#where a parallel is present. Showing how their relationship has evolved.

[jesuis-assez]

Tim & Lucy ↳ Their story\ milestones in their relationship [Pt. 2]

Pt . 1 -> [ x ]

[mightdeletelater]

A speech made at the Academy Awards by Jonathan Glazer, along with the subsequent reactions, sheds light on how people tend to distort others' words to portray themselves as victims and, more concerning, their willingness to reside in a dystopian bubble as long as it doesn't affect them directly.

Rather than idolising Hollywood, I've previously posted about the complexities of my evolving parasocial relationships. But to disregard the influence wielded by these elites would be naive. It's frustrating to witness those in power facing backlash when they attempt to bring attention to pertinent issues.

While the Oscars' prominence in Western pop culture is waning, the ceremony and the fervour surrounding the nominees and winners, especially in the major acting categories, still hold significant sway in film culture and the broader world.

So when such a speech is delivered at the Oscars, it's bound to garner attention:

All our choices were made to reflect and confront us in the present — not to say, “Look what they did then,” rather, “Look what we do now.” Our film shows where dehumanization leads, at its worst. It shaped all of our past and present. Right now we stand here as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation, which has led to conflict for so many innocent people. Whether the victims of October the — [Applause.] Whether the victims of October the 7th in Israel or the ongoing attack on Gaza, all the victims of this dehumanization, how do we resist? [Applause.] Aleksandra Bystroń-Kołodziejczyk, the girl who glows in the film, as she did in life, chose to. I dedicate this to her memory and her resistance. Thank you.

Glazer highlighted in his speech that victims of the ongoing situation and the last 75 years, whether Palestinian and Israeli, all stem from the occupation and are casualties of entrenched ideologies like Zionism. But when he said this on stage and was immediately misquoted online on social media and by reputable news sources, alleging that he simply renounced his Jewish identity.

He also faced considerable backlash from those indicating a persistent conflation of anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism. It really parallels previous speeches of resistance at the Oscars. Boos rang loud and clear during Michael Moore's opposition to the Iraq war (which we know was a colossal failure by Geroge Bush and the US Government who perpetuated and pardoned multiple war crimes in the region after lying to their own people about evidence of weapons of mass destruction).

There was also Sacheen Littlefeather's advocacy for Native American representation and the direct of attention to the Wounded Knee Occupation, a speech that had bodyguards having to restrain people from getting on the stage and attacking her.

And, of course, Vanessa Redgrave's aim at “a small bunch of Zionist hoodlums whose behaviour is an insult to the stature of Jews all over the world and to their great and heroic record of struggle against fascism and oppression”, which still feels relevant today.

Turning to Glazer's film, I am baffled at those who vehemently objected to it: Did they actually watch it? Because if they had any negative feelings towards Glazer's speech, especially after watching his film, it suggests, to me, a deficiency in critical thinking.

Glazer's film portrays a chilling atmosphere where genocide becomes normalised, echoing real-world situations like the ongoing conflict in Gaza. The film serves as a stark reminder of humanity's ability to coexist with atrocities, often turning a blind eye for the sake of comfort.

The horrors adjacent to the characters' lives evoke contemporary parallels, particularly in regions like Gaza. With over five months of relentless violence, Israel's defiance of international court orders, and Western governments passively reprimanding while fueling the conflict with arms shipments, the spectre of genocide looms ominously. It risks becoming a mundane backdrop to daily existence. It is a stark portrayal of how affluent lifestyles can be linked to neighbouring atrocities, challenging the notion of denial and complicity.

The film doesn't centre around the Holocaust (Glazer's own words), with its specific historical context. Instead, it delves into a more universal theme: humanity's ability to coexist with atrocities and even derive some form of reconciliation or gain from them. The discomforting reflections are on purpose. It prompts us to acknowledge that the threat of annihilation of any people is always closer than we might imagine.

One of the most poignant moments in the film occurs when a package filled with clothing and lingerie pilfered from the prisoners of the camp arrives at the Höss household. The commandant's wife decides that everyone, including the servants, can select one item. She claims a coat for herself and trys on makeup discovered in one of its pockets.

How can the people who are so staunch against Glazer not draw parallels with Israeli soldiers who have recorded themselves rummaging through the lingerie of Palestinian women and slut shaming them? (Why are Israeli soldiers obsessed with Gaza women's underwear?) Or proudly displaying stolen shoes and jewellery for their partners back home (Israeli soldier loots Palestinian homes for his engagement party). Or celebrating International Women's Day with a photo of women soldiers posing for selfies against the backdrop of destruction (How an AP photographer made this image of Israeli soldiers taking a selfie at the Gaza border).

The film is rife with these parallels that it feels like a documentary. It is a grim reality: the potential emergence of the first live-streamed genocide, captured by its very architects.

Gaza doesn't mirror the systematic mass murder machinery of Auschwitz, nor does it approach the scale of Nazi atrocities. However, the entire purpose behind establishing the postwar framework of international humanitarian law was to equip us with the means to collectively recognise practices before history repeats itself on a large scale. And disturbingly, some of these practices – such as the construction of walls, creation of ghettos, mass killings, openly stated intentions of elimination, widespread starvation, plundering, gleeful dehumanisation, and deliberate humiliation – are recurring. And have been long before October 7th.

How do we disrupt the cycle of trivialisation and normalisation? What actions can we take? There are persistent protests and acts of civil disobedience to "uncommitted" votes, disrupting events, organising aid convoys, fundraising for refugees, and creating radical works of art.

And as genocide fades further into the background of our culture, some people grow too desperate for any of these efforts. I am certainly one of them.

Yet, these efforts seem insufficient, particularly when those in positions of power remain indifferent. It's insufficient when I watch a video of a little girl saying that the violence has made her feel less beautiful before she talks about her father being kidnapped by Israeli soldiers or of the orphans visiting their mother's burial spot in the street. It is insufficient when the death toll rises to exceed the daily death toll of any other major conflict of the 21st century.

Perhaps it's unfair of me to prioritise one tragedy over another, given the multitude of suffering in the world – the ones that are in the news cycle and the ones that are not. Yet, my connection to Palestine and its plight feels as personal as it can be without me actually being Palestinian, fostered from childhood teachings and further enriched through my own research. I have loved ones directly impacted by this conflict: friends in the diaspora grappling with survivor's guilt, friends in the West Bank enduring the daily hardships of occupation. And my friends in Gaza are all either dead, dying or being pushed straight into the arms of death.

The realisation that my efforts to help them are insufficient fills me with frustration. I'm angered by the indifference of those in power and by the hostility encountered by those attempting to bring the truth to the forefront.

[my-coven-is-claudia]

Louis and performance

something that always stuck out to me about louis’s behaviour in the first episode is how almost thrilled he seems to be doing this interview? he full on laughs at daniel’s “so mr du lac, how long have you been dead?” line and overall seems very put together and calculating.

it appears as if he’s fully prepared for this, only interested in giving an informative and educational account of his life. this interview is a heroic pursuit, acting as a warning to others about the harsh reality of vampire life.

but this is all a facade. this cool calm and collected louis slowly falls apart and is paralleled with 1910 louis’s overly violent and macho persona that also falls to the wayside as the series goes along. in both new orleans and present day dubai, louis is putting up a mask. although this time round he’s exchanged stereotypical masculinity for clinical rationality.

and news flash!! he has neither.

he’s trying to conceal the fact that this interview has come about from a distrust of his own memories and recollection of events. that there’s this much more distressing motivation for the interview of louis not even trusting himself to tell the truth and needing someone else to help him parse out what really happened. furthermore, there is also a personal undercurrent to louis’s intentions due to the second interview picking up from his and daniel’s first encounter. unsurprisingly, all of these reasons he neatly skirts around (until push comes to shove). louis meticulously illustrates this picture of his life in new orleans via vivid narration and metaphor, asking daniel (and the viewer) to “let the tale seduce [him].” as he does this he teeters along a tightrope, swinging between expressing his crazed and immense love for lestat and portraying himself as a reserved intellectual detached from his vampiric instincts.

from the very start it is a performance. no argument about it.

the louis of present day dubai is in such stark contrast to the louis of even the 70s. he’s lost so much joy and confidence. this is not the same man who spent hours chatting with lestat under the moon in new orleans, who cheekily danced with emilia in romania, who torched a whole theatre. and with how quickly louis admits to killing lestat in season two it’s interesting how carefully crafted and persistent his ruse of serenity in dubai is. as he’s grown more adept at concealing his secrets, he’s also evolved into this hollow husk of himself. for the past 70 odd years he’s been stuck in a tumultuous relationship, has not properly killed anyone since the year 2000 and tries to paint himself as a passive figure in the tragedy of his own life.

this goes to show that louis is very particular about how others view him and how he’s presented. consistently, louis is tugging back and forth with daniel over who he truly is, his true motivations, his true desires. this is most apparent in 2x04 when louis is horribly embarrassed by the work of other photographers somehow ending up in a pile of his old photos. although it’s currently unclear how they ended up there, i think it’s safe to assume that louis genuinely didn’t intend to pass off other’s work as his own. he immediately scrambled to explain himself and apologise, even going as far as to demean himself as a mediocre artist. he’s so enraged by this incident because he fears how it reflect on him and how it will cause readers to perceive him. in order to be able to tolerate himself, louis has to maintain this very specific image of himself where he is this vulnerable but restrained vampire who is totally fine. louis is always barely holding this facade together and his ability to swallow his more intense emotions has obviously been something that he’s struggled throughout his life, from lashing out and killing the alderman in new orleans to triggering daniel’s tremors out of spite in dubai.

and circling back to dubai, this is all wonderfully conveyed via his change in accent in the present day. he no longer retains his new orleans accent, now speaking with an accent closer to a general north american one. his tone is also much more subdued and soft-spoken, rarely even raising his voice. this really hits home how weary louis has become and how he’s become so detached from his true self. he’s not energised, he’s not passionate, he’s not happy. the closest we get to pulling back the curtain on louis’s mask is when he lashes out and acts most like a stereotypical vampire. if there is a “true” louis then it’s likely the one who triggers daniel’s tremors, who digs through daniel’s memories about alice, who argues with armand over the misplaced photographs. i’m not trying to say that louis is inherently an violent or angry person but the most emotion we get from him in the present day is when he’s wrathful, bickering with armand, laughing in daniel’s face. it’s far from the whole picture of who louis de pointe du lac is but it’s the most honest portrayal he’s allowed of himself over the course of the interview. he does have much more emotional and somber moments but his repressed anger is poignantly tied to his repressed vampirism. we don’t know who louis truly is in dubai and and i suspect he isn’t sure himself

[shipposttt]

The Ship of the Day: Swan Queen

Name: Emma x Regina

Ship name: Swan Queen

Original content: Once Upon a Time (OUAT)

Ship info: Once Upon a Time is a TV show where all of the fairy-tale characters that we know and have been told about all our lives have been cursed by the Evil Queen into our land – the land without magic – and have been frozen in time for 28 years in a small town called Storybrooke. The legend goes that the daughter on Snow White and Prince Charming (the saviour) will come to town and wake everyone up from the curse. Thus, the show starts with Henry, the adopted son of Regina (the evil queen) going to find his birth mother Emma (the saviour/Snow White and Charming’s daughter) and bringing her back to Storybrooke.

Henry (their son) who has found out about the curse through a gifted storybook, spends a long time trying to convince Emma that the curse is real not just a story and that she’s the one that needs to break it. However, Emma has a hard time believing that everyone living in town is a cursed storybook character and only participates in these discussions with Henry to keep him happy.

Emma and Regina’s relationship gets off to a rocky start as Regina immediately begins to feel threatened by Emma, her sons birth mother, and due to the fact that her relationship with Henry is a little fractured during that point in time. It looks like she has nothing to worry about however as Emma vows to leave town that night although on her way out of town she gets run off the road by a wolf ultimately leading to a chain of events that have Emma staying in town. 

During her stay in town Emma spends a lot of time at odds with Regina, they are constantly arguing over Henry (at first), and there is a lot of tension between them when they are making threats to each other and arguing. This arguing however comes to a stop after the fight they have over their son eating a poisoned apple turnover that Regina made for Emma. Emma wakes Henry up with true loves kiss and both mothers are happy their son is not dead. This is arguably the point where their relationship is worst, after this their relationship only gets better. 

After Emma breaks the curse by waking Henry up and true loves kiss magic comes back to Storybrooke. This leads to a lot of instances in which Emma and Regina have to fight together to save the town and their son a lot and even in some instances save each other. There are also many points in the show where people don’t believe that Regina is redeemed and still see her as a villain however Emma has always believed in Regina’s redemption, even going as far as protecting and defending her when Regina is accused of murder. We see moments later on in this show of Emma bringing Regina lunch and the both of them teasing each other which shows how much their relationship has evolved from what it used to be.

