#...so I would just like to mention that I really really love Placido
Video
when i talk about being really interested in little details the dub adds in vs. how things are presented the sub, and how those dub-added details and changes can give characters these neat little new facets to think about--this is a good example, one of my favorites!!!
Like, in the sub, when Primo/Placido and Lester/Lucciano have this little exchange and Lester mentions Jakob/Jose getting mad, all Primo has to say is
pretty straightforward!
But MEANWHILE, in the dub we get this BONKERS comment from Primo, this “when I’ve managed to complete the Circuit and summon the Divine Temple, then I will be the favorite, so it won’t matter what Jakob thinks.” And like, A.) oh damn, rare mention in the dub of the Ark Cradle?? I always forget they called it ‘The Divine Temple’ there, still a pretty boss name, but anyway, B.) oh I am absolutely Enthralled with this “yearning to be God’s favorite” angry desperation they’ve given Primo here, holy SHIT.
Like it’s this little idea they’re toying with that offers this new explanation for part of What Primo’s Damage Is, his violent impatience and insistence on doing things himself and in his own way--it’s not just He Is a Gijinka of How Much It Sucks to Be 19, he’s also doing everything he can to (in his own eyes) claw his way into the good graces of the Three Emperors’ God and become His favorite before the Circuit is complete and he runs out of time. I love that this implies he thinks he Isn’t in his god’s good graces currently (and, like, considering how he fucks up SEVERAL TIMES, it would perhaps make sense 🥴 he is a little bit of God’s Mistake huh)--because, considering Who Their God Really Is (that’s Z-ONE babey!!!!!!!!) and considering Who The Emperors Really Are (fragments of someone who was and is One of Z-ONE’s Closest Friends), that assumption either might not even be true, or in and of itself says, a Lot about the dynamic of Z-ONE and these walking pieces of what used to be his friend. That he can even Have favorites among them. MAN.
Dub characterization choices don’t always hit the mark, but I really do think they CAN be engaging and really cool to think about!!!!
#ygo posting#yugioh 5ds#i just love when the dub builds on these characters and offers interesting explanations for things sometimes left unexplored!! IT'S COOL#dana's yugioh clipshow#ive been thinking about this clip for months it's such a small thing but considering the Whole of iliaster's lore it's like. oh GOD. OH GOD#for the record i do think jakob being z-one's implied favorite check outs. the only one who isnt Fucking Annoying or Bad at their Job :')#if z-one had just split apo into 3 jakobs he would have won. the ark cradle would have crushed that damn city#iliasterliker9000#dana's ygo bible study
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SO I FINALLY FINISHED 5D’S! And what better way to celebrate than to go through my favorite characters as…briefly as I can
Slight spoilers I suppose?
Let’s work it up from 10 to 1
10- Jack
Was gonna go with lucchiano but who am I kidding Jack’s great. He’s a drama queen with an even more dramatic wardrobe. Never afraid to express himself and just bluntly blurt out what he thought.
His obsession with Cup ramen is on another level but what can I say? Love is love, Jack x cup ramen for life *wipes tears*
But seriously speaking he’s great. His very first line was enough proof of that. He just… apologized for being late then declared “I AM KING” like the…king he is.
My favorite Rival character still remains Manjoume… and… Yeah I still prefer Kaiba over Jack but damn was he a good rival.
Like he has to be the only Rival so far with an actual past with the Main character, no? That was pretty interesting because usually, the protagonist meets the rival somewhere during the first season and we go off from there. But here we had to go through their backstory to know what their relationship was fully like. Nice touch.
9- Aki
Hands down my favorite female protagonist so far. I adore Anzu and feel neutral enough about Asuka but Aki? NAH MAN AKI’S AMAZING. I think 5D’s just does the best job with its female characters. Like it actually gives them big enough roles. I loved how Aki got her own episodes…be it the D-wheel ones or just… fillers.
Her crush on Yusei was justified, at least it seems so to me, and honestly never got obnoxious. Sure she had a moment here and there but it was honestly never a bad thing. Hell faith shipping in general isn’t exactly a bad Idea.
Speaking of shipping, is anyone going to talk about her little frienshipmaybemore moments with Crow? No? Ok…
But anyway, overall, SHE’S AMAZING AND I LOVE HER. There was more to her than some boring pining love interest and it shows with each episode. So when people say she has a great personality, they’re actually talking about her personality. AKI RULES
8- Mikage
Would’ve been way WAY higher on the list if the thing with Jack was thrown out the widow.
That being said I think she’s the more mature of the Jack-crazy trio. Like sure she was just as into him as the other two, but in some scenes she was a lot more tolerable.
But that honestly might just be my bias towards this amazing woman speaking.
She’s devoted to her work, gentle, caring, gorgeous and just all around a wonderful character to see.
I loved most of her scenes in the series, and the fact that there was more to her than just the jack part. She actually had an important part to play in many episodes and honestly proved herself to be a very fun character. I just wish they gave a her little more screentime than what she got.
A lot of lost potential there- I mean come on.
7- Rua /Lua
He reminds me of Judai WAY too much. LIKE WAAAAY too much not to be on this list. The guy’s adorable. And I love how they made him the emotional one. Like they could’ve gone with the “the boy is always rowdy and tOUGH” stereotype, but they didn’t. Sure, ruka (who I don’t like as much) was much more gentle, but it was much easier to see Rua cry than it was to see her do so. It’s just fun is all.
I also adore his deck and that little theme that played whenever he dueled… Plus his relationship with Jack and Yusei…GOLD GOLD.
6- Ushio
I made a whole post about Him, You think he wouldn’t be in my Top 10? Well think again. Great development would see through again.
5- Sherry Leblanc
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA SHERRY.
What you just witnessed in the line above is my internal reaction to literally any scene this beautiful badass woman happens to be in.
She’s just amazing. She has this really… tough energy IDK HOW TO DESCRIBE IT BUT SHE’S A REALLY INTIMIDATING WOMAN. But not in a bad way, oh nonononono in a REALLY REALLY GOOD WAY OKAY.
Her character arcs and episodes somehow felt…really separate from the whole team 5D’s shenanigans even though they were basically connected…
Like she had her own motivation that didn’t particularly rely on bonds, but was still willing to accept and even form a bond with the whole team.
Revenge is kinda hot ngl.
Okay no it’s not. But seeing a vengeful character that WASN’T played off as evil or particularly wrong amidst a bunch of friendship is magic ones was pretty refreshing.
The moment she took her helmet off when dueling yusei I was HOOKED and so was Aki but shhhhhh.
But damn I love what they did with her at the end, Rushed as it may have been. It took her joining with Z-one briefly and dueling Aki and Crow ( a very underrated duo btw) to realize that maybe thinking of the past and only the past was not a very good idea.
Anyway love her. And her duels are always a delight to watch.
4- Placido
Before he showed up, sherry was supposed to be 4th but here we are. Placido Placido Placido. I want to make it clear that…I really couldn’t care less about Aporia as a whole. But Placido and Lucchiano were pretty fun characters.
Now I finally get to talk about my beloved.
This dude was…the biggest mood. EVER.
He would hang up in that third one’s face like it was nothing and constantly ignore his boring ass. Oh. You have a plan? Ok. I don’t care. It’s boring. I’m placido and I’ll do what I want. Kiss my D-wheel ass.
He has a lot of hilariously sassy lines, which include and I quote:
“I don’t know what god wants you to do.”
“But I won’t accept it!”
The guy just does not care and I’m living for it.
Not to mention his bee analogies which- Why have I not seen anyone point out????? BEE ANALOGIES COME ONNNNNNNN
aNYWAY PLACIDO’S GREAT
3- Kiryuu
Edgy dude with pretty hair. Also gay. Also the crash town arc. Need I say more?
I will anyway.
Honestly dark signer Kiryuu was pretty fun to me with all the crazy laughter and stuff…
Then past/ flashbacks Kiryuu was just as interesting but in a completely different way. Sure he didn’t get as many episodes or screentime as the rest, but what I saw of him was more than enough for me to care about the Character. Like unlike the old satellite gang (Rally and the other two whose names I can’t even remember) I actually gave a shit about this guy when bad stuff happened to him.
Not to mention his growth. Like…He went through reverse/ negative development, then uphill by the end of the signers’ ark with all the…dying in your hands gayly stuff, then downhill again by the beginning of the crosstown arc….aaaaand back up and higher than ever by the end of it. Basically the fact that his development wasn’t always constant just added some spice.
Plus his dynamic with his ex-teammates…team….satisfaction (Try saying that with a straight face) was always pretty entertaining, especially his with Yusei.
Speaking of which...
2- Yusei
With all my talk about him…and…my profile picture…and URL, it may come as a surprise that he’s not number 1 here, but honestly it’s so close you could call it a tie.
As for why I love him….Have you- Have you seen my blog????? Do I even..need to say anything????
