that bit in civil war when the Queens title card and the music comes on is an instant serotonin boost

Ohhhhhh, Tsurune.

It was a bad sign when I started up the first episode and realized I couldn’t remember anything from the first season. Jokes flew by, names went unrecognized, and 20+ minutes of confusion abounded as I realized I forgot just about every important detail from this show. And for the record, I didn’t care enough to even glance at a summary to catch up.

But I did remember how Tsurune S1 made me feel, in that I found all the characters boring and their sport of choice not worth exploring. It was Free minus the funny bits, and that’s too bad because I really like Free (well, at least the first two seasons). And after watching The Linking Shot, I’m here to report that Tsurune is…the same? Except I think I liked it a little more than the first season.

Everything that dragged Tsurune down the first time around still exists here: Minato is a painfully uninteresting MC, Kyudo looks kinda dull as a spectator sport, and none of the side characters keep my attention beyond how beautiful and impressive they look. So in a way, that this show focuses on our boys finding their form throughout the Summer fits perfectly, because it seems like Kyoto Animation figured out all the good parts about Tsurune and amplified them to an impressive degree.

This is KyoAni, so I don’t need to tell you that Tsurune looks good, but I should mention that Tsurune S2 is probably the best-looking project this studio has ever put out (the only competitor imo is the Violet Evergarden movie). The music is also incredible, from the safe but engaging OP, to the lush orchestral score, to the tense and spacious music surrounding the competitive scenes.

Speaking of which, KyoAni really knows how to do sports. It seems away from their wheelhouse on paper, until you realize that KyoAni’s wheelhouse is very likely the entire universe, but the competition scenes in The Linking Shot are truly some of the best I’ve ever seen. I found myself rooting for characters who I tuned out during their backstory arcs simply because KyoAni knows tension and release and how to make it their own. I can’t reasonably award Tsurune a mediocre score despite all the mediocrity it presents, because the few good things it brings out are so overwhelmingly excellent that it makes every other anime this season look like junk I made on MS Paint as a three year old.

There’s a whole lot of things I don’t like about Tsurune, and I don’t think I would ever recommend this show to anyone who hasn’t already watched and loved 5+ KyoAni projects. With that said, I think The Linking Shot is the best show of the season outside of Aggretsuko, all because KyoAni has a habit of taking something I don’t really care about and slapping me in the face with it until I thank them. So, uh, thank you greatest production studio on Earth for your boring and magnificent archery anime. 8/10

I SAW AVAT AR HERE ARE MY OPINIONS

overall a stinker with a few cool elements. worth pirating only if youre not watching it sober but like. don't give them any money for this LOL

the most glaring and immediate issue with it imo is the performances. the cgi characters suffer from a lack of microexpressions which may have been present during the on set performance, then filtered out during mocap and were not fully reconstructed during anim polish. like if they're not intentionally making an expression theyre just slighty grimacing by default. and the live action actors are even WORSE. every human character gives the impression that for every line they're looking off camera for a cue to say their line, theres no engagement with the scenes whatsoever. tbh to me it seems like for a mocapped character, they were directed with the knowledge that performances could be rounded out in post, but the same directorial techniques were applied to non-mocap characters whose performaces werent revised and well. you get what you get! na'avi were stiff and humans were flat.

there's also some issues with the effects which im willing to chalk up to delgo syndrome (massive project takes so long to complete that the technology progesses past it, leaving the final product appearing dated on release). im not the most fluent in vfx technicalities, but (according to my bestie who is) a number of assets weren't properly blended with the enviornment. like the characters and fire had different lighting from the background.

but the BIGGEST issue with it was structure (shocker). im more willing to attribute this to poor writing as opposed to poor editing, since with a movie like this writing and structural editing are done together in the previs/prepro stage. the first thing i noticed that were issues was starting the movie out with back-to-back timeskips. first we go through a ten year family raising montage, then we skip time a full year forward for the antagonist to develop. i think if there was a way to intermesh the time skips it wouldnt have felt as stilted, which i understand is difficult but well. they had a whole ten years to figure it out. the next thing was the TIME. i know im not the first one to say this, but this could have been a full hour shorter than it was. ive seen movies with a similar runtime that feel half the length of this one, because they don't suffer the same overall structural weakness as this one. and that's the fundamental issue with this movie! the story itself was just not strong enough to support the grandiosity of the concept and the world. the beats are repetitive because they don't intensify within each leg of the story (the same rising actions happen again and again because the main characters are functionally just waiting for the antagonist to arrive, and the climax drags because the only tension is between death-by-weapon and death-by-drowning.... for like a solid 40 minutes). there were moments where i could tell the film language in terms of music, shot composition, etc was telling me i was supposed to care but. i just couldn't. because there was nothing there.

for some positives-- there were a few good scenes, especially the ones involving the whale species. the initial whale hunt did make me a little sick tbh and the final moby dick style boat battle was very cool. theres also some nice visual elements-- when the effects are well-executed by today's standards they're gorgeous and there's some cool creature and tech design (i love those crab bots). also zoe saldana's performace stuck out as the only engaging, believable, remotely evocative one so. props to her and her alone. i also thought the idea of shrinking the scope to be more personal was a good idea, because im sure they'll ramp back up to saving the world again. but in due time.

tldr; it's an ouroboros of mediocrity where if any one of its problem elements were strong, its glaring issues would be forgivable. not quite aquaman levels of shitassery but close. 2/5

hm, while im still here and thinking about it

i’ve seen a lot of posts comparing rayaari to catradora, mostly positively but some also using the similarities to call rayaari an abusive/toxic ship, and i feel like a lot of people are missing key differences. and for me, as someone who was not completely satisfied with s5 of spop and never liked or shipped catradora for a lot of reasons, but who deeply enjoys and ships rayaari, there’s something very key that raya does right which i believe spop did wrong with respect to rayaari and catradora.

and it has everything to do with their history.

before adora left the horde, she had a history of physical and emotional abuse--primarily by shadow weaver, yes, but also by catra. we get a lot of memories from their past, and their relationship involved a very toxic codependency with a heavy dose of abuse--adora trying to protect catra but, when she failed, catra lashing out at her, verbally and physically (that scene where young!catra slashed across young!adora’s face w her claws left my stomache in knots for hours). they were set against each other by shadow weaver in a very classic scapegoat vs the golden child dichotomy, but that doesn’t erase the harm catra did long before adora left the horde.