There is a lot of tension that can be felt in this teasing and in their ever-present need to save each other and even in simple moment such as Emma declaring that she always knows when Regina is lying and that she wants to help Regina find her happy ending. The move of their relationship from enemies to people who trust one another with their lives – as they have on many occasions – is very important in understanding why these characters are so beloved together. This is because they are both passionate fighters about/for the things that they love and once they get over their differences and realise who similar they actually are, they spend a lot of time fighting to save each other. Even going as far as Emma absorbing the darkness/curse of the dark one in order to save Regina and her goodness.

Additionally, there are also multiple parallels throughout the show both visually and audibly wherein Swan Queen are compared to Snowing (Snow White and Prince Charming) who are a canon heterosexual couple who share two children. Why are moments between Emma and Regina being parallel to a couple in a canon romantic relationship, a couple who are professed to be (canon) romantic True Loves in this show, if Emma and Regina themselves aren’t meant to be in a romantic relationship and/or true loves.

Type of Ship: Queer Bait

Putting aside all of the fairy tale elements and all of the magic in this show, seeing the trope of two people sharing a child implies that by the end of the series these two people will be in a romantic relationship. Instances in which this trope occurs, and the parents have been a man and woman result in a romantic relationship, some examples include: About a Boy (2002), The Switch (2010), Life as We Know It (2010), Love Comes Softly (2003).

In all of these examples the male and female characters who are seen parenting a child together end up in romantic relationships. Why then did the creators of OUAT choose to apply this trope to their show only to have these two parental characters not end up together just because they are both women. They have spent the majority of the show making parenting decisions for their son together, fighting together to save their son and even becoming something resembling a family only for them to not end up together even though if they were a man and a woman instead of both women, they would have ended in a romantic relationship together.

Additionally, there are also instances in the show of prolonged eye contact and wide screen shots of these characters looking at each other. In this same show there are heterosexual characters with examples of the same moment happening that are in or do end up in a romantic relationship. If this is so then why isn’t it the same for Swan Queen, the only difference being that they are both women. The shots of these two characters together are conscious choices made by writers, producers and directors and have been put into the show making people think that what is going to happen is that these characters are going to end up in a romantic relationship, yet they never do! There is no need for creators to tease something that is not going to happen, the only thing that this does is creates outrage from audiences who were invested in this relationship and led to believe that it was a possibility. There have also been instances in which creators have spoken on social media about this ship speculation and actively participating in keeping this audience tuned into the show. They have reeled this audience in only for them to be disappointed by the results. 

Thank you for coming to my ted talk!

Admin 🦈

[basedkikuenjoyer]

The mood feels right, it's that time without light. Who's up for a lil late-night Togashiposting? Because there's one that has me thinking about a few concepts we've been on about. Which means we get to talk baby's first foxboy blorbo again. This was always one of my better posts that still generates interest today, but for the basic idea we talk a lot about the Akazaya as throwbacks and particularly Okiku's ties to Eiichiro Oda's own history on Rurouni Kenshin. There was another two-faced redhead in popular manga at the time, and we get Oda referencing the iconic clash with Game Master in interviews as a big moment he liked. But also just in One Piece canon it's interesting how Ryokugyu with a similar power intersects with Kiku's tale to bolster the connection. Likewise with the parallel story of the thieving fox spirit and how it intersects with Kiku's past.

For this part of our examination though, we're going to look through the lens of another meta concept we've been on about. Poking at the nature of "filler" and how much strict canon really matters? This is the finale of Kurama's last fight in the anime, something really glossed over in the manga as YuYu Hakusho tragically came to a close in the hurried Three Kings Saga. To me though, the anime at least salvages this arc into a worthy conclusion. I don't actually mind the idea of our quartet squaring off their personal arcs underneath the bigger show of the Makai Tournament. Kurama's fight with Shigure is so well done for that. One thing you have to give me, being filler or noncanonical is not an impediment to being an inspiration or an influence on someone else later.

The whole fight is a great finale for Kurama & his demonic past. We meet him distanced from it, they're reconnected in the Dark Tournament, he embraces it to answer the call in Chapter Black...then here after reconciling it he rejects the old self. Importantly though, he only wins through taking advantage of seeds planted by his old self. I love the final line to Yomi about it "I never leave anything behind." That reconciliation of past and present for a brighter future is where I really see Kiku picking up this torch. Himura Kenshin has a lot of similarities in his arc, but Kurama's with themes of reincarnation and parent/child bonds feel like the ways this gentle redhead seeped in. Of course, Kiku is still her own take on the idea. The trans aspect and cloaking it in a lady caring about her reputation is an excellent evolution.

Can't ignore the antagonist here either, this is why I was thinking this part in particular after all. A surgeon with a samurai vibe, choosing an honorable death after defeat. The way Shigure shaped the tone of this climax for foxboy's saga was giving me some big feelings. I honestly haven't rewatched the Three Kings Arc in years. The montage of core scenes though, showing us how Kurama grew into someone so willing to choose this new life, it had a big one I didn't really think about in this context:

How it all starts between he & Yusuke the MC. The story of the Forlorn Hope. That dub name is way cooler because the Funimation dub of the YuYu anime is a national treasure. But yeah...that's where this entire relationship started. It's an artifact that demands the user's life to grant a wish. An empty, unfulfilled Kurama was so casually willing to throw his life away to return a mother's love...without getting the point. Too busy turning over every possibility he hasn't realized how much he's grown. There's no way his mother would be happy with that trade because she doesn't see some legendary thieving fox demon...and if you told her she'd probably just say that explains a lot.

How does Yusuke solve it? Stepping in and sharing the burden. Very similar tone we'd see later with Usopp and the samurai. Even with the little dash of levity and that fine line between nobility and senseless self-sacrifice. Not to mention the big moment of Kiku's fall being Kin's final push to evolve and strike down Kanjuro. That's not unique to YYH but it's one of the biggest pillars of that series. But Bakura Town ends up being a lot like this in tone. The sumo match. Luffy jumps in because Kiku's putting her body on the line to amp up the crowd's panic. The two working together, Luffy stepping up and playing the hero for a moment, opens a new path. Just like the Forlorn Hope here and it letting them slide for being such good boys.

Then from there Kurama's story arc has the same structure we'll see out of Kiku later and Himura Kenshin around the same time. You've come so far by the time we meet you that we can do an arc about confronting that past. But that story can't end with going back to it, can it? No matter what it may mean, it's still so wild for me to see this connection over time. Kurama really was one of my first major anime characters I could latch onto and I've been a One Piece fan for so long. Just can't believe the cutesy waitress we met early Wano had all this in store.

[uths-ethnol-spam]

mad max: fury road and journey

hi. as a french student, i attend to english class as a foreign language and i submitted an oral presentation on a piece of media in relation to our theme: Journey, Travel, Exile. despite the compelling topic, the class had been incredibly dull this semester. i figured i might as well post the text somewhere, if it interests some people in the fandom.

anyway! there are mistakes here and there, sorry about that. :))

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD. GEORGE MILLER. 2015

Journeys depicted in cinema are about going from one place to another; they often mirror the protagonist’s own inner and emotional journey — hence the satisfaction of finally witnessing the protagonist’s arrival: it symbolises the completion of the character’s story after three or five acts.

So what about a movie revealing about two thirds into the story that actually, the journey doesn't end here, because the characters are meant to go back from where they came? How does this depiction of journey match the inner journey of the protagonist?

This question is quite central in MAD MAX: FURY ROAD, and some even expressed criticism about the fact that what was announced as a journey is, basically, a round-trip. 

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD, directed by George Miller and released in 2015, is the fourth opus of the MAD MAX series started back in the eighties. The multi awards-winning action movie features Charlize Theron as Imperator Furiosa and Tom Hardy as Max, in the post-punk dystopian “Wasteland” : after a nuclear war, a handful of men have taken possession of means of production and of vital resources, keeping survivors as slaves and fanatic soldiers. But the specificity of this post-apocalyptic feudal society lies in the key importance of motorised vehicles: in the deadly desert, a car is a symbol of freedom and independence. 

Max has been captured by the main antagonist and war lord Immortan Joe, and his iconic car now belongs to the lord’s mechanical cavalry; as for Imperator Furiosa, she drives the War Rig and intends to recklessly flee to the Green Place, bringing with her Immortan Joe’s “Wives”. Starts consequently the epic high-speed car chase, which is the beating heart of this action movie.

Of course, the chase is both a setting for the characters to evolve, and a metaphor of this journey. It is exemplified by the quote at the end: "Where must we go... we who wander this Wasteland in search of our better selves?" But the whole movie also focuses on two other noteworthy elements: what is it like to have no home to return to, hence being perpetually exiled? And what are the mechanics of travel in this collapsed society? Indeed, Miller and the creative team focused on the materialistic dimension of journey — the cars, how they function, and to what extent they inform the public about their driver.

Keeping all of that in mind, we’ll study how the audience’s expectations about this tumultuous journey — relying on a materialistic and spectacular depiction — are subverted into the very heart of the narrative structure, in order to unfold Furiosa’s and Max’s inner journey.

We’ll proceed that way: 

First, we’ll focus on the global approach of journey, exile and migration in the movie, from a thematic and a structural point of view, and how it impacts the narrative.

But the means of the journey are as important as the ends: that’s why we’ll see how filming and showing the journey enable Miller to draw parallels with our own relationship to movement, vehicles and consequently, modern society.

Finally, the means of one’s journey is intrinsically linked to their inner journey, so to speak. We will thus explore how Furiosa and Max evolve as characters throughout the chase, but also to what extent they actually can escape their condition as drivers in the Wasteland.

Out here, everything hurts.  Journey from a thematic and structural perspective

Migration and exile: overarching themes

In this devastated land, migrations — individuals and groups moving from a place to settle in another — are an important dimension of one’s life. The population relying on Immortan Joe for water migrated to the Citadel but depend on the tyrant’s whims and wishes. The nuclear and ecological disasters forced the remaining population to move and eventually, submit in order to barely survive — we’ll come back to that.

The theme of exile is also tackled at the very beginning of the movie. Max is presented as a man with no home anymore — a stateless man. As the audience discovers, it is also sort of Furiosa’s case: she has been taken from her home as a child, and now fully intends to go back. The two lead characters are uprooted, in a desert maybe too dry to let anyone grow anymore. 

Finally, Furiosa and Immortan Joe’s Wives rely on the Rock Riders, who are sort of people smugglers, to cross a canyon: movement and travel in this world is controlled not by a state, but by lords, tribes… informal groups holding power on limited territory thanks to violence. The people smugglers too are an obstacle for Furiosa to overcome.

Subversion of the traditional journey narrative

But the most obvious type of journey or travel one thinks of when watching MAD MAX: FURY ROAD, is the chase. The chase seems at first to structure the narrative as Imperator Furiosa announces she wants to go to “The Green Place”, home. But the third and supposedly last of the three acts turns out to be short-lived: a plot-twist forces the story to go through two more acts, hence a subversion of the narrative.

The first act is Furiosa’s breakout: she leaves Immortan Joe’s Citadel, but the tyrant, his war boys, and other lords are chasing her. The second act focuses on how Furiosa, Max, the Wives and a War Boy succeed in escaping the antagonists: they are now heading to the Green Place, Furiosa’s birthplace. 

As the third act begins, we are expecting the difficult end and final arrival to this utopian world, a space for everyone to grow and settle for good. But the third act is very short and ends on Furiosa’s despair as she discovers that going home is no longer possible. 

Hence the unexpected need for a fourth and fifth act: the dramatic and epic journey back to the Citadel, and the arrival as the characters themselves have opened up and fought for what they thought they would never fight.

Travel, exile and migration are thus important elements in the overall narrative: they are themes directly addressed in the story, and they even bend the traditional hero journey. 

It’s a detour. Filming the means and symbols of journey

The means of the journey — and not just the ends — are themselves a theme explored in MAD MAX: FURY ROAD: they contribute to the depiction of the Wasteland, centred around movement, and a parallel must be drawn with a modern perspective on our own use of means of transportation.

Creative means of transportation and creative process to model the Wasteland

One the strength of the movie is doubtlessly its depiction of travel. Great effort has been put into the choreography of the chase by the creative team and Miller himself, but also in the conception of the motorised vehicles — and even other means of roaming.

