful suspect there’s a possibility that Porco managed to swallow the necessary component to take the War Hammer instead of letting Eren have it. 

Probably not, the titan that swallowed Eren whole in season 1 didn’t get his powers

%50 eren eat warhammer or %50 porco.

OVERALL, HOW DID IT MAKE YOU FEEL TO SEE EREN DOING SOMETHING SO COLD HEARTED? 90 Responses

Eren as a character has seemed a bit colder since the time skip, so we were curious about how people felt watching him assault Liberio and take out Lara Tybur the way he did. Reception of Eren’s actions is definitely a mixed bag. 27.8% are enjoying this new side of Eren, feeling he’s the “MF’ing GOAT.” 22.2% aren’t really sure how to feel about Eren’s actions yet and may need more context before making a final judgement. 20% just feel sad seeing Eren doing something so horrific, and 16.7% have lost any positive opinion they may have had about Eren at all. 

Love to see Eren being a savage<3

Being given his rationale for his actions makes him a much more compelling character and I appreciate his gray morals more

It made me hate him, the way it felt to watch the Colossal and Armored Titans in Season 1.

Such is life

I think his character development is going in an interesting direction and I'm excited to get a more clear picture of why he's doing this in future episodes

I mean he always seemed to have a steak of evil in him since before. Kid killed people remorselessly, even if it was to save a girl. It was surprising from an audience point of view, but with his character, maybe it shouldn't really be too surprsing.

FALCO MENTIONS THAT PIECK’S BODY CAN’T HEAL FAST ENOUGH. DO YOU THINK SHE’LL MAKE IT OUT OF THIS ALIVE? 89 Responses

Pieck did not have such a good time this episode… Explosive injuries all around. When it comes to her fate in the next episode, a plurality (46.1%) seems to believe she’ll make it out alive, in contrast to 9% who think she’ll perish. Just under a quarter (23.6%) can’t be certain and 21.3% note that they’ve been spoiled already.

WHEN REINER AWAKENS, HIS ARMORED TITAN APPEARS TO TAKE ON A DIFFERENT FORM. THOUGHTS? 93 Responses

Reiner’s so handsome :3 and so is his Titan form this episode. An interesting development! What could it mean? Just under 50% seem to believe it represents how broken his soul is, 19.4% are just like the writer of these text blurbs and think the Titan form is cute. A little over 17% think it’s simply a rather cool structure and finally, a small minority are just yearning for his old form to return.

lol weird combination of reiner and titan i.e. when titan dies he ded

I'm just wondering why it looks so different.

squidward

Handsome squidward lol (I honestly don't have feelings on it either way)

why does it look like that 😭

Meh

Maybe he's weakened? The armors in his arms were also malformed.

DO YOU THINK PORCO WILL DIE NEXT EPISODE? 90 Responses

Porco was not treated well by this episode… Sheesh. Will the next episode do better by him? Well, just under 29% think he won’t die, at least. An equal amount of people believe he will, in fact, perish and were also spoiled about his fate (23.3%). 24.4% simply aren’t sure. Such an even pie chart!

THE NARRATIVE HAS LAID OUT A CLEAR FOUNDATION TO ALLOW THE AUDIENCE TO EMPATHIZE WITH CHARACTERS FROM BOTH SIDES OF THE SPECTRUM. WITH THE DEVELOPMENTS OF THIS ARC, WHICH SIDE OF THE CONFLICT DO YOU FIND YOURSELF EMPATHIZING WITH THE MOST AS A WHOLE? 90 Responses

Sympathy and Empathy for everyone! When it comes to solely empathizing with one half of the cast, the results are rather close! 22.2% find themselves solely (or rather largely) attached to the old Survey Corps, in contrast to 21.1% who happen to solely (or rather largely) be attached to the new-ish Warriors. On the other hand, when mentioning the more “differing” options, 48.9% of responses noted that they find themselves more attached to the SC, while still caring for the Warriors, in contrast to the 7.8% stating the opposite. 

I've grown to love the Warriors throughout this season but watching them get wrecked one by one like that was simply incredible...especially that dumbass Porco, he took the fattest L ever Idk how its possible but every episode gets better than the last one. Bless MAPPA!

Fuck the Warriors

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE EPISODE?

It was Fire, finally Levi could take his revenge from zeke

Easily one of the best in the series. Mappa really found their feet with the CGI and it was clearly a mammoth task due to all the different titans and ODM scenes. Everything was so much cleaner this episode. I have not yet been majorly spoiled, so seeing Eren use Porco to kill Lara was literally so energizing, reminded of how I felt when I first watched SnK. Did everything go a little too smoothly for the Survey Corp? Yes. I want to believe our friends will win, but i have my doubts. Im excited to see how this battle will play out because I have know idea where it's heading.

Good god can Eren kill Gabi next she's freaking annoying xD

One of the Panzer Unit's members had  in his cart area thingy.

Gave me what I wanted 

I've never so afraid and sad while watching this series

WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 91 Responses

Thank you again to everyone who participated!

[abrigailcinema]

Final: Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock was an English film director, producer, and screenwriter. He was considered the “Master of Suspense” and some of his most well known films include Rear Window (1954), Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1959), and Psycho (1960). I will be mainly focusing on Hitchcock’s 1954 film, Rear Window. Although Hitchcock moved to Hollywood at the beginning of his career, many mannerisms in his films come from his roots in London, England.

His career began in London, when Paramount Pictures was just opening a studio there. He worked as a co-writer, art director, and production manager for over a dozen silent films. Hitchcock then moved to Gainsborough Pictures in Germany after Paramount had pulled from London. He worked on minor films there, until he moved to Hollywood in 1939, where he completed several films throughout and after the time of World War Two. The most successful years of his career ranged from 1954 to 1964. His films following this period were known, but not entirely successful. In his late life, he was knighted in 1980, and due to his health declining, passed away a few months later. Hitchcock distributed his films in Hollywood through various production companies such as Warner Brothers, and in the instance of Rear Window, Paramount Pictures. His filming techniques were unique, to compel the audience to experience the film as if they were immersed in the story. In the case of Rear Window, many of the shots in the film involved the camera panning across the screen, through the eyes of the main character.

Rear Window was nominated for multiple Oscars in 1954, including best cinematography, best writing (screenplay), best sound, and Alfred Hitchcok was nominated for best director for the film. But, to the surprise of everyone, did not receive any of those awards, only the nominations. Alfred Hitchcock did not write the film from scratch; he had an inspiration - a short story, The short story was titled “It Had To Be Murder” and was written by Cornell Woolrich as part of Dime Detective, in February of 1942. It runs an hour and fifty two minutes, and takes up twelve reels of film. Despite being filmed in the early 1950’s, the film was shot completely in color. Alfred Hitchcock was actually enthralled in the writing process, sometimes more than filming itself, because that’s when all of the great “lightbulb” ideas happen. In an interview with Hitchcock himself, he describes why he loves the writing process so much. He states:

“The most enjoyable part of making a picture is in that little office, with the writer, when we are discussing the story-lines and what we’re going to put on the screen. The big difference is that I do not let the writer go off on his own and just write a script that I will interpret. I stay involved with him and get him involved in the direction of the picture. So he becomes more than a writer; he becomes part maker of the picture.”

The film itself revolves around L.B. “Jeff” Jeffries, a New York magazine photographer stuck in his home during the summer due to a broken leg. To pass the time, he sits in his wheelchair and stares out of his apartment window at his neighbors. He is visited by his nurse, Stella, who disapproves of his spying, and his girlfriend, Lisa, who is a model. His neighbors all have personas created by Jeff, such as Miss Lonely Hearts, who often entertains an imaginary dinner date. Miss Torso was a dancer, juggling between three men. There was a traveling salesman, living with his bed-ridden wife, and a struggling composer that plays the piano. Jeff does more observing, and after a few suspicious events happen in his neighborhood, he believes that the salesman, Lars Thorwald, murdered his wife. After numerous attempts to find clues leading to Thorwald being guilty, tension builds as the audience wonders what will happen next (and no… I will not be spoiling the end of the film).

One of the most intriguing parts about Rear Window is the fact that Jeff has the ability to observe much more clearly in his apartment than he would if he were out and about. Observation was one of the main themes of the film, because without slowing down, nobody picked up on anything that Jeff did. Alfred Hitchcock’s repertoire of mystery thrillers is vast, but in my opinion, the scariest part of this film is the fact that sometimes it doesn’t take deep investigation, but observation. Imagine how much people would be able to learn just from stopping and looking around themselves.

In terms of technique, Alfred Hitchcock wanted to capture the film through the eyes of the main character. Typically, he would use the camera to show what the main character was looking at, as if it were through their own perspective. Another popular technique that Hitchcock used was creating montages during his films, including a series of close up shots that were right in the actors and actresses faces. He would use cameras to almost pan around a character to capture every detail about them. For example, the opening scene of Rear Window includes shots of each person’s apartment, panning from one neighbor to the next. It would cross through each apartment, as if someone were looking around (using his own technique of creating a character's perspective) and then swing around to reveal Jeff. The camera followed Jeff’s leg starting from the foot and led all the way up past his wheelchair right up to his face.

Another interesting part about Alfred HItchcock’s films were his decisions when casting. A lot of times, he would work with one or two actors and use them in multiple of his films. He would initially grow a personal relationship with the people he was filming and directing, and then after growing fond of them, he would want to use them in another work of his. However, as much as he might have favored them and used them in his films, he didn’t necessarily think highly of them. There was one instance where he actually referred to his actors and actresses as cattle, because they needed a lot of direction. He tried to hire people that were easily manipulable, and could be as much of a blank slate as possible when working with him. That way, he could turn them into the characters as closely as possible, rather than interpreting the characters a certain way and acting in a way that Hitchcock didn’t like. Something interesting about his casting was that he almost always cast blonde females in his work. Even though it’s a completely ridiculous thing to think, he believed that blondes appeared less suspicious than brunettes did. For that same reason, when a blonde does something deceitful or unexpected, he thought it was a greater shock than when someone with dark-colored hair did the same exact thing. Although this is completely untrue, he believed this and it heavily impacted his casting for all of his films, just to increase the amount of suspense or shock that he wanted to capture for the audience.

