#that's just my personal interpretation though. canon leaves it ambiguous so other takes are equally valid imo

[relicsongmel]

Here's a question for the Ace Attorney fandom about something I've seen a lot of varying takes on and I'm curious to see what people think.

[caps-clever-girl]

Humphrey/captain and Humphrey/Sophie if you’re willing for the ship ask! - thelastplantagenet ✨

OUGH SORRY THIS IS SO LATE I HAD WORK ALL WEEK!!!!!!!! I am SO happy i got these 2 ships you know me so well T dsjdhfkjs <3

These two…… THESE TWO. I have so many feelings about humphrey and sophie i will literally take these two in any way shape or form. I especially love that their canon interactions leaves a LOT of ambiguity and its up to fans to interpret them in any way they like - and i personally like all interpretations. Did they actually try at some point? Who knows. I like if they did or if they didn’t. the arrangement of their marriage, the plot and language barriers put a LOT of strain on them, and of course just the general times and climate. In canon, that could have destroyed any chance of them liking each other more than platonically (or even destroyed platonic chances) but equally it could have just been a barrier that either one - or both - fought to get past. Humphrey consistently tried to make her comfortable despite the situation, tried to spend time with her and tried to get her things to make her happy. Even though he seems to recognise that she wants nothing to do with him / hates him, he strives for some kind of amicability. And i love that sophie does seem to appreciate this. She appreciates him, that he’s at least nice and hes trying, and that can happen regardless of whether she is in love with him or not. And even if she did just straight up fucking hate him i can get behind that too lol, the angst these two create is delicious. i the idiots turned around today and said “humphrey and sophie were never a thing” id be just as happy as if they said “oh yeah they were sooo pining for eachother they just never managed a confession” because both options create such different stories and i love them both! their ambiguity just means we can have them any way we want, and i want ALL THE WAYS! I like them loving eachother. I like them being besties. I like them hating eachother. I like them one-sided. These two really have it all <3

MMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!! MY BOYS MY BOYS MY BOOOOYS!!!!! You know FINE WELL how much i adore these two numpties. Humphrey just wants somebody to love, and someone that loves him back. He’s had a lonely life, and its my personal headcanon that along with that he is very touch starved - which is not helped by his decapitated state in teh afterlife either. And we all know how lonely cap is, and likely was in his life as well. I think Humphrey was the sprt of man who kept to his vows even if Sophie did (or didnt) hate him/go near him, and cap didnt even know he was gay until after he died. He might have tried to blend in and try something with women, or he might not have, but either way i dont think he spent his young adulthood with much contact either so i think the pair of them are touch starved and it would be nice for them to fulfil that with each other: someone who understands. Also i think you’ve said its likely humphrey participated in war in his time, or at least had knowledge of it? Which is something none of the other ghosts have, so i think cap would like knowing someone who experienced something similar to his own life. I think humphs personality would suit Cap incredibly well. Humph is gentle and caring, and very understanding - which to me, is something cap needs. But at the same time, humph is a sassy fuckin boy. He has a spine and if Cap fucks up or is being an ass humphrey will tell him. (“Got fed up of you being a prat?”) Humphrey would be happy to indulge in Cap’s enjoyment of nature and animals as well. Humph gets left in the house or chucked outside a lot without much way to see any of it, so it would be nice if Cap took him on a patrol and Humphrey was actually able to see it all properly. God man something about these two just clicks with me im so goddamn bonkers about them. Honestly one of my fave ghosts ships out there. ALSO THEIR SHIP NAME IS FUCKING “DE-CAP-ITATION” SO. ITS LITERALLY FATE!!!!!!

[five-wow]

Feel free to talk a lot about your theory of how McDanno was always stronger when there was heteronormativity nearby so that it was safe, and how that plays into the finale!

Ooh, thank you! That is an interesting question, and not one I had related directly to the finale before, though it certainly works on all kinds of levels, so I will take that “talk a lot” very literally and just ramble a bit.

Honestly, the most obvious way I think this comes into play is outside of the story, where the entire two-part finale (I’m including 10.21 here, since they were originally going to be aired as one) was about Steve and Danny and how important they are to each other and how Steve would probably have found a way to literally turn the entire island upside down and water torture gravity into dropping Danny into his arms if Danny’s disappearance had gone on for long enough, and then Catherine showed up in the last five minutes after having been mentioned like, twice, briefly, in the very last episode of this 22-episode season. The messaging felt very much as if “Steve loves Danny!” was being shouted at us on a loop and then there was a single “but he’s a HETEROSEXUAL man who is NOT GAY because he is HETEROSEXUAL” tacked onto the end in the form of a character showing up in a way that really made no sense for anyone, least of all her, which conveniently helped viewers dispell any thoughts about Steve maybe, y’know, wanting to be with Danny in more than one way. Catherine was not there for herself - she was there for Steve’s happy end, which needed to include a hetero love interest, because that is what a happy end is, right? The way they made her return, she was less of a character making a decision and more of a prop thrown at Steve’s character that was supposed to make us think “ah yes, now he can be happy again!” even though it went very much counter against what the entire season had been making us think a happy end for him would look like.

(Sidenote, this is also (part of) why it makes me very sad to see Catherine hate show up in people’s responses to the finale - I get that emotions run high and it’s easy to blame her for things, but she really, really, really isn’t at fault. As much as this ending wasn’t fair to Steve or Danny, imo it was also extremely unfair to Catherine. (Also, I don’t expect many people who ship Steve/Cath to end up reading this, but if anyone does, I just want to add that that’s super valid and if you did like the ending because your ship was given a very obvious and maybe unexpected chance, I get that and I’m happy for you! I personally don’t think it was a good move for any of the characters with the way it was executed, but I also deeply empathize with rooting for your ship and taking what you get, my gosh.))

(ANOTHER sidenote, I want to clarify that I don’t think the entire reason for the writers making Cath show up is that there was too much emotion between Steve and Danny in 10.21 and 10.22. It was an ending that didn’t rely on the logic of the story, but on viewers’ learned bias saying that any man + any woman = happy, romantic end. There’s obviously a lot more there, but it also happens to playvery nicely into the formula of Steve and Danny getting A Moment (or even Moments, plural) and then being shielded from the shadows of gay doubts by throwing in something sufficiently straight-looking.)

In story, though? In story this would also be a Whole Thing that fits depressingly well. I do think it’s fair to note that Steve didn’t really seem to have any part in his decision to fly off with Catherine - she showed up, orchestrated by other parties, and then he took her hand, but he didn’t ask her to come. That’s something, I guess! At the same time, he did kind of… make the choice to very literally run away from where Danny is after this whole Emotional Journey they (and Steve especially) went on. Steve’s been feeling off, like this comfortable spot he carved for himself on the islands wasn’t fitting anymore, and Danny was very obviously very worried and was immediately designated the unofficial spokesperson for the whole thing, because duh, everyone knows how ridiculously close they are. Then Danny got kidnapped (somewhat because of how much Steve cares for him, even though deeper down it’s mostly Doris’s fault, but obviously Steve would take on that guilt because it was just lying around - free real estate!) and Steve lost his mind and held Danny’s hand and Danny didn’t respond negatively to that at all, and they had some lovely moments. Then Steve decides he still needs to get away and up and leaves, so very literally leaving Danny behind. Then Cath shows up, unexpectedly, and lo and behold, Steve’s (former) Great Romance! The one that got away, as he just told Cole (so the audience would feel like this wasn’t out of the blue)! The woman he wanted to marry at some point and that he hasn’t seen in a year and a half (to the best of our knowledge) and the absolute perfect convincingly straight antidote to Steve’s emotional turmoil related to his male BFF/partner/dude he’s kinda married to and keeps telling how much he loves him. Once on the plane, Danny is not even there anymore and with the exception of Catherine herself there’s literally no one Steve knows present who could be judging him, but being a little ambiguously romantic with Cath might settle some of his own internal fears about where things with Danny were (once again) headed, so he takes Cath’s hand. It’s easy, safe, straight. All very comforting things.

And I just. The HAND HOLDING is my favorite part of the finale, honestly, because it’s so blatant. Steve holds Danny’s hand at Danny’s bedside, teary and praying to a literal God to make sure Danny is okay, and then Danny makes light of it by asking why Steve let go. Are they fighting now, Danny asks? That  implies holding hands is the normal state for them and not holding hands is Bad, even though two grown men holding hands is a very loaded thing in much of western culture and we’ve never seen them do it before because they’re very touchy with each other but in very specific ways, bound to very specific rules, and random hand holding is distinctly not okay under those strict social guidelines. And then. AND THEN. We close the episode with Steve offering Catherine his hand and Catherine taking it and Steve turning to look out the window and smiling vaguely, and the parallel kind of smacks you in the face and I find it both very funny and very sad and wonder if the writers even realized it at all, or whether maybe it was entirely intentional and meant as a nice nod to McDanno shippers because we were never going to get canon McDanno but at least this way we had, I guess, Steve’s implied hetero endgame romance play out in a way that also pretty literally happened with Danny earlier in the same episode, meaning that they’re at least sort of put on an equal footing? (Best way to interpret this: Steve is bi. It’s canon now.)

