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mokeonn · 2 months

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I finally actually watched Hazbin Hotel because I was like "I really shouldn't be so judgey, how can I say I hate a show I haven't even watched?" And I can safely say after 5 episodes in:

I hate it.

So I will preface this rant about my feelings towards this controversial show with the following positive statements:

I understand why people enjoy the show, it's fun, the animation is really enjoyable to watch, the music numbers are pretty good, the voice acting is also good, and the whole thing feels like it was constructed around a fandom. Though that last part is a flaw in the overall series, I completely see why people enjoy it. If a series was practically built around making fanfiction, ocs, or fun redesigns, people are gonna have fun making those things. I literally can't blame anyone for enjoying this show. It should also go without saying that I don't think people are morally evil for enjoying the show. I do believe, however, that your taste in shows is bad if you love this show.

I came into this show expecting the WORST. Everything I was told about it was how it was such an awful show and all the horrible things it does. So I was expecting the worst thing I've ever watched to appear before me tonight.

So imagine my surprise when the first 3 episodes aren't that bad. They aren't good, but they're not awful. It's just mid! The animation is fun to watch, the songs are catchy, and the pacing is only a little off. There were a lot of little moments where we got payoff with no set-up. Things like a dramatic reveal of a character that appears to want to evoke a "oh woah, it's that guy!!" moment, but we don't even know who that guy is. A character belting out a dramatic emotional ballad that is also a duet with another major character, but we were introduced to that character earlier that episode and we don't know her well enough to really care about her heartfelt emotional song. Moments that felt more awkward than anything else. Other than that, the show wasn't too bad! I was enjoying myself! I was worried that I was going to enjoy this extremely hated series and how it was going to reflect on my public tumblr image!

And then episode 4 hit.

Episode 4 starts off very similar to the others, and all around, I think it's a pretty good episode if it wasn't for the ending, but we'll get to that.

Episode 4 is a heavier episode dealing with Angel Dust's abuse at the hands of his boss. It gets fairly graphic at points, but with the way people were describing it, I was actually expecting far worse. It has a catchy song from Angel Dust about this abuse, and towards the end, he falls into a self-destructive spiral and vents about how much he wants to basically crash and burn in the hopes that maybe the abuse would stop or he would become too fucked up to notice/care anymore. You know what? This is a pretty heavy hitting topic and really spoke to me as a person who is dealing with addiction and struggles with depression spirals. I felt a lot of what Angel Dust was feeling, even if our situations were completely different. What is the response our little pink spider friend gets? An admittedly catchy song about how he's right that he sucks and he's a loser, "but hey, I'm a loser too! So we can be losers together."

Now, I get what the song is TRYING to say. It's trying to say that you're not alone, that "if you're a loser, then I'm a loser too. But we can be losers together." Which is a nice sentiment and all... but the execution leaves a lot to be desired. It doesn't portray this idea that you're not alone in this world, and there's plenty of people going through similar experiences, so it's important to connect with each other. It instead focuses on feeling more self-depreciating, which is fine and all, but it feels like an inappropriate time to be self-depreciating.

If a person with very low self-esteem vents about their abuse and talks down about themselves, and admits to wanting to self-harm by committing self-destructive behaviors on purpose... I think "seld-depreciation" is the last thing I would want to do with that person.

I get it. The song is trying to be funny and silly with self-depreciating humor to lighten the dark mood and show how Angel Dusk and the weird deep voiced cat-boy (yes, I know his name is Husk) are now getting along and relating to eachother by making jokes about how stupid they were to get into their awful situations... but the song really leaves a sour taste in my mouth because it just feels... wrong. It feels like the wrong response.

The story makes it seem like the song breaks this cycle of self-destructive behaviors and allows the characters to make the first step towards redemption/breaking the cycle of abuse; The song does not fit this theme, it instead just continues that cycle while the story continues on as if it did something else.

I might not be conveying my reasons for WHY the song left a bad taste in my mouth very well, but all you really need to know is that the vibes were off and it seemed like there was something left on the cutting room floor or a mistake between the writers and song writers.

Episode 5 is where I stopped. Like, I can't even finish it. Those previously mentioned pacing issues were nothing compared to the constant wave of hits episode 5 gave me.

First off, we are getting payoff for something that was actually set up! Popping some bottles here! It happens a couple times in the other episodes, but here: a major character is revealed after being talked about and foreshadowed in previous episodes! This really was a first in the series as most of the time, characters were just introduced when the story needed them, causing those awkward moments where a villain or major character got introduced. Valentino was introduced in an episode with some build-up earlier in said episode, but having a character actually be hinted at in earlier episodes before a reveal felt completely new.

And then it was... disappointing. The payoff did not match the set-up. I will state it right now. Lucifer, as a character, caused me to entirely stop watching the show mid episode 5. When you have this big dramatic backstory about how he was an angel of creation who wanted to create, a rebel who went against all he'd ever known to meet another rebel and fall in love with her, a deeply sad man who hid away refusing to take part in ruling hell, leaving it all to his wife? The fact that this is based on Christian theology and Lucifer already has ages of connotation and lore attached to him? Idk I think, "self depreciating, awkward, sad man who doesn't know how to greet his daughter on the phone, and spends all his time making little toy ducks" is... a huge fucking let-down. I understand they're trying to go a more humorous route of "He isn't scary at all, he's just a huge dork!" But it doesn't work, and it just makes me cringe. This alone would be a lot to process in one episode... but Episode 5 still has a LOT of punches in it!

The episode first states that they only have a couple months before the deadline, implying that around 4 months have passed since the first and second episode. Nothing really implies that much time passing between episode 1 and 4, and in the episode, Charlie states all the things they have been working on. Which is things we have already seen in the show. Which tells me that they really haven't been working on anything offscreen during this sudden time skip, so what the fuck happened between episodes 1-4??

Anyways, I could have misread this entire thing and thought far too much into Charlie's stress and the "only a couple months away!". With the word "couple" and the stress the character is clearly going through, I assumed that they were 2 months from the deadline, but maybe I was wrong. I don't know. I didn't finish the episode, and I'm not watching any more.

The first major "hit by a truck" moment was when Lucifer makes his way to the hotel and suddenly, he gets into a feud with Allister. They both sing a song about who is the better Dad to Charlie, and I am sitting there confused because, huh?? Wha?? Where the fuck did this "Allister Dad" thing come from?? NOWHERE in the last 4 episodes (nor the pilot) imply this relationship. Allister is the tumblr sexyman Mary-sue who gets at least 1 new power every episode. Nothing about him out of his entire screen time was paternal. Just as my confusion reaches a boiling point... they introduce a new character suddenly with an unearned "it's ME!" Intro (although unlike past intros, it is ironic).

She's a sassy little flapper who is friends with Allister and whose only purpose this episode is to cause problems to come to the Hotel's way later in the episode, and to give Allister's backstory. A backstory that we really didn't need. Like REALLY didn't need. Seriously this entire show we have been told and shown that Allister is a powerful demon who is feared and not to be messed with. This backstory reveals that he is... a powerful demon who is feared and not to be messed with. The only purpose of this backstory is to reveal a spooky thing he does so he can use it as a threat later in the episode.

Husk confronts Allister about his friend because she always brings trouble, and he snaps at Allister, making a sassy comment. Allister threatens Husk with the previously mentioned spooky thing he is totally known for that was revealed in the backstory.

Lucifer does not approve of the hotel, which makes an awkward scene where Charlie is trying to explain her thinking and her personal experience to her absent father and Lucifer shoots her down by poorly hinting that it just "wouldn't work" because he knows from personal experience. I am not having a good time watching two characters communicate poorly primarily because I hate one of them so much.

