#but the concept is actually solid i did not do a bad job
Note
What classes do you think the mighty nein would play, were they to play dnd? Bonus round would they be good at dnd.
I had a post about this like back in 2020 or something that I cannot find, so I don't know if my opinions have changed since then. I don't have anyone down as DMing because I assume that even their forever DM has a preferred class.
Fjord - Cleric
I don't think Fjord would like tanking that much because getting attacked makes him nervous, but he doesn't want to be a glass cannon either. I think that he would initially go for cleric because he simply wants to be useful and helpful, but he didn't necessarily realize how big of a job being the cleric is. He starts out as a just Cure Wounds dispenser, but quickly flourishes into a Holy Terror Wrath Of The Righteous Divine cleric. He loves doing that. His mechanics are solid and efficient and he's tactically astute, but he's a timid roleplayer who struggles to initiate scenes. He's solid if drawn into scenes and forgets to be self-conscious because he's got a better character sense than he thinks. Literally do not ask him what the overall plot of the campaign is because he cannot remember no matter how hard he tries; he remembers individual PC arcs though. I think he'd also like paladins, bards, and druids, and I do think he'd be willing to play some of the more involved fighters like the Knights subclasses and the cooler rangers.
Beau - Wizard
She wants to be the person in the game who gets all the information, and that's usually a wizard. She wants to put her little hands all over all the lore, and also she loves having a spell list that's a billion miles long. She does not want you to know that she feels so smugly satisfied playing a character who can do the research and have the connections and know the information. She absolutely hates that this means she's made of tissue paper, so she tends toward Con wizard. Her mechanics and exploration work are really good, and she is stellar at engaging in the world in a way that's highly informed by her character class. She struggles with the roleplaying part of things a lot. She has a decent grasp of character, it's the actual RPing part that she has trouble with. If you can convince her to play a charisma caster, which she is afraid of doing, she'd also enjoy bard a lot. Also monks and artificers.
Caleb - Wizard
This is self-explanatory. Caleb is a guy who plays a wizard or the full damage caster in every single game. This is who he is. He is great mechanically until you gotta discuss non-spell stuff. He did, in fact, read that portion of the rules, but it was never relevant to him, so he deleted it from his head. His spell choices and use are phenomenal though. He min-maxes but specifically for the weirdest, most niche element that is useful one time, but it is extremely clutch that one time it's relevant. He is also great at the storytelling portion, though his roleplaying can be a little dense or dry. If you can make him play something that's not a wizard, druid or bard. He will not play a healer druid or bard though.
Veth - Warlock
She wants to make bad decisions in her games, and she loves that a warlock comes prepackaged with bad decisions. She has a solid grasp of her spellcasting mechanics, but also finds full casting intimidating. She loves the concept of being a wizard in theory but actually playing one stresses her out. She is a very loud and excitable player, which can be a lot of fun if, uh, loud. She fucking supports you and is into whatever it is you're doing, especially if it's so dumb to do. She is inventing the weirdest and most ambiguously intense patron relationship of all time. She also would enjoy paladins, rangers, artificers, and the fancier fighters (again, the Knights subclasses). She could be eased into cleric if a niche in the party is clear and her mechanical role is structured. She can totally handle full casting, including wizards, she just psyches / stresses herself out.
Jester - Bard
I feel like people are going to be like "what about barbarian," but I think that Jester tried it once and the comparative lack of options made her really frustrated. She loves the idea of hitting things, but she hates it when 80% of her options is just hitting it. She is attracted to the charisma casters though, because she really likes the charisma skillset, and she really wants to cast a lot of spells. Out of the charisma caster options, she likes bards best because she loves being a little good at everything. She tends to be a little over-competitive about it and gets sulky when she doesn't feel useful enough. She is actually iffy on mechanical nitty-gritty, but her basics and groundwork is solid so it's fine, but she's a really great if melodramatic roleplayer and her social encounter work is great. She is deeply engaged in the narrative and is intensely invested in every NPC. Buys so fucking hard into the suspension of disbelief. She would like the fancier fighters and paladins better than a barbarian.
Molly - Bard
He is playing the stereotype bard of everyone's nightmares. I will not further elaborate.
Caduceus - Ranger
He does like to ask the plants and animals question in-game as well, and rangers let him do that and have a bit of magic too without being overwhelming as a class. He isn't super interested in doing complex characters; this is not being bad at D&D, to be clear, it's just a preference. He's your friend who is here to play a simple character because he just wants to hang out with you, which I think is always very sweet. That said, he is not very good mechanically. It's a lot of stuff to keep track of even with 5e being a little simpler. I think he would also like playing paladins or the straightforward fighters, or a cleric if he can decide what his niche is and stick to that specifically. He doesn't vibe with barbarians.
Yasha - Druid
She is initially drawn to the class for the vibes (always a valid reason to be drawn to a class), but I think she enjoys having spellcasting options and options that aren't "hit it". She is a timid and awkward roleplayer who has a lot of trouble there, even though she has a lot of fun making up backstory and engaging with the lore and story. Her spellcasting is creative and experimental because she loves weird. She is one of the button pushers of the table and is giggling when she does it. (She and Veth are menaces, lmao, it's great.) I think she'd also enjoy bards, maybe clerics and warlocks, and the fancier fighters and rangers.
149 notes
·
View notes
Note
Saw this somewhere and wanted to throw it your way, sorry if you’ve been asked this before but what do you think of the concept of Noah always having been an assistant (even before the first season)/never playing as a contestant would look like?
The thing about Noah as a contestant is that he's, for all intents and purposes, kind of useless. And by that I mean Noah as a character isn't important to the plot at all in the grand scheme of things. He's barely important from an episodic point of view either; Noah does very little throughout Total Drama in terms of story relevance, and just in general. (Lazy king 👑.)
So taking him out of the equation wouldn't really affect too much in the grand scheme of things, save for probably preventing his friendship with Owen and, from a fanon standpoint, the rest of team E-scope. He'd be pretty much the same person, just behind the camera instead of on it.
But that's kind of a boring answer, and not at all what you were looking for, right?
So, let's say that Noah lands himself a job working as the personal assistant for some hot-shot A-list celebrity through one of his many siblings' various contacts; is it nepotism? Probably. But who's Noah to look a gift horse in the mouth? A fairly easy job following some pretentious asshole around all day and grabbing him the occasional coffee sounds like a pretty sweet gig, especially with the salary and various benefits that come with the job description. So Noah takes the job without question.
And that's how he finds himself stuck in the middle of nowhere, Muskoka, on an undisclosed island owned by said A-lister whilst he films the first season of his new Reality TV show, Total Drama Island.
Being Chris' personal assistant was supposed to be an easy pay check. "Supposed to be" being the point of interest there; Noah didn't anticipate Chris being as sadistic or as childishly needy as he was. If he wasn't running around like a headless chicken trying to accommodate for Chris' oftentimes outlandish whims and fancies, he was stuck answering to the producers in the host's stead- and the producers were pissed with Chris more often than not for his frivolous use of the show's budget. Something about having a genius level IQ and enough snark to make grown men cry apparently made him qualified enough to deal with the industry big-wigs. Noah was far too overworked to question it.
So much for an easy pay check.
Noah's not bad at his job by any means. In his professional opinion, the whole show and Chris' career would be in the dumps without his personal input keeping everything afloat. That doesn't mean he doesn't loathe his job with every sleep-deprived inch of his being.
And, inevitably, Noah ends up spending a lot of time around the campers themselves. Mostly as a consequence of always having to remain "on set" so to speak, since Noah's pretty much contractually obligated to linger around Chris' vicinity and wait for his boss to assign him some menial task to do. Most of the campers are just as egocentric and insufferable as he'd first assumed- and honestly, what else would he expect from people who singed up for a Reality TV show?- but a select few turn out to be decent company; namely Owen and Eva (and Izzy, but Noah refuses to admit that the "Psycho Hose Beast" is actually bearable to be around).
He'd even go so far as to claim they were friends good acquaintances.
Of course, his job takes precedent over frivolous things like relationships, platonic or otherwise, so Noah doesn't exactly have the free time to hang out with them. Which is probably for the best considering if he did spend a lot of time around his friends acquaintances, the other contestants would have a solid enough foundation for accusations of foul play in the competition, and that's a headache Noah really doesn't want to deal with.
Consequently, Noah floats through the filming of Island, and later on Action, maintaining cordiality with his little group and cold indifference towards pretty much the rest of the cast. Not that he doesn't keep close tabs on the campers; of course he does, not only is Noah incredibly observant by nature, but he's also the one in charge of accommodating for these weirdos... plus, Chris is oddly invested in his "prize cast of ratings jewels", whatever that means. So Noah knows these people, probably more than some of them know themselves, thanks to a combined sixteen-ish weeks of observation and forced proximity.
In turn, the competitors know of Noah, though for the most part he's regarded as little more than a spectre on set- Chris' elusive personal assistant who the cast will occasionally see the barest glimpse of, usually hidden behind an impassive pair of mirrored sunglasses and, more often than not, rushing off to do whatever it is a PA does. Chris does get a little lazy in Action and on a few occasions does get Noah to make a "guest appearances" on screen- mostly just to deliver him a coffee and a gluten free muffin during the downtime of that day's challenge- but he's still practically non-existent to he majority of the cast.
Which is fine by him.
What isn't fine by him is the surprise addition of two people he knows nothing about, come the third season.
One of those contestants happens to know a lot about the cast, and a concerning amount of information about him. It's uncanny, just how much Sierra seems to know about everyone around her, even more so because of the way she practically worships the ground they walk on. Sure, Noah's encountered the odd super fan here and there- not fans of himself, of course, but in this time as Chris' assistant he's had to chase off more than enough rabid fans from trying to sneak their way onto the set of whatever show Chris was working on (or more accurately sic the on-scene security on them)- but Sierra's brand of crazy takes it to a whole new level. Noah doesn't like her on principle and is both incredibly vindicated and incredibly concerned when her stalkerish behaviour rears its ugly head. Not that he's allowed to do anything about it; the producers are adamant that Sierra's outlandish behaviour is entertaining enough for the audience to ignore the immorality, and given how much Chris has been allowed tog et away with in the past Noah's inclined to begrudgingly agree.
And the other new contestant? The one who qualified for the apparently non-existent Total Drama Dirtbags (and Noah totally isn't salty about that show being an elaborate ruse that he spent countless sleepless nights working on)? Noah's just as concerned about his friends acquaintances ignorance to Alejandro's inherent sliminess as he is about Sierra's blatant disregard for others' privacy, but again it's not like he can do anything about it. He's not even supposed to be on the show, so any sort of interference would be a big no-no.
Oh, what's that? They want him on the show?
Fuck.
Turns out, Noah's brief appearances during Action (characterised by his usual level of sass and snide comments) really resonated with their audience; they like him for some inexplicable reason, and want to see more of "Noah, Chris McLean's mysterious personal assistant".
So he's pretty much forced into acting as a co-host of sorts, much like Chef had done for the first two seasons, all whilst carrying out his usual tasks. Is he happy about this? Not a chance in hell, and he lets the producers know exactly how he feels about the sudden change in his contract. Not that it changes anything.
And the best part? World Tour is a musical themed season. If they expect him to sing, they've got another thing coming.
But, as a small part of him chimes in, spending more time on camera would give Noah plenty of opportunities to spend time with his friends acquaintances. There's a non-zero chance that he could have fun, even if it's at the expense of his valued privacy.
His new status as part of the show does allow Noah some opportunities to skew the competition in the favour of his friends acquaint- no, screw it, his friends. That's one silver lining of the whole situation.
Better yet, he can tilt things out of Alejandro's favour, since the former Dirtbag seems to have a knack for manipulating the competition anyway- Noah might as well make things more challenging for him, as it seems this game is too easy for him thus far.
#that's just my take on it i guess#in short: noah's a tad bit more isolated and a lot more vindictive. mostly against the producers though.#i imagine a noah who didn't sign up for total drama would value his anonymity a lot more. THIS noah isn't looking for fame or notoriety.#he's just looking for Cash Money.#as such being forced into the limelight would make him grumpier than usual.#he spends the majority of world tour trying to get alejandro eliminated because he's the producer's favourite. no other reason.#al the while being as unhelpful and outright antagonistic as possible as a “co-host”.#mostly to make himself as unmarketable and unlikable as possible so the audience don't want him to stay around.#ironically this only makes him more popular. noah hates it.#he also spends the majority of world tour trying to prevent sierra from leaking people's private information to varied results.#noah's a voice of reason in a cacophony of screaming. no matter how loud he shouts he'll never be heard.#can't decide whether i want him and blaineley to team up post-merge or for them to be enemies on sight.#total drama#td noah#assistant noah au#others' ideas#silly ideas#ophe's ranting in the tags again#long post#replies#kinda drafty in here (posts from the drafts)
38 notes
·
View notes
Note
Dude I just loved your Ghost fic with his scary wife, it was so ✨chefs kiss✨
Could you please write a fic about how the MW2 men would react to reader letting loose in the club after a mission? Just the concept of a cold, badass woman who can handle herself in the field and is a total man-eater that has the moves™️ + the men's reactions (mayhaps with a crumb of nsfw👀) is JUST DOBDISHDONDOSHDINSKWE I BEG PLEASE
HELLO!! thank you sm for your request <3 I took some liberties but i really hope you enjoy what i threw together for you!! (and there is a crumb of nsfw, so i hope you enjoy the tiniest of crumb i gave you lmao) ALSO, thank you sm for saying you really like my other Ghost fic, it means so much to hear that <33333 thank you sm for reading!
