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literarycinematics · 7 months

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so i`ve fallen back down the my immortal rabbit hole again (again), and i`ve been looking into the whole toby debacle and rose christo`s book and xXblo0dyxkissxX and ravenisaposer and all that jazz. and overall it just got me thinking about a lot of things.

of course there are obvious questions like whether it`s a troll or not and wtf was going on with the hackings, but i mostly just keep coming back to why the real tara and raven (if those are their real names) would keep hiding after all this time. are they too embarrassed? i mean, it`s been over 15 years, i doubt it would be held against them; they won`t get the same reaction today as they got back then. it has a cult following online and is pretty much unknown offline. do they not care enough to get involved? it`s so widely known, you`d think that even if they didn`t care they would still say something, especially with the amount of people who do care. are they just so far removed from this part of the internet that they don`t even know how big it`s gotten? i don`t buy that. even when they were still writing it, it was ridiculously popular by 2000s fanfiction standards. for this theory to be true, it would mean that one day in 2007 they just stopped interacting with any of their previous interests and forgot, never to even THINK about it again (not even enough to Google it or check out their old accounts!). this thing lasted 2 years and garnered massive amounts of both hate and support, so i find it unlikely that they just forgot about it.

as for theories that seem more likely to me, it`s very possible that the real author(s) confessed already, only to get drowned out by the noise of all the other sensationalized stories. there have been dozens of authorship claims that have been debunked or just straight-up waved away without any follow-up, so it`s not unlikely. it`s also completely possible that they just don`t want to relive bad memories associated with that era of their life/lives. that`s a valid decision. considering what the attitudes towards them were like at the time. the bullying they received was intense and disgusting, especially if they really were young teenagers, and/or were struggling with mental health problems. hell, maybe they just don`t want the media attention! we saw what happened with tara and raven, the acidbath princess of darkness, and how people doxxed and harrassed them to no end just for being teenagers having fun. it isn`t uncommon to want privacy.

assuming that it wasn`t a trollfic, there are also the sadder possibilities, situations wherein they are simply unable to tell anyone. they might not have the means or the freedom to come clean about it all (e.g. toxic relationships, imprisonment, extreme poverty), or perhaps simply can`t prioritize thinking about something so old and trivial (e.g. dealing with health or financial issues, familial strife). or, of course, the conclusion that i came to after my first foray into the my-immortal-verse: they`re dead. thousands of people have been looking for them for over a decade, and whether they want to be found or not, it seems...odd, that everything that`s come up has been a dead-end, that we don`t have any more idea now than we did then as to who wrote it. additionally, so much of my immortal included seriously heavy subjects, using sexual assault, pedophilia, self-harm, and suicide as plot devices to the point that it isn`t hard to imagine that if tara and raven truly were real people, telling at least partial truths about themselves, they were dealing with some serious suicidal ideation. a dark mental space of that kind would only have been magnified by the haters and hackings of their work, perhaps leading them to an irreversible decision, the permanent solution to any problem. held in tandem with the number of weird implications that raven died (yes, i know many of them were unrelated or complete lies, but that`s beside the point), it`s easy to come to the conclusion that one or both of the writers has passed away. and as much as i try to look at alternatives, that`s just what my mind keeps coming back to.

i believe that raven and tara were real people. fictionalized, yes, but they weren`t characters, and they weren`t writing a satire -- at least not fully. i think that they were teenage girls who were persecuted for having "weird" interests, who were considered overzealous or overpassionate, and who decided to vent their frustrations and express themselves through idealized versions of themselves on the internet. they used common alt names, or maybe took inspiration from teen titans, and started writing about the things they were into: vampires, gc, mcr, self-harm, satanism, etc. oh yeah, and harry potter. maybe they had fun with it, made it dramatic and dumb on purpose, but i think they had some degree of genuine intentions. the way they casually throw around topics like self-harm gives off the impression of kids just saying things they`ve heard online to express genuine emotions without a full understanding of what it really implies. not to mention, i know so, so many people who truly were outcasts in real life, who turned to writing bad mary-sue fanfiction on fanfiction.net (later wattpad and ao3) to help them cope with their loneliness. the author(s) of my immortal read the same way that a lot of people involved in 2000s emo internet subculture read, between the spellings and the slang and the interests, and i can totally imagine tara gilesbie being some misunderstood tween that got involved in it all. hence, i can totally imagine her getting hurt when her magnum opus started getting flamed.

and hey, if it was a troll, colour me impressed. they have my full respect for inventing such a weirdly believable and relatable "author", for giving us chronically online nerds a compelling mystery, for putting so much work into the interconnectedness and the meta-story of tara and raven`s accounts, and for writing quite literally the greatest piece of literature of all time. i can only hope that i can one day be as dedicated to something as that, because THAT is how you write a fucking parody. it`s just brilliant, what else can i say. i`ll even give all of the tara impersonators credit where credit is due; they gave us all one hell of a story. talk about committing to the bit. that said, the anti-climactic ending was distinctly un-troll-like though, so there`s that.

i sincerely hope that wherever tara and raven are nowadays, regardless of whether those were real identities or not, they`re living their best lives. if the intentions behind my immortal were genuine, i hope that tara is working as an alternative fashion designer and that raven is a professional book editor, both significantly healthier, happier, and more well-adjusted than they were when they wrote their masterpiece. if the whole thing was an elaborate joke, i hope that whoever made it is still taking pride in their insane creation, and that they appreciate the ridiculousness of just walking around, doing everyday things, while knowing in the back of their minds that they wrote my immortal. i hope beyond hope that none of my "sadder possibilities" for why they haven`t revealed themselves are true, and that there is a simpler, more mundane reason that they haven`t said anything. maybe they did just forget about it.

the thing, though, with my immortal is that it is almost impossible to come to a conclusion about anything because we know so damn little. without any real confirmed information, questions remain questions. have i made any good points throughout this whole thing? maybe. depends on what we assume to be true about the sincerity of...well, any of it. even within my own diatribe, i`ve contradicted my stance on raven and tara`s mental health struggles; were they broken down and spiralling, depicting dark scenarios that echoed their own problems with mental illness, or were they calling themselves "wrist-slitters" to sound edgy because that`s what they saw other people doing? i don`t know. i haven`t come to any concrete judgment and it`s possible that i never will. here`s hoping that sometime this decade we`ll finally find answers.

what happened with justin, if he existed? what happened between tara and raven? how authentic were the hackings? were the toby-tara emails real? was i secretly toby all along? if the fic was a troll, how many people were working on it? what was the inspiration behind it? troll or not, what`s dubya? why did it stop being written? how does the author feel about the false authorship claims, assuming they know about them? how do they feel about the mcr reunion tour? how old are they? and WHY THE FUCK DO WE STILL NOT KNOW WHO THEY ARE?

there`s not really a point to this whole rant, i just felt the need to express how i feel about this whole thing. i needed to get all of these thoughts out of my brain. there`ll be more in the future, i`m sure, because this is one thing that absolutely haunts me at night. i know i go on about november 5th and the way it broke tumblr but if we ever ACTUALLY learn who tara and raven are, with proof and everything, not a repeat of rose christo... that will be the day that we crash this goddamned hellsite.

#my immortal is my roman empire #maybe i wrote it in a fugue state when i was a baby #fangz to sarah z and strange aeons for introducing me to this thing in the first place and inspiring me to get consumed by it over and over #my brain is utterly rotted because of this #my immortal #rose christo #tumblr culture #ari articulates #long post

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threewaysdivided · 3 years

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Well I don't want to tell anyone how to feel but the movie felt like a kick in the shin. Not so much for me as for others because I've always been a little separated from the series, but it just feels like they pulled the rug out from under me in a way. I can't properly explain without spoilers in case you don't want them.

(Following on from this ask.)

I appreciate you being so considerate about potential spoilers 😊.

Not super necessary in this case - as mentioned in the tags of the last answer I'm in a pretty similar position to you vis à vis emotional distance from ToA. In this case, after seeing some more negative reactions and some vague mentions of the ending I figured it probably wasn't going to be one I wanted to watch and decided to read a wiki synopsis just to give the plot a fair shake.

And after reading that...

Yeah, Oof.

[Continued under the readmore for people who don't want spoilers.]

First impression was that the plot was maybe trying to do too much. That summary was a lot.

Even for an established cast it's a big collection of named quasi-main characters, existing concepts from the three series and - like each of the preceding series - there's another mostly-new paranormal element being added that only appears in foreshadowing hints at the very end of Wizards. That's not necessarily a deal-breaker but there is that issue of Scope Management & Opportunity Cost that I mentioned in my long YJ analysis: the more things you include the less time you have to develop any one of those things in meaningful depth - especially considering the shorter run-time a move has to deal with.

Just based on the summary it seems like there was a lot of "go to the place, fetch the McGuffin, do the thing" storytelling, with fewer character through-lines or thematic/ emotional/ personal conflict. Which seems a bit of a waste for a capstone move.

As for the ending, I can absolutely see why it rubbed so many people the wrong way. Around a third of the major characters are killed off by the climax, and the general impression I got was that those deaths were much more plot-serving than being character-growth-concluding-sacrifices or cut-short-before-their-goal tragedies. Then to solve it they use time-travel (a plot device that has barely been present across the series at least as something the protagonists can personally use and control strategically) to not only go back to a point before the deaths/ inciting incident of this movie but to reset the entire series to before Trollhunters started and have Jim give up the amulet to someone else.

Which means the ending of the movie undoes all the canon of the previous three series. That's on the same level as "it was all a dream" in terms of making it feel like none of it mattered. It might even be worse than "and then they woke up"-ing it, since "it was just a dream" stories can still have the characters take some kind of metaphorical/emotional/personal lesson from the dream into their waking life, where this solution almost accidentally proposes that the best solution for everyone is for nothing they did/experienced/learned across the series to have happened at all.

Also I'm rusty on my Trollhunters lore but doesn't it kind of undermine the whole symbolic importance of the amulet to have Jim be able to just give it up and pass the burden over to someone else? Sure, "the amulet never made him a hero, he already was one" but the amulet still chose Jim because he had that innate potential, so to have him go nah and hot-potato it to Toby (and not in a "passing the mantle forward"/"I recognise you as the person who should inherit this legacy from me" way) feels like it both undermines that message of innate heroic potential and swings a bit into an accidental "maybe being a hero isn't worth the price after all" message. Also, if he is giving up the amulet to prevent tragedy then surely it's either a bad choice to pass it to someone who's physically and emotionally close to Jim and likely to get involved in similar things as a result or a huge dick move to saddle Toby with the burdens Jim knows will come with the role instead. I guess you could say that maybe Jim thinks Toby will make better choices as the Trollhunter (although the ToA wiki itself points out that Toby exhibits signs of Histrionic Personality Disorder) but even so - thematically confused message on top of an unsatisfying plot device.

Anyway, yeah, I can totally see why people are lumping this in with the likes of Phantom Planet in terms of lore-and-character-breakingly unsatisfying conclusions.

I feel like it's a real shame too, since there were a lot of ideas and lore across Tales of Arcadia that felt pretty unresolved and like they would have benefited from more development if they had chosen to focus on those rather than continue adding new things. I feel like there was a lot of unanswered mysteries about the Changelings, how they were created, what exactly the Darklands is, what happens to the kids they replace and how Stickler was going to deal with all of those kids post the end of Trollhunters. I feel like Troll-Jake and what that experience was like for him barely got a look-in across 3Below or Wizards despite being really interesting and seemingly a struggle for him to adapt to since it impacted his ability to enjoy the taste of human food (remembering that his hobby was cooking) and prevented him from walking in sunlight.

Merlin especially left me with a lot of questions; throughout Trollhunters he's treated as this sage, infallible figure of myth and wisdom but then when they actually meet him he comes across as pretty unreliable, amoral and dubiously trustworthy what with acting dismissive to the other characters, not telling Jim what the potion will do and having used Morgana's severed hand to make the Amulet of Daylight in the first place. It's like they Dumbledore-d him, but unlike in Harry Potter - where Harry recognising that the adults around him are flawed and fallible as he grows older is part of the narrative - ToA just sort of brushed past it and seemingly expects everyone to keep treating him the same despite that dissonance.

Maybe I'm getting off topic here but I feel like there was the potential for a capstone story that brought Troll Jim, Douxie, Krel and Aja together in a narrative about leadership and legacy in the wake of Merlin's death. Jim as a human/half-troll Trollhunter leading the trolls of Trollmarket, Douxie as Merlin's primary apprentice/heir to Avalon and now fully-fledged-wizard, and Aja and Krel as the heirs to Akiridion-5 all fit into the archetype of a new generation of unconventional younger leaders who buck the traditions of their predecessors. There's definitively a common thread there that you could run parallel character stories along. Put the lore focus on elaborating the existing worldbuilding of the Heartstones, the Darklands, the Changelings, the Gumm-Gumms, the Amulet, Avalon, Camelot and why Arcadia Oaks seems to be so magically and cosmically important, and draw some sort of sinister force/villain from there who can be appropriately antagonistic for those themes and I'm sure you could wrap things up decently enough.

Instead it seems we got an Arcane Order who want to use Titans to erase humanity because they're The Bad Guys, and the final solution is to undo absolutely everything that happened.

Bother.

#Trollhunters #Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans #Tales of Arcadia #youmaycallmeyourhigness #3WD Answers #I fully advocate reading the Wiki Summary for things you are on the fence about watching in order to save time #The straight plot-description will give you a more objective/ fairer sense of the narrative than reading another person's review #And while the cost is that it WILL spoil any subversions/reveals #In a competently told story those elements will be narratively cohesive enough to still be enjoyable on the equivalent of a second viewing #I also feel like RotT is kind of 'disappointing but not surprising'#Since all three ToA series felt like they had really rushed/weak endings that left too much unresolved on balance #3Below was probably the best of them #since being about Aliens sort of made it its own thing #But in Trollhunters the Merlin thing + the potion + Akaridions-ex-machina to solve the lightning in a bottle left things feeling unfinished #And in Wizards Callista is barely developed until the amulet chooses her and then she finds out her name is actual Deya from a doll #which feels like such a weak way to do that when she could have picked the Troll name Deya herself or otherwise been given it #After the Trollhunter's ending tripped on the payoff I was kind of emotionally distant to the series as well #I mostly watched 3Below and Wizards out of curiosity - and without that investment the weaker writing was pretty noticable #so yeah #makes sense that RotT would inherit that flaw too #'Trollhunter must make the ninth configuration and the Krohnisfere will make right' just feels week and bad and deliberately unclear #also: mpreg Steve. That sure was a thing that happened. Not sure why. Even less sure how I feel about it.

