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swissmissficrecs · 4 years ago

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Underrated Fics, Part 15

I don’t know whether this signals a shift in the fandom, or the effects of the physical, mental, and psychological strain we have all been under this year, but there seem to be more fics garnering lower kudo counts. In fact, nearly every individual fic that I’ve recced in the past couple of months still has under 200 kudos. Does that mean I’ve only picked the less popular ones to read in the first place? Or has readership dropped off that much? At any rate, with the holidays coming up, if you have some time and energy for a little fic escape, please consider one of these and spread the love.

Qualifications:

- Fic complete and over 10K - Last chapter posted prior to November 1, 2020 - Fewer than 200 kudos as of this posting - Earned a ‘favorite’ from me on AO3

(P.S. See my other “Underrated” lists here.)

In descending order of length:

1. This is an alternative meeting AU that starts off looking like it’s going to be a relatively straightforward – if extremely hot – cybersex romp but turns into a genuinely intriguing original casefic with some excellent worldbuilding. A fresh incarnation of the future!fic genre.

Nothing But Flowers by delightful_fear (67K, M, Johnlock) An AU set 30 years in the future…But this is not a dystopia. Some things are better, some things worse, many things unchanged.John is happy with his life as a successful surgeon. Why is he feeling so attracted to Sherlock, a man who is his opposite in so many ways? Even if he gave into temptation, there’s no way this can be more than a quick, hot fling, right?

2. This fic is just a huge amount of fun, with an original casefic, undercover work, Johnlock progressing from coparents to lovers, and some excellent original characters.

Curtain Rising by tiger_in_the_flightdeck (61K, E, Johnlock) A disgraced television star is the target of a series of death threats just after a theatre production’s adaptation of The Sound of Music is announced with her as the lead. The suspect list is a mile long and growing, Rosie Watson is in the spotlight, and Sherlock might be getting too fond of his time on stage to focus on the case. With opening night approaching, can he and John figure out who wants their client dead before her final curtain rises?

3. This is a beautifully written fic with a longer arc, so be sure to stick with it through the first few unconnected scenes; the payoff will come later on!

Caesura by emilycare (36K, M, Johnlock and Warstan) The violin is a retreat that eases the quiet of Sherlock Holmes' solitude. It also speaks for him when he cannot bridge the gaps his defenses create. Moments when music helps Sherlock reach out or let others in, like his stalwart flatmate and, in time, the doctor's daughter. Five+ times Sherlock Holmes played the violin, and one time he did not.

4. This is an insidious psychological horror story that sneaks up on you and won’t let you go. In case anyone is thinking it’s not for them, though, it’s more creepy than outright scary, and the Johnlock relationship is a lovely, natural progression.

Rose Madder by Vulpesmellifera (25K, E, Johnlock) With a history of bad choices firmly behind him, Sherlock Holmes has established himself with New Scotland Yard as a brilliant if egotistical solver of crime. An island unto himself, he's avoided all thoughts and urges of sentimental or physical attachment to another person not only for the sake of The Work, but for the equilibrium of his Mind Palace. Until he meets John Watson. This seemingly ordinary yet compelling man catches Sherlock's interest as something more than a mere roommate. When John moves in, he brings with him something unexpected: a strange family heirloom. The nightmare begins.

5. This is a clever and well-plotted original casefic with a fascinating alternative backstory for Sherlock. This may be getting less attention due to the Gen aspect, but I found it comforting to see Sherlock and John working together with such a solid, non-angsty friendship between them.

it's not always black and wight by elldotsee (21K, M, Gen) By the time he turned eight, Sherlock had had more supernatural experiences than he could count or recall. He’d grown used to flickering lights, the whispers in the night, the sudden appearance of apparitions in the corridors. The dead were just as much a part of his life as the living. He went about his business, never disrupting theirs. Sometimes he talked to them, but they never talked back. Sometimes, he heard their stories second-hand, in the snippets of conversation between his parents at the dinner table, but they were never spoken about like real people. They were simply characters that formed the tapestry of the house, bumps and flickers of a life stuck in the in-between. That is, until he met Victor.

6. Although this is the fourth installment in a longer series, everything is recapped enough for understanding of this romantic getaway with just the right amount of dramatic tension, and more than enough besotted newlywed antics to make up for it.

The Nearer Your Destination by Silvergirl (18K, E, Johnlock) After a December wedding, Sherlock takes John to Venice for a February honeymoon. It's absolutely perfect, up until the moment he hears John growl, "What the hell is Zanardi doing here?"

7. Another casefic with Sherlock, John, and this time Greg as well, working together like a well-oiled machine to solve a deeply disturbing homicide. This one definitely delivers the thrills and fascination!

The Victim Experience by J_Baillier (16K, T, Gen) A case takes Sherlock and John deep into the seedy underbelly of the haunted attractions industry. With audiences craving more and more intense experiences, is a real murder the next logical step?

8. The writing in this is a cut above: tidy and smart, it’s a genuine pleasure just to see words put together like this. Add in a tender slow burn of steady companionship shifting into deep and abiding love with a Sherlockian mix of danger, adventure, and humor, and you have a perfect package of reading satisfaction.

In Care Of by consoul (15K, T, Johnlock) Five noteworthy times John took care of Sherlock, and one time Sherlock stepped up to take care of John.

9. At a glance, there’s nothing that should deter anyone from reading this friends-to-lovers fic by an established and beloved author. So, what are you waiting for?

The Subtenant by Khorazir (12K, T, Johnlock) When you have ruled out the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. Hence, there can be no doubt about it: 221B is haunted. Sherlock and John set out to investigate their new subtenant and find out more than they bargained for.

10. This is a fun and unique angle of the reunion after estrangement premise. (Slightly AU, TFP does not exist and there was no baby.)

2 Down, 5 Across by disfictional (12K, E, Johnlock; John/OMC) It's been five years since everything, and John and Sherlock are estranged. John, lonely, takes an interest in crossword puzzles. He starts noticing that the clues have a very particular theme and style, one that reminds him of years ago.

#underrated #rec list

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for-dramas-sake · 4 years ago

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My Favorite 2020 Dramas plus a few Honorable Mentions

In no particular order...

To Love

It’s not over yet, but already this is one of my favorites of modern Chinese dramas. The writing alone makes the story excellent in that it keeps you on your toes in every episode and keeps you engaged with the characters. Told from the two main leads’ POVs, it is a story of an undercover cop and a café owner who fall in love in the middle of his mission of a drug bust. It is a tale weaved from hard choices, complicated characters, and seemingly real life characters. It’s also a beautiful drama: full of color, excellent cinematography and lovely music.

I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to try out a underrated mature drama. I say mature for content (mainly for violence and drugs) as well for structure. This is NOT a bubbly, good-spirted drama. There is angst, pain, and conflict.

Qing Qing Zi Jin

I’m going to say it and mean it: My favorite drama of the year! I love it and have claimed the main leads to be “my babies” forever! The story is set in the Tang Dynasty of a mountain gang leader who comes to the capitol city to study at school not only to solve the mystery of ten years prior but to gain notoriety and fame. And let’s not forgot the love his life, a super strong (I mean that literally) girl who is a little shy at first, but then gains some backbone to go with those strong arms of hers.

It’s sweet, charming and lovely. And while that might sounds more like the perfect date, it’s not. There is plenty of drama infused: a jealous older sister, a cruel stepmother, a scheming royal, the truth of the FL’s mother, the secret of the ML’s true identity, as well as so much more.

I love every single episode and which it had ten more than its 40 episodes.

You Complete Me

Another modern drama that is so underrated! This is less violent and emotionally complicated as To Love, but it does pack a wallop of feelings. It’s another revenge story (third one in a row, I might have a preference for these kind of dramas). The male lead wants to take down the rich businessman who was the cause of his father’s demise but on the way he falls in love with the man’s daughter.

It’s the most life-like drama so far on this list in that it’s very business-minded. There are quite a few scenes just discussing business tactics, money transactions, and meeting scenarios which all fly over my head. I can see that is a turn off for a lot of people, but believe me that it’s not all numbers and figures! There is a lot of story behind the suits and briefcases. The female lead is my favorite of the year: she’s a total badass who wants to earn her own way and won’t let anyone help or hinder her. She’s fantastic. If anything, watch the show just for her.

Note: I’m a sucker for the trope “I Did _(insert revenge act here)__ But Then I Fell in Love with You”. It’s the whole Good Girl and Bad Guy trope, and I love it so. The ML isn’t 100% bad, per say, but he does not have good intentions towards his enemy.

The Journey Across the Night

Yet another modern drama! This one is full of mystery, intrigue, and darkness (more so than To Love). Unlike the other dramas, this one is not about revenge. But Like QQZJ, The ML is searching for truth as well as going to school. He is studying psychiatry under this creepy professor and hunting for answers. His mother and older brother both were diagnosed with schizophrenia when they turned 24 and he searches to learn how to prevent his own eventual dissent into madness.

This is a psychological, thriller drama but it’s not as scary as you might think. It’s pretty tame as horror dramas can go, but there are several creepy scenes and a few sketchy characters. The ML is a nice guy (do they exist anymore?) who doesn’t believe ghosts, but he manages to get pulled into a new mystery along with his friends a lot. The FL is a bubbly, loud girl who takes an instant liking to the boy. She confesses to him quite a lot over the show and it’s quite cute to see him blush.

This drama does not have a story flow (other than the ML and his quest). It is developed by the several mysteries the ML and his friends solve which is very interesting. Every mystery impacts one of characters differently which gives more insight into them as well their interaction with each other. Friendship is a major theme in this show. It’s thrilling ride with plenty of mystery, but bring your tissues!

Oh! My Sweet Liar!

What an adorable costume drama also set in the Tang Dynasty. This is a family grounded story set around the rich and powerful Li family. The FL is a painter who infiltrates the Li Mansion to paint “the four arhats” for money. She encounters the eldest son who doesn’t trust her from the start. But things take an interesting turn when she suddenly announces that she’s pregnant with his baby!

It’s a comical, fun ride that is lead by a sweet couple as well as the second lead couple who are childish but also adorable. It’s the least dramatic of the dramas listed so far with its ML falling in love rather quickly with the FL and a powerful family that’s not quite as domineering as imagined. But it’s a sweet story.

Need a pick-me-up? I recommend this one.

Under the Power

Crime fighting in the Ming Dynasty! It follows the trope of silly, but headstrong FL and the brooding loner ML. The girl is member of the local constabulary and she wants to fight against all injustice. The boy, a member of a special government enforcement team, endures her until he falls in love with her (wink wink).

The story follows the female constable and the government official teaming up to solve the case of the Disappearing Government Funds (play mysterious music here). They encounter multiple crime cases, battle different evil forces, even dip their toes into almost magical scenarios along the way. And they fall in love, of course.

