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gravegrime · 11 months

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I remember sharing this thought on twitter about storytelling as a meme like a month ago and ever since then I’ve wanted to expand on it somewhere that had the character limit for it. Somewhere like here! lol

This is a long one lads so feel free to skip on by if you’re not interested in all the very opinionated things I have to say.

Storytelling fills me with a firey passion that very little else does. Being whisked away to a world full of interesting people I can observe going about their lives is something I don’t think I can ever get tired of. With this passion, as it always does for me, comes a deep desire to analyze and understand the process on a fundemental level. This process of discover has lead me down an interesting path that I feel many in the communities I swim will find controversial; which is a shame because I do believe the conclusions I’ve come to are true and correct.

I lead my little rant with this preamble because I want anyone who ends up reading this to know that I’m not here out of malice or contempt for the artform. Storytelling is my life and I feel that people’s good intentions may be hurting the craft as a whole. If you do end up reading the whole thing feel absolutely feel to argue against me or whatever you want. Having and breeding discussion is something else I live for!

On this journey I’ve had analyzing the storytelling craft I’ve come to the conclusion that there are things about storytelling that are good practices and bad practices. I wholeheartedly reject the pervasive ideas in the art and writing community that there is not better or worse story and everything is just different. Honestly I’m a bit insulted by the notion. You should have pride in your craft and try to hold the quality of your work high! If you feel your stories don’t reach that quality bar you’re looking for work to get better at what you do! I don’t understand how someone could claim to, ‘strive to always be a better story teller’ while also believing stories have no intrinsic values outside of what an individual reader might feel about the work. The only conclusion that can be came to is that stories do have intrinsic qualities within them that can be judged accordingly.

Of course this invites the idea that because people value different things their standards for what makes a good story would differ. This is true but only on a scale of personal enjoyment. I propose that there is a standard one can apply to their work outside of individual enjoyment that can be used to judge the quality of a work.

Much like in carpentry you’d judge the quality of a chair based on it’s materials, sturdiness, and mastery of the craft, you can also judge a story by a similiar metric. Consistency is king when it comes to stories. Rules not being broken is essential to not having stakes and payoffs fall flat. Characters need to stay consistent to their ideals and goals if there is to be a character at all. Goals and ideals can shift over the course of a story of course, but how well crafted a transition is entirely predicated on the consistency of the information we’re provided. It would be poor storytelling to have a character randomly shift goals without some established impetus. Storytelling quality is essentially how well one can juggle consistency with the complexity of the story they’re telling. It seems perfectly reasonable if you had two stories that are equally consistent but one is more complex it would be a better work because they achieved more.

I can, and likely will at some point, go on for hours and hours and hours about how complex and intricate the craft of storytelling is. Like I said it’s one of my biggest passions. I think I’ll leave this little rant establishing my basic standard here though. I hope it might spark some interesting discussions about the craft or at least give someone some food for though :)

#ramble #writing #storytelling #thoughts #I think a lot about this shit #genuinely believe if you start looking at this stuff as a craft with objective good and bad executions your writing will improve #not a fan of the constant demand for positivity that persists in the art world #how many times am I going to have to edit this for spelling mistakes I wonder?

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crehador · 23 days

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brother crab's winter 2024 parting thoughts: high card s2

WHAT THE HELL

HIGH CARD IS GOOD?!

tl;dr very flashy and aesthetic, consistently good in that regard, but the story was not always gripping to me. however, with the ultimate payoff in the last three eps, totally worth it imo

full review:

wow wow wow i'm kind of glad i fell way behind on anime and had the last three eps of s2 to binge all at once because hoooly shit i enjoyed that immensely

at no point did i think high card was bad, but it definitely had moments where it didn't fully grab me. there were times when it felt like all flash, no substance

and it's definitely not perfect, i have some serious and fairly significant gripes with it. mainly i'm really bummed that leo, wendy, and vijay never really got fully fleshed out. i mean i get it, finn's the main character and chris is the thinly veiled love interest also important so obviously they're going to take up most of the time, but i really feel like the other members of the crew had so much unexplored potential (especially wendy and vijay, because leo did sort of get his moment as a factor in the old man yaoi situation)

speaking of which THE OLD MAN YAOI!! man there were a lot of moving pieces in this show, and sometimes they came together in messy ways (or didn't really come together at all... some bits do still feel pretty disjointed and jumpy to me, tbh)

but overall the payoff of the s2 finale was absolutely worth it to me, particularly since it dealt with my favorites of those moving pieces: the old man yaoi and the sudden YANDERE ONIISAN ARC

i find myself really wishing the show had gone harder on both of those threads sooner, but like... honestly i'm not disappointed with how they played out. the whole theodore and ban thing could not have been more tropey (YEARS of loathing only for a "the one i wanted to protect all along was... you" and then dying for each other like HELLO yes an absolute tropefest BUT TROPES THAT I LOVE. GOOD FOR THOSE TOXIC DOOMED YAOI MFERS)

tilt has always been fascinating to me right from the character design and i am more or less satisfied with how things played out for him too, though i kind of wish we'd had more of this development spread throughout the series. i guess it was there, but... i dunno. in some ways feels like there could have been More (but i may be biased)

like you gotta feel bad for him, it's a sad story, but also that extreeemely creepy unhinged yandere oniisan "i have been stalking you i literally have a wall with giant blown up photos of you i hate the other guy who is calling himself your brother" sequence was SO FUCKING DELICIOUS LIKE WTF??? stunned and absolutely blown away by how hard they went on that, what a delight

(ironically it makes me think about how unhinged matakara in bucchigiri?! just doesn't work while unhinged tilt in high card works super well, but this is not about bucchigiri?! so i won't get too into that)

i am still admittedly just. kind of like. idk. i go back and forth on finn and chris, as characters and as partners. i don't dislike them but they aren't always all that compelling to me. sometimes they definitely are, but sometimes they just fall a bit flat to me. this probably isn't an issue with them as characters, though, just a matter of taste. i occasionally found the chemistry between them lacking as well, but sometimes it was really on point

same feeling about the crew dynamics in general. i looove a good like heist crew or spy agency crew, whatever it is, when the dynamics just click. and sometimes they didn't, here. i am too sleepy to articulate it properly right now but it just felt like there was something missing, some pieces not really fitting together. i didn't dislike any of the characters, but just... i guess wanted more team shenanigans? maybe there was no time for that but it would have been nice (like this is one show that could have done with a few filler and/or fluff episodes, imo!)

anyway. christ. my eye emoji-ing at tilt based solely on his character design finally paid off after two gay ass seasons lmao. good night

#crab watches #winter 2024 #parting thoughts #high card #GENUINELY WAS NOT EXPECTING TO ENJOY THE LAST THREE EPS THIS MUCH BUT I SO SO SO DID #although lol holy infodump tf #this show loooves its infodumps esp in the second half of the second season #i didn't personally mind all the monologuing that much i guess #like it delivered the information fine #but the fact that there were so many ''LET ME TELL YOU A STORY YOU'VE NEVER HEARD BEFORE'' scenes in a ROW #was just kind of funny #anyway. it's not like overall the best thing ever but it is wild fun and really paid off in the end (for me at least)#i am a sucker for toxic old man yaoi and the yandere oniisan was a bonus #damn that was fun #alright. going to sleep for real now lmao

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mickmilks · 8 months

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fic requests you say? where's bongo cat.

anyway i'm throwing my hat in the ring and ask for trans!mickey after too surgery (and ian taking care of him, because mickey is being a little stupid and tries to do everything himself).

not sure that's what you're asking for but it's what came to mind.

