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thecoramaria · 3 months

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Hello! I was wondering if you could give some tips on how to make fanfic chapters longer. I see a lot readers tend to like chapters around the 4k word mark or even more, but it's a feat if I write a chapter longer than 2k. The content I write is still good (imo) but I want to do more and am stuck on what to add that would benefit the fic and not be pointless filler. Thanks 🩷💛

Hey, Nonny!

First I'd just like to say that chapter length preferences among readers depend a lot on things like the type of fanfic and the platform you post on. For example, short chapters and frequent updates tend to be the standard on Wattpad. They're also pretty typical of episodic and/or slice-of-life stories. Because they rely on pre-established stories or worlds that the characters are familiar with, you just don't need to use as many words to move the plot forward every chapter (and in the case of an episodic story, you don't need to move an overarching plot forward at all, but from your ask, I don't get the vibe that you're trying to write that kind of thing).

Point is, sometimes short chapters work better for the story you're trying to tell, and they can also serve to make your story more binge-worthy (since it's easier to justify reading one more chapter), but they could lessen the experience for people following update-to-update, particularly if you don't update often. It's like the difference between being given a single piece of chocolate vs a full bar, you know?

If you really are set on posting longer chapters and believe this will make your story better, then here are my tips:

Figure out why your chapters are short in the first place. Is it because you make each scene its own chapter? Is it because your pacing flies past? Is it because it's light on details, or doesn't get specific enough? (E.g. "He set a tasty breakfast before her. She dug in with gusto." vs "He set a plate of steaming sunny-side-up eggs and crackling bacon before her. One wiff of the smokey, savoury aromas, and she snatched up her fork, shovelling it in. The salty crunch. The burst of creamy yolk. It was heaven.")

Combine chapters. If two or three chapters tie together nicely because they're part of the same arc, or take place in the same location, picking up where the other left off, those are good candidates to combine. Also if a chapter has an ending that doesn't give the reader a good reason to keep reading, but the next scene adds a jolt of tension back into the plot, that's also a good candidate for combining scenes/chapters.

Ask yourself what you can add to enhance what you already have there. For example, if you have a plot twist planned, is there a way you can include more foreshadowing? Is there an opportunity to flesh out your characters more? (If we mostly see a character put on a strong front, it'll tug our hearts when we see them show some vulnerability.) Is there an aspect of your worldbuilding that could use some explanation or showing off? (For example, if your plot involves saving the world, it's definitely a good idea to get your readers attached to said world.) Are there more obstacles you could add to the story that might also serve the previous purposes? Do you have a lot of high-tension back-to-back scenes that could use some quiet breather scenes in-between?

When editing, I've adopted the philosophy of "Cut as much as possible without sacrificing anything that enhances the story" as well as "Concise and precise" which means "say The Most with as few words as possible. To me, this is the key to avoiding filler in my own work, and how I create long stories that don't drag. I think that as you make your chapters longer, these are the ideas you should keep in mind, as these will help you determine if you're lengthening your story will pointless filler or adding something with value.

If you still struggle to make that distinction though, maybe find a beta-reader or a buddy who doesn't mind being spoiled for your work. You can soundboard your ideas with them to get a second opinion, because sometimes that's what you really need when you feel like there's something "wrong" with your work but you can't quite put your finger on it.

#cora's original posts #cora's ask box #just fanfic things #fanfiction #fanfic writing #fanfiction advice #fanfic writing advice #writing advice

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moonah-rose · 3 years

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Defrosting Grumpy Three (a Season 8 meta)

I keep thinking about how Season 8 of Classic Who is almost like the first one the show has to a ‘season long arc’ that I don’t feel gets talked about enough. Obviously everyone knows it as “the one where the Master is in every story” but I feel like there is a subtle character arc for the Doctor in this season as well which is tied to the two main characters introduced in the first episode; the Master and Jo Grant.

I’m not the first one to point out that out of Three’s five seasons; this is the one where he’s at his most grumpy and short-tempered. I know a lot of people point to this season as reasons for why they don’t like Three and I totally get that, he’s a real git sometimes, in particular the first and last stories. There are moments where he’s asking for a slap and, no, I’m not talking about him claiming to be buddies with Chairman Mao and a Tory MP. Because I would’ve thought it was obvious that he drops those names purely to gain trust of these people who don’t trust him (at least that’s my headcanon because it doesn’t fit with the anti-capitalist, anti-pollution, anti-imperialist writing). Just him being constantly ungrateful to the Brigadier, snapping at Jo, or just being childish in the most ‘kid throwing a tantrum’ way possible.

But it’s easy to get why. By Season 8 he’s been trapped on Earth for we can assume at least a year. New Who fans who’ve seen the Power of Three and saw how crazy Eleven went when he tried to stay on Earth to study the cubes just for a few days/weeks know the Doctor can’t stand staying still, especially in one time and place. In his first season he could be short-tempered but slightly less so. In Spearhead he’s quite polite and motivated, though that could be the most pleasant form of Post Regeneration Trauma he’s been through. Plus he had Liz, who you can see he immediately clicked with. A fellow genius who finds herself out of place or treated a little unfairly as a female scientist surrounded by men, both of them willing to sass the Brigadier when he deserves it. He also still keeps trying to fix the TARDIS, as if convinced this won’t be as permanent as the Time Lords intended.

But by Season 8 (or you could say even before that, in Inferno) his attempts clearly haven’t succeeded past slipping into a terrifying parallel universe, and now cabin fever is setting in. And Liz, his science bud, has gone off and left. And while it’s sad we didn’t get a goodbye between the two of them, her passing remark towards the Brigadier about the Doctor just needing someone to pass him test tubes and fill his praise kink maybe implies that, at least from Liz’ POV, they weren’t as equals as Three thought, or she didn’t feel that fulfilled working with him, even if she did appreciate him as a friend.

So enter Jo to replace Liz, who is everything Liz wasn’t. Liz had to study and work her way to her position; Jo is a spoiled girl who got to play spy by sheer nepotism. She failed A level science and doesn’t have the same sharp-wit he and Liz shared. Three is mean to her even before she introduces herself as his assistant when she only tries to help, and doesn’t hide his disappointment when she tells him. Perhaps it might also be that she reminds him of his companions before Liz; she’s cute and perky like Zoe and also loyal and determined like Jamie, even though she lacks Jamie’s physical strength and Zoe’s genius. Still, she’s young and he might not want to put her in danger the same way he nearly lost his previous young companions many times in the War Games.

When Three goes to the Brigadier to try to get rid of Jo, the Brig is far more smug than in the previous season, as he seems to have worked the Doctor out by this point. Their little moment at the end of Inferno where Three insults him and tries to escape only to then come back with his tail between his legs acting all buddy has shown him who Three really is; that this whole grumpy shtick of this is just a defence mechanism while he’s so out of his depth. I like to think the Brig hoped Jo would soften him up, to bring out the compassion that was more overt in his previous incarnation, as well as just pass him test tubes and keep tabs on him. His knowing smile when he watches Three try and fail miserably to fire her seems to prove his point.

In the same story we also have the Master showing up for the very first time. He was created to be the ‘Moriarty to the Doctor’s Holmes’. These kind of ‘foil enemies’ that pop up in so many stories, where you have a villain who is supposed to be a perfect match in intelligence or skill to the hero, are more often than not presented as ‘what the hero could have been’ if they chose to be evil rather than good; the Master is no different. And even though it’s not established until the next season that the Doctor and Master used to be friends, there’s clearly an underlining fondness in their banter which hints at past feelings as well as mutual respect. It says quite a lot that Three is more relaxed and friendly during his conversations with the Master half the time they talk than he is with the humans he’s meant to be saving, or even his own close friends. Because, for all their moral disagreements, the Master is his own kind and his only link - other than his broken TARDIS - to the rest of the Universe.

In almost every story of S8, after the Master has revealed his evil scheme only for the Doctor to point out how it will backfire on him, they have to work together or form some kind of alliance of convenience. In Claws of Axos, the Doctor outright pretends to betray his friends and elope join forces with the Master to escape, only for it to be a trick in order to defeat the Axons. But considering Three’s attitude in this season, it’s a very convincing act as much to the audience as to the humans. And then in Colony in Space, the Master offers the Doctor half-ownership of the Universe....and the Doctor clearly hesitates! Yes, the Master tempts him with the persuasion of ruling ‘in the name of good’ but Three has to take a moment to remember what a slippery slope that line of thinking is. He’s so tired of being trapped, sick of being leashed by the Time Lords, that the Master comes along as a devil on his shoulder at his most vulnerable point. Considering the last story involves the Master summoning the actual Devil (or close enough) and is also where Three’s temper seems to be at its peak seems all too fitting.

It’s also interesting that the Master’s greatest fear that appears in the Mind of Evil is an image of the Doctor laughing maniacally over him. It’s the closest we get to an image of Dark!Three in the show. To contrast; the Doctor’s greatest fear isn’t the Master, it’s the eruption from Inferno. Seeing the Earth swallowed by flame - not because of an outside force like the Daleks or Cybermen, but by humans themselves. It’s easy to imagine him wondering why he even bothers with them when they’re their own worst enemy.

(Side note; apparently the Evil Overlord in the Inferno parallel world IS the Third Doctor, according to the Expanded Universe, though I haven’t read up on this. We were robbed of seeing Pertwee play an evil Doctor.)

So while this is going on and the Master is playing his games with the Doctor while also tempting him, intentionally or not, to the ‘dark side’, we also have Jo at his side. And Jo takes all of the Doctor’s snapping and mood swings like a pro, and is very quickly overwhelmed with a lot of the stuff she’s faced which that she didn’t know she was signing up for - being hypnotised, captured by aliens, taken to alien worlds in the far future etc. She screams as most companions did at that time, but because it is what you would expect from a girl fresh out of school and throwing herself into something she clearly didn’t properly prepare for. The Doctor has to save her a lot, more than often because she tried to help only to get herself captured. As much as he does warm to her - because he’s not immune to how adorable she is - it serves to prove his point. Even when he finally gets to leave Earth for a day, she’s too frightened to want to leave the TARDIS. What good is she to him?

Now she continues to prove she has her uses. She has her escapology skills which get them out of a few tight spots. Depending on the writer, she can turn into an Emma Peel-esque agent capable of self-defence and subterfuge. And she’s always patient with the Doctor, no matter what mood he’s in, and extremely loyal. She’s also kind and compassionate with every side character she comes across. There seems to have been a backlash to these kinds of qualities in female characters in the past twenty years or so, what I like to call the Cinderella critique, where if a woman is kind and generous more so than smart, sassy and sword-wielding she’s seen as ‘weak’. Jo is always there at the Doctor’s side when he’s managed to get hurt or knocked out (Three took a lot of naps, anyone else notice this?). Even after he does whisk her away to another planet and nearly don’t make it back, she could easily throw her job away if it was too much, but she sticks with it because you can see that she wants more than anything to be useful and do good for her world - it would be another two season until she found what her own passion was with being an environmental activist but this is where she wants to start.

But it’s not until the end of S8 that we see Jo’s greatest strength and how it saves Three when every other defence he had was gone. He’s spent most of that story chastising her for believing in magic and superstition, as well as anything else he can find to snap at her for like criticising the Brigadier even though he does the same thing all the damn time (this could be seen as a ‘I can insult my bro but you can’t’ moment but it’s still not pleasant). But when he learns the Master is preparing to sacrifice her, he runs in to save her despite knowing it’s a suicide mission. He also gives a cold exchange to the Master when told he’s a ‘doomed man’.

Oh I’m a dead man! I knew that as soon as I walked through those doors so you better watch out! I have nothing to lose, do I?

It’s a telling line that, behind all his patronising and abruptness, he’s reached a point he doesn’t feel he has anything left to keep going. He’s lost his freedom and his knowledge of time travel; but he’ll die before letting Jo die or letting the Earth burn again. When Azal claims the daemons gave humans knowledge, Three responds: Finally he’s turning his anger on the one who deserves it to save the one who has been his friend, even at his lowest points, for the past several months, while still showing his disappointment in what he’s seen of humans living amongst them:

You gave them knowledge to blow up the world and they most certainly will. They can poison the water and the very air they breathe.

When Azal appears, he nearly makes the Master’s greatest fear come true by offering his power to the Doctor instead. And the Doctor looks horrified, immediately doing a Jon Snow and refusing it. Unlike when the Master offered him power before, he doesn’t hesitate for a moment, even though Azal’s powers could probably get his TARDIS working again in a snap. He looks almost scared at the thought of possessing something like that. Perhaps his dark persona in that other world became that way because he did take such an offer?

Azal prepares to kill the Doctor for refusing his offer, which is where Jo saves the day by offering her life for his. A lot of people dislike this ending for the idea of the villain being destroyed ‘by the power of love’ more or less, but this was a lot less common a deus ex machina as it is in New Who. The Doctor explains how it works when they’re free as:

Azal could not accept a fact as irrational and illogical as Jo being prepared to give up her life for me.

Three says it as he’s just as baffled, if also amused, by it as Azal was. Why would Jo give up her life for him? Compare that with when Ten has to give up his incarnation to save Wilf, how he rants that Wilf isn’t important but he has ‘so much more’ to give. Even the Doctor wrestles when it comes to sacrificing himself for others sometimes but Jo did it without a seconds thought, made even more illogical given Three’s often harsh treatment of her. But one thing that is obvious is that Three’s grumpy face is gone; he’s smiling for the rest of the episode, looking at Jo with quiet heart eyes, and letting her drag him into the maypole dance, conceding that she was right and there is ‘magic’ in the world.

Much like Rose was the companion Nine needed after the Time War to enjoy seeing the Universe again and appreciating life, Jo serves a similar purpose in S8 in that she gradually reminds the Doctor through her actions of the strengths in being brave, kind and selfless. She and the rest of the UNIT family are there to remind him of the goodness in humanity and that we’re always learning and trying to improve; as Three says to Azal that ‘they need a chance to grow up’. Jo is the angel on his shoulder to contrast the Master as his personal devil; right down to having her dressed in the sacrificial ‘virgin’ garb opposite the Satanic Master to cap the season off.

Three still has his sour moments after this but he’s far less cantankerous going forward and sweeter towards Jo especially, praising her bravery and learning in future, just as Jo also grows more confident in her abilities and enjoys her adventures with him. He seems far more relaxed on Earth and less desperate to get away because of the people he has around him that make it worth staying around for. Three’s morals and loyalty to humanity might not have been so firm had Jo not been there to ground him, especially with the Master constantly there almost holding out a hand to him offering freedom and excitement. Like all good companions, she saves the Doctor as much as he has to save her, in more ways than one, which she doesn’t get nearly enough credit for. And it’s what adds to the heartbreak of her eventual exit because of the effect she had on his life.

It’s just one of my favorite tropes when a character gets better and softens or becomes kinder not because they had to ‘change for someone else’ but because they were inspired by them, especially if it’s the person they underestimated the most.