ENJOY, SWEETIE
--
Dancing Queen
Pairing: Simon "Ghost" Riley x fem!reader
warnings: alcohol drinking; foreplay? slight fingering; nothing too smutty but MINORS DNI; seriously, if you're a minor pls do not read.
wc: 2.2k
a/n: i'll edit tomorrow, but sorry for any typos!
---
You were pretty revered on task force 141. You were the youngest on the team of burly men but you were one of the most skilled members on the force. And, you took yourself very seriously, almost too seriously some would say.
But who could blame you? You were a woman in a male dominated field. You had to be serious, had to be cold. Especially in the armed forces. This line of work was just as bad if not worse than the financial sector, you know, with all the finance bros. Actually, it was worse, but just by a hair.
So, due to your highly stressful and sometimes misogynistic job, you liked to let loose, have fun on the weekends. It was really the only time where you could fully relax and let yourself go. Alcohol helped of course. You loved going to clubs, bars, restaurants, hell anywhere really. As long as it helped you forget the week you had, helped you soothe the aches and pains that came with the job.
Surprisingly you found that your internal team, therefore task 141, weren’t such pricks after all. You thought they would be all misogynistic pigs, and treat you worse than their male colleagues. No, you were proven wrong. Something that doesn’t happen often. You were smart after all.
Sooner than later, you found yourself growing fonder of your team, and you considered them your closest friends. You know, big shock. You weren’t expecting your closest friends to be your work buddies as well.
You also sprouted a crush for one of your team members. Who could blame you? He was tall, dark, handsome, and mysterious. Always sporting that black balaclava, only leaving his eyes privy to your vision. You have only seen him without his signature mask a few times, most of them being when he was drunk, and out with the team.
But who doesn’t like intrigue?
Fast forward to this Friday. You found that Friday is your favorite day to go out. You realized that you still have all of Saturday to relax, sleep, and recover and then it’s Sunday. The dreadful day in which work starts the next.
So here you were, getting ready to do out tonight with 141. You typically styled your hair your favorite way, did a full glam of make-up, and pre-gamed to make sure you would be a solid drunk by the time you had at least one drink at the bar. This was your time to shine, to have fun for once. You weren’t going to pass it up. Hence, your lovely make-up and outfits that made any jaw drop to the floor.
By the time you were finished getting ready, you felt a slight buzz in your system, and you felt good, felt pretty. You were ready for a night out. Specifically, you were ready for a night out with Ghost.
You found it much, much easier to talk to the intimidating guy when you were slightly buzzed, or better yet, drunk. Was it healthy? Probably not. But who’s perfect, right?
Even though you were a force to be reckon with yourself, the man still intimated you. Maybe it was because of the feelings that started developing in the pits of your stomach. You couldn’t help it when your heart clenched every time you saw him, or every time his blue eyes met your own.
It was getting bad, and you were worried it was going to start to effect your performance at work, which was unacceptable.
So, what do you do to deal with all these feelings? You drink of course!
Hey, you’re still in your twenties, it’s a pass.
You get a text from Soap in the GM that your guys’ uber is at your place. It was decided that you would ride with Soap, Ghost, and Gaz.
You saw the uber in front of your building, so you made your way to the back seat. You figured that Ghost would be in the front, so you open the door and tease, “Gaz, you need to take the middle seat because you’re the shortest out of all of us.”
However, you weren’t met with Gaz’s chocolate eyes when you swung open the door. No, you were met with Ghost’s large frame, and confused expression as you mistakenly talk to him instead of Gaz.
“You want me to sit in the middle?” Ghost points a finger at himself.
You hear Gaz snicker from the front seat. I’ll get him later.
You disguise your embarrassment with a cough, “Oh! No, no, no. I mean, we can’t have the tallest teammate sit in the middle now can we?” You flash Ghost what you’re hoping is your best smile. Dammit why did I drink so much getting ready?
Ghost just grunts in confirmation and gets out of the vehicle.
You clamber your way in only to find Soap with a shit-eating grin, sitting in the back as well.
“Hello, Soap.” Your tone is clipped, which makes his grin widen even more.
Ghost gets in finally, but once he’s finally settled, you find yourself literally squished between Soap and Ghost.
“Can either of you move over or something? I’m being squeezed to death.”
“Oh, don’t act like you don’t like it, y/n.”
You really, hope Ghost didn’t just hear what Soap said, but it’s unlikely. You hit him in the shoulder, “First rounds on you, asshole.”
Soap raises his hands in a truce. “Alright, alright. Don’t get mad at me.”
You were only annoyed because Soap was right. You did like being squished up against Ghost. How embarrassing. Stupid feelings. Who even has time for feelings anymore?
You all finally make it to the club, and you make a beeline for the bar. As promised, Soap orders you, as well as Ghost and Gaz a round of drinks. You all cheer’s, then you down your shot. At this point, you’re definitely drunk.
The guys get another drink as you observe the dance floor. They take two more shots, and you take one more.
After your last shot, you let them know that you’re going to go dance. They all toast you, and then you’re off to the dance floor.
You start moving to the beat, letting the music take over your body, letting it carry you away from all your problems.
It’s only a few minutes in when you notice that they’re playing your favorite song. You rush back over to the guys, and excitedly shout, “They’re playing my favorite song! Do any of you want to dance with me?”
Before anyone could really respond, Soap is clapping Ghost on the shoulder, and pushing him towards you, “Ghost would love to.”
If you weren’t so drunk, you would have noticed Ghost send a glare to his friend. But not out of despite, more out of nervousness.
You clap your hands, so excited that someone is joining you, much different than your usually demeanor at work. Then you grasp Ghost’s hand in yours and lead him to the floor, leaving a grinning Soap and Gaz.
Gaz just sighs before saying, “Why do you always have to butt in?”
Soap just shrugs with a knowing smile on his face, “Because, they’d be good for each other, and both of them need a little nudge from someone to get the ball rolling.”
Once you and Ghost make it to the dance floor, you turn around to face him. You have the biggest smile he’s ever seen on your pretty face, and he can’t help but smile back.
You start moving to the music as before, but this time, Ghost wraps his hands around your waist and pulls you in close to him. So close, that your chests are touching. He’s definitely buzzed, borderline drunk.
He leans his head down so his lips are brushing against your ear, “I didn’t know you were quite the dancer.”
His breath tickles, and you let out a laugh, tightening your arms that have found their way around his neck.
“Don’t you know? I’m the dancing queen.” You let out a laugh, and pull him closer.
He laughs as well and you both continue swaying to the beat, that is, until a more up-tempo song starts to play. Before you know it, Ghost has spun you around, so now your back is facing his front.
His large hands make their way to your waist, gripping tightly. But not too tightly in which it hurts. It’s more so a comforting hold. You feel secure, like you would never trip and fall in his embrace.
You lean your head back so it’s resting on Ghost’s chest, and you feel him dip his head to meet yours. The height difference is making you dizzy, making you want more of him.
You feel him kiss down your neck, his lips searing your skin as they map you out. He makes his way back up and nips at your earlobe, which has you letting out a small yelp. But you lean further into him, signaling him to continue on.
Your hands come up to rest on top of his, and you squeeze them. You’ve never felt this exhilarated, and Ghost’s touches leave sparks in their wake, igniting you.
As he continues to kiss down your neck, you take one of your hands that’s grasping his, and start to lead it to the top of your skirt. He seems to get the idea, and continues his hand down until it’s grazing your upper thigh, lifting your skirt ever the slightest.
He subtly brings his fingers under your skirt to graze your underwear. The dance floor is so packed, that no one will notice.
The feeling of his fingers pressing on your bud has your head spinning and you let out a soft whine. It’s just faint enough that only Ghost can hear it. His hand goes further and pushes your underwear to the side. He teases your entrance without entering a finger into you and he brings his thumb up to press down on your clit. Which makes you let out another low pitch whine.
Your hand trails down to find his, as if to ground yourself. From what, you don’t even know. You just need to feel him more. More so than you already are.
All too soon, he removes his hand from your and brings it back up to cup your waist, then he spins you around so you’re facing him. What a fucking tease.
You crane your neck to glance up at him and you don’t know who moved in first. But what you do know is that you’re kissing Ghost. His lips lock with yours and it feels like it was always meant to be.
You trail your hands up so they play with the hairs at the nape of his neck. Twirling the hair around the tips of your fingertips. The kiss you share feels infinite, like it was mapping out the very constellations around you.
You never wanted it to end.
All too soon he pulls away, and brings his hands up to cup your face. His forehead is pressed up against yours, and he holds you so gently.
“I just had to do that, at least once.” He sounds breathless, and you fight the urge to pull him down to you again, at his confession.
“Why just once?” You’re just as breathless, if not more as you ask him this.
You don’t want this to end here, you can’t let it end here. You like him too much, too much that your heart hurts at the thought of letting him go.
Ghost peels himself from you, but his hands are still ever so gently cupping your sweet face. His thumbs rub under your eyes, on the apple of your cheeks, as he looks fondly down at you. He’s looking at you as if you created all the planets in the solar system, and hung up the stars as well.
“Because I know you deserve better.”
His admission tugs at your heartstrings, “Bullshit. You don’t get to tell me what’s good for me and what isn’t.”
It was true. You had to decide for yourself.
“Is that so?” A smirk forms on his lips.
You’re glad the air has turned back into something light, something teasing. That’s something you could deal with. Not the heavy shit that was threatening you before.
You bring your hands once again to his and grasp them, “Yes, it is, so you better get used to it.”
Ghost just lets out a laugh and then swiftly pulls you into a bone crushing hug. He rests his head on top of yours. You swear you feel a faint pressure atop your head, almost like a kiss laid upon your hair.
His words get muffled into your hair, but you make them out just the same. “Why don’t we finish what we started, but in a more private place, hm?”
You tighten your hold on him, words stifled into his chest as your answer, “Sounds like a plan to me.”
--
Ghost Masterlist
hope you enjoyed! <3
#ghost request#mw2 ghost request#cod ghost request#cod ghost x reader#mw2 ghost x reader#simon riley x reader#simon ghost riley x reader#ghost x reader#simon riley fanfic#simon ghost riley fanfic#ghost fanfic#mw2 ghost fanfic#cod ghost fanfic#simon riley request#simon ghot riley request#mw2 ghost fic#cod ghost fic#simon riley fic#simon ghost riley fic#ghost imagine#mw2 ghost imagine#cod ghost imagine#simon riley imagine#simon ghost riley imagine#ghost x you#cod ghost x you#mw2 ghost x you#Simon ghost Riley smut#mw2 ghost smut#cos ghost smut
393 notes
·
View notes
Text
My impressions of 911, as at the end of 1x04:
So far I like the show a bunch!
I'd heard Buck starts out as a bit of a jerk but so far he's been a likeable one. It helps that there are (very nearly) consequences for his more outrageous behaviour.
I like Abby and Buck for each other but Abby as a character is appallingly under utilised. I feel like her role as a 911 operator underpinned the entire PREMISE of the show and yet it only took one episode for them to realise they didn't know what to do with her. She's also just... not a super compelling character? Maybe she'll get more interesting, I'm mostly mad because I think the concept is really solid but I'm not sold on the execution. The big problem with her personal life is that she doesn't have one, so it drags a bit when we spend so much time with her outside her job. At this stage I'm unsurprised she left after the first season, just because it feels like they don't quite know how to write for her.
I love Athena and oh boy is she doing it tough but I desperately need her to not use her power as a police officer to harass teenage girls. What the girl bullying her daughter did was terrible but she was still waaay out of line.
Related though, something I like about this show so far is that the characters' strengths are also their weaknesses. Buck is impulsive in ways that are good and bad; Abby is caring and empathetic, sometimes to a fault; the passion and assertiveness that makes Athena out of line with her daughter's bully is the same thing that makes her great at standing up to the assholes who deserve it. It's good character building.