(in many ways, their relationship was very like zuko and azula’s, although their roles in their primary caretaker’s eyes are reversed, with adora being most like zuko if zuko had been the golden child, and catra being similar to azula if she’d been the scapegoat instead. adora being the ‘preferred child’ in shadow weaver’s eyes doesn’t make her any less SW’s victim, and it didn’t do anything to protect her from catra when she lashed out as a result of SW’s abuse. in fact, i’d argue that it made her even more vulnerable, and we see in the show that she winds up blaming herself for not being able to save catra when they were children--even though that very much was not her job--and this is never properly addressed by the narrative. at least, not to my satisfaction. obviously, mileage on that particular score may vary.)

when you combine their history along with every awful thing catra did in the show proper, adora coming to realize she was in love with catra the whole time and not requiring (nevermind receiving) any kind of actual apology for that abuse or for, yknow, trying to destroy the world multiple times, it winds up leaving a very sour taste in my mouth. it doesn’t help that catra kept digging herself deeper and deeper for the entirety of the first four seasons, despite multiple chances to change and begin to make amends for her behavior (and lord knows i’m not trying to say a redemption arc should be linear, but you have to make progress in order to regress, and catra never got that far), which left the entirety of her redemption arc to fight for space in the final season with an entire galactic war.

except that it didn’t even really do that. catra saved glimmer at the eleventh hour (and that was a sacrifice, i won’t deny it) and then got brainwashed, and... that was it. she was ‘accepted’ by the group almost immediately, and all she had to do was stop being grouchy at them for saving her life.

did she ever actually apologize for anything she needed to apologize for, by the way? i genuinely can’t remember. i know she said she was ‘working on’ her anger and apologized for that but like, babe, there’s four seasons worth of shit and eighteen years before that which you really need to unpack before you should be telling adora you’re in love with her and starting a relationship. i’m just saying.

and all of this is without talking about the fact that, especially in regards to relationship development and plot pace, you will tend to expect more out of a television show compared with a movie. i’m a lot more ok with namaari’s redemption being a little rushed and coming down to a few of her own choices and the other characters choosing to forgive her in a less than 2 hour movie than i am with a television show that takes place over 5 seasons with 4 sets of 12 episodes. even cartoon length (roughly 22 minutes an episode when you exclude the credits). that’s a few hours shy of 20 hours worth of material. they had a lot to do, sure, but they also had a lot of room to do it in, and it was a deliberate choice not to start catra’s redemption even a season earlier--which, again given what it had to compete with in the last season, was ultimately to the show’s detriment imo.

so...........that was a very long tangent, and i’m sorry, i just have a lot of residual feelings of dissatisfaction about spop and catradora which i still needed to let out and this was a convenient post for it. but my ultimate point is, by comparison, rayaari is a much less toxic dynamic.

namaari betrays raya’s trust in the beginning, sure, and there are hints that they probably had a lot of run-ins during the six year timeskip given their familiarity, but in all that time they were enemies. that’s why enemies-to-lovers usually doesn’t involve outright abuse, unless there’s another facet to the relationship (ie catradora’s relationship pre-series)--because two people on opposite sides of a violent conflict being violent towards one another does not equal abuse.

and yeah, namaari betrays raya’s attempt at trust again--or seems to, resulting in the cliffside scuffle leading into the movie’s climax--but she also comes back of her own volition. she returns with her shard of the dragon gem, helping raya and her friends fend off the druun, when she could have run and attempted to save herself. that, i believe, is what ultimately prompts raya to trust her one last time. i believe that namaari believes she was about to put down her crossbow and never intended to actually shoot sisu--the horror on her face when the dragon falls to her death is proof enough of that, as is her final desire to just... give up and let raya take her revenge--and she proved that to raya by coming back and risking her life to help them in that final battle.

of course they probably have a lot to talk about and namaari has a lot to apologize for, but i can forgive a two hour movie for leaving that to the viewer’s imagination (especially when there is no expectation of a romantic relationship between the characters in canon--it’s catradora being canon which makes all the rest of it land so poorly for me) than i can an 18 hour television series.

again, opinions may differ on this score, and that’s fine. i just wanted to share my own thoughts.

top 5 mlm series (/ movies) and 5 honorable mentions

Tagged by my bestest buddy on this whole entire hellsite @doctorbeam​

I took it upon myself to try and pick my favourites of the lesser known series that i’ve watched, which is how some of them ended up being movies by accident. Whoops. Anyways, in no particular order, my list is as follows-

1. Advance bravely

It’s been a hot minute since I watched this series so tbh I may have forgotten some of it but I do remember really enjoying this as I was watching it. Theres a lot of pining and sweet moments and it felt like there was a very genuine connection between Xia Yao and Yuan Zong. Because of chinese censorship, there isn’t any kisses or anything in this series, but it’s still very worth the watch imo

2. Gray Rainbow

I have made it no secret that I love this series to bits and it would have been on my list regardless of whether or not I was aiming to focus on lesser known shows. This series covers a lot of very series subject matter in very respectful and realistic ways and it’s 100% worth the watch, regardless of the reputation the ending gets. Yes, it is sad, but it’s also beautiful

3. Long Time No See

Of the series on this list, I would argue this is the most well loved among them. A good mlm korean drama with a sweet couple and a happy ending is very hard to come by and LTNS ticks all those boxes. I enjoy the plot, I enjoy the side characters, I enjoy the main couple, of course I have to include this on my list.

4. Seven Days

A very very sweet pair of movies that have almost 0 angst. As I said in my review, I absolutely love that the issue/ conflict in these movies isn’t based around homophobia (internal or external) but rather around the unique circumstances of the one week time restraint on their relationship. Some of the most peaceful and easy to watch movies I’ve seen for a while, and I can claim they’re allowed on this list because theres two of them. That makes them a series and I didn’t break the rules, ok? 

5. Takumi Kun

Another very cute set of movies with minimal drama and just some good boyos. I think the way they handled Takumi’s “people-phobia” (see: trauma) was good, as well as the overall dynamic between Gii and Takumi being generally pretty healthy. I also need to do a rewatch of these too, damn. Anywho they count because there’s 5 movies. Come on, thats a series

Honorable Mentions-

2gether- this is pretty popular and still airing which means it didn’t fit my qualifications to be on the main list but I’ve been really enjoying it so far and am patiently awaiting the next episode. I enjoy the dynamic between Sarawat and Tine a lot and I really hope they’re not gonna get fucked up before the series ends

Until We Meet Again- very sweet story about a love strong enough it can survive anything, even death. I think In and Korn were a lovely couple to watch and I wish the world had been kinder to both of them. Pharm and Dean were also very sweet and I’m glad they got to live happily even after what In and Korn went through. As I said in my review, I liked how much of a soap opera it felt at times. This series had a story to tell and I really appreciate that

He’s Coming To Me- Might as well put this right after UWMA because I love it for a similar reason. This series set out trying to tell a story. That might sound kinda stupid but a lot of series are driven primarily by cute moments and the plot feels like kind of an afterthought (which is fine) but this (and uwma) was clearly written with the plot at the forefront of everything and I appreciate that. Also has a really nice coming out scene and sweet couple

History3 Trapped- A lot of people really love this series and it’s not hard to see why. The main couple is very interesting to watch, and despite all odds they ended up having a very healthy relationship where they are both head over heels for one another. Pair that with an engaging plot and cute side characters and bam! You got yourself a damn good series

Why R U- Another currently airing series that is pretty popular. If it weren’t for the absolutely angelic @doctorbeam​, I almost certainly wouldn’t have watched this just because the side characters.. get a little uhh on my nerves. However, both the main couples are very sweet and I am very glad I was supplied with an edited version to help prevent me from going insane while watching. The plot is uhh a bit odd at times but yeah, the couples are really carrying it for me

I don’t really have many friends on this site so I won’t tag anyone but if you wanna do this, feel free to say I tagged you!