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ladykissingfish · 3 years

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Bedtime with the Akatsuki (Part 1/2)

Pein Nagato worked hard to put together the group known as the Akatsuki, but he works even harder to keep them all together. It’s difficult, considering the group contains so many clashing sets of personalities, so many different desires and beliefs. Nagato has read before that sharing a meal can foster a sense of bonding and communication within a group of diverse people, so he makes it a rule that whoever is home in the evenings must sit together at the table and share dinner together. The others balked at this at first, but after several first disastrous attempts (and several wonderful meals put forth by Konan) it quickly became something everyone looked forward to. For an hour, negativity could be dropped, rivalries and grudges temporarily forgotten as the group broke bread with one another. The Pein-body doesn’t eat, but Nagato listens through him, and is able to see these people that he chose to serve his cause, as PEOPLE. After dinner, after making sure that everyone is clear on the next day’s upcoming missions, the Pein-body goes to his room, and shuts down for the evening; and Nagato spends the night in much-needed sleep. Sasori Sasori doesn’t eat, so unless he’s feeling particularly bored/in want of some company, he won’t join the others for dinner. Sasori partakes in bathing rituals every night, although not in the way an organic human does; he keeps himself clean with scented wood-centric polishes. He’s surprisingly vain of his red hair, and will comb/wash and dry, with real shampoos, each night. Also spends a lot of time cleaning up Hiroku, as this is the main form that everybody sees him in. What’s “bedtime”? This man/boy/puppet doesn’t sleep. However, if asked Sasori would state that nighttime is his favorite time of the day. Everybody else is either asleep or on an overnight mission, meaning the hideout is quiet and Sasori can work on his puppets uninterrupted. If he knows that he and his partner have a mission coming up the next morning, he will sit with the maps and carefully plot out the quickest, most convenient route for them to take to reach their destination. During the long night, or during a lull in his work, Sasori might pause and go outside, sitting on a tree stump and staring up at the inky sky. Evenings remind him of happier times with his grandmother, who used to tell him stories about the Gods who resided amongst the stars. Foolish, maybe, and made-up, obviously; but still immensely satisfying to a little boy who needed to be distracted from the pain of missing his mother and father. Sometimes Sasori will be joined by the insomniac Itachi, and the two will sit quietly side by side, both lost in their own thoughts (but grateful for the company). Deidara Besides being young, there’s another reason why Deidara is so slender; he barely eats as much as he should, or when he should, or WHAT he should. If left to his own devices at night, the kid will sit on his bed and eat snacks. Chips, candies, pastries; Deidara has almost as bad a proclivity for sweets and junk food as Tobi, although he would never admit this. If it’s one of the fabled Family Dinner™️ nights, he will join the others ... but between him and Hidan fighting to make their voices the loudest at the table, neither gets much food into their mouths (which is a shame, because whatever Konan makes is always delicious). Beauty like Deidara’s doesn’t just happen; it takes a lot of meticulous prep work and a very disciplined routine to keep the blonde looking the way he does. While he saves the majority of his work for the morning, one thing he can’t neglect in the evenings is his hair. Dividing the locks into sections, combing, oiling, and brushing until it shines; by the end Deidara’s arms feel ready to fall off ((again)), but it’s worth it. He also takes care of his eyes; nobody knows this but Deidara has suffered from severe dry eye since he was a kid. He puts in eye drops each night, and gently massages the muscle to keep them vital. As he goes through his routines, he (very softly) sings. To the others,

he’s always maintained that he doesn’t remember anything about his parents; but in reality, he can vividly remember his mother. And mom liked to sing. Before bed he also likes to get in some exercise (push-ups mostly, as he’s trying to strengthen his arms back up). If he’s in a rare good mood, he’ll allow Tobi to sit on his floor and talk to him for a bit. He’s been made to work with this guy for a while, and he stills knows almost nothing about him. Sometimes Deidara thinks he’s just a simple-minded buffoon, but sometimes he seems like ... more. Sometimes the veil is lifted and Deidara sees glimpses of a very different Tobi. A calm Tobi, a quiet Tobi. A Tobi who had a damn brain on his head. Sometimes Deidara thinks that the guy might be — but then the idiocy comes back in full force and Deidara just sighs and tells the kid to go to bed. It takes FOREVER for the artist to fall asleep (his thoughts are always racing so fast that it’s hard for him to shut them off entirely), but once he does, he’s down for the count. He’s learned the hard way that when he sleeps he has to wear gloves on both hands, because the mouths on Lefty and Righty have the unfortunate habit of drooling, and Deidara doesn’t like waking up in a soggy mess. He’s also learned that he has to lock his door, or he risks the chance of being visited by prankster Hidan or Mr. I-Had-A-Nightmare-Senpai-Can-I-Sleep-With-You- Tobi. Itachi Itachi is not much one for eating a big meal at night ... well, at ANY time, really. He can be coaxed by Kisame or Konan to eat snatches of things at the beginning or end of dinner, but you’ll never see this guy with a full plate (or a full belly). After “dinner”, one of the few joys in the young brunette’s life is an occasional nightly bath ((as opposed to his normal routine of morning showers)). Steaming hot water, scented oils, time to wash his hair and moisturize his face — the only time anybody has ever seen Itachi lose his cool calmness was the time that Tobi broke the bathtub and Itachi couldn’t take a single night-bath for the week. But as for sleep, well; Itachi has been existing off of three hours a night, MAX, since before he’d even joined the Akatsuki. Nobody can figure out how he lives like this, unless the Sharingan gives the guy some sort of magical staying-awake powers. And to make matters worse, he’s an ultra-light slumberer; even the tiniest of noises will have his eyes wide open and his ears straining in the darkness to identify possible danger or threats. To compensate for the lack of good rest, Itachi will spend a good deal of time BEFORE laying down in meditation. Being able to put his mind fully at ease, even if he can’t achieve the same for his body, is what keeps him from going completely insane. Although he doubts that the others care about his well-being, in truth everybody expresses some mild concern for Itachi’s worrisome habits. Kisame has even approached Sasori, who is a master herbalist, about making a sleeping pill that he could slip into Itachi’s nightly cup of tea. Sasori won’t do it, because he has no desire to drug his fellow teammate — but he IS working on a tea variant itself that might help Itachi catch a few more Zzz’s per night.

#the akatsuki #bedtime routine #konan #nagato #deidara #sasori #itachi #kisame #obito #zetsu #hidan #kakuzu

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lizardrosen · 3 years

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I’ve spent the last two days writing a paper on gender and sexuality in Twelfth Night so please, tell me your thoughts on the use of gender as a plot device in Twelfth Night ❤️

Hell yeah, I love talking about gender! Obligatory disclaimer that this post is tied up with a lot of headcanons, but I’m trying to be mostly based in the text for this.

Viola fucking with gender is what kicks off the plot, *but also* the plot helps Viola figure out gender.

There’s so many ways to take violacesario’s gender and I want them all! Trans girl Viola, nonbinary or genderfluid Cesario, cis Viola who’s relieved to go back to being a woman full time, they’re all *really good*, and I’m extremely inconsistent about pronouns and whether I call her Viola or Cesario.

Viola has a lot of anxiety surrounding her disguise compared to other crossdressing heroines, and this could indicate that she’s a woman who’s uncomfortable pretending to be something she’s not, *or* Cesario’s discomfort could be more about lying in general and once everyone knows who they are they’ll be able to be more open about their gender.

She just puts a lot of thought into why things happen and what it all means, so it makes sense that she’d also be introspective about her gender

Gender as a social function — Viola is shipwrecked in a strange country, and even though she’s from a good family she’s still a single woman and can’t count on that to protect her.

Olivia’s father and brother have recently died, so she’s lost her emotional family connections, but she’s *also* lost the security of having men to take care of her. Now she *could* solve this problem by getting married, but she instead solves it by refusing to let men enter her space and I think that’s incredibly sexy of her.

The last time I watched Twelfth Night I noticed that Orsino is more earnest and passionate about music than he is about love, and convinces himself that they’re the same thing (but because this isn’t a tragedy, he doesn’t confuse either of those things with *power*, looking at you, Edmund). Similarly he seems to be interested in Olivia because she’s A Woman, not because she’s *that specific woman*.

There’s just a lot of idealized language that feels like he’s repeating what’s expected of him and he’s got a LOT of misconceptions and misogyny that Cesario helps him unpack. “If she loves her dead brother how much more will she love ME!?” “Their beauty and love fades quicker than ours so date a younger woman” “Men just love more, that’s just facts” orsino, *buddy*…

It feels important that Viola is specifically pretending to be a eunuch, not just a serving boy. It’s partly just to explain away why he’s so feminine, but it’s also a different *role* than “man”.

This ties into class things too — the kind of man Sir Toby and Sir Andrew are allowed to be vs. the kind of man Malvolio has to be, and what it means to cross those boundaries — but that’s a whole essay of its own, and one that someone besides me should write (but then send me a link because I’m very curious)

violacesario is straddling a lot of different worlds and identities and everyone can tell — sometimes with admiration, sometimes with derision, sometimes in genderfuckery solidarity.

Orsino keeps using “he” and “Cesario” and “boy” even after the reveal but seems pretty open to following their lead based on presentation and preferences, and I think that’s some sexy character growth.

#twelfth night #shakespeare #shakesqueer #viola #orsino #olivia #Anonymous #friendship is great!

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alovesongshewrote · 4 years

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Almost A Thousand Years - Witch Hunt | Hisirdoux Casperan

Plot: You’ve known Hisirdoux Casperan for almost a thousand years. You’ve hated him for almost a thousand years. And for almost a thousand years, you’ve been cursed to feel each others pain. But somewhere in that time, things changed. [Hisirdoux Casperan x Mostly Gender Neutral but Probably Female Presenting Based on How Historical Men Treat Them!Reader]

Word Count: 4,463

Warnings: i swear some more and uh... i can’t really give a warning, it’s spoilers. you’ll probably like it tho, i promise

A/N: today’s a/n shout out goes to @furblrwurblr for drawing femboy hooters douxie and fucking cursing me

Taglist: @furblrwurblr @rainningdoom @fluffydmonkey @blondie0458 @sitherin-mxschief @jinxedleo @lawlesshedgehog @einahpetsyarcip @dolphincommander

Back | Next

“I told you the boy was bad news Master,” past you said with way too much pride in their voice for your liking.

“Oh, would you shut up?”

“So you’re me from the future, then? Tell me, how do you end up travelling time with the likes of that git?”

“Oi, shut your mouth you little-” Douxie put his hand over your mouth, effectively shutting you up for the time being.

“Calm down (Y/N), please,”

Both you and your past self said “No,” in unison. It would have been funny in literally any other situation, but alas, this was what fate handed to you.

“All of you, silence! Have you any idea what you’ve done? I knew my apprentice was an ignoramus, but travelling through time? Time!”

You felt a very strong urge to scream, but fortunately, Douxie was doing the talking.

“I think we handled ourselves just fine, all things considered. And technically, it was your idea,”

“Damn right,”

“Well, then, you must have botched it up! My planning is flawless!”

“For the record, Master, I had nothing to do with this. He did, which is me, and… ugh! Time travel, so confusing!” past Douxie was awake, and you decided right then if anyone said anything else you were going to knock him, your past self, and Merlin unconscious just for some peace and quiet.

“Aah! The timelines are in complete disarray!”

Oop, that counted as saying something, “They’re about to be in more disarray,”

“Seriously, (Y/N), calm down,”

“Don’t you talk to me… us? Like that!” past you was a little confused, but they still had the spirit. It was the wrong kind of spirit, but spirit nonetheless. You sighed, knowing that Douxie was right.

“No, (Y/N)? Me? Whatever. He’s right, I just need a second,”

Past you froze in absolute shock while Douxie's past self decided to relish in the fact that you were wrong.

Present Douxie didn’t have a lot of patience for this, “Look, both of you, quiet down for a second. Master, I can fix this, I swear!”

“Ah-ah, your meddling has already wreaked enough havoc on history!”

“Then surely we can use the time map to change things back, and then it’ll all be as it was,” Archie said as you, your Douxie and the familiar surrounded Merlin, your focus on the time map in your former master's hands.

“It doesn’t work that way. The map only offers glimpses of possible futures! There are no detailed instructions,”

“Oh come on, it’s not that bad,” Douxie said, reaching towards the device before Merlin slapped his apprentice’s hand away causing both of your hands to sting.

“Ow. Look, life doesn't come with instructions, and we live through it every day without causing too much damage. We can manage this! It’ll be fine,”

“Not that bad, eh? It’ll be fine, eh!?” Merlin said before revealing just what the time map had to show you.

King Arthur was on the ground, dead. Needless to say, that was not good.

“Oh, fuzzbuckets,” Both Douxies and your past self said.

“Oopsie,” you grimaced at the consequences of your actions.

“Your little dungeon break must have changed fate! Now, unless I stop it, the king will die!”

Merlin stormed out of the room, off, probably, to fix your mistakes. Beside you, your Douxie groaned, bracing himself against the table. You put a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him.

“Seriously, how can you stand to touch him?”

It was your turn to groan. You didn’t even look at your past self as you responded, “Because he is my friend and I care about him,”

It may have been a risky statement, one that could doom both you and your wizard, but the smile on Douxie’s face was worth it.

“I don’t understand, how can you-”

Douxie cut off his past self, “You’ll understand when you’re older. Now, you two stay here, we have to go,” he grabbed your hand, and you left to find Claire or anything else that would help save the future. Whichever came first.

It was Claire. Claire came first. You could hear the knights cheering from your place in the shadows. The noise was a decent cover-up for your conversation.

“They’re hunting Jim! If they catch him, he’ll be killed!”

“I know, and he’s not the only one. Because of us, Arthur’s now fated to eat the big one, too!”

“Eat the what? Oh, no, was I supposed to bring food?”

“He’ll be eating a death sandwich, Steve,”

“Ugh, who would eat that? Gross,”

Douxie groaned, but you couldn’t help but laugh a little. Times were tough, but that didn’t stop you from admitting that Steve absolutely had a point.

“Look, if Arthur dies, we lose the Battle of Killahead and the war,”

“Which will probably mess up time so much, you’ll never be able to return home,” Archie said, pawing his way around your hiding space.

“At least, not our home,” you glared at the ground, as if the dirt was the reason the world was at stake.

“Oh no! Toby!”

You looked up at the time map just in time to see the War Hammer disappear into a blue mist. That could not be a good sign.

“What’s happening to him?”

“The future- our future, is vanishing!”

“There’s gotta be a way to fix this,” you said, using the time map, searching through time to find something that would save your home. Among the red, there was a moment of blue. You paused as an image of Arthur and Morgana getting along flashed into the sphere.

“What’s that?” Claire asked before you had the chance to ask the same thing.

“Well, that wasn’t there before. It’s a new timeline, one where Arthur and Jim live,”

“And Morgana’s the hero? I thought she was destined to become Mistress Doom,”

“No, you’re thinking Mistress of all Dark Magic. Mistress of Doom is… something else,”

“What?” Douxie paused, looking at you with vast amounts of suspicion.

“You’d be surprised by some of the house calls I’ve made. Now, keep talking,”

Douxie shook his head, but he was smiling. Good. You loved that smile.

“It looks like there’s a possibility if we get Arthur and Morgana to reconcile, then somehow, nobody dies,”

“I don’t think I have to say that that’s the outcome we want!”

You took a moment just to look at Douxie’s face. In this small moment of victory, which was over too soon, he looked happier than you’d seen him in a while. Of course, you never saw his face when he looked at you.

“Squire Steve! We are all thirsty!” and bam, moment over. Thanks, Gallahad.

“I’ll keep an eye on Morgana. Douxie, you work on Arthur. (Y/N), Steve, make sure they don’t kill my boyfriend,”

“We’re on it. Don’t die out there, guys,”

“We won’t,” Douxie said, taking one last look at you before he ran off. You and Steve did the same.

About a minute in, you could feel things going wrong. Your chest hurt as if you’d crashed to the floor. It wasn’t awful, so you ignored it and kept moving forward, following Steve and the knights and making a mental note to make sure Douxie was ok when you had time. A smirk made its way onto your face when said wizard knocked his past self out. You couldn’t imagine that it was good for him, but if he could still perform magic, he was ok.

And after that, things were okay.

At least for you.

Douxie was having a difficult time getting Arthur to listen to him. Magic, as always, turned out to be a useful tool. The king and his sister began their reconciliation, but something was troubling him. He saw the way they looked at the illusion of Gweneviere. They had both loved her. Arthur even called Gwen “the heart of him,” and they had lost her. He could see the grief on their faces, how it killed the king and weighed down the sorceress was clear to anyone who looked at them the right way.

This was not the first time Douxie contemplated his fear of losing you. He’d been afraid of that for a long time, and one could say that he was used to the familiar sense of anxiety that made itself at home within him whenever you were in danger. But now? Now he looked at the faces of the royal family and realized that losing you would completely destroy him.

Douxie was already a selfless person, one who would sacrifice everything he was to save the world, but right then, he decided that he would sacrifice the world to save you. You were the world to him.

But he couldn’t focus on that right now. He had a job to do.

So did you. And Steve was not making it any easier.

“Kill the beast!”

“Wait, kill? I thought this was catch and release!”

“Oh, my g- ok, come on, Steve,”

You grabbed the boy by his armour and dragged him along as you followed the group, stopping dead when you reached the troll that the guards spoke of.

Arthur’s men had slung chains around the creature, restricting its movement to next to nothing. You were not okay with this.

“Squire Steve, will you do the honours?” Lancelot asked, tossing his sword to the boy.

The boy whimpered, very obviously uncomfortable with this. He turned to you, eyes desperately searching for instructions on what to do in this situation. You shook your head, trying to get across that needless murder should probably be avoided.

Whether or not Steve got the message, you would never know. The troll jumped at the teen. You jumped in front of him, creating a shield with your magic, and Arthur jumped in front of you, swinging a sword at the troll and putting himself in some pretty needless danger. You couldn’t talk on that subject though. When it came to needless danger, you were freaking royalty.

