#hard but is more effort when it has to be translatable in multiple angles. ANYWAY. ghjbhj... Now I think it would be funny actually. maybe
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This is the shot: A slim, twentysomething white man, pale and dark-haired, waits in the center of the frame, head tilted fractionally to catch a glimpse of something (someone?) the viewer can’t see. He is wearing a dark jacket with a high collar, and a dark ball cap, even though he is inside, even though it is night. The collar is pulled up to obscure his too-romantic silhouette; the cap is pulled down to obscure his too-soulful eyes. This is the kind of man who literary heroines—or at least literary-minded ones—swoon over, but with so much of his face obscured, it is only his cheekbones, high and almost too pronounced, that signal such classic desirability.
Such a signal is important. Because everything else about this shot shouts that this man is a stalker: From the blurring of important details in the background, to the juuuust too-closeness of it, to the shadows cast from odder angles than seem natural, every aspect makes us want to scream at the heroine, RUN AWAY, LEAVE, HOW CAN YOU NOT SEE WHO THIS PSYCHO IS???. And so we need something, some small thing, to remind us, when this man is not actually dressed to kill, when he’s not staring at the device he’s got tracking her every digital step, why she can’t see what we see. And that small thing is: He is attractive.
Duh.
This, of course, is why this man’s story works. The fight-or-flight reflex his behavior should provoke in the object of his obsessions is counteracted by his charming physical appeal—lust, at least initially, wins out over fear, and as it does, provides the tension necessary to drive the narrative we keep tuning in for.
The trick is, how the show wants to resolve that tension is a question of cultural time. As in, when the handsome stalker was Ezra Fitz (Ian Harding) in Freeform’s teen thriller, Pretty Little Liars, just four short (long) years ago, the romantic hero vs. predator tension was invoked only as a means of creating a temporary road block to eventual nuptial bliss between A Good Man and his (high-schooler) sweetheart. Now, when the handsome stalker is Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) in Lifetime’s adult thriller You, here in the year of Goddammit Are We Collectively Still Not Taking #MeToo Seriously (a.k.a. 2018), the tension is very clearly meant to resolve not only in Joe’s psychopathy being found out, but in his sweetheart’s (and our) delusions of obsession-as-romance shattering completely.
Understanding that this is You’s endgame is helped, of course, by the fact that (spoilers) Joe straight-up whacks a romantic rival in the skull with a book mallet in the series’ pilot, then kills him with peanut oil after holding him hostage for all of episode two. But even if he didn’t go that far, that early, series creators Greg Berlanti (of the Arrowverse) and Sera Gamble (of The Magicians) make no effort to suggest that we in the audience should be ambivalent about Joe’s character, who addresses the narration of nearly every sequence to an idealized fantasy of Beck (Elizabeth Lail), the “you”-object of his affections, whom he spies from the other side of the book shop he manages in the series’ opening scene and immediately starts scheming to own. In fact, if Berlanti and Gamble make any effort in any direction, it is to keep reminding us that Joe is bad: Take centuries of art romanticizing the unwavering fixation of a handsome man on a single woman and add to it the sea of mundanely callous dudes in the modern dating scene, and you get an audience that’s been trained out of any ability to keep an attentive, clever, present guy, who likes books and making jokes and who is, on top of it all, moppily handsome, at any kind of wait-and-see remove. Like cognitive behavioral therapy, but for the propagation of violent loopholes in rape culture—without intervention from the puppeteers behind Joe’s dark adventures, we might trip over those loopholes and fall to our Joe-shaped doom.
It’s tempting to think that they aren’t doing this, as so much of You is staged as the exact kind of dreamy romance Joe imagines himself to be facilitating and Beck believes herself to be living. Each episode opens on a series of slow, bird’s-eye pans of New York City in early autumn, set to some kind of unobtrusively sweet indie-ish acoustic background music. Scenes with Joe and Beck together are filmed with a warm, golden filter, the background details and even the edges of the foreground taking on a comfortable kind of soft-focus that seems to snuggle them together like a big, metaphorical duvet. If they are outside, the melody of bird song is prominent. If they’re inside, the shush of pages turning and life being lived together is turned high. But when juxtaposed with the brittle, hard-focus, doom-soundtracked reality of the scenes of Joe’s life outside of his and Beck’s “romance,” the delusionally fantastic nature of those softer scenes is made obvious: They are all in Joe’s head, and while Beck may be living in the same fantasy at the moment, Joe’s head is a bad, dangerous place.
“Yeah, but he loves her, but he’s sweet, but it’s a love story!” Badgley imagined eventual fans arguing when he and Lail sat down for an interview with E! News earlier this summer. “In what world?! I don’t believe that’s love. I don’t think that love equals this, so I think we have to question, what is love, and if we think this is love, where are we mistaken?”
Where is throughout all of hetero-romantic pop culture. More acutely, where, I would (and already started to) argue, is in Pretty Little Liars, which not only features Joe’s stalker ancestor in the form of Ezra “I’ll Be Watching You” Fitz, but is in actuality one of the two other shows about attractive young people swept up in cyberstalking that every elevator pitch of You invokes. (The other, of course, is Gossip Girl. ) I spent the better part of three years and many hundreds of thousands of words arguing exactly how many rape culture/toxic masculinity balls Pretty Little Liars and the creator-blessed endgame of #Ezria dropped, so I neither need nor want to retread rageful ground here. But I do need to point out that none of those elevator pitches invoking Pretty Little Liars are doing so for the fact that You is finally juggling all the poisonous balls PLL, and, in its earlier way, GG, let fall—they’re doing so because stalking is a superficial thread throughout all three, and because You’s stars include PLL’s Shay Mitchell and GG’s Badgley. That’s it.
The thing is, the fact that You is treating the subject of violent masculine entitlement and obsessive, possessive “love” with more deadly gravity than either of its teen predecessors isn’t subtle; watch the first five minutes of the pilot and you’ll get that. But that’s the point I’m trying to make: You have to watch the first five minutes of the pilot to see it. If you just look to the promo interviews and red carpet soundbites and fluffy entertainment news tweets and headlines, our collective inability to accept the violent potential of the bad men in our midst is laid bare: Joe’s psychopathic character is translated as him being a mere “creepazoid,” according to the photo caption in Vulture’s review, while You itself is cheerfully summed up as a “messy, murderous romp.” According to a teaser interview with Entertainment Tonight last fall, Mitchell declared the show to be “juicy… It still has all those elements that PLL had with it being sort of a mystery, there’s a romance part to it and it’s just exciting.” Back on E! News, while the article anchoring Badgley and Lail’s interview sports the title, “Penn Badgley Is ‘Really Troubled’ By Anyone Thinking You Is a Love Story,” it eventually can’t help but suggest that, “What Joe does is not really harassment from what Beck can see, but from the viewer’s perspective, it’s not quite not harassment and also not quite not [sic] love.”
!!!!!!!
It’s true, as Kathryn VanArendonk argues in that Vulture review above, that the tone of You isn’t steady, but I’d argue in response that this is less an indicator of the show not being serious enough to be more than a romp, and more a reminder that we are not, as a species, that great at metabolizing the idea that multiple, contradictory things can be true about a person or a situation at the same time. Especially if that person is a man, and especially if the contradictions involve a woman. I am filing this piece on the weekend before the Senate Judiciary Committee plans to hear testimony in the alleged violent attempted rape of a 15-year-old girl by then-17-year-old Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, and likely no one reading these words is unaware that “boys with be boys,” “that was just horseplay,” and “what is harassment anyway???” have resurfaced, in response, as an apparently reasonable foundation for the debate between men’s ability to gain fame and fortune and women’s basic humanity. “Two things can be true at the same time” has become a kind of clarion call across justice-minded social media, but that doesn’t mean it has been absorbed by everyone, on every level.
