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bulletballet-arch · 3 years

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REALLY LONG CHARACTER SURVEY. RULES. repost , don’t reblog ! tag 10 ! good luck ! TAGGED. I took this from Minnie’s archived Bioshock blog. I’ve been looking for this meme all this month. TAGGING. @hammurabicomplex. @bluuxriising. @ Me - for Sal on @bulletsoverbensonhurst. @immaterialed (charlie) @soypeor (bella) @svmmercmance. @mrflayed. and you!

BASICS. FULL NAME : Eve Delores Littlejohn NICKNAME : Evie, Little Evie (by her maternal side of the family), Delores, Didi NAME MEANING / S Eve is from the ancient Hebrew name חַוָּה (Chawwah), which was derived from the Hebrew word חָוָה (chawah) meaning "to breathe" or the related word חָיָה (chayah) meaning "to live". Delores is a variant of Dolores, meaning "sorrows", taken from the Spanish title of the Virgin Mary María de los Dolores, meaning "Mary of Sorrows." Littlejohn is a surname that has historically been found in England and Scotland. With potential origins being either ‘to distinguish a beloved child that was not the eldest.’ Or, ‘a contradictory nickname for a large man.’ HISTORICAL CONNECTION? : She’s named after her grandmother, Evelyn Hollins.

AGE : 42 BIRTHDAY : June 2 ETHNIC GROUP : Black-American. Meaning she’s mixed with a lot (Some of her relatives are respectively Creole and Italian) but uses Black as a catch-all term. NATIONALITY : American LANGUAGE / S : English, Italian, Spanish, Latin, some French SEXUAL ORIENTATION : Bisexual ROMANTIC ORIENTATION : Biromantic RELATIONSHIP STATUS : Verse dependent, usually married -or connected- to Salvatore Scozzari in some way. CLASS : Upper-Class HOME TOWN / AREA : Brooklyn. Spent time between Bedford-Stuyvesant - with her paternal grandfather and Park Slope - with her maternal grandparents. CURRENT HOME : In her childhood home in Bedford-Stuyvesant. PROFESSION : Ballet Instructor. Former Professional Ballerina. ( Other verses see her as a professional thief. )

PHYSICAL. HAIR : Black. In terms of her natural hair, Eve has springy, 3C hair she seldom shows off because she was raised in a family where straightened hair was deemed presentable and professional. EYES : Thin almond eyes. Dark brown. NOSE : Straight and small. FACE : She has a prominent, high forehead, that’s accented with high cheekbones and a pointy chin. LIPS : Full. COMPLEXION : She has a light brown (tawny) complexion. SCARS : None major. TATTOOS : None. HEIGHT : 5′4″ BUILD : Eve has a slender build. One of those people who have been small and petite since childhood. Despite this, she also stays skinny because she is obsessively conscious of the food she consumes. The older she gets the more she weighs, however. USUAL HAIR STYLE : Her hair is cut short. Reaching her shoulders in a neat, even bob. She either curls it in a retro fashion or curls the tips. For work she wears it in a traditional, pinned bun. USUAL FACE LOOK : In public, she appears stoic for the most part. Any emotion shown (such as the length of a smile) is carefully calculated. She has to seem perfect. USUAL CLOTHING : Form fitting dresses. Incredibly chic and fashionable for the time. Shoes include heels - never open-toed, unless she has on stockings. Extravagant earrings. Jewelry that can include either necklaces, crosses, pearls, or dainty rings. Prone to wearing black sunglasses in public.

PSYCHOLOGY. FEAR / S : Thunderstorms, airplanes, creatures like weasels, snakes and ferrets, break-ins, men she doesn’t know, harm coming to her children ASPIRATION / S : Formerly wanted to become a major [black] ballerina in the elite world of ballet, now she just wants to expose more [inner city children] to dance through her job. Personally, she wants her children to change the world in some form or fashion, too. Eve also has good ideas on improving the community, but at the moment has no idea how to go about these ideas. POSITIVE TRAITS : Generous, compassionate, patient, protective NEGATIVE TRAITS : Strict, sullen, hard to read, represses her emotions, secretive MBTI : Advocate - INFJ-T ZODIAC : Cancer TEMPERAMENT : Melancholic ANIMALS : Lioness VICE / S : Pride & Lust FAITH : Christian. Grew up Baptist, but Catholic influences have been around her since childhood. Attended a Catholic High School in Park Slope, her grandmother Evelyn was also a practicing Catholic. GHOSTS ? : Yes and no. She feels that objects formerly owned by the deceased posses the essence of their previous owners and that they essentially live on through these pieces of property. AFTERLIFE ? : Yes. REINCARNATION ? : No, but it’s a romantic concept. ALIENS ? : No. POLITICAL ALIGNMENT : Democratic ECONOMIC PREFERENCE : She likes being where she’s at now. But honestly, being upper class is all she’s ever known. SOCIOPOLITICAL POSITION : Bourgeoisie, basically. The Littlejohn’s represent The Historical Black Elite. EDUCATION LEVEL : College level. FAMILY.

FATHER : William ‘Bill’ Littlejohn MOTHER : Linda Littlejohn ( nee Hollins ) SIBLINGS : None EXTENDED FAMILY : Amos Littlejohn (paternal grandfather) Liza Littlejohn (paternal grandmother) Evelyn Hollins (maternal grandmother) Giuseppe D’Aietti (maternal grandfather) and a wide host of cousins, aunts and uncles.

FAVOURITES. BOOK : Night Song by Beverly Jenkins. The Color Purple by Alice Walker. Some sort of old, French erotic novel that was published before she was born. MOVIE : Eve watches films along the lines of...Waiting to Exhale, Beaches, The First Wives Club and Fatal Attraction. She loves Made-For-TV movies from the time period. In regards to plays, her favorite one is Sunday In The Park With George. 5 SONGS : Meet Me On The Moon / Essence of Sapphire / No One In The World / People / The First Time I Saw Your Face DEITY : Persephone HOLIDAY : New Years Eve, Christmas, Thanksgiving. Major holidays during the colder season. MONTH : October SEASON : Autumn PLACE : The dance studio she works at. WEATHER : Sunny, but cool. SOUND : The voices of Anita Baker and Sarah Vaughn. A skilled hand running over piano keys. Soft trumpets. Running water. Cats making chipper little meows. SCENT / S : Perfume, floral scented lotions, her partner’s cologne TASTE / S : Caramel, the tang of dark chocolate, strawberries coated with either chocolate, or sprinkles of white sugar. Light Vinegar. FEEL / S : Performing in front of an audience. Hot water engulfing your skin after a long day. Satin - whether it be the fabric of her clothes or sheets, your fingers tightly intertwined with another’s, feeling your significant other’s chest raise and lower against your skin with each breath they take. ANIMAL / S : Cocker Spaniels, Afghan Hounds, Cats, Birds - she loves all ( well, a majority ) of animals. NUMBER : Doesn’t have one. COLOR : White, Pink, Gold.

EXTRA. TALENTS : Dance, Eve is trained in ballet when it comes to her main verse. She has attended ballet classes since the age of eight and ever since then she placed all of her focus into it. Similarly, Eve has always had the makings of a good artist - as a child she enjoyed drawing and had informal art lessons with a man who lived in the basement of her grandfather’s brownstone, but she never invested into that half of her. BAD AT : Singing, Being interviewed, Public Speaking (as in Speech Giving), Decision Making TURN ONS : Charisma, Leadership Skills, Temperature Play, Phone Sex, Heavy Kissing, Light Roleplay TURN OFFS : Public Sex, Tearing [ Her ] Clothes, Threesomes, Cruelty, Senseless Violence HOBBIES : viewing plays & some musicals, reading romance novels, shopping, working out (she was into the whole celebrity VHS tape exercise trend), playing tennis, decorating AESTHETIC : Vintage Black Glamour, Black Ballerinas, Champagne and Wine Glasses, Paintings by Melinda Byers and Edward 'Clay' Wright QUOTES : "I'm bad with words, I hope you're good in reading eyes." / "There are truths I haven't even told God. And not even myself. I am a secret under the lock of seven keys."

FC INFO. MAIN FC / S : Lynn Whitfield ( A Thin Line Between Love & Hate ) ALT FC / S : Kylie Bunbury ( Twisted ) OLDER FC / S : Lynn Whitfield ( Greenleaf ) YOUNGER FC / S : N/A VOICE CLAIM / S : Lynn Whitfield

MUN QUESTIONS.

Q1 : if you could write your character your way in their own movie , what would it be called , what style would it be filmed in , and what would it be about ? A1 : Recently I decided that if/when I try to write anything serious about Eve again, it’ll center on her being a jewel thief because it presents me more fun, and emotionally diverse, opportunities. That and I have a very specific cover image in my mind. Ideally, her adventures would be a series of books. I have no title in mind, no idea about how ‘it would be filmed’ ( although a style replicating 90s films would be excellent, film grain and all. ) but, I do have a bunch of plots in mind that I really don’t feel like typing out here.

Q2 : what would their soundtrack / score sound like ? A2 : Her score would have a vintage sound (or a jazzy Spike Lee sound, if you will) with instrumentals by Dorothy Ashby (a Jazz Harpist) the Ahmad Jamal Trio, Pharaoh Sanders, Yusef Lateef and Tarika Blue. For music with lyrics, the soundtrack would include the likes of Julie London, Sarah Vaughn, Ella Fitzgerald, and Dionne Warwick.

Q3 : why did you start writing this character ? + Q4 : what first attracted you to this character ? A3 : Whenever I make NPCs for my character’s lives I actually can’t just let them just be NPCs. I start thinking about them too much. Developing them too much. And then I’m like, ‘wow! I really like this character!’ Eve was a different character when I began writing her, and likely wouldn’t be considered the same character as she was previously, if I told someone in real life who knows about my writing (like my grandma) about all the changes she has undergone. Originally Delores was a university professor, because I thought it could lead to interesting interactions with college-age muses. And her previous history with the mafia was also something interesting to tap in. But then I started thinking about what was realistic, what wasn’t realistic, what did I feel comfortable/interested writing? What didn’t I feel comfortable/interested in writing? So as time went on, things would alter about this character. And the new things I came up with attracted me more.

Q5 : describe the biggest thing you dislike about your muse. A5 : I have a love/hate relationship with Eve’s quiet demeanor. On one hand, I think quieter characters need love and the ability to be fully dimensional but on the other hand, writing louder characters has always been more fun for me. But really, Eve’s guarded behavior makes writing her stressful in some cases with others because sometimes...if I’m going to be honest...people don’t know how to carry a thread and interact with someone of her demeanor effectively.

Q6 : what do you have in common with your muse ? A6 : We’re both black, we’re both into art (although our exact interests and aesthetics with art differ)

Q7 : how does your muse feel about you ? A7 : Realistically she would think I need to take better care of myself.

Q8 : what characters does your muse have interesting interactions with ? A8 : We skippin’ this question.

Q9 : what gives you inspiration to write your muse ? A9 : Films such as, “Waiting to Exhale,” “The Kitchen” and “Widows.” Books by Alice Walker, like “The Third Life of Grange Copeland” as well as her short story, “Roselily.” The historical mob figure Stephanie St. Clair.

Q10 : how long did this take you to complete ? A10 : A few hours.

#long post #dash games.#headcanons.

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madroxed · 4 years

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the order (season two) thoughts.

so chotoranii asked me for my thoughts on the order season two. of which there are many. posting them here rather than in a reply so tumblr doesn’t fuck up the ‘keep reading’ break.

SO MANY SPOILERS AHEAD, OBVIOUSLY.

OK FOLKS, LET’S DO THIS. SORRY ABOUT THE WORD COUNT.

the good, the bad, and the incomprehensible.

ok SO. overall i thought this season was so much better than season one, especially in terms of production and acting.

i should start by saying, the biggest twist of this season? ME LIKING JACK AS A BLOND. i’ve been dragging that hair for months and i end up digging it? i’m so mad at myself.

ANYWAY the first three episodes? flawless! beautiful! amazing! they honestly took everything i could have listed as wanting and put it onscreen. jack trying out for cheer squad and having to stay on cheer squad to keep up the act? them finding each other almost immediately? the jokes about orgies? jack taking the knights seriously and holding on to his anger over the memory wipe? lilith and nicole? nicole in general? RANDALL AND HAMISH FAKE DATING (however briefly, seriously, i will be writing fic where they have to keep that up because i am betrayed that it was never brought up again and if you think i didn’t throw my laptop across the bed so i could run around screaming you’d be wrong)? A MAGIC HEIST?

honestly, all perfect.

............then the season started to go downhill. don’t get me wrong, there were still some excellent parts, but they were hindered by two things:

the plot jumping about too much to be comprehensible.

the fact that we the viewers are supposed to believe that randall carpio and hamish duke would not tear the world apart for lilith bathory immediately.

the first is forgivable; the first season’s plot was a simple enough device that meant it dragged a little at times. this season they seemed to not want to fall into that trap again, but in doing so threw something so big in that they needed far too much exposition because they didn’t have enough time to show it (a trait they fell into in a lot of ways, we’ll get back to that). SHOW, DON’T TELL, FOLKS. that being said, i really liked salvadore as a character, and the idea of a group of people striving to make magic accessible to all was a cool moral quandary plot.

the second is unforgivable to me, and led to the majority of my issues with the season. i understand the knights becoming members of the order (cool concept), i understand them struggling with conflicting loyalties because of it, but what i don’t understand is the fact that randall spent the majority of the season saying “let’s get lilith back!” only to back down at the first push back, and hamish was the push back. because......the order had other problems. IN WHAT UNIVERSE DO THE KNIGHTS OF SAINT CHRISTOPHER NOT PUT EACH OTHER FIRST AND SAY FUCK EVERYONE ELSE?

(jack i understand, if only because we saw so much of it last season. his loyalties are kinda flaky. i do understand his loyalty to vera; not only did she play a huge part in taking down edward last season, but the mind link thing and learning all her pain would have stuck with him. he loves a cause, that boy. also hey ho! jack was so much more likeable this season! we love to see it.)

also i just really missed lilith.