“Careful, young squire, witch,” he spat out your title like it was a curse, “Show these beasts no sympathy,”

He kicked the troll into the sunlight, turning it to stone instantly. You looked on with disappointment as the guards cheered.

Behind you, Steve whimpered again. You turned, hoping to provide some comfort, or calm the kid down at least, when you froze, your blood running cold. Behind Steve stood Bular, aka the Troll who kept trying to kill you.

“Shit,”

The Gumm-Gumm prince knocked Steve aside, advancing and attacking the guards. He hadn't noticed you yet, and you intended to keep it that way, staying out of the troll's field of view, and going after Steve instead. You helped the boy up and off the ground. He wasn't injured, but you realized that the king was about to be.

Before you could do anything, Douxie and Merlin had things under control, saving Arthur and taking out the troll prince. You breathed a sigh of relief. If things went well, Bular wouldn’t see you. Very few things ever went well, but you had your fingers crossed.

And it worked! For once, things went your way. Arthur knocked the Gumm-Gumm out with a kick to the face. Sure, he said some very menacing and antagonistic things right after, but you had no thoughts in your head other than, “Well, that was convenient,”

You watched the guards take Bular away, taking note of Morgana questioning who the real monster was. If Bular hadn’t tried to kill you and your friends and hadn’t successfully gotten you tortured a couple decades ago, you might have agreed with that. Unfortunately, he had.

You hadn’t realized that you’d lost yourself in memories until Douxie said your name.

“-(Y/N), are you alright, love?”

“I-” you watched them take the troll out of sight, “I will be,”

Your wizard took one of your hands, squeezing it, “I’m right here if you need me,”

“I know,”

It was silent for a moment. Then you heard the knights calling Steve.

“I should go,”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,”

“But I should. Someone needs to make sure that kid doesn’t run into any more high ranking Gumm-Gumms,”

Douxie seemed hesitant, but he respected your choice, “Stay safe,”

“You too,”

From the corner of her eye, Morgana watched you and Douxie. She wasn’t focused on it, per-say, but she did find it odd. Were Merlin’s apprentices not constantly at each other’s throats? She ignored it for now and moved on.

Things went decently for you after that. The forest was peaceful, the knights were quiet. Everything was chill until Steve decided to walk through a trap. You weren’t sure why he didn’t just stop. Kids these days, honestly.

You winced as the arrows hit his armour and his skin. Beside you, Gallahad and Lancelot were absolutely losing their shit. You had to admit, it was kind of funny, but you were also concerned for your friend. You put up a shield around him, sheltering the teen from any further arrow-related damage. Needless to say, the knights were very disappointed.

“Oh, come on, now! Don’t spoil all the fun,”

“It was fun for the first minute. Now I’m concerned for his health,”

“Really? Merlin’s witch apprentice showing concern? Well then, we’ve found something rarer than the holy grail!”

You took a moment, keeping up your shields as the king and his guards moved through the trap, Lancelot and Gallahad now supporting Steve.

It was weird to see how much you’d changed. Talking to your past self had been surreal, and a decent reminder of what a little shit you had been, but you hadn’t considered the specifics. Past you was a scared kid doing what their king told them to. Under Gunmar, you didn’t have any interests or hobbies outside of getting stronger and staying alive. Even after you left, you really didn’t start to become who you were now for a few centuries. You'd been scared that the Gumm-Gumms would come for you at any moment, and that fear wouldn't leave you until at least the fifteen hundreds. You suddenly felt enormous amounts of guilt weighing on your shoulders. Guilt about what you’d forced your past self to go through, that you never got a childhood worth having, that you hadn’t been a person for so long that it took centuries to take a real interest in something. And you felt guilty about how you’d treated other living things. You knew now that everyone who could be saved deserved saving, but the child you were in the twelfth century didn’t know that.

But you couldn’t fix the past, even though you were now reliving it. The only thing you could do was forgive yourself.

And so you did.

Then you ran after the knights to see if Steve was okay.

He was. Teenagers are surprisingly resilient, that’s how they can do dumb things and not die. You counted Steve coming out of that trap mostly unscathed as a win. What wasn’t a win was Lancelot spotting Jim and Callista, looking at what appeared to be Jim’s phone.

You had no idea if that would affect the space-time continuum, but what would affect you personally was your friends getting shot. And Lancelot was aiming a crossbow at them. Great.

Beside you, you could hear Steve’s internal panic. This time he didn’t turn to you, instead, he chose to act, smacking the crossbow out of the knight’s hands. The arrow still fired, but there was still time. You put a spell on the arrow, knocking it off course a little more and lessening the impact. However, there was still an impact. You could hear as much from the trolls below you.

Lancelot lined up another shot, but Steve knocked the weapon aside again, and you used your magic to push the crossbow out of reach. It didn’t do much, but it bought your friends some much needed time. The knight thrust the crossbow at Steve, clearly frustrated.

“What if we just let this one go?” Steve’s efforts were admirable, you’d give him that much

“You never let them go,”

Lancelot turned away from you to face the king, who was rallying his soldiers.

You put a hand on Steve’s shoulder, “Hey, you did a good thing, kid,”

“Thanks, (Y/N),” Steve’s voice shook slightly, and you felt awful. If you had time, you probably would have hugged him, told him everything was going to be okay, and maybe adopted him, but right now, you had to find some way to protect Jim.

The knights ran off, leaving you and Steve watching them go.

Douxie and Merlin came out of the bushes, clearly in pursuit of the king. They called out to him before running off again.

“C’mon Steve, we have to follow them,”

The boy, who was still shaken, nodded, following behind you as you ran after everyone else.

Things were not going well. Morgana and Arthur were fighting, knights were surrounding the area, and Lancelot was firing arrows at children.

Claire was skilled enough to fend for herself, scaring Lancelot, but before the knight could say anything that everyone would regret, Steve knocked him out with a large rock. You were a bit surprised, but also very pleased.

“Whoa, man, that troll- that came out of nowhere! Right guys?”

Lancelot woke, only for Steve to hit him again. You were very proud.

“Nice one, Steve!”

“Thanks! Uh, can you do your doctor thing? Make sure I didn’t kill him?”

You kind of doubted that Lancelot had been killed by the rock, but head trauma exists in every century, so you nodded and began your assessment. You managed to focus up and do your work, ignoring the clanging metallic noise of the battle before you. Then the pain hit you. It was like you’d been thrown back into a tree, but that hadn’t happened, so what was- Douxie!

You rushed your assessment, focused on the ache in your spine, “He isn’t dead, Steve, you’re in the clear,”

The teenager punched the air, saying something that you weren’t paying attention to.

“Sorry, kid, I’ll be right back,”

That was kind of a lie. You weren’t sure when you’d be back.

You made your way to Douxie’s side, helping him up as Morgana sent a beam of gold magic into the sky, before bringing it down on the earth like a whip. Your wizard pulled you close to him, trying to shield you from the magic. Had she been paying attention, Morgana would have declared this officially strange, but at the moment she was fighting her brother and former mentor.

You, Claire and Douxie thought it would be a good idea to try and reason with the angry sorceress.

“Stop! We found another way!”

“It doesn’t have to be like this!”

“We can do this peacefully!”

“The time for peace ended long ago,”

“Morgana,” Claire called out, “He’s not the enemy,”

Morgana continued to rant, but you were a little distracted by the fact that she was now flying. It wasn’t the best choice either of you had made, but you and Douxie got closer, just in time for the sorceress to cast a spell, creating shadow-like clones of herself.

“Oh, buckets,” Douxie said as shadow-clones appeared before all of you.

“Yeah, that,” you drew your sword. There wasn’t much left to do but fight.

Unfortunately, you were in the minority when it came to having a weapon. You watched as your friends struggled and dodged, eventually backing away, but wherever they went the shadows followed (as shadows are wont to do.)

Your small group found their way to a cliff, overlooking the ocean. You recognized this place, but you weren’t sure how.

You could hear Merlin call for someone to protect the king, but you were a little busy fighting for your life at that moment.

Somehow, you found an opening and sliced through the clone. You only enjoyed your victory for a moment before Douxie was thrown to the ground, causing you both to wince from the pain. You were about to make your way over to him when Arthur pointed his sword towards the sky, drawing a spell into the blade and releasing it into the ground, knocking everyone back and banishing the shadow-clones.

Douxie helped you up before you both ran to get the time map. The sphere flickered from red to blue. You looked out into the sunset and suddenly realized where you recognized this place from.

Morgana’s name left your lips and Douxie’s at the same time. The time map’s sphere showed the sorceress’s body.

You and your wizard ran towards the duelling siblings in a last attempt to stop them, but you were once again blown back.

You screamed as Morgana fell off the cliff for the second time in your life.

You couldn’t remember walking back to the castle.

You knew you must’ve done it because you would remember being carried back, but you didn’t know how you got from the cliff to Camelot.

And now Claire was talking, “She’s gone. We failed,” as if you needed reminding.

“No,” Douxie’s voice came from beside you, “I failed. Master, I-I’m so sorry,”

“This is why you don’t meddle with time,”

You didn’t even sass Merlin about how this was his idea. You were out of sass at the moment. Your head was full of static as you tried to process things.

“But I tried, I tried to fix it,” Douxie fell to his knees, his eyes on the still flickering time map.

Correction, your brain was full of static and heartbreak. You knelt beside your wizard, putting your hands on his shoulders as he focused on the time map.

“Don’t you see, boy? There is no ‘fixing’ anything, Every change has consequence. Knowing the future is a responsibility to bear with caution, lest you cause the worst things to happen,”

You couldn’t look Merlin in the eye. Even as he walked away, you didn’t watch him go.

“Morgana’s dead, Excalibur's broken. This never happened,”

“We are in uncharted territory,” Archie said, coming closer to you and Douxie, allowing the wizard to pat him.

The pain in your chest was his. The utter anguish he felt over failing to fix things stabbed through you. And it wasn’t just that. He had failed Claire, and Steve, and Jim. He had failed Merlin, and Toby and Camelot. But the worst thing was he had failed you. He had destroyed your future, and now you were stuck here. The very thought of it ripped through him, and you felt all of it.

You bit your lip, just then realizing what that day was.

As if he realized what was to come, Archie took a few steps back, wandering away from the two of you.

“Hey, Doux,” he turned to look at you, the sorrow in his eyes eating you alive, “This was the night. In our timeline, anyway,”

“What?”

“Where was that fight again? Merlin’s study? The staircase? The throne room?”

“(Y/N)?”

“If we wait outside, do you think we’ll see it happen?”

The pieces fell into place for him, too.

“I don’t even know if it will,”

You waited a moment.

“Who knows. We hated each other enough, we might still get cursed,” The joking tone in your voice made you both smile, even though it didn’t reach your eyes.

“Seriously, though, Douxie. I think whatever bond Merlin gave us, I-” you took a deep breath, knowing that what you said next would definitely damn you both. But that didn’t matter. He needed to hear this.

“I think it was the best thing that ever happened to me. You are the best thing that ever happened to me,”

Douxie looked surprised, only for a second, before his eyes cast their gaze to the ground, to the time map that sat closed on the floor. “Are you sure?”

His voice was so quiet you barely heard him, and it was so sad, so scared, that you could feel your heart shatter into a million pieces right then and there, “Yeah,” your voice felt like it would break at any minute, “Yeah, I’m sure,”

Your predictions were correct. Your voice broke and tears came to your eyes, much to your embarrassment.

“(Y/N),” Douxie turned his body towards yours, taking your face in his hands, “You-” he took a second, also feeling that his voice would fail him at any minute, “You mean everything to me, and I-I ruined your future. We don’t have a home to go back to, and it’s my fault, I-”

“Douxie,” you cut him off, “As long as I’m with you, I’m home. If we have to, we’ll just build a new future, together,” you ran a hand through his hair. This was it. This is what was going to kill you, “I love you, Hisirdoux Casperan,”

There was silence.

And then his lips were on yours.

Do you remember the kiss in the 80s? Yeah, that was child’s play compared to this.

Your lips fit together perfectly, his hands glided over your back, pulling you closer to him. Your hands held his face, swiping away at the tears that threatened to fall. You found your bottom lip captured between his. A gasp escaped you when he bit down. It wasn’t enough to draw blood, but it was enough for your heart to race a little faster, if that was even possible, and tighten your grip just a little. You could almost feel his pulse racing, and you were absolutely certain he could feel yours. Your last kiss had been everything in your past, but this kiss was your future. It was a promise that no matter what came next, you would face it together.

And then you remembered exactly what it was that your future held.

T'was a mood killer.

You broke the kiss, almost unwillingly and definitely wanting more, but Douxie had been right. He should know what, “I don’t want to kill you anymore,” meant.

Also, there was a loud crash and bright lights from one of the towers, and that was pretty distracting.

“Those damn kids. Did we really fight so much?”

That almost got a laugh from you, but you had something else to focus on right now. You rested your forehead against his for a moment, just breathing for a second before your spoke, your voice low, “Douxie, I have to explain some stuff,”

“What is it, darling?”

“You were right, there’s some stuff you should know. Doux, I think now is later,”

You bit your lip before standing and motioning for him to follow you into the castle, “Let’s go,”

#hisirdoux x reader #hisirdoux casperan x reader #douxie x reader #douxie imagine #hisirdoux imagine #almost a thousand years #aaty #hisirdoux #hisirdoux casperan #douxie #toa douxie #toa hisirdoux #angst #fluff #kissing

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wallofweird · 4 years

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I’m so excited for season 5! What are you most excited for? 😍😍😍

And did you see they’ll bring the covid theme to this season?

I’m so sorry I haven’t answered this sooner, I think I probably read this ask while I was sleepy and decided to reply it later and then forgot there was something in my inbox. I’m really messy, so I apologize, but thank you for sending me this, I really appreciate when people come to talk to me. :)

Yes, I did see that they will bring COVID-19 to the plot! I’m glad that’s happening because even though This Is Us is all about The Pearsons, they are conscious about what’s happening in the US, the world and at each specific timeline. They’ve addressed to some extent The Cold War, The Vietnam War, racial segregation etc, even small things like fashion and musical trends (like Kate being obsessed with Alanis Morissette, this is such a 90/2000′s thing and I believe she was listening to Hanson when she was upset after her first break up?). So not addressing COVID-19 would feel wrong, I’m sure they will address the Black Lives Matter movement and maybe even police brutality and the presidential election too to some extent. Of course, the focus will still be The Pearsons and all these life-changing events happening in the big three’s and Rebecca’s lives, but they will acknowledge how the world will be affecting their lives too.

By the way, this turned out to be waaaaaaaaaaay longer than I expected it to be and I apologize for it, haha. By the way, this is in NO PARTICULAR ORDER.

So, about what I’m most excited for, well, that’s really a hard question because there are so many things left to explore and so many different places they can go. I guess one way to put it is that I’m more curious about the unseen and barely seen stuff. For example, I believe we’ve seen enough about Jack and Rebecca as parents of children and teenagers, so I wouldn’t mind if they reduced those scenes a little bit. I’d love to see them as parents of babies (which would be a great parallel with Kevison and Katoby), or when they first started dating, when they got engaged, when they were newlyweds. And I believe it’s not a coincidence that we’ve hardly seen any of those experiences regarding Rebecca and Jack, it feels like they saved it for when Kevin finally found the one (cough Madison cough).

I’d also like to see more of them before getting to know each other, their childhood and teenage/young years (we already know there will be one flashback on the first episodes at least!), maybe a little bit of their other relatives as well. Like, what happened to their parents and Rebecca’s sister? Specially Jack’s mother, he mentions she made three clothes for the babies, so she was still around when the big three were born and that was eight years after their first encounter.

I’d love to see more of past timelines that haven’t been visited enough as well. The 20′s is my favorite episode from season 2, I loved the storylines in there and mostly loved to see Kevin, Randall and Kate in their late 20s. Show me more of what was happening in their lives back then! Also, show me more of Randall and Beth as newlyweds and first-time parents too and more parallels with Kevison, please?

Kate. I know that eating disorders and insecurity just don’t go away, that they can be a daily struggle and anytime they can haunt you back and make you relapse. I’m glad the show explores that. However, they also work on Randall’s anxiety and Kevin’s addiction really well and have given them more different stories. I want the same for her. I’m glad that she is also married and has an expanding family of hers, but it seems like she post-poned her career again and I’d like to see her working again at some point. Also, what happens to her in the future? We saw a flash-forward that was like, two years from now and she was all dressed-up and seemed to be writing a song. I hope things are going well for her. And no, I doubt she is dead.