I also like that characters are allowed to do shit bad enough to actually warrant censure from higher ups. And then receive appropriate condemnation for their behaviour. Often when shows try to do that kind of story line they go too soft on the characters either by over justifying why their bad behaviour is understandable or by having the consequences be wildly disproportionate to the wrongdoing in a way that makes them feel like the victim. So far 911 seem to be be striking a pretty solid balance on trusting the audience to empathise with the characters even when they do bad things and get called out by the narrative for those things.
I don't think the show has killed any kids yet, which I'm grateful for but also wary about. I'm betting they're saving that up for a real gut punch of an episode. I already cried over the mother in the plane who DIDN'T die?? If there are any big Kids Dying episodes I should watch out for maybe let me know. (I'm already aware of the basics of Bobby's backstory, though)
21 notes
·
View notes
Text
It took me nearly three months, and many restarts, but I finally finished writing part 1 of Dragonstar. Just have run it through the feedback grinder and then I can start concept-arting.
For my first proper story with an actual script (rather than making shit up as I go) I think it's pretty solid. It's got a strong core. Whether it'll actually be good remains to be seen. But I'm feeling optimistic about it. Usually my comics are visually interesting but aren't that strong narratively. This time I'd like to do justice to both.
I don't usually share this type of stuff, but I'm just pleased that I did something I've been putting off for years. (writing) and I don't think I did a bad job at it either. ⚡⚡
19 notes
·
View notes
Text
Sometimes the Adaptation is the Book, Actually...
So, as I'm sure more than a few of you did, I enjoyed the heck out of Jill Bearup's fantasy heroin YouTube shorts series. And as I'm sure many of us have experienced, YouTuber books can be...distinctly hit-or-miss in terms of quality. So when Bearup announced that she was adapting the shorts series into an actual book, I was willing to give it a shot when it came out. So in Bearup's own tier list terms, I'd give this book a pretty good. Strong concept, a lot to like...but the TYPESETTING, my god. Let's talk Just Stab Me Now.
This is your spoiler warning for a book that has been EXTREMELY hyped on YouTube, and one who's story has already been told on YouTube. Here there be Spoilers.
So normally I like to start with the things I like about a book, but since I liked so much about this book and the one thing that I didn't like could have stopped me cold, we're going to start with the one thing that I think was actually bad. The typesetting.
To be clear: Bearup was extremely clear that using different fonts and margins to delineate between Caroline's world, the fantasy world, and Caroline's mind where she interacts with the fantasy characters was a considered, intentional choice. That's valid, and there is nothing inherently wrong with making that choice. It's also well done in the book, like it's consistent and well put together.
That said: Oh my god you guys, I hated it. It took me the first fifty-odd pages to get used to it, and even then, it AGGRESSIVELY snapped my editor brain's bra strap. I seriously considered putting the book down because of the typesetting, which would have been a crying shame because I really enjoyed the book overall. This might not bother some readers, but it was nearly a dealbreaker for me, so I wanted to mention it as a "your mileage may vary" kind of thing.
Other than that though, I think this book did a pretty solid job of adapting the fantasy heroine shorts into a full-blown novel.
Caroline Lindley is very much helicopter parenting her fictional characters, and the fact that they are by turns bemused and cranky about this is very fun throughout the novel. I also like that we get a lot more of Caroline in the novel than we did in the shorts series. Her story was just as compelling as Rosamund and Leo's, and I quite enjoyed having the extraordinarily modern cybersecurity subplot to balance the fantasy setting as well. I wasn't expecting that to work as well as it did, but thematically it resonated quite well, and I like the acknowledgement that while we don't use swords and political marriages so much these days, it's not like we've STOPPED having enemies and needing to protect ourselves, our homes, and our families. The relationship between modernity and "no particular historical era" in terms of thematic connections was really well done.
The general added depth to all the characters was also excellent, since we had time and space for characterization that the shorts series had to skim over for time. We really felt Rosamund's grief in the book, Leo had way more personality (and I loved that) and some of the plot stuff was smoothed and fleshed out in some really interesting ways. The caladrius was actually an inspired touch, and it tied together a bunch of slightly odd things in the series in a really elegant way. It also gave Baron Mabry and George an interesting parallel too, since they were both screwing over people for financial gain. The methods might be different, but the heart of the crimes and the harm they do are fairly universal.
As a writer, I also ADORED the conceit of Caroline being absolutely out of control in her process. She was trying SO HARD to write a standard enemies-to-lovers romantasy and literally nothing could get her plot or characters there. Every writer has been there, every writer has had little breakdowns over the story just not freaking doing what you tell it to, and there was something deeply vindicating about it. I loved the personification of the writing process.
This book also had a little bit of that Princess Bride feel where it is both a send-up of romance tropes and a deeply respectful nod to them. I don't know that pastiche is the right word here, but neither does parody seem to be, and I think we need a word for this writing mood, where you're both deconstructing and reiterating a series of tropes. I don't have a word for it, but this is a thing that pops up periodically (periodic because it's genuinely hard to do well; lean too far to one side or the other and it flops catastrophically) and we should name it.
Overall, for a book from a YouTuber--especially one who rather famously discovered halfway through the process that she does not enjoy writing fiction--I was pleasantly surprised by this book, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Bearup has told us not to expect a sequel, so I won't...but if one materialized in the future, I'd read it!
#just stab me now#jill bearup#books and reading#books#books and novels#books & libraries#book recommendations
23 notes
·
View notes
Text
The Fairly Odd Parents: A New Wish Observations
What actually sold me on giving this series a solid chance, was the theme song, why? Because for me it showed what the series is attempting to be, something that’s paying homage to the source material while being it’s own thing and knowing what it wants to be.
The original theme song is categorized as Electric Swing or Light Jazz. This new theme song sounds like straight up Swing and it SLAPS!
The Set Up
So Hazel Wells moves to the city with her parents for her Dads job and at the same time her older brother and best friend Antony has left for college. Leaving Hazel overwhelmed but still trying to put on a brave face for her family. Not long after arriving they are visited by their new next door neighbors
Cosmo and Wanda are masquerading as a retired human couple
Lol one of the gifts in the welcome basket Cosmo gives them is a jar of pennies. In some places it’s a thing to leave pennies as gifts for fairies, I wonder if Cosmo thought it was a custom human gift
The concept of the parents are pretty interesting, especially their jobs.
Angela is a therapist and author, with all of the non self awareness fairy world had going on her insight could definitely be interesting if she somehow finds out. she is also pretty open minded and non judgmental, not being off put by Cosmo and Wanda’s weird behavior and inviting them in
Marcus is a paranormal scientist, which instantly makes Cosmo and Wanda nervous but what makes him interesting is that he didn’t go in the direction I thought he was going. I thought he was going to go full FOP writing fashion and him basically say he was looking for fairies. But no, he is just wanting to learn the unexplained and mostly about ghost. I don’t know the fact that he is presented as a friend to Cosmo and Wanda who could be a potential obstacle because of the interest that are apart of his character is a lot more interesting then if he was presented as a blatantly obvious obstacle and that’s his only purpose as a character. ( not saying it was bad when FOP did it, they did it in a way that was funny just not to compelling)
Hazel figures out they are magic because both Cosmo and Wanda are piss poor at hiding it but Hazel actually completely drops it after being unable to get her parents to see it
Angela and Marcus actually make pretty good foils for Cosmo and Wanda they are both just completely normal people who highlight Cosmo and Wanda’s colorfulness just as they highlight Angela and Marcus’s normalcy. Hazel, Marcus, and Angela seem to be emotionally intelligent people and it makes them enjoyable and honestly is refreshing
This girl has more emotional maturity then I ever dreamed of having at 10, she keeps her brave face until she hears that Antony can’t come visit till the holiday brake, she has an understandable brake down and her parents feel really bad they are having to change so much so fast for her.
She almost runs away until Cosmo and Wanda catch her (which is interesting because when she passed them on her way up stairs they where to busy with their mail to pay attention to her, but when she is about to run away their full attention snapped to her. Their “child is about to do something stupid”senses must have been tingling) she relents and vents to them about her troubles and that she just wanted to see her brother.
Cosmo and Wanda seem to have a Cathartic moment in realizing that Hazel needed help and that they realized that they were ready to be Godparents again. It was this moment I was like “yeah, you guy’s definitely retired because letting go of Timmy hurt you”
It’s when after everything is resolved and Hazel visits their vary magical and whimsical apartment (I bought the episodes on YouTube but they wouldn’t let me take screen shots) that they reveal that they had been on a 10,000 year sabbatical through time and space during their retirement. They don’t bring up Timmy, just say that they used to be Godparents to kids but then retired for 10,000 years (and no it’s not 10,000 years into the future, they were just time traveling). They actually nervously ask Hazel if she would consider being their Godkid which she enthusiastically agrees too. Don’t make pacts with fairies kids
How it’s going so far
Something interesting to note that while they never bring up Timmy, he kinda haunts the background I think they still have some unprocessed grief for Timmy that may get unpacked. I herd this show is supposed to get an overarching story and after seeing a few episodes I can tell that it’s staying consistent that it’s not completely episodic even if it’s a slow build ( as slow as it’s allowed to be anyway)
It looks like their human personas are their default disguises, that has the potential to be interesting in future episodes
I can tell that Hazel is still not 100% close with Cosmo and Wanda right off the bat, she is still getting to know them, like it was actually so enduring to watch her formally thank them for playing with her. Cosmo and Wanda are also trying to ease themselves in for her sake, but it’s clear that even though they are out of practice they are all in for this little girl and are in Godparent mode. Wanda is never not in Mom mode, and Cosmo already knows all of her special interests off the top of his head in the short time he has known her.
I don’t know, I just saw that a lot of people have been “rightfully” cautious about this show or have written it off, and just wanted to share some things that I thought made it interesting and made it worth giving a look
There are some who are a bit hopeful because one of the writers for infinity train is on the writing team so who knows
#fop#the fairly oddparents#the fairly oddparents a new wish#fop a new wish#fop a new wish spoilers#not the stuff I usually write about#but it did catch my interest#idk I just hope this didn’t get to rambley
17 notes
·
View notes
Text
GUND-ARM: A Ray Of Hope
So, definitely a lot going on with the episode, but I've got to start off with the little promotional video they did for the new company. Incredibly cute and actually impressive how well they animated it. The tine of green around Aerial from the green screen. The slight desync between Aerial and Suletta. The off-key singing, the background noise from animals. There's a lot of effort put into making the quality of the video seem low, which is pretty impressive in a way.
A quick interlude before the meat of the episode however, featuring Suletta and her mother. I do feel really bad for Suletta, because she just wants to feel safe and loved, rather than discerning the truth from her mother's words.
But unfortunately Prospera and Suletta are on different wavelengths, as is evident in Prospera's comment about people attacking Gundams.
There really is something that feels sinister to Prospera's words. She's taking Suletta's passion and desire for love from her mother and twisting it to the benefit of her plot, which is hard to experience when viewers get to see it as that rather than how Suletta is processing it.
As a side note I feel like that's something they've done really well. Typically it can be hard to understand things from the perspective of a character when you see them as something else entirely, but I feel like GWitch has done a really solid job with that, though I can't quite put my finger on why.
Anyways, the real content of the episode starts as Shaddiq begins his attempt to schmooze the girls to get in on GUND-ARM, and overall I think it's a compelling piece to the story that works. Sure, it's already happened twice in different capacities, but Miorine is Delling's daughter, and Suletta has the best and potentially only "accepted" Gundam currently. It's a gold mine that everyone wants a piece of.
What I find interesting though is he's the first with agency out of all the contenders. He goes against his adoptive father's ideals and provides a fresh angle in the contention of Gundams in this world.
And I mean, it both fits his character and works. He's been passive the entire time we've known him as character, letting everyone else do the heavy lifting. And at the same time, trying to seize Aeriel through direct means has proven to fail countless times, so Shaddiq is certainly finding himself on the right track.
I do enjoy this final scene with Shaddiq though, as once more he allows others to do the work for him. He has an interesting emotion lingering on his face though. It's a bit hard to put into words, but to me it feels almost like rumination. He's definitely deep in thought because he doesn't move the cup anywhere, and casting his eyes downward make it feel like a more negative thought process. He talked about a prior business affair with Miorine when they were younger, so it could be that he's lamenting over what could have been since she denied his involvement. Regardless, it's a nice touch, and presents an interesting tidbit, all the girls have strongly isolated personalities. The smug "you get what you deserve", the empathetic "I feel bad for her", the enthuastic "don't worry we'll cheer her up!", and the cold and calculated business personality.
The other bit from this episode was the politics of the Earth house. I really, really enjoy the different perspectives and worldviews that this small little group possess. They've all been exposed to varying influences and challenges, so they all come out with different opinions and ideas. Yeah, they definitely have overlap, but at the same time, an Earthian that doesn't want to stand out and is somewhat placative to Spacians is in direct opposition to another Earthian on the same issue. It's not a black and white image made by these characters, nor is it really even that gray. There's lots of approaches and understandings that sell the politics and ideals of the world incredibly well. Given how some series handle the concepts of racism/xenophobia/etc, The Witch From Mercury really is proving to provide a great measuring stick for other storytellers.