The previously mentioned trouble comes their way, and Allister reveals new awesome Allister powers for the 3rd time this episode and goes off to fight off the trouble. Charlie uses this as a way to try to reason with her father. Allister finishes his fight and scolds his friend for using him to fight off the trouble she gets into like Husk said earlier. He then informs here that she either needs to leave or come and stay at the hotel to rehabilitate. She stomps off, and I feel so tired of a third huge payoff with not a lot of set-up.

Allister (who I probably have been misspelling his name this whole time and no I will NOT check) feels like he did a ton of development and growth... entirely off screen. This feels like a 180 to me. This entire show he has been this evil, off-putting guy, that vaguely helps at the hotel, does creepy things, threaten people, and use plot armor powers to save the day or do cool things. So suddenly having an episode where it's stated he has a paternal relationship with Charlie, which has NOT been shown or even HINTED at whatsoever, and where he suddenly turns away a troublemaking friend to protect the hotel he wanted to see fall apart? It's a total 180 from what I'm used to. One could claim that the sudden protection of the hotel was because he wanted to protect his investment, and he knew his friend was using him so he just sent her on her way or offered for her to be tortured in the friendship hotel. I can see an argument for why he didn't threaten or harm his friend when he has killed people or threatened to kill people for less (pretty strong friendship that goes way back when blah blah blah) I can argue about the inconsistencies in how he acts towards the end of this episode compared to the previous episodes of the show all I want.

But come on, you can't argue the sudden paternal thing. That came out of nowhere.

At this point I just, turned off the episode and called it quits. I have heard that the most glaring writing issues come later in the season, and if episode 5 was this bad, I don't wanna keep watching.

Part of me wants to continue watching, as the animation is really enjoyable to watch, and the music is actually pretty fun. But I just know that I'm not going to enjoy myself at all from here on out. It's all going to be downhill from here, and it'll frustrate me. I'm not gonna spend my time watching something I'll hate.

If I wanna watch something frustrating, I'd just watch Jerma play my favorite game for the first time.

#simon says #LONG post #under a read more for a reason #i just... REALLY wanted to complain and vent #also no i did not spell a bunch of names correctly #and also NO none of this is up for debate its all opinion #that one vine like #THATS MY OPINIOOONN #:/ :[#anyways feel free to skip im probably gonna delete it in the morning #it's funny though #my friend told me he liked the show but sees why people dislike it #and I said I disliked the show but see how people can like it #we're both galaxy brained because that's just a normal take to have on things #no more discourse about it. just a simple 'this is my opinion but i get why people disagree with me'#which is the most milquetoast of takes

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msmargaretmurry · 3 months

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Apparently the players themselves absolutely hated last year’s all star game which was a shocker to me. It looked fun from my view! But a lot of reporters have said guys were talking shit and didn’t like it. I personally find joy in watching Connor McDavid’s money laundering scheme but it was not as fun as last year’s in my eyes. I do appreciate making it a mega competition where there’s one big prize at the end but I wish more guys competed. This one really just felt like a competition between Cale and Connor for a lot of it.

anon i'm so sorry you sent this EONS ago and i've just been so busy i haven't had the chance to sit down and write out all the all star game thoughts and ponderings i've been having. because i know we are probably all sick of the asg complaining and discourse but i genuinely think it is such an interesting topic! what makes a "good" all star weekend? what is the criteria for measuring "good"? ideally you create an event that is widely appealing to both fans and players but that's surprisingly difficult, and imo sometimes those things are kind of fundamentally at odds!

lots of asg thoughts (complaints) under the cut lol sorry, i do not expect people to actually read all this

i'm not SHOCKED to hear that players didn't like the asw in florida because i feel like guys have been complaining about the asw since time immemorial, but i too am surprised that they apparently complained so much that the nhl decided they had to overhaul the whole skills comp. i went to the asg in florida and certainly had my quibbles about the experience from a fan standpoint but overall had a really fun time. my main complaint is that there was too many pre-recorded stuff during the skills comp — like, i didn't pay money to sit in this arena and watch videos on the jumbotron, you know? so while i do like when there's a special skills event that kind of pays homage to the host city, and i surely am not complaining about the #content we got out of the dunk tank, that was a little frustrating!

a complaint i know players have had about the skills competition in the past is that they don't want to be embarrassed, and while obviously it can be embarrassing to fall during fastest skater or take 46 seconds doing the accuracy shooting, it has seemed like for a lot of them the events they think are most likely to be embarrassing are the events that rely on leaning into personality and being silly/funny and creative in non-hockey ways — events that really lean into the entertainment part of it all instead of the athlete part, like the breakaway challenge. the vast majority of these guys do not like to think of themselves as entertainers! in their minds they're just hockey players! and hockey culture actively dissuades guys from standing out and having loud personalities so it makes sense that many of them would be more comfortable in a contest that's pure skills!

unfortunately the most fun and memorable parts of all star weekends are almost always the parts where guys DO show a lot of personality and/or are blatantly just having fun, not when they're concentrating super hard on executing skills events. i caught a bit of the nfl pro bowl and was so struck by how it seemed like the players were having so much FUN. there was so much JOY. it made it compelling and entertaining even though it don't follow the nfl closely enough to know who many of the guys at the pro bowl were.

like, i'm not knocking pure skills events. i genuinely enjoy watching these elite athletes be extremely good at things. the classic skills events — fastest skater, hardest shot — are fun to watch! and i'm not fundamentally opposed to more pure skills events. the pvp goalie save streak event was so fun, for example. but i thought a lot of the events invented for this year were too samey. they didn't really showcase different types of skills, they were just riffing on similar skill sets. it wasn't compelling to me, and i also thought it was kind of lol that everyone but connor had to learn the events on the fly and that definitely disadvantaged them.

AND i truly hated that only a handful of guys got to do the skills competition. to me one of the most fun things about the skills comp is the chance to see guys from teams all across the league and have some surprises about who does really well in events! that can't happen when the nhl decides that two-thirds of the teams don't even get representation in the skills comp, that over half the players aren't good enough to include in the event. who knows, maybe those guys preferred hanging out and drinking and watching, and that's valid of them, but as a fan — you invited my guys to the asg but didn't think they were good enough to do a few silly skill games? felt kinda shitty, man!

so while i do like connor, it really irked me the way the whole competition felt like it was designed to showcase him. yes, he's truly great, and it's fun to watch him be great! but i can turn on literally any oilers game and watch him be great; i don't need a whole event designed to showcase it. i want the the all star weekend to celebrate the LEAGUE, to use this opportunity to highlight great players who maybe DON'T constantly get the spotlight anyway IN ADDITION to the big names. i can't remember any skills comp in the past, even ones featuring generational talents at their peaks, that felt so pointedly designed to showcase a single player and it really rubbed me the wrong way. this isn't a knock against connor; it's a knock against how the nhl framed and presented the whole thing.

obviously this is my personal opinion, i've seen plenty of people who thought it was fun. that's valid! i am not The ASG Worth Decider, i am just one fan with a lot of feelings. i can also understand how it could have been more fun in-person than televised. unfortunately i was watching on tv so that's the only experience i can opine about. but also in addition to my personal opinion i objectively feel like it's a huge missed marketing opportunity. you're not gonna spark people's interests in watching new teams/players if you keep hammering home that this one guy is the guy worth watching.

though honestly, the entire skills comp experience for me was deeply colored by how awful i thought the commentary was. the constant judginess toward players instead of joy and celebration of players was gross. the way they kept leaning hard into the million dollar prize as this huge motivating factor for these millionaires to win a series of silly games was gross. it's very possible i would have enjoyed it more if the commentary didn't suck so much, lmao.

also sorry i gotta complain real quick about the sheer number of canucks and leafs. sorry i know this is such an annoying complaint. i am even very fond of a lot of the guys from those teams who were voted in but my god there were too many of them. i would have let three leafs slide since they're the host team and toronto is ~so special~ even though many host teams have only gotten one or two players in the past, but this was a bridge too far. "they were decided by popular vote what else did you expect" i'm not an idiot, okay, that is exactly what i expected to happen with the popular vote. my complaint is not that the popular vote popular voted, it's that the nhl decided that's how they were gonna do things. the whole damn system is bad!!!

and lest it be concluded from this post that i am SOLELY a hater let me say for the record that i don't think the whole thing was bad. there were some really fun moments! i love that they brought the asg draft back and i had a lot of fun watching it. i thought the ACTUAL all star games were really entertaining and fun to watch. i thought that one musical guest in the sens outfit killed it. my beef is really just with a bunch of aspects of the skills comp lmao.

in conclusion: more joy!!! more celebration of the league as a whole!!! more chances for unexpected all star heroes!!!