It has its charm in the main couple’s cat and mouse interactions and slow burn love story. She comes from a poor background and he comes from the a government official lineage. They are night and day, but they click in a delightful way. Plus, there’s a ton of cool fighting scenes and a few likeable side characters too.

Eternal Love of Dream (aka the Pillow Book)

A fantastic follow up to the much-loved Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms with an appropriate story for everyone’s favorite minxy fox and the immortal who came from a rock. I love this story mainly because it gives depth to the shallow as a kiddie pool Feng Jiu from Ten Miles (I’m sorry, but she was not a favorite). She was such a crier that you needed an umbrella for a lot of her scenes. And Dong Hua was there too.

But then you actually see them have character and story and drama and a love story! And the chemistry is *chef’s kiss*. This drama is near perfection for its all mentioned previously except for a few minor things like it drags in some parts, a few side characters are boring (or the actors were switched from Ten Miles so I don’t quite care so much) and then it gets kind confusing in some parts.

Overall, a great fantasy drama with a well deserved ending.

...and now for a few honorable mentions!

Twisted Fate of Love

I’m on episode 11 so far and not quite fallen hard for it yet. I love Feng Xi (the scheming!!!) and all his questionable choices both to get Dong Yue and to get a promotion. But I don’t like Dong Yue much. She’s a weird mix of innocence and fighting spirit that I just don’t buy just yet. I will keep watching for their eventually love story.

The Heiress

The scheming! The secrecy! The playacting! The love story! I like it all, but it’s just not enough to get on my favorites list. I did say previously it as my favorite girl-disguised-as-a-guy drama, but it’s not my FAVORITE drama this year. Still very enjoyable!

General’s Lady

A surprisingly fun drama with a cute couple! I’m about 16 episodes in and would like to finish it one day. I do like how the couple is married very soon and have to work on building their relationship over the courses of the show. It’s refreshing from other shows that have the reverse.

Dating in the Kitchen

Cute, cute drama! I probably would have put this on my favorites list but I haven’t finished it yet (I’m so behind in a lot of dramas). It touches on the older man/ younger woman genre, which is so rare is chinese dramas. And it’s done well. Not cringe-inducing because the two leads have beautiful chemistry. And there’s lots of food.

And that’s my list! I hope this inspires some of you to watch some very good dramas as well as stretch outside your comfort zone. I know I went out of my usual bounds of historical dramas and fell in love with some amazing modern dramas. Here’s hoping 2021 will bring lots of fun dramas for us to discover!

#cdrama #chinese drama #Dating in the Kitchen #under the power #the heiress #oh my sweet liar #to love #qing qing zi jin #general's lady #twisted fate of love #the journey across the night #eternal love of dream #you complete me

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tsunflowers · 4 years ago

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flowers top ten underrated anime part one

usually when you make a top ten list you include ten items but writing summaries takes a lot of effort for me so I only have five right now. just live like this please. someday I will post about the other five I promise

uchouten kazoku, or the eccentric family two seasons, 25 episodes, 2013 and 2017

four tanuki brothers trying to find their way in the wake of their father’s death, torn between becoming respectable members of tanuki society and the “idiot blood” that runs through their veins. they also have to deal with annoying cousins, oppression by tengu, and the possibility that they too will be killed and eaten by the human group known as the friday fellows. the protagonist, third brother yasaburou, is also under threat from the deadly affections of a tengu-trained human woman named benten who wants to eat him out of love

I think the mystery plot of “who killed shimogamo souichirou” and the family drama are both masterfully done and tie together perfectly. yasaburou is also a great protagonist. he always acts dumb but is full of schemes

the art style is unique in a way that may take some getting used to but after a few episodes you’ll almost forget that everyone has rectangle ears. the settings and shot compositions are so lively and inventive that the ears fall to the wayside

shinsekai yori, or from the new world one season, 25 episodes, 2012-2013

a group of children in an isolated village struggle with their psychic abilities and the truths behind their peaceful society as they grow up. the setting and clothing are so well designed and the animation is great as well, shifting styles at times to convey shifts in the characters’ understanding of reality. watch the first ed wareta ringo for the vibe

do not read the manga. there was some creepy shit (csa) in the novel the anime and manga were adapted from which the anime mostly smoothed over but the manga leaned all the way into

I think it has a lot of good psychological horror and a lot of something I’m interested in which is setting up rigid rules for how a society or magic system works and then exploring how people find loopholes and exploit those rules. like most dystopian fiction in this society the loopholes are built right in but the protagonists also find ways to circumvent them

there are same-gender relationships between the main characters but I think different people will have different opinions on whether those are positive or intentional gay/bi representation. it’s an enforced “everyone is bi” setting. I personally read the characters as bi and think their same-gender relationships have a huge impact on the story but as a warning no character ends the story in a same-gender relationship

kyousou giga, or capital craze one season, ten episodes, 2013 + five web shorts, 2012 + original 26 minute animation, 2011

a strange priest and his magical rabbit wife koto start a family in a mirror version of kyoto, adopting three strange and unique children. when the parents leave, their children are left behind trapped in a city that never changes. suddenly a small girl with a big hammer crashes into the mirror city. her name is also koto and she’s been going between dimensions trying to find her own family. maybe you already know where this is going from that but I really recommend you watch how it plays out

the animation, setting, and characters are all so vibrant and delightful. koto’s a charming and energetic protagonist and I love her signature weapon being a size-changing transparent hammer with floating orbs inside. I love the relationships between each member of the family as well and… I also think that mom koto (often called lady koto to differentiate them) is very sexy. thank you

arslan senki, or the heroic legend of arslan two seasons, 33 episodes, 2015 and 2016

maybe this one actually is really popular and it’s just so far from the kind of things I normally watch that I didn’t interact with the fandom enough to realize. it’s rare for me to watch a series where people go to war without using magic powers or giant robots. so I think it speaks to the quality of the story that I was able to get invested in a military story that’s largely lacking those kinds of exciting visuals

the anime is based on a series of novels by dr tanaka yoshiki, the guy who wrote the novel legend of the galactic heroes is based on. dr tanaka was writing those from 1986 all the way up to 2017, so this is actually the second anime adaptation, based on the second manga adaptation. confusing. I haven’t watched or read any other material from the franchise so I can only speak to the quality of the 2015 anime, which has character designs by arakawa hiromu and is very easy on the eyes

arslan is set in a fantasy version of ancient Persia, which I think is an interesting and underutilized setting. it follows the crown prince of pars (do you get it), arslan, on a journey to gain allies and reclaim the throne. he’s still a teen so he’s inexperienced but he has a noble heart that attracts people to him until he eventually gains a party that includes a loyal warrior, an artist and tactician, a flirtatious bard, an aloof priestess, a chief’s daughter, and an enemy soldier whose life arslan spares

I wish that the main female character in arslan’s group didn’t have a stupid design with just scraps of cloth covering her chest but nothing’s perfect. looking back there are also some unpleasant racial implications with most of arslan’s group having light skin while villainous characters often have darker skin. probably more of that would become apparent if I rewatched the show with that in mind but I’m not going to so I’m just throwing that out as a note of warning

sakura quest one season, 25 episodes, 2017

koharu yoshino is a woman who moved to tokyo to find a job but has no luck. when she finally gets a job offer, it’s to become “queen for a day” of rural manoyama village. upon arriving in manoyama, she learns that she was only hired because they thought she was someone else… but they still want her to work there for an entire year. now she lives in a small town and is tasked with both revitalizing the citizens and drawing tourists in, along with the help of four friends. it may not sound funny and heartwarming but it really is. it’s a good story about connecting and reconnecting and also the head of the tourism board wears a chupacabra mask sometimes

it’s pretty low-key and charming, similar to other anime about girls enjoying everyday life as they work passionately towards a goal, but the main characters are all adult women which is so refreshing. I don’t know if ririko was intentionally coded as autistic but for me it’s almost impossible not to read her that way. I think she’s written well and made me tear up a couple of times :( also her special interest is cryptids and ufos

#long post under cut

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natsspammityspamspamham · 5 years ago

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Dino Watches Anime (Oct 26)

Recently Completed!

Tokyo Godfathers

Score: 10/10

There’s a reason why I gave this such a rare high rating. When I was watching it, I was internally like, “*excitement noises* I have not been this excited over an anime in such a long time, let alone for an anime movie. EVERYONE SHUT UP SO I CAN WATCH THIS EVEN IF I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY’RE SAYING.”

It’s not often that you come across really good movies, let alone masterpieces like this movie. The art is so good, the story made me feel like it was Christmas in October, and the characters really made me connect.

I know the subtitles used a whole lot of gay slurs and things like that, but Hana (the trans character in this tale) is treated well if we get past that huge hurdle. She truly owns up to herself. She doesn’t care what she’s called. She gets mad at people who misgender her. She gets mad if she’s forced to go to a men’s facility. She wants people to call her “an old hag” rather than “an old coot”. She just wants to be a mother even if she isn’t “biologically a woman” who can bear children. So when she comes across this kid, she thinks, “I will finally be a mother!” These are issues that real people face. These are issues that cisgendered people take for granted.

Madhouse really knocked it out of the park. Satoshi Kon is one of the biggest creators and directors in anime history. He’s known for horror and psychological works like Perfect Blue, Paprika, and Millennium Actress. I never expected him to be this good at making a movie that could move my soul like this. The characters were so far from perfect, yet I wanted the best for each of them. The way it handled everything was masterful. The dialogue worked so well and was witty, the voice actors (despite the main three not being in anything else for the most part) were so good at giving life to their characters, and the art blew me away in 2019 even though this was released in 2003. The only thing I didn’t quite like as much was the score during some parts of the movie, but it was subjectively good and just wasn’t to my taste (the Noragami soundtrack wasn’t a fav of mine either).

Just... watch the movie. If you can watch it around Christmas. It’s good for you.

Saiunkoku Monogatari

Score: 7.4/10

Yes, I binge-watched all 39 episodes in two days, what’s it to ya?! In reality, I just boosted the speed of the video.

Me throughout this show: Why do you all have triangle heads? What’s with that?

Okay, it’s the art style, and a lot of shoujo anime go with the concept that it looks good. Once you get over the art hurdle making me believe this was created in the early 2000s despite it being 3 years younger than Tokyo Godfathers, this turns out to be a really nice show. I just can’t believe they’re BOTH from Madhouse.