The cars all have their specificity and identity. Furiosa’s War Rig probably is the best example: every detail inside and outside of the car is meaningful for the character, but also adapted to the Wasteland — for instance, Furiosa can extinguish fire thanks to the hinged front of the truck, using sand to smother it.

But two other striking elements caught my eye: the Crow Fishers and the Pole Cats.

The former, the Crow Fishers, are men wayfaring thanks to stilts. Their disquieting way of wandering stands in sharp contrast with every other characters’: this detail (just one shot!) shows how every surviving human adapted their means of travelling depending on their environment. 

The latter, the Pole Cats, are the men using swinging poles fixed to vehicles to swiftly attack the protagonists: their agility is remarkable and clearly exemplifies Miller’s will to show great spectacle. 

The chase itself, finally, is filmed in order to be simply remarkable, breathtaking and constantly frenzied. All of the vehicles are real, which is today extremely rare in the industry, hence the amazing effects and materialistic, raw dimension of the film. The use of fast motion (when the action filmed is sped up — a very eighties style of filming and editing), close ups, panoramas, travelings, steadicam… are all means to offer to the spectator an incredible experience of journeying in the Wasteland. 

Fanaticism, symbolism: depiction of movement and travel to question our own 

But there’s also a symbolic dimension of journey in-universe, hence a depiction of movement to question our own. Indeed, there’s a religious belief in the Citadel, focused around speed and driving cars, which of course evokes futurism and facism. Immortan Joe’s fascist reign is fueled by the War Boys fanaticism, praying before taking from the altar a wheel that seems sacred to them. 

To this religious symbolism is superimposed a political one: the means of migration belong to Immortan Joe who keeps them at the top of his fortress. A motorised vehicle for him is not just a means to go somewhere: it testifies of his domination and control of the resources (human and otherwise). The Doof Wagon and its iconic Coma-Doof Warrior demonstrates how Immortan Joe is the man who controls the gas, and that using it with such extravagance is his right. As Colin Gibson (production designer) says, “car have always been about power”.

Obvious parallels are meant to be drawn here. This movie seems to critique severely the disastrous and inequitable use of resources — think of the immigrants needing water we talked about earlier. “Then who killed the world?” Angharad ironically asks at some point, one of Joe’s Wives, clearly thinking of the tyrant and his kind. The glorious spectacle of the chase is also the symbol of a decaying world, destroyed — as it is reminded — by a nuclear and ecological calamity.

Well, you keep moving. Two drivers’ inner journey

All of that being said, this spectacular depiction of the journey mirrors the characters’ inner journey and evolution: but it appears that the periple itself changes deeply both Furiosa and Max, because these individuals, even though they want to escape their condition, can’t help but be submitted by the Wasteland — and hence, be drivers.

Furiosa’s and Max’s progression displayed through the chase 

Both Furiosa and Max are based on archetypes they escape from throughout the pursuit. Max is the lone wolf, wandering on his own, and his initial refusal to help Furiosa and the Wives hammers home that he does not belong to any community anymore. Furiosa seems to be the idealist: the prospect of freedom promised by her native country, the Green Place, keeps her moving.

But both evolve and learn to trust each other. Max eventually proposes himself to “slow down” the chasers, putting himself on the frontline and ready to sacrifice himself in order to save the small community he grew attached to. The stateless man found a shelter to their side.

As for Furiosa, she brutally learns that the Green Place is no more and that her only way of survival is taking back the Citadel. The pragmatic choice of transforming the place that once was her prison, Joe’s former base, is also an adieu to her hopes of travelling away.

The pursuit is a perfect context of this evolution, as the characters have no choice but to adapt or to die. 

Humans unable to escape their path: one’s road is never independant from the world

Nevertheless, the end may seem bitter, especially on Max’s side. Indeed, even though he defeated the bad guy, the protagonist is shown again and again in the movie as a driver, unable to evolve past that — and consequently, is destined to be submitted to the Wasteland. 

The heavy symbolism of the driver clings as firmly to the War Boys as it does to Max: the shot after Max’s “retaliation” makes him appear as a ghost-like figure, almost otherworldly, holding the wheel — and it underlines how that dimension is part and parcel of him. When Furiosa and Max part, the protagonist walks against the current of the crowd — once again a symbol of his eventual loneliness, despite the temporary respite alongside Furiosa: he is ready to drive again, far from here, an eternal nomad.

Finally, the disparition of the Green Place is loaded with symbolic, even religious meaning. This edenic utopia does not exist: in this sublunary space, the overwhelming feeling of dereliction is a weight on Furiosa's shoulders. There is no alternative: Furiosa has no choice but to be part of the Wasteland she had tried to escape all along.

Conclusion

"Where must we go... we who wander this Wasteland in search of our better selves?" asks the end of the movie. I think that the characters’ better selves (especially Furiosa’s and Max’s) emerge when they are together, because they find the human remains buried under all the sand. The spectacular MAD MAX: FURY ROAD seems to be, eventually, asking the audience to go on their own path as wanderers, showing how things may become if we stop moving, and thus, acting for a better future. Thank you.

so here it is... it would be waste just to share it in class. besides, this is the extended version, as i take about 15 minutes to read all of this out loud. god

i may have been caricatural here and there — and i KNOW that some of it is factually incorrect, specifically about Joe's control of gas. but you know, sometimes one HAS to lie during an oral presentation

[nakimkcapstone]

An example on how I am using ChatGPT for my script

I would like to present an update on how I choose to implement ChatGPT within my presentable. While it would be easy to just tell ChatGPT to "write me a script based on ___" I feel that there are a number of factors that would not only present a surface-level project, but also one that lacks creativity as well. As I stated in other updates, I want to treat ChatGPT as an assistant. In this case, I stumbled across a cultural question when writing my script. For context, one of my characters referred to another as "Lord", and I wondered if the use-case was appropriate as a title, since Lord carries multiple meanings in different cultures.

Instead of just describing the workflow, I thought I'd present the conversation I had with Chat GPT in full. ----------------------- CHAT GPT CONVERSATION ---------------------

MATT: In Japanese culture, is it common to have Lords?

CHATGPT: In traditional Japanese culture, particularly during the feudal period from the 12th to the 19th century, lords played a significant role in society. These lords, known as "daimyo," were powerful landowners who controlled territories throughout Japan. They were essentially feudal lords who held significant political, military, and economic power within their domains.

Under the daimyo were the samurai, who served as warriors and administrators, sworn to loyalty to their lords. The relationship between a lord and their samurai was a central aspect of the feudal system in Japan.

While the feudal system and the role of daimyo have largely faded away with the modernization of Japan, aspects of this historical system and the cultural reverence for hierarchy and authority still influence Japanese society to some extent today. However, in contemporary Japan, the term "lord" is not commonly used to refer to individuals holding such positions of power. Instead, Japan has a modern democratic government with elected officials and a constitutional monarchy.

MATT: Did japanese workers, often warriors, consider their bosses as lords?

CHATGPT: In feudal Japan, warriors, such as samurai, were typically bound by loyalty to their lords, known as daimyo. This loyalty was a fundamental aspect of the feudal system, where samurai served their lords in exchange for protection, land, and status. The relationship between a samurai and their lord was characterized by a sense of duty, honor, and obedience.

While the concept of a "boss" in the modern workplace context is different from the relationship between a samurai and their lord, there are some parallels. In contemporary Japanese culture, there is a strong emphasis on respect for authority and hierarchy in the workplace. Employees often show deference and loyalty to their superiors, and the relationship between workers and their bosses can sometimes resemble the dynamics of feudal allegiance.

However, it's essential to note that the modern workplace in Japan operates within a different social and legal framework compared to the feudal system of the past. While there may be elements of respect and loyalty reminiscent of the relationship between samurai and their lords, the dynamics are not identical, and the terminology and expectations have evolved to suit the modern context.

MATT: could anyone be a daimyo, or did daimyo need to have political power?

CHATGPT: In feudal Japan, the title of daimyo was typically conferred upon individuals who held significant political, military, and economic power within their respective domains. While there was a degree of hereditary succession in some cases, particularly among powerful families, the ability to become a daimyo was not solely determined by birthright. Factors such as military prowess, wealth, connections to the ruling shogunate or imperial court, and alliances with other influential families could all contribute to someone attaining the status of daimyo.

Furthermore, during periods of civil strife or instability, individuals with the military strength and political acumen could rise to power and establish themselves as daimyo through conquest or alliance-building.

In essence, while there were certain societal structures and expectations that influenced who could become a daimyo, the position was not strictly limited to individuals with inherited political power. Successful daimyo often demonstrated their ability to govern effectively, maintain order within their domains, and navigate the complex political landscape of feudal Japan.

MATT: could someone who just had a lot of money be considered a daimyo?

CHATGPT: In feudal Japan, while wealth certainly played a significant role in one's ability to exert power and influence, simply having a lot of money would not typically be sufficient to be considered a daimyo. The title of daimyo was not solely based on wealth but rather on a combination of factors, including political power, military strength, land ownership, connections to the ruling authorities, and social status.

Many daimyo came from noble families with long-standing histories of power and influence. Others rose to prominence through military prowess, alliances, or strategic marriages. While wealth could facilitate these endeavors by allowing individuals to raise armies, fund construction projects, or bribe officials, it was not the sole determinant of daimyo status.

However, it's important to note that during periods of upheaval or transition, such as civil wars or when central authority was weakened, individuals with significant wealth could sometimes leverage their resources to acquire political power and establish themselves as daimyo. Yet, even in these cases, they would typically need to demonstrate the ability to govern effectively and maintain control over a territory to be widely recognized as daimyo.

MATT: I am creating a short film set in Japan and would like your advice using this information. In the story, someone is trying to meet with a character, who is of high wealth due to his past as a bounty hunter or samurai.  However, he has put his past behind him and is trying to live peacefully.  The person who is trying to see him is stopped by a hired guard. Would this guard refer to the character as "lord"?

CHATGPT: In your short film scenario, the guard's manner of addressing the character could depend on various factors, including the guard's own background, the cultural context of the setting, and the specific relationship between the character and the guard.

Given that the character is portrayed as having a high status due to their past as a bounty hunter or samurai, it's possible that the guard might show a certain level of deference or respect when addressing them. In the feudal context of Japan, individuals of high status were often addressed with honorific titles such as "lord" or "master."

However, since your character is depicted as having retired from their past life and is attempting to live peacefully, they may prefer not to be addressed with such titles, as it could remind them of a time they are trying to leave behind. The guard may also be aware of this and choose to address the character in a more neutral or respectful manner, using their name or a respectful term like "sir" or "mister."

Ultimately, the way the guard addresses the character could serve to highlight their respect for the character's past accomplishments while also acknowledging their desire for a peaceful life. This can add depth to the characters and help convey the themes of the story effectively.

MATT: So would it be more accurate to call him "Lord" or "Master"?

CHATGPT: In the context of feudal Japan, "Lord" or "Master" could be appropriate titles for addressing someone of high status like a former samurai or bounty hunter who has retired. These titles convey a sense of respect and deference to the individual's past accomplishments and status.

However, it's essential to consider the character's personal preferences and the dynamics of the specific situation. If the character has put their past behind them and prefers not to be reminded of their former title or status, the guard might opt for a more neutral or respectful term like "Sir" or simply their name.

Ultimately, the choice of title should reflect the relationship between the character and the guard, as well as the tone and themes of your short film. You might consider exploring how the use of different titles impacts the interactions between the characters and contributes to the overall atmosphere and narrative of the story.

MATT: In this story, the guard would have respect for the character. Based on this character's personality, I don't think anything that reminds him of his past would phase him, as he already lives with the guilt of what he has done.

However I do believe "Master" being more neutral would be more structurally correct.

CHATGPT: Given the character's personality and the guard's respect for him, using "Master" as a title for the character would indeed be a suitable choice. "Master" carries a sense of respect and formality without necessarily evoking specific connotations of past roles or titles. It's a neutral term that acknowledges the character's status and authority without necessarily highlighting their past.

Using "Master" in this context would align with the guard's respect for the character and their acknowledgment of his position without overly emphasizing his past as a samurai or bounty hunter. It allows the guard to show deference and respect while also maintaining a level of neutrality and discretion that might be appropriate given the character's desire for a peaceful life.

Ultimately, the choice of title should serve the story and characters in a way that feels authentic and meaningful to the narrative you're creating. If "Master" feels structurally correct and aligns with the themes and dynamics of your story, then it's a suitable choice for the guard's manner of addressing the character.

MATT: Thank you

CHATGPT: You're welcome! If you have any more questions or need further assistance as you develop your short film, feel free to ask. Good luck with your project!

--------------------------------------END----------------------------------- Make sure to double-check your responses, as ChatGPT isn't always 100% correct. And don't forget to thank your AI in case of a robot uprising 😜

Until Next Update!