#ask #nhl asg #hockey for ts #belated asg feelings dump that literally no one asked for lmao #again these are just my personal feelings!#if you liked the new skills format and had way more fun than me i'm genuinely happy for you!

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bess3714 · 8 months

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I was really excited for the first issue of Batman and Robin and it's out now so here's what I think.

The Art

The art and colors were done by Simone di Meo. The drawing style was cute and there were a few panels that stood out to me, like the one with Robin and Bruce in Robin's car, and the page of the bad guys posturing during their kidnapping attempt.

Overall, the drawings were pretty standard. The panels were fun and interesting, some of them tilted or overlapped or stretched, but I didn't struggle to follow where things were going. I think there was good utilization of space to tell the story.

Probably my favorite thing about the art was the colors. Every page and panel were in vibrant jewel tones and filled with light.

Look at the colors! Look at the light! The whole issue is like that and it's sooo pretty! If I'm going to spend money on something, I want it to look nice and this really does hit the spot for me.

Characters and Story

Honestly, Bruce and Damian were just too damn nice to each other. Maybe that's on purpose, but it feels like a lot of the more recent stuff with them that I've read has had them at each other's throats, (not Knight Terrors, though, but I did read some of the whole Lazarus Planet thing and they were kind of at odds with each other in that from what I remember) so there's a bit of whiplash for me to see them behaving around each other. Of course, they've just moved in together to the new place, and they are trying to get along, so maybe they're just both supposed to be on their best behavior around each other. Unfortunately, the dialogue felt very flat, except for this one panel with Damian interrupting Bruce's attempt at expressing a positive emotion

Like this is interesting dialogue! But the rest of it felt very juvenile and unmemorable. I'm not really sure what vibes Joshua Williamson was going for with Bruce and Damian's relationship, because he fell short of anything substantial.

As for the story, not much really happened that had a conclusion. They fought some bad guys, moved in together, talked about Damian going to school, fought some different bad guys who were supposedly linked to the first bad guy. This issue felt like it was really just setting up for the next, which is a good thing for a first issue to do! but also it felt a little slow. I'm hoping the next issue will be better and that this series is just having some growing pains while it establishes the story, but if not, I'll be buying issue #2 anyway for nothing but the art and the pretty colors (which is fine by me, I like having nice things to look at)

#batman and robin #batman and robin 2023 #bruce wayne #batman #damian wayne #robin #comic thought bubble #ratman and bobin #ongoing #friday floppies #comic spoilers #flittermouse #demon tamer

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cemeterything · 2 years

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wait hi you made the magic post so yes what is your opinion on eragon if you’ve read it?

i think that it's a very decent fantasy novel with a lot of potential considering that the first book was written when the author was 16 years old. it does fall victim to a lot of fantasy cliches and does at times feel derivative of existing popular scifi and fantasy stories like star wars, the lord of the rings, etc. which is a shame because it has a lot of really good and interesting worldbuilding, characters and plotlines and that can be overlooked as a result. eragon is unfortunately overshadowed by pretty much every other character, too, which can make it difficult to read at times because literally everyone is more interesting than our protagonist and i want to read more about them and less about him. also the amount of doctor who references felt... unnecessary at times. and there are some plot threads and implications of further lore behind certain characters, things and events that get brought up but never really given any sort of satisfying conclusion or explanation (angela the herbalist's entire character in particular falls victim to being too mysterious and unexplained to the point that it felt like paolini just let her do things because it was cool and never intended to explain them. which isn't the end of the world, but past a certain point it stops being funny and gets really frustrating). there were also some pacing issues at times, especially in the later books it felt like sometimes there was a lot of filler being used to pad out chapters so they didn't get to the final battle too quickly, and then the final confrontation ended up feeling a bit rushed and video-gamey.

all that being said, i absolutely love so many things about eragon. as i said, there are SO many interesting supporting characters i really enjoyed - nasuada was one of my absolute favorites; a black woman in a position of leadership with a well developed character and story and relationships and goals was really really nice to see, especially in a fantasy novel, and her pov chapters were probably some of the best in the book in my opinion. murtagh, arya, elva and roran were all really compelling characters too. and i found the magic system absolutely fantastic, it's probably one of my favorites of all time. i could write an entire essay on how interesting the concept of drawing on life energy to produce magic is and the ethical implications of it, not to mention the whole concept of the ancient language. i really loved how the books explored the consequences of misusing magic so thoroughly and answered a lot of questions in that regard (especially with elva; the idea of a child being forced to grow up too fast because they received a misworded blessing that, instead of shielding them from pain, caused them to experience everyone's agony simultaneously was SO fucked up and horrifying and absolutely delightful to read about as a result). the descriptions of different settings were also really cool; i always enjoyed reading the sections that introduced you to a new setting, especially those of the dwarven kingdom. and although it was far from being the next tolkien, it was nice to see consistent attempts at creating a fantasy language.

and then, of course, there's the dragons. i don't really have any complaints there. they're magnificent beasts and i really enjoyed that they had individual characters and weren't just dumb animals but an intelligent fantasy species with their own culture and history. my only issue is that the books never really seems able to decide how much agency they should have and how dependent on their riders they should be, but. eh. i can live with it i guess.

tl;dr it's a fun fantasy series with a LOT of good ideas that get a bit lost in the sauce sometimes but overall worth reading if you enjoy your fantasy with a heavy serving of cheese and surprisingly excellent worldbuilding.

#long post

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revenge-of-the-shit · 10 months

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Just watched Joy Ride (2023) and mixed thoughts.

Spoilers below!!

It was really, really refreshing to see East Asian women being portrayed as unapologetically raunchy and messy and terrible and fucked up. It's the first time I've seen a movie where they're NOT some out together socialite or kung fu badass or a fetishized dragon lady or delicate lotus flower. The characterization was well done and I felt like they were fleshed out pretty well, and it was a very sex-positive portrayal of East Asian women and it was done ENTIRELY without fetishizing them. It's a low bar to pass and the fact that this is the first movie I've seen that passes this bar is... depressing but it was very nice to see that they can be trashy and sexy and just be themselves.

It's the typical sort of humour you'd expect from an R-rated comedy. Not my sort of thing entirely, but I had some laughs for sure and some other reviewers thought it was hilarious.

I could tell that the film was indeed made by diaspora for diaspora. There were just so many little details sprinkled through the whole thing that I could recognize from lived experience

While the film certainly made some commentary on internalized racism, I felt like it never really followed through with exploring this theme, or that when it did, it was somewhat superficial and did not really fully address it. Same goes for exploring the theme of being in-between - something that's very, very central to diaspora - as well as the identity crisis evoked by a twist I admit I was surprised by. All of these, while they had the potential to be weaved more strongly into the film, were not really fully addressed - and while this is a comedy movie, the way that all these themes were set up as serious things to address led to a rather mediocre reaction to its execution.

The female gaze is generally very, very, very present for this film, which is once again rare to see in R-rated comedies with nudity and sex. None of the four friends are ever objectified as sex objects, and anything sexual is something they choose for their own pleasure. It's a very sex-positive take, again.