(thank fuck for nicole never giving up.)

the amount of callbacks to season one were fantastic. they didn’t just move on and leave it be, they referenced basically everyone, and seeing professor clarke and kyle again was a nice touch just to tie things together. there also being discussions about jack’s pete related trauma was great and necessary.

ok, so alyssa. i take back my post about how great it would be for her to be the villain. this was so much better. her trauma in the wake of both season one and then accidentally killing someone leading to her feeling so conflicted and lost and alone? her magic malfunctioning when it’s all she feels she has? we’ve always known she was ambitious, but to see her face straight on the idea that she may be left completely powerless and no one really listening or trying to help her except a hive mind that’s also hurting her? o u c h.

we saw this season that the real problem with the order is its motto of ‘hurry up and wait’. ‘we’ll save lilith.....just do all these other things first!’ ‘we’ll get alyssa’s magic back......there’s just more important things right now!’ it’s all so easy to see how that could frustrate someone so much they can’t take it anymore.

i’m so pleased i loved alyssa so much this season. i desperately wanted to and i’m glad they gave me that. i just felt so much for her. she just wanted to not feel so alone and so helpless and so scared that she was going to pick the wrong side again. it was beautiful.

this also meant alyssa/jack was better this season. having got the insta-love out the way last season (ugh), this season they were able to actually look at how that would play out if you took ramifications into consideration. all the problems i had with them last season were vocalised onscreen, and this new unstable thing left in its place was far more appealing to watch. they were messy and bad for each other and they knew it, but that didn’t stop them loving each other.

also: “if we get out of this, can i take you to the mall? because i really hate your jean jacket. and your hair.”

in regards to the other relationships:

lilith and nicole were adorable for the limited amount of time we got them onscreen. the slow crush to nervous dating was beautiful, and seeing lilith struggle with what getting her memories back meant in regards to that was great. we all know i thought the lilith/randall of last season was rushed, so having lilith torn over hurting one of the most important people in her life and following these feelings for someone new was lovely. IF WE GET A SEASON THREE I BETTER GET SO MUCH MORE OF THEM.

here’s the thing, putting aside lilith/nicole for a moment: the order can’t write good relationships (*with one major caveat).

hear me out.

in season one it was insta-love. jack and alyssa meet and suddenly defending alyssa is the only thing that matters to jack. it....wasn’t good. randall and lilith were thrown together with very little build up and we were supposed to roll with it.

this season we had both hamish/vera and randall/gabrielle. i would like to say that theoretically i am here for both of these. but.

hamish/vera occurred off screen. oh, sure, we had a couple scenes of them staring at each other over drinks, but that was all we got until late into the season. we were told that hamish and vera were a thing by randall when he was winding hamish up. we didn’t see it for ourselves. again, this show’s habit of telling not showing is a problem.

hamish and vera could make sense. two leaders of opposing factions having sort of hate, begrudging respect sex? i see it. from there, you can show us how it would become something more.

the show doesn’t.

we’re told they’re together. we’re told hamish is forsaking his knightly duties in favour of vera. we’re told by hamish that he’s drunk the order koolaid,

and all of this is supposed to culminate in us believing that hamish duke - tundra, leader of the knights of saint christopher, the most cunning of the wolves - would push aside everything else because he just believes that much in vera stone? to the point that he would all but abandon lilith and degrade his relationship with randall to randall being the annoying sidekick?

i woke up at two a.m. to write a note on my phone that says: ‘the greatest tragedy of the order season two is hamish duke’s character assassination.’ and i stand by that.

besides lilith’s absence for almost the whole season, it’s the thing i’m most mad about. i love hamish so much and to one-dimensionalise him in favour of a ship is...............shoddy work honestly.

so like i said. HAMISH/VERA COULD HAVE BEEN GOOD, BUT FOR FUCKSAKE SHOW, YOU HAVE TO ACTUALLY DEVELOP THIS SHIT.

randall/gabrielle was better developed. by which i mean we actually saw them interacting on screen. we got to see them begrudgingly working together, we saw him learn more about her, we heard them talk about her need to fit in somewhere. when they made the joke about being bffs? good stuff. would i like them to slowburn this shit? yes please. have them become best friends and then have those feelings be something else. i would really like that. the show just needs to.......slow down. not immediately see a single character and need to throw them into a relationship with the nearest person.

gabrielle was great this season. by which i mean, she was gabrielle, and we love some consistent characterisation. i think it’s so true to everything we know about her that she’d want to inject herself into the knights’ world; she wants to be part of the in-crowd, and right now that’s them. she’s also supremely jealous of alyssa because, to her, it seemed like alyssa had the best of both worlds. so, yes, her wanting to be around the knights and that developing into her begrudgingly liking them makes a lot of sense to me.

so, my caveat.

the relationship the order knows how to write? the knights. hamish, randall, lilith, and jack. that dynamic saved season one from being a total mess. that dynamic thrived in the early episodes of this season. IT’S JUST THAT GOOD. i said once that if the order just became greek (2007) but with werewolves i’d be happy, and the first three episodes really gave me that.

THE KNIGHTS ARE EACH OTHER’S SOULMATES, ASK ME HOW.

is this an excuse for me to complain that they gave us a hint of hamish/randall and then cruelly snatched it away and i’m still mad about it? YOU BETCHA.

is this also my way of saying there wasn’t nearly enough jack/randall this season? YOU BETCHA.

removing lilith from the equation (I’M STILL SO MAD) and then having hamish pull away from randall because..........who the fuck knows, was just a recipe for disaster.

clearly lilith is the glue that holds these idiots together.

so, vera. katherine isabelle still just steals every scene she’s in. i love her. i love vera’s characterisation. i love that she’s shamelessly ambitious but also wants the order to succeed and the world not to end. i love that she can be cold and cruel and still have such soft spots for both jack and alyssa. i love that she can be vulnerable and angry about it. i just........think vera’s pretty fucking great, tbh.

i still don’t understand why the knights - after their infiltration revenge plans go tits up - decide to just go full on order. like??????? hamish and jack barely even questioning anything???? randall must have spent most of this season feeling so alone.

that being said, when jack said to nicole and randall that he knew what they needed to get lilith back and the conversation pretty much went:

jack: you’re okay betraying the order?

nicole: for lilith, anything.

randall: i’d literally betray the order for a cookie, haven’t you been listening?

we love to see it.

OH, HEY GUYS, REMEMBER WHEN IAN ZIERING AND JASON PRIESTLEY WERE MEMBERS OF THE ORDER AND JASON PRIESTLEY BECAME GRAND MAGUS FOR A HOT SECOND???? that was written solely for me. i do not know who this show thinks its audience is, but it understands me to my core.

so...............i have zero clue where the show intends to go from here. i just need alyssa to be ok and i hope - like his friend randall - jack is willing to kill whoever the hell he has to to make that happen. (we stan randall straight up murdering someone to get lilith back and making sure nicole remains innocent and safe tbh.)

SO TL;DR: the early episodes gave me life. the show declined from there, but i still enjoyed it a lot. the order is at its best when the knights are a team, i loved alyssa’s story this season, and i have no clue what to expect from next season (if we get one). werewolf alyssa? villain jack, perhaps? we’ll see!

THIS POST PROBABLY SEEMS TOO NEGATIVE BUT HI! I STILL LOVED THIS SEASON A LOT AND I LOVE MY KIDS WITH MY WHOLE HEART AND IF YOU READ ALL A MILLION WORDS OF THIS THEN I LOVE YOU TOO.

also if anyone has any hamish/randall prompts i’ll be hanging out over here crying into my hands for the next few weeks. FAKE DATING. how dare they?!

#the order #the order spoilers #the order netflix #THIS IS.....TOO LONG I'M SORRY #i love this show so much????#but it's also a mess?????#basically my brand lbh

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fortunatelylori · 5 years

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Next to being married, a girl likes to be crossed in love now and then

Thoughts on Sanditon finale

It is a truth universally acknowledged that you should never blog in anger. Last night’s Sanditon episode left the entire fandom in a state of uproar. Cancelations have been issued. Curses have been cast and tears have been shed … those were mostly mine, to be fair.

For once I decided not to start furiously typing just as the episode ended but wait out the inevitable momentary fury and return to the episode tonight for a second viewing. I have to thank @and-holly-goes-lightly and @kitten1618x for putting up with my temper tantrums late last night on private chat so all of you nice people wouldn’t have to endure my more volcanic outbursts. Being far more reasonable people than I, they pointed out the grayness in a sea of black and white and made me reconsider the episode.

In addition I would advise anyone to do a second viewing of the episode if you haven’t done so yet. Reason being that your first viewing of something that you are so deeply invested in will always be heated. I could hardly pay attention last night to the scenes I was watching because I was so desperate to get to the ending. On top of that, the reality of what you see on screen will fight with the theory you’ve already made in your head and more often than not you end up disliking canon not because it’s bad but because it’s not what you thought you were going to see.

That being said, after a thorough rewatch, I have to declare this episode as one of the finest finales to a season I’ve seen. I say finale to the season, not the series because as a series finale it would be more than a little disappointing. But if there is one silver lining to take from this episode is that we are getting a season 2. I just can’t see how we wouldn’t.

Now, nothing in life, has any business being perfect and this episode wasn’t either. So I will quickly list what I felt were the major flaws so we can proceed to the good stuff of which there is plenty.

Not sparkers of joy

The pacing and structure

It was somewhat rushed. Scenes jumped from one to the other without much preparation (particularly in the first half) and several things were not addressed. People have pointed to the fact that they did not include a Charlotte/Georgiana good-bye scene which I agree was a mistake. In addition, we were presented with a Georgiana and Arthur that were the best of friends even though in episode 7, Georgiana couldn’t stand him. That’s not to say they couldn’t reach this point but I expected to see that journey, not skip it.

Georgiana, on the whole, was odd. Aside from her rebuke of Sidney and conversation with Charlotte which were keeping in line with what she did in episode 7, the rest of her time on screen was perplexing. She was lively, dancing with everyone, huge smile on her face … this being the girl that refused to leave her bedroom a few days before. Again, not saying she couldn’t get to this stage but where did I see how she did that?!?

The whole Sidney/Eliza situation was resolved off screen which … why?!? First we weren’t given the scene of him sending her packing in ep 7 and now we have no idea how he turned that around to the extent that he got himself engaged to her and with the money to save Sanditon, all in a week.

I mean ok, I get that he’s got but ... OK, OK! He’s THAT hot!

There were other examples of shoddy storytelling but those stick out in my mind the most.

The sudden tone shift

The reason why I reacted so badly to the episode to start with was because for 7 hours I was led to believe this was a fluffy, cozy regency romance in the vein of Northanger Abbey or Emma. Sure, things happen to cause momentary sadness but it all gets resolved in the best way by the end of the episode.

Instead the Sanditon finale marked the tone shift from the fluffy to the angst. We are now firmly in Persuasion/Sense&Sensibility territory. It’s still Austen as I will explain below in more detail but I would have appreciated some warning that this is where we were heading.

The specifics of the cliffhanger

Now this is obviously personal preferences but I do have some issues with the manner in which they chose to separate Sidney and Charlotte. Having Sidney propose to Eliza in order to get the money to save Tom from prison does resolve several issues in a very expedient way: it forces the two young lovers apart; it creates angst and anticipation for the next season; it also allows for Charlotte and Sidney to both be victims of the separation and still desperately in love with each other and wanting to get married.

However, the cost is that Sidney is now in the position of doing to Charlotte exactly what Willoughby did to Marianne in Sense and Sensibility. Sidney is obviously not Willoughby and his motives are selfless. But his actions are a play by play of Willoughby’s betrayal: he pursues Charlotte, kisses her on the cliffs (substitute that for Willoughby taking a lock of Marianne’s hair), means to propose to her and then disappears, only to return engaged when a lack of money force him to choose between love and a fortune.

He even makes a “I don’t love her” confession, similar to Willoughby’s scene with Eleanor. Of course, Sidney tells Charlotte that not to victimize himself like Willoughby but rather because he can’t bare the thought that Charlotte might think he’s done this because he doesn’t love her. But you can see how this kind of narrative choice can really negatively impact Sidney’s character.

It’s sad that they chose this cliffhanger, particularly since they didn’t need to. I firmly believe that had they ended on a more hopefully note for Charlotte and Sidney we would have tuned in anyway for season 2. I wish they had had more confidence in their story and in their viewers.

But enough of the negative!

Sparks joy

Theme

I have to say that thematically, they hit this finale out of the park. The most important piece of dialogue in this whole episode occurs between Esther and Lady Denham:

Lady Denham: It is infinitely better to be loved than to love. Especially in a marriage.

Esther: You’re speaking from your own experience or someone else’s?

Lady Denham: My own. Not with my husband, of course. It was long before that. A man called Rowley. Some people said he was the handsomest man in all of Somerset. But to me he was the handsomest in the world. And he knew it!

Esther: What happened?

Lady Denham: He kept me dangling for a while. Trembling. Waiting for a look, for a smile, for a tender word … like one of his dogs. And then he up and married a girl from Gloucestershire, with 50.000. He had debts, of course. Couldn’t have afforded to marry me. Should have been obvious to me at the time but … you know what girls are.

May I just say that Anne Ried’s performance in this scene is a treasure trove of skill and emotion? You can just feel the longing and the sadness this story can still elicit from this seemingly cold matriarch. Lady Denham, like all our characters, is more than she seems. She starts off as a Lady Catherine de Bourgh clone and develops into one of the wisest, mot rational people in the show.

She gives Esther excellent advice and is compassionate when she realizes what Edward has been doing to her.

She also gives us our theme for the finale of Sanditon and perhaps of the whole show. Because her speech doesn’t just apply to Esther and her relationship to Edward. It applies to Georgiana’s heartbreak over Otis and Charlotte’s impeding heartbreak at the hands of Sidney. In even more general terms, it speaks to the heartbreak most Austen heroines experience at some point during her novels:

Next to being married, a girl likes to be crossed in love a little now and then. It is something to think of, and gives her a sort of distinction among her companions - Pride and Prejudice

Her whole speech reminded me of what my mother told me the first time I broke up with someone I loved. She said: “No girl can pass through life without having her heart broken”.

The show telegraphs this home by having the Sidney/Charlotte cliff walk follow immediately after this scene.

We are so distracted by the innocent beauty of Sidney and Charlotte being in love and so mesmerized by their first kiss:

That we fail to take Lady Denham’s warning seriously. And, just like Charlotte, we end up paying the price for it

The Austenverse

Lady Denham also clues us in to where exactly we are within the Austenverse. Many people have claimed that episode 8 marked the moment this stopped being an Austen story because Austen novels always have happy endings:

My characters shall have, after a little trouble, all that they desire.

Did you think we were just going to skip the “little trouble”part? Sweet summer children! We’re at the moment where Elizabeth finds out Lydia has run off with Wickham and thinks she’s lost Darcy for good. We’re at the moment where Knightly reprimands Emma for treating Miss Bates poorly and leaves for London. We’re at the moment where Anne is forced to join her father in Bath and believes Fredrick will soon marry Louisa Musgrove.

And finally, and most pertinently since this is what Sanditon is trying to emulate, we’re at the moment where Edward’s engagement to Lucy Steele is made public and he and Eleanor say their final good-byes (supposedly).

Austen heroines are never spared heartache. But it is a depiction of heartache that is not gratuitous. It allows the characters to grow, to understand the true depth of their feelings and eventually to value the good fortune they have when it all turns out for the best in the end.

And no novel drives that point home more than Sense and Sensibility and Austen’s Eleanor character, the suffer in silence heroine who pretends she is fine, all the meanwhile dying on the inside. Kind of like this:

Honestly it shouldn’t surprise me that we’ve ended the season on this somber note. Sanditon visually owes a great deal to Davies’ Sense and Sensibility 2008 adaptation. That mini-series had a somewhat different feel to usual Austen productions, particularly in comparison to the 1995 Ang Lee film. It was darker, grittier and had a bit of a western feel to it than Sanditon reproduces to great effect, I think.

So it’s quite understandable, in retrospect, that Charlotte’s character arc would see her start off as a Marianne type character (open, romantic and impulsive) and slowly turn her into Eleanor by the end of the season.

In order to make that transition complete, a lot was asked of Rose Williams and she manages to convey the transformation in one breathtaking shot:

I am deeply, deeply impressed with her acting in this episode, and particularly in this scene. You can literally feel her heart breaking and see the mask that will dominate in the church scene fall into place.