(also, can you imagine trans!mickey realising he has an excuse to wear his hawaiian shirts now and also when he realises he can just leave them open now because his chest his flat. i am experiencing emotions.)

this got longer than needed, anyway, love ya, bud, hope YOUR recovery goes well!

nosho!!!! when i say i am in love with this prompt...

this also ended up being a little longer than planned so uh. oops? or you're welcome.

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“C’mon, let me-”

“I got it, Ian!” Mickey huffs.

It’s been two weeks since Mickey’s top surgery, and much to Ian’s dismay, is trying to do everything himself. Stubborn-ass, Ian calls him. Currently, Mickey is trying to reach for a coffee mug in their cabinet.

“Mickey, you could tear your incisions. Please, just let me do this one thing for you. I’ll let you make the coffee, but the doc said no reaching for a few weeks. Please.”

Begrudgingly, Mickey relents.

“Fuckin’- fine. I hate this.” Mickey says with a sigh.

“I know,” Ian says softly, grabbing Mickey’s favorite mug from the shelf and setting it on the counter, “but if you want to heal properly, you’ve gotta listen to the doctor.”

“Feel so… useless and shit. Can’t even get a stupid coffee cup. Feels like I can’t do anything, man. Just wanna be done with this shit.”

“It’s only a few more weeks, you’ll make it, I promise. You’ve made it this far, you did such a big thing, and the payoff will be so fucking worth it.” Ian tells him, reaching to rub Mickey’s back gently.

“Yeah, guess you’re right. Just tired of bein’ in bed all the time and cooped up like this.”

Mickey leans into Ian’s touch for a moment, then grabs a coffee pod to put in their new Keurig coffee maker. He pops it into the top of the machine and sets the mug underneath the brewer before pressing the brew button. Soon, the comforting scent of coffee fills the air.

“Can I grab the milk for you, your highness?” Ian asks with a small smirk.

“Fuck off, man. Fine.” Mickey retorts, a small smile in return to assure Ian he’s not actually mad.

“Hey, don’t forget, you get those annoying bandages off later today. I think you’ll feel a lot better,” Ian tells him, pouring the milk into Mickey’s coffee.

Mickey glances down at his chest, smoothing one hand down it and smiling a bit to himself.

“Can’t believe I finally did it,” he says in a whisper. “Felt impossible, y’know?”

Ian softens at that.

“You made it, Mickey. And I am so fucking proud of you. I love you.”

“Love you too, sap,” Mickey says, leaning over to give Ian a peck on the lips.

*******

Mickey can’t believe it. He stands in front of the mirror at the doctor’s office, seeing his unbandaged chest for the first time. The scars are still red and pronounced, but the doctor assures him that over time and with proper scar care, they’ll heal up nicely, and may even fade. A permanent reminder of how far he’s come, and the feeling of freedom is overwhelming. Tears start to form, but he rubs at his eyes to keep them from falling.

“Holy fuck,” he says on an exhale. “It’s… that’s fuckin’ me.”

The doctor smiles, and gives Mickey and Ian a rundown of scar care, and leaves the room to give the two of them a moment together.

“You did it, Mick. I am so proud of you for doing this.”

“I - fuck.”

Before he can get too overwhelmed, Mickey reaches for his shirt and carefully pulls it on, turning to Ian. He leans into him, wrapping his arms gently around Ian’s waist, burying his face into Ian’s shoulder. Ian hugs him back, rubbing up and down his back.

“C’mon, let’s go. Let’s go get you something to celebrate. I’m thinkin’ milkshakes. What do you say?”

Mickey huffs a laugh, and nods against Ian’s shoulder.

“Yeah, let’s go.”

*****

Six months later finds Ian and Mickey at the shores of Lake Michigan, the two of them lounging in beach chairs. Ian shirtless, Mickey with an unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt (that he definitely did not steal from the laundry room in their apartment complex). Content smiles on both their faces, hands clasped together between the two chairs. Years ago this seemed unfathomable to Mickey, laying side by side with someone who’s loved him unconditionally throughout everything, who’s been by his side through thick and thin. Let alone, laying (mostly) shirtless on a beach with that same man, watching as the sun reflects on matching silver bands on their fingers.

“Didja ever think we’d make it here?” Mickey whispers.

“Always.” Ian says with a squeeze to Mickey’s hand.

#ask #my fic #trans mickey #mickey milkovich #ian gallagher #gallavich #shameless #galladrabbles

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silvermoon424 · 1 year

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If you could fix a few things for the Magia Record anime to make it better what would it be?

ughhhh oh god so many things. I'm not really sure how to organize my thoughts and I'm not claiming to be a great writer, but here are some ideas:

Make the anime more faithful to the game story in general. The game story isn't perfect but I found the anime original deviations to be kinda bad (I will say I liked some of the deviations tho, like how Touka and Nemu stayed devoted to their plan even after regaining their memories).

SCRAP THE ENTIRE ANIME ENDING AND GO WITH THE GAME ONE. Holy fuck I hate the Magia Record anime ending so much, it completely spits on the message the game was trying to impart.

Have Kuroe be more involved in season 1. I ended up liking her character quite a bit and was glad she was more involved in season 2, but it was jarring how she was introduced as an important character in episode 1 and then completely disappeared for the rest of season 1.

Focus more on Mikazuki Villa and their found family dynamic. @muffinrecord made a great post on this, but basically, the game really builds these girls up as a found family unit and focuses a lot on their bonds with each other. The anime really doesn't commit as much time to that, so when the end of the anime tries to play up Mikazuki Villa's bond for emotional payoff, it falls kinda flat to someone who only has experience with the anime. Having an anime adaptation is a perfect opportunity to add depth to these characters and their bonds, I wish they took it.

I know this was a budget issue, but I also think the anime needed to be longer. The Arc 1 game story is very long, and I found the timing of the anime to be kinda rushed. They even entirely skipped over a chapter or two.

Any other MagiReco fans feel free to add your suggestions, it's been a while since I watched the anime so I don't really remember enough to add more specific suggestions.

#magia record #pmmm #madoka magica

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headcanons-n-shit · 1 year

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It is a wager, he will admit, but Zenos has not made it this far in life by taking the safest of bests.

He steps out of the last of his armor, his greaves falling over in a clatter so terribly loud in the quiet. In the distance Kugane is a bright light on the horizon. Yotsuyu thinks him gone, to return to Ala Mhigo and the warfront, and in the morning he will be. But right now he has placed his cards and made his wager, and for the next hours there is naught to do but savor the payoff.

Doman nights are warm, this close to the coast, but without the weight and heat of his armor Zenos feels gooseflesh prickle beneath the thin lingering layer of sweat. He tugs uncomfortably at his shirt and wonders, should he build a fire? The sun has only just set.

And then all thought is gone, as Tehpe steps out of the shadows at the edge of the clearing. They have chosen to garb themselves in the local fashion, it seems, a dark grey kimono tunic and loose pants. Like a shadow themselves, or one of the spirits that the Doman so revere.

Perhaps even a kami, considering their strength. Zenos has an image in his mind, and it lodges deep in his breast, Tehpe in Garlean colors, black and red and gold, and a nation of worshipers at their feet, and his lips curl into a private, indulgent smile.

“You came.”

Tehpe hums as they slowly begin to pace around the border of the clearing. “I did.”

“Why?”