1- Crow
Now there’s a lot I have to say about Crow honestly hE’S JUST THAT COOL, but I’m saving it to talk about later still. All I’ll say for now is this:
Flashy guy with an amazing sense of style, an earring and an incredible amount of cockiness and charisma. What’s not to like?
#AH MAN THIS WAS A RIDE#BUT IT'S TIME TO START ZEXAL NOW#...First impressions soon I GUESS?#Still putting off the crow thing because I KNOW I'll literally NEED to write about him I just do#Jack atlas#Izayoi Aki#Mikage sagiri#Rua#sherry leblanc#Placido 5D's#Placido#kyosuke kiryu#Yusei fudo#Crow hogan#Ygo#Yugioh 5D's#haven't been That active anywhere for a few days because of personal stuff but HERE I AM
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Sondra and Piotr Met concert
And so we begin! I’ll put it all under a cut.
And we open with Christine Goerke and Peter Gelb yammering about how these concerts are done. I’m barely paying attention.
“Pace, pace, mio Dio” From Verdi’s La Forza del Destino
Sondra looks and sounds amazing. The setting is gorgeous and very dramatic. The picture quality is crap, though. Hopefully it gets straighten out. I know from watching the Jonas concert, the Met can do better than this. The sound is fine. More importantly, when is the Met going to do this opera with Sondra starring? Because I need that in my life. Also, her decrescendo then into a crescendo at one point is just ridiculous. This woman is a goddess.
“Oh! fede negar potessi ... Quando le sere al placido” From Verdi’s Luisa Miller
Oh, Piotr is all slightly unbuttoned and handsome, as well as being in excellent voice. (I’ll try to get some screencaps later.) Holy crap, this is just fantastic. I need to watch Luisa Miller again when the Met restreams it. I’ve only seen it one time, and Verdi doesn’t always land with me immediate, but almost always grows on me.
“Teco io sto ... Non sai tu che se l’anima mia ... Oh qual soave brivido” From Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera
Duet time! Also, I freaking love Un ballo. Anyhow, they are unsurprisingly wonderful together, their two huge voices just ringing in the great space they have. But then they get all soft and tender and it’s so damned lovely. Sigh. Aw! Now they’re hold hands. It’s so cute.
Now Piotr is chatting, but not for long.
“Come un bel dì di Maggio” From Giordano’s Andrea Chénier
Piotr is really getting into this. It’s lovely.
“La mamma morta” From Giordano’s Andrea Chénier
Sondra slowly walks back up to the piano, very serious and in character. OK. For real. I’m just going to need to see Sondra in every role she sings today, aren’t I?
“Vicino a te s’acqueta … La nostra morte” From Giordano’s Andrea Chénier
And another duet. This starts a little lower for Piotr, and he sounds really nice. Oh, and of course, they’re holding hands again. 😊 And then they hug…just as the camera pans away to the pianist. Harrumph. Anyhow, I’ve never really gotten into this opera, but I would so watch the two of them do it.
Break. And we’re back to Goerke, who introduces arias from old Live in HD performances. First is Piotr in Adriana Lecouvreur, then Sondra with Dima in Un ballo. And again let me state my absolute fury at the fact I can’t buy this Un ballo on DVD. WTF Met?
Also, Goerke adds a tidbit about how she and Sondra were roommates when they were in the Met’s young artists program, and apparently had the loudest apartment.
“Sola, perduta, abbandonata” From Puccini’s Manon Lescaut
Return to Sondra live, staggering back out to sing the shit out of this aria.
“Mamma, quel vino è generoso” From Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana
OK. This is just great. I seriously want to see Piotr sing this whole role, even though he’s so sweet and Turridu is an absolute shit, even by tenor standards.
“Io son l’umile ancella” From Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur
Do I actually even need to say how perfectly Sondra sings this? Where is her verismo album? I want to put it on repeat.
“Szumią jodły na gór szczycie” From Moniuszko’s Halka
I know @babinicz is eager to hear about this one. 😉 Seriously, such a lovely aria, and is it too trite to say Piotr sounds incredibly at home singing this? Because he’s really fantastic. Honestly, I think this is his best of the concert.
And now Sondra chats about hope for live performances to return soon and stuff. Then she gets choked up as she dedicates “Song to the Moon” to her father. (Which, btw, she says is her favorite aria.)
Song to the Moon From Dvořák’s Rusalka
Predicably gorgeous.
Prince’s Aria From Dvořák’s Rusalka
I feel like Piotr is just hitting his stride and getting better and better as the concert goes on. I wonder if after the duet there might be an encore, because he sounds good to go. (Spoiler—no encore.)
Final Duet From Dvořák’s Rusalka
They are so into this. It’s wonderful. Not to mention they both still sound so good. If this went on all night, I’d happily keep watching. Aw! They smooched. But again, the camera pulled away just when they did. These two totally deserved better camera work. Piotr is just breaking my heart here—so delicate and beautiful.
And now bows with their accompanist.
FYI, the picture quality was shit until the end. Disappointing. Still, I’m sure I’ll watch this again in the next two weeks. The singing is fantastic.
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YGO Questionnaire
Tagged by @howaboutalittlehelpneos (thank you, Zen)
I don’t actually use this platform to talk very often-- I’m more often than not content to be a silent lurker-- but this is a fun opportunity to talk about the Special Interest, so hell yeah! Fair warning, this isn’t exactly spoiler free.
Favorite series: This isn’t really a difficult pick for me-- out of all of them, GX is the one that resonates with me the most! There’s a lot of aspects I look for when it comes to storytelling, and GX just happens to check a lot of boxes; I’m a sucker for a good coming-of-age story, and with devotion, deconstruction of common shounen archetypes, well-written representation of mental illness, and even the rare but important sentiment that reckless altruism is not, in fact, a good thing? It’s pretty much everything I could want out of a story.
I know a lot of people say that season 3 is the one that makes GX worth watching, and while s3 is my favorite, I honestly believe that it’s all worth watching; the filler episodes (in season one especially) are genuinely entertaining and really contribute to the show’s theme of growing up and changing, and I love the earlier episodes just as much as the later ones.
Go watch GX-- it’s just so gooooood
I will say, if I had to pick a close second, it would be 5Ds-- GX just has a special place in my heart.
Favorite Protagonist: Most people who know me know the answer to this one-- it’s Yusei. No contest whatsoever.
I have gone on no shortage of long, rambly essays about why I love this boy too damn much-- part of it is just because I personally connect with him in a lot of ways, part of it is just because he’s so compelling and interesting, from the depth of his guilt over something he had no hand in to the fact that his desperation to save people has almost become his sole aspiration. I could talk for a while about how much and why I love him, but I can just leave it at saying that I think he’s a really wonderful character, protagonist, and he gets the serotonin going. (I have a little Yusei charm on my keys that just brings a smile to my face every time I look at it, lmao)
crab boy is the best boy.
Favorite Rival: Hoo boy this was a hard one for me because my taste in fictional characters ranges from holy and good (see: Yusei and Yugi) to literal garbage, so I adore pretty much every rival in every Yugioh series I’ve watched. (minus Jack-- I’m not exactly a Jack fan lmao) But if I did have to pick (and I do), it would have to be Manjoume.
He’s just... such a good character. I think the anime does him dirty in a lot of ways, but his character arc is just so GOOD. He starts the series out with no genuine friends-- just people who follow him around because of his name and influence, but he forms sincere friendships over the course of the series and manages to grow past his fear of loss, and it’s just... wonderful. I was so genuinely proud of him when he could stand up again and resolve just to try again after losing by the final season; it displayed so much growth in one statement and it made me really happy. Is it strange to feel genuine pride for a fictional character? Maybe. Do I care? No.
Honorable mentions go to both Seto Kaiba and Shark, too! It was a tough choice between these three.
Favorite BFF: This is a hard one-- I’d say Johan no contest if I counted him as a best friend, but I don’t because he always read as a love interest to me lmao so I’m just gonna say Joey
I’m really not all that fond of Duel Monsters, to tell you the truth? I find the story flat and while there are some good concepts, nothing ever really seemed to have an impact, but Joey always stood out to me as one of the few characters that actually actively developed and grew as the story unfolded. He was a genuine delight and I appreciate him both as a well-written character and as an interesting narrative foil to Kaiba. I just wish more current media took him seriously and respected him lmao (looking at you, Duel Links)
Favorite GFF: Aki! Easily Aki, even if I find her lack of relevance later in the story absolutely tragic. I don’t really know what I expected when she was introduced, but she proved to be a lot more interesting and well-written than I anticipated-- her backstory is heartbreaking, the spiral she goes down as the people who are supposed to uplift and take care of her reject her and regard her as a monster is very understandable, and she’s just... such an interesting, well-written, and flawed character. I didn’t agree with all of her actions, of course, but I think that was the point in the end, and I wish there could have been more focus on her recovery from everything that happened with Arcadia and her moving forward from Divine’s manipulation and all. There’s a lot of potential there that just didn’t get tapped.
god I love her
Favorite Villain: VECTORRRR
I’m not fond of any of GX’s villains (minus Saiou and Camula), I do like 5Ds’s villains but just not as much as Vector, and as much as I adore Marik, Bakura, and Pegasus... my only justification is just that he’s Vector
(using the squishy Vector, in honor of Zen)
S tier design, genuinely entertaining villain despite how despicable his actions are, charismatic, and actually legitimately competent-- I didn’t trust his little carrot bitch facade the first time around, but he had me several times after that. He’s just... so well-written, so well-performed, and so good altogether. I think he’s the best villain across all of the series.