[music-dmt]

Evolving Sounds and Shifting Audiences

As technology continues to advance, the way we discover, share, and appreciate music has shifted dramatically. In the past, physical media like vinyl, cassettes, and CDs played a central role in how audiences accessed their favorite artists. Now, a few taps on a smartphone can open up seemingly infinite playlists and channels, changing the dynamic between musicians and listeners forever. The advent of streaming has not only flattened traditional genre boundaries but also expanded the global marketplace, giving listeners unprecedented access to sounds and styles from every corner of the world. In this environment, singer-songwriters like Ryan Cabrera find new audiences who discover their acoustic-pop melodies through curated playlists, social media recommendations, and algorithmically generated suggestions. This constant digital presence allows artists to connect with fans more directly than ever before, fostering a more personal, immediate relationship between creators and consumers.

Broadening the Musical Conversation The internet and social media have given rise to platforms that empower individuals to bring their own voices into the industry’s ongoing dialogue. Artists who once struggled to gain recognition now have direct access to listeners, enabling them to carve out their own spaces. For instance, the rise of black female rappers exemplifies the cultural shift that places control back into the hands of artists who challenge longstanding norms in hip-hop. These women’s voices are increasingly present, not only in music charts but also in social commentary and cultural discourse. Their lyrics, fashion, and creative visuals transcend geographic and cultural boundaries, pushing hip-hop forward while helping to redefine who gets to be seen and heard in an ever-changing musical landscape.

Enduring Influence of Musical Pioneers While the digital age encourages innovation, it also rekindles interest in foundational acts. The resurgence of vinyl and nostalgic throwback playlists highlights that listeners still crave the authenticity and raw energy of earlier eras. The White Stripes serve as a prime example of how foundational rock acts continue to influence modern sound. Though they emerged in a pre-streaming world, their minimalist approach to instrumentation and striking stage presence resonates with today’s audiences who may encounter their music for the first time online. Through social media tributes, remixes, and covers, the White Stripes’ legacy endures, revealing how timeless artistry can thrive in a climate defined by rapid technological change.

The Curious Case of Celebrity Fascination As musicians gain global followings, their private lives often become a source of curiosity. This is especially true in the digital era, where fans can scrutinize a star’s personal narrative in parallel with their discography. Whether listeners are drawn to romantic ballads, confessional lyrics, or upbeat pop tracks, many find themselves intrigued by the stories behind these songs. For instance, the question how many exes does Taylor Swift have frequently arises in fan communities, illustrating how deeply personal stories can become woven into an artist’s public persona. This fusion of personal and professional life can influence how music is interpreted, adding layers of meaning to lyrics and performances. Today’s environment allows fans to interact with each other, share interpretations, and debate the real-life inspirations fueling the art that moves them.

Pioneering Performance and Global Choreography It’s not only recorded tracks and personal narratives that shape the musical experience. The rise of music videos, televised award shows, and online concert streams emphasize the vital role of visual storytelling. Choreographers like Son Sung Deuk have become influential figures in defining how global audiences perceive music performances. Crafting intricate routines that merge cultural elements, these choreographers help bring songs to life. Their work ensures that fans, regardless of language or location, are united by a shared appreciation for compelling visuals and synchronized movement. Artists and choreographers collaborate closely to produce shows that exceed expectations—grand spectacles that merge sound, vision, and performance into a cohesive experience. This holistic approach to artistry ensures that as sounds evolve and audiences shift, the global music scene continues to expand, reaching further into hearts and minds across generations and continents.

[miafoxmanblogs]

Module 5: Participatory Cultures and Online Communities

We (as in the 21st century) are living through an evolving transition from passive consumer culture to the enthralling world of participatory culture in the ever changing landscape of social interaction and digital media. This idea goes against the conventional role of private people by urging them to become active participants in the content creation process as well as content consumption or “prosumers.” One social media platform that perfectly demonstrates this shift is TikTok, a place of innovation and community.

The chapter “Participation” from Christopher Kelty’s Digital Keywords, looks at “participation” in the digital age as a “monument one passes every day” (Kelty, 227). The author highlights the significance of this notion in the digital age, where it finds application in several facets of internet culture, ranging from free software to social media. Kelty draws attention to the idealistic nature of participation, which is commonly criticized. I feel that instead of making a clear argument, this text is presented in a more informational way. In addition to presenting aspects of “participation” in the digital age, it also provides contextual/historical information.

The rise of Haunted TikTok is discussed in the article “Haunted TikTok is the next evolution of internet horror” by Jess Joho. The exposure of “Haunted TikTok” as mentioned by “Haunted TikTok is just the next iteration, evolving from campfire scary stories and Penny Dreadfuls, then also digital urban legends like creepypasta," exemplifies its close relationship to participatory cultures and online communities. This “genre” which emphasizes active engagement on user-generated content, enables people to actively participate in content creation. This has helped build a community of horror fans who all enjoy sharing scary stories. It shows how important online communities are for facilitating mutual interests. A large part of “Haunted TikTok” is that “modern storytellers are often inspired and build on one another's work.” This is similar to how people work together. Additionally, this blurs the lines between reality and fantasy, making it hard for users to know what is real and what is fake. This is parallel to how participatory culture involves people in creating content. I this that this article is convincing and does a good job of showing how “Haunted Tiktok” has become an unusual and growing subculture on the platform. It talks about how it has changed the divide of reality and fantasy, which may have an effect on conspiracy theories, which is something I used to really enjoy watching.

As someone who (guiltily) spends a decent amount of time on TikTok, I have experienced a great deal of participatory culture. I would consider myself a part of “travel TikTok,” meaning users share their travel experiences. There are a lot of different types of travel-related content in this online community, such as travel vlogs, advice, packing tips, etc. Sharing videos that capture my travels is what I contribute to my “creative participation” in this community, which is in line with what the algorithm suggests for similar videos on my feed.

[mitcheldepalo]

What Social Media Means To Me

Social media, as I perceive it, is an incredibly versatile tool that has revolutionized communication, collaboration, and personal expression. I see it as a parallel universe, intricately interlaced with our physical reality, directing our interactions, molding our perceptions, and continuously influencing our worldview.

Born from the foundations of the internet, social media platforms serve as grand stages where global communication knows no bounds. They are hubs of information exchange, experience sharing, digital transactions, and networking. Their evolution has been extraordinary, shifting from simple platforms for sharing amusing cat videos to breeding grounds for multi-million-dollar enterprises.

Reflecting on my personal journey with social media, I recall my early interactions. As a young Instagram user, my posts were sparse and personal, the odd beach snapshot or group photo with friends. I never succumbed to the 'lifestyle' trend of capturing every meal, updating Snapchat stories daily, or curating an image-perfect existence.

Instead, I enjoy the educational value of social media, predominantly via platforms like YouTube. I was drawn to the wealth of knowledge available at my fingertips, sparking my curiosity and quenching my thirst for learning. Today, I can confidently attribute approximately 80% of my knowledge to the power of the internet and social media. However, the journey was, and remains, a cautious one, with a keen awareness of the blurred lines between verified and misleading information.

Fast forward to the present, and my identity on social media has drastically evolved towards content creation. With an arsenal of skills, I design websites on WordPress, host enlightening podcasts, and navigate the maze of Google's algorithms. My ventures span the breadth of the social media spectrum, spreading my content across various platforms to reach wider audiences.

Moreover, I engage my community through a weekly newsletter, keeping them updated and fostering a sense of connection. This role has not only enabled me to share my thoughts but also has enhanced my understanding of audience engagement and content timing.

While writing this, I found myself swept away in a YouTube rabbit hole, engrossed in a video documenting a man's mission to build a lake on his farm. The production quality rivaled that of big-budget TV shows, and this observation struck me - we're transitioning from traditional television to a world dominated by content creators capturing their unique life experiences. The landscape is evolving; our generation, which grew up on YouTube and social media, isn't tethered to television. Instead, we're drawn to these 'one-person shows', filming their intriguing lives with remarkable finesse. The advent of such content creators challenges the longevity of television as we know it, suggesting a shift towards platforms like YouTube and other streaming services. Every ad played contributes to an individual creator, not a faceless corporation, promoting a sense of community. This shift in content creation and consumption suggests an imminent shift away from traditional TV, with a transition towards a new age of independent, user-generated content.

My strengths encompass understanding how platforms recommend content, mastering SEO best practices, and decrypting Google's ranking system. However, challenges persist. The fear of public scrutiny and the mammoth task of creating and managing content across numerous platforms can be overwhelming.

Adding another layer to this complex relationship is the psychological manipulation embedded within these platforms. Crafted by individuals well-versed in psychology, they are meticulously optimized to capitalize on our emotional triggers, often unbeknownst to us. This realization is both fascinating and unsettling.

As I look towards the future, I aspire to delve deeper into the mechanics of social media. My goals include uncovering the secrets behind successful content creation, refining my writing skills to cater to the social media landscape, and fostering a 'people-first' content philosophy.

In conclusion, to me, social media is more than a digital arena—it's an alternate universe teeming with potential and pitfalls alike. It's a powerful learning tool, a canvas for creative expression, and a psychologically tuned matrix. As I continue my journey, I am excited to explore further, grow more, and connect deeper within this intricate web of digital life.

[inapat16]

Love is not in the air. Tchaikovsky's wife by Serebrennikov

For the last article of this series of Serebrennikov movies and how his work can be related to the dissident movement; we are going to take a look through his last movie : Tchaikovsky’s wife. 

This movie came out in December of 2022, during an unstable period in Russia torn between the war in Ukraine, the backlash of a majority of countries because of their decision in the war and with some of the laws against human rights. We could think that a story of one of the most famous musicians of the country would be a great nationalist movie but no, this story is well chosen to show how poorly Russia has evolved. Serebrennikov said it himself : “It is absolutely impossible for my film to be shown in Russia". 

But before talking about this subject, let’s get back to the movie itself. As described in the title, Tchaikovsky’s wife is a story, with some fictional liberties, about the wife of one of the greatest music composers (in my humble opinion) and how she dealt with the fact that she was abandoned by him because of his homosexuality. The main role is played by Alyona Mikhailova and the composer is played by Odin Lund Biron. Tchaikovsky’s wife during her whole life refused to believe that her husband was not interested in women, and it drove her in a state of delirium and craziness. There's something disturbing, because everybody is a victim in this movie. Tchaikovsky is not understood but does nothing to help her wife; and his wife is not letting go of her husband and becomes a conceited character. Because of this situation, she ends up in an asylum where she died in 1917. Serebrennikov tried to understand both the two personalities by reading their letters : almost every sentence in this film is taken from her memoirs. We can applaud the way Serebrennikov decided to shoot the scene of the movie : because the two characters are lost in their relationship, the whole movie is kind of dark, and the angles of the camera are here to remind us that we are looking into somebody's life. During the whole movie, we can see some whispering, some strange looks from the other characters : those scenes are exaggerated with some beautiful plan-sequence shots. The fact that he comes from theater is shown in this movie, and this is what makes the beauty of it. I really enjoyed how he portrayed the insanity of Tchaikovsky’s wife with the use of theatrical methods. This movie reminded me of this famous play from the summer of 2022, The Black Monk that he presented for the first time in Avignon. 

The way Serebrennikov made this movie is interesting to analyze. Because of his problems with the Russian government in the past, and because he wanted to talk about homosexuality in a non-LGBTQ+ friendly country, his movie had to go through a lot of steps to be made. At first and for a few years, he couldn’t even start shooting the movie, because nobody would finance his movie. In today’s Russia, because of the propaganda against homosexuality, there’s no way this movie can be shown. And the worst fact with this movie is the fact that being homosexual in the 19th century seems easier than nowadays. The birth of the movie is also interesting, because the parallel with today's Russia was not at first the goal of the movie. Since his childhood, Serebrennikov was passionate about Tchaikovsky's work and life. He read everything about him, up to his letters with his wife. But, he never could quite identify his mysterious character. With everything going on in Russia, he decided to take the point of view of his wife, to emphasize what’s going on. 

The thing that is interesting with this movie is that the critiques of it are the best. Most of the critics say that the movie is up to the standards of the other movies of Serebrennikov BUT it’s a must see because of how the director manages to criticize today’s Russia politics. 