I just really love it as an emotional piece to the story. It shows how prejudice and war has fractured communities and peoples, without getting into traumatizing or terrible actions to prove it. It's a rare case of words speaking just as loud as actions, and I think it works great for kids that are trying to lead a normal life at school. They're not trying to delve deep into painful memories, but rather make the most of the present and provide change.
All that said, I'm really curious to see where this next episode takes us. There's potential for Prospera and Bel to play more active roles since they're under Suletta and Miorine now, but that all depends on the outcome from the changes Shaddiq made now.
#the witch from mercury#g witch#gundam the witch from mercury#suletta mercury#witch from mercury#gundam suisei no majo#mobile suit gundam#gundam
234 notes
·
View notes
Note
Concept: Emmet having to be squeaky clean for a week visiting s/o's family that heavily believes in "waiting until marriage" so both have to play pretend at being sparkling pure virgins that aren't even allowed to share a bed. His sanity hanging by a thread vs his unwavering willpower to show his seriousness about the relationship and make a good first impression for his future in-laws. Lewd or fluff optional for this one, maybe both? haha jk... Unless 😳
The Path Of Resistance
cw: sexual content, not smut though,
Minors DNI
words: 1982
-------
The situation was dire.
He hated it so much.
But he loved you verrrry much.
Emmet sat uncomfortably on the couch beside you. Your family's home was pleasant and nice. They had been nothing but polite to him since you both arrived, yet… He recalled your discussion with him before setting out to visit them. They were extremely stringent in their beliefs about waiting until marriage to have sex. He supposed to each their own, but it clearly stressed you out since they held you to that standard. You, well, you and him most certainly had not waited until marriage. You had not even waited past the fourth date.
It was awkward for him, but it was not like he planned to take you in front of everyone, nor was he going to crack his less savoury jokes in front of people he barely knew. No, the issue came up in the fact that you both could not even share a bed for the entire three-day stay at their home. That felt like too much on top of it all, in his opinion. Still, he could go three nights without sex. He was an adult. If it got down to it, he could have an awkward session in the shower. It was not like he was never single before dating you.
“Ah, so what do you do for living then?” your mother asked him. He smiled widely. His job was an easy topic to discuss.
“I'm a manager in the Gear Station and I do some professional battling,” he explained. Your parents nodded, while you just shifted the topic to whatever the next that felt right was. Emmet continued his train of thought. He seriously could not understand what was so bad about having sex before marriage. It was a bonding activity! Not that different from cuddling in his mind, just more active. And pleasurable. Verrry pleasurable. He could only imagine the ease his brother would have in his place here.
Your mother suddenly pulled you away into another room to talk about something in there, leaving him alone with your father. He did not miss how the man's face shifted from a pleasant expression to something more serious, brows furrowed together and mouth stuck in a frown. He would give it a solid seven on the “Is Ingo about to go off on me” scale.
“So… I know my child lives with you,” he spoke with a serious tone, “I have to ask about your sleeping arrangements.” Emmet felt floored. You were not lying. They seriously expected this. He straightened his back and gave his best innocent smile.
“My brother and I own a three-bedroom apartment,” he explained, “One of the rooms was our home office. I gave it to them as a bedroom after they moved in.” It was still, in fact, their home office. You easily shared a bedroom with Emmet with little issue. He was still not over your joke that it was amazing a guy like him actually had a bed frame.
“I see,” the older man nodded, “You both live with your brother, too, then. What is he like?” Why was he now interrogating him about Ingo? The older twin was quite literally the last person to cause any problems.
“He's verrry polite and kind,” Emmet tilted his head, “He's my twin brother. We get anxious if we are separated.” Your father gave another nod before checking a clock on the wall.
“Well, it's almost time for dinner, then,” he stood up and motioned for Emmet to follow him. The younger twin nearly jumped when your dad patted him on the back. “You seem like a good guy,” he told him, “I'm pretty certain you're the kind of guy who knows how to hold back.” Emmet wanted to laugh. He rarely held back, not in battles or in life. Even Ingo would get on to him for how blunt he could be with his words. Honesty was truly his life's policy, which was what made this situation all the more difficult. Emmet kept his usual smile on his face and nodded. It was better to just take the compliment rather than try to argue against it.
~
Your mother showed him to the guest bedroom after dinner, allowing him to put his bags away. She gazed at him curiously as he pulled out a pokeball. “Would it be alright if I have my Galvantula out?” he asked, “I usually cannot fall asleep unless I have something to cuddle.” He could see the way her eyebrow cocked up at him. For a moment, he stiffened, realising she was now suspicious because of that comment. “Ah! It's because I spent most of my childhood sharing a bed with my brother,” he explained, “I-I need something in bed with me to sleep well. I usually use my Galvantula or Eelektross.” Her gaze only lost some of its gleam.
“That should be fine,” she nodded, “I only ask that you clean up any webs it makes.” He nodded. Of course. Emmet was respectful of other's homes. Even if his own had webs nearly in every corner, he could respect other people's spaces. With that, she left him and closed the door behind her. Emmet sat on the bed and sighed. He had no idea why it was weird that he needed to cuddle something to fall asleep. That was true before he even met you. Though, he would admit having both you and his Galvantula in bed was pleasant. The arachnid would be against his back while he held you close to his chest. Your warmth would soak into his body perfectly.
Three nights of this.
Galvantula only clicked at him before curling up beside him when he moved under the covers. He ran a hand through her fur softly, and she hummed. “I am in a situation,” he told her as she closed her navy eyes, “This is painful, but I want to make a good impression. Ingo said it was important.” That, and he knew how much it meant to you. Emmet wished for nothing more than to make you happy. Even if he had to lie and pretend your relationship worked different than it did. He closed his eyes, too, and allowed himself to drift off to sleep.
~
Time passed relatively easily. You showed him your hometown, you both did a few things with your parents, and he could always find a way to keep himself occupied. He would say everything was going well. Except, here on your second day, he hit a road block. Why had your parents suggested a trip to a local pool? Well, it was clear it must have been some kind of test. He knew it was the summer, and it was hot, but this felt too perfectly timed to be so unrelated. He balled his hand into a fist and kept his smile. Thankfully, all his time working with the public taught him how to hold a smile even if he did not want to.
Everything was fun and relaxing, but something weighed heavy on his mind. Sure, he had seen you in less, but here you were in a tight swimsuit before him. He bit his lip as he watched you wade about the water or rest on the side of the pool. His mind moved to places that he had willed himself away from for the past few days. He was barely allowed more than a quick hug and kiss on the cheek with your parents around, too. It was driving him mad that he was going without even something as innocent as cuddling. Emmet would never deny his horny tendencies, but he was not some pure creature of the earth. He was an adult man with mature thoughts.
So, when you all returned home, and he was offered a shower to clean himself after having been in the pool, he took it immediately. The shower was warm and relaxing against his skin, but that was not its purpose. His hand grasped his dick desperately as he let his mind slip away from where you both were. Back at home, he could have you laying in bed playfully. A canister of whipped cream could somehow be involved as he licked the sweet foam from your body. You would moan and whine under him as he bit you teasingly, but just before he could reach everything he wanted, a fist pounded on the door and informed him not to use all the hot water.
Suddenly, the shower had to be cold and quick.
His excuse why he had taken so long?
Stress. Ingo totally texted him about some accident at work that caused him to worry. Your family bought it, thankfully. He knew you did not. The look in your eyes told him all he needed to know.
~
Emmet was not patient. He was the one who acted against his brother's more passive approach to life. So on your final day with your parents, he was not afraid to admit he was rushing you to pack. You sent him a knowing, mocking look as you spent longer and longer returning your clothes to your bag. Suddenly, he was your helper and your bags were packed incorrectly but completely. He carried both of your bags out to the car as your parents, and you spent a moment talking.
When he joined you again, your parents gave him pleasant, genuine smiles. “I have no idea how you managed to find such a sweet, innocent man in this day and age,” your mom joked softly, “Poor guy needs to cuddle something to fall asleep. What a sweetheart.” Emmet felt a pang of annoyance, but swallowed it down. You just nodded with a laugh.
“Oh, Em, is a teddy bear,” you told her, “I know it's been killing him we have not been able to properly cuddle.” Your mom gave a soft laugh and apologised to you both about that. She admitted that they had been hogging you from him and not allowed you much alone time together. Emmet politely brought an arm around your shoulders and brought you in close, a bit spitefully. “It looks like my fate after getting home is probably going to be a long hug.”
“I'll admit I was a bit suspicious of him at first,” your dad said, scratching his head, “I just worried he would be like every other guy, but I don't think he even knows about sex. I even tried looking him up online, and most things I saw were about how innocent he is.” The boisterous laugh that followed made Emmet tense. He knew exactly what he was talking about and hated it. People seriously thought if you so much as said pussy or dick around him, he would be completely ignorant to the word. “I like you,” he held his hand out for Emmet to shake, “Please keep up how you are.” The twin shook the older man's hand with a wide grin on his face. Oh, he did not even know the half of it.
A few farewells were shared before you and Emmet finally were off and headed home.
As you drove off towards your destination, you spoke softly to your boyfriend, “Thank you, Em. I know that it was hard for you to do all of that.”
“Heehee, don't worry about! I loooooove you so much that it doesn't bother me.”
Your heart felt warm at the sweetness of your boyfriend.
~
“Oh, darling,” he cooed, pinning you to the sheets, “I want to try something new.” You were flustered under him as his hands locked your wrists together above your head.
“Wh-what's that?” you asked, knowing full well had a tonne of sexual energy to expel. It excited you more than he would like to admit.
“Whipped cream.”
“Huh?”
105 notes
·
View notes
Text
media roundup february
hi everybody :3
i didnt really read a lot in february i was busy 'doing school' and 'looking for employment.' sad! i have spring break coming up so im planning on using that time to read a bunch (and also apply for more jobs -_-) this post and previous can be found on my neocities!
books:
revenant gun by yoon ha lee: the last book in the hexarchate series, starting with ninefox gambit. (slightly edited from my discord review, SPOILERS INCOMING). in machineries of empire, there a disconnect between what the audience craves and what the book is willing to give them-- for example, things like Whats up with the calendar + the hexarchate, why did jedao do all that, etc. this works in the books favor (imo) by increasing tension, creating a sense of discovery, and avoiding clunky exposition.
however in the two sequels it expands not just to what the audience wants but also what they like. care about? some big examples are the weight of the remembrances* and less cheris, but also stuff like jedaos focus. which isnt bad like i like jedao. but like, if you Dont you sure do get a lot of him. also did anyone actually like brezan sorry. hes fine
like for example with the end of a memory called empire, when the protag (forgot her name sorry) loses her brain buddy, it feels like a second coming of age almost--her brain buddys been a crutch but now she gets to stand on her own (albeit as a changed person, with brain buddys influence). vs cheris who kinda starts to feel like a cameo character who literally fucks off for nine years???