Which brings us to Sidney …

I’ve said it a million times and I can’t help but say it again: Theo James OWNS this character. I don’t know if he simply hasn’t gotten the proper material in his career until now or if there’s something special about Sidney that resonates with him but his acting is so spot on that even when Sidney breaks Charlotte’s heart, behaving like Willoughby as I’ve said, you can’t hate him.

Not when he is the same man who gets chocked up as he tries to propose to Charlotte:

Not when he’s the man who tells her this:

Sidney: I have never wanted to put myself in someone else’s power before. I never wanted to care for anyone but myself.

And not when, with just one look, Theo James is able to convey Sidney’s despair and pain. How can you hate him when he’s clearly breaking himself into tiny pieces over giving Charlotte up?

And how the hell can you hate him when you can hate … this clown instead?

Oh, sorry I meant …

Words cannot describe how much I loathe Tom Parker. Well actually, my new fictional mum comes close to enunciating our common and general distaste:

Lady Denham: I will see you in the debtors prison! I will see you in the poor house! Where are your promises now? Dust and ashes! You might as well have lost my money at the gaming tables! You despicable man!

If only Lady D would have been allowed to go forth with her threat and hand Tom over to the debt collectors. How much happier everyone would be right now!

Unfortunately the Parkers are far too nice for their own good. They all jump in head first, trying to save this sorry excuse for a man. Arthur even offers up his entire inheritance. Tom refuses … Not because he thinks it’s not right for his youngest brother to risk his entire life’s comfort for his unworthy clown’s ass but because … IT’S NOT ENOUGH MONEY!

Tom Parker has amassed 80.000 pounds worth of debts. Luckily Google allows me to illustrate to you exactly what 80.000 pounds meant in 1820s era England:

80.000 pounds could have paid the wages of an immortal skilled worker in perpetuity!!!! And this MORON decided not to ensure it … Apparently, Kris Marshall has said that Tom is the Regency’s version of Steve Jobs … I assume Steve Jobs too let his younger brother prostitute himself for his benefit, after already taking a 3000 pounds “loan” from him and thinking up ways of spending his baby brother’s inheritance on top of that … Oh, wait! Steve Jobs was a visionary who died a billionaire. Take several sits, Kris!

What really irritates me is that everyone is very quick to absolve Tom of any blame, jump to his defense and in due course Tom, himself, decides he should not be so hard on himself, which is why he is ecstatic when Sidney returns to Sanditon, with the news of his engagement. This is what comes out of Tom Parker’s mouth:

Tom Parker: This is excellent news! Oh, Charlotte, glorious news! Sanditon is saved!

So he knows full well that Sidney has asked Mrs. Campion to marry him in order to save him and he is perfectly willing to let him go through with ruining his life. The saddest part is that the rest of the Parker family goes along with this lunacy.

That includes Mary who already knows that Sidney and Charlotte are in love. Kind and sensible as she might be, Mary decides to turn a blind eye to Sidney’s sacrifice and Charlotte’s pain in order to have her husband safe. And it shouldn’t come as a surprise since she’s the one that told Sidney this back in episode 1:

Sidney: And tomorrow is the famous ball, is it not?

Mary: Tom has been in such a state about it! You will do all you can to help him, won’t you?

I thought I’d mention this since everyone seems to be under the impression that Sidney sacrificing himself for Tom now is a sign of the growth of character Charlotte inspired in him. But it actually isn’t.

Both Tom and Mary make it very clear early on that they relay on Sidney’s help. He’s sort of the third member of their marriage (they do have a painting of him in their entryway) who is there to ensure Tom’s ass is saved from the fire of his own making. And both Tom and Mary are complacent in this.

Sidney choosing to marry Mrs. Campion over Charlotte isn’t a new development in his dedication to his family. It is the end result of years of emotional blackmail and dependency Tom has dished out, and Mary has, most likely unconsciously, supported.

And all of that spells disaster for Sidney who is left closing the door to the coach that will take the love of his life away from him:

I know we are all commiserating with Charlotte over what happened. But I think we should spare Sidney a thought as well. He is ruining his life, his integrity and his happiness for someone who will most likely waste his sacrifice in a matter of months. Add to that Eliza’s behavior at the wedding and it’s pretty safe to say Sidney will pay for the money he will give Tom in every which way possible.

The only glimmer of light in all this unbearable darkness is that Lord Babington (he still doesn’t have a first name … :( ) and Esther are now married. Their wedding is actually very much a visual representation of Austen type country weddings, down to everyone smiling and throwing petals at them:

However even in their case, there are still clouds on the horizon since Esther was pretty clear about not being in love with her husband. She took Lady D’s advice that “ being loved is better than loving: and season 2 will show us if that is enough for her or indeed her husband.

Unfortunately, our two protagonists weren’t as lucky as Lord and Lady Babington. The road ahead for them is hard and filled with angst. There’s bound to be a lot of darkness before the dawn. However, do not despair and listen to the only voice that matters:

Lady Denham: Well, Miss Heywood? You’re still proclaiming your independence? Or is it that none of our young men have taken your fancy? I’ll wager we’ll see you walk down the aisle very soon. What do you say, Mr. Parker?

My fictional mummy is never wrong!

#sanditon #sanditon 2019 #sanditon finale #sidlotte #sidney x charlotte #charlotte x sidney #sidney parker #charlotte heywood #my meta

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thebullmonkey · 4 years

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This post contains spoilers for the whole of season 1 of Sanditon. READ NO FURTHER, LEST YE BE SPOILED.

Ok, wtf.

I loved Sanditon and I don’t take all of the issues with it that the Austen purists have, but I must say I am still quite devastated by the finale.

My hot take: EVERTHING IS TOM’S FAULT.

If his dumbass wasn’t such a megalomaniac with piss poor charm, my baby girl Charlotte wouldn’t have had her heart broken. I firmly believe Sidney is madly in love with her, but as they’ve only known each other for a few weeks, his blood relations still take precedence. It sucks, but that’s the way about 99.9% of the world works.

For the people who are absolutely LIVID at the lack of happy ending for our heroes – here’s the thing, this is definitely meant to be an episodic series, so if everything ended happily for them in season 1, where the fuck do they go from there? I personally am depressed for my babies, but it breeds good drama and I desperately hope some American company will keep this thing alive as the Brits have abandoned it. Ugh.

Yes, this is a very spicy adaptation of an Austen work. You know what, yeah, it’s jarring at first. I’m used to complete propriety and only scandalous actions being relayed via hearsay, but you’re an absolute fool if you think I’m going to be OFFENDED if we ever get a legit Charlotte + Sidney LOVE SCENE. The looks they give each other alone are pure fire, but that kiss….so romantically feverish…imagine them TOUCHING EACH OTHER WITH CLOTHES OFF. Undressing each other????? I CANNOT. MY BODY IS NOT READY (it’s so ready, tho!)!

If we do get a season 2, what I really need to understand is WHAT THE FUCK IS SIDNEY’S END GAME? Does he expect to just fall back into rhythm with Eliza’s hateful ass? He means to devolve? He’d made so many baby steps with Charlotte in the right direction. I feel like Eliza’s snobbery and obvious insecurity will embitter him more than before. I definitely will not stand for him trying to coax Baby Char-Char into being his mistress. Frankly, she wouldn’t stand for it. You know we’re not lucky enough for Eliza to die. Baby Char-Char and Sid are just never going to consummate their hot, hot, spicy luvst? They can’t do that to me.

And Young Stringer is a doll, but he is far too sweet for Charlotte. She needs someone spicy like Sidney to keep her on her toes. Just being honest. And Sidney needs someone sweet like Charlotte to remind him that he doesn’t always have to be so stoic with strangers or always “playing the game” to secure financing for another Tom Parker Scheme!

I really needed Sidney to kiss Charlotte good-bye – propriety be damned! But perhaps he did not kiss her because that would mean he was truly saying good-bye forever and he doesn’t intend for that to be the case. Maybe somehow he’ll find a way for Eliza to have a “terrible fall” or maybe she’ll contract a fever. I just need that bitch to get out of the way so my lovers can win, ok?

As for Babers and Esther, I’m happy Esther finally let her guard down and let that good man love her. I still think he’s too good for her, but I do realize she was victimized a skosh by that disgusting excuse for a step-brother, Edward. I really hope that’s the last we see of Edward and Clara – but if so, what new nonsense will Lady Denham get up to if she’s not dangling her money in their faces and telling them how much they suck?

It’s been so refreshing to see a black woman as a major character in a Jane Austen piece. SO REFRESHING. It does sadden me that Otis’s gambling has ruined Georgiana’s chances at happiness. Still really unsure if he actually loved her. She for damn sure does. I just really wanted her to get her win and get away from Sidney since his mere existence makes her so miserable. But I do really love the quick friendship she and Char developed. Can’t have too many girl buds! Was not a fan of the misdirect of pairing her with Arthur. He’s a sweet buffoon and Georgi can do better.

Also, can we fucking talk about how Arthur & Diana’s relationship freaks me the fuck out? It literally took me until maybe episode 2 or 3 before I really grasped that they were NOT MARRIED. Honestly, I feel like I’m still traumatized by 10 years of Jaime & Cersei nonsense, so I just don’t like any super close bro-sis relationships. And it was very depressing to know that she was more than happy to guilt him into not pursuing a romantic pairing EVER for her benefit. If she were smart, she’d encourage him to find a rich old lady that would let her live with them. Then they could spend all her money when she croaked. Duh, Di.

Overall, I’ve really been impressed with Sanditon. I think all the casting is wonderful and the cast has great chemistry. Some of the dialogue leans a little too modern, but I would rather that than some boring, trudging piece that elicits nothing more than a “oh, that was nice” reaction. I’ve become obsessed with Sanditon. I cannot stop thinking about the possibilities for these characters and how absolutely SCORCHING the chemistry between Char & Sid is. It’s honestly my new favorite thing and I need MORE, IMMEDIATELY.

Alas, I must be content with simply re-watching on the PBS app until they rip it from my clutches March 1st. Seriously love it so much, I would buy the Blu-ray at PBS’s “WE REALLY NEED YOUR MONEY” prices.

Don’t mind me, I’ll just be over here looking for Char and Sid fanfics like a madwoman and just replaying everything in my mind, and imagining the love scene that has yet to be.

#sanditon #sanditon masterpiece #pbs realness #char and sid #charlotte heywood #sidney parker #this has been a text post #the parker brothers #miss heywood

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chercher0w0 · 5 years

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A Discovery of Witches - Show vs Book - 1

If you don’t want to read this long rambling mess of thoughts, I’d say that, in summary, the show and book are great complements for each other. As usual, I would say that it’s best to read the books first and get all the plot through Diana’s POV, as well as more of her inner thoughts. Then, follow up with watching the show to see the other supporting characters more fleshed out, as well as, in general, be able to get solid visualizations of the places, people and magic in the story.

Goes without saying that under the cut there are spoilers for the whole of ADOW S1, as well as mild spoilers for Book 2 and 3, especially at the end where I speculate about Season 2 =w= (( for more ADOW and bishmont feels, my fandom trash site is @cherchersketch. Once S2 is out, I’ll probably throw my episodic book vs show ramblings there ))

Opening

In lieu of some sort of opening song, every episode starts with these words, as well as Matthew’s voiceover, ending with him reciting a phrase that his father once said, “In every ending, there is a new beginning”. It’s interesting because in the book, the titular phrase “ A Discovery of Witches” only appears towards the end as Diana is trying to find out more about Ashmole 782. The mention of Phillipe’s words don’t even show up until near the very end of the second book, Shadow of Night. It is an intriguing way to get viewers interested in the show though. From the very first episode, it’s speculated that Ashmole 782 contains the origins of all 3 types of creatures, vampires, daemons, and witches. It is also reminiscent of Matthew’s speech in episode 2 that only two emotions keep the world turning, desire and fear. The title cards confirm that that is true, Ashmole 782 does, at the very least, contains the origin of witches and their first spells. Especially since, in the actual scene where, in the book, Diana sees those words scrawled on a piece of paper, together with one of the missing Ashmole 782 pages as well as a letter from her parents. Instead of the letter and this phrase, the show uses the house as the expository catalyst instead. In episode 8, Diana only receives the missing page. The house shows, through some sort of flashbacks, more or less what the letter states. It’s one of the many ways the show writers really did a great job changing details so the exposition can be shown, instead of just told outright.

Opening Scene

Honestly, when I first read the book, I was surprised how different the very beginning is. As usual, the main point for switching things around is to be able to organically show and gradually introduce viewers to the world of the series. From Matthew’s opening dialogue, which is the very first shot we see as well as the first dialogue we hear for this and every episode, “Once the world was full of wonders but it belongs to humans now. We creatures have all but disappeared. Daemons, vampires and witches hiding in plain sight, fearful of discovery, ill at ease even with each other.” it immediately lets us know how this world is different from ours, the existence of these three types of supernatural creatures, as well as their hostile attitude towards each other.

It also shows us Diana not having complete control of her powers, accidentally activating them in public. And most importantly, establishes the magic of the book, Ashmole 782. I love the shot of the librarian not finding it initially, then suddenly seeing it in the empty spot as she’s walking back with the rest of Diana’s requested books. In the actual book, it directly opens with Diana having Ashmole 782 in front of her, a brief description of it, and then a bunch of exposition about herself, her parents and her powers.

Bishmont

Another thing that surprised me, how they changed many scenes to have more Diana x Matthew scenes. Because lbr, we all know what sells. Haha.

From the very first time they meet, the scene in the book and TV show are very different. Also, quite understandably, due to the differences a more visual medium like TV has versus a book which can more easily describe stuff that can’t be shown. In the book, Diana has slightly more control over her powers, in that she vaguely knows it just takes a bit of desire, so to retrieve the book she needs, she just imagines the book in her hand and it flies there. She only realizes that Matthew is also there, noticing her use of magic, because as a witch she can feel when the different types of creatures are looking at her, so she feels his stare as cold spots in her back. In the show, Diana’s grasp of her powers are weaker and more erratic, so the book she hopes to get instead flys off the shelf and lands in Matthew’s hands.

In the book, Matthew’s initial realisation of his craving for Diana is much more reserved than in the show, though it’s through similar catalysts. On the show, we get that scene of Matthew sniffing Diana’s dropped sweater and just barely being able to control his predatory instincts, prompting him to momentarily run to Scotland to hunt. In the book, a similar thing happens, in that Diana leaves her sweater in his car from being driven home from yoga. It’s implied he got a similar reaction to her scent, though he only tells Diana about it later on, once he’s returned from Scotland.

Another beautifully added scene is the one before the dinner Diana invites Matthew to. In the book, it goes as expected. On the show, the addition of Peter Knox barging in beforehand to harass Diana, leading to Matthew rushing in with vampiric speed to stare down Knox is gr9 because there can never be enough growly protective Matthew scenes.

One aspect of Matthew’s initial stalking of Diana that I feel the show really improved on over the books, is when he breaks into Diana’s room to find Ashmole 782. On the show, he takes advantage of the fact that Diana is out rowing to look through her room to find it. In the book, he just creaks in while she’s sleeping and even makes sure she stays asleep by feeding her his blood. Kind of approaching Twilight’s Edward level of creepiness, though at least it’s more of a means to an end instead of some weird desire to watch Diana while she’s asleep.