And so we get: Romp. Juicy. Romance. Not quite harassment. We get Ezra Fitz as pop culture’s most recently successful romantic stalker model. We get the urge to make excuses and carve a path for a bad man’s not-all-badness, even being inside Joe’s head in a way we could never be in Fitz’s, even knowing how he thinks, how he watches, how he transgresses Beck’s digital and physical privacy—even knowing how he murders people to get closer to her. We get that urge because we are also getting Joe swinging from murderously delusional to relatably jokey (his inner monologue as he disposes of his romantic rival’s body in episode three, and later as he picks up jogging to better follow Mitchell’s Peach, is particularly funny) to empathetically invested in making the daily life of his neglected kid neighbor just a bit richer and safer and less sad in a way that isn’t inconsistent so much as it is human, and in its humanity is challenging for us to accept.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the most emphatically unequivocating take I’ve found on the non-romance of You comes from Badgley himself, whose every interview has centered his utter rejection of anything positive one might try to shake out of Joe, or Beck, or Joe and Beck’s “relationship.” One of the most illuminating is the one he did with Devon Ivie at Vulture. It is worth reading in its entirety, but his response to why he took on a stalker role now, in 2018, stands out:
“Now that we’ve made the first season and I’ve been gauging reactions with critics and friends and viewers, I can say there’s a certain accountability—an emotional and psychological responsibility—that we hold the viewers and Joe to. It’s not this wildly irresponsible, escapist fantasy at the perfectly wrong time. I think the show came out at the right time, because any other time, we wouldn’t have had the courage at a social level and have conversations about why we’re drawn to it, but also why we know we shouldn’t reward it. We don’t want to reward Joe more than how he’s already being rewarded.
And as to whether or not he thinks that “viewers will cheer on this depraved man for being a self-described ‘fool in love’,” Badgley responded, “To me, a conversation I hope it starts is, What is it about the show that’s compelling? Why am I watching it? Am I enjoying it? Am I agreeing with Joe? What about all of this do I enjoy most? […] The degrees of which you’re enticed and excited by a show, there’s a lot more scrutiny in terms of the stories we’re interested in telling and consuming—the things we’re still charmed by and attracted to. Because Joe shouldn’t be allowed to behave the way he does. But only the viewer can decide.”
Shortly before Pretty Little Liars was set to air the last half of its seventh and final season, I flew out to Los Angeles to join my co-recappers at the show’s final PaleyFest panel. There were still ten episodes to go before the finale, and we held out hope that the series that had, in its bravest moments, been the most subversively anti-rape culture on television, might be about to burn the whole of Rosewood’s toxic patriarchy to the ground. The viewers who congregated in our comments section every week had certainly decided that that was the only way Pretty Little Liarscould end with integrity. Ten episodes! Ezra could STILL be A! His stalking could be revealed as the toxic danger it always was! But then we got to PaleyFest, and the entire theater was filled with fans whose only interests were the romantic lives of the cast, both onscreen and off, with the #Ezria endgame front and center.
Reader: #Ezria was endgame. And after giving fans like me a single fever dream of the show’s best character beating the daylights out of a jailed Ezra before letting his high-school sweetheart forgive him, the show was so proud of its own cleverness.
It’s 2018 now. #MeToo is only growing stronger as it complexifies, and as more projects like You get made by people who, like Badgley, Berlanti and Gamble, are entirely disinterested in giving bad men a path to not-all-badness. Joe is an outlier, but our willingness to soften the evil of his—fictional, patently obvious, easily condemned—violent obsession is the water we’ve been swimming in for too long. We can decide, as viewers and as people, to start demanding cleaner pools.
You airs Sundays at 10 p.m. on Lifetime.
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Main Challenge #2 - Canvas Queens
This week, the girls got messy and gave us walking works of art inspired by iconic art movements. Let’s see how they did!
Analyse Thropic
When I was assigned Surrealism, the first two surrealist works that came to mind were The Persistence of Memory by Dalí and The Son of Manby Magritte. I took a cue from the challenge description and interpreted “[n]ot actual art, art movements” to mean that I should represent Surrealism as a movement, so I took some of the most iconic imagery from famous Surrealist paintings (Dalí’s melting clocks, Magritte’s apples, and umbrellas and eyes, which appear in multiple Surrealist painters’ works). I also wanted to incorporate elements of Surrealism in the look itself, so I included the umbrella headpiece and a surrealist makeup look. My art medium was acrylic paint, which I used to hand paint the appliqués and the headpiece.
Lila: WOW. The level of meta that this has, you’ve got to look at it at a distance to kind of gage your references, but girl, Surrealism down. I love LOVE the melting clock poncho and I think you should make another one but with much more sturdier fabric because it’s such an iconic and original thing. When you strip the elements down to just your dress, ehh, it’s a stretch, but nevertheless, I do enjoy it. One thing you might wanna focus on is getting the black paint on your neck to kind of match the face if you can? and also what would’ve really improved this look would’ve been some black tights rather than your beige skin tights, try to remember that when you’re giving an illusion makeup, you’ve gotta conceal more of the non-illusion (skin colour). Overall, great submission this week!
Gluttoni: This week I'm completely floored by the depth you are trying to offer the competition. You totally got behind the fact we wanted you to play with a different silhouette while being edgy as well and I totally think you nailed that aspect this week. Surrealism is definitely one of the difficult movements to portray and I think you totally grasped on to the key elements that would put yourself over the top this week. I'm a sucker for a club kid like face paint as well as the motif of melting anything so I'm a fan of your paint and poncho. I thought the costume was very well balanced especially with the placement of certain lines and vocal points plus the shoes with this look just shows your attention to detail. If I were to tell you to fix anything I'd say you finally have the fit right on your costume but the pad need work. I'd suggest making new ones altogether and I realize face paint is hard to master but I'd love more clean aspects because the smudges on some parts completely threw me from the look you were trying to give. Anal, your work is definitely not going unnoticed, keep pushing!
Letha: This is stunning work, Analyse! Your movement is clear from the jump, and your use of typical Surrealism elements really helps sell the look. If I’m honest, the dress itself is a tad blah in terms of shape/silhouette, something like a melting clock hemline could have broken up the lines and added interest, but I love the poncho. I’m not the biggest fan of your padding, it could be smoother, I appreciate the effort and we can work on refining it. The makeup is honestly so cool. The shapes, particularly the lips on your neck, are very graphic and bold. In some places, your lines get away from you and get a tad muddy, and the black needed to be set with a strong matte black to really intensify the shapes, but the impact is still there. As always, I am blown away by your creativity and concepts, and you should be so proud of the amazing work you did this week!
Toni: Bitch!!!! You can’t be..surreal with this look! The most striking thing about this whole look is the makeup! You really push yourself every week to grow and this is showing us that! I do wish that the white was more pigmented but a minor thing really! This week you gave us two designs and went with the more simpler one and I understand why but I do wish youdpushed yourself a bit more to give you that edge. I love love love the look I think it's cute and I love a good applique! The poncho is everything to me I wish there were hands on the clock though!! Over all well done this week!!
Soju: Great job! I love your mug and your effort on making your own outfits. It’s tricky to use black and white paint because it can get a little messy or muddy. Having cleaner lines will def. Help you out in the future. I love your umbrella! It’s a good touch ;)
Avana Noir
Hello Judges and TDR community! For this weeks challenge I was assigned the look of graffiti and girrrlllllllll was this challenge a fucking challenge! I wanted to go for a very structured and edgy design for my outfit since thats what I usually think of when I think of graffiti as well as avant-garde. I made the prism shapes with cardboard and spray painted them bitches as well as the bodice of the dress. I added the colors that usually go with graffiti which are very bright and bold! I also included the black which is what makes the graffiti pop! I also wanted to keep the idea of our mini challenge which was to make an optical illusion! So i wanted to make myself into graffiti artwork that complemented my outfit and the overall look!. This is also my other media that was suppose to be included since that is paint on my body. I also made a little headpiece out of a spray can and tool and fake nails out of poster board and spray painted those as well!. I really enjoyed this challenge and was very VERY happy with the outcome. I hope you all enjoy it. Thank you so much!