ANYWAY. Yes. I feel like this maybe veered off-topic, but I suppose the point is that Steve was allowed to hold Danny’s hand, but we had to be reassured he’d also want to hold Catherine’s, and Steve got to tell Danny he loves him and tear the island apart to get to him and ask God to take him instead of Danny and talk with Danny about how they both dream of a future in which they’re still side by side as old men while also currently living with Danny and both being single, but he had to then leave with Catherine so we would know that two single guys who live together and exchange I love yous while planning to grow old together aren’t actually [lowers voice to a hushed whisper] gay.

HOO! What a relief. I was really worried there for a second, guys.

(Also consider: all of that happens with Danny and it’s just guys being guys, just buddies being homies, just straight dudes being hetero, and then Steve takes Cath’s hand and maybe smiles a little and we’re supposed to infer it’s an epic romance. It’s fascinating to me how little straight you need to sprinkle in to completely even out the scales for most viewers, or even make them lean way in favor of “obviously he’s straight, why would you even think anything else, lol”.)

[magic-and-moonlit-wings]

Hi, how did you feel about Kanjigar as a character and his death? Were there any Trollhunters' pairings that felt forced and rushed, or ones you like, but either became bland or felt tacked-on? And finally, how would Trollhunter Claire's relationships go with Blinky, AAARRRGGHH and Draal?

Kanjigar’s death:

Kanjigar’s death is a necessary aspect of the show’s premise, since there can be only one Trollhunter at a time, chosen by the Amulet. (Unlike in the original novel, where there could potentially be many, and Jim Sturges and Claire Fontaine were both revealed to have genetic predisposition to be paladins - another name for Trollhunters, which I think Netflix chose not to use in order to avoid conflation with Voltron - and the amulet was just a translator device.)

Kanjigar’s death not only sets up the Amulet choosing a new Trollhunter, but also provides a bunch of exposition within the first few minutes of the show - that Bular is dangerous (Kanjigar clearly concluded he wasn’t getting out of that fight alive); that sunlight doesn’t just hurt trolls, but can outright kill them; and that this is a show where characters can and will die.

The fact it was a suicide which led to the selection of a new Trollhunter might be a deliberate parallel to how Jim’s use of the transformation potion in Season Three was filmed like a suicide, ‘killing’ Human!Jim to replace him as Trollhunter with supposedly-hybrid Troll!Jim.

Setting aside Doylist analysis and switching to Watsonian, Kanjigar was shortsighted.

Based solely on evidence in the show, we don’t know if Blinky was watching the fight and Kanjigar knew it and just didn’t call attention to him in order to protect Blinky from Bular, or if Blinky went looking for Kanjigar later and just happened to arrive in that drainpipe at the right moment to see Jim get the Amulet. (Supplementary books say Blinky and AAARRRGGHH were both witnesses but Kanjigar didn’t know they’d followed him.)

From what is shown on camera of Kanjigar’s knowledge at that moment, as far as Kanjigar knew, Bular could have climbed down from the bridge and stolen the Amulet immediately at sunset, before anyone from Trollmarket even knew Kanjigar was dead.

Supplementary comics justify this to some degree by showing the Amulet fly to Kanjigar following the death of his predecessor; but again, from evidence presented on camera in the show, there was no reason to expect that to happen … unless you count the Amulet vanishing by mid-afternoon when Jim tries to go back for it in Unbecoming, which I interpreted on my first watch to mean the Changelings had stolen it - which could well be the case, since they didn’t know yet that they needed the Amulet and the Trollhunter, and they might have let Draal find it after they did learn as much; Nomura’s dialogue with Strickler regarding the Trollhunter in that episode is basically, “he’s someone I know well enough to easily manipulate.”

So, Kanjigar’s ‘heroic sacrifice’ was narratively necessary but a dumb move on his part. Having a well-meaning hero create problems by trying to protect everyone and solve things alone seems to be a theme in this show.

Kanjigar personally:

Kanjigar is … what Jim could become. I don’t mean that as a compliment. I mean an admired and well-meaning figure, who nonetheless causes serious emotional harm to himself and those close to him by pushing away their attempts to support him and feeling like he shouldn’t bond emotionally with anyone, in an attempt to “keep them safe”.

Jim is good(ish) at teamwork when he starts out as Trollhunter, but as the series goes on he tries more and more to contain any fallout by cutting out the rest of his team, most notably when he goes into Darklands (just after Kanjigar ‘reminds’ Jim that “a day will come when you must finish the fight alone”) and uses Merlin’s potion (after being left alone with the wizard strongly implied to have created, not just the Amulet, but the Trollhunter job in the first place).

Likewise, the supplementary materials imply Kanjigar used to bring Draal, Blinky, and AAARRRGGHH along on missions, but it’s repeatedly stated in the show that Kanjigar had created distance between himself and Draal by the time of Kanjigar’s death, and Blinky and AAARRRGGHH never share any personal memories of interacting with him.

My opinions on various ships:

Jlaire was developed about as much as any straight relationship between teenagers in an animated series ever is. My reflexive response when Jim’s crush on Claire was introduced was “Oh No, Another Obligatory Unnecessary Hetero Romance Subplot To Prove The Protagonist Is Straight”, so its presentation actually exceeded my expectations by a lot. I could enjoy Trollhunters just as well without Jlaire being a thing - I’ve actually got a short essay on how I think that ship has a negative impact on my perception of Claire’s character, because it feels like she’s only there to be the love interest, even though I recognize she actually is plot-significant in her own right - but it’s fine. It has its roots in the original novel and there was no real reason to cut it from the script.

Darby was very much a background relationship. Something I noticed during my full-series rewatch was that Darci doesn’t get a lot of screen time or definitive characterization; I was trying to take notes on her so I could better write her in my fic, because I feel like I haven’t developed her character much, but I didn’t actually learn anything new about her. She and Toby are cute, and they have at least one ‘off-camera’ date (stated by Toby in the double-date episode) as well as their on-camera date. Definitely hoping to see more scenes between the two of them in the next season of 3Below - we know Toby’s going to feature because of the trailer where Eli is recruiting Toby to help him investigate extraterrestrial presence in Arcadia.

Stricklake starts out really intriguing, but gets fumbled with how clumsily Strickler’s redemption arc is written. What I would’ve preferred would be if he actually says the words “I’m sorry” during the doorway scene, mentions when Morgana tries ‘tempting’ him that Barbara would never forgive him if he lets her son be trapped in the Shadow Realm forever, and the next time they meet is because Barbara contacts him. We have no idea how or why he shows up in Parental Guidance, but a scene of Barbara calling him, as another adult who the Nuñezes and Nana are likely to listen to, to back up her story, would cover that base and give Barbara more agency in their interactions that season. So, yes, getting them together by the end of Season 3 feels rushed.

BlinkAAARRRGGHH was heavily implied but technically left to the audience imagination. I personally would not call it ‘baiting’, because to my knowledge the show was not marketing itself as “hey there’s a canon gay relationship” and then leaving it in subtext, but it is disappointing.

Dromua, meanwhile, happened entirely off-camera, casually referenced and hinted at by Draal and Nomura both, but never shown other than an ambiguously flirty moment between them after the escape from the Darklands. Again, I would have liked to have seen more.

Trollhunter Claire’s dynamics with Blinky, AAARRRGGHH, and Draal:

Claire wouldn’t see Blinky as a father figure. She has a dad already and seems to have a mostly-positive relationship with him. (Less ‘under pressure’ than her dynamic with her mom, at least, with some cute moments.)

Blinky would approve of Claire’s academic inclinations. Her interest in Shakespeare could be used as a framing device to explore troll literature, poetry, and theatre. For example, a scene could begin with Claire and Blinky discussing some troll playwright, and then somebody (probably Bagdwella, maybe Vendel) comes in looking for the Trollhunter.

Her dynamic with AAARRRGGHH probably wouldn’t change much. In canon, he’s about equally affectionate with all the kids (until Toby becomes his favourite, but even then, he stays affectionate with all of them.)