Favorite Card:
As much as I love my Aromages... Stardust Dragon and Rainbow Dragon have special places in my heart.
Favorite Episode: I also have to go series-by-series here.
Season 0: Episode 7 - “The Underhanded Digital Pet Rebellion”; this whole episode was just a wild ride in concept and in execution, and I loved it-- genuinely wasn’t expecting that plot twist either!
Duel Monsters: Episodes 96-97 - “Darkness vs. Darkness/One Turn Kill” - Again, I’m not big on DM, but I love these episodes just because of how much of a bitch Bakura is the whole way through. Marik and Bakura bickering like a married couple is also good content.
GX: Episode 152 - “Activate Super-Fusion! Rainbow Neos” - I have rewatched this episode a ridiculous number of times-- I just love seeing Judai’s efforts to save Johan finally pay off, and the moment where he saves him again at the end is just... so so good. Easy favorite.
5Ds: Episodes 86-92 (Crash Town)/106-110 - Okay, I’m cheating here, but I couldn’t deciiiide. I loved seeing Kiryu’s arc wrapped up so neatly and just the aesthetic of Crash Town, and then the entire duel with Placido in the WRGP arc where Shooting Star Dragon gets summoned is SO good. I genuinely couldn’t decide.
Zexal: Episode 143 - “The Aloof Duelist ‘Nasch’: The Destined Final Duel” - Not going to lie, I bawled like a fool at the end of this episode, and I picked it primarily because it impacted me so much emotionally. Shark’s parting words to Yuma did in fact make me weep and @howaboutalittlehelpneos can testify.
Favorite decks to use: I mostly use Aromages, but I try to also use my Magician Girl, Crystal Beast, and Junk Synchro deck too!
Fusion, Ritual, Synchro, XYZ, Pendulum, or Link?: I’m a Synchro lover myself, but fusions entertain me as well~
Years in fandom: I’ve been here since April lol
Who am I tagging: I don’t really interact with many people and I’m kind of shy as is, so... whoever wants to?
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Here’s my much more controversial take on the nature of Harry Potter criticism (hatred), and how it’s come to affect the Fantastic Beasts series.
As I’ve said, I noticed something particularly forced about the nature of the negativity surrounding FB1 back in 2016 - forced hit-pieces that criticize the film but apparently barely comprehended it...regurgitations of the plot not accurately depicting the film at all, showing a lack of attention and active listening among certain audience members. It was insulting, and people kept on looking for excuses to consider the film a disappointment despite the good reviews from the audience and fans, and the good box office performance, not to mention the esteemed accolades from the Academy and BAFTA.
The criticism for FB2 seems motivated by personal feelings based on certain plot points, the same lack of active listening and a determination to blame the film for your lack of superficial enjoyment or comprehension, and determined negativity in the face of completely unwarranted controversy and a bro-y, anti-intelligent rejection of the complexity and thematic maturity of the story. And the latter part is something Harry Potter has always struggled with.
People don’t like dark, thoughtful films in the US. Everything either has to have tons of action and/or tons of humor. Blockbuster four-quadrants even in the eyes of critics, “shouldn’t take themselves too seriously”...and when they do, that’s grounds for panning? For vicious insults? And insinuations that, in fact, it isn’t the film that’s too cerebral for them. It’s the audience that is too cerebral for the film.
But dare you express this sentiment, and you’re simply met with exclamations of “pretentiousness!” and arrogance...which is, of course, ironic and hypocritical.
My point is, I don’t want to see Rowling sell out. Of course there’s allowed to be difference in opinion and we should consider the flaws of every piece, but the Fantastic Beasts films arrived with a seething, unwarranted, determined underbelly of hatred to begin with, and that makes it hard to stomach some of the “criticism” it’s faced and consider it legitimate or professional. Alongside the usual absurd, meaningless imputations of “greed” (yes, every film is essentially a “cash grab”...stop using that buzzword guys, it means nothing) the biggest, most ridiculous criticism I see comes from people who really don’t want to let their condescension of this series go. They still want to treat it like it’s a lighthearted kids series despite that fact that 1) it’s not 2) it hasn’t been for kids in quite a while, for the majority of its run, and has always been quite dark and 3) Fantastic Beasts 1, to prove this, played to an audience of 65% over 25 year olds. FB2 played to an audience of nearly 70% over 25 year olds. And there’s minimal marketing to kids, yet people keep acting like it’s a franchise for kids.
That box office breakdown? The Nicholas Barber and Dani Di Placido reviews who’s entire critique revolves around “it’s too dark for a kids film!”, that go back to Harry Potter era when, film after film, people complained in reviews that it “was darker than any children’s film had the right to be”...the Dana Schwartz tweets and articles that indicate the perfect problem that these types of audiences face as the Fantastic Beasts series progresses...there are adults at the center of these films. They’re actually dark. They’re not child friendly. They’re hardly even marketed as a family film and they play at the box office like adult blockbusters, and in a sense, they are adult fantasies, and that sensibility stretches back to the Harry Potter series.
People like Dana Schwartz LOVE to write articles about how “Harry Potter is only good for small-scale escapism”, and this, in my opinion, is indicative of the problem facing audiences now...they’re forced to realize that in their determination to believe Harry Potter is lighthearted and for kids, they’ve ignored the fact that it is neither lighthearted NOR appropriate for young children. It was a series for teens and this new series is an extension from that original audience. Audiences have spent so long being enchanted by the Harry Potter series for very superficial reasons that have almost nothing to do with the characters or the plot. But they won’t ever admit to that. In their determination to see HP as cozy and quaint and child-friendly, they’ve mentally edited out, censored, and sanitized everything that makes the original series dark and adult...creating a warped, rose-tinted, shallow, conflict-less version of the original story that barely resembles the story. It resembles the version of the story that’s most friendly to their belief that it’s for kids. But, AGAIN, it’s not.
And so we get these warped, confused reactions to the Fantastic Beasts series full of people who are incapable of following a novelistic plot like they did while “reading” (but mostly only watching, and not fully comprehending) the original series. Expectations going into these movies are for lighthearted and kid-friendly content that these films don’t deliver...because Rowling doesn’t write lighthearted and kid-friendly content, for the most part. You have a maddening variety of reactions that mostly consist of: people who selectively attend to the few bits and sequences of lightheartedness and mild humor to keep that rose-tinted, child-friendly view in tact, coming out with a vastly incomplete and inadequate understanding of the plot. Then you have the same people who insist the film is “tonally jumbled” because they expected lightheartedness, and instead got thematic heaviness, darkness, violence, and melancholy, which interferes with their expectations and wants. Then you have the people that complain that the series is “too grimdark”. And because of the thematic riskiness and adult nature of the material, you have people attacking Rowling for being “problematic”, viciously attempting to outsmart her and make her look stupid, and arrogant, inaccurate interpretations of her stories to try to fit a pre-determined criticism.
All in all, I cringe at the idea of the GA and certain critics forcing something like Rowling’s Wizarding World into the space of WB’s new DC franchise. These stories have such depth, detail, and intelligence that people refuse to acknowledge and credit them with, and frankly, Rowling deserves way better than that. I think Rowling should pull this brand away and keep it in literature. Do the theme parks even need to stay open? Force people to read a book. Call off the merchandising, the video games, the films, just write books. Write Fantastic Beasts as a novel series and don’t even allow WB or anyone else to adapt it into films, because the blockbuster GA and the armchair critics should be forced to form another pathway in their brains, and actually invest in a novel. Instead of distracting themselves with silly excuses and endeavors, and reasons to characterize Harry Potter and further Rowling stories as blockbuster schlop along the lines of a superhero series.
To the silly, condescending assholes saying this franchise takes itself too seriously: it’s a series based off of Rowling’s experiences with death, poverty, depression, and abuse, and all of her written works deal with analogues and themes that she feels passionately about. She’s not a corporate filmmaker like George Lucas. And she shouldn’t put up with the abuse, the ignorance, the determined hatred, and the condescension for one second. This is an urban fantasy story about WW2. I suppose Rowling was mistaken for thinking that an audience that still believes her work to be for kids would ever stomach that.