Remember Snow White with the Red Hair? Remember Akatsuki no Yona? If you liked those shows, you’re going to like this one... except it relies more on the political plot. It’s mostly about a woman wanting to pursue her dreams of being a politician in a male-dominated world. She’s entasked with helping this mess of a king to get his act together, and as much as I can try to prove that it’s surprisingly progressive (given the art and genre), I think that’d be spoiling it a little. The only character that actually bothered me was the prince who was voiced by Tomokazu Seki who honestly was a bit annoying and sounded so fake for me. However, this anime made me appreciate Hikaru Midorikawa’s voice as well as Houko Kuwashima who I’ve only heard voicing dead moms and only a few good characters here and there. Seriously, both of their voices are great. Toshiyuki Morikawa sounds good too, but we already knew that. I don’t like the OP or ED (or a whole lot of the music), but that’s the case for a lot of these 2005-era anime. Just like a lot of the anime on MAL, I do think this is an underrated show, but it does have its pitfalls if you’re just craving for a quick shoujo without any politics.

Full Metal Panic: Second Raid

Score: 7/10

I binge-watched this entire season while my parents were out for dinner and something else. It only took me a couple of hours because I boosted the speed.

I wanted to get a gif specifically from this season, so this one will have to do. So much wasted potential will this character (who’s one of two twins). I know they were trying to play the whole “twincest” thing, but I’m personally not a fan. They provided some cool fight scenes even at a certain cringe cost. The fact that Kyoto Animation animated this bumped the art from a 3 to an 8. It’s crazy how much the quality jumped after a new studio took over. Unfortunately, they didn’t take care of the next season. I know the main ship in the series is pretty clear, but this season made it closer to canon (too bad it took around 13 years to make the next season).

Kara no Kyoukai (movies: 5, 6, 7)

Score: Part Five: 7.5/10 Part Six: 5.8/10 Part Seven: 8.2/10

Not gonna lie, I watched the first four movies over a year ago and retained nothing. I had to read the Wikia to assist me and to begin with, I watched this to get into the “Type-Moon” universe (which consists of this and the Fate nonsense stuff), Yuki Kajiura’s score, and Maaya Sakamoto and Kenichi Suzumura voicing a couple. The score would probably change if I’d watched them regularly, but I digress because I watched movies 5-7 in one afternoon. Ufotable was pretty good at animating this and the voice acting worked really well. Yuki Kajiura’s music didn’t hit well at first when I was first watching the first few movies over a year ago because it wasn’t what I envisioned the score being, but once you get into the mood and mindset, it adds so much to the story. Although, I still really didn’t like part six. I thought it was a complete flop because I just want to get rid of anyone who believes i*cest is an okay thing. This isn’t Alabama. Go home. Not else to say here because this took so much commitment that I doubt anyone would watch it.

Paranoia Agent

Score: 8.6/10

With spoopy month coming to a close (already?!) I watched this anime earlier this month, but I forgot to write about it. That’s partly because there’s so much to unpack here. This was a thriller, psychological, horror anime by Satoshi Kon. That’s right, the first anime above was also done with him in the director’s seat. This anime was smart. There’s a reason why Robin Williams likes it! It was scary in the best of ways. It revealed a part of society that we see all the time but don’t talk about (especially in Japanese society where emotions are better kept concealed). Just the opening alone made me feel uneasy. The OP and ED were simplistic yet worked. I binge-watched the whole series because it was that gripping.

It was a little confusing at times, but that’s also because that’s just a common thing with horror anime. That suspense keeps us going. It keeps us on the edge of our seats. Who’s going to be the next victim of Shounen Bat? Episode 8 came out of nowhere for me, and I liked it. There were several scenes that sent shivers down my spine in the best way possible. It isn’t always “scary”, but it gives suspense.

Aoi Bungaku

This one is going to be reviewed a little differently. Since it has specific arcs, I’m going to review them as such!

Ningen Shikkaku: 8.2/10

We start off with a bang. Osamu Dazai was a man of suffering. This story really shows that. In this story, we see a man who’s desperate to know what makes him human. We see this through the eyes of a fictional character, but I personally view this as a semi-autobiography.

The art was chilling. The voice acting from Masato Sakai was surprisingly good. A lot of the time, voice acting from live-action actors just aren’t that great. Every time you think this character will get back on his feet, he falls deeper and deeper. It truly did make me wonder what made me human.

Sakura no Mori no Mankai no Shita: 3.9/10

That moment when the only thing that saves this arc is Nana Mizuki’s singing. Seriously, her jazz songs were awesome. Can’t say that about the rest. I mean, the art is good, but it’s Madhouse so most of their stuff is already good. The story wasn’t that original. Mind you, this was probably during a period where foreign influence was strong, and I haven’t read the original story, but... this is basically Salome (the opera) with some differences. Both have a crazy woman with a fixation over lifeless decapitated heads. Both have men that are captivated with her beauty so they give her what she wants because of that reason alone, they both murder religious people (monk/shrine maiden and a prophet), and both eventually realize that women can be crazy when they demand a lifeless head because you know, that’s just a red flag. Above all, it suffers from tonal shifts. You can’t have a woman turning moe then demand you bring her another head to play with. You can’t have Masato Sakai playing another main character that doesn’t fit him! Seriously, he doesn’t have the voice of a brute and just couldn’t do it. Overall, this arc was a mess, and I’m glad it was one of the shorter ones.

Kokoro: 7.6/10

This looked like a masterpiece compared to the last arc. I haven’t read Kokoro, but this made me go, “Huh, I don’t remember this happening.” That’s because they chose a certain part of the book (near the end apparently) and just went off that and created its own anime-original episode. Despite that, it was pretty good! There were some screaming discrepancies which did hurt its impression (because it made it feel out of place to the point where even I, as an uneducated anime viewer, could clearly see).

(I think this is from Kokoro but I might be wrong)

Hashire, Melos!: 8.9/10

Would you look at that? It’s the best arc of the series. Hashire, Melos was great. It had me going from beginning to end, and it’s the only arc that doesn’t have Masato Sakai playing the lead character. The art, the pacing, the storytelling, the story, the sound, the voice acting, and the art direction complemented each other so well. It made me far more interested in the original.

The Spider’s Thread: 6.6/10

If you look really close, you’ll notice that the creator of Bleach took over character design for this! It was okay. I found that it was a little cliche and lacklustre. Mamo is around so much that you probably have to do more than that to keep my attention, and this had the art going for it too. It just wasn’t that interesting. A heartless murderer is sent to hell after being executed. Moral of the story: Don’t be an asshole. Alright. Nice. I do understand that Ryuunosuke Akutagawa was one of the main establishers of the whole “Japanese Short Story” thing, but after seeing it so many times, I just didn’t get that same chill.

Hell Screen: 6.9/10

Another Akutagawa short story! This one had far more of an impact because this one hit closer to Akutagawa’s heart. Knowing the history of this piece of writing, you can see his desperation to stay relevant and true to his craft. It’s about a painter who wants to paint the town but finds out the city isn’t the bright light he sees in his mind. Everything goes ablaze. The art for this is stunning. I probably would’ve enjoyed this story more if it was placed in the middle of the series run rather than being the last story.

Recently Started

Africa no Salaryman

The animation for this is terrible. There is no way around it. However, at least it’s funny. Still, close to being on the chopping block. It has the papa lion who’s played by Akio Ohtsuka, the straight-man middle lizard played by Kenjirou Tsuda, and the scumbag toucan played by Hiro Shimono. Yes, they all play Hero Academia villains. The jokes are pretty good for me.

youtube

Given

Oh, would you look at that? It’s a music anime. *inhales* Music anime is a double-edged sword for me. I like having music interpreted and portrayed through one of my favourite mediums, but I don’t like them playing off music as some sort of easy gimmick and a joke. It’s like a shonen montage. “Let’s just have this guy train for two minutes and become a demigod”. But when you put an instrument into someone’s hand and demand the same, it sends me to another plane of angriness. So far, the romance is kind of cute... but Mafuyu kind of annoys me since his role in the BL dynamic is so clear just by his voice. Same with Uchida. You can only play so many thugs a season. Kyou? Good. Chika? Good. This guy? Good, but don’t do them all back-to-back! I don’t like the BL dynamic being so basic. However, my mind can be changed if done right.

Shinsekai Yori

Very interesting premise, their eyes are cute, and I’m a sucker for these so I’m gonna stick with it.

#dino watches anime #given #shinsekai yori #aoi bungaku #dazai osamu #natsume souseki #akutagawa ryuunosuke #ango sakaguchi #full metal panic #kara no kyoukai #saiunkoku monogatari #tokyo godfathers

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spookwarfare · 5 years ago

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the best stuff I heard, saw, and read in 2019

albums

Colter Wall - s/t (2017)

Endlessly relistenable outlaw country album. Colter Wall’s cavernously deep voice, air of masculine weariness, and classy songwriting will put you in the mind of Johnny Cash, Nick Cave, and even of Michael Gira.

Kevin Ayers - Joy of a Toy (1969)

Strange, bouncy, whimsical prog-rock album with glam and folk embellishments. Ayers was a profoundly unique songwriter with an eclectic imagination, and this album’s baroque orchestrations sometimes approach a strand of diverse neoclassicism. And it’s catchy too!

Gordon Lightfoot - Lightfoot! (1966)

With “Sundown” featured this year in The Beach Bum and Knives Out, Gordon Lightfoot had something of a bump in 2019, and yet I like him best on this album, from long before he discovered yacht rock. His vocal performance is heartbreaking, and his lyrics are sophisticated.

“The way I feel is like a robin Whose babes have flown to come no more Like a tall oak tree, alone and cryin' When the birds have flown and the nest is bare.”

Ariel Pink - pom pom (2014)

I was looking through some of the biggies of the 2010s and somehow missed this one when it first came out. Pink’s shuffling, Zappa-esque songcraft and genre-hopping are in fine form, and this album is overstuffed with his unmistakable humor and virtuosity.

Jethro Tull - Songs from the Wood (1977)

Some things never change-- I can never get enough of rustic Britishisms, and even though it’s been a long time since Jethro Tull was a “cool” band, Ian Anderson’s unique voice and Praetorius-via-McCartney songwriting shines, espeically in deliberately medieval songs like “Jack in the Green” and “The Whistler.”

movies

Kiki’s Delivery Service (dir. Hayao Miyazaki, 1989)

Miyazaki’s underrated masterpiece, and his cleanest and most concise film. His fabulist tendencies sometimes create bloat in his lesser movies, but Kiki is crystal-clear in its beautiful allegory of leaving home, making a livelihood, and finding yourself.

Peterloo (dir. Mike Leigh, 2018)

An ocean of plummy English voices and creased old faces washes over the newest film by socialist-humanist director Mike Leigh, and his dramatization of the 1819 “Peterloo” massacre of protesters by the police is bursting with aspirational rage.

Climax (dir. Gaspar Noé, 2018)

Kinetic movement and percussive sound thrum inside this toe-tapping psychological horror film, and while Noé’s attraction to sensational violence is unabated, his newest movie achieves a grace and elegance of composition that’s seldom seen in film.

Fatal Attraction (dir. Adrian Lyne, 1987)

This notoriously misogynist film surprised me by not being very sexist at all-- instead, it dramatizes through giallo-flecked terror and slight metaphor the dreadful repercussions of lies, concealment, and broken promises in the context of love, with special empathy for Glenn Close’s ever-suffering Alex Forrest.