The fabric of their robes whisper as they move. Shrug. They tuck their hands into the wide sleeves of their robes. A nervous habit, Zenos thinks, to hide their hands, and Tehpe says, “If you wanted me dead, you would have killed me already.”

And that there is the crux of the issue, isn’t it. Twice now, Zenos has had the Warrior of Light at his mercy. Twice now, Zenos could have struck down the greatest enemy to the Garlean Empire.

And twice now, Zenos has stayed his hand.

Tehpe stills as Zenos approaches them, and the differences in their size has always been dramatic, but before shedding his armor Zenos has never paid it much mind. To the breadth of his shoulders, or the way he looms over Tehpe, his shadow in the moonlight consuming the Viera quite completely.

“I believe–” Zenos says, slowly, carefully, catching Tehpe’s wrist and drawing it up to his mouth. The sleeve falls back with the angle, that he might press his lips to the thin strip of skin between that hem and the silk of their gloves. A hunger lurks and twists beneath his skin, to rip and consume, but, softly. “–that I also told you to run.”

With a huff and a toss of his head, Tehpe looks every bit as impetuous as Zenos has come to expect from these Eorzeans. “And yet, it is you who extends the invitation to me. In what direction did you expect me to run?”

That, Zenos has no proper answer to. His teeth ache to taste as he walks his fingers delicately up Tehpe’s arm, savoring the velveteen skin, the shifting muscle as Tehpe struggles to stay perfectly still. Like prey beneath a predator’s gaze. Like a predator with prey in its sights. Zenos hums low and contemplative against the fragile bones of Tehpe’s wrist.

“Would you run for me?” Zenos asks, and he tries for flat, for boredly curious, but he could not sound more affected. Tehpe’s eyes widen infinitesimally, nostrils flared, chest heaving, and Zenos tightens his grip, just in warning, just short of bruising.

“Would you run so that I might give chase?” Zenos continues, and every breath stokes the flames in his chest, higher and hotter, ‘til he wonders if he might scorch the very air around him. “Run for me. Be my light in this foul world. My one jewel in this mound of filth.”

Wine-red eyes glance away– at the ground, at the undergrowth, into the trees. Anywhere but Zenos, and he growls, further closing the small distance between them.

“Be my beast,” Zenos demands.

Be mine, he almost says, and bites his tongue just in time.

Tehpe’s breathing is measured, long and slow and even, as the seconds stretch endlessly long with anticipation. Impatience rears its ugly head, but Zenos squashes it down mercilessly. The stakes here are higher than that of any battle, the reward more valuable than any treasure or city or stretch of land, and he does not pick battles he knows he will lose. Sometimes, the best strategy is only to wait, with a patience he has had no choice but to learn.

Wait, for Tehpe’s shoulders to unwind, slowly slowly slowly. “You don’t understand what you ask of me,” Tehpe says, but they lean into every point of contact nonetheless.

“I don’t,” Zenos admits. “I understand only that there is you. Only you are worthy. Only you make each day worth enduring, but for the chance to chase you once more. I want only you.”

Only you, Zenos mouths against silvery veins. Only me and only you.

A hand comes up to grab Zenos beneath the chin, so small, with nails so sharp as they dig into the bones of his jaw. Tehpe glares, so beautiful, so baleful, so fiery, up at him, and Zenos feels that flame within him rise into an inferno.

Tehpe smiles, small and secret and sly as they lean up, pulling Zenos down to meet him, and Zenos can hear the soft pop pop pop as his skin gives beneath Tehpe’s claws, blood welling hot and thick.

“If you can catch me,” Tehpe offers, promises, warns.

And Zenos grins.

#ff14 ficlet #ff14 #ffxiv zenos #zenos yae galvus #zenos x wol #ff14 viera #viera wol #oc: qestra tehpe

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s1ithers · 1 year

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finished da:o at last. thinking about my assortment of half-developed warden ocs who never quite gelled the way hawke did and i feel like it's partly that i never hit on a sequence of endgame choices that really felt like a payoff. da:o is a such a great build-your-own-blorbo kit, you get such juicy character concepts out of the origin choice & reactivity but i'd always get an oc to mid-late game and feel like they were a bit dressed up with nowhere to go bc the ending just doesn't... really cap their arc in a way that feels satisfying

there's some good crunchy episodic drama contained within the treaty quests but in terms of the overall structure, the warden hits their lowest point at the beginning and you spend the game powering up until you win, pretty straightforwardly depending on your choices. like yeah the dark ritual is edgy sexist bullshit but you need it, you need something there.

like the first 2/3 are a great arc. hero leaves home in exile, goes around finding friends & adventure, returns home changed by said adventures, confronts their past, wrenching emotional ordeal etc, moves on as their new actualized self to take on the big bad. which is great except everything pretty much comes up warden from there on out. you need some kind of climax crunch to test that actualized self, another pain point at the end

which they tried to do, it just falls a bit flat for me. i've heard the 'grey warden must die' twist criticized as feeling sprung out of nowhere but i don't mind that so much. between the whole 'in death, sacrifice' thing, duncan & jory, sophia dryden, etc, i think it's pretty well set up that this is an organization with dark secrets that their two bumbling junior recruits know way too little about. i do think it's a bit stock. 'will you die to save the world?' just isn't that interesting, there's a plain right answer both ethics & genre are pointing you to, which more importantly is not really tied to your character at all.

like say what you will about da2 but the ending pays the hell off bc it forces hawke to show who they are. a person could justify making either decision, so who your hawke is matters. every bit of character development is leading up to how they'll jump in that moment

and then after dropping the warden sacrifice on you, dao immediately offers you an escape hatch, which, unless your warden is really fussed about blood magic or whatever, of course you're gonna take. structurally i think this decision is leeched of a lot of potential by the fact that both options are coming as new information.

new guy we just met: wait! there's a problem! morrigan: don't worry i fixed it! okay! on we go then! thanks morrigan

(could've been cool if alistair knew a warden had to die from the start, so you're struggling to go on with this journey, knowing how it ends, really get some time to stew on that before morrigan drops her bomb. the full relief of a stay of execution, plus 'you're only telling me this now?!' gives the warden a somewhat more sympathetic reason to feel betrayed than like, self-centered dickishness)

but more than that, the options the game gives you to object don't acknowledge what's really so awful about it. like you get 1) dark magic scary. part of a pattern in how i think this franchise tends to (mis)apply blood magic etc as a narrative device, but, like, good option to have for roleplay. 2) is oldgodbaby a bad idea? valid question but doesn't really go anywhere (and is more or less locked into being an anticlimax, can't be world-shaking as a choice-dependent outcome)

but like that post that was going around. what it means for morrigan is so wrenching. is it what she wants for herself or is she still acting out her mother's will? can the warden know, or believe they know? if they ask her to go through with it, are they complicit in flemeth's abuse? or are they overriding morrigan's agency if they refuse out of concern for her? how does your warden's origin & personality frame how they see this - what they're entitled to, what they owe, what they believe about duty & autonomy & respect, they're relationship with morrigan, & with magic, & their own impending death.

these people who are so young & so traumatized flailing around hurting each other in their good intentions. the dark ritual as this awful act of desperation & mixed motivations & regret that tears this hard-won friend group apart (especially if alistair is involved). saving the world as a good clean victory over evil in the grand scope, at the cost of this cataclysmic sacrifice on the personal level - so intimate, so devastating, so small. THAT'S drama.