#it's about found family yo #classic who meta #doctor who #third doctor #jo grant #three x jo #the master #unit era

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buddha-in-disguise · 4 years

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I haven’t had a chance to watch 5.17 again yet, but some initial thoughts.

1st things 1st, there were some sublime choices from Melissa Benoist as the Director. I have a couple of screen captures of the ones that immediately spring to mind. She definitely showed her nuanced understanding of the characters, and that really was so fantastic to see. She deserves another shot in the directors chair in S6 if she wants to (& it sounds from interviews as if it is something she’d like to have chance to do more of). Even without understanding the characters, some of the lighting & overall framing of shots were so good! From lighting to just mirroring chess board pieces. I loved it. I felt the Eve fight scene was pretty masterful.

The episode itself. Whilst it did give up a couple of twists (the most major being Lex set up Jeremiah’s death), honestly it fell pretty flat for a number of different reasons.

My biggest problem (& this isn’t new for me), is that Lex’s behaviour was entirely predictable. That all bar a couple of plot points weren’t things that the fandom haven’t already talked about in one way or another almost Ad nauseam.

A big part for me was this flashback episode leaves us with no more truly relevant details on things than before the episode began.

Lex setting up Leviathan? Knew he was going to do it, this is Lex we are talking about.

Lex manipulating Lena, especially against Kara. C’mon, you’d have to be either blind, or in denial this has been going on for months on his manipulation of Lena. Yes, she should realise he is doing it, but again, Lena (as even Mon-El mentions) is the product of her abusive family. That doesn’t simply disappear!

Eve - we knew she was back, so again no real surprise on Lex manipulating her. Again (oh and side note. If you’re going to hate on Lena for ‘killing’ people & say her manipulation by Lex doesn’t excuse her, but don’t say the same thing about Eve, who killed outright for both Leviathan and Lex, your hypocritical hatred of Lena is showing. Check yourself at the door).

Lillian. She had already admitted she wasn’t Earth 38 Lillian to Lex from the award ceremony dialogue. So again, it wasn’t a surprise.

Honestly I could keep going, but you get the picture.

With only 2 episodes left, (& even had it been a full 3 episodes as I expect them to perhaps try and extend 5.19 into a longer one, perhaps over 1.5 hours instead of the usual hour schedule), we still have no clear answers on anything. Leviathan? Nothing was added to their story, and considering they were supposed to be the big villain of S5, only Lex has been that so far. And when you have an episode that does nothing more than we saw in S4, to ‘expose’ Lex ..... news flash. We know all this about him.

What we don’t know is who leads Leviathan? Who else is part of the organisation? We practically know nothing about them.

I felt this episode would’ve been better placed after Winn’s first episode (I’ve said I felt having him over that 2 episode arc was a waste, as again that 2nd episode did absolutely nothing plot wise that couldn’t have been added in the 1st episode, & the 1st episode didn’t add a lot either! I’m not saying don’t bring Winn back, but make it relevant & not 2 filler episodes). To have it done so late in the season makes zero sense to me. It feels messy.

On to William Dey. I’m not even going to try & pretend I like the character. I absolute despise him, & not because of trying to be Kara’s LI. I despise him, because once again we had him in scenes that others should have been in, especially Alex at the beginning. She is supposedly working with J’onn, and while I get they might not want her around Lex, have her working remotely from the tower, sending that information from the video clip to J’onn and Kara. After all, she did that from the DEO. J’onn has all that computing power & I’ve yet to see it used to any full potential.

I also found it strange William just walked up to Kara & J’onn as if they’re best of buddies, but we have nothing to suggest he knows Kara is Supergirl. I hate he has that level of familiarity with them. It again feels rushed & disjointed & totally wrong for any of the characters. Failing having Alex working it, how about having Nia, who again I keep repeating, is an actual reporter, but also as Dreamer could help scout out & report back in with them all back at the Tower.

I also found the wording Lex used to Eve in regards William. "Activate William."

So activate how exactly? Sure they got him working as a journalist, but how? Through clues being sent to him? Is he under some kind of control? I can think of a host of different ways to phrase that, but activate? That sounds an awful lot like some kind of manipulation that is far more than straight forward sending William some clues is about.

And about this. William is a Nobel Prize winning Journalist, & yet not once has he been able to do anything without someone giving him the heads up! I know some journalism requires that, but constantly? If he is so good at his job, he should be finding more than dead ends. It grates like crazy.

Then he simply arrives at Kara’s with sympathy baked goodies - only to then launch into needing help over what he has found. There is a time & a place for that kind of thing. That was neither the time nor the place. I know Lex wanted to get Leviathan on board with his plan, & needed to show they were about to get Supergirl looking at them far too closely, but really? Just no. He could’ve met Kara at CatCo. Met Kelly at Obsidean. Texted or called Kara to check it was okay to drop by her apartment even. But doing so unannounced, when he knows Kara & Alex have just lost their father? It also grates.

Now onto Kelly - lovely to see her supporting Alex - and Kara - after the loss of Jeremiah. But does she know Kara is Supergirl? We still don’t know for certain! The inference in this episode is Kelly does know, as William tells them about the warehouse, then Kelly & Alex are at the tower with J’onn in the same outfits, as Supergirl lands, stating there was nothing at the warehouse. So yes, it is highly likely Kelly now knows. But how or when did she know. It’s these kind of details most fans actual want, not to have to make educated guesses on! This is a reason fans get frustrated. We were being told who used to get to know Supergirl’s identity, but now with Kelly, nothing! And people wonder why fans feel the LGBTQ characters are getting shortchanged this season. It isn’t just about lack of screen time. It’s about lack of depth of story, when previously they had people falling over themselves to show how they knew Kara was Supergirl.

Another example of this lack of depth or explanation is Brainy. Sure he is likely doing what he is because of future Brainy’s warning, but it still comes across as Brainy seemingly stupid considering his apparent intellect. We have been thrown these plot lines, but they’re then left for us to have to fill in the blanks as each episode airs, as we’re not getting them otherwise.

It is far too chaotic for my liking.

So once again my overriding sense after watching this episode is frustration. It still feels like a total mess, with no answers (& even if they give us those answers, 3 episodes - now 2 - would be nowhere near enough time to do it without rushing. It even felt rushed at times in this episode).

William continues to be an absolute waste of space, (and God do I feel sorry for Staz over this), taking perfectly good screen time away from other already established characters, who could do what he has just as easily.

The Kara and Lena push & pull is giving us nothing new! Nothing. It’s gone well past giving us angst to us having had enough. Like with Lex, they seem to have gone too far with a good thing, & now rather than enjoying it, the majority simply hate it. With a passion. I am sick to the back teeth with it. Lena deserves to finally be rid of this villain tag, & given her rightful place back with the Superfriends (after a damn sit down talk with Kara - not Supergirl - and get on some level ground for good this time). I don’t expect a miraculous friendship rebuilt in seconds, but I do want actual forward progress between them to stick. Not 1 step forward, 2 steps back. I certainly don’t want this carrying on into S6, or at least not without resolving more than this.

In all the 5 seasons I’ve watched Supergirl, I don’t think there has ever been such underlying anger or frustration on how the season has panned out, both from fans & media alike. The disconnect from the fans to the show is huge right now, & really I cannot understand how the end of S4, which was seen as a real step forward for the show, to the excitement of S5, & how it was being portrayed; to this.

I want so much to be able to sit here & write positively over the episodes generally, but too often this season I’ve not been able to do it. I feel so sorry for the cast, because I know they love the show so much, and I want nothing more than to be writing positively about it each episode, but I simply can’t do that.

So in conclusion.

Phenomenal directing by Melissa Benoist.

Complete & utter frustration & disconnect everywhere else.

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xkandy · 4 years

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Psycho Pass - timeline and why you shouldn’t hate on S3 that much

I’ve been following Psycho Pass ever since the original run of Season 1 back in 2012. I’d like to make you and everyone who disliked S3 understand some things. Hope I structure this well, here goes.

Obviously there will be some spoilers.

First let’s take a look at the releases in the PP universe so far. We have:

Season 1

Season 2

Movie

Sinners of The System 1,2,3 (2 being a prequel)

Season 3

First Inspector

Before I write anything I’m going to stop you and say that nothing tops Season 1. So there,now that we have that out of the way let’s continue.

Season 1

Takes place in late 2112-2113

Central characters are Akane and Kogami and let’s face it, for many Kogami is the one who carried the show, even if some consider him to be a “generic edgy” protagonist I think he’s pretty solid as a character at this point.

Akane has had MAJOR character development throughout the whole season and I’ll never forget how upset some people were that she was a noob. That was the whole point, she is a newbie and a model citizen who trusts the system, her character evolution revolves around coming to the realization that the system is flawed.

Makishima as a villain was phenomenal and not because quoting from books , but because his motives and reasoning were clearly established and he made both protagonists question themselves and the system.

Season 1 is written by Gen Urobuchi , the following seasons (except the movie) are not written by him.

Season 2

Takes place in 2114.

A trainwreck, don’t even want to go here. The disappointment was huge.

I found Mika to be extremely annoying and unbearable with 0 character growth. The only highlights for this season for me were Gino and Akane.

Onwards.

The Movie

Takes place 3 years after the events of Season 1, in 2116.

Nothing of major impact happens but if you love the old cast , namely Gino, Akane, Kogami you’ll enjoy this and I have a feeling this is what they were betting on and wanted to see: the public reaction to the old cast.

The interaction between Akane and Kogami is the highlight (another one being Gino vs Kogami).

It’s clear as day that Akane evolved as a character and Kogami is questioning his past, so let’s say some minor character development.

Sinners of the System

If you enjoy the universe and aren’t too attached to the main cast you will like these, although case 3 is about Kogami so I’m sure it’s the one most people will like.

Case 1 has some minor Mika character development (she still sucks imho)

Case 2 is a prequel that sets up some details about the storyline that will be the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Case 3 is the one you’ll want to watch if you want to see S3/First Inspector as it revolves around Kogami and him coming to terms with his thoughts when he is asked by a young girl to train her as he sees in her a version of himself and where this will lead (girl seeks revenge) .

His story arc regarding Sasayama’s death, revenge, Makishima is complete, it ends here as he decides to head back to Japan.

This triggers the potential for the future series/movies in the Psycho Pass universe to deal with the (possible) unresolved storyline of dealing with Akane once he gets back to Japan, because he will have to face her at one point.

So after Case 3 Kogami is already a complete character , there is no strong conflict or drive for him as the one which had driven the plot of season 1.

We already know everything about him.

Let me jump back to Gino for a brief moment, his first arc concluded when his father died and he became an enforcer, his current arc might be related to what I’ll get to in a second.

Season 3

Alright so here we are,a new season nobody was expecting and 2 new protagonists we expected even less.

Taking place in 2120 , 8 years after the events of Season 1 it follows Arata and Kei in their own CID adventures.

The tone of the series is vastly different from both S1 and S2, most notably :

it feels like those friendly buddy cop TV shows

the violence is greatly reduced, no more “shock value”

the side characters aren’t invested into, they’re just there for being there and plot devices (they’re alright, the new enforcers get some characterization but it’s not season 1 level)

Arata’s “skill” - if you think about it as high level empathy it’s gonna feel less dumb

Being new protagonists, the writers had to make sure we get to like them by offering us details about their past and what drives their motives, I’d say they did an ok job at that.

There’s no room for comparison to Akane and Kogami, those 2 are already established characters who have resolved story arcs and suffered changes.

Keep in mind Akane is 28 now and Kogami is 36, whereas the new protagonists are in their early 20s. They have time for character evolution, it’s easier to write new characters into the universe than deal with established ones such as Akane and Kogami.

Also, we see Kou visiting Akane while she’s in jail, her not being surprised means this may have happened before, which leads to further questions in the storylines that will definitely be explored in the new PP installments to follow:

Details on the incident which caused her to be in jail

What happened when Kogami returned to Japan and how the Sibyl system dealt with this

Kou reuniting with Ginoza, since both work for the hot blonde now

etc, you get the idea

First Inspector

It’s actually not that bad, I’m not going to spoil anything (well...not everything) but I suggest giving it a chance. If you don’t want to watch S3 just read about it and watch this, the most important things to take are from episode 3′s last scenes

Akane is released AS AN ENFORCER by Sibyl and will help Mika

Kogami is sent to get her, there will definitely be a recap between these two

Arata and Kei both have secrets regarding the case they worked on, not gonna spoil anything

Yayoi is alive, and will live with Shion. Just puttin this out there since they’re everyone’s favorite lesbians

Mika is still shit.

Gino is still based as fuck

Also, there is a post credits scene with Akane saying something along the lines of “ let’s talk about the incident that got me jailed “ . This was only in the theatrical release so you can bet your ass we’re getting more PP in the future.

Thoughts

Lastly, what everyone needs to understand is that S1 made PsychoPass become a franchise. A franchise revolves around different characters in the same universe, sometimes the focus is on the OGs , but sometimes it isn’t.

I would like to note here that Gen Urobuchi is responsible for Season 1 (you know, the dude who wrote Madoka and other stuff like that...) and he did a great job writing a compelling story. Did he want PP to turn into a franchise? This I do not know and I have a feeling this might explain his absence from the later installments of the series.

He wrote a complete story in 22 episodes which could have been left at that but seeing how well received the first season was it spawned a franchise.

What I want to say is please give Arata and Kei a chance (S3 protags) . They’re not that bad and they help the franchise stay alive as it seems they were pretty well received in Japan. Would you rather Mika be the main character again?! HELL NO

Now I love the main trio - Akane,Kou,Gino - as much as everyone but at this point they’re so high level it’d be hard to write a series just about them. Make one wrong move and the fanbase will hate you.

Also, this one is for all you Kogami x Akane shippers, I view their relationship as professional only but I’ll be damned if I didn’t scream at those 2 short scenes these 2 had in S3 and FI .Can’t wait to see the interactions between grown up Akane and seasoned peace-of-mind Kogami.

If you’re still here thanks for reading my rant, hope I made sense.

edited to add some stuff

#psychopass #psycho pass #psycho pass sinners of the system #psycho pass season 3 #psycho pass s3 #psycho pass spoilers #anime #rant #akane tsunemori #kogami shinya #ginoza nobuchika #mika shimotsuki #shion karanomori #anime rewatch

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littlepenguin21 · 3 years

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My notes/complaints/hope? on the end of SPN

(This was written the night of November 19th) My list of grievances against the last episode of Supernatural 1. There is absolutely no way on Jack's green earth Sam didn't look for Dean. When Sam got a dog and didn't look for him, Dean was so angry and sad that I refuse to believe Sam wouldn't at least try to bring him back, especially since Sam had no way of knowing a)where Dean went (Dean was even a little surprised to see he was in Heaven), b)about Heaven's reform, or c)whether that was what Dean truly wanted (he's lied before, remember?) It almost makes Sam look like a bad guy who just doesn't care about his brother as much his brother cares about him. I will acknowledge Dean's final wish was to not be brought back, but I still think Sam would've like investigated the afterlives to see where Dean ended up.