What are your favorite movies and TV shows outside of SW? I’m looking for new things to watch since SW was so disappointing

My tastes are pretty eclectic, so I will stick to just things that are either similar to sw or are in the reylo-esque romance wheelhouse and have happy endings:

Chuck. It is a goofy, light-hearted action-adventure show with extremely endearing characters and a very prominent central romance (seriously, heavy romance and there is a lot of payoff for it, you will be FED- it's kind of slow burn but also shockingly NOT slow burn, they are deep into it pretty much immediately). The main couple is the classic Stoic Badass gradually softened by an innocent they have to protect who is a liability in battle but full of the Power of Heart. Chuck is The Heart btw. He is of that vanishingly rare male Beauty (of B&tB) type. He's incredibly generous and open, Sarah is prickly and closed-off. It is Quality. Very much a gender-swap of your typical cliche anime couple lol. I would recommend stopping at the mid-season finale in season 4, because it's downhill from there. The beginning of season 3 is very rough, but it's definitely worth it to stay for the back half, imo. There are several great endings to choose from before things go to shit, so we don't need to talk about the finale. Probably the most tonally similar to SW thing possible without being high/space fantasy. More humour, more silly, but definitely has a spiritual kinship. Has the best THE BEST 'secret revealed' scenes I have ever seen in anything. If you're into that and were hoping for that in ep IX, you need to watch Chuck.

The Shop Around the Corner. 1940 romance/drama film. You've Got Mail is a remake of it. Jimmy Stewart being profoundly adorable, Frank Morgan (aka the Wizard of Oz), various amusing side characters, and an absolutely deathless double blind 'secretly in love with the workplace nemesis' plot that can and probably has been a great reylo AU.

Mirromask. Fantasy/coming-of-age film. Touted as a 'spiritual successor' to Labyrinth by the filmmakers (one of whom is Neil Gaiman) and let me tell you, that is extremely apt. Beautiful, magical, laden with symbolism and Mask Discourse, and has a great ship. I quote it regularly.

Speaking of which, I'm sure you've seen Labyrinth? If you haven't seen Labyrinth, drop everything and watch Labyrinth.

Legend (the Ridley Scott director's cut, not the theatrical cut). Sumptuous fairy tale, runs on proper fairy tale logic, stunning to look at and overall captivating. Tim Curry. Tim Curry as a lonely tragic lord of darkness who tries to seduce the heroine and has drippingly overwrought monologues.

Howl's Moving Castle. Fairy tale adventure/romance film. Beautifully animated, has the ending you want.

The Silence of the Lambs. Thriller/drama film. Actual masterpiece. Use it as a gateway drug to read the books and rejoice that Clannibal is canon and it is spectacular. Just SotL and Hannibal, you don't need to read the other two. Stan Clarice Starling and revel in that ending. Most triumphant 'villain'/heroine ship of all time (he is not technically a villain but for shorthand's sake).

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. Terry Gilliam 1988 fantasy/adventure film. THE TRIUMPH OF IDEALISM OVER CYNICS I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH HOW HEALING IT WAS TO WATCH AFTER THE TROS BULLSHIT HIT. Jonathan Pryce's spiritual villain is basically Chris Terrio and it is cathartic to see imagination and sentiment conquer him.

Sabrina. 1995 romance film. Modern fairy tale with Harrison Ford. Rejecting what you thought you wanted all your life for the thing you actually need, growing up but still believing in magic, beautiful character development across all the leads. Could be (and is irrc) a fantastic reylo AU.

The Scarlet Pimpernel. 1934 adventure film. High romance, secret identities, play-acting, people who aren't at all what they appear to be, falling in love with your own spouse, Big Heroism, guile and wit and audacity. It makes me do little kicks like a happy baby. This is one of the 3-5 films constantly tied for my favourite film of all time. There is a good quality rip free on youtube. Watch it and fall in love with Leslie Howard (this is possibly my favourite acting performance of all time).

Oh, related note. Pygmalion 1938 or My Fair Lady. (The musical is based on this film and borrows from it heavily, including its much more romantic ending compared to the original play.)

The Mummy. 1999 action/adventure/romance film. Very tonally similar to sw. A fucking great time, A+ characters.

EVER AFTER. 1998 romance film. The flawless and perfect and best ever Cinderella adaptation. This is the most satisfying film in history, maybe, the ending is so good it is amazing it exists. Also, it has Richard O'Brien being slimy. Huge selling point. Grapples with identity and stewardship, is brilliant.

Fruits Basket. drama/romance anime. I haven't watched the new version yet, but it's following the manga so I know the story. The original anime didn't do the whole plot (because they caught up with the source material) but it's wonderful and I still recommend it. The central ship is (spoiler.........) a B&tB type where we eventually discover the main love interest both feels like a figurative monster and turns into a literal monster. He has an incredible speech about his relationship with people's fear, it makes me weep. I called the endgame from the first episode and always thought it was obvious, but there is a red herring love triangle dynamic. It's really not annoying, though, because it is a red herring. (I hate love triangles)

I am Dragon. Russian monster romance film. Beautiful, simple fable with a really great heroine.

Jane Eyre. 1943 Gothic Romance film. It's Jane Eyre, byronic hero x sensible heroine love story with much atmosphere and Gothic drama. I stan this version because I am an Orson Welles fangirl and I'm also not convinced it can be improved upon. Elizabeth Taylor's film debut btw.

Hellboy. 2004 action/adventure/romance film. Defying destiny, reconciling identity, monster romance. The complete package and a great time. Tonally similar to SW and probably thematically closest to it out of this whole list. Don't watch the sequel.

Beauty and the Beast 1987 tv series. Exactly what it says on the tin. Deals with the classic B&tB themes, but in a different way. He's not cursed and will never transform into an ordinary man. The first season is very episodic and 'case of the week', but the second season gets more into character drama. It's dated, but if you give it a chance you can get past some of the cheese factor and it's really a unique experience. Its concerns are SO atypical that it feels like something fandom would make rather than a mainstream network show. It was so massively, insanely popular with women at the time that a record of Vincent (the beast) reading poetry topped the album charts. Also Ron Perlman and Linda Hamilton. Stop at season two. Point of interest: George RR Martin wrote for this show.

Stargate (the movie not the series) sci-fi fantasy about a nerdy guy who accidentally a hero.