In this particular film, L.B. Jeffries was played by James Stewart, better known as Jimmy Stewart. He was in multiple Hitchcock films, including Vertigo, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Rope. But, one of his most famous films that he was in is still regularly watched during the Christmas season - It’s a Wonderful Life. Lisa is played by Grace Kelly, who was also in To Catch a Thief, Dial M for Murder, and Terror in the Aisles, all creted by Hitchcock. Stella, the nurse, is played by Thelma Ritter. Despite being a famous actor during the time, this was the only film that she was cast in directed by Alfred Hitchcock. As you can see, there is a pattern as to whom Alfred Hitchcock wanted to work with. Rear Window is only a small inside look to how often Alfred HItchcock actually used the same actors and actresses in numerous films of his.

Alfred Hitchcock focused some of his films on the idea of voyeurism, which is the desire or behavior to observe people. Typically this would be used in the context of spying on people undressing or being naked, but this wasn’t the particular case in Rear Window, as Jeff was just spying on all of his neighbors in general. Voyeurism is a global issue, often seen in criminals who are either stalkers or pedophiles. Although Jeff’s instance is not nearly at this level, in the modern world we live in, it is a problem that unsuspecting people have endured. Voyeurism can be seen in a handful of Hitchcock’s films, but is the most apparent in this film. Jeff’s ability to “spy” on people provides him with entertainment while being held up in his home until his broken leg heals. Through this, he finds some satisfaction in finding out information about his neighbors that other people normally wouldn’t pick up on. However, there is some controversy as to whether Jeff is doing something illegal by spying on his neighbors or if he is simply observing his neighbors in the sense that he is a photographer looking for inspiration. The central idea of voyeurism in this instance isn’t to give Jeff pleasure, it’s to satisfy himself in being able to create his own entertainment.

Overall, I highly recommend this classic mystery-thriller to anyone that enjoys watching films. It takes you through a journey of emotions, between the collection of drama and suspense during the film. Alfred Hitchcock created an incredible, spine-tingling repertoire of work, but I believe that Rear Window was a breakthrough, beginning the peak of his career and exemplifying the themes of some of his most popular work.

VIDEOS:

https://youtu.be/m01YktiEZCw

https://youtu.be/j9lZRDAoecs

SOURCES:

Teachout, Terry. “The Trouble With Alfred Hitchcock.” Commentary, vol. 127, no. 2, Feb. 2009, pp. 43–46. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com.libserv-prd.bridgew.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lfh&AN=37360095&site=eds-live.

Lawrence Howe. “Through the Looking Glass: Reflexivity, Reciprocality, and Defenestration in Hitchcock’s ‘Rear Window.’” College Literature, vol. 35, no. 1, Jan. 2008, pp. 16–37. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com.libserv-prd.bridgew.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsjsr&AN=edsjsr.25115476&site=eds-live.

DeRosa, Steven. “Writing with Hitchcock: John Michael Hayes and the Making of Rear Window.” Worcester Review, vol. 38, no. 1/2, Jan. 2017, pp. 110–120. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com.libserv-prd.bridgew.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lfh&AN=134934180&site=eds-live.

“Rear Window.” (1954) - Turner Classic Movies, Turner Classic Movies, 1 Jan. 1970, www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/87777/rear-window/#overview.

Mikulec, Sven. “'Rear Window': Hitchcock's Cinematic Exploration of Voyeurism Disguised as a Top-Notch Thriller • Cinephilia & Beyond.” Cinephilia & Beyond, 12 Nov. 2020, cinephiliabeyond.org/rear-window-hitchcocks-cinematic-exploration-voyeurism-disguised-top-notch-thriller/.

North, David. “Voyeurism and Subjective Understanding in ‘Rear Window.’” University of Chicago Philosophy Review, 17 Apr. 2019, ucpr.blog/2018/12/13/voyeurism-and-subjective-understanding-in-rear-window/comment-page-1/. 

[lena-in-a-red-dress]

Why do you think the majority of the fandom was so quick to reject Mon-El and accept Lena?

Why do you think the majority of the fandom was so quick to reject Mon-El and accept Lena?The way this ask is phrased kind of makes it feel like I'm being baited. But I'm a sucker for analyses the length of a dissertation, so I'm biting anyway.First of all, despite how the question, correlation does not equal causality. The dichotomy between the receptions of Lena and Mon-el are entirely independent, and neither is the result of the other.The difference between the audience's appreciation for Lena and its resentment of Mon-el is a case-in-point example of how the quality of writing influences the viewers' enjoyment of a show, and serves as proof that viewers prefer good writing over quick writing.A large part of the fandom cites heteronormativity as Mon-el's biggest drawback, but leaving it at that barely scratches the surface. Straight relationships aren't inherently detrimental to creative storytelling! The problem is when writers rely on it to tell their story, and rely on some perceived audience expectation of one boy, one girl to justify the relationship, regardless of what else transpires between the characters onscreen.This is what happened to Mon-el: he was introduced solely to be a love interest, and nothing more. From the moment they opened his pod and Karolsen ended, his intended role was patently obvious, despite attempts to manufacture a tension of will-they/won't-they.In my mind, the writers' biggest failure towards Mon-el is that his story was only ever presented as something in direct conflict with Kara's. From the recalcitrant office worker, to the reluctant hero, even to their relationship... there was nothing about Mon-el that could exist without Kara.Despite the limitations of his conception, the writers' continued to compound their mistakes in Mon-el by inserting him into every arc, even when the story didn't benefit from his inclusion-- an inclusion that often devolved into antagonism because again, he existed to be in conflict with Kara. Instead of being a supplement to the story, his presence eventually became a frequent detraction-- and distraction-- from the quality of any part of the show he touched. In the end, even the general audience grew tired of his repeated use of subterfuge and utter lack of self-awareness.In contrast, the opposite holds true for Lena. Lena's introduction and consequent minimal use allowed her to remain an entity outside of Kara's main story as Supergirl. I've discussed before how Lena's inclusion in Kara's story only ever happened on Lena's terms, which kept her enigmatic and intriguing, relying far more on nuance than the deliberate tells written in for Mon-el's mysterious past.Moreover, she has the benefit of a familiar last name, which imparts a certain degree of backstory the audience at large knows and can draw on without the show needing to hold their hand and walk them through it. Combined with Katie McGrath's natural charm and breathtaking skill as an actor, the writers stumbled onto a character we wanted to know more about and see more often, rather than less.The writers could have generated the same effect with Mon-el by making only a single change: ditch the romance. It sounds contrived, and yes, GAY, but that one change removes the crutch of heteronormativity that the writers relied on so heavily, in the sense that it would have forced them to conceive an actual story for Mon-el. Without the romance, what's his purpose?(Storytelling 101 Tip: if that question doesn't have an answer, your character fails to pass the sexy lamp test and should be removed or rewritten.)What I'm saying is, without that romance, the writers would have had to find something else to do with him to justify his presence, and that could have resulted in any number of compelling possibilities: - a more layered story, with smaller b-plots incorporating Mon-el that would complement the a-plots, instead of simply crowding more characters into Kara's save-of-the-week.

- more time with the ensemble. Supergirl is rife with underutilized talent, and actors who ooze chemistry with anyone they share a screen with. The best way to make an audience love a character is for the core team to love them, and imagine what could have happened if Mon-el had been allowed to bond with Winn and James, or even Alex. (Also, a loss like Kara's at the end of S2 hits harder when she's not the only one who's missing Mon-el.)- true growth. there was never any moment in my mind where Mon-el was truly forced to reflect on his choices and actions with an informed or altered point of view. Any changes in his character were framed as a way for him to be more palatable to Kara, which ultimately rang false.The truly tragic part of all this is that in Season 3 we learned that Mon-el is capable of all these things-- when he returned after 7yrs in the future, he embodied all of it. And the writers are capable of it too, as evidenced by their penchant for generating stellar content for Lena. For whatever reason, they simply chose not to apply those skills towards Mon-el, which I consider both a disservice and a shame.

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Deca-Dence 4 | Maou-jou 2 | Fruits Basket 2 24 (49) | Magatsu 1 | IWGP 2 | Koi to Producer 11 - 12 (FINAL) | HypMic 3

Still chugging away at these summer and spring anime...sorry for the delay...(LOL, that rhymed without me meaning to.)

Also, I’ve been on the fence about whether to keep Golden Kamuy, since almost no one I read the reviews of follows it now and it’s a week’s wait (when accounting for my AniList challenge)...so I’m putting it on pause so I don’t have to suffer later.

Deca-Dence 4

“…who possesses the will to fight.”

…Great. Kurenai is absolutely tethered to Kaburagi in a one-sided love. Just when I thought Natsume had an independent role model to look up to.

Maou-jou 2

Oh, this is from Shonen Sunday? Didn’t know that until now.

“Demon Shroud: A demon with 99 clans. A cloth demon that puts on airs that it won’t be used before it’s finished off, due to its wonderful fabric. It is full of beautiful ghostly power, so its skin is smooth. However, the hero (who commonly uses things he finds in his surroundings) caught one, so now the princess has zeroed in on them. The princess doesn’t need the hands or the head of these demons, so it’s a cycle of killing and taking revenge for them. Their fighting style is squeezing the life out of things.”

Apparently, the teddy is acceptable, LOL.

I like how the window stopped displaying text at one point.

I saw someone with a huge plait in the ED. The queen, maybe…?

I noticed the laughs dropped off significantly in comparison to last time, but it’s still good. I can flex my translation skills even if I can’t laugh at one part.

Fruits Basket 2 24 (49)

…jumping to the 2nd-last episode in a season is pretty unprecendented, but I’m going to watch this for the sake of Jon’s Creator Showcase…then again, I need to finish this anime anyway, so it’s just cutting and changing the order for something I already know the outcomes of.

I used to lose myself in movies so much that I would lose all sense of who I was and would have to “regain the bearings of myself”, so to speak. I would have to reconstruct who I was, even though I technically hadn’t “been broken” and I knew once I did that, it felt different. Like I’d travelled through time and past me would never be the same as present me. That’s why I kind of get what Machi means.