2. Cas's sacrifice was completely meaningless. Cas was always happy to bleed for the Winchesters, but his final time hit the hardest because he wanted Dean to lived so much that he admitted to happiness and caused his own death to save Dean. And then Dean dies. Like three weeks later.

3. Dean, the greatest hunter in the world, the man who killed Hitler gets impaled on a piece of metal and thinks, "yeah, this is how I wanna go out." There's no way that that's an outcome that Dean would've accepted so easily. Being killed in a vampire's nest that they already half wiped out. He could've prayed to Jack, or taken his chances getting to a hospital. His death had no purpose, other than to forced Sam to move on without Dean.

4. Why didn't Jack bring Dean back? I get that he wants to be hands-off, but he brought Cas back, and if I know anything about Cas, he wouldn't want Dean dead/separated from Sam. I'm going to choose to believe that Cas, Jack, and Dean sat down together and discussed the pros and cons of bringing Dean back.

5. The dog died. We didn't see it happen, but it did.

6. Only Bobby is seen. If they're in Heaven, and almost everyone (I see you Kevin, living your best afterlife) Dean knew and loved is there, why doesn't he go see them? All the people he couldn't save or that he couldn't say goodbye to, and he just leaves it at that? What about Ellen and Jo, Dean? You're not even going to check on them? Pamela? Jess? No one?

7. Dean rides alone in the car. Even though his best friend, his son (Jack, not Ben or someone), his mom, his other friends, and both his dads are in Heaven (and closeby), why doesn't he take any of them along for the ride? Sam gets to raise a family, but Dean can't have a road trip buddy? Even if the Covid restrictions and stuff didn't allow Misha or Alex or another guest to come back on set, you'd think they could've put a body double for Cas (or whoever) in the seat for a couple of minutes. It just makes Dean's life seem less important than Sam's because Dean has to wait for Sammy, while Sam's free to hang out with others and socialize. Even if time works differently in Heaven or something (like 40 years on earth was only 2 minutes in Heaven), Dean could've found somebody to tag along instead of just being a loner.

8. Sam's wife isn't established to be Eileen. If Sam had like signed to her in ASL or something, or we could've had some clue as to her identity, that would have been wonderful. Instead, she was just a nameless means to an end (getting Dean II).

9. The beginning of the ep establishes that there are very few monster cases. So, does that mean Sam gave up hunting? Apparently not because his son has an anti-possession sigil tattooed on his arm (even though with Rowena in charge, those tattoos are super unnecessary). Sam hunting could've been another moment that would've been okay to see.

10. The ep had a noticeable lack of inside jokes. Normally tuning into a series finale means you're going to hear callbacks to other episodes and be able to reminisce on the past. Besides the pie part, I don't think there was much of that. No jerk, no bitch. Did Bobby even say Idjit?!?!

11. For an episode that supposedly was written to resolve their family arc, the boys were barely together, and their created family was almost nonexistent (other than Bobby and his mentioning of Cas and Jack).

12. The show forced family to end with blood. Dean drove off to wait for his biological brother, while leaving Bobby (and apparently Cas) behind. Sam, on the other hand, marries, has a kid, and lives a full life, but too doesn't have his family network outside of his nuclear family. There are many living friends that Sam has that we don't see him visit because all the time is spent on his raising of his son so that his death can parallel Dean's (someone the care about tells them it's ok).

13. Jared doesn't really look old.

14. During his death, Dean wouldn’t have wanted to Sam to be left alone. They were in a vamp’s nest, and Dean just decides that he’s gonna allow himself to die with no guarantee that Sammy is safe. There’s no way Dean would do this.

15. Gay love didn't pierce through the veil of death and save the day. Instead, Dean died and we all got was a lousy existential crisis. DISCLAIMER: I'm only writing about what happened in the ep, not what could have happened. Like, Sam could've had dinner with Jody and the girls every weekend and Dean could've made out with Cas offscreen, and I would be non the wiser. I'm going off of what I saw and heard in the episode. This was written on the 20th 15. Dean died young.

16. The forehead thing was a little weird, ngl

17. Sam didn’t even try to pray when Dean was dying. Did he believe that Jack just wouldn’t listen? His dad was dying, there’s no way he would’ve left him to die. And Sam would’ve tried anything. Why did he think their (Cas, Dean, and Sam’s) son wouldn’t want to help?

18. Sam burned Dean’s body by himself. No friends.

19. Chuck got to live his life, while Dean didn’t.

Pros, I guess? 1. Sam does get a dog.

2. Dean really wasn't okay. He wasn’t coping well with Cas’s death and Jack’s leaving. That’s the only explanation for why he’d be willing to die. He was depressed, or at least hopeless.

3. They're all together at the end, even thought it isn't shown. And by all, I mean all: Jack, Cas, Bobby, Rufus, hopefully Ellen and Jo...

4. Dean likes Kansas

5. Dean finally got a kid named after him.

6. The Hunter Corp. Sam and Dean are somewhere, living their best lives.

7. The movie is possibly happening in 5 years

#spn #supernatural #destiel #spnfamily #spn 15x20 #15x20 #dean #dean winchester #sam #sam winchester #castiel #cass #cas #jack #jack kline #i may come back and add more later

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sinceyouaskedme · 4 years

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Thoughts on The College Tapes, episode 11:

I’m thinking about framing devices as character building, and about how when Joan and Ellie and Owen all used voice memos it established them as people with shared habits and thus shared history, and as people who were deeply self-reflective but also as people who were deeply alone. Man, that was such good, clean storytelling. This echo montage as Caleb runs is….not. It’s different! It’s experimental! Points for trying something new, but it really didn’t land for me.

I think romance is typically a genre with very slow stories, and I think Caleb is a difficult person to build a slow story around because he never does anything slowly, and I think that’s part of why the Adam/Caleb arc in this show is paced so fucking weirdly.

One of the questions I keep chewing at is - why, precisely, is it so difficult for me to care about Oliver as a character? This scene where he treated Caleb as a lab rat got me thinking about Joan doing similarly with her patients in early TBS, which I really enjoyed. It worked for me because her grey morality felt very authentic, and I could always see how it aligned directly either with her stated goal (saving Mark) or with her personality (getting easily caught up in excitement and scientific curiosity). In contrast, I have no idea what Oliver’s goals are (Fixing the book? He doesn’t even know what it does. Fixing his ability? I still don’t understand what part of it is supposed to be broken.) and I don’t like any part of his personality.

There’s a kernel of a meta that I would write here if I were caught up with the episodes, re: character wants vs. character needs, and why no one in this show is undergoing significant development.

Caleb’s angst over not knowing if Adam’s feelings are organic or if Caleb’s just projecting emotions and then reading a mirror of himself is so boring. Oh my god, dude, just stand 33 feet away from Adam and then throw a paper airplane at him that says “Do you want to be my boyfriend? Check yes or no” and then TRUST WHATEVER HE SAYS TO YOU.

The WORST thing about time loop stories is the predestination aspect. I hate everything about it. “I guess we should do this thing now because we know from the past the we’ll do it in the future” fuck off with that. Let your characters face uncertainty, and let them make choices, and let them see consequences.

“SFX: powers powers powers”

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Caitlin gets to know about Atypicals! Adam sounded so barely-contained-excited when Caleb gave him permission to tell her, they’re all so cute, and now Adam and Caitlin get to be geeky muggle buddies, I love that for them!!!!! 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰

I also low-key love that Adam stuck with the synesthesia thing and never mentioned it to Caleb lmao? I hope this has been a private running joke that Adam has had with himself for four years where anytime he introduces Caleb to someone and that person was like “hey your boyfriend’s kind of weird?” he was just like “yes, he has synesthesia, which is a totally real and documented kind of weird and definitely not a superpower.”

#the college tapes #the college tapes spoilers #m

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magnumdays · 4 years

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The Episode of Lost Opportunities AKA 2x16

SO I wrote this before watching the promo, then I did and now I know most of us are just FREAKING out about next week (and I’m freaking out the most because ummm they’remakingmyfanficintoanactual EPISODE!!! How does one deal with this????) but if you want a break from freaking out, here are some thoughts on last night’s episode!

So even though 2x16 was perfectly enjoyable, I’m going to have to officially re-name it “The Episode of Lost Opportunities” because there were so many plots and just tid-bits they could have done great things with.

So yeah not really a review today, instead I’m going to (in true Jenny Nicholson fashion) make a numbered list of things I think they should have added /done something with, in no particular order.

Miss nr. 1. Not having Higgy tease Magnum back with British pet names. I’m honestly devastated by this. Like what would a little sarcastic “come on luv” or a “Dearie, come here” from Juliet have cost them? The closest we got was Babe take our selfie.

Nr. 2. Not having Mr. Dorky Helpful But Cute guy ask Higgy out. I really thought this was where it was going with him being all “it’s just our second date, we met online” and yeah even though he looked about 12, it would have fit the episode.

Plus they could have had Magnum standing to the side gesturing like “go for it” and her either saying yes or no and later her and Magnum having a little chat about it. The Yes with him being all “I convinced you to do it” proud and also mildly jealous. The No, with her being all “he’s a suspect” or “he went on a love bus tour!” or “I’m not ready, bc of the dead fiance, remember him?”

Nr. 3. Which takes us neatly to - drowned guy should be bringing up some feelings for Juliet as I’m fairly certain back in Day of The Viper they mention something about how Richard washed up on the shores of something-something (I mean obvs he was shot before but I’d still imagine some associations there).

Also her own almost drowning in 1x19 (even if this episode’s dude wasn’t drowned, it did seem so at first and he was still in the water). I just feel maybe there could have been some feelings here that our favorite duo actually talked about. Just a nice little call back to either one of those would have been great. One line! Is that too much to ask for?

Nr. 4 on the list of missed opportunities is for me going to be Theresa (Teresa?). TC’s old flame. And this is a big one!

I honestly would have loved it if they went with this - as in have him not be so damned noble and let the childhood sweetheart go. Like, why not have them actually try to make a go at it?

Maybe she could have been there with just her boyfriend rather than husband to make it less of a thing and then maybe give it an episode or two and have them talk over the internet before she comes back and they get back together! Because why can’t anyone have a girlfriend? Like why do all of the guys need to be such lone wolves?

I mean, I get it, because they are a family/brothers, but having even just one more minor female recurring would be interesting and would add dimension to the gang and characters!

Now this is like one of those random side plots that don’t really do much because in the end nothing has changed. Other than us learning a little more about TC, which is nice, but it doesn't seem like it will actually impact future episodes and didn’t really connect a whole lot with the episode. TC is just off getting closure to a relationship we never knew he needed closure for. Which means we’re not super invested.

I feel like this is a bit of a problem with the show in general. We get really nice and moving and character developing stuff for characters we haven’t been shown to need, as with Kumu last week and now TC. Rick and his dying “dad” Ice-Pick and even Shammie with his lying army buddy. Even Gordon and his son. Jin and his sisters and that’s why he steals.

These things could all have had 100 times more impact if they’d established these problems/ relationships earlier. Like if we had learned Kumu's husband had cheated on her and had a child with another woman (or maybe that Kumu is a bit sad she never had kids on her own) sometime before - over the past 30 episodes, wouldn’t last week’s episode, where she finally reaches out to the husband’s kid, would have been so much more emotionally satisfying?

Same if Theresa had been mentioned as TC’s great love and maybe him being sad some episodes ago (or even back in 1x19 when his dad doesn't come to visit - that could have been about him seeing a post about her getting married and him being upset about it and connecting with Rick about that.)

Like I get that maybe sometimes they just throw random things in there but at the same time why do they need to do that? Want to do that? Isn’t there someone keeping track of the big picture? Giving characters long running story arcs over a season or even multiple ones should be someone’s job.

If it’s not, I volunteer!

Seriously Lenkov I’m currently unemployed and totally up for it, just give me a call! I already know we think the same... (Marriage of Inconvenience).

Nr. 5 Not having Gordon comment something on the fact that he’s been called to a murder scene on a Island Love tour bus site by his favorite PI duo. Like yeah they’d have told him why they were there but he still should have teased them about it! Like “What were you two doing here anyways? Something going on?” and both of them giving a horrified “NO!”.

Nr. 6 when the guy says “is he crazy?” after Magnum jumped into the waterfall pool thing, not having Higgy be all “Yes, he is”, then jumping in after him, was a huge miss. That would have been so funny and shown how much alike they are (even if Higgy will always be the sane one...)

Nr. 7. Not having Magnum and Higgins try to pretend to be together when the bus driver catches them. I mean come on! At least some more hand holding! Snuggling? I’m not saying to just kiss already okay maybe I am saying that.

Nr. 8. Not one real Miggy moment in this episode? I mean lots of bickering and maybe for a moment with her being all “well done” when he tells the cheating a-hole he’s an idiot for having an affair. And if the camera had stayed on him for a few seconds more when they’re toasting at the end we know we’d have gotten a Mangum looks had Higgy soft heart eyes moment. But we didn’t. But other than that, not really much feel-y moments even if we got plenty of cute stuff.

Nr. 9. Sandy and how they find out Sandy is the killer! Like what? She cut the bus’s fuel line which makes no sense, she’d wouldn’t want to trap herself right? Sandy if you’d just not cut the fuel line and stayed with the group, you’d have been taken back to civilization and no one would have figured you out! Or you should have left right away on car/4-wheeler you must have prepared for escape, not stayed around! You could have left down long before the cops got there or the autopsy revealed anything. Same for why does she give her knife to her date? Why not just throw the knife away? She’s in the jungle, big chance it will be found. Not.

And why kill someone in the middle of nowhere, making yourself one of the, like, 8 suspects? Like come on girl, for a hit woman you’re not that clever. Also if you had a gun, why strangle a guy 2x your size? That’s not a smart plan either. Just get a silencer and shoot the guy when he’s on his morning jog back in the city or something! I feel like the only reason they had her be the baddie was so Magnum/ Higgins could say “Shot through the heart” // “How is that for poetic” all dramatically after Gordon took her down.

Problem nr. 10. Tied in with this I just think Sandy as the killer should have not happened.

In fact, I think having the sweet loving wife as the killer would have been wonderful.

It would have been a much better twist! Dead guy could have been poisoned (traditional how wive’s kill their husbands… just saying) and then he fell off the cliff. They could surely have found some weird clue to that, like maybe his throat is all swollen and stuff to make them think foul play and then when they’re moving the body towards the end, Magnum realizes it’s poison.

But Higgy stayed back with the ‘grieving’ asthmatic widow and oh no! Must rush back to save my one true love platonic partner.

We could have had some sort emotional moment where the Wife got Higgy with a knife at her throat and is all “He was supposed to be my best friend, my partner, my everything and he did X” and Magnum being all “Well that woman you’re holding a knife to is my (best) friend, my partner and she didn’t do anything so please put the knife down!” Or something.

I mean I know that sounds like I’m off in Miggy fanfiction land but honestly I think they could have made it work (this is hilarious when re-reading after watching next weeks trailer). She could have teased him about the best friend bit but then she could have been all soft, “Thomas. Thank you. I’m glad you're my friend.” And the episode could have ended with how love just never seems to end well for anyone which would have been way more on theme for the vibes in this episode (and frankly whole show because no one gets to have a romantic relationship for more than, like, 3 episodes).

