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mermaidsirennikita · 6 days

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Louis de Pointe du Lac, as originally written, could be regarded as one of lit's most famous "also rans", someone who was originally positioned as Thee Tragic Figure of the series, only to be almost immediately superseded both in the readers' and the author's minds with Lestat. Like, you know Louis because of the original book, but Lestat is the one everyone talks about, Lestat drives the rest of the series, Lestat has all the best lines.

And the movie, as much as I personally don't like it, only sort of dug this further into the pop cultural understanding of the story. Brad Pitt is at his most "I am relying on pretty" boring and sulky; when there is a performance, it's largely annoying. And Tom Cruise... I mean, it's literally nothing next to what Sam Reid does in my mind, but it was at least very off-brand for him at the time, and he was doing SOMETHING, and he (and Kirsten Dunst) have the most iconic Moments, the camp, the arguably most memorable part of the movie (the very end with the Sympathy for the Devil cover playing us off).

So it's honestly SUCH a testament to the innovation of the show's writing and the brilliance of Jacob Anderson's performance that Louis has been reinvented, not only as a compelling protagonist, but as a character that is EASILY as complex and multilayered as more traditionally antiheroic/villainous types like Lestat and Armand and Claudia. He's more than the beautiful, tragic object of Lestat and Armand's affections, he's more than the guy telling us the story.

Louis is self-loathing and self-aggrandizing; he's victimized by Lestat, and he manipulates Lestat, very aware of his own emotional hold over him (might we note how much agency Louis had over Claudia's turning, and how Lestat in no way would've done that if not for Louis... and that act was arguably one of the most selfish in the series, if emotionally understandable). He's controlled by Armand, yet we get hints that he's actually quite dangerous and perhaps in some sort of self-delusion about just how dangerous he is (and Assad certainly plays Armand like he's nervous as fuck about Louis knowing the truth--and I don't think that's JUST about the possibility of Louis leaving him once he finds out).

Louis tells himself that he loved Claudia more than anything and that she was his "spark in the dark", when we see that in reality their relationship deteriorated over time and continued to do so, even after the person who was seemingly a wedge in their relationship was vanquished. We see hints, perhaps, that Claudia was no more the ideal daughter in his mind than Lestat was the ideal lover.

And that last scene in the premiere? When we're not sure who the "you" is? Sad and kind of horrifying, too. Because like--what will Louis do to Claudia to further his own love and obsessions? Who does Louis prioritize more--Claudia, Lestat, Armand? Maybe none of the above. Maybe himself and what or who he thinks will stave off his own loneliness, his need for love and validation and, yes, power.

None of this is a criticism of the character. The show already did something SO good and SO smart by turning Louis from a white slave owner to a Black man with money and social standing, still so held back by the laws and environment of his day. Vampirism gave him agency, yet the show, in season one, showed the potential for Louis to still be the perpetual tragic victim (in episode five especially). And maybe they'll still slip up and do that.

But increasingly, with the reveal in the s1 finale and the s2 premiere, I think we're getting the implication that the thing Louis could be protecting himself from mentally (with some help from Armand--I don't think Louis's memory issues are all Vampire Magic, though) is something horrible that he did. A choice he made. Because Louis does have agency, and the narrative allows him to be someone with conflicted desires and a complicated sense of self. Someone who doesn't love PRETTILY. Someone who is manipulated and manipulates.

Like, I've joked about him being this kind of like vampiric Helen of Troy because of the allure he holds for powerful figures like Lestat and Armand, but I also think it's so powerful to explore the way that Louis uses that appeal and ALSO makes fucked up decisions on his own because he is... into being adored, frankly. Even if the people who adore him also hurt him. He gets caught up in his own romanticized retellings of his life story, whether heartfelt or tragic, because in those retellings he can pretend that he had no choice, he had no ability to say otherwise.

But like--Louis could have stopped that woman from being decapitated, potentially. Louis didn't have to walk away from human affairs. He chose to do so, just like he chose to beg Lestat to turn Claudia. Just like he chose to deny her Lestat's true death.

And I think there's like, an attempt to reckon with this in the unreliable narration of the books, but I also think that this is so dependent, in Anne Rice's version, on spinning to Lestat... That Louis's culpability and untruths are overshadowed by his Everything. Here, the story lets us soak in Louis's mind, and Jacob Anderson's performance really seals that. I find it so smart.

#interview with the vampire #one of the only shows that gets me excited enough to meta rant these days #anyway jacob anderson i love your work #(to be clear i love everyone's work this is truly one of the strongest casts on tv)

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katyspersonal · 10 months

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8, 9, 12, 13!!! World peace wooo yeahhh!

ALSO SILENCE MORTAL YOU ARE STILL THE ROM PERSON IDC LIKE SHE MATTERS TO ME THANKS TO YOU 🕸️🕷️

Ah, really though?? I am so flattered to hear this! There is just... so much lore about her that is told visually and via use of other gameplay elements rather than verbally, and THIS type of lore is easier for me to decipher! Well, Bloody Crow matters for me thanks to YOU, so we are even! xD

(Asks from this ( x ) meme)

8) common fandom opinion that everyone is right about and should say it

Hmmm, well! Opinion that Gehrman is, in fact, not a "misogynist creep" or whatever but rather a complicated, nuanced character with multilayered vibe of grieving, who is not necessarily a good person but made a Doll in such image somewhere on the range from 'Maria herself HAD a gentle, even feminine side that was ruined and he blames himself' to 'He trapped her image in that femininity as last ditch mental effort to pretend she is "safe"'. That's right - in recent couple of years, this opinion on Gehrman became common! I remember how it started in Summer 2021 with my post ( x ) shedding light on some mistranslated lines and missed possibilities, that changed opinion of a few or his haters and shaped opinion of some that never cared for him, but now? Now every popular blog has a nuanced take on Mister Doomer that goes viral in less than a week every time! Moreover, the MOST viral of these takes basically make a peace between "she is legit masculine" and "Gehrman is certainly not a misogynist" takes; basically no one is left unsatisfied and everything is compromised on. I am glad to announce that takes like this count as COMMON! We did it, fandom!

9) best part of canon

Damn, you guys really think there is such thing as "canon" in From's games? xD Okay, okay, I will be serious. My favourite part is how there is a complex affiliation with the Eldrich Truth! There are 'Stars', and the 'Paleblood Moon' boldly hinted to be behind it, and the latter also can be associated with Bloodmoon, that is itself is more the state of being 'nourished' and descending to "bless" the humans, but also Flora does seem to be in charge, and there is the 'Sea' from which Kos presumably came, but 'Sea' seems to lead to the 'Stars', and there are some weird and cursed Kin like Amygdala and maybe Wet Nurse. There are Kin that are each of these and Kin that are both, and Rom is all three affiliations- meanwhile some beasts show signs of Kin, and some Kin show signs of beasts! I dissected the complexity in my Kin headcanons post ( x ) to my best ability, but the variety of the material to work with is pretty much canon, even if the way to go about it is up for the lorediggers. But this is ENJOYABLE. I LOVED connecting these dots!

12) the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

I'll say Forgotten Madman! Honestly, find a character that lives up to their name more... He is implied to have been a member of the Choir - dude uses A Call Beyond, that is a secret weapon of the Choir! Also, the only NPC to use Empty Phantasm Shell. Also, the fact that obtaining Cosmic Watcher badge lets you buy poisonous knives, and he happens to be fought in the Hintertomb, a location notorious for being very venomous- Like, what if he came up with those knives? What if he sets his Ludwig's Holy Blade in arcane mist in attempt to recreate the conditions which made Ludwig have his revelation? After all, the 'Madmen' prospectors were ones who went insane trying to gain more Insight in the dungeons, and wrapped husks of phantasms around themselves like lucky charms. He also has very unusual face, and pink skin. Also, whereas all the remaining prospectors seem to be solitary, he has an escort! You know, unusually so, like... a noble man having a butler? Or he needed assistance for other reason? But there is an implication of a tie between Hemwick and Hintertomb (more on the topic in this ( x ) post), and Hemwick is an underling of Cainhurst, and Cainhurst IS nobles, and-

Okay, you see what I am saying. This wholeass character, and his escort by effect, are like a Lego set from which you can craft really interesting stuff! Most of Soulsborne characters will have little to no lore, just 'material to work with', so I don't really see why not craft something with him too! ...or at least include him in the Choir gang. Yeah I know everyone hates his hairstyle, but that IS why they agreed to not take hats off ever again, come on dsnfgsdfd xD

13) best blorboficiation

Hmmmm... Tricky question, because the concept itself has negative implication *thinking emoji* I think maybe Djura? Blorbofication I've seen used in a synonymous concept as idealisation or something. Like, striping character off the flaws, complexity and wrongdoings, and making it all about their good side (sometimes exagerrating it either). Djura must have taken part in burning of the Old Yharnam, seems to have hunted a lot and viciously from how worn his clothes are and how two of Powder Keg weapons straight up celebrate EXCEPTIONAL hatred for the beasts, and there is still some layer of hypocrisy to him (source: analyze all his interaction/questline with the player very hard) and dark implication about defending the beasts like he does... I can go on. But like... I am yet to see the "harm" (if you could call it that?) of blorbifying him to being the cool beasts' dad and liking his redemption arc to the point of forgetting what he redeemed himself FROM...? He is just such a good character that I've grown to like it when people are blinded by his good traits xd There are also some characters with whom 'blind love' opens the gate for controversy and even attacking other characters and/or fans, but 'blind love' towards Djura doesn't... really cause anything bad? There is nothing but wholesome stuff, like... no one gets hurt? besides the Paleblood Hunter lolololol

Thank you for the ask!

#bloodborne #fandomry rambles #ask replies #this is probably the most wholesome yet #some things i am realising AS I am typing the replies #like blorbofication of maria can cause quite a havoc #but blorbofication of djura is just.... like it is Just Here. nothing bad follows #as for based gehrman takes it is mostly through the 'i know a guy that knows a guy that knows a guy' system #but i still see some just find me #like that cool one from yharnam-is-a-fuck for example #based gehrman stuff goes super viral super fast and i haven't even noticed #like... we have changed #*says a person that discovered BB way too late past its prime lol*

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limerental · 5 months

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even as a card-carrying TWN enjoyerTM, I found the Tissaia/ Vilgefortz romance so incredibly frustrating, like this series has taken female characters that in the book were just there to thirst for Geralt and be love triangle foder (Triss and Fringilla) and turn them into multilayered characters highlighted by their relationships to multiple characters outside of just romance then there is Tissaia who like you said is never thirsting for anyone unlike every other sorceress in the books is arguably the best secondary character played by the best performer in the show ( Mimi as Fringilla is a close second) who was so fascinating to watch and analyze whenever she was on screen based on a book character that pretty much nobody really thought much about until then

when I saw the first part of S3 I legitimately thought the romance had to be a red herring, it felt so OOC for her, he had to be controlling her through magic, it would have highlighted his misogyny and need to control women to get what he wanted and also confirm that despite how powerful she is, he is still the most powerful mage on the continent and would highlight just how dangerous his is for things going forward

( sorry for how rambly this is)

My struggle with it is that Tissaia and Yennefer's relationship is one of the most interesting, standout things that sets it apart from other witcher media in a good way and the complexity of minor female side characters is such a strength with the show in general so whyyyy on earth would Tissaia's motivations need to be changed to romantic ones?

