...hmm...just thinkin' about an Avatar "no angst" AU, y'know, like an AU where the characters who died in the first movie just...didn't? For example...

• Tsu'tey and Sylwanin are both alive and well. They officially tied the knot not long after the point when Sylwanin would've died in canon, and already have a child together by the time Jake arrives on Pandora.

• Eytukan also lives and therefore he and Mo'at are still leading the clan, though of course Tsu'tey and Sylwanin are next in line.

• Because the schoolhouse incident never happened in this AU, Grace was never kicked out of the village; her school is still running and she is on good terms with the Omatikaya.

• The RDA is overall less psychotic than they are in canon, and the Avatar Program has been largely successful in establishing diplomacy with the local clans. There is still some level of tension between the humans and the Na'vi of course, because the humans are ultimately still there to mine unobtainium and the Na'vi would prefer there was no mining at all, but in this AU the RDA is at least principled enough to not do things like bulldoze the Tree of Voices or bomb Hometree etc. (so, Hometree is still standing). Jake was never asked to spy on the Na'vi.

• Grace is actually the one to introduce Jake to Neytiri when she brings Jake and Norm along to the school one day. Neytiri is intrigued by the goofy non-scientist "warrior" dreamwalker and Jake finds himself equally intrigued by her; they begin spending more and more time together, and when Jake expresses curiosity about her way of life Neytiri just naturally kinda takes it upon herself to teach him the ways of the clan.

• Because Neytiri is neither tsakarem nor engaged to Tsu'tey in this AU, her romance with Jake is not quite as ~forbidden~ as it was in canon (and honestly they make zero effort to hide their feelings; the whole clan knows lol). The only remaining barrier is the fact that he's a dreamwalker and how that may affect things.

• Jake and Neytiri fall head over heels for each other about as fast as they do in canon; after three months Jake is already fully convinced that he wants remain with Neytiri and the clan for the rest of his life rather than ever go back to Earth, where there is nothing left for him. Even getting the spinal surgery to fix his legs no longer holds any interest for him, since of course his avatar body can walk just fine.

• By that point Neytiri begs Mo'at and Eytukan to let Jake do the coming-of-age ceremonies and become part of the clan so they can become mates. Mo'at and especially Eytukan are hesitant, but Mo'at consults Eywa and Eywa sends a sign of approval, so they allow it. Jake spends about an extra month preparing more specifically for Iknimaya and Uniltaron, and soon after completing those he and Neytiri actually get to have a proper mating ceremony. Jake does go through the permanent consciousness transfer at some point, though I haven't yet come up with the exact circumstances there...

• The Sully kids get to have more extended family! Grandpa Eytukan, Uncle Tsu'tey, and Aunt Sylwanin are all still around, along with a handful of cousins (Tsu'tey's and Sylwanin's kids).

• Quaritch never shot Grace in this AU, which means she never had to undergo the attempted consciousness transfer, which means Kiri wasn't conceived the way she was in canon. Buuuuuut I still want Kiri as part of the Sully family, so in this AU she is Jake and Neytiri's biological daughter and Neteyam's twin. She doesn't have the special Eywa powers that she has in canon, but does still have a spiritually-minded personality, and is a strong candidate for next tsakarem after Sylwanin. Grace still adores and dotes on her, especially when she shows interest in botany.

• Norm and Trudy are happy in a long-term relationship.

• There was no Battle at the Hallelujah Mountains, therefore Paz didn't die and was still around to raise Spider (undecided on how involved Quaritch was though).

• I like to imagine that in this AU Paz and Trudy are good friends, both being pilots and all. It's through Trudy that Paz and Spider become involved with folks from the Avatar program and Spider meets the Sully kids.

• Because she doesn't have the RDA-related traumas she has in canon, Neytiri is totally chill with Spider in this AU. She is mostly just curiously amused by the strange little human boy running around with his Na'vi friends.

• Spider is semi-trilingual English/Spanish/Na'vi. English is his go-to since everyone he knows can speak it, but he can also do some Spanish (Paz and maybe Trudy's influence) and quite a lot of Na'vi (Omatikaya influence, though Norm was thrilled to help when he caught wind that Spider was interested in learning). Sometimes he (subconsciously) mixes up a combination of any two or even all three and spews out mishmash sentences no one else understands immediately and has to stop and re-word.

• Because Quaritch is not the Big Bad Evil Guy the way he is in canon, Spider isn't really bothered by being called Miles. However, the nickname "Spider" somehow just stuck when he was very young so most people still call him that; it's mostly just Paz (and Quaritch) who call him Miles.

• Jake is not Toruk Makto in this AU, because with the RDA being more cooperative/less aggressive, he never needed to be. He and Neytiri are just normal (albeit well-liked/respected) hunters in the clan. Perhaps eventually a day will come when Toruk Makto is needed and Jake will have some reason to step up...but not yet. He's perfectly content being just a regular clan member.

• This has the side-effect of lessening Neteyam and Lo'ak's dramatic stunts as teenagers, because the legacy they're trying to live up to is simply "strong respectable hunter" rather than "legendary olo'eyktan Toruk Makto"

Asteroid City

I know I'm about 5 months late to the party. I watched Asteroid City for the first time a few days ago and I have seen it twice again since then. The first time, I didn't get it at all. But the second and third times I fell in love. It's a beautiful frame narrative about grief and finding meaning in loss. It's about the things we leave behind. It's about a man playing the character of Augie who is grieving his wife, all the while wondering whether or not he is grieving his own lost lover correctly by honoring the last play he wrote.

I found the movie to be an incredibly interesting play on the "Death of the Author," both figuratively and literally. The Death of the Author, literally, is the central conflict of the protagonist Jones Hall. Upon rewatch, this becomes clear. Jones Hall does not know if he is playing the character of Augie correctly. And while he previously was told by the playwright that his interpretation was perfect, and while the character of Augie was really shaped around Jones in the writing process, after the death of Conrad he has no one to confirm, truly, that his interpretation is doing the character justice. What's more, the death of Conrad gives Augie a different sense of grief, of loss of a lover, that his character experiences. So are we seeing Augie grieve his lost wife? Or is it Jones that we see? What is Augie's motivation for burning his hand? What is Jones's?

The resolution, as much as this movie has one, relies as well on the Death of the Author, in the figurative sense. The idea that the true meaning of Asteroid City, if there even is one, does not matter. Just keep telling the story. And it's implied throughout the film that Conrad Earp wasn't clear on the meaning of many parts of the play. Augie burning his hand on the quickie griddle didn't have a meaning until Jones gave it one. The alien is played as a metaphor, though a metaphor to what is never pinned down. Regardless of whether the play had a meaning, outside of "infinity...and I don't know what else," the death of Conrad Earp solidifies that Jones will never know the true meaning. He just has to get what he can out of his own meaning. He has to allow himself to not understand for a while before he is able to understand.

Something that I found interesting when looking into (the largely negative) reviews of this film is that the relationship between Jones Hall and Conrad Earp is almost never touched upon. Whether it's just overlooked because we don't learn about Conrad's death until the end, or it's intentionally ignored on account of its queerness, ignoring this important aspect of the film is incredibly sad to me. By far the most compelling character in the film is Jones Hall, and adding the layer that Jones himself is struggling to grieve his lover and honor him by playing Augie correctly adds so much more to the story for me. It adds a message about searching for meaning and life in art. Just as Augie (in the deleted scene of the play) finds a bit of meaning in his dream conversation with his wife, Jones is able to find meaning in this conversation too, through the words of Conrad that were cut from the final script.

Another thing I found interesting in these reviews is how the name "Wes Anderson" is so inextricably tied to the film that reviewers cannot go more than thirty seconds without saying it. It frustrates me that on account of being a "Wes Anderson film," Asteroid City is held to a particular set of expectations and standards. Viewers look to it like they look to a marvel movie (though don't tell the wes anderson fans this). They look for visual aesthetics, actors, motifs unique to the director. They look to see Wes Anderson's take on [insert whatever genre here]. It really does the story a disservice to be so obsessed with a director's style that you can't see past that to the story being told.

Look. Maybe I'm biased. I absolutely adore cowboy aesthetics, the wild west, and aliens. I love stage plays and old Broadway. I love frame narratives. This movie has everything I could want. I love train imagery and its association with death. I love the way the play part looked like an animated cartoon and the reality part was staged like a 1955 broadway play. But as challenging it may be to put together everything, although it felt at times like everything was connected but nothing was working, I was able to find something in this film that spoke to me and i loved the journey.

Let's talk about my favorite villains pt 1

Let's face it, sometimes the villains are better than the heroes or they are just as compelling as the heroes. So I want to go over some of my favorite villains which spans back to my childhood, I'll also put villains in quotation marks because some are framed as villains when they really are not (you'll see why).