More about ‘the others’. Show me more of Madison, Beth, Toby and Miguel! Why isn’t Madison close with her family? How did she develop bulimia? Isn’t there really anyone who she count on in her family? Will they reconcile or has she left them for good to make her own family like Jack did (another potential for parallels, btw). I remember Beth mentioning to William that she had a lot sisters and lived with an enormous amount of people and we kind of saw it on the few episodes that centered on her, but what are her sisters like? How were their dynamic while growing up and what is it like now? Same for Toby, he has mentioned having a brother and a sister and it looks like they’re not that close, but Toby really loves and admires Kate’s bond with her brothers, so I feel like he craves that kind of relationship to himself and I’d like to know why he doesn’t seem to have it with with his own siblings. Plus, Miguel. He has biological children and grandchildren and yet he seems to be closer to Rebecca’s side of the family. And we’ve seen him with his biological family and know it is complicated, but couldn’t they fix or at least change that a little bit?

Randall’s biological family. Memphis is one of my favorite episodes from season 1 and one thing that was very satisfying and rewarding to see was Randall bonding with his biological family. The show has done a great job showing how Randall felt a vacancy in his entire life for being black in a racist world, for being black in a white family, for dealing with racism in his own family, for not having enough black references for a long period of his life, for being adopted, for being abandoned, for not knowing anything about his biological family, for not sharing genetic traits with his family, for still feeling like an outsider among some black folks he tried to connect with. He said it once that he either tries too hard or not hard enough, but he never manages to GET IT RIGHT. So when he met his biological family in Memphis, it was sort of an awakening, fulfilling moment after 36 years of dealing with all those complex feelings. And that was all, which is one of my few disappointments with the show. However, Sterling has talked about it and it seems that they will explore that again. And if they do, I hope he can introduce Beth and the girls to his uncles and cousins! Sure, he is closer to The Pearsons, but it wouldn’t hurt to have him spending time with his biological/extended family at least for one episode on seasons 5 and 6, right?

Final closure for Kevin and Sophie. I thought episode 3x16 was the perfect closure for them: Sophie talked to him about Grant and how he was her soulmate, they recognized the fact Kevin didn’t commit to their relationship as he did with his relationship with Zoe, they said goodbye without any hard feelings, he went back to Zoe and said he wanted to have a life with her and bought Sophie and Grant tickets to a concert. It was perfect. Then, I guess they wanted to play with the ‘who’s the baby mama’ question for one last time and brought her back as a plot device. It didn’t feel natural at all. They threw in two stories about a game they had imagining different endings to Good Will Hunting and her family ring out of nowhere, no previous hints, built-up or whatsoever. It felt like something made last minute to fuel them enough so she could be considered a baby mama/wife contender again after how badly their relationship played out with the cheating, hiding, lying, heartbreak and overall dynsfunctionality and the fact he dated Zoe for a year and saw himself marrying her. Even the way their relationship has been portrayed over the course of the show, it is an idealization. When Kevin is fine and happy, when his career is going smoothly, when he is life is well, he doesn’t think about her. When he gets frustrated and deluded, he runs back to her. It’s not a constant sentiment of missing her and longing for her, it’s a desperate move and Justin has talked about it and even compared it to his addiction and a unhealthy coping mechanism. So I just want them to definitely shut the door on it now. I believe they have done 50% already with them watching the ending of the movie and saying “it was better than they could've possibly imagined” and Sophie laughing at his billboard, not giving any hints of seeing him in a romantic light anymore. Now, they just need to write some closure to the ring. Give it a proper ending and move forward.

Deja, Tess and Annie. The girls are growing up! So keep giving them more things to do, specially Tess, she is one of the few LGBTQIA+ characters in the universe of the series, so I hope they explore her even more. Specially since she’s come out to her school not so long ago and it is in a phase of her life when the first crushes and relationships tend to happen, there are a lot of things they can do with that and I’m sure we from the LGBTQIA+ community would love to see it. Also, show me them in the flash-forwards! I’d also appreciate if we saw Tess having a love interest and a wlw kiss in the future.

Deja and her biological family. She’s adopted by Randall and Beth, but she has a whole story before them, she has a mother that is apparently doing well too and is a part of her identity. Showing adoptive and biological families having a well-balanced relationship for the sake of their child would be refreshing and really important and they could show the contrast between Deja’s and Randall’s experiences. There is a lot of potential there.

Hailey. I have no idea how the adoption process works in California/the US, but I hope the little one comes as soon as possible! And adult Hailey is adorable, too, she seems to be such a devoted sister, so I hope to see more of that as well.

Unexplored or underdeveloped dynamics. I know that Jack, Rebecca, Kate, Randall and Kevin are the leading characters. I know Jack/Rebecca, Randall/Beth, Kate/Toby and now Kevin/Madison are the main couples and they will have a lot of screen time. I know Kate and Kevin have a special bond because they are twins. I know Kevin and Nicky have a special bond because he stayed with his uncle and helped him with his sobriety. I know Kevin has a special bond with his nieces and baby Jack because he is the last one to become a parent. I know all of that and I don’t want that to change. Still, it doesn’t hurt to mix it up and shake things up a little bit. Give me a little bit of Randall and baby Jack, show me a little bit of Kate and Nicky, bring back a little bit of that funny dynamic Kevin and Toby had on the early seasons (I remember one scene where the actors did a little bit of an ad-lib and it was awesome), give me a little bit of Madison and Randall’s girls, the women/men hanging out together and Rebecca and Miguel! We’ve already got confirmation about Rebecca and Miguel’s story being explored this season, so I’m excited about that.

Kevison, Kevison, KEVISON!! This is absolutely no surprise since I’ve been interested in them since season 2, Madison is my favorite character and a lot of my blog is dedicated to them. Just give me EVERYTHING. Again, one of my few complaints is how the main relationships happened way too fast on this show. Don’t get me wrong, I love the couples as much as the next person and I can enjoy every trope if they are done right. Still, my favorite are still the slowburn ones. As I viewer, I like to see the seed being planted, watered and the slowly growing like a real plant. I like rooting for something, knowing that it will happen, but not when and how it is going to play out. I like to see every single step of the journey: being acquainted, becoming colleagues, friends, confidants, best friends, falling in love, dating, getting engaged, married and BEING married. I love seeing little things and changes in their dynamic, like becoming more touchy, lingering looks, making each other blush, a little bit of jealousy... Sure, we got a little bit of those moments with Jack/Rebecca, Randall/Beth and Kate/Toby, but it wasn’t the same feeling because they were all love at first sight (which is one of the tropes I usually don’t like) and got together pretty quickly. And even when we saw their first meeting, or Jack being a little jealous/hurt when he saw Rebecca with her ex-boyfriend, it was more of a momentary thing than an example of changed dynamics and feelings becoming deeper and romantic. It wasn’t the result of months and a number of episodes in the making, it was a flashback we visited when we already knew the destination of their story, that it wouldn’t last and they would be happily married and the love of each other’s lives. So I specially appreciate that kevison will be the only main couple to have a different construction and development. I’d also love to see flashbacks of the time they slept together (it was afternoon when they met at Kate’s house and they went to Madison’s place and he only left the next morning! WHAT DID THEY DO DURING ALL OF THAT TIME?), which I’m quite confident we will get, but also before that. On episodes 4x10, 4x12, 4x14 and 4x18 I got the feeling that they were quite familiar with one another. They weren’t exactly friends, but they weren’t awkward with each other anymore, they were comfortable hanging out and shopping with Kate, he sweetly smiled at Madison’s quirks, Madison seemed unimpressed and annoyed when she opened the door to him and she didn’t have problems at all stepping inside Kate’s house as if she owned the place and ignoring Kevin when he told her it wasn’t a good time. Their dynamic really changed since episode 3x15 and Justin mentioned Kevin saw her as part of the family before their night together, so I wonder why. Also, some parallel flashbacks would be particulary nice. For example, they could have a flashback of Madison making a pregnancy test on a day that Kevin is babysitting Jack and daydreaming of having his own children. They could show parallels of Kevin and Madison struggling with addiction/bulimia in the past. Maybe she also lost a close relative and grief has impacted her as much as Kevin. So. Many. Possibilities. That. Can. Be. Explored!!!!! Those two are the characters that have THE MOST IN COMMON WITH ONE ANOTHER and there are a lot of things the writers can explore with that. Another particularly sweet thing that wouldn’t hurt or take more than a single minute would be a flashback of them meeting each other way before Kate. Like, if they had bumped into each other on the street years before and don’t remember it until they talk about it one day and realized they saw each other before? I’m watching this dizi (aka a Turkish TV show) where the characters are in a considerably similar situation, pregnant as a result of a drunk one-night stand after their first date and there was this moment where they were talking and she remembered she had bumped into him years ago when she was heartbroken over her ex getting engaged. It was such a small and fulfilling moment. It really gives the idea of COMING FULL-CIRCLE and I’d love to see something like that.

Kevison and the other couples enjoying their pregnancies. I feel like we see the characters with their children as much as we should, and I definitely appreciate that, but we don’t get to see them enjoying the pregnancy period. Last year, most of Kate’s pregnancy revolved around worry, for example. And I get that since it was a complicated pregnancy and she had suffered a miscarriage before, but still. Kate only has one biological child. Rebecca only got pregnant once. Madison is likely to be pregnant only one time too. We basically only saw Beth and Lucy giving birth and that was only one time for each character. It would be nice to see their pregnancies being fun. Documenting it, buying baby clothes, discussing baby names, building cribs, decorating the baby(ies) room etc. It would be nice to have flashbacks of that and specially to see KEVISON doing all of that, since this is the pregnancy that is happening at this current moment.

The characters having friends outside their families and marriage. Like I said before, I KNOW that the focus of the show are the big three and Jack and Rebecca. I know which dynamics will be more explored on the show and I don’t want that to change. However, Kate is the only one that has the luxury of two friends (Madison and Gregory). Randall got Jae-Won on season 3 (I actually think they only became real friends last season, tbh) and Kevin had Cassidy for a while and now doesn’t even seem to talk to her anymore (not that I miss it because I didn’t like their dynamic, specially after they slept together and I just wanted season 4A to focus on him and Nicky without anyone’s interference). Let them have some friends of their own too and hang out with them at least for an episode? Same goes to Beth, Toby, Rebecca and Miguel (I know he had Jack, I’m talking about present time).

Kevin’s career. For now I want him to focus on his children and Madison, but when it comes to his career, I’d like to see him doing different things. He played a soldier and a cop. Let him play different characters and show more versatility. Maybe doing voice-work on a Disney movie for his children to watch it and enjoy it? Dealing a little bit with fame, tabloids and paparazzi could be interesting as well. He’s not a big celebrity like Oscar-winner actors, but he is famous enough to be photographed on the street and have mean rumors about him spread on the media (they mentioned one about him being drunk and running over his daughter with his car), so there are many possibilities to explore when he comes to his career too.

Kate being there for Madison during the pregnancy and more moments of Kate helping and comforting her during difficult times, both in the present and the past years. This is not criticism. Kate helped her when she relapsed that one time and took care of her. It also didn’t make sense to focus on Madison that much because her character didn’t have such a big role back then. Now, things have changed and Madison will be needing her, so let Kate repay the favor.

The couples enjoying some adult time without children involved. One of the very few flaws of This Is Us. We only got that with Jack and Rebecca. The only times Kate/Toby and Beth/Randall tried to have a night just for themselves they had problems. Susan mentioned that she would like to see them going on a date and so do I? Hopefully we will see Kevin/Madison, Randall/Beth and Kate/Toby having some quality time without the kids as well.

If we get to see more of the big three as older children and teenagers (which I guess we are because unless that’s changed, the actors are still part of the main cast), I hope they show more moments of them bonding, having fun and helping each other. Having their own experiences and having each other’s back instead of problems that Jack and Rebecca try to solve for them or help them with. Let them be bigger characters and let them be close as siblings too. That episode where they watched Arsenio Hall together was particularly sweet and refreshing to see, same goes to Kevin helping Randall at school when he got a notification and was having a panic attack. However, for their teen years, I’d definitely love to see them being easy with their parents and those five having a good time together, enjoying each other and their parents for a change, specially since Jack passed away when they were only 17.

Jack, Hailey and the twins. Sure, they will be little, but I hope we get to see the cousins together for a decent amount of time. It is really nice that they are all close (Madison/Kevin/Kate), and NOW, FAMILY. It is nice that Hailey, Jack and the twins will be closer in age and not have a lonely childhood. I hope they explore that a little bit.

Jack Damon. I love him. He is creative, charismatic, funny and adorable. He is also one of the few representation of disabled people that was done right. He is a visually-impaired person played by visually-impaired actors. His disability is a part of who he is and his story, but not all of it. He is a successful musician. He has a big family with his daughter, wife, sister, cousins and uncles. I want to know more of him. Plus, the writing exploring accessibility. Episode 4x13 when Kate, Jack and Rebecca went to the retreat and we saw all those children playing and having fun and living a full life was amazing. We need more of that on TV.

Plus, what about Nicky? Who did he marry? I have an entire theory about this and I hope he can get a little family for himself. Don’t get me wrong, The Pearsons are his family too, his bond with Kevin is one of my favorite relationships in the entire show, but I’d want him to have a family outside of his extended family, too, you know?

Dr. K and Wlliam. We can never get enough from them! I don’t know how often we will see them due to the pandemics and the fact the actors are eldery, but they are the guest stars I will never grow tired of. A fantasy sequence with the entire family while having Jack, Nicky and William would be particuarly nice. They could’ve done it on episode 4x17 and I was a little frustrated that they missed the opportunity.

The future of the family and the future of the show. Rebecca is a grandmother now. Randall, Kate and Kevin are parents. Deja, Tess and Annie are growing up. Jack is 1. Madison is very close to giving birth to the twins. They’ll be 40 when the season premieres. Kevin is a year sober. They’ve all grown in so many different ways. And since Rebecca’s health and memory are deteriorating, I’d like them to be in the upfront of the narrative now. As I mentioned before, I know the leading characters are Jack, Rebecca, Kevin, Kate and Randall. I know the big three are some of biggest characters on the show. Still, when it comes to family, the narrative has always focused on Jack and Rebecca as parents and Kate, Randall and Kevin as children. They have always explored more the problems those three experience, whether is in the past or present time and Rebecca and Jack trying to help them navigate through them and solve things. Let’s reverse everything. Let Rebecca be vulnerable and having her children taking care of her. I’d also love to see more of the future timelines with Randall’s girls as young adults, Jack, Hailey and the twins as children and teenagers, them and their parents dealing with all of that. What will Randall and Beth do when they all go to college and move out? What will Kate and Toby do when their children have nightmares? What will Madison and Kevin do with the twins when they have problems at school? Let us see (more) of Randall’s, Kate’s and Kevin’s parenting style and what they got from their parents and are passing on for their kids and what is their own approach to parenthood. Let us see them passing on Jack and Rebecca’s legacy for the future generations of The Pearsons, but also making their own little traditions and having their own experiences. Let’s us see them making NEW MEMORIES FOR THEMSELVES AND THEIR FAMILIES. It is a good idea to explore both on seasons 5 and 6, imo. Showing how far they have come, how this family that started with only a couple and has evolved into this gigantic fabric of people and how Jack and Rebecca will live forever though Kevin, Kate, Randall, their children, Hope and the ones from generations that are still to come.

IT’S NOT that I exactly WANT it, but iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiif we really have to go there:

Kate and Toby’s divorce. I don’t want it. I love them as people. I root for them as a couple. Sure, they have faced some major problems and this season explored that, but I hope they get passed it, specially since they are about to welcome a second child. Still, I can’t come up with a good enough of an explanation why Toby isn’t wearing his wedding ring. Every possible reason that crossed my mind was either heartbreaking or underwhelming at best: there was a small incident and he will buy a new ring, they got divorced, Kate died. I don’t want any of it to happen and I bet money that Kate doesn’t die. Still, if after making such a big deal of it, it turns out that they just are buying new wedding rings or whatever, that will be so ANTICLIMACTIC. And if they do get a divorce, it will be REPETITIVE since they teased it for the entire season and they stayed married. So far, if it were for them to split up, it should have happened on season 4. If they’re reaaaaaaally gonna go there, I hope it will be done well considering there are only two seasons left, two children involved and it was something they literally played with LAST SEASON. They must find a way to make it REFRESHING AND NOT REPETITIVE. They must find a way to explore the outcome of it. Dealing with a divorce, being single again, the custody of their children and how it will change their dynamic as parents. I also want them to find a new love. Sure, it would be realistic if they ended up alone, yes, and there’s no shame in that. A lot of people don’t want to get married or never see that dream coming true and those are stories worth telling too. STILL, I’d be really frustrated with they were the only characters who ended up alone when Randall/Beth and Kevin/Madison are happily married. Even Jack and Lucy seem to be going strong! So show them finding someone else and give well-developed love stories with different people for them while exploring everything else that’s already going on too. I wanted there to be a big and plausible enough explanation why on earth Toby isn’t wearing his ring and yet is still very much married to Kate, but I recognize it is more wishful thinking.