Sprinkles of queer Asian experience in there too, which is nice to see. I found Deadeye to be a very compelling character as I can relate to them in several levels, and it was really really nice to see queer Asians who can be awkward, be raunchy, be terrible, be unapologetic, a d just be human.

Plot was a typical comedy plot, so not revolutionary at all and with some plot holes, but it's a plot.

One more point under the cut with bigger spoilers but also CW: Mentions of SA.

Overall, I'd give it a 6.5 - 7/10. Not great, not bad. Could've been better. Some weird spots. But it sure is something, and I'm glad to see more Asian American rep all across different genres.

One of the biggest scenes that made me feel off was a scene where Stephanie Hsu's character, Kat, has a bag of coke up her ass, and it breaks. She freaks out because she feels it entering her system and it makes her, as she says, "very horny." At this point, she and the three others are in a hotel with a bunch of hot athletic Asian men who are friends with one of the MCs. One of the men, who's also Kat's ex, tries to hit on her and hook up with her, but she tries to reject him - she also tells him that she's engaged, which he is. He does not back off and he does not take her seriously. She runs off (to the gym). He follows.

While he definitely thinks she's sober (he has no idea she's on drugs), the rest of the gals, FULLY AWARE that Kat is completely drugged out of her mind and being hit on by someone she does not want to be with, decide to go their separate ways while wishing everyone a good time and to "have fun tonight". Nobody checks on Kat.

At that point in the film I was beginning to get extremely worried that they were going to play off a date rape-esque scenario as a humorous, joking one given how the entire tone of this scene was a humorous one.

At the end, they do not have sex, thank God.

The scene between them is indeed sexually charged. What happens is that she pulls a muscle when trying to work off the energy, and he uses a muscle blaster/massage gun on her back. He does not touch her without her asking him to, but she is still under the influence of drugs (which he doesn't know...but still...). She then grabs a basketball and puts it between her thighs, and he uses the massage gun on the basketball. Afterwards, she takes the gun and uses it on his balls, and apparently shatters his pelvis. Wow

This is never addressed afterwards, ever. The scene left me feeling rather confused and more uncomfortable than anything else in the entire movie. Maybe I'm reading too much into it but something about it was clanging bells in my head.

#non sw #Joy ride 2023 #asian representation #spoilers #Long post

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marcobodtlives · 2 months

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I wanted to ask just a random question, what do you think of reiner, annie and bertholdt? Do you like there characters just not there actions or will you never like them because of what they did to marco ect.

Hi! Thank you for the question, I actually love answering random q’s 🥰 Don’t be afraid to send more! They’re fun 💖

Short answer is that yes, I like their characters and I’d actually say Reiner is one of my top faves overall! I was upset at what happened, and very confused for a while, but after seeing the whole story I understand why it happened. (I don’t ✨condone murder✨)

It’s still sad, it’s still something I know they carry guilt for, and I didn’t root for their demise or anything like that, but it happened because they were all kids unfairly forced into a war.

——

First time I watched AoT I was mostly confused on how I felt about them, up until the episode in season 3 where we saw exactly what happened to Marco.

When we saw the scene with Reiner and Bertholdt running away, with Bertholdt screaming that they didn’t want to be doing these things, I knew something was up. Combined with the shot of Annie crying within her titan, I kind of suspected they were either doing what they were doing because 1) they were forced to, or 2) there was an unknown threat that they were having to thwart by breaking the walls.

What happened with Marco was upsetting, I won’t lie, and I initially struggled to maintain that logical empathy for Annie and Bertholdt at first. (Reiner was a tricky situation because he clearly had mental health conditions that were blurring lines for him, and it was unknown at this point exactly how coherent he was while making each decision).

I still felt for all of them, because at no stage did I see genuine enjoyment in their actions. There are certainly characters in AoT who got enjoyment from killing and betrayal, but I didn’t see any of it in Reiner, Bertholdt, or Annie. The show did an amazing job of capturing moments of regret, indecision, and distaste for their own actions.

We see a lot of determination from those three, yes, but it’s clearly driven by guilt and the unmistakable fear that you only get from kids who’ve been pushed into a war they shouldn’t be part of.

I wasn’t glad when Bertholdt died. I think it paralleled Marco’s death for a very specific devastating reason.

I was initially on board with Sasha and Connie’s reaction when I thought Reiner had been killed. I was upset.

He was a great character, but everyone was still in the mindset that ‘it had to happen’ because he was hurting people. (I was glad when he survived, even if he was on ‘the other side’ now, because I wanted answers, I was so confused).

Annie was a moot point because she quite literally fell off the map after her crystallisation in season 2. I wanted her to return, I wanted to see her side of the story too.

With this all being said, I don’t think killing Marco was the only option. I think he had already been established as a forgiving, understanding individual (whose last words were quite literally a plea to have the opportunity to just talk things through.)

If Reiner had been in another mindset - his s4 part 2 mindset - I think that he would have handled it differently. I think Bertholdt and Annie would have gone along with alternate options if Reiner had been the one to suggest it.

I also think that if there hadn’t been time pressure and a conveniently approaching titan, the three of them wouldn’t have been able to summon the courage to kill Marco themselves. Setting him up to die, leaving him vulnerable by taking his gear is one thing, but killing him themselves would be another.

——

So no! I don’t dislike them at all. I love Reiner’s character, I wish Bertholdt hadn’t needed to die to save Armin. I feel bad that Annie disappeared for so long and faced so much guilt over Marco on her own in the military police, isolated.

I wish they’d made different decisions, but I know that the nature of Trost and the approaching titan left them with the impression that killing Marco was their only option.

I know there are some people who blanket statement hate Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie, but I’m not one of them.

#yay questions I love em!#just thoughts #my drabbles #answered #attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin #reiner braun #bertholdt hoover #annie leonhart #marco bodt #or if you wanna be funky:#berthold hoover #marco bott

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bookaddict24-7 · 3 months

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REVIEWS OF THE WEEK!

EVERY WEEK I WILL POST VARIOUS REVIEWS I’VE WRITTEN SO FAR IN 2024. YOU CAN CHECK OUT MY GOODREADS FOR MORE UP-TO-DATE REVIEWS HERE.

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42. Identity by Nora Roberts--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

One of the best things I did for myself with this book was going into the story without reading the synopsis. I legitimately knew absolutely nothing about this book and man, when that first twist happened I was HOOKED.

The familial relationships in this book were everything and I loved that there weren't any of the usual tropes in this one when it came to the romance. It was a thriller first and a romance/familial story second. I did love how all of the characters communicated and worked together, even if their dialogue was sometimes a little awkward--especially when discussing intimate things. I know all families are different, but I wouldn't confess to my mom and grandma that I just came back from a night of pure sex LOL. But hey, to each their own.

The love interest was interesting. I really liked him and his blunt delivery, but sometimes he DID push that line of like "Alright, I guess we're just going with this." It was funny watching these two come together and I'll be honest, when he was a certain way (which I know is just his personality), I thought "wow, our standards are flat against the floor." While the relationship sometimes felt stilted, it didn't detract too much from the story for me.

Now the villain was something else. He was creepy and horrendous. I actually pictured his face changing from when he first meets the MC to when he sees her sick friend. It's horrendous and he was so well written--especially when we get to see his steady decline into even more madness.

Overall, this was FUN and had some very disturbing moments. Roberts is a little too good at writing someone who thinks so horrendously and does some horrible things to his victims. I recommend this for the sweetness of the family and a character who loves her job, but also for the creepy POV of the serial killer.

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43. The Unknown by Katherine Applegate--⭐️⭐️

It's been a few weeks since I've read an Animorphs book because the library holds time is sometimes brutal. Why am I mentioning this? Because this was one of the rare books in this series that I didn't feel any urgency to read. I'll be super honest: This one felt like a weird dream. Half the time I was confused about how the characters got to certain points in the story.