TLDR; I’m aware of the main criticism regarding the film and it’s plot, but my issue came from the over-inflated negativity that’s come at this film for a rather small reason. Because even negative reviewers of the film said that the film was well made. And so my issue lies here: The film, in terms of direction, cinematography, design, acting, score, theme, and world-building has been praised consistently by esteemed critics. And yet we’re calling the film “the worst film of the year”, wishing the franchise ruin, and determinedly construing BO numbers negatively and giving it bad publicity for reasons like 1) “I hate Johnny Depp/J.K. Rowling/David Yates” 2) “I don’t like that the story went this way and did this with these characters” 3) “it was boring/convoluted/too plot-heavy” 4) “it’s too dark”
One of the most egregious RT certified examples:
“The film acted as a kind of reverse-Mirror of Erised - showing me exactly everything that I didn’t want”
-The Mary Sue
These aren’t objective criticisms. Since when do personal expectations and feelings about the direction of the narrative constitute as objective film criticism to decide the word-of-mouth and general publicity surrounding a film?! Even when most concede the film is well made, it’s still being trashed by some, even by the same people who concede this, because...it’s boring and “too much happens”? There are MANY films that are worse made that have just as overstuffed and convoluted a plot that haven’t gotten the bad publicity that this film has because of nothing but franchise good-will.
My stipulation is that a vocal minority of people are being melodramatic and over-inflating their negative reviews because of personal feelings regarding the story and “canon”, just as some are trying to find excuses to avoid crediting the story with the maturity it deserves to be credited with, in the face of an even darker and more aggressively political film.
Does Rowling’s voice, her themes, and her style need emphasizing? I’d encourage people to read everything she’s written to realize that Rowling is not a dewy-eyed, lighthearted woman, if Harry Potter wasn’t dark enough to display that to begin with: in her writing, Rowling is obsessed with exploring themes of death, life, trauma, political corruption, and bigotry. She’s fascinated by the facets of life that are mundane and often ugly, outcasted, or weird. And she loves subversion, twists on tones, archetypes, and genres. She often ruminates, in all of her work, on the dark underbelly of society and human nature, and focuses on our tendency for irrational and despicable violence, self-hatred, discrimination, corruption and power-lust, sadomasochism, murder, torture, rape, you name it. It’s a recurring theme. Harry sacrifices himself to death after the murder, maiming, and torture of his loved ones at the hands of incredibly sadistic and depraved fascist villains who aren’t above killing and harming children, to protect his compatriots and loved ones. Kyrstal Weedon kills herself with her mother’s drugs after being raped by her mother’s drug dealer and tangentially causing the death of her brother after running away from her drug dealing prostitute mother to conceive a child with a teenage boy. Cormoran Strike investigates crimes pertaining to all manner of human evils, including authors that ruminate on pedophilia, bestiality, and necrophilia, people with amputation fetishes, sexual attraction to murder and abuse, and the Fantastic Beasts series has started a running theme of infant murder and death, vicious abuse, and morally gray acts of violence, some of it righteous and vengeful. Can you think of the last film that killed a baby (or two) in any way? The only film I can think of is the Hard R Darren Aronofsky Thriller, Mother! “But Harry Potter is so lighthearted and fun!”
People need to stop so violently and inaccurately mischaracterizing Rowling’s work as lighthearted simply because they have nostalgic attachment to some of the superficial elements of her original series. Unfortunately, some people don’t like Harry Potter for the story and that’s why they don’t see it as the often dark, horrific, complex, and melancholic story that it ultimately is. And that surface-level plane of attachment can’t sustain any sort of long term interest in further Wizarding World stories, unfortunately. That is why the Fantastic Beasts stories are being treated the way they are. Your superficial, childish interest in only Hogwarts Houses and Quidditch isn’t very substantive, and can’t sustain your interest in something that’s incredibly plot heavy! Rowling is known for giving the reader more. That’s why her books are known for being very long. And that’s why the only major criticism this film is dealing with is - “the story is too convoluted and overstuffed”.
#fantastic beasts#harry potter#fantastic beasts and where to find them#newt scamander#newtina#grindelwald#crimes of grindelwald#fbawtft#fbtcog
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You know, I think the one thing that really, baffles me, about the hate that Ryoken gets (both just the character and in relation to being shipped with, anyone but esp the protag) is that the one main argument I see for why he’s a “bad person” is due to his actions in season 1 the consequences of them had he succeeded.
But like, since WHEN has ‘this character did bad things and hurt/almost hurt innocent people’ ever stopped anyone from liking villains/antagonist in this series or stopped them from shipping them with the protagonist/other characters.
Like, this argument could be used against TONS of different YGO characters(including many of the rival type characters) that I see people drooling over all the time.
Case in point a non comprehensive list (and before anyone thinks I’m trying to say you can’t like these characters, I’m not. In fact *I* like a number of these characters) Also heads up for minor spoilers for all the series since a number of antagonists/villains made this list:
Seto Kaiba: In the manga he was the first villain/antagonist and actually tried to straight up MURDER Yugi and his friends. In the anime this wasn’t present (save for the Toei anime) however he was still, at the very least, a bully who would verbally tear down anyone he saw as ‘beneath him’ (so everyone) and was condescending and belittling and tried to blow up the tower the Battle City finals were in, while people were still in it! We call that manslaughter folks.
Pegasus: Multiple counts of kidnapping and soul stealing
Yami Malik: Killed his own father, attempted murder of Rishid as well as the rest of the cast.
Yami Bakura/Thief King Bakura: The main/end game antagonist of the series. Also in the manga he murdered Pegasus.
Dartz and his Orichalcos group: Mind control, kidnapping, stealing souls, trying to destroy the world. Typical villain fare. Also Dartz fucked up Valon, Rafael and Amelda’s lives and caused many, many deaths.
Takuma Saiou: Literally started a cult and tried to destroy the world (granted he gets a slight pass cause he was being possessed)
Judai Yuki: Commits multiple acts of mass murder as a tyrant king.
Yubel: Possesses multiple people, kidnaps Johan, tries to destroy multiple worlds at once by fusing them together, hurt Judai by hurting his friends.
Jack Atlas: Stole his best friend’s D-Wheel and best card and leaves him and a child out to drown in the ocean as he fucks off to The City.
Kiryu: Nearly killed a man. Joined the Dark Signers and tried to destroy the world.
Placido/Jose/Lucciano/Aporia: The main antagonists of the last half of the series. Attempt to kill various members of the cast at various points in time and their end goal involves the total annihilation of Neo Domino(kill millions/billions to save the world,allegedly). Lucciano nearly kills Rua in their first fight when he’s flung off a bridge and as Aporia attempts to kill Rua, Ruka and Jack during the final arc and actually succeeds causing the death of one of them (for a short time anyways, they get better)
Paradox: Literally travelled back in time to murder Pegasus and also caused the deaths of a number of innocent bystanders in the process.
Any of the Arclight siblings (Chris/Thomas/Michal): Thomas is arguably the worst of them in terms of what he did but they all at various points do pretty awful things (mainly at the behest of their dad). Chris kidnapped Haruto, Thomas was responsible for what happened to Rio, Michal killed Astral (temporarily)
Kaito: Ran around stealing people’s souls to obtain their Numbers cards and just left their soulless bodies lying around.
Any of the Barian Emperors: Like, pick on. Either as a Barian or in their first life they probably did bad things (or in both lives in Vector’s case, who committed mass murder by way of slaughtering his entire country in his past life as well as turning his own allies into puppets/trying to kill them in his Barian life)
Don Thousand: The main villain of the whole damn series who wants to destroy the Astral World, and Earth, basically all life. Also screwed over the lives of the Barian Emperors and his influence on them also indirectly caused the deaths of MILLIONS.
Yuri: Responsible for multiple kidnappings and cardings of innocent people, all things he did very willingly and remorselessly.
Actually just about anyone from Academia’s side of things at some point in time.
Arc V Kaito: Literally went around carding anyone who stood in his way, friend or foe.
Zarc: Again, the end game big bad who literally DID destroy the world, then came together and tried to do it again
Like, I have seen love (and in some cases lust) for literally ALL of these characters (some more than others) and some of them have MASSIVE shipping fan bases and pretty much all these characters were either villains or antagonists at some point in the story. But I rarely-if at all in some cases-see people going ‘you only like X because they’re hot’ or ‘X did all these awful things you shouldn’t like him’ about these characters. And make no mistake, people do like some of these characters cause they think they’re attractive (also, what’s wrong with that anyways? I’m shallow enough to admit I like some characters simply cause they’re really pretty).
Interestingly, Ryoken, esp in the first season, fits the definition for an anti-villain (like the opposite of an anti-hero) more than he does just straight villain (at least once we get context for his actions)
‘...a character with heroic goals, personality traits, and/or virtues who is ultimately villainous. Their desired ends are mostly good, but their means of getting there are evil.’