Possession. 2009... mystery/supernatural/romance. Okay. This is a whole thing. Lee Pace and Sarah Michelle Gellar. It's based on a Korean film I've never been able to find for some reason, but being Hollywood they ruined the romanticism and nuance of the original in the theatrical cut to make a shitty punative ending. However. If you buy it on dvd and go to the alternate ending (which follows the original story) with around 20 minutes left (scene after Lee Pace's character wakes from a bad dream-go to deleted scenes and select the alternate ending), you will get a very, very interesting character study/thriller/redemption about sincerity within deception, compassion, and a major question about second chances with a positive answer. It's kind of dark and kind of astonishingly idealistic at the same time. The heroine makes a very powerful choice, twice over. It's fascinating. If you're into the conflicted and uncertain period in reylo, the part where he is most ambiguous, and you wanted more of that and much darker shades to it, you might be really into this. Also, it should be noted, there is a MASSIVE height difference and they show it off. The film is flawed (and the seams show on the Hollywood rewrite) but idk, it's fascinating. Shocking to me that they even got to shoot the original ending. It is pretty balls to the wall with its themes on forgiveness.

I would recommend getting into kdramas because there is a wealth of female-gaze tropey amazing content, but always check the ending before getting invested. My all-time fave is the 1st Shop of Coffee Prince, but it's not sw related at all lmao. It has a happy ending with all the elements you'd want, but it's not satisfying in execution, so that's it's major flaw and I find that pretty common with kdramas. One that is maybe more relevant is My Love from Another Star, which has a hero who is a little bit like Ben in personality. The heroine isn't my favourite, though. It does have a decent ending.

Oh yeah- brain fart. Kurosawa films and classic westerns were both very influential on SW. Or you can combine both and watch The Magnificent Seven.

(1/?) I'm neutral to EA tbh, I like it sometimes but this isn't my OTP. I really like your blog, though. And what I want to say is - I used to ship KA after F1, but they totally ruined them for me as a couple in shorts and then in F2 (and so did they with the sisters' relation :(). As for F2, I totally agree with what you said about personality transplant the main trio went through. But put this aside, I have another thought - I feel so sorry for Anna after F2. First, she became the queen, and

(2/?) she's never asked for it, it's not her world. She didn't even want to go on that adventure in the first place. She also "lost" her sister (true love) and best friend. And now let's consider for a moment that all these 'personality transplants' are true, and that we count the deleted scenes and shorts: so she's always wanted but 1 thing, to be with her sister. In OFA Elsa promised her they'll always be together (in the song), and she'd done the same before, at the end of F1, in FF and even  (3/?) at the beginning of F2, blah blah. And now she totally, utterly betrayed Anna's trust (the ice boat), never apologized AND then went to live in the forest for God knows what fucking reason, and didn't even attend Anna's coronation (and made Anna a queen because she didn't want to do it anymore, not even asking for her opinion) nor replied for her letter. What a stinker. Then the parents - after the boat scene it seems everything has always been Elsa-centric and Anna couldn't even have her         (4/?) time to mourn. Then Kristoff in the Nokk scene. She was engaged to him, she decided to trust him after what happened with Hans, and he betrayed her trust, too. All he did for these 3 years (including FF and OFA) was a lie, he didn't mean it and didn't want it at all. Plus it seems their relationship has been pointless all along, because they can't even communicate well. I know Anna treated him badly in F2, but well, it clearly shows Elsa is her true love and she can't focus on anyone else            (5/?) at the moment... but they (KA) clearly weren't meant for each other anyway. And what I want to say, they ruined Anna's character, they took literally everything for her to five her this stupid powerful song and 'happy ending' she's never asked for. I mean, sure, she's dreamed of romance in F1, but in F2 it's none of her priorities, and definitely that's not the kind of relation ship I'd expect they'd make for her after watching F1. I don't like TNRT because I think it would be better to             (6/?) give Anna NATURAL circumstances to prove her worth, independence and strenght, instead of forcing some stupid stuff. And I don't like the fact KA relation is promoted as healthy... I don't think of it as unhealthy... it's just nonexistent. And stupid. And I totally agree that the sisters' relationship IS unhealthy - but only after how F2 pictured it! So, to sum up, she was my favourite character and I hate everything that's happened to her (as I hate it also with E and K, but well,(7/7) that's not the point of this message), she doesn't even look like her anymore, since the charades. And I hope that you won't delete this message, I didn't mean to promote KA, just wanted to share how I feel about this movie. And I truly like EA. I can't talk about it to any other part of fandom, though, for ppl who ship KA think it's a perfect ending. Sorry for such a long message! I hope the stupidity of F2 creators are the only thing that bothers you on these hard days. Stay safe!     

I really like your post, I’m sorry if it took me 2 days to reply but I wanted to be at pc and not by phone.First of all....let me say that this: “ she's always wanted but 1 thing, to be with her sister “ is essentially who Anna is. She spent her whole life wanting one thing: to spend time with her sister and prove her she’s worth it.

And how are they gonna do that? Apart. Playing it off like “she’s a grown up, she can do stuff by herself”, when she ALWAYS DID EVERYTHING BY HERSELF!!!!

It doesn’t make sense even from a psychological pov. She always feared to lose this person, she always wanted to be with this person, now she loses it. The LAST thing one would do is say “oh ok well I’ll be fine on my own!”

It doesn’t make any fucking sense. I don’t know who they paid to tell them it does (trauma experts LOL), but they wasted their money.

The mistake they did with Anna and that, IMO, widened the popularity gap between Elsa and Anna in Frozen 2, was to give her a storyline so unpopular and not relatable for KIDS.

Kids don’t want to know how they’ll feel when their sister will die, IT’S SO FUCKING WEIRD.

Kids want to see a badass princess with a sword, who fights for her kingdom!! And yet in Frozen 2 they took the one who had powers and who could fight, and turned her into an hippie who does nothing at all in a forest, and the hero, the princess who could be fucking cool, is now a bad copy of what her sister was.

Being Queen, after losing her sister, surviving another trauma, having such a not relatable storyline for a kid.....it’s not a victory.

The only ones who think it’s cool are KA fans for obvious reasons, but they should’t be so happy since he was proved “not good enough” to stand by her side.

I do not agree with you on the sisters relationship being unhealthy and I said many times that was NOT Disney’s intent. Because to paint a sisterly relationship as unhealthy wouldn’t be appropriate for a kids movi and they would NEVER do it, (can you imagine the MONEY THEY’LL LOSE???? Why would they do that? Paint as negative something that makes them sell more than everything else on the market???? It’s crazy!!) and because the weird vibe you got about the relationship comes from the rewriters.For exemple Elsa ignores Anna a bit too much, but it’s because she was supposed to be succubus of a voice and being careless in her search for it.She was supposed to die, and the audience would have said “oh yeah, she even ignored the poor Anna to follow that siren, and she got herself killed”. It was supposed to be painted as a negative thing.But this is just an exemple of one rewrite, many other details, I’m sure, made you come to your conclusion, but I know they’re all results of last minute rewritings, so I have to ignore them.