Quest for Fire (dir. Jean-Jacques Annaud, 1981)

Annaud is a visionary director who works on an epic scale, cut from the same cloth as Kubrick or David Lean, and this quest travelogue of the prehistoric era summons a rare sort of wonder in the viewer.

books

Unclay by T.F. Powys (1931)

A forgotten gem of British literature, Unclay predicts C.S. Lewis and Terry Pratchett in its gentle irony and dark humor, and exhibits a rarefied wisdom and warmth.

The Elephant Man by Frederick Treves (1923)

It’s impossible to read Treves’s memoirs of his disfigured friend Joseph Merrick without shedding a tear. It was this beautifully empathetic remembrance that inspired Bernard Pomerance and David Lynch so many years later.

The Dark is Light Enough and The Lady’s Not for Burning by Christopher Fry (1954 and 1948)

These fancifully nostalgic verse dramas from the postwar era revive a dead genre to imbue the 20th-century screwball comedy with the dignity and poetic grace of the renaissance.

Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke (1953)

I was a little hesitant to read a Golden Age sci-fi novel, since they’re known in some circles for their lack of aesthetic value, but Childhood’s End breaks through that limitation to tell to a mentally stimulating story of mysticism, international political intrigue, and, ultimately, a deeply sad and strange End of Days.

Twenty-Four Hours in the Life of a Woman by Stefan Zweig (1927)

Zweig reminds one of Gide, Proust, and Chekhov in his obsession with the amorous pull of memory, and this 100-page novel is a straight shot of longing-- and of dreams of love dashed on the rocks of reality.

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aadhiskanmani · 5 years ago

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I am back with Part 2 as promised earlier also because it was bugging me that i have left it incomplete the other day. The formatting is going to remain exactly the same way.. am just saving myself some extra text clutter , time and typing/copy paste this time round LOL.

DISCLAIMER: THIS IS COMPLETELY MY OPINION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING FEATURES. I feel the need to say this again because last time too i got a message but x,y,z film has x,y,z issues . I've said it before and i will say it again It is all a mixed Bag, Mixed Genres, Mixed reasons to suggest them right from the quality to acting to cinematography to story to critical acclaim to some just for PURE ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES. I makes these lists because I feel these features deserve love and appreciation and because some made me feel Proud and some just for pure entertainment factor . Sidenote.. all titles are actual links where you can watch the features with subs and most of these are On prime video or netflix as well

K.G.F: Chapter 1 |Kannada| *Yash | alt Link A young man's promise to his dying mother leads him on a dangerous quest for power and wealth. If I may say so this One pretty much did the same thing in terms of opening doors to kannada film industry like Baahubali did to tollywood. This one followed the formula and dubbed it in multiple languages and gave it a wide release worldwide which raised eyeballs and got me curious too esp caz this one has a similar plot with the rise of a hero and the hunger for power just set in a completely different world and era. Now the Strength here is the screenplay and the non-linear pattern which keeps you engaged, with the growth of Rocky being shown steadily. The film is set between 1951 to 2018 and maintains a sense of curiosity as each character is unveiled. Yash is Phenomenal in it as rocky. I said it back then when i watched it and i will say it again He exuded the same kind of charisma say like a 70′s 80′s hero e.g Mr Bachchan from his blockbuster hits where he Played similar roles or salman khan in his typical masala characters basically Larger than life even if he has this arc of being a nobody to Rocky Bhai to Rocky the messiah. One word of Caution... This one gets a lil confusing in Kannada and with subs as there are too many characters and each one has his/her own agenda. i was confused at many parts but then i watched the hindi dubbed version and it made a world of difference. this one is fairly well dubbed too just like baahubali and what i mean is the voices didn’t sound robotic. Also i personally felt they went a little too far with the dukhi junta in prison in 2nd half and the violence as in it got very tedious but thank God that got over soon with the rise of this hero but it is worth watching and rest of it is really good, esp the last 15 mins WOWWWWW I cannot wait for part 2. Also my only sandalwood entry.

p.s all dubbed versions are available on prime including Hindi but i have linked the kannada originals

Fidaa | tel |*Varun Tej, Sai Pallavi (on Prime as well) Two young people embark on a winding and rocky path to love after meeting at a wedding. First of all supercute romantic, comedy/ family drama but what is refreshing about it is that it is Mainly from the Heroine’s POV and we have a VERY STRONG heroine who has her opinions, her say ,her own thought process and who is just so real. On the surface it looks like just another tollywood rom com but it’s Not. the music is really Good too and Sai Pallavi is A bundle of joy as Bhanu who calls the shots mostly here. Needless to say it is one of my Feel good films when i want to see something that makes me smile and gives me that comfort vibe i go to this one mostly.

Tumbbad|hin|*soham shah . A man and his son encounter a legendary demon while searching for hidden treasure in 19th-century India.

This one will come as a surprise to many as it is a hindi title but This one a rare gem that is Underrated af and i haven’t seen a finer hindi film in the last year because of how rich it’s content is and how thought provoking it is. The makers have invested years in getting to final result and it shows. this one gave me goosebumps, sacred me, left me mesmerized and make me go WHAT too. This is also on this list because you may not have heard about it at all just like myself who had no idea and jumped into it out of supreme boredom and was left in complete awwwwww and then did my reading and research. This one is a well thought out psychological horror film with strong visuals and metaphors and makes you question as it plays with your mind. Tumbbad is a perfect example of a film that creates a surreal illusion.

Imaikkaa Nodigal| Tam| Nayanthara,Atharvaa, Anurag kashyap: alt link A suave CBI officer (Nayanthara), is in search of a serial killer who kidnaps and kills the children of important people. The killer, however, is targeting his nemesis next. a revenge thriller with a strong Plot unpredictable and amazing twists.Each character has an important role and Nayan As a Bad ass cop who freaking sets the bar too high for female officers in desi films. THis one is one of the finest Thrillers in recent years which actually gives you thrills and Shocks and most of them one can’t guess. Let me be honest i gave upon this seeing anurag kasyap as the antagonist as i was unable to bear rudra and just his Ottness on top of that atharvaa’s lovestory as the parallel track mad me go ehhh as i initially clicked on it for nayan and there was so little of her in the beginning but then i gave it another try and couldn’t stop & was WOWEDDD by the Film and Nayan as anjali and yeah she is the MAIN CHARACTER so we get a lot of her later. She is at her FINEST as anjali. this is the film one wants to watch to get a high of sorts. WATCH IT FOR NAYAAAN FOR A STRONG FEMALE ACTOR/CHARACTER Taking the center stage and BEING FANTASTIC. This one is so just so entertaining in so many ways and the film one can watch on any given day despite knowing the plot twist. Beware Nayan and Vijay’s little arc is heartbreaking and i cried a lot tooooooooo... i was shattered at that part..... it is so hauntingly shot too. TW: Graphic violence In that scene

Mahanati|Tel|* Dulquer Salmaan, keerthy suresh, samantha, vijay D |alt link Biopic based on The life story of South Indian actress Savitri, who took the film industry by storm in the late '50s and '60s Mahanati is a film about the rise of the first female south Indian superstar – Savitri. Her story one of the most heart wrenching romantic tragedies of our times.This film tells a story of the Mahanati; her life, her journey to fame, and the dramatic downfall. Keerthy Suresh, elegantly brought Savitri to life, and Gemini Ganesan, played by Dulquer Salman, makes this film a true pleasure to watch. I had no idea who Savitri was i went into it because DQ and Again was BLOWN AWAY by How well made this film is and how it is made with so much sensitivity and rawness. it keeps the real journey part intact as in doesn’t sugarcoats or overly glamorizes things to show Savitri as some mahaan hasti. They make this film the Grand celebration of her life with all her struggles and tragedies and makes you connect with her in a very real manner and All this Makes this film so much more than a film. this one becomes that Larger than life Grand,SHE IS A HERO More because she truly is rather than OH because she had this sob story IYKWIM like hindi Biopics do. They have made savitri Grand By her resilience by her courage by her will power and invested in the character and plot rather than all taam jhaam. This one is By far the best Biopic i’ve seen from desi industries and Not One and i mean it NOT one Hindi biopic even comes close to this one in terms of presentation. Keerthy suresh is a joy to watch as savitri. i am not gonna lie i broke down at few points and that is because of her acting and laughed too i connected so strongly to an actress’s story (who i had no idea about as in savitri i had 0 knowledge about savitri or in general about south industries retro eras ) only because of keerthy’s presentation.Also dulquer is a Joy as gemini ganeshan. he really slipped into it with ease and lived upto the part. they have achieved finesse in showcasing a life story and recreating old songs from black & white era. If nothing else on this list watch this and imaikaa nodigal and you won’t regret it

Rangasthalam |tel| *Ramcharan, Samantha : Chitti Babu, a hearing impaired boat skipper, becomes caught in the middle of a political feud in the village of Rangasthalam. Watch this one for Ram charan’s performance He is a delight to watch as chitti babua and this easily is his Best WORK till date this character have so much to play with and He ACES IT . The strong and intriguing story line is also a Plus . The film is not just set in the 80s; it also picks a story template from that era and narrates the tale in a refreshingly raw manner but the characters are so well fleshed out they don’t look caricatures by any means. the songs are grand and super fun to watch too.

Maari 2 |tam|* dhanush, sai pallavi : Maari, a gangster with a heart of gold, tangles with a new nemesis who is determined to bring about his downfall. First things first this one is mileas ahead of the previous version in everything. A much stronger film in every way. Otherwise it is a pure masala entertainer with all the masala elements and dhanush and sai make a BOMB pair and their lil story is ahh sooo full of feelz.

Sudani from Nigeria |Mal|* soubin shahir: When a soccer club manager brings one of his injured foreign players home to recuperate, they form an unlikely bond despite their cultural differences.. A refreshing sports drama that touches your heart. explores the cultural differences so beautifully. the characters stay with you much longer after the film is over. The film effortlessly explores iissues in the neighborhood and much bigger political issues too. overall SImply an underrated film and one should watch it for it’s warmth and sincerity.

Koode|Mal|*prithviraj,nazriya nazim, paravthy A family tragedy causes a young man to reflect on his childhood and reassess his future.Anjali Menon and that brilliant cast should eb your reason to watch. i don’t think i need to say another word to convince you but still anyway. it takes you on and emotional roller coaster ride. it is a flawless film with an extraordinary cast. also Naz is as charming as ever in her comeback film. there are very few films who actually jump into exploring the bond between a brother and sister and this one aces it with reflecting upon various issues and things they had to go throughasa family as well as their individual struggles. AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING. Also Paro and prithvi yeah. .. simply OUTSTANDING film

Varathan |mal|* fahadh faasil,Aishwariya lekshmi: After losing his job, Abin and his wife, Priya, move from Dubai to Priya's family estate in Kerala, but peace eludes the couple. It takes it’s time in the first half but in second it comes all guns blazing and turns into a worth watching survival thriller. it does makes one uneasy at times with the contsant stalker guys lurking around but it is all worth the wait at the end. trust me..