So let's get into this!!

Eris

Eris is first on my list and- hoo boy! Do I love her so much. I need to re-watch this movie because the last time I saw this was when I was 8 or 9. First off she's a badass and I mean that, she has a plan and she'll do whatever it takes to make that plan work.

Eris is the goddess of discord, and she strikes a deal with Sinbad for him to get the Book of Peace for her. He backs out of the deal though, so she uses her powers to frame Sinbad for stealing the book. Sinbad must now track down the book and return it.

Eris' design reflects her personality and how she stirs up discord and chaos. She's designed as if she were simply smoke, with her form constantly shifting and being able to change her shape and grow. She can make herself tower over humans or make herself the same height as humans.

I always loved her for how she was simply herself while being an unforgettable villainess, her personality is unmatched and adds to why i love her so much.

Ramesses

If you haven't seen the Prince of Egypt please give it a watch it's really good. As someone who doesn't care about religion I feel DreamWorks struck gold with their adaptation of the story of Moses. They paint Rameses as a complicated villain with conflicting emotions.

Rameses doesn't want to let Moses' people go because he wants to uphold the legacy their family's dynasty has built. But, he wants his brother, Moses, back. This culminates in their sibling relationship shattering.

Rameses is not a black-and-white villain, he is 3 dimensional. But, he is still evil in wanting to keep the Hebrews as slaves. He is the reason all the plagues are set upon Egypt, resulting in his sons death.

Rameses is an interesting villain you'd have to watch the movie to really get what I'm saying about his character.

Ratchet and Madame Gasket

Putting these two together because they are a Mother-Son duo. Ratchet deals with things on the outside while his mother, Madame Gasket, deals with things on the inside with her chop shop. They both want to take over Big Weld Industry and the whole city.

These two are HILARIOUS, Ratchet acts as a sophisticated, well-put together person with a plan, but is actually a scared mama's boy. He has very hilarious scenes and lines, his interactions with his mother are also hilarious. One of my favorite scenes of his is the one where he knocks out Big Weld and says this: "Oh my god I'm as crazy as my mother!!....HYAH"

Madame Gasket used to terrify me as a child, and I can see why. She is ruthless in her approach while also being a doting mother to Ratchet. She collects 'Out modes' with her sweepers to turn them into metal to create new, shiny parts. She even got her husband out of the way so she can focus on her plan of taking over Big Weld Industries. A villain who will get rid of anything in their way is terrifying.

They are both defeated with Ratchet being chained up by his father and Madame Gasket being thrown into one of her machines.

Tatiana

A character that's posed as a villain but is put into that light. Yes she is wrong for Vinyl City's power outages, but she knew what kept the city going. She used to be Kul Fyra, leader of the rock group the Ghoulings.

I won't go much about her her because I want to talk about her in full but she is so well written. Am ex rock star that switched to EDM now has to deal with a musical revolution. She sees B2J's revolution as irrelevant because nothing will come of it.

As she points out they made the same amount of energy as EDM and that they went into this without a plan. They would put people out of jobs and cause a revolution from people who live EDM. She's the common sense B2J needed.

Fairy Godmother

You should not be surprised she's on here. She is an icon when it comes to DreamWorks villains. When DreamWorks villains are mentioned, she's the first one to be brought up.

She is portrayed as a caring individual but is a selfish person who wants her darling son Prince Charming to be king. She uses the fact Shrek took a potion to make him and Fiona human to her advantage. She makes Charming pretend to be Shrek so he can get closer to Fiona.

She also is a master manipulator, basically threatening the king to do what she wants him to do. She wants Shrek out of the picture because "Ogres don't get happily ever afters." She wants Fiona to have the picture perfect happily ever after married to charming.

Yes her entire scene at the ball is stunning. The red dress is so good and fits her character perfectly. The rendition of Holding Out for a Hero is absolutely a banger and is a go-to song of mine.

Iconic villain and has had a lasting impression on me.

Mother Gothel

I grew up with Morher Gothel as a character. Both her Disney and barbie version, which I'll talk a bit about here and in a dedicated post about early 2000s barbie. I love her character very dearly. We are talking about a gaslighting, manipulative person.

She kidnapped Rapunzel because of her hair, she doesn't love Rapunzel she loves her hair. Meanwhile, in the Barbie version, she's a cold, distant person who kidnapped Rapunzel as revenge. But we're focusing on the Disney version here.

She makes Rapunzel believe she loves her, makes the outside world to be dangerous, and manipulates her into thinking Flynn Rider abandoned her. She was willing to murder to keep Rapunzel's hair to herself. As all she cares about is her beauty and youth.

She is a master manipulator and an amazing villain as well.

Preminger

Ah Preminger one of the best Barbie villains. A villain with a great plan that fails miserably. A villain with hilarious scenes.

Preminger wants the crown to himself amd at first plans to marry Annaliese. But when that goes wrong, he tries to marry the queen. But that also goes wrong.

He has hilarious scenes such as him knocking on the cabin door to see if Annaliese is still locked in there. To the hilarious scene where he almost faints when finding out the princesses wedding will be next weak.

Preminger is the most loved barbie villain for a reason. He's dramatic, funny, and cunning. His sidekicks are hilarious and give a lot of laughs. His dog is also a great component of his character as he is an extension of Preminger.

End

Well that's the end of part 1, I have 4 more I'll discuss in part 2 so keep an eye out for that.

I have some more thoughts on the dastardly duo for you to consider...

1. The author v the writer. What a night mare for Moehringer! Who is known for his ability to write in the 'voice' of the person he is ghost writing for. Harry gave him absolutely nothing but chaotic thoughts and emotions, petty grievances and jealousy driven 'tall tales'. How do you write a coherent reflection without it sounding like the 'pisstake' or deranged Barbara Cartland written black comedy that it is.

2. This book has dumped Meg right in it. She was trying to impose a relationship with Catherine and intimidate. Meg was (and continues to be) a passive aggressive, manipulative, bitch who was completely threatened by Catherine and should have been shut down a long time ago.

3. No wonder William lost it. There is way more to that story that isn't told.

4. Megs 'Fantasy book' is going to be so much worse. I think it is already written. To be released/announced for publication around the time of the Coronation maybe...

5. I really hope the family maintains their dignified silence. But I think they need a massive PR exercise that highlights the many causes they have championed with personal reflections from people involved who worked with them. They should also at every opportunity go for a united family show of support. Lots of pics of the Senior royals, Wales, Tindals, Wessex's families together having a great time and engaging with the public. Emphasis on 'service, duty and loyalty with lots of QEII reflections. That for me is the only way to combat the crap hand they have been dealt from the dastardly duo and maintain their dignity.

What do you think?

The Spanish version is really bad for Moeheringer because the translations make the writing sound really bad. The English version may not be that bad. But, yes, Harry doesn't help either. It's hard to write a compelling conflict out of...lip gloss.

Meghan sound like All About Eve 2.0. The interactions with Kate are straight out of that movie. I'm really impressed by how composed Kate in all of their public interactions. Queen Kate has nerves of steel.

Oh, there's a lot we haven't been told. The merching, for example, has not come out and that is huuuuuuuge.

Apparently, she has been keeping a burn book. That's going to be interesting.

The coronation will be the pr exercise, and it will include all the content you list. Most importantly, it will have immense validation from institutions, world leaders, charities, celebrities, etc... That's what they need to focus on.

Thanks for the submission. Lots of food for thought.

so i just enjoy the batfam totally from the outside, i've never read the comics, i've only seen the nolan movies, and i've seen maybe an episode or two of the animated series. i find the family dynamic interesting so i follow people who talk about it, and maybe i'll actually dive in someday haha but WOW!! your tags on that post about jason's death and bruce's reaction really just blew me away. it seems like cynically realistic view of what might really happen between family members with a strained relationship like theirs seems to be, and it's painful to read about! of course, it could all be done with the intention of the fans leaving with the thought that bruce is a Good Guy, but still. it feels real in a really sad way. is this story from the comics? if so, do you know which series?

Hey! Yeah... That's the thing I find fascinating too, regarding that whole conundrum I mention in my tags to this post. When it comes to Bruce and Jason and Joker, the Watsonian and Doylist perspectives are both needed to understand the dynamics. DC bringing Jason back from the dead to create conflict with Batman… and then deciding to keep the character, but not really knowing what to do with him. Jason could not be allowed to challenge Bruce too much, make Bruce look too much like he's in the wrong, because Batman is the hero. Batman is the main character. So what we ended up with was a narrative skewed hard in Bruce's favor, one that does things like putting the blame on Jason for his own death and writing Jason as forgiving things that are hard to imagine ever being forgiven. And this couldn't be done without making Bruce express this attitude as well, which is what I was referring to-- within-Universe, this reads as Bruce being unable to accept that he has wronged Jason, and resorting to defense mechanisms mired in denial and repression. To stave off his guilt.