Lila: OH MY GOD. This is fucking A R T. I love it, honestly an unconventional masterpiece. I like how it looks like you’re trying to blend in, and your ideas for fascinators are so fucking adorable and fun like I can’t deal. You’ve put in a lot of effort with this look and it shows. Now, one major problem I have with this is that you are standing still in each shot with your hand on your hip and the other looking like it’s holding onto something? Make sure you move a little or serve more poses, because the illusion thing with the wall is cute for a taste, but for the whole meal? Anyways, I love this look, I love you, great submission this week!
Gluttoni: Avana! This is SO GOOD. You are already growing from being this environment and I couldn't be anymore proud. As the weeks continue I hope to see you flourish even more. This week I think you gave IT to us because I love the overall shape of this look. It's definitely the edginess we were asking from all of you girls. With so little time I think this look shows that you know how to use your time effectively and you are definitely in control of whatever is thrown at you. I do think there are still some kinks you need to work out with the technical aspects of your makeup and hair because again I am getting abuela... If you were to sharpen the eye and add more overall angles to your face, I think that could totally shave off some of the age you are putting on yourself. Also graffiti is such an urban and contemporary art form I think this look could have benefited from being more inspired by street fashion instead of a couture leaning type of look but that's just me nitpicking. Nonetheless I see the work and effort you are putting into this game and I think you are definitely standing your ground.
Letha: A CAN OF SPRAY PAINT IN HER HAIR, BITCH! Honestly, Banksy who?? This look is incredible, Avana. The shapes and colors you used all make sense for the movement, and even your staging shows a great eye for detail. There’s an overall sort of “blended structure” to the look, that has all these sharp lines from the chest piece that are then blown out by the paint itself, it’s very intriguing. The hair is simple, but it makes sense because there is SO much else going on with the look. If there was one part of the look I wasn’t sold on, it would be the makeup. I wish it was bit more graphic, perhaps with some dark, angular brows? Making those out of cardboard and gluing them on would honestly been a nice touch. A red lip might have also had more impact here, since it would be more cohesive with the look. All in all though, I am VERY impressed by your work this week Avana, great job!
Toni: YALL WANTED ART EH? I am so proud of you this week! You really did push yourself and it shows!!! I love love love that you painted your whole body bitch, and I love that you painted a background, it really adds to the fantasy!! I think you did well, but I do worry that this may not be totally stable, it does look a bit like you were built into the garment. The head piece was super cute! I do think you need to spend some time to speak to your judges to really work on your makeup!! But I am so proud of you!!
Soju: I love your nails! I can tell that you put a lot of time and effort into this look. You’re idea was very creative. I would like to have seen some of the colorfulness translated onto your face and your mug. That would’ve made the whole look cohesive. Also becareful when mixing too many colors. It can get muddy and messy.
Daddie Dearest
Dada Dearest is h-e-r-e, here this week. Dadaism is a post WWI movement that critiqued society by using nonsensical collages, sculptures, and cut-up poetry. I'm a really great collage maker, so I focused most of my energy on that. The piece in totality does not coordinate, but it's not supposed to. Each element of the piece attempts to make commentary on modern social trends and the political bourgeoisie. It's abstract, it's informed, and it's going to make an impression. - xoxo, daddie
Lila: This is Dadaism to its peak. There’s little context in the eyes of a random passerby that has no idea about art, but you can see a lot of connotative value in your look which slays my gay ass to the fullest. Screaming at the glory hole, living for the nail polish cutouts as nails, loving the titty-ice cream bitch, like, there’s a lot to gawk at here which is amazing. Which is also a problem too. Likewise, if you’ve got a lot to look at, you start to see some areas don’t have that much to compensate? I don’t get the kneepad motifs, nor do I really understand why you didn’t put nail polish on the other hand too, it’s just that the amazing full-ness of aspects of your costume make areas that aren’t as full stand out. Overall, however, I love, LOVE this look. Great submission this week.
Gluttoni: Can you be my Dada, phlease? Daddie you when the fuck in on this! The sheer amount of detailing alone makes me want to shower you with praises. I didn't personally ask you about the story of each element of you look because I want to to be surprised and figure it out when I got to see the whole vision. That's what this look is, A VISION. Dada is definitely a storytelling art movement and I'm so grateful that you took the time to really hone in on that and really make this an enjoyable story to witness. The ice cream tripped me out for a second because I thought you were holding it but nooo it was just an incredible nod to the optical illusion assignment we gave you all before and I love you for that. The gloryhole face mask is just the right amount of cheekiness to make me want to sit through a fashion show with a whole bunch of looks similar to this. Overall ma'am you completely slaughtered my expectations and served it up to me on a plate. I want more, more, MORE!
Letha: Daddie give me Dada! This look is stunning, there’e so much going on and that is A-fuckin-Okay. The head/face piece is honestly my favorite part, it’s so voluminous and busy, and I love the shape it created. I like the boob motif, but I am lacking some shape in the body. The illusion there doesn’t work as much when it’s not a straight on, straight up/down pose, so either a cinch or some padding could help add a bit of curve. The accessories are hella clever, I wish the other hand had a little more going on (the nails being carried over, maybe?). All that in mind though, I think you perfectly captured the movement and I’m blown away by your work this week!
Toni: I am dripping from this look. Honestly I love so much about this look. You worked with your judges every step of the way and It really showed!! I’m glad you did makeup under your mask and didn’t jsut rely on the mask. You look so amazing, the head piece/wig is amazing and I know how hard you worked on it so good job. I do wish there was a bit more below the bust and I do wish you had really padded and cinched to get a more dramatic shape but over all this is such an amazing look!
Soju: YES! I love that you focused on your eye makeup when you knew it wouldn’t be the focus. This is very well thought out and flows very nicely. I like your body shape and the collage is not overwhelming the look. Also can we get into the hair?! It’s so good
Dotte Com
Dotte dotte dotte..Look at me it’s pointillism! Using the art medium of SCREENPRINTING I was able to serve to you some self-absorbed, fan-art realness. For those of you who don’t know, I’m a big Dotte made up of little Dottes. Get it?
Lila: I’ll start with the good about this, I love your face. Your makeup has improved and your eyes are so fucking beautiful in this picture I can’t. But, I have to also be real. I had SUCH high hopes this week. Your look isn’t reading couture and is getting lost in the crowd, because this is essentially a tank top dress with a picture of yourself on it (which you could’ve told us you were using in your concept rather than keeping it hushhush). There’s really been no research here and it really upsets me because I know how strong of a competitor you are and how much you want to win this, it’s just that this isn’t a strong submission this week.
Gluttoni: Dotte.... I'm utterly disappointed with this. I see so much sheer talent and potential from you that I find myself rooting you on in every way possible but this... I can't even defend or get behind you on this submission. To me it negates all my praise of your work ethic because this just screams a big fuck you to all the people rooting for you. If not for this having to be written you'd definitely be hearing a huge interpretation of my own "Tyra Rant" for you. I don't even want to waste time in telling you this look was just a total Miss for me. Your face is definitely improving but let's be real this look is just a BLATANT cop out. I wish you all the best but gurl...
Letha: I must say I’m a bit let down this week, Dotte. You were given pointillism, perhaps the most open-ended art movement on the list, which really gave you free reign creatively as to what design you would want to do, but I don’t see much creativity here. The makeup is okay, it ended up looking somewhat similar to your mini challenge makeup, but it does make sense. The look, which is essentially just a printed tank top when you break it down, it just too simple. You had the entire world as your oyster to do make what you wanted, and this sadly isn’t enough for me. The pictures are pretty far away and blurry so that small design is even harder to read as pointillism. I wish you had been in more communication with the judges with what you actually ended up doing, because I think you know you could have had a stronger submission.