Nr. 11. Higgins hair. Not putting it in the fluffy “Blood In the Water” style was a big miss because that hair made her look so freaking adorable. Just saying. I mean both my babies are always adorable I just love the poofy fluff hair from that ep!

Anyways, those were my 11 missed opportunities for episode sixteen!

My fave bits were Magnum and Higgins fake couple thing at the start. Magnum being all like “While we’re up here we might as well take a selfie!” and then when talking to the old couple his, *I’m just gonna keep my hand here, on your waist! I’m real smooth* move.

I enjoyed the fast action pack-ed-ness of the whole ep and the pretty Hawaii scenery we got. The more I watch Magnum PI the more I want to visit Hawaii (one day when there is no Corona, I’m much richer and 20h airplane rides are suddenly comfortable, I will!) and just enjoying all the amazing natural beauty and stuff.

The Rick and TC’s interactions were also highlights, I loved the whole “just pretend to walk by”. Like so middle-school yet so relatable because who hasn’t done that when we’re like, is that Lisa from second grade? And just we walked down the cat food aisle perusing cat food (when we most def. don’t have a cat), just to check if it is indeed Lisa.

Also this made me crack up so hard.

Magnum: Muffin?

Higgy: Could you please not refer to me as a breakfast pastry.

That’s just so on point for Higgy I can’t even!

You guys agree with my missed opportunities? Or have any of your own for this or any other episodes?

______

(And who is desperately searching for a time machine to steal so it can be next week - right this minute!! LIKE!!! I’m still freaking out from the trailer.)

#Magnum pi #miggy #magnum pi 2018 #thomas mangum #juliet higgins #magnum pi season 2 #magnum higgins #so much potential

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bandsanitizer · 5 years

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After 3x05, specifically The Market Scene™️, I’m pretty convinced that Buddie is going to happen and I don’t just mean it from a “Eddie misses Buck” perspective.

(Under the cut because it’s a long post.)

With the first valid reason toxic masculinity just ain’t it for Eddie’s anger towards Buck being “Christopher misses you”, it is established that Eddie sees Buck as responsible for Christopher to some degree. Whether this is conscious or not, the statement implies that Buck’s important to Christopher’s well-being AND Buck should be/is aware of that.

This isn’t a statement of, “Hey can you visit Christopher?” It’s one that implicitly questions why Buck would do something that causes Christopher to feel that way. The whole argument, in fact, is over why Buck would follow through with the lawsuit, given the consequences. It says that Buck should known better. It says that Buck should’ve thought more— Thought more about Christopher.

There is canon evidence of Eddie holding resentment towards 2 people when it comes to the treatment, and lack of communication and involvement with Christopher, prior to the episode.

Who? Shannon and himself, aka Christopher’s two parents.

Eddie expresses, maybe more implies, regrets towards being deployed after Christopher’s birth, in the Christmas episode. He also showcases resentment towards the fact that Shannon left, mainly in terms of her leaving and not contacting Christopher.

And look what we have here: Evan ‘Buck’ Buckley leaving Christopher behind and cutting off contact with him and Eddie.

“Oh, but Buck’s not his parent.”

Here’s the thing, though. For all that canon dynamics and dialogue implies, Buck is a parental figure in Christopher’s life and Eddie sees that.

I lack specifics of canon moments, but Buck is with Eddie to pick-up Christopher in several accounts. Eddie seems initially pretty trusting of Buck’s recommendation of Carla because it’s Buck. Buck coming along for Santa pictures. Eddie has Buck watch Christopher, despite Buck being in a not-so-good mental state, which implicates a trust that Buck will put Christopher first, enough to get out of his head.

Y’know the whole debate of whether or not Buck has stuff to do when Eddie gets him out of bed at the beginning of the season? That is followed up with Christopher hanging out with Buck and Eddie needing someone to watch Christopher. While never explicitly stated, watching Christopher is the thing that Buck is getting up to do. Eddie couldn’t have possibly been sure that Buck would be ready/up for it. Thus, it showcases Eddie’s trust that Buck will be able to put the stuff behind him for the sake of being a good caretaker of Christopher while Eddie cannot.

This trust is, then, explicitly stated at the end of 3x03. The whole “there’s no one in this world i trust more with my son than you”.

That’s not shit you just tell your friend and parents are, often, not people to use their kids flippantly. This isn’t something that Eddie would just say for the sake of cheering up Buck. That’s not the kind of parent Eddie is. It’s something that Eddie truly feels. There’s a trust with Christopher that Eddie has with Buck that’s unlike the trust he places in anyone else.

It’s the trust that Buck is going to protect Christopher, that Buck is going to put Christopher first, and that Buck would do whatever it takes to ensure Christopher’s safety. It’s implied by the conversation happening when it does, after Buck, hurt and injured, out there searching for Christopher the moment he lost him in the tsunami. Eddie expressing his trust then, having Buck, again watch Christopher partially for Buck’s own mental health, and Eddie thanking Buck for not giving up, showcases that Eddie truly believes that Buck will put Christopher first.

Which is an extremely parental trait, emphasized by the way that Eddie puts Christopher first. It’s also a trait that is usually one of, if not the, most important traits in a single parent’s potential S/O. They have to be able to understand that their child and their child’s well-being comes first. So Buck, displaying that, makes him the front-runner for potential romantic interest for Eddie, at least from a writing perspective.

And this trust Eddie has in Buck, is what leads to Eddie’s anger and frustration.

We’ve basically only seen Eddie angry once prior to the market fight, and that’s when he beats up a guy for insulting Christopher. Yes, it’s initially about the parking space, but for the most part, it’s not extremely heated and more of “I’m sick of people like this”, until Christopher is involved. It establishes pretty solid grounds of what truly makes Eddie snap.

Now fastforward to the market scene and guess what most of Eddie’s anger at Buck centers around? The inability for Eddie to depend on Buck for Christopher’s best-interest. Not in the sense that Buck has other responsibilities, but the implication the conscious choice of the lawsuit has in terms of Buck not caring or not prioritizing Christopher enough. Eddie is angry because all that trust he put in Buck to put Christopher first, to be good for Christopher? It’s been betrayed

If Buck cannot think about how his actions affect Christopher, then Eddie cannot trust Buck with Christopher. Which, again, as friends it’s not the end of the world. It’s not the kind of responsibility you expect from a friend.

However, it’s one you’d expect from an S/O or parental figure, or at least someone trying to be. While it’s Eddie being protective of Christopher, it also speaks volumes of how Eddie views Buck. Eddie pushes for Buck to see how self-centered he’s being. Eddie is arguing for the fact that Buck needs to see the repercussions this has on people other than himself, mainly Christopher. It’s pushing for responsibility and, in regards to Christopher, a more parental view.

Eddie likely wouldn’t push it if he hadn’t initially expected more from Buck—expected Buck to not be so self-centric as to forego thinking how it would impact Christopher. Eddie brings up Christopher, not just because Eddie is Christopher’s dad, but because Eddie knows that Buck gives a shit. Eddie knows that despite Buck’s choices, saying that is going to hurt Buck and make him rethink what he’s done.

It’s grounds for Buck reassessing his choices and ability to put Christopher first, or at least have concern towards his best-interests. It’s also an insight into Eddie’s dependence upon Buck in a way that showcases that Eddie sees Buck as a parental figure in Christopher’s life.

Which, again, romance isn’t necessary, but the effort to achieve said dynamic would be wasted if there wasn’t a relationship pursued here. Additionally, Buck’s guilt and the bringing up of Christopher lays grounds for a resolutory scene between Christopher and Buck, and Buck and Eddie.

In the same way that Eddie wouldn’t have brought up Christopher if he didn’t have expectations for Buck, there’s no reason for Buck to have responded as he did, if the show wasn’t at least going to give a resolving scene.

Buck’s immediate guilt and suggestion to see Christopher, lawsuit be damned, is grounds to show that Buck hurting/foregoing to think about how it would affect Christopher was not intentional. It actually, is something closer to Buck not having realised that this would affect Christopher this way. It’s a way of establishing that, no Eddie is wrong, Buck does care about Christopher. It’s a very desperate call to save what trust Eddie has left with Buck and for Buck to reestablish any sort of presence in Christopher’s life.

It’s very much akin to the major conflicts in romantic plots with single parents in any media. There’s the initial lack of trust, the establishment of trust, an unintentional but damning breaking of said trust, the talk about what the trust implies, and the slow rebuilding of said trust.

Buck, if written true to his character, will fight for a moment to apologize and fix his relationship with Christopher. This will reestablish trust there. As for with Eddie, given Buck asks about him at the end of the episode, there’s some basis for Buck having a major role in helping Eddie’s whole rage arc. Especially, given that Eddie was the one to help Buck at the beginning of the season with his own mental struggles. This will, then, allow for talking and for the reestablishment of trust between Eddie and Buck.

That last part is mostly hypothetical, but this show, I’d say, is pretty good with foreshadowing and manipulation of trailers, and following through with plots. As such, given the effort they’ve put into building the dynamics between Eddie, Buck, and Christopher, along with the subsequent but quick change in said relationship in the past episode, the ground for the development of Buddie into a canon romantic relationship is there.

While neither Buck nor Eddie are necessarily in the place to have the introduction of a new romantic interest, this entire conflict would need to end with a tattered relationship in order for any character to be established as a love interest for Eddie that surpasses Buck, literally the person Eddie trusts with Christopher the most. This would take a while, or some miracle, to establish, but would be necessary because that’s an incredibly necessary trait for single-parent potential partners. They have to be the best for the kid. Whoever Eddie does end up with needs to be the best person to and for Christopher.

And despite everything, it’s still Buck. It’s still Buck because, as said previously, Buck’s initial reaction to Eddie’s reasoning is guilt, and to see Christopher and make things right. This is the only immediate action to resolve things that Buck’s has in regards to anyone hurt by his lawsuit. Granted, Christopher is a kid and not the 118, but the fact stands.

There’s too much preestablished, too much implied, and too much effort put into Eddie, Buck, and Christopher’s relationship for the writers to pursue anything different. Like it would be poor follow-through/planning to randomly establish a love interest for either character at this point.

Eddie’s view of Buck as a parental figure to Christopher, along with the Buck’s responsibility in concerns to Christopher that Buck’s guilt implies (along with the tsunami plot), makes for a basis of potential Buddie. One that might not happen by mid-season 3, but definitely possible, and very very likely.

There’s so much established dynamic and complexity there, that I believe Buddie has a good basis after the episode, and honestly the show would be terrible writers, writers with inability to cohesively develop plots, if Buddie didn’t become canon.

#does it make sense? idk #i rambled #its not as coherent as I wanted but maybe people will still get it #this is what exams season does to my brain #eddie diaz #evan buckley #buddie #christopher diaz #911 fox #911 spoilers #since we’re all hopping on the ‘this is either going to be canon or i might actually sue’

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novantinuum · 5 years

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SU movie predictions

Okay, we may not have a trailer yet to go off of but trying to predict things is fun. (And it’ll be funny looking back later and seeing how epically wrong I was lol)

So my predictions of what I think is realistically plausible to happen:

A Gem actually gets physically shattered/we learn what actually happens to Gems who are shattered

Okay, so this may be a little edgy but hear me out... this movie is 90 minutes. And it’s a movie. Some serious chaos gon’ have to go down to fill the time here. It wouldn’t surprise me to see the Crystal Gems caught in a more perilous situation than usual.

There’s been a lot of theories over the years that shattered Gems are actually still conscious. I think we might gain some more info on that.

I genuinely doubt it’ll be a big character. Prob a one-off character. If anything, just a scenario where the villain is showing the audience that she’s not here to play games.

There are at least three songs.

Change Your Mind had three and it was only 45 minutes. With double the length, how many more might we see?

My bets are on Steven having at least one, an ensemble song, and p e r h a p s a bad guy song.

Steven and Connie get a relationship upgrade.

These two have such a close bond, and are so obviously smitten with each other that I’m kinda surprised it hasn’t happened already. But what better time for even further development for them than a movie?

There’s definitely gonna be a fusion.

I’ll be surprised if I don’t see some past fusion encores.

And what about new fusions? So many possibilities!

It will be set post Change Your Mind.

I genuinely don’t see the storytelling purpose of setting it before Change Your Mind, so I will be surprised if this movie isn’t set in between CYM and s6.

I am, however, still unsure whether I think the plot events in the movie will be relevant to the wider arc, or a standalone threat.

The movie reveals a fairly significant remodeling to Steven’s house.

We know Bismuth repaired it while everyone else was on Homeworld, but we still haven’t seen the inside yet.

Perhaps there will be more doors in the Temple now, for the newest official Crystal Gems!

The villain actually isn’t ‘Red Diamond’ or related to the diamonds at all.

While those theories are pretty cool sounding, I’m beginning to doubt that we’re going to be dealing with more diamonds after having pretty much half of season 5 dedicated to rooting out the mysteries with the Great Diamond Authority. At this point, what the show needs is to stretch its wings into the greater ‘universe,’ and what better way of doing that than to introduce an entirely new Gem type? Or, heck- even an entirely new species. Let’s go hog wild.

Rose’s chest in Lion’s mane will have some relevance to the plot.

That chest is still a mystery, and I suspect it’ll be coming up very soon because Steven brought attention to it in late season 4. They started teasing the concept of Steven’s gem being removed in late season 3, and that came to fruition in CYM so... I think we’re coming up on some big answers soon.

At least Garnet and Peridot will be poofed.

Perhaps more characters will be, as well.

Basically, I have a feeling that the really wild visors these two got in CYM were more designed exclusively with that episode in mind, as momentous as it was. They were fun visors, meant to represent everyone’s unity as a Crystal Gem at that moment. I predict that future regenerations of these two will have mostly similar outfits, but with toned down visors.

We see multiple new Gem locations.

Self explanatory, really. I’ll be surprised if we don’t.

By the end of the movie, Steven finally goes through a well-deserved growth spurt and looks his age again. (Like an actual 14 1/2 year old.)

This whole show is about his coming of age. We’ve seen his emotional coming of age. We’re yet to witness his physical coming of age. Like buddy, you still look like an eight year old. XD

And logistically, when it comes to CN advertisement... featuring such a significant character design change (if it ever does happen) within a Big Event TV Movie as opposed to a regular episode would be a wise move. That way, more people are likely to watch it and know what’s going on later when they see that Steven Universe’s title character looks quite different now.

Steven and Co. use his leg ship to travel through space at some point.

The kid has his own spaceship now. The whole galaxy is now his oyster! We’re finally putting the Universe into Steven Universe! I do hope that’s a plot point they utilize well...

The Diamonds feature, and we get a glimpse into how Homeworld is faring post CYM.

Could be part of inciting incidents. Perhaps the villain is someone resisting changes there on Homeworld.

The plot is no longer restricted to just Steven’s perspective.