I do agree it's compelling though, from a character point of view... it makes sense in a tragic kind of way. Bruce was crushed by grief and guilt after Jason's death, he entered a spiral that was only broken by Tim and Dick's intervention. And then Jason came back, and confronted Bruce with a very difficult choice, borne from his anger at seeing that Joker suffered no consequences after killing him. And thing is, I am of the opinion Bruce's choice not to commit murder, even Joker's, is valid. (And also, that Bruce did do something; he refused to save Joker's life after Jason was killed, but Joker survived anyway.) The problem is... you know, Bruce slitting Jason's throat to save Joker's life. An almost-murder of his adopted son to avoid the murder of the guy who killed him. And how do you live with that, I suppose? Other than scrambling for every justification under the sun and burying yourself under mountains of denial? If Bruce reacted so strongly to Jason's death, how would he be able to keep going if he accepted the fact he nearly killed Jason himself? It's an incredibly selfish choice to shift blame onto Jason instead, make everything about Jason's death and not at all about the events of UtRH... but it makes sense in the context of Bruce defending himself from a grief and guilt he cannot come back from. Jason having committed crimes and killing people made it easier for Bruce to do this, too. Hide behind Jason's "instability".

Oof, ended up rambling again, sorry for how long this gets! I gotta say though, I'm not primarily a Batfam fan; I've got a similar approach to you, Anon. Making the note because there's definitely some comic-knowledgeable Batfam experts out there who are better equipped to speak on the topic. Alas, when asking about the story itself, I assume you mean Jason's death and return? Because if you want to read about that, I'd recommend the following (in this order):

Batman: A Death in the Family (Jason's murder)

Batman: A Lonely Place of Dying (for Bruce's reaction to Jason's death)

Optional: The Batman Files (Bruce's journal entry regarding Jason's death, which is a contradictory combination of blaming himself and Jason for it)

Optional: Batman: Gotham Knights #43-44 (for Bruce's recall of the events and a story that suggests that, even if Jason had been an emotional and reckless teenager, Bruce as an adult should have made better choices regarding him-- shoutout to Barbara)

Optional: Batman (1940) Annual #25 (Jason coming back to life)

Optional: Red Hood: The Lost Days (Jason's time after being resurrected and prior to coming back to Gotham)

Batman: Under the Red Hood (Jason's return)

And I guess if you want a sampler of what Bruce sounds like at his shittiest when doing the stuff described, there's Batman: Battle for the Cowl #3, in which Bruce leaves Jason a message post-mortem. It's not a very nice message. And I wish I could say Bruce at least doesn't do more shitty things regarding Jason even after all of that, but I'd have to be lying.

Look. That episode Mando episode.

Man, i´m not even angry, i´m just disappointed , cause I KNOW how good this show can be. Specially this season that´s, supposedly, gonna revolve around what it means to be a Mandalorian and Mandalore's history 

Din is such an interesting, compeling and complex character and he could be so much more if only THEY- JUST. LET. HIM.

They are completely misunderstanding what´s what drove people to Mando at first. Yes, it´s cute to see this bounty hunter begrudgingly take care of a jedi baby BUT the show is SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT! It was about dissecting this misterious and closed off character who´s being through so much, it was seeing how all that trauma that he has - that made him separate himself from everything and everyone - was what ultimately helped him connect with Grogu. It´s lovely to see him open up little by little knowing he shouldn't, knowing that a goodbye is imminent. It was complex, it had layers. 

And Grogu. I know everyone jokes about how he was just made to sell toys and i thought so as well before starting the show a few years back. I used to really hate him and all the fuss everyone was making around him being a cute baby, but when i finally watched the show, i sat captivated and saw it was so much more. He´s more than just cute baby, he is a survivor ,just like Din, and has lived through so many things. His story is so interesting and he could be much more than a “marketable sw mascot”, but again, THEY ARE NOT ALLOWING THEM THAT!

It´s so frustrating watching this first episode and see both our main characters being reduced to “cute baby” and “dad”. They feel as they have no agency. And damn my brain for making me think this, but i felt, watching this episode, as i felt watching the last Jurassic World movie. Everyone is a diluted version of their character, everyone moves and does whatever the plot and script needs them to do without any explanation or reason to why or HOW they did it and everything just moves SO FUCKING FAST for no reason.

The first 3 episodes of the 1st season were such bangers cause they were the total opposite of this one. They were paced so well, letting viewers experience events along the characters, they made an amazing use of Show not tell (cof cof what do you mean Grogu was away from Din for around a year, Favreau cof cof), they introduced a conflict in a natural and organic way, and most importantly, they trusted the audience to understand what was happening without having a character explain it as we were a bunch of idiots or smth. 

Think about that scene in the 3rd episode when Din decides to take Grogu back from the imperials. We, as an audience, understand (without seeing the guy´s face) what´s going on in his mind in that moment; the doubt, the regret, the decision, everything just through body language, well done cinematography and music. We didn´t need Din or someone else going “you felt bad so you went back for him”, no, we just understood, and the show trusted us to understand that, to come to our own conclussions and understanding of the scene and motivations of the characters. AND WE HAD JUST MET THE GUY.

The difference here from last episode is that they gave us something to work with and, watching the episodes, you understand Din´s final decision.

Now we just don´t know what the hell Din´s thinking, and not because of a mystery or to build tension, it just feels as if Din is a weird NPC that moves the story forward and is there only to show us cool action scenes, cameos and Mandalore lore, without relating to anything. He feels as if he´s just not thinking at all, not as being stupid, but just as if he literally had no mind of his own, no opinions,no feelings, no nothing. And Grogu is just..there, i guess. Being cute and that´s all. 

Also, not as important as the narrative and script issues i had with the episode but, when i first watched The Mandalorian - begrudgingly, i must add, as i actually hated star wars but a friend of mine kept insisting that i gave it a try - i was amazed at how detailed the effects were, how everything felt alive and lived in. I remember rewatching again and again the scene where Din lands the Razor Crest in Arvala 7 and just admire the detail of the dust and water moving with the ship´s power, the way everything felt so real. Everything in the 1st and 2nd season ( i have my issues with the effects in season 2 as well but they´re still okay, imo) felt alive, real. And wow, what a downgrade this episode was.

For a show with a ridiculous budget it´s not showing at all. The kid helmet at the start looked like a toy (i can let it slide cause it´s literally brand new so you could argue there´s no reason for it to not look all shiny and clean), the alligator was okay, i guess, but didn´t feel nearly as real as the  Krayt Dragon from S2, and the rest...to be honest, not surprised at all. I kept getting thrown off by the straight up green screen feel of the Greef vs Random Pirates scene (Also an unnecessary scene, tbh, felt like an escuse for a “cool star wars space battle ™” ). The Mandalorian castle was cool, tho, i guess.

I´m not dissing the people who worked in the show´s Visual Effects at all, btw. I know they can do amazing things, cause they have, i´m sure it was more of a direction and studio issue.

It surprised me how Mando´s episode in TBOBF felt much more interesting, well paced, compelling and true to Din´s character than this episode. 

I know it might be way too early to judge the season as we only have this 1st episode but it´s not looking too good, Mando nation.

I want to be clear, I´m not saying everything sucked, either. I´m just frustrated cause this is my favourite show, it means a lot to me and i just want it to be as good as i know it can be.

B, D, J, L, T, U

Thanks for the ask moth!! <3

B - A pairing–platonic, romantic or sexual–that you initially didn’t consider, but someone changed your mind.

LMFAO Agohiru from ES21 😂 I remember when I first got into es21 back in highschool, Hiruma was my fav, but I didn't think much of Agon other than 'wow what an asshole!' and didn't like him. (Also I was a big Hirumamo shipper at the time, and I'm the type who clings onto One Ship for a character and isn't too interested in anything else lol) It wasn't until I got back into it in the last couple of years that I've come to appreciate how much fun it is to bat that asshole around, and just how loaded Hiruma and Agon's ~history~ is.

Though I guess no one person specifically changed my mind, unless you count past me vs present me lol. OH actually, what changed my mind was the fic "Independent Variable" on ff.net. I think I got back into es21 and was like 'you know, hiruma/agon totally has potential' and so was looking up fics of that pairing, and then I read that fic and was lost.

D - A pairing you wish you liked but just can’t.

Hmmmm oh, Merther (Merlin/Arthur) lol. Their set up as a ship is extremely juicy (two sides of the same coin?? fate ties them together??? conflict because their initial world views are diametrically opposed????) and there's soooo much fic for them, but. I just. I don't like Arthur 😭 Like, I mean, he's FINE. But the writing of the whole show is so inconsistent and there's entire seasons where he's just so shitty to Merlin for no damn reason in a way that I'm supposed to take as funny and silly which pisses me off more.