there is also a sort of ongoing sense of "these sacrifices for the greater good are ok (if sad) and these are not" whihc ngl sometimes feels pretty arbitrary to me. and given that machineries of empire focuses on like the Littlest most downtrodden people it really is wild yhat we dont see a lot of civilian life? anyways i enjoyed it and i think its worth finishing out the trilogy but it wasnt as satisfying as i could have hoped (ALSO NINEFOX GAMBIT IS A REALLY FUN SOLID READ. I LIKED IT A LOT)
*the rememberances are a set of ritualized tortures that create a power structure that literally powers a lot of the empire's technology. this is a very cool concept! a big part of jedao and cheris' rebellion is about making a place that Doesnt have to run on torture. except that like, besides the intellectual knowledge that Torture Is Bad as a reader i didnt really feel that invested in this? like we only get to See a remembrance happening midway thru book 3. im not like advocating for torture porn or anything but it seems weird to have that be the focal thing when neither cheris nor jedao had any scenes where they were affected by it (and so the audience didnt have anything like that either). idk it kinda just stood out to me. like yes i care about these characters but why should i care about This specifically
hexarchate stories by yoon ha lee: an anthology set in the world of machineries of empire, expanding the world and fleshing out some stories. this was pretty solid! theres a wide range of stories and lengths, and i liked the variety :3 its like a little charcuterie board. (yoon ha lee's bias for shuos jedao really stands out here though..) its kinda essential reading to me imo though bc otherwise the ending of revenant gun isnt that satisfying :| lol anyways once again if youve read ninefox gambit check it out! spoilers for the whole series tho
exordia by seth dickinson: hard scifi about agency, impossible choices, and how they shape you. also, international geopolitics! like ninefox gambit, exordia demands your attention and concentration. you kinda have to read it at a time when you have brainpower to spare. however, exordia rewards everything that you put into it :3 i ended up learning so many random facts during this book… like AGL meaning above ground level. i feel like i need to read a book about democratic confederalism now also. a couple of my other friends read this book and got lost in the large cast and intricate web of events--i didnt have as much of an issue but u might need a piece of paper or sth. exordia is a book that's dense enough to feel like three books, and that can be good or bad. seth dickinson has this really spare, concise prose that leaves a lot to your imagination but also like. can sum up a person or situation in just a couple sentences? and that leaves a lot of room for the reader to investigate which i like :3 hm what else to say…. i really liked clayton (clayton!!!!) but i found erik super annoying ymmv. the ending kinda leaves you at a loss which i honestly kinda like? like yeah obv a sequel would be nice but i like it the way it is. anyways not for the faint of heart but id still recommend<3
accidentally engaged by farah heron: f/m romance aww so cute <3 really nice contemporary romance which tosses together a bunch of tropes--arranged romance, fake dating, baking together--into something that actually works really well! the two leads were very charming and i liked reading about the good food. i liked the way the protagonist's almost-stereotypical portrait of a loving but strict south asian family (am i allowed to say this) gets fleshed into a group of honestly kinda bizarre people that love her and that reena can genuinely connect with. yay family! overall, not especially memorable to me personally but still enjoyable. rec if youre into contemporary romance
last breath: the limits of adventure: realistic fiction (?) about what it feels like to drown, die of dehydration, fall from a cliff, etc. lots of research, very thorough! (well sometimes they live and sometimes they dont). an expansion of this absolutely fantastic article about hypothermia. honestly none of the stories quite live up to this one imo but this is still a really solid and exciting read! i couldnt put it down! although it does have a touch of the orientalism that you get from like, a lot of extreme sports circles lol. i would definitely recommend reading the article, and maybe read the book if it especially interests you.
video games:
pokemon legends of arceus: a pokemon game set in the past that breaks the mold by letting you dodge roll. my opinions here coincide pretty closely with the dunkey video, which is that this is a really fun game that is also literally half finished. controls are clunky, story is paper thin, graphics are fucked, overworld is extremely empty but its also just very fun?? it took over my life for like two weeks and i missed class???? anyways i would not get this at full price but if you can borrow it from a friend its super interesting to experience. im looking forward to the kalos one :3
slay the princess: a horror? romance? visual novel about saving the princess, slaying tbe princess, and everything in between featuring the vocal chops of that one magnus archives guy. dudeee this is so fun! i think its very kind to the guy inside of me who is Embarrassingly Anxious about any and all video game choices that can like, affect the narrative. lmfao its fun to fit in a couple runs or two between other things, but i did start losing track of what previous paths id taken after a bit of a gap. however!!! i would definitely think about playing this game if you like visual novels or Narrative or Loops! or girls who kill lol theres a free demo if you want to try it out
movies:
velocipastor: action movie about a priest who turns into a velociraptor to punish the wicked!!!! so fucking cool a lot of love put into this (low budget) movie made me so sad i dont speak cantonese (? at least i think thats what it was) watch this with friends
music:
Gato by nobonoko: really fun 80s synth jazz? album written by two fictional gay furries. no wait come back ok this is one of those things i got recommended by youtube and then actually listened to it a bunch of times its just very soothing and nice :3 ive been listening to jazz pretty much my whole life so i have a huge bias. also im a sucker for fictional bands eg splatoon… also the art is so cute?? those two guys?? its hard to pick a favorite song but i think i like the titular gato! also theres a bunch of other stuff made by the same two artists
option by Crosses: i totally forgot what the genre for this is but its like when metal guys are like i need to have a song for my metal wedding. song recommended by neil -_- anyways very sappy im fond of it nonetheless. i definitely did think it said "can you promise me to the grave"
Roy by Idles: from british rock band idles new album tangk! im going to be honest i did not like this album as much as some of the other ones by idles, but thats ok! hmm when i play this song out loud during crew shifts i feel embarrassed. but i really like seeing how idles' vocalist's voice has evolved over time! the way hes branched out into more melodic and belty stuff over time is very fun. the prechorus + chorus are very fun to sing along to as well :3 its just a fun song
anyways if you read any portion of this thanks as always :3 what else to say.. i made pandesal recently and its been my only successful bread that i can remember. go me! anyways see you guys in a bit
9 notes
·
View notes
Note
Hello! I just wanted some clarification as to why earning some income off of fanfiction is this horrible unethical act.
Do fanarts and zines also apply under this copyright infringement and if so, why are those works allowed to make some profits but not fanfiction? To me it seems like a double standard, especially because I seriously doubt anyone making either fanart or fanfic are claiming that the characters and story are their own original works. Blatant plagiarism and profiting from it is one thing but receiving some income because someone really likes a fan work is another.
I understand that in extreme cases, authors can sue, like you mentioned Anne Rice but in most cases, the authors tend to be chill with fanworks? They know it encourages engagement and hell, some of those big scary publishing companies that you seem to be wary of actually scout fan artists and writers to bring on board for their next projects.
And it's not brought up often in these arguments but Anne Rice herself became lenient towards fanfics of her original work in the last couple years before her death, even apologizing for her behavior then.
So while I understand the concern for lawsuits, I just don't see how writers and artists are "late stage capitalist dicks" for earning an income off fanworks that are clearly stated and implied to be the original works of the author and not their own.
typically i'm a "never assume malice where ignorance can serve as an explanation" kinda person, but YEESH, it's hard not to perceive hostility in this one boys, here's why:
1) i never called writers and artists "late stage capitalist dicks," and putting that phrase in quotes to make it seem like i did tells me you're not here for productive communication...that intentional misquote showcases either a blatant attempt at weaponizing intellectual dishonesty OR a lack of reading comprehension on your part, one i doubt i can correct through anonymous tumblr asks
2) "why are fanzines allowed but fanfics are not?" presupposes what you think my position on the matter must be, but i haven't expressed my opinion on fanzines, let alone voiced a double standard in favor of them...this is (once again) a blatant attempt at putting words in my mouth and/or a complete misread, intentional or otherwise, of what i actually stated...and in fact i said in a comment that fanart ALSO exists in a legal gray area, so you didn't do your research very thoroughly if those are the words you're trying to put in my mouth (solid attempt tho, 6/10)
3) i ALSO didn't call anything unethical, as you claimed in your comically hyperbolic opening line...i called selling fanwork illegal. morality and legality are not the same thing, so whether your mistake regarding the differences between legality and morality is the product of ignorance or malice, the fact remains that it's yet another blatant misread of what i said, good job there buddy, you're batting a thousand
i could dig further into the bad-faith rhetoric oozing from that ask (the sheer hyperbole and melodrama of it + the litany of loaded questions are an immediate sign it wasn't sent in good faith), but i think i've made my point LMAOOOOOO...but to sum up, i have very little interest in engaging with you when you're talking in SUCH bad faith and with such an antagonistic tone...you're misrepresenting SO MUCH so blatantly and with such confidence, it gives me zero confidence in your desire to actually learn or explore these very interesting issues...you just wanna argue and twist my words, and i'm not gonna enable that bad behavior by giving you more to twist
but look bruh, i get it: you're feeling insecure and defensive over a comment about being careful about monetizing your fanwork, and you took a post about the concept of capitalism and its impact on the arts so personally you confused comments made about capitalism itself for comments about you as a person...but this hostility is NOT a commensurate reaction to what i said and i'm shocked you think otherwise, and if you want to have this conversation, we can...but only once you learn to argue respectfully
TL;DR: i doubt your ability to engage in good faith so i'm not going to respond earnestly, as it'll be a waste of my time...reread my posts after you've had time to release this defensive energy...engage with what i said, not with what you THINK i said...have a nice night and best of luck to you
#bad-faith arguments give me hives#sorry about the typos#i can't be bothered to edit this and just dictated it through my phone LMAOOOO#also that ask feels like a gish gallop and i have refused to engage with that bit of debate chicanery since 2005#i have a dayjob and no time for weaponized logical fallacies
17 notes
·
View notes
Note
hello! i'd love to hear your thoughts on hazbin hotel's writing :] i really like the show, but i'm not really sure if i think it's...good? if that makes sense. so i'd love a second opinion :O
oh my god thank you so much for sending this ask bc ive been thinking about this for sooooo long ive got a lot to say about this show. picture that scene in the first episode where charlie whips out her longass pile of drawings to explain the hotel. that's me rn i have many things good and bad to say about this show. first off im gonna keep it a buck fifty with you anyone genuinely saying this show is really bad needs to watch more shows. watch supernatural season 13 or something. this was not by any stretch of the imagination a bad show for me writing-wise and even the criticisms i have here are mostly nitpicks
i actually think they did a pretty good job given the constraints they had. 8 episodes with 25 minutes each is a ridiculously small amount of time. that's less than 4 hours total to tell this whole story and develop, what, 6 main characters? and introduce major antagonists and the minor antagonists for the next season. i don't know how much they had to cut but i'm willing to bet it was a substantial amount since the show in-universe takes place over the span of 6 months. like i know everyone says this about the show but i really do feel bad that they were given such a short amount of time because it's pretty clear to me that there's a lot of passion put behind this project
i've heard a lot of people say that they have issues with the pacing of the show and i kind of agree. i think the timeline of the plot is kind of weird with episode 1 taking place 6 months from the extermination and episode 2 taking place very soon after. if i remember correctly we don't know when episodes 3 and 4 take place but episodes 5, 6, and 7 all take place back to back probably because they didn't want to shove angel, husk, and sir pentious' major character development right at the end of the series as the plot came to its climax. i think i can understand that reasoning but it does make for a very odd structure and leave the story feeling rushed near the end. i don't know what could have fixed this because having vaggie and charlie visit heaven earlier would have meant that a lot of the show had a higher sense of tension and i think that would've been worse. idk. i understand the criticism and i agree with it i just don't know what could have fixed it
the songs are banger. obviously. that's what happens when you hire half of the living tombstone to write your songs theyre just going to be sick as hell. loser, baby was my favorite and the one from dad beat dad was a close second i liked it a lot. i also think they did a great job developing all of the characters and giving them really solid character arcs with a couple exceptions, mostly alastor, niffty, and vaggie. i'll touch on that in a second. to me angel dust is the emotional core of the show and i really like him and husk. theyre my favorites ill b so sad if they get wrenched apart next season
i have some thoughts on vaggie and this comes from a place of love because i think she's an example of a really great character concept with a not-so-great execution. here's what i think. the writers seem to have a tendency of only giving vaggie big character moments that are tied to her relationship with charlie. and it bugs me a little bit. im not saying that vaggie being charlie's girlfriend has to be a smaller part of her character but every time we get a moment with her like her song in episode 3 it's about how she wants to protect charlie. as much as i love 'out for love' in episode 7 it was kind of unnecessary because we already know how devoted vaggie is to charlie. that was never called into question. for her to go to heaven, knowing that they would recognize her there as a fallen angel, just because charlie wanted her to be there really shows how much she loves her. and i think that part of episode 7 could have been better devoted to exploring the reason why she put her faith in the hotel and what charlie was doing in the first place, because she wants to believe that she can find redemption for the crimes she committed as an exorcist. i don't think they talked enough about the idea that vaggie was cast out of heaven for showing mercy to a sinner. and how this shows the very black-and-white view of morality that heaven has. i think i would like vaggie as a character more if the show stopped trying to frame her belief in the hotel as loyalty to her girlfriend and instead talked about how she's trying to find redemption herself, not in trying to get into heaven but in atoning for the many sinners she killed during the exterminations. that's a really big part of her character that i think should be touched on more often
if you follow me you already know my nitpicks about alastor. theyre problems that will almost certainly be fixed in the next season and theyre incredibly minor, i just dont like characters who seem to always inexplicably one step ahead of everyone else and above all sense of consequence. and to me this is made worse by the fact that alastor appears so often in season 1 without having any character development right next to characters like husk and angel who are going through such horrible, horrible things in their lives. and i think the longer we get alastor as a mysterious 5d chessmaster type of character without knowing his true motivations the more annoying it gets. again, nitpicks that almost certainly won't be a problem next season given the way they're setting up his character. you might not have even considered this to be a problem and think that i'm just being a fucked up little whiny bitch. lmao. it's just a personal thing. niffty i think doesn't have to have character development, as it stands she's entertaining enough by herself and i'm fine with having her run around the hotel with no discernible motivations. she's just havin fun
i think the vees are some really strong love to hate them villains. val obviously is a despicable piece of shit and im looking forward to seeing him get what's coming to him. i have no complaints in regards to them i think their moments were tied into the series very well and theyre interesting antagonists already. it's gonna be great seeing them come more into the spotlight in season 2. i will say that i think some of the time dedicated to exploring their characters could have been put towards the actual main villains of this season, heaven and the rest of the angels, but whatever. as i said before i think a lot of the major plot exposition could have been spread out. but in general i think the vees are really interesting
17 notes
·
View notes
Note
You are so right when you say that TOH always tries to separate itself as being different or better than other fantasy shows or kids' shows while not actually doing anything particularly special. Your blog is what made me realize that this aspect of TOH more than anything else is what frustrates me about it. Because honestly I don't need kids' cartoons to be amazing and groundbreaking. It's great when they are, I love Steven Universe which I think took way more risks than TOH did and was way more unique. But I also had a lot of fun with MLP which in the balance was a pretty generic kids' cartoon. I found it entertaining and comforting and I liked the characters, but it was a pretty simple show. But MLP also never really asked you to think it was anything else. It knew what it was, it was good at what it was, and you could take it or leave it. Meanwhile TOH simultaneously refuses to accept that it's fundamentally a pretty basic kids' fantasy narrative, while also refusing to take any real risks with its storytelling that would push it beyond being a basic kids' fantasy show. So there's a disconnect between what the show wants me to believe and what I'm actually seeing on screen. And that disconnect is the source of my frustration with the show. I do still think it's fun. But it frustrates me. And I like reading your blog because I feel like you've helped me put into words some of the reasons why. 🦎
So this strikes a cord with me that makes me want to ask a question back: When did a good story stop being enough for people?