-TVTropes
Which is, basically what S1 Ryoken was doing, though mostly at the whims of his father. He wanted to destroy the Ignis in order to save humanity, it’s just when the first few attempts failed, he went along with his father’s final, last ditch effort to deal with them which was the Tower of Hanoi (and make no mistake, the Tower was 100% Dr. Kogami’s idea, Ryoken went along with it cause, family loyalty). The results might kill a great number of people, but if it destroyed the Ignis then it would ultimately save even more in the long run. A heroic goal (saving humanity) with a not so heroic way of getting there (nuking the internet and potentially causing a massive loss of life in the process).
I’m not saying you have to like him, god knows I dislike a number a characters, including some of the ones mentioned here, but like, it just feels like a weird double standard to use these arguments against Ryoken, but never on any of these other characters. Or at least not to the same extent that they’re used on him.
And this is just YuGiOh characters. I can 100% guarantee you that there are characters in other series that have far worse things than Ryoken ever did that are massively loved/praised by their fandoms (and also got redemption arcs). Vegeta is the first one to come to mind (and he *actually* killed people).
#yugioh#long post#vrains#some salt#at least he doesn't *actually* have blood on his hands does seem to feel remorse for his actions#can't say that about some of the ppl I listed
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I'm sending this again because my internet cut out just as I was sending it initially so I don't know if it went through. But 22 & 23 for any YGO series cause I can't pick one.
yea i don’t see another ask in my box so looks like you made the right call.
anyways, what if i did it for all of the series except vrains ig because it’s only got the one season out so far and i don’t feel like passing judgement on it yet.
22. popular character that you hate
DM - i actually don’t have any characters that i hate hate from DM, mostly ‘cause it’s been so long since i’ve properly watched the series that i don’t actually really have intense feelings for it? also because my main experience was the dub, which made everyone snarky and hilarious so even if i would have hated them under normal circumstances. if we went by character type tho i think i woulda hated dartz the most, tho? he’s not popular popular but i know he has his fans.
GX - hate anyone? from GX? nah. next
5D’s - team ragnarok. again, i don’t hate them, but my god they were boring as hell and in the end they were hamfisted excuses for allies that got very little character development and were pretty much there to make sure that team 5D’s got up to the arc cradle and that’s it. it might have also been tournament arc fatigue kicking in, but honestly we didn’t even see hide nor hair of them until after Yliaster entered themselves in their own tourney and so ugggghhh all their inflated importance rubbed me the wrong way.
ZEXAL - hating anyone from zexal is impossible, bye
ARC-V - kurosaaaaakiiiiiiiiiiiii shuuuuu- okay again, not hate, but man his character rubbed me the wrong way because it felt too flat and what character development he did get was hamfisted and too late but then again that was pretty much all the characters in arc-v. so it’s not that i’m singling him out it’s that he’s the one who stood out to me that had potential and was screwed over and also he’s probably the most popular out of all the characters i can think of. like. absurdly popular.
23) unpopular character that you love?
DM - tristan? i don’t think he’s unpopular in moreso that he tends to be ignored for duke iirc but i like the guy. stalwart and dependable is his middle name but he also tends to be pushed aside a lot as the one out of focus guy, haaaa.
GX - i don’t think he’s unpopular either, but Chronos absolutely needs more love and attention and respect, na no ne. he’s grown so much as a person and as a teacher. i love it? i love him.
5D’s - honestly? i think Mukuro deserved more attention. in show, i mean. he was usually only there to be trashed by Jack, but his duel with Yusei showed that he actually DOES have reason to be confident in his skills because he trains hard for them, and he clearly respects a good duel by how he reacts to his loss with Yusei as opposed to how he does with Jack, (and alternate universe shows that he teams up with Yusei and Aki in a riding duel tournament, so. PLEASE.) and and and. he needs more attention. he’s great. why wasn’t he in the wrgp. also idk if he’s popular or not but jose. mostly because is anyone in the iliasterbot hivemind Aporia paid atteniton to other than placido? i see tons of placido bee jokes but nothing about jose and lucciano and honestly? i love how lucciano is portrayed in tag force 5 because they really utilize the potential of his character so i guess i can safely say i love all the characters that make up aporia other than bitchboots. (bitchboots is fine, but he’s also boring.)
ZEXAL - hey. i really like tokunosuke. he gets overlooked a lot because of how tricksy he is and how little attention yuma’s squad gets after WDC, but still. tokunosuke is great. do more with him.
ARC-V - sawtatari saaaaaaa (okay i know he’s not unpopular but i’m biased and i love him the most, fuckit, i have to mention him because he really doesn’t get that much attention compared to the yusquad and yuzusquad). anyways hey. you know who got a small character arc and everyone forgot about? fishing guy. he was great. too bad he got carded.
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"if you knew my entire history involving Yusei Fudo from Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s" irgendwann mal davon erzählt? kommt mir so neu vor. ich hatte jetzt nie so das Gefühl, dass du Yusei so sehr magst. Crow aber schon! :D
So, you’re basically asking what said history is, right? I’m actually gonna answer this in English since my mental capacity to answer in a language other than English is shot rn.
BUCKLE UP, FRIENDS. IT’S STORY TIME.
I’ve mentioned this before, but it took me three times to actually get through the first episode of 5D’s. But, the reason I couldn’t get through it was not because I thought the characters weren’t interesting.
As a matter of fact, the first character I “latched onto” (so to speak) was Yusei Fudo. Sure, I thought Jack Atlus was an interesting, loud character, but I didn’t particularly like him yet. But, Yusei (at the time) was a breath of fresh air for me in the midst of anime main protags with no backbone whatsoever or cheery characters with little to no concept of the world around them. (partially why it took me 12 years to properly watch YGO GX lmao)
So yeah, Yusei Fudo. Great guy. Love him.
Then, I watched episode 30. Crow-sama easily replaces Yusei as my favorite 5D’s character, (especially after it’s revealed he’s taking care of five kids like I’m such a sucker for characters who have such a soft spot for children.) but Yusei is still easily in the top three.
Episode 46 rolls around. The episode where Rudger spills the beans he knew Yusei’s dad and he does the cowardly thing of using Rally to duel Yusei right when he’s about to lose.
And that’s when the whole “UGH. I HATE YUSEI. DON’T EVEN BOTHER TRYING TO CONVINCE ME HE’S A GOOD CHARACTER.” phase started and off-and-on lasted for seven years.
Even though I’m really embarrassed about this phase now, I actually do understand why it started. Even when I rewatched the episode last year, I still felt that sense of anger not towards the ones responsible for making Yusei react the way he did to Rally’s “disappearance” (a friend we didn’t even get any backstory for as to how they met) as opposed to Martha’s (his foster mother), but rather to Yusei himself. I did realize Yusei’s reaction to Rally’s disappearance was just a result of all his emotions building up, but it just seemed 1) really out of character for Yusei considering his priorities and 2) insensitive.
I was honestly so pissed at Yusei back in 2009 like ok, Rally might be a good friend and all, but you haven’t given us any reason to care for Rally more than your own foster mother. Why do you react more violently to Rally’s “disappearance” than Martha’s? What the FUCK, my dude?
Which, looking back on that moment, it’s kind of weird I had that reaction, considering it’s not like I got along well with my parents at that point in time (although, at the time, I was big into “respecting my elders” deal, so maybe that was part of it). So why would I care about how Yusei reacts to his foster mom’s disappearance as oppose to Rally’s?
I do realize part of it was that I didn’t particularly like Rally at that point in time either (to this day, I’m still not sure why. He just rubbed me the wrong way, I guess. He was okay to me during my rewatch tho.), so why does he deserve more of a reaction than Martha, a character I did like?
So, that’s where the bitterness started.
Because how could a character I really like just disappoint me to the extreme like that? I thought he was better.
Then, I was incredibly bitter towards Yusei up until episode 57. Right when I decided I kinda sorta liked him again, he falls into the Momentum. Great timing on my part, amirite?
And really, that should’ve been it. I should have been able to like Yusei from that point on, right?
I should’ve. But, unfortunately, that’s not what happened.
What happened in between my liking him again (but not as much, in case the crab sonovabitch decided to annoy me again –> middle school logic) and my not liking him again after he fails to Accel Synchro against Placido that first time was honestly the core reason why I hated him for so long.
Insert the extremist Yusei Fudo fans of the YGO 5D’s fandom here.
Honestly, they probably would not have bothered me as much as they did had it not been for the fact that they consistently attacked Crow-sama, calling him a Gary Stu, ugly (yes. several people have called Crow-sama ugly. still baffles me.) worthless 5D’s character who stole everyone’s development and what not while Yusei Fudo was the perfect cinnamon roll who could do no wrong (*hollowed laughter*).
At this point? Crow-sama already saved my life for the better (go here [it’s a link] if you haven’t read that story) so I was not in the mood to let these fans desecrate my 5D’s fave, who saved and changed my life, like that.