Since they don’t usually show the whole thing on TV, unless it has a higher rating, I didn’t really catch on that they haven’t fully done the nasty at this point. Only realized it when I read that Matthew is specifically refusing to go all the way (for now. Until we learn why in Book 2 ;w;) and on a rewatch saw that yea, he’s just... using his hand or his mouth :x

One thing I do enjoy in the books over the show is that there’s more time for Diana and Matthew’s relationship to slowly develop. When I first watched it, it felt a bit too fast to be honest, though I did still enjoy the chemistry between Matthew Goode and Teresa Palmer, and a lot of the bishmont scenes were 🔥 🔥 🔥 It was pretty obvious that a lot of scenes had to be cut out to fit everything into the 8 episodes. In the book, though they’ve also known each other in the same short amount of time, but the way Diana and Matthew’s feelings for each other gradually develop through several dates and yoga lessons (OMG the yoga) makes it seem less Insta-lovey.

Diana

As I stated at the beginning, the book and the show complement each other. On the show, Diana is shown as being extremely athletic, often rowing by herself or going for a run. It doesn’t really seem to have much significance other than showing that Diana has hobbies outside of her academic work and occasionally providing an excuse for her to be alone so she can be snatched up (yes we know the scene I’m talking about). In the book, there is actually an explanation for it. We are told that Diana’s power incontinence leads to a build up of adrenaline which leads to her panic attacks, an unfortunate effect of the spellbinding on her. To work off the excess adrenaline, she turns to sport as she hates having to rely on medication to regulate it. Also, as previously mentioned, book!Diana seems to have a bit more “control” over her powers whereas TV!Diana does’t seem to at all. She also seems to have more of a witch’s power for the third eye, seeing visions when she looks at certain objects, like Matthew’s armour.

Matthew

I would say the main difference between book!Matthew and TV!Matthew is his anger management. From Diana’s description in the book, in the beginning Matthew seems to have an extremely quick temper, being able to go from calm to furious in a matter of seconds, even over seemingly small matters. Later on, it is revealed that he has an inherited blood rage problem. But without knowing that, initially it just seems like a red flag issue and someone Diana should avoid. On the show, Matthew Goode portrays a Matthew (Clairmont) that is always tightly in control of himself, but not necessarily with a hair trigger fuse. His bursts of violence only appear when Diana is threatened so it seems more justified to the viewer. And book!Matthew’s eyes do the thing where they go all black when he’s in the throes of a blood rage. I’m interested to see how it will be portrayed on the show in the next 2 seasons. Honestly, TV!Matthew never seemed overtly prone to anger like in the books. Just the “usual” overprotective vampire growling and fighting. Guess we’ll have to see how the show is gonna portray it because it’s a pretty major point conflict in the relationship in book 2 and 3.

A bit of a minor detail but in the book, it is shown how impressive Matthew’s academic career is since his living quarters are in an exclusive area of the campus, as befitting his title as one of the very few with an All Souls scholarship.

Gillian (and her friendship with Diana)

Book!Gillian is a bit more of a throwaway character than TV!Gillian. Book!Gillian seems to be more of a casual acquaintance to Diana, just another one of the Oxford area witches trying to get her to join the local coven. I like the modification in the series where they made her a closer friend to Diana. It gives a greater impact when Gillian ends up betraying Diana’s trust, spilling the secrets Diana thought were safe with a friend to Peter Knox. It amplifies the feeling of loneliness and isolation that Diana goes through when she learns there is no one in Oxford she can really trust, other than Matthew even though she’s only just gotten to know him. She is also portrayed as slightly more sympathetic on the show. In the book, she is just an example of the many witches in the area who despise other creatures, and thus looks down on Diana for fraternizing with a vampire. This disdain, plus her ambition to be a part of the congregation, leads her to doing Peter Knox’s dirty work, like breaking into Matthew’s lab and sending Diana the gruesome photos of her dead parents. On the show, she seems to have more of a timid personality, making her a bit of a doormat that is easily manipulated by Knox. She is also given a lower position, still being unable to qualify for tenure while Diana is one of the youngest to have done so at Yale, giving Gillian a bit of an inferiority complex. This makes it easy for Knox to feed her lies about Diana using her powers for her own academic gain, leading Gillian to carry out Knox’s dirty work in order to gain more of a status in her witchy community.

It’s also an interesting detail that later on, when Matthew sucks her blood as payback for breaking into his lab, on the show it’s presented more as him wanting to know what Gillian has seen and how much she was able to report to Knox. It kind of implies that the extra blood loss that lead to her death might have been due to her dragging herself all the way to the house of the coven leader, at least, that’s how I saw it. Matthew later on even mentions that he didn’t mean to kill her. In the book, since we’re not really shown the scene, it is just mentioned that Matthew sucked her blood and killed her for revenge. Since Matthew is one of the two main leads, and Gillian was a closer friend of Diana’s than in the book, it makes sense they would want to tone down the extent of Matthew’s culpability while still having Gillian end up dead.

Marcus (and his children. Or lack thereof)

There’s a bit more of Marcus in the show than the book, which is nice. We see book!Miriam more in the beginning since she’s the one who guards over Diana in the Bodleian on Matthew’s behalf. Understandable as being Matthew’s lab assistant gives her access to the same areas in Oxford, unlike Marcus who works somewhere else. I liked the added interaction of Marcus and Diana where she asks him what food to prepare for her dinner date with Matthew, in exchange for letting him and Miriam draw her blood. It’s a cute scene.

We are first shown that vampires are increasingly failing to sire by TV!Marcus failing to save his friend, James. They then analyse his blood, proving that he has the same genetic markers as other cases of failed sires. In the books, it’s just a vague mention of it happening to other vampires. The show kind of gave me the impression that it was the first time Marcus had tried siring but in the books, he has a whole family of children in New Orleans. I’m curious how the show will incorporate that then, since they’re sort of an important plot point for certain events, especially in Book 3. Also, the point that Marcus attempted to sire James without asking for his permission first brings to mind Matthew’s previous siring of Cecilia that led to her suicide. It’s not given a huge emphasis on the show though it comes up twice, so having read the book Matthew’s anger at Marcus siring James without asking for permission is an extra D:

Pacing and plot changes The biggest difference between the book and the show, is that the book is written in a first person limited style, from Diana’s POV, with a smattering of third person limited chapters to show some scenes where Matthew is away from Diana. The show show employs more of a third person omniscient style. From the start, we are shown all the members of the Congregation, as well as other characters that loom in the background, slowly closing in on our main characters. It’s less of a jarring experience when certain events occur.

Satu In the show, we are shown from the beginning how Peter Knox recruits her into the Congregation, as someone who can take his side in Congregation matters. She is portrayed slightly more sympathetic as instead of just appearing in the middle to open up Diana, we see her already confronting Diana early on to try to gauge Diana’s powers. We also see her try to learn more about Diana by reading through Congregation archives. And we see Peter Knox’s power over her initially as he subdues her using his power. Also, like most witches, she is convinced that Matthew is using his vampiric powers to put Diana under his spell. Though these don’t justify the extremes she goes to, it is less of an abrupt shock when she appears to whisk Diana away from Sept-Tours and open her up to see Diana’s secrets and true powers.

Juliette Another whoa-that-came-out-of-nowhere antagonist in the book. In the show, as with Satu, we see her slowly closing in on our main characters as she is shown to have an obsession with “Matthew”, under Gerbert’s control. Though it does seem kind of :x that Marcus and Miriam didn’t warn Matthew when Juliette broke into his room. It was only a matter of time before she tracked him down to Diana’s home in Madison.

Sophie and Nathaniel Definitely preferred the introduction of Sophie and Nathaniel in the series than the book =w=;;; In the book, when they show up out of nowhere to hand Diana one of the items she needs to travel to 1590, it seems a bit Deus Ex Machina-y because we are only following the events through Diana’s limited POV. In the show, we see Sophie slowly try to decipher who she is supposed to hand her family heirloom to, through her prophetic dreams. The idea of creatures intermixing is also gradually introduced as we find out that Sophie is a daemon born to witches, carrying a witch baby. Also implying that her prophetic dreams is due to her witchly heritage. It also shows us, from the start, Nathaniel’s proficiency in computers, which will come in handy later on.

Deleted Scenes It’s a 579 page book that has to be condensed into less than 8 hours of screen time so of course some things have to be cut.

Yoga Oh the yoga scenes. It would have been vaguely hilarious to see Matthew doing yoga XD Also, it added to Diana and Matthew slowly getting to know each other, as well as the possibility of all creatures getting along. Pacing-wise, it would probably have been a bit too early in the show to introduce the concept of all the different creatures working together in harmony. Throughout the 8 episodes, there’s a nice development from outright hatred, with Gillian’s attitude towards Diana hanging out with Matthew, begrudging cooperation, within the members of the Congregation, tentative co-existence, with Nathaniel’s daemon group talking about how they interact with other creatures and humans, to the shadow congregation/conventicle that Diana’s family, Matthew’s family and Sophie’s family end up forming towards the end of the season.

The ghosts Another practical cut because plot-wise, they don’t really add as much. It would have been fun to see Granny ghost and the other’s checking Matthew out the first time he steps into the Bishop house XD

Season 2 speculations

- Suddenly watching a period piece. Haha. Though considering the ending of Season 1, it’ll probably expand on the story and intersperse bishmont’s 1590s shenanigans with present day details, like Marcus’s leadership of the Knights of Lazarus and what happens between Emily and Gerbert - bloodRage!Matthew. Yes please. I AM HERE FOR IT �� 🔥 🔥 - T H E M A R R I A G E and finally getting to see bishmont do the do 😏 - Diana’s R A I N B O W magic. Also, I honestly still can’t quite picture what the knotting that she does with her magic looks like so it’ll be interesting to finally get to see it on screen. - Also quite curious to see if they’ll leave the loss of their first child in. On the one hand A N G S T plus a parallel to Matthew’s first marriage to Blanca. On the other hand, is there enough screen time? Also, the whole fear of hereditary blood rage could cover the same A N G S T.

Honestly, there’s so much plot to cover, I’m curious to see how they’ll do it in 10 episodes (EDIT: thanks for the update on S2′s ep count @adow-trash . Sorry I’m super new to the fandom. Only started diving in on Monday)

#A Discovery of Witches #ADOW #all souls trilogy #Deborah Harkness #adow spec #bishmont

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lydia-yougowith-stiles · 5 years

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My Top Ships 2018

I really enjoyed writing this article last year. So here we go again. Check out my favorite ships from movies and TV this year.

12. The Goldbergs-Erica and Geoff

The Goldbergs has been one of my favorite sitcoms for a couple of years now and I have loved watching the development of Erica and Geoff’s relationship from a simple high school crush, to Erica discovering her feelings, to them now in the current season feeling like an old married couple at times. While they may still have their ups and downs I love how they are always there for one another and they are just adorable. Hope they’re in it for the long run like Geoff assumes they will be!

11. Throne of Glass-Chaol and Celaena

At the beginning of 2018 I started reading Sarah J. Maas’ fantasy novel Throne of Glass. Instantly I could see the love triangle emerge between the assassin Celaena, the crown prince Dorian and the head of the king’s guard Chaol. While book one looked more like Celaena and Dorian would be together I always held out hope for the latter. And then I read Crown of Midnight! That book was one of my overall favorites and I got to watch this relationship form. It was beautiful and then everything blew up. I started the third book in the series and was instantly disappointed because it felt like an entirely new series. So while I have stopped reading it since then Chaol and Celaena will forever be one of my favorite ships.

10. Supergirl-Kara and Mon-El

Mon-El returned to Supergirl last season and while Karamel was apart for the majority of the season viewers got to see a more mature Mon-El. There has always been much debate over his character as well as his relationship with Kara, but I have always been a fan of the Daxamite. In this season he returned to the present from the future where he was a part of the Legion of Superheroes and he was married. Kara, still recovering from the aftermath of season two, was thrilled to see him, but much had changed. While moments of this season were aggravating the two still had some great chemistry on screen. It was still very clear of their feelings for one another, but yet again Mon-El had to leave. This time taking Winn with him (which is a rant for another day). So while they might not have a future this is another ship that will always be one of my favorites.

9. Victoria-Lord Alfred and Drummond

This ship instantly pulled my heart strings and ultimately (SPOILER ALERT) crushed my soul. Lord Alfred and Edward Drummond’s relationship started in season one of Victoria, but truly got its own story line in season 2. As expected in this masterpiece drama there were twists and turns that kept this couple part. Given the time period two men could not be together and Drummond was engaged to be married to a woman. But what none of us saw coming was his death. I still cannot believe it. He will be truly missed in the newest season which will air in the new year.

8. Anne with an E-Anne and Gilbert

Netflix’s Anne with an E returned with a second season this year and we were blessed with more Shirbert moments between Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe. While the beginning of this season saw Gilbert at sea (going off from L.M. Montgomery’s novel), there were still some great moments between the two characters from Anne writing him letters about the “gold,” to Gilbert not noticing her hair and letting her know it was good to see her. And who could forget this important moment (above) from the finale. Fortunately for us the series has just gotten picked up for a third season. I cannot wait to see what’s in store next!

7. Daredevil-Matt and Karen

While against popular ships I found myself shipping Matt Murdock and Karen Page hard as I began season 1 of Daredevil this past spring. In season 1 I took every moment I could get between the two of them and then I was a little too excited when they got “together” in season 2. While it didn’t end well for the two of them there were some really great moments I find myself reliving on YouTube. I have not watched season 3 yet (mainly because I want to continue to watch the Marvel Netflix shows in order and I have only just finished The Defenders). With the recent news of the show being cancelled I can only hope these two end on good terms. (Even if it is not romantically as I may hope. Please no spoilers.)

6. Set it Up-Harper and Charlie

This romantic comedy quickly made its way into my heart and into my top 10 favorite movies (I KNOW). This is all thanks to its lead characters Harper and Charlie. These two assistants were witty, relatable and just had an overall great chemistry that I am upset they are not together in real life. I have honestly watched this movie far too many times and each time my love for this ship gets stronger. I feel like the movie ends too quick because I want to know more about what happens to them. It might ruin it but would it be too much to ask for a sequel, Netflix??

5. Legacies-All of them

Okay, so by saying ALL OF THEM I don’t think I’m necessarily cheating. This show is still in its beginning and still establishing itself. They are still finding their ships and we are discovering the characters. But I have to say I like so many of them that it’s hard to choose just one pairing. Julie Plec has done a FANTASTIC job of having a lot of her major cast interact with one another and they each bring out something different in one another’s characters. One day I’m shipping Hope and Josie and the next I like Hope and Raphael. You can really tell good writing and characters when you can like so many different combinations and not feel mad about it. If you aren’t watching Legacies make sure to tune into the CW because you are missing out.

4. The Originals-Klaus and Caroline

Yes, you did see this ship on my list from last year and that is because Klaus and Caroline are one of my top OTPs. I was excited to see Klaus on the Vampire Diaries so it is no surprise that I was beyond excited to hear of Caroline coming to the Originals in its final season. It was great to see the pair in the same room again. They were both parents now and had grown so much. Every time they recognized that in each other I got chills. So [SPOILER ALERT] while Klaus “had to die” I am extremely glad that he and Caroline got closure for their ship. In a way they were endgame and as a Klaroline fan, always and forever, that’s all a girl could ask for.