I'll still be reading the rest of the series, of course, but this one was just okay. I do love these adventures, but this felt almost like a filler book?

Anyway, onto the next one!

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44. The Titan's Bride Vol. 1 by ITKZ--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I will admit that while this storyline was actually sweet and pretty intriguing, this book is...nearly all porn. Had me blushing through the whole thing. I'm intrigued by where the story is going and I'm kicking myself for not having ordered the rest of the books yet, but yeah, this was basically porn with a sprinkling of a sweet and fantastical storyline.

I will say that the artwork is stunning!

Sigh. LOL.

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45. Once There Was by Kiyash Monsef--⭐️⭐️⭐️

ONCE THERE WAS would have been better as an adult fantasy book. Why? Because so many things in this book felt like an adult fantasy book--there weren't any adult themes, but a lot of the circumstances were a bit of a stretch. I think I, as a reader, wouldn't have had to suspend my disbelief so much if this had simply been an adult.

I mean, a fifteen year-old inherits her dad's Vet practice and and lives alone?

By the end of the book, I had forgotten this was YA.

Moving on from that, this book had a really cool concept. I loved the idea that there's a vet out there destined to take care of mythological monsters. I also loved that it was such a diverse set of characters too, including the MC. We get to see more about her culture and her father and what happens when Western society stamps out that aspect of an identity. For example: food, language barriers, and culture.

While the book felt a little all over the place, I really liked seeing the MC in action when it came to these magical beings. I also really liked how Monsef explored the concept of grief and how important it can be to just feel the emotions.

Overall, this book was OKAY. There were points where I was a little bored and a little confused as to why this was YA, but I can also see why so many people might love it. This was like Dr. Doolittle for mythological creatures.

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46. Raiders of the Lost Heart by Jo Segura-- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I didn't know what to expect from RAIDERS OF THE LOST HEART, but I had a pretty good time with what Segura gave us. From the badass FMC to the stuttering and himbo of a MMC.

I think with books like this one, I need to not take the storylines too seriously so I can fully enjoy it (which I did). The romance, tension, and spice were great. The adventuring was fun (even though I would have loved to see a bit more). I think reading the author's note also helped in realizing how much leeway was given to the characters' adventuring, since it isn't really like this in real life.

This really felt like I was watching a movie. It was a quick and addicting read and had me hooked from the very beginning.

There is one character, however, who is clearly Pansexual and I do wish they had said that instead of having the FMC confused as to how one person could like more than one gender. I do like that this character explains it, but I do wish Segura had gone the extra step of saying the term.

Anyway, I enjoyed this for what it was and I'm glad I didn't pay attention to the rating!

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47. Olive Harvest in Palestine by Wafa Shami & Shaima Farouki (Illustrator)--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I don't normally rate or talk a lot about the storybooks I come across. But I came across OLIVE HARVEST IN PALESTINE while scrolling Instagram and I knew I immediately wanted it on my shelves. It's beautifully illustrated and the story it tells of an event that was a yearly tradition of harvesting and pressing olives in such a beautiful place like Palestine was both eye-opening and heartbreaking.

It breaks my heart to know that all of that beauty is now only on pages of storybooks, memories, photographs, and videos taken in passing. My heart ached while reading this important book. My heart cries for those olive trees that were hundreds of years old.

If there is a storybook you pick up this year, let it be this one.

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48. Block Shot by Kennedy Ryan--⭐️⭐️

When I read the first book in this series, I was hooked. I thought it was powerful, heartbreaking, and incredibly addicting.

And I don't know if it's because I spent yesterday sick in bed, but BLOCK SHOT was the last thing I wanted to finish (even though I only had like 4 hours left in the audiobook). I finally finished it earlier today but because I knew I wanted to finish it so I could get to the third book. Normally, I tell friends to DNF books but sue me, I wanted to give this book a shot.

All of that being said, I WAS intrigued at the beginning. I loved how these two knew each other from way back when and how, even years later, they still couldn't fight the chemistry between them. Call me wild, but I personally don't know how I would have reacted if I the FMC and the events of the first part of the book happened. On one hand, I get it because being a fat girl has always been my identity. Being the butt of fat girl jokes? Been there, done that. But on the other hand, I found that this FMC had a massive chip on her shoulder that she carried for the majority of the book, which she then moulded into a slightly unhealthy thing.

I'll admit, I found the portrayal of her body and how even the MMC referred to it (like being fat is a horrendous thing) really icky. I know that this was written a few years ago, but it made me so uncomfortable that the fat girl's humiliation was one of the big motivations for the FMC to "better" herself, as if her intelligence and already existent beauty wasn't enough. Don't get me wrong: wanting to feel a certain way and looking a certain way isn't a bad thing, I think the phrasing of it was just not it.

Which leads me to saying that...the FMC was one of those characters who supposedly had a powerful presence and was touted as this saint, but LOL, let's be real. She wasn't. Sure, she could put her business face on, but man, she was someone who was so easily manipulated. There were so many instances where I wanted to shake some sense into her. Like, we KNOW the MMC was an asshole, but at least he admits it? He was honest about who he was, while she was the one play acting.

I won't even touch on the fact that there's cheating in this and it's not like in the first book, where it felt like a glimmer of hope and fear. Here it was all pure selfishness. And I don't think we should always like the main characters in books, but like...at least make them consistent. I don't know, the FMC annoyed me and again, while I didn't like the MMC, at least he was honest.

Also, that twist. I saw it coming, but it added a whole other level of ick to everything and the FMC.

I'm disappointed with this book, but I'll still be picking up book 3.

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49. My Love Mix-Up! Vol. 1 by Wataru Hinekure (writer), Aruko(illustrator), & Jan Cash (Translator)--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I loved MY LOVE MIX-UP! and how much fun it was. The storyline was entertaining and while I think things happened a little too quickly in this first volume, I did love the antics and honesty the MC had for his situation. I can never tire of these kinds of stories where kids are just casually living their lives and falling in love with the unexpected person.

This reminded me a lot of BLUE FLAG, which was one of my favourite reads a couple of years ago. I loved the friendship aspect and how, even though things have the potential to be messy, that friendship perseveres.

I also laughed quite a bit at that twist at the end. Will definitely be aiming to get this entire series!

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50. Happy Place by Emily Henry--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I think I always kind of know what to expect from an Emily Henry novel, so while I went into HAPPY PLACE with a bit of nerves, I also knew I would probably enjoy it. I didn't read the synopsis, as per usual, and I was (unsurprisingly) hooked from the beginning. This book was a shot of melancholy, heartbreak, and that magic feeling that summer sometimes brings out in us that anything is possible.

At first, I was put off by the going back and forth with the past and present. Mainly, I've always found these kinds of stories feel a little abrupt when they have a flashback chapter every so often and I become impatient for the present day story. But as the story progressed, I realized it was impatience mingling with anxiety. I was afraid to see what broke these two up; what had the power to come in between these proclamations of forever I-love-you's and soulmate-y kind of love stories. I was worried and while I had to force myself to face it, I'm glad I did. I obviously won't say what it was, but I will say that it felt like a very real reason, even though these two would heavily benefit from couple's therapy.

I also appreciated the friendships and how this book isn't just about the romance that broke, but the relationship between friends. There are different kinds of happy places in this book and many of them include these amazing friends who are guilty of a huge crime: growing up. I find that I related a lot to the one friend who spent her time chasing that high of youth caught in a summer breeze. I remember summers long past full of memories that will never be replicated, but growing up means knowing that those memories exist, even if life and time changes everything.

Much like many other Henry books, this delves into deeper topics as well, like familial trauma, grief, mental health, and abandonment issues. Those were palpable on the pages as the characters faced these very real parts of themselves.