For one, Vilgefortz most literally already had a complicated love interest (Lydia) who is chronically underexplored in the books. And secondly, Tissaia de Vries? That's a lesbian.

Anyway I think the writers had a clear agenda to try and distract us from how much book Vilgefortz has the hots for Geralt. They read time of contempt and were like uh oh. We have to give him a heterosexual love interest or this is gonna look weird.

Thats also why they cut most of their conversation. Not because it was boring and political but because it oozed slutty flirtation.

What was I talking about.

Oh yeah, forever baffled by the choice to take a character whose main stance at Thanned is how genocide and war are bad to participate in and change her main stance to "My boyfriend Vilgefartz could never be evil because I wuv him"

#anyway #twn critical #truly whacky #especially when that's the sendoff to the character ://

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why-raven · 5 days

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Did you design your OC with a specific aspect of RP in mind? Such as shipping, NSFW things, attending in-game social events, hosting events or entertaining others?

[ Little OC Creation Ask List ]

Thank you for the ask, @mimble-sparklepudding! I always love your ask questions for the thoughtfulness and insight, and I’m very happy to receive one from the OP (´◡`)

Since the answer is fairly long, I’ll trim this post with a “read more” cut:

I’d say not really, for the options stated in the question.

Whenever I design my OCs for storytelling (whether for writing fanfics or RPing with other people), I usually go along with either my personal aesthetic taste, or if I already had a rough idea for their lore to pick something that would work reasonably. I don’t think about what other players would feel towards my muses because I didn’t create my characters for them in the first place. Great if you like my blorbos, but it’s fine if you don’t vibe with them. My characters and I aren’t here to please everybody.

(I’ve been writing and roleplaying in other fandoms for at least a decade, way before I even joined the FFXIV community, so I’ve never felt the need to create my characters around other people unless absolutely necessary.)

So far, I’ve only shared two major muses openly on this site: Sora and Yiuno. I’d say Sora is a likeable sort of character, with her cute appearance and child-like innocence (we do not talk about her penchant for violence). She was the first muse I made when I started playing the game during Shadowbringers launch. I was fairly clueless about FFXIV back then, so I didn’t really think much about her character development and mostly went along with what felt right for her. I only started working on her backstory proper around patch 5.55, when I’m more familiar with the game’s lore.

As for Yiuno… he wasn’t created to be someone good and straightforward, like Sora. When male Viera is added to the game in Endwalker, I thought of designing a character who is multilayered, complicated, and fun for me to explore from various perspectives. Yiuno is a dangerous but broken man; almost nothing about him is particularly likeable as a person (except maybe his face, lol). Speaking of appearance, that was what I had intended for him—he has an idealistic beauty that could charm others to gravitate to him, until they finally realize the horrors he kept behind that pretty smiling mask (and by then it’d probably be too late). He’s supposed to be a hypocritical existence, the embodiment of contradiction.

The only exception created for shipping with NPC, I’d say, is Persephone, the other half of Yiuno’s Ancient self. The serious reason is my own take on the true motive that drove Emet-Selch to extremity in his actions against the Sundered on Etheirys to reclaim the Star for his own people (i.e. my way to fill in some blanks in the canon). The fun reason? I enjoyed the various studies on the relationship between Hades and Persephone in Ancient Greek mythology, and I want to do something similar with them. (Also, I stand by my personal headcanon of Emet and Lahabrea often lamenting about their wives after the Convocation meetings.)

While most people might be unwilling to admit this, our characters also serve as an extension of our real selves, particularly in a virtual world like Etheirys. I mean, we technically don’t see the real faces of other players in the game (unless you share your RL photos, that’s on you), so naturally the avatars that everyone sees in the game is a representation of the player controlling that character. I believe that ultimately people create characters for themselves, because they are the ones making the conscious choice and taking the necessary actions to fulfill that decision. Just my two-cents.

#ludos tenebris.#yiuno reine #sora amariyo #yiune; persephone #oc ask game #-- little oc creation ask list #-- ty for the ask!

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amazing-spiderling · 1 year

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For the ask box game: fmk Matt, Wade, Peter. Would you rather be spoiled about something you're looking forward to, or not be able to ever watch it. Tell me something no one ever gets right about a character you love. Tell me a head canon you love that everyone else seems to hate. What are you most looking forward to doing this week? Last, non food related, thing you treated yourself to? A movie you wish were remade,or made for the first time, and who would you cast in the main roles?

fmk Matt, Wade, Peter.:

Gosh, I think I have to contextualize this in which means the least gruesome fate for me, don't I? I love them all and they have their bright points, but comic books gonna comic book. I think I have to fuck Matt, because a one-night fling leaves me with the highest chance of survival although I guess I'll have to give him a pep talk after if he's crying. XD Peter I think I could marry. Even if otherworldly shenanigans erase our marriage, if we actually tie the knot, it seems like I will be fine? As far as I know it's only ever been MJ and Gwen (in Mexico lol) and that seemed to go fine. Plus, I can handle being the wife of a singleminded science guy, I've got that down. And, gosh, poor Wade. While I think being married to him would be great *while it lasted* there's no way I make it out of that in one piece. I think if I explained the context to him he would understand, agree with me, and when he came back to life I could buy him a burger and there'd be no hard feelings.

Would you rather be spoiled about something you're looking forward to, or not be able to ever watch it.

Spoiled. I mean, it's great when a big twist really lands, but I don't think that actually happens all that often (do you hear me, Marvel?) and the movies where a big twist or revelation has the most impact is one that laid the seeds the whole time, so it makes it worth rewatching over and over so you can pick up all the little breadcrumbs. A good piece of media should be just as much (or more!) about the journey as the destination.

Tell me something no one ever gets right about a character you love.

I've had a lot of Nightcrawler on the brain lately as I've been revisiting some older media, and I guess my issue with his characterization is that people tend to make him one note. He's either "the religious moral compass" or "the jokey bestie" or "idk pirates?" but once in a while you get a writer who understands that he's all of these things and even though he is most often a side characters while the more dramatic lead actors are driving the major plots- he's multilayered and complicated and thoughtful. As much as the current X-Men titles are hurting my heart, I think they are doing something new with the character (even when he's unable to be on the page) and reminding readers who Kurt is at his core and why he is essential to the team.

Tell me a head canon you love that everyone else seems to hate.

Hummm.... I am always bad at HC questions because I think I fold my HCs into my understanding of the character, and I'm not really one to just come up with "I think so and so's favorite cheese is gruyere" kind of ideas most of the time. XD I guess returning to Kurt, while I think he is a very loving and romantic and sexual person... I kind of see him ending up unmarried at the end of things. I mean, right now, it's clear that all societal norms are up in the air for the mutants. What is a marriage, what is a religion, what are life and death even? But after reading the character for years, there's never been a romantic interest that seemed to have the staying power and the ability to go toe to toe with him. (Except Ororo and then I think she's too good to settle down neatly either lol) I kind of see him as the type to view all the younger mutants as his "children" (hell, there might even be some biological ones floating around, like I said, current mutant island is crazy) but I think his true love is the cause and the dream of a prosperous future for humans and mutants full of joy and acceptance. The spark, if you will. Now please excuse me while all the Logurt shippers come for my head....

What are you most looking forward to doing this week?

Before the pandemic, my friends and I had a multi-year tradition of visiting all the sister restaurants of our favorite Japanese place in town. There was a general Japanese place, a ramen place, a Japanese style cafe etc etc. This was a whole day/weekend affair. We made shirts. The pandemic put a halt on that, but we've gotten creative and are making use of some outdoor seating and catering trays to bring the tradition back this year, shirts included. It will be great to see my friends knowing that we're all testing/taking precautions/keeping our activities as safe as possible, but still getting to enjoy a little socialization. And I will play Rock Band with people if it KILLS me.

Last, non food related, thing you treated yourself to?

I managed to score an art commission from Chris Samnee and I am HYPE.

A movie you wish were remade,or made for the first time, and who would you cast in the main roles?

Gosh, this is a tough one! I guess I think a lot about a Spider-Gwen movie set in Earth-65 but she features so heavily in ITSV and ATSV it's hard for me to separate her actress there from any other options. I guess I'll just need to wait and see who from her universe pops up, I guess. But other than that... Ugh, I'm so bad at this, I don't know a lot of actors and actresses. XDD I'm just gonna cop out and say that I would be please as punch if Alan Tudyk took on the role of Murderdock in said Spider-Gwen film. Honestly animated or live action, I don't care. He has the RANGE.

#thanks for the ask!

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danidoesathing · 2 years

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🔥 Makoto

Oh boy. alright kiddos im not gonna be nice with this. This might be partially a rant but I dont care.

Makoto is an extremely poorly written character. Every aspect of her character has such great potential but ultimately it's undermined by terrible writing. She's meant to be a pushover good girl type that eventually snaps and starts to stand up for herself and realize the flaws of the system. But every interaction with her just....doesn't come across.

Like her introduction just makes her come across as judgmental, mean, and thoughtless. I get her not getting along with the PT at first, but her jabs at the PT are so personal (like when she tries to imply Ann's at fault for Shiho's suicide attempt. what the fuck). She doesn't bother to think about any nuance to any situation when it comes to any of the characters. They keep trying to make her come across as smart but her actions just....don't reflect that. Finding her way into the palace was smart, but thats the only example I can really think of. She comes off as plain ignorant (I won't even touch on the post interrogation room scene as I have so. so many things to say about that but her taking partial credit for the plan working angers me to no end). Her trauma with Sae, her father, and the principal is interesting but it's not enough for me to go "oh, she's just misunderstood" because there's not enough good will built up for me to just forgive all her actions.

And she doesn't grow. All the characters have flaws right? but they work past them and they have good qualities. Yusuke, for example, stayed silent while himself and others were being abused. But ultimately, he comes to realize Madarame isn't the great hero he thought he was and learns to stand for himself and others. He grows (his confidant has it's own issues, but thats a topic for another day), but Makoto doesn't learn or change like the other characters. She becomes more assertive, sure, but she doesn't really earn that multilayered development like other's do (and it honestly comes off as bossy). She still doesn't fully understand the flaws in the system, she still has full confidence that she's right all the time, she still doesn't see what the different nuances to each situation and only sees her perspective, and it's just....frustrating.