Milana Tsakaiev

[huapaiqingyuan]

what does it mean when they say “as long as we have karuta, we’ll see each other again”? 

for something that was repeated since the very beginning, and used throughout the story through various’ characters’ growth, and demonstrated through secondary characters, there seems to be some confusion.

we have to realise that karuta, like any sport has an “expiration” age where players’ skills (hearing, sight, movements) decline as a natural consequence of ageing. but unlike most sports, karuta is not what we conventional know as one that is “professional”. this is addressed within the manga itself! there may be classes but these are based on skill. 

age is a factor, but it also isn’t.

and the beauty of this is that it allows such a rich variety of cast. it’s not just your average sports manga where your seniors leave the story the moment they head for college (hello sudo), but we see people from various backgrounds, dealing with various personal, career and familial problems and commitments all competing together.

chihayafuru has always shown us what it means for karuta to bring individuals together, even as other things in their lives have them drift apart.

the trio begin the story proper at the stage where they’ve already drifted apart. (i say proper here, because that is where the meat of the narrative is at. if anything, the elementary school arc serves as a prologue). 

they were never going to maintain their childhood dynamics. they were never going to have that same level of familiarity and closeness. this is part and parcel of growing up. this is something that was acknowledged. and it was this ackowledgement that sparked the fear that they will become strangers.

karuta is like a balm on this hurt, on this aspect of growth, that as long as we have karuta, we will see each other again. we won’t just be a figure immortalised in faded pages of a yearbook, but an encounter to look forward to again. 

chihayafuru is a story that shows how the trio find their way back to each other. and in the background, we are presented with parallels through various characters.

within mizusawa itself, we see an example with nishida; once on the opposite team as the trio played That One 3-on-3 match, he now plays alongside chihaya and taichi. another example, is shinobu and arata, with the former at one point claiming the latter as her only friend. both meeting through karuta, and reconnecting because of it. we also see this play out with sakurazawa and inokuma. both of them have absolutely nothing in common and their only shared hobby, as well as connection, is karuta. it was karuta that introduced them, by bringing both of them to match for the queen title for years on end. and then there’s this lull period. inokuma focused on her family, sakurazawa on her career. even if there was never an established friendship, they nonetheless, they drifted apart. it is karuta that finally brings them together, and they become close enough that inokuma names her daughter after her once rival and now confidant and friend. another example would be harada-sensei, kitano-sensei and makino midori (haha, both examples have a midori, nevermind that the kanji are different). whilst in this case, only harada-sensei is playing competitively, they all still are very much involved in the sport as a whole, with makino reading in the match harada-sensei plays against arata.

i specifically picked out examples of those more in the forefront, and from various distinctive age groups to drive my points, that as long as there is karuta, they will always meet again. this has no expiration date. secondly, all these relationships were always evolving, never staying stagnant. their dynamics naturally shifted as the individuals themselves grew.

[beccanoodles]

Spike and Faye Pairing Analysis

March 2021

Ah the hit or miss pairing of the century! If you don’t love it, you probably hate it lol. I’m a very analytical person so I love analyzing works of art and overall enjoy deep discussions about them too. I have SO much to say when it comes to Cowboy Bebop (and oh I plan to), but I have decided to start with my very own OTP. Here, I am not really going to discuss Spike and Faye’s feelings for each other, but rather why I think people are drawn to this pairing and why I think they're totally valid. Get ready for a long read!😁

⚠️SPOILER WARNING!!! [Major Cowboy Bebop and the movie Out of the Past spoilers]⚠️

First off, let’s clear something up. I am confident most of us can agree that Spike was in love with Julia. Some people assume Spike and Faye fans are deranged and disregard Spike and Julia’s romantic relationship to try and make something of Spike and Faye that never was. While some people may have their various theories and opinions on this, generally, I don’t think anyone denies Spike’s love for Julia. As we will see, this pairing is not really driven by who loves who...let’s first look on the surface.

I don’t know your experiences with the series, but in mine, every time I show this to people it never fails for someone to say something along the lines of,

“Wait, they don’t end up together?”

“Why didn’t he kiss her!?”

“He should have stayed with her...”

and so fourth. 

Naturally, this pairing catches many eyes. 

Think about it, you are given two really cool, really hot and really deep characters that are really fun to see together! There are so many parallels between the two and they are arguably the strongest characters of the bunch. Granted, you can agree with this and still not ship them, but these aspects are part of what opens up the door for many fans of the pairing.

However, there is certainly more to this pairing than them simply looking good together right? As the years pass and I’ve now seen the show multiple times, my understanding of it has evolved in many areas, Spike and Faye included. 

Spike and Faye really couldn’t have ended up together. Sure, it’s a nice thought, but It would have been an entirely different show if they had. I don’t feel that the show should have happened any other way and I don’t think many other fans would either. 

So, what am I saying here?

What’s the point of this paring if I don’t think they should have ended up together? 

It is what's so frustrating about them, yet keeps you coming back and what honestly validates this pairing in my opinion. Spike and Faye are not driven by what is, but rather, what could be.  

I personally feel the themes of classic film Noir are not discussed enough when it comes to Cowboy Bebop! This is one of the show's major influences, especially when it comes to the plot and characters.

One of the common tropes of a film noir is that of a protagonist who is drawn back into his past and ultimate doom, usually by the “seduction” of a femme fatale. In these movies, the women are either a femme fatale [devious, dangerous, mysterious, greedy, troubled, or unreliable] or a woman of virtue [reliable, dutiful, trustworthy, conventional and loving]. 

I am going to use the 1947 classic, Out of the Past to make my comparisons from here on out.

In Out of the Past, Jeff is a former detective who gets caught up in a love triangle between a gangster and his girlfriend Kathie, sound familiar? He attempts to run away with her, but is betrayed and runs off to start a new life in a new town. Here, he meets Ann and falls in love with her, but of course, his past catches up to him and he is drawn back into the world of criminals (largely by Kathie’s involvement). This ultimately results in his and Kathie’s deaths and Ann’s heartbreak. 

Even though Kathie is the femme fatale in this movie, I found myself comparing her more to Julia’s role in the show, than to Faye’s and I found that Faye actually fit best in Ann’s role (this is a bit unusual considering Faye is typically seen as the femme fatale of this show).

Does that mean I think Julia was as ill intentioned as Kathie or that Spike fell in love with Faye? Well, not exactly, let’s look at it a bit further.

“The kind of beautiful, dangerous ordinary that you just can’t leave alone...Like an angel from the underworld or a devil from paradise.”

Most of what we get about Julia is from Spike’s point of view. From this, we learn she is at the center of Vicious and Spike’s conflict, but aside from that she is basically depicted as “The Virtuous Woman” of a noir. The colors around her are warm and she is shown caring for Spike. There is an innocence and modestly about her as well.

Yet, when we finally do meet Julia, we get a different image. We know she is tied up with dangerous men, but is she herself a dangerous woman?

She is certainly capable of betrayal. 

Suddenly she is a bad-ass-gun-toting woman in leather and black, surrounded by hues of grey and dark blue. Intentional or not, Julia is a major part of what lures Spike back into the past and ultimately to his death. In this case, Julia is the femme fatale of Spike’s story and thus, their relationship is doomed from the start.

Faye, on the other hand, is portrayed in somewhat of a contrast. When we first meet her, she is the clear cut femme fatale, appearing cunning, strong willed and seductive. However, we soon find that she has quite a bit of kindness and naivety hidden behind her facade. She uses the former tactics as a way of emotional (and probably physical) protection. Gren points this out in his conversation with her. 

Gren, 

“You’re just afraid they’d abandon you so you abandoned them. You distanced yourself from the whole thing.”

As the show progresses, we start to see less of her “femme fatale nature” and something more genuine. Think about it, between Hard Luck Woman and RFB Part 2 we don’t see much of Faye as her typical conniving or unreliable self, aside from changing the course of the Bebop maybe. Sure she takes off, but it isn’t at all for the same reasons she did in Jupiter Jazz or Speak Like a Child, for example. 

I would argue we actually see her more trustworthy and caring than ever. Since I don’t want to spend too much time talking about Faye’s character development (not here at least) I’ll give one example of this. 

When she returns to the Bebop after her encounter with Julia in RFB Part 1, she gives Spike the message, even though the outcome might hurt her (i.e. he leaves and/or dies). While she does first say “It’s gonna cost you,” she doesn’t really mean it because she tells him without hesitation only moments later.

This isn’t to say Faye good, Julia bad. Both women have their layers and even though we know way more about Faye, I don’t get the impression that Julia is selfish and cunning like Kathie was. But I do get the feeling she was enclosed in a world of crime and betrayal the way Kathie was. We really only know the basics of Spike and Julia’s situation. Who knows the details like motive or how long it lasted etc. etc. We can only speculate...

There is a scene towards the end of Out Of The Past, where Kathie tells Jeff to go away with her. This time it is her asking him, just like Julia asks Spike. During this she mentions,

“I never told you I was anything but what I am, you just wanted to imagine I was. That’s why I left you.”

This got me thinking...did Spike imagine Julia as something she wasn’t? Or something he wanted her to be that she just couldn’t be? 

It could explain why we get such contrasted images of her.

There are themes of this “dreamlike” relationship between Jeff and Kathie, similar to Spike and Julia’s “It was all a dream.”

The two of them were going to “live and be free,” probably something neither of them knew how to do and most likely wouldn’t have been able to get away with.

When Jet asks Spike if he can just forget the past, this is his answer.

Spike,

“There was a woman. For the first time in my life I saw a woman that was truly alive. At least that’s what I thought. She was the part of me I had lost, that part that was missing, that I had been longing for.”

I always wondered about this, because Spike is clearly talking about Julia, but right after is when Faye shows up. To me, that spoke volumes...

Faye is a woman who is terribly human and terribly alive.

Going back to Faye and Ann, I find their similarities shine not so much in the “Virtuous Woman,” concept, but rather in Ann’s dedication to Jeff and her optimism for the future. She is also the last person to talk to Jeff before he leaves for the final time, as if he were being presented with one last alternative. Spike spends his last moments with Faye as well, in which she basically begs him not to go and keep him in the present that she has now discovered for herself. She may be stuck, but she is definitely someone that yearns for human connection, love, and life.

The problem is, Spike and Faye are both set in opposite directions. Her’s leads to a future and Spike knows this because he points it out early on (My Funny Valentine). He also knows, his most likely does not. He has already dug himself too deep into this hole, if you will, that there is really no turning back. 

But let’s say none of that was an issue? What could be?

I sat and watched this movie (Out of the Past) with my mom. She didn’t know anything about it and didn’t know why I was watching it. I wanted her genuine reaction. The whole time she was getting mad at Jeff until the very end. I asked her why and she said that she wanted him to be able to live happily with Ann. I explained to her why he had to do what he did. She understood this, but still couldn’t help but be sad at how things turned out for him, when they could have been good.

Even though Kathie and Jeff are the “lovers,” of this movie, you don’t really want them to end up together. Forget that Kathie has a devious nature, regardless, you know where it has to end and you don’t want to see your hero die.

Like Kathie, Julia symbolizes Spike’s inevitable doom and Like Ann, Faye symbolizes his possible future. 

“I’ll be with you till the end”

                           “You’re the one still tied to the past Spike!”

                                                               “Why do you have to go? Where are you going? What are you gonna do, just throw your life away like it was nothing?!”

It’s two sides of a sad coin...

We want Spike to have a future and because we love the characters of the show, it would be really great if he could have it with them, but that is where the tragedy is. It's only an idea we can think about, a possibility presented to us as it was to Jeff and Spike before their deaths.

The bottom line is, when it comes to Spike and Faye you are really only given a taste. You are not given what you expect to see, which is why I say this ship is driven by what could be. As it is with most of the character relationships in the show, no major breakthroughs are made until the very end, when it's too late. Then it just feels like such wasted potential, but sometimes in life, that's how it is. And thus, we have been given a very classic noir here ladies and gentlemen!

So no, I don’t think people miss the mark when they ship Spike and Faye, nor do I find they invalidate the show by any means. I kind of like that Watanabe switched it up and didn’t do the expected, but left us those subtle hints. He didn’t outright give Spike another lover, but he gave us someone that represents what he could have. Kind of does that with the crew as a whole too!

UGH. I love-hate this show and I love this pairing! Thank you for reading my thoughts and I know this may not be the case or reasoning for everyone, but just based on what I have seen around the community and where this show draws inspiration, this is what I have concluded. I didn’t get into Spike and Faye’s feelings for each other because it gets a little more theoretical there, but I would like to do a post on my thoughts on that as well sometime. I also didn’t touch too much on Spike’s reasoning for choosing to face Vicious in the end, just because I know that will only lead into a whole other analysis lol. But you know I have my thoughts on that and certainly plan to share them 😎 Also, I know I basically spoiled it, but Out of the Past is such a great movie!! I think if you’re a fan of this show it's definitely worth a watch! There are so many more parallels to Cowboy Bebop that I didn’t even mention. Anyways, thanks again and talk to you soon!