J - Name a fandom you didn’t think about until you saw it all over Tumblr. (You don’t have to care about it or follow it; it just has to be something that Tumblr made you aware of.)

I mean, most shows that have mainstream popularity that I never checked out lol, though I think one that I've seen a lot of shipping art for on my dash is Star Wars? I've seen the main movies, but I think this is from.... Clone Wars, or the Obi-wan show or something. I see a lot of Obi-wan shipped with... one of the clone guys I think lmfao.

L - Say something genuinely nice about a character who isn’t one of your faves.

Hmmmm this isn't even a character I dislike, but whatever-- Judeau! I like him a lot tbh but I also find him shady 😂

I like how his 'friend who gives good advice and just has your best interests at heart' vibe is subverted by his personal biases and emotions, even if he'd probably deny that lol. He's flawed and it colors the advice he gives, and he even has moments that I'd argue are kind of judgy. It's what makes him interesting!

T - Do you have any hard and fast headcanons that you will die defending? 

Yes! Main one coming to mind rn because I've been thinking about Hiruma (ES21) a lot, is that Hiruma is on the ace spectrum! I'm usually pretty take-it-or-leave-it when it comes to sexuality headcanons, like I can buy most interpretations but I generally don't feel strongly about them, but with Hiruma I really struggle to see him as anything else.

U - Three favorite characters from three different fandoms, and why they’re your favorites.

OOHHHH. Well in Berserk, it's legit a tie between Guts and Griffith. I wouldn't like either one of them as much without the other in their orbit, and Berserk is one of those rare stories where both characters are really complex and compelling in their own way, and bring a lot of significant baggage into their dynamic lmfao. With Guts I love how sensitive he is, and the various ways in which he subverts and deconstructs the Macho Male Power Fantasy™ archetype, how at the end of the day he just wants someone to care about him and find worth in his existence. With Griffith, I love his ideals and his fragility in the face of the sacrifices those ideals demand from him, I love how much he cares and how much he gouges himself for caring, and how all of his stress and guilt and obligation still aren't any match for his love for Guts. And with both of them, I love how their upbringing informs their decisions so well to ruin everything even though they care about each other so much :')

w/ ES21, it's Hiruma lol which might be basic because he's everyone's fav, but for good reason! He's just fucking fun! I love how unhinged and demonic he is, I love the borderline slapstick loony-tunes tyle antics he gets up to, and I love his shamelessness. But I also love how accepting and realistic he is about his limitations, and how that doesn't stop him from striving for the top and going for what he wants. And like, for such an anime-level strategic genius type character, I love that such a core part of what makes him great is that he brings people together and uses teamwork and creativity to overcome everyone's various limitations. He's just-- so much fun!

And because this list is depressingly male lemme throw in a wild card-- Chase from Midnight Furies! It's a webcomic that I recently read for the first time, and Chase is the deuteragonist and a Hiruma expy lol. Which you can definitely tell, they both have the unhinged vibe and shark teeth, as well as the mysterious past and having a lot of cards up their sleeve, but I also think they're quite distinct. Obviously, Chase is a butch lesbian (which really does just add to her cool factor), but also I feel like Midnight Furies is a more grounded story compared to ES21, despite there being supernatural elements lol, and so Chase feels more grounded and realistic as a character. She's a bit more raw in her relationships to other people, and she shows vulnerability more, but she's also much more of a direct physical threat than Hiruma is. Because of that, she has moments where calculation gets thrown out the window in favor of a good ol' beat down, which of COURSE I love to see. And I think she has the capacity to be more ruthless. ANYWAY, awesome character, A+++ (please read Midnight Furies)

[alphabet ask meme]

Do you have any opinions/meta on the portrayal of Doctor Doom's dictatorship in Marvel comics? As someone who is somewhat knowledgeable on the horrors of dictatorship, it always makes my skin crawl when writers unironically portray Latveria as this "benevolent dictatorship utopia" without bothering to put in the two seconds of thought/research that would immediately lead to the conclusion of why that is a wildly offensive, irresponsible, nonsensical, and logically unattainable concept to promote

I have to preface this by saying that I prefer the nice, likeable version of every character. Even characters I have no particular interest in, whatever the softer version of them is, that's how I think they should be written. I'm not saying this is a good thing or some kind of moral judgment. It's a matter of taste. Like, I can't handle Harry Potter because it's so mean, both in terms of the books themselves and a lot of the characters. People are always like, "Give us a Marauders show," and I'm like, why on Earth would anyone want to watch a television show about high school bullies? Are people okay?

Which is weird because I love Emma Frost. But I don't want Emma to be a villain. I don't know how to explain it. I guess I just prefer for characters to be well-intentioned. Characters can be prickly. They can have conflict, but when a character feels malicious, I lose interest in them.* I find it so much more compelling when characters are clashing but nobody is being cruel or monstrous, they just have their own viewpoint. So, on a purely character level, I do prefer for Doom to have good sides to him.

All that said, man, politics in superhero comics is tricky. It's a minefield. To play Devil's Advocate for the people writing these stories you dislike, what they're trying to convey is that the superhero perspective is not the only one, which is a sentiment I appreciate. I like when we admit that other people in this world do not have the views or experiences of the average superhero. I think that, theoretically, that complexity is a positive, but I don't think it's handled with much nuance or consistency within the stories themselves.

Where does Latveria fit on a left-right spectrum? What countries are they allied with? Who do they trade with? What are the internal politics? What real life country, past or present, is the best comparison point? Whomst can say. This is part of why politics in superhero comics is tricky. Because they don't really get into details. They just make broad gesturings at real life things and then the next writer contradicts that, and it all depends on what real world thing is trendy to reference. When you are Genosha, sometimes, you are South Africa, and sometimes, you are Yugoslavia. So it goes.

The flip side of all of this is, of course, that Doom is Roma, and the people who created him did not understand the sociopolitical implications of the character they created. What does it mean to be a "nationalist" when you are a Roma man from Eastern Europe? Sometimes, as a writer, you don't know that much about other cultures, and you write something with weird implications that you aren't aware of, and one day, it's 60 years later and that shit's still canon and we all just have to deal with it.

Like with a lot of dilemmas of superhero characterization, there's really no perfect answer because, no matter what angle you come at it from, there is the possibility of finding something questionable about it. If you get too far into trying to depict Latveria as a realistic dictatorship, there is weirdness/uncomfortable stuff on that end too.

Part of why our (read: USian) culture's current fixation on nostalgia is troublesome is that it is much more complicated to "fix" old canons than people think and often, it is impossible. We're stuck with all our movies being about characters created 60+ years, and they come with that baggage. A lot of times, it is the concept of the character where the problems lie, and the degree to which you can ever remedy that is... Well, it doesn't usually work 100%. And you can create other problems by trying to get rid of the old ones. Which is what you're complaining about, right? So, my tl;dr Doom take is that there is always going to be this weirdness to the character because of the nature of superhero comics. I get where you're coming from, but I also get the opposite argument. A true centrist, wow.

*Except, of course, for Zaladane, the only good supervillain ever created.

spell homestuck

GOD. THIS IS SO MUCH LONGER THAN TWO FACE. i typed too much and theres too many qs so under the cut it goes

H - What is your favorite source text for fandom stuff (e.g., TV shows, movies, books, anime, Western animation, etc.)?

books!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! or....... i guess comics, these days, but i HATE READING COMICS they juST HAVE MORE COMPELLING FANDOMS. book fandoms are PUNY nad everyone is STUPID. youd think actual literary fandoms would have reading comprehension and understanding of literary critique but no!!!!!!!!!!!!! its literally my eternal fuckign struggle. somehow comic fandoms hit the perfect medium between compelling, readable content and the enthusiasm of cartoon fans without the childishness of cartoon fans

O - Choose a song at random. Which ship or character does it remind you of?

this isnt really a thing i do. the only time i associate characters w songs is my own ocs. barbies theme is miltons tower from the what remains of edith finch soundtrack!

M - Name a character that you’d like to have for a friend.

i have also never really been one to project myself into stories. its just not how i consume media. i think sollux and rose already closely resemble the kinds of friends i make, so maybe them?

E - Have you added anything cracky/hilarious to your fandom? If so, what?