The worst example of this? In her confidant, she says she wants to be a cop like her father to Akira. She wants to change the system from the inside, and she choses to be....a cop. She knows how corrupt they are, and she really thinks that becoming one could just fix everything. That's not how it works. It's stupidly hopeful and straight up willingly naive. She could have chosen to become a judge, trying to fight against the 99% guilty verdict in Japan. A defense lawyer. A political activist. ANYTHING other than join the system of corruption they are fighting against. And she says this to Akira. Akira, her friend who has extensive trauma around cops and his arrest. Her friend with canon PTSD around his arrest and shows a general fear of cops. That's just....willingly ignorant to his trauma.

And you want to know the worst part? She could have been fucking amazing. Those glimpses of what could have been. Her awakening? fantastic. Her showtimes? amazing. Her dynamics with Ryuji and Haru? Awesome. There's so much potential to create a characters who's lived on a more privileged standard that has benefited from the system and who's family actively contributed to it (complicated feelings towards your loved ones could have been awesome) learning and going against the flaws in it despite what's its given her. Her bonding with the "delinquents" of the school and seeing that these people she's always turned her nose towards are actually good people, and growing because of it could have been....really, really good. But that's not what happened, and it sucks. I don't usually blame the characters for this stuff, because it's 99% due to bad writing. Maybe I still wouldn't have liked her if she was written well, but at least it would be me not liking a character, not "this character is fundamentally flawed and it pisses me off".

#sorry for the rant but she drives me insane #like I WANT to like her but every time she does something it just makes me mad #dani speaks #its just a shame how bad her character was written #ask #asks

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gunterfan1992 · 3 years

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Interview with Fan Artist loycos!

(Art by loycos)

So a few months ago, I was absent-mindedly scrolling on Tumblr (or was it Twitter?) when I came across something: an Adventure Time fan comic by an artist named loycos. As a person embedded in fan spaces, I find fanart like this all the time, but this time, there was something special about the art I was seeing. It was so... show-accurate!

I don’t mean that necessarily in regard to the art style (although it does feel right at home in the Land of Ooo, while still being its own thing with its own flourishes), but rather in relation to the characterization; the way loycos wrote the characters was spot on. She nailed PB and Marceline’s dynamic as former lovers who deep-down miss one another. She nailed Finn’s naive heroism and his one-sided crush on PB. She nailed Jake’s goofball energy. It was perfect.

In the past, I’ve only interviewed people affiliated with the show’s production, but I thought I’d mix things up a bit and reach out to some fan artists that I think are fantastic. As such, I’m delighted to share with you an interview I had with loycos, who answered my questions about her art, her history with Adventure Time, and where her work is headed!

What is your 'artistic origin' story?

[It’s] kind of a corny answer, but I've been drawing since I remember myself. My earliest drawing memories are drawing Clifford (the big red dog) fanart when I was around 5 y/o. I was always more of a "fangirl" artist, [and] I would draw characters from my favorite franchises to illustrate my headcanons and daydream scenarios I'd put them in. That hadn't changed one bit since. I had since gone on to study animation and illustration in official institutions which forced me to design characters and worlds of my own, but when I draw for myself it's always back to fanart (or studies). I don't have any OCs.

Are there particular artists or styles that you were inspired by and/or like to emulate or allude to?

I'd joke that my artstyle is just a mesh of all the franchises I've drawn fanart for over the years, but honestly, is it even a joke? I think you can easily recognize I had a Disney Phase like every other teenager (I didn't have an anime phase though! I know, I'm an anomaly) and [Steven Universe] definitely left it's fat mark on my style too. Out of [Steven Universe]'s storyboarding crew (which I followed very closely over the years) I especially love Raven Molisee and Jeff Liu for their wacky expressions and proportions, and of course Rebecca Sugar for their fluid and carefree lines. When it comes to art in general, I tend to prefer stylized, colorful and brushy styles over realistic or gothic ones, So people like Hue Teo and Patri Balanovsky pop to my mind (and my artstation feed, seriously look them up).

How do you approach your projects; what is your general art process?

It really depends on the type of project I'm doing, though, my [Adventure Time] comics were all pretty similar in their conception: I write down all of my ideas in my notes so I won't forget them. Then I either roughly sketch out the entire comic as fast as I can, or I write a script (if the concept is specifically very dialog heavy) and then sketch it roughly. Then I do the lineart and color, nothing too complicated. The one thing I think is worth noting in my long comic process is that I draw all of my panels on the same document- that way it's easier for me to make sure the characters stay on model and that my panel layout remains fresh. So basically, the way you read the comics on tumblr, as a long scroll, is the format I work on.

How did you come to find Adventure Time? What made you join the fandom?

Adventure Time is one of those shows you just know about, so I don't remember how I first found out about the show. However, I do remember when I started shipping Bubbline—after the episode “Broke His Crown” aired. I somehow ended up in their Tumblr tag and was blown away by the (by 2016's standards) blatant representation. Despite my obsession with them at the time, I never actually watched any episode that didn't feature the girls' relationship. I only started fully watching the show recently. But I did consume a lot of fan content, which I think helped me shape my own headcanons and such. After my initial interest in 2016 I put Bubbline back on the back burner and kept on my [Steven Universe] ramage, until last year's “Obsidian,” which brought me back fully on board the Bubbline decks around 2 weeks before it aired, so I was in maximum hype mode when I watched the special. It did not disappoint [and it] really reminded me of why I loved these characters and their relationship to begin with. I started drawing my own art for the ship shortly after, when I felt like the hype around the special died down and there wasn't much to keep me sustained anymore. I make what I want to see ;)

As for joining the fandom, I don't know if I can be considered a member, seeing how inactive I am most of the time and my very limited list of [Adventure Time] mutuals. I am extremely flattered that my stuff caught ATimers attention in a positive way.

You've done some amazing Bubblegum and Marceline stuff. What draws you to their dynamic?

I'm gay.

OK, seriously now. I have a soft spot for extremely feminine, dainty characters that are very reserved, so PB immediately marked herself as an obvious fav, and the road to shipping her with Marceline (who is such an obvious candidate and a multilayered, fascinating character herself) was a short one. I know calling PB dainty is far from a true statement, but that's what she appeared like on the surface and that's what caught my attention. Another thing is that I love relationships between immortal beings, I think it always adds another layer of complexity to any relationship, especially a romantic one. The whole "getting older without appearing like you've aged" and "watching everyone you love die around you while you stay the same" can surely make 2 beings bond, right? It always felt like PB and Marcy get each other in a way no one else can, they are very different on the surface but share fundamental internal similarities. Oh, and the fact that they're EXES? The romantic tension and the longing? The familiarity and banter they had in every scene they shared?This hit the jackpot on literally every relationship trope that I love. I'd much rather watch a "getting back together" than a "falling in love for the first time" story.

All of this and the fact that they [are] gay. It's really that simple sometimes.

In broad strokes, what is next for you as an artist and/or as a fan?

I have a few [Adventure Time] comics ideas\scripts on the back burner and one that is in the making. I think I'll dabble into some Nintendo fanart cause I've been playing a lot of Smash Bros and [Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild] lately.

I’m so excited to see what comes next! Either way, a huge thanks to loycos for chattin’ with me! If you’d like to check out more of her art, visit her Tumblr and her Twitter page!

#adventure time #atimers #adventuretime #bubbline #princess bubblegum #marceline #marceline the vampire queen #pb #marcy #loycos #fanart #fan art #interview #fandom

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bootlegsymphony · 4 years

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Being Hopeful [a *personal* Komahina writeup]

*major Danganronpa 2/2.5/3 spoilers ahead*

Someone told me to gather my thoughts into a post so here it is.

Note: Unless you’re up for a challenge to potentially reshape your opinions towards certain ships, if you think Komahina is by default a toxic ship in anyway shape or form, or if you firmly believe that Hinanami is “bestest Hinata ship OTP owo”, it’s not in your best interest to read this post. I’m not suggesting you are invalid or wrong, but you’re likely not the group of people I’m looking forward to having a constructive and evoking conversation with.

First off, I might have been recognized as an avid Komahina shipper, and my opinions towards Hinanami could be generally summarized as ambivalent/mixed/minorly favourable. I was able to acknowledge Hina/Nami’s relationship as of roughly equivalent significance in regard to DR2’s theme.

But it was impossible for me to consider the two relationships narratively equal, I was able to notice that Koma/Hina was a “meant to be” endgame relationship right of the bat, yet Hina/Nami reads as this transitory experience of an obscure puppy love, or “yeah that happened” that’s melancholic and beautiful. Evidently, the narrative strongly favoured Koma/Hina in terms of screentime, development, complexity, compatibility, and endgame potentials.

I wasn’t too confident about why Komahina screams an ultimate destination of a Hinata relationship to me, yet Hina/Nami never convey a remotely similar message. In many aspects, I didn’t ship Komahina in the past for the sake of “I want Komaeda to savour happiness” but placed more emphasis on “it would be wise for Hinata if he could ascertain that his future is with Komaeda”. However I couldn’t elucidate why I thought so.

But due to some unexpected changes in my personal life, it was so effortless for me to reach an epiphany why Hinanami couldn’t quite be the same Hinata-OTP as Komahina. And now I’m kicking myself for not being able to be more adamant about it earlier.

In short, I had a brief taste of how “true bond” or “true connection” functions. It was an estranged, uncharted experience to me prior to that “sudden change”. And in retrospect it’s unimaginable how I survived that bitter life of pure bleakness without it. But since I was able to discern the characteristics of a “true bond”, Koma/Hina, while being excruciatingly complicated and bitter in canon timeline, had a great foundation for that nonetheless, while Hina/Nami was, fundamentally “deficient” in this specific department.

Hina/Nami, either the DR2 or DR3 iteration, doesn’t go beyond being a fine relationship. It’s not bad, as adolescent crushes are typically not bad. It’s functional and somewhat sweet if Hinata was just some normal shy boy who at some point met a nice caring pretty girl. But a great, monumental relationship doesn’t come from being just fine, and Hinata is much more messy than a such-and-such average joe as what a part of the fandom preferred to project him as.

But Hinata wasn’t an adequate rival and foil for Komaeda, that ridiculously multilayered character likely in all fictions for nothing.

For starter, Hinata committed Izuru Kamakura and countless war crimes, for fuck’s sake.

I had this pessimistic outlook that humans aren’t truly designated at birth to understand each other unless they are. Real life Nanami being the talented, worthy Ultimate Gamer she was, even if she could acknowledge and validate Hinata’s struggles as a talentless person, and brought him some temporary comfort and solace, she could not understand the full spectrum of complications the struggle itself entails. Being the kind and somewhat compassionate person she was, she’d try to understand Hinata if he ever decided to open up, but she’d likely just go “yeah talent doesn’t really matter you should just be confident in yourself” as long as she’s not some Ultimate Empath like Makoto (or Junko) all at the same time. To her, Hinata’s decision to Izuru-fy is unfavorable, but not particularly tangible.