If they still want to bring Sophie through flashbacks, then answer relevant questions than just having her there sitting next to Kevin. The divorce is a great example of storyline and it can serve as a parallel for Kevison, like, what they got right and Kevin/Sophie didn’t. Justin said Kevin cheated on her twice, so how did all of that happen? We don’t know.

#this is us #jack pearson #rebecca pearson #randall pearson #kate pearson #kevin pearson #madison simons #madison simmons #madison pearson #beth pearson #toby damon

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elliebartlets · 4 years

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6.21 Things Fall Apart

Episode:

• ohhh are they bringing Zoey back? 👀 It’s weird, I love Elisabeth Moss’s work but not so much in this show. Not that she’s bad, it’s just I don’t think they gave her much to work with and she was mostly just a plot device.

• Gibson!

• Evidently Josh doesn’t understand the concept of privacy lmao

• oh Russell wants to offer Santos VP. I don’t remember that

• and if Santos turns him down, he’s gonna offer it to Baker. but I think Baker decides to jump in the race last minute at the convention

• Charlie that is a horrible mustache

• ahh the start of the space shuttle plot

• “We needs daddy to step in.” I remember that line so well, and I’m actually contemplating yeeting myself off a cliff after hearing it again.

• “I had a good teacher.”

“Thanks.”

“I mean Will.”

Burn

• ooooh Zoey and Charlie got someeeee

• I don’t understand why Zoey’s at the White House though? Like she graduated college, so you’d think she’d be living somewhere else like an apartment or back at the family farm. But maybe she’s just there to visit Charlie?

• ok I need to rant about this scene cause it’s gonna bug me: At the end of that awkward conversation between Bartlet and Charlie, after Charlie leaves Zoey’s bedroom, they both walk away in different directions: Bartlet goes back the way he came and Charlie goes to leave the White House. So when Bartlet appeared in the doorway and saw Charlie standing in the hallway, (which I will get to in a second) he could’ve just...waited for Charlie to leave? He didn’t have to walk up to him and have that awkward conversation. Plus he already knows Charlie has slept with Zoey in the past, and fathers don’t really want to be reminded that their kids, specifically their daughters, are having sex. So what good is it gonna do to walk up to Charlie and be like “hey Charlie... I know what you just did...but I’m gonna make this incredibly awkward anyway...also it’s the Republicans fault we’re having this discussion.” Like???

And Charlie, why are you just standing in the hallway of the residence?! Are you stupid??? After Zoey checked to make sure the coast was clear, you should’ve ran for the fucking door. Smh. I’m done.

• anyway moving on

• “You can’t take it personally.”

“That’s what I keep telling myself. Problem is, once you’re telling yourself that, it’s too damn late. You’re already taking it personally.”

I hate how true this is

• “Maybe it was me doing the screeching...on the inside.” I love Abbey

• god this dialogue is so bad. Martin Sheen and Stockard Channing pull it off so that it doesn’t seem bad, but it is. If it were any other actors it would be much more noticeable.

• “We’ve been sleeping together for quite a while.” Charlie stop

• this whole discussion of a possible Zoey/Charlie marriage makes me think that it was them who were supposed to get married instead of Ellie.

• “Remember three feet on the floor at all times.” Josh is so awkward lmao

• In a way, it’s like Josh is rebelling against his parents (Bartlet/Leo) by refusing to get Santos to accept the VP nomination.

• Vinick probably meant what he said about Bartlet but he also said it to gain votes.

• everytime I watch this I always have different opinions on who leaked the shuttle info. Toby takes the blame, but after watching this episode again I think it was CJ. We’ll see if that changes.

Podcast:

• Hrishi on seeing Gibson again: “There’s gotta be more Republicans than this.”

• Josh didn’t think there was enough value in the surprise of the reveal that Santos turned Russell down.

• Thought some lines were just really bad. The “daddy” line was “an icky piece of dialogue” and the conversation between Bartlet and Abbey

• Holy crap Hrishi has seen this episode 4 times in preparation for the podcast...makes me wonder how many times he watches an episode for the show.

• What starts this entire space shuttle plot is the NASA guy accidentally revealing there’s a non civilian shuttle. He just casually reveals it and probably violates like a ton of security levels while doing it

• They wish certain scenes had more substance. They wanted to see:

~ what Russell said that ultimately made Santos down the VP position

~ Josh laying out why Santos should take it (before he changed his mind and told Leo it wasn’t a good idea)

~ Bartlet wrestle with the morality of rescuing the astronauts. It’s implied that he is (“I need more time”) but it felt like they were trying to write their way out of having the president weigh this decision.

• Yes I’m glad Hrishi is just as annoyed with the Charlie/Bartlet scene as I am!

“And then he walks out in his half-dressed state and then takes a beat in the hallway. What are you doing, don’t dilly-dally. You get dressed, Zoey does a hallway check, once it’s clear, you make a beeline for the exit. What is he thinking? You know, maybe he might have the excuse that, maybe he doesn’t realize that sometimes the president gets up in the middle of the night. Oh wait, no, it was his job to wake up the president in the middle of the night for many years.” 😂

• Oh the secret service is telling Abbey about what Zoey does? That thought never crossed my mind. Am I just daft or something?

On one hand I see why cause after the kidnapping Abbey’s probably like very hyper alert about where her daughters are/ what they’re doing, but on the other hand Hrishi brings up a good point:

“I mean if the First Lady is finding out about Zoey and Charlie from the Secret Service which really I think she should not be. Zoey’s detail is really supposed to, the whole point that they’ve said is the Secret Service can’t do their job effectively if they’re reporting you know, this is what Agent Gina Toscano says, you know that she can’t tattle on Zoey and also expect Zoey to trust her in a way that lets her do her job.”

• We’ve got Zoey and Charlie post coitally having gotten it on. We also get the Santoses.”

“Coitus interruptus.”

• There’s been an evolution in Donna and Josh’s relationship. There’s a professional equality to them. There also is a little bit of teasing between them that we haven’t seen in a while.

• We see Russell express his frustration with the power dynamic between him and Bartlet, and he tells Santos he would give him a voice in a way he wasn’t given.

• “Charlie, you have my blessing, but I will also say, that moustache does not have my blessing.”

#the west wing #the west wing weekly #things fall apart #tww #tww weekly #i forgot to post this before #rewatching tww

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blue-satellite-430 · 3 years

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Hey humans. Here's some basic background info on my main characters.

Due to the nature of my WIP, some of my main characters are absent from the current plot, and are introduced and explored using full scene flashbacks throughout the story. Jason dies in chapter 3, but his role in the story and the lives of the characters doesn't cease. And Amai goes into a several month long coma as a result of the shooting in chapter 3. The main friend group established before the start of the plot is apart for some time as they're going through shock as well as mourning. (Part of the plot is James trying to get everyone back together.)

James - The protagonist. He suffers from Bipolar 1 and PTSD which developed after he was first on the scene of his mother's suicide. He refuses to medicate or seek professional help for either. He now lives in an affluent neighborhood with his relatively wealthy adopted parents, who pay him a very high allowance he mostly doesn't use. He likes playing the keyboard, writing songs, martial arts, and anime. He speaks fluent English, American Sign Language, and Spanish and is learning Japanese. He can be violently protective of the people he loves.

Jason - James' late best friend and school shooter. He enjoyed watching movies and wanted to go to college for filmmaking. His family began shunning him after he announced he identified as an atheist. This led to a download spiral of depression and years of repressed anger which he kept hidden from his friends. His reasoning for committing his actions go unknown for most of the book.

Allisa - James' friend and love interest for much of the book. She lost her older brother to suicide when she was 12. She and James form a close bond out of this sad likeness they share. She's also fluent in English and Spanish. She loves painting, sketching, manga and anime.

Ariadne - Daughter of a Nigerian mother and Greek father, she grew up speaking Hausa, Greek, and English. She's an overachiever and a bit arrogant. She was selected by her highschool to sing the national anthem before games and pep rallies because of a frankly amazing singing voice. She's bisexual and does get around. (I know promiscuity is a stereotype for bisexual people, but I won't portray it in a negative light. Besides, stereotypes exist for a reason, and I promise it won't be the only representation bisexual people get in the story. I'll do my best to make sure Ariadne's gonna be a really compelling character in her own right.) She loves singing, cheerleading, and people watching.

Amai - She moved from Japan with her family when her father was offered a position teaching botany at the Everglades University. By which point she started going through culture shock and depression after leaving all her friends. She's quiet and reserved most of the time, but acts really silly around her friends. She plans on studying astrophysics in college. She likes nature documentaries, karaoke, and math.

Toby - Toby's an 8th grader in the middle school division of James' school. James recruited him to help record music after he saw him playing violin on the street for money. They became friends over time, and James sees a lot of himself in Toby. Toby lives with his mom in the ghetto, and he's trying to get into a school of the arts before 9th grade. He likes playing the violin and guitar and one day wants to play in a band or orchestra.

Sasha - Sasha's openly trans at school and at home. He's comically short and pale. His family came to the U.S. from Russia before he was born, but since he's always around them, he speaks with an accent. Sasha's very silly and bubbly like a cartoon character. He's the life of the party when he's with people, but he does exhibit symptoms of an undiagnosed mental illness such as self-harm and periods of self-isolation. He frequently switches hobbies, but consistently loves binging TV shows.

Xavier - James met Xavier at his kickboxing gym. He's basically the only one in James' group without mental problems or issues at home. (He's my token sane character.) He's openly bisexual, but closeted pansexual (if that makes sense), and likes play-fighting with James, even though it quickly devolves into James doing that scary laugh he does and getting a bit wild. Xavier's on the football team at James' school and dabbles in mechanical engineering.

Aiyden - James' adopted baby brother. James' adopted parents got Aiyden when he was 4, much to the dismay of our edgy protagonist. He didn't want to expose someone so innocent to how screwed up he was, and that manifested as hostility in the beginning. But over time, James grew to love him and became fiercely protective of him. When Aiyden was 8, he confided in James about realizing he was gay, and being bullied at school for it. He's 8, so I don't wanna make him seem to cerebral, but I was 8 once, and I waa a fucking nerd so fuck it. Aiyden likes mythology and documentaries.

Martha - James' adopted mother. She's a sweet person who comes from a very conservative Christian home and currently works in a real estate firm making mucho dinero. She and James don't get along much at all for a few reasons. She has no respect for James being an atheist (oh btw, James was raised atheist before he was adopted) and is regularly insensitive about his emotional state. James doesn't exactly appreciate her blatant homophobia either.

Tyler - James' adopted father. Tyler is a chef who owns a restaurant in Miami. He teaches James to cook and generally leaves him to his own devices. He had a suffocating childhood, and his approach to parenting is to let the child come to you. It's your job to let them know you're available to talk to, but other than that, leave them be. James would accept the offer, were it not for the fact Tyler can't keep any secrets from his wife to save a life.

And these are my main characters. I'm really enjoying writing the complexities of how they all interact. I've been reading on what having friends is like to better capture the feeling. 😂

#my ocs #my words #writeblr #mental illness #lgbtq #young author #author #writerslife #writer #fiction #new poets society #wip stuff #wip intro #my wip

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spaceorphan18 · 4 years

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ckerouac replied to your post

“what is your favorite episode from your least favorite season of glee?...”

Ok I love this question, but 1, this is cooper Anderson erasure and 2, I think S8 is way less trash than you do lol

I know - I did think about Cooper - and Big Brother is definitely a highlight, but as whole episodes, I like the other two more :(

Okay - let’s break down season 8 and see how bad (or alright) it really is! I’d love to hear your opinions on it, RB! (Clearly this is my life now)

The List - Robert splits the staff in half on some random list that he made. I think it’s a pretty decent episode, which reintroduces the characters pretty well. Plus, we get some great Pam stuff, so I’m okay with that.

The Incentive - Andy has to motivate the office. Another episode which isn’t that bad, despite being a plot line already done by Michael Scott.

Lotto - The warehouse wins the lotto, and Darryl has to rethink his life choices. There’s some good Darryl development in here, and Andy isn’t that bad as a manager - but he’s not great, and it does feel like they keep trying to give Andy plots originally for Michael Scott, which doesn’t help.

Garden Party - This is the first episode that starts to bug me. Andy’s obsessive need to impress Robert as well as his parents is incredibly irritating. However, this episode does get a few points for having a fun Dwight/Jim subplot.

Spooked - This one is... interesting? Robert asks everyone about their fears and laces it all together for a bizarre scary story. It’s strange, but definitely watchable.

Doomsday - Dwight creates a doomsday device! I really wish they had gone more with the tension of not screwing things up, but it’s more about getting Dwight to turn it off. Not a bad episode despite not being what I initially thought it’d be. And better on rewatch.

Pam’s Replacement - Pam’s pregnant and worried about Jim being interested in her replacement. Shenanigans ensue -- favorite one!

Gettysburg - I think this episode is boring more than anything. Andy gets half the group to go to Gettysburg for a motivational trip. Not only is a questionable Michael Scott plotline, they already kind of did this during The Incentive. There’s a fun side plot involving Schrute Farms, however it’s not balanced out by the stupid side plot of Robert thinking Kevin is the next big genius. (Also Pam leaves because Jenna Fischer went on maternity leave, and that might be a reason I think these episodes get worse for a while.)

Mrs. California - This episode is where I think the season starts to turn really not good. Robert’s wife comes into the office -- he wants Andy to hire here but not hire her. It’s so dumb - especially when his wife seems totally normal. The mind games seem stupid, and make Robert seem insane instead of mysteriously clever - which seemed to be what they originally going for. Meanwhile, Dwight has the dumbest side plot about starting a gym -- which makes it clear the writers seemed to be running out of ideas.

Christmas Wishes - The Christmas episodes aren’t usually that bad, and this one isn’t. There’s a little too much drunk Erin getting weird about Andy and his girlfriend, but it’s watchable. And there’s some fun Dwight/Jim stuff going on throughout.

Trivia - This is an episode I’m disappointed isn’t more interesting than it sounds. The gang goes to Oscar’s gay bar for trivia night. It’s another watchable one - but there’s so much more they could have done with it.

Pool Party - This episode is fuckin’ weird. Everyone goes to Robert’s weird house for a pool party and everyone is just... weird during it. Except Jim, who just wants to leave. I don’t really like it cause it focuses way too hard on Dwight, Erin, and Robert, and it’s not necessarily weird in a good way since half of them don’t feel in character.

Jury Duty - This one is, fine, I suppose. Jim tries to make it up to the office for being gone for a week, and Dwight deals with Angela having her baby. I’m kinda annoyed at this point that the writers no longer take Jim very seriously, and he’s consistently written as a dumbass, and the Angela/Senator thing would be better if it didn’t drag on and on and on, but at least this one doesn’t focus too much on Robert/Andy/Erin shit.

Special Project - This one kicks off the Florida arc, which is...idk, maybe a step up from the rest of the season? This episode is pretty good as it sorts out who is going and who is staying, and Pam’s back!

Tallahassee - The first episode actually in Florida. I’m meh about it. Dwight gets really sick, and there’s some gross stuff going on there. And we get the intro to Nelly, whom I find frustrating during her tenure in season 8 (she’s fine in season 9), and Todd Packer’s around again, which always annoys me. The Scranton stuff is fine - as Andy is receptionist for a day.

After Hours - This one is mostly fine. I love the plot line where Jim has to keep away from Cathy and uses Dwight to help him out. The rest of it is meh as a lot of it is Nelly and Todd Packer being weird together, Ryan hitting on Erin, and a lot of Darryl and Val drama that isn’t as interesting as it could be.