Oh, I didn’t listen to this OP much…probably because I’m emphasising bingeing the spring and summer series I left behind and now that I can skip the ads on most of my anime, I’m leaving behind the anime I’ll be slower on.

The manga was written when there weren’t as many cell phones around, much less smartphones.

Rin’s on bad terms with everyone…

…if I remember the year of the dragon correctly, the last one was 2012, then the one before that is 2000…around the turn of the millennium, huh? Froob is showing its age here, albeit unintentionally.

Now that I’m closer to the Musketeers’ age, I can kind of empathise with their scenes a bit more.

“If I always blame someone or something, I’ll never change.” – True. I realised I’ve been a bit too haughty lately (what with the HypMic anime going on and it being the first thing I could research extensively before the anime’s debut, my feelings are of course reaching fever pitch – combine that with continued COVID lockdown and you get me being all defensive of HypMic, for better or for worse) and so I may have acted like a jerk to someone, but since I only know them online and generally when I try to apologise to people online they don’t see the things I apologise for as things in need of apology, I know the fault lies with me to rein myself in. I guess this means changing yourself is the only way to move forward.

I wonder how Hatori did his doctor training while avoiding hugs from girls who aren’t Sohmas…?

Shigure vs. Gentaro (of HypMic, of course)…a writing competition! That would be fun.

…Crow’s note here makes sense (<- this is why I changed the order). Shigure was clearly asking a question there.

Come to think of it, HypMic and Froob have some similar characters. The stoic doctor is Hatori/Jakurai, the energetic smol one is Momiji/Ramuda, the teasing author is Shigure/Gentaro…that could make for some good fanfic material, really.

Magatsu 1

…that title is an absolute killer, man. Anyways, I’m here for the director, who also worked on Hataraku Maou-sama.

Is this a no guns thing, like IWGP is a no drugs thing?

…this OP has lyrics?! I just hear strange squeaky noises, the kind you hear on some autotuned sogs to make them seem more ominous (I can’t remember if there’s a similar sound in G-Anthem of Y City or Yokohama Walker, but one of the MTC songs has similar noises).

I kinda guessed Leo’s package was the one Schaake and her partner were looking for. I was right.

That CGI (on the truck) is…kinda conspicuous.

These backgrounds are gorgeous.

“The definition of in dubio contra reum is "in doubt, against the accused", meaning that, where there is doubt, the accused in a trial is not given the benefit of that doubt; they are assumed guilty.”

I wonder: how many protagonists start out as absolute wimps, unwilling to fight because they either know or don’t know their own power? It’s a pretty standard introduction for things with fights.

This battle track is nice. I listened to some of the Magatsu music under Masaru Yokoyama’s name on Spotify and it’s pretty cool, but since it’s background music, there’s not a lot of demand to listen to it (from me or anyone else, I don’t think).

Why is there only a single shield if they know the enemy has heavy artillery?

…what the heck is a Zeits? Update: You can see a “Zeits” (or however it’s spelt) in the credits list, suggesting Zeits is a character in this.

I knew this was my last premiere and this might have made or broken my entire watching schedule, but this is just a pretty down-to-earth premiere for a fantasy mobile game. While that cliffhanger compelled me to continue, I don’t think it’s good enough to beat its competition in the long run.

IWGP 2

I know I said Magatsu was my last premiere, but just to be sure, I’m watching this one.

This dance scene is beautifully orchestrated. The fact there’s no music means you focus entirely on the motion.

The OP seems to trade more in colour and spectacle than actual “cool factor”.

…wow, $2.90…? That’s some cheap food.

You know I hate 1st person cam with a passion, right? So…uh…

Eyyyyyyyy…this is basically McDonald’s, curry style.

I think I can almost see Ichiro of HypMic in how the G-Boys seem to mostly be reformed delinquents or actual delinquents.

…yeah, but what’s your name, random messenger guy? Update: We find out later his name is Isogai.

“It’s because I suck at working and communicating.” – Yep, that me.

Ikebukuro licence plate. I still have no idea exactly what places get licence plates in Japan.

There are actually 2 characters before “Hospital”, but no one confirms the reading of those characters…which is probably why they’re omitted.

…oh gosh, if this were a BL, Mitsuki and Masaru would be star-crossed lovers…*sigh*

Maybe it’s an unrelated 3rd party??? (In mysteries, you can never dismiss the work of a 3rd party.)

You can tell exactly which group is which based on the colours they wear. Makoto isn’t affiliated with anyone, so he’s wearing black and had yellow earlier.

I think an anime is cowardly – or trying to save budget – if they deliberately choose an angle where they can’t show the moment of impact clearly.

E! News, LOL.

Archangel, huh? So like a 2nd in command?

I think IWGP is moving in the direction of pushing the gangs against each other in the way Makoto describes in ep. 2.

As for what I think of it now, it's decent if you want something down-to-earth, but it seems to be missing some kind of "wow factor". Like it's afraid to commit to deeper characterisation, even though it has Makoto as the ostensible lead/viewpoint character.

Koi to Producer 11

“Cognitive Science Association” - I thought it was the Cognitive Psychology Association…? (Psychology is shinrigaku, science is kagaku.)

My boy (Lucien)…why must you be so evil??? Why do I keep falling for the tall but mysterious doctor??? (<- guilty as charged re: Jakurai)

…that’s some funky seatbelts.

What’s that look in Victor’s eyes…? Fondness, or something more…?

…ah, so there is “Science” in the place’s name. It was just being less loosely translated then.

Oh dang. Stuff escalated really fast, huh?

You actually set this in 2020, huh, staff? What happens ten years from now and people watch it, only to realise 2020 and 2030 aren’t so different? That’s what happened when people had the Y2K bug.

That yellow sign on the side says “exit”. It’s not of any use.

That’s not a recoloured Kiro, is it? It’s not Shaw, either (who I think we saw somewhere in the previous episodes)…so then who is it?

…geesh, they even changed Helios to Ares. I guess it makes sense: Helios is the god of the sun, but Ares is the god of war.

Koi to Producer 12 (FINAL)

I read on the wiki Lucien’s power is copying powers. No wonder I couldn’t get a solid handle on it!

So that Helios wasn’t a mistake in the credits list in the previous episode???

Can we even hear what Helios says when Protag-chan is pulled away? Based on the lack of subs, probably no, but I wanted to ask anyway. (Or maybe he said “Watashi”, since that’s the pronoun Protag-chan goes by?)

…so that really is Kiro, huh?

Military…what? When did Protag-chan’s father have a military squad???

LOL, at the very end you can see Gavin gesturing at Greenie (the pot plant, presumably a succulent). I logged on to the game 7 days straight (they have a Discord channel!) and got a Gavin R card with Greenie on it, which is how I know about it.

Anyways, that was a fun show. Not the best, but still fun.

HypMic 3

*snickers* Just look at my boi! He’s so tall, he has to bend down for kids! (I don’t mean that teasingly, I mean that endearingly, but lately I’ve been no good at expressing myself…Must be the lockdown.)

If TsudaKen was a guest last time, then Degarashi and Irihatoma could be voiced by guest seiyuus too…

What is Jakurai, hmm? (A Transformer, LOL?...I’m kidding, of course.)

All I knew about this episode going in was that it was an MTR episode. Maybe they’ll cover the stalker story from the manga…?

More literally, Hifumi’s sign says “will you monopolise me until morning?”. This reminds me of the MTR truck one of the servers I was in was talking about…it looked like a giant billboard.

“The most notable thing about Doppo is that he has no notable characteristics.”…and yet, he’s still one of the most popular characters of the series.

Suddenly, HypMic becomes a mystery…? I’ll take it!

Yup, “Doppomine” is now confirmed as “Doppo-chin”.

If all the mysteries I’ve consumed say one thing, it’s “never forget there might be someone out there with a grudge against you willing to pin a crime on you”…or alternatively, “never forget there may be an unrelated 3rd party who would be willing to pin a crime on you”.

These guys (Tom etc.) are just food critics, I swear…(LOL)

Oddly enough(?), googling “Shinjuku waffles” reveals there are several waffle places in Shinjuku…you wouldn’t expect so many waffles away from the home of waffles (probably Belgium), but there you go.

All the results on Shinjuku French toast point to this Café Aaliya (give or take an H at the end). Apparently, it’s so popular, people line up for it on weekdays.

Oh, so Tom’s a (street) photographer…what are Iris and Rex then?

The CGI on that car looks really bad, man. It may be dark to disguise it, but it still looks bad.

Jakurai’s dad car strikes again!...Was it white? I don’t remember, but I’m pretty sure it was a lighter colour than this.

I was quite worried about how much swearing they were going to throw in the MTC episode, but then…they kicked it down a week. So…start worrying about next week, folks!

I…thought he would call Jyuto for some reason. (giggles) I’ve never seen Samatoki look so happy in relation to Jakurai, but maybe that’s because he’s just chilling. (Or maybe he was meant to have a neutral but slightly happy face and they messed up the angle. I know I do that sometimes in fanart.)

There’s Jyuto, right on cue…LOL, that kick to the guts was so random it became epic!

Uwabami…what sort of snake is that, again? *checks* Giant snake. That’s no help. (That host could have a guest seiyuu too.)

Ooh, I’m fairly sure that’s an automatic car.

Jakurai went Jitsu wa kyoumi bukai desu ne?. “Fascinating” isn’t a wrong translation, but they did forget “In fact…” or “Really…” from the start and possibly the “?” at the end (depending on interpretation). Update: It might actually be Jitsu ni, but same deal.

They struttin’ down Kabuki-cho all fancy-like…Doppo sure does get a lot of punchlines, though.

This random guy at the club could also have a guest seiyuu…

…what’s with the random Tahoma?

…oh, hey. If Hifumi’s jacket acts as a security blanket of sorts against women and he gave it to Doppo for extra warmth (presumably), then…he’s trying to protect Doppo, even in his own sort of unique way.

Mimimi vs Hifumi? This is gonna get confusing…(hey, did they actually make a flourish noise when Hifumi put on his jacket? Does the distinction need to be that clear…?)