It’s somewhat similar to a moderately affluent person not knowing what an impoverished/economically-challenged life entails, they could never understand why it’s necessary for anyone to opt for crimes and prostitution and shit, if you could just “yeah money doesn’t matter you should be happy” your way out of it. Why is it necessary to choose a life path of crimes and prostitution? Why is it necessary to Izuru-fy oneself? It’s the perpetual predicament of mutual understanding in humankind. No matter how sweet and wholesome on the surface that ship appeared, Nanami would hardly ever reach Hinata’s soul beyond skin-deep, if the talent/worth debate, the rigorous societal expectations, the everlasting emotional quagmire of being under-loved and under-appreciated...everything which gradually carved out Hinata’s pivotal character (that we know of) from his embryo, was a non-issue to Nanami at core.

If there was a portion of Hinata yearning for true connection in an intimate relationship (which I doubt he didn’t), his relationship with Nanami would eventually turn insufficient or dissatisfactory, despite feeling nice on the exterior.

Normally, people don’t realize they’re empty until they’re fulfilled.

But who else struggled immensely with the entanglement between talent and worth throughout their life? Who else once resolved to obliterate their own precious being in pursuit of an almost delusional ideal of hope as Hinata did, so that they could potentially speak to Hinata on the deepest, hidden stratum of his soul?

Komaeda.

It always pains me to read Komaeda’s first FTE where he suggested Hinata’s ultimate talent could be “Ultimate Serenity” because Hinata granted him some inner peace “just by being there”. Knowing Komaeda’s mind it’s a nearly impossible feat to make him feel peaceful. Komaeda likely didn’t even consider that a legitimate talent, he inwardly viewed Hinata “being there” as inherently valuable but he couldn’t even tell. Yet Hinata failed to just, be there, be existent.

And, I always considered Komaeda sustaining himself being alive to be a monument on its own, yet 2-5 happened, for Hope, I believed.

I once had a mentally stimulating talk about how emotional and intellectual transparency lead to a solid foundation of ��true love” among people with someone before. They even expressed, months ago, that if Hinata could just speak up about his problems with Nanami he wouldn’t have necessarily Izuru-fied himself.

Yet even being the aloof and reserved fucker he was, Hinata wouldn’t camouflage himself in front of Komaeda. Komaeda saw through him even if he was having a hard time deciding on how he should have felt himself. He voiced, various times throughout DR2, that “we have similar scents” “I thought you would understand me” “we’re both miserable bystanders” “I couldn’t see you as completely separate from me”. On the surface it seemed like Komaeda was being cryptic and dragging Hinata to his level, but given how we knew Hinata took even more drastic measures as escapism, were they even that different?

It was why exactly Komahina dynamic was so embittered and resentful in the canon timeline. It was not hatred, but involuntary intimacy. Hinata was emotionally stripped naked (sorry, not to evoke any erotic visualizations, just a convenient metaphor) when it’s not even Komaeda’s intention, and Komaeda’s always emotionally naked. It didn’t turn out well not because it was a fundamentally dysfunctional dynamic, but they simply met each other in the worst, most despairful and unluckiest timeline possible. With continuous manslaughters ongoing, it’s only palpable that baring your soul to someone as dangerous as Komaeda would be intimidating, but it still had that mesmerizingly entrancing aura, especially in Komaeda’s last FTE.

They had no choice of not knowing each other well.

Unless either of them died, which they both did. But an ultimate future was born and they were granted a second chance to finally reach the destination they deserved.

In a post-HPA scenario, Komahina was not only somewhat contextually implied as Hinata’s endgame, but it was deliberately set up as a generally hopeful relationship as well. Kodaka once suggested in an interview that post-HPA Hajizuru inherited Hinata’s emotions, so that he was able to sort out his considerably complex feelings for Komaeda as it left off; meanwhile with Izuru’s analytical skills and insights into human psychology, it would likely become not as cumbersome. With Hinata’s determination and persistence it would hopefully not only cure Komaeda’s terminal illnesses, but also “heal” Komaeda from his hope fetish and other cruddy coping mechanisms, with all the support and dedication Hinata could provide. Hinata, being emotionally identical to his past self, would likely occasionally experience insecurity and low self-esteem as well, and it could require Komaeda’s weird little method of presenting challenges/creating minor inconveniences for Hinata in order to help him build up self-agency and develop infallible self-assurance.

It’s kind of the Ultimate Love that survived all the trials and tribulations, and to think of that the Ultimate Tragedy gave birth to the Ultimate Love, huh, seems about right for our two Ultimate Lucks.

#nagito komaeda #hajime hinata #komahina #komahinawriteup #Komaeda Essay Club #dr2meta #danganronpa2

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doomedandstoned · 3 years

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A Rendezvous with Moscow Doomers Train To Elsewhere

~By Sound Animal~

Photographs by Makhmud Podzhigay

This is a momentous occasion for people around the world who appreciate Stoner Doom Metal and its hybrid forms. The Russian Train to Elsewhere has been solid all along. Then, on May 21, 2021, they played live at Peak Sound Endless Misery Doom Fest, revealing their new lineup to the public. And it’s absolutely astonishing.

On June 9th they released the audio as a bootleg. Lead guitarist Maria K. "Gerard" integral to the band all along, now debuts the recording of her vocals, which intertwine with the lead vocalist, Anna Utopian, who also plays keyboards and stepped in to replace the previous vocalist. On drums we have M'aiq the Liar, Olga on the rhythm guitar that keeps me going and going with this band, and on bass, Anton "Vargtimmen" Bryukov. Their previous singer, Denis Generalov, is no longer with the band. We’ll miss him and always appreciate his massive contribution to the previous demo and album. I’m glad to see that in the wake of his moving onward, the band didn’t falter. In fact, this new era of Train to Elsewhere is electrifying.

Live at Peak Sound (Official Bootleg) by Train to Elsewhere

Their sound is hypnotic and contemplatively atmospheric. The excellent drums are pared down to the essentials, as the best Doom drums are. The slow lullaby groove takes us into the imaginative liminal world of Nod as if we’re on a sleeper car bumping over the metal tracks, hypnagogic images combining the forest landscape outside the window with the mind inside. They play everything at a slow, minimalistic, heavy pace, never giving into the egotistical show of shredding to demonstrate just how fast they can play meaningless notes. No, conversely, every note matters.

Anna Utopian’s expressive vocals are consistently strong and delicious, beautifully doing justice to the intense lyrics while she creates Eastern atmospherics on the keyboards. Rarely does any Metal band have so much female representation within it. All the women in this band come across as authentic, being purely themselves as much as the men are, which can be a challenging project, considering the objectified roles they are so regularly expected to play on stage in that particular genre. There are no distracting displays here.

This ability to be genuine is not surprising with this low-key band, though, as they are not about surface level of life. Instead, the music provokes profound speculations and nuanced states of consciousness. It was Anton’s articulate brilliance in interviews that first locked me into their work.

When Maria sings, I stop moving completely. Until she’s done. Only utter stillness will allow the cilia in my ears to vibrate with the kind of desperate attention they require when encountering my favorite female vocalist. I wasn’t expecting that. No one told me. But I’m telling you, Stoner Doom fans. You must listen to this band that has something to say, and you must prepare yourself for Maria’s one of a kind voice. Words don’t do it justice. It’s the low beneath low. Her throat allows everything through, not just part of the frequency of life. All of it. The inflections indicate so much nobility in the depths of life that surely no one could take living for granted again.

First, I’d like to ask about that slow groove that’s consistent through the songs. I’m curious how the different band members feel that movement within their bodies. As a loop circulating through the body, a sway side-to-side (like bumping over train tracks underneath), a sleepwalking headbang, a standing spiral? Perhaps the way they feel the groove move through their bodies changes song to song.

Maria: We’ve never rehearsed our on-stage choreography or something like that. It comes naturally from our perception of the music. I can say, I like the heavy, powerful low-tune sound of traditional Doom. I like the sound of our guitars, amplified and enhanced with stage gear, going through bodies of musicians and audience. I think the sound should fill all the possible space it can, changing it in its special way.

Anton: For our band it’s very individual, some of us stay more or less still, others move to the music, whichever is more comfortable. It’s an interesting question because movement to music and dance is a very early part of human culture in a way it’s ritualistic. Although we never rehearsed stage movement it’s interesting to see the connection with the audience in that light. It’s great when some people dance to our music and move to it.

Anna: Generally, when I’m playing on stage or rehearsing at the studio, I feel some kind of special energy coming through my body. Especially when I sing. I begin to feel very inspired and optimistic about everything around me. I don’t really rehearse my on-stage choreography; I just have some clear ideas about what I have to do on some of our songs. So most of the time I just improvise my on-stage movements. Also I enjoy having that special connection with the audience, it’s an unforgettable experience, especially, when you’re playing on stage and see the people dancing to your songs and even starting to sing any of your songs that you’re playing. That’s when the magic happens for me.

Olga: I felt this only after I became part of the band – the feeling of the unified space with a group of people. When I listen to our music I can almost see how our melodies combine with each other, winding and supporting each other. Seems like their directions and weight are not less material than stage equipment. And our bodies move with the space movement. In this context I like “The Path” most of all – it resonated with me first and still makes me sway to its rhythm emerging in my subconscious in everyday life. I like both versions of it – with Denis and with Anna on vocals, which feel very different.

I love that about the unified space and the melodies themselves playing a tangible role within it. And the rhythm arising from the subconscious. And Anna feels energy coming through her – I feel a tangible effect from that! What scales are you most fond of? Is that part of the particular Folk element of your Doom that creates that tonality? Are there any folk melodies that influence any of the songs? In what ways does your location influence you?

Maria: I’m fond of northern folk, especially Finno-Ugric music, also I try to look at our music from different dimensions, adding Eastern tonality (Arabic, Turkish, Jewish music), as well as blues riffs, chromatic and classical minor scales, influences from Southern and Eastern European folk tradition… Our “Nortern Summer” is a reminiscence to native Karelian folk tunes, and “Mothir” is our adaptation of Icelandic folk song.

Anton: The idea of our project was to express through the language of Traditional Doom some of our folk influences. Yet we are not a folk band in a traditional sense of the word; we try to incorporate those melodies a bit more delicately, but they are very important.

As for the location it has a great influence on us from the vast forests to the existential gloomy culture and literature, we are shaped by this as musicians. As for Finnish folk it is an important part of our culture which sometimes flies under the radar when people are talking about Russia. For instance, Russian poets of the XIXth century with their gloomy and even Gnostic outlook on existence are a big influence for the Russian language texts of our first album.

Anna: I feel inspired by nature. I like spending some time in the forest. In terms of music, I usually prefer songs in minor scales; I like songs that sound not so depressing, but emotional. For example, I like adding some French coldwave sound to our music, as well as some blues rock.

Olga: Here I agree with Anton. The country’s history defined the distinct visual component of our surroundings, inspired by the folklore ideas and concepts we faced from early childhood, it nurtured in our minds the tendency to reflect and the idea of complicated intricacy of life, even its wholeness in imperfection. Maria shapes those images in multilayered sincerity, bringing the ideas into reality.