#all of that said it's not a bad ending. this is all in the spirit of musings not haterism lol #as long as the goodbyes at the gate keep making me cry i can't knock it #replaying shook some things loose i think i'm finally closing in on my canon worldstate #on the whole da:o held up better than i was afraid it would #revisiting a few years on i'm really realizing how much my complaints abt the series were retroactively colored by da:i #da:o's got issues but it's pretty solid #kind of nice to remember that oh yeah i -did- get obsessed with this because i. you know. liked it #lmao #anyway let's see if i can get through awakening before i have to devote myself to putting 700 hours in darkest dungeon 2 next week #da

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blackplaaague · 5 months

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I don't think there's a problem with having mature/triggering/upsetting content in your writing.

However, I do think there's a problem with how it's handled. A lot of beginner horror writers fall into this trap of flash-banging you with the most messed-up thing they can think of for no narrative reason except shock value, but their presentation frequently falls flat. Instead of delivering a chilling, emotional presentation of a very grim, very real kind of horror, it just feels like an unpracticed slap in the face.

The payoff isn't a decent, frightening moment, because it feels forced and cheap. And serious, real-world horror shouldn't feel forced or cheap.

TL;DR, mature and upsetting topics can be written about, but you've got to write them with a bit of decency and a bit of skill.

(Yes, this is about urban spook.)

#bp rambles #personal opinion #rants #horror #writing #horror writing #writeblr #sensitive topics #urbanspook

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teyvats-worst-hero · 2 days

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My final thoughts on Penacony Part 1:

I think they did really well conveying the resort aspect of it at the very beginning, it literally reminded me of the terrible tourist culture where I live. I think I would’ve appreciated more love given to the lobby instead of… a really long hallway…

In the Golden Hour, I like how gilded age it looks! Morally dubious stuff everywhere: Dreamphones, billboards that chase you, SoulGlad at every corner, everything. Really sells how consumerist Penacony is, how corrupt.

But I also wish the billboards didn’t chase you every time you walked by. It raises my anxiety by 21%.

The notes I’m finding around the map are super disturbing, and this kind of worldbuilding really suits Penacony. Everything is so bright and perfect that you pay no mind to the danger in plain sight.

The enemies are really well done, it’s all so toy-like, so theoretically non threatening. And the battle theme fucking SLAPS, I love it. The TV enemy scares me shitless though. Too human-like in an uncanny valley way, but really too monkey-like. Don’t ask me. I don’t know. My primitive brain keeps screaming “MONKEY! RUN! DANGER!”

They did a really good job with not making any one person seem entirely on our side, everyone seems to have their own motivations without them being overwritten by someone they just met. They have some secrets and I like that. I also like that they interact with each other. Makes it feel so much more real and like things are happening outside of the protagonist, and we’re a faction of our own. Not some impossibly perfect neutral entity that NEVER has allegiances no siree (Cough cough Genshin Impact)

I like how things are mostly left to the player to think about. There’s no “I knew you weren’t Robin because your singing voice was weird!” to spell out earlier foreshadowing. God I hate when stories spell out foreshadowing. No one is telling me to be weirded out by things aside from the game’s INSISTENCE that Sampo is EVIL and NOT TO BE TRUSTED.

Some things I don’t like?

Black Swan.

I really dislike how she’s written overall. She just shows up and starts dommy-mommying the story and has a little “betrayal” moment that happens too fast for any importance to be attached. She’s like. Budget Kafka. I’m annoyed by how often she talks down to the player without ever actually feeling like a person who’d do that, like Sparkle or Aventurine, so it just sounds… Forced. Out of place. Obligatory. Her entire character is being a sexy plot device. Maybe she’ll get a personality, but as it stands, she doesn’t have one. Fight me.

This mission also has a problem with assuming you care deeply about characters you’ve strolled around with for 30 minutes. Now I’m not saying it’s bad to treat the characters like they have emotional weight regardless, that’s a good thing, but when your big plot beats rely on that weight to throw punches, it falls flat.

You run around with Firefly for a little bit. Cute. But very surface level.

You have a beautiful moment with her talking about her chronic illness. That’s great, if you saw my previous posts you know I got very introspective over it.

You go into the dream world and ALMOST die.

You go into the dream world again two minutes later and she ACTUALLY dies, and you immediately move onto the plot and another death that fully overshadows any plot or emotional significance of Firefly.

But NO my friends, she isn’t ACTUALLY dead, she’s something something Sam?

It just feels cheap. If they’re using Black Swan as the catch-all mysterious plot device, they’re using Firefly like tears in a can. Legitimately what would change if Firefly just… didn’t die there? If we just saw Sam and the shadows of Firefly, but couldn’t find her after? Is the point to make it seem like she isn’t Sam? Cause that’s a super cheap and unnecessary trick.

Back to the ending though. I really like the reveal of Robin’s death, it feels super weighty for the plot and the setup and payoff of Sparkle is excellent. I have no idea what’s going on with Misha. Probably some kind of descendant of the Watchmaker, maybe he’s split in two. One in the real world one in the dream. Misha and Mikhail perhaps?

Overall, really interested in this story. Good job Hoyoverse.

#penacony’s worst hero #honkai star rail #hsr penacony

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cptdark · 10 months

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reviewing everything starring mads mikkelsen (ongoing)

Mild spoilers warning - I am vague but I do describe endings and progression as negative/positive, so if you don't like knowing what happens at all, beware.

Bleeder (1999)

His character in this is quite endearing. A young movie fanatic, a bit reserved and awkward. The other characters' stories are much more chaotic, so in comparison, watching his perspective feels more safe or peaceful. The ending was a pleasant payoff. Awkward, but sweet in a special way. I guess you could say this movie may have a message about testing your comfort zone in hopes of meeting better people to surround yourself with.

The Door (2009)

The first half of this movie is the better half, and the second half felt a bit absurd or boring for me. I enjoyed that he is a painter, and wish that was revisited more often. I really felt his fall into depression, and I enjoyed the motif of water and repetition of trauma. And then of course, the door is an interesting mechanic. My favorite part of this movie is when he meets himself. Horrific, shocking, amusing, and dramatic. Those were very memorable scenes.

The Hunt (2012)

The scenes involving other characters were hard to sit through, but I felt the discomfort was somewhat justifiably necessary for enforcing realism; it's not meant to be theatric or entertaining. The longer the movie goes on and the more the situation develops, the more it matures like wine, and his' turmoil grips you. All the action he takes are so enthralling. I love the convenience store scene and the church scene (picture above). The conclusion may be beautiful, but the ending is dreadful. I looked up the meaning/interpretation of it, and that rounded my appreciation for this film. It's sociological commentary. Very true message, whether you like it or not: Once trust is betrayed in a community, it can never be completely earned back. There will always be someone who remembers that rumor, and will try to exile you from society. I believe the title only makes sense after the film is over. You could see the rumor as a scar left on him, like a wounded animal, while other people notice it, and like wolves, they will freely decide to exclude him from their pack, leaving him to die alone.

A Royal Affair (2012)

You'll really watch this waiting for his character, and be thankful when he arrives. He ultimately influenced the world and people around him for the better. The development is very interesting, and the pacing feels full. You will suspect specific twists of drama or betrayal to happen, and everything that does happens is very realistic- since it is based on a true story- yet still just as interesting as if it were a fictional thriller. At the scene where the priest fidgets with this cross, I arrived to the same quiet realization soon after he did. The priest is praying for forgiveness in his heart, as well as the cross foreshadowing a crucifixion. I felt heavy even until the credits, though the last scene was fulfilling. I don't know anything about Denmark, but this was a great introduction to the 'most dramatic event' in its history.