Draal, I don’t know. Claire’s certainly got enough of a temper to challenge him to a fight, so that would probably happen. It’d be more difficult to sneak him into her basement since her house is more populated. If he moves in before Enrique is kidnapped, I could see that creating tension when Claire discovers Not Enrique - “you said you were going to protect my family!” - and maybe she’d even throw him back out, forcing him to find alternate lodgings since he still can’t show his face in Trollmarket? Also I feel like Claire would introduce Draal to punk rock at some point.

[snicketsleuth]

Slackin’ with the Sleuth: reviewing Netflix’s “The Penultimate Peril”

One of the difficulties befalling any adaptation of "A Series of Unfortunate Events" is that you're actually putting three stories on screen: there's the conflict between Olaf and the Baudelaire orphans, then there are the obscure, offscreen manipulations of V.F.D. in the background, and finally there's Lemony's own past which is only alluded to through brief glimpses in his narration. We saw that the Netflix series, particularly in Season 2, sometimes extended the V.F.D. subplots at the expanse of the main Baudelaire story. Fortunately, the long pay-off of Lemony's elusive past is considerably more well-handled as it comes to a close in Netflix's version of "The Penultimate Peril". Let's analyze the writers' best effort under the cut.

The chronology of "A Series Of Unfortunate Events" is, to put it simply, a mess. Part of it is the consequence of Lemony's deliberately opaque style which makes it difficult to determine which characters he's really talking about, or when and where each event of his past is supposed to happen. The datation of Olaf's parents' murder, for example, has been a topic of contention for years amongst fans. Streamlining the entire sequence of his life into something more straightforward is far from a bad idea for this adaptation. "A Series Of Unfortunate Events" wasn't written to be read, but rather to be re-read. Understanding the bigger logic of the books' subplots is a reward for the more careful, compulsive readers. It's essentially marketed to bookworms and people whose idea of fun consists in literary commentary. But while readers alays have the opportunity to put down their book and search for earlier passages in order to understand his ramblings, the framework of a Netflix television show doesn't really lend itself to that. While it's always possible to binge-watch and rewatch, searching for individual scenes is more of a chore. In order for viewers to even engage with Lemony's complicated backstory, a more accessible timeline was essential. From the reactions of several watchers who have not read the books, the Netflix show is succesful in this attempt. Most show-only fans agree that the late-series are interesting and make mostly sense. Their experience is definitely less frustrating than the readers' post-series backlash a few years prior.

The opera house sequence is the series' most ambitious scene yet. It combines a great number of separate events into one: there's the obvious murder of Olaf's parents, of course, but also the theft of Esme Squalor's sugar bowl, Kit's romance with Olaf, Esmé' and Olaf's start of darkness, Lemony's decision to flee after being framed and his break-up with Beatrice. All of which happened at different in the books' timeline. It's a simplification but it's a highly effective one (as show writer Joe Tracz explained (Link), Bertrand was left out of the scene as it already had too many characters).

Ambiguity and unknowability are essential themes in the original series, but this vagueness came at a cost, namely that of character development. Even if these mysteries are mostly treated as jokes and McGuffins, the fact remains that many important characters (Olaf, Kit, Dewey, Esme, Lemony, etc.) make their decisions based on the answers to these mysteries. So it's difficult to empathize with them when we can't understand them. The chase for the sugar bowl is absurd, and therefore their actions are absurd. This, we think, is the real reason why the end of the series displeased so many fans. Not because it left us with mysteries, but because some of these unsolved mysteries actively removed us and disengaged us from the narrative. Why should we care about Lemony's tragic devotion to the woman he loved when we don't event know why the break-up happened? What are we even supposed to think about Esme's character when she won't reveal why the sugar bowl is important to her? How can we make our own opinion of the Baudelaire parents when we don't really know why they killed, or hat kind of persons ther victims were?

The Netflix series elegantly solves these issues in short scenes. There's still enough ambiguity here; Esme's personality can be interpreted in different ways, for example. On one hand, fans could say she's a shallow, materialistic woman who genuinely refuses to let go of a sugar bowl on the basis that it's hers, hers, hers. On the other hand, one could say the sugar bowl is just a totem, a symbol: what Esme is truly mad about is that people dismissed her as an idiot who couldn't take care of the sugar bowl properly, that her friends distrusted her and betrayed her, and that Beatrice/Lemony despised her enough to try murdering her. Same goes for Beatrice: sure, the death of Olaf's father was a tragic accident, but she still tried to kill another person. She can't reasonably be called innocent. So in that respect the writers gave the characters enough reality to flesh them out while preserving the moral ambiguity of their backstory. On that aspect, we do have to admit that the series is truly superior to the books. It's just as thought-provoking, but also more humane.

Less succesful is the writers' decision to give a resolution to the mystery of the sugar bowl. This is not a mystery which particularly needed solving, because it's not rooted in the characters' actions and motivations. All we really need to know is that the sugar bowl is "the most important thing in the world", and that's it. People want it for different reasons which are theirs and theirs alone: once you possess "the most important thing in the world", all your dreams can come true. As we've seen, the character who wants it the most is Esmé, and understanding her motivations does not necessirally require us to know what's inside it. Fear of abandonment, feelings of betrayal and pettiness are enough to explain her obsession. It's not the sugar bowl, it's what it meant to her.

More irritatingly, I very much doubt that the answer given in the series came from Daniel Handler himself. We have to remember he was "fired" from the staff of writers on Season 3, something he was oddly nonchalant about. This is strange considering he's spoken at length about his (understandable) bitterness after being fired from the writing staff of the 2004 Paramount movie. It's becoming clearer and clearer that somehow the decision suited his own purposes.

My own hypothesis is that Daniel Handler actively wanted to detach himself from Season 3 and that the "firing" was more of a mutual decision. We can only surmise what happened, but it's very probable that the other writers wanted to solve certain mysteries he preferred to leave ambiguous. The fact is that, if the author had wanted to give a clear-cut answer to the sugar bowl mystery in the books, he would have. He had a choice between resolution and ambiguity, and he made it. Though he revealed that he had his own opinion on what the sugar bowl really was, and that "one fan a year" usually finds the "real" solution, the mystery was written in a deliberately ambiguous way which allowed a multitude of answers. The author enjoys fans ho find the "real" solution and fans who come up with their own unique, personal ideas equally. It's his idea of fun, because literary analysis should be fun, and if there's one thing he enjoys, it's literary analysis. He doesn't want the conversation to end. So although he'd be willing to recognize that he kind of messed up by not developing some characters enough, it's extremely unlikely to us that he would write an obvious answer to something that he himself aknowledges as a MGuffin. Hence his decision to leave the writing staff after Season 2, as a way to disengage himself from whatever the writers wanted to include, and to preserve the intended ambiguity of the books' ending. It was also a tactful way of not throwing his fellow writers under the bus, as he respected their personal intention to solve the mystery. A clear case "I'm not going to stop you, just please leave me out of it and we can remain friends".

[Update: Liam R. Findlay from 667 Dark Avenue mesage board talked with show writer Joe Tracz (Link) and confirms that Daniel Handler never told the other writers if their solution was the correct one. It's a reliable source, though by no means official]

[Update: Here’s an interview where series showrunner Sonnenfeld clarifies that the solution given in the show was not confirmed by Handler (Link)]

The question remains: did the writers ask Daniel Handler what the sugar bowl contained, and did he even answer? We personnally doubt it. The canon of the series has been entirely reworked at this point. It's faithful to the books when it comes to themes, emotional resonance, political messages... but it's UNBASHEDLY unfaithful when it comes to plotting. Take Jacquelyn, who's revealed to be the infamous Duchess of Winnipeg. Now, in the books, the first name of the Duchess of Winnipeg is an unsolved mystery. Did the series solve it? No, because fans of the books know that canonically Jacquelyn was only created for the Netflix show and that the first name of the Duchess starts with an "R." It's show-canon, not book-canon. By that standard, we shouldn't trust the show to give us any supplementary information on the books. The show did not solve the sugar bowl mystery any more than it solved the mystery of the Duchess' first name.