(freddy fazbear vc) vanessa.... ive done things, im not proud of.

i dont even know if i want to answer this question bc its so fucking humiliating LKJSNDLFSDNFSDF the truth is yes. i am solely responsible for. a lot. particularly in the pjo fandom. i created several crackships ground up all on my own way back in 2014 and developed a following for them and i. dont wantto tell you what those ships were. LSKJDFNSLDJNSDFSDDF ive also pioneered many ship tags for other fandoms and i ship a lot of rarepairs and stuff but i dont think im RESPONSIBLE for them?? in that some ppl already were into them/talking abotu them or tht theyre still not popular (augh. to the ones that became popular) but i AM liTERALLY responsible for some crack shit in the pjo fandom and its. it haunts me sometimes. i dont want to talk about it. IF YOU REMEMBER WHAT I DID NO YOU DONT

S - Show us an example of your personal headcanon (prompts optional but encouraged)

this is so vague. my headcanons are shifting and nebulous and aus are my constant companion in everything, but uhhhhhhghhusjkdjnsdg i think. roxy writes the same way dave draws comics. its extremely memey and meta and self aware and largely just for the personal lolz, and were all doing her a disservice by pretending her writing looks like roses, when in reality dirk is probably the one whod make comics the way rose makes books (which is probably why he doesnt make comics). its more of that thing where roxy and dave are the same and rose and dirk are the same ykwim. well YOU dont corvus but im sure someone else does

T - Do you have any hard and fast headcanons that you will die defending?

jason takes after bruce in terms of like. adopting entirely too many kids. he broods

U - Three favorite characters from three different fandoms, and why they’re your favorites.

harvey is a heartwrenching character when written well, with a complicated view of morality, heartbreaking ties to our main hero, and a lot of internal conflict. something about such a hopeful character deadset on making a different in the system becoming a victim of it, and the potential he has as a vehicle for critiquing the law.

percy is my favorite character from pjo bc it was the very first time in my life i ever read a book and saw myself in it. hes aggressive, impulsive, and rebellious, he fidgets and has a hard time standing still, he acts on emotion without always thinking it through, he gets in trouble in school and hands his mom a murder weapon to kill his stepdad, hes just... hes a lot of the things ive always gotten in trouble for, things i couldnt help being, and hes a hero. he means everything to me.

vriska, i will maintain until the day i die, is one of the best homestuck characters- maybe just characters?- ever written. shes dramatic, shes impulsive, shes manipulative and mean and creative, and shes just so messy about it. shes a mean girl in a way that feels real, where her trauma impacts and shapes her as a person, and shes complex, with warring wants, and people she cares about, and dreams, and shes so messy. shes rough and rude and shes doing what SHE wants to, being a version of herself that feels right to HER, rather than some caricature of the hot badass evil lady. shes thirteen!! and she FEELS thirteen. shes a thirteen year old weird girl who is kind of an asshole, and she means literally fucking everything to me. shes a pirate!!!!! shes a swashbuckling badass dressing up in her larping outfit and yelling at her friends on the playground to swab the deck and she is the bestest ever, the end.

i didnt mean for each one of these to be longer than the last but here we are.

C - A ship you have never liked and probably never will.

i hate jdedave peace and love it just feels weird as hell to me. dave, for the most part, is hyper respectful of other peoples choices and boundaries but when it comes to jade hes always trying to mke choices for her, to protect her, and it gets to the point where even jade points out how much it bugs her. jades crush on dave also seems to come from a place of misunderstanding to me, admiring a lot of the parts of himself that he exaggerates and pretends to care about as a result of trauma. it always felt like a kid crush that they shouldve grown out of with time. dave also just sort of seems to... go along with whatever romantic relationships people push him into at that age, rolling with whoever flirts with him jsut bc hes trying to maintain the image of a player, so its really hard to take him seriously any time he hits on someone?

that is just my interpretation of it tho

K - What character has your favorite development arc/the best development arc?

well. i havent finished my reread of homestuck, so that feels difficult to comment on just yet, bc im sure ill have a different opinion when i do finish it. no one in dc gets character arc bc theyre all just undone immediately, so thats like. yeah. and in pjo the arcs are pretty weak bc 1) kids books and 2) RICK UNDOES THEM ALL. AUGH. regardless of all of this, i am going to say jason grace. he had a lot of development in like the last two hoo books, or maybe just like.... hints of how he couldve developed? promise? which rick immediately set fire to in toa when he killed him, but fUCKING WHATEVER. UGH.

anyway actually tho eleanor from the good place. bisexual icon. queen. probably one of the best character arcs of all time. the episode w her mom has some of the most powerful fucking dialogue ever and i think about it. all the time. i should rewatch the good place.....

There are lot here, so just pick whichever ones you want to do.

I O P S V (cyrus / aurelius / andrea)

AD AE AN AR

BB BD BE BF

oh that is a lot! jokes on you, i’m doing all of them :3

I. Are there any stories you have been brainstorming but haven’t written yet? so, so many. i have two prequels to sic semper tyrannis up my sleeve, a pirate story set after the death of their beloved captain in which they wrestle with their grief and their conflicting feelings about him, a couple of stories set in the world 9 year old me created as a coping mechanism and a retelling of herodotus’s story of mycerinus (look it up if you don’t know it – it’s an incredible tale!)

O. Which writer(s) influenced your style? Alternately: which writer’s career do you wish you had/hope to achieve? i want so badly to write like maggie stiefvater……also, i want my worldbuilding to be as good as ursula le guin’s in her earthsea series (my childhood)

P. What draws you to a story idea? (Example: themes, a fun character, Aesthetic, etc.) god…..i have no idea. story ideas sort of just appear in my brain and shout at me until i’ve written them down. sometimes they’ve come from songs, sometimes from images, a few times even from dreams! what draws me to them, i guess, is probably the characters and how they feel and view the world and whether that’s compelling enough?

S. Are you a pantser, planner, or plantser? (How much planning do you put into your stories?) i love the idea of pantsing but ultimately i can’t write without a scene-by-scene plan so i am very much a planner.

V. Original fiction: Do you have a face claim for (character)? most of them i make on picrew…. that’s cyrelius at the top and, from left to right, elias digby, adrien bennet, nora atkins and andrew spencer from merlin motors:

AD. If (story) were adapted in another medium (comic, tv show, etc) what would it be? i have this incredible movie adaptation of honourable dishonour that lives in my head bcs i just know it would be visually so stunning……and i have all these ideas for how you could use the medium to your advantage, especially because in the book sunlight is a motif that runs throughout and it would be so cool

AE. What is one word or phrase you catch yourself using weirdly often? ohhhh so many how do i pick. probably ‘laughed disbelievingly’ or ‘wrinkled her nose.’ not sure but i do know this happens a lot

AN. If you could collaborate on a story with any author, living or dead, who would it be? JANE AUSTEN sorry but she’s actually my best friend

AR. You are a famous author (you are to me!) and someone comes to your house to interview you and take pictures of where the writing magic happens. What is your ideal writing space and how does the interviewer describe the meeting to their audience? (IE: what kind of vibe do you hope to give off as an author?)

BB. How do you come up with titles? Do you dread this or love it? they appear to me in a vision only when i am at my absolute wit’s end glowing and haloed and tell me ‘be not afraid. i am the perfect title for your wip and i have been staring in your face for like a month and you haven’t even noticed’

BD. What do you like most about your writing? my prose, specifically descriptions. give me any setting and tell me to write 2k words on how beautiful/ugly/eerie/scary/empty/lively etc it is and i am in my comfort zone forever <3

BE. Original fiction: (story) is getting published and you get full creative control for the cover. Describe what you envision. oooo ok so. first of all they wouldn’t be photos they’d be quite simple art designs. i think sic semper tyrannis would have a raised fist in the middle, and then around that fist the silhouette of a bear’s paw or a bear’s head. cyrelius i imagine maybe an image of the rooftop since that’s an important motif OR of like a crown. or actually maybe a hand coming up from the bottom left holding a wine glass and a hand coming from the top right and stirring the wine with the finger…..or something to do with hektor since he’s essentially the keystone of it all?

BF. What is one question you have always wished someone would ask about your story/writing/character? Answer that. “talk to me about the motifs in cyrelius?” omg wowww what a great question pippa. ok this is gonna get a bit long sorry

honour: so. all the politicians in the royal court have the title of ‘honourable minister’ and addressed as your honour, which is in direct contrast to their obvious corruption, greed and self-interest. at one point the group have a debate with an elderly noble relating to the definition of honour – he believes its defined by heritage, wealth, land, prestige, having important family, titles. cyrelius go on a business trip in which they end up having to solve a mini-mystery and resolve a dispute, and at the end they praise a poor farmer for his honour. when they are condemned and brought to the king at the end he says that they have betrayed ‘both their personal honour and the honour of their nation.’ the rooftop: so aurelius loves sitting on the rooftop of cyrus’s cabinet building and later cyrus ends up joining him there. it’s where they have their first kiss, where they stay up late to talk and where they go to escape from the monotony of paperwork. it’s also where they hide their diaries and letters when they learn that they’re going to die. it’s significance is that it’s actually one of the highest points in the city, and therefore they can see what most politicians are blind to: the slums. this is significant bcs it represents how they see and care about the injustice that most of the royal court either ignore or actively exploit. and those are just the main ones…….