Test the Store - The Florida story is pretty good where the store down there opens, and there’s some interesting things going on. But I hate the subplot about Andy and Pam being bullied by 12yo girls. HATE IT

Last Day in Florida - This one is, idk, another meh-ish one? Jim is trying to stop Dwight getting fired, and while I love the dynamic, maybe not one of their better story lines. Meanwhile Toby and Darryl are selling girl scout cookies, and it’s incredibly boring. Also, Erin decides to stay in Florida to help an elderly woman - and this kicks off the WORST run in the show. I’d rather watch Scott’s Tots again than the next three episodes...

Get the Girl - I HATE THIS EPISODE. Andy goes back to get Erin -- and ends up staying with the elderly woman Erin’s with to woo her back. It’s so cringy, and both Andy and Erin seem like dumber and more annoying than they usually are. Meanwhile - while Andy’s gone, Nellie just comes and takes over Andy’s job. And as much as I hate Andy and Erin at the moment, I hate that his job is just given to Nellie because she decides to sit in the manager’s office. It’s so dumb. Every part of this episode is dumb and it probably is the worst episode in the series.

Welcome Party - Continuing the terrible plot lines of season 8, now that Andy and Erin are back together - they have to go dumb Andy’s not at all developed girlfriend while she’s at a family gathering. It’s so, so terrible and awful. And makes Andy and Erin seem like the worst people. This seems far worse than anything Michael Scott ever did. Meanwhile, Dwight and Jim are forced to throw a party for Nellie - which is at least watchable, but Nellie is still fairly annoying at this point, too.

Angry Andy - The Andy and Nellie plot lines come to a head, which you know just by the description isn’t going to go well. Andy gets angry and terrible, Nellie is still insufferable, and Robert is no longer making any sense at all. The climax of these stupid episodes is just as bad as the rest of it. The only redeeming factor of this episode is the subplot involving Kelly choosing between Ryan and an actual decent guy, and everyone helping Kelly try to move on from Ryan.

Fundraiser - While this episode is at least better than the past three, I find it mostly boring. The office goes to a silent auction - yay(?) No, it’s boring. Andy spends the whole time plotting revenge against Robert for firing him. Dwight seems uncharacteristically stupid about the auction. And Darryl teaches Nellie how to eat a taco (yes that is a plot line) and Angela’s husband hits on Oscar.

Turf War - This episode is probably the first fully good episode since Special Project? Robert’s going crazy, and closing down branches, so Dwight and Jim go against other branches to steal clients. It’s nice to see Dwight and Jim work together. Pam gets to know Nellie - and Nellie’s at least tolerable in the episode?

Free Family Portrait Studio - Considering that most of the season is rough, this one isn’t bad, though probably one of the weakest season finales. Dwight schemes to figure out if he’s the father of Angela’s baby - and we’re left on that cliffhanger. Meanwhile, David Wallace is back as CEO, and gives Andy his job back, and while it’s nice that Robert is leaving (and Sabre is going away), the writing for the show is on the wall.

So, looking at this list and thinking about it. The biggest issue is that there’s so much Andy and so much Erin and so much of their terrible romance that it grows tiresome really fast. Meanwhile, Robert California is a bizarre addition that doesn’t quite fit. Nor does Nellie, whom it’s obvious the writers like, but aren’t sure how to use her well. Meanwhile, Dwight, Jim, and Pam don’t feel very present nor do any of them have many memorable plot lines, and it doesn’t help that the writers seem to be stuck in dummy-Jim mode, as well as Pam just not being there for half the season.

And... there we go, too much time spent on season 8.

#ckerouac #the office

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magic-and-moonlit-wings · 5 years

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

Kanjigar’s death:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kanjigar personally:

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

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

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

My opinions on various ships:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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douxreviews · 5 years

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Lucifer - ‘All About Eve’ Review

"You never forget your first."

Yes, it's another plot device intended to keep Lucifer and Chloe apart. (Gee, like that's never happened on television before.)

That major gripe aside, I think Inbar Lavi was good casting. When you have an already established, talented ensemble cast of well-defined characters, it's difficult to bring in another major character that works, much less a love interest for the lead, much less someone who had a starring role in the Bible. But Eve indeed has the look of someone who lived in a garden her whole life without access to hair salons, and she was definitely rocking that "girls just wanna have fun" vibe.

But what's really going on with her? It's an awfully huge coincidence that Lucifer's ex showed up right the heck now, while his relationship with Chloe is at the point of either advancing into love affair territory or collapsing entirely. And how come no one has even mentioned yet that Lucifer just killed Cain? If I remember my Bible correctly, Cain was Eve's son. You'd think Lucifer would have mentioned something that huge.

Maybe Eve is what she appears to be: crazy for Lucifer, bored with Heaven, desperate for fun. But I doubt it. I also thought it was really interesting that Lucifer asked Eve what she truly desired, and she lied to him. Lucifer's mojo doesn't work on Eve. Must be important.

At least it's refreshing to see a woman so hot for Lucifer, because who wouldn't be? We're used to Chloe keeping Lucifer at arm's length and resisting his exceptional good looks and charm. And okay, maybe not so charming in a bathrobe with bedhead surrounded by empty takeout containers, but Eve's arrival seems to have jolted him out of that.

Who saw the ending coming a mile away? Chloe was ready to tell Lucifer that she missed him and wanted him in her life, and of course she walked in on him with Eve. At least they weren't in bed together. And at least Lucifer didn't see Chloe come in. I'm a little sad that Eve was the one to kiss Lucifer in devilface. It should have been Chloe.

As usual, I don't have a lot to say about the Case of the Week. Even though Lucifer and Chloe ended their partnership, they of course ended up solving the same crime from different angles. Who else knew right away that the killer was Toby, the business partner? The fun parallel was that Toby was like Chloe, the reasonable, hardworking partner, while Pablo the victim was the crazy creative partner, like Lucifer. Hopefully this isn't foreshadowing.

Meanwhile, Linda's pregnancy seems to have created the world's strangest ménage à trois. An angel, a demon and a psychiatrist walk into a doctor's office – it's like a joke that writes itself. And I absolutely loved Chloe and Linda having "the talk," mostly because Chloe ended up listening instead of talking as Linda exploded with angst and confusion about her angel baby. The bubble wrap babyproofing was also hilarious.

I have no idea where this plotline is going: happy? tragic? But it's a lot of fun. At least so far.

Bits:

— Title musings: All About Eve is a famous old movie about established actress Bette Davis threatened by ambitious ingenue Anne Baxter.

— Eve has been in Heaven longer than anyone. I remember Abel being in Hell the longest, too.

— Fun bar fight. I don't usually love the bar fights. And honestly, I don't usually find constant sex jokes all that funny, but Lucifer always makes me laugh. Check out that absolutely perfect devilish smirk.

— When Eve kissed Lucifer in devilface, who was thinking of Buffy kissing Angel in vampface? Yeah, everything makes me think of Buffy. I admit it.

— Auntie Maze. Was that a deliberate reference to Auntie Mame? Or am I just showing my age?

— During the auction, Lucifer and Chloe were again wearing similar clothes. As I said in my previous review, that's often a visual cue that two characters are simpatico.

Quotes:

Ella: "He was decapitated?" Maybe a huge conclusion to jump to, but to be fair, Ella does see a lot of awful things in her job.

Lucifer: "It hurts, not being accepted for who you are… I would imagine."

Doctor: "Do you see that little protrusion right there? You're having a boy." Amenadiel: "A boy?" Maze: "Better luck next time."

Eve: "You know, the garden, the snake, the apple." Lucifer: "The metaphors were a bit off." Eve: "That's true. The forbidden fruit was less of an apple and more like a banana. A very large banana." Lucifer: "It's true." Eve: "You never forget your first."

Amenadiel: "My very own mini Amenadiel. No, no, wait, wait. A mini-diel."

Linda: "There's a good chance it could come out with wings. Wings! Is that even safe for a human to deliver? Should I have a C-section? Will insurance cover any of this?"

Linda: (to Chloe) "With all the bad comes a lot of good. I got a best friend out of this. And the most fascinating patient in the world. And this baby. Who saw that coming?"

I am really enjoying this season. Three out of four lengths of bubble wrap.

Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.

#Lucifer #Lucifer Morningstar #Chloe Decker #Amenandiel #Mazikeen #Lucifer Reviews #Doux Reviews #TV Reviews

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thejakeformerlyknownasprince · 6 years

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What would u say are the best and worst book narrated by each character ?

I sat down to come up with my least favorite book by each narrator and had a pretty easy time of it — there’s an unfortunate dip in quality in the series around #39 - #43 that I can point to as definitely not my faves — and then ended up totally baffled by how to choose JUST ONE favorite book by each narrator, because such a task is almost impossible. In conclusion, I really love Animorphs, as you probably never would have guessed from reading this blog. So, with a little cheating, here goes:

Tobias

Least favorite: #43, The Test

The plot of this book pretty much requires that all of the characters, but most notably Rachel and Jake, act in ways that really don’t fit with their behavior for the rest of the series. My cynical hypothesis about What Was The Ghost Even Thinking rhymes with schmender schtereotyping, but even if I more kindly assume that everyone was just acting strange to jerk Taylor around, I can’t really enjoy this book.

Favorite: #49, The Diversion

Tobias’s point of view works so well for this book, because its plot draws attention to his status as a partial outsider not only for human society as a whole but also for his team. He’s literally trapped in a liminal space that here actually gives him a lot of perspective on his friends’ families — and the importance of sticking close to his own. (And by that I mean 93% Ax, 7% Loren.)

Other favorite: #23, The Pretender

Speaking of Tobias being sort of stuck between roles, this book is so good because it shows the strength of his position as both able to access and able to escape being human. He moves flexibly between a ton of different roles in this book — a leader to the hork-bajir, a supporter to Jake, a parent to himself, a son to Elfangor, a quasi-hawk, a quasi-human, a quasi-andalite — and does so with astounding grace and aplomb. Resting bitchface has never seemed like a cooler accidental superpower.

Another favorite: #33, The Illusion

This book is the brutal shadow-self to #23, instead shutting Tobias out of a whole bunch of different roles over the course of the plot. It does however contain one of the series’s best villains (Taylor is terrifyingly sympathetic) and some of its best moments of heartwarming body horror in the final battle.

Least favorite: #8, The Alien

Honestly, there’s nothing really wrong with this book, but there’s nothing amazingly right about it either. It has a few great moments (Jake’s naïve optimism at the kandron’s destruction giving way to fear for Tom, Ax having dinner with Cassie’s family, Tobias definitely not tattling on Ax) but overall the plot is just kind of inane and doesn’t do much to move the series forward.

Favorite: #38, The Arrival

Estrid et al. act as such a cool check-in for not only how much Ax has grown as a person through spending too much time around humans, but also how much the team as a whole has grown until they are actually more effective warriors than a group of battle-trained andalite assassins. Every time I reread this book I end up making noises of triumph and fist-pumping the air, no matter how public my location is at the time.

Favorite favorite: #46, The Deception

This plot hinges on the stark contrast between Ax’s terrible and unavoidable awareness about the horror of open war and the Animorphs’ lack of standard of comparison beyond “hey, remember D-Day?” MM3 and #28 both do important work to condemn humanity from the outside, but this book actually uses Ax’s perspective primarily for celebrating the whole human species from an outsider’s point of view.

Marco

Least favorite: #40, The Other

As I’ve mentioned here, at this book’s core is an interesting concept that very emphatically does not age well. On top of the cringe-inducing attempt at an After School Special treatment of the idea that (*gasp*) queer men with AIDS are human too, it also has a largely nonsensical plot that strains both credulity and logic.

Favorite: #25, The Extreme

It’s a brilliant use of Marco’s perspective to comment on the constraints and terrifying outer reaches of Jake’s leadership, one that also contains a highly enjoyable mix of humor and horror. Because Marco. I could reread this one a thousand times and still find new aspects of the narration to delight in.

Also favorite: #15, The Escape

This book makes amazing use of Marco’s unreliable narration and lack of self-insight to contrast his willingness to imagine himself confronting sharks with his willingness to run from them upon a real encounter, along with his determination to kill his mom and his inability to stop himself from saving her. Marco is at his most human in this book, and also his most lovable.

Also also favorite: #51, The Absolute

The governor of probably-California is one of my favorite minor characters in the series, and I absolutely love the dynamic between Marco-Tobias-Ax any time it occurs (this book, #46, #30, #49), meaning that this surprisingly fun aside acts as a much-needed breath of fresh air and comic relief in between the Animorphs losing the morphing cube (#50) and blowing up the Yeerk Pool (#52). Plus, Marco + tank = OTP.

Cassie

Least favorite: #39, The Hidden

I’ve said most of this before, but this book is just… nonsensical. And it’s not delightfully nonsensical like parts of #26 or #14, it’s mostly cringe-inducingly nonsensical.

Favorite: #29, The Sickness

Arguably this is the best Animorphs book, both IMHO and by fan consensus. It’s got a simple but devlishly difficult plot, a ton of great characterization moments for all six kids, a handful of brilliant devices and settings that meld beautifully to Cassie’s overall character arc, and a wide-reaching perspective on the importance of overcoming difference that is a huge part of what makes these books so good. It’s also funny, horrifying, edge-of-your-seat engaging, and tear-inducingly beautiful at the very end.

Also my favorite: #4, The Message

Whereas #29 is probably just hands-down the best book ever written, #4 holds a special place in my heart because it’s the first Animorphs book I ever read and the one that convinced me to go find the rest of the series. This one is sweet and mystical, bleak with the dawning realization that these poor defenseless cinnamon rolls are in this war alone but also hopeful with the realization that these precious cinnamon rolls are in this war together.

Jake

Least favorite: #47, The Resistance

Although I’m of the opinion that #41 is more poorly-plotted, this book manages to be both poorly plotted and glaringly racist. Its plot doesn’t make sense on several different levels, not the least that Visser Three knows how to find the hork-bajir valley in this book and then apparently forgets how to get there for the entire rest of the series. And don’t get me started on Jake’s reprehensible behavior from the moment he casually declares Tom “as good as dead,” through to him trying to boss Toby about what’s best for Toby herself, all the way on to him being a jerk to Rachel and Marco. Blah.

Favorite: #31, The Conspiracy

Unlike #47, this book actually makes really good use of Jake’s character flaws to drive the plot forward — he’s bad at being vulnerable, and that ends up being a huge problem for his team. It also leans hard on the irony of Jake being the only one with a “textbook” family (i.e. upper-middle class, heteronormative and monogamous, European-American, traditionally gendered, outwardly happy) and also being the only one under constant threat for his life any time he’s at home, thereby accomplishing one of the series’s better comments on the fact that children’s lives aren’t as simple as we’d like to think.

Favoriter: #53, The Answer

There are definitely flaws with RL implications in this book, but the plot is so freaking brilliant that I can still regard it as a Problematic Fave. The final battle is so well-engineered and the Moral Event Horizon is so terrifying as it swings by that I assign this book to myself for rereading any time I’m struggling to write action or battle. It’s a scary, awful book, but also a very fitting capstone to the series.

Favoritest: #26, The Attack

This setting is so cool. This plot is so cosmic and yet so personal. This use of the chee is so bitingly brilliant in its commentary on pacifism as a luxury not everyone can afford. This story has so many moments that are either heartbreaking callbacks (the opening scene with Tom’s memories from #6) or bloodcurdling foreshadowing (Jake and Rachel’s casually absolute trust that each will be willing and able to kill the other if necessary). This narration feels like a middle-aged and yet middle-school protagonist struggling to figure out who he wants to be — and defeating a cosmic power at its own game with the power of love. I could gush forever.

Rachel

Least favorite: #48, The Return

Again, there’s nothing truly wrong with this book; it’s just a silly and inconsequential aside into the main character’s maybe-dreams at a time when the plot outside her head is heating up to the boiling point. It makes this whole thing come off kind of like Bilbo sleeping through the Battle of Five Armies.

Favorite: #27, The Exposed

I’m not normally a big one for romance, but this book makes me ship Rachel and Tobias so hard that my tiny bitter walnut of a heart grows two sizes every time I read it. Rachel has such great self-awareness that she doesn’t like any situation she cannot control or at least do violent battle against, and yet she dives into the bottom of the ocean with both eyes open and her chin up because that’s what she has to do to protect the rest of her team. Crayak has no idea what he’s talking about when it comes to asking her to turn on her loved ones.