Toni: Dotte, I am so disappointed this week. Lets start with the good. I really like your makeup!! I think it is a much better and more polished (and dotted) version of your mini, I think if you worked on it a bit more this could be a solid makeup for you, and I am glad to see your highlight this week! Onto the look...For lack of a better terms i feel it is lazy, uninspired, and missed the mark a lot. lila unfortunately isnt a master of pointilism, to be frank she isnt a master at anything, maybe buying pringles? I feel like you got frustrated and jsut kinda gave up and tossed this together last minute. I wish you had taken one of the many suggestions you were given instead of taking a design someone else made for you and putting it on a tshirt.
Soju:It’s really hard to see the picture but the idea is lovely.
Ebony Boss
Lila: I like this look, I really do. Your gown looks beautiful and you’ve kept to your strengths of a really clean colour scheme and I commend you for that. But, this wasn’t the challenge. You gave us the textbook definition of symbolism, while we were asking for the art movement of symbolism, with examples from that art movement as your inspiration. Edvard Munch, Henri Rousseau, Pierre Bonnard, those types of artists would’ve been so great to see, but this look isn’t what we had in mind unfortunately. I know how much you want to prove yourself in this competition, but it’s just not reaching high enough this week.
Gluttoni: Miss Ebony, you and I both know this is not your best. Yes while this leaps and bounds better than what you gave us the first week, it's still notably weaker in technique and concept than some of your sisters. I'm struggling to actually see the symbolism in your look trying to convey purity. Yes it's white and sure the there is a delicate paper crane on your head but is that enough for a challenge meant to push you out of you boundaries? I think not. You look very beautiful and the look is very sweet but I'm just getting homecoming from this instead of avant-garde. You need to push yourself more my love.
Letha: I must admit, this look isn’t my favorite, Ebony. On its own, it’s okay, if a tad simple. When associated with an art movement like symbolism though, it just doesn’t stand up. While I don’t think you had to necessarily recreate another artist’s work, drawing some more concrete inspiration from the works of the time would have helped your concept. The makeup is improving each week, which is great to see, but there isn’t a lot of creativity with it, same with the hair. I can see your tried with the crane, but when there have been queens on this very cycle who have done much bigger/impressive looks with paper birds, it sort of sets you up to fail if you don’t try to do more with it. All in all, I’m not that impressed with the look, but I’m glad I can see your skills improving each week.
Toni: Hello dear! It conserns me a bit that innstead of focusing on art symbloism you focused a bit mroe on the standard symbolism. Lila gave you many ideas so its sad to see you not take her advice. That being said I think this dress is nice on you and I’m glad to see you taking the tips for makeup!! This hair is nice but i do think it needs a bit more teasing at the base to get better volume. I want to see you a bit more padded and chinched as well and I want to see boob contours. Good luck dear!
Soju: I like that you picked purity. I also hosted a Purity Ball and I had to create an all white look. It’s harder than what most people think. I’m glad you decided to pick a pink hair to go with your look. The white dress is little bit too pedestrian for my taste. The headpiece also looks unfinished.
Judah Kiss
Hi judges! This week I was assigned 'art nouveau', and I can now firmly say I have a least favorite art movement! While this was not my style at all, I am glad for the challenge. The main elements of art nouveau that I identified, were religious symbolism, feminine beauty, and depictions of nature; my idea was to incorporate equal parts of all three, while still not losing Judah as a drag character. I changed things up with my makeup this week in order to meet the challenge of a more 'natural' face; and hey! Flowers are very natural.
All of the images I saw of art nouveau depicted a beautiful woman with long hair in an equally long, flowing skirt of some kind, alongside nature scenes and flowers. I incorporated flowers into the makeup and the belt, and using an embroidered fabric, I made my halo look religiously beautiful. I used fabric moss to give a ‘back to nature’ feeling, while not losing the overall picture of a woman, one with the Earth and its divine creator. Femininity is not something that comes naturally to me, especially in makeup; so this was a real challenge for me and I'm so very happy with how it turned out!
Lila: For how pressed you were for time, this is gorgeous. The entire outfit is giving me Lana Del Rey meets Jesus Christ Soap Star Superstar, and I’m definitely getting great Art Nouveau vibes from this. From the waist down, it gets a little boring, not gonna lie, but I can’t knock you for having a day to do this challenge. The makeup is really beautiful and natural looks on you are absolutely breathtaking, so don’t shy away from doing it from time to time in your drag outside of this competition! For me, I love this look. Great submission this week!
Gluttoni: Judah! I'm quite in love with you this week. I think it has something to do with how much you got the romantic vibe down from the movement given to you. You just look so angelic yet so down to earth which I think are the key elements of making a look like this work. You're a breath of fresh air when all the other looks are so color heavy. I'm loving your styling for this! The color palette you chose is beautiful and brown hair on you is just so fitting. Your makeup is gorgeous, I think the eyebrow and eye could be a tad more clean but overall you look so soft & pretty. The moss added so much to this and definitely made it a Judah look! This is definitely a strong strong submission and I'd be honored to see more from you in the upcoming weeks.
Letha: Okay, so I may be biased as I love me some art nouveau, but I really do like what you turned out here, Judah. You got a lot of the elements of art nouveau (plants/vines/flowers, round/flowing shapes, and femininity) and really made them your own. The makeup is perhaps a little softer from what we usually see from you, but I still definitely see Judah. I really like the moss/plant accents, it makes sense with the look and really adds to it. If I had some crits, it would be that wish there was a little more color on the makeup side of the face, as it reads most just brown right now, and that there was a little more flow to the bottom of the garment, perhaps with some vine trim or something? Besides that though, good job this week, Judah!
Toni: Let me start by saying how proud i am of you for pushing through this week, because I know it was hard for you. This is stunning to me and I really like your inspiration! It looks like you’re giving me drag jesus and I’m so into it. I think the moss was a fun way to put in the nature aspect. In the future I do want to see you start to push yourself and feel comfortable trying new things. Good job this week!!
Soju: I’m so into it! Your mug… I think it’s breathtaking! I love that you used moss on your face. The whole look really works well together and you look sickening. You look like a drag Jesus really to bless the children in nature hennnnny.
Klinker
Cubism was the form of art that used and abused of asymmetrical shapes and tons of shades of color. It's about making it look non-proportional and edgy. I truly thank I was able to embody this art form and serve my cubism soul on the runway.
Lila: When we were discussing your elements in seperates, I was totally for this concept. Its just when everything came together it seems like it’s not matching up as well as I expected it to be. I thought you would’ve pushed your makeup a lot more, since a lot of Cubism is colour and layers and all sorts of craziness, so I was expected some form of body art that had lines or shadows to kind of make it as distorted and edgy as your outfit. With your outfit, I loved that you used the style in that manner to kind of come up with the patchwork you have, its just a little lacking in desire. I thought you would’ve had the sleeve a lot larger, or at least have some on the other side of your body. It just feels a little lost and although it’s an okay submission, I wish you put a little bit more effort into this.
Gluttoni: Klinker, I'm hoping we'll get a new silhouette from you in this competition because this seems to be your safe space in term of things you can do. Cubism is definitely something I did in the challenges video and I was hoping for more of a nod to that because although cubism is wacky is it's still controlled chaos. This just gives me more messy than thoughtful and artsy. C'mon qween I know you have more to give than this. Focus this next week on being cohesive and completely worked out head to toe.
Letha: Heya, Klinker! This look has a lot going on, and I enjoy the concept, I just wish there was a bit more polish. The lines on the makeup should be cleaner, and the blue side of the lips should be as precise as the red (the red side is great though). I see the shapes on the garment and how they go along with cubism, but I wish there was a bit more structure to the look, instead of being mostly drapey/flowy. The nails are a fun accent, I wish you had more of them on! All in all, it’s an okay look, but I’m left wanting more.