…see, never forget the presence of an unrelated 3rd party.Wait, so we have motive…what’s the relationship of Mimimi and the dude she killed? Who is that dude? Update: We find out later.

Notice Mimimi says “Hifumi-kun” – she’s still on an outside layer compared to Doppo, who just uses Hifumi’s name. Also, I noticed Mimimi called herself Hifumi’s “onna” – “woman” – explicitly, as if she belonged to him. The subs reflect that, but it seems to have less meaning in English because they outright translated it as such.

Well, they got to demonstrate Doppo’s snapping. I’m more than happy with just that. Also, Hifumi calls Doppo with a -kun here.

LOL, this song is gonna be known as “catchy”, ain’t it? Anything with an easy-to-sing-along chorus like “nananana” is. Update: Or maybe not even a chorus, it’s just lyrics.

Hmm…I noticed the “use Mr with me” line isn’t actually reflected in the subs, but the lyrics are so fast, I don’t know how they are reflected.

Did you notice the da in the lyrics in romaji?

…and s*** goes ka-blooey, as you’ve come to expect by now.

Mimimi-kun…?

Oh, so the background from Hypnosis Mics can get caught in photos? I never thought of that.

It’s almost as if they’re nodding at the Doppo fans through the 4th wall regarding his appeal.

It seems they’re not switching out this Buster Bros track, which is…okay, but I was hoping for an MTR ED. (Tofubeats was on this track IIRC and the anime website didn’t list a future ED, so that’s why I’m okay with it.)

…Okay, so Irihatoma is Mutsumi Iwanaka, who’s a rookie in the seiyuu world. *goes to consult Anime News Network*

Oh! Mimimi Hibakari! I get it! (It means “me, me, me all day” when written differently to her name.)

Uwabami was Shugo Nakamura and Degarashi was Mitsuaki Hoshino. I’ve never heard of these guys – except for Nakamura’s role as Teru in Idolm@ster Side M – so it’s interesting they contrasted TsudaKen with them…eh? Heilong? Whossat? (Probably the guy whose…parts…almost got crushed by Jakurai with a billiards cue.) This Hiroya Eto is even more underground than those guys.

A-hah! Today’s new song is “WELCOME U” (that’s how it’s spelt, don’t diss me for it!) by Kohei from SIMONSAYZ.

Update: I thought that kid at the beginning was Yotsutsuji, so it scared me for a second.

[flying-elliska]

Review : Skam France s5 ep 1-2

Rewatched the two first episodes of s5 and wanted to write on eps as a whole :

☆ the Positive ☆

Obviously the production values have had a big upgrade and many of the clips are just breathtaking. The acting is really good. Every single clip seems tightly scripted and rich in terms of purpose, less "filler clips" than in other seasons. In technical terms it's close to flawless. Storywise there is so much to say. It seems like we're in for a very in-depth, nuanced look at subjects around disability, D/deafness and how society treats it and I feel like I'm already learning a lot and I love that. Arthur is a very finely drawn, compelling main so far.

My favorite things so far, beyond simply how the subject is treated are : Alexia, because she is such a sunshine, and the foregrounding of friendships. They really are building on four seasons of character development and it feels so earned and rich and heartfelt. Be it Emma's continued troubles with her sense of self and direction in life, or Elu's more solid relationship and mutual support, or the tighter bond between all of them...there is a sense of deep continuity in almost all clips and it just so satisfying. Even discovering Arthur's life makes other things in previous seasons make so much sense. In general I just love the found family vibes, Bas and Arthur's friendship...my favorite clips so far are definitely Dimanche 15h02, the squad graffiti one (for the friendship feels), and Jeudi 20h59 with the party - that clip honestly made me cry and I didn't weire much about it but...it was brilliant. Arthur being so sad and then getting a glimpse of a different world in which he could belong without having to sacrifice his sense of self or joy or youth. The use of sign language not as weird but as this really cool new way of communicating, almost like a new dimension of the dance (and how cool it must be to be able to talk in a club for real)...yeah just wow.

It strikes me a lot more watching with a distance how there is an overarching theme of "the oncoming future" and it is just pressing down on the whole story like a ticking clock and it feels so true to life when you're at that age and ...yeah.

◇ the Negative ◇

Honestly...I have very little negative to say. The one thing I'm most scared about is that we get another love triangle bc 1) I think they're a very tired, annoying story element and 2) I love Alexia and I would hate it if her biggest role in the series so far ends up being "girl who gets left for another". The way Noee has been framed does play up the ambiguity since it borrows some romantic codes but they don't go all the way there and it also feels a lot like Arthur is intrigued first and foremost by her speaking sign language (and possibly how cool she looks).

Another thing is a fear that the season ends up overwhelmed by drama. Compared to s3 it feels overall like a more dark tone, with less comedic moments and a simmering tension underneath...but i think it's earned. S3 was first and foremost a romance and a tale of self discovery, it was exhilarating and dreamy despite the drama. S5 feels...more difficult in a way in terms of story dynamics and emotions handled. There is a lot of trauma, difficult family dynamics...but honestly we've had a lot more uplifting clips than I expected so far, so....i trust them for now.

One thing is that I still feel like Arthur is a very mysterious character. It's normal since he is the first non-remake main, but there is still so much we don't know about him - what is up btw him and his father? Why didn't he say about his deafness two years ago? Why is he so cagey around his friends? What does he really want to do with his life? I feel if this lasted too far into the season this would be a problem since we're supposed to be in his shoes, so learning his secrets too late would prevent that. Also these first two eps do feel a lot like set up still. But honestly...not a big problem at least so far. They have a lot on their plate so I hope they can juggle it all. Part of me is still a little bit in "wait and see" mode... i feel something big is going to happen this ep.

In general i'm pretty stoked. And in awe of the level of talent.

[tshepiso-reads-books]

Space Polio is Terrifying | The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal

Started: July 20th, 2020

Finished: July 30th, 2020

While The Relentless Moon didn’t quite reach the heights of other books in the Lady Astronaut series I enjoyed my time with this story. Mary Robinette Kowal is a fantastic character writer and easily sucked me into the world of Nicola Wargin and the story she told in this installment was compelling overall.

The third book in the Lady Astronaut series follows a friend of Elma and fellow Lady Astronaut Nicola Wargin. We follow Nicola as she works to uncover a saboteur on the Lunar Colony. Nicola deals with both this high stakes investigation, a polio outbreak on the moon, and the repercussions of her husband Kenneth’s political career.

While I had a good time with The Relentless Moon I didn’t love it as much as The Calculating Stars and The Fated Sky. My biggest problem with this book was its genre. I’m not the biggest fan of mystery and suspense so the plot of the book left a lot to be desired for me personally. Stories that ask me to solve mysteries and figure out twists generally don’t work for me so a huge part of the plot of this novel was unengaging. I will say the book felt fairly well constructed so anyone who enjoys the genre may love this book, but I found it difficult to connect with the story.

The Relentless Moon also lacked on a character level for me in comparison to the previous two books in this series. Because of the investigation, Nicola doesn’t allow herself to get to know the characters surrounding her. While this logically makes sense it made all of the suspects in the mystery feel shallow. The vast majority of characters in this book felt indistinct because we spent so little time with them and even if I wanted to attempt to solve the mystery along with Nicola I couldn’t because I knew so little about our list of suspects. Spending more time with the side characters in this book could’ve made the ultimate reveal more satisfying because we would have been invested in them beforehand.

I’ll also say it felt like there was a lot more technical jargon throughout this novel compared to previous installments. While I love the science-y feel of these novels The Relentless Moon felt a lot more packed with technical jargon and said jargon felt more integral to understanding the plot of the novel. I routinely forgot what acronyms stood for and the general set up of the Lunar pods. While I wouldn’t say this was a major issue with the book it did make the reading experience less smooth.

Despite my grievances, Mary Robinette Kowal’s writing, in general, was still stellar. She goes above and beyond with her character writing and Nicola Wargin was a fantastic protagonist to follow. Kowal knows how to write distinct character voices and Nicola was equally compelling as Elma.

The issues Nicola is dealing with in this novel, being a woman over 50 and knowing your value is directly tied to your age, being a wife of a politician and having every action criticized because of it, and how her battle with anorexia affected her ability to do her job was written incredibly well. I will warn if you are particularly sensitive to portrayals of eating disorders and food aversion this may be one to avoid, but Kowal discusses in her author’s note that she tried her best to avoid triggering depictions of Nicola’s anorexia and this element of her journey comes from Kowal’s personal experiences with ED. While Nicola does have an eating disorder it doesn’t define her and Kowal takes the time to portray how an eating disorder can affect someone during times of extreme stress without falling into harmful tropes and stereotypes.

The discussions of ageing in regards to Nicola was also done incredibly well. Nicola is over 50 and has arthritis. She’s incredibly aware that unlike her male counterparts she’s very close to being completely discounted for her age. Seeing her actively deal with the physical effects of ageing and the effects like being considered “old hat” by her superiors was an interesting layer to the story. Kowal examines the harsh double standards placed on women compared to men when their competence is challenged based on their age. Nicola is routinely considered washed up while men older than her are valued for their experience. Overall I loved seeing an older woman being placed front and center in an action-packed science fiction novel.

What I loved about Nicola was how the combination of competence and confidence progressed the narrative. Nicola’s history as a trained spy meant she had a lot of clever deductive reasoning that pushed the story in interesting directions. Compared to Elma who while incredibly competent struggled with social interaction. I loved seeing the various ways Nicola manipulated the people around her to get shit done. While things like her struggle with an eating disorder did affect her judgement she was overall a badass spy who routinely came up with clever solutions to tricky situations.

Like in the first two books of this series the relationship between Nicola and her husband Kenneth is a central part of the narrative. Mary Robinette Kowal is one of the few authors writing loving and supportive marriages in the speculative world. I love that Kowal centers functioning healthy marriages in her stories and depicts what mutual respect and proper communication looks like in relationships long term. Kowal writes top tier couples that stay in my feelings. The unending support Kenneth and Nicola had for each other’s careers and the ways Kowal shows how much they know and understand each other made my heart so soft. I associate the 50s and 60s with the patriarchal nuclear family and I love that Kowal goes the extra mile to completely subvert that stereotype.