It’s pretty much the same arguments over and over again, codependency, unhealthy relationship, and I’m tired to debunk them so I’ll just go on with my reply. :)

I agree that Anna doesn’t look like Anna anymore. She was reckless, impulsive,  free-spirited and adventurous.

(now this makes me laugh at this point):

Anyway, they had to give her a personality transplant (simply “growing up” doesn’t do that) to achieve an end they desperately wanted, who knows why.

Jenn and friends wanted to give her the “Disney happy ending”, a kingdom and a dude, and they had to destroy what Frozen was, in order to achieve it. A story about 2 sisters, who always wanted to be together. A story about family, where a single (queer coded) Queen was ruling and is now replaced by the same old boring hetero couple (while the weirdo with powers was sent elsewhere, who cares where).

How can people trust someone who wanted Elsa as a villain, and wanted her dead, I will never understand it.

I’m not surprised they ruined Anna too, considering what they did to Elsa.

When you responded, I started thinking back to when I first got into Loki. I am ashamed to say, that yes it was from gagnarok. but because I love the truth, I went out seeking it (so my love for gagnarok only lasted a few months) anyways, I do remember loving how great it was after watching it and spreading the word about it; ready to take down any YouTuber with a negative response towards the movie, even though I REALLY didn't want to see it twice. It just stayed in my brain for some reason. I still don't fully understand why, but I think you def hit the nail on the coffin 💜

You enjoyed something, you wanted to Keep enjoying that thing. There is nothing inherently wrong with this. You Subjective reaction to the Movie can be “I though it was a good film” and the Objective reality “This films has MAJOR Problems with it” are two different things.

For example, Michael Bay’s Transformers is objectively a Bad Film: Bad characterization, bad plot, dumb action, over-sexualization, really terrible main character. However, many people Subjective reaction to the Movie is “It was a pretty good movie.” The action scenes were entertaining enough to keep you interested and the character work well enough for ONE watch through.  Ragnorak is Similar, your first subjective reaction to the movie was to say it was good.

Your reaction to the movie is also, in some ways, artificial. After all, with big releases like Marvel Movies are is a lot of Fanfare trying to hype you up to go to the Movie. Trailers like to “Your going to have a great time watching this film. It has all the stuff you want.” And then there is the Disney Press Tour trying to encourage media outlets to say the same thing. Finally, when you are all excited to watch the movie, you watch the movie and before you can really process what you watch, you talk with your friends. Now, you had a fairly happy experience, so when you asked your friends they will say “Yeah that was a good Movie,” re-enforcing the Idea that it actualy was a good movie.

Without realizing it, there are 3 forces trying to convince you that watch you actually watched was Good, and not Crap in any meaningful way. Reason 1: You don’t want to have wasted you time and money, so what you spent you time and money on MUST be Good. Reason 2: Your Friends want to feed off you energy and have the same Reason1 working on them. These direct friends will again tell you that the movie is Good. Reason 3: Disney has a strong incentive to want you to think the movie is good, so they promote articles and Social Media pieces that say that the Movie is Good so they continue to Make MONEY off of it for as long as it’s in the Box Office. (Let’s not forget, Ragnorak made just as much as The Justice league did)

Because of all of these Factors, when you are going to talk about the movie a week after you watch, you are STRONGLY encouraged to say how awesome it was. And the People who said it sucked, well, they must just be no-good haters who want to ruin your happiness, RIGHT? There is no way the thing that you watched ONCE can be bad, it must be something else. There is no way I was wrong, that what I liked is bad, that my reasoning can be flawed. It must be those Haters.

And this Line of thinking Works .... for a little bit. The thing is, movie last forever (at least with the internet) and the internet LOVES to over-analysis everything. Piece by Piece, more and more voices start to voice some little things they didn’t like, and than those little things start to pile up, and more and more little things pile up, and OMG This Movie is horrible how did I ever like it in the first place.

You want to see this in Action. Watch Mauler’s A Critique of Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Introduction. Mauler has a whole playlist talking about the Sequel Star Wars movies, and it’s like 24 hours long when you include all 3 movies and like 5 parts of it (Each on like 2 hours long). You don’t have to watch the whole thing, just Watch the first 5 minutes of this specific video. You’ll see this EXACT thing happening to Everyone when it came to The Force Awakens.

One other Problem with the Thor IP that should be address though. IMO, the biggest problem with Thor, is honestly Thor. I don’t think Chris Hemsworth every capture that spirit of Thor, as Least in comparison to the other 3 major character for Avengers (2012). So, arguably the 4 most important characters of the Avengers was Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and Loki. Iron Man was the character to get the MCU kicked off, but Thor and Captain America Movies were there to build up momentum and build up to the Avengers. Chris Evans did a great job capturing Cap down-to-earth persona and how he really does want to be a good leader, a good man. RDJ did a FANTASTIC Job capture both the Light and Dark elements of Tony Stark. I don’t think I need explain with Hiddleston did a good Job capturing the spirit of Loki. So, that Leaves Thor.

In the Comics, the basic Idea of Thor is that Thor is an Arrogant Superman. Like Superman, Thor is really strong, nearly invincible, and just Loves Humans and the Earth while not actually begin Human (his mom is the Earth Though). Unlike Superman Though, Thor often thinks too Highly of Himself and can act like a Total Dick at times. In most versions of the Humbling of Thor, Thor often does a really Dick move that causes his banishment. However, even with his arrogant Nature, Thor still loves cute things and still wants to protect stuff.

Hemsworth, although doing a Great Job bringing the Body of Thor (look at those muscles), IMO never did an excellent job bring the warmth of Thor. Or, at least wasn’t as Good at doing Thor as Hiddleston was at doing Loki. Hiddleston, through just trying to do a Good job on his character, ultimately brought all the focus away from Thor and onto Loki. This ended up with the reaction, Thor was bad, but Loki was Good. Because the Main focus, Thor, wasn’t done well, both Thor and TDW suffered. Add to that that Marvel really never knew what to do with the Thor IP and you have a general atmosphere of “The Thor Movies sucked, but I like the Loki scenes,” a sentiment that I honestly agree with.

Hiddleston NAILS every scenes he’s in with Both Movies, but everyone else ... eh? Both Odin and Jane’s actors are phone it in, it’s not their worst performances, but it’s hardly their best. Humbling of Thor is Interesting, but Loki’s side of the story is Far more interesting. I mean, Thor gets banished and immediately gets a girlfriend and a nice life. If Loki didn’t go Mad and attack the Town, it’s likely Thor would have gotten married to Jane, been an amazing Trophy Husband and had 3 kids while Loki would have been miserable on the Throne. That’s not an interesting story for Thor.