Toni: I am so glad you talked to this judges this week, the more you do it the better your chances are. I really like this level of creativity from you, i love the patchwork! I do wish that there was a bit more boxy shape and that said “cubism”! I like your makeup and its improved a lot but I want you to make sure you’re setting your makeup so that you don’t look wet! Good luck dear!!
Soju:I see that you understand the element, but I think it was a bit too literal. I see that you tried to use shapes and colors, but to me it felt flat. ;) *rattlesnake sound* I do love your poses its super fierce.
Lexi Lamour
My name is Le Voleur. I was genetically engineered by a French mafia boss to be THE ultimate thief. Originally able to completely change color to match my surrounding environment and equipped with an appendage capable of creating an opening in any material, opening any safe, and being used as a working weapon. However, I was caught stealing from a wealthy and well known practicing Seer. Impressed with my capabilities she allowed me to leave with my life....but not before cursing me. The curse was that if I were ever caught again I would permanently take form of whatever my surroundings were leaving me permanently visible as whatever I was trying to steal. I became very careful and diligent in my work for years, but then I began to get complacent and sloppy again. One fateful day I was caught stealing a famous piece of Op Art by a museum guard. And thus....I became this walking piece of art. I was cast out by the mafia, but ended up finding work as a high fashion model for avant garde designers. While I love the fame and fortune....I truly miss the heist!
Hello, Judges! This week I was given Op Art and I couldn't be more excited! I felt that there were so many different directions I could've gone with this but my concept instantly hit me! I decided to play with the lines and angles depicted in so many pieces of Op Art. Starting from the top: the headpiece was made from a piece of plastic that I cut into a circle and shaped into the form. I outlined it with giant black and white pipe cleaners to add some fluffy effect to break up the harsh lines of the overall look. It's also lines with checkered tape. At the top I made a cube out of pieces of construction paper and used black and white paint to draw different Op Art designs on each side. The hair I'm wearing....idk...to me I just loved it when I saw it and thought it would go perfectly with the challenge. For my makeup I attempted to do a black and white face for the first time(I'm trying to go outside of the box and give you something different/try something different every week). I drew lines following parts of my face inspired by some Op Art makeup I had seen. And the paint, as you can see continues onto my arms, neck, and chest. The top piece is a bolero I handmade using lined fabric. Underneath is a striped bodysuit that I had. For the bottom....starting underneath.....I have a black tulle skirt that I handmade. And the main skirt is 8 different parts. 8 pieces of poster board that I striped with different tapes in different angles, folded, and pieces together to make a full skirt. For the "adaptable appendage" I used a styrofoam craft cone, created a black paint swirl, and hollowed it out so that my hand could go in it and it would look like it was the end of my arm. Now, I am aware of some things. For one I know my makeup lines could be cleaner. And I know that my descriptions could be shorter, haha. But I just feel that I need to go into detail about how much effort I put into my submissions. Especially since I only had, with personal life, one day to work on this and accomplished exactly what I wanted in a 15 hr time frame all together.....I'm incredibly happy with my work and I hope you enjoy it.
Lila: HOLY SHIT. You come to our competition saying you had no creative energy and you turn out THIS? You’re giving me New York Club Kid meets Aaahh!! Real Monsters vibes with this and it’s so amazing to look at and hard not to look away either, like a real Op Art piece. This is just really hard to critique because you definitely are stating your claim as a look queen this cycle, and I hope this translates when it comes to selling performance and comedy too, because girl, you’re proving to us that you can climb this mountain to the top. Amazing submission this week, keep the momentum going!
Gluttoni: I'd be shitting brick if I were competing with you at the moment. Because you are proving yourself as a force to be reckoned with in this competition and no offense you wouldn't expect that from a girl named Lexi. THIS LOOK IS WITHOUT A DOUBT GLORIOUS! In my eyes you have went on a piss on this entire competition to stake your claim for this crown. If you bring that fire every week, it can sure as he'll be yours. I don't really have much to critique because I love this look so much and you really captured the vibe of your art movement so well! If I had to nitpick anything I'd say just the lines around your eyes and mouth could have been cleaner but overall this is perfection and I'm sure you know that. Keep fucking me up because right now I'm totally SHOOK.
Letha: Bitch, shut the fuck up. This is LITERALLY ART. Like if the body pictures were taken in a more “staged” environment, you would have me fucking SOLD. It all works so well together, and with your story it only adds to it. The garment itself and the headpiece are STUNNING, I’m so blown away. The tool thing I could take or leave, but it makes sense with your story so that’s fair. The hair and makeup make sense, and I know we talked about the pop of color and I’m glad you decided to NOT take my advice and use it, because it totally works and adds a nice contrast. The hair is cute as hell and also works amazingly with the look. All in all, I am just stunned by this look, and so thrilled that you continue to bring your absolute best each week! Fantastic job!
Toni: HEY BITCH OKAY YES!! Firsts off I love the story behind this and I think it really sold this look to me. This also out off all the looks, reads the most as high fashion avant garde look out of all of them! I love this so much, mostly the drill and the head peice. I dont have much critques on the look. I Wish your makeup was a bit rough but thats something you could fix up next time you do this look! I love this so much, amazing job!!
Soju: I can tell you put a lot of effort and time into this look. I do agree your lines on your face could be cleaner, however this outfit really makes up for it. The head piece, skirt, gloves, and everything I would strip it off of you and wear it myself. Great job and great execution. I’m really proud of this one.
Marcella Fox
Hello dear judges! Lana Del Ray here, coming to you from an 1872 Dias Los Muertos themed party hosted by Edgar Degas :]
My art movement was Impressionism - to incorporate an art medium, I decided to paint the whole dress in acrylic paints, mimicking the brushstrokes that impressionism is known for. I wanted to look like the reflection of a moonlit sky, so I used blues and yellows, with a touch of magenta as an accent colour. I also replicated this effect in my make-up, leaving raw brushstrokes unblended and blotting my lipstick. I also hand-sewed some lace cuffs and a collar, evoking the style of dress during the impressionist period.
For an avant garde silhouette, I cut off the sleeves, turned them upside-down and attached lace to the bottom, making long, dropped sleeves. I made a headdress from a paintbrush and a silk scarf, and left some of the sleeve area unpainted, as if to suggest that I could simply whip the brush out of my hair and resume painting my outfit. And I finished the whole look off with a handmade sodalite pendant from my friend (Heartfelt Amulets if anyone is interested). So that’s my impressionist look… I hope the impression I’ve made is a good one!
Lila: Ugh, you’re honestly so beautiful and I won’t start a critique without saying that. I can definitely feel your art movement coming through this dress and I’m honestly living for this silhouette, it’s giving my Katherine of Aragon meets like a Wes Anderson film with how the colours are coming through. The scheme flows through the outfit really well and I love it. One thing that I would’ve liked to have seen is that you could’ve done some sort of impressionist contour? I know it’s not much of your style, but it’s difficult to critique this honestly. Great submission this week, Marcie!
Gluttoni: Marcella! You are sooo talented! I think what I love most about your submission for this challenge is that beautiful material motherlike look to you that a lot of artist like to paint their women to be. You look wise yet super edgy. You'd definitely be a muse of someone! Your hair looks so shiny and laid for the gods. The makeup is so clean and really highlights the beauty of your face. I'm soooo happy you gave us a new silhouette for this because it shows you can follow directions and be versatile. Your art movement is very blatant in your look and gives you an effortlessly polished vibe with how you executed it. I'm so eager for more from you, it hurts.
Letha: This is a verrrry good look Marcella, and it’s clear what movement you got. The makeup is soft but colorful and it goes with the rest of the outfit. I love the headpiece, it’s very Mother Mary, and flows so well. I think the dress is cute and the length is very you. I see where you were going with the sleeves, but they end up looking a bit awkward with movement, I think something that still had a dropped/dagged sleeve while still allowing the hands to be free might have been better? But I am still in love with this look, so I can’t complain that much. Strong work, Marcella!