I'm going to go WAY left field for my example here. Like... Maybe ruin my credibility left field for this one but it's the one I always think of with this.
Why were we all too good for the Emoji movie? I saw it WAY after it came out because my parents have On Demand and told me they liked it. So I was like "I mean, worse case scenario it's probably laughably bad. May as well try it while I'm living with them."
And it's not a bad movie. Like at all. Is it better than TOH? Probably not but I don't know how much worse I'd consider it either in hindsight. It does a LOT with its gimmick, is pretty fun throughout the whole thing and actually has a good theme for the concept of emojis with the idea that... Yeah, one emoji is really hard to express complex feelings with and what succeeds at the end of the day is someone breaking their singular emotion into something grander than that. Their self expression mattered and their want for expression played into the grand problem that was going to get them all killed.
Is it groundbreaking? God no. This concept isn't anything new, it's not done in a particularly special way, none of its twists are novel, even when done well, and its humor is nothing to write home about. It's got some good jokes, it's got some bad jokes.
Overall though... It's just a solid, basic story told well. This is actually like 90% of the success of Hi-Fi Rush's story. That game has about as basic of a plot as you can get without devolving into "Save the princess" with only two real twists, neither of which are that huge, even if they're fun. However, that story takes its gimmicks and runs like hell with them and does a really good job of telling a story about a group of rebels coming together, growing and beating the bad guy.
I would say the only 'brave' thing about is that the first two characters in the band of rebels are kind of assholes but lovable ones and that's hardly a risk when one of Marvel's most beloved series right now is Guardians of the Galaxy. But it works. It uses its tropes well, it's incredibly charming and the cast is incredibly likable. It also knows when to stop being funny for a moment of humanity, unlike Marvel movies, and gut punches you a couple times with the subtle but definitely there growth of the characters.
Both of these, in the elements that work for them, because there are parts of the Emoji movie that are not good, have a common trait. It's actually the trait that most makes me think that I, as a writer, couldn't ever make something that truly feels like TOH.
Sincerity. A lot of basic stories when told well shine through with their sincerity. It's part of why a remake of something can feel so much more lifeless going through the same plot beats because those small changes made to 'modernize' or have 'meta commentary' etc. like that (think the majority of Disney Live Action remakes) aren't sincere. They're calculated, smug and obnoxious oftentimes and not nearly as heartfelt as the original pieces' choices.
Another example but not animated: John Wick. On paper, it's a bog standard revenge story. In practice, that movie is going so hard, committing so full force to EVERY creative decision it has and not blinking at anything that could even be considered silly, while recognizing when it's going for a silly tone, that it is my FAVORITE action movie. Period. And again, above anything else, sincerity to the tropes of John being this mythical figure, the fun of all the fights it can show, etc. like that is what sells that movie.
God I wish I liked 2 or 3. What a fucking waste 3 was. In my opinion.
So yeah, I agree. I don't know why TOH decided it had to be so smug and egotistical and what not about its tropes when sincerity is enough.
...
..............
Okay, I have to bring up the other side of this coin, partially because I'm writing this while building up to Crises Girlfriends' original release.
Sincerity is great. What the fuck is the marketing pitch for sincerity? I've been pushing the fact that Crises Girlfriends is from someone who actually has these issues, that it tries to handle depression and the like better than most media because it's kind of the marketing point. I'd MUCH rather just tell you "I think I did a great job with the characters, their development and their relationship" and just sell you on it being a good romance but... What makes it special versus any other romance title out there?
I'm not actually even going to use TOH as my flip example for this. Yes, a LOT of people use TOH's subversive element to sell it, just like Warrior Nun's community only ever let me know it was gay, but I've got an even older example:
Gravity Falls. It took me FOREVER to hear someone say literally anything about the characters in that show. Before then, all I heard about was the mystery. How amazing its little Easter Eggs were. And why not? I've seen a couple episodes. It's a pretty damn good, but not special, modern fantasy show that's taking after stuff like the Spiderwick Chronicles. So if a fan wants to tell me why I should watch it over, say, Randy Cunningham, why not go with the genre blend that is actually pretty different for a kid's cartoon.
I feel like that's probably at least half the reason people kept calling TOH horror at one point and I'm happy that stopped.
With all of that said, there's still a difference. Gravity Falls' mystery doesn't actively mock the tropes it itself is using. It is genuinely enjoyable, even if you don't care about the mystery and the mystery is more than just a marketing gimmick. For Crises Girlfriends, I literally have chapters dedicated to teaching some of the lessons I've learned in therapy that have helped me and make sense for the characters in question to get better.
You can call these gimmicks but it's more that the concept is being properly used. That's where TOH, and the Disney Live Action remakes frankly, fail. The marketing gimmick IS the substance. They want you to post on Twitter about how bold it is for Disney to be doing X. That it's not like other shows. That it's not like the old Disney movies or fantasy movies in general that you know.
Which is frankly hilarious when people try to say TOH was shortened because it doesn't fit in with the Disney brand. Laughing at itself while actually being as corporate and bland as it's trying to claim it's not is an entire branch of Disney. People have been eating up since Frozen though.
This actually led to me commenting on Twitter a while back that if the 90s were the age of irony as I've been told, the 2010s, from Disney to Game of Thrones, etc. like that might be the age of subversion. Where the story be damned, so long as we can claim to be more clever than we actually are, that's what's important. So long as we do something the audience isn't expecting. And it started in earnest with Frozen because... I'm sorry that movie is good, perfectly fine popcorn, but not the god damned masterpiece that it was heralded as when it first came out and I feel like a lot of the narrative praise for it was specifically because it was mocking Disney narrative tropes.
It did so well though that it sent ripples out though. Some are doing it smart, some are not. I bet Rise of the TMNT is the way it is because the team being actually good warriors that feel trained by a proper master is what's expected so leaning on the teenage side and them not being the best, but not bad, is subversive theoretically. Subversive in a way that is actually useful for new stories and ideas to be told though. It's a smart way of doing it.
Meanwhile, TOH asks the bold question of "What if the pointless romantic subplot in most fantasy stories was gay?" And then puts it in a world where a gay romance will be treated the same way as a straight romance.
The point is it's not clever. But it sure is good for making posts on Twitter, isn't it?
Frankly, there are a lot of elements to TOH that I think are chosen partially for social media bait and a LOOOOOT of them have to do with Hexide. That is a different blog.
And hey... If you want someone who's sincere... Well, here are my normal links because it's still my job. I just wish I could tell you a better pitch than my goal is to just make a good story. Before anything else, that's all I want to do.
I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!
I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past.
I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead,
If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.
And finally a Twitter you can follow too!
43 notes
·
View notes
Text
Yugioh dubs ranked from most tolerable to most deserving of a punch in the face
(No Sevens cuz the dub isn’t finished)
Best: 5Ds
Yes, it’s incomplete. Yes, the censorship is absurdly bad and confusing. Yes, it’s stupid as shit sometimes. But you know what? The dub is the only way I will willingly watch 90% of 5Ds because the sub is so terribly boring and lifeless. The dub actors and script breathed life into the characters, giving them and the series a personality and making the story instantly more compelling than it was in sub.
2nd most tolerable: Arc V
Not my favourite series and I generally prefer the sub voices but it’s this high up for one simple reason: there are no major story changes. At all. The most major issue I noticed when watching this dub was a poor interpretation of a previously impactful scene. So overall, a solid dub.
3rd most tolerable: Zexal
Honestly? For the first two thirds, this is a very faithful and highly enjoyable dub with some good voice acting and an enjoyable sense of humour that didn’t clash with the tone of the show, since Zexal was goofy even in sub. There were definitely problems, and some stupid edits/censorships but apart from cutting Alito’s implied bi-ness, none of the censorship made me upset... until we got the barian backstories, which are so beyond butchered it muddles the story, weakens most of and even downright ruins one of the Barians’ characters, and are a worse dumber story overall. Apart from that though, I do admittedly enjoy this dub. Maybe it’s just my enjoyment of Zexal, and the fact that unlike my other two favourites, its dub actually gave a shit but I did enjoy watching this dub.
Mid: Duel Monsters
I’m torn. Because on the one hand, this is the show that introduced me to the concept that dubs could be lying censoring americanising pieces of shit that actively tarnish the show they’re adapting. But at the same time... there are things about the dub I genuinely prefer. The plotpoint that got me attached to Yugioh (Yugi not being able to trust Atem after his attempted murder on Kaiba) was dub exclusive. For every shitty terribly adapted scene this show has, it does one other thing right. So... I’m a little undecided. I don’t really want to go back and fully watch this show in sub, and I’m glad I saw it in dub as that allowed me to get sucked into it naturally, but at the same... some of those dub scenes are genuinely hard to watch. So overall, don’t hate this dub, but it’s not good.
Now, for the two dubs I do hate:
2nd most deserving of a punch in the face: VRAINS
*deep breath* Compliments first. 1) Ai and Spectre’s dub voices are legendary, and while I prefer the sub voices, the other voice actors generally do a good job. 2) The running joke about hot dogs is legitimately funny, I kept it going in my post VRAINS fic that otherwise follows sub continuity because I loved it that much. NEARLY EVERY OTHER ATTEMPT AT HUMOUR IN THIS JOKE OF A DUB FUCKING SUCKS. Most of it it shitty cringe inducing Internet references or stupid quips right of a shitty MCU movie, the kind from late phase three and all of phase four that kill whatever semblance of tension or atmosphere there was every five seconds for an attempt at comedy. And don’t even get me started on the final duel. Playmaker insulting a dying man he spent the entire show with isn’t funny, it’s fucking twisted and disgusting. And the gay erasure is actually blatant here. The dub actively created romantic hints between Yusaku and Aoi and actively took those hints that away from Yusaku and Ai, WHO HAD A CANON AT THE VERY LEAST ONE SIDED LOVE CONFESSION AT THE END OF THE SERIES THAT THE DUB ALSO CENSORED. This isn’t me overanalysing or pushing a ship, Ai having romantic feelings for Yusaku was very intentional in the narrative of the sub and the dub censoring that is something I can only see as malicious and disgusting.
Most deserving of a punch in the face: GX
Take everything I said about the VRAINS dub only subtract the good voice acting. The GX dub voice actors honestly sound bored. I don’t blame anyone who couldn’t get into this show through the dub because how can anyone be invested in the characters and their plights if the characters aren’t even invested? Or are constantly and very distractingly breaking the fourth wall, completely ruining the grounded down to earth feel of the original. The name changes? The worst of any series. Manjome is turned into a complete joke despite being well rounded character, Rei’s name change completely ruins her introduction episode by making the twist way too obvious to at least american audiences (which the dub was made with in mind), and the others are the most americanized schlock I’ve seen in my life. The third season, the best season in sub? The dub doesn’t resemble it in the slightest. It can’t take jackshit seriously. It can’t treat its characters, who were compelling in the sub, as anything more than stupid jokes, and the same goes for the narrative as a whole. Yubel went from a complex terrifying antagonist so twisted and traumatised the only way they knew how to show love was through torment to a whiny little baby with the more ear-piercing obnoxious voice in any of these dubs. Yes, that includes Z-Arc. Not to mention “censoring” their body to make them fully female because god forbid children be forced to witness a gender ambiguous person. And god forbid they see a romance involving that gender ambiguous person. How filthy and wrong to exist and not fit into the gender binary. Great fucking job 4Kids. Oh, and great job making an entire generation of kids think the loveable happy go lucky protagonist (who never developed past that baseline personality in your shitty ass dub because character depth, what’s that?!) of your shitty ass dub died in the end because he inexplicably wanted to save the villain who’d been torturing him for an entire season. GREAT FUCKING WORK.