Rebecca Sugar said in the last episode of the SU podcast that the show, as it continues from here, would be quite different from s1-5, because the story s1-5 was telling is done. That story is, of course, Steven’s coming of age. We saw everything from his point of view, because it was his story.

Thus, I’m predicting that from here on out, it’s not just his story... it’s the Crystal Gems’ story. Perhaps there will even be episodes in the far off future that don’t involve Steven at all- focusing on other Gems or humans instead.

BUT as far as the movie is concerned...

Normally in s1-5 every scene had to be either: something Steven personally experienced himself or within a fusion, a story that a character was telling to Steven, or some interaction Steven overhears/eavesdrops on. I think it’s likely that this rule will be lifted from here on out. Which means, we could see a conversation between, say, Garnet and Pearl that Steven is nowhere around to see. Sky’s the limits.

And some absolute spitballing that really doesn’t have much “evidence” or plausibility on happening, but that I’d think would be pretty cool anyways:

We see Rose’s last moments/Steven’s birth.

If they were ever to flashback to this, now would be the time.

Could be an interesting way to quickly establish Steven’s hybrid nature for any new viewers.

Another human/Gem hybrid exists.

And Steven meets them and takes them under his wing.

This could perhaps be linked to his physical coming of age. Perhaps the thought of this new responsibility... of watching over/helping show the ropes to someone... is what moves him to finally grow up. Shifts his mentality a little older.

#su #steven universe #su theory #su movie #steven universe the movie #my post stuff #there we go an exhaustive list of my predictions

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fukasenanairo · 5 years

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SAO Natalie Comic Shimazaki Nobunaga/Kawahara Reki Translation

(Late) Happy birthday Eugeo! It seems I’m destined to never be free from this hellhole. Putting this here because Tumblr is at least good with formatting and long text. Part 2+3 will be done whenever I have time, though at least I’m like a third of the way into part 2. I did all of them because I’m stupid.

Link to original interview

To Kirito, Eugeo is his very first and last male best friend.

Thank you for your hard work these past two cours.

KAWAHARA: Thank you for your hard work!

SHIMAZAKI: Thank you!

How are you feeling so far now that it’s finished airing?

KAWAHARA: I thought two cours were quite a long time, but now that it’s over, time really went by in a flash.

SHIMAZAKI: Seriously. All these fun times just pass you by.

KAWAHARA: Regarding Eugeo, there was a sense that we were counting down the time to say goodbye. Especially in the latter half, I just kept thinking “Ah, the story is heading to that point…”

SHIMAZAKI: Right? That thought nagged at me somewhat, but probably more so for Matsuoka (Yoshitsugu) than me. Maybe it was because I was playing Eugeo, but as the voice recording went on, I slowly began to accept my fate, so to speak. It was a bittersweet feeling, like the kind you get when you say “I’ll be leaving”. Matsuoka haven’t been able to accept it at all though (laugh).

KAWAHARA: Ahaha (laugh). Well, it’s always hard to say goodbye.

Shimazaki-san and Matsuoka-san are close friends like Kirito and Eugeo, so it was probably even harder.

SHIMAZAKI: For me, I have done everything I could, everything I should have done, in these two cours, so it was just another thing coming to an end. However, I’m sure Kawahara-sensei, too, thought “Eugeo…”

KAWAHARA: Back then, when I was working on the Web serialization as an amateur, I would put my all in writing towards a predetermined conclusion. When I had the opportunity to rewrite through Dengeki Bunko, I had a chance to change Eugeo’s fate. I could not do it then, but I was granted another chance through the anime adaptation. “Eh? Eugeo doesn’t die?” There could have been a development like that. In the end, I could not bring it up in the script meeting.

SHIMAZAKI: If Eugeo had been alive, the story beyond that…

KAWAHARA: The latter half (3rd cour and beyond) would have to be rewritten completely. There would be a huge strain on the scriptwriters, but (as a story) I thought it was possible to create a scenario beyond the 2nd cour that Eugeo could work in. So I thought about changing his fate.

SHIMAZAKI: If you had suggested that, it would have just been “Kawahara-sensei, please take responsibility.”

KAWAHARA: Yeah, it probably would have turned out as “Please write the draft” (laugh). Well, Director Ono (Manabu) was the type to stay faithful to the original work, so that might have been hard either way.

SHIMAZAKI: For you to even consider that, Eugeo must have been an important person to Kawahara-sensei too.

KAWAHARA: SAO will continue from now on, but no other character can take Eugeo’s place. To Kirito, he was his first and last male best friend...It hits quite hard when you think about how he lost such a dear friend.

There were times I could understand how Eugeo felt towards Kirito.

When you wrote Alicization, between the character of Eugeo and the worldbuilding, which did you think of first?

KAWAHARA: First, I had an idea that I wanted to write a story about a world like this. Except for the “Aincrad” arc, Kirito has basically been a stranger, a traveler coming and leaving between worlds. So when I wrote Alicization, I needed someone who bore on the brunt of this world. Eugeo was written as a character that symbolizes the structural contradictions of Underworld, and the tragedy that arose from them. I wanted to make him into Kirito’s partner, so at first I wanted to give him the same kind of energetic feel Kirito had. However, when I actually got to writing, he acted more like a brake to Kirito. Well, he is still the type that says whatever that needs to be said and does whatever that needs to be done. Shimazaki-san I believe is close friends with Matsuoka-san, so when you do something together, which one usually takes the lead?

SHIMAZAKI: Usually it’s not about which one is taking the lead. Matsuoka is the type that prefers actions to words. It’s the same in acting. I am the one that put things into words and make suggestions. When we go eat together too, we start by confirming with each other, like “Is there anything you really want to eat today?” and working towards a compromise. (laugh)

KAWAHARA: For example, usually when you walk together, which one seems to be walking in front?

SHIMAZAKI: No, none of that. It’s just lining up side by side (laugh). However, in a professional context, when I was standing in front of the microphone, there were times I could understand how Eugeo felt towards Kirito. He’s trying to stand as an equal to Kirito, but he feels admiration and a sense of inferiority towards him, like “Kirito is really amazing” and “I’m no match for him”. This is not a negative feeling; it comes from an affectionate regard towards Kirito.

The same goes for the relationship between yourself and Matsuoka-san too.

SHIMAZAKI: That’s right, since way back, every time when I look at Matsuoka. Matsuoka’s energy and quick wit are amazing, right? That’s why he could take the lead among everyone around him like Kirito does. However, just like how Kirito thinks “Eugeo is stronger than me” Matsuoka also says things like “Nobunaga is really good at this” a lot of times.

The line at the climax of episode 24 “Now stand. My closest friend. My hero”, are there any similarities to the relationship between you two?

SHIMAZAKI: There are a lot. Matsuoka really is a hero. He’s always been amazing ever since back then. We became friends since the time we were just mostly voicing nameless soldier A, soldier B or something like that. After that, we started to be given main roles, but usually Matsuoka would be a little faster. If you ask him, he’d say “There’s no such thing”, but to me he was always running ahead. However, if I want to stand on equal footing with him as a close friend, I want to be standing equal as a voice actor as well. Thanks to that, I have been able to work hard to this point. Honestly, every time we record for SAO, I always act like my life depended on it.

KAWAHARA: Is that so?

SHIMAZAKI: Matsuoka has the experience of someone who’s voiced Kirito up to now, and above all his talent is amazing. Eugeo is a buddy on equal footing with Kirito, so I have to work hard to mirror that with Matsuoka.

KAWAHARA: I have been attending the recording sessions since the first cour, but Matsuoka-san in Alicization’s recordings seem a lot more relaxed. Maybe because Shimazaki-san was sitting next to him.

SHIMAZAKI: Yes, I think so as well (laugh). Of course, it’s due to how much Matsuoka himself has grown in the role as well.

KAWAHARA: Of course (laugh).

When I first heard Shimazaki-san’s Eugeo, I didn’t feel anything out of place.

Kawahara-sensei, what did you feel when you heard Shimazaki-san’s Eugeo?

KAWAHARA: When I write the Light Novels, I can’t hear the character voices at all. However, if it’s a character that appeared in the anime, I can then attach a voice to that character. When I first heard Shimazaki-san’s Eugeo, it just clicked into place in my head. After that, I had the chance to write Eugeo again after a while in the 1st Blu-ray’s bonus novel, and when I did, I could hear Shimazaki-san’s voice.

SHIMAZAKI: I’m honored to hear that! When the SAO anime had just started airing, Matsuoka told me “Later on there is going to be this character called Eugeo, I’d really like to see you voice him”. I read the novels and thought that I would really want to do it. Still, there was no way I could get that wish (laugh). So I didn’t expect too much out of it, but it was something that was always on my mind. After that, when Eugeo was to be voiced in the game Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization’s DLC, they asked for me! I sent a LINE message to Matsuoka while still in shock (laugh). I’m glad to be able to continue in the anime.

Please tell us something you were particularly conscious about when acting as Eugeo.

SHIMAZAKI: That would have to be the childhood part (laugh).

KAWAHARA: Is that so (laugh).

SHIMAZAKI: Matsuoka had experience acting as “Kiriko-chan”, so I thought that was natural that he would do Kirito as a child as well.

In the 2nd cour of “Phantom Bullet”, Matsuoka-san voiced Kirito in a female-lookalike avatar, right?

SHIMAZAKI: That’s why I would probably be voicing Eugeo as a child as well, I thought. Plus, I want to do it myself. That was when Eugeo first appeared, and his story began with the time, as a child, he could not move and could not save Alice. If I leave that to someone else, I feel it would not mesh as well. And so, though it might have been selfish of me, if possible, I wanted to voice him from beginning to end.

Administrator tore open a gap in his heart.

When you voice Eugeo in his childhood, is there anything you pay particular attention to?

SHIMAZAKI: I experimented “What if I acted like this…?”, but once I was actually recording the scene, during the conversation, when we established the balance between the three (with Kirito and Alice) I thought I actually sounded like a child. In the first episode, while Eugeo and Kirito were talking, Alice brought a lunch box. Thanks to the exquisite balance that Kayano-san brought, Alice seemed a little like an older sister to the two of us. I think it established quite well the balance of the three in their childhood.

KAWAHARA: Right, Alice’s “Hey, you two!” really set the scene between the three.

SHIMAZAKI: First, there was this feeling that the two of us could do fine by ourselves. But when Kayano-san’s Alice came for us, it’s like “We’re saved!” for me and Matsuoka (laugh). Her dialogues, or should I say, her voice acting really is amazing.

KAWAHARA: I’m an amateur when it comes to voice acting, but I could feel the difference when actors record separately instead of having a conversation together. Actually, for Sakamoto Maaya-san who voices Administrator, her schedule didn’t line up at first, so she was always recording separately. However, for the last two episodes, everyone joined the recording session. Then, (Administrator’s) impact was on another level. “Scary!” I thought (laugh).

SHIMAZAKI: She was amazing. Now that you mention it, that was just the right timing when Administrator started going all out. I could feel chills going down my spine in the recording.

KAWAHARA: Of course, Sakamoto-san’s Administrator was amazing ever since the start too. Actually, in the Web version, Eugeo brushed off Administrator’s temptation, so he did not become an Integrity Knight.

The development where he fell to her temptation and got brainwashed was adapted to the anime from the Light Novel, right?

KAWAHARA: It became like that in the Dengeki Bunko version because my editor Miki-san said “I really want to see Kirito versus Eugeo!” “I want to tie up that foreshadow-y loose end where Kirito thought “One day he might surpass me” about Eugeo”. Since he appealed so strongly, I was compelled to act. I was convinced to rewrite it, but even so a part of me thought “Eugeo is not that weak of a person”. However, when I saw Sakamoto-san’s Administrator, I thought “I definitely can’t blame him for falling for this”.

SHIMAZAKI: As the one she directed those words at, I have to admit it was very persuasive. However, while Administrator was skillful in her deceit and very alluring, Eugeo was not enamored with her in a sexual sense.

KAWAHARA: That’s right.

SHIMAZAKI: It did include a love for the opposite sex, but what she struck was a gap in his heart caused by a lack of familial, brotherly, and many other kinds of love. The anime did not show Eugeo’s family, though…

In the original work, Eugeo was not blessed with love from his parents or brothers.

SHIMAZAKI: So, in that scene, I remembered that in the text of the original, he was always alone, working and having his money taken away by his family. Above all that, his memories of his time with Kirito was taken, and so there would be a big gap there as well.

KAWAHARA: I’m sure that if he had had the memories of the time the three of them spent together, he would not have fallen to her temptation.

SHIMAZAKI: That’s right! I think he would have brushed her off as well.

It is not impossible to revive Eugeo and Alice Schuberg

Please elaborate more about the Alice that was precious to Eugeo.

KAWAHARA: Earlier, I said Eugeo was the character that symbolized the contradictions and distortion of Underworld. Alice, on the other hand, is the character that symbolize Underworld’s hope and “proof”. She was set as a character who was just as much of a victim as Eugeo, but continued to struggle against her cruel fate.

From when you created these characters, what did you imagine Eugeo’s feelings toward Alice to be?

KAWAHARA: What Eugeo is searching for is the Alice Schuberg from his childhood that was taken away. It is not the changed personality Synthesis Thirty.

SHIMAZAKI: It is quite painful.

KAWAHARA: In episode 21, when Kirito, Eugeo and Alice stand side by side, I was really impressed. However, that Alice is not the Alice (Schuberg) Eugeo have been thinking about. Also, while talking to Kirito, she refers to Eugeo as “your friend”, and treats him like someone she is only barely acquainted with. It was honestly heartending.

SHIMAZAKI: That “Synthesis or Schuberg” issue was quite a big thing for me too. That scene Kawahara-sensei talked about just now, about the three people standing side by side, I thought the same thing. I don’t know if I should say this, but…Really, is it possible to have a Super Happy End where they defeated Administrator, no one died, and they could separate Schuberg and Synthesis?

KAWAHARA: Yes. If Cardinal lived, it would be possible to separate the two Alices’ Fluctlights (souls). There is a hurdle about the other Alice’s body, but just within the setting, it is possible.

SHIMAZAKI: Also, at the end (of episode 24) when Schuberg’s Fluctlight left with Eugeo, I thought it was due to the power of a “will” beyond logic. I really loved that scene in the original. Did you decide on that end from the beginning?

KAWAHARA: Because it would be too sad if Eugeo left by himself. When he became a sword, a part of Eugeo’s Fluctlight merged with Schuberg’s Fluctlight. In that way, once the two have merged and were gone, I wrote “No one yet knows where the collection of photons that formed the two souls would go.” I did leave a little implication in there.

I’m expecting something from that expression “No one yet knows”.

KAWAHARA: In the original, the new arc “Unital Ring” have just begun. And so, this will be the third time I am having this conflict. In terms of setting, bringing back Eugeo and Alice Schuberg is not impossible, so I feel like it’s a problem I’m always having (laugh). It’s just that, I have to think as an author whether bringing someone back to life so easily is a good thing…I think this conflict will continue on for a while.

SHIMAZAKI: That’s quite hard…Please endeavor to make SAO the best you possibly can.