TDW suffered from production problems. A director for the movie pulled out last minute and the movie was crap, then they noticed that Loki was popular and they did some Last minute re-shoots with Joss Whedon and Tom Hiddleston. Now it’s a crap movie with sprinkles of Great scenes. Honestly, cut out a lot of the Earth stuff, bring the Focus onto to Loki and I swear there is a great movie in the TDW, I just know it.

So, with the First two Thor movies having ?Eh? Thor content, fans wished for a new better thing and they wanted Ragnorak to be that new better movie. These Fans also ignored anything that said otherwise.

However, because of Taika’s habit of attacking Fans, it’s likely that it’s going to be hard for him to keep his fanbase. Bad movies can work for a time, but eventually People will move on to better thing. Transformers was able to make 3-4 somewhat successful movies but the 5 bombed. The same thing will happen to Taika if he’s not careful. If his next movie doesn’t scratch the same itch that the First movie does, people will re-examine Ragnorak with a critical lens and then it will be popular to bash on his movie.

There is a reason why Tom Hiddleston’s Loki Fans have endured for so Long. It’s because Loki in Thor and TDW really resonated with us, far more than most other Marvel Properties. Because of it, Loki’s personality, his strength and his stories are far more relatable and resonate and any other Marvel Characters. It on Marvel to make us products we are willing to support, not attack us when we don’t want to buy their crap.

For me, I have don’t like how Marvel (and Disney in general) is treating their characters and their fans. Until their general atmosphere improves (or they die in hell) I am going to read Through Loki Comic until I find those few Great one (I have fund like 5-10 out of 60 that are worth anything), continue to read fanfics from authors who give a crap and continue to promote and make Fan-based stuff that encourages Loki stuff I do like.

Um.... Thanks for reading my long answer. Thanks for sending asks.

PS: Do you have any good Loki work to recommend?

With the horror challenge done, I thought I’d say which movies stuck with me the most out of my watches. This might be one of the hardest years for me to pick for this cuz I watched all kinds of movies, some I maybe never would have otherwise and enjoyed them. I’d try ranking them in a particular order but, just like last year, Idk if I could do that. I wanted to try but well... oh well. lol

1. Ready or Not - It was the first movie I watched in 2020 and it just so happened to be a horror movie, which are ones I usually don’t willingly watch until October. And yet I did, which is why I counted it towards the challenge. It still holds up as one of my favorite watches because it’s fun and smart and the cast is great. It’s something that I’ve watched multiple times since actually so you know I must love it. lol

2. The Fog - Gotta mention this one briefly because bestie Lauren recced it and I do think watching this got me really intrigued with 1980′s horror all of a sudden this year. Def made me think about picking out movies that I wouldn’t have before. Not a perfect movie but it still holds up imo. Still a classic in my book.

3. Daniel Isn’t Real - I still think about this watch sometimes. I think I’m gonna need to do a rewatch eventually to make sure whether I really did like it after all but this one had some majorly intense moments and really good acting in it. Also, it really got me to give Shudder movies a chance. heh

4. Re-Animator - Skipping right now onto this one because I still can’t fully get this watch out of my head. Despite my mixed feelings on the infamous head scene, it is a true 80′s classic. Jeffrey Combs nailed this role. This movie wasn’t afraid of taking chances. Also, it has some genuinely funny and entertaining moments.

5. From Beyond - To piggyback off from that, I also enjoyed this one. Maybe almost more in a way because I loved the role reversal between Jeffrey Combs & Barbara Crampton. Both of them were great and the concept was kinda cool. Also, once again, another movie where it took chances.

6. Upgrade - I still sometimes wonder if this counts as horror (I think you can because of the ending) but as far as watches go, this movie entertained me. I was invested from the get-go and I loved the concept. Logan Marshall-Green did such a great job.

7. The Descent - Still think this movie deserves its spot as a modern day classic. Still very glad that I finally watched it. Idk if I plan to ever rewatch it but mostly cuz those creatures creep me out. lol 

8. Revenge - As far as originality goes, it’s not very original of a concept but the execution worked for me. I rooted for Matilda Lutz’s character despite how the beginning painted her and her not speaking a single word once the 30(?? I can’t remember lol) minute mark hits. I wanted her to get her revenge. I cheered when she did.

9. Love & Monsters - Ofc this movie was gonna make its way onto this list. lol Yes, because of bb Dylan but also because I genuinely enjoyed the movie too. Once again, not a perfect movie but it was fun. I liked it.

10. Night of the Creeps - This movie was so memorable because it was so completely bonkers and fun and totally 80′s. lol This is what we call a good bad movie. To the point that it’s actually good because everyone in it was game and it’s made so earnestly you gotta respect it. Also, anything Tom Atkins said was pretty much golden. haha

11. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein -  Gotta give credit where credit is due and say that I personally think Kenneth Brannagh pulled off a good adaptation of the novel, despite the beginning feeling very rushed and then it feeling a little long later on. There were some classic scenes in there. Also, De Niro as The Creature!

12. The Mist - Can’t not mention this movie simply because that ending stuck with me. I was emotionally invested in the story pretty much the whole time. It had some genuinely tense moments. It was a well-made movie.

13. Near Dark - As far as a last watch for a challenge goes, this ended up being a good choice because it was really solid overall with good performances and a different approach to a vampire story. Also, Bill Paxton was so good in this.

14. The Monster Squad - This movie just ended up being really cute. I’m a sucker for movies like this with kids apparently. It was fun and totally 80′s in a good way.

15. Idle Hands - This movie was so wacky but definitely memorable. It just ended up being exactly the kinda watch I needed when I watched it. Some movies don’t have to be great to be worth watching, you know?

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Maybe The Guest?? At least for that soundtrack? lol Dolls was pretty memorable too, even if it doesn’t feel as classic as Re-Animator or From Beyond from director Stuart Gordon. Also, I still can’t forget Sleepaway Camp, just cuz man, that movie was pretty risky for the time. It was cringe but still hard to forget. lol

Top 3 Least Fave Watches:

1. The Wind

2. The Fog remake

3. Rings

Well... with that said, can’t wait for next year’s challenge!! Still so many more movies to watch!

Frozen the Musical - My Act One Thoughts

Hi friends! So... here we go! I saw Frozen twice while I was in Denver - once on August 18th and once on August 19th. A few things you should probably know before we delve into all my thoughts: 1. I’ve been a musical theatre nerd for most of my life. I went to a performing arts high school for musical theatre, and majored in theatre arts administration in college. 2. I am also a Disney nerd - always have been and always will be. I did the DCP in Walt Disney World and absolutely adored it. 3. Frozen has been my absolute favorite movie in the entire world since I first saw it back in 2013. I’ve made very good friends with Anna at all kinds of local parties and gatherings, run Frozen camps, and more. So... we can imagine how COMPLETELY ELATED I was when they announced they were creating Frozen on Broadway. Which leads me to point 4... Caissie Levy. I saw Caissie in Ghost back in 2012 and was ASTOUNDED by the sheer talent I was witnessing. Caissie has without a doubt become my absolute favorite performer, but more than that, she’s become an incredible mentor. So when I found out she was going to be LEADING this show, I MIGHT have lost my shit just a little bit (read: a lot).