[everythingsinred]

Let's Talk About NatsuMikan: The Anime (pt. 1)

I could go on and on about these two and I think I will, just because I don’t often see people talk about the analysis behind them. The meta I have seen about them has included a perspective that equaled the anime and the manga and I don’t think that’s an accurate way of viewing their relationship.

The anime is a different species than the manga, something that frequently happens during the adaptation from page to screen. Since they’re so different, I’ll analyze them separately.

There's going to be many parts to this so I'll keep a table of contents right here so people can more easily navigate (though you can also read through the "let's talk about natsumikan: the anime" tag on my blog):

Anime Analysis

Part 1: Exposition & Episode 7

Part 2: Episodes 8, 9, 10, & 11

Part 3: Episodes 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, & 17

Part 4: Episodes 18 & 19

Part 5: Episodes 20, 21, & 22

Part 6: Episodes 23, 24, 25, & 26 & Conclusion

The anime makes changes, as anime adaptations often do. The most outstanding changes are appearance related, as Natsume now has brown eyes instead of red, in addition to other characters who have hue-shifted eyes and hair. But there are also story changes, and I’ll be focusing on the changes that occur, specifically in regards to Natsume and Mikan and their relationship.

For one, their relationship starts evolving much earlier in the anime. I think it’s pretty undeniable that in the anime, Natsume started liking Mikan at the end of the dodgeball game. That scene never happened in the manga, but in the anime, it’s a crucial step in making sure nothing seems too sudden or forced.

The anime is 26 episodes long. If Natsume only starts liking Mikan after she saves him during the Reo Arc, then we’re already halfway through the show when positive feelings between the two appear. On the other hand, the feelings develop more slowly in the manga because there’s more time to properly develop the relationship in a more drawn out way.

My analysis will start with the anime, because it’s shorter and easier to discuss.

Exposition

It’s impossible to say that the anime was completely loyal to the manga. It very frequently couldn’t be, because it needed to fill in time in episodes or give closure early before the manga even addressed it (Natsume’s backstory in the anime, for instance, is vaguely referred to and implies deviation from the manga).

The most obvious difference between the manga and the anime from the get-go is visual. Not only do they have differing art styles (I don’t dislike the anime style but Higuchi Tachibana’s art style is so distinct and unmistakable while the anime’s isn’t so unique), but the setting is also different.

While the manga started in the depth of winter, the anime starts off in summer/fall. It always struck me as odd that while the first page of the manga has Mikan running after Hotaru in full winter-wear, the anime starts off warm and idyllic. You could almost think of that as a general warning for the difference between the anime and the manga. After all, while the anime has a reputation for being a cutesy and upbeat story about friendship and magical powers, the manga is much darker and discusses many morbid and depressing themes that can and WILL fuck you up. Warm vs. cold seems like an accurate difference, though I don’t think that was intentional.

We see way more of the village life in the anime, including Mikan’s efforts to keep the school from closing. This is a welcome change because Mikan’s passion to keep the school open is nothing compared to her friendship with Hotaru, and even after the school is saved, she runs away to see her friend, even if it means she goes to another school. The manga doesn’t imply that Mikan knew already about the school’s fate, and since she is always so preoccupied with Hotaru anyway, we don’t really get the impression that she cares very much. To Anime!Mikan, Hotaru is more important than saving the school, something she was so passionate about she rallied to get signatures. It’s an extra scene to prove just how much Hotaru matters to Mikan, and to show even more how selfless Hotaru was to go to Alice Academy, since she knew how much the school mattered to Mikan.

“Sign my petition to get a Gakuen Alice anime reboot!!!”

My boy Natsume is only introduced properly in the second episode, when we actually see his face and he speaks. His appearance is different from the manga’s too. I’m not sure if this was to appeal to a younger audience or what, but Natsume’s eyes are changed to brown instead of their iconic red, something that was always my biggest peeve about the anime adaptation. His hair is also somewhat purplish instead of entirely grey/black and, although this does bother me a lot less than the eyes, I wonder why they made this change when other characters have black hair. It might have been to differentiate him from Hotaru, another main character with black hair, though I’ve never had issue in the manga telling them apart.

His first interaction with Mikan is a lot more pleasant in the anime than in the manga, although that’s not really saying anything. Mikan’s skirt simply falls off and Natsume draws attention to it, rather than the unpleasant events that took place in the manga. This different event makes it a lot easier to support a relationship between the two of them right off the bat. They are still antagonistic but it’s not as terrible as it is in the manga. This makes it easier to establish romantic feelings earlier on, and might have been changed in order to achieve just that, or possibly also to appeal to a younger audience. Maybe both? Who knows.

“You can’t sit with us!”

With Natsume presented the way he is in the anime, it’s easier to make the claim that he’s simply a good guy who acts the way he does to protect people. And it’s true! He is! But he is also so much more. In the manga, he’s a more complicated character. Although he is a good person, he still requires character development, which is something he does go through, and something I’ll talk about more in his meta analysis later.

Most of the events at the beginning of the anime parallel the events of the manga. Mikan goes to Alice Academy at the same time of year, Natsume shows up with an explosion, Mikan has to go through the Northern Woods, she discovers her powers in her fight with Natsume, etc. Some of the continuation from episode to episode is different than the transitions between chapter to chapter, there’s extra scenes inserted to fill up time, and some of the exposition seems strangely presented (in the anime, Mikan finds out more about the school when she finds Narumi and Iinchou waiting for her at a tea party, which is…. Super weird…), but all in all the information and events are mainly the same. The big differences start with the dodgeball episode.

“Look how happy she is. Makes me wanna barf.”

Episode 7 vs. Chapter 9

I love the dodgeball episode. I feel like for the most part, the anime does deviation from the manga pretty well. With the last arc as an exception, I generally enjoy their changes and additions to the plot. The anime has to be different, has to progress at a different pace, has to introduce topics at different times. They have an episode to fill, and less time to build relationships. Natsume and Mikan are both different characters in the anime but it’s very subtle and has to happen due to the fact that the anime is shorter and seems more designed for younger audiences, in addition to wrapping up before the manga could explore more of the story.

Anyway, let’s talk about the dodgeball episode. AGAIN THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN IN THE MANGA THE SAME WAY so when discussing NatsuMikan as a concept, the anime events cannot be treated the same as the manga events. A lot of people maybe forget that the manga is very different than the anime when it comes to this episode. I see the two media conflated in plenty of fanfics, where seventeen year old NatsuMikan reflect on the dodgeball game from their youth that changed everything, and I get it because the anime version of the dodgeball game is cute! It's shippy! It's fun! But it doesn't happen in the manga the same way.

There's a similar trope with the sakura tree, which I can only remember from the anime, and yet it's such a fundamental aspect of NM fanfic it might as well have played a vital role in both anime and manga. Nothing wrong with any of this, of course. I'm just making it clear that my analysis will cover the two media as separate for the sake of a cohesive essay. Separating them in fanfic is far less important.

This look could probably kill someone. I’m surprised Mikan is still alive, TBH.

The chapter’s focus is Mikan starting to feel more at home in Class B, making friends with her once-hostile classmates, but the episode is more preoccupied with Natsume and Mikan’s perspectives on each other. While in the manga, the game ends with a tie and Mikan accidentally hits Hotaru in the face with the ball, the anime draws out the game to fill an episode and to introduce an evolution in the way Natsume sees Mikan. The first part of the anime episode is Mikan introducing her friends to her new senpai, Tsubasa. After she invites her friends, we see Natsume glowering at her and promptly ditching the next class, saying to Ruka that he can’t stand being in the same class as her. This addition to the plot already foreshadows that their relationship will change in some way by the end of the episode.

Tsubasa tells a frustrated Mikan that if she wants Natsume to be less unpleasant, he’d need to release some of his toxic energy. Thus, the sporty Mikan introduces the concept of dodgeball to the unwelcoming class. When they finally agree, Natsume gives one condition: that they play with the notorious Alice Ball, which is powered by the thrower’s alice (a detail absent from the manga). This Alice Ball is particularly terrifying with the threat of Natsume’s dangerous fire alice. Mikan also needs to get more people on her team, another aspect absent from the manga. While in the manga, Mikan only had her few friends on her team (including a wandering Ruka) and this ended up playing to her advantage, the anime has a humorous plot of Mikan tracking players down for her team, including a fake mustache she makes with her pigtails (she’s so cute, I love her), paying Hotaru to be on her team, and blackmailing Ruka to participate. This was mainly to fill time, but it makes the dodgeball game more important as well.

In the manga, we don’t see how the game ends, just that the teams tied and that everyone in class is having fun and bonding. In the anime, more emphasis is put on the “Mikan vs. Natsume” aspect, so a tie like the manga’s would be anticlimactic. Thus, the anime concludes the dodgeball game with Mikan and Natsume being the only kids left on the court, and Natsume not using his alice when he throws the Alice Ball. Even Hotaru leaving the game is something she does out of boredom instead of injury, further separating the other characters from the plot. It’s about Natsume and Mikan, and everyone else is mostly a side character. (Though Ruka also plays a vital role to this episode AND chapter, and it’s at this point that I think he started developing real feelings for Mikan as well. So when it comes to the anime, he and Natsume fall for Mikan around the same time, but in the manga, Ruka likes her first and the “he liked her first” argument for Natsume vanishes, though he never had that “advantage” to begin with.)

“Thank you!”

Natsume wins (something that shocked me at twelve years old) and is ready to walk away with his handy “tch” and all but Mikan thanks him for not using his alice and he goes off on her, demanding to know why she’s still smiling despite her loss. She says she’s happy that he had fun and was involved with the rest of class for once, and that in a way that means she wins. For Anime!Natsumikan, this is it. This is the turning point. “I just wanted you to be happy and have fun,” is what Mikan might as well be saying. “Really, this was all for you!” It’s sweet and it’s thoughtful and I don’t think Natsume ever imagined he’d be on the receiving end of her kindness, especially after all their beef. Manga!Mikan would probably not say these things to him, even if she meant them, for the sole reason that Mikan is stubborn and holds onto her pride, especially when it comes to her early relationship with Natsume, but Anime!Mikan is much more forgiving and much more willing to extend an olive branch, like in the dance episode. In any case, Natsume starts falling right then, and it’s obvious too, because he is pissed, and even more angry because he’s not even mad at her. He’s angry with himself for his change of opinion. This is the girl he was fully content to hate forever and yet here he was, starting to like her. Not ideal.

This scene, something so crucial to the development of Anime!Natsumikan, is completely absent from the manga. In the manga, Natsume still dislikes her by the end of the game although he does have fun.

He's not angry, just disappointed. In himself.

I’m not going to say one is better when it comes to starting up NatsuMikan because they’re very different creatures and I actually thoroughly enjoy both.

Anyway, the NatsuMikan after episode 7 is almost the same as in the manga, but the events carry a different weight since we know Natsume likes Mikan now (even if he would never admit it).

Summary

I hope this first part was interesting, and that it introduced the idea of Anime!NatsuMikan as being a little different from the manga's version. Yes, it is more or less the same story, but with so many thematic and plot changes, they take a different form as well, in a perhaps more subtle way, kind of like a slightly canon divergent fanfic. Fanfic where Natsume starts liking Mikan a bit earlier on in the story.

Next Part ->

[shipping-receiving]

“Is there a chance you won’t be okay?”

An Analysis of Hwang Si-mok and Han Yeo-jin’s Final Scene in Stranger/Secret Forest Season 2

Alright, it’s been almost a week, I’m still crying every time I re-watch this scene, and somehow I’ve written 3,500 words about five minutes of this damn show, so here we go:

As with Stranger/Secret Forest Season 1, Si-mok and Yeo-jin’s final scene in Season 2 ended with a farewell meal, complete with soju. On a very basic level, this meal felt significant in a season where Si-mok was subject, more than ever, to interrupted meals or meals he didn’t particularly want to be present for – at least until he was able to have a drink with Yeo-jin in 2x12, and then lunch with her in 2x13.

More importantly, though, this scene is the most loaded scene we’ve ever witnessed between these two characters. That’s saying something for such a nuanced, detail-oriented show, in which two people placing their phones in a storage locker at a detention centre can possess such emotional weight, particularly when played by two actors who make very subtle and sophisticated acting choices.