KAWAHARA: Right.

I thought it was impressive that you didn’t push for Eugeo’s revival (laugh).

SHIMAZAKI: No, no (laugh). Of course I want him to come back, but as a work, it is important to make it as good as possible. I’m sure it’s the best thing for Eugeo as well. Plus, later in the SAO media mix, maybe there will be an “if” where a grown up Alice Schuberg, Kirito and Eugeo appear together. There might be a chance that Kawahara-sensei would write something like that, right?

KAWAHARA: That’s true. That chance might come up.

Believe in Kirito, and watch over the last of the Alicization arc.

In addition to the ones mentioned above, do you have a favorite scene?

SHIMAZAKI: I have a lot…For example, (in episode 10) the case with Raios (Antinous) and Humbert (Zizak), Eugeo said “I’m just like those goblins” and Kirito said “You’re human, Eugeo. Just like me”, I really loved that scene. Up to this point, Kirito has accumulated a lot of experience, which included killing people, but he is not making excuses for killing a person. He’s going to grit his teeth and move forward, without losing his way or being conflicted. I thought that was amazing.

KAWAHARA: Kirito was not reincarnated into another world, but rather in principle it’s like playing a game with a controller. He’s been burdened with a heroic role, but he’s not really a hero. In essence, he’s a high school student living in Kawagoe. I wanted to emphasize that part.

What is Kawahara-sensei’s favorite part?

KAWAHARA: At the time of this interview, it has not been broadcast yet, but the last scene between Kirito and Eugeo left a strong impression on me. They did a lot of testing on Eugeo’s final words to Kirito, but in the actual scene it still hits you in the gut. It’s painful no matter how many times I see it. How much do voice actors control their emotions in such a scene?

SHIMAZAKI: In that scene with Kirito and Eugeo, I didn’t really try to control anything and just went with my own emotions. It’s strange, but I was calm during that scene. (In episode 23) when Eugeo said “I know the mission I should fulfill” and became a sword, Matsuoka’s performance, as Kirito, was so moving as he desperately tried to stop Eugeo. But at that time, I think Eugeo had already made up his resolve, and I too, calmly said “It’s fine, Kirito”. I was already prepared for the jump around then.

KAWAHARA: Then, in the farewell with Kirito, you were calm like that too?

SHIMAZAKI: Yes. My feelings were all over the place, but somewhere I was really calm…

KAWAHARA: Eugeo himself was probably calm as well.

SHIMAZAKI: That’s true. Eugeo suffered a lot because of Underworld. In the end, he was saved by being together with Alice Schuberg, so I feel like I was convinced that it was okay. When we approached around the 20th episode, I had the feeling of “I want to stay with everyone in the last two cours too”. However, when the time came, I felt calm. I had done what I could and what I should have done, with all my power.

KAWAHARA: What about Matsuoka-san?

SHIMAZAKI: Of course, like Kirito, he received a great shock and got horribly messed up (laugh).

KAWAHARA: Ah…(laugh)

SHIMAZAKI: A lot of times mid-conversation, he’d say something like “Nobunaga’s gone”* and get depressed, looking really sad. At the end, when we were talking in front of the microphone, I could almost feel Matsuoka’s Kirito saying “I don’t want this to happen!” That’s why I was calm instead, that it was better this way. If I were to be greedy and say “I want to do more”, it might have affected the voice acting, and make it seem like Eugeo has regrets. Of course, it’s not like he didn’t feel any at all, but in that instant, that regret was very close to zero.

Then, finally, to those who watched the first two cours, is there anything you would like to say? Please also tell us about any highlights in the third and last cours that will be broadcast from October.

SHIMAZAKI: First, thank you for watching up to episode 24. I greatly enjoyed this experience as an actor and a person. Also, I think that the first two cours were great thanks to the efforts of everyone involved in SAO, including Kawahara-sensei’s original work. I would be happy if everyone thought so as well. If you reached episode 24, you may be feeling depressed. It was an unsettling ending, and the last two cours will surely be painful and difficult as well. However, it’s alright because Kirito will be there. “My hero” will be there. I believe that if it is Kirito, he will surely lead everyone to a good future. Please believe in Kirito and watch over Alicization to the end. As Eugeo, I will be watching over with everyone.

KAWAHARA: Thank you for sticking with Alicization through 24 (+1) episodes. However, surprisingly, Alicization arc is not ending yet (laugh). That said, once the second half starts, it will go by in a flash as well, so I hope everyone continue to enjoy Sword Art Online Alicization: War of Underworld from October. Eugeo has left the stage, but many characters (except Administrator and Chudelkin) will continue to appear. As for Chudelkin, Takagi-san’s performance was so great that it feels like we lost another precious person. (laughs) In the last two cours, characters who make a big impact like Chudelkin will continue to appear one after another in the enemy side, so please look forward to that.

*Note: Yoshitsugu was saying 「信長ロス」which generally means the same but is used in many contexts (e.g. when a pet dies or when a celebrity get married) and never sound good translated as “Nobunaga loss”.

#sao #sword art online #eugeo #shimazaki nobunaga #kawahara reki #translations #I'm sleepy #zakki please stop the love letter to tsugu I can't handle too much at once #I was stupid and did all of this in a few hours and now I'm dead

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mst3kproject · 5 years

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1112: Carnival Magic

Those of us who have heard of Al Adamson tend to associate him with movies like Psycho-A-Go-Go and Blood of Dracula’s Castle, so it’s weird to see him trying to make a family-friendly talking animal movie. He fails at it, of course, but I don’t think that’s got anything to do with the genre. Al Adamson just wasn’t any good at making movies.

Markov the Magnificent is a carnival magician who can talk to animals. You’d think he’d use that in his act but instead he mostly just annoys the other performers until they insist he be fired. This leads to the secret coming out… but it’s not Markov’s powers that are revealed, it’s those of his buddy Alex the Chimp, an animal who can talk to people. With Alex on stage, and Markov finally using some of his mind-reading and spoon-bending abilities, the carnival is suddenly the biggest thing in town. Unfortunately, some of the attention they attract is the wrong kind, like that of a scientist who would like nothing better than to dissect a live chimpanzee, I guess just because it’s the evilest possible thing to do.

Out of curiosity, have any of you ever seen a chimpanzee in a zoo? If so, you may have been surprised that it didn't look like the ones you see in movies. Movie chimps are skinny and pink, while zoo chimps are dark grey and look like they could tie you in a knot with one hand while lifting a small car with the other. Why is that? Because every chimp you've ever seen in a movie, tv show, commercial, or circus is less than about seven years old. When chimps reach puberty they not only become much bigger and stronger, they quickly realize that humans are smaller and weaker, and it gets very difficult to convince them to wear cute costumes anymore.

A movie about saving a talking animal from evil scientists so he can pursue a career in show business sounds like it ought to be fun, I guess. It would probably work better as a cartoon, where we could be confident that no real animals were abused in the making of it. Even so, most of what actually happens in Carnival Magic is just kind of dull and depressing. Occasionally you do get an attempt at something ‘zany’, but it never quite lives up to the kind of antics a description of the plot would lead you to expect. When Alex decides to steal a car and go for a joyride, for example, that sounds like it ought to be funny, but it somehow just never works. The music is an oddly un-fitting banjo piece and the screaming girl in the back seat reminds us constantly how dangerous this would be in real life.

(If you’ve ever tried to look up this movie on Wikipedia, by the way, you will have doubtless discovered that Carnival Cruise Lines owns a ship called the Carnival Magic. Should I ever find myself on board, I believe I will decline any offer to dine with the captain.)

When Alex is not getting up to supposedly hilarious hijinks, the movie has two modes. One is pastel people wandering around the carnival apparently having fun, and the other is the various characters telling us about their traumatic backstories. Markov’s pregnant wife died in a car wreck, leaving him with nothing but a talking ape and a broken heart. Stoney the carnival owner forces his daughter to dress and behave like a boy so she won’t remind him of the wife who left him. The carnival publicist ran away from home to escape a controlling and abusive father, and so on.

Of course you can make movies about this stuff. People make some very good movies about this stuff. Most of those movies, however, do not include scenes of chimpanzees wearing bras on their heads. Seeing this kind of material in Carnival Magic makes it feel like we just tuned in to that hilarious sitcom our friends have been urging us to watch, only to catch the Very Special Episode in which one of the characters did drugs or had cancer and then it was never mentioned again.

I think the ending is supposed to be about the entire carnival coming together to save Alex from the evil scientist, but we haven’t seen any sign that Alex has unified them. The people around Markov are already his friends and already committed to the survival of the carnival as a whole. If Alex had inspired carnies who were on the point of running away to become accountants or something to remain with the show that would be one thing, and they do succeed in saving Alex, but the scene is presented as if it’s a climax without a story. It’s also absolutely ridiculous watching the carnies sneak up on the secret chimp dissection lab, because they’re all very ordinary, out-of-shape people in street clothes doing their best to act like they’re on a police raid.

The evil scientist, Dr. Poole, is kind of a strange inclusion, himself. In my review of Octaman I remarked on how a lot of movies set up a conflict between scientists who want to study something and showpeople who want to ruthlessly exploit it. The 70’s King Kong remake is a pretty good example, but in that movie – and in many others – those who want to put some oddity on display for money are the bad guys and those who want to learn from it are good. Carnival Magic inverts this by suggesting that to study something is to destroy it, whereas to show it off is to help it be enjoyed by all the world.

There is a point to be made here. A fair bit of what we know about anatomy and physiology of both humans and other creatures has been learned by doing atrocious things to both the living and the dead. I don’t think, however, that Carnival Magic was the right way to make that point. For one thing, Dr. Poole’s desire to dissect Alex alive makes no sense. It’s not Alex’ physiology that makes him remarkable, it’s his behaviour. Watching him alive could surely teach us infinitely more than taking his corpse apart.

For another, the options we’re given is Alex being a specimen or Alex being a literal circus freak! Arguing that science should leave an animal alone to live out a happy life in its natural habitat seems reasonable – telling science to leave the same creature alone so it can perform for crowds of strangers is kind of horrifying. It’s like if Free Willy ended with the titular whale returned to the aquarium having been saved from a taxidermist or something. Sure, it’s better than death, but the audience still knows that this is not what’s best for this creature. If we’re supposed to believe that Alex wants to be a star, then that should have been established at the beginning of the movie, perhaps by him escaping Markov’s trailer and trying to entertain people. One or two short extra scenes about this would have made the whole arc much more palatable.

Several characters describe Alex as being something more than an animal, so I think we’re supposed to regard him as a character in his own right. This doesn’t seem entirely successful, because Alex doesn’t come across as having goals or desires of his own. He happily goes along with whatever Markov wants to do, and when Markov’s not around he wanders about getting into mischief with no real sense of direction. Part of me wants to believe this is an intentional attempt to portray a non-human mind that simply doesn’t prioritize the way we do. Another part just wants to call it bad writing and I’m not sure which I ought to listen to.

As characters go, Markov’s not a great one, either. Main characters in a movie ought to have a chance to learn and change, but Markov is pretty much the only human in the movie who doesn’t. Ellen learns to break free of her father and become her own person, and Stoney learns that she can still love him regardless. Dave the PR guys learns to be patient with women. Kirk the tiger tamer grows more bitter and hateful until it destroys him, while his girlfriend Kim comes to realize what an ass he is. Markov is exactly the same at the end as he was at the beginning – a guy with weird powers that he doesn’t put to any good use, and a talking ape for a surrogate child. Perhaps nearly losing Alex is supposed to show him how much the chimp meant to him, but he already spent half the movie telling us that Alex is all he has. He knows he’s got issues related to the death of his wife but seems unwilling to move past them.

In my review of Cry Wilderness I noted that it edged out Carnival Magic for the coveted title of ‘Worst Fucking Movie of Season 11’ mainly by being more racist. There’s a bit of racism in Carnival Magic, too, and it’s got a similar flavor although it’s not nearly so all-pervasive. Cry Wilderness had its slightly magical Native Americans, here to help and support the white people. Carnival Magic mostly cannot be bothered to have anybody who isn’t white say lines, but it still manages to have its slightly magical Buddhist Monks who raised Markov and presumably taught him his powers. This is dumb, and actor Don Stewart sounds like even he doesn’t believe it.

Considered as a whole, Carnival Magic is pretty messy and never manages to settle on a tone. Alex’ antics, Kirk’s revenge, and the various personal stories don’t quite feel like they’re all part of the same narrative. If I go back to that ‘sitcom’ metaphor, it’s like several episodes combined into a movie, but instead of being stitched end-to-end like in Riding With Death, they’ve been intercut to look like they’re all going on at once and it still doesn’t feel like a unified whole. Yet for all that, there’s something weirdly fascinating about it. Maybe it’s the contrast between the cheerful carnival setting and the often dark personal stories. Maybe it’s trying to puzzle out what Adamson hoped to accomplish by the juxtaposition. Whatever it is, it’s another reason I’d rather re-watch this than Cry Wilderness.

#mst3k #carnival magic #reviews #all carnival no magic #80s

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statusquoergo · 5 years

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And we’re back! Everyone will definitely be bringing their A-game after that nice little hiatus, yeah? This episode is going to hit it out of the park for sure.

Well, maybe.

The sexism and misogyny really hit the ground running as Harvey, preparing to accompany Samantha to Pittsburgh to meet her biological father, ambles into the living room to ask Donna if she’s “sure [she’s] okay with [him] going on this trip” because “not a lot of women would want their men doing this.” Fortunately Donna is “not a lot of women,” so Harvey has permission to go hang out with other girls, and without supervision, even! What a lucky guy. Not only that, but Donna points out that while any of them would willingly accompany Samantha, Harvey is uniquely qualified to understand what she’s going through because of his long-term estrangement from his mother, which, I mean, yeah, I guess so. Except then she says she loves him and he replies “Thanks,” which is a huge waste of a perfect opportunity to say “I know,” and then, for the first time this season, he says “I love you too,” smothered under an obnoxious cough into his fist, because he’s a mature adult who’s in touch with his emotions but he’s not too mature and he’s not a girl or anything.

Back at lawyerly headquarters, Louis takes advantage of Harvey’s two-day absence by sitting in his desk chair and contemplating listening to his records, gushing that he “can finally be Harvey Specter, and no one will ever know.” Yeah, there’s definitely no way anyone who works at this firm knows that’s Harvey’s office and might walk by and ask what he’s doing in there, of course not. He then sets off the comedic half of the episode by answering Harvey's phone and sort-of-but-also-not-really-accidentally setting up a meeting with “the Ted Tucker,” who wants a meeting with Harvey and he wants it today. Fortunately for Louis, Tucker has never actually met Harvey, and…you know where this is going.

Harvey pulls up to Samantha’s place in a vintage Ford Mustang (I want to say it’s a 1967) that stirs up some Feelings for her; he offers to take it back to the car club and exchange it, but she says it’s fine because she just wants to get on the road, and here comes the sentimental half: Twenty-five years ago, twelve-year old Samantha was…in a group home? With one other kid? Unclear, but the important part is that she lived in a house with some kid named Adam and their abusive father…figure, Ron. One day Adam and Samantha accidentally broke the tail light on Ron’s brand new car, a Mustang identical to the one Harvey’s driving; Samantha took the blame even though Adam threw the ball that broke the light, and Ron beat her for it, so. Feelings.