With all that said... I hope that makes it clear that I know my way around good theatre, but I also have some implicit bias. I will try my best to stay as objective as I possibly can (which will probably be not at all tbh) while also fangirling my heart out.

Now. Let’s talk Frozen the Musical! Prepare for a novel.

- Preshow. They have some really cool sound effects and a projection of the Northern Lights that move around. It’s really pretty, and helps to put you in that mystical setting.

- The show opens with the newly introduced Hidden Folk. Let’s talk about them for a hot second. I get why they moved away from the trolls - having seen the stage show at the Hyperion out in Disneyland, the trolls would have been too campy and weird for what they’re trying to do with this show. I love the concept - the traditional Norwegian Huldufolk are the perfect fill in. The execution, IMO, needs some work. Crystal necklaces that light up just like in the movie? Super cool. Glowing eyes in the pitch black? REALLY cool. Long, swingy tails that make them look like non-blue Na’vi from Avatar? Not so much.

- Hearing Vuelie in person with that incredible ensemble was enough on its own to basically send me into a coma.

- THE YOUNGINS. Oh my LORD. They are so ridiculously good - especially the Young Annas, Audrey and Mattea. Their comedic timing is so good... you really can’t help but laugh every time they speak (”like run naked in the breeze!” I died).

- “Anna and Elsa” is adorable and just introduces us to the sisters. They also worked in a chunk of the cut song from the movie “We Know Better”, which was perfect and made me extraordinarily happy.

- “A Little Bit of You” is so stinking cute. And then Elsa hits Anna and your heart hurts. So thanks for that, Lopez crew (I’ll be saying that a lot tbh).

- The scene where the Queen summons the hidden folk is one that I would not be surprised to be tweaked. She started chanting and people started giggling (because tbh it is a little strange - it sounds incredibly dramatic), which is definitely not what you want happening there.

- Elsa asks Pabbie to remove her magic altogether because she’s afraid of what she’ll do, which just hurts my heart. He asks her to close her eyes and tell him what she sees, and it’s basically a premonition of the coronation - she sees a monster. Tears.

- Elsa is also the one who basically says “keep Anna away from me while I figure this magic thing out,” which is also devastating because that adds another layer of her guilt to what we knew from the movie.

- Another change from the movie - the girls are still their young selves when their parents die at sea. OUCH. I think it’s more effective, honestly.

- Caissie got entrance applause and that was the first time I cried. #proudmama

- Let’s take a moment to talk about PATTI FREAKING MURIN. I’m not going to lie to you - I was really worried about what they were doing with her in all the promotional stuff we saw, but I had no reason to be. Patti is the perfect Anna. She is adorkable, silly, fun loving, and tender and vulnerable when she needs to be. Anna is undoubtedly my favorite princess... Patti lives up to it.

- There are a few lyric tweaks in “For The First Time In Forever” to go with the action on stage - i.e. there are not 8,000 salad plates, so it wouldn’t make sense to sing about them.

- The scepter and orb glow at Elsa’s touch and it’s REALLY cool.

- The moment when they opened the gates and the whole ensemble spilled in... the second time I cried. It was so epic and just a beautiful, beautiful moment. All those voices harmonizing... it was overwhelming.

- Sven got entrance applause. I’m still trying to figure out how he’s maneuvered?! Literally the most lifelike reindeer puppet you could imagine.

- Obviously we have no horses on stage, so Anna and Hans bump into each other and fall into Kristoff’s ice cart, which is a nice touch.

- Anna makes an heir and spare joke - another reference to a cut song from the movie (my favorite one, so I was thrilled).

- John Riddle as Hans... he’s SPECTACULAR. He’s not a ginger, but I guess I’ll forgive him because he is incredibly good looking and SO charming. And that voice! He makes you fall in love with him. Which makes you hate him even more later on.

- Queen Anointed is GORGEOUS in every sense. There’s a little section of choreography as the church bells ring that was very, very cool - the ensemble moves in and out of line with each chime. Hard to explain, but visually gorgeous.

- As the ensemble is singing, Elsa is basically silhouetted upstage while the priest puts on her cape and they walk the orb and scepter in. The lighting here just made me melt.

- Dangerous to Dream. There’s already been some pretty good discussion about this (see @frozenartscapes and @not-rotting for that fun), but oh MAN. After the first verse, Anna runs in and kneels downstage with her hands over her heart and Elsa sings directly at her. UGH. After she’s crowned, she observes the festivities and sings the rest of the song as Anna is shown enjoying it - dancing, being lifted up on a chair, etc. All while Elsa just looks on longingly. My heart.

- Robert Creighton as the Duke is the wonderful blend of funny, creepy (”Let me tame you with my tango” and “you’ll be looking for a king, no doubt” ugh), and dastardly that the role demands.

- The camaraderie between the sisters as Anna disses the Duke is perfection.

- Love is an Open Door. WHERE DO I START. Take the movie and ramp it up by about 800%. Sexual tension is not off limits here. Anna runs her hands over Hans’s chest, Hans grabs Anna’s butt, there’s some panting, there’s a very cute dance break where he has her leg up by her face in a split and she’s like “ow ow ow ow ow” and then she somehow ends up on the ground beneath him... and then as the song ends, he buries his face in her chest and then they proceed to make out for at LEAST 30 seconds as all the coronation-goers filter in. It is hilarious, and on the second night recording, you can literally hear me go “I thought this was a family show!” lmao.

- Elsa freezing the ballroom - the spikes shoot out of the wall and I was legitimately concerned someone was going to be impaled on stage. It’s so organic and realistic!

- After Elsa runs out of the ballroom, you see the various townspeople as they run to safety... then Elsa stumbles forward, catches herself on the proscenium of the stage, and then the proscenium freezes in what was my first “WTF IS HAPPENING” moment of the show. The projections there... omg. Otherworldly.

- Ah, and now I get to talk about Jelani as Kristoff. GUYS. He’s SO GOOD. His voice is divine. He is SO PERFECTLY SASSY, but like Patti, when he’s a softie, he just melts your heart. He and Patti play so well off of each other - their witty banter is everything you’d hope and more. Kristanna shippers, rest assured, your hearts will flutter.

- I mentioned in a previous post that right before “What Do You Know About Love”, Kristoff literally rips off Anna’s dress before she changes into Kristoff’s clothes and that was the moment I died. My shipper heart.

- Speaking of... “What Do You Know About Love”. WE FINALLY HAVE A KRISTANNA DUET, Y’ALL. And it was worth the wait. It’s 5 minutes of stellar witty banter. God bless. The music is also CATCHY AF.

- The bridge! It’s very, very cool. One of my favorite scenic elements in the show.