Samhain by Train to Elsewhere

What is the composition and arranging like for these songs? Do they ever arise from improv jams? Is it mostly one person’s vision per tune? Do the words or riffs tend to come first? Are you most interested in getting across specific meaning through the lyrics or in something else, like creating a subtle mood that goes beyond words?

Maria: Most music comes from improvisations and jams. Sometimes it happens that I bring raw material – several riffs and text – and we try to combine them into a song and repeat it till it seems ready. Also, we have some texts and some jam records that could fit together – so, why not make a song out of them. The needed mood appears when the song is almost ready and we try to play it slower or heavier or faster, add keyboards and guitar solo elements – that comes out of practice.

Anton: My personal contribution is mostly the bass parts in terms of composition, that’s all I do. But sometimes I can advise the band to play slower and heavier, as well as bring in some references from the underground doom scene. Also, I write some of the English-language lyrics like our title track from the debut album Samhain, which has been influenced by folk horror films like The Wickerman (1973) and British classical poetry.

Olga: Most of all I value the moment when the composition is almost finished, when the main direction is defined, but the result can be changed in unexpected ways with new fragments. Then the experiments begin, making us closer to realization of the plot, and I like the way each of us adds his sound to the final feel of the composition and atmosphere.

I like that you call it a plot. Stories really do arise from the subtle nuances within the music itself, whether there are lyrics or not. What emotional process would you hope listeners go through with these paganism-referencing songs? Is there something subconscious about the ancient primal archetypes that can serve people even if they don’t think about those mythologies in their ordinary lives?

Maria: Every song has its own references, atmosphere and path to lead the listener through. Of course, when the full song structure appears in your head, it’s a powerful inspirational impulse.

Anton: I would like to add that myths are powerful archetypes in our subconscious. We like to work with that because the modern world is not concerned with authentic myth and we want to help the listeners experience them. Of course, the interpretation of the myth is psychologically different for every individual but there are important patterns.

For example, facing death and mortality has been approached differently in different cultures. And aesthetically the pagan myth is very poetic and it fascinates me. The main themes of the lyrics are the recognition of one's mortality and different aspects of death -- on "The Path," mystical dark field of pre-Christian pagan tradition in "Samhain" and "Mothir," Gnosticism in "Ashes," omens and symbolism in "Silent Guard," romanticism in "Where you live," and pagan beauty of nature in "Northern Summer." The title track "Samhain" was inspired by a cult folk horror film The Wicker Man (1973) while also referencing the original pagan roots of Halloween -- Samhain.

Olga: The concept of mythology and paganism is the great mirror for the human soul, referring to times, when there were fewer concrete facts and the whole world consisted of trembling windings of human fears and desires.

“Trembling winding of human fears and desires.” I love that. Back before we could fact check everything in a search engine, reality was more amorphous, full of outrageous possibilities, eccentric cutting-edge experiments. Would you like to tell us about Sigil of Time? Is there a mentally different approach to folk music in that one? Some of you are able to participate in that band. Does it feel like a new compartment of the self opening up, like a new realm of a room that you can inhabit? How is that room decorated differently than the room in which Train to Elsewhere sleeps and dreams?

Maria: First material was recorded about ten years ago as my solo project, then we collaborated with Anton for a rather long time – but never released it till spring 2020. In this project I can release my vision that cannot be expressed with a heavy band. Usually, I create meditative multi-instrumentalist soundscapes in a much more intuitive way; most of them are instrumentals or vocals that don't carry any lyrics. Often the recordings wait for some time to be reviewed and even corrected a bit before releasing. Anton records a bass line and manages different synthetic and noise parts. To talk about the room: it’s for chamber music and solitary thoughts.

Anton: Sigil of Time was mostly our experiments with post-industrial dark ambient and dark folk music as well as some field recordings. We didn’t plan to release it to the public but our label Kryrart Records encouraged us to share our music with the world. It’s more of an abstract stream of consciousness inspired by dreams and visions but some lyrics and melodies which ended up in Train to Elsewhere were first composed for Sigil of Time so the two are interconnected.

What were the mechanical methods you used to get the post-industrial effects? That’s intriguing: I’d be curious to hear about any specific dream or vision that inspired a song.

Maria: Sigil of Time is mostly based on acoustic instruments (especially guitars), as we could mention earlier. We use it for recording guitar pedals and post-production with different kinds of distortion and delay, octavers and reversed echoes, also adding such things as different samples, raw analog synthesizer sound… In different periods of time Sigil had a tendency to explore various sources, while anthologies unite tracks from earlier times.

Usually, a song starts from the feeling of total clarity, when the idea of lyrics meets the image of musical sketch, giving a whole plan of what to do. It changes several times while recording, usually each part is improvisation, keeping only several repeating moments. Mixing inserts its corrections, and when the song is almost ready, I leave it for several days, returning to it later with minimal changes.

Anton: As for Train to Elsewhere we use techniques common for recording traditional doom metal. Maybe one thing that sets us apart is that we use the sounds of the amps and their built-in distortion power rather than custom distortion pedals for pedal boards. We want to capture a primal raw sound of early rock and metal. About dreams – before writing the lyrics to Samhain I saw a dream in which I was in a vast endless autumn forest as far as I could see. The forest seemed very old, even ancient; later the dream inspired me to write the lyrics to Samhain.

We would like to thank you for these wonderful interesting questions, it was great answering them. We’re very glad and honored you enjoyed our music so much.

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#D&S Interviews #Train To Elsewhere #Moscow #Russia #doom metal #epic doom #death doom #Sound Animal #Doomed and Stoned

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coffeebeannate · 4 years

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thoughts on the old guard characters? (a long one I know lol)

HO BOY.

I LOVE long asks when I have the braincells! *He says, as if he ever has braincells*

ANYWAY.

I’m going to go with just the movie for now, since I’ve only read the first volume of the comics yet and there’s definitely some changes.

This post is long, so I put all my brain rambles beneath the cut.

I also cheated and only did the Guard themselves for some brevity, if you want extensions with Copley, etc. I’ll do a part two :)

Andy/ Andromache the Scythian

ANDY. ANDY. ANDY ANDYYYYYYYYYYY.

I love her. I love her SO MUCH. I regret that I never really explore her as much as I want to. Because there is just SO MUCH THERE. There is so much to work with, to explore to understand and to see. I adore her. She’s jaded, but she’s also clearly somewhat passionate in her own way. Something has kept her going this long. She loves her family. She is at her most open and honest and vulnerable with her family!

The world gets a facade, her calm, collective glance of ‘I don’t give a fuck but I actually do give a fuck but letting you know I give a fuck makes things complicated’. But when she’s with Nicky and Joe, (and Booker), she’s laughing, she’s enjoying their company. She looks so happy and instantly relaxes and I JUST!!

I love that she’s not some 19 year old (possible ageism). I love that they let a 45 year old actress play a character who is clearly over 30 and very much badass. The whole ‘only young women or very old women in movies’ trope is so old, so overdone. (And I’m still salty about this person who said it’s bullshit to see ‘grandma Charlize beating up men twice her size’, as if Liam Nesson doesn’t do just that in his seventies BUT ANYWAY).

Andy is SO multilayered. She’s clearly struggling, and she’s angry and cynical and OH so fucking tired, but she’s still VERY LOVING. She cares about Nile, she cares about her family, she CARES. She’s allowed to be upset! She’s allowed to be ugly emotionally (as they might say it in Hollywood, ffs), she’s allowed to be angry and happy and sweet and she has agency and vulnerability and I JUST LOVE THAT.\

She can also step on me I mean what.

ANYWAY.

Nile Freeman

NILE. NILE MADAM.

Nile is just a MARVEL. She’s sweet. She’s caring. She has ALL the heart and takes NONE of the shit!! There’s so much to her. She’s devoted (I really love that she’s religious, and that the movie doesn’t take this away from her, regardless of things that happen). I love how utterly devoted she is. I love that she’s able to retain so much of her own personal autonomy, AND that she’s both scared and confused, but also SECURE.

Nile doesn’t know WTF is happening. First kill in the Marines, very sudden death, you have a brand new family? Oh, you also can’t see your family again? Your mother and brother? Oh and this lady with the bizarre name has effectively kidnapped you so you can’t be shipped to a lab in Germany? THE FUCK.

Kiki does such a MAGNIFICENT job too! Like the amount of emotions she conveys!! All of Nile’s confusion, anger, upset. Hurt. How throughout all this, she’s shown as street smart! Clever! ADPATABLE.

Nile becomes something ‘new’ but retains her original personality entirely. And I LOVE that. She is young, but she isn’t babied. She’s allowed to be guided without being considered infantile. She’s allowed to be here whole self and it’s SO GOOD.

Also, you wake up in a Humvee in the desert and your first instinct is to kick the back end out and roll away? And then stab your kidnapper?? AMAZING.

I love that she’s an art nerd. I love her enthusiasm, I love her heart. I love her cleverness. I love how she can be a bit “wtf’ but also flat out doesn’t take ANYONE’S bullshit EVER.

“We’re not going to Paris” HELL MA’AM GUESS WE ARE NOT.

Sebastien Le Livre/ Booker

(Rucka once again I ask you, was that name only for the punning? Because I love puns to but cmon)

So..Booker.

I’m..I’m not neutral, but I tend to not think about him much beyond what is necessary. I think I’d feel that my thoughts on him are ‘complicated’ so I’ll keep his section short. I WILL say that his character is VERY well written. Booker cannot be called a flat character. And maybe I’m naive, but my first time watching the movie? Yeah, totally goddamned BLINDSIDED. And I give the movie a LOT of credit for that.

Maybe smarter people saw it coming, but I sure didn’t. So hey, kudos.

I understand him. I understand his motivations. And for a person suffering from that kind of depression, the toxic sabotaging kind, yeah. It’s well done. His motives are..his motives. I’ll probably not ever know what it feels like to outlive your children. But lots of my family members did. I get how it destroys you.

However, Booker needs help. And it’s on Booker, IMO, to get that help, outside of his family. Because he hurt them. He hurt them badly. It’s not the kind of thing you just come back from.

Consider my attitude..curious.

Joe/Yusuf Al-Kaysani

I can’t make this too long I can’t make this too long I can’t-

JOE. Is a MARVELOUS MAN. He’s soft. He’s artistic. He’s strong and sweet and his entire face lights up like the actual honest to god sun that he IS. I love how much he loves. I love how compassionate he is. I love his passion. His soft voice. His kind caring attitude.

BUT AS A FLIP SIDE.

I love how badass he is. I go slightly feral from the bullet spitting ‘very pissed off’. DARLING, NO KIDDING. I love how he’s just got this kinda hidden swag element. He is so clearly the life source of every room he enters. Show stealer. He’s the one that makes people feel comfortable immediately. With charm and boastfulness. With just such great WARMTH. Joe feels like a fireplace. You just want to curl up with him.