One central aspect of this story I found fascinating was the polio outbreak. I will warn that if you’re not in the mood for stories about pandemics you should definitely avoid this book but I loved the way this novel contextualized polio as a disease. I’m privileged enough to have never had to concern myself with polio or its effects and this book taught me so much about it about what this disease looked like and how it affected people before there was a widespread vaccine. Kowal described in somewhat graphic detail how sudden and unexpected polio can be often depicting how quickly it spreads and how staggering its effects, from respiratory issues and fever to partial or complete paralysis, could be. I would recommend this book to any anti-vaxxer because I can’t imagine anyone walking away from this book dismissing the importance of vaccinating against horrible diseases like polio.

Stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟

In the end, while The Relentless Moon is my least favourite book in the Lady Astronaut series so far it’s still a great novel. I love Mary Robinette Kowal’s writing and look forward to any and all future installments in this series. If you’re a sci-fi lover or a fan of stories about complex women being badass there is no reason not to pick up these books.

[arecomicsevengood]

Movies Watched During Self-Isolation, Part One: Mostly Just Paul Schrader Stuff

 I’ve been watching movies during this period of not leaving the house, which goes back a bit further than just when we are all told to stop leaving the house. The streaming services I have access to at the moment are just Kanopy and The Criterion Channel, so I have been watching different things than people who have Netflix or Hulu have been, most likely. These things are generally older, and possess a different set of aesthetic values than things seem to in our era of codified genres and niche marketing. Even the things I end up not being particularly into feel refreshing, in aggregate. There is a real sense of “they don’t make movies like this anymore!” which means, in a lot of ways, movies that seem keyed into being movies, that seem to understand the role of actors as charismatic, mysterious, or sexy, that then dictates the stories that get told. Let me break it down into some specifics, which will then function as recommendations.

The Comfort Of Strangers, 1990, dir. Paul Schrader. One thing I’ve been watching is a lot of Paul Schrader movies. This one comes from the era of the “erotic thriller” and was maybe marketed as such, but it feels like a post-Peter-Greenaway thing, maybe because of the presence of Helen Mirren. Mirren plays one half of weird and creepy older couple with Christopher Walken. Walken’s voice opens the movie with a disembodied narration that sets a tone of creepiness right from the jump, but the disembodied nature of it, heard as the camera roams through a residence, also recalls Last Year At Marienbad. The movie is largely about a younger couple, played by Rupert Everett and Natasha Richardson, who are vacationing in Venice, and end up being stalked and sort of seduced by Walken and Mirren. The lens of sexuality is a huge part of this movie, but it’s this sort of mysterious force, like the gaze of the camera is itself a malevolent thing, because whoever’s behind it can be an uncaring pervert. Movies’ particular relationship to sex, and sex’s example of a compulsive behavior with capability of destruction, feels like it plays a large role in a bunch of the Paul Schrader movies I watched. I often chose to watch them because of this, their understanding of compulsion made them compulsively watchable, which I appreciated when I felt distracted or inattentive.

In The Cut, 2003, dir. Jane Campion. This has a similar thing going for it. In many of the film’s earliest shots, the camera follows the lead (Meg Ryan) from a distance, with bodies we don’t see the entirety of in the foreground, giving the impression she’s being stalked or in imminent danger, although mostly she isn’t. She plays a writing teacher who lives in an apartment where the head of a murder victim is found in the garden. Mark Ruffalo plays a detective investigating, they end up fucking, even as she becomes paranoid about all the men around her, especially after her sister (played by Jennifer Jason Leigh) is also killed. The interest in this lies in the fact that it’s directed by a woman and has both an oppositional relationship to the male gaze and an interest in depicting female desire. It feels pretty sordid and a little rushed at the end. However, the ending seems rushed because the person that ends up being the killer is a person Meg Ryan’s character had no romantic or sexual interest in, and so largely ignored or didn’t think about. It’s not a bad movie but to whatever extent a movie stands on the strength of how interesting its actors are, this one doesn’t deliver. There’s a cameo by Patrice O’Neal though, as like the gay doorman at a stripclub Jennifer Jason Leigh lives above? If I understood correctly.

Patty Hearst, 1988, dir. Paul Schrader. This one’s really interesting, and I’ve kept thinking about it for a number of reasons. One is the interest of the Patty Hearst story itself, which I guess I hadn’t heard the entirety of or thought much about. For one thing, I don’t think I really understood the concept that she was brainwashed or had stockholm syndrome? Which is one of the things that makes the movie good, or what makes Natasha Richardson, playing Patty Hearst, so amazing to watch: She’s really compelling playing someone who has no idea why they’re doing what they’re doing at any given moment, because when you’re brainwashed, you don’t know you’re brainwashed, which is both perfectly obvious to me thinking about now, but that I also need to remind myself of when I think about MSNBC viewers positive feelings towards Joe Biden, for instance. The movie begins with her sudden kidnapping. There are shots that show her, in flashbacks to her life before that point, in a blindfold, that I wasn’t too into when I thought they were going to be sort of the entirety of the movie, but is I guess just intended as a visual metaphor for this sort of trauma as a deconditioning thing that removes whatever sense of a historical self she would’ve previously had. I also didn’t realize the Symbionese Liberation Army was basically just a sex cult with very few members, that robbed banks essentially just to fund themselves. Ving Rhames plays the leader of a group otherwise made up of a bunch of neurotic and ineffective white people. A lot of stuff happens, it’s all pretty interesting, and it doesn’t feel anything like a biopic, it always feels like a story is being told, but it’s always destabilized, and always heading towards doom. After arrest, Patty Hearst’s lawyer makes the argument that, even though she’s clearly brainwashed and undergone great trauma, and that is why she joined in bank robberies and the spouting of revolutionary rhetoric, it will be impossible for her to get a fair trial making that argument as so many parents felt their children went away to college in the 1960s and came back brainwashed as different people, though they did it of their own free will.

Hardcore, 1979, dir. Paul Schrader. This one’s about George C. Scott as midwesterner whose daughter gets kidnapped on a Church trip to California and ends up in porno. I guess has some parallels with Patty Hearst in terms of preying on parental fears, but also has this sort of sordid exploitation-y vibe in its basic summary. Peter Boyle plays a private detective whose debauched nature really bothers George C. Scott, whose beliefs the film takes pretty seriously. The end of the movie revelation that the daughter basically did run away and hates her dad sort of comes from nowhere, but the daughter is largely absent from the entire movie, and the disconnect between her and her father plays out so much from the father’s perspective it’s not really unearned. It also makes sense considered in the context of Patty Hearst, which is both a deepr work, but also a historical one, sort of about the creation of the moment and cultural context in which Hardcore would’ve been made and received. I wish Schrader’s first movie, Blue Collar, was available on a service I had access to.

Auto Focus, 2002, dir. Paul Schrader. This was the first Paul Schrader movie I was aware of, it was sort of critically-acclaimed. I avoided it because it seemed somewhat exploitative and grossly voyeuristic, being about Hogan’s Heroes star Bob Crane, here played by Greg Kinnear, and his interest in filming himself having sex with random women lured in by his celebrity. The film is characterized by a certain glib irony, but it’s also defined by the presence of Willem Dafoe, who’s great in it, as a completely loathsome person, taking advantage of Bob Crane’s celebrity to participate in the sex he otherwise would not have access to, and hastening his downfall by transforming him into a totally debauched sex addict, before finally killing him. The contrast between Bob Crane’s wholesome exterior and his descent into depravity is mirrored by a contrast between the the sort of jokey mockery of that contrast and a lived-in sense of squalor in the depiction of two men in a basement jerking off as they watch porn together.

Light Sleeper, 1992, Paul Schrader. Dafoe stars in this one, alongside Susan Sarandon, much hated by some for her adamant refusal to support Hillary Cilnton. This makes Sarandon admirable to me, but I don’t know how much I’ve seen her in. She’s in Louis Malle’s Atlantic City, also on the Criterion Channel, a movie I thought was great when I saw it but have forgotten almost everything about in the years since. Dafoe plays a mid-level drug dealer, who’s been off drugs for a few years, and Sarandon is his higher-level contact, who’s looking to get out of selling entirely and enter the cosmetics business. Dana Delaney plays Dafoe’s ex-wife, from his addict days, back in town because her mother is dying in the hospital. The compulsion towards sex that’s present in a bunch of other Schrader movies is replaced here with drug addiction as this force to fight against, or exist in tension with, and also love, which is very present in this movie and very tender. The movie also boasts early-career cameos by Sam Rockwell and David Spade, and the great Jane Adams plays Dana Delaney’s sister. Delaney’s character ends up relapsing and dying, probably due to the shock of her mother’s death, probably not helped by the unplanned reminder of DaFoe’s character. It seems very rare for a movie to have roles as strong for women as this movie does. Even the psychic who Dafoe sees in two scenes, played by Mary Beth Hurt, who I don’t know from anything else, is great.

La Truite, 1982, dir. Joseph Losey. A friend of mine highly recommended Joseph Losey’s film Mr. Klein, but that one’s hard to track down. This stars a young Isabelle Huppert as a young woman who gets flown out to Japan by a rich businessman. He doesn’t have sex with her, just sort of enjoys the money being lavished on her, but her husband, who she also does not seem to have sex with, gets pretty pissed about it.

Eva, 1962, dir. Joseph Losey. This is a really similar movie from Joseph Losey in a lot of ways. It stars Jeanne Moreau, who also has a smaller part in La Truite, and it’s also about a woman whose whole deal is getting money from rich dudes and not having sex with them. In La Truite, Huppert’s life gets kind of ruined, in this movie, Moreau does the ruining, of an author/hack who is married to an actress from one of his work’s movie adaptations who doesn’t know what the he confesses to Moreau, which is that he stole the book from his dead brother and didn’t write a word of it. I wasn’t that into either of these movies but I feel like the sort of archetype, of like a young beautiful woman who doesn’t want sex and sort of just busts men’s balls “works” in a film, how film’s objective or ambivalent view makes their motivations opaque in a way that allows them to be compelling to male and female audiences alike, if for different reasons. Vera Chytilova’s Daisies plays on this sort of youthful feminine brattiness too, to a more anarchic effect. None of these characters have as much depth as Patty Hearst or any of the women in Light Sleeper but they nonetheless suggest the possession of such, kept far away from the camera’s eye.