Men and Chicken (2015)

This character is very unexpectedly different from his other roles. Regardless of whether the comedy fails my humor, seeing him acting like this is humorous in of itself. I'll write a review after I've finished it.

Doctor Strange (2016)

There's not a mountain of Mads content or his signature charm here, but it's very interesting to see him as a flat antagonist with not much depth at all. His darkness is sickness, like it makes you feel hopeless for him. Dark, as if he has surrendered himself to the drug of black magic. It kind of scared me. Also, the magic distorting and fracturing architecture is beautiful.

Arctic (2018)

This movie amazes me, despite its simplicity. It's pure survival. It's morbidly dreary, but then you see he has it figured out. His system of survival sets you up to believe in him and assume a vicarious spectatorship that is held and tested for a long duration. You're never sure if they'll make it, but you don't want them to give up. There is a lot of energy expended just to survive, which radiates a warmth, a sense of self-fulfilling purpose, with the risk of the cold biting it away into hopelessness and death. I really felt the twists and turns, the decisions and mistakes, all the way through.

Polar (2019)

It's simply satisfying to watch him do what he does, a classic toughguy trope. This is an adaptation of a comic, (which I haven't read) and I enjoy how the style is adapted. The female deuteragonist is precious. It feels as though the movie is split into two sides; a double life, blood versus quiet. Both of the characters can be found in this duality of mental states, trauma and seeking peace for it. They may be similar, yet they are almost polar opposites. I love them. I really enjoyed the twist, a bomb drop after all that painstaking effort to survive, and the conclusion tempts me to know what happens next in the comics (if there is more, that is...).

Death Stranding (2019)

It's been a while since I've sat down and watched through a playthrough, but with that being said, I love this game... because I treat it like a movie. I will say, I like stories that play with mortality and perception. It was very interesting to meet Cliff as a father figure in claustrophobic recordings, and then meet him again as an antagonist with immaculate symbolism and aesthetics. He is trapped in the battlefield, like a dead soldier, and/or a traumatized man. Stasis, incompleteness, and sacrifice would appear to be themes. I really love the nonlinear storytelling. I really enjoyed the twist/reveal. It probably gave me goosebumps when I first saw it.

Another Round (2020)

This is probably one of my favorites. I appreciate a story that serves a thesis to life. I can't say much of my thoughts because I literally just watched it, but I think it executed the idea well. There's a lot of moments of amazing payoff, but you know how much of it may become bad, yet the dread of knowledge doesn't nullify any of what you experience along the way. It also feels rare to see other characters surrounding his character to have such a bond and impact to him. The ending felt so out of key in the perfect way. It's a profound (philosophical) party movie.

Hannibal (2013-2015)

A few years ago, I had watched the first two seasons, and had basically zoned out halfway through S3, then stopped... for some reason that I've now forgotten, after experiencing the finale. It's stuck with me and may for some time. 3rd season is proper good, and gave clarity to the character of Hannibal, and conclusion to Will's relationship with him. It's as though on your first watch you are as blinded as Will, despite knowing as a viewer that Hannibal Lecter is obviously (or very likely) the 'Chesapeake Ripper' in the show. The veil is lifted from his eyes once, but there are still layers yet to peek through, the nebulosity of darkness shrouding the relationship, (for Hannibal intrinsically has a 'dark' mind; seemingly insane by all humane reason) and yet onward do they get to know each other... like any other relationship. Rewatching is very enjoyable, because you can now assume Hannibal's perspective after learning his patterns and values, stripping away the mystery and watching the characters trying to arrive to where you are in understanding. Plenty moments where all Mads gives is a seemingly empty glance, but after obtaining objective knowledge, there is infinite texture to it. Very humanizing, Hannibal almost becoming a bit more alike Mads' other roles, (that of which being protagonists) yet still an antagonist.

#mads mikkelsen #mild spoilers #hannibal #review

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duhragonball · 1 year

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Jaco the Galactic Patrolman Ch. 6-11

Lets see if we can wrap this up.

Chapter 6. So last time, Jaco and Omori were shopping in East City, when Jaco rescued a girl from some hooligans. In the process, he ended up assaulting a couple of cops, which created a big enough commotion that he couldn’t just go back to acting inconspicuous. Fortunately, the girl, Tights, leads them away from the police. Unfortunately, Jaco does a bunch of dramatic poses while introducing himself, which gives away his position. So he grabs Omori and Tights and flies them back to the pier. They ask why he didn’t just do that in the first place, and he explains that he can only do it “once”. Like, once a week, or once ever?

Chapter 7: So Tights returns with them to Omori’s island, and she offers to head back to East City to fetch the groceries they missed out on in the incident. The East City authorities know Jaco and Omori’s faces, and they’ve even distributed a police sketch, which Jaco finds deeply offensive. So Tights heads out by herself, as she already knows how to pilot Omori’s boat.

Five hours later she finally returns, along with all her stuff, because she’s decided to move in. Omori informs her that she can’t live on the island, because even he can’t live on the island anymore. The government is kicking him out in a few days. Nonetheless, she crashes with him for a while.

As a token of her gratitude, Tights also gifts a bit of Sky Gold to Jaco, since he told her that he needs it to power his spaceship. They need 19 million yen worth of the stuff, and her gift is only 3 million, but she figures it’s still enough to power the communications equipment. Oh, okay, I thought the radio was damaged in the crash, but it turns out it just uses the same power source as the engines.

And it works. Jaco can’t fly all the way home, but he can still fly the ship, and he can use the radio. Unfortunately, he’s so excited to fly the thing that he wrecks the carport it’s parked under, and that damages the antenna, so he can’t send or receive transmissions. And unlike the power supply, Omori has no idea how to repair it.

Chapter 8: Tights makes plans to take the boat to Kiwi Island, and Omori thinks she’s going to watch the launch of Twinkle 8, the publicity stunt arranged for pop idol An Azuki. But no, Tights plans to board the rocket, because An’s people hired Tights to be An’s double. This way, if something happens to Twinkle 8 (RIP Twinkles 1, 2, and 5), the real An Azuki will still be alive, and they can just make up some gonzo story about her miraculous survival.

But Tights would be dead, which troubles Omori a great deal. And now we finally see the payoff to this Twinkle 8 business. All day, I’ve been looking forward to coming home and reading the second half of this story, and finding out how all this stuff ties together. I mean, Tights is one-third of the main cast, and Toriyama didn’t even introduce her to the others until halfway in. This manga has progressed a rather leisurely pace. It’s been good, but you’d expect things to get moving by chapter 5 of a ten-part series.

And the thought occurred to me: What if it doesn’t all tie in together at the end? What if Twinkle 8 has nothing to do with anything, and the whole story falls flat? What if Jaco the Galactic Patrolman sucks?

But here in Chapter 8, my fears are laid to rest. Omori cared very little about the Twinkle 8 launch, because he had no stake in the matter. He despised humanity, and decided to live in seclusion to avoid other people and their problems. But now he’s connected. He helped Jaco, who helped Tights, and now he’s finding out that it’s not just some stranger who’s risking her neck on a dangerous spaceflight.

And that’s why she spent all her money on that bit of Sky Gold. That was her payment for posing as An Azuki, and Tights knew it wouldn’t be of any use if she died before she could spend it, so she used it to help Jaco and Omori instead. Omori tries to talk her out of going, but her mind is made up. Tights dreams of being a science fiction author, and a chance to fly in outer space was too good to pass up.