#yugioh#ygo#yugioh duel monsters#ygo duel monsters#ygo dm#yugioh gx#ygo gx#gx#yugioh 5ds#ygo 5ds#5ds#yugioh zexal#ygo zexal#zexal#yugioh arc v#ygo arc v#arc v#yugioh vrains#ygo vrains#vrains#yugioh dubs#for some reason I just felt like ranting today#might have to do with that shit duel I rewatched
28 notes
·
View notes
Text
Breaking down the comics: Taking the hit (Issue #26)
Moon Knight Issue #26: Hit it! / The Cabbie Killer
Two in one! What a wonderful time to be alive!
Also this cover really gives me modern comic feels and I have no idea why. I feel like I've seen a variant of this cover before or perhaps another comic did a similar theme. Hmmm.
We start with an editor's note from Denny O'Neil! That's either a good thing or a bad thing when it comes to a newer comic that is experiencing its first big few years and establishing characters and villains.
It reads:
Falling on our noses?
In tai chi chaun, a gentle and wonderful combination of martial arts and exercise, there is a concept called "exploring the limits." This means testing how close you can let an opponent come before he hits you and how far you can extend yourself towards him before you lose your balance and fall on your nose. What you learn is where your body is, its boundaries, and the distance it can be extended and yet retain wholeness and identity.
In Moon Knight we're exploring the limits.
We're asking: What kind of adventures can our hero have and still be his own unique self. (Can we do fantasy? Science fiction? Humor?) How long should stories be? (One per issue? Two? Three? Or should a story extend over a number of issues?) How many liberties can we take with the traditional comic book format? (Our black-and-white covers are a solid success. but we're not sure about our other experiments --putting the title on the inside cover, next issue ads on the back cover, text features, cover galleries and whatever we come up with next.)
Lots of questions. Very few answers.
But that's okay. In fact, that's fine. That's what makes working on Moon Knight just about the most exciting job in comics. I've always liked journeys and everyone likes surpirses and Moon Knight is both. The magazine--and character--are fluid, not fully defined and we're busy exploring the limits.
Of course, we may fall on our noses. You'll let us know if we do.
-Denny O'Neil.
Okay! So this is a big thing for early comics! Many of you are only familiar with newer age comics and have graced Golden Age comics with a peak or two. But we’re sitting firm in the early 80s and Moon Knight is indeed a character that is unlike any other that was sitting firm in Marvel’s top tier. Born from a supernatural/horror type portion of Marvel that saw the birth of Man-Thing, Werewolf by Night, and others of the likes, Moon Knight bordered on classic Super-hero and supernatural horror.
The note about Tai Chi and extension is actually really beautiful and a perfect metaphor for Moon Knight. I’ll have to remember that one!
Now, to have a clear call to arms in where to take Moon Knight means that they have had this conversation in the writing room. They don’t know what to do with the comic. They have classic stories and ideas, but they don’t want to start repeating themselves this early int he game, but they also don’t want to jump the shark.
It also means that this particular comic that we are about to read might be an experiment on where to take the comic. So let’s see what the story of the week is!
We open with some utterly outstanding art. I mean, this stuff is GOLD. We got TWO spreads people!
The first page describes the colors of sound. The beat of jazz and how it affects the senses.
"First there is black. Then tehre is light, and all the colors of Jazz. And there is sound in these colos. A wailing trumpet drips cool violet, threaded with smoke. Heavy blue lumbers from the bass... While the clarinet tempts and tantalizes in hot pink counterpoint. But the drum... The drum beats Blood Red."
We move from jazz to images of various uses of the phrase "Hit it!" Hit it to be starting the jazz band swinging. To fix a malfunctioing TV, to encourage a baseball player to hit the ball out of hte park to a child's drawing....
"Double meanings sometimes multiply."
An abusive father and a crying child.
"But even as a trumpet screams through the night...The drum still beats Blood Red.”
"Hit it, Moon Knight. The night is here, the moon is full, and caught between one and the other dark deeds will prowl. Hit it, Moon Knight. Hit it.
Cats in windows, cries from the alley, shadows mixing, and mysteries cloaked for the kill. Hit it, Moon Knight, Hit it.
Fear in lurking, money itching to change hands, twitching and always, always blood to be spilled.
It's hot, Moon Knight, and it's dark and it's now--Don't be late, Moon Knight, Not for your time to howl...
It might be in rage or it might be in pain...But never fear, Moon Knight, it's always the same.
Just hit it, Moon Knight... Hit it!"
Sometimes I think Moench just shows off. And then Sienkiewicz just FLEXES.
We see Moon Knight on patrol. He passes by a building and we hear some men talking.
One complains about the graveyard shift to Joe.
But Joe isn't paying attention. He's having a flashback.
He's reading the newspaper. Specifically the Obituaries. We see a children's drawing of the angry father. Joe throws the paper and runs away.
He runs to a jazz club where the crowd flows out onto the sidewalk.
Joe runs into the crowd and comes across a man in the way.
Moon Knight notices the commotion and heads on over.
"Just down the street the colors are wilder --Neon shrieks without mercy...And the beat is younger, faster, harder... Pounding, driving, relentlessly slamming... Everybody is doing it these days, getting great satisfaction..."
They move past the jazz club to a rock house.
Along the way we see people beaten, bloodied, and terribly wounded.
"By hitting...hitting...hitting it!"
Joe makes it to his destination at last: The funeral parlor.
"I'm coming old man! Coming to pay my respects!"
The blood red drum beats and he bursts into the parlor.
There he finds the coffin of his father.
A priest tries to speak to him.
Joe beats the man down.
Joe is ready to fight. To fight anyone that tries to stop him. That stands between him and his father. Him and his past.
"Did you come to hit me too? Well, come on then--Hit me! Hit me till your arms fall off! You might as well...
He did it often enough! He hit me till I couldn't sleep at night--Any night!
And then he hit me some more! And then he ran away--Left my mother alone! Finally he wouldn't hit me anymore! Finally he wouldn't even give me that!"
Narration: "Blood red... The beat never ends... Pain, catharsis, rage--They shriek through nights lost to time..."
Narration: "Turn away, Moon Knight--You were wrong--It's not your time to howl. There are others with stronger voice, greater cause..."
The priest interrupts demanding that Moon Knight stop him.
Moon Knight: "No... There's been enough hitting tonight... I won't add to it."
While Moon Knight talks to the priest, Joe stands up and punches Moon Knight.
Here we remember that Marc Spector was a boxer. His violence settling from the school yard to the ring until his father turned him out. Marc moved from the ring to the battle field to the mercenary role. Marc runs hot with rage and fire. Who is he here? The raging child fighting back or the monster with nowhere else to put his fire than into those around him?
A Rabbi once told him to stop. A Rabbi that tried to lead him down a path of passive peace when the world around him was violence and pain. A father that could not stand the sight of his son fighting back.
Now we see a priest telling him to fight and him standing up and saying there is enough violence in the world that perhaps just this once there can be peace.
And when violence falls on him, he does not take the passive path. He can’t. Everything Marc is and has been is refusing to look the other way while he is hurt.
Narration: The crowning madness... Long live the king. And so, Moon Knight, the night was yours after all... And once started, the drum beats blood red...Forever."
He is angry with himself. Angry at his loss of control. Angry that he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t stop the violence. He couldn’t stop his own rage. His own need to hit back. To hit it.
What an opener. This one has me feeling a lot here. The direction of past trauma on those around us. The need to get resolution only to have it taken away from us. How it leads to more pain. More hurt. More trauma.
Does this remind anyone of anything?
Yeah. I went there.
PART TWO: Cabbie Killer!
This story is written by Denny O'Neil with artist Keith Pollard and editor Ralph Macchio.
I know what you’re thinking. “Oh no, Jake!”
We open on Jake sitting in his cab late at night.
"This is Lockley. I'm headin' for the garage after I drop my fare."
In the buses waits a man with a bazooka.
Narration: It is quiet in Brooklyn, this cool autumn evening, as Jake Lockley ends a day of driving around New York City--Quiet for exactly four more seconds...Then, two events occur simultaneously. Lockley stamps on the breake to avoid "STUPID DOG" --and the car parked a few feet away erupts in eye stinging flame...
Jake's fare asks if it was an accident or a bomb.
Jake sits stunned. "Neither. Just before the fireworks, I glimpsed a muzzle flash from the bushes. Weird as it seems, somebody shot off an old fashioned Bazooka! The thing that bugs me is, it looked like we were the target.... You got any enemies, mister?"
Jake's fare decides it's probably safer to walk and departs the cab. Probably for the best.
We cut to an hour or so later on a pier somewhere. We see a man in fancy military garb talking to another guy.
He explains that because of the dog, he missed his target and the target got away. He explains that he will try again with success next time.
The other guy tells him he doesn't give second chances and to 'take a hike'.
Military guy isn't happy.
"You have hired me to destroy a taxi cab and so I shall--whether you like it or not. I gave my word--And Commodore Donny Planet always keeps his word. Understood?"
Let me just say: WHAT A NAME.
Oh no. I didn't think it was this issue. I suppose I take solace in knowing now that it isn’t Bill that gave us Speeden. It always seems wrong to see old Moon Knight drawn by someone else. They just don’t get the face right.
But they sure do get the dialogue right. And the name. Steven. Because we all know who the vain one of the group is. Someone has to take care of the body and we all know it isn’t going to be Marc or Jake.
Ladies and Gents and all of the others, I give you Speedo Steven.
The pool scene wasn’t even needed. He literally came home after being shot at by a bazooka, changed into Steven, took a dip into a pool, then ran off to Brooklyn as Moon Knight. There was absolutely ZERO need for Steven to get into the smallest speedo he could find and take a swim. He even demanded that Marlene and Frenchie….wait. He demanded that Marlene meet him by the pool. She showed up in a bikini, expecting lovely pool time. Frenchie just showed up! In full attire. He was just there for the show. He takes it where he can get it, I suppose.
Moon Knight, now flying over the city, spots something burning. On closer look, he finds a cab on fire.
It seems the Bazooka man found a cab to hit.
Saddened by the loss of a cab, he is at least relieved to know that Jake Lockley is not the primary target.
Moon Knight tells Frenchie to take them to the Queens Cemetery.
"For months, I've known that a lot of our local criminal types play poker there every Friday night...They figure they won't be disturbed. Maybe one of them will have some answers for us."
Once there, he directs Frenchie to grab his cab and park it near the north gate.
I just gotta say... I have always loved the idea that all the bad guys get together to play poker and complain about their foes. Takes me back to the Batman Animated Series "Almost got him" episode.
I also gotta say that no one draws Moon Knight's face right in classic outfit with little emotive eyes like Bill. This one is just...lacking. They also over buffed him out in muscles.
Just a small criticism.
I do appreciate that Frenchie does still have his moon hat though. I love that stupid hat.
Moon Knight takes out the guards and interrupts the poker party.
One of the guys at the party knows something and spills it.
"One of my boys was runnin' from the law...Ducked into a garage and hid a certain tape cassette the cops want in a cab. He told us that much before he died from a slug in the chest. Problem was he didn't say which cab or where in the cab he hid it."
Turns out three cabs were in the garage that night. They hired Commando man to track the three cabs down.
The boss man at the table laughs that Moon Knight isn't going anywhere and calls over a hired goon with a gun.
Crawley!
Now Crawley is a sort of undercover informant for Moon Knight and all the baddies at the poker table trust him.
So Moon Knight has a problem. He can't fight Crawley like he was a regular thug. But if Crawley doesn't shoot him then they will know he's working for Moon Knight and lose all trust.
Crawley takes a wide shot and Moon Knight uses the chance and kicks Crawley in the face.
The choices he makes sometimes...
Crawley is knocked out and the thugs all scatter. He takes a moment to make sure Crawley is alright then runs after the main guy.
The boss spots a nearby parked cab and jumps in.
Moon Knight calmly sits at the wheel.
He informs the boss that this is one of the cabs from the garage and that he suspects the Bazooka man is waiting at the garage for a shot.
"You've got a choice: Either tell me where to find your assassin or we cruise 'round and 'round till HE finds US! Might take all night, but I'm in no hurry."
The boss is more than ready to give up the goods and tells Moon Knight where Commodore Donny Planet is.
He finds the Commodore in a boat. They fight and Moon Knight finds the Commodore to be freakishly strong.
Moon Knight strikes at normally vulnerable spots only to get tossed around like nothing.
It's near invulnerable vs. Moon Knight's ability to take the most brutal beating and keep going.
Moon Knight switches tactics and tosses some Judo in, keeping the large man off balance.
He knocks the man off the boat into a fishing net.