On top of that, the explanation given in the show is not even that good from a purely internal perspective. If Beatrice wanted access to the hybrid, why couldn't she just steal some sugar from the bowl then give it back to Esme? If Kit had a cup of tea seasoned with the hybrid at the opera house, shouldn't she have been immune to the mushroom when she arrived on the island? Knowing Esme had tried to immunize her, what did she have to lose by drinking it? And if Beatrice succesfully managed to replicate the hybrid, why is the capture of the sugar bowl still so important? Its content could have been replicated by everyone! The idea that the sugar bowl contains an antidote to the Medusoid Mycelium is a popular hypothesis amongst fans, but a very flawed one. It's of course possible that Daniel Handler committed bad writing and that his own solution to the mystery is full of plotholes. But it sounds more likely that the Netflix writers just looked at a page of popular fan theories and just picked the one they liked the most. What tips it off for us is that supporters of this theory usually posit that the sugar bowl contains a bitter apple core hich was used to replicate the hybrid... while the show writers complicated things by saying it contained sugar made from the apples. This sounds more like another fan theory which proposes that the sugar bowl is a decoy used to deceive the other side of the Schism and that it only contains bland, normal sugar. So what we're dealing with here is probably the awkward combination of two popular fan theories which don't really make sense when taken together. Why would the writers choose to do that? My personal guess is that Handler truly didn't tell them and that they tried to combine the two most popular fan theories in order to please a maximum number of people. It's not a case of show canon extending book canon, it's fanservice. Not that fanservice is necessiraly bad, but you have to aknowledge it at what it is. We just wish the writers had integrated it a little better within the canon of the show's universe. It's possible they argued about which theory was better, just like the fans. And instead of a Schism, they had to settle for a compromise.

Speaking of compromises, the Netflix writers also decided to stop all pretense concerning the identity of the mysterious taxi driver. It's probably a good call, as they had already shown Lemony's face throughout the entire series. It's too difficult to engage viewers for hours of content if the "voice" of the series is faceless. An actor like Patrick Warburton was desperately needed to elevate the deadpan narration of Lemony Snicket. The grounbreaking, surreal nature of the encounter is intact as we get to see fictional protagonists (the Baudelaire orphans) suddenly interact with their equally-fictional author (Lemony). But this time, the writers make up for the loss of ambiguity by bringing something more to the table as replacement. We get to see a young, unaware version of Lemony speak with his sister Kit, and later Justice Strauss. These scenes include some of the series' best writing and will produce a lot of waterworks for sure. It's the perfect way to explain why Lemony decided to dedicate his life to the Baudelaire chronicles: it emerges diegetically from the onscreen plot itself. Justice Strauss passing down the torch of chronicling the Baudelaire orphans' lives to Lemony makes perfect sense: if there's someone who tried to shed some truth and justice on the Baudelaire case, it's her.

But as we approach the end of the Netflix series, we must look at it as a whole: was the denouement of this penultimate episode sufficient for the emotional pay-off of “The End”? More on the next review.

[driftingglass]

List of fav fanfics in bnha and hxh?

Oh my gosh, I have an excuse to point out the faves. So excited. 

:D

I’ll be forming a link for each fic I post and of course, tag the authors and link them to their page on AO3 as well. It’s muy importante. 

I’m leaving it to my top five picks because… it’s really hard to pick from the massive pool of talent-driven works I’ve read… honestly there are sooo many that I hold so close to my heart, but I can’t list them all here because I need to trust my ultimate favorites and, yeah.  

Also I’m only posting one favorite per author, because there are always multiple favorites with each writer but it helps narrow it all down if I do it this way. 

Oh, and these works that I have finished reading. So, if I haven’t finished the fic or haven’t read all of the chapters posted up to that point, then it’s not fair for me to call it a “complete favorite.” So stay tuned until the very end to see those other wonderful recommendations! (And I swear that I will finish them!)

YAY. FANFIC FAVE RECOMMENDATION TIME! 

MY FAVORITE HUNTER X HUNTER FANFICS

Report x Card by @olivemeister 

Okay. So. I think this is… probably my favorite oneshot work from the Hunter x Hunter fanfiction archive. This is just, absolutely phenomenal and heartbreaking and filled with angst and threads of hope and Killua and Gon are so interesting to observe through the eyes of multiple characters as tension and difficulties come into light. Oh, speaking of that, the level of suspense and buildup is just… ah. This is great, from beginning to end and I’ve read it dozens of times. 

Words That Water Flowers by @decembercamiecherries

I’ve definitely sung praises for this fic before, but it’s seriously, without a doubt, one of the most tightly written, creative Alternate Universe Killua/Gon stories. Killua and Gon’s relationship feels so raw and real, and the Hanahaki Disease is difficult to capture well in most settings, but I’m so glad that the concept behind this was taken in such an intriguing direction, and it allowed us into a very canon-like appreciation of Gon and Killua’s friendship/relationship. 

Lawfully Unwedded by @xyliane

I love this work mostly because of how believable it feels each time I read it. It’s mostly very sweet, but there’s a certain… candor, to it, that feels so refreshing when regarding the question on whether or not Killua and Gon would actually get married if they had the chance. I love the pacing, how the topic is handled, and I’m afraid if I say anything else it’ll spoil it. Please read it and leave lovely words behind for this talented writer.

Motor Scooters and Gelato by @fireolin

I never get tired of reading this story. I was honestly very torn between either posting this as my favorite from this author or Fireworks on Whale Island, which also displays this writer’s very sensible talents. The writing style is emotive, sensitive, and allows plenty of room to breathe, if that makes sense. You really feel every moment with Killua and Gon in this sweet, beautifully constructed piece. Honestly, reading this will make you just shine from the inside.

pro tempore by perennials

So. Um. There are many, and I mean many, works by this writer that are just jaw-dropping in the Hunter x Hunter fandom. I can’t even express how lovely everything they write is. But, I can only pick one per author… so, this one it is. Honestly, this story resonates with growing up, the angst and pain that radiates through Killua and Gon’s friendship, and so many more aspects of their relationship that come into light as they reunite as adults. The writing is marvelous and poetic and beautiful. I can’t recommend this enough. 

WORKS I LOVE THAT I HAVEN’T FINISHED YET | HUNTER X HUNTER

DNA by @killushawn

AH. I’M A HORRIBLE PERSON FOR NOT FINISHING THIS. I’ve listened to this heart-racing and solemn and wonderfully voice-acted piece almost to the very end, and that’s not a testament to Shawn’s talent because he’s brilliant. Now, this is the first audio fic I’ve ever listened to and if you haven’t listened to that many (or any) and are skeptical like I was, please give it a chance. The characterization of Killua in this is intriguing and different, and very refreshing. There’s so much passion and love put into this and you can feel it through each chapter/audio. 

one hundred by wartransmission

Okay, I love how this is written. I honestly do. I’ve read up to… chapter nine, or so, dozens of different times and kept trying to push through to the finish and just fell off for no other reason aside from my forgetfulness. This fic, though, I think, is honestly one of the best in the Hunter x Hunter archive. The characterization is interesting, especially with Gon, and I love how smooth the pacing and writing is and the take on each prompt is creative and fresh.

First Times by @murderxbaby

THIS. FIC. Is so… heavy. The pacing and the tension and the buildup are all brilliantly woven together, and I do realize that this story was actually recently completed. I’m planning on going through from the very beginning and reading it to the very end because it’s enthralling and wonderful, and I believe I stopped around the eighth chapter. Please, read this. It’s incredible.

>

WOO. Alright. Now it’s time for Boku no Hero Academia. Damn. 

Alright. Here we go.

>

MY FAVORITE MY HERO ACADEMIA FANFICS

Like the Moon by @osakakitty

Okay, so, um, it was really difficult to choose between this story and the equally masterful and wonderful character-driven piece, Make Every Moment Last. Both works are wonderful, but there’s something very raw and open about how she portrays the relationship between Katsuki and Izuku in her works, and… ah. Osakakitty has a fantastic, insightful view on these beloved characters and I adore how she writes Katsuki Bakugou especially. I can’t honestly praise this fic enough. Please read.

Falling by @soulestring

I think… nearly every person who likes BakuDeku/KatsuDeku knows about this story. This is, in my opinion, the BakuDeku fics of all BakuDeku fics, especially for first-time readers curious about the ship. It’s set in the canon universe and closely (with creative liberties taken of course) follows the main storyline of the manga/anime with a very intriguing look into the dynamic and “unrequited love” aspect of the Katsuki/Izuku relationship.

Incandescent Snow by Chicory

Okay, so, where do I even start with this? I love, and I mean, love, the concept behind this. This AU is so refreshing and unique and I love how in-character and tragic and angsty this story is, with outstanding imagery and themes that definitely border on the line of ambiguity and social construct. I love the questions raised in this story about relationships, family, and brotherhood. I personally consider it to be phenomenal and criminally underrated. Please read this.

For Want of Izuku’s Toe Joint by Talavin

This story is… for one, the amount of effort taken into capturing the elements of the original story and broadening the horizons within them in each chapter is worth mentioning on its own. I love the relationship between Izuku and Katsuki and their dynamic with the rest of their class, on top of how well the canon events are handled with a few twists thrown in there. Also, Izuku’s characterized very, very well in this, and I love that he stands equally with Katsuki. That’s honestly quite a rarity to find in fanfiction, and it’s something to behold.