- “You’ve got some guts.” “You’ve got some... brains.” I’ll leave it at that.

- When Olaf makes his grand entrance, you hear his voice all around the theater. Which caused absolutely everyone to collectively lose their shit while turning around in their seats. Hilarity.

- The Olaf puppet, for anyone who hasn’t seen yet, is done very similarly to Timon from The Lion King. Anytime Greg moves his feet, Olaf moves. Same with the hands.

- Greg as Olaf. There were moments I had to remind myself that Greg did NOT, in fact, voice Olaf in the movie. He’s that spot-on, but of course with his own flair. 12/10 casting.

- “In Summer”. It’s just as ridiculous as you might imagine, though not as campy as it is in DCA with the random backup dancers in flippers and scuba gear. There’s just random birds flying in on a stick instead.

- “If there’s one thing Arendelle can handle, it’s snow.” - Anna, cut immediately to “I CAN’T HANDLE ALL OF THIS SNOW!” - The Duke.

- “Hans of the Southern Isles (Reprise)” - aka the “I’m Hans and I’m gonna manipulate the entire town into believing I’m the greatest thing since sliced bread but HEY I’m humble no big deal” song.

- The moment you’ve all been waiting for (along with literally everyone in the theatre who audibly squealed at the first notes)... “Let It Go”. Aka the moment I officially LOST. MY. SHIT. I waited to talk about Caissie until this moment because this is the first time we get to see her in all her belty, sparkly glory. She. Is. Perfection. She looks the part, she acts the part, she sings the SHIT out of it.

- I will say - the song is back in its intended key, which means it’s a half step lower than we hear in the movie (cut to a clip of Idina being like “but what if I sing it a half step up just this once?” and then hating her life as every child on the planet began to sing the song). But that makes it no less belty and beautiful. Rather than just letting that last note kind of fade like you hear on the soundtrack, Caissie takes it up to the high heavens and the sky opens up and you melt into a puddle on the floor. Wait... that was me. Definitely me.

- Scenically, I wanted a little bit more. The projections are cool, and the massive wall of Swarovski crystals that dropped from the ceiling was sparkly enough to blind me. But other than that, the stage felt a bit empty. The rumor is that they have another plan for Broadway - which makes sense since they’re in a temporary home and it wouldn’t make sense to build any really massive set pieces until they’re in a place where they can do that. They know they could pretty much put Caissie in a trash bag, throw her on stage to sing this song, and the crowd would still lose their minds. Save the magic for the big guns. At least, I hope that’s what’s going to happen!

- The dress change. There was a clip floating around from the show Friday night, and the timing of the flash was off, so it’s unfortunate that’s the one that got passed around (even though it’s still freaking incredible!) because you can kind of see the magic. Saturday night, you couldn’t see a thing and LORDY BE. It is truly magical. And the dress! It’s STUNNING. I sobbed both nights. Like... ugly crying, heavy sobbing.

And with that... I went into the lobby going “I’M GONNA PASS OUT MOM, I SWEAR. I’M GONNA PASS OUT MY FACE IS TINGLY I’M GONNA PASS OUT” because I was so overwhelmed and it was intermission.

Thanks for tuning in for Act 1... Act 2 to come later!

My Hannibal Stuff

I keep wanting to write some kind of long, gif-packed post about why I love Hannibal, but then I remember that I’m still in the middle of writing academic stuff that basically says the same thing, only occasionally with fancier words (although - I hope - less than you’d think). It’s the only show I’ve ever vidded, and I have some (currently abandoned, definitely flawed, but the pictures are pretty) meta about the look of Hannibal over on AO3... so I figured I’d just make a masterpost and if anyone is interested they can go have a look.

Writing:

Outrageous Sirk-umstances: Hannibal and the Aesthetics of Excess (PPT here): 20 minute conference presentation, which mostly means that it begins and ends pretty quickly; hoping to go into more detail in longer written work later this year.

Situating Hannibal within the ‘Fullerverse’: Now More Than Ever Seems It Rich to Die: short blog post in which I decided that death links Bryan’s works together, before I decided in the comments that maybe it’s monsters IDK. First thing I wrote on Hannibal, and it’s rough. BUT, it comes with a clip from Mockingbird Lane, which is so worth it.

Hannibal Unraveled: meta on AO3 that began as an attempt to parse Hannibal’s suits, and kind of turned into general thoughts on the look of the show. These are all very stream-of-consciousness, and I think some of the things I was arguing are actually kind of flaky (especially my whole ‘orange’ fixation). Only up to 2.5 so far... hoping to pick it up again at some point. It has massive gifs - if you read, open each chapter separately.

A Tale of Two Showrunners: blog post contrasting Fuller and Moffat. Moffat doesn’t come out very well, in case that might be upsetting.

The Puppy Postulate, or Why Some Women Like Sherlock (and Other Things): blog post that talks about Sherlock and Hannibal in the context of women’s spectatorship

A Tale of Two Chairs, or Why Did My Paper Get a B?: blog post contrasting chairs (no, it makes sense, I promise) in Sherlock and Hannibal. Here, too, Hannibal comes out ahead. Sorry, Sherlock.

Vids and Video Essays

(I don’t actually make much of a distinction, tbh, but some are more one than the other, I guess)

Empathy for the Devil: 15 min., Hannibal through the lens of gothic romance - this one has gore/body horror

hannibal: a fanvid: 5 min., set to “Love Crime” FYI. I was basically making the argument that Hannibal reflects the aesthetics of fanvids in many ways; the written piece that accompanies it, and reviews of how successful I am at doing that, are here

cathexis: 2:26 min., kind of a mellow, relaxing exploration of closeup and thematic cinematography in Hannibal. No gore, no spoilers, but it really IS relaxing.

Katana: 1:10 min., where I edited the fight between Hannibal and Jack in Mizumono to fit taiko drum music from the Japanese movie Samurai Fiction. I seem to like this more than other people do. Blood.

Reader: 2 min., the genesis of Empathy for the Devil above. Basically, it’s Will/Hannibal Mizumono stuff combined with quotes from Jane Eyre (when she discovers the truth about Bertha). Personally, I think this works better than Empathy, simply because it has the space to play more of the Jane Eyre text out. Blood.

Maru: 1:21 min., another dreamy kind of look at circular composition in Hannibal

Homage: 46 sec., contrasting scenes from Hannibal with the ones they drew from visually. Beginning vidding, when I was trying to figure out split screens.

Vide Cor Meum: 3:55 min., actual vid-vid, in which Hannibal, incarcerated, reflects on Will. Total sap, my second longish video.

Face to Face: 4:24 min., basically the song I have been wanting to vid since the late 1980s and my very first vid. The beginning part is too literal, IMO, but I think it gets better at around “another life, another time.”

There, now every time I get a bug up my ass about writing Hannibal meta/posts, I can remind myself that I’ve done that already and get back to actual work.