"The safe thing-The smart thing- would be to just let him drown." He contemplates for but a moment. "No."
He jumps in and saves the large brute then leaves him for the cops.
And that’s the end of the cabbie killer.
I must say, this one ended on a let down. I feel that if Moench had written it, we’d have ended on Jake finding the tape in his cab or something to indicate that he was the mark all along. Maybe that’s just me.
Especially after the first half with “HIT IT”. That one was really amazing. Fantastic art, a very heavy subject, and only took a few pages to cover it. Even though it didn’t end with a distinct note, it still felt like an end. A story that needed to be told that still somehow painted a picture of Moon Knight despite it being a one off that didn’t give any sort of moral or definitive point. The man still was angry over a past pain that will never be resolved. He’ll end up in prison because of all the people he hurt, and his mental health will never be addressed.
And that editorial at the start! What a piece! Learning to reach only as far as our body can go and learning not to get hit. I'm going to be thinking about that one for a while. Wow.
But that’s the story of Moon Knight, isn’t it? A story of underlining pain and trauma that affects his everyday life but that is never resolved, addressed, or healed. How it radiates out to affect everyone around him and the way he struggles to make the right choice and do the right thing…even though everything around him forces him back into that corner that forces him to fight for his life over and over again.
#Moon Knight#Moon Knight Comics#Analyzing the comics#Marc Spector#Jake Lockley#Steven Grant#Why do I only post this at midnight where no one is ever going to read this?#Is it because I took suffer from a terrible sleep condition? Probably#This one left me emotional for so many reasons#I could wax on about Marc Spector's pain for ages#You have no idea#HE MAKES ME FEEL THINGS#Mostly sad things#Marc no#Not me sitting here at midnight crying about Marc Spector
8 notes
·
View notes
Text
So I did start watching the live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender, and I will probably keep watching it because I want to see what these actors do, but I also think it's a pretty good indication of How Not To Make a Good Adaptation, not because anyone is doing a bad job but because somebody with a financial spreadsheet and no spine was making all the final calls.
If you're looking at this show, I think it's important to understand its parameters to understand the creative decisions being made. There are a few that are great - it is the dreaded live-action adaptation of a beloved franchise. That it's a beloved franchise, however, means that meaty roles can be filled with underrepresented or underappreciated actors, so rather than being mad that it's a live-action adaptation, you can be excited that you're getting to see new talent or overshadowed talent in big, extended, emotionally varied roles. That it's live-action means we see these people get to do what they do best, so at least it's not CGI cats voiced by big-name celebrities instead of talented voice actors.
However, because it's Netflix, whose whole business model circles the drain of 'how to not pay or pay the absolute least amount of residuals or really any money to any creative or technical person or really any person not in the c-suite', it is an 8-episode season. It's an 8-episode season because they've cut 'filler', or as many would see it, 'character development', because 'filler' costs money. They want to make it cheaply and quickly, and finish it cheaply and quickly, on the back of its existent fame, so that any chance any of the people involved might conceivably develop favorable bargaining conditions, or even time to bargain, is headed off at the pass. For the guy with the financial spreadsheet, they can put out a lot of money to make it 'good' (avoid the 'mistakes' of previous adaptations) but only if they cut off any chance of anyone else making money off whatever favorable reception it gets. [This is my own belief. I don't believe anything anyone else has said about this, because all of these media companies and indeed many companies are run by cultural vandals, who understand nothing but how to lie to make money. Cut them and they wouldn't bleed, lies would pour out of the wound. Not to be dramatic about it or anything.]
That means you've got a 20-episode season shoved into an 8 episode season. But otherwise, the creative (not the c-suite, or spreadsheet guy) forces behind the show are working hard to make that a rewarding 8-episode season. So taking that as a starting point, they have made some interesting creative decisions, some of which work better than others. I don't really know why I'm writing this, except that I think it's actually a really great opportunity to learn what works and what does and why as a way of improving your own work.
{I guess I should say there's probably some variety of spoilers coming up? If that's even a thing that can happen at this point?}
If you've ever seen writing advice go by that says stuff like 'no prologues' or 'no dreams or flashbacks as exposition', this show gives you a good example of why that's shit advice.
The animated series (OG) starts, for the most part, in media res (not totally, that's for later). Sokka and Katara have a fight over fishing and waterbending, establishing a shitload of worldbuilding as well as solid relationship dynamics (siblings!), and they stumble on Aang, who is genuinely like a goddamn alien to them almost, which establishes significant change in the setting as well.
The live-action series (LA) starts by introducing Aang as exceptionally talented, and the Airbenders, and the concept of the Avatar (all through dialogue, except for the talent bit, where instead we get an audience 'ooh-ing' and 'ahh-ing' at what comes across, thanks to the dialogue, as arrogant high-jinks in perhaps one of the most annoying introductory scenes I've seen lately).
Actually, wait, I've already fucked up, because in fact the annoying scene was so annoying I forgot the show actually starts with some really good in media res dynamic action as a spy is chased through the streets of the fire nation trying to smuggle out plans to invade the earth kingdom- he's captured, though he manages to get the plans out, and we see it was really a clever ploy by the fire lord to distract everyone from his true intention, eradicating the airbenders, and then he absolutely gruesomely murders the spy by literally burning him to a blackened and charred husk on the spot.
So that's actually great.
But then things proceed chronologically. Aang is informed he is the Avatar and is also informed, verbally, of all of his virtues and the fact that this means he will be the best possible avatar, all of which is annoying. Aang leaves to think about his future in the place where things always make more sense, the sky, which is honestly impressive in its invocation of cliche in such a wholly fantastical world. The airbenders are wiped out viciously, which is a cool scene and it's honestly nice to see some of their resistance because they get undersold as combatants, but at a wholly vague distance Aang is somehow embroiled in a storm, part of a weather system so entirely separate from what's going on back at the temple it's nuts because we have no sense of where or how far he went to 'clear his head, in the only place where things make sense' because that's up, and it seems like it would be mostly just going straight up and not to a wholly separate environment, and also then there's an ocean and whoops, iceberg time.
It would be laborious to take account of the show don't tell violations - we're giving leeway to this because of a compressed timeline, really, and such critique is in itself a little annoying, even if it's true. You're going to have to tell some things. And I think they deserve some kudos for working in a few of the important worldbuilding concepts in kind of interesting ways, even if they're a little 'tell'-ish, like the firelord saying that if it were any other night than that of the comet (which also we don't fuckin' see? Like, we're literally in the realm of the sky and there is absolutely no one going, look at that comet, even coincidentally, as in like the camera just shows it when pointed up at the goddamn sky?) - like it if were any other night, the airbenders might have stood a chance against the invasion. Before he roasts the shit out of the last ones. Proud warrior bullshit - it's good.
And then we proceed to Sokka, Katara, etc etc.
But they've dramatically weakened the narrative impact of learning Aang's past, and paired it with a very dramatic weakening of his character development. There is a horrific punch in the OG as the water tribe folks come to realize what's happened, and try to introduce gently the idea that Aang is unaware of a significantly changed world, one change of which is that his people were brutally eradicated, something he doesn't even believe until he sees the temple for himself, triggering an emotional meltdown (avatar state). This meltdown is not mere grief, but the realization that he wasn't there not because he was 'clearing his head' before taking up his responsibilities, but because he was fleeing their onset entirely, denying his new role and the responsibilities that came with it. He is, in fact, very much part of the reason the airbenders were successfully eradicated if only because of this 'refusal of the call' and thus, as becomes clear over the course of the show, very much responsible for the 100 years of bloodshed that followed (ironically because of his evasion, a very airbender thing to do - flow and evasion are a big part of how that discipline works).
This Aang, however, went out for a stroll and missed some shit, through, really, no fault of his own. Arguably, it's Gyatso's fault, because if he had followed directions and sent Aang away to start training immediately, either when they became aware he was the Avatar or when he was given the final warning to deliver the news, he would have been nowhere near the temple during the invasion and on his way to being capable of combating the fire nation. It's not even really fucking clear why Aang was so far away or his head-clearing mission, as there is no strong emotional impetus for him to flee, because he's just been given the news of his role of Avatar couched within the utmost comfort and without any real indication of the time pressure on him to take up the role except 'you're supposed to leave now, but by now I guess I mean tomorrow because even though I said now we instead show you going to bed at the temple like normal'.
This means we're trying desperately to take seriously a 12-year-old saying 'he should have been there' for the monks who 'were there for him', which is like, sure, believable a child would think that, I guess, eventually, but like, in this world your ass would just have been roasted like everyone else's. Aang didn't refuse the call, he went for a walk. Which is like, totally normal reaction to heavy news. He didn't evade shit. Unlike a kid in the middle of a runaway plot getting stuck in a storm he's now just an idiot who went for a walk in the rain for some reason rather than going 'hmm, looks like bad weather, which I can see clearly and understand because I am literally in the fucking sky, my natural element, I think I shall take my pensive walk through that shit'.
Kids make dumb choices, though, so this isn't really a huge fault of characterization as much as a huge fault of narration. Failure to equip dramatic irony. Because imagine if you got the first scene, dramatic spy escape, but it just ended with an incredibly cliche 'that's just what I wanted to happen' before crisping instead of a full plot reveal, and then we cut to Aang's annoying introduction as is, skip the eradication, straight to iceberg, then Sokka and Katara... All of the sudden there's a lot of tension for the audience in seeing Aang come to grips with having woken up 100 years later. If you know the series already, you know why, but if you don't, you've preserved that mystery of 'what did that seemingly unconnected scene of intrigue and terror mean?' at the start of the show. Even though the characterization of Aang remains weak, the narrative buoys it by maintaining some tension while not necessarily altering the material as shot.
The problem is that then, the revelation of the eradication comes as a flashback, if it comes at all. But then, it was effective in the show to never show it, because it increased the sense of Aang's displacement, his strangeness, as he walks through what are essentially the ruins of the world he knew - ruined because he evaded his responsibilities. Now, that clause wouldn't occur in the LA, instead it would be 'ruined because I took a minute to reflect on life-changing news and have a bad sense of the weather' but then his switch to driving himself towards perhaps mistaken ideas of what he can do to make up for it, an increasingly desperate search for the right way to make things right again, will add a good sense of tension anyway. I mean, you could compare it to something like Demon Slayer, where ultimately it wasn't anything but the normal, day-to-day decision making - and maybe a mistake of staying out a bit too late - that led to the main character being the only survivor of the slaughter of his family, which leads to his quest and provides plenty of raison d'etre on its own.
Instead, LA Aang clings to the comforting words of his mentor that told him he would be a slap-bang Avatar from the get-go, and the audience (or over-twelves at least) understand he bore no real responsibility for being absent for the massacre, and while he continues to misunderstand the state of the world as-is as different from the world he knew, it becomes creepily apparent that his representation of a nostalgic period of 'peace' is being presented as superior to and the appropriate goal of the jaded, traumatized, and abused understanding of those who have lived through war. Instead of being alien, or irresponsible, he's just pure and untouched.
And that's both creepy and a shitty way to set up a story. And I think it isn't intentional, because the characteristics Aang brings to the war-torn world around him are genuinely praised and seen as desirable in the OG show, too, and him losing those, even temporarily, is a terrific point of conflict in that show. Changing the order of events to be less chronological (or, as in the show, demonstrating a change in the state of the world by, in fact, changing the story outline given as prologue before each show [remember them doing that? I had to re-watch before I noticed but they did] talk about show don't tell violations that fuckin' work). would at least increase the sense of Aang's alienation by disassociating his experience from the main timeline, and the perspective of our main characters, thus preserving more of sense of dramatic tension, upping the stakes, emphasizing important moments of growth, etc.
And, I mean, honestly, fucking about with story structure is like the easiest and cheapest way to do this, so it really struck me that the adaptation wasn't using it despite being otherwise forced to cheap condensations of events and storylines. I mean, that's why you're supposed to avoid it, because it's cheap and easy and often done ham-fistedly. So this was a good example of why use of prologue and flashback could honestly improve a story without significant changes to the material or characterization.
They should change those things. It would make it better. But, like, there's just some editing of the storyline that could also make it better. They should also teach the actor playing Aang how to cry on command, but, like, that's a child actor, a little guy, he's improving as he goes and doesn't really deserve to be chided. Maybe they didn't want him to cry, so the director should really be talked to about that because you think there'd be some really snotty tears at incinerated husk of your former friend and mentor and the destruction of your whole culture, but yeah.
Tears wouldn't help if there's no support in the narrative for the drama anyway, so maybe it doesn't matter.
4 notes
·
View notes
Last Seen Blogs
rtsetts87
Untitled
jennyfleuren
Untitled
3vezesbi
Laranjas e bananas
sanajames
Sana James
sweetsweetloverlover
thats liquid time.. serendipity.. have a nice ride