How to Mend a Broken Soul by youwishyouwerethiscool

This is my favorite interpretation of the Soulmate AU that I’ve seen in the BNHA archive so far, especially with BakuDeku. I’m sure there are many exceptional ones under other ships, but… this is my list. Heh. Anyway, this is a wonderful fic with a great eye for characterization and detail, and it’s mostly from Katsuki’s perspective, which is great. I always love seeing different interpretations of his character and how he would handle being Izuku’s soulmate. This fic is wonderful.

WORKS I LOVE THAT I HAVEN’T FINISHED YET | BNHA

On The Run by Justaperson1718

I LOVE THIS STORY AND I WANT TO CATCH UP. It’s not even completed yet but I really love the dynamic between Katsuki and Izuku in this. This author has also written many other oneshots that I love and wanted to recommend but they would be out of my top five. Still, read Fascinating and Manage Me, and then go read THIS because it’s wonderful and action-packed and angsty and dramatic. All the good things. 

>

READ. ALL. OF. THESE. 

*Dies*

[marshmallowgoop]

I'm surprised you feel that way, although it made me sad (especially that senketsu was gone), I really loved the way they dealt with the themes of moving on, and of the impact the past should have on us.

I’m surprised that this is surprising! Apparently I haven’t salted enough about the ending recently, huh?

That said, I don’t know if you read this post that I linked in my last response, but I would recommend reading it if you haven’t (and if you want to understand more of my POV). The argument there is just one of the most eloquent I’ve written about why the ending plain doesn’t work, but I can also point to a whole slew of other essays/thoughts on the subject that I’ve done (the ☂ are warnings for Extreme Salt and the numbers in parentheses note that the essay was included on that page in my compiled meta book): 

Senketsu’s Death: For the Best? (186)  ☂

Senketsu’s Final Fate? (143) ☂

Senketsu “Outgrew” Being a Uniform? (139) ☂

OVA Thoughts ☂ 

Senketsu’s Death: Is Senketsu Really Dead? (145) ☂ , Part II  ☂ , Part III  ☂

The OVA is Awful if You Like Senketsu ☂

OVA Salt ☂

“Outgrowing Sailor Uniforms” ☂

And then the one I linked above: Gurren Lagann, Re: Cutie Honey: Kill la Kill Ending Salt ☂

Buuuut that’s a whole heck of a lot of TLDR, so let me pick out the relevant bits:

From Senketsu’s Final Fate? (143) ☂:

I appreciate how the OVA expanded on Senketsu’s dying linesome more with the idea of “graduating” from the past and learning to move on,but, opinions, it wasn’t really the closure I was hoping for. A peek in myanalysis tag shows that I don’t ever seem to stop yapping about how Senketsuis more than a uniform, and I’ll always argue that point,since that’s so much of what the show means to me. And while I’m compelled bythe OVA’s take on “outgrowing” being less about growing up but more aboutletting go of the past and moving on, it still rather adds to this idea of“outgrowing Senketsu”… which leaves a really sour taste in my mouth. Yeah, itseems to be more about what sailor uniforms represent (and particularly, what aKamui represents) than anything about Senketsu personally, but the point stillstands. He’s Ryuko’s friend and partner. You don’t outgrow that.

Worst of all, though, is that the closure at the end heregives off the impression that Ryuko doesn’t need Senketsuanymore, which doesn’t sit right with me. Cause, like, when you lose a friendand you learn to live without them, saying you don’t need them anymore feelsall sorts of wrong. People certainly need people, but with friends, itshouldn’t be about being so reliant on them that you literally need them tolive—it’s about wanting them in your life because they enhanceit by being who they are. So in this sense, yes, Ryuko doesn’t need him, butthat’s not something I want to hear in this show’s final moments. I want tohear that they were friends, that they had good times together, that she’llmiss him but she won’t kill herself in missing him, and she’ll never forgethim. This “I’ve outgrown you and I don’t need you anymore” vibe I get justfeels like a slap in the face after everything those two went through together.

From OVA Thoughts ☂:

I can’t enjoy the OVA as much as I would like because it mucks up one of the show’s most crucial elements. To spend a whole series touting two characters as equals and one and the same and then try to pass one off as just some grand mentor figure that needs to be “outgrown” and moved away from plain doesn’t work. And it works even less to treat him as though he’s been some object all along. All of that seems to be going on with the OVA, and all of it leaves me shaking my head.

From Senketsu’s Death: For the Best? (186)  ☂:

You might outgrow sailor uniforms (though I’ll point outthat this sentiment is pretty broken, considering Ryuko still has a year ofhigh school left and no, she’s not done wearing sailor uniforms just yet), butyou don’t outgrow friends. 

From Senketsu “Outgrew” Being a Uniform? (139) ☂:

Now, moving on from the battle and letting the past rest? Ican totally see that as a good way to conclude the show. With the idea ofchoosing your own destiny and breaking the strings of fate that bound you, theOVA does indeed work on a lot of levels and asks a lot of touching questions,too. What do you do with yourself once you are freed from fate? How do you moveon? All great. I dig it.

And I’d dig it a lot more if Senketsu was handled as nicely.Ryuko needs to move on from his death and not drown herself in sorrow for hisloss? Awesome! Perfect way to end the series. But it gets so… muddled.

First off, there are a million different ways to interpretwhat even happened with Senketsu. Is he dead and watching over Ryuko in theafterlife? Is he an imaginary space ghost? Is he a god? Is he in Ryuko’s heartand together they get to live out Ryuko’s greatest happiness for reals? Is heboth literally in her heart and Life Fiber Clothing Jesus atthe same time? Is he sharing Ryuko’s body a la Birdy and Tsutomu and they justhave to build him a new one? Is it like Wan and Raava where they’re fused but(I presume) they can still speak to each other and maintain their own personalities?All of these could work in canon, and for something that’s supposed to giveclosure, it’s rather frustrating and confusing. What is even meant to beconveyed with such an ambiguous conclusion to Senketsu’s story? If he’s deadand the theme is moving on from fate, make it clear that he is indeeddead—don’t complicate it.

From The OVA is Awful if You Like Senketsu ☂:

Meanwhile Senketsu’s character is totally shat on [in the OVA], he’streated as little more than an object when his entire arc was about realizinghe’s human and so much more than that, this forced, last-minutemetaphor of “outgrowing your sailor uniform!!!” that never made sense inthe first place and was totally contradictory to the entire rest of the show isfurthered in the most demeaning way possible (“lol senketsu ur just a sailoruniform and guess i’ve moved on from them even though i actually still have ayear of high school left and also weren’t u supposed to be, like, my friend andequal? not anymore!”), and there’s such ambiguity about his final fate thatnobody can seem to agree if he’s even freaking dead or not… which just mucks upthese forced metaphors even more. 

I was fucked up for days after I first saw the OVA because Iwas so disappointed by it. I could not believe the treatment of Senketsu, andeven now I still cringe a bit whenever I edit with it or write about it.

From OVA Salt ☂:

The OVA’s supposed to have this big message about moving on(and, in Ryuko’s case, moving on from Senketsu’s loss… I mean, at least, I think that’swhat they’re going for, but it gets so muddled), but it’s hard for it to meanmuch when you don’t really see her suffering. How much didthis loss mean to her? Who knows, because the show doesn’t get into it verymuch.

Which is awful, because it’s a loss that should mean somuch to Ryuko. It was literally one of her greatest fears that she’dlose Senketsu. She had a recurring nightmare about it, and she was so fiercelyprotective over him that she would have died for him without even a moment’shesitation. The two of them are described as “soulmates,” a perfect team,“two-in-one.” She wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. This isthe kind of death that deserves some time. And you just don’tget much in the OVA, and what you do pretty much reducesSenketsu to an object.

It’s just… disappointing, especially because I don’t thinkany other (heroic) character would have been treated like this if they had diedinstead–and the OVA certainly wouldn’t be so widely accepted if they were.

From Gurren Lagann, Re: Cutie Honey: Kill la Kill Ending Salt ☂:

Again, I think there’s merit in tragedies and the sad factthat things aren’t always going to work out. I think Senketsu’s death couldhave been really poignant and powerful even if it broke my heart. But themessage they went with [Senketsu living “wouldn’t do anything” for Ryuko’s growth] leaves me empty and not feeling anything but disappointment,and, even worse, it’s not even a tasteful portrayal of such a message as “TheSense of Wonder” is. Senketsu’s entire person is discarded, and a loss that should bemonumental is brushed aside as something righteous and “for the best.”

Okay, that’s a heck of a lot of TLDR, too. So, basically, I guess it comes down to this:

The idea of moving on from the past is fine. It’s fine to do that in relation to a character’s death—even great! However, Senketsu—literally the second or third-most important character—has a death scene that lasts, in its entirety, hardly over one minute. One. Minute. For the protagonist’s canonically-described soulmate. It’s just not good.