Toni: This is so classically beautifully and so eye catching. I think it gives me a little shakespearean feel to it and I really like it, it reads very much as high fashion!! I love how you hand painted the fabric to look like a classic painting. I wish it was billowing with fabric that way you can have this holy, virgin mary-ish look!!! I love your makeup and over all good job this week!!
Soju: I think your look matches the name. Very Lana and very vintage. I think you know how to use color well. It doesn’t look messy and the right color pops. Simple, yet not busy so my eyes are happy with what they see! If that made any sense. I really like the vibe of this look, it reminds me of the old Romeo and Juliet.
Paprika
So when the challenge was first announced, I looked through all the art styles and I was in LOVE with superflat when I saw it, so I asked Marcella for it and I got it! Looking further into it, I found that a lot of superflat art plays off of consumerism and Japanese pop culture, and what represents that better than Hello Kitty? I went through 3 packages of photo paper and all the ink in my printer, and made my WHOLE outfit out of paper Hello Kitty faces. It was hell to put together, but I look fucking adorable. For the makeup I tried to do the big anime eye thing, it came out really shitty and I don’t know what happened. But this was a lot of fun to make and something different for me, so I hope yall like it!
Lila: UGH. God, I love this SO much. Your research is so sound and I’m so glad that you’ve used the medium to your advantage, and how the hell you constructed an outfit entirely out of unconventional materials, I love it. From your mini, I was really excited to see how you’d do your makeup for this challenge, because it was so exciting, and I feel like this a little step back? if your fake eyes’ colour was done in liquid matte, it’d pop a lot more. I wish you had a little extra on your body though, because it’s very beige in areas and if you weren’t wearing the blonde wig with Hello Kitty on your titties and skirt, you would’ve blended in with your wall in the background. If you wore a pink shoe and maybe painted your hands or wore gloves, it could’ve tied this concept together a lot better! However, great effort and submission this week, Paps!
Gluttoni: Paprika! You are too adorable. This look is so innocent and simplistic. Which is something I live for because it's almost the direct opposite of myself. I don't think I'll ever be over how cute your runways are. The idea is definitely there along with the commercial elements of your art movement but it's just not as innovative as some of your sisters. I think the proportion of your makeup and hair is great and is showing great strides in your skill. Just polish up the rough edges if your presentation and you are sure to get high praise in the future.
Letha: Paprika, this look is so cute, as always! The elements that are there make sense with your art movement, I just wish there was a bit more? Having from the shoulders all the way down to the fingertips be completely bare really detracts. Something like wrist accessories (or any jewelry, for that matter) would have helped the look a lot, and totally could have been hand made and gone with the superflat aesthetic. The makeup is a nice attempt, but I think there needed to be more graphic lines and bright colors to sell it (the whites and the blues of the eyes read a touch dull, consider using clown white or something similar set with powder to really make it pop. All in all, it’s an okay submission for me!
Toni: Girl…. I love you to death but what is this? I really love the wig and think thats the highlight (i own five of these wigs soooo). I do wish you had done MORE MORE MORE because this commes off as boring and lazy and I want you to START STEPPING IT UP BITCH!!! I think it was a cute concept and it jsut..wasn’t full through out. I want to see you pad and cinche as well as nails. Step it up girl!!
Soju: I personally didn’t know what Superflat was so I googled it. There are so many more images and artistry you could’ve done then this. I think it lacks motivation and uniqueness. If you would’ve made hello kitty style dress with a interesting silhouette it might have helped your cause. I do think it’s adorable because who doesn’t love Hello Kitty, but I think it looks a bit lazy.
Phoebe St. Jefferson
Hey judges! For my challenge I got Toyism! After being middle of the road last week, I really wanted to step up my game and do something unexpected of me. This week’s mini challenge make my confidence in make up go up a lot, so i knew i wanted to make my face really cool. I used a style from a mask i saw, and tried to make it very fun and interesting to look at. My outfit is a table cloth, and essentially two circle skirts, one for my top and one for my butt. To bring in more toyism elements, I cut up pieces of cardboard paper and painfully hot glued it to the table cloth. I hid lots of fun designs in the skirt, such as a snail, a bunch of faces, some stars and even a cross. Toyism was all about playing with art and having fun, and thats what i wanted to come across with my submission. Also for my art medium, I chose to go with sculpture and make a nice mask. Hope you all enjoy!
Lila: No thanks, I didn’t wanna do TDR a third time. BITCH STOLE MY LOOK! Just kidding, I love this. It’s super fun and really intriguing to look at. Your creativity is shining through this and it’s so exciting to see that. I love the colour scheme, I wish there was a little bit of cohesion with your wig colour and choice with that, and I live for the mask, really exciting and fun. One thing I want you to consider as this is an illusion makeup, try to conceal the non illusion (i.e. skin) with a similar makeup colour to what you’re wearing, i.e. black/red/white tights, gloves, even if you cut out hosiery and use it around your waist or something, that’d help a lot. Overall, a really fun submission!
Gluttoni: You slayed me this week Phoebe! I love your color palette I think the most this week. It's so playful and warm much like your personality. I don't think many other girls in the competition could have pulled off the art movement like you so you definitely get my praise for that. I live for the simplicity of the hair and shape of the garment but the funky textile you created just takes it over the edge on how great this look is. The face paint come off a little dry and I wish your lips stood out more in your makeup but I totally applaud you for this experimental look from you. I'm overall super happy with the strides you are making in this competition!
Letha: I quite enjoy this look, Phoebe! Toyism was one of the movements I wasn’t as familiar with myself when we were talking about which categories to use, but after some research I can easily see your inspirations and how this look fits into them. The look is simple yet bold, which is very toyism in my opinion, and the mask is cute. The face makeup I like, but don’t love. We talked about doing a red for the forehead/upper face, but I wish you had used something a bit more primary and pigmented, as this looks a bit “sunbrnt” instead of a bold red. Still, the paint itself is effective and I like it. The hair I’m not totally sold on, I know we had discussed a high pony, but I wish more of the hair was in that pony and back off the face, as it makes the neck area really busy when it could be sleeker. All in all though, I still really like this look! You did some very good work this week, so keep it up!
Toni: I love this so much!!! I love the masc a lot but this shape is so good for you. I think tis girly and very ,much your style by still being high fashion. The masc is weird and scary and i hate it and love it. I do wish your makeup lines were clear and a bit more pigmented but over all it was nice. Good job this week!
Soju: I applaud the amount of creativity you put into you work! I like you think about your whole look when put together. Sometimes we focus so hard on one aspect that we forget or just rush to finish everything else. The makeup could use some cleaner lines, but I still liked the design. Also give me that wig.
Sugar Monroe
Week 2 done! Score! Lol Hey Judges! This week I was assigned Pop Art as my art style and I immediately knew I wanted to be the comic girl in so many pop art pieces. But I didn’t want to be the played out crying bitchc Oh No! I decided to pump up the color and become the Neon Dream she was meant to be! So I present to you, Sugar Monroe as the Neon Comic Bitch.
My art medium was paint and I used it to craft the purse and bow for accessories. I hope you enjoy!
Lila: While I was really living for this to emerge, I’m kind of disappointed by it. Seeing all of the seperate sort of elements starting to be produced, then culminating in this concept, it’s not working for me personally. I wish you considered going the extra mile and perhaps using a pair of pantyhose or something and using the dotting technique that you were opposed to doing on the pantyhose to give your legs that dotty-skin-look (although I see some on your nose to highlight, that would’ve been fun in pops of places!) I don’t know, I think it’s the calibur of the other contestants that have put me in a questionable mood this week, because I really see elements of Pop Art here, but not enough to dissolve my questions. I do think you’ve done a great job in portraying Pop Art in the makeup, it’s absolutely beautiful, but at the same time, I’m sort of on the fence leaning backwards on this look at this point. It’s an alright submission, I just wish there was a lot more to be desired.