I’m struck particularly by the way this scene bursts with subtext – things unsaid and unresolved – when Lee Soo-yeon could just as easily have written a neater, more light-hearted exchange that reaffirmed their connection, more along the lines of their final scene in 1x16. There are a thousand other ways their farewell could have been presented to us that would have given a greater or at least a more comfortable sense of finality, even taking into account their character development over this season. This lack of resolution is evident not just from what happened during the scene, but also when the scene happened within the episode itself. The meal occurred after Yeo-jin had been bullied by her colleagues, but before she met her new boss – at this point, it seemed to the viewer that her promotion would likely bring not the pride she experienced in S1, but more challenges and isolation.

More so than the Seo Dong-jae cliffhanger, this scene makes me think that this was written with a future Season 3 arc in mind, one in which Si-mok and Yeo-jin’s relationship will continue to evolve and deepen substantially (whether that will be ‘romantic’ remains to be seen). Considering they’re the core partnership of this series, there was a deliberate withholding of stability in their farewell, rather than an affirmation of it. I won’t go so far as to say destabilisation – because despite their separation, I think their bond is more profound than ever – but at the bare minimum an absence of certainty, when it could have been written otherwise.

Anyway, on to the breakdown:

The scene opens with Si-mok carefully folding a napkin and placing cutlery on it for Yeo-jin, a simple gesture of care that Cho Seung-woo plays with a startlingly gentle attentiveness. Immediately, it signals that there’s been a shift in Si-mok – how he’s able, at least with Yeo-jin, to do something that isn’t just polite, but also thoughtful. The director even snuck in a little clue that Si-mok is thinking of Yeo-jin as he’s doing this – Yeo-jin actually appears at the left side of the frame from the start, as the camera pans over to Si-mok: 

In this shot, Si-mok is visually separated from Yeo-jin by a pillar. This could be read on the one hand as a kind of sectioning out of his mental space – a visualisation of his thoughts of her as he prepares her cutlery – and on the other hand, as a foreshadowing of their impending separation. (I do, however, enjoy the first interpretation more. It reminds me a little bit of her sketch of the inside of his head from 1x06.)

Back to the napkin: if you look closer, Si-mok didn’t fold a napkin for himself – his spoon and chopsticks are on the table next to his bowl – so this isn’t just a matter of neatly setting the table for their meal. In a very small way, he’s anticipating her needs, just as she has done with him in much more demonstrative ways in both seasons (helping him with his headaches being the most obvious one). This isn’t something he’s necessarily actively worked on in the past two years; he’s still the person who doesn’t instinctively say ‘hello’ over the phone, or ask after someone’s kids without being reminded. Yet, it’s a capacity for care that has expanded significantly, at least where Yeo-jin is concerned.

Compare his behaviour with the equivalent scene in 1x16 – back then, he only ordered a bowl of noodles for himself and not for her. Interestingly, Yeo-jin’s comment to Si-mok during that part of the S1 scene was, “Gosh, you haven’t changed one bit,” suggesting that he was, by nature, somehow unable to be considerate to someone else. Just from the opening to the S2 scene, we see that that comment is not or no longer true, at least when it comes to the way he acts around her. In both the S1 and S2 scenes, he was the first person to arrive for their meal; in S1, the first thing he said was, “Why are you late?” and had already ordered his soju and noodles. This time, however, Yeo-jin asks him, “Why didn’t you order something first?” – implying that although she was late again, he was patiently waiting for her to arrive.

There’s also a difference in the way he responds to her appearance. Now, I personally don’t think we can frame Si-mok’s connection with and care for Yeo-jin in conventional understandings of romantic attraction (which is not to say romance isn’t possible for them canonically, I just think it will manifest differently). Nevertheless, I’d say that he responds to her haircut in a way that is probably as close to the mechanics of attraction as we could possibly expect from Si-mok – not just the shock of “oh, you cut your hair,” but lingering looks and nostalgia for when they first met; nothing at all like noticing that she’s wearing lipstick and saying, not so kindly, that it looks weird. In fact, in a direct parallel to this moment in 1x16, Yeo-jin asks him if her haircut is “weird”, and he says, “I just meant it’s different.”

(I think the way he stares at her is not wholly due to being ‘transfixed’, but also because he’s trying to figure out what such a drastic change means, and why now, and whether he has to worry. Basically, his brain is trying to compute; part of his stare is him trying to analyse her behaviour, just as part of it is him revisiting his memories of her from two years ago, and part of it might well be an attraction he doesn’t quite understand or know how to reel in. He does stare at her for an inordinately long time.)

Switching over to Yeo-jin, I really enjoy this little routine of hers when they have meals together – how she narrows down options for him to a series of questions, and even helps him decide on occasion. It never feels like she’s trying to speak for him, but rather that she knows his likes and dislikes. Her question in this scene – makgeolli or soju – is phrased like her question in 2x02, when she asks him to choose between stir-fried octopus and hot pot; when she specifically requests a lot of cabbages, she must be thinking of how he ate lots of them in 2x12. This kind of care comes naturally to Yeo-jin – we’re talking about the person who took in a murder victim’s mother in S1 – but it’s still a form of intimacy, and one that Si-mok is clearly used to as well.

Soon, though, we have our first indication that things might not be so comfortable – not in the sense that their bond has weakened, but that there are fundamental shifts occurring in both of their lives that affect this bond. Si-mok, after a lot more staring, points out that her short hair reminds him of when they first met. (He wouldn’t have needed to take that much time to come up with that simple observation, which makes me think he was trying to choose his words carefully.) With enthusiasm, Yeo-jin responds with, “I haven’t changed a bit, right?” – echoing her comment about Si-mok in 1x16.

Perhaps Yeo-jin had meant this comment sincerely in the moment, but given context, her cheerfulness feels performative. We’ve just witnessed her crying after being bullied by her colleagues, in contrast to the warmth that she enjoys with her old Yongsan team; we’ve observed her changes – a result of maturity, disillusionment, a loss of innocence – throughout the whole season. In fact, she seems to have cut her hair precisely because she feels weighed down by all that has unfolded, just as one might after a break-up or some kind of painful life event. It’s a decision that seems to say: I acknowledge that everything has changed around me, but maybe doing this will make me feel like myself again, or the ‘myself’ of two years ago.

Si-mok, of course, isn’t quite so able to agree that she hasn’t changed. Multiple times this season, he’s observed the changes in her – “You don’t draw these days?” in 2x06, “Didn’t you want to work in police administration?” in 2x08, “You weren’t the kind of person to postpone things.” in 2x12. Now, he doesn’t respond to her question, and instead looks at her in silence, smiling only ever so slightly when she shakes her head playfully (and we know that she can make him smile wider than that). Perhaps he’s even choosing to withhold any judgment of her. But this is a moment, I think, that factors into his decision to ask her that question at the end of this scene.

Next, we have confirmation that Si-mok was the one who asked Yeo-jin out for dinner, just as he had in 2x02 once he’d settled into his new posting. It isn’t clear in 1x16 if it was Yeo-jin who’d asked to meet Si-mok when she found out he was being posted to Namhae, but it’s been affirmed twice this season that he prioritises this time with her (even more so than meeting his own mother). Then, he breaks the news to her that he is leaving for Gangwon Province this weekend.

In 1x16, Yeo-jin finds out that Si-mok is leaving from the special investigation team, without Si-mok being present. At the time, they still think he’ll be sent to the US for training, and Yeo-jin is visibly disappointed. She has the same crestfallen look on her face in this scene, in front of Si-mok. She doesn’t want to be separated from him, and when she asks about his cases, it seems she’d expected him to stay for quite a while longer to see them through. Mind you, Wonju is only about 1.5 hours drive from Seoul (yes, I mapped it), but Yeo-jin still looks like she’s had the rug pulled from under her. Perhaps, in an uncertain time, she’d hoped that Si-mok would be in her life more than the few weeks he’d spent in Seoul.

Yeo-jin’s responses in both 1x16 and 2x16 are a pretty big indicator that she has feelings for Si-mok (whether she’s aware or willing to acknowledge those feelings is another matter). I suppose one could argue that her reaction is simply out of sadness at the thought of being separated from a friend, but based on certain events in S2 – for example, Choi Bit questioning Yeo-jin about her relationship with Si-mok, and Yeo-jin deflecting – I think the viewer is at the very least meant to question whether their bond is truly ‘platonic’. This isn’t the type of show to include superfluous details just to tease their viewers, and in any case, Si-mok and Yeo-jin’s connection has only deepened through the course of this season despite being on opposing sides of the council. It feels like the emotional stakes are much higher this time than back in S1.

As Yeo-jin is absorbing this news from Si-mok, there are a couple of little details here that feel significant to me, but could be nothing: first, the way Si-mok half-holds out his hand as Yeo-jin is pouring her soju, just as he’d held out his hand when she was pouring makgeolli in 2x13. Second, how she pours out a cup of soju for herself first, but not for Si-mok. In any other situation, it might seem impolite – after all, Si-mok is the one who’d chosen the drink – but here it seems that she’s pouring a drink to steady or busy herself more than anything, and she doesn’t drink from it till after their toast.

Following this, Yeo-jin confides in Si-mok that “I never thought the council would end like this. [...] Will the higher-ups be replaced with more honest people while I’m catching bad men out there?” When he replies with, “Why are you talking as if those two are the same?”, it’s yet another of his probing questions, questions she never seems to have an answer to. The Yeo-jin of old would never have assumed that all the higher-ups are dishonest – she has always seen the good in people – but she feels betrayed by Choi Bit, the one person she sincerely respected. Here, she changes the topic rather than opening up, reverting to her most comfortable mode of showing care for someone else by asking Si-mok why he looks so tired. It’s a guardedness that we’re not used to seeing from Yeo-jin; when Si-mok met with Choi Bit at the start of the episode, he describes Yeo-jin as someone who “opens up easily”, even if she doesn’t “blindly trust or respect just about anybody”.

While Yeo-jin is evasive, Si-mok is more willing to be vulnerable in comparison. His openness isn’t surprising, given that Si-mok has shared more about his life and thoughts with her than with anyone else, but it is still heartwarming to see. Instead of brushing off Yeo-jin’s comment, he tells her about his dream of the prosecutors from the Western Office. For anyone else, this might not seem like a significant conversation topic, but for someone who hardly ever dreams (which Si-mok mentioned in S1), it feels like he’s sharing something special with her. This dream, and his factual recounting of it, seems to be a means for his brain to process the traumatic events of two years ago.

Before Si-mok tells Yeo-jin about his dream, there’s a quick insertion here – a lament about seeing your boss in your dreams – that suggests that she is still troubled about Choi Bit, more than she’s letting on. Again, Si-mok doesn’t push her to elaborate, though I think he’s been absorbing all the things that seem off with Yeo-jin since she arrived. Yeo-jin proceeds to analyse his dream in her head, but doesn’t verbalise her interpretation (that Yoon Se-won might be considering suicide, since he went off in the same direction as two characters who have both passed). As she’s deep in thought, Si-mok tilts his head questioningly at her; she says that he probably won’t have time to go anywhere else this weekend, implying that she was thinking of bringing him with her to visit Yoon.

Knowing that Si-mok won’t be able to come with her, however, leaves Yeo-jin resigned. As she announces, “All right, then,” I wonder if this is the moment that she’s choosing to steel herself. The two people she treasures and respects most in her life (Si-mok and Choi Bit) are disappearing from it, and she will have to learn to move forward without them.

Now, we come to their toast. In the corresponding scene in S1, their toast is bittersweet, but has a sense of resolution; upbeat piano music plays in the background as Yeo-jin says, “Goodbye, I won’t be able to see you off,” while Si-mok echoes that with, “Good luck in your new position. Sorry I can’t attend the ceremony.” In S2, the music is quieter, and much more sombre – I’ve been describing it in my head as ‘breathy sad wooooo music’ – even as Yeo-jin laughs and says, a little helplessly: “It feels like we keep repeating this.”

Si-mok, on his part, doesn’t even echo her laugh with anything more than the barest smile. Instead, he says, with a deep sincerity: “Take care, Senior Inspector Han.” As I mentioned earlier, there are many ways that they could have written or played this scene to convey even a little more resolution – choosing different music, or having Si-mok smile along with Yeo-jin, or even giving Yeo-jin a bit more notice of his departure so that she can prepare a gift (as if to say, she doesn’t draw as much these days, but she would for his sake). But the viewer is made to feel all of their reluctance, even sadness at this separation, even if those feelings are hidden beneath pleasantries. “Well, I guess I’ll be okay,” Yeo-jin says, as if there’s a possibility that she won’t be – that this is something she has to recover from in the future.

Si-mok considers her words, her phrasing, her demeanour, tilts his head at her again and says: “Is there a chance you won’t be okay?”