He cares so much about the world. His husband. His family.

THE SPEECH??

Imagine someone LOOKING AT YOU THAT WAY. No wonder Nicky is downright wavering on us. I’D FAINT.

Joe seems to love the world around him so much. And yeah, okay, he holds out with justified anger. (I SUPPORT THIS ANGER), but he’s also clearly affectionate. He’s open with his love. Joe literally wears his heart on his sleeve. You KNOW how Joe is feeling at all times. Because Joe can’t hide it. And if you have his love and friendship, you have it forever.

Joe could do audiobooks. Joe could paint museums full of paintings.

And those curls? Best. Incredible.

Marwan made Joe into such an incredible character I LOVE HIM YOUR HONOUR SIR I LOVE HIM.

Nicky/ Nicolò di Genova

Ahhh Joe’s other half. Man of few words, but when those words come out they cut and say so DAMNED MUCH. And what isn’t said vocally is always said with a look, a smile. MICRO EXPRESSIONS THAT SPEAK THE WORLD.

Nicky seems like such an aware character. Nicky is the type that makes very conscious decisions every single day. Be kind. Daily. This is not the type of man who does anything lightly. I feel like Nicky is a calculated sort, but with EVERYTHING. Because he KNOWS that your presence in this world makes an impact. He knows how important being self-aware is. He feels so lucky and grateful to be with Joe and his family at all times.

I LOVE HIS SNIPING. I love his outfits! I love how intense and sweet and compassionate he is. I feel like he has some little shit energy. Doing something slightly devious? Probably. Having ideas just because? Damned right! I can only imagine how much dry teasing Joe has endured over the centuries. Because Nicky is just so raw and clever. You can never be entirely sure what he’s thinking, perhaps. Joe can read him like a book, but I think anyone else might be finding themselves looking a touch harder. Just in case.

I love Luca’s accent! I love how competent Nicky is! He loves Joe just as openly too, and I adore it??

“The love of my life was the people I’ve been taught to hate” THE LOVE OF HIS LIFE! AND THAT TINY SMILE! THE SMILE OF A THOUSAND WORDS.

Quynh

Boss. I want more immediately. I NEED MORE.

Lykon

RIP we barely knew ya.

Final Thoughts:

I LOVE THESE CHARACTERS SO MUCH.

I love that we got ALL THIS.

In TWO DAMNED HOURS.

I love the thoughts the actors put forth. I love how dedicated everyone was to this movie. I love how there’s so much from what could have gone so wrong.

I LOVE THEM!!

#the old guard #thoughts on the old guard #nate answers things #ok to rebagel #I LOVE THEM ALL YOUR HONOUR #old guard characters #asks #ask #THANK YOU FOR THIS ASK SORRY IT'S SO LONG #nilefreemans

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night-filled-mountain · 4 years

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I've been reading your widobrave stuff and I just wanted to throw in my two cents. Nott fell in love with Caleb more or less at a time when she believed it would never be possible to return to her husband. A life with Caleb was a consolation, something she turned to in an attempt to accept the fact that her old life was gone. Even if she never really believed she could be with Caleb. Over time it became something genuine and at that point the possibility of returning to Yeza was opened up.

Yesss. This makes sense to me. Though I don’t think she ever gave up entirely on the possibility of returning to Yeza--she always had the idea in the back of her mind that Caleb might be able to restore her to her original form, which was why she was always praising and encouraging his magic, giving him money, helping him find new spell books, etc. But so many things happened to Nott and Caleb before Yeza and Luc entered the picture again, and so many more things happened before they found the transformation spell, managed to finish it with Essek’s help, cast it in Xhorhas, sought out Isharnai, got the curse lifted (well, I mean...that was all Jester), and cast it again in Nicodranas...and by that point, Nott had gone on a rollercoaster of feelings about Caleb.

She’d gone from seeing him as “fragile frightened boy, must protect” to “fragile frightened boy but also WIZARD, potentially super useful to me, must encourage and educate as well as protect” to “fragile frightened boy, also wizard, also BEST FRIEND--must protect (out of pity) and encourage and educate (out of personal necessity) but also...I love being by his side, and it’s the only thing about the life of a goblin adventurer that really makes sense to me” to “part of my new family, if only I can get him to admit it” (“I want to hear you say it”) to “complicated, fallible wizard who needs to STEP THE FUCK UP and pull his weight in this friendship so I can save my other family” (Felderwin) to (and this is where things get really juicy for my poor Widobrave heart) “complicated wizard who TOTALLY stepped up, who I know I can rely on, who can do as much for me as I can for him, who knows all my secrets now just like I know all of his...and we’ve both got fake names and dark pasts and months of shared excitement and danger and triumph and heartbreak and, wait a second, who am I without him?”

After Caleb shared his backstory with the group in Felderwin and returned the beacon in Rosohna, Nott finally had what she’d wanted for the entire campaign: her husband and son were safe, Yeza knew her secret and still loved her, and they could be a family again. But by this point, Veth had become a different person, right down to a new, self-chosen name (I will never get over the multilayered symbolism of “Nott the Brave”). Strong and brave, despite her bouts of nerves; wacky, impulsive, and uninhibited; an adventurer; a protector. Now, I think all of these things were very much part of Veth as well, but Nott embraced them in a way Veth never could. Veth was weird and quirky, but she was ashamed of it; she protected her family fiercely, but she died doing it. Nott flaunted her weirdness without apology; Nott faced down the ocean, lizardfolk, dragons, lava, and her own best friend and lived. Nott was reunited with Yeza, and he offered her all his love, but he didn’t really know Nott the Brave. Not like Caleb did. Caleb who got her out of that jail cell, who had the idea to join the Mighty Nein, who not only watched her change before his eyes but helped facilitate those changes, just as she did for his.

And I think it was somewhere around this time, somewhere in Xhorhas, that Nott started to involuntarily dig up the one early feeling about Caleb that she’d quashed real fast, the one she later admitted to Beau, which first came to her way back in that jail cell: “fragile frightened boy, also wizard, also HOT.” She would have felt guilty about that crush on multiple levels, and I suspect that’s when she first came up with her construction of their relationship as “parent/child” (at least partially in self-defense against her own forbidden attraction). But in Xhorhas, at last, that construction really isn’t holding up anymore. Nott is no longer babying Caleb by hiding her past from him or sparing him her criticisms and darker moods. They’re on equal footing now, and Nott is plagued by doubt. She starts drinking more heavily than ever and behaving more recklessly. She openly expresses (to Caleb) her ambivalence about returning to her old home, to marriage and motherhood (“I think you have to find those answers” / “Can’t you just tell me?” and of course, the quote I keep coming back to: “I ditched my husband in a den of monsters to go adventuring with you”).

And when she finally starts to develop some clarity on who she is and what she wants? Well, it’s hard to ignore how she reacts. When she thinks she’s finally about to be turned back into Veth (“I don’t know if I’ll...think...the same about you all”), she kisses Caleb on the lips. When she knows for sure that she’s about to be turned back, she straight-up tells him, “You’re the second love of my life.” And in between those two instances? When they’re on the road together for what she thinks may be the last time?

“I think I've decided...I've made a decision. But that's two decisions. I've made the first. I think I'm ready to change back. But what happens afterwards...I won't know until I get there, I think.”

“I'll miss all of you if I go. I'll miss you most of all. Our time together has been so dangerous and deadly and...incredible, and...it's been...it's been wonderful saving your life again and again.”

“I...I know you're going to use your life to do...god-like things. And I hope I'm there to see it.”

“You're not my...hmm......well. Baby steps, I suppose.”

...Look, I know she’s gone back to Yeza, been loving and caring and sexual with him, and genuinely fantasized (frequently!) about going home to him and Luc once and for all. I know that fantasy was the entire inspiration for her journey (including her close relationship with Caleb).

But...the more time passes, the more I watch her and listen to her on her own and with Caleb, the more I try to untangle the billion threads of her identity, the more I see Veth’s old domestic life as just that: a fantasy. Something she likes thinking about, not something she necessarily wants anymore. The entire arc of her incredible character development is also the arc of her falling for Caleb Widogast. She’s been falling since before the campaign began. And at this point, she’s admitted it to herself, to Caleb, to the group at large. And I have no idea whether anything will ever come of it, whether the others (Caleb included) even take those feelings seriously or see them for what they are, but it’s...it’s a thing. It’s 99 episodes worth of A Thing, and I don’t think I’ll ever get over it.

#asks from the askbox #critical role #nott the brave #veth brenatto #caleb widogast #widobrave #in another world maybe #nott #veth #caleb #btw thank you to everyone who is sticking with me despite (or because of!) this obsession #believe me i remember when i was an utterly non-shippy blog #(also profoundest apologies to the people who followed me for widojest) (i still adore it but i never seem to come up with meta about it!)

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butterflyheart-me · 4 years

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Tagging Challenge

So I’ve been tagged by my lovely friend @gelreads <3

The challenge is to post 5 favorite actors and actresses from dramas. You can choose from any dramas, not just thai dramas like my list :)

Took me a while but here they are:

Top 5 Actors

1. Tommy Sittichok

I know I only seen him in Why R U series but he already have my heart. His good looks and charm just got me snatched. Aside from he’s godly adorableness, he’s acting is on point. He’s great playing this adorable, gay panicking and clumsy Zon. In real life, he’s still adorable but more mature and bad-ass (he served in the military).

Notable Series/Film I know he is in : Why R U as Zon (hoping he will have more projects w/Jimmy )

2. Fluke Pongsatorn

This actor is one of the best BL actors of his time. A really versatile actor. He can play comedic, cute, dramatic, serious and even very mature roles. I love him best as Pharm. He was just so adorable and whenever he cried, I cried with him

Notable Series/Film I know he is in:

1. Until We Meet Again- Pharm

2. My Bromance the Movie - Bank

3. Red Wine in the Dark Night (R-rated) - Wine

3. Gun Attaphan

Another actor that really pulled my heartstrings. He is such a great actor. He’s probably the best actor in GMMTV ( just my opinion). He’s also a very versatile actor. I love him most as Third because he’s just so lovable yet so savage at the same time. However, his acting really shined through in his role as Punn in the Gifted because his character is very complicated and multilayered.

Notable Series/Film I know he is in:

1. Theory of Love - Third

2. Puppy Honey - Rome

3. The Gifted - Punn

4. The Blue Hour (i know he is in it but I haven’t completely watched it)

4. Gong Yoo

Since the challenge said any drama, I’m going to Kdramaland a bit. He is one of the best actors in Korea. My heart swooned when he played as Choi Han Kyul in Coffee Prince. My heart fell in love when as he played as Kim Shin in Goblin. My heart broke when he played as Seok-woo in Train to Busan. Such a great actor

Notable Series/Film I know he is in:

1. Coffee Prince - Choi Han Kyul

2. Goblin - Kim Shin

3. Train to Busan - Seok-woo

5. Ohm Pawat

I just love this pup okay! He’s adorable! When he smiles, I smile! When he cries, I will definitely cry!