I'm not giving this a full five stars because of the flashbacks and how messy the MC and her love interest were. Communication is a golden rule I wish more romances adopted, but I also can understand that in order to have diverse characters, we need to be mindful of the ones who genuinely have a hard time communicating--usually because of mental health and traumatic responses. All of that being said, I still stand by this couple being chaotic--even if they were probably my second or third favourite couple in the Henryverse.

ALSO, DID EVERYONE PEEP THE BEACH READ EASTER EGG?? Hell yeah.

___

Have you read any of these books? What were your thoughts?

___

Happy reading!

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stuffnonsenseandotherthings · 5 months

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Castaway Diva - Wrap Up Review

I'm not quite sure what it was, but something about Castaway Diva felt like something of a throw back to the K-drama golden age of the early 2010s. Perhaps it was the plot(s - there were a lot of them), perhaps it was the characters (who were both deeply traumatised and wonderfully carefree), perhaps it was the way it was a simply just very fun watch (as long as you didn't think about it too hard, once you started asking questions things got a little holey).

Overall I did have a good time watching this; I liked the characters, I enjoyed their different dynamics, I even liked some of the songs, which is not normally the case for me with musical dramas but Dream Us is now on a playlist and I've looked up a few of the other songs too. The story itself was a relatively fun ride too, although it did suffer from being, for lack of a better phrase, very over stuffed. Domestic abuse, identity theft, the politics of the Korean entertainment industry, a social re-intergration plotline, a love triangle, and more all jostled for screen time and dominance and there were definitely times when it felt like were two completely different dramas going on at once, ones which just happened to be sharing sets and a cast. That feeling only grew as the drama progressed, unfortunately, along with the suspicion that, because Castaway Diva couldn't decide on what it wanted to be, both major plotlines suffered as a result.

One thing I did really enjoy the whole way through was the cast. Park Eun Bin was as stunning as always (although for the first 2 episodes it did sometimes feel like she was trying to shake off the last vestiges of Extraordinary Attorney Woo); it was great to see Chae Jong Hyeop in a lead role again; and Hakyeon impressed a lot as the second male lead with an actual heart of gold. I also really enjoyed Kim Hyo Jin as Kim Ran Joo, it was my first time seeing her in any role and she definitely left a very positive impression, so positive that I'm planning to keep an eye on what she does next.

Equally impressive as the adults were Lee Re as young Mok Ha and Moon Woo Jin as young Ki Ho, both of whom put on such compelling performances that I almost wished we could have had a drama solely dedicated to their lives on the island. Their performances and plotline were some of the highlights of the entire show for me and perhaps therein lies the main problem: the first episode was so impactful but so different from everything that came after it that my mind kept drifting back to those first 60 minutes and wanting more, wanting it so much that the fact that there wasn't more felt like a genuine loss, the loss of a very different, much darker, much more serious drama-that-could-have-been.

TLDR Stats

🎧 Music: 7.5/10 - Dream Us is on repeat and the other songs weren't skipped.

🎭 Acting: 8.5/10 - They carried the many plots and they carried them well.

📑 Story: 7.0/10 - The writers should have picked one story to focus on instead of trying to shoehorn two very different it's into one drama. The bits we got of each drama were pretty good and would only have got better if the focus was solely on them.

👩‍⚖️ Overall: 7.5/10 - I enjoyed it while I was watching it but I doubt I'll be watching it again.

🙆‍♀️ Rec for: People who are looking for a relatively light, uncomplicated watch with highly enjoyable chemistry between characters although be warned the first episode is anything but light.

🙅‍♀️ Wreck for: People who like to ask the question "why?" when watching dramas.

#k-drama #castaway diva #k-drama review #castaway diva review #wrap up review

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enigma-absolute · 4 days

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List 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the askbox for the last 10 people who liked or reblogged something from you! Get to know your mutuals and followers :)

…This is gonna make a total of 15 but oh BOY

This was mentioned in a previous ask before but singing a whole cover of ‘Rainbow Connection’ I did with friends joining me on the last third of it. It makes it extra special and I want to post it on here, but I’d rather ask the friend who I’d made this for, with posting permissions first.

Honestly? My silly little neopixel lightsaber I’ve (unwisely, in my mother’s opinion) bought at a recent con. It lights up, it makes noises, I can change the blade colour bc of the light, it’s so far everything I’ve wanted in a cheeky laser sword prop.

On a related note, my silly little sword collection! A LARP foam sword, a wooden katana, and even a steel replica of Sting, also from that same con over a few years!

Fashion! Me from 10 years ago being on this hellsite for the first year would never believe it, but growing and defining my own sense of style and aesthetics over time has not only been fun, but I *feel* happier too. I know what I like and what I don’t, and I’m still learning!

The very fact that I was blessed to go to the uni I did. Sure, the culture is different there compared to of course, my old high school and bible college, but I loved what I studied (more rather than less!) and I’m still in touch with people I’m honoured to call friends. To think some of those cool people live near or in the same city as me!

Not to be simple, but, music! I’ve been getting back into some of my favourite songs and remixes from The Living Tombstone as one point, (Long Time Friends you angy catharsis tune), but also listening to playlists I’ve curated for OCs and Stories and even shared songs with me and my friends over on Spotify has been fun!

Travel!!!! I didn’t know how much I’ve missed travel until my Singapore trip earlier this year - I missed boarding planes, taking off and landing, I missed going out to places like malls and cafes and food and friends outside of my own country. I missed the new sights to see and the good vibes to encounter when you look in the right places. And having my first taste of independent sightseeing at the botanical gardens felt like something new was set in stone.

As of recent, RP has been somewhat active between me and a couple buddies on discord. To the Chrumblr RP gang and Star Wars discord RP server: I love you and I'm grateful you allow me to bring plorbo from my brain into Situations with the characters you play!!!

Painting!!! I haven't touched it in a bit since I've been busy with other things, but I adore, ADORE watercolour and gouache painting. It brings me joy to mix colours and use my palettes to bring characters and situations to life, and I even have a whole sketchbook from 2022-2023 dedicated to just paintings. Sketchy paintings, refined ones - the only goal was to PAINT.

The crochet sunflowers I bought last year! I've got a tiny potted one on my study's windowsill with a broken Miles Morales Spidey keychain, and a longer simpler one in a glass bottle in my bedroom. I really wanna get more crochet flowers, but they were from this one random stall that set itself up like, twice overall at uni last year. That being said, I adore them.

From the same con I got my lightsaber on, I got lucky to buy a print poster of A New Hope from Lucasfilms artist Mark Raats direct. I'm not kidding, and we even had a chat and I did a little 'handy-dandy-notebook' portrait of him in line, even getting to airdrop that to him! Best bit, the poster was $30 on INCREDIBLY archival paper. I just need to get a frame for it...

Just recently, I'd gotten a haircut for the dry ends and long, thick fringe; and can I say??? I love my hairdresser? She's a really sweet Japanese lady who came from just outside Osaka and she's out here in my city doing the best and she once cut my fringe to my standards SO quickly than other hairdressers - I was stunned! I'm deeply grateful to have her work on my hair, and I could not thank her enough.

This is a bit silly somewhat to me, but I love the brown messenger bag I'd bought for myself end of last year as a treat to myself for finishing honours. Did the side strap holders snap twice? Yes. Do I care? no. I love this thing, it feels so *right* for adventure and it brings me so much joy.

Something that makes me smile if I glance at it in my study is my shelf of books. Not sketchbooks, not notebooks that have been filled (though I am proud of that too!), just proper books. From comics to 'Tales from the Loop' and cabin architecture and treehouses, and recently a couple Star Wars visual dictionaries from Pablo Hidalgo... I'm gonna need more space soon. (Shoutout to the copy of Farenheit 451 that legit made me scream and kick my feet because BRADBURY.)

Honestly? Just… friends. Online, real life - if I think about you too hard, I’ll cry. I’m blessed to have met friends online In Real Life (looking at you Swift and uni mates!), and blessed to have mailed and wrote and created silly little things to share my love with ‘em. Good are the ones that stick with you. 💙 Get loved, nerds.