So she leaves the island, and soon after, the same guy from Chapter 2 shows up. This is Tamagoro Katayude, the Chief of the Government Sea Police. He noticed Jaco on the island the first time he visited, and then he saw the reports of “Mask Man” in East Ctiy, and realized they were the same guy. So he organizes a squad to track down Jaco and arrest him. There four other guys on this team, and they got character profiles in the collected edition of this manga, but I see now that they were never important. They just got used because they wanted to have a character profile at the end of each chapter, and there were four extra slots.

Chapter 9: Omori tries to play dumb while Jaco stays out of sight, but Katayude calls out for “Mask Man” to show himself, and Jaco’s ego is too big to let that slide. He responds, giving away his presence on the island just to make sure everyone knows that his name isn’t “Mask Man”, and that he looks nothing like that ugly police sketch. Katayude says that he must be arrested, while Jaco demands that the police revise their sketch of him.

Then Jaco notices that the Twinkle 8 launch has failed, and the rocket has begun to fall. Omori calculates that it will crash in just two minutes. Jaco gets in his spaceship to save her, but he needs Omori’s assistance for that. And yet, Katayude doesn’t believe any of this, and he refuses to simply allow them to leave.

So Jaco defeats Katayude’s entire team in one panel. Unfortunately, that still took too long, so they won’t have enough time to rescue Tights. Then Jaco remembers Omori’s time machine.

Omori has been trying to build a working time machine ever since his wife’s tragic death, but the best he could manage after all these years was to simply slow time down to a virtual standstill. And even that effect only lasts for fifty seconds, but that should still be just enough time for them to get to Tights before Twinkle 8 crashes.

Chapter 10: From there, Jaco’s plan is pretty straightforward. He flies the ship alongside Twinkle 8... wait, how did they operate the ship while time was frozen? Well... never mind. Anyway, he has Omori take the controls and keep the ship flying parallel to Twinkle 8 while he goes inside to evacuate the crew.

Omori isn’t eager to take the wheel, but Jaco reassures him that he’s already shown him how to operate the controls of his ship. Wait, maybe that’s what they did with those fifty seconds.

The point is that it gives Omori a hefty share of the credit for this rescue. Jaco has the powers and technology to pull this off, but without Omori’s time machine and his willingness to pilot the ship, this never would have worked.

But even after getting the crew to safety, there’s still the matter of Twinkle 8 crashing into East City. Jaco doesn’t see the problem, since the city isn’t that impressive anyway, but Omori says “You’re Super Elite, aren’t you?!” So he jumps out of his own ship, bounces off a building, dropkicks the rocket to knock it away from the city, then destroys it with his sidearm. Not bad at all.

When they return to the island, they find Katayude and his crew saluting them. Katayude congratulates Omori and Jaco for their heroism and apologizes for trying to interfere. He also promises to arrange with the government to let Omori stay on the island. Oh, and Katayude also promises never to reveal the truth about Jaco being a robot. Yes, if such an amazing technology ever fell into the wrong hands, it could lead to disaster. Jaco is outraged, but Omori and Tights keep him quiet.

Also, Katayude asks to come visit the island some time, because I guess he likes the place too.

So all’s well that ends well, but all Jaco cares about is Katayude’s promise to have the police sketch corrected. He watches the news with great eagerness, but when they show the new sketch, he isn’t pleased.

Chapter 11: So that’s all, right? Wrong! Jaco still has a mission to complete, even if he can’t return home or call for help with his spaceship. He came to Earth to intercept a dangerously powerful alien invader. As he watches the skies, Tights asks about the alien, and Jaco admits that he can only hope to defeat it if it’s a juvenile. If it’s an adult, the Earth is doomed. Z stands for the end. Wait.

While they talk, Tights compliments Jaco’s bodysuit, but he reveals that he isn’t wearing a bodysuit. That’s his skin, and he’s been strutting around nude this whole time. Well, I guess the gloves, boots, and those ear things are clothes. And that vest he wears. Tights asks how he pees, since his crotch is smooth like a Ken doll, and Jaco squirts urine out of two holes in his forehead. Tights then shoves him off the cliff they’ve been standing on, and in all the commotion, Jaco misses the alien spacecraft as it passes through the atmosphere.

Anyway, Tights asks for a lift to Kiwi Island to pick up the rest of her stuff, and on the way, Jaco tells them more about the alien he was sent to stop. Some whackamaroo species of warriors that you’ve probably never heard of. Get this, they’re called... Saiyans, and they’re from the Planet Vegeta.

DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNH!

Fortunately, the Saiyan who slipped past Jaco was a child after all, and the guy who found him just happened to be a martial arts expert, so he managed to tame the Saiyan boy with the power of karate. I love how banged up both of these guys are. Toei usually animates their first encounter with Son Gohan holding up a cute, cuddly baby, but Toriyama knows what’s up. Baby Kakarot came out of that ship ready to throw hands, and Gohan was like “Oh, you wanna go? You wanna go? Come on you adorable little jerk, let’s dance!” And then they became family.

Gohan names the boy “Goku” because “ku” sounds like the Japanese word for “sky”. Awwww.

Meanwhile, Tights finally decides that the best way to help Jaco is to put Omori in touch with Dr. Briefs the famous head of the Capsule Corporation. He could reverse-engineer the anti-gravity technology from Jaco’s ship, and pay well enough to afford the Sky Gold Jaco needs, and Dr. Briefs can be trusted not to reveal where the technology came from. Omori points out that no one can be trusted absolutely, to which Tights reveals that Dr. Briefs is her father.

So why did she take the job to ride Twinkle 8, and stay on the island with Omori, and so on? Because she needs experience to become a sci-fi novelist, and she’d never get it just living at home in luxury.

See, this was what I was talking about when I was complaining about the plot holes and general sloppiness of Dragon Ball GT. It’s not just the fact that GT often refused to explain a lot of its twists and turns. The bigger issue is that a major key to Toriyama’s talent as a storyteller is his ability to use the characters to ask questions and answer them. He uses it to provide information to the reader, but he also uses it to develop characters and advance the plot.

So when a series like GT tries to emulate Toriyama’s style, but without bothering to ask and answer questions, it leaves a lot of awkward gaps in the story. I’m not just talking about GT failing to explain stuff to the audience. I mean GT never adequately explored how Goku felt about being stuck in a child body, or how Gero and Mu built a replica of 17 in Hell. You can skip stuff like that, sure, but that’s kind of the meat of your story. If you skip that, what have you got left?

But Toriyama gets it, and I’m pretty sure that’s why Dragon Ball Super was over twice the length of GT, and why the last four Dragon Ball movies were bigger successes than Dragon Ball Evolution. It’s not enough to just say Tights wants to be a science fiction novelist. She chooses to go out into the world and experience different things to broaden her horizons. That’s how she plans to become a sci-fi novelist, and it also informs all the decisions she’s made in this story. At first glance, she seems to act on impulse, but there’s a purpose behind it all. In GT, Pan expresses a desire to be taken more seriously, but we never see her do anything to achieve that goal. In DBE, Bulma says she wants to become famous, but we never learn why that version of Bulma wants fame, or how she expects to get it.

Anyway, the Brief family comes to visit, and while they’re here, Jaco turns on the evening news. While Tights was moving her stuff from Kiwi Island, Jaco went to the news station and posed for them just so they would put it on TV, so everyone would know what he actually looks like. Because Jaco is one petty dude.