Louis shows up at Donna’s office in a truly horrifying wig (he calls it his “Harvey wig,” if you’d like to conjure up that mental image; yeah, kind of, but more chestnut-colored) for some information that’ll let him demonstrate to Tucker that signing him would be a conflict of interest, and to her credit, Donna begs him to take the wig off, but when Louis explains that he just wants to feel like Harvey for one lunch, she agrees to help him even though it’s “a really bad idea.” I’m gonna give her partial credit on this one; good intentions, poor execution.

Except then we actually get to see Louis at the lunch and dear lord, Donna, how could you let this happen? Someone on the writing staff (Korsh) is definitely indulging in one hell of a narcissistic fantasy by way of Louis, who, doing a pretty decent imitation of Harvey’s walk, waltzes into some high-end club or resort or something, passing through an endless gauntlet of waiters and attendants who each usher him toward the inner sanctum with a Stepford smile and a solicitous “Mr. Specter,” until he ends up at a table with Tucker, who informs him that the reason they’re surrounded by a ridiculous number of trays of food is, get this: “Well, I didn’t know what you liked, so I just ordered the entire menu.”

This fucking show, I swear.

Things only go downhill from there (from my perspective, not Louis’s) as Louis boisterously recounts a number of stories from Harvey’s life, including “Life is like this, I like this,” and that time Harvey brought Rachel to pick Mike up from prison in a limo. Tucker grinds the festivities to a screeching halt when he asks if Harvey knew Mike Ross was a fraud when he hired him, but fortunately for Louis, A Few Good Men is Tucker’s favorite movie, so screaming “You can’t handle the truth!” in his face is enough to make everyone forget about that silly question and get right back to their sinful indulgences. These people all have such integrity, it’s amazing.

Turns out a traumatic childhood isn’t Samantha’s only connection to the Mustang; Eric Kaldor also used to drive one, which skeeves Harvey out until Samantha assures him that when Harvey drives it, he does “make it look cool.” This dynamic is weirding me out so much; a week ago, she fucks over Mike Ross, Harvey furiously declares that he doesn’t trust people who lie to his face, Faye (justifiably) fires her, and then suddenly, with zero transition, it’s all hands on deck to get her back at the firm, and now on top of that, Harvey's her biggest cheerleader and also road trip buddy? That whole “I don’t trust you anymore,” was that just a hissy fit or what? I don’t… I don’t know what to do with this, I don’t like it.

Oh, wait, more flashbacks: Samantha and Adam steal Ron’s car to drive off in the middle of the night. Samantha, evidently recounting this story to Harvey, explains that they were pulled over on account of the broken tail light, but she assures him that “it could’ve been worse,” being that she ended up with a new family and neither of them had to go back to their abuser, and also she doesn’t know whatever happened to Adam so I guess he might show up sometime in the next three episodes maybe. I really wish I cared more.

That sounds mean, but hear me out a minute: Samantha was introduced in the beginning of Season 8. In fact, “The Greater Good” (s08e13) gives her her very own expository sub-plot courtesy of Judy O’Brien, through whom we learn…very little about Samantha’s experience in foster care, except who Judy is and what Samantha’s relationship is to her, which doesn’t matter at all because it never comes up again. (Well, it will in a bit, but not in any really important way.) It’s basically a waste of an opportunity to tell us things about Samantha that we don’t already know because all it does is build incrementally on things that we do, but in ways that are irrelevant. All the rest of the hints the show drops throughout the season about her backstory are shadowy and vague and mainly serve to establish her as an enigmatic figure whose mysterious past I guess I’m supposed to be dying to learn about, except that right from the start, “Right-Hand Man” (s08e01) establishes that she lies about her past to suit her own interests, so from the very beginning, I’m inherently suspicious of everything she says about herself, which makes it really hard to empathize with her.

The problem with the way her past is revealed is that it’s not really a running subplot, or a continuous arc; little hints and features are dropped here and there, but only insofar as they relate to a given episode’s broader narrative (i.e., she was a Marine, which is only relevant in “Special Master” [s09e02] for that odious misrepresentation of PTSD), which makes it feel like they’re invented on the spot because hey, we don’t really know much about her, who’s to say this or that didn’t happen? If you pay close attention, you might be able to collect enough clues to piece together a complete story, but with everything else that’s going on in this show, I gotta say, I really can’t be bothered. Especially when I have no idea how much of that story is even true.

Right, so, remember how Samantha knows that Kaldor has a Mustang? Well we seem to have graduated real quick from twelve-year old flashback Samantha to twenty-seven year old flashback Samantha, who reveals that while working a case together, she and Kaldor became…involved.

Ew.

Oh but wait. Out of absolutely fucking nowhere, present day Samantha decides “it’s time [she and Harvey] talk about the elephant in the room.” Not “[her] getting fired because of [him]” (she didn’t, she got fired for fabricating evidence), but “why [she] fabricated that evidence in the first place.” Harvey points out the obvious, that he already knows she did it because she hates to lose, and she asks, if he knows that, why he got so mad at her for doing it. (Oh I don’t know, maybe because she fabricated evidence.) Answer? “Because [he] told Mike [they] wouldn’t cross any lines.” And even though their client wasn’t technically doing anything illegal, “Mike’s always on [him] about doing the right thing, and now he’s out there walking the walk, and the least [Harvey owes] him is to think about right and wrong once in awhile.” (Uh, yeah, did he miss the part in “Promises, Promises” [s08e03] where he got their landlord to pay the maintenance staff a fair wage because he felt bad for the facilities manager? And I quote: “David, all I’m asking is do the right thing.”)

Oh but then.

“You really admire him, don’t you?” “I don’t just admire him, Samantha. He went to prison for me. Talk about someone who’s got your back.”

Okay. So… Okay. Yes, that is a thing that happened. It was a very big deal. Mike and Harvey spent six whole episodes fighting over which of them was going to be the one to take the fall. Except then Season 7 happened, and Mike spent sixteen episodes becoming increasingly distant from and combative with Harvey, culminating in that disastrous farewell at the wedding that Mike didn’t even invite him to. And then “If the Shoe Fits” (s09e05) happened, wherein Mike literally started off the case by promising Harvey not to do anything that could result in either of them being disbarred and finished it by doing exactly that, wrapping up his visit by condemning Harvey for having lost himself because yes, of course, Harvey’s the one who was being a dick that whole time.

Yet apparently, even after all that, Harvey still thinks Mike walks on water. I guess that does kind of help explain his behavior and the exceedingly weird dialogue the last time Mike showed up; Harvey’s got a little hero worship going on, or at the very least, he still has an enormous blind spot where Mike is concerned. On the plus side, there’s my quota of evidence for the episode that Harvey needs to go to therapy like, yesterday.

And about that whole evidence fabrication thing, props to Samantha for admitting that if “[she] could go back and do it all over again, [she] wouldn’t.” Donna could learn a thing or two from her.

Speaking of Donna, Louis hurries in to tell her that his lunch with Tucker was “the greatest lunch of [his] life,” all “because [he’s] Harvey Specter.” But things hit a little snag when he tried to demonstrate that SLWW would have a conflict of interest representing Tucker as well as some company called Reed Communications, because Tucker waived the conflict by buying Reed Communications on the spot, and that’s not even Louis’s only problem because Reed Communications’ in-house counsel is, dun dun dun! Harold Gunderson! Who wants to set up a meeting with Harvey, who knows nothing about any of this. Louis determines that since thinking like Louis got him into this mess, thinking like Harvey is going to get him out of it, and I’m confused, wasn’t the whole point of all this for him to be Harvey? Who’s he been thinking like all day? Way to commit to the role, man, no wonder you’re not an actor.

Filler time: Ten-years-ago Samantha and Kaldor have been together for six months and it’s been “one of the best six months of [his] entire life.” (Seems to me like a weird unit to increment his life by, but hey, man, whatever floats your boat.) In the present day, Harvey suggests stopping for burgers, but Samantha wants to get to their destination before dark, so he’ll settle for some M&M’s at the gas station. Equivalent exchange for the win.

Part II

#suits usa #s09e07 #season 9 #analysis

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theonceoverthinker · 6 years

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OUAT 3X09 - Save Henry

It’s time to save Henry...or everyone, save Henry!

See what I did there? Stealthy pun. I can do those on occasion.

Anyway, under the cut you go for the semi-smart stuff, unless you want to save yourself!

Press Release

While Henry’s life hangs in the balance, the race is on to stop Pan from gaining full magical powers from the heart of the truest believer. Meanwhile, in Storybrooke of the past, Regina decides to fill a void in her life and, with Mr. Gold’s help, sets out to adopt a baby.

Main Thoughts - Characters/Stories/Themes and Their Effectiveness

Past

Wow, Loving Lana’s acting in this first scene with Archie. She’s so muted and given how Regina’s usually up there in the extra squad, it’s so noticable. She looks while not unhealthy, still sickly in a way because of how miserable and lonely she is. It’s a fantastic way of showing just how badly her life needed love and how much of a change for the better Henry was for it. (Not to beat a dead horse, but THIS is the kind of acting a lack of a heart should grant one, Graham!)

Pre-redemption post-childhood Regina flashbacks tend to fight an uphill battle of making Regina sympathetic while also not turning their backs on the fact that she was a legit villain, and this one, like the best of them, handles that concept well! Regina does some bad and illegal things. She casts a curse, chews out basically every Storybrooke character she interacts with, and has Sidney steal Emma’s medical records. But this flashback isn’t about those things. It’s a story about how love started the trajectory of Regina’s redemption.

That’s where the focus is on and appropriately so.

Watching that story is adorable. It’s the first time we see Regina soften to someone immediately and in such a loving way. We see the struggle Regina went through to acclimate herself to motherhood. Look, I’m the daughter of a single mother and I was a bit of a problem child myself: This shit hit home.

The ending story of the segment even shows post-early early signs of her redemption by just showing how Henry’s happiness takes precedence over an ensurement of the safety of her vengeance.

“Sometimes, being a good parent can mean having the strength to give him up.” This line is so important. I like how someone in the real world gives this extra level of validation to the “your best chance” mantra of the series. OUAT has some questionable morals and questionable redemptions. I feel comfortable saying that while I do really enjoy the redemptions we see throughout the series, that statement applies to pretty much everyone in the main cast. Someone (I think @justmilah) put it best at the convention: They’re a bunch of people who probably don’t deserve happy endings but are given them anyways.

Now where am I going with this?

The one message that was always spot on was “your best chance” (Or rather, the giving up line). Parents should put their children first. To give it that real world validation, even if it doesn’t happen in the scene in question, was such a good idea. It’s not that I care about legality in this series.

Present

”You have everything and yet you claim to know what I feel?” I was really torn about how I felt about that line. On one hand, I’ve talked a fair amount about how I dislike Regina’s “woe is me” thing, Emma having a lot of people in her life does nothing to move Henry from being her number one priority, and I don’t think comparing pain is conducive to anything. However, the scene with the Lost Boys where Emma brings up this conversation is a fantastic point for her character and her reaching the Lost Boys with that idea of unexpected love and family is incredibly effective.

Regret vs. Remorse. I think the difference between these two camps is so important, both for this scene and Regina’s legacy. Even as far into the future as Regina’s Good Queen coronation, those vines never would’ve stood a chance against Regina. Regina grew to feel remorse for her actions. That was quintessential to her redemption. If she didn’t, Regina may not have garnered the fandom that she has today nor deserved the happiness she found. BUT, Regina’s path, for as evil as it was, did lead her to Henry, and that is something she’d never go back on. He was the encounter she needed to happen in order to redeem herself and more to that, she loves him. Meeting and getting to know her son was worth it all to her and I get frustrated seeing this line get occasionally misconstrued to saying that Regina regrets nothing because she got something she wanted, like Henry was just a salt shaker on a shelf when the actual situation is nothing like that.

And it makes for a truly badass moment that simultaneously doesn’t take away from her redemption. That was really hard to do, and without going too heavy handed with it, the scene by the tree worked out flawlessly!

Insights - Stream of Consciousness

-Those establishing shots set the perfect mood of panic and urgency just before the curse hits.

-”He would’ve understood.” He was begging you not to kill him! XD

-Rumple is such a little shit and I love it. Like, if Regina’s gonna come and gloat, he’s gonna make sure she doesn’t get to celebrate her victory and push every button he can while he still has the chance. And all without leaving his cell!

-I just had a thought. So, as soon as Regina says she’s going to kill baby Emma, Rumple starts talking about the hole in her heart. And Regina and her guards just BARELY miss Emma. Was Rumple stalling to ensure that Emma got away?

- @ussjellyfish, I finally get what you were talking about with Regina’s love of paperwork! Her desk more loaded with paperwork than Smash Bros is loaded with characters and death!

-”What are you feeling?” “Nothing.” The subtle honesty of that line hits me HARD!

-”A child. That can provide so much meaning.” Archie, one shouldn’t have or adopt a child in order to solely give their lives meaning.

-”I need a child, Gold and I need your help.” “Well I’m flattered, but uninterested.” “Not like THAT.” One of my FAVORITE exchanges in the series! XD

-”Well, a mother of some sort.” Even cursed, Rumple is out for fucking BLOOD! -”When you become a parent, you must put your child first.” So Rumple is cursed during this scene, but one has to wonder what exactly, if anything, is his relationship to Bae under the curse. Are they estranged or is he straight-up dead? I use the dead angle in my Golden Hook fanfic, but I’m curious to hear other thoughts.

-Fun fact: If Emma yields a sword, that sword can hurt the unhurtable in exactly the way she wants to! (See also: Season 6)

-Rumple went to fucking bank for you, Regina! Like, not a single flaw!

-Damn! Amazing acting on Lana’s part again! Like, the SECOND she sees baby Henry, she falls in love with him. The gasp, the way her eyes bulge, the softness of her form! It’s amazing!

-Gotta HAND it to Killian! His hook is really doing a good job of keeping Felix in place!

-Awww! Beverly Elliott!!! She just makes me smile!!! <3

-I love how Regina just knows that Mary Margaret is the best person to stick her baby with! <3

-”Well, as long as your plan holds together, she will.” FUCK MACHISMO ISLAND.

-Baby Henry’s reaction to Gold’s shop is EVERYONE’S initial reaction to this little shop of horrors!

-”My memory’s not what it used to be.” *Sighs* Fucking Rumple. I love you.

-”Oh you really know nothing of what I’m talking about.” I love how even when Rumple actually is cursed, even with Regina’s confidence in the opening, she doesn’t buy that it actually happened for a second.