Recently Viewed: The Legend & Butterfly

[The following review contains MAJOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!]

Near the end of The Legend & Butterfly—a lavish period epic produced to commemorate the seventieth anniversary of Toei—the plot appears to take an unexpected turn into outright historical revisionism reminiscent of Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds. Oda Nobunaga—grievously injured, cornered by traitors, trapped in a burning temple—forlornly reflects on the lifetime of cruelty that led to his impending demise. Suddenly, he glimpses a minor miracle: a few flimsy floorboards, easily pried loose to reveal a hidden passage. Defying his preordained fate, he escapes from his enemies, reunites with his wife, and stows away on a ship bound for Europe. After an arduous journey, the warlord gazes upon foreign soil; at long last, he’ll be able to realize his dream of peace, tranquility, and anonymity alongside the woman he loves.

But this idyllic vision abruptly fades, the warm glow of the sunset dissolving into the blazing glare of the flames that still surround him. There was no secret tunnel, no desperate ride back to his fortress, no westward voyage; it was all just a fantasy akin to The Last Temptation of Christ—a false hope conjured by the delusional mind of a vanquished conqueror.

Although this double subversion isn’t entirely without merit—indeed, it’s one of the only legitimately interesting creative choices in an otherwise generic jidaigeki—it’s also emblematic of the film’s overall indecisiveness. The relationship between the title characters, for example, often feels contrived, inorganic, and underdeveloped; because the structure is so disjointed (leaping forward several years at a time at seemingly random intervals), the “gradual” evolution of their marriage from political union to mutually beneficial military partnership to genuinely affectionate romance lacks connective tissue—and, consequently, emotional authenticity. The tone is likewise wildly inconsistent, chaotically careening from slapstick comedy and screwball banter to gory bloodshed and overwrought melodrama with little rhyme or reason; balancing humor and horror is a delicate tightrope act, and director Keishi Otomo frequently stumbles.

The movie’s central theme—its most compelling hook—is, unfortunately, equally muddled. The premise revolves around the thesis that Nobunaga’s bride—who is traditionally relegated to a mere footnote in written accounts of his campaign to unify Japan—was actually a hugely influential figure in his reign, nurturing his violent ambition (à la Lady Macbeth) and sculpting him from a buffoonish, pampered thug into a fierce warrior, charismatic leader, and cunning tactician. It is therefore utterly tragic that she slowly loses any semblance of agency as the narrative unfolds, ultimately spending the last hour of the story ill and bedridden. She was previously depicted as such a strong, independent, uncompromising heroine; she refuses to be silenced and marginalized, blatantly and unapologetically challenging the misogynistic attitudes of the Sengoku Era. It is thus a shame to see her reduced to a passive prop in her husband’s conflict.

I don’t mean to imply that The Legend & Butterfly is irredeemably bad; the production design is absolutely spectacular, and the performances are generally solid. Because its flaws are so fundamental, however, its strengths are greatly diminished. Unlike its iconic subject, it simply doesn’t leave much of an impression.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

I liked Across The Spider-Verse a lot, but even now, a scant 40 minutes after walking out of the theatre, I find myself wishing I liked it more. I have a mostly coherent idea of why, but I figure it's going to take some doing to explain it, and there might be spoilers. A more or less concise thoughts about this absolute thunderstorm of a movie below.

There are many notable things about the first Spider-Verse film. How many disparate spiderpeople, or perhaps spidersapients is more apt at this point, they managed to make compelling at once, the wild attention to detail in animation and visual design, not to mention the marvelous "What's Up Danger" sequence that contains what I consider to be the very best single shot in any superhero film ever made. All of these are fair, but through Across, the bit that came back to me the most was when recently dimension-hopped struggle-spider Peter B. Parker tells protagonist Miles "Don't watch the mouth, watch the hands" before pulling a fast one on him. The reason, I'm starting to realize, why this quote came to mind, was because Across The Spider-Verse seemed insistent that I keep watching the mouth because the mouth is the money-maker don'tchaknow while inexpertly trying to snag the last biscuit I'd been saving for later.

Ok, this is already a bit freeform, so let's jump back a few steps. There is much to recommend about Across The Spiderverse. The budding relationship between Gwen and Miles is awkward and sweet in a way love between 15-year-olds doesn't always get to be in genre stuff, and the conflicts with Miles' parents are way better than the usual "parents just don't get it" business by a country mile. Speaking of love and conflict, boy howdy are the action scenes in this movie an absolute triumph of animation. Every single one of them is like watching entire "best of" reels on acid, and somehow they manage to escalate and innovate throughout. I'm no animation expert, but I'm pretty sure entire Marvel phases have come and gone without even seeing a fraction of the love every pulse-pounding minute of this film's incredible action scenes is just dripping with.

All of this, especially the latter part, comes with a cost. I, for one, can't help but feel like the story was what suffered the most for this perfect storm of animation excellence. Oh, the movie has a story, yes, but for how much of the intended takeaway could be read as "blind adherence to fixed points in storytelling is actually pretty dehumanizing," the story does feel paradoxically by the numbers. It's not bad at its job of moving our heroes, antiheroes, and figures of more ambiguous arachnid morality from jaw-dropping moment to jaw-dropping moment, and it does a good job of propelling our protagonists along on their emotional journies. The problem? That's all the story does. It moves Miles, Gwen, and the rest along, but it doesn't actually challenge or thrill in any mentionable way by itself. It's not a climb, it's not a rollercoaster, it is a monorail between points of interest, and you're not really supposed to pay all that much attention to it.

How do I know this? Look no further than what I would, in an act of structure-orthodox lumping, call Act 3. So, after outsmarting edgy antihero/resident Dracula Erzats Miguel and his considerable posse of spiderpeople, Miles pulls off a narrow escape to what he believes to be his home dimension, and Miguel and his gang give chase. Now, the only problem is that this is not Miles' dimension, and if you pay what I consider to be a normal amount of attention, it's blindingly obvious. For one, the needlessly creepy DNA-scanning interdimensional spider-porter flashes his destination dimension multiple times, and the fact that the spider that bit Miles and changed his DNA wasn't from his reality has been hammered into the audience at this point. Now, Miles not getting this? Yeah, sure, that's reasonable. He's had a long and very difficult day with increasingly wide and far-reaching understandings of the phrase "difficult day." Miguel not getting it? Sure, he's mad with rage and potentially also regular madness. Gwen, Peter B, the competent pregnant Spider-Woman, and that whole gang? Now we're getting it into pushing it-territory, but the part that gets to me is how far the movie expects the audience not to get it.

Fair is fair. I am an occasionally terrible person to watch movies with because I notice things and I know a lot about how stories work and read cinematic language very well so I pick up twists with uncanny accuracy. It's the kind of long-lasting damage that a lifetime of loving movies and two years in film school will have on a person. This is all to say that I'm not mad at the movie for letting me suss out the twist ahead of time, that kind of stuff happens all the time. I'm used to picking up on things a bit before the actual reveal and find my fun in watching the twist in progress with some pre-hindsight in mind. That said, I don't think I've seen a mainstream movie that rewarded me less for picking up the (to me) very obvious twist from the word go. It goes on for too long, it doesn't really change how you view the characters or what they chose or what they do, and, perhaps most damning of all, it doesn't really reveal in a satisfying manner. There's no elegance to the prestige and it doesn't really recontextualize what has happened, either from a practical or emotional standpoint, we're just told "wrong dimension who dis?" and off we go to the To Be Continued's.

The To Be Continued is also a bit of a sore spot for me if I am going to be entirely honest. I had no idea going in the movie that this was going to do the Infinity War thing, and I would perhaps not have reacted so strongly to the plot if I didn't feel like I had been sent home with a wave and a "see you in 2024 sucker." Like I get that the film is telling a bigger story than what it can fit in a movie, and without knowing exactly what they're doing with part 2, but from my perspective, it should be entirely possible to exert some discipline and get this one done in one. This could mind you, be the soulless executive producer that lives in the dark recesses of my mind speaking.

That's honestly the hardest part about this movie for me. There's so much honest, genuine love poured into animating this absolute mayhem, and the character writing does some really cool stuff that I'd love to get into at a later date, but it just didn't land as a story for me. If endings aren't as important to you as they are to me, you may be able to love Across The Spider-Verse as much as I think it deserves. Frankly, I hope you can.

What are your thoughts on Kenobi?

hiiiiiiiii ❤️ thanks for asking!

so I'm still pretty sick n feverish rn so these thoughts might be a bit scattered. I think it's important to know that I went into kenobi with relatively low expectations. after watching boba fett, the final season of tcw, etc, I don't rlly expect these series to be much more than frilly filler that dismisses it's own source material and let's just say kenobi didn't do much to shift that expectation.