#enni answers #seeking-elsewhither #lilliesandlight #pma #long post

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nono-bunny · 4 months

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Damn Assassin's Creed 2 is like... SO much better than the first one that I'm legit surprised at what a huge difference it is

Everything obviously looks more fluid and modern and shit, but the game also feels and plays so much better??? The camera angles in the first one were atrocious and I felt like I had very little control over Altair once he got going in both exploration and battle, and it feels much easier and more satisfying to control Ezio!

Before I started playing, I read some people saying that the new games don't have good stories like the early ones, and while playing the first game I was just... Really confused about that tbh, because like? It was... Okay at best? Honestly I did not give a shit about any single character in Altair's story, like??? The whole thing was extremely predictable and honestly I can only really remember two of the nine targets: the book burner- because he made me mad, and the "ugly" one- because I felt awful for him. I couldn't remember anyone's names because of the lack of subtitles (this was actually kind of a big deal for me, having subtitles in the second one is fr such a relief), and overall I was kinda just... Hoping for the game to end already so I could move on to the next one lol. I still scaled all the viewpoints, saved all the citizens, and got all of the info... Which, by the way, I used literally none of because by god did the game somehow do a bad job at incentiving stealth, the swordfights were literally like the most engaging game play element and it was easier to just brute force my way through most of the game- even though some of the informer missions just. Would not allow for that, which I actually appreciate (even if they were a big pain in the ass) because istg most of the main targets just. Cannot be assassinated and must be beaten in combat!! Assassin's Creed who? I only know Guy Who Loudly Murders Everyone With His Sword's Creed

Anyway I only finished the first part of Ezio's story (the rigged execution) but the story there is also much more interesting already! I love the database system, the little comments from Shaun and Rebecca's notes are a really nice touch too!

Honestly... THIS is a game I actively enjoy playing, whereas I kinda just went through the motions with the first one unfortunately. I do think it was worth playing it to get to this one though! It wasn't bad by any stretch of the imagination, I just... Knew better ones were on the horizon, but like. I didn't expect such a huge jump already tbh so I'm very pleasantly surprised

Also. On a very subjective note, I enjoy the setting of the second game much more because I basically already live in the setting of the first one lol, to me Europe is much more fun than The Middle East lol

#assassin's creed #assassin's creed 2

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oodlyenough · 1 year

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last of us 1x09

wanted to sit on this one for a couple days and use it to sort of summarize the season overall. so this will probably be long af lol

I feel like I actually don't have all that much to say about the final episode itself. It was quite faithful to the game, and hit any note I would've wanted it to hit, I think. Minor adjustments in dialogue or character beat felt quite minor.

However, the finale felt a bit underwhelming to me. I'm not sure why. I don't know if it's just because I knew every story beat ahead of time so none of the shock was there, or if I needed another 15 minutes of runtime to really let some scenes marinate, or whether it was just actually so close to the game that I couldn't fully lose myself in it, or that passively watching Joel shoot people is different to doing it yourself, or what it was. But I ended up not being as impacted by this ep as I am whenever I've played the end of the game. I hope it hit harder for show viewers. It seems like it did.

The biggest change is seeing Anna and Ellie's birth. (Lmao @ baby Ellie just plopping out mid fight. Uh... sure.) I think, as far as immunity explanations go, this worked pretty well - I know fans had speculated as much for a while. It was great to see (and hear) Ashley Johnson -- those first grunts running through the woods were so surreal lol that's Ellie! I know those grunts! "You fuckin' tell them Ellie", from Ellie... wahh.

I think I was expecting more on Marlene and Anna. I feel like... the show attempted to substitute the Marlene gameplay segments at the start with this little bit of backstory and the brief Ellie-Marlene scenes in ep 1. But I think there's something lost in not giving them more bonding time, or making it clearer that Marlene has been aware of/keeping tabs on Ellie for all of Ellie's life. I think Marlene being not-exactly a mother figure but still someone important to Ellie, and someone who loves Ellie herself, makes Marlene's death more meaningful, and a bit of that was lost here. I love that Ellie specifically asks about Marlene in the car, for eg, but I'm not sure it felt as earned.

We substituted the Sarah picture with the Joel suicide attempt backstory, which worked -- lol and I honestly had spent no time wondering at all about Joel's scar, so it was a nice and unexpected callback for me and my gamer hubris.

I think the way they did Joel trying to reach out to Ellie using callbacks from the season worked well, even if it was kind of skincrawling to watch, like, in a secondhand embarrassment sort of way, watching him faceplant over and over with it. Spring Ellie is so rough, somehow every time I play I forget about that change and it's a slap in the face when it comes.

I knew there was no way they'd skip the giraffe but I did not expect them to have a real giraffe ?!?!?! Amazing lmao.

The Controversial Hospital Scene... I had some fears leading up to this ep, where like, if they pitched it wrong it could've ruined the whole thing for me, so I was glad we avoided that. Joel's choice is both horrific and understandable. I have complained at various parts of the series that I think the tv show softened Joel too much by leaving his violence off screen, but I do get the impression now they set it up to "tell" us for 8 episodes about what Joel is capable of and then only, finally, in episode 9 do they really show us. I'm a bit on the fence about this and whether it worked or makes it feel like he suddenly transforms into a superhero(/villain) out of nowhere... but I can see what they were going for, at least. And the slow version of the theme song was well placed.

Can't BELIEVE we didn't get the cameo I was expecting lmaoo honestly my biggest shock of this ep. Nurse Laura Bailey was fun though I can't believe I didn't recognize her lol.

Other, season overview stuff now that we're done:

I'm absolutely shocked there was no brick/bottle easter egg. Shocked and appalled!

I ended up agreeing with the "needs more infected" criticism, although I didn't at first. I don't think the show needs a ton of them, but I DO think the ever-present danger of them is necessary backdrop for the world, and you lose that in the show after episode 5. It seems like everywhere Joel and Ellie went was infected-free. I saw someone on Twitter joke "why do they even need a cure there's only like 3 infected" which... yeah.

Still hate Tess' death. My least favourite part of the entire first season lol

Don't agree with how the show's approach to FEDRA

Maria and Tommy's baby is a real wildcard going forward huh?

Overall I feel like I'd give this season ... I dunno an 8.5? Or 9? 8.75?... out of 10. Ultimately I do prefer the game, but I figured I would. I really enjoyed watching it weekly, will miss it, and can't wait for s2. I think part 2's story will need more retooling to work for television, and tbh that excites me, because for the MOST part the bits where the show deviated a little from the game were my favourites.

#the last of us #the last of us hbo

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rustandruin · 1 year

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Constantine: Distorted Illusions by Kami Garcia and Isaac Goodhart

Thursday, 23 March 2023

Let me first start by saying I LOVE this line of YA DC comics. It’s a solid introduction to iconic characters for younger readers and serves as a great bridge to the comics. I’ve devoured Beast Boy and Raven, which Garcia wrote.

That said… I’m a bit ambivalent about this one.

I’m a big John Constantine fan. Like annoyingly so. But while I think it is a fun idea so tackle his younger days and explore his relationship with his father as well as his propensity for getting himself into messes (this recreating the pattern he’ll encounter as an adult), I think this was a slight miss for me. Because he didn’t feel like a teenage John Constantine.

He felt like a generic teen boy protagonist who is stubborn and does magic and accidentally summons a demon and causes trouble. There was none of the nuance and grit that makes him so unique. He didn’t feel like there were traces of the adult he’d grownup into. As a result it didn’t really feel like a Constantine book. Which was a bummer because I really wanted to like this! (Maybe if it had been a different author? One who could set the story in the U.K. and let Constantine stay true to his rough and tumble roots? Maybe something set at a school he eventually is kicked out of for doing magic? I don’t think there was much value in sending him to the U.S. Though I was hoping he’d meet teen Zatanna.)