-”Look at what motherhood has done to you.” I love how Rumple’s line (This one and the ones that preceded it) is basically praising the makeup department and Lana’s acting! That’s actually so adorable and deserved on the writer’s parts! <3

-Okay, everyone’s wash of relief upon seeing Henry wake up genuinely had me choked up. The smiles on everyone’s faces and the deep breaths and the music...I think I need a minute *Sobs into eternity*

-”Young sir.” And letting him stay in the captain’s quarters?! Killian, you fucking adorable softie!

-Okay, now THAT’S the Archie who doles out great advice!

-”A glorious curse.” Regina, I love you! XD

-”Too much pizza.” I love the implication of this line that Henry DID have pizza before his trip to New York, but it wasn’t REAL pizza. XD

-Damn, the Jolly Roger’s captain’s quarters are so fucking fancy!

-”I’m sorry it had to come to this, Henry.” No you’re not, you little bitch!

-*Neal and Rumple hug* Sorry, I think I’ve got something in my eye...TEARS! Like, that entire resolution got me choked up.

-*Pan fails at taking Henry’s heart* Yeah! Suck on that, you little bitch!

-”You raised him well.” Awww! Golden Queen contrast!

-Stupid thing to point out, but after all of that hullabaloo in “Dark Hollow,” why were we using the fucking lighter?

-”A hero, a villain, a pirate.” I love how David doesn’t classify Killian as a villain despite being fairly justified in it! Captain Charming FTW!

-”You have a dad now. Now and for forever.” I’M NOT CRYING! YOU’RE CRYING! “I’ll never leave you. Okay, buddy?” THAT JUST MADE IT WORSE!!!!! AND IT’S NOT EVEN BEING SAID TO HENRY!

Arcs - How Are These Storylines Progressing?

The Mission to Save Henry - There’s such a good feeling of payoff here! Everyone’s working together, communicating, and making risks for each other. David and Emma’s conversation towards the end of the episode about how they all accomplished this is just a testament to how far they’ve come.

Regina’s Redemption - What else is there to say? Regina’s redemption was such a big part of this episode and I already talked in length about why! Well, I guess I want to say that this arc is where Regina really takes her form. She knows she’s done bad and she’s still pretty selfish in a lot of respects, but love pushes her to new emotional heights that neither she nor the audience ever expected!

Emma Accepting Her Parents - Just look at the relief on Emma’s face when she hugs her parents who can both go home with her! <3

Rumple Finding Bae - We finally get to see a big reconciliation between Rumple and Neal! I really liked it, but that having been said, I wish there was more to it than simply “You saved Henry, now I forgive you.” Call me angsty, but that slow rebuilding of their relationship was really great. The fact that they have so far to go is part of what made “Nasty Habits” the fantastic experience that it was. To see it all over so soon after that makes me wish for more. That said, one can make a case that they haven’t fully reconciled AND that at the time they wrote this, Neal was on the chopping block and that resolution with Rumple was best off happening here for that reason.

Favorite Dynamic

Regal Believer. Who else could it be? Just...I love these two! Now, part of me feels bad because Henry plays a much more passive role in this episode than he does in other cases where Regal Believer’s won. In the past, he’s just a baby and in the present, he only has one or two scenes where he talks to anyone. But Henry’s effect on Regina just by the sheer fact that he exists is so much in and of itself. Just by being Henry, he inspires Regina to be her best self.

Writer

Christine Boylan and Daniel Thomsen come off of “Good Form” to write today’s episode! And you know that I loved it. “Solid” is the word of the day here. There’s so much that has to be resolved here and it’s paced so well that one would be surprised by all that was accomplished! Like, Henry is “saved,” Emma recruits the Lost Boys, Rumple is recovered and reconciles with Bae, we see Regina and Henry’s origins, and we see the plan to escape Neverland enacted. That’s a lot for forty four minutes! But the writing and pacing make it feel so natural and while fast-paced, never rushed.

Rating

Golden Apple. What a fantastic episode! It’s beautiful, emotional, tightly written, and has some solid character work! It’s just enjoyable as hell!

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I’m all caught up...with last week’s entries! Still three left to go, but I’ve got this!

Thank you all for reading and to the fine folks at @watchingfairytales!

Next time, we relocate from Neverland...to The New Neverland. See you guys then!

Season 3 Total (86/220)

Writer’s Scores: Adam and Eddy (19/60) Kalinda Vazquez (17/40) Andrew Chambliss (17/50) Jane Espenson (10/30) David Goodman (20/40) Robert Hull (20/40) Christine Boylan (20/20)* Daniel Thomsen (20/30)

* Indicates that their work for the season is complete

Operation Rewatch Archives

#ouat #once upon a time #watching fairytales #ouat 3x09 #jenna watches ouat

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drink-n-watch · 5 years

Text

Genre : Action, fighting, supernatural

Episodes: 12

Studio: Platinum Vision

Something has awakened. Something that’s been slumbering for a long time is beginning to stir and the shockwaves are being felt all over heaven and earth. Demons are getting restless and the attacks on innocent villages have become routine. Thankfully, the Sanzo party is here to protect the good people from the fiends that would do them harm. Never mind that they happen to be just as fiendish themselves. As long as you can pay for the services, you can trust them. Probably. After all, you have to be able to trust a venerable Sanzo monk now don’t you? He’s the one smoking and getting into a fist fight with his demon buddy while screaming obscenities. Yeah, this should work out just fine!

The journey for this little title to make it on my to watch list went something like this: this looks like an otome adaptation, it’s probably really stupid, I’m gonna watch it. a week later – yeah there’s plenty of stupid out there, maybe I don’t need this one, I’m going to flush it. Wait the summary says Yokai, I like Yokai, I’m going to keep it. OK, I guess I should really watch this at some point…

yeah…this is a smart way to start this post…

If you didn’t pick it up from my little skit there, I did not know what I was getting into but I sure thought I did. The production value for this show is decent. animation can get a bit visibly cheap with reused scenes and stills with offscreen battles but for the most part, everything is well done. Voice acting is quite good, colours stick to a signature palette, design and art is pretty.

Unfortunately, I think this pretty design and art is in fact doing Saiyuki Reload Blast a disservice. I took one look at those chiseled young men and their intricate costumes (all different and this is important) and I immediately thought, this is clearly an otome. At best it’s a poor man’s Touken Ranbu which remains one of the best cute boy shows I’ve ever seen and also only. The lack of a clear female lead was pushing me towards option number two but I was expecting some basic slice of life nonsense with historical flourishes thrown in for flavour. Some manservice and if they wanted to push it maybe a drop of hoyay suggestion.

look at all that…mancandy?

I judged it entirely on it’s cover I have to admit. I’m willing to bet I’m not the only one at that. That’s the problem you see. Those that are generally uninterested in those types of shows probably dismissed it offhand. I don’t blame them, the aesthetic is pretty glaring, and it’s not entirely wrong, the show is classified as Josei. But aside for a few scenes in the OP, there’s no fanservice at all (unless you count the lady monk with the super tight outfit) and none of the expected staples of the genre. Someone specifically looking for the show insinuated by those visuals, would be disappointed or at least, confused.

The narrative and execution of Saiyuri Reload Blast is closest to a rather traditional fighting shonen. If you had switched one of the main characters’ design to a sexy lady without changing anything else at all, you could have marketed it as such easily. The season is roughly separated into three arcs. The opening establishing arc plays out as a series of monster of the week episodes, with our main party going from one village to the next and saving them from demon attacks. It’s fine, a little dry but I’ve seen worse.

I said it was ok….

The second arc is a flashback to 500 years prior where the story starts to really from and the foundations are laid for the greater lore. It quickly became apparent the this show was basing itself on a Journey to the West, which is pretty awesome. It’s a very loose retelling but there were enough similarities for me to recognize it pretty easily, that made my appreciation for the series rise quite a bit.

This flashback arc was rich in references to classic Chinese folklore and filled with a tense atmosphere unmatched by the other episodes. I also found the flashback characters considerably more interesting. Despite how bloody and ultimately sad this arc was, it was by far my favorite part of the anime and I would have loved a season that explored just that story. The last arc brings us back to the present where past and future collide in an all out multiple episode battle.

After watching the show I found out that Saiyuri is an expansive franchise. Reload blast is only the latest in several anime incarnations, a whole series of OVAs, multiple rounds of manga, at least one movie and a stage play. This may in fact explain some of my gripes. You see, Saiyuri really plays up a lot of shonen tropes. The never ending battles, mid-fight monologues (this is so prevalent in fact that I think in the middle of battle is the only way we get an exposition), the best friend fisty cuffs, the super dramatic realization screams and the cathartic last minute saves.

Nantaku really needed more development mind you

They’re all there and all well done, except this is a 12 episode series. When you’re characters are going through this massive emotional struggle over what is a pretty silly situation in fact at episode 60, it works because you’ve grown to really know the characters and you accept their eccentricities. Also the stakes have been slowly rising so you got accustomed to it at your own pace before everything spilled over into ridiculous. Now you’re just kind of in for the ride. When the same thing happens at episode 4 you’re like, yo relax dude and this is kinda silly.

The low episode count and the need to fit in a fully realized three arc narrative with a centuries spanning background really condensed everything. To Saiyuri’s credit, the narrative was still pretty easy to follow and although the characters were pretty shallow, they weren’t completely 2 dimensional either. But the dramatic pacing is what really suffers here and ultimately will stop most people from engaging with what is at it’s core a decent, even interesting story.

mullets again…

If you happen to be interested in the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, I say give this anime a shot. It has some good moments and the parallels with Journey to the West are really fun to notice. If you like the character designs and are in the mood for a fighting anime that won’t make you commit to a high episode count, this could also be for you. Otherwise, it’s uneven and clumsy. There was enough there for me to be intrigued about the other anime seasons and-or manga but not enough for me to actively seek it out.

Also, in the very last episode we find out the jeep they have been driving in al along has a mind of its own and is in fact Hakuryuu which is Hakkai’s pet dragon. We find this out in the last 5 minutes of the last episode. Like wha??? OK, I’m done now. Oh no wait one last thing. There’s no Yokai. I mean the demons are technically yokai but they call them demons and they look like demons… this show has some failings is what I’m saying.

Favorite character: Field Marshal Tenpou (If there’s a season dedicated to the heaven’s arc – I will watch it!)

What this anime reminded me: This is the only way a monocle makes sense:

The problem with some people is that when they aren’t drunk they’re sober

Suggested drink: Berry Burbon Blast

Every time Sanzo is sleepy(ing)– take a sip

Every time Gojyo gets called a water sprite – take a sip of water

Every time Sanzo tells someone to shut up – take a sip

Every time we hear a stomach growl – get a snack

Every time Hakkai spouts random facts – humour him

Every time Gojyo’s chain scythe thingy appears out of nowhere – take a sip

Every time Nantaku gets hurt – take a sip

Every time Goku throws a fit – roll your eyes

Every time anyone smokes – take a breath

Every time there’s mid battle monologue – laugh, it’s all you can do at this point

Saiyuki Reload Blast – Journey to the Middle Genre : Action, fighting, supernatural Episodes: 12 Studio: Platinum Vision Something has awakened. Something that's been slumbering for a long time is beginning to stir and the shockwaves are being felt all over heaven and earth.

#action #anime #blonde bishie #fighting #Saiyuki #supernatural

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soul-dwelling · 2 years

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It's funny cause fire force being a soul eater prequel doesnt only hurt the later but the former. Even I as an example only really started giving a shit once the theory got steam and only looked at it trough that lense. Any genuine merits fire force had, I just skimed over and probably many others did the same only knowing it as "the secret soul eater prequel". All the ending discussion, even those that praise it, only seem to look at how it connects and how "mindblowing" that is.

I’m struggling to remember what it was like first getting into Fire Force, where you didn’t have obnoxious people, like the last month, shouting, “LOL you people thought they were references but it was really foreshadowing!”

No. It was not foreshadowing.

How come Maki’s little flame buddies have Maka and Soul’s faces if that is “foreshadowing” and not a reference to “this is what Maka and Soul’s souls looked like in their first fight with Stein way back in Chapter 2?” I saw Akitaru’s mask and was like, “Oh, it looks like Eibon’s mask,” I didn’t think, “Wait, is this going to be proof Akitaru is really the original Eibon?” Those aren't all establishing this is the pre-Soul Eater world, they are more likely allusions.

(Also, I am laughing my ass off at the fans who for the past week said, “We will see proof that Akitaru is really Eibon!” or “Akitaru is really Free!” or “Akitaru is really Stein!” and just getting it so freaking wrong. Seriously, we already saw Stein as a child–how would that track if 800 years pass between Akitaru in Chapter 302 to Stein in Chapter 1?)

But at least when I first picked up Fire Force to read, I felt like this was engaging my attention because it was a new thing. Yes, it retained Ohkubo’s visual style, in-jokes, and plenty of references (see Maki’s flame buddies). But it never felt like it was a story that depended on Soul Eater or Ohkubo’s association with it: I was honestly giving it as fair a shake I could because it was holding my attention. This is a story about a boy trying to find out what happened to his brother and mother. Then it became a story about people hiding the truth of that night. Then suddenly some cult shows up to really keep things quiet. And then Sho appears–and things should really get excited!

…And instead, Shinra fails to retrieve Sho because we need to drag this plot out longer, Tamaki becomes a joke, we get the dumbest gags related to Assault (by which point I largely dropped much attention to this story), then somehow Shinra loses his body and just is largely fine despite learning his body was commandeered by someone else, then we just barrel into a final arc that decides “This is a Soul Eater prequel” now.

This is like the gag on the Watchtower Database YouTube channel where they talk about the DCAU and warn “Don’t spoil the episode ‘Epilogue.’” That’s kind of what you are getting at: imagine you read Fire Force–only to have its ending spoiled. Or you only read Fire Force because someone spoiled it for you–and you may not get anything out of it with regards to Soul Eater?

Me, personally, I love spoilers, so I would really hope, if I had never watched any DCAU show, that learning what happens in “Epilogue” would just make me more excited to see how that episode ties together so many different elements of the DCAU but in service to telling a story about characters, not just “ooo, a reference, oh, an Easter Egg, thanks for making me feel smart!” For this final arc, I didn’t feel like I was with these characters to share their victory: this felt like a protracted exercise in bringing back some piece of Soul Eater instead of just letting the series retain some dignity. It’s not that Soul Eater is dead or that we are trying to freeze it in amber–but it definitely doesn’t need some cynical tease to get people’s nostalgia worked up.

And it doesn’t even seem like a tease to get people reading Soul Eater: “Hey, what’s the deal with that drooling bowtie kid, that girl reading the fire book, the Naruto boy with the tattoo on the wrong side, and the tiny boy with three stripes?” I think it’d be more interesting, if still freaking annoying, if the series had just ended with a fast forward of Maka and Soul about to face off against Jack the Ripper and a caption “The Adventure Continues in Soul Eater,” so that you are just honest about why this cynical commercial ends this series.

Once the novelty wears off, will this hype remain around Fire Force? Honestly, I just don’t get the fans: the latter half seemed like an unfocused story, and it didn’t have the benefit of a character design style that was as unique and weird as that of Soul Eater, especially its anime.

#long post #spoiler #spoilers

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