It was a waste of Hayden: despite being a they/them, I am now, forever and since the age of 8, a Hayden Christensen girlie!!! But my mans was WASTED, I understand he was (allegedly) in the Vader suit the whole time but....its a waste. At bare minimum there shoulda been more ani/obi prequel flashbacks woven throughout each ep instead of that one in ep 5. Like they dragged him off the farm to cosplay darth Vader. I wanna know what Disney has on him to make him do this because lord love a duck, this was pathetic and using him so heavily in the press was akin to false advertising.

Individualism is a DISEASE: I'm currently writing a video essay about Anakin so I'm not gonna elaborate a lot on this point here except to say that having Anakin claim that HE HIMSELF killed Anakin Skywalker is an INSULT to how the prequels clearly placed the blame for Anakin's turning on the Jedi on multiple factors, many of which were systemic, to the point where even in the prequels Anakin CONSISTENTLY outloud blames the Jedi for making him this way. That, "I did" line in ep 6 was completely unearned and spat in the face of George Lucas's Anakin characterisation. And for what? all to free obi wan of a guilt he has every fucking justification to feel. Anakin was never EVER solely responsible for becoming Darth Vader. To have him say so just Disney depoliticising star wars, as they've been doing since TFA by making characters into fucking toys.

Leia, I'd kill for you: about the only thing that kept me watching after ep 3, apart from the hope of seeing Hayden, was Leia. Vivien Blair was absolutely adorable and did such a wonderful job emulating Carrie Fishers energy without just imitating. Along with her performance, I appreciated seeing characterised and fleshed out as a main character, rather than a side character in someone else's story. She was perfect and her and Ewan were so lovely on screen I was just 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 the whole time. She was the star of this silly series as far as I'm concerned.

The racism...yikes! I've talked about reva on my blog already so I'm not gonna repeat it, but putting Tala, a brown woman, in Nazi adjacent costuming for the majority of her screen time and then killing her off to save the white dude? Yikes. Also, Sung Kang being inhumanely evil and green? Literally dehumanising. Also, Kumail being untrustworthy criminal grifter? Nope. I was so shocked Oshea Jackson's char lived because the racism in this series was so bad.

The environmentals were appalling: this is a gripe I have with all Disney + content, but the fact that this show about Obi Wan made in 2022 looks more visually bland and flat than movies made in the early 00s is EMBARRASSING. Ani and Obi fought twice in this stupid show and on both occasions the environment was essentially interchangeable!!!! You could not say that about any of the duels in the prequels because they actually have visually compelling narratively relevant settings!

Natalie Holt and John Williams collabing on the score was soooooooo good. Natalie being such a gifted fresh composer combined with John Williams legendary star wars tracks made for the most outstandingly scored d+ show to date. The score made it for me, honestly

A prequel only works as an emotionally driven tragedy: the thing about making something that's sandwiched between 2 establishment events in the story is that your only option to actually making it compelling is to focus on building emotional conflict over plot. Sadly, this show made its central conflicts all plot and hardly any emotion. Every cliffhanger was things we knew the answers to already, yet the show wants you to be worried that Luke Skywalker might die?? Laughable. When Obi says, "then my friend is truly dead" that's what should have been foregrounded as the main conflict for Obi Wan. Not whether Darth will learn of the kids, or whether reva will kill him or whatever the fuck! The throughline for the show should have been obi wan believing there was still good in him, Obi Wan believing that Anakin could be turned back, but we never get a proper sense that he actually believes any of that. Moreover, the actions he takes like protecting leia, burying his saber, the nightmares, his conversations with Reva - they all speak to him already accepting Anakin as being dead and just being Darth. That "then my friend is truly dead" line is so utterly unearned and unnecessary that it's almost funny. That line should have been TRAGIC but it's not because the show never invests in the emotional conflict of it, just stupid plot conflict we know will be resolved anyway.

Padme: I really loved how much this series acknowledged Padme's loss as equal to Anakin's in terms of forces for good lost to tragedy. Truly the only and most compelling emotional arch for Obi in this silly show was him figuring out how to tell leia about who her parents were without imparting the pain of losing them. Again this is one of the few genuinely positive things I can say about the show because it was something actually character focused.

A waste of qui gon - lmao it's hilarious to me that qui gon was literally the guy who chose Anakin to be the chosen one and is essentially responsible for putting ALL THIS into motion, but the forces that be on this wasteful show are like, "let's just have him cameo for a quip at the end". Borderline insulting!!!!!!!! Like qui gon DIED fighting for Anakin to be trained as a Jedi and abandoning obi to train him alone and we don't even get to see them have a meaningful conversation about any of that? Fuck off.

Endless repetition: I literally hate that the so-called iconic moments in this show are mostly just the show imitating what's already been done. Like Darth and Obis 2nd fight is just copy paste Ahsoka and Darths fight from TCW right down to the dialogue and most of the visuals. The whole rescuing Leia from the base is just imitating ANH without saying anything interesting too and sure obi said the "hello there" but Why are people treating that as meaningful when it's just a fucking gag reference?? If I wanted to watch ANH or ROTS I woulda just done that, I wanted something new. God forbid the show purporting itself as a character piece actually....be a character piece.

Anyways, I can't say I fully regret watching it. As I said, elements were enjoyable. But there was nothing in it that really justified its existence to me. Like, this coulda been a really fun star wars novella and I probably woulda been fine with it, but promoting it on the strength of ewan and Hayden returning and mostly wasting their time on screen with shit we already know that's inconsistent at best and shallow fan service repeating what's been done at worst just left a bad taste in my mouth. Those of us who loved and grew up on the prequels deserved better. Ewan was giving really fucking sad, hot uncle vibes though so I suppose it'll always be there for a thirst watch 🤷🏻

Ms. Marvel - How They’ve Set Her Up For Failure

Ms. Marvel was a FANTASTIC show, and I’m really sad that it’s over...6 episodes was not enough and I can definitely feel the pain of her show being gone. However, it’s a show that definitely had major flaws. First, let’s talk about a couple of things I really, really appreciated about the show.

1. Ms. Marvel doesn’t really go anywhere. Why is this good? Because she had no reason to go anywhere. The entire story was centered around her place in this wide open world. Doe she side with Cladestines and restore her home dimension? Does she side with the civilians of Earth and protect them, even when Damage Control (part of the people she would be protecting) is out to get her? Does she stick close to her family and refuse to get involved in anything? Everything had a strong motive, and she had to go on a journey to learn what each side would mean for her and her future. This served the story well because it meant Ms. Marvel as a hero and a character is still naive and immature, and is still trying to figure out her powers...she’s still at Square One. But meanwhile, she gave us an awesome and compelling story that establishes what her goals for the future are. The implications for her future are therefore, at first glance, great.

2. There’s no central antagonist. At first the lack of a central antagonist bugged me...it put too much emphasis on the conflict against society, and that wasn’t really highlighted well. However, this, again, benefits Ms. Marvel as a character. She has yet to encounter anyone actually evil; she’s only fought people who are scared and doing what they can to protect themselves, their homes, and their people. People like, well, Kamala Khan herself. This preserves her as a pure-hearted character who couldn’t fathom what it’s like to just be evil. She’s empathetic to those in pain or in need and she’s willing to do anything for a total stranger. This means a betrayal-style plotline, or a plotline in which someone she loves dies (Peter Parker-like) would ravage her character and make for a compelling and heartbreaking story. Do I want that to happen to her? No. But also, I’m writing these articles from the perspective of a storyteller, and the storytelling value of her innocence is spectacular, especially since we kinda need a replacement for Peter Parker at the moment since his future is a bit uncertain.

That being said, it feels like Ms. Marvel’s future should be secured- set in stone. But there’s a major issue with that. And that, is The Marvels. All-in-all, it would be fine, but something many fail to consider is that Captain Marvel is a killer. A massive killer. It’s hard to say how many people were in the Kree battleships, but Captain Marvel can kill without batting an eye. Monica Rambeau, while not a killer herself, has certainly shown her willingness to fight against people she knows and cares about for the sake of protecting others. And Ms. Marvel? She’s purely defensive. Offense is always a last resort. Carol Danvers will be a toxic influence, and I can nearly promise you that Monica and Carol will disagree, and we will probably get a duel between them at some point. And how does Ms. Marvel fit into that? So, I have three reasons Ms. Marvel is set up for failure:

1. She’s too inexperienced/innocent to be crossing over into other projects, especially not one with Captain Marvel. She at least needs one more season of her own show before she’s ready.

2. She’s not a cosmic hero, she’s a local hero. Placing her in space so suddenly, again, undermines her as a character and a hero. She needs to stay in familiar territory (earth) until she establishes herself more as a hero.