Chekka Chivantha Vaanam |tam| *vijay sethupathi,arinswami,jyothika,simbu; An attempt is made on the life of a reigning don, and it sets in motion a succession battle between his three sons. In other words Godfather with Mani ratnam twists A delicious film to devour it si an out and out maniratnam film with massy fan moments and smart filmmaking techniques. watch it for performances esp. i wish jyo had more to do but she is good at what she does in her supporting role. . this one is a true blue multi starrer ,family drama.

Merku Thodarchi Malai |tam| Antony, Gayatri Krishnan, Abu Valayamkulam : it revolves around the life and times of a group of people living along the foothills of the Western Ghats. basically we travel along with Rangu ( teh pratagonist) who is a daily wage worker and his struggles in bringing that load upto the city and his one dream to own a piece of land someday. this oen is almost like a documentary. this makes you thank and count your blessings. feel every bit of pain and effort and struggle that these daily wage workers have to go through in their daily lives. i broke down at so many points and i just wanted to do something to help makes lives a bit easier. IDK it hit me so hard at places and made me thankful for all the things i have.

Mayanaadhi |Mal|*tovino thomas,aishwariya lekshmi : A mule driver in a gang and an aspiring actress try to navigate their way through an unexpected romance. Mayaanadhi is a beautiful tale of love. The emotions it conveys needs to be experienced and the movie gives us a taste of life. Aashiq Abu really knocked it out of the park once again with this one. this one. It is a simple enough tale with a plot that is real to life and familiar.It is perhaps the most Soulful Romantic film i’ve seen in last year or so.

Takeoff|Mal|*parvathy,fahadh : A young Muslim woman (Parvathy) struggles to find love and happiness in midst of the ongoing civil war in Iraq. It an ode to the Indian spirit. This is a riveting survival saga, made by a team gifted with acute political and social awareness. It is, in one word, stunning. Paro Simply have slayed. A bit like airlift as in the basic setting and premise is similar but poles apart. it is one hell of a film( in a good way) PARO,PARO,PARO. this is all i have to say to explain the brilliance of it.

and with that this comes to an end.. again please feel free to share your thoughts and opinions with me i would love to see you guys actually taking the use of this list and sharing your thoughts. Bye and Have a Wonderful Summer binge watching these hehe. i hope you love them as much as i do. looking forward to your thoughts

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guardiandae · 5 years ago

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I’ve been binging horror movies lately, because it’s August September and that means we’re already in phase two of Halloween!!! So I wanted to share some of what I’ve watched, and my thoughts on the films!

Below: (Event Horizon, Thirteen Ghosts, Pandorum, The Mangler, The Graveyard Shift, I Am Mother)

Event Horizon (1997) - A crew ventures into space to retrieve an abandoned ship, but quickly realize they need to try to save themselves. Wow. I thought the acting in this was amazing, especially since I eyeballed the 27% rotten score before watching and assumed it was going to be pure trash. First half is rock fucking solid. Sadly, they could’ve done better later on, but I saw an in-depth youtube video on it beforehand which explained that a ton of the gore and hell scenes had to be trimmed out, and a director’s cut never emerged. That’s exactly what would’ve made this movie better... and also, frankly, if they cut out the monster-of-the-week gimmick towards the end and instead just let hell itself slowly be unleashed... now I wish they’d do this movie justice with a proper remake. Anna oop-. Stars Laurence Fishburne and he is wonderful. Warnings: some disturbing gore/mutilation, but I (a very squeamish person) was able to handle it and wish there was more tbh, not actually much for jumpscares

Thirteen Ghosts (2001) - A ghost-hunting collector dies and leaves his house to his remaining relatives, but they realize quickly................ IT’S A TRAP. Pretty cheesy, but I love the way the entire house is like a giant, elaborate puzzlebox, I’m actually curious how they did that kind of effect. Plus the ghosts are neat and don’t get enough screentime and I’m gay @ the Angry Princess. If you watch, take a moment to google the ghosts and read their backstories (or look in the DVD extras, I think) because the movie doesn’t expand on them. Stars Tony Shalhoub and I stan him. Warnings: a lot of blood and body mutilation, titties on display, probably jumpscares but it’s all old hat to me and cheesy imo, I just wanted to revisit it

Pandorum (2009) - A crew is in space but the sleep pods malfunction and when they wake up, some terrible shit has gone down and there are cannibal monsters now. This one fully fucking deserves the 28% rotten score. I saw a review that it was underrated and the plot sounded interesting, but once I started watching I couldn’t handle the awful fucking audio balance. The characters whisper a lot, meanwhile the monsters SCREECH non fucking stop. I got so fed up, tbh, I just watched it on fast forward and jumped ahead. I’m not convinced the plot was done as brilliantly as the reviewer I listened to wanted to believe. It was pretty stupid, but that’s just my opinion or whatever. Warnings: umm idk. probably blood and the usual death. Audio that is jarring - not frightening but really fucking jarring and obnoxious. Don’t waste your time. Watch Event Horizon instead tbh.

The Mangler (1995) - I didn’t know industrial laundry press machines were a Thing but apparently they were, also I’ll never feel like my boss is an asshole ever again after watching this. When I was little my family rented a couple movies regularly, and I only ever wanted to watch horror movies, especially every single Stephen King thing I could get my hands on. I’m not such a staunch fan anymore, but I randomly remembered this one and wanted to see it again. I didn’t remember 99% of the plot. It stars Ted Levine (Captain Leeland Stottlemeyer from Monk??? I was SHOOK) and also Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger, guys). Warnings: blood and detailed gore. People get pulped up in this big machine, and they show the aftermath. The last death is pretty fun and creative, though. Don’t take the movie too seriously.

The Graveyard Shift (1990) - A shitty boss hires people to clean up his shitty factory and then they all almost get eaten by rats. This movie is ditto to The Mangler. The two mentally go hand in hand for me. Both involves imagery of machines + blood, but this one has more focus on the rats in the mill. It’d probably be a dry watch for anyone else, but it personally OFFENDS ME, A MAINER, because the actor who plays Warwick (shitty boss and rapist in the film) attempted to do a Mainer accent but ended up sounding like a cross between German and a few heavily stereotyped New England words like “CAH”. I mainly watched for the imagery that still stuck in my mind since my childhood -- the blood in the cotton machine and the rats feeding on it, them falling into a massive pool of blood, the guy getting his arm bitten off, and the monster’s death at the end. Honestly felt like the best part of the movie was the proto-remix song at the end which is just a funky beat overlaid with snippets of dialogue from the movie. And that’s not saying much 😂 Warnings: blood and gore, and uhhh a main villain who is a total asshole and also mentioned to be a rapist :/ Don’t bother, just listen to the end credits.

I Am Mother (2019, Netflix!) - SUPER GOOD GO WATCH IT RIGHT NOW. This one is a sci-fi film, but I’d also consider it a thriller/psychological kind of horror film? The plot is about a robot (Mother) that was programmed to raise human children after the extinction of mankind. It’s one of those movies where, for a while, you’re really left wondering what is real and that’s why I’d rec it as a horror, plus I feel like the philosophical angle is unsettling in its own way. The actors, including the voice actor for Mother, are A+++ Warnings: post-apocalyptic setting, death, I cried at the end???

I know there are better movies but I kind of wanted to binge old shitty ones tbh. I didn’t expect Event Horizon to be so good! Well, half good, but that half was a diamond in the rough imo. Maybe it’s just the fanfic writer in me that lives for the potential of how it could’ve been. and I Am Mother isn’t in that “shitty old horror” category, it’s new and just super fucking good and doesn’t pull punches and it takes the plot thread all the way through to its conclusion, please go watch it.

If you guys have any recs I’d love to hear some! I prefer psychological horror when I really want to be scared, tbh. I loathe jumpscares, and as I mentioned above, genuine blood/gore is bad unfun time for me, so I will not be watching any torture-porn like Hostel. But I’m thinking of watching some of the classics I feel I never really got to enjoy, like Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, maybe Alien. I also wanna rewatch some stuff like Hellraiser, The Thing, and Annihilation. And at some point I’ll probably seek out really, truly, good & scary ones and maybe later I’ll torment myself with some infamously gory films. We’ll see!

Have you seen any of the above? Lemme know what you think! 😋

#horror movies #don't @ me I'm not a film critic and I have no taste #rec me some good psychological horror tho

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etadiscu-blog · 6 years ago

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Fridays for Future

One day, it won’t be individuals, tribes or countries fighting for more power, more rights or more resources - it will be children fighting to be able to continue living a life within a stable nature, without the constant fear of new catastrophes to occur and parents, fighting for everything to stay the way it is to be able to continue a lifestyle they are accustomed to not dealing with problems that won’t affect them anymore. A lifestyle which they and their parents have significantly shaped and made possible with the achievements of their generations. A lifestyle which is truly worth fighting for, even with just a remotely dangerous threat of change appearing on the horizon - sometimes in the form of a wind turbine. What sounds as the plot of a third-class Hollywood-movie has actually become reality: people living now in their 30′s and above hardly will suffer severely from climate change and therefore have no incentive to change their behavior while people under 20 will almost surely suffer from the consequences of climate change and will be required to find solutions and implement them rather now than later. And the youngsters do not only see the horror coming - they have started to protest - and presumably won’t stop until the course has been set to change.

Picture: Markus Distelrath / pixabay.com

Some students have now realized that their future is in danger - and request a drastic reduction of CO₂ emissions, which are causal for the climate change according to prevailing scientific opinion. [1]

Critique towards the activist students reaches from trivial

“Staying away from school is helping nobody - if the discussion was only about the climate change and not an excuse for not going to school they would have Saturdays for future!”

over practical

“How do they expect us to change something?”

to more substantial

“Who says we as humans have an influence at all?”

But what to do about it? Are the current measures sufficient? What is there, we can do more? And should we do more at all?

We know, that CO₂ facilitates the greenhouse-effect in our atmosphere. We also know, that our climate is changing and that this change will affect how we live dramatically in a negative manner. Already now we can observe the consequences of changing climate: We are exposed to increasingly more and more natural catastrophes. We measure rising ocean levels. We see the shrinkage of permafrost. But given our lifestyle - how realistic is it, that we drastically change our behavior? What exactly would need to change and how practical or unpractical are the different possibilities we have at hand right now? What consequences would the changes impose?