3. Dawson’s Creek-Pacey and Joey

Dawson’s Creek was my summer binge this year. I wanted something “retro” that was just about regular teens (no superhero powers or magic). Going into this show I obviously knew a good amount of spoilers seeing as how it started in the late 90s, so I knew that Pacey Witter and Joey Potter would eventually become a couple. I now just had to wait for the when...and while at times it might have felt excruciating, I took any and all moments between the two characters (even before season 3 when things really get set into motion). There is just something so great about a ship between two characters who “hated” each others guts and tease each other constantly. It was well worth the wait because these two have become one of my favorite all time ships. While I am permanently paused on season four (pre their first break up) I have watched a bunch of spoiler videos to know that these two wind up together, which warms the heart.

2. Brooklyn Nine-Nine-Amy and Jake

While looking for a new TV show to watch earlier this year it was suggested to watch Brooklyn Nine-Nine. (Only once I started binge-watching the show did it get cancelled and then thankfully renewed by NBC.) What a great choice it was to start watching this show. The void that was left by The Office and Parks and Rec was instantly filled by this sitcom. The characters and story-lines were hilarious and of course I couldn’t help but fall in love with the slow-burn of Amy and Jake. Again due to spoilers of coming into a show that already exists I knew the two would wind up together, but it was still so great to be a part of. The two are adorable and while the story line does not always revolve around their relationship you know they are still together by a quick line they say in a scene or two. They are just so right for each other. Right now I am catching up on season 5 (about mid-way right now) and I cannot wait to watch the next season premiering in January. So excited to see where their relationship is headed.

AND NUMBER 1 FOR 2018 GOES TO.....

1. THE 100-Bellamy and Clarke

That’s right last year’s number 2 became my number 1 in 2018! While separated for 6 years with Clarke on the ground and Bellamy in the sky the two found their way back to one another. You could definitely feel the tension between the two, which made complete sense after all their time apart but there was still something that brought them back together. My heart still melts when Bellamy finds out that Clarke is alive from Madi and seeing Clarke’s face when Bellamy tells Diyoza that she matters. This ship is the slowest burn of my life and while Jason Rothenberg may still claim that the two will never be (and that we should read the books for that) this latest season gave us Bellarke fans a reason to hope. From Octavia calling out Bellamy’s feelings and saving the traitor who he loves (OMG) to Clarke’s looks every time Bellamy and Echo were embracing. They are the first two to wake up out of the pods and meet Harper and Monty’s son. They are deeply connected and I can only hope for moments like this next season. For now I’ll just re-watch my favorite to hold me over (and that includes Bob and Eliza’s SDCC interviews which were adorable).

Here’s to another year. Cannot wait to see what is in store for 2019!!

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onceland · 6 years

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Fairy tale ending: Inside the magical Once Upon a Time series finale

To read more scoop on this year’s season finales, pick up the new issue of Entertainment Weekly on stands Friday, or buy it here now. Don’t forget to subscribe for more exclusive interviews and photos, only in EW.

“Oh, man, I’m fired. Guys, I think this might be my last day!” Once Upon a Time is in its final days of production, and Ginnifer Goodwin is feeling particularly punchy after flubbing a line during a pivotal scene. Her Snow White stands before our beloved heroes at a massive war-room table, giving a rousing speech about hope as it seems all but lost. A great evil threatens to steal their happy endings once and for all — if it sounds like a moment from the pilot, there’s a reason for that. As actress Jennifer Morrison puts it, “The heartbeat of the show has always been hope.”

Despite being the brainchild of Lost writers Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis, Once’s premise — Snow White and Prince Charming’s (Josh Dallas) daughter Emma Swan (Morrison) returns after 28 years to rescue a variety of legendary literary characters, like Jiminy Cricket (Raphael Sbarge) and Little Red Riding Hood (Meghan Ory), from the Evil Queen’s (Lana Parrilla) dark curse — seemed a lot to swallow when the series launched in 2011, and many critics expected the fairy-tale mash-up to fail.

Instead, OUAT went on to become one of ABC’s top performers, bewitching audiences with emotionally grounded and relatable stories that resonated with adults and children alike for seven seasons. “Even though it’s about fairy-tale characters, the writers have written [the show] in such a way that really goes to the heart of everybody,” says Colin O’Donoghue, who joined the show in season 2 as Captain Hook. “That’s hopefully where it will endure.”

Part of the show’s initial appeal was the OUAT bosses immediately bucking age-old expectations, setting a game-changing tone of female empowerment with a very simple, if not monumental moment in the pilot: sticking a sword in the hand of Disney princess Snow White. “When we wrote it, we didn’t realize,” Kitsis says. “We wanted her to pull a sword and not be a damsel in distress, and that is what people respect about Snow White — she’s a fearless warrior for good.”

“At the time that we made the pilot, no one was doing anything like this,” says Goodwin. “Honestly, these guys wrote a truly female-driven show. It was instrumental then in my choosing to take the part.” Goodwin notes OUAT’s female-forward approach was also used behind the scenes — she was No. 1 on the call sheet for years until Parrilla took the top spot in season 7. “I hope that Once is remembered as being groundbreaking, that it’s remembered as being representative of the strongest kinds of complex and beautiful women.”

That was never more apparent than with the character of Regina Mills. She started out as the show’s ultimate villain, unleashing a curse that trapped everyone in a land without magic, where Regina could live out her own personal happy ending. But it was one that turned out to be anything but happy, evolving into a Groundhog Day-like prison of her own making until she adopted Henry (Jared Gilrmore), eventually leading to the arrival of Emma Swan, who went on to wake the cursed characters.

Slowly, but surely, Regina conquered her own demons, becoming not just an ally to the Charmings, but family. “Regina is a very hopeful character because she’s so flawed and complex,” says Parrilla. “Following Regina’s journey over the years, we’ve seen that she’s made some mistakes, but she picks herself back up. I think she’s an inspiration to many, including myself; I’ve learned so much from her.”

Aside from its compelling leads, the show’s fortitude also stemmed from its ability to reinvent itself from season to season, sometimes multiple times within. The Onceuniverse expanded into a playground sandbox where characters like Aladdin (Deniz Akdeniz) and Belle (Emilie de Ravin) could cross paths with Tinker Bell (Rose McIver), the Wicked Witch (Rebecca Mader) or Dr. Frankenstein (David Anders). The show even birthed a short-lived Wonderland-set spin-off.

The biggest reboot came last year when — after the exits of six major cast members — Parilla, O’Donoghue, and Robert Carlyle (as Rumplestiltskin) were left to take center stage alongside Andrew J. West as an older version of Henry (Jared Gilmore), Dania Ramirez as a new iteration of Cinderella, and Rose Reynolds as Wish Realm Hook’s daughter Alice. But audiences waned without the original cast, seemingly losing hope at the worst possible time. “It makes me sad that something so positive on television is being taken off the air when we need it most,” says Parrilla. “It breaks my heart.”

Even the characters of Once may come to lose hope as the series heads into its final episodes. Despite developments in Hyperion Heights that could signal a brighter tomorrow, an unleashed villain intends to follow through with a dangerous plan, the painful effects of which would be felt by our cherished characters for eternity. “I would definitely say the last episode is as epic as probably any episode that Once Upon a Time has ever done,” O’Donoghue teases. “It’s like taking the best of all seasons and jamming it into one — literally.” West concurs: “The finale is maybe the single most massive episode that the show has ever done. And I mean that in all sincerity.”

Though their future may look bleak, Snow White would (and does) tell our heroes to keep hope alive, a notion Morrison attributes to why the show “had such a strong connection with the audience.” It didn’t hurt that the show launched in a time when social media allowed fans to share in the characters’ experience, cheer their triumphs, and criticize their missteps in real time, creating a community of fans who have cemented a strong bond over the years. “It’s brought a lot of people together that maybe never felt seen,” says Mader, who joined the show’s ranks in season 3. “These people will now be friends forever, because of a TV show that we made — that’s really special.”

For some, it’s much more than that; the mark that OUAT has left is indelible. “There’s been a couple of times where people have said that they were so desperately alone that they’ve considered taking their own lives,” O’Donoghue says. “Through the show, they’ve met other people who felt the same way and realized they’re not alone. That blows me away.”

Sometimes, even the OUAT actors can forget how much the show has affected fans, something season 7 addition Reynolds learned while filming the final episodes. “It didn’t really hit me, the impact of this show, until I went to Steveston,” says Reynolds of the real-life Storybrooke set that the show will return to before series end. “We had people coming out to see it, and even just being on the street I saw in the pilot, that is when it really hit home for me that this is a big deal and this show is epic. Working with [returning stars] Ginny and Josh as well has hammered that home even more.”

Though the Once bosses depicted their originally planned ending in the season 6 finale, they have cooked up a particularly magical final chapter that brings the show back to the beginning in a number of ways — keep your eyes peeled, as there are Easter eggs galore. “The pitch for the whole show was ‘What would a world look like in which the Evil Queen got her happy ending?’ I feel that we’ve finally figured out what that would look like,” says Goodwin, just one of the season 6 departures who returns for the finale. (Read who else is returning here.) “We saved Regina’s happy ending for the end,” says Kitsis. “Her journey has really been watching somebody confront the demons within and emerge on the other side a better person.”

“I know everyone’s been waiting for Regina’s happy ending and no one really could define what that is, and no one really knew what it was going to look like, and nor did I,” Parrilla says. “Once Robin died, it was really hard to foresee another love in her life. But I’m happy with where her happy ending is at.” Parrilla remains coy about the specifics of Regina’s happily-ever-after, only teasing that it takes place “in the same location” as the opening of the pilot.

O’Donoghue, meanwhile, offers that Hook’s fate is intrinsically tied to Rumple’s. “I remember thinking [the ending] was just such an amazing way for this relationship that Bobby and I have invested in over six seasons,” O’Donoghue says. “It’s been so integral to both of our characters, so I thought it was a really beautiful moment and very, very important to me for that to be the happy ending for Hook.”

The notion of happy endings has been vital to the success of the show, particularly Once’s central message that no matter who you are as a person, good or evil, everyone deserves a happy ending — all three of this year’s legacy characters initially entered the show as villains. “It’s so important to send that message,” says Dallas, “particularly in this day and age, when we have so much negative in the world, and to know that you do have a second chance, that you can have redemption, is super-powerful.”

But the question remains whether Once will get a second chance in the future, someday joining the pantheon of shows getting the reboot or revival treatment. “Look, you never say never, but for now this is our ending and the end of this show for us,” says Horowitz. “But if in the future something else happens with the show, we’ll be excited to see what that is.”

Once Upon a Time’s series finale will air over two weeks, starting Friday, May 11, and concluding Friday, May 18, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

#ouat #ouat spoilers #7x22 spoilers

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efnewsservice · 6 years

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May 4, 2018

Aside from its compelling leads, the show’s fortitude also stemmed from its ability to reinvent itself from season to season, sometimes multiple times within. The Once universe expanded into a playground sandbox where characters like Aladdin (Deniz Akdeniz) and Belle (Emilie de Ravin) could cross paths with Tinker Bell (Rose McIver), the Wicked Witch (Rebecca Mader) or Dr. Frankenstein (David Anders). The show even birthed a short-lived Wonderland-set spin-off.

#ouat spoilers #7.22 leaving storybrooke #Cast Interviews #colin o'donoghue #Lana Parrilla #Ginnifer Goodwin #lana parrilla interview #colin o'donoghue interview #ginnifer goodwin interview

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scrawnydutchman · 7 years

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My Top 10 Favorite Cartoons

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Animation is the greatest art form in the world. It’s film making, painting, doodling, caricature, satire, illusion, literature and music all at the same time. Truly poetry in motion. It simply does not get enough credit for just how miraculous the form can really be. Being the innovation in our culture that it is, making this list was difficult; because every time I thought of a worthy candidate for the list another worthwhile one popped up in my memory. As such, expect an honorable mentions before we get to number one. Before we jump in though, some ground rules.

1. If it’s animation, it counts. It doesn’t matter if it’s western animation or Anime, 2d or 3d, traditional or motion tweened, for children or for adults, for television or on the web. If it involves the cycling of drawn pictures to create the illusion of life then it qualifies.

2. This is not in order of objective quality and is strictly opinion based. Overall quality is a factor, but this list is mostly about how much of an impact it’s had on me as an individual.

enough ado, let’s get into it.

10. Being Ian

It’s more then Likely those of you readers who are American or anywhere besides Canada for that matter don’t know about this show, so in order to make sense of this entry let me provide a bit of information about myself. I am Canadian, and thus grew up with an entire library of Canadian produced shows intended for Canadian audiences. While I think the U.S.’s animation game is undeniably stronger then what we’ve got up north, we had some pretty solid entertainment like 6teen, What’s With Andy?, Total Drama Island, stuff like that. While it’s all well and good, the only thing I regret about our history as animators is that we rarely aim for more fantastical premises and almost always make shows about hijinks in mundane Canadian smalltown life. It’s nice every once in a while but we do it a little too often. I’d kill for a Canadian Adventure Time or Gumball. So why is Being Ian here? Well, the simple answer is this is the show that made me want to get into film making. Seeing as the premise is all about a nerdy kid with his camera trying to make an inspiring career out of his mundane life and constantly imagining scenarios that are treated as homages to famous movies like King Kong, Clockwork Orange, Jurassic Park and so on (many references I didn’t get as a kid) it makes sense that this would make me want to take on the same kind of lifestyle. It put me on live action for a while but as I found my talents are more in line with animation I moved onto it shortly after. Quite honestly, that’s it’s only real reason for being here. The animation is passable but nothing to write home about, it’s comedy got a chuckle out of me at times but isn’t really the most clever show ever (in fact sometimes it relies a little too much on grossout humor, as do most Canadian shows in fact), but the show undeniably played a major role in my development as a person. Also, it’s theme song is by Parry Gripp (the “Do You Like Waffles?” guy) so that’s a plus.

9. Wander Over Yonder

Alright, now that some of the country-based sentimentality is out of the way, let’s get into the really high quality stuff. The stuff with the bright colours, the wacky characters, the emotionally driven storylines and just everything great about cartoons. Craig McCracken is among my favorite animated show producers of all time (as previously stated in another article I wrote: Why Craig McCracken is a genius). This show is the perfect example of his talent and skill. Effectively just Road Runner on an intergalactic level with a touch of The Muppets, Wander Over Yonder is the cartoonist cartoon you will ever watch in your cartoon-filled life. It’s got a great sense of humor, intoxicatingly likable characters like the optimistic too-nice-for-his-own-good Wander, the spunky and adventure loving Sylvia and of course the abundantly evil yet adorable Lord Hater and his number one henchmen Commander Peepers, and it’s animation is miles upon miles in quality in comparison to what you may find on the air most of the time. I think objectively it is one of the finer shows on this list. So why only number 9? Well, the truth is . . . I haven’t watched very much of it. I watched the first season and pieces of the second. I intend to watch the rest once I get a bit more spending money but for now I gotta settle with what I bought, and for a show as high quality as this I refuse to pirate it. But this show left a great impact on me and came into my life when I needed somethin this cheery most. I discovered it when I was coming off of a really hard breakup that was way more difficult then it really needed to be and it bent me out of shape real bad, so putting this on felt like turning the lights in my brain back on. For that I’m really grateful.