Additional favorite: #32, The Separation

As I’ve said, I didn’t really get this book until I realized that it’s not so much about Rachel herself as it is about how the rest of her team views her, and how she defies their simple categorizations, both well-meaning (Cassie) and not (Jake), through simply being herself. Rachel is both masculine and feminine, both tough and vulnerable, and she makes no apologies for any of it.

And another favorite: #37, The Weakness

This book has an important role for the rest of the series in that it shows how the Animorphs’ guerilla tactics can easily be taken too far, and also how Jake’s discernment of his teammates’ strengths and weaknesses keeps them all alive. Rachel makes a fair number of logical-seeming decisions in this book that prove short-sighted, and of course it all leads to her and Jake’s brutal Checkovian epiphany at the end.

Added additional also favorite: #22, The Solution

A brutal but powerful read, this book focuses on the ugliest parts of Rachel’s personality (her sadism toward David) but also the most powerful ones (her compassion for Saddler and protectiveness toward both Jake and Jordan). It also shows that her reckless taste for violence and her boundless desire to protect her families both biological and found are actually two sides of the same part of her personality.

Okay I have a lot of favorite Rachel books: #17, The Underground

It’s oat-freaking-meal. Only it’s not just oat-freaking-meal, and I’m not talking about the extra-tasty maple and ginger flavoring. It’s a biological weapon. It’s a way to harm the enemy, but only through harming prisoners of war. It’s a social dilemma the like of which we rarely see in children’s books. It’s a lesson in decision making under uncertainty. It’s a moral imperative, but no one is quite sure what that imperative is saying. It’s a deconstruction of the implied assumption that it’s possible to write adventure stories in which no one gets hurt. It’s awesome. It’s hilarious. It’s disturbing as fuck. Welcome to Animorphs.

#animorphs #narration #animorphs meta #asks #answers #anonymous #rachel berenson #jake berenson #tobias fangor #aximili-esgarrouth-isthill #be really nice if cassie and marco had last names wouldn't it #k.a. applegate is a god #the rest of us just worship her

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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25 Best Games of the PS4, Xbox One, and Switch Generation

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

It may be harder to name a defining feature of the eighth generation of consoles than in previous generations. You could argue that this is the 4K generation, as it was the first to boost visuals to that resolution, but that feature only popped up midway through the generation in enhanced versions of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Even now many current-gen releases don’t support 4K just yet.

This generation could also be remembered as the one where a reliable, high-speed internet connection became more important than ever, not only for innovative new experiments with online connectivity and the burgeoning battle royal genre, but just to download the hefty updates most AAA games require today. Still, some of the best games of the last few years have been single-player only affairs.

Perhaps this is the console generation that embraced the idea that gamers should be able to play what they want, how they want. Whether you wanted to play a big-budget new release in glorious 4K on the Xbox One X or PS4 Pro, or relax with an on-the-go port of an old favorite for the Nintendo Switch, these consoles had your back. Best of all, cross-platform play, cloud gaming, and subscription services like Xbox Game Pass made it easier than ever to play some of the most popular games on the device of your choosing.

Regardless of how we ultimately remember this generation, one thing is for sure: there have been plenty of great games across the PS4, Xbox One, and Switch. As we look forward to the impending launches of the Xbox Series X and the PlayStation 5, these are the very best games we played on the current generation of consoles…

25. Fortnite

2017 | Epic Games

It’s no secret that there are still plenty of legitimate criticisms lodged at Fortnite, even three years after its release. New updates often leave it feeling incredibly unbalanced, it unapologetically targets its core audience of young gamers with microtransactions, and it really sucks when those kids handily beat you in solos and start screaming into their microphones. But Epic deserves a lot of credit for popularizing many of the staples of the once-niche battle royal genre, from parachuting unarmed into a remote island to the closing circle pushing players toward each other. In the years since its release, those ideas have been co-opted into everything from platformers to racing games.

Yes, PUBG came first, but the hardcore nature of Fortnite‘s predecessor turned off more casual players. With its bright, inviting graphics and forgiving gunplay, Fortnite made the battle royal accessible to the masses, while also spearheading the genre’s push to mobile devices and adoption of cross-platform play in an effort to get the game in as many hands as possible. Fortnite isn’t for everyone, but even if it’s not your cup of tea, it’s hard to escape the profound influence that Fortnite has had on this generation of gaming.

24. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

2019 | FromSoftware

Many gamers rank Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice as not just one of the best games of this generation but among the greatest action games of all time. This is a deeply rewarding game that emphasizes intricate, precise combat and meticulously planned stealth, while also boasting a faster pace than its classic FromSoftware predecessors. With its mix of historical and fantastical elements, Sekiro is the shinobi game that many players have spent years fantasizing about.

Sekiro’s biggest flaw is what others will say is its greatest strength: mercilessly unforgiving difficulty. FromSoftware’s previous titles were difficult, but Sekiro can be a downright masochistic experience, demanding not just skill, but absolute perfection to defeat its bosses. If you’re not perfect, you will die. A lot. Some gamers welcome that kind of challenge, but for the more easily frustrated among us, there are plenty of other games that offer just as much enjoyment with a lot less frustration. Still, you can’t deny this game its place as one of FromSoftware’s very best.

23. Inside

2016 | Playdead

Inside is a master class in minimalism. The visuals are simple and monochrome. Sound and music are used sparingly. And the story is largely open to interpretation. But all of that is used expertly as way to entice the player fill in the gaps and project their own beliefs into the experience. Does the Boy you control have free will or is he under the control of some other force? Do you even have the control over him that you think you do?

For most of its brief runtime, Inside plays like a fairly traditional puzzle platformer but then the last half hour or so turns into something very, very different. If you haven’t experienced it yet, we won’t spoil it here, but it’s well worth taking the time to play before moving on to the next generation of consoles.

22. Persona 5 Royal

2020 | Atlus

Many of us would have liked high school better if it had been more like Persona 5. Atlus has been working on this high school-set RPG saga for years and Persona 5 might be its masterpiece. The game doubles as both an incredibly well-written day-in-the-life simulation of the life of a student — with all of the social interactions, stresses, and crushes that go with it — and an intense dungeon crawler to rival the best in the genre. There’s a lot to do in Persona 5, but the story and gameplay are so engrossing that even the 100 hours it takes to complete the game feel like they fly by.

Even the original 2017 release of Persona 5 would have made this list, but the addition of a new playable character, new palace, and a third semester make Persona 5 Royal the definitive version of the game to pick up if you’re digging into it for the first time.

21. Death Stranding

2019 | Kojima Productions

When Death Stranding was first announced in 2016, there were a lot of questions about what exactly it was about. A year after release, it’s still hard to fully explain a plot that intertwines magic babies, whale ghosts, strategic urination, a complete misunderstanding of how the federal government works, and the potential extinction of mankind. Also, Conan O’Brien shows up and everyone drinks Monster Energy for some reason.

There’s a lot going on here, but Hideo Kojima’s overly-complex storytelling is ultimately much less important than the point he’s trying to make: though technology is making us drift apart, and we might feel lonely and separated from each other at time, we are all inextricably connected and stronger when we realize it. And Kojima does a fantastic job of making players feel the weight of Sam’s mission to connect with others across the game’s beautiful and haunting environments.

Death Stranding’s story of a porter who keeps America together by delivering packages to people stuck in their homes due to an invisible danger overtaking the outside world seemed rather silly when it was released, but the Covid-19 pandemic quickly made the game feel much more poignant. You might not get what’s happening from one moment to the next but it’s clear that Kojima’s latest is a prescient work of art.

20. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

2018 | Ubisoft

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey really doesn’t care about the Assassin’s Creed franchise. In fact, you don’t even play as an actual assassin once you enter the animus and select to play as either the male or female protagonist. There are no Templars to fight, no creed to follow, and not even a hidden blade. Instead, Odyssey lunges head first into its Ancient Greece setting to just tell the best (mostly) self-contained story possible. There are kings to topple, famous battles to fight, legendary philosophers to argue with, and even a few mythical creatures to discover late into the game.

If Odyssey has one flaw, it’s that it’s too big. Even after 80 hours, it’s unlikely that you’ll have seen everything that the game has to offer or unlocked all of the upgrades for your character and their ship. But for such a lengthy game, Odyssey remains surprisingly enjoyable dozens of hours in, which just speaks to the strength of its gameplay systems.

19. Rocket League

2015 | Psyonix

“Soccer, but with vehicles,” is such a simple but brilliant concept that it’s amazing that it didn’t catch on sooner. Of course, any idea is only as good as its execution, which is why Rocket League has been so successful, especially when compared to its little-known predecessor, the 2008 PS3-exclusive Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars.

But Rocket League hasn’t achieved greater popularity just because it has a better name. The secret to its success is in the physics. The way that the cars and trucks move and boost and fly through the air to hit the giant soccer ball just feels like the perfect mix of skill and luck..

The version of the game that Psyonix put out in 2015 was great before any changes, but the constant flow of updates, including new cosmetics, skins, arenas, and game modes solidify Rocket League’s place among the best games of the generation. At this rate, there’s a very good chance that we’ll still be playing it years from now, even when the successors to the PS5 and XSX come around.

18. Undertale

2015 | Toby Fox

Undertale is proof that groundbreaking 3D graphics and a huge team of developers aren’t necessary to create a classic title in the modern gaming landscape. Developed almost entirely by one man over the course of 32 months, the beauty of Undertale is in its simplicity, the clear inspiration it takes from so many classic games of the 16-bit era, and the way it turns so many of those retro conventions on their heads.

Undertale might look like a typical old-school RPG at first, but once you dig into it, the fantastic writing and turn-based/bullet hell hybrid battle system reveal a much more innovative game. Undertale is proof that the indie game development scene is still alive and well.

17. Animal Crossing: New Horizons

2020 | Nintendo

Playing AAA games can sometimes be stressful: tough new enemies around every corner, the constant threat of death or failure, the burden of resource management, mind bending puzzles, and unending list of quests and collectibles to find. But Animal Crossing: New Horizons isn’t like those games. New Horizons is about chilling on your own personal island with friends, living life at your own pace, and creating your own little slice of paradise. Go fishing, collect fruit, redecorate your house, or just ignore all of those things and talk with your friends. It sounds really boring to a lot of people who have never experienced the magic of an Animal Crossing game, but it’s hard to deny how incredibly cathartic the experience is after just a few minutes.

Part of New Horizons appeal can be attributed to the timing of its release. The game came out just as Covid-19 lockdowns were being instituted across the globe, and it gave us all a nice, pleasant distraction from the chaos of the outside world. But even without the pandemic, it’s impossible to deny just how relaxing New Horizons is as a sort of anti-game free from the stresses caused by so many other games.

16. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

2015 | Kojima Productions

Even before his high-profile departure from Konam in 2015, Kojima warned us for years that Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain would be his last installment in the series. After his contentious exit, it seems that he has truly closed the door on the series, but at least he went out on top in his final adventure with Snake. Sure, the storyline is as convoluted as ever, but The Phantom Pain is easily the best Metal Gear Solid from a gameplay perspective.

After years of required linear stealth gameplay, The Phantom Pain opened up the world and gave Snake way more tools and options that ever before, making a full-on assault just as viable a plan as sneaking around. Sure, other games took similar approaches years before The Phantom Pain’s release, but the trademark Kojima quirkiness, including equipment like Snake’s customizable prosthetic arm and the ability to recruit goats to your home base via giant balloon, puts it a step above the titles that influenced it.

15. Doom

2016 | id Software

It’s difficult to innovate in a genre as well-worn as first-person shooters, but with Doom, id proved that there’s still new ground to cover. The genius of Doom is its incorporation of risk-reward gameplay to encourage a faster, more aggressive style of play. If you hide behind cover, don’t move much, and play more conservatively, the hordes of hell are going to tear you to pieces. You need to constantly jump into the fray and go for glory kills to gain more health if you want to progress and live to fight another day. Add in superb level and creature design and you have the recipe for what’s easily the best first-person shooter of this generation.

And yes, the sequel Doom Eternal is quite good as well, but the gameplay additions never click quite as well as in its predecessor, and the additional platforming sections feel out of place. Doom 2016 remains the undisputed king of fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat running and gunning.

14. Bloodborne

2015 | FromSoftware

What if the best Dark Souls game isn’t technically a Souls game at all? Yes, Bloodborne is built on the foundation of that classic series, but by tweaking the combat to focus more on offense than a carefully timed defense, Bloodborne is a faster, and frankly, more enjoyable game. Plus, the Gothic, Lovecraft-inspired world is just a lot cooler than Dark Souls’ fantasy setting. And while all of FromSoftware’s Souls titles have garnered a hardcore fanbase that continues to play these games years after release, Bloodborne’s randomly generated Chalice Dungeons gives it a staying power that few other RPGs and even the Dark Souls trilogy can compete with.

Rumors of a Bloodborne sequel have swirled online basically since the game’s release. Given its overwhelmingly positive reception, its curious that Sony (which owns the IP) hasn’t officially commissioned a sequel yet, but maybe the release of the PS5 will be just the motivator the publisher needs to make another Bloodborne game.

13. Overwatch

2016 | Blizzard Entertainment

Of all the games released this generation, Overwatch may have inspired the most imitators, but more than four years after release, still nothing comes close in terms of quality or popularity. Part of that success is thanks to developer Blizzard, which has spent years perfecting multiplayer modes and has put in the work to keep Overwatch fresh with everything from minor balance tweaks to new characters, maps, and modes.

But another part of Overwatch’s appeal is its accessibility. If you’ve barely played a shooter, you can hop into a game with a hero like Soldier 76 who plays like a traditional FPS character and have a ton of fun. Or, you can put the time in to master a more complicated melee hero like Doomfist for a much more unique experience. Prefer more of a supporting role? Heal and revive your teammates just in the nick of time to turn the tide of battle as fan-favorite Mercy. The ways to play in Overwatch are essentially endless, easily making it the best multiplayer experience of the generation.

12. Marvel’s Spider-Man

2018 | Insomniac Games

There have been plenty of Spider-Man games over the years, but few developers have nailed the superhero and his world as well as Insomniac. This isn’t the first game to let you swing freely around New York City as Spider-Man, but it may be the best designed, thanks to the intuitive controls and brilliant map design that encourages and facilitates high-flying maneuvers. And the combo-based combat system makes each fight a joy right up until the credits roll.

But what really makes Marvel’s Spider-Man great is that it never forgets the man behind the mask. Like the best Spider-Man comics and movies, Insomniac’s game smartly weaves between the struggles of Peter Parker’s daily life and his duties as a hero to create one of the best Spider-Man stories ever, regardless of the medium.

11. Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End

2016 | Naughty Dog

To be fair, we didn’t really need another Uncharted game. The trilogy was tied up neatly on the PS3. But Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is certainly a welcome finale to Nathan Drake’s story and arguably the best of the series. For one thing, it’s absolutely gorgeous and still has some of the best graphics of the generation, even though it was released midway through. Uncharted 4 isn’t an open world game, but its levels are so large that it might as well be. And with locations that span the entire globe, it’s impressive just how much detail Naughty Dog was able to include in each level.

But A Thief’s End is also one the best told video game stories of the last few years, featuring both the big, explosive set pieces that we’ve come to expect from the series, as well as quieter, more introspective moments that tie the story together. This was a proper send-off for this all-time great action-adventure franchise.

10. Nier: Automata

2017 | PlatinumGames

After abought eight hours of hacking and slashing through hundreds of robotic enemies in Nier: Automata’s post-apocalyptic setting, you’ll reach the ending. But it’s just the first of several endings you’ll encounter, as you tumble deeper down this rabbit hole. Dozens of hours of gameplay await you after that. And right up until the end, Nier: Automata will keep surprising you, not just with its somewhat convoluted plot, but by constantly throwing new styles of gameplay at you. Sometimes it’s more of a shooter. Other times, it’s a brawler. There are even a few text adventure segments.

Then there’s the sprawling chorus-filled soundtrack, which is among the best of the generation. It’s the type of music you’ll be listening to long after you beat the game. Well, beat it for real.

9. Outer Wilds

2019 | Mobius Digital

Outer Wilds is perhaps the most unique and innovative game of this generation. You play as an unnamed alien astronaut preparing to launch a decrepit spaceship into your solar system 22 minutes before the sun goes supernova. Your goal is to explore the different planets, solve puzzles, and figure out just why the solar system keeps exploding every 22 minutes, only for you to end up right back where you started in a sort of Groundhog Day-style time loop.