And not only that, Senketsu also dies less than five minutes before the end of the series. The show only focuses on Ryuko’s grief for a brief moment and then Senketsu is promptly ignored until, right at the last minute, the show decides, oh, right, yeah, Senketsu, moving on from sailor uniforms, yeah, sure. It seems to me that Senketsu was originally far less of a character than he ended up being, and that’s fine… but then you can’t just shove in your originally-intended ending and act like it’s cool. It’s not.

In fact, I’m sure Senketsu didn’t used to be such a character, because Ryuko thinking about Senketsu in the last moment of episode 24 wasn’t even in the almost-final script. The “outgrowing sailor uniforms” thing ended up being so tacked on in the final version of the story that even the nearly-final draft just kinda threw it out there and completely abandoned it. 

So that big, overarching idea of “moving on from the past” that the OVA tries to build on? It was literally thrown together last minute. And it shows. It shows so hard.

Because think of it this way: say Mako died, in the last five minutes of the last episode, in hardly a minute. Say that, as she perished, she told Ryuko that she’d only be holding her back in life (even though the entire rest of the series says otherwise), and that it’s good for her to go. Say Ryuko cried for all of thirty seconds and then there’s a flash forward and she’s shopping with her sister with cheerful music. Say that the whole show ends when Ryuko sees a girl who looks like Mako, feels sad for a second, and then is hunky-dory because she knows Mako helped her get her to where she is.

Would that seem well done or like a sad, but beautiful display of moving on? No! There would be an uproar if this happened! Mako’s death would have felt ridiculously tacked on and pointlessly cruel!

But that’s exactly what happened with Senketsu. His death isn’t given proper time, the “moving on” message is so forced that you don’t even really see it in an almost-final version of the script, and the only reason it gets accepted is because Senketsu doesn’t look like a cute human girl or guy.

And that is why I can’t stand the ending of Kill la Kill.

[canvaswolfdoll]

CanvasWatches: The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan

In the fine tradition of the Franchise and also my viewing of it, we’re skipping Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya[1] and moving straight to The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan, which inexplicably maintains the name order for the title.

I am often confused by Japanese names in media that’s been localized. Character names are often obvious, because speech and grammar and context makes it clear whether its the given name or family name being used by the speaker, but I’m not always clear with credits. Do publishers switch the author’s name on the book, or do they maintain it?[2]

I’m not actually sure how I want names ordered in dubs, while we’re going through this tangent. I view both arguments (Accuracy to the original text vs. Approachability to new audiences) as largely equal, so as long as the text maintains consistency, I’m satisfied.[4]

However, the actual show switches the names, making it inconsistent with the title. Poor showing, Funimation.

As for the subject of today's review, the conclusion is: I liked it! Maybe one should view it as a continuation on the rest of Haruhi Suzumiya to better catch the jokes and nods, but it’s not necessary.

Onto the analysis! (Spoilers for all of Haruhi Suzumiya, though I will try and avoid major plot points not in Yuki-chan itself.)

Right off the bat, Yuki-Chan fixes the greatest sin committed by the original source material: Yuki gets to keep her glasses!

Let there be rejoicing! Yay! Woo!

In fact, glasses are used as a subtle narrative device, making them a required prop.

The anime is adapted by a comic written by Puyo, who also created the Haruhi-chan comics that were adapted into animation themselves. Haruhi-chan was an extensively goofy version of the Haruhi canon, and includes its own ongoing interpretation of the plot and characters.

Yuki-chan sits in a comfortable midpoint between realistic and cartoonish, with a good balancing of tone, and brings elements from both Haruhi-chan and Nagaru Tanigawa’s source novels. The comedy’s good, the drama’s good, and it flows well between them.

The setting itself comes from one of my favorite ways to find inspiration: looking at the throw-away details of other narratives, and exploring the logical extreme.

In this case, what is it like in the other world created for The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya?[5] What stories can be told when you grab Haruhi, strip her of god powers, and set her over there, and settle everyone else into normal human forms?

This is an exercise I think writers should take more often. It’s a common trope in fanfiction for a reason.[6] Stories are often built from extraordinary people in extraordinary circumstances, but good characterization should prevail even if you take away the magic and monsters, and set everyone in a coffee shop. How do Yuki and Kyon get along when they aren’t saving the world?

And, more interestingly, who is Yuki when she’s no longer a Humanoid Interface for the Data Overmind?[7] Because it’s equally valuable to consider what changes when you remove elements from characters.

What does change is Yuki becomes the shy, bookish (well, video game playing) girl that would be her common trope. But she’s also oddly voracious in regards to food, and has her share of quirky behaviors to match those of, say, Tsuruya.

This version of Yuki is also notably the first Moe character to actually appeal to me. I am invested in Yuki, and want her to succeed!

Because one of the opening conceits is a lack of Haruhi, (at least initially. Ms. Suzumiya does, of course, always find a way) Yuki’s literary club doesn’t get forcibly hijacked into the SOS Brigade, though it is at risk of closure due to lack of members. Also, as a nice meta gag, the production team’s name has been switch from ‘SOS Brigade’ in the closing credits to ‘North High Literary Club’.[7]

When we open the series, only Yuki and Kyon from the original cast are immediately present, along with Ryoko Asakura, who originally only existed long enough to attack Kyon with a knife and be deleted by Yuki, so as to show off what sort of power and danger Yuki and her contingent presents.

Since there is no Data Mind, Ryoko gets to be a main character, and thus act as a major change to the dynamics we’re used to. She’s a lower energy member of the ‘enactors’ end of the cast. Motivated by her friendship by Yuki, and a caring individual, she is still one of the few characters able to stand toe to toe with Haruhi without risk of being swept up into something against her will.

Her element of wackiness, however, is gleefully displayed during the first episode when, while shopping for the Literary Club’s Christmas Party, the trio encounters Mikuru and Tsuruya, to continue making the most of characters that didn’t get to fully shine during Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, and someone needs to be pushing Mikuru into situations.

Tsuruya and Ryoko begin pitting Yuki and Mikuru against one another for Kyon’s affections, before competing against one another directly, forming a friendship, and pretty much enlisting Tsuruya and Mikuru into the literary club.

Luckily, Mikuru is allowed out of the love triangle for this story. She’s still the soft spoken eye candy, but even that element’s toned down. Honestly, Mikuru could’ve been cut without making much difference, but we do need the full brigade eventually.

No, this time the love triangle (still pointing into Kyon) is a fight between Yuki and Haruhi!

Haruhi rejoins the dynamic by leaping out of snow-covered bushes in a post-credits scene of episode two, then collapsing on the ground. In this reality, a lot of the big events remain, but the details are shifted so that fantastic elements are no longer required. Kyon was still present when Haruhi drew her message on school grounds, but he was present as his middle schooler self, it doesn’t lead to Haruhi’s god powers, and the lack of Future!Kyon means Haruhi isn’t inspired to go to North High, and instead enrolling at a Prep School stationed at the base of the hill.

It’s also notable that Haruhi attempted to recreate the event during the series, but this time it’s a ploy to capture Santa Claus[8], and drafted a passing Yuki into it. It takes both of them a while to realize this, as Yuki forgot her glasses, and it was dark at the time.

Obviously, Haruhi immediately sets about taking over the literary club, dragging in Itsumi (also at the Prep School, and hopelessly in love with Haruhi), closes the deal with recruiting Mikuru, and hits the other notes of the original canon.

However, this time Ryoko is there to prevent Haruhi totally running rampant. Which is likely for the best, since it’s supposed to be Yuki’s story. Which even Haruhi seems to realize at some level.

Because Haruhi’s clearly got a crush on Kyon, but he doesn’t remember the night in the courtyard. And, at the same time, Yuki’s very clearly interested (not that Kyon notices that either) and Ryoko makes it very clear that Yuki deserves her shot. After some Valentine's Day confusion, Haruhi pretty much silently concedes the competition to even the playing field with consideration of Yuki’s social anxiety.

The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-Chan could be divided into three arcs, following the interpersonal issues of three characters: Yuki, Other Yuki, and finally Kyon.

Yuki’s arc is more or less what I described above, as it also needs to introduce the cast. Yuki loves Kyon,[9] who is oblivious, because of course he is. Yuki has pretty severe Social Anxiety, however, and thus can not spit out her feelings, even while sharing a coat during a Christmas Party, or during Valentine's day, or during a club trip, even while being cheered on by the other club members.

Poor girl.

There’s the usual misunderstandings, fear of ruining a perfectly functional friendship, distractions by Ryoko and Haruhi, and plenty of ship teases.