Meanwhile, Tights’ little sister Bulma has already repaired the antenna on Jaco’s ship. She noticed that the wrecked carport and deduced that Jaco’s ship had crashed into it, so she found the missing pieces of the antenna there, and managed to reassemble it.

Bulma also points out that the ship never actually needed Sky Gold at all. The component Omori found in the ship was made of Sky Gold, sure, but it wasn’t the power source. Bulma believes it was simply a containment device for storing the energy. A different metal with similar physical properties would work just as well, such as copper.

Okay, that’s a satisfying way to pay that off. I’m something of a scientist myself, and I was kind of irritated at the idea of “Sky Gold” being something you shoot with a laser to make a ship fly. It’s more like wiring than electricity, which is a lot easier for me to swallow. So it’s gratifying to see that I’m somewhere between Professor Omori and 5-year-old Bulma, at least in terms of metallurgy.

So they don’t even need the money now, but Jaco still goes ahead and gives Dr. Brief the anti-gravity tech. All he asks for in exchange is some money for Omori and Tights, since they helped him so much. Also, he radios HQ, and they agree to just give Dr. Brief the whole spaceship for free, since it’s an outdated model.

Wait, so how does this work? Jaco needs the ship to return home, so does he have to tow the thing back in a different spaceship to bring it to Dr. Briefs?

So I guess that wraps things up pretty well. Also Bulma’s ray gun actually works. Dr. Briefs asks Tights how college is going, even though Tights already graduated last year. And Bulma’s mom wants to get wasted.

With the money Dr. Briefs gives him, Omori buys the entire island, and he continues to live there, along with Katayude, who’s a much better cook than Tights. I dont’ want to read too much into this, but did Katayude and Omori hook up after he moved to the island?

I think Tights lives on the same island too? She had Jaco take her around some different planets, which helped her career in science fiction writing. Though highly successful, she had one dud novel, which was based on Jaco.

Anyway, Jaco comes by to visit sometimes, and he got a girlfriend at some point, although no one can tell them apart in the photos.

And about eleven years after Jaco’s first visit to Earth, Bulma drops by the island for a visit while on a journey to investigate a set of magic wishing balls, which she suspects may have originated in outer space.

... Which you can read about in Akira Toriyama’s other manga, which he plugs on the last page of this chapter. Well, I’m sold. I think I might just give this Dragon Ball thing a try.

And that’s it. Well, this was a treat to read. I’m not sure if Jaco being a prequel to Dragon Ball was much of surprise to the readers in 2013, but even though I knew about it going in, I found it enjoyable to watch everything build to the reveal.

There is one final chapter in the Jaco collection, but I’ll cover that in another post.

#jaco the galactic patrolman #2023dbapocryphaliveblog #jaco teirimentenpibosshi #tokunoshin omori #tights #tamagoro katayude #an azuki #goku #bulma #dr brief #bulma's mom

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jagged--dust-jacket-analysis · 9 months

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I know I don't talk about him a lot, but today I wanna make a Karma-related post... Specifically about his character development in the series.

A lot of times when discussing character development in characters other than Gakushuu, Terasaka, and Irina; we point out the disappointment of payoff (for lack of a better term). We always discuss the falling flat in this series. But I think for once Karama's development was something done well, especially when looking at the other characters and cast of the series.

Please bear in mind I have really only watched the anime (and I am absolutely due for a rewatch c: ) so this may exclude some details. Feel free to lemme know what I miss.

Now from what I noticed, a lot of Karma's development takes place, behind the scenes. We can see his growth in the tiny things he does when he's in the frame, but not necessarily the center of attention at that moment.

Now that's not to say he doesn't have big-ticket times marking his development. I.E: His intro episode, His episode with Terasaka, The class trip kidnapping, etc. These things are big indicators and kick off's for his development.

But the series really portrays the small moments we see the shift in his character. Where he begins to be a bit more vulnerable with his classmates and not as aggressive or withdrawn. He interacts with his peers and isn't as much of an agitator unless the situation call's for it.

I think we see this pay off in the end with Korosensei's death episode. We see Karma actually crying. He tries not to, but he's so overcome with emotion over the death of his teacher (who some could argue may have been a father figure of sorts) he can't help it. He doesn't get angry or channel that into agitation. He doesn't leave either. He eventually lets himself stay. He allows people to see his vulnerability and lets himself feel those things.

And it makes sense in his character. We are hit with how much he's grown but not in a way that's unbelievable, but in a way that causes his character and the finale to have a bigger emotional impact.

It's because of those little background moments, or small pieces of dialogue that this makes sense and flows well.

I really like this form of development and can only imagine what it would be like to have seen more of our cast have this style of development applied to them.

#karma akabane #akabane karma #assassination classroom #ansatsu kyoushitsu #yusei matsui #JDJ-AssClass

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aspiringsophrosyne · 10 months

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Episode 10: The Kill Box

You ready for a fight? We got ringside seats, soda and popcorn. Just make sure you've got your splash guard ready to go.

The Good.

When the illusion over Whitestone is disturbed and ripples...that's a beautiful visual effect. This show's at its peak when it portrays magic so well it inspires wonder. Exandria is a gorgeous world; it's so gratifying when it's done justice.

Earlier, I said it was a good move to split the party because it serves the intervening episodes well. But that choice gives us something fun here, too. In the original, everyone was waiting in the wings to see if Grog would win or need to call for backup. Because the rest of the group needs to get to Restruun to help, and because the gnomes are spotted and threatened, the stakes get raised considerably. Half of Vox Machina is in dire straights and the calvary isn't guaranteed to arrive in time.

Note: in the game, Matt described the spike as going through Grog's shoulder. That's till bad, mind you. Much worse in real life than tv and movies would suggest, but I can't stand seeing it go through the gut. You could conceivably miss organs in the shoulder at least. Here? Not so much.

It always a pleasure to see Pike be bad ass. According to the episode commentary they actually slowed down her face bashing because otherwise it would've been a little much. Even then it's still sufficiently brutal.

Always good to hear Ike. And Liam was right. Grog's absolutely gut-wrenching (no pun intended) vulnerability sells this scene. Grog's usually a sillier character, but Travis is just as capable of making a character hilarious as he is playing them so that they break your heart.

And of course, the iconic as always call to rage. Even more hype here than usual.

I will never complain about this show's fight scenes. You can feel the difference between Grog fighting Kevdak before he rages and after. Likewise, the difference between fighting Kevdak before he swells up with the magic of the Knuckles and after. The hits' power and the weight of the impacts as Grog is slammed around the arena makes you flinch like it was you getting hammered to the stones so hard they crack.

The choice to have the rest of the crew come in, with no fan fair, in a corner of the screen where you could easily miss them...mwah! Beautiful. It feels organic, and it makes you feel excited for noticing it.

But once the fanfair starts....their silhouettes on the roof, the closeups, Grog's call to arms.....AH! I knew we were getting something special for this episode. The fight is sufficiently gruesome on both sides, and everyone gets to show off.

The episode would not have been complete without the Willingham Poke Ball drop. It was a particularly clever move by Laura in the game and seeing it play out was just magic. The rise and payoff of the music, that shot of bisected Kevdak when the smoke clears....there's no word but epic to describe it.

Keyleth is adorable, and the Raven Queen is a cockblock.

That last isn't the good thing. But it does make for a nice set up for what comes next.