[terramythos]

Review: The Stone Sky by N. K. Jemisin (The Broken Earth #3)

Length: 398 pages.

Genre/Tags: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Apocalyptic, Post-post-post Apocalyptic, Dystopia, Female Protagonist, Antagonist POV, First-Person, Second-Person, Third-Person, Gray Morality, Dark, Great Worldbuilding, Great Character Development, LGBT Characters, Diverse Cast, Trilogy, Perfect Score 

Warning(s): This is probably the most optimistic of the trilogy, but it’s still not a happy series. Abuse/torture, slavery, graphic violence and gore, and major body horror. References to child death. 

My Rating: 5 / 5 

**WARNING: THIS REVIEW (INCLUDING THE SUMMARY) CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE FIRST TWO BOOKS. IF YOU WANT A SPOILER FREE REVIEW, PLEASE READ MY FIFTH SEASON REVIEW (X), OR, BETTER YET, JUST READ THE SERIES.**

My Summary:

The reckoning of the world has come. Essun, who has lived a life of suffering and loss, finally has a home to call her own. But she is one of the last living humans who can harness The Obelisk Gate and return the Moon to the world, finally quelling Father Earth’s rage and ending the apocalyptic Seasons forever. She knows such an act will  cost her life. 

Her daughter Nassun, meanwhile, has seen that the cruelty of the world cannot be reconciled. More powerful than her mother, she seeks the power of The Obelisk Gate for another purpose— to end the suffering of others, forever. 

And finally, Hoa reveals the origins of himself and the other stone eaters— the immortal, humanoid statues who have their own stakes and motives in this conflict. His is a chilling tale of a utopia built on the suffering of others… a cycle humanity seems unable to break, even 40,000 years after the Seasons began. 

Does humanity deserve another chance? Only one will decide the fate of the Earth.

Time grows short, my love. Let’s end with the beginning of the world, shall we? Yes. We shall.

Minor spoilers and my thoughts follow.

Here’s my dilemma— this is the final book in a series, and I find it impossible to talk about any final entry without reflecting on what came before it. For better or worse, everything ties together somehow in the last book. In this case I’d say “for better”, because this book was great, and an excellent way to conclude a thought-provoking and wonderful trilogy. But nevertheless, I’ll probably be discussing the series as a whole in this review.

So, yes, this was a really good conclusion. Definitely not where I expected things to end up, based on the opening premise, but that’s not a bad thing, and it’s been interesting to see how the story and characters have molded and changed. Honestly, I don’t have some master plan on how to style this review, except by discussing all the different parts of the story that really clicked for me.

I’m a sucker for “fate of the world” type stories, and I’m glad that The Stone Sky finally takes this direction. It’s really something to see how far Essun has come. She starts as a scared little girl hiding in a barn and is now a forty-something woman with the destiny of humanity in her hands. You can see all the steps that lead her to this point, but there’s something truly epic about any story that includes such a level of growth. It’s been an often-painful ride, but one I’ve really enjoyed nevertheless.

Obviously, I have to talk about the characters. Everyone was SO interesting. Even characters you were supposed to dislike initially had fascinating development over time. Schaffa is the obvious example, as we saw in The Obelisk Gate, but that continues in The Stone Sky as well. In this one there’s a minor antagonist from the previous book who gets called out on her bullshit and… changes her behavior accordingly. Hell, the leading antagonist of the entire series, Father Earth, the force that has caused the death and destruction of billions of people, has justifiable motives.

And you look at Essun, who is generally a good person at heart, and some of the terrible things she’s done (which is ESPECIALLY relevant since the narrator likes to see the best in her). Her daughter Nassun fills the “destroy the world” role, but even her motivations for doing so come from a place of compassion. It’s… interesting, to say the least. And that’s not to say that there aren’t minor characters who are pretty awful the whole time, but those are noticeably the irredeemable bigots, which makes sense for the type of story being told here.

You know what I mentioned in my Obelisk Gate review (x) about gray morality? Yeah. Everyone major is a complex character. Who knew?

As for specifics, I already named most of my favorite characters in my Obelisk Gate review, and that pretty much continues here. There are some new faces introduced (or re-introduced) in this one, but for the most part the focus is on an established cast, emphasizing how they’ve grown and changed over time. There’s plenty of examples. Essun, despite everything, has started to move past a lot of her trauma and open up to other people. Nassun has her own found family in Schaffa, but nevertheless continues to spiral down a destructive path. Probably the most significant development in this one is Hoa, our intrepid narrator, who finally reveals his origins and backstory. I found him fascinating because he directly states his motives several times, yet we don’t really know his intentions until this book. It’s been a ride back and forth, but I think he’s probably one of the most interesting characters in the series. He’s a far cry from the minor helper character he seems to be at first.  

While the first two books had snippets from Hoa’s perspective, he becomes a full-fledged perspective character in The Stone Sky, and reveals a lot about the world and general themes of the story. This entry also humanizes him a great deal. We already knew he identifies as a human, that he’s one of the oldest stone eaters alive, but not necessarily what that means to him until now. Most of his story explores how the world got to its current, cyclical apocalypse-state, tied to the origins of the stone eaters. Despite the time leaps, Jemisin keeps it all relevant and interesting; it never feels jarring to switch between disparate perspectives. That’s true for the other books as well, and I think it speaks quite well of her writing. One really satisfying part about Hoa’s perspective in this entry is we get an actual, canon explanation for why he’s narrating Essun’s life in second-person. Over the course of the series he lapses into first-person sometimes, or narrates in a very stylistic way, and all of that starts to make sense too. There’s even solid reasoning to the whole unreliable narrator thing! It was a nice touch to tie off the series.

This entry into the series also gives us a chance to look at long term worldbuilding. Specifically, there’s a LOT of slow burn/long con details about the world that we finally figure out here. One really interesting detail is the concept of “icewhite eyes”. Basically, it’s a rare eye color that’s commonly seen as a bad omen. The Fifth Season seems to play this straight; two named characters have icewhite eyes. One is the then-monstrous Schaffa. So, bad omen, check. The other is Hoa, who we figure out pretty early isn’t quite human (at least how we see it), and has mysterious— possibly sinister— intentions. So, check off the bad omen there, right? Except BOTH of these characters develop in unexpected ways. Schaffa becomes— of all things— a strong father figure for Nassun. Hoa is, well, Hoa, and full of spoilers, but it should be obvious by now he’s a pretty complex guy. Finally, in The Stone Sky, we learn where the negative beliefs about icewhite eyes come from, and it is… well, pretty fucked. It’s obviously allegorical, but the reader doesn’t really get the extent of it until this book, which makes it all the more insidious. It ties wonderfully to the anti-bigotry, anti-oppression themes of the novel, and does so by completely playing the reader.

This is just one example of many, and I’m willing to bet this series is a fun one to re-read due to all the future context. But now to focus on things that generally apply to the series, rather than something this book in particular focuses on.

Generally speaking, there are things about the world that I really like, now that I’ve had three books to consider them. One big thing that played with my expectations was orogeny as a concept; for all intents and purposes it feels like this world’s version of magic. But as the series goes on you learn orogeny isn’t magic at all; just an evolutionary trait future humans picked up (I mean, the term “oroGENE” implies this, but…). Not only that, but traditional magic does exist, and is very relevant to the story. The stone eaters were also super interesting. They were way different than most generic “fantasy races,” and getting their backstory in this entry made them even more compelling to me. They’re uncanny and sort of creepy at first, but the more you learn about them the more explainable their behavior becomes.

I’ve talked so much about the things I like about the series that I’ve neglected to mention the writing itself… it’s very good. Exquisite, even. I’m not sure how else to describe it— Hoa has a very strong voice— humorous (often bitterly) and cognizant of the little details. I loved the fun poetic bits that experiment with typeface and line breaks. There’s even a part where The Important Words Were Capitalized, which felt so natural with how people type now that I’m surprised I haven’t seen it much in literary works. The trilogy was very fun to read based purely on the writing. Even if it had been lacking in content, which it wasn’t, I think I still would have enjoyed it purely for the craft.

Certain themes are omnipresent in this series, and there were several that really struck a chord with me. Obviously, the cycles of oppression the characters face are allegorical to the real world. One thing I REALLY like about this series is how much it defends the downtrodden, something I feel mainstream fantasy often fails to do. So many series seem to WANT an oppressed class in their fantasy world, then are completely apathetic to what that means, or don’t bother to challenge the issues such an inclusion brings. It’s like “oh, well, this happens in the real world, so I should have some sort of allegory for racism/sexism/homo/transphobia”. Not so here— The Broken Earth is about the full implications of oppression and why it’s so wrong, why it’s so unjust. The Fifth Season’s dedication reads “For all those who have to fight for the respect that everyone else is given without question” and honestly that was the point I knew this series and I were going to click. Just because we are looking through a fantasy lens does not make these things any less horrible or ugly, and I’m glad the series takes such a strong stance against dehumanization and oppression.

Another overarching theme I was surprised impacted me so much was that of parenthood. A character early in the series says “Children will be the ruin of us.” It’s a haunting line in context, and thematically it sticks through the rest of the series. Essun’s motherhood is a central part of her character— striking because initially she has no desire to be a mother. She is, arguably, not even a very good mother in the traditional sense— but her protectiveness of her children ultimately defines a lot of the story. It’s hard to go into detail without broaching major spoiler territory, but it’s a consistent and heart-wrenching theme that persists all the way to the end. That particular line is literal for many, many events in the story.