And, as an added bonus, many of these vehemently anti-Crow-sama fans also happened to be Faithshippers (YuseixAki). Hence why that ship is my biggest NOTP to this day, although I do respect the individuals who ship it but don’t attack others for not shipping it.
So I made it a mission to find and point out the flaws in Yusei’s character whenever I could. Of course, the people who needed that pointed out of them weren’t gonna care because they wouldn’t see, but I still did it for my peace of mind.
The ironic thing is, when I first watched 5D’s and when I rewatched it, I realized they were right to an extent.
Yusei was a “perfect” character.
But that wasn’t necessarily a good thing because he didn’t get any development. So what was the point of his perfection?
Of course, I love Yusei now and, like I said before, I’m still very much embarrassed about my anti-Yusei Fudo phase. But, I also still recognize that Yusei was a failure as far as a character in a story goes. He has no clear development arc and the show rewards him for that, which isn’t fair for everyone else in the show who’s gone through so much to have their development arcs.
Even if everyone else in the show changed because of Yusei, Yusei should experience some change because of what he experiences. But he didn’t.
So yeah, that’s my history with the guy. :D
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uhhh Jacuzzi, Carnea, Fermet
Jacuzzi: One of the first favorites. I have plenty to say about him, but on the other hand I feel like I’ve said plenty about him already so its starting to sound repetitive.
Why I like them: He’s so damn brave. He’s one of the few mortals in the cast without any skill in fighting or otherwise superhuman ability, but he never hestitates to rush in when somebody needs help. He’s afraid and he knows he’s afraid, but he pushes past it anyway.
Why I don’t: I swear, sometimes it feels like this kid is trying to get himself killed. Just because you CAN be killed doesnt mean you SHOULD be.
Favorite episode (scene if movie): The Delinquents That Turn Up In The High Class Neighborhood Are The Same As Always. Jacuzzi being kind and brave and selfless, PLUS heartbreaking backstory, PLUS him fainting dead away at the mention of THE RAYUL TRAYSAH. Its totally my favorite episode.
Favorite season/movie/arc: Honestly, the Flying Pussyfoot arc is still his grandest moment so far.
Favorite line: I HAVE A GUN IN MY HEART
Favorite outfit: Does this child own a change of clothes?
OTP: Nice, obviously.
Brotp: Chane, I love that they’re fast friends.
Head Canon: Jacuzzi really wishes he could play an instrument, but he’s never been able to afford an instrument or lessons. One day, Isaac and Miria procure an entire piano from who-knows-where and they all spend a few nights figuring out a couple of basic songs.
Unpopular opinion: He should just stop. Someone lock him inside so that he can’t fling himself into danger again.
A wish: I wish that he was immortal. I really do, I can’t stand the thought of him growing old and dying.
An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: Don’t kill him. Just.
5 words to best describe them: Nervous, brave, smart, fumbling, reckless
My nickname for them: The Jellybean. Ever since Placido called him that, it’s been all I can call him.Carnea: Still a pretty new character, and even when she showed up she didn’t get to do too much. I’ll say what I can, but I haven’t done too much thinking about her as of yet.
Why I like them: She’s strong-willed
Why I don’t: She’s kind of used as a trophy to Bobby, for turning into a decent human being. It didn’t seem like she had a lot of agency in that pairing-up.
Favorite episode (scene if movie): The scene where it’s revealed that she’s Angelo’s boss.
Favorite season/movie: So far she’s only been in 2002
Favorite line: “Everything’s the same, no matter where you go”.
Favorite outfit: Again, only one outfit
OTP: Listen, I know Narita is setting us up for Carnea/Bobby, but I really don’t feel like theres any chemistry between them at all. tbh theres not anyone i would ship her with until she gets more development and agency.
Brotp: I think that she and Illness would get along.
Head Canon: She is really freaked out by immortality until she befriends one of the old gangsters at Alveare.
Unpopular opinion: When I was reading the story, she seemed like kind of a boring character. I can tell she could be a great character if they gave her some room to act, but until then she felt flat.
A wish: I’ve said it before, but I really wish she was given a little more autonomy. She was written to be a bit of a character who gets tossed around and told what to do by the people who know better, I wish she got more opportunity to show her strengths and take charge of something.
An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: Don’t let the Bobby relationship happen without seemingly any autonomy from her. Let us see inside her head, let us see them become friends first before forcing them together.
5 words to best describe them: Caring, nervous, brave, lonely, quiet
My nickname for them: I don’t have one yet for her. Fermet: ugh
Why I like them: Look, I know you expect me to leave this one blank, but I can appreciate that he’s an amazingly good villain. He’s absolutely horrible, but he’s a wonderfully chillingly villainous kind of horrible.
Why I don’t: We don’t need an essay here. What he did to Czes was enough and then it somehow got worse.
Favorite episode (scene if movie): The reveal at the end of 2002 was so amazingly terrible
Favorite season/movie: Thats the only one ive read so far where he actually shows up in person.
Favorite line: When he leaves Czes and says something like “I’ll see you again soon.” God, that made my blood boil, but what an amazing villain line.
Favorite outfit: All I know about him is that ruffle-shirt that we see in the anime
OTP: no
Brotp: no
Head Canon: I have literally no clue how he actually survived getting devoured by like three different people, but I think he might have created clones of himself re:Dez and theyve been devouring different pieces of the hivemind. That’s my working headcanon so far.
Unpopular opinion: Nothing is more unpopular than Fermet.
A wish: That it ended with Czes devouring him. Also that he made his grand reappearance back when Felix could have ripped him into pieces.
An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: Don’t let him lay another finger on Czes.
5 words to best describe them: Nauseating, abhorrent, loathsome, detestable, cruel
My nickname for them: FUCK THAT PIECE OF SHIT
#my posts#my asks#baccano#katie dont look#novel spoilers#2002 spoilers#the jellybean#eyes-like-a-gentle-knight
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nvm i freed myself of Mizar. anyways. for 1, ToolShipping. 2, Placido. 3, Yuusaku, Aoi, Go, Revolver, Kusanagi [if u wanna]
MY BABY BOYS
001 | send me a ship and I will tell you:
when I started shipping it if I did: The first second Bruno and Yuusei first showed up on screen together it changed my life
my thoughts: AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?!?!?!?!?!?!(translator`s note: see my toolshipping tag for a legible answer)
What makes me happy about them: EVERYTHING THEYRE SO GOOD AND PERFECT FOR EACH OTHER AND THEY LOVE EACH OTHER SO MUCH AND WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR ONE ANOTHER AND----
What makes me sad about them: :^)
things done in fanfic that annoys me: When they kill Bruno and just write about Yuusei being sad like.....gimme the boys....together....alive.....thanks
things I look for in fanfic: They`re both alive and happy and going on cute dates ....but lets be honest I don`t read fanfics unless I or a close friend write them so I`ve developed a very....specific taste that can`t really be fulfilled by others lmao
Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: None, nobody, nada, zip, Toolshipping is all I`ll accept
My happily ever after for them: Bruno comes back somehow through some fuckery or Z-ONE trying to be a good guy in his last moments or the Crimson Dragon doing its fckin job and saving Bruno and them staying behind in Neo Domino together and being happy husbands who run a repair shop and end up adopting Yuugo and Yuusaku somehow bc no I won`t let that go????
who is the big spoon/little spoon: Bruno is the big, Yuusei is the little
what is their favorite non-sexual activity: Just being together tbh? They don`t really care what they`re doing as long as they`re together.....
My knife husband
002 | Give me a character & I will tell you
How I feel about this character: I love him and would happily let him stab me/step on me
All the people I ship romantically with this character: Paradox and Paradox and did I mention Paradox?? Also Revolver but mostly as a joke
My non-romantic OTP for this character: Placido/Lucciano. I like them as a sort of big brother/little brother duo who fight a lot but really care about each other deep down
My unpopular opinion about this character: He deserved better
One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I wish he`d gotten some more development and screentime in general?? He was so good like give me more
my OTP: PLACIDOX
my cross over ship: Does Placidox count? If not then Revcido
a headcanon fact: He`s very short but nobody has ever seen him out of heels so nobody knows....