Gluttoni: Sugar, I'm not going to take to long with this because this look is cute and honestly just that. I was preparing myself for you to take it there with the look this week and I must say you left me a tad in the dark with this. Pop Art is just a tad bit more bold than what you're giving us this week. That being said I love the makeup and you always get it right with the hair but the accessories you made just don't make you pop as much as you were hoping. GIVE ME MORE!
Letha: I’m pretty neutral on this look, to be honest. I know you wanted to more/go bigger with it this week, and we want that for you, but I feel like we’re still waiting for this emergence to come through. I do see the pop art elements throughout though, and I can appreciate that. The makeup is great and it makes sense, just pull that wig forward to be ON or just behind that graphic black line you made. The accessories are hella cute (nails ayyyy), I wish the shoes were more fun though. The dress is probably my least favorite part? Up close the pop art style shows through more, but gets a bit lost at a distance. All in all, the look is okay, and an improvement from you, but one I hope to see you continue to grow from.
Toni: I know you can take it so ima be 100% with you. I think from the neck up (plus the purse) is really amazing and shows your hard work!! but I wish the actual dress was so much more, and I know that was out of your ability but girl… pedestrian and i know you hate that word so I know you’re gonna step it up now. I think your original idea would have been amazing but...sigh. Good luck!!
Soju: I like the mug! I always wanted to try that myself, I think you did it right. Maybe try going heavier on the blush or contour. You are a drag queen after all. I do love the purse and the bow too, but what if you did that with the dress? I think the dress is making me question the whole look. It has small drawings init, but I can’t really see? Maybe a one neon color dress could’ve been better!
#tdr#tdrc9#main challenge#Analyse Thropic#Avana Noir#Daddie Dearest#Dotte Com#Ebony Boss#Judah Kiss#Klinker#Lexi Lamour#Marcella Fox#Paprika#Phoebe St. Jefferson#Sugar Monroe#drag#rpdr#drag queen
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Kingdom Hearts 3 Full Review
Here I am 6 years later and I've beaten Kingdom Hearts 3. Was it worth it? What did I think of it? This will be an extensive review. So bare with me because I'm going to cover almost every little detail however I'm going to try and keep it spoiler free in terms of story! (I'll nod to the people who finished it with vague comments as you already know what happens) I spent a lot of time on this review so it will work out to fully explain my thoughts on this game without hesitation, I don't want to hold back from criticism even though it's my favorite franchise and the most long awaited game for me.
I will say this to both people who haven't played the games and casual fans. DON'T COMPLAIN YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENS IN THE STORY. The negligence of some of these reviews is appalling because they haven't played the past games. Square Enix has went out of their way to go and rerelease all of the games ebfore the release of this one, put up a summary video, put nods in the intro to the game. As well as put seperate summaries in the menu of the game, so I don't want to hear the whining, if you want to play it so bad, play the other games first, that's all there is to it. Yes it is confusing, but make an effort to understand it.
There are no more pesky text boxes like the other games, this is all cutscenes baby! So it may seem like a lot but think how many text box scenes were in the previous games and translate those into full cutscenes.
Let's talk about the menu. Yes, the menu. It's BRILLIANT. I love the transition from the past games, you look at the first two games, Sora with that fish in his mouth looking to the side, then the second with Sora turning slightly but with a sea salt ice cream, and now we have Sora turned all the way around with a paopu fruit. The way the music is presented is excellent, I couldn't get enough of it. In fact a lot of the music is great, both Utada songs are top notch despite me not originally seeing why she made those songs specifically, they make some sense now. Now the actual battle themes and stuff were instant classics for me in KH2, I would unintentionally hum some of the tunes, in this game I might have to get used to them though and familiarize myself. I'm sure if I heard the theme out in the open, I would recognize it though.
I worked my way to try each of the keyblades a decent amount (about one world each and that don't need unlocked through version exclusives and Ultima weapon yet but I never get ultima weapon anyway) The fun part about that is that each keyblade has a different ability and a different form so no more drives. I especially love using all of them in the Monsters world because it changes the color of Monster Sora.
I'm not going to talk about all of the worlds but just the ones revealed through trailers because I want you to experience them blindly or to their full capacity without the knowledge of what's ahead so I won't mention anything in any particular order either. I'm going to refer to the movie they are from and not the actual world name, to make it easier on you. Let's start with Pooh since that was the shortest. The minigames are just eh, I mean I love Pooh as a character and I like the idea that he's in the games but I've never really found his actual world all that because it's just minigames, I can't really bash it because that's what they did in the past games. Also at the end of Winnie the Pooh, why was that happening? Was something made to throw us off?
Now let's talk Twilight Town. I love Twilight Town, it is my favorite non-Disney world to explore in Kingdom Hearts 2 and when I saw we would return and see the characters we love, I got all excited. This Twilight Town however seems kind of condensed because it's just a section of it. You don't get to explore as much of Twilight Town as I would have liked but they do make references to it through the townspeople such as mentioning Seifer. There's a certain group of characters we saw a lack of but after the secret ending I'm starting to understand story-wise.
Frozen. We all saw it coming and I can say to you that it's not a rhythm based world. YAY. They do sing at times but you don't play those parts. I just think Frozen is ok as a movie so this world wasn't too hyped, I did like seeing Marshmallow though, that part is fun in fact any part you fight an actual Disney character I just adore. As for the actual landscape, it's different than I would have imagined, the heartless are interesting but there's no draw back to make me want to go back to that world. This, technically Pirates, and Tangled are the two world that just follow the movie plot, the others have their own new plot.
Toy Story. I have to say that I like the Toy Story 2 game and I really like the idea of exploring the Toy Story world, even just exploring Andy's house. I knew we weren't going to see the whole house like TS2 but it was still fun to see everything there as I remember it. Galaxy Toys is a new area though, pretty cool to play through because it's not hard to navigate, there are 3 floors and you go through all the stores, interact with objects, and get this really cool and interesting mini boss. There are these mech robot things that I've come to love and each color has a different ability, making it just that much more fun to play around in. I particulary like the purple one because it's the fastest but even when you're in a keyblade form the mech will change colors with you (usually a bluish green in my experience) but that was a cool little tidbit I noticed. The story just surprised me with how involved it became with it's characters especially Woody.
Pirates. This opens so nice, it begins with Sora being excited to be brought back and then we eventually get a mini-boss (there are quite a few compared to the other worlds) where you can ride the heartless, that's really cool. We get some ship gameplay where you can shoot down other ships and basically sail around all the islands, they aren't all required so exploration is pretty vast. A really cool idea is that with the shotlock command you can shoot on over to wherever it can lock onto, that way instead of making your way all the way back to the ship then trying to find a way to climb back up it, you just use the shotlock and boom you're back!
In the Tangled world, it takes the time to show you some of its great design with Rapunzel pointing things out such as how nice the grass is and how when you use Aero on the dandelions, they fly all over the place, then you can splash in the water, it's her first time experiencing it but it's also a nod from the developers showing you the amount of work they put into it and it's well deserved.
Monsters Inc. I mentioned about how the forms change the color of your monster and I really adore that. You can actually go into Roz's place! There are some places that would be interesting to see but wouldn't do much for story, just be to explore so I can kind of see why they aren't in the game, same with Big Hero 6. This is where the railriding really comes into action and I must say is pretty fun. There is also a dive option when you get up to a certain height then it will have you free fall and you can press X to dive bomb, it's all over the place in this game but it's just another good addition.
Olympus. Not the Colessium, we saw that before. This is brand new ground and is quite a joy to explore, I would be disappointed if Greece didn't actually look like that. I beat it the first night I had the game and I've revisited multiple times for other content, this was essentially my first impression of the game as well as everyone elses and it delivers. This as well as Tangled have a town full of people. I love hearing the little conversations they have and even going around and interacting with them. There's a side mission to collect these Golden Herc dolls (I finished after the game) that reminds me of the odd jobs at the beginning of KH2 that I actually have come to love, however those were mandatory, these are optional.
