#(.... also that was the biggest version of that particular gif I could find)

[hgduo]

*unhinged voice* Ahah so, cc!Quackity has teased on twitter that he is restocking the Las Nevadas' merch drop sometime soon, which clearly is a sign- you see it's all a code for that fact that he's also gonna "restock" us with lore by bringing us more c!Quackity content now that this semester is over- why else would he do this- and what better way to hype up the Nevadas merch coming back then to log on to the dream smp and stream some awesome roleplay for his viewers as c!Quackity- it all makes perfect sense- and where else would he be but at Las Nevadas- where c!Dream is waiting for him to enact his revenge and-!!!!!!!

#(... at least I think he's restocking the Las Nevadas' merch drop- I'm pretty sure that red beanie was a part of that set so...) #listen.................... its been... MONTHS ... since I've seen my boy..... #im dying out here............... i need him back- if I never get to see c!quackity again or how his story ends... #well... I'll be in absolute shambles you see #(.... also that was the biggest version of that particular gif I could find) #(also don't take this too seriously- I like to be a little over-the-top sometimes for fun... but I do miss c!Quackity a lot and-)

[divine-donna]

the wine for your cup

i’m not the biggest fan of aegon, but i don’t mind writing for him. thought it would be fun to include him with general and romantic headcanons.

please keep in mind this is my own interpretation. these headcanons are just that. headcanons. if you don’t like them, just don’t read them and ignore this post.

aegon is actually very picky with what he eats. he’s not overly critical but he has a certain palette that he wants fulfilled. plus he’s definitely more of a texture person than anything.

he prefers anything crunchy and crisp and firm. when it comes to fruit, you will catch him eating under-ripened fruit solely because he cannot, and does not want to, handle the texture of soft fruits.

hates oranges. texturally just makes no sense.

he is actually very good with his hands. that is to be interpretted however you want. but the man is good with his hands, partially because he used to embroider in his free time.

a lot of his mannerisms mimic his mother’s whether it’s facial expressions, the way his body moves, even down to how he talks. he resembles alicent very strongly. if his hair wasn’t valyrian silver and was brown instead, he’d probably look like the male version of his mother.

there are whispers that aegon was destined to be a hightower rather than a targaryen unlike his younger brother aemond, who was born to be a targaryen rather than a hightower.

aegon numbs himself through wine (and alcohol in general). this is not a secret. he much prefers to be apathetic than have to deal with his existential dread every day. he doesn’t need any more reminders that he will never be good enough.

he’s pretty awful in combat. also not a surprise. he has no hands on experience unlike his brother and dedicates his training time to reading and/or drinking instead.

similar to helaena, the eldest prince really enjoys reading. books have provided him a brief escape from the expectations placed upon him due to his birth. expectations in stories are far different and you may find him taking out multiple books at a time while at the library.

aegon really enjoys stories about bards. bards are not limited to one place and they spend their time singing, playing instruments, wooing everyone around them. bards are free and he wishes he could be a bard instead of a prince.

aegon receives love through physical touch. he craves human touch. and while he has let other people touch him, their touches never feel genuine. he never feels at ease and it does not satisfy his craving. but when he receives physical touch from you, someone who genuinely cares about him, he always feels like he’s ascending. he needs your touch and goes out of his way to touch you all the time. it’s a lot more blatant compared to aemond. this man has no shame.

aegon gives love through physical touch. as someone who has always been touchstarved, he doesn’t want his beloved to feel the same way. so he’s always touching you to reassure his love for you. his favorite thing to do in particular is help you bathe. mostly because you have done the same thing for him and it’s his way of repaying you.

he has an anxious-avoidant attachment style, otherwise known as the hot-and-cold attachment style. it takes a while for aegon to come around to you. one moment, he doesn’t want you to leave. the next moment, he’s aloof. much of it has to deal with his own feelings of abandonment and feeling unloved. he expects you to leave eventually. but you don’t. rather, you stick around while setting firm boundaries.

aegon’s kisses are never quick. they last a long time. quite a long time actually. he does everything in his power to keep your lips against his for as long as possible. and there’s also a lot of biting and nipping involved. much like aemond, he wants to devour you. and it’s kind of hot to see how much he wants you.

you’ve never really been wanted by anyone. so the fact that the firstborn prince wants you so much that he’s willing to do anything for you gives you an ego boost.

aegon also loves to mark you up, similar to his brother. but unlike aemond, aegon is very obvious with his marking. he does not care about the thoughts of the court. after all, rumors already surround his reputation. what is one more?

you have hickies all over your body, but especially on your neck and collarbone. they are quite visible and he loves that your hickies are on display. it proves you’re his. what’s the point in giving you these marks if everyone won’t see them?

this man has no shame. he will kiss you in public and even go further than that if you’re willing.

aegon’s favorite part of you is your legs. he was very honest when he told aemond that the one thing him and helaena had in common was liking things with long legs. it doesn’t matter how long or short your legs were. he loves them regardless. he loves kissing upwards to your thighs and giving you hickies at the skin.

your favorite part of aegon are his eyes and his lips. you love how his lips curve with that cupid’s bow of his (most certainly a trait all the targaryen siblings have). but his eyes. they’re always gentle, soft, when they look at you. and they hold such reverence for you. you’re always ready to melt when he gives you those puppy eyes and that cute pout of his.