The discussion to what degree mankind has an influence on world climate by emission of CO₂ is surely interesting. But not only that the scientific community has answered this question already quite clearly, it is not a discussion we as the civilization have the time to have in depth. The fact, that there is an effect is not negligible. So the question is rather what effective measures would be and not if we have to take measures at all. Whenever we see that something is degrading, whenever we see, that things are falling apart, whenever we see that something is not working as it should be - it is our obligation to act. Not just for society, not for our neighbor, not people on different continents but simply for ourselves. Our grandchildren will ask us: What did you do against climate change? I am sure, most of us will not leave the discussion satisfied is we have to answer “Nothing”. Only very little people have the courage to face the truth and sacrificing comfort in the present in favor of someone else’s future. It is a lot to ask for. Who would be willing to sacrifice the very tangible comfort of a car ride to work, the beauty of exploring different cultures on different continents by using an intercontinental flight or the pleasure consuming a juicy steak for an abstract thing such as the world climate? Not many people will be willing to do it no matter what the consequence might be - at least until the climate change also becomes less abstract and more tangible yet more impairing to our lifestyle. But then it probably is already too late, the die is cast. On the other hand side there are people reacting with negligence and doubt when confronted with the consequences of not changing behavior might have. Facing the truth and acting egoistically is equally simple as just hiding from the truth, acting as if it wouldn’t make a difference anyway or simply neglecting the problem entirely. It is a nihilistic approach, not contributing any good at all and leading to nothing but destruction and chaos. And even if you do not contribute any good actively through action - which I could not even blame you for - you might want to try to not contribute in any bad. Being informed, building an opinion and participating in discussions is probably the most important indirect contribution we as individuals can provide. At scale, it probably even will have a far larger effect, than giving up steak or using the bike (while I’m not saying that this wouldn’t contribute, too). But just sitting there, casting doubt without providing any answers or suggestions is not helping anyone. It is the bad contribution that sets us behind in discussion, wasting energy and time dealing with questions that might not even are important. It a nihilistic path, denying the truth while putting obstacles in the way of people looking for actual solutions.

The psychological and sociological factor in this discussion around climate change is often underrated. Not only is it a conflict of generations - it is a conflict of societies, too. While in western civilizations one could argue with people of older generations that they probably do not want their children to suffer - the discussion is far more complicated looking towards emerging countries. People living there usually have other priorities than the world climate. Everyone who thinks that they just should stop burning so much fossil fuel should ask their self if they would be so interested in climate change if the question whether there is food on tomorrow’s table is not answered today. The higher a nation’s GDP - the more it’s population is interested in the effects of climate change. While western civilizations already began to release CO₂ in vast amounts more than 100 years ago, emerging countries only started 30-40 years ago to do so. They request their other 60 years - or at least they request the right to emit CO₂ until the living standard has adjusted to a western level. It is easy to discredit this request as narrow minded and short sighted. But without question we will have to deal with these opinions - and if we are proposing an effective solution, emerging countries need to be an integral part of it and a solution must not be to their disadvantage.

In summary a solution is practicable, if it has little effect on our societies. It is practicable if no or only little contribution of each individual is required. People might find this view appalling and rather tend to try to force people to change - but force will not work for this matter. Applying force is already hard in one country. How are we supposed to apply force globally? Are we going to start a war for climate? What good would that be? It is not something we are wanting to engage in. Reasonable change comes through dialogue. We will have to accept the fact, that change happens slower than we would desire. We will have to accept the fact, that we will emit CO₂ many many more years and that this behavior is only changing very slowly. But we also will have a plan for the future. Changing things slowly with reasonable and little adjustments is not the same thing as having no plan and just accepting destiny. In the same way, flipping things over and starting from scratch not only often requires utilization of force in the very form of violence when it comes to geopolitical questions - it also leads to chaos. As bad as the status quo might seem - wanting it to change right now and without looking at the consequences will surely lead to an even less desirable state. Having said this - the main question remains - what can we do to emit less CO₂ while maintaining our lifestyle and allowing emerging countries to grow just as western civilizations were allowed to grow? Where do we actually produce the most CO₂ ?

The drivers of CO₂ level

Looking at the data, the largest part of man-made CO₂ emissions seems to be caused by transportation and energy production (56.9%) followed by agriculture, deforestation and land use (23.55%). [2]

While it is very unlikely that we will be able to convince the majority of people to switch to a vegetarian lifestyle in favor of less CO₂ emissions, it is worth looking at the technological possibilities we have in reduction of CO₂ in energy production and transportation.

Ways out of misery - A pragmatic approach

Whenever we talk about climate change, the topic of renewable energy sources rapidly is brought forward. And how we could benefit if there only was a source of energy, which is easy to access, available anywhere in the right amount at the right time! Unfortunately, this is far from the truth. Obviously the sun only shines at day, in different regions of the world in different intensities and is heavily dependent on weather conditions. Wind on the other hand is dependent on weather conditions, too but not so much on the day/night cycle. But wind unfortunately is not available anywhere in the same intensity. Most renewable energy resources have one property in common, they are intermittent, meaning, they are simply not available all the time. But even if they can be regulated relatively precisely, for example in a dam, dams are usually located in comparably remote locations. Partially we are trying to solve the geographical component by using modern transportation methods such as high voltage direct current power lines, but for the timing issue, the answer is yet to find.

But not only changing and often also not very predictable supply is an issue with renewable sources. In addition, there are high changes in demand during one day. While fossil power plants can be regulated very precisely depending on the very demand in a certain period and nuclear power plants do a good job in constantly providing the required energy to serve basic demand, the same is a lot harder with renewable energy sources, which are mainly regulated by nature and therefore often only can be throttled and not powered up. In consequence, providing solutions with renewable energy is often more costly and less economically efficient than just using fossil fuel because complex energy storage technology is required - or - as some scientists now suggest - heavy bricks [11].

Even if we would be able to solve the timing issue with storage systems - the geographical component not automatically is solved easily. It is not done by only installing a few more power lines or install distributed systems. Using the surroundings of our power consumption hot spots is also no real solution, mostly because there simply is not enough space or - like in many countries in Europe and the US - the land is needed farmland. Also solar power often simply is not as efficient as it would be under ideal circumstances with high radiation. The World Bank’s Global Solar Atlas (https://globalsolaratlas.info/) shows us, that most radiation is available in areas which are less densely populated. In Europe for example, we reach around 1,500 kWh/m² p.a. (southern Spain ~2,200 kWh/m² p.a., central Germany ~1,200 kWh/m² p.a. northern Scotland ~950 kWh/m² p.a.). This is significantly less than the reachable ~ 2,600 kWh/m² p.a. in southern Libya. Moreover Libya (4.42 inhabitants per km²) is far from being as densely populated as for example Germany (229.13 inhabitants per km²) [3]. Meaning that Libya simply has a lot more unused land which could be used purely for solar production.

Comparing the energy consumption of middle Europe to the energy consumption to north Africa, it becomes quite obvious, that Europe requires far more energy than Libya, Algeria, or Egypt. Looking at the energy the sun provides in this region per square meter in this region compared to Europe it becomes obvious, that using solar power would be far more effective in north Africa than it is in middle Europe. Moreover, north Africa is by far less densely populated than Europe and has a lot less farmland or even potential farmland which could be used for agriculture. So why not use this space? We easily could provide the technology and infrastructure for this. And surely the northern African countries would also have an economical interest in this: just like oil producing states heavily profit from their natural resources, northern African could benefit from their natural resource: the high intensity of solar radiation. This procedure could be repeated in many parts of the world. And who knows - maybe the solution for climate change is eventually also one for the many conflicts we have in our world.

Solar power plants need to be placed where it is economically sensible while consuming power wherever it is needed needs to be possible. This requires a storage mechanism, which is reliable, safe and cheap. While batteries are reliable and comparably safe - they are far from being cheap. And energy transportation with batteries would be very costly it itself, since the energy density of batteries is around 100 times lower than the density of fossil fuel [4]. Moreover batteries take their time to get loaded. This might be no issue in large scale energy production but surely is an issue if you want to use batteries for transportation. It is the reason why electric cars can only serve a niche. They are only a solution for people who are driving short distances and are able to recharge their car over night. The latter will hardly become available for people living in the city rapidly. And even if - how is the energy wandering transferred into the car’s battery at night, when the owner is sleeping and the sun is not shining going to be produced? For a long time, the answer will probably be “from a nuclear power plant” or “from a coal power plant”.

Economy and Moral

It is often assumed - and I did assume this as well several times in this article already - that a solution for our energy problem lies only in a economically sensible solution. This though, surely is not obvious or self-evident. I don’t even claim it to be the truth. But if a solution is possible that also is an economically preferable option - this makes things a lot easier. Because then we as society are not required to find consensus about what our values are. We don’t need to find compromises for all the different stakeholders. And we don’t loose a lot of time doing so. Having the discussion leads to the ultimate question of prioritization. What is more important for us - having relatively cheap and comfortable transportation? Or preventing the sea levels to rise? Is it more important to be able to afford at least the food you like - even if the times are tough - or is it more important that people in other regions of the world don’t die from starvation due to the horrible effects of climate change for their agriculture? Is it more important to lead a good life now or is it more important to make a good life four your children and grandchildren possible?

Tax systems are not only very complex in itself, they also have direct impact on people’s lives. Applying change by force, for example by increasing the tax for CO₂ emissions, comes always with the risk of not only decreasing comfort but changing society disruptively. A single action, such as raising CO₂ emission tax is no solution – and also not very popular due to increasing consumer prices. While it is no problem for people in well-paid jobs to spend 2% more on consumer goods, this is a very significant increase for a middle class family. Therefore, to keep the tax system in balance, it would be necessary, do adjust other taxes.

An argument pro- CO₂ taxes often raised by activists is, that Sweden is raising a CO₂ emission tax since 1991 and their economy grew since then. In this discussion it is often overseen, that Sweden introduced a large-scale tax reform at the same time, reducing or terminating property taxes, capital taxes and income taxes [12]. Since then, the tax structure in Sweden changed significantly: people with lower incomes were taxed inadequately high and people and corporations with high incomes inadequately low. As consequence, despite Sweden being still one of the most equal OECD countries, the surge of income inequality since the early 1990′s was the largest among all OECD countries [14]. It could be concluded, that the reform was just a camouflage for neo-liberalist ideas. Whether this is true or not, seeing the result of the reform, the conclusion cannot be, that a general GDP increase always leads to a proportional increase in wealth of the majority of the population. This leads to the question, whether GDP is actually a proper indicator of wealth for a country. But this question I want to reserve for another article. Countries are very different in their economies so that only because a CO₂ worked for Sweden, this doesn’t mean, that this model is applicable for any other country - especially since countries such as Germany already have implemented the neo-liberal ideas in the early 2000’s [16] and there is not so much room for creating even more inequality without raising social problems.