The Gummi Ship system is awesome, I mean I don't see any multiplayer coming to this but it's fun. I like being able to customize my own gummi ships and unlock new parts to put on it. The only complaint I have with it is small and that's when you're creating a gummi ship, it's not always easy to know which way is up considering you can change all different angles, so you may end up building your gummi ship upside down if you don't pay attention when you start. I've saw this problem quite a bit in the community as well as experienced that mistake myself but it's nothing too major, can probably be fixed in a future patch to just have a little note pop up that says "This is the front".
Big Hero 6 is the best world in my opinion. I love all the worlds in their own unique way but this has momentum. A lot of the worlds have their own original story but this one seems to use that to the best effect. This one has an atmosphere that is open and easy to navigate, it's all one big area. You can fly with Baymax during a certain part which I would have loved to do that all the time but then what would be the point in using your fly ability you get at the end of the game?
At a certain part at the end we see some of the heartless move slower, like the framerate is down. It does not affect your gameplay and the thing I'm talking about is only visible stuff, but once you reach that part you will understand why it's like that.
Voice acting is pretty good, they didn't get all the same voice actors for some of the characters such as Buzz and Woody, Mike and Sully, etc but they got a pretty decent amount of the characters their original voice actors and I respect that. The ones that are standing in, do a really good job though to the point I had to actually listen to try and find faults that differ from the originals. Old man Xehanort also has a new voice actor, I mean nobody can beat Leonard Nimoy but this guy seems to do a different take on the way the character sounds so it might take some getting used to but it's nothing bad just different I guess.
I think they should've given you more space in your camera because there's a whopping 90 hidden mickeys and 100 slots, so you better make those 10 extras count if you want to get that secret ending. (However you can delete pictures so I don't know if the hidden mickey still counts if you delete it but I wasn't risking it) If you try to take a picture of a character (mostly any character) they will pose or smile, I love that.
Kairi doesn't get enough. I'll be honest. We don't get enough Kairi, she was great in this game and we see her grow, in fact I'll argue we probably see her more than the other games but they could have given her more spotlight.
The final battle is interesting, I like how it turned out but I will say you take on a lot at once. I liked the change of pace, but at the very end with the final 4, I say you should have taken them one by one. I also expected a different order because (we all knew this was coming so it's not a spoiler) but I thought they were going to make us fight Xemnas and Ansem then Old Man Xehanort because if we beat Young Xehanort first then wouldn't they all disappear? I mean it does work out in a way that makes sense but I just would have liked that way too.
Also aging, we can see visible changes to Sora, Kairi, and Riku from age but what about the rest? Will it just continue like nothing ever went wrong or…I mean they left a few things open for future games but don’t think they ended it on a cliffhanger to where you feel cheated in any way. It’s not like that, it still makes you want to play future games without cheating you of the full experience. I know that’s a concern for some people. Critical mode doesn’t make an appearance but that’s fine, if they end up releasing it in a patch or something I might play it but it’s nothing bad, just some people complain about it and say that they left it out on purpose for DLC but I highly doubt that and even if they do put it in a DLC be rest assured that won’t be the only thing. I don’t know Square Enix to cheat fans, you get what you pay for and DLC is a new avenue for KH if it decides to go that way, if it does I’ll be there for it but I think it’s fine without it. Look at FFXV for example, they put out full episodes based on the side characters with new gameplay, story, and various weapons and skins, I’d say that’s a pretty good deal and if I get far enough in the game I might get it and I’m not one who buys DLC at all unless it comes with the deluxe edition. So stop complaining about that, you don’t know what will come of this game.
I love the recovery command, I never used it in the older games (inexperienced noob) but this is more or less my first experience getting strategic. As well as the kupo coin where you get one last shot after a fatal blow. I can't tell if I actually got good at the game or it's just that easy but because of that Kupo Coin, I only actually died once or twice.
I cried. Once (before all the soras ;)) and of course at the end and even just thinking about the end afterwards. They throw back to one of the most well known gameplay parts in KH2 and in my opinion made it even better. Goofy is the smartest one in this game, like I found myself surprised at how aware he was.
I knew the Big Hero 6 keyblade would be my favorite the moment I saw it in the trailer, I was right, I played with it until the very end and upgraded it (The monsters keyblade is a close second along with the one you get from Classic Kingdom). However...the snowball is the most powerful weapon hands down.
Flowmotion is fixed, but the shimmer effect doesn't need to exist. The sparklies that indicate that you just hold the control stick in that direction and they'll parkour it wasn't always as functional as you might like, I found myself just jumping my way up whatever villain had it some of the time, but again it's no big deal, it gives you that freedom to do whatever you want.
The attraction flows are fun but what threw me off is that you get more or less all of them from the start, you don't progressively unlock them. This led me to think that they will get repetitive but no they really weren't, I ended up skipping some of the events from time to time just to challenge myself but I never found myself bored with playing with any of them. I will say that once the command pops up, there can be another one above it and there's a time limit for each of them, I actually didn't know that you can choose between reaction commands (using L2) until after I finished it...so that happened. As well as learning that you can change keyblades on the fly just using the D-Pad.
My favorite attraction is either the teacups or the Buzz Lightyear blasters because the train is awesome but you only get to use it in certain parts of the game. The worst one is probably the carousel in my opinion just because it's more rhythm based and overall doesn't seem to do much damage. Some of the finishers get stuck or caught and I think that's a little bit of a problem, like the Pegasus chariot that you get with the Hero's Origin keyblade; I wish you could actually control that rather than Pegasus doing whatever and you just press X but there's such a variety of them so there's bound to be a few that aren't as good.
This game reminded me why Sora was originally my favorite character. You can look at him as naive but it's part of his character, I actually want to be friends with this dude in real life. All of them really but Sora has that vibe where he'll accept just about anything and find a way to work through it. You can play as a few of the characters and they all feel different to me, I like the subtle differences in gameplay but having the same core, it's very fun which makes me wish there was more of us playing as them.
How does it stack up versus the rest of the games? Well it's hard for me to say because I love them all, KH2 is my favorite game of all time and this is actually giving it a run for it's money. I do like this better than KH1 though (KH1 is my second favorite KH game so it's better than the rest too)
The graphics are impeccable, like I literally can't say they could have made this look any better, even going farther into the game it almost looks better than the rest (given there are more higher quality cutscenes such as the end of the Disney worlds just because of their importance) I was a bit worried about a few of the characters from the trailers such as Xemnas and Young Xehanort. In the earlier trailers they looked just eh but in the actual game they look way way better. Mickey even has fuzz on the top of his head but just by the secret ending alone, I was blown away by how real it looked for a cartoonish styled game.
Speaking of the secret ending I mentioned earlier, it took a hot minute to realize what it meant exactly, until I found a post on tumblr (on reddit too) about it. I won't link it or anything but just know there's an explanation/theory out there if you end up watching it. It makes me give it more credit for what it's worth.
Now the big part...how long was it? I won't tell you how long it took me to beat but I will say it logged more hours than any of the other games. I knew this was coming, because no matter how long this game was, I was going to want more, I'm actually going back to play through some stuff since it lets you keep your stats and puts you back before the final bit, so I will keep playing it and I will more than definitley play it again. I've played the beginning of the first game so many times, just haven't beaten it as much, same with KH2 (though I always end up farther in KH2 than 1) . I want to challenge myself, I want to take on hard mode, see how far it goes since I beat standard already, collect the secret reports, get ultima weapon (first time in a KH game if I can beat this stupid Frozen minigame). I kind of see where they changed some stuff from its original state, perhaps way back from the conception in 2013 but still to see the growth and adaption makes me feel really connected to it.
I will probably post updates to the review whenever the DLC comes out or once I get level 99, ultima keyblade, etc. so take what you will with it. It is currently up there with my favorite games of all time which isn’t so easy to get to.
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