8. Avatar: The Last Airbender

Ho man. Who knew Nickelodeon of all networks would make a move as artistic, risk-taking, original and highbrow as Avatar: The Last Airbender?? Oozing with eastern culture influence (so much so that there is an ongoing debate as to whether or not it counts as an anime), hours and hours of some of the most fantastic animation and fight choreography ever to hit the waves of television all done in glorious hand drawn frame by frame no less AND being the premiere of some of the most unforgettable characters in pop culture like the lovable Aang, the witty Sokka, The badass Katara and Toph and the honorable (haha) Zuko, this show is something you absolutely can’t miss out on for any reason at all. I would know as much, because I actually binged watched the whole thing as an adult instead of catching it while it was still on the air even though I was totally aware of it’s existence at the time. I was a stupid, stupid kid. It’s too bad Nickelodeon developed a history of terrible decision making that screwed over the follow-up series The Legend of Korra SUPER hard. All well. This show is fantastic and you need to watch it right now.

7. Venture Brothers

Alright, so at this point I feel an obligation to point out a certain bias I have when picking favorite shows. That bias being my love for superheroes. I. LOVE. Superheroes. They are a bigger chunk of my life then they realistically should be. So fair warning; a lot of these entries are superhero themed, this being one of them. But Venture Bros isn’t just that: it’s one giant satirical love letter to every kind of adventure show you can imagine. It homages everything from James Bond to Indiana Jones to Scooby Doo to Johnny Quest to Superfriends to Marvel Comics. It’s got fast witty dialogue that seamlessly alternates between high and lowbrow in seconds and has an ever expanding cast of great celebrity voices like Stephen Colbert, Clancy Brown, Seth Green and of course the manliest man who ever manned in the history of mankind, Patrick Warburton as Brock Sampson. Testosterone incarnate. The show has great appealing character design and so many memorably hammy characters that all comes together for a great slick style that’s every bit as badass as it is hilarious. You can totally get enraptured in the gut wrenching dialogue while still being invested in the plot full of conspiracy and espionage.

favorite line from this show: “If that were a woman, I’d marry it!” “Yeah, and then I’d jeopardize our friendship by bangin’ yer hot wife!”

6. Cowboy Bebop

Anime fans rejoice; I put the most cliché basic answer for favorite anime on my list! In all seriousness though, Cowboy Bebop is often regarded as the gateway anime for an American audience and rightfully so. It’s heavily influenced by American culture, it’s got a soundtrack comprised almost entirely of Jazz, Blues and Bebop as is it’s namesake, every episode homages some sort of American genre of film like Noir, Sci-fi horror and even Blacksploitation flicks and it’s American dubbing is considered one of the few on par with the original if not better, with Steve Blum giving a cool as ice raspy take on Spike as the lead character as well as the rough but fatherly Jet, the seductive but sensitive Faye and the optimistic child prodigy Edward (who is a girl, in case you don’t know). But none of that would matter if the anime wasn’t good . . . . so it’s a relief that this show KICKS SO MUCH FUCKING ASS THAT IT DOES OH MY GOD!! If I could sum this show up in one word, it’s “cool”. You will never find a show cooler then this. That is a challenge. It’s got great Bruce Lee inspired martial arts action as well as Reservoir Dogs esque shootouts, and most importantly it’s got a lot of heart and dripping emotional tension enraptured in mystery that insists the viewer keep watching to peel back the layers of every character. Through nuance storytelling choices, heavy atmosphere and carefully chosen dialogue this show has a style and edge that will never be known again. Let’s just hope the live action adaptation doesn’t fuck it all up (it’s got Sunrise Pictures backing it though so that’s reassuring).

5. The Simpsons

This gif is just the tiniest taste of the timeless wit behind the golden age of this show. What can I say about the Simpsons that hasn’t already been said before? It’s one of the most culture revolutionizing pieces of all time, let alone the 20th century. It perfected the archetype of the family sitcom, is the longest running American television show in history, was once so ahead of it’s time to predicted the future eerily frequently and has even had some of it’s original dialect like “D’oh!” make it into the dictionary. This show is no doubt one of the largest reasons for our cultures current sensibilities and outlook. Most importantly though, it was just something me and my whole family could watch and bond over. Some of my fondest memories as a kid was getting so excited whenever this show would come on because it was a time where me and all the siblings and our folks would huddle around the couch and all laugh together at some great slapstick, clever one liners and just straight up bizarre jokes at times where the only way you can logically respond is to laugh. It’s too bad this delicious fruit has rotted quite a bit and Fox won’t just send it to compost already. I already wrote up an entire article about why the current Simpsons sucks now so if you’re interested, go check it out. For now, I’m just going to look fondly on it’s golden age through clips, old episodes and internet shitposts.

“Don’t cry for me. I’m already dead.” - Barney.

4. Homestar Runner

Oh, Homestar Runner. Ye ancient relic of the early days of the Internet before youtube. A simpler time when Flash cartoons were all the rage and you can tune into the surreal misadventures of a star spangled armless oblivious dolt and his more popular counterpart, the boxing glove wearing e-mail answering Luchador Strong Bad. When I was very little I was obsessed . . . OBSESSED . . . with Homestar. I think the great appeal of Homestar was that while it was clearly popular enough for references to pop up here and there purely by word of mouth and for the series to eventually get a videogame developed by Telltales and for the creators Matt and Mike Chapman to eventually move on to working for Disney, it was JUST obscure and surreal enough to make its fans feel like they were in a unique and secret club where they could really bond over references to the show and not have it ruined by having the brand just pop up everywhere and anywhere. As hipstery as that sounds, my point is that Homestar felt like a Niche where problems were simple, everything was up for ridicule and old Atari and computer games were always cool. They went on a hiatus for a few years and only recently came back with a little cartoon every once in a while (nothing regularly scheduled though) but if you want to dabble in a little bit of early 2000s lighthearted weirdness then I highly suggest checking out their website. I’ll link to it down below.

http://www.homestarrunner.com/

3. Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends

When I first came up with the idea to do this list this was the first show to immediately pop in my head. I just get into a good mood whenever I think about this show. It’s colour scheme, it’s wildly imaginative characters, it’s silly yet offbeat sense of humor, it’s great pacing. Mostly it’s premise is just so ingenious you have to wonder how nobody ever thought of it before. This show is the sole reason why Craig McCracken is among my absolute favorite Animation Directors. Everytime I heard the intro to this show come on as a kid I had to immediately stop whatever it is I was doing and catch a hilarious episode. This was a show my sister really liked too, so much so she learned how to play the theme on the piano. Whether it was letting awkward tension build or immediately escalating to a high speed chase, this show would always keep me giggling the entire way through. Not to mention some of it’s episodes were really heart wrenching and actually made me choke up a bit. I know leave you with one of it’s funnier bits.

youtube

2. Teen Titans

That superhero bias I was talking about is coming back with a vengeance. This show is great for a lot of the reasons I really like previous entries in this list actually. It’s got a great art style that’s heavily anime influenced, a cast of diverse and unforgettable characters (with my childhood favorite being the quirky and wise cracking Beast Boy and my adulthood favorite being the hilarious, innocent and lovable Starfire), a hell of a lot of heart that makes me tear up in some of it’s most emotional moments, FANTASTICALLY fluid and suspenseful action (once again done in glorious classical animation), a great soundtrack with a hype as hell opening number that’s so good I have it on Spotify, all sorts of homages to action show tropes as well as nods to the larger DC universe and takes itself the right amount of seriously to let some of it’s sillier aspects shine. I distinctly remember seeing the first episode when it came on for the first time and getting instantly hooked. Every main character in this show is cast spot on and give some of the most memorable performances I’ve ever heard. Plus it’s a show that only gets better with time . . . especially in comparison to . . . that other show.

Before we get into number one, here are some honorable mentions: Rick and Morty, Disney’s Recess, One Piece, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Clone High, Samurai Jack, The Legend of Korra, The Amazing World of Gumball, Steven Universe, Fairly Odd Parents, Danny Phantom, Young Justice, Spectacular Spider-Man, 6teen.

1. Justice League Unlimited

Let’s take a moment to appreciate just how Amazing Bruce Timm’s take on the DC universe is, because . . . oh man . . . it is masterful. The stupendously likable characters, the intense action and suspense, the drama, the fast paced and impactful action and animation, the simple yet effective character design, the ever engrossing storylines. These are just some of the reasons why Bruce Timm is my favorite animated show developer of all time. There have been many great DC shows to come after this like Batman: Brave and the Bold or Young Justice, but none of them come close to the majesty of Justice League: Unlimited. When it comes to Bruce Timm shows most people would put Batman: The Animated Series higher up there, and while I without a doubt respect it’s legacy the fact that it’s Bruce Timm’s earliest show as director for the DC universe is pretty prominent in it’s pacing, action and to an extent it’s line delivery. The show moves rather sluggish and has more then a few issues in it’s animation, especially in it’s first season. I don’t hold that against the show in any way as it’s still very impressive for what it is, but you can tell Timm and his crew were just beginning to hone their style and would go through some growth pains further down the road. Justice League had some remnants of these problems here and there but they were beginning to shake these issues off. JLU is where Timm’s style got perfected. Perfect pacing, perfect line delivery, perfect animation, perfect action sequences where you can feel the impact of every punch and blow, perfect storytelling, and most impressively perfect juggling between the largest cast of characters Bruce Timm has tackled in his run. While Justice League would keep it between the original 7 in terms of juggling, JLU would take on characters like Green Arrow, Captain Marvel, Huntress, Black Canary, The Atom, Vigilante and so many more and make them all just as likable as the main cast if not more at times. And of course, there is the number one reason to watch the show . . . The Question.

God, do I love the Question. This show is the sole reason he is my second favorite DC character (first being the Flash). But anyway, to wrap it up, Bruce Timm once said in an interview that JLU was his favorite work because it was the only show he could keep going back to and continue to enjoy. I wholeheartedly agree.

So that’s my list. I hope you saw some of your favorites on there, and if not just enjoy what you enjoy and keep this medium alive dammit!

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ghostofmoriarty · 7 years

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Fictional Favorites Tag Game

I was tagged by @yourgoodfriendraichel so here goes I am going to follow in Raichel’s footsteps and put this under a break, because oooh boy did it get long 1. What is your MBTI? It changes every time I take the test, but INTP /INTJ are my most common results

2. What is your Hogwarts House? Ravenclaw. I’m quite the academic these days.

3. Are you a book person or a TV person? I love books on principle, but I love tv so much and it’s so much more CONVENIENT. (this is @yourgoodfriendraichel‘s answer, but it’s so 100% accurate, I’m keeping it)

4. What is your favorite book series? Harry Potter will always have a special place in my heart, as will Percy Jackson and Cirque du Freak. I love Dirk Gently (Douglas Adams was an amazing writer through and through) and Sherlock Holmes because I am garbage for a good detective story. ASOIAF and the entire Tolkienverse (LotR et al) are some of my favorites. Oh! And The Sparrow, there was a sequel so it counts as a series. I haven’t read the sequel yet, but The Sparrow was legitimately one of the greatest books I have ever read and I am super excited to check out the sequel when I have a few days off of work that isn’t dedicated to mowing the lawn (it's been raining sooo much here)

5. What is your favorite TV series? I love so many tv series. Aquabats! Super Show! will always be in my top 10. I am garbage for TURN: Washington’s Spies even though I think it’s kind of terrible, oooh and Dirk Genty’s Holistic Detective Agency, can’t believe I forgot about that one, I was literally just talking about the books. And no matter how angry I get at Doctor Who, I will always return to watch the new season (this last season was really good, thank god) but I think Classic Doctor Who is a thousand times better than the reboot

6. Which fantasy universe would you most like to live in? I don’t know, because in any universe I won’t be the hero (I’m not even the hero/protagonist in THIS universe, so why would it be any different in a fictional one?) so I would need one that I could live happily and not be incinerated by dragons or forced to fight some nobleman’s war. Yeah, I’ve managed to talk myself out of every fantasy universe I could think of. How about Harry Potter? Yeah, sure Hogwarts has a scarily high student fatality rate for a high school and there’s a massive war every couple of decades that wipes out half the generation, but magic would be fun. I think I would take a short life with magic over a long life without it (assuming that I don’t end up a muggle or a squib, of course)

7. Favorite character ever? Finn from Star Wars, Sansa Stark from ASOIAF (note: ASOIAF and NOT GoT), Prince Charles Edward Stewart from Outlander…. That’s a really weird one, but Outlander was one of the most horrible (and uncomfortable) shows I have sat through but I really loved Bonnie Prince Charlie?? He was just an idealistic ray of sunshine in this bland, bleak wasteland of a tv show. He wouldn’t make the list if my hatred for the show was any lessened, but because I hate the show so much, my love for him is exemplified immensely. Anyway, Theodore “TBag” Bagwell from Prison Break, the entire cast of Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, Pietro Maximoff (and 99% of all XMen), Sauron, etc. So many.

8. Character you would like to personally slap in the face: Abe Woodhull from TURN: Washington’s Spies. He’s terrible, through and through.

9. Character you would like to personally murder: CHLOE FROM LIFE IS STRANGE. I WOULD HAVE MURDERED HER SO HARD IF MY GAME DIDN’T GLITCH ON THE LAST LEVEL. *she’s a terrible human whose manipulative and abusive. WLW deserve better options in both general representation and romanceable wlw characters in video games

10. Character you would gladly intern under: Any of the Xmen (can I be a plucky assistant who has a really lame super power but still tries to help, please???) OOOOOH and Larten Crepsley from Cirque du Freak (I LOVE HIM, YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW also he is in my top 5 favorite characters of all time, so I can’t believe I left him out in the fave character section)

11. Character you would totally have tea with: I don’t drink tea, but I’d probably go on a late-night coffee run with the entire Star Wars cast or Aquaman. Aquaman probably hates coffee though, so The Riddler? Edward Nygma seems like an “up all night anxiously drinking coffee while finishing up some project (probably a criminal scheme)” kinda guy.