“prince aegon is not what you think he is. i swear he is a lot gentler than rumors make him out to be. i would lay down my life for him if he asked me to. but he would never.”

#house of the dragon #hotd #hotd x reader #hotd headcanons #aegon the usurper #aegon targaryen #aegon targaryen x reader #female reader #male reader #gender neutral reader #x reader

[disney2dnd]

Disney DND Builds--Villain #1: Maleficent

Hello, welcome to a series where I create Dungeons and Dragons builds out of classic Disney characters. I'll be starting with the villains as I think they are more fun and interesting to design.

MALEFICENT

Maleficent is the most iconic Disney villain. She's an evil witch with a raven, an army of goblins and the power to turn into a dragon, what's not to love? So what better villain to start this series, and this blog with than her? This build can be used as the basis for a villain for a campaign, or as a playable character.

I will be limiting myself to the 1959 Maleficent, so no Kingdom Hearts or Angelina Jolie Maleficent--Those could very well be their own builds someday, but not today.

Race:

Maleficent's race is a hard one but I decided to go with the Elf race, specifically the Drow/Dark Elf subrace. This is because of the Drow's association with evil and it's Fey Ancestry. Maleficent is often identified as an evil fairy (or a witch but that isn't a race). I don't think she is referred to as one directly in the 1959 film though so technically this is breaking my rule about limiting the features to that of the 50s Maleficent, but it's necessary for the build I think. She won't be serving Lolth the Spider Queen though, we'll discover her master later. I know that some might pick Tiefling due to Maleficent's horns but I personally think it's just a helmet.

Class:

I personally feel the best choice for Maleficent is a multiclass of Druid and Warlock class. I'll explain the biggest reason for Warlock in the next section, although it's also worth mentioning that Warlock is one of the most typically evil DND classes. Fair warning though, Warlocks are lacking in spell slots, but when cast their spells are always the highest slot level available. For example, as a level 17 Warlock our Maleficent's highest spell level is 5th Level. If she is a 17th level Warlock and chooses to cast Witch Bolt or Fireball they be cast at 5th level no matter what. I think this fits Maleficent's power level and ego, I cannot imagine her deliberately casting a 1st level spell if she was level 20. As for Druid it provides Maleficent with useful elemental spells. She'll be taking 17 levels in Warlock and 3 levels in Druid.

Subclasses:

Warlock has several subclasses (or "pacts" as the subclass shows what patron the Warlock serves) but I believe the best choice thematically is the Pact of the Fiend. One of Maleficent's most memorable lines is "now shall you deal with me O' Prince. And all the powers of HELL!" so there's definitely a connection to demons and devils. This also gives her access to several fire-themed spells, and fire was a major element of Maleficent's magic in the original film.

As for Druid, I'll be picking Circle of the Land, specifically the Mountain version for one spell in particular. I found another build that combines these two subclasses as well, which definitely served as inspiration.

Background and Alignment:

In the original movie, Maleficent's backstory is left unknown and we are not using information from the Angelina Jolie film. I'm going with the Outlander background since Maleficent seems to live off in the mountains far away from the King's palace.

For Alignment I think Chaotic Evil makes the most sense since Maleficent has no morals and enjoys being evil for the hell of it.

Pact Boon:

Of the Warlock Pact Boons, I think Pact of the Chain is the easiest choice (again thematically). Maleficent's pet raven Diablo is one of the most iconic aspects of her character, and Pact of the Chain adds the spell Find Familiar to her spell list, and the raven is one of the possible choices for a Familiar. We'll talk more about Diablo and how he works as a Familiar later.

Invocations:

Warlocks can gain extra powers by choosing Invocations. As Maleficent is a Level 17 Warlock, we can have up to 8 Invocations.

Armour of Shadows: Lets you cast Mage Armour at will. No real basis in the movie, just picked as filler but you can use it to protect Diablo if he gets caught in the crossfire during a fight.