Notable Series/Film I know he is in: 1. Make It Right Season 1 and 2 -Frame

2. He’s Coming To Me - Thun

3. War of High School - Pound

Top Five Actresses

1. Park Min-young

I love her so so much She’s beautiful and I love her roles. She’s such an amazing actress. I love her best in What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim when she played as Kim Mi-so because she’s just an icon of women independence and femininity

Notable Series/Film I know she is in:

1. Sunkyunkwan Scandal - Kim Yoon-shik/Kim Yoon-hee

2. What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim - Kim Mi-so

3. Her Private Life- - Sung Deok Mi

2. Yoo In-na

This actress is just amazing. She can play a supporting character and still root for her. She can be the chic and sassy lady or the bubbly actress. The duality is awesome

Notable Series/Film I know she is in:

1. Secret Garden - Im Ah- young

2. My Love from the Star- Yoo Se Mi

2. Goblin- Sunny

3. Touch Your Heart- Oh Jin-shim

3. Ella Chen

Ok this one is pretty old and isn’t very active anymore but I still love her anyway. She has a very unique charm because of her androgynous look. She’s awesome when she does her dramatic scenes and very cute when she’s in a romcom.

Notable Series/Film I know she is in:

1. Hana Kimi - Lu Rui Xi

2. The Rose - Zheng Bai He

3. Down With Love- Yang Guo

4. Song Ji Hyo

Technically she is an actress who did act in dramas so she counts but I love her because of Running Man. She is the Ace and also known as Mong (Blank) Ji because she looks out of it sometimes. I just love her okay.

5. Gong Hyo Jin

The queen of romcoms. I just love her. She’s just so natural.

Notable Series/Film I know she is in:

1. Master’s Sun - Tae Gong Shil

2. The Greatest Love - Gu Ae Jung

so i would like to tag @multifangirl28 @bl-crossingtheline @no1readsmyblog @bookscoffee75 hope you guys dont mind

#tommy sittichok #fluke pongsatorn #gun attaphan #gong yoo #ohm pawat #kim min young #yoo inna #ella chen #song ji hyo #gong hyo jin #asian dramas #asian actors #lakorn #korean actors #thai actors #taiwanese actors

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thewitchersdaily · 4 years

Note

idk where to say this so i'm dropping it in here but i love how multidimensional Calanthe is?? i never felt like she was portrayed as a b*tch or anything despite her bad actions being shown/told, but rather we could understand why? ie she doesn't want duny because she's arranged a marriage to safeguard her kingdom etc. she has a love interest AND she fights (yes you can do both hollywood), she has a mother's grief that is reveled and not glossed over. bless (yen is my fav but gotta admire this!)

Agreed! For me, the most interesting of characters are very multilayered and complex; we might not always approve of their actions and behaviour, but we understand their reasoning behind it.

As showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich herself have said, the world of The Witcher is very much “morally and ethically gray” (x). As we see time and time again, from the main to the side characters. Following quote by Lauren is mostly aimed at Yen and Ciri, but can be applied to other characters as well:

“It’s interesting, because people ask me about the female characters a lot, and sort of the complications of them. But it’s really just what real women are like anyway, right? I mean it’s strong in some circumstances, vulnerable in others. Occasionally bold, occasionally bitchy, occasionally silent.” (x)

So I think she would be very happy you feel this way about Queen Calanthe!

#anon #asks #the witcher spoilers

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luninosity · 4 years

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Working on that Character Bleed sequel...Leo needs some hugs.

Voices murmured. Celebrity wranglers. Staff. Telling him to come along, to come in, they were about to start.

“Wait—” Leo said. “Wait, I—there’s someone—”

“Someone you want to speak to?” The staff person checked her watch. “I’m sorry but we really don’t have time—if you give me a name I’ll try to arrange something after—”

“Sam,” Leo whispered. Colby and Jason were heading his way, everyone else following, aiming for the entryway and the first-ever showing of this film, this epic love tale— “Sam Hernandez-Blake. I don’t know if—I only thought I saw—but if he’s here…”

“We’ll find him if he is.” She set a hand on his arm. “This way, please.”

Leo went, obediently. He took a seat in the reserved row, and smiled at Jim and Tim and Katie as they plopped down beside him. He leaned around to say to Colby, “If Jason’s shoulders don’t fit in these antique seats I’m sure they can bring in another option,” because Colby was looking a little anxious, though whether that was about the crowds or the film Leo wasn’t sure.

“I like the seats,” Colby said, holding Jason’s hand. “I like the velvet.”

“Of course you do. Secret hedonist. Which I knew you were. Anyone who likes cheese that much obviously also likes velvet.”

“I don’t even pretend to know,” Jason rumbled, “how your mind works.”

“Darling.” Leo batted eyelashes at him. “You couldn’t comprehend it. No need to try.” The eyelash-batting was also an excuse to twist round and peek back at the theatre. No, too many people, all finding seats and shuffling around. Too difficult to pick out one man.

“Yeah,” Jason said, “incomprehensible sounds about right. If you’re still looking for your annoying paparazzi guy, we can try to find him for you. People tell Colby everything.”

“I’m not,” Leo denied immediately. “No need to invoke Colby’s superpowers on my behalf. Actually, no, never mind, invoke them. Get someone to tell you where I can find the best chocolate martini in London. Then make them bring us all a round.”

“His name was Sam, wasn’t it?” Colby’s smile was a gift: quiet and lordly and generous. “That must’ve meant something, if you’re thinking about him after all this time. We’d like to help, if it’s important.”

“Don’t,” Leo muttered, embarrassment now eating a hole through his chest. Colby and Jason had enough to worry about; they didn’t need to be concerned over his wistfulness about a man he’d likely only imagined in any case. “You don’t have to—”

Tim leaned over to hiss, “All of you shut up, come on, I’m supposed to be the dramatic teenager here, and Jill’s getting up to make a speech!”

“Sorry!” Colby said, to which everyone rolled eyes—Colby, out of them all, had the least to apologize for—but no one had time to scold him, because Jillian was indeed getting up on stage, grinning ear to ear.

In pink and black ruffles and leather straps, a casual rock-star director with freshly re-touched color in her hair, she looked younger than half of them—she wasn’t, Leo knew—and utterly thrilled to be here; that was Jillian Poe, Leo knew. Someone who loved her profession and her craft, and the stories she got to shape and oversee and offer to the world. He’d been fortunate in getting to work with her; he hoped to again.

If she’d liked working with him. If she thought Leo Whyte was worth having around, on a film set. If.

Jill thanked everyone for coming, briefly introduced the film, mentioned how passionate they’d all been about this project. Hearts and souls committed. A love story that needed telling. A history brought to light. She kept it quick, and sat back down.

Passionate, Leo thought. Had he been?

He’d loved the story, of course. Stephen and Will were brilliant central characters, and their love mattered, and the script had been among the best he’d ever read. He’d wanted to be a part of it and he’d wanted to work with Jillian Poe and Colby Kent.

But he hadn’t loved it the way Colby had, the kind of love that’d read the source novel multiple times and wept over it and rewritten it. He hadn’t been so caught up in character that he’d cracked on set and begun crying for his near-death fictional other half, the way Jason had.

Maybe Leo Whyte just wasn’t good at love. Not epic. Too shallow. A puddle, not a towering ocean.

Leo Whyte fell out of boats and laughed about it. Leo Whyte spent off hours orchestrating a delivery of a nineteen-eighties vintage mermaid-comedy movie poster to tease his director about an early crush. Leo Whyte did not have deep conversations with silver-screen legends like Sir Laurence Taylor. What would they talk about? The time Leo’d convinced set decorators to construct an entire second trailer around Matt Grant’s trailer, so that when he’d stepped out he’d still been inside? Matt had been a good sport and laughed. Sir Laurence would probably not laugh.

Leo’s chest hurt slightly, a bizarre hollow ache. He did not like that feeling, so he watched his movie instead.

On screen, he and Jason emerged into London streets: a captain and a loyal lieutenant, facing the wilds of polite Society. A mission. No less vital than those at sea: the desperate need for more men, more provisions, support from the Admiralty. Hence this ball: political connections, maneuvering, patronage.

Leo spared a thought for how dashing he appeared in period naval attire—he really did look good in that coat, he decided—and then watched Jason acting.

Jason Mirelli was good. Leo saw that in a heartbeat: a man of action, certainly, but the action-hero label would never be all that Jason was, not after tonight. Not with that complicated and contradictory emotion: Stephen’s loathing of aristocratic games and awareness that he himself needed to play them, and the secret he hid about the directions of his desires.

Leo had had such fun playing off that broad-shouldered serious nuance. He could trust Jason to get the layers of a scene, a line, a simple glance of comprehension.

He watched Colby appear on screen: bright and scholarly and sickly, enthusiastic about frogs and mathematics, afraid of nothing other than running out of time. The audience made appreciative noises about Colby’s beauty: bathed in sunshine, in a meadow, shirt fluttering open.

The film shimmered, and soared, and sizzled where it should, and swept them all away like sails full of wind, breathless.

Leo watched Jason and Colby flee a ballroom and run through a door and tumble into a historic library, hands and mouths busy, finding each other; he knew how hard that scene would’ve been, back when Colby did not like being touched, when even now roughness might hurt in less physical ways. He saw Stephen and Will coming together; he saw Colby trusting Jason, on camera.

That odd tiny ache poked him in the chest again. Not big, not hard. A small knitting-needle. A pointed tip. Not worth paying any mind.

He hoped Sam had come. He hoped Sam liked this film. It was good, and he was proud of it, and he’d given his all to the character of Richard, supporting Jason’s Captain Stephen Lanyon in battle and in love. He hoped that’d been enough.

On screen, Richard drank some port, chatted with a lord, glanced around for his missing captain. The moment was mildly funny, mildly sweet, a bit wry: Stephen’s falling in love was not, after all, their mission. And Richard would stay in the ballroom and attempt to navigate those tricky political waters, and draw no attention to his captain’s vanishing with the Stonebrook heir.

The moment worked, multilayered if quick. Leo thought that he’d managed it well. He wanted to believe that he had.

#character bleed #the sequel #it needs a name #my fic #fic in progress

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kristarocksyourworld · 4 years

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Quaranthings: Korean Dramas

It’s been a while, Tumblr. LOL I haven’t posted in a while – but we are living in a time of pandemic. I have never thought such day would come but here we are.

It has been 41 days since Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) was implemented in Manila – and I have managed to catch up on my Korean drama backlog.

Thanks to streaming sites like Viu and Netflix, I have spent countless hours just catching up on the latest dramas (The King: Eternal Monarch, Itaewon Class) and the ones I have not finished watching (Mr. Sunshine, Reply 1997, Go Back Couple, Kill Me, Heal Me, My Love from the Stars). I also found time to rewatch my favorites (Secret Garden, Innocent Man).