3. MCU Phase 4 sucks, and The Marvels will not be an exception. As hyped as I am for The Marvels, now, I can’t deny that most of Phase 4 has been lackluster at best. No Way Home and Thor 4 were really fun movies to watch, but inconsistent with pacing and plot quality. WandaVision and Loki were standout shows, however WandaVision was removed from it’s sitcom origins and Loki didn’t handle the introduction of Sylvie well at all (gross, Loki, don’t fall for yourself...) Shang-Chi was a pleasant surprise, but the third act was all but an absolute failure. Phase 4 just doesn’t hold a candle to Phase 3, and I’m strongly positive that a Brie Larson-led film is not going to be the exception we all want/need.

So...yeah. I’m loving Ms. Marvel as a character and a hero, I absolutely love Season 1, I’m hyped for Season 2, I love the setup they’ve done for her, and I think all of this will come to a screeching halt.

Anyhow! Thanks for reading my Clock Talk! 

misc db rambling abt gohan’s arc and character

gohan’s character arc in the manga is so fascinating because it’s the most coherent right up until it’s not. other characters have arcs as well, but his is the longest and most planned-out, with all these major story events advancing his growth as a person until it all culminates in the end of the cell saga. then you get the buu arc and suddenly he’s written out of the story SO fast it’s almost comical like you had all this buildup with the first part of the story taking place almost exclusively from his point of view and seeing his shenanigans in high school and then he has a whole training arc in the kais’ world then BOOM goku is there. the thing is, it really does make sense for that to happen at some point? because at some point toriyama had to realize that, despite his original intentions to have the story come to a definitive ending and the mantle passing from goku to gohan, his fun little story had exploded into a full-blown multimedia franchise at some point, and that meant the story was Never Going To End. and for that to happen, someone like gohan COULDN’T function as the protagonist, because he is, by nature, conflict-averse and a pacifist to boot. the story literally would not be able to continue if he were the protagonist, because without fundamentally changing his character, there simply wouldn’t be conflict. gohan is literally too smart for the story of dragon ball! he simply wouldn’t make the kinds of decisions his dad or vegeta would make that would lead to bad guys attaining their full power and becoming universe-endangering threats, he’d try to minimize the threat as quickly as possible. because HE DOESN’T LIKE FIGHTING! and that’s the problem! you can’t have that guy as the face of a martial arts story! and you can’t really change that about him, because it’s what makes him distinct and makes his occasional fights all the more compelling, as they require a powerful motivator. but yeah anyways while it does make sense for him to be relegated to supporting cast member in new db content it still stands out as odd because again, you have this whole arc of him finally accepting the mantle and responsibility of earth’s protector and then that just never ever gets spoken of ever again or properly resolved and that still rankles just a little bit. curious about what the new movie is going to do in order to bring him back to the forefront, and whether or not this is a one-time thing OR if this means he’s going to be more active in new Super storylines. honestly I kinda hope not but I guess we’ll see…in general, super has this massive hurdle of working with a cast of characters whose arcs are pretty much over, and their attempts to provide character-driven drama at the same level of the original story has had mixed results at best (squinting hard at vegeta in the dbs manga) but I can appreciate the effort. got a bit long-winded but anyways gohan is still one of my favorite characters in db and i am genuinely curious about this new attempt by the franchise to bring him into the main narrative when he’s been out of it for so long

Thoughts on finishing Devil May Cry 3

I posted a while back about my first time playing Devil May Cry and what I thought of it. Directly afterwards I opted to skip the...um...controversial second game and jump into DMC3. Despite how much I enjoyed it, it actually took me much longer to finish. This was partly due to other games in my backlog I was playing at the same time, most notably Elden Ring and Xenosaga 3. But yesterday I finally finished my Vergil playthrough and I’m ready to give my thoughts. Much like my post on the first game, this isn’t a stuctured review, just some general unfiltered impressions. 

-It goes without saying that the combat upgrades are incredible. Every weapon is distinct, and all of them are useful. And the fact that all of them can be further affected by styles adds to the variety tenfold. There’s plenty of room to experiment; or just to find a style that works for you and stick with it. Trying to use everything in one playthrough is a tad overwhelming (I didn’t even get to touch half the styles and mostly used Trickster and Swordmaster with a bit of Doppelganger), but this game does an excellent job encouraging replays for that very purpose. Especially since you can actually level select this time, so practising levels for S Ranks is much smoother.

-The boss fights were pretty much on point. I like the inclusion of Mega Man style weakness weapons to encourage you to experiment with weapons. There are certainly some strategies that work better against some bosses than others but you still have plenty of room to experiment. My favourite bosses were naturally the Vergil fights. They took everything I liked about the Nelo Angelo fights in 1 and turbo charged them. But Agni & Rudra, Beowulf and Geryon were all standouts too. Sadly, the final Arkham fight was a little disappointing. His telegraphs are hard to read, I don’t like how many times he hides out of range, and the second phase Vergil team-up, while cool story-wise, just disempowers the player by taking away Devil Trigger. Still these were the exceptions to the rule. Most bosses were excellently designed. -The presentation is leaps and bounds ahead of the first game. I admit that for me, the jump was exaggerated because I skipped 2 but still. The cutscene animation and direction is incredible, with some wonderfully ludicrous action scenes. That opening cutscene is iconic for a reason. The visuals, while they do have a lot of murky browns and greys, are excellently animated, which makes combat look superb. The grungy music is on point, but contrasted with some more poignant choral tracks. Even the script is smoother. I found it kind of jarring how many sentences in the first game were rather uncanny, they felt like they written with Google Translate. Here, every scene just flows much better. -Speaking of, the story’s actually pretty good. Ok, it’s mostly just a silly action movie plot, but as I say, the cutscenes are much better handled and there’s a pretty nice emotional core. Dante, Vergil and Lady are all fun, compelling characters with understandable motivation and interesting conflicts. Dante’s youthful exhuberence lets the aspects of his personality the first game hinted at really shine. And it makes him a blast to watch in both the cutscenes and his ingame battle animations. Vergil also has a strong introduction. He’s incredibly fun to hate, but there’s some nice subtleties to his character left unsaid that make him surprisingly engrossing. I’m not usually one for smug, edgy bois, but I enjoyed him quite a lot. Lady is just a complete badass, kicking all kinds of butt without even needing demon powers, and probably has the biggest stake in the plot. The ending especiallly felt very satisfying. Lady’s resolution (“And here I thought I wasn’t gonna cry...”) was surprisingly poignant. As was Vergil’s ending. Again, a lot goes unsaid and you can make a lot of different arguments as to why he chose to go into the demon world and leave Dante behind. It’s not high art, but it’s much better presented and more confident in itself than the last two games.

-All that being said...HOLY HECK THIS GAME IS HARD! Part of the reason it took me so much longer to get through this one was because I found myself playing other games just to take a break. Whereas DMC1 is hard, but you get used to it fairly quickly, 3 is much more punishing and demanding, even on Normal. Those bosses push you to your absolute limit. And I shudder to think how much harder the OG US PS2 version was...The difficulty is consistently fair, mind. But I could see it being a little too much for more casual players. -I’m also a little mixed on the out of combat exploration. The levels are larger and the design is more fleshed out than the first game which is nice, but it also risks overstaying its welcome. There’s a ton more backtracking and just walking around, and the creepy atmosphere isn’t quite as striking as the first game, so you feel the drag a bit more. Also, DMC, please stop trying to do platforming challenges. It worked for Bayonetta but it wasn’t fun in DMC1 or 3. It’s not quite as stiff as the first game, but it’s stil far from enjoyable.

-There’s also the inclusion of Vergil as a playable character in the special edition. Vergil’s moveset is much smaller so you don’t have quite the variety and skill ceiling of Dante, who is very much the main course. But Vergil’s toolkit is exceptionally well designed. Switching between all his weapons feels very intuitive. He’s extremely fast and mobile, and unlike Dante’s guns which are very situational, Vergil’s summon swords can be easily combined with melee attacks to break the game. Just map the swords to a trigger button so you can melee and shoot at the same time and watch the damage wrack up. As a result, Vergil’s playthrough is substantially easier. Bosses that took me a ton of attempts on Dante’s route went down first try as Vergil (including the final boss). And it was in this playthrough that I got my first few S Ranks. Vergil may only be a side offering, but he’s a blast to play and I can’t wait to see how sequels will flesh out his gameplay.

Devil May Cry 3 was certainly exhausting at times but it’s a wonderful game and rightly considered a classic. A near universal improvement on what came before. It codified the character action genre and it still holds up exceptionally well today. As brutal as it got at times, I’m looking forward to revisiting it and digging more into its systems. But before that, I plan to go through 4 and 5 so I can see how the series evolved. Hopefully I’ll have stuff to say about Devil May Cry 4 soon! But until then, take care!