12. Character that you feel really needs a hug: The entire freaking cast of Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency (note: the tv show, not the books)

13. Character you love that you would probably hate irl: Most of them, to be honest. I am drawn to horrible people in fiction. Simcoe, TURN: Washington’s Spies (note: tv show version, not real-life verson); T-Bag, Prison Break; Cesare Borgia, The Borgias;

14. Character you would realistically be friends with irl: Ken, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency

5. First character you had a crush on (if any): Jack Sparrow………

16. Favorite ships: ooooOOOh boy where to begin…. DISCLAIMER: when I say I ship things, I just mean I find the dynamic between the 2+ characters interesting and compelling. I don’t necessarily feel that they should be a canonical end-game romance (or even a romance at all), nor do I stan the relationship as healthy for either of the characters, nor do I feel that these relationships (platonic, romantic, or otherwise) should be heralded as a beacon of #goals to aspire to. I literally mean “hey those two have a cool dynamic, I wanna see more of that” -Master/Missy (I’ve been calling it “MASTERbator but I don’t know what the official ship name) (Doctor Who) -Anna Strong/Hewlett (TURN) -Foggy Nelsen /Matt Murdock (Daredevil) -Abe Woodhull/ Robert Townsend (TURN; note: Rob is too good for Abe but Rob’s reactions to Abe are too perfect to not ship) -Sansan (ASOIAF; I ship this 100% platonically) -Jaime and Brienne (ASOIAF; this is 100% not a platonic ship) -Finn/Poe -Han/Lando (we have NEVER heard the details of that card game, is all I’m sayin’) -Edward Nygma/ Oswald Cobblepot (Gotham/ DC; this is legit the ONLY reason I continue to watch Gotham. Everything else is garbage, but these two’s relationship, man. It’s so compelling, they’re so in love and so unwilling to put their differences and murderous tendencies aside to make their relationship work. I have so many feelings about this ship, okay)

-Joker/Batman (LEGO Batman; it was so beautiful, guys)

I have so many more, I don’t even know

17. Series (TV/book) that you feel ended terribly: Harry Potter’s ending is literally a meme now, so I won’t do overboard explaining that one. BUT, The Hunger Games. Okay, so this fucking series has a female character who is constantly talking and thinking about how she doesn’t want any children, and how she doesn’t feel like she should be a mother, which is pretty progressive right??? Also, 2 and a half fucking books are building up to an end all war/ revolution and It’s gonna be the biggest damn thing ever, right??? WELL how does this book series end??? Katniss, the FUCKING NARRATOR, gets hit in her head and blacks out, so she (AS WELL AS THE READER) misses the majority of the final battle, and THEN this series reveals that Gail (the less useless of the two potential love interests) may have caused the death of Katniss’ sister, so he leaves and Katniss chooses Peeta for no other reason than “well, I’m 17 so I should settle down with SOMEONE and you’re within proximity, so I guess you’ll do” and they get banished to District 12 where Katniss mothers a bunch of children because what else are you gonna do but fuck, and basically the entire ending is one piece of bullshit after the other (ALSO THE MOVIES FRAME THE ENDING AS “KATNISS IS NOW A MOTHER THEREFOR SHE’S REACHED HER POTENTIAL AS A WOMAN, ISN’T THIS A HAPPY ENDING” and fuck this entire series)

18. Series (TV/book) that had so much potential but was actually an epic disaster: Literally everything I watch. Dr Who, TURN: Washington’s Spies, Gotham, Sherlock, Game of Thrones; But hey, that’s what fanfiction is for

19. Worst book/movie/TV show you’ve ever read/seen: Ooooh I’ve read and watched some TERRIBLE things in my day. Outlander. Outlander was pitched to me as having 18th Century Scotland and TIME TRAVEL. Some of my favorite things, aaaand it ended up being one of the worst things I have ever seen. 90% of it is just boring, but the other 10% involves, in my opinion, really poorly handled sexual assault. I won’t go into details here, but it was bad.

Also, Borgias was fascinating, but bad. And TURN: Washington’s Spies. Honestly, I watch a lot of period pieces because I think the clothes are pretty or I am interested in the time period and/or historical events in which its set around, but then 99% of them are all really poorly-written soap opera-y dramas with nice sets and costumes. 20. Favorite book from your childhood: Harry Potter

21. 3 Favorite Tropes: Complex Family Dynamics (I think that’s more of a category of tropes than a trope itself, but I love me some fam drama), Happy endings for gays (that’s not really a trope, but it fills me with love and happiness every time it happens –which is rare), oooh I don’t know. I can’t think of any right now, but I do love a lot of tropes, I promise.

22. 3 Most Hated Tropes: Bury your Gays (killing off gay characters for no reason), Rape as empowerment (ie: when the narration treats a sexual assault as a motivator for women that “makes them stronger”); Man Pain (when a woman is assaulted/ threatened by the antagonist, and the main male-protag uses it as “motivation” to fight the antagonist. The story doesn’t allow the female character who experienced the trauma to be the focus of the story/arc, her traumatizing experience is not about her, it is ONLY there to develop the male character she is close to; the story essentially treats the male as the real victim)

23. Scariest thing you’ve ever watched/read: James and the Giant Peach

24. Anything you’d like to recommend? Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency (please send me a message if you want to know what it’s about, it’s SO GOOD. It’s fun, quirky, unlike anything else, and it has a diverse cast including characters who are poc (and woc), characters who have disabilities, women who are badass, none of the women are ever sexualized at all, it has corgis, and mysteries, and scifi, and it’s just a big adventure. (I also recommend the books, and the 2011 tv series Dirk Gently)

25. Would you like any recommendations? I’m game for anything. I love period pieces, fantasy, science fiction, TIME TRAVEL, quirky detectives, gory things, child-friendly things, honestly as long as it has interesting characters I am game. I don’t even need a good story, just characters.

Heeey I am terrible at tagging people. If you want to do the thing, please do! And tag me so I can read it :) Also, if you actually read this whole thing, then you deserve all the gold stars, thank you!

#about me #if you want to do this then i tag you you are tagged #thank you for tagging me #yourgoodfriendraichel #:D #also if any of you actually read this #i get pretty heated about fandom things further down #my hatred for hunger games adn chloe from life is strange to name a few

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asagimeta · 7 years

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It occurred to me that we can look at the second half of AHS 6 as an example of what to expect in the show from here on. It revisited a location, characters, lore, and it was NOT a private, isolated incident. The situation spiraled uncontrollably into the public eye and concluded in a MASSIVE public incident.

This is a good point Anon, and it could be a canon explanation for why there were only ten episodes instead of thirteen*, since the first five represented seasons 1-5 and the second five represented 6-10**, he might have wanted it to be an even half-past-seasons, half-future-seasons

*We know the real life explanation is most likely because Ryan Murphy had alot less time to work, with him having done The People VS O.J. Simpson in 2016 and him starting to work on Feud: Bette & Joan in 2016 as well, the fact that Sarah Paulson was also doing O.J. probably influenced it too

**Technically, we could also look at episodes 6-10 being seasons 7-11, because it’s questionable weather or not season six should count as it’s own plot, in fact that was my original thought, but because of what episode six was, I decided season six probably IS representing it’s self in episode six

It’s important to note before we start that it was recently stated that, wile season seven’s theme has been completely decided, seasons eight and nine “Are still being hammered out”, and anything that MIGHT represent eight and nine is up for either changing, modifying, or elimminating completely, I’m sure Murphy has a few vague ideas set up but they’re probably not developed well enough for definitive information yet

Let’s look into some things that happened in episodes 6-10 that could possibly be references to future seasons:

Chapter Six: I’m starting here so I can explain why I think this is meant to represent season six, episode six was the big reveal, showing us what the rest of the season’s format would be, revealing to us that only one person gets out alive, revealing who the actors actually are and what really happened between the real people (IE: Shelby and Matt splitting) and finally reveiwing some of what had happened earlier in season six (The nurses killing Rory and completing “Murder” for example, going back to the house for the first time during the blood moon, starting a new TV series etc) If there is a way to reveiw a show half-way through and give hints to the theme/plot of the rest of the season wile keeping it part of the actual show (IE: Not making it a clip show)? Then Chapter Six is hands down the way to do it

Chapter Seven: This is where the majority of our themes are going to come from, and they include:

-Cannabilism-Inbred hillbillies (I cannot think of a polite way to say that)-Infidelity-Alchoholism-The Woods-Insanity/becoming someone else-Witches-Ghosts-Rage*

Of these, the following have NEVER been explored on AHS before:

-Cannabilism-Inbred hillbillies-The Woods

The following could easily be references to past seasons (Again) OR could be repeated in future seasons

-Infidelity (season one)-Alchoholism (season two)-Insanity/becoming someone else (season two)**-Witches (season three)-Ghosts (seasons one and five)

The thing is, that these are all themes that are shaded in other seasons as well as the ones they’re featured primarily in, take ghosts for example, they may be a major theme of seasons one and five but they also appear in season four (Edward Mordrake), witches may be primarily season three’s property but Queenie comes into season five for a stint, insanity may be primarily featured in season two but it plays into other seasons as well, such as Pepper’s backstory in season four, etc etc, so they might still come in to play later but because they ARE old themes they’re really on the fence

*I don’t know how to describe this, but there was alot of blind anger in this episode, Shelley, who is usually pretty quiet and stable, flies into a murderous rage and brutally murders Matt, that stands out as being massively unique to me for some reason, I just don’t know how better to describe it…

**I specifically stated “becoming someone else” because Agnes’ psychosis is specifically related to becoming the Butcher, season two shows alot of people “becoming” other people, from Judy becoming Sister Jude (a transformation, albeit not one caused by insanity or becoming an actual different identity) to Ann Frank being labotimized into becoming a docile housewife, it’s pretty prominant

Chapter Eight: There really aren’t any unique themes in this episode, I’m afraid, the only ones that are different from Chapter Seven are:

-Japanese horror-The Piggy Man-Suicide-Wrongfull blame

We know The Piggy Man is a reference to season one, and wrongfull blame is a pretty common theme throughout AHS (Kit in season two, Pepper in season four, The Geep in season four, etc etc etc) so I’m not sure that either of those are going to play into season eight, thus the only two new themes are have are Japanese horror and *intentional* suicide

Chapter Nine: Chapter Nine only has a few themes, but they’re very very unique, potentially very telling themes, and virtually none of them have been done before, they are:

-Found Footage-Possession-Police involvement

Possession has obviously been a big theme before, namely in seasons two and five, police involvement was prominant in season five, but that still leaves us with “Found footage”

Chapter Ten: The last episode has the least themes overall and especially the least unique ones, wich makes sense, if this is going in order then it’s obvious why each episode has less information than the last, the later the season, the least likely it is to be fully developed, but that doesn’t mean that what we have isn’t worth mentioning, our themes are:

-Reality TV-Court-Interveiws-Ghost hunters-Children-Sacrifice

Obviously reality TV has been a theme before, mostly in season six but also in season five (Billie Dean’s show) and interveiws have been a theme too (seasons two, three, five, and six, all featuring Sarah Paulson by the way) children (mostly seasons one and five, but arguably every season has a relation to childen in some way) sacrifice has also been featured in the past, most noteably in season four where it was a primary theme

So to boil it down, the themes we have that are most likely to play into future seasons are as follows:

Season Seven- Cannabilism, inbred hillbillies, the woodsSeason Eight- Japanese horror, intentional suicideSeason Nine- Found footageSeason Ten- Court, ghost hunters

So far, all we know about the future of AHS for sure are these facts:

-Seasons seven, eight, and nine are already greenlit and will air in 2017, 2018, and 2019 respectively-Season seven will begin in September-Season seven’s theme is set to remain a secret like Roanoke-Season seven will be “connected to Freak Show but set in the modern day”-Season seven will feature Sarah Paulson and Evan Peters-Ryan Murphy announced that there will be a season that’s a “Coven and Murder House crossover” but that it is NOT season seven-A teaser was released for season seven in November that featured ocean waves and a flash to the stick dolls with “Sweet Dreams” written over it, a scream heard in the background, and the caption “The monsters are all gone” beneath it

Let’s start with season seven:

Everyone assumes “The monsters are all gone” is sarcastic or a lie, but… what if it isn’t? What if season seven, like seasons two and four, are more about HUMAN threats instead of monsters? After all, we know that this season is connected to Freak Show, the only non-human creature in the entire season of Freak Show was Edward Mordrake, who was a ghost of another freak, add to that what we have in terms of themes for episode seven of Roanoke, wich are: Cannbalism, inbred hillbillies, the woods

In addition, a very interesting matter, Freak Show took place in Florida, wich is near the ocean (thus the “Sweet Dreams” teaser)

Based on this, we have a potential theory for season seven:

Taking place in or around Jupiter Florida, our charectors include the next generation of freaks (Jimmy and the Tattler Twins’ child(ren) perhaps, or maybe Dandy isn’t the last Mott after all? Or, ofcourse, there might not be any blood relations at all to the people of season four, they might just be a new generation who don’t know about Elsa’s cabinet, or who were even inspired by them) as well as the child(ren) inbred through generations of hillbillies who may hunt the freaks… or join them, and a cannibal (or a community of cannibals maybe) who want to kill and eat the freaks due to having a taste for human oddities, wich is a creepier twist on the collection aspect of season four

The woods could just be where the cast is mostly going to be located, but the reason I keep mentioning The Woods as a theme is because it’s a classic horror movie trope, something being “in the woods”, the only problem with this that I have is usually the “something” in the woods is supernatural, and specifically, in Roanoke, the “something” is indeed some sort of ghosts/monsters (I don’t honestly remember if we were shown what attacked Audrey and Lee in episode seven) If season seven is about human monsters then this doesn’t fit

Obviously we don’t have enough to go on for the other seasons yet, but…

Season eight could include intentional suicide and Japanese horror, the latter of wich I’m REALLY excited about, can you imagine an entire season of stuff like the Chens? Creepy movement, strange animal sounds, weird and terrifying urban legends… I’m in love (plus it could be a good chance for there to be some more diversity for the mains of a season *cough*)

Season nine could be a found footage thing- and why I bring this up is because I’m talking specifically about the Blair Witch kind of found footage, amatuar stuff, not the reality TV stuff wich we keep seeing, a Blair Witch kind of thing could really be interesting and could easily involve the police too (even though we’ve already seen that before, we haven’t seen it MUCH and it could come out to play as a more prominant theme later)

Season ten gives us court and ghost hunting wich is obviously a weird combination, and to be honest? I’m not sure they could be connected, if they are, I feel like one would be ALOT more prominant than the other… but wich one?

Anyway, this gives me alot to think about Anon, I wish we had a little more info from the episodes theme wise but I realize also that any plans for seasons eight and beyond, at this point, are so loose that giving more info would be unreasonable of them, as unfortunate as that is

#American Horror Story

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adoranymph · 4 years

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So. I wanted to keep up a momentum of positivity up given current world circumstances, which means I figured it was time I expressed and explored my love for family tropes in stories, found or otherwise.

They say you can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your family. On a genetic level that’s indisputable, but what if apart from that, your friends are your family? I just love that stuff, personally. Actually, I love stories that examine and enrich family bonds in general, biological or not. And today, I’d like to share a few (a fair few) of them with you, if for no other reason than to try and spread around some warm-fuzzies instead of other, nastier things.

If we’re talking a specific, earliest moment that I recall having a strong reaction to a family bond, I’d have to say it’d be after reading what became my favorite installment in the Harry Potter series, Prisoner of Azkaban. I specifically remember thinking, “Aw, Harry finally has an adult in his life he can see as family.” I mean, yes, the Weasleys were already there in his corner, but Sirius Black had a more personal connection to Harry’s parents that gave this sense of him being able to connect more with the family he’d lost with what little connection he had gained that was left. And yeah, include Lupin in that too, while we’re at it.

And that love for that trope has just grown more with time with the amount of media that I’ve consumed. Found families, blood families, families struggling, families coming together, I eat that up with a big hot fudge sundae spoon. For as long as I can remember, I’ve tailored 99% of my stories around these types of plot points, perhaps with more intensity after having lost my own parents. If only because my fulfillment from it always comes from wanting to see more stories that feature family and family bond themes. Moreover, the opportunity to experience them in fictional contexts offers differing perspectives on family and what family means to others. Which I also enjoy.