The Bad. (Or at least, not so great.)

The only thing I could've possibly wanted out of the fight that I didn't get was a bigger sense of danger. The stream version felt incredibly tense throughout, as it was essentially a timed mission. The goal was to kill Kevdak (no mean feat) before the rest of the Herd killed them.

I get that this was basically a chance for everyone to get to be badass and go buck wild. And I support that. But getting just a little bit closer to that stream level of tension would've been nice.

This is why I think Percy's "This isn't going well!" falls flat, as from what we could see it was going pretty damn well up to that point. And even after it just wasn't a curb stomp in Vox Machina's favor. A better line might've been "The tide's starting to turn!" Or, if they really wanted to be cheeky: "They're getting a Second Wind!"

I'm also a little sad we didn't get a variation on Scanlan's Hold Person from the stream. Even though I appreciated the little nod to it via Vex's bramble shot, that move lacked the accidental ironic significance of the original. Grog got kicked out of the herd by his uncle for protecting a gnome. Only for a gnome to be instrumental in said uncle's defeat. It was so good!

Nitpicks:

What was Kaylie doing there at the start of the fight? Afterwards she just disappears. If you wanted to show that she was keeping an eye on Scanlan, it would've made more sense to have a shot of her watching from a distance. That way it isn't weird that she isn't in the fight after she said she wasn't letting Scanlan out of her sight.

~*~

After the fight in the tavern with Vex and Keyleth catching up: DUDE!! Talk. To. Each. Other. Give me my banter and character relationship development!

~*~

There isn't a full version of "When the Bald Man Cries" on the soundtrack. Release the full version, you cowards!!

~*~

Kaylie's speech to Scanlan could've been rearranged a bit so it served as a smoother transition into her revelation.

Instead of this:

Kaylie: I'm actually not too different from yourself. I grew up in Kymal, but I moved around a lot. Scanlan: Ooh. Kaylie: My mum gave up all her savings for my education. Scanlan: Uh, oh, oh, yeah? Moms are the best. Kaylie: Mine certainly was. You know, Dr. Dranzel spun many a tale about you, Scanlan Shorhalt. Scanlan: Yeah, I mean, that's not surprising. That guy seemed like a bit of a fanboy. Kaylie: But most of his stories I'd already heard... from my mother.

We could do this:

Kaylie: I'm actually not too different from yourself. I grew up in Kymal, but I moved around a lot. Scanlan: Ooh. Kaylie: Even more so when I joined up with Dr. Dranzel's troupe. You know, he spun many a tale about you, Scanlan Shorthalt. Scanlan: Yeah, I mean, that's not surprising. That guy seemed like a bit of a fanboy. Kaylie: But most of his stories I'd already heard... from my mother. My mum, who gave up all her savings for my education. So that I could play and travel the way I do. Scanlan: Uh, oh, oh, yeah? Moms are the best. Kaylie: Mine certainly was.

Not perfect, but I think it flows better.

Down to the last two, folks. Then the fun really begins.

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pyreofsunflowers · 1 year

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What I watched this week (3/6-3/12 '23)

Perfect Blue (1997, dir. Satoshi Kon)

I'm not saying anything new when I say I loved what a mindfuck this movie is. Truly a masterpiece in keeping you glued to the narrative and second guessing your own interpretation of the film.

It's really hard to talk about this movie without getting into really big spoiler territory but I'll do my best to describe why this film is such a masterpiece. Beyond the striking visuals and the intense score, Perfect Blue tackles the psyche of fame in a way I've never seen done before. It gets it so perfect, from the jealousy, the self loathing, to the wide variety of opinions of the public it paints a compelling picture of how fame literally, and figuratively traps one in it's web. Much like Mima, I constantly found myself backtracking and second guessing the films narrative, and ultimately the payoff left me with just the right amount of unanswered questions. I can't wait to re-watch and pick up on anything I may have missed.

5/5

Fallen Angels (1995, dir. Wong Kar-wai)

This!!! movie!!! is!!! so!!! sweet!!!! It's a movie about weirdos falling in love made for weirdos. The plot is just a loose thread that holds this bundle of joy and light against the grimey city underbelly together in the bestest of ways. This movie is ultimately about its characters, and for having so many different arcs going on all it once, it manages to give each one the right ammount of time to shine and grab onto my mind enough to leave a mark.

The theme of love and lonlieness permeates and saturates this film through the dark, intimate aesthetics and the bloody over the top gunfights and it makes it something special - and one of my favroites.

5/5

Escape From New York (1981, dir. John Carpenter)

Watching this movie as a metal gear solid fan is a trip, and probably contributed to 90% of my enjoyment of it. I know I know everyone has said it, "Snake plisken! snake plisken!" but there's more to it than that. The pacing, the plot structure, the elements of sci-fi all of it was used as a base in MGS and it's so cool to see it in it's original form!

Metal Gear references aside, Escape from New York is a solid sci fi action flick with good (albeit silly) worldbuilding and a solid, likeable cast of characters. I thought the movie lagged a little bit, but it made up for it in every other aspect - especially in it's action scenes.

4/5

Scream 3 + 4 (2000, 2011, dir. Wes Craven)

Oh scream, why does everyone love you? Honestly, am I just missing something with these movies? Is there some secret piece of knwoeldge I've glossed over? Or are people just stupid. I don't know. These movies are painfully boring and uninteresting people! The twists aren't fun, the gore is boring, the satire is blunt, and oh my god are the characters ever awful!

Look, I understand that looking for good characters in a Slasher is like trying to find a needle in a haystack, I understand that! But I'd forgive this movie if it didn't spend so much fucking time on them! I do not care about Sidney prescott. I do not care about Gale Weathers. I do not care about Dewey Riley. They are all fine as plot devices to keep the kills coming, but as these movies go on and on they become more and more about these people who I simply do not care about.

Scream 3: 1.5/5

Scream 4: 2/5

Scream + Scream 6 (2022, 20223 dir. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett)

Sadly, new directors couldn't fix this movie. They continue to perpetuate every flaw of the Craven films, and somehow manage to make them worse. The characters are just as flat, the movie is still way to long, and despite all the talk of "requels" , "elevated horror" and "reboots'' the satire continues to feel dated and overall blunt. I'm sorry, Scream franchise but saying something is a trope then doing it is neither funny or good satire.

I also personally find these two insulting as they try to knock sigh "whiney snowflake nerds with letterboxed" accounts down a peg for not enjoying.... shallow cashgrab franchise shlock? very strange angle for a satire to take but alright I guess. Also this film trys to tackle social media and. Just fails so horribly on it. At least 6 finally had some good kills.

Scream (2022): 0.5/5

Scream 6: 2/5

Better Call Saul S6 (2022, shrn. Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould.)

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. That is my emotions on the end of this show. OH MY GOD what a ride this series has been, did you know I actually started it to get some inspiration for a long abandonded fanfiction? because I did. And GOD am I ever glad I did because the payoff, the journey was incredible. I haven't been this nethralled by a TV show in perhaps ever. I was on the edge of my seat for the entirtiy of season 6, just waiting to see how it would all come crashing down and MY GOD did it ever.

It is so hard for me to be and speak normally about this show, in fact I don't think I could even if I tried so I'm just going to leave it at that. Until next week folks!

#Js film diary #cineblr #film #movies #movie review #horror movies #anime #forgein film #Fallen Angels #Scream #Ghostface #Perfect Blue #Better Call Saul #Breaking Bad #escape from new york

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