Speaking about Germany: another thing they tried were subsidies. If you would build a wind turbine, you’d get a guaranteed energy price, high above the market level. But there is one caveat: The subsidy expires for many facility in 2021. But the great subsidies lead to not only enormous costs for network operators, who are forced to connect every plant as fast as possible, also customers have to pay an additional price in form of an energy tax. Plants were built in places, where it is economically complete nonsense: the maintenance cost is often higher than the regular (non-subsidized) market price could cover. This leads to the situation that fully functioning turbines are facing their end in 2021 - torn down only after a few years of operation. This is a perfect example of how such a thing as subsidies can go sideways if nobody properly things through it - or people who think through it only think about themselves. Subsides are no bad thing per se - but they require a lot of foresight and precaution to be established in a way they do any good at all. If established without precaution, they in fact do a lot more harm than good.

Societies are complex things you don’t want to change disruptively without completely understanding what implications it might have. Pulling one string and hoping the best, watching what happens seems to be not the cleverest idea given, that the system that is played with holds people who try to live within it. Changes must be applied with caution and slowly enough for society to adopt to them and also to watch for side-effects and possibly required course-corrections. Lowering the living standard drastically can only be the last-resort option since it would destabilize society and probably do more harm than good. However, if no economically sensible solution can be found and technological options turn out to be exhausted something like a significant CO₂ emission tax, which exceeds the positive effect of lowered other taxes, is on the table - but not without thoroughly looking at the side-effects this might have.

LOHC, Cyanobacteria and solar-thermal plants - The Future?

A few years ago one technology seemed to make the race: Hydrogen. Hydrogen has an enormous energy density of 120 MJ/Kg, which is around 2.5 times as much as gasoline [4][5], is easy to produce and burning it just emits vaporized water. What a solution! Unfortunately Hydrogen is also terribly hard to store. It can only be stored under very high pressure or under very low temperature, while tank insulation needs to be as good as possible and permanent cooling is required, consuming energy constantly just for storage. While the effect of vaporization of liquid Hydrogen can be used in Hydrogen transportation, for example in vessels carrying the Hydrogen while using the vaporizing Hydrogen as fuel, this behavior is rather undesirable in semi-permanent or buffer storage. Also storing compressed Hydrogen comes with its own flaws: producing the high pressure required for storage requires a lot of energy in itself. Compressed Hydrogen requires around 2.1% of the energy content [6]. In addition, the energy of Hydrogen density by volume is a lot lower than the density of gasoline.

Another argument against Hydrogen is often its explosiveness. And indeed, Hydrogen and Oxygen are a very explosive mixture. But assuming, that a Hydrogen tank leaks (for whatever reason) or is ruptured, for example in an accident, and the leaking gas ignites, a hydrogen flame would burn out relatively quickly and also, very contrary from ignition of fossil fuel, relatively far from the tank itself. Car manufacturers as Toyota have exercised several tests and extensive studies, coming to the conclusion, that Hydrogen is not more or less dangerous than any other power source (this also includes Lithium batteries, which impose a risk, too, since they are highly flammable and ignite in contact with Oxygen). In addition, the U.S. National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration have performed their own studies and find:

Hydrogen-fueled vehicles (HFVs) offer the promise of providing safe, clean, and efficient transportation in a setting of rising fuel prices and tightening environmental regulations.

Analysis of Published Hydrogen Vehicle Safety Research, U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration, DOT HS 811 267, February 2010

But despite the fact, that Hydrogen in itself and with traditional technology is already a promising solution, scientists were able to improve it significantly. Not only did they solve the storage issue, they also managed to make Hydrogen hardly inflammable. This is done by storing the Hydrogen in some kind of chemical “carrier” liquid. Among other solutions, this technique, called Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carriers (LOHC), seems to be one of the most promising currently researched solutions. Another solution, which is in very early development state and rather costly could be a nano material. This is especially interesting for aviation, because airplanes rely on being a lot lighter at landing than at departure - where LOHC would be a problem, since it would not change it’s weight significantly while Hydrogen is extracted and consumed.

Not only is solar cell technology advancing rapidly, with increasingly higher efficiency and lower production cost [7], there also are other promising other approaches on the rise, which include using bacteria [8] or thermo-solar power plants [9] to produce Hydrogen directly.

There is just one little caveat, that needs to be resolved: Hydrogen cannot be simply produced by the Sun’s radiation. Water is required to extract the Hydrogen molecules from it. And while aforementioned countries are well-known for their nice weather, they surely are not blessed with easily-accessible, limitless amounts of water. This is why a reasonable solution can only include the usage of Ocean-Water - while the facility needs to be designed in a way it can deal with the salt within Ocean Water without the need of desalination. Ideally, engineers would find a way derive Hydrogen directly from salt water. And indeed, researchers of Stanford University seem to have found a way, at least for the traditional way of producing Hydrogen indirectly via electrolysis, tackling the problem of corrosion via for tackling corrosion [10].

This however does not mean, that LOHC, the Perowskit cell, Cyanobacteria or solar-thermal power plants are the ONLY solutions for the challenges we’re facing. It rather are possible fits for the missing pieces in the puzzle of future energy solutions. While we know pretty well, how we can serve the base level of power demand with renewable sources, the question always was how to deal with peak demand, demand in remote regions or demand in transportation. For all these questions, Hydrogen, possibly in combination with storage technology such as LOHC, is a very promising answer.

Summary & Conclusion

Thinking about the next steps required, the topic becomes a little bit more complex, since it is not only about CO₂ and climate, but rather about which ways we go as societies. But unfortunately, just pulling one string and hoping for the best is not going to work, so significant change (though implemented step-wise and thoroughly thought-through) is necessary to go with sufficient pace in the climate issue. I’m touching very complex topics, where each probably is worth its own article and I might will write some in the future. But I want to end with an overview of the challenges we face – and the opportunity we have.

Countries should...

Create a sensible (and simple!) system of taxation of CO₂ while lowering other taxes (or rather bringing them back to their original pre-neo-liberalism-level). Preferably this would be consumption taxes such as VAT for consumers and power taxes for companies and ideally this would be done on an international level. In addition, increasing property and capital taxes (or implement the much discussed and always prevented financial transaction tax, which would have even other positive effects) would be necessary to close the tax gap

Invest in

Power grid infrastructure (privatized grid infrastructure should in this step be taken back by the government, since there is simply no way private companies could do this fast enough or without abusing gaps and mistakes in laws intending to incentive them)

Research of future technology

Negotiate with countries with enough natural resources (such as solar radiation) and start working globally together with companies and universities to create a working model of energy production and transportation

Prohibit construction of fossil or nuclear power plants in the future

References

[1] “CO2 as a primary driver of Phanerozoic climate" -- D. Royer et. al., GSA Today, March 2004 - https://www.geosociety.org/gsatoday/archive/14/3/pdf/i1052-5173-14-3-4.pdf

[2] "CO₂ and other Greenhouse Gas Emissions" -- Hannah Ritchie and Max Roser, 2019 - https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-other-greenhouse-gas-emissions

[3] "World Population Growth" -- Max Roser and Esteban Ortiz-Ospina, 2019 - https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/population-density-3?time=1500..2100&country=DEU+LBY

[4] “Has the Battery Bubble Burst?” -- Fred Schlachter, September 2012 - https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/201208/backpage.cfm

[5] http://brucelin.ca/scooters/thumb.html

[6] “Prospects for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells” -- International Energy Agency, 2005 -- https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264109582-en

[7] “Water photolysis at 12.3% efficiency via perovskite photovoltaics and Earth-abundant catalysts” -- Luo et. al. Science, 26 Sep 2014 - Vol. 345, Issue 6204, pp. 1593-1596 DOI: 10.1126/science.1258307

[8] “Recombinant cyanobacteria as tools for asymmetric C=C bond reduction fueled by biocatalytic water oxidation“ -- K. Köninger et. al., Angewandte Chemie, 2016 - DOI: 10.1002/anie.201601200R201601201

[9] “ HYDROSOL-PLANT” -- https://www.dlr.de/sf/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-9315/22259_read-51105/

[10] “Researchers create hydrogen fuel from seawater“ -- Stanford University, ScienceDaily, 18 March 2019 - www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/03/190318151726.htm

[11] https://energyvault.ch/

[14] "OECD Income inequality data update: Sweden” -- OECD, January 2015 - https://www.oecd.org/sweden/OECD-Income-Inequality-Sweden.pdf

[16] “Explaining Rising Income Inequality in Germany” -- Kai Schmid and Ulrike Stein, September 2013 - SOEPpaper No. 592. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2339128 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2339128

#climate change #friday for future #climate #co2 #hydrogen #carbon dioxide #global warming #lohc #solar power #solar energy #renewable energy #energy #fossil fuel

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werewolfgirl1995 · 2 years ago

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If you are a fan of psychological horror you should go play The Medium and In Sound Mind right now if you havent already. They are both really amazing games that I hope get sequels. They are both really underrated and I think they could also both be really cool movies if done right.

#the medium game #the medium #in sound mind game #in sound mind #indie horror #indie games #video games #bloober team #horror games #indie horror game #psychological horror #my posts

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comingupforblair · 7 years ago

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If Zack Snyder had created the MCU (Part 1)

Since I have in the past sees posts speculating about how the MCU would be different if Zack Snyder had been in charge, usually with some lazy sarcastic joke about it being ‘’edgier’’ because those jokes aren’t so worn They have holes in Them, I decided to speculate about how I think the early years of the MCU would have played out if the creative team of the DCEU and Charles Roven had been in charge of it.

I’m not saying any of this would have been an improvement as, unlike a lot of other people, I don’t think you can apply what works in one franchise to another and hope for an arbitrary improvement. I’m just theorizing how I think it would have been different.

For the purpose of this post, I’ll only be looking at the first three films with a possible follow-up later.

- Iron Man 1 & 2

To make things easier, I’ll be putting the two Iron Man films under one banner for this.

If Zack Snyder had been in charge, I think there would have been a much greater emphasis on Tony’s alcoholism and his damaged relationship with his father. whom I also imagine would have been more overtly abusive like his comics counterpart. Parental relationships and Their effects on people have always been a big thing in Snyder’s films so I think it would have gotten more focus and They wouldn’t have held back from just how much damage an abusive childhood can do to a person, even well into adulthood, similar to how he portrayed Lex Luthor in BvS.

I also think the film wouldn’t have held back from showing Tony’s culpability in wars and how he has profited from human misery and his guilt in dealing with that.

It’s difficult to imagine anyone but Robert Downey Jr in the role now but I’m going to suggest three names anyway, just in keeping with the vibe of an alternate universe.

The first is Oscar Isaac

I don’t think I need to justify this too much as he’s one of the best actors currently working. I think he would have been fantastic in the role and would have been able to bring the immense charm and charisma needed as well as being able to go to more serious places the story would have gone to. His character in Ex Machina even works as an example of how I think a more serious version of Tony would play out, albeit one without Tony’s redeeming features. His performance in Inside Llewyn Davies also showed he can play a character with glaring personality flaws and still make Them sympathetic.