Beguiling Influence: This gives Maleficent Proficiency in Deception and Persuasion, which is useful for tricking princesses into touching deadly spindles and also for tricking a prince into believing his dear bride-to-be is still at home (causing him to walk right into an ambush).

Agonising Blast (Prerequisite: Eldritch Blast cantrip): Adds your Charisma modifier to the damage of your Eldritch Blasts. Included just to make the cantrip Eldritch Blast more powerful, again Maleficent is incredibly powerful, famously one of the most powerful Disney Villains and I don't see her accepting Eldritch Blast in its standard form when improvements are available.

Eldritch Mind: This gives you advantage on Constitution saving throws to maintain concentration on a spell. Given that several of Maleficent's spells need concentration, I feel this will be useful.

Sign of Ill Omen (Prerequisite: 5th level): Lets you cast Bestow Curse with a Warlock spell slot once per day. And curses are pretty much Maleficent's thing.

Bewitching Whispers (Prerequisite: 7th level): This lets you cast Compulsion using a Warlock spell slot once per day. Perfect for luring unsuspecting princesses to a deadly spinning wheel!

Visions of Distant Realms (Prerequisite: 15th level): This lets you cast Arcane Eye at will without expending a spell slot. Maleficent is apparently an excellent spy, as one of the fairies says "even walls have ears" when shushing the other two.

Spells:

(this will not be counting spells Maleficent gets from Feats, Invocations and Mystic Arcanum, we'll discuss those later)

Cantrips:

Eldritch Blast (Warlock): Not only is this easily the best and most iconic Warlock cantrip, A damaging "beam of crackling energy" fits well with the appearance of some of the magic we see Maleficent use in the movie.

Minor Illusion (Warlock): I originally picked this because I could've sworn Maleficent mimics Aurora's voice to lure Prince Phillip in before she captures him, but looking back at the scene she doesn't. I'm still including this cantrip though, because early on the movie, she creates an image of bats and devils and the famous spinning wheel with her staff. Major Image can do this too and you could consider just having it and ignoring Minor Illusion but there is actually a reason I think she should have both the cantrip and that spell.

Frostbite (Warlock): Maleficent apparently uses frost spells to ruin the flower gardens of the good fairies, according to a brief exchange between them.

Prestidigitation (Warlock): Minor magical effects. Mainly included for filler, feel free to replace it with another Cantrip (in fact, feel free to replace anything with anything, this isn't the way you HAVE to play this build).

Produce Flame (Druid): We're going to be putting a heavy emphasis on fire for this build.

Gust (Druid): Early in the movie, a gust of wind heralds Maleficent's introduction.

Thunderclap (Druid Bonus Cantrip): Does Thunder damage, which ties into the theme of deadly elements being used for Maleficent's spells.

Dancing Lights (Drow Magic): Manipulating light might not fit Maleficent's persona but you get this magic naturally if you play a Drow.

1st Level Spells:

Witch Bolt (Warlock): A lot of Maleficent's spells appear in the form of lightning bolts. Since Warlocks don't get many Lightning spells, we'll be using Witch Bolt to represent this.

Command (Warlock): Taken for the same reason as Bewitching Whispers, for compelling people to do stuff for you...like approaching the spindle you want them to touch! Feel free to swap this out for Charm Person if you think that spell works better.

Burning Hands (Warlock): Fire is a key element of Maleficent's magic, and we'll definitely be prioritising spells that do fire damage.

Entangle (Druid): "A forest of thorns shall be his tomb" These thorny spells are the main appeal for picking Druid.

Thunderwave (Druid): Does thunder damage, and again, lightning spells are prominent for Maleficent.

Faerie Fire (Drow Magic): You just get this naturally by being a Drow.

2nd Level Spells:

Misty Step (Warlock): Maleficent uses teleportation powers about three times in the film, though she is surrounded by fire instead of "silvery mist" so make of that what you will.

Invisibility (Warlock): Turned invisible to hypnotise Aurora.

Scorching Ray (Warlock): Because fire.

Flaming Sphere (Druid): Again, fire.

Spider Climb (Druid): No basis in the movie, but this spell is always prepared if you go Circle of the Mountain.

Spike Growth (Druid): More thorn magic, and this time more dangerous than Entangle.

3rd level Spells:

Major Image (Warlock): Same reason for inclusion as Minor Illusion. As this is a Concentration spell while Minor Illusion is not, you can technically combine these spells to create more effective illusions.

Fireball (Warlock): Gimme an F! Gimme an I! Gimme an R! Gimme an E! Also this is just a great spell period.

4th level spells:

Fire Shield (Warlock): Now this fire spell is actually similar to one used in the movie, which Maleficent uses to dissuade the King's guards from attacking