I discussed representation in my previous reviews, so I won’t retread that much, but stories like this prove just how easy it is (and should be) to be inclusive. It makes sense that the cast is so diverse in this series, because it is very much about the oppressed and the issues they face. Wouldn’t make any sense to have that central concept, then focus on a bunch of straight white guys. But that being said, I think this series is a great example of how  writing can be better in terms of representation. This is the only fantasy series I’ve ever read where the main protagonist is a 40-something black mother. And there should be much, much more out there. Since getting into this series I’ve found myself looking critically at a lot of mainstream entertainment, and its failure to represent minority groups beyond a few token characters. It was a problem I was aware of, but this series makes it look so easy that I find myself even more annoyed that most people don’t bother.

I’m not going to lie— The Broken Earth is a pretty bleak series. A lot of really horrible shit happens to the main cast. Hell, the opening premise is that (a) a toddler was murdered by his father, and (b) the world is about to end forever, killing millions of people. Most of the early content focuses on a brutalized slave class, hated by society for the crime of having a certain evolutionary trait. But the series is also about the small moments of hope that shine through despite these things. Happiness and compassion are worth celebrating, because they remind us that there is something worth fighting for in the world, no matter how hopeless and awful things seem. We see characters who are victimized and beaten down ultimately come into their own truths and find their own families and reasons to live. So yeah, it’s a dark series, but I wouldn’t have had it other way. I hope someday I can meet N. K. Jemisin to thank her for writing these. They’ve given me a lot to think about.

[wardencommanderrodimiss]

In honor of the end of Lost Light today, I’m posting an essay that I wrote for one of my writing courses last fall, where the assignment was to write a persuasive review about something we feel passionately about. I’m always trying to sell these giant robot comics to everyone, so if nothing else, I made all my peer reviewers read about Transformers - but if you’re at all ever wondering what More than Meets the Eye and Lost Light are about, more than just “canon gays”, like “what’s the plot even?” or “how much do I need to know about Transformers if I wanted to read this”, take a gander.

(This review contains spoilers for several plot arcs throughout these comic series.)

Mentioning the Transformers franchise usually elicits one of a few common reactions: an eye roll, a sardonic remark about children’s action figures, or an admittedly-deserved rip on the Michael Bay films (“Have you seen the Rotten Tomatoes score?”). And while nerd culture and mainstream culture overlap more and more, to announce interest in reading comic books is still a mark of fringe-level geekery, never mind the big-budget blockbusters that much of the general public flock to at each new release. So to say that one of the most engaging pieces of media I have engaged with in the past several years is the currently-ongoing comic book series Transformers: Lost Light, I find myself bracing for any of the expected reactions with qualifiers: “It’s good, for Transformers!” or “It’s a good comic book!”

But really, it’s just good.

The publishing company, IDW Publishing, is not the big two of Marvel or DC Comics, but it is sizeable, with several current Transformers series and many more past, creating the labyrinthine continuity that plagues most comics besides small independent creators and publishers or brand new properties. Transformers and IDW Publishing are neither of these; the Transformers comics continuity of today began in 2005, and I have not read a majority of the comics published since then. Lost Light provides just enough backstory and context to understand the necessary, major points (sometimes assisted by footnotes “*See Issue #X of Series: Y”), and from its beginning spins a new plot that stands firmly on its own.

Transformers: Lost Light’s tenth issue just released in October [2017] but it exists as a direct continuation of Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye, which contains 55 [correction: 58? it’s complicated, and even in his end note for the final issue, the author acknowledges officially 55, but several more un-sequenced] issues from 2012 to the end of 2016, and it was rebranded as part of a publication company-pushed effort to provide new readers with a good starting point. (While I understand that seeing “Issue 55” may scare some readers away, I admit to being disappointed with the rebranding, having wanted to see how high of a number the series could reach. Most of the “Big Two” (Marvel and DC) series that I have followed only reach around 20 before being cancelled, wrapped up, and the characters passed off two new writers.)

This kind of executive meddling in the course of the books is common in comics and IDW is no different. They have pushed “crossover events” where all of the ongoing Transformers books come together for the same story, using all of the characters, with writing alternating between the writers of each series from one issue to the next, and they have insisted on inclusion or seeing more of a certain character; Transformers is, at its heart, a toy line, and if the parent companies want to see more of Megatron in this particular comic to push a new toy that is being released, then Megatron will be placed in a main role in that comic.

In spite of the whims of IDW and Hasbro (the toy company which ultimately owns the Transformers license), the writer of More Than Meets the Eye (MtMtE) and Lost Light, James Roberts, who maintained his position across the rebranding, has plots which have a remarkable coherency and cohesion. Mysteries from the first issue of MtMtE come into play in a big way in the mid-30s, the 50s, or even finally culminate in Lost Light. If my memory serves me correctly, all but one of the questions posed in the first issue have finally been answered, but if experience serves me correctly, I will again find myself flipping back through the very first pages to follow a new trail that Roberts will next reveal in the narrative. The one question not answered is the driving force behind the plot, a simple enough question: “Where are the Knights of Cybertron?”, the mythical founders of the Transformers’ home planet who the crew of the ship the Lost Light hope to find and gain their assistance in rebuilding Cybertron after its destructive civil war. Along the way, the crew find themselves waylaid and misdirected by wartime tensions that have followed them on their quest away from the ruins of Cybertron into space, interpersonal relationships of the friends, rivals, and nemeses who are all part of the crew, and by the individual histories, goals, and machinations of characters with their own agendas.

While Roberts’ attention to detail is remarkable, and his plots and mysteries compelling, his greatest strength lies in his character writing. The crew of the Lost Light is large, and while he does have a core group that the narrative most often focuses on, that group consists of around a dozen characters, all of whom he juggles smoothly enough to give compelling personalities and motivations to each, and minor characters as well are distinctive and memorable. The relationships between characters can be touching, funny, intense, and sometimes all of the above.

There are moments throughout the series that feel “comic book”-y: cliffhangers that are more misleading than not at the end of issues to carry the reader’s attention to next month, deaths that are debatably shock value, fake-out deaths, and characters brought back from the dead. Most of the time, though, even the back-to-back plots about stumbling across the dead bodies of apparent clones of most of the crew, the ship and almost all of the crew disappearing into thin air, and time travel, feel remarkably grounded. It is the characters and their reactions that sell these most outrageous plots, because in each of them there lies a heart that is deeply human. The mad scientist Brainstorm carries a briefcase everywhere, even to the funeral of his best friend’s husband (the Transformers-equivalent term for spouse is “conjux endura,” a term Roberts introduced to the franchise), and refuses to open it or tell anyone what it contains. It happens to be the key to his time machine, which he spent centuries inventing, intending to return to the past and stop the war from ever happening. Because he was created after the war began, as a disposable foot soldier, he would undo himself from existence, and this is a price he means to pay to save the life of a fellow Transformer that he loved. Ultimately, Brainstorm cannot bring himself to pull the trigger to kill the Transformer who started the war, because for all of his time spent building weapons, he has never personally taken a life.

The war is over at the onset of MtMtE, but its reverberations echo through the story as the characters try to understand for what, exactly, they destroyed their planet and nearly their entire species. In flashback, Roberts returns to the origins of the war – and not just during the crew’s time travel misadventure – and its onset because of deeply stratified social classes. An oppressive government enforced the belief that the alternate mode (vehicle, microscope, gun, USB stick) a Transformer was constructed with at their time of creation determined their life trajectory. A microscope would be part of the intellectual class; a truck, a miner; and a USB stick was what was known as one of the “Disposables,” who were built to die after the fuel they were supplied with at creation ran out. This classism and discrimination by circumstance of “birth” is made more concrete by the mechanical nature of the Transformers, but it is not an issue unfamiliar in our own lives. The Functionists are portrayed as unequivocally bad, and their religious extremism lingers in villains who the Lost Light encounter, but at what point did the revolution against them step too far into the destructive war that ruined Cybertron, and then Earth when the Transformers met humanity?

As one can follow the political thread of Roberts’ writing, the social issues highlighted are just as, perhaps even more, timely. Roberts is given freedom to build off of the continuity created by other writers before him, one aspect of which is the concept that Transformers are all only male. A prior writer of Transformers books have said this limits the kind of emotion that the Transformers can have, lacking love because they lack women, but Roberts invented the term “conjux endura” mentioned above. He first applies it to the quiet, committed romance between the characters Chromedome and Rewind, two Transformers who use male pronouns, say “I love you,” and hold hands, both as the main focus of a panel and unremarked upon in the background of other action. (Neither of them have mouths, so kissing is out of the question.) Brainstorm creates time travel in an attempt to save his crush, Quark, who is also a male robot.

Roberts is not the only current writer who has found the inability to write female characters without breaking established canon limiting. Another Transformers series, Windblade, named after its titular (female) character, published during MtMtE’s run,, introduced a number of lost colonies of Transformers who all have robots who use female pronouns. Suddenly their main planet of Cybertron and its male-only robots is no longer the norm – it is in fact an anomaly in Transformers culture – and its sole female character who has a convoluted backstory to justify her gender now has company who do not need their gender explained. Since the Windblade series, MtMtE has added several female Transformers to its core group, and many more on the sides. In one issue, at a dance party, the robot Skids is remarked to have been “flirting” with “that hothead,” a female Transformer named Firestar whose head looks as though it is on fire. Later Nautica mentions Firestar to Skids and Skids refers to her using the pronoun “he”; Nautica corrects him, telling him that Firestar is a “she.” Skids apologizes, calling his use of “he” a “force of habit,” and the fact that he assumed himself to be flirting with a male robot is not remarked upon as a big deal in the narrative; neither are Chromedome and Rewind, nor is the gender of Brainstorm’s crush (the real matter there being, of course, his nearly erasing four million years of history). Later, in the first issue of Lost Light, the characters Lug and Anode are introduced, a pair of female conjux endurae who encounter an old acquaintance who refers to them both as “he.” Anode corrects him to tell him that both she and Anode now refer to themselves as “she,” saying that after the two of them had explored the galaxy, and encountered other species with more genders than Cybertron had, that “It’s just a better fit.” [They two do have mouths, and do kiss on-panel.]