Still, the stretch of episodes is filled with plenty of Haruhi-Chan style humor and chibified moments. I also found myself, in a rare instance, noticing the background music, which was all lovely.[10] It’s standard romance material, which isn’t a genre I usually seek out, so the first nine episodes were both fresh enough to me, and with well executed comedy.

Then, after the credits of episode Nine, Nagato is involved in a car accident. We don’t see the impact, so there’s just enough ambiguity not to make the audience question the results.

We do know Yuki’s glasses are knocked off and bent. Oh no!

But don’t worry, Yuki has a back up pair of glasses.

Also, she’s got some level of brain damage now, altering her personality to be very similar to the Yuki we know from past material. Thus enters Other Yuki. Marked by the slightly different glasses she wears.

Told you they’d be significant.

Thus we enter a more psychological and ponderous arc. Starting with an episode entitled ‘Someday in the Rain’.[11]

This Other Yuki has the memories of Yuki Nagato, of course, but feels a disconnect from them and her life from before the car accident. With that disconnect, her emotions are also gone, leaving a monotone and subdued character in. Her interests also turn from video games to books.

Or, in other terms, the Data Overmind Yuki. Though not really. I’ll come back to this.

She attempts to go undetected, living Yuki’s life, trying to leave it in the same shape as she found it.

Though it doesn’t work on her closest friend, as Ryoko asks ‘Who are you, and where is Yuki Nagato?’

Which is a very dramatic way to phrase that, Ryoko!

So, for a short spell, I theorised that maybe this is the Humanoid Interface Yuki stepping in for the period covered by Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya. However, they didn’t put in any other clues to that interpretation, and the healing process that gradually brings back Yuki makes it essentially untenable as a theory. This series is severed totally from the Prime Timeline.

Yuki explains her situation to Ryoko, who drags her to see a dang doctor, like, come on girl, that’s step one. The doctor confirms there’s no apparent damage, and that Yuki merely needs time to recover, including plenty of sleep.

Yuki continues to live the life of a High Schooler through exams, as Ryoko and Kyon worry over her out of earshot. They’re unsure how to feel about this Other Yuki, but resolve to do their best.

So, as Other Yuki narrates, we hear the story of a robot developing emotions and attachments, brought in by her healing, told over of the course of four episodes. This includes fearing what is essentially her death, as once she finishes healing, Other Yuki will be gone, replaced by her body’s original owner. Emotions are mixed for all involved, as of course they want their Yuki back, but they also grow attached to Other Yuki and don’t wish to see her go fully.

On what Other Yuki knows will be her last day, with only one sleep remaining, she spends time at a used book fair, then as much time with Ryoko as possible, before heading to the library to finish reading a book she checked out before she’s gone.

Once that’s done, one final task remains as sleep begins to come for her, she phones Kyon to confess her love. Also to ask him to return the book for her.

She’ll be dead in a minute, so why not?

Kyon races to meet with her before she’s gone, but finds a napping Yuki once he reaches the bench outside the library. Other Yuki is gone.

Which leaves the remaining episodes of the series to deal with the fallout of the situation. Ryoko, sad to see Other Yuki go, collects herself quickly and resumes her life. Yuki seems to have lost her memories from the period, and I don’t think anyone tells her what happened in the interim.

Kyon is unsure what to do, as he realizes he’d fallen in love with Other Yuki.

Further, Haruhi has to deduce the events, as exams had kept her and Koizumi away. She encourages Kyon to work through his confusion.

I hand the final arc to Kyon because the roles switch places from the first arc, with Yuki blissfully unaware of Kyon’s feelings as Kyon is overthinking everything. It’s an interesting turn around.

Eventually, during a festival, Kyon uses the sound of fireworks to cover up his own love confession, as a symbolic message to the Other Yuki, so that he can finally let go and move on.

Which leaves us in the stalemate we began with: Yuki loves Kyon, and Kyon is blissfully unaware, even though Other Yuki’s confession should be a hint.

And maybe it is, as we don’t get to see much more.

Honestly, I’d be satisfied if this is where the Anime Adaption remains. I know of the Manga, of course, but short of a second head injury, Other Yuki is not likely to return, and it’s her segment that gives weight and purpose to the series. We’ve told the story of both Yukis disappearing, so it’s complete in my mind.

I’d much rather the resources be put instead into continuing adapting the Haruhi Suzumiya books.

The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan works best as a companion to Melancholy, but I believe it’s strong enough on it’s own legs if you prefer. Yuki is an endearing character, the titular arc is a strong tale of melancholy (ha!), and it’s an enjoyable ride. So give it a go.

If you have comments, questions, or loose thoughts, feel free to contact me and I’ll attempt to meet them with due diligence. If you want to support me, my projects, and/or fund me getting a dog, please check out my Patreon. If it ever gains traction, I’ll modify it to reward people with things they like. I aim to amuse.

Kataal kataal.

[1] Funimation has secured the license, I’ve preordered it, it’ll come. [2] I’m mostly wondering about Isuna Hasekura’s[3] name, as I intend to use it for fun reference times. [3] Author of Spice & Wolf. [4] Nevertheless, Haruhi Suzumiya sounds better to my ear than Suzumiya Haruhi. That may be habit, though. [5] I am using the english title because that’s what I know it as. [6] Does Yuki-chan count as fanfiction? The lines blur! [7] Sneaking Yuki’s name into the credits would have cinched it, but, alas… [8] Possibly a nice nod to Kyon’s famous opening monologue. [9] Whose real name we still do not know, though this series explains how the nickname passed from his sister to others. [10] There’s a particular Jazz number that first crops up during the mall sequence in the first episode that recurs. I should probably search out that track… [11] Trying to use nostalgia of my favorite Haruhi episode to evoke an emotional response, eh? It worked.

[littlehollyleaf]

a personal assessment of the future of nygmobblepot

(eh it’s all over my dash, thought I’d join the party - but this is really about organising my personal thoughts/feelings, YMMV).

So as my various tags and posts have shown, my gut feeling about Ed’s behaviour on the dock was that he was protesting too much in his claim that he didn’t love Oswald and wanted him to suffer and die - that the SUBTEXT of that scene and Ed’s revenge plot was that he DID have feelings for Oz (supported by the parallel between Ed and Lee).

Now subtext is subtext - if you can argue it with sufficient evidence then IT’S THERE NO MATTER WHAT, Word of God and authorial intent be damned, so I will continue to read Ed’s character and this plot with that subtext in mind thank you very much.

But when it comes to speculating on the future of a WIP story... then things get a little tricky and Word of God becomes potentially relevant and...

Well, this reads to me like BOTH Cory AND Robin are taking Ed’s words on the dock completely at face value:

[X] [X] [X] [X]

Because ‘zero question about the sincerity of each character’s wants’ is CRAZY BOLD - it’s claiming that Ed and Ozzie’s feelings were made 100% explicit and clear by what happened in this one episode.

Which is a real positive for OZ in terms of queer rep, so I can understand why Robin is so supportive - he and Cory are stating here, categorically, that Ozzie’s words and actions throughout the episode are HARD EVIDENCE that PROVE that OZZIE’S ROMANTIC LOVE FOR ED IS 100% REAL (hence the phrasing ‘sincerity of’ - I think that’s Cory addressing the upset over Ozzie’s feelings having been in doubt and trying to be reassure people that it is now clear that Ozzie’s love is sincere).

But for Ed - I know there’s been some debate over it, but can’t see this as meaning anything other than Cory and Robin claiming that the episode was also INCONTESTABLE PROOF that ED IS STRAIGHT AND DOES NOT LOVE OZ (because if Cory did mean something like ‘Ed is repressed/in denial and believes he is straight now, when really he isn’t, as will be revealed later’ then there wouldn’t be ‘zero question’ as to Ed’s feelings, there would be MUCH QUESTION as to Ed’s feelings, you know?).

...sooooo, it does rather seem to me that from Cory and Robin’s perspective, nygmobblepot simply is unrequited love on Ozzie’s side and that’s that, no ifs or buts.

Which is not to say it CAN’T become more EVER - Cory and Robin might think this NOW, but actors rarely know details about future episodes AND since their focus is largely on acting their parts and not analysing the story as a whole, they can often be unaware of subtext and so be mistaken in their readings/understandings (ie. yes they act as the characters, but it is also possible for actors to be WRONG about their characters, that IS A THING). So it’s possible that the show is still building towards a slow-burn plan to have nygmobblepot be mutual in the future, as is commonly argued. 