The last one I watched was Mr. Sunshine. The writer, Kim Eun Sook, tells the story of a Joseon slave-turned-American soldier named Eugene Choi and a noble named Go Ae Sin – and the people around them: the mysterious samurai Go Dong Mae; the rich playboy Kim Hee Seong; and the beautiful, rich heiress/double agent named Hina Kudo. Set in the early years of the Korean Empire (led by Emperor Gojong), the drama depicted the political turbulence of the time: the traditional Joseon ways clashing with that of imperialists as well as the personal struggles of each character. Then there’s storge, eros, philia, and agape - I’ll probably write another review of that because in terms of writing, I think this is the best Kim Eun Sook drama.

I have been meaning to write something like this, but I guess I was inspired to share with the world why I love Korean dramas – like it really is a hill I would die on anytime.

Some weeks ago, a Filipino director openly tweeted his disdain for Korean dramas. In his words, he said that Filipino movies and tv are “doomed” because of “K-drama galore: faux Cinderella stories with belofied whiter than white actors. And it’s all about love in the midst of pandemic.”

LMFAO. I had to laugh.

It came from a director with reputable filmography – I mean I loved two (2) of his films for their social commentary but I have to ask.

How many Korean dramas have you watched – LOL don’t tell me you only watched Crash Landing on You.

HELLO, ITAEWON CLASS WAS IN THE TOP 10. DID YOU WATCH THAT? Did you watch the rags-to-riches story of Park Saeroyi and his quest for justice to defeat the biggest food company, Janga Corporation?

Have you watched Sky Castle? The compelling story of rich families and their schemes to get their children into the best universities?

How about the Reply series? A nostalgic drama that tells the story of families, youth, and the times they lived in – 1994, 1997, 1988 – the nostalgia was fucking rich. I especially enjoyed 1994 and 1997.

Did you check out Another Oh Hae Young: a woman struggling to come into terms with her personal insecurities? Or have you picked up on It’s Okay, That’s Love: a romantic drama that properly tackled mental illness (the lead had schizophrenia).

From personal experience and the vast filmography of Korean dramas I have seen, let me point out why Korean dramas are the best – and why they’re so fucking addicting. I would have to say that this is not a research paper but rather a lengthy analysis based on my 12-year experience as a Korean drama enthusiast.

1. Creative value

Every drama starts with a great plot.

Sure, many Korean dramas are romantic. In fact, most of the Korean dramas I have seen in the early 2000s are romantic: Autumn in my Heart; Stairway to Heaven; Winter Sonata; Full House; My Name is Kim Sam Soon; and Princess Hours. There’s also Memories of Bali; I’m Sorry I Love You; and Coffee Prince. These dramas actually launched the Hallyu (Korean wave) that we know today – and their plots have the typical Korean drama romantic equation: guy meets girl – they don’t get along at first – then they fall in love – misunderstandings (or separation) ensues – reunited – fall in love again – they get married or end up together (or a lead dies). Then there are the non-romantic ones (historical): Jewel in the Palace and Jumong.

But as time went on, you see that the genres become varied – we started seeing action dramas (one of my favorites was Time Between Dog and Wolf) and medical dramas. Then there were dramas that also featured how Korean dramas were made (The World We Live In).

Korean dramas have varying plots that get recycled in many instances but with great plots also come characterization. The characters we see in dramas remind us of real people – we always relate to a character and we all get frustrated when they make stupid decisions (the Noble Idiot Syndrome) that really do not make sense. At the end of the day, we want happy endings for those who deserve happiness – we want justice served, we want closures, etc. because that’s how humans are.

In many romantic dramas, plots are reused but no character is the same. They would have similar traumas but never the same, carbon-copied character. There are villains you want to kill and then there are villains you sympathize with – because you realize that humans are multilayered, complicated creatures.

2. Production value

Another observation I have with Korean dramas is their careful attention to details. When writers create the script, they somewhat have actors in mind to play the character. In Korean dramas, they don’t really care about love teams. In the Philippines, we produce dramas based on the hottest pairs. In Korea, they don’t give a shit about that. Dramas are produced with the intention of creating a meaningful production so actors are chosen based on whether the writers and producers think they can bring their characters to life, not because they are the hottest commodity. In some dramas, actors have to audition, but in many instances, scripts are sent to actors with potential to perfectly portray the character.

Prior to filming, writers, actors, and production staff would spend a day or two in story conferences – actors would have the opportunity to discuss with everyone how he or she thinks his/her character is like. The directors and writers would provide their input on how the characters should talk, act, etc. Actors would also take the extra mile to learn a skill or two for the characters they played. They would have dialect coaches, language instructors, etc. Writers would consult with professionals – for instance, in many medical or legal dramas, they would hire doctors or lawyers on board to verify accuracy of terms. During broadcast, you would even see the jargon on screen to simplify them for the audience. In historical dramas, you would also see the terms used (in Chinese characters) and explain them in hangul.

During filming, you’d see how the staff has placed much attention on details – from the wardrobe to the set. You would also see themes, symbols, etc. The production aspect is really like how movies are: vivid, deliberate, beautiful. Who would’ve thought red pinwheels would make me tear up?

Each drama has a particular soundtrack – can I just say that Korean dramas have the best soundtrack. Each song played in a specific scene perfectly conveys the mood and feelings of the character. I have cried so many times listening to Park Hyo Shin’s “Snow Flower” (I’m Sorry I Love You) or Ji Sun’s ”Goodbye Without Saying Goodbye) (My Name is Kim Sam Soon). On my Spotify account you would see I have played Goblin, DOTS, and CLOY OSTs countless times.

In the past, dramas are not really pre-produced (meaning script came a week or two before filming). There are dramas wherein halfway through the broadcast, they had to switch writers because the earlier writer had a falling out with the production – so you’d see that the quality suffers (story plots would go crazy lol). There are dramas wherein they had to replace the actors because of scandals or accidents. In the last 5 years however, Korean dramas have become pre-produced: meaning the dramas will be filmed 6 months-2 years before being broadcasted. I guess this aspect has contributed to the fact that many Korean dramas are already available on streaming sites.

3. Cultural value

Each drama gives us a slice of the Korean culture – food, drink, skincare, attraction, and history. And noraebang (karaoke). Every romcom Korean drama has to have a scene at the noraebang...or jimjilbang (sauna).

Modern and traditional Korean dramas have to feature food: Korean barbecue, stew, side dishes. LOL you name it. There’s also soju, beer, and makgeoli. BEER AND CHICKEN.

In most modern Korean dramas, makeovers are a must. You would see product placements of known Korean products: Laneige, Etude House, Nature Republic, etc. The characters would go shopping in a particular shop like The North Face. Their coffee dates would be in one of these (Caffe Bene, Dal.Komm, HOLLYS, Zoo Café, Mango Six). They would buy their cakes or bread from Paris Baguette or Tous Les Jours.

Then there are road trips – many Korean dramas would feature a particular attraction, province, or city. Who can forget Nami Island (thanks Winter Sonata) or Namsan Seoul Tower (Boys Over Flower) or Petite France (Secret Garden, My Love from the Stars)? Of course, you can’t forget Busan (Reply 1997) or Jeju (Warm and Cozy) or Gangwon-do. It is definitely a K-drama fangirl’s dream to be able to visit in one of these places so we can relive our favorite Korean drama moments.

All of Korean dramas I have seen put emphasis on family – the importance of filial piety is always highlighted. The characters are often portrayed as dutiful daughters or sons. Conflicts often ensue when the character is challenged to choose between the parents or the love of his/her life (well in most Korean dramas that’s the case lol). Many dramas portray characters who try to be the good daughter-in-law and yet nothing is ever good enough. Then there are subtle flexes on Korea as an emerging superpower as seen by drama characters (chaebols) who head conglomerates. There is always a character who is filthy rich and can afford a billionaire lifestyle. Product placements include big companies like Samsung, Hyundai, etc.

Slice-of-life dramas also depict the realities in Korean society. Because This is My First Life and Something in the Rain aptly depicted the realities of harassment in the workplace from a woman’s experience. Many Korean dramas also relay harsh realities: meritocracy in the workplace; young adults juggling multiple jobs to make ends meet, etc.; even real estate situations are featured. Often you would find characters renting a small room because that’s all they can afford. From the dramas you would also notice that Koreans are not very kind towards single mothers or orphans. Then of course, there’s the North and South Korea situation: Crash Landing on You, Doctor Stranger, Spy Myeong-Wol, Descendants of the Sun are a few dramas that discussed this theme. The Reply series is a nostalgia drama featuring families that lived through some of important events in South Korea like the Seoul Olympics (1988), Asian financial crisis (1997), Sampoong Department Store collapse (1995), and the historic World Cup (2002).

Korean historical dramas are also interesting on their own – I guess until now, the Japanese occupation of Korea is still a sensitive matter for Koreans. Many of the dramas that feature such themes always depict the resilience and resolve of Koreans as they try to fight off the enemy. Yes, the scenes are depicted artistically, and the thought lingers long after the episode is over.

In terms of marketing, the government has also been proactive. With the Korean Wave (Hallyu), Korean dramas, as well as films, music, food, etc. have become an important commodity overseas. In 2016, Korean Culture Center wrote that Descendants of the Sun was sold to 27 countries, posting a profit of over KRW 10 billion (Php 412 million). The government acknowledges the important contribution of Korean dramas in tourism. Numerous papers have already been published showing the effect of hallyu in the South Korea tourism industry.

To make the long story short:

Korean dramas have gone beyond “faux Cinderella stories with belofied whiter than white actors”. I mean, if you want to produce a quality drama, it takes time and effort. Personally it has become a great escape from the realities I face. I do not welcome opinions that clearly spring out of snobbery and disdain for another person’s craft. Perhaps the director can look beyond the Top 10 (since that’s what he mentioned) and check out the wide selection on Netflix. Viu is also a great platform (I’ll start on World of the Married – been hearing and reading about it lol)

Hallyu did not flourish overnight, and the Korean drama industry – while a great model to cite – is also not perfect. There have been numerous cases and instances when staff are overworked or not paid long after the production is over. The #MeToo movement has also exposed some actors who have harassed fellow actors. If we want Filipino dramas to enjoy the same spotlight as that of the Korean dramas, we should be frank about the outputs we have had. We have potential, but it really is up to the decision-makers (at least from the network perspective since it’s all about profits and star value rather than quality production in the Philippines) to come up with a formula that would revitalize Filipino dramas. I can’t say the same for Filipino films because we have great films – the dramas need much work to be profitable. I mean, are we really satisfied with a few dramas being sold overseas? When will we produce dramas that are at par with our Korean chingus? If you want Filipino dramas to be streamed on Netflix or Hulu or Apple TV – maybe we can look at genres beyond police brutality or infidelity or hacienderos harboring a secret child somewhere.

Anyway, Korean dramas are awesome – and that’s the tea.

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