For a story about giant alien robots who can transform into planes and cars (though they rarely do transform within the pages of this comic, and a reader could be forgiven for forgetting that this is what “Transformers” refers to) and are so long-lived that they fought a war for four million years, their politics and social issues feel timely to humanity today. Interwoven with memorable characters, and plots that leave wide room for the reader to theorize where it will go next and enough clues to predict it, Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye and Lost Light always leave me eagerly awaiting the next issue.

[I would be remiss, as this is a comic book, not to acknowledge the artists who work on the book and truly bring the series and the characters to life. Comic books are not always known for having the best art, but the creative team deliver time and time again. Know that there are far more than Roberts whose presence in making the series should not be understated - Alex Milne and Jack Lawrence as the main artists; Josh Burcham, Joana Lafuente, and Josh Perez as the main colorists; and numerous guest artists. Their work is a far cry from the difficult-to-parse designs and muted colors of the Bay films, and while I’ve focused on the writing, the art cannot be taken for granted.]

Addendum: November 2018.

Today, Lost Light came to a close at issue 25, after a nearly seven-year-long run between it and More Than Meets the Eye. Earlier I spoke of the troubles of executive meddling, and this ending is no different; Roberts has spoken on Twitter, his primary platform for communicating with fans, about how he had hoped for a longer run and still had stories that he wished to tell and indeed had planned for. In the world of comics, though, MtMtE and Lost Light have had a remarkable run, and the IDW Publishing’s Transformers universe an even longer one. I can understand wanting a fresh start and a new jumping-on point for readers, but I will mourn the stories that weren’t told and hope that JRo (the fans’ affectionate nickname for Roberts) will dole out some more tidbits about what was to come.

Given this truncated length, the pacing of the plot of Lost Light overall does suffer in some places, especially towards its close. Knowing the broader context as I do, I find it hard to fully blame Roberts - he does his best with what he has, and his best is very good. At its close, Lost Light turns its focus to what made it great: even with the final mysteries solved, the heart and payoff of the series is in its characters. After so long following the crew and watching them grow and change -- sometimes for worse, often for the better -- I feel almost proud to see the end of their personal and relationship development. The real culmination of the series lies in issue 24, in a speech that Rodimus, captain of the Lost Light, makes to his crew; heartwarming and heartwrenching both, it is genuine and heartfelt and unprepared, a far cry from other speeches he has made. It shows Rodimus’ growth as much as it showcases that of the crew he has led, and it speaks to the reader as much as it does to the characters. Issue 25 is more an epilogue than anything. I cried. Of course I did. It’s hard to end the journey. It’s hard to say goodbye.

I hope that this won’t be the end of the Lost Light and its crew. I hope that the story will find itself new readers in its complete, finished form, in full collections that I hope will be compiled so that I can own about half of the run in double. And I hope that some of the final words of issue 24 rings true for the entire series as well: Don’t forget me.

[curly-q-reviews]

FLIX FROM THE NET

Bird Box, 2018 (dir. Susanne Bier)

SPOILER WARNING THERE WILL BE SPOILERS DONT READ IF U HAVENT SEEN IT YET AND WANT TO

[TW: SUICIDE, MURDER, VIOLENCE, BLOOD, GORE]

well fuck its been a while!!  happy new year y’all hope u had a Fun and Safe time!!!  i for one was at a party where we started playing Shrek at exactly 10:39 PM to see if Smash Mouth’s hit song I’m a Believer started playing right at midnight and to my utter disbelief and elation it did!!!  move over times square ball drop a new arbitrary way of celebrating the start of a new calendar year is here and it involves a large green monster with a scottish accent who really loves his onions (#me am i right ladies)

WELL ANYWAY heres a fun new series ive been thinking of starting cause ya girl watches a lot of netflix movies and has many opinions about them.  i think i’ll do a separate post about the whole Netflix Original Film trend in general and how its changed the film industry at a later date but since i just watched the above movie not too long ago i wanted to get all my thoughts out there right fuckin now!!

netflix is without a doubt the OG king of streaming services, they were really the first to get the ball rolling and then dozens of other companies scrambled to latch onto this money train while it was rolling on the tracks full steam (or should i say.... stream EL;KGHS;EKFSH; please end me) ahead.  it started out as a rental subscription service where u could pick out three movies at a time to rent and then they were sent to u in the mail (like blockbuster but now you never have to leave your house ever again to get that sweet sweet rental content).  and then the decision was made to actually start online streaming, no physical DVD’s required!  ISNT TECHNOLOGY GREAT

well whoooo boy this shit swept the nation, people couldnt get enough of such a convenient and relatively affordable service and netflix started really raking in the dough.  and at some point they got rich enough to say “hey fuck it!!!  lets make our own movies baby!!!!”  and here we are now with Netflix Original Movies and TV Shows, which means a new player has entered the movie game in a very novel and innovative way.  why pay money for a movie ticket and leave your house to go to a theater when cool new movies are being released on a subscription service u already own to watch movies you already know and enjoy?  and then u can sit butt-ass naked in ur bedroom alone stuffing ur face with cheese puffs like an insatiable cheddar beast and see something new and fun and interesting

ok so.  Bird Box.  here we have a movie based off of a book (so i guess this also counts as a Book Movies review but I DIGRESS) starring hollywood powerhouse sandra bullock, featuring Supreme Lesbian Overlord Sarah Paulson and Resident Crazy Old Man John Malkovich, directed by a relatively unknown but competent female filmmaker Susanne Bier (who also directed Things We Lost in the Fire in 2007, a moving drama starring Halle Berry).  this one definitely has a lot of proimse compared to what netflix has offered so far in terms of their original movies (im gonna get into Dumplin’ at a later date cause jesus christ what a mess) and i went in with pretty high expectations

did it deliver???  well uuhhhh yeah sort of i guess!!  we got some pretty strong performances from our leading lady bullock who really does deliver it every time, a few strong supporting roles like newcomer Trevante Rhodes of Moonlight fame (his energy on screen is just so compelling and soothing), not overly obnoxious child actors which is really all u can ask for, and overall a solid story. 

now heres where i gotta say that i couldnt help comparing this film to another movie of its kind, directed by the notorious M. Night Shyamalan.  y’all remember The Happening?  cause i remember The Happening.  i remember that it was total shit and that the twist was that it was the fucking plants making everyone kill themselves.  the PLANTS.  and i also remember mark wahlbergs dumb-ass confused face that he used in every single shot no matter the context, im AMAZED i remember zoe deschanel in this movie cause she may as well have been one of the killer plants with how little she emoted, and i remember mark wahlberg yelling at a fake office ficus and apparently i was supposed to be scared while watching this clusterfuck. 

the way that this movie was described to me by friends who had seen it before me was basically that Bird Box is a slightly better The Happening, and no truer words have ever been spoken.  we basically have the same premise going on here:  unknown force is causing people to off themselves, our lead(s) have to try and find a way to escape this unknown force without even knowing what it really is, and theres some sort of “sanctuary” they gotta try and get to (which is a common plot point in really all apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic films).  now whereas The Happening’s rules for this scenario make entirely no fucking sense (how in the fuck are u supposed to be able to out-run WIND???), Bird Box has some rules for dealing with this Unknown Thing that make slightly more sense.  when u open ur eyes while outside, the chance of the Thing making u kill urself in some horrific way is extremely high, so wear a blindfold when ur outside and keep all windows covered when ur inside.  makes sense!  thats something i can believe and get behind which makes me more immersed in the story!

unfortunately like The Happening there are still some little things that kinda dont make much sense and take u out of it.  apparently some people when they see this unknown entity dont wanna die, but instead find it absolutely beautiful, which makes them want to make everyone else look at it to see how beautiful it is.  and its insinuated that these people are mentally ill or have some sort of psychiatric issue.  i get that this adds more stakes to the situation and ups the ante, but it doesnt really sit well with me that once again, mentally ill people are the villains in a horror-type story.  and i also dont really understand why theyd then wanna go around and make other people see the thing??  unless the thing has them in a mind-control state or something and is making them do its bidding but that seems kind of a weird thing for an all-powerful evil formless entity to do. 

and that leads me to the next issue i have with Bird Box.  if ur gonna have an apocalyptic scenario where people do something as serious as kill themselves due to an unknown cause, it almost seems a little cliche and cheesy to have it be some sort of mythical celestial god-like or demon-like entity thats doing the damage.  i actually really liked where The Happening was going with its source of all the chaos being something naturally made, like the Earth deploying some sort of self-preservation mechanism or something.  the idea of that to me is actually loads more frightening than some invisible boogeyman that u cant look at.  and then Shamalamadingdong had to go and make it stupid by saying that it was fucking plants trying to kill people by releasing pheromones or some shit.  like why cant we have the best of both of these??  something naturally-occuring that maybe has even happened before in the planets history (maybe it wasnt a meteor that killed off the dinosaurs after all??), that isnt FUCKING PLANTS, and that doesnt do cheesy shit like make ur eyes turn grey and bloodshot and like whisper to u telling u to take ur blindfold off (i swear that happens multiple times it was pretty silly)

thats another thing, this movie’s tone is all over the place.  there are some moments where a more light-hearted tone is needed to break up the tension, for sure, but it almost as if the writing and dialogue werent really taking this serious of a story as seriously as they should have.  weirdly placed jokes are all over the place, there were some moments where the dialogue made me cringe cause it was so awkward.  bullock’s character gets to have some good breakdown moments which help bring the tone to the level of somberness and despair it should be at, but all the other supporting characters dont really get the same space to process whats happening to them, so it kinda comes off like they arent really affected by, say, their wife throwing herself into a burning car right in front of their very eyes. 

overall i’d still say this is a worthwhile watch, especially considering its a netflix movie.  if you’ve ever wanted to see a not-as-horrible version of The Happening that has some deeper metaphorical stuff going on about motherhood and family and shit than this is for you.  the production value is overall pretty solid (though when it comes to cinematography i actually prefer The Happening from an artistic standpoint) and sandra bullock knocks it out of the park.  go check it out if this seems like something thats up ur alley!!

ok bye for now hopefully it doesnt take me six months to write another review but we’ll see!!  my brain is a mystery and time is an illusion HAPPY 20-BI-TEEN Y’ALL