With the Fate series, for example, starting with Fate/Zero, the respective relationships of father-and-son in Kiritsugu and Shirou Emiya (which honestly gave me Harry Potter and Sirius Black vibes even though theirs is a relationship far different from what’s here), and father-and-daughter in Kiritsugu and Illya (which I melt at for the sake of being a father-daughter relationship) was the initial thing that most had me immediately hooked, in addition to the concept of historic and legendary heroes from across time coming together in the modern era for a battle royale for the Holy Grail. With all of that though, and everything else great about Fate/Zero (which is, yeah, everything), you have a shoe-in for what still stands as my favorite anime. Although the family moments are minimal, not just in Zero but in its sequel Stay Night as well, the moments themselves are powerful enough to stand out and be effective in spite of that. More than that, but they’re written so well, they transcend any tropiness they would have had in the hands of another creator. Zero in particular.

I think part of that comes from how much Fate and the Type-Moon universe seem to emphasize how broken the family relationships of mages and those related to the supernatural are, which in turn makes the ones that still manage to radiate love all the more precious. Especially in terms of Kiritsugu, his wife Irisviel, and their daughter Illya. Not wanting to repeat myself too much, I’ll distill it down to this: the fact that Kiritsugu’s relationships with them is tailor-made for tragedy might, on paper, seem almost contrived, but it’s Kiritsugu’s character, and Irisviel’s too, that highlight how dearly they love each other, throwing any contrivances about it out the window.

You can read more about it in my Type-Moon post. Suffice to say, I could talk about this stuff for hours, days even perhaps, and that’s just about Kiritsugu’s family. There’re also the Tohsakas and the Matous who all have their varying degrees of screwed-uppedness that still manage to produce people who are loving and caring in their own ways, from child abandonment as a result of a skewed view of fatherhood to just straight-up abuse. Which unfortunately brings to light more twisted examples of my beloved father-daughter trope that really gets under my skin, not unlike a very cold example of this in V. A. Schwabb’s This Savage Song and the unfortunate fact that the main heroine’s father never grew to love his daughter despite his wife’s reassurances that he would. Which is just sad without having to go into much further detail.

Same with Fullmetal Alchemist (2003)/ Fullmetal Alchmeist: Brotherhood. That franchise had the audacity to take my most beloved family trope, the father-daughter relationship, and mangle it (literally as well as figuratively now that I think about it) with the arc of State Alchemist Shou Tucker and his daughter, Nina. Desperate to keep his State Alchemist license, he uses his daughter Nina and their pet dog Alexander in an alchemic experient to create a talking chimera, by fusing the two of them together into one being, making for one of the most equally horrific and tragic scenes I’ve ever seen.

And yet again, these perversions of family are no less enjoyable than those of ones built far more genuinely and conventionally on love and care. Both are satisfying in their own way, to see not only places where love lives, but also places where we know love should live but doesn’t, which makes us, the readers, or the audience, want all the more to scoop these characters up and give them the hugs they deserve.

Funimation

Not to say that Fullmetal is all about broken families. In fact, it’s more about the functioning ones that still manage to get torn apart. First you have the main plotline of the Elric brothers, Edward and Alphonse (Ed and Al). They committed the taboo of “human transmutation” in their attempt to resurrect their mother from the dead. For committing this taboo, they pay a heavy price: Ed, literally an arm and a leg, and Al, his entire body, leaving his soul to remain tethered in the living world by nothing more than a blood seal on a suit of armor. The brothers struggle with their efforts to set things right, and along with what happens to Nina, encounter their estranged father, though in the 2003 version the character arcs that form in those vary to those in the Brotherhood reboot.

In both versions though, their meeting Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes and his family, his wife Gracia and daughter Elecia, plays out the exact same tragic way, resulting in one of the worst sucker-punches of a death, and anyone who’s seen the show(s) knows what I mean. There’s even something of a family (if a dysfunctional one) in that of the homunculi (villainous ones in this case, unlike the homunculi in the Fate series). They might be named for the Seven Deadly Sins, but in their respective incarnations between the 2003 version and the reboot version, they develop in various ways, due in no small part to their relationships with each other. And part of what makes a family, in my experience, is nurturing the character of those with whom you are close with your own relationship to them. Hence why blood ties aren’t all that make a family, and why the concept of found families rock.

An anime I just finished recently, March Comes In Like a Lion, a pretty chill show, but still very emotionally engaging, (and chill is a high priority on what I’m looking for right now, which shouldn’t be surprising–save of course for my catching up on Season 3 of Castlevania), involves a young boy, Rei Kiriyama, roped into the fate of becoming a shogi prodigy when he loses his parents and little sister and is taken in by a shogi family as a foster son. The father was a friend of his father’s, but unlike his father, pursued the profession of playing shogi seriously, and unfortunately he was one of those fathers who meted out his affection to his children based on how good they got at the thing he was good at.

Which brings out the dark side of the found family, when Rei proves to be far more talented than either the daughter or the son of that family. He begins to see himself as “in the way”, as the daughter in particular takes her anger with her father out on him, sometimes in violent ways. This is further complicated by the fact that in his early formative years he appeared to have developed a crush on her despite the way she treated him, and continues to treat him throughout the majority of the anime.

Thankfully, where the story starts is with Rei, now in high school and now living on his own as a pro shogi player prodigy, and the relationship he’s developed with a family of threes sisters who just recently lost their mother. With them, he finds all the wonderful things a family can be, certainly the standard to which all found families should measure up to. He finds love and warmth that he’d not only been starving for, but had taught himself not to even hope to expect in his life going forward. An affirmation of where love can be found, not always with blood, and not always with where you thought you’d find it, which will never fail to be an incredibly moving thing to me.

The struggles of a young pro shogi player interlaced with the interpersonal struggles of the characters both inside and outside of the world of shogi, was incredibly satisfying on the emotional palate. I loved it, and it was definitely getting me through this difficult time at present, along with how much keeping in touch (without touching) my own family and friends has been. It’s one of those shows that shares both such dark struggle and passionate triumph and hope, and I’m glad that I chose now of all times to get around to watching it (though initially I chose it because it was the month of March, and it’s called March Comes In Like a Lion so ha ha). Regardless, while I can’t speak for the manga as I haven’t read that, I recommend the anime to anyone who’s interested, and who’s anxious right now and needs something to binge in this time of self-isolation and still get the warm-fuzzies.

Incidentally, Rei is among a small group of fictional characters, all of who have hit particularly close to home with me. He’s almost a boy version of me: his introversion, his experiences with depression (some of the thoughts he had circling in his head while struggling with that were, a lot of times, verbatim the same as the ones I’ve had, which gave me chills if nothing else), the fact that he had to learn how to “survive” school not because school itself was hard, but just because of the ostracizing social structure, that he lost his blood family and went to live with another, that he wraps himself up in something to cut off the pain that everything else causes him (with him it’s shogi, with me it’s writing)–these things all resonated with my own experiences of losing and regaining family. So much so that at this point, I’ve set aside an idea for doing a separate post on his character. You know, when I get to a few more of the hundreds of other post drafts I have on the backburner.

The shounen anime Kimestu No Yaiba takes the traditional shounen trope of “main character loses whole family to tragedy and that sets him on the hero’s journey he probably wouldn’t have taken otherwise”, and creates what I’d consider the most emotionally engaging shounen I’ve ever watched (and this coming from the same young lady who got herself hooked on Fairy Tail after putting it off for months and months because she told herself she’d never fall into the “shounen trap”). Not only is it done by the godly studio ufotable who put Fate on the map with Fate/Zero, scored by one of my most favorite composers, Yuki Kajiura, but it also features one of the most emotionally engaging shounen fights I have ever seen, and that primarily comes from its focus on the family bond between the main protagonist, Tanjiro Kamado, and his sister-turned-demon, Nezuko, and how searching in the memories of his father, he rediscovers a technique to use that helps him survive a fight that would have otherwise killed him and his sister both.

Fruits Basket (both the original anime adaptation from 2001, and the the reboot coming out now) takes the concept of a family curse and examines how that affects certain of its members, and the ripple effect that comes from one outsider–a young girl grieving the death of her mother–deciding to befriend him through that anime “quirk of fate”. The curse itself being certain members of the family turning into animals of the Chinese zodiac when under stress or…hugged by a member of the opposite sex. Classic. And at first, yeah, is it a bit silly, but then you see how it’s affected those members of the family born with the Zodiac spirits of this curse. Like how one of them has to pretend that he isn’t his mother’s son, because his mother was horrified by the fact that the first time she held her child, he turned into a rabbit, and so, to ease her suffering, she had her memories of her having giving birth to him erased. Which gives credence to the idea that any idea can work, as long it’s executed well. Whether an idea unique will mean nothing if the idea itself is executed poorly.

And the criminally underrated anime film, Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms, tells a fantasy story of a young woman who follows the emotional arc of discovering what it means to be a mother. Maquia, one of a race of immortal people called the Iorph, is separated from the rest of her kind after a mortal human kingdom attacks them for their power. Alone upon her escape from capture, she comes across a mortal human family who’re all dead, save for their newborn baby boy, and she takes it upon herself to raise the boy as his mother. Along the way she learns what it means to be a mother, the pain that comes with watching a loved one grow old and die and leaving you behind. To say that I felt things in that story would be grave understatement. And it comes from a place of genuine familial emotion: the film’s director and writer, Mari Okada, drew from her own relationship to her own mother.

Even in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the idea of the found family and the idea of family in general isn’t lost on its writers, particularly in regards to Guardians of the Galaxy, which touches not only families, but family abuse. Never mind that it involves people from alien worlds, cyborg assassins, and the like, it still manages to have a very human resonance. And of particular note is a part of Natasha Romanov’s character arc, and how much she had come to view the Avengers as a family, while at the same time trying to repay the debt of all the lives she’d taken by saving lives instead. Which results in interactions like the very touching sort of brother-sister banter between her and Steve Rogers (that’s right, a male-female pair I don’t actually ship).

In the world of books, The Girl at Midnight, and Daughter of Smoke and Bone both involve found family subplots and explore those in their own creative ways.

We have Echo in The Girl at Midnight, raised by a group of bird-ish people called Avicen, and she gets to live in the attic of a library (lucky), and play a little with the magic she otherwise wouldn’t have gotten to if she hadn’t ended up adopted into her situation. I’m nearly finished with the sequel, The Shadow Hour, and we did get a glimpse of the life she had before: she’d run away from her birth mother, who was an abusive drunk to her daughter, which hurts on the very fundamental fact that we are born in the world with the idea hardwired in there somewhere that our mothers are supposed to love us unconditionally, and certainly never hurt us. It hurt me in my own way too, as my father was an alcoholic, and while he wasn’t perfect, he wasn’t abusive either, just more of a lost soul, I suppose, which can carry its own problems trying to function as a parent.

While I wasn’t too keen on the vision Echo has of her past characterizing her mother as the sort of abusive drunk you’d find…eh…like, in an amateur play, it could be argued that the idea was that the vision was based on her memory of her mother, and thus her perception of her at the time. Which was yeah, a mother who spouted nothing but verbal abuse at her daughter and hit her, and for seemingly no reason. And later on, when she discusses it with one of her close friends, not only does her friend tell her that it’s not from whom we are born that defines us, but also that even if her mother had her complicated reasons for why she was the way she was as a parent, the simple fact that’s irrelevant, and there’s never a “good” or “justifiable” reason to hurt a child. That it’s one’s own makes it all the more saddening.

For Daughter of Smoke and Bone, we have another eccentric waif in Karou, raised by a family of people called “chimaera” (not like the ones from Fullmetal Alchemist, these are a mishmash of different animal parts, sometimes human parts too). It too involves a complicated sort of father-daughter relationship that unfortunately seems to have ended in tragedy (I’ve only finished book one), as the slowburn story meticulously reveals that our heroine is being hidden to keep her safe from a threat that stems from a grand, epic, interdimensional war between chimaeras and angels. Last I saw, it looked like the father figure was probably dead, and unfortunately he and Karou hadn’t parted the last time they saw each other on the…best of terms, to put it mildly. Like with Kiritsugu Emiya’s estrangement from his daughter Illya in Fate, this one too hurts in that same, “what could have been, but never will be” way.

Then you’ve got a graphic novels like Saga, written by Brian K. Vaughn and illustrated by Fiona Staples (published by Image Comics), which, again, I was drawn to merely on the premise of it being about a male and female of two different alien races on opposing sides going AWOL together and ending up having a baby daughter along the way. I haven’t got too much into graphic novels aside from this and Monstress (also published by Image Comics), written by Marjorie Liu and illustrated by Sana Takeda (which deals with dead mother and mother-daughter issues against a very dark fantasy setting), but from what I’ve read so far, that premise has delivered as far as emotionally anchoring me to the story is concerned. Couple forced to flee for their lives + newborn introduced to the situation = my interest.

And that’s basically what it boils down to, beyond merely it’s emotional fulfillment for me. Apart from the family and friends I have found in my own life, it’s one other way I can regain something of what I lost in the passing of my parents. Even more than that, it’s a way for me to process it, after initially refusing to process it at all, especially when it comes to my own writing. In some ways, the novel I’m currently working on, the crux of which involves a father-daughter relationship, is a wish fulfillment of my own for the difficult months I spent with my father, between when my mother died and then when he himself died. Which even here is something that’s difficult for me talk about so straightforwardly, so the catharsis I get from writing about these things is far more valuable and useful to me. Even the deconstructional value of the dysfunctional versions of any parent-child relationship, not just father-daughter ones.

Exploring these themes both in writing and reading nurtures feelings and reinforces how important those feelings are. Found families in particular can be a lense through which we can begin to view people who are not related to us by blood still as kin, if only for the fact that we all are human. Family themes engender hope, even in the case of dysfunctional families, and it’s moving to see families who work to earn each other’s love as well as love unconditionally, depending on circumstances. Especially when death and danger threaten to tear those bonds apart, only for those bonds to emerge stronger than ever.

In times like these, don’t forget those you care about the most, or even those who you know who don’t receive as much care as they should, and reach out if you can (and thanks to the internet, reaching out remotely isn’t out of the question). The simple act of looking out for someone else is one of the most beautiful things about being human in my opinion, more so that it’s not even an exclusively human thing, which serves to draw we humans closer to each other. It’s a precious thing, and losing that would be a tragedy indeed in the long run. So as I press onward with this thing called living from day to day, I’ll keep seeking new family dynamics that inspire me with joy, with sorrow, and with hope. Particularly the hope that I’m not the only one who finds value in seeking these out in stories far and wide, and learning from them, and taking them sincerely to heart.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to make sure I’m keeping up with the currently running Kakushigoto, incidentally an anime about a father who draws adult manga and tries to keep the nature of his profession a secret from his young daughter. Hijinks and heartwarmingness I’m sure are in store. In the meantime, also enjoy this very emotional Fullmetal Alchemist AMV, as well as a revisit to the “Shelter” music video by Porter Robinson. Because fathers and daughters.

Family Bonds So. I wanted to keep up a momentum of positivity up given current world circumstances, which means I figured it was time I expressed and explored my love for family tropes in stories, found or otherwise.

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