Outer Wilds emphasizes discovery above all else, enticing you to explore every last corner of its unique environments. The new worlds and the game’s surprising storyline will keep you entertained until the very end(s).

8. Horizon Zero Dawn

2017 | Guerilla Games

So much of Horizon Zero Dawn‘s gameplay is obviously inspired by other titles, but it emulates those games so well and its setting is so strong that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. At its core, Horizon Zero Dawn is an open-world sandbox with combat and missions similar to other titles in the genre like Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and Far Cry. But what separates it from the pack is its post-post-apocalyptic setting.

Horizon Zero Dawn takes place in a world so far in the future that it resembles the prehistoric past, except the towering monstrosities that dot its landscape are made of metal and circuits instead of flesh and blood. You might have tracked a beast through the wilderness using nothing but a bow and arrow in other games, but only Horizon Zero Dawn will let you use shock arrows to take down a giant robot dinosaur.

7. The Last of Us Part II

2020 | Naughty Dog

While its predecessor was one of the most widely acclaimed games of the previous generation, The Last of Us Part II has the distinction of being one of the more divisive games of this generation. That mostly comes down to the story. The Last of Us Part II is a hard game to get through, not so much because of its difficulty, but because of the emotions it invokes. This is a lonely, brutal, and tragic game, and it leaves Ellie changed in ways that turned off many hardcore fans of the original. The Last of Us Part II pulls no punches in how it handles some difficult issues.

With so many sequels going the iterative route, The Last of Us Part II’s bold narrative choices are a breath of fresh air. Making Ellie a more nimble character who can jump, swing, and avoid combat also added some interesting twists to the strong gameplay foundation that was laid down in the original. The Last of Us Part II may not quite surpass the first game, but it stands out as a prime example of a fantastic and daring sequel.

6. Super Mario Odyssey

2017 | Nintendo

The gaming landscape today is nearly unrecognizable from what it was like in the ‘80s, and yet after all that time, Nintendo’s plucky Italian plumber still stands tall as one of the biggest stars in the industry. Super Mario Odyssey is impressive for the way it embraces the entire history of Mario, with fun throwbacks to his original adventures on the NES and the timeless platforming mechanics from his first forays into 3D, Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine. It says a lot about the quality of those games that the basic gameplay fundamentals still hold up so well.

But then Super Mario Odyssey improves on those ideas with the addition of Cappy, Mario’s new sentient hat who he can use to take control of other characters and objects in the environment. This mechanic leads to some of Odyssey’s very best moments. And while it’s debatable whether Odyssey is the very best of Mario’s many outstanding adventures, it’s a testament to his staying power that after all these years, we’re still talking about him.

5. Control

2019 | Remedy Entertainment

Even if you’re not typically a completionist, Control will get you searching every last nook and cranny of the constantly-shifting The Oldest House for files detailing the paranormal phenomena investigated by the Bureau of Control. It’s not that these collectibles unlock anything that great or that they have a ton of achievement points attached to them, it’s just that the writing is that good. Control expertly weaves so many threads about the occult, paranormal, and government conspiracies that you’ll just want to keep learning more about the world as you take down the monsters.

While Control seems to be a fairly typical third-person shooter at first, it quickly opens itself up to reveal a whole host of psychokinetic powers that make each combat encounter feel unique. With all your combat powers unlocked, it’s a real thrill to launch debris at a group of Hiss or turn them against each other with mind control.

Control is constantly surprising, unapologetically weird in the best possible ways, and always fun to play. While it may not have received as much mainstream attention as many of the other games on this list, it is absolutely worth checking out now, especially with a confirmed next-gen upgrade on the way.

4. Red Dead Redemption II

2018 | Rockstar Games

Red Dead Redemption II is the pinnacle of what this console generation is capable of in terms of game design, and a prime example of what some of the best developers in the world can do when given near limitless time and money to complete their vision. Arthur Morgan’s journey of redemption in the final days of the Wild West is told with the skill of an Oscar-worthy film. And much of that comes down to the details. Everything, from the dust covered trails to the signs you encounter in the game’s lively towns, is artfully constructed to give this land a special, lived-in feel.

For a massive game that demands 50 hours of play just to complete the main story, there’s remarkably little repetition from mission-to-mission. Red Dead Redemption II evokes a living, breathing place and in a way few other games have. It’s likely as close to Westworld as any of us will see in our lifetime.

Red Dead Redemption II isn’t perfect, of course. The increased focus on realism, requiring things like dressing properly for inclement weather and keeping your horse fed and groomed, annoyed some players. And for all of the successes of the single-player campaign, the multiplayer mode has remained unusually glitchy and underdeveloped two years after release. Yet, few other games even come close to its standout world development and story.

3. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

2017 | Nintendo

The Legend of Zelda games have been consistently great throughout the franchise’s long history, but let’s face it: the series was getting stale after cruising on the formula established by Ocarina of Time for almost two decades. Luckily, Breath of the Wild was exactly what Nintendo needed to reinvigorate Hyrule.

The genius of Breath of the Wild is how it uses fairly simple gameplay mechanics to explore the world in a multitude of ways. Unlike previous games, which would regularly introduce a dozen or more new weapons and tools, the Link in Breath of the Wild really just relies on four abilities: bombs, stopping time, ice blocks, and magnetizing metal. All four of these powers are introduced within the first hour or so, and then you’re off to explore the world however you see fit. You can even try to fight Ganon immediately, though that’s almost certain to end in a quick death.

Breath of the Wild successfully reimagined The Legend of Zelda by stripping it down and remembering that above all else this is a series about exploration, experimentation, and the thrill of discovery. And by returning to that foundation, Nintendo create a game that arguably surpasses Ocarina of Time.

2. God of War

2018 | SIE Santa Monica Studio

The adventures of Kratos have always been well regarded, but 2018’s reboot/sequel solidified God of War’s place among the greatest series of all time. Much of the credit goes to the revamped combat system. Kratos’ new axe, Leviathan, feels revolutionary. There’s a real impact each time it hits an enemy, but the true innovation is in being able to throw it and call it back at will, much like how Marvel’s Thor wields his hammer. It’s a simple mechanic, but no game had ever pulled it off quite this well.

The other thing that separates God of War from other games is the cinematography, something that seemingly gets little attention in most games. Putting the camera closer to Kratos is one of the design decisions that makes the combat feel much more visceral, but the real accomplishment is that the entire game, from brutal combat to introspective cinematics, is told in one continuous shot, creating one of the most immersive and innovative experiences in gaming history.

1. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

2015 | CD Projekt Red

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is now five years old, having come out relatively early in the console cycle, but it still holds up as the very best example of what gaming has had to offer over the last generation. The Witcher 3 tops this list for its outstanding world building and storytelling. Sure, it’s a fantasy game at heart, but every inch of the map, from Skellige to Toussaint, feels like an actual place. And characters like elves and trolls have backstories and emotions that make them feel just as real as any living, breathing human.

The world building in Wild Hunt is second to none, and that extends far beyond the main questline or even books and notes scattered around the world. While many open-world games cut corners with simple side quests that recycle locales and goals, some of the side quests in The Witcher 3 are actually among its best content, with stories and missions that rival some full games. The level of detail is absolutely astounding, and that’s before even mentioning the deep combat system which lets you fully customize Geralt of Rivia’s weapons, armor, spells, and traps. There is a ridiculous amount of quality content in The Witcher 3 and no shortage of ways to complete it.

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Had CD Projekt Red just shipped Wild Hunt in 2015 and called it a day, it very likely would have topped this list, but the support the developer has shown in the years since has just further solidified its place in gaming history. Two expansions, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine, essentially added two full games-worth of content while still maintaining the high quality of the base title. Updates for the PC, PS4 Pro, and Xbox One X added 4K support, making an already stunning game a contender for best graphics of the generation. And if you’ve seen everything in those versions of the game, a shockingly good Switch port has now made the entire adventure playable on-the-go. Looking ahead, a free next-gen upgrade for the PS5 and Xbox Series X is already in development. With that many options to play, there’s really no excuse to have missed out on Wild Hunt at this point.

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the-desolated-quill · 7 years

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The God Complex - Doctor Who blog

(SPOILER WARNING: The following is an in-depth critical analysis. If you haven’t seen this episode yet, you may want to before reading this review)

Oh great! Another Toby Whithouse episode! They’re always good for a giggle!

I’ve always felt Whithouse was the obvious candidate to take over from Moffat as opposed to Chris Chibnall. Granted not everything he writes is amazing, but he always maintains a decent level of quality and he seems to have a good handle as to what makes Doctor Who such a unique show. I absolutely adored School Reunion and while The Vampires Of Venice was a tad flawed, it was still hugely entertaining due to its camp silliness. The God Complex is very much in the same vein as Vampires. Although problems do crop up toward the end, it’s still very enjoyable overall.

The Doctor, Amy and Rory arrive at a hotel, only to discover it’s not a hotel at all. It’s a prison made to look like a hotel with other ‘guests’ trapped inside, their worst fears hidden behind every door and a hungry Minotaur roaming the corridors. Bit like a hotel I stayed at in Rome during a school trip.

Now of course the advertisements describe the rooms as containing their worst fears, but I do hope Whithouse didn’t actually intend this to be scary. Because if he did, he may have fallen short by a few... light-years. See the thing about fears that are personal to you is that only you find them scary. Everyone else just finds them either tame or just plain hilarious, especially if it’s something weird like a gym teacher or a man in a gorilla suit clutching some toilet roll, both of which appear in the episode and both of which are hysterically funny. So I’m assuming that Whithouse was going more for surreal rather than scary. And yeah, it works. It works really well. If Whithouse was going for surreal, this is definitely surreal. The hotel is a great setting and it does lend itself to some very weird imagery, like the dining room full of ventriloquist dummies. A lot of it feels very reminiscent of Stephen King. The most obvious is The Shining with perhaps a little bit of It thrown in for good measure. Not very original granted, but it’s executed very well. And I did like the Minotaur. Okay the design is a bit crap, but the use of fisheye lens and inventive camera angles help to make it somewhat threatening.

Let’s talk about the characters, starting with my favourite. Rita, played by Amara Karan. Having had to put up with obnoxious plot device in a mini-skirt Amy for what feels like two ice ages rather than series, you can imagine I was very excited when the Doctor offered to take Rita with him in the TARDIS when all this was over. A woman that’s not defined by her physical attractiveness or her importance to the Doctor and is actually a fully realised character in her own right? Whithouse, please, remind me what that’s like! It’s been such a long time!

Needless to say, I really liked Rita. She’s funny, really smart, she’s got a good head on her shoulders, and is able to keep her cool while everyone else is losing their’s. I particularly liked the exploration of her faith. She believes the hotel is actually Jahannam, the Muslim version of Hell, and I liked how she’s able to take it all in her stride. She’s confused as to why she’s been sent to ‘Jahannam’, believing she has lived a good and moral life, but remains steadfast that everything will be explained and that she will get out of this somehow. Plus it’s just nice to have a Muslim woman on Doctor Who. I certainly would love to see a Muslim woman become the Doctor’s companion. I was utterly heartbroken when she died, although I suppose I should have seen it coming. I thought Amara Karan gave a really good performance and would have fit in really well with Matt Smith’s Doctor. I feel she would have provided a nice rational counterbalance for him. I especially liked her calm rejection of the Doctor’s all mighty saviour mentality.

I could have done without the stereotyping though. When Rita opens the door to her room, her worst fear is revealed to be her strict dad berating her for getting a B in mathematics.

Really Whithouse?

In fact this episode contains a lot of stereotyping now that I’m thinking about it. I mean look at Howie. Bespectacled nerd with a stutter who blogs about conspiracy theories, likes Star Trek and is afraid of talking to girls. Joe doesn’t escape this either. He’s a gambler and we know this because he wears a horseshoe pin on his tie and dice cufflinks. It just feels really lazy on Whithouse’s part.

The other character I liked was Gibbis, played by David Walliams. Now this surprised me because David Walliams worked with Matt Lucas in the sketch show Little Britain, which I’ve always thought was about as funny as passing a kidney stone. They also worked together on the short lived mockumentary series Come Fly With Me, which was quite possibly one of the worst comedies I’ve ever sat through in my life. In fact I still vividly remember that Christmas. My family and I staring open-mouthed at the telly watching David Walliams and Matt Lucas in yellowface singing a really offensive, mock Chinese song about Martin Clunes. I actually consider it an insult to my backside that I had to sit through that deeply racist pile of dreck and to this day I still don’t know what possessed the BBC into thinking that was in any way appropriate. To cut a long story short, I don’t like Walliams or Lucas very much. What can I say? I have a thing against talentless hacks thinking casual racism is funny. It’s a quirk of mine. But yeah, I really liked Gibbis. It’s a great idea. A race of aliens that have survived by sucking up to their invaders and oppressors. It lends itself to some really funny moments (their national anthem is ‘Glory To... Insert Name Here.’ LOL), I liked how Gibbis’ cowardice is used to pit the characters against one another, and as much as I’m loath to admit it, I thought David Walliams did a good job in the role. Well I suppose even a broken clock is right twice a day (unless it’s digital of course).

As I said, I do mostly like the episode. It’s very surreal and engaging. Silly but entertainingly so. It’s just a shame the whole thing had to go a bit tits up at the end.

So the Doctor works out that the Minotaur isn’t actually feeding on fear, but on faith, and that the reason the TARDIS was drawn there was because of Amy’s faith in the Doctor. Okay, not a bad idea. It’s certainly a good way to explore their relationship and how Amy has never really grown up, as demonstrated when the Doctor talks to her and he sees her as young Amelia. The problem is the whole faith aspect isn’t done very well. For instance, I can see Amy having faith in the Doctor, Rita having faith in Allah and Joe having faith in luck, but Howie’s faith in conspiracy theories? That’s a bit of a stretch. And what about Rory? He’s repeatedly shown the fire exit because apparently he doesn’t have any faith in anything.

BOLLOCKS

Everyone has faith in something.

And then there’s the resolution. If Amy’s faith in the Doctor is so strong, would a two minute monologue really be enough to break it? It feels very similar to a moment in The Curse Of Fenric where the Seventh Doctor had to break his companion Ace’s faith in him, but the reason that worked was because it was genuinely shocking and uncomfortable to watch. He coldly attacked parts of Ace’s self esteem and made her feel like little more than a piece on a chessboard. Here it just feels a bit pathetic and half-arsed in comparison. Also you never get the sense that the Doctor and Amy’s relationship has actually changed once her faith has been ‘broken’. They’re still laughing and smiling like they normally do. With Seven and Ace, while he does apologise and explain why he did it, you get the sense that their once close relationship is slightly more fragile now going forward.

But one thing that puzzles me especially (and this is in no way Whithouse’s fault) is why is Amy’s faith in the Doctor so strong considering everything that’s happened. Would Amy’s faith really be that unshakeable after the Doctor failed to save her daughter? Or when he coldly left her alternative self to die in The Girl Who Waited?

Which brings me to this. Remember in my previous review when I said I had a problem with how The Girl Who Waited was resolved, but it wouldn’t become apparent until now? Well this is it. Wouldn’t it make so much more sense if Amy and Rory left after that episode rather than this one? The God Complex is really jarring at the beginning because the three leads are getting along, but surely after what happened in the previous episode there would be some tension between them. Can they actually trust the Doctor after everything that’s happened? So I have a really hard time buying that Amy would still have faith in the Doctor. Or at least that her faith would be as strong as they’re claiming it is. I would much rather have seen Amy and Rory take some initiative and choose to leave the TARDIS of their own accord because of what the Doctor did rather than having them get unceremoniously dumped for the weakest and most patronising of reasons. He’s worried they’re going to get killed if they stay with him. Well big whoop! Get over yourself! Yes it’s dangerous travelling with him, but his companions are well aware of that. They want to travel through time and space because it’s cool, not because they’re too stupid to know better. If Amy and Rory want to take the risk, that’s their choice. By stripping them of that choice, the Doctor is basically treating Amy like the child he just encouraged her to grow up from and leave behind a few minutes ago.

The God Complex was never going to be special. I realise that. But it was still a decent enough story that was both imaginative and enjoyable to watch. It’s just such a shame that ending had to spoil it.

#the god complex #toby whithouse #doctor who #eleventh doctor #matt smith #amy pond #karen gillan #rory williams #arthur darvill #steven moffat #bbc #review #spoilers

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