Some Hacker Kids
003 | send me 5 characters and I will rank them in order of preference
Aoi (altho more specifically Blue Angel), Yuusaku, Revolver, Kusanagi, and Go
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reading: wk4
2 weeks’ worth here baby! i’ve just completed my week in limb reconstruction (when will the plastic surgeons STOP trying to seduce me into their specialty!!! let me live!!! don’t send softly-spoken tall registrars who like teaching into my theatre to convince me to be a surgeon!!!) + trauma week (i’m less enamoured w/ trauma/ortho surgery....bones suck) and am trying to take a breather over the next 2 weeks. promo for my charity’s conference is taking over my life but what’s new baby! feeling a lil delicate but hopefully some time off doing things i love (ie, reading, learning languages) & catching up on notes will do me some good. hope everyone is staying happy & healthy ~
BOOKS
✩ emporium // johnson (finished)
some of these short stories are sublime; some miss the mark for me (twenty-something male angst doesn’t really do it for me tbh) but that’s life. the ones that hit the mark hit a perfect bullseye: homegrown americana dystopia, the aching twin senses of loneliness and readiness to take on the world-ness of teenagers, surrealism, and gorgeous prose. johnson nails family dynamics and love and regret so well; he gives form to the feelings that most of us won’t admit to, without naming them, like the outline of a faceless ghost. this collection is probably why so many of my teenage writing snippets were dystopias heavy on the loneliness and light on the worldbuilding. adam johnson should actually cut me a cheque for the number of times that i’ve recommended his books lol
if i had to recommend individual stories:
- teen sniper: teen sniper pushed into the business by a tiger mom, shooting silicon valley yuppies for the police, friends with a replaceable robot - it’s so american that i can taste the star-spangled banner. love love love.
- trauma plate & the jughead of berlin: johnson gets family dynamics and teenagers so, so right. beautiful. trauma plate is set in a dystopian mom&pop bulletproof vest shop, told from 3 perspectives; the jughead of berlin absolutely nails teenage girl psyche.
- the death-dealing cassini satellite: the prose in this is just stunning. stunning.
✩ the secret history // tartt (in progress)
ESSAYS
actually read several essays that won’t leave my brain these last 2 weeks.
✩ The Crane Wife - CJ Hauser, Paris Review
yes i know i’m late to the party but nothing has ever made me feel so seen. hauser took out my beating heart from years ago, when i dated men who were bad for me, and showed me its anatomy. she showed me a kindred spirit in my shame in writing about things that aren’t true suffering, in writing about my own feelings, and i love love love.
✩ The Valley and the Stream - Danyl McLauchlan, Granta
this essay took my breath away. the perfect mix of neuroscience, psychiatry, and human experience and philosophy that is what medicine is all about, for me. beautiful beautiful. will be re-reading this for a long time.
ARTICLES: MEDICINE
✩ Yemen: This doctor saw Covid hospital empty after fake death text - Nawal Al-Maghafi, BBC
✩ Covid linked to risk of mental illness and brain disorder, study suggests - Natalie Grover, Guardian
so i have a lot of thoughts about this tbqh. firstly, the study isn’t peer-reviewed, although it is out of a good uni & good research department; secondly, grouping together neurological and psychiatric diseases rly doesn’t help clarity (e.g., having a stroke after covid, a disease that is known to create a pro-clotting state in the body, is v different to developing depression, which is v different to developing psychosis); thirdly, this article didn’t mention at all the fact that we are in an incredibly stressful, isolating, terrifying time that is probably in itself a risk factor for triggering new mental illnesses & diagnoses. really crap reporting if u ask me.
✩ COVID-19 and psychosis risk: Real or delusional concern? - Watson et al., Neuroscience Letters (2021)
so i read one of the review articles referenced in the above article - rly interesting and good! and contained a very interesting sentence that the above journalist could have stood to read: “There are currently several specific complexities in assessing the true role of SARS-CoV-2 in neuropsychiatric disease, the most pertinent of which is separating the specific impact of the virus from both the broader disease response and the social, cultural and psychological circumstances in which an infection has occurred.” plus a lovely graphic that would have summarised the possible causes of this apparent correlation. not to hate on people but i really hate shoddy science journalism, a pet peeve that has caused me significant angst during this pandemic lol. why go into science journalism if you blatantly don’t understand science? thanks.
✩ Biological Insights From 108 Schizophrenia-Associated Genetic Loci - Ripke et al., Nature (2014)
reading bc 1. my current extracurricular research is on schizophrenia 2. prompted by above discussions of inflammation & psychosis 3. i have always been interested in neuropsychiatry and inflammatory causes of psychosis, thanks to a wonderful talk i went to in my first yr of med school by dr belinda lennox + will graham’s autoimmune encephalitis. lol.
ARTICLES: CULTURE/MEDIA
✩ Why ‘Fleabag’ Is Not Returning For A Third Season - Dani Di Placido, Forbes
gutting but a good reason nonetheless
✩ Dave Grohl: 'I dreamt I was shot in the back’ - Mark Savage, BBC
absolutely obsessed w the new foo fighters singles. nearly lost my mind when i walked into theatre and the surgeon had them on in the b/g. power move.
✩ The Slumflower Beef Has Exposed the Limits of Influencer Activism - Ash Sarkar, Novara
finally a reasonable take on this bullshit - having never really enjoyed either of the parties’ content, this was quite refreshing lol.
ARTICLES: POLITICS/CURRENT
✩ Poland to implement near-total ban on abortion imminently - Shaun Walker, Guardian
rage does not cover my feelings.
✩ Impeachment guide: how will Donald Trump's second Senate trial unfold? - Lauren Gambino, Guardian
pls god come through, republicans.
✩ 'Vaccine tourism': tens of thousands of Americans cross state lines for injections - Kiran Misra, Guardian
horrifying but not surprised. interesting that NJ are vaccinating smokers first but i guess that’s to stop them using up resources - they will get sicker if infected than non-smokers, v interesting.
✩ Finally Taking A Stand? Assessing the UK’s Response to the Uyghur Crisis - Max McGiffen, UK Public Law Blog
lots of links to read. a friend set up this public law blog & it’s so clear & well-referenced!
✩ Is the Military Above the Law? A Comment on the Overseas Operations Bill - Max McGiffen, UK Public Law Blog
this legislation is terrifying ngl
ARTICLES: OTHER
✩ Why You Don’t Use Garamond on The Web - Design for Hackers
✩ The disabled activist who led a historic 24-day sit-in - Lucy Wallis, BBC
✩ Why 'preppers' are going mainstream - Manuela Saragosa, BBC
✩ How to investigate a firm with 60 million documents - Michael Dempsey, BBC
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Romancing the Horn: Opera Stars Record Like It’s 1900
By ANTHONY TOMMASINI APRIL 20, 2018
The soprano Susanna Phillips, left, and the tenor Piotr Beczala, right, listen to a recording they made with early-20th-century technology. Credit Emon Hassan for The New York Times
Susanna Phillips, a star soprano at the Metropolitan Opera, was listening to a recording of herself one recent afternoon, as she had done so many times before. This time, though, something wasn’t quite right.
“I can’t tell it’s me,” she said. Her rich tone sounded thin; her usually steady vibrato was strangely shaky.
The difference was the way her voice had been captured: that is, the same way they used to do it more than a century ago. It was a method that offered a pale — if, back then, magical — approximation of opera’s greats.
Whenever Luciano Pavarotti was asked to name the greatest tenor ever, he always answered Enrico Caruso, who became a household name from his recordings, made from 1902 until his death in 1921.
But how did Pavarotti know? Especially on Caruso’s breakthrough records, the sound is scratchy, wiry and wobbly. The same holds true for early recordings of Nellie Melba, Luisa Tetrazzini and other luminaries of that era. While there are entrancing hints of astonishing voices, it’s hard to tell what they were really like. If only we could record a singer today on the equipment used back then and compare the playbacks to modern recordings.
Well, that precise experiment took place earlier this month at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, thanks to the curiosity of Piotr Beczala, a leading Met tenor.
Touring the Met’s archives a couple of years ago, Mr. Beczala mentioned that his dream was to record some arias under early-20th-century conditions. He wanted to learn firsthand how faithful — or far-off — the results would be.
Peter Clark, the company’s archivist, mentioned Mr. Beczala’s fantasy to Jonathan Hiam, the curator of the performing arts library’s Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound; Mr. Hiam then contacted Jerry Fabris, from the Thomas Edison National Historical Park in New Jersey, who knows a collector in Illinois who makes wax cylinders like those Edison once produced.
So on his day off from the Met’s revival of Verdi’s “Luisa Miller,” Mr. Beczala got together with Ms. Phillips and the technical team to try out the vintage operation.
Audio
Verdi, the old way
Verdi, the new way
The library owns Edison cylinder machines, as well as an early Berliner gramophone — a competing technology that used flat discs. In 1912, Mr. Fabris explained, flat-disc phonographs finally outsold the cylinder ones and before long took over the market.
Mr. Fabris had brought similar equipment from New Jersey: an Edison Home Phonograph with a large black bell horn, a rotating holder for the wax cylinders and a hand-crank device to wind up the internal springs; and a similar-looking Edison Fireside Phonograph to play back the recordings. Both machines date from around 1909.
The material surrounding the wax cylinders is not really wax, he said, but something called metallic soap. Before using the cylinders, he had to warm them up under a light to make the material soft enough for the stylus to cut grooves as the disc spun.
“You want it to be like butter,” Mr. Fabris explained.