He and Zack Snyder worked together on Sucker Punch (2011) so it fits in that regard and, as he wasn’t well-known in 2008, Snyder has a talent for seeing something in little-known actors as we have seen with Henry Cavill, Ray Fisher and Gal Gadot.

The second choice is Riz Ahmed

As with Oscar Isaac, he’s one of the best actors currently working and I would have loved to have seen what he could do with someone like Tony. I think he would have done a terrific job at showing Tony’s guilt and his psychological issues and I think his being a Muslim of Pakistani descent would have made for some interesting dilemmas as Tony struggles with the fact that he created weapons to be used in what is increasingly seen as an all-out war against his own race. Riz Ahmed being a lot younger would have also made Tony a nice parallel to modern tech geniuses like Mark Zuckerberg and he showed he can play roles like that in Jason Bourne.

The third choice is Jon Hamm

He’s an actor I’m keen to see in a comic book film in general and he’s perfectly suited to play Tony as a man whose outward projection of success, intelligence, wit and charisma hides some intense struggles and self-hatred. He has exactly the kind of dark intensity, the look and feel of a man who seemingly has everything and yet can hardly stand to look at himself that would have made him a fantastic Batman, that would be suited for a more serious take on the character and his role as Don Draper on Mad Men shows he can take on a character whose good intentions and genuine displays of altruism are often undermined by his selfishness.

He worked with Zack Snyder on Sucker Punch (2011) and his deleted scene with Emily Browning shows that Snyder knows how to play to his talents and utilize his charm. Though the more comedic tone of the MCU as it is would have also been a chance for Hamm to impeccable comedy skills.

For Pepper Potts, I’m going to say Lucy Liu

She’s someone I’ve seen suggested a few times, once in the same fancast as Riz Ahmed, and I can definitely see her working well in the role. She’s shown in Elementary that she can play a character who is kind and intelligent but doesn’t tolerate shit from people who are used to having Their flaws indulged by others. An aspect I loved which doesn’t get quite enough praise in Man Of Steel was having Lois played by an actress quite a bit older than Clark and it would be cool to see that repeated here with Oscar Isaac or Riz Ahmed.

I’ll admit that I haven’t given as much thought to Pepper so if anyone has any suggestions, I’d be happy to hear Them.

For Black Widow, I think a version done by Zack Snyder would have put more initial emphasis on the darker nature of her backstory, on being taken from her home and raised to be a weapon from such a young age and to not really know a life outside of violence and betrayal.

This is harder to fancast for but, as I’ve seen her used before, I think I’m going to suggest Freida Pinto

I think she’d be great at showing Natasha’s softer side and it would be great to see an Indian actress in such a major role.

- The Incredible Hulk

To be honest, I think a Hulk film made in the vein of the DCEU would look pretty identical to what Ang Lee did in 2003 and I say that as a compliment as his film is very underrated.

I think a film made by Zack Snyder would have followed a similar path in showing the serious trauma of his childhood and how it has an effect on Bruce as an adult and plays a part in his issues and wouldn’t have held back from showing just how terrifying it would be to have a being like The Hulk inside of you and what it would be like to see someone transform like that.

Ideally I would like to see Eric Bane take the role again in this alternate MCU.

But, for the purpose of this casting, I’m going to first use Billy Crudup.

He’s worked well with Zack Snyder twice already and he has a strong sense of likability and laid-back friendliness that would work well for Bruce and serve as a striking contrast to the terrifying and monstrous nature of The Hulk. He was offered the role back in 2003 and I think he would have been perfect at showing Bruce as a good man who struggles with something awful inside of him.

My second choice is Adrien Brody

He’s one of my favorite actors and I think he would be amazing in a role like The Hulk. A version created by Zack Snyder would likely play up the turmoil and psychological horror of Bruce’s existence and Brody is an actor who excels at such roles. He’d be perfect for a version of Bruce who has the effects of past trauma and his self-hatred visible on his face and who keeps himself away from the world for fear of what could be unleashed at any moment while also showing moments of kindness and vulnerability to make him more sympathetic and I can only imagine how Bruce’s iconic trademark line ‘’Don’t make me angry. You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry’’ would sound coming from Brody.

The third choice for Bruce is Hugh Dancy

This is a fancast I just saw but like so much I wanted to include it. Anyone has seen Hannibal can attest to how good Dancy is at playing someone who struggles daily with horrible memories and a fear of his own power and who keeps himself isolated from the rest of the world as a result, someone who lives in fear of Their own mind and how it can turn on Them at any moment, whose incredible intellect is burdened by something he hates himself for. I think he could do something amazing with The Hulk.

Those are my ideas as to how the MCU would look if done by Zack Snyder. Like I said, none of this is meant to be taken as an improvement or how it should have played out and I’m open to other ideas on the subject. This is just speculation as to how I think it would have been.

#zack snyder #MCU #marvel cinematic universe #DCEU #marvel fancast #Iron Man #Hulk #Oscar Isaac #Riz Ahmed #Adrien Brody #hugh dancy

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dillydedalus · 5 years ago

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december reading + top10 of the year

books.

a feast for crows, my main man grrm (#4 asoiaf) tbh i think this one is underrated - i understand feeling a bit underwhelmed on a first read bc it’s so much slower than asos & half the major characters aren’t in it & you get a bunch of new ones instead, but the thematic depth here! brienne seeing the devastation of the riverlands, thinking about outlaws & broken men & vigilante justice, sansa & arya both embarking on their apprentice arc & losing their identity in the process, the political intrigue in dorne, & the fucking hilarious shitshow that is cersei’s kings landing.... love it. 4.5/5

herkunft, saša stanišić (audio, sadly abridged) really good memoir/reflection about belonging, origin (national, ethnic, linguistic, familial, emotional), family, and living in germany as a refugee. it’s really smart, really heartfelt, really funny, and i’m sooo annoyed that my library only has the abridged version. oh yeah it won the german book prize shortly after peter ‘serbian war criminals’ #1 fanboy’ handke won the nobel prize, which was nice. 4/5

a brief history of seven killings, marlon james (uni) marlon james probably laughed his ass off at calling this 700-page book (very small print) a brief history. anyway, this is about the attempted assassination of bob marley in the 70s, the cultural and political context in jamaica at the time, and the fallout of that event. honestly, reading this on a tight schedule for uni was just wrong for this book bc i had to rush thru it & ended up skimming quite a bit. it’s an impressive achievement, but i can’t say i enjoyed it very much. 3/5

she would be king, wayétu moore a magical realist story about the foundation of liberia, told thru three characters - an indigenous woman, an ex-slave from the us, and a mixed-race jamaican - all of whom have magical abilities. i really wanted to like this, but while there are a lot of good ideas, structurally this is kind of a mess (the first part, which introduces the characters is way too long & not very interesting, the connection between the three is supposed to be super significant but it really doesn’t come across, one character gets way more page time than the others), the writing is occasionally p awkward, and there is an odd thing where the narrator (kinda a ghost, kinda the wind) intrudes literally only to call one of the characters her darling or whatever & it’s irritating af. 2.5/5

a dance with dragons, grrm (#5 asoiaf) tbh this is by far my least favourite of the series.... it’s just way too long, a bit of a slog (especially the tyrion chapters...) & there is not a single sansa chapter which is fucked up. a lot of the storylines are really good tho (jon, THEON, asha, jaime...). i ended up liking the parts i used to dislike a bit more this time around tho if i ever read it again i will probably do the combined affc+adwd read bc that sounds fun & interesting. 4/5

the sellout, paul beatty (uni) smart & pretty funny satire about the idea of a post-racial america, in which a black man in the LA region tries to segregate the local community. there’s a lot of cool stuff in here and i really liked the ambiguity & refusal to present any clear-cut answers, solutions, or closure. 3/5

tamburlaine must die, louise welsh fun little novella about the last days of kit marlow, which made for an entertaining 2 hours altho the ending is pretty weak imo & the language slips into entirely too modern occasionally. kinda disappointed because based on the blurb i’d assumed that tamburlaine actually, literally came to life out of marlow’s plays which. is not the case. but would have been super cool. 2/5

radiance, grace draven not to reveal how profoundly problematique i am: this is a book about a human noblewoman entering into an arranged political marriage with a dude from the off-brand dark-elves dynasty & it is. way too wholesome, there is little angst, ildiko & brishen get along very well from the start & like, where’s the fear, the tension, the delicious, delicious ANGST?? 2.5/5

water shall refuse them, lucie mcknight hardy atmospheric witchy folk horror set in a small village in wales during the '76 heat wave - narrator nif’s family comes to live in a cottage there to take some time off after the accidental drowning of nif’s younger sister - the mother is consumed by grief and guilt, the father is trying to hold everyone together, and nif is constructing a witchy creed out of bird eggs and bones and magical thinking to cope, comparing weird witchy practices with local outsider mally. i liked this & altho i saw the twist coming miles away, it still makes for a pretty disturbing ending, and the way the book evokes the dizzy blurry heat and nif’s state of mind - detached, angry, confused, compulsive - is really effective. 3.5/5

a knight of the seven kingdoms, george r.r. martin dunk! is! babey! (except for moments where he displays staggering BDE) anyway these are three novellas set about 100 years pre-asoiaf, about dunk/duncan the tall & his squire, egg/aegon, the OG secret targaryen. the stories are wholesome, funny, cute, have a lot of dunk being a true knight but not a real knight which is extra-sweet when you realise that he’s almost definitely true-but-not-real knight brienne’s (great?)grandpapa. 4.5/5

my cousin rachel, daphne du maurier philip ashley, our narrator, really is like ‘hmmm have i been misogynistic yet today?? better get on that’, he’s awful & so is his older cousin ambrose, who marries distant cousin rachel in florence & then gets ill and dies, making phil rather suspicious about rachel. did rachel poison ambrose? is she trying to seduce and/or poison philip? or are they both just paranoid assholes who hate women (they def. hate women)? this is some good psychological thriller type stuff, what we can construct out of philip’s distorted view of rachel is intriguing (and like, if she poisoned ambrose? #goodforher), the narrator is an ass but well-written, and the first/last lines.... chills. 3.5/5

top 10 of the year (no rereads!)

antigonick, anne carson

a canticle for leibowitz, walter m. miller

dedalus, chris mccabe

the complete maus, art spiegelman

the artificial silk girl, irmgard keun

o caledonia, elspeth barker

the sparrow, mary doria russell

sleep of the righteous, wolfgang hilbig

how to survive a plague, david france

rain wild chronicles, robin hobb

(the last three are kinda randomly picked from the high-4s based on my mood in the moment but they’re all really good so.)

#the books i read #long post

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