This, above all other lines, shows how much Si-mok has grown in the past couple of years because of Yeo-jin’s influence. Whereas he started S1 cold, guarded, and isolated from the rest of his colleagues, he has arrived at a point where he has cultivated enough of an emotional sensitivity to ask her this question – to show her care, just as she has shown care to him and other people around her. I’d even venture to say that Si-mok feels, himself, that there’s a chance he won’t be as okay with their separation as he might have been two years ago. In 2x05, during the conversation with Seo Dong-jae outside the prison, Dong-jae asks Si-mok: “You don’t feel a tad bit sad even if you’re sent far away, do you?” Si-mok answers, “No.” That doesn’t feel so definitive anymore. There isn’t anything either Si-mok or Yeo-jin can do, given that they both prioritise their careers and understand that these careers follow a certain trajectory, but parting feels a little bit harder this time.

Yeo-jin answers Si-mok’s question as reassuringly as she can, with an adorable smile and shake of the head; she lets out an “ah” after she downs her soju, as if to reorient herself. Yet, her cheerfulness in the rest of the scene – her excitement at the food, her over-enthusiastic chewing – rings empty as the sombre music continues to play in the background. For perhaps the first time in the entire series, there is something about Yeo-jin that seems feigned. Strangely, it is Si-mok’s blank expression that represents the more authentic emotion in this scene – communicating the very resignation that Yeo-jin must be feeling inside, beneath a facade that might read as comical in any other context.

“Is there a chance you won’t be okay?” is, in fact, the last thing that Si-mok says in this whole scene, despite quite a few more lines of dialogue from Yeo-jin. The way he looks at her for the rest of the scene, though, is charged with meaning. It seems to say: ‘I don’t really believe that you’re okay, but I’m going to give you space because I can tell you don’t really want to talk right now.’ It’s not as if Yeo-jin hasn’t confided in him before – their phone call in 1x15 was especially intimate – so it’s not that Si-mok is incapable of listening to her. Still, he respects her choice to deflect, and continues to observe her closely while ignoring the pajeon, even leaning forward right at the end of the scene. This very overt concentration on her is something we’ve never really seen from Si-mok before; even in the rooftop scene in 2x06, which is probably the most loaded scene they share after this one, they’re standing beside each other and rarely make eye contact. Here, his focus on Yeo-jin is palpable.

As much as this scene felt heartbreaking to me (thanks breathy sad wooooo music), it actually left me with a lot of optimism for the development of their relationship in the future. Lee Soo-yeon has said that she has enough material for five seasons of the show, and while I’m not so sure we’ll get as many seasons as that, it feels like she’s pushed Si-mok and Yeo-jin out of their comfortable friendship – planting the question, “is there a chance we won’t be okay?” I wonder if we’ll see something quite different in the third season (which is apparently in discussion!), which surely won’t see them on opposing sides again.

I’ve been burned by enough ships that can potentially be read as ‘platonic’ to know that I shouldn’t hope for any overt romance, but Si-mok is such a unique character and has such a unique connection with Yeo-jin that I’m hopeful that their relationship could be deepened with nuance, even if it doesn’t become romantic in ‘recognisable’ ways. (I have other thoughts on his asexuality/aromanticism that I won’t get into here.) It’s precisely because their connection is built on mutual trust, respect, and understanding that it remains so compelling, and I think this scene promises growth, and some resolution, whenever we see them next.

[rainbowsky]

The Wolf Reviewed

Spoiler-free section

My life is divided into two eras: ‘before seeing GG as Ji Chong’ and ‘after seeing GG as Ji Chong’. I will never be the same.

GG is magical in this series, and Ji Chong is among my absolute favorite characters of all time (I am actually in love with this character, which is heartbreaking given the fact that he’s fictional). The show also has many interesting characters and some exciting storylines, and in spite of some of its flaws this series is quite good. Highly recommended.

Of course there’s a lot more to it than that, but I can’t give a full review without spoilers. Here’s the rest for those who have already seen the series.

Spoilers under the cut

OK, where to start?

The Characters

There were so many great characters in this story and overall I found the performances of all of them well-acted and exciting to watch. I especially loved Ji Chong and Yao Ji. Both were complex, mysterious characters who stole the show every time they were onscreen.

Ji Chong was incredible. Everything about him was over-the-top amazing. I can imagine that GG must have identified a lot with Ji Chong because he has a similarly gallant, charismatic and kind personality. Seeing GG perform a character like this was mind-blowing because of the harmony between them in spite of their physical differences.

I could go on and on about how much I love Ji Chong as a character but if you’ve seen the series you already know how great he is. I truly fell in love with that man. He was everything I love in a person, and in such a beautiful package. I loved his nimble mischievousness, his rebelliousness, his fierce independence, his devotion to those he loves, and above all, his integrity.  With one exception that I’ll get into later, everything he did in that series was consistent with the image I had of him and it made my heart melt.

And it was pretty insane to see GG go from the thin, twinkish, bubbly and somewhat diminutive Wei Wuxian to the rugged, masculine, mature and level-headed Ji Chong. Not only because of the personality differences between the two characters, but also because of the physical differences. They look like two entirely different people. Ji Chong looks so tall and imposing in the series!

It’s impressive to see GG’s acting ability shine through in these roles. He has such a gift for acting, and for drawing viewers into the hearts of the characters he plays.

Yao Ji was another character that really impressed me. She had so much intensity and complexity, and her character arc was so strong. She was also just incredibly well styled and she looked breathtaking in every single frame she appeared in. The various headpieces and hairstyles she wore were stunning, and her sidekick Zi Shen was an aesthetic marvel.

I also really loved Ma Jing. Despite the fact that she was often used for comedic effect, her character was quite nuanced and multidimensional. I loved her loyalty and strength, and the depth of the love she had for Ma Zhai Xing really shone through in every scene she was in.

The entire Night Fury group was also amazing. I loved them as a team and as individuals, and the trajectories their characters went through were interesting and engaging. I was really invested in what became of them. When Wen Yan died I was gutted, and I was grateful that Hai Die and Mo Xiao had such a satisfying conclusion to their story.

I also adored Butler Shi. What a great character. He reminded me of one or two guys I know hehe. He had such a warm, endearing quality about him.

I’m realizing that I could sit here and name almost every character in this series. Despite some of the problems that I have with it, I’m reminded that the characters are exceptionally well-realized in this series.

The Story

Overall I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the story. It was exciting and engaging, and there were some very interesting side conflicts and intrigues. There was an overall sense of adventure and plenty of action, some really emotional moments and even comic relief.

When you think about it, almost every character had something deeper going on outside of the main plot, and those side/back stories were really interesting and varied. There was complexity to the characters and their motives and experiences without it overcomplicating the plot.

The romances were not my cup of tea. I’ll get into that later on. But despite being the thread that ran through the entire story, they really didn’t feel central to it and it was easy to simply enjoy the show while putting aside the annoyances I had with the romances (I did this primarily by consciously choosing to take the story at face value, and choosing to believe that Ma Zhai Xing really was through with Prince Bo).

The show did a great job of getting me engaged and keeping me interested, giving me a story that was complex without being confusing, emotional without being too sappy (with some exceptions). The action, fight scenes, battles, etc. were exciting without feeling fake and cliche. There were some well-choreographed scenes.

I really can’t complain about much. I mean, there were times when I was watching this series that I thought I hated it, but in retrospect I can see that I really loved it in spite of some of the flaws, which I’ll discuss in a moment.

The Soundtrack

The soundtrack was quite good, even if it felt repetitive when I was bingeing the show. So many songs have stuck with me since I finished the series. I especially like Backflow by Jolin Tsai (second-last song on the playlist I linked). Of course I would have loved a song or two with GG, but the soundtrack we got was memorable.

What I hated

I really struggled with some aspects of this series.

I found Bao Na mostly unwatchable. She was incredibly annoying. As a character she had all the traits I dislike. Whiny, stalker, demanding, emotionally immature, jealous... I really couldn’t stand that character for a lot of the series.

It’s true that she started to redeem herself a bit through the course of the series but she never really evolved into someone I wanted to see more of. I definitely had some moments where I liked her and sympathized with her, but mostly she grated on my nerves.

I also hated Prince Bo through most of the series, and found it insulting that I was expected to view him as the protagonist and cheer for him to win the princess’s heart. I felt that the ‘love-hate’ thing between Prince Bo and Ma Zhai Xing was overplayed to a point where I lost all sympathy with Prince Bo and desperately wanted him to die a horrible death through much of the series.

His behavior didn’t reflect someone who was in love but wanted to protect her. Much of his behavior was excessive and gratuitous, much worse than was necessary to achieve its stated goal. He was incredibly emotionally and psychologically abusive toward Ma Zhai Xing to a degree that was often really hard to watch. Especially his near-rape of her.

This is a man that I didn’t want to see redeemed. This is a man I wanted to see burned alive. No one who truly loved Ma Zhai Xing would be even remotely capable of the actions Prince Bo took.

I will admit that he did begin to redeem himself in my eyes a bit later in the series, but not to where I could ever see him with Ma Zhai Xing. I don’t think that’s the sort of treatment one can ever redeem in a relationship. He might be able to redeem himself, but not the relationship. There are some lines, once crossed between people, that one can never come back from.

I actually felt that Yao Ji was a much better match for Prince Bo than the princess was. They were true equals with similarly difficult pasts, and similarly dark deeds to redeem themselves from. They were in so many ways perfect for each other.

Ji Chong and Ma Zhai Xing were a better match because they were more natural equals in terms of personality, values and life paths. There were tremendous parallels between the two of them. Although I ended up feeling she didn’t deserve him.

So for me, it was really difficult to get invested in the love stories I was presented with. Ultimately I found them all very unsatisfying. The people I wanted to see together were treated as unsuitable for each other in ways that were completely unbelievable, and the people I was expected to want to see together had unconvincing chemistry and incompatibilities that I couldn’t overlook.

Seeing Ma Zhai Xing die in the end was an OUTRAGE. Especially when I read about the director’s rationale for that decision.

“Her thought process on killing off “Zhai Xing” was that “King Bo” had done so much for her that it was time for her to do something for him. “Her character had matured the most in the series. Dying for Wolf Boy is the best ending for this identity of hers. To me, this perfect ending is even more in line with her character’s growth.””

I found that shocking. I couldn’t disagree more with this sentiment. She wasted so much of herself and her life for Prince Bo. He treated her like crap, and he didn’t ever truly do anything to redeem himself from that behavior. He should have been the one to die.

In my opinion, REAL character growth for Ma Zhai Xing would have been to see her overcome the fixation with Wolf Boy and with Prince Bo and just move on with her life.

I will say this, though: By the time Ma Zhai Xing died in the show, her character had already been so utterly and thoroughly decimated beyond all recognition via the Prince Bo housewife trajectory that there was no point in her surviving.

The absolute worst moment for me, though, was Ji Chong ending up with Bao Na. Talk about adding insult to injury. This is the one thing that Ji Chong did as a character that ran against my understanding of him as a character.

You could have done anything at all to Ji Chong, including killing him or turning him into a villain, and it would have been less of an insult to me than putting him with Bao Na.

I do try to interpret his invitation for them to travel together in a non-romantic way (despite the fact that in the world of the show there’s no way that a princess is going to go traveling with a prince without her reputation being ruined unless they are a couple). But when I tell myself that he took her traveling to get her away from court and give her some life experience - as friends only - then it becomes less of a bitter pill to swallow. I could see him doing that for her, and I could see them developing a strong friendship through their travels.

I just can’t see them as remotely romantically compatible. Not on any level.

I found it completely unconvincing that the most emotionally mature, honorable person in the entire series who had the healthiest boundaries and a lot of worldly experience and intelligence, would have any interest whatsoever in someone as emotionally immature, childish and inexperienced (and with no boundaries whatsoever) as Bao Na.

I would have preferred it if they’d framed that whole thing as him being a sort of big brother/mentor figure to her.

I felt like I saw chemistry and compatibility between Bao Na and Fourth Prince Chu You Ze, and I would have loved to see them end up together. They were much more at an equal footing. I was expecting that to be the outcome and it would have been a sweet one. They would have made a cute couple.

Final thoughts

The romances in this story seemed fixated on unhealthy, often misogynistic power imbalances and they were really, really hard to watch. Not just in terms of Prince Bo and Ma Zhai Xing but also the ugly Ji Chong and Princess Bao Na hookup they tried to get me to swallow at the end. I hate that kind of ‘love’ story. I prefer seeing actual equals find each other in the great wide world.

However, pretty much everything else about the series was excellent. Ji Chong owns my heart and I only wish I could see more of him. GG completely blew me away and far exceeded all of my expectations.

Overall, I really love this series and will definitely be rewatching it.