Even the whole thing with him and his dad and how all that was resolved felt very… safe and teen. I’m glad this story was told but I think it could have been told more subtly and less on the nose. There was a lot more declaring of feelings and history than gently guiding us through it.

The art of this was interesting. Not sure if this is the style I’d pick for a Constantine YA comic. It reminded me of animation from the 80s, like She-Ra esque? Something about it felt just a bit too sleek for this character, though I really appreciate the poses and overall drama of the composition and the various character designs. It’s cool because it really highlights how comics needs to be a real marriage of medium to be most effective. The Teen Titans books work because Gabriel Piccolo’s art captures the big energy of characters like those and so those books feel further like the stories of those characters.

That said. I really dug when we saw Constantine in the teen version of his future outfit. I’m a sucker for that beige trench coat.

I’ll probably read the next one that comes out and will keep reading this whole line because I love what they’re doing. I’m giving it an extra star because it’s Constantine.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

#rust and ruin reads #Constantine: distorted illusions #John constantine #dc comics #kami Garcia #ya books #book #books #reading tracker 2023 #comic stuff #book stuff

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acomputeryguy · 2 years

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Really surprised to see people criticising the new TV show for its messaging (e.g. the Jobs episode overtly critiquing western work structures) when the YouTube episodes did... exactly the same thing?

Episode 1 (Creativity), Episode 3 (Love [read: religion]), 4 (Computers), and 5 (Food) were all commentaries on their subject matter. The fifth episode is the most obvious with its use of the "health shape" (versus the food pyramid) and the contradictory, confusing guidance on what food is "healthiest" to eat.

Episode 2 (Time) also kind of counts, but that's the more existential of the subjects, the overall point being to just not take time for granted because it moves on inexorably no matter what.

I think people get so lost in the theory-making with the YouTube shorts though that there's not enough focus given to the commentary happening in each individual episode. Nobody really talks about what Healthy was trying to achieve, fans instead obsess over Duck's image being on the food cans, the horror of Yellow Guy appearing to have eaten his friend, the fact Red is missing having had his mind blown in the previous episode... But on the surface, the creators are poking fun at the way food is advertised and talked about.

The behind-the-scenes narrative was something adopted by the fans, not really the true creative intent. I've always felt that, personally. And I think it's very telling that the creators didn't vibe with Wakey-Wakey if we keep that in mind. DHMIS on the surface has always been about commentating on current affairs (or topics that are prevalent in Western culture).

The reason it's difficult to pin down one single over-arching theory for the YouTube series is because each episode can exist independently, with the exception of episode 6. And the TV series repeats this. To put it simply, it feels a bit like a way of saying that the "lore" implications are a last thought, and not necessary to enjoy the series as a whole. If DHMIS wanted to expand its world and lore, it could have started with episode 6 and given us a very different series. What we got was how the YouTube series initially started but with a longer runtime per episode and more chance to the develop the three main characters. The extra set of stairs Yellow Guy misses before going back to his friends, however, feels like an invitation to keep theorising anyway, because it was the internet's obsessive need to find meaning in DHMIS that ultimately bought it its popularity.

But again, this then takes away from the "British-ness" of the series, which is really under-appreciated (and really being torn down by the loudest critics over here). I hope the series does well outside of fan interactions because as a jumping-in point for the uninitiated, it hits all the right beats for a quirky British comedy akin to The Mighty Boosh. It's just a little sad Channel 4 have parked it in an 11PM slot and right behind a Jimmy Carr-led panel show...

But yeah... YouTube's Episode 5 beats the audience over the head with its message just as much as Jobs does... The format is very similar too - even so far as Duck's discomfort with the subject matter that is being taught via the song not matching up with what is actually happening. He is the only one in Jobs to resist whilst Yellow Guy gets caught up (as he did in the YouTube episode) and Red Guy is for the most part, MIA (out in the "real world", playing his part as the company's manager).

The only key difference between the YouTube shorts and the Channel 4 programme is that, with a 23-minute run-time, the songs can't take up the entire episode and so as a consequence they aren't the most iconic takeaways.

What we've lost in quirky musical format, we've gained in character and relationship development for the trio though, and I'd argue that's not such a bad trade-off...

#dhmis #theory #I'm seeing a lot of negative things in the recent tags lately... Makes browsing for fanart and etc so unfun.

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penultimate-step · 3 months

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JJK S2 Livewatch: Eps 5-7

the watch continues! Ep 5 acts as a sort of coda to the previous arc, and then we return to the present time for eps 6 and beyond. honestly that surprised me - part of the fun of going blind into a series that you heard mutterings about but don't know details is seeing where you have weird impressions for no reason. I thought the flashback arc was going to be more substantial - like half this whole season. joke's on me, I guess, but it's fine.

Ep 5 continues going extremely hard and unsubtle on the imagery. Like 15 minutes are devoted to showing just how traumatized Geto is. Everywhere he goes, a part of him is back in that audience room, hearing the cultists cheer. The show uses audio and visual cues to indicate this to the audience - windows act like TV sets and display scenes from the past, the sound of rainfall is swapped out for the sounds of applause. I'd be quite interested to know how the manga conveyed it, because these all seem like flourishes distinct to the adaptation, which I appreciate. Eventually we get to the moment of Geto's final choice, with the light flickering his shadow into two versions of him that he could become, he fully becomes a villain and massacres the town.

Honestly, while I did feel the ep was great, if I do have a complaint it did feel like the whole thing happened way too fast. I didn't question my assumption that the flashback was going to be longer last time because it seemed like there was a long way to go for Geto to become the self he was by the movie, but in the end it felt pretty abrupt. He struggles for a while with inner doubts then decides he will be the kind of person to commit mass murder, and then does. It's a little weak for a villain arc.

What's not weak is the scene where Gojo confronts Geto, though. My favorite bit is how they have their argument in the middle of a crowded street. The way passerby are going about their day, pushing the two aside, really emphasizes the whole thing - because the everyday civilians can ignore the sorcerers, can walk right past them as if they are in a different world entirely, but they aren't. theyre right there, and their presence is very clearly what the whole fight is about. One of my favorite scenes.

I liked the scene right before where Geto talks with Shouko a bit less, though. Apparently she doesn't go on missions? I'm curious what her deal is. Anyway. Feels like she didn't get enough screentime for me to understand her relevance or her importance to the other characters. Between her and Tsukumo, both of the relevant female characters in this ep only have screentime so that they can show up and ask the main men about their feelings. The "proud" shonen tradition of strict gender roles in action I suppose.

Overall while I have some issues with the pacing, and think the flashback needed some more substance to make us really feel the change in Gojo and Geto, I still liked ep 5.

Ep 6 brings us back to the present, but not fully into the main plot just yet. First we have a brief interlude where the main trio meet at a cafe, along with an old classmate of Yuji's. Going to be real, I had forgotten what the personalities of these three even were, so it was nice to have a relaxed refresher before jumping into the main event. That is the main purpose of this little event, I think, a bit of a tone cleanser to break up the melancholy flashback and the action-heavy present time. It's also good to get glimpses of the lives of the protagonists from before they entered the story - little bits of characterization can go a long way.

As for the battle that follows, I have mixed feelings. It did have the kind of overly flashy fight style that I disliked in S1. However, the fact that the guy brought out a whole mecha does make it seem warranted this time. It didn't really grab me as a fight, but probably if it had been less dramatic I would have thought it had fallen flat.

The fact that I rambled for so much longer about ep 5 alone than the next two eps combined is probably a bad sign, I think. I just find the present day plot less interesting than the flashback was. But I'd rather be optimistic, the show still has plenty of time left to change my mind.

#jjk #step.animanga #step.live #jujutsu kaisen

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