Buuut, considering they have already filmed a way into the future, I personally do suspect that there’s nothing explicit about Ed returning Ozzie’s feelings on the way for at least until Cory and Robin have been given scripts for (if at all). Because if there were it could contradict these tweets and, while I know actors do sometimes lie or fudge the truth to avoid spoilers, I just don’t think either of them would be so very bold as to outright say ‘Ed is not queer’ if they KNEW that the story was going to explicitly present Ed as queer. This doesn’t strike me as the same as when Robin started being ambiguous about Ozzie’s feelings, this is a very CLEAR STATEMENT of ‘ED IS STRAIGHT.’ It’s not a teasing ‘well maybe this, or maybe that, it’s hard to say.’ 

Where does that leave me?

Well, like I said at the start, Word of God doesn’t define my interpretation of a text. As long as I continue to find subtext to support it, Ed will be queer and struggling with feelings for Oz TO ME, no matter what Cory or Robin believe :P And I will happily continue to argue that interpretation going forward for as long as I can :) 

Ships can sail passed canon and all that! Plus I’m always a sucker for angst and my characters crying AND I’ll have Eddie’s RIDDLER plot to entertain me - I’m good for still enjoying the nygmbblepot dynamic as is. And that’s not touching on the rest of the stuff in the show that still brings me pleasure :)

But, I’m hoping, though, that Cory and Robin are mistaken. 

Because a) obviously it’s always more enjoyable to ACTUALLY HAVE YOUR SHIP GET TOGETHER. But also because b) while I’m hesitant to claim queerbaiting (though I don’t think those claims should be blanket dismissed either) I do think that if nothing else having nygmobblepot be nothing but queer Ozzie hopeless in love with straight Ed will be... disappointing from a queer representation POV.

See look, I’m not saying I think Ed and Oz need to be together and happy. The common argument is that ALL romances in Gotham are messed up and tragic, so I AGREE that it’s only right that Ed and Ozzie’s be the same in order to make them EQUAL. But you know what ALL OTHER Gotham romances have gotten so far? They have been REQUITED (even if only temporarily). They have BEEN TOGETHER in ways that were recognised as explicitly romantic and/or sexual. Even romances between LITERAL CHILDREN have shared a kiss. So it seems to me that right now nygmobblepot is NOT being treated equally to other romances, and as the ONLY m/m relationship in the whole show, I DO THINK that’s maybe a problem?

But yes - there’s still the rest of the season... we’ll see.

[poetryofchrist]

Assumptions

This has been written over several days while working on moving an office and Exodus 29 (to come soon) and getting a rats nest and dead babies and shredded mother out of my car. (Ugh). It may be a bit rambling. To add or infer prepositions, that is one question among many. Is something in apposition, or is a preposition implied by the verb when the preposition is lacking the the text? Every jot and tittle in the translation is an interpretation according to the biases of the method and the executioner of the text. (Ha, ha, ha - that was a joke, for surely, like the young bull, the text is also butchered by the translator.) It is clear in verse Exodus 29:11 for instance that there is no preposition in the text of the second colon, and there is no preposition implied by the verb that would carry over past the caesura to the second colon. Is then the bull = the door? Why not? Then another sacrifice can have the I am the door attributed to him by inference. וְשָׁחַטְתָּ֥ אֶת־הַפָּ֖ר לִפְנֵ֣י יְהוָ֑ה פֶּ֖תַח אֹ֥הֶל מוֹעֵֽד And you will butcher the young bull in the presence of Yahweh, the door of the tent of engagement. So what are my assumptions? Personally, I have been a part of Anglican Christian tradition in Canada as a choral musician since I was 8 years old. This began in 1953-54 in a brutal school modeled on all the worst implications of the King James translation. I did learn some music. But translations have been used to justify all sorts of egregious wrong and hurtful behaviour. Incidentally, hurt, רע, is derived from evil, רעע, so wherever the Hebrew is רע I have for some random reason, not necessarily made its root רעע. So where I have evil, you could substitute harm, hurt without compromise.  Harm and hurt are evil, and evil is done when harm or hurt are done. The word רעה is ambiguous and may resolve to a number of different roots and glosses. Here are the instances so far. Even friend and shepherd can be confused. רע harm(1), hurt(4), hurting(1), thought(1) רעה grazes(1), shepherd(11), tend(1), tending(1), tends(1) רעע evil(69) Note how often evil occurs in this form. רעה. The word for evil never occurs in its root form. There is too much data to see easily, but I was wondering how often I have resolved the word to a form of evil or injury rather than harm or hurt. Note the ambiguity of the Hebrew word by itself. Also I see that I have resolved רע to רעע more often than not. Why even call something a tri-literal root when it never occurs? It's a geminate. And it has to do with a linguistic lengthening of sound. Since it rarely (if ever) occurs with a double ayin I will let it stand but remove the distinction between these two, because my decisions are arbitrary.

Root Word Form (may be with prefix) My Glosses with prepositions and pronouns stripped רעע רע bad(1), evil(89), injury(2) רע רע dejected(2), dejection(2), harm(1), hurtful(1), thought(2) רעע מּרע evil(14) רעע בּרע evil(3) רעע לרע evil(3) רעה כּרע friend(1) רעה בּרע friend(1) רעה רע friend(1) רע בּרע grimace(1), harm(1) רע לרע hurt(2) רע מּרע hurtful(4)

What though do I know about language that I should undertake such a project as this? I don't know the answer to this question, but I assume that language has some power in it, and I wish to examine it with a degree of shrewdness (aka wisdom). I expect to be surprised. And its easy to become discouraged. But, hey, you learn as you go and you correct what you can. I assume the earliest writers made creative use of language, metaphor, play, coinage, and so on. Story informs more than regulation. But I read with rather fixed rules that are mediated by algorithms. So I am regulating the language I use in an odd way. I avoid using the same English gloss for two different Hebrew roots. I have just over 220 exceptions, but I know what they are if they haven't escaped the software net that I have written. I do not know if language and story work this way but so far I have not been stymied, but I have often been discouraged. I am reducing the number of different roots in the standard Hebrew glossaries. I may find based on word forms and usage that I can tease out the distinctions again when the reduced glossary is complete. I also hope to see word families emerge. What about religious assumptions? Do I have to be some type of Christian, hold some class of views on atonement or penal substitution or whatever? Emphatically not. While I know the work of Jesus and I take incarnation seriously, I am appalled by the history of Christendom and its prejudice against its own roots. It is steeped in the evil we call abuse of power. Having been weighed in the balance and been found wanting, it has lost its authority. I still hear sermons, but most of them are pretty hard to take. What about marriage of divorced persons? Or female-male equality? Or gay-straight relations? Funny how all these contemporary problems are related to sex.  And I thought the 19th century was prudish. Does sex and gender inform my translation? Yes. The screen writer of a relatively recent mystery (Grantchester season 2) joked that God was not interested in what goes on in the bedroom (in much less polite language). I concur with Pierre Elliot Trudeau, who quipped that 'the state has no business in the bedrooms of the nation', but such cannot be so quipped of God. One must be careful of some words in a sentence. Whatever one's tradition, it is clear that the body is in the presence of a holy mystery, not a comedic one (though context is everything). While the state has no business in some ways, violence, exploitation, and hurt are its business and they frequently accompany this issue. My short conclusion is that most religious traditions are ambiguous, confused, and often wrong. So where are our deep questions that go beyond regulation, necessary though that may be? So if you must have a name for my opinions, I am egalitarian with respect to my humanity. I am opposed to what hurts another. Faithfulness finds a binding that heals rather than separates. This leaves me with plenty of difficulty. If you have read my e-novel, Seen from the Street, you will find my biases plain. (I have little financial interest to speak of with this e-book. I gave it to an unemployed Brahman priest in India. He pays me if he sees fit. Whether it is well written or not, I have written what I thought was my truth in it.) Having with anguish and pain put Christendom to one side, (but I have not put aside Jesus or his work, and how he and his work relate to the Old Testament), what other religious assumptions are there? Why is this work of literature in the Biblical canon so important for three religious traditions? What other book do we read this way? Even if I read critically, I am still faced with the enormous love exhibited by the copyists. Why would anyone treat a text with such diligence and tenderness over such an extended time-period? But equally, if we really want to be right, we have to do more than defer to a text. What about political assumptions? I have no bias toward the divine right of monarchs. We are all sovereign, but what will we do with such a responsibility? Where will we get the power to live as we ought? And what does such an ethical word do to us? It's not a matter of morality but of justice, and of care, as I have noted before. How can we govern ourselves with care for others and with justice? The Psalms promise that Yahweh will judge us accordingly and it is supposed to be and is good news. Seeking such equity is a serious hope. It is not achieved by exploitation, enforced conformity, or violence. God help us. from Blogger http://ift.tt/2ujwLvF via IFTTT