Audio
Mozart, the old way
Mozart, the new way
The process is better at recording midrange sounds and has trouble with high frequencies. (Ms. Phillips was warned that it tends to favor tenors over sopranos.) Wide dynamic variables also test the machine’s capacity: Not knowing this, Ms. Phillips had prepared “Per pietà,” an aria from Mozart’s “Così Fan Tutte” that moves through extremes of high and low, loud and soft.
But Mr. Beczala was first up, singing “Quando le sere al placido” from “Luisa Miller,” accompanied by Gerald Moore, who played on a small upright piano so as not to compete with the voices. Putting the cylinder in place, Mr. Fabris was careful not to touch the surface: Even a slight thumbprint can create an impression. While Mr. Beczala sang, Mr. Fabris held a small brush in one hand and a little squeezable air bag in the other to disperse the dustlike shards of wax that are created when the stylus cuts into the cylinders.
Since the machine has no meter to check levels, Mr. Beczala tried out the opening of the aria twice, the second time moving closer to the machine. Both times, the ringing, virile quality of his sound came through fairly well, though dynamic variations essentially disappeared. Mr. Beczala was most rattled that his intonation sounded off — though this was a flaw of the equipment, not of his solid technique.
Finally, it was time to record the aria — or at least the first half or so, since each cylinder can hold only a little more than two minutes of music. “It’s like a black hole,” Mr. Beczala said, staring at the bell horn. “It takes you in.”
Listening to the playback, he commented that the resonance was not bad and that the high notes were O.K. But his softer singing sounded faint and distant, and the consonants, he said, “are nonexisting,” though in the room his diction was excellent.
Audio
‘Carmen,’ the old way
‘Carmen,’ the new way
“The Flower Song,” from Bizet’s “Carmen,” came through more clearly. “I tried to sing more crisp than usual,” Mr. Beczala said.
When Ms. Phillips tried out the faster section of “Per pietà,” full of florid runs and roulades, she proved a quick study at the skill of leaning forward for soft passages and way back for louder ones, standard practice during Caruso’s era.
“You have to romance the horn,” she said.
To end the session, the two singers tried out some of the Act I love duet from Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor.” The machine is “not forgiving,” Ms. Phillips said, adding: “The tone quality changes, but not the dynamic. That’s infuriating to me.”
The contrast between their big, healthy voices and the crackly, thin recorded playbacks was stark. It proved just how difficult — indeed, impossible — it was to capture the sounds of the legendary singers a century ago.
Yet context is everything. For opera lovers in the 1910s, it must have seemed simply miraculous that the great voices could appear at will, however flawed their sound, in your living room.
Related Coverage
The Best Opera Recording Ever Is Maria Callas Singing ‘Tosca.’ Hear Why. DEC. 29, 2017
Review: Plácido Domingo Takes On a New Role at the Met Opera. (His 149th.) APRIL 1, 2018
Soprano Looks to Use a Sport’s Big Stage to Lift Her Stamina OCT. 27, 2015
Read and Hear the AUDIO HERE:
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/vegan-mac-and-cheese_us_58b4816ee4b060480e0ad831
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The Return of Opening Day Magic
I must say that spring is a special time of year for me. It doesn’t have to do with the weather warming up, the flora and fauna coming back to life, or opening the windows to let fresh air in. While those things are great, what it really comes down to is baseball. When baseball draws near, my lackluster interest in the winter sports almost totally sheds. My morning TV routine shifts from MSNBC to the MLB Network for my pre-work rituals. Dinner time now has the soundtrack of summer playing in the background, living in the Philadelphia area, what for so long was Harry Kalas and Richie Ashburn has been replaced by Scott Franzke and Larry Anderson. Baseball starting is like finding that favorite t-shit at the bottom of your drawer and remembering all over again why you love it so much. It all comes to a head on Opening Day. A day that truly should be a national holiday, but until it is, my ritual of ditching all obligations to be in attendance remains. There’s something magical about Opening Day, it’s the essence of spring. Every team starts over. The World Champion Cubs have the same record as the Brewers. Hope, optimism, and possibilities run through all thirty fan bases.
My love for Opening Day has always been there, but like any long-term relationship, it has evolved over the years. Opening Day has been there for me in all the stages of my life, but this year it has pivoted in a way that is complete and permanent. Opening Day has changed for me forever, and I saw it in a way that I had never seen it before. Now I can no longer imagine seeing it any other way.
Much like the typical red-blooded American child, I played little league. I always loved the game. I collected baseball cards. I attended the occasional game when I was lucky enough for Dad to bring me. I can still remember playing “Super Action Baseball” on our old Colecovision with by best friend. While I loved baseball and looked forward to the first game of the season, I never really knew the true joy of it until 1993. I was in eighth grade, and that was the year I decided that I was going to devote that summer to following baseball closer than I ever have before. The coincidence that 1993 was the very year my Phillies broke a rather long pennant drought was not taken lightly by me. I saw it as a sign, and while baseball and I had been flirting for a long time, I fell head over heels in love. Despite crying myself to sleep after Joe Carter and the Blue Jays ended a magical ride, I couldn’t consume enough of America’s past time.
By the time I hit driving age, and completely memorized the movies The Natural and Major League, there was no keeping me from home openers. I would gladly skip school, be it High School or college, to drive to Veterans Stadium to catch the pomp and circumstance. In those days the Phillies had returned to AAA quality baseball and buying a walk up ticket for 10 bucks not only earned you admission, but an entire section all to yourself. These were the days of fan groups: The Wolf Pack, The Padilla Flotilla, Burrell’s Girls, and the Duck Pond. (Not to mention the un-actualized Mesa’s Messiahs and Thomas Perez’s Desi Arnazes BABALU!) It was an era of opening day brawls where “Bonner Sucks” and “Prep Sucks” filled the 700 Level just as much as “Mets Suck” chants. Admittedly, the Phillies were awful during this era, but I can honestly say that on every opening day, I was optimistic. I thought we had a chance. I saw lightning get caught in that 1993 bottle, and I thought it was going to happen again for sure. Looking back, opening day was as close as I was ever going to get to a pennant those years. These years coined the home opener term “constant disappointment” among my friends.
(1999 was also the year I learned that you can’t just walk up and buy tickets to any baseball game when we took a road trip to Fenway Park…… whoa! You actually have to buy tickets in ADVANCE in some cities?)
In 2004 the whole dynamic of Opening Day changed. I found myself being an adult by this time, and I no longer played hookie, I put in for vacation days. The Vet was closing and Citizen’s Bank Park was opening. Gone were the days of walk up tickets. While a new park and an improving team were seriously welcome, there was something about the Opening Day charm that was removed. Despite having a partial season ticket plan, I was unable to get an Opening Day ticket in 2004, I had to settle for game #2 of that season. It was the first home opener I had missed in quite some time. That seemed to change how I viewed Opening Day. Moving forward it was a battle to get tickets. After the World Series in 2008, it was easier to get into Willy Wonka’s factory.
Fun home opener memory from that era: In 2005 I remember how we booed the fact that Placido Polanco was starting at second over future favorite son, Chase Utley. Placido, I know your reading, we booed the decision, not you.
I’ll call the 2009-2016 era "the fall from grace." I’m not sure if we flew too close to the sun or what, but the subsequent fall was tragic, nasty and ugly, and I don’t think I went to a single Opening Day game. It wasn’t that I didn’t care, but life just happened. I had kids, I had jobs and I had limited vacation time. I looked down on the fans that suddenly couldn’t get enough of the town’s baseball team. Where were they when I was buying walk-up tickets and sitting in entire sections by myself? I got old, I didn’t like the crowds when the team was good, but I didn’t like the emptiness of the park when they weren’t. I was measuring effort, the cost for beer, and the traffic.
This year was the pivot. This year was magic. This year rekindled a love. It wasn’t that the Phillies had done anything drastic to improve the team. The crowd didn’t match some Goldilocks “just right” size for my enjoyment. There wasn’t anything added to the in-game experience, and the weather was blah. It was seeing a home opener through the eyes of my son that has changed the Opening Day dynamic forever. He’s been to baseball games before, but this this is his first year of little league, and this would be his first Home Opener. I didn’t have to think twice about pulling him out of school early to head down to the park on a Friday afternoon. Seeing his eyes light up and hearing the “whoooooaaaa” when he peeked out of the darkness of the concourse to see the bright green grass of the field in the sunshine was something I need to experience every year. He looked in awe at the fly over, at the gigantic flag unfurled in the outfield, at the fireworks that shot off during the National Anthem. We laughed at the Phanatic. We booed Bryce Harper (please sign with the Phillies) and Jayson Werth. We saw majestic homeruns and cheered for every Vince Velasquez punch out. We ate hot dogs and had ice cream out of a miniature helmet. The Phillies lost by a run, but he didn’t care as he happily fell asleep in the car on the way home. He doesn’t know the nuances of the game…yet. He doesn’t know the players…yet. He doesn’t know how to keep score…yet, but I’m going to be there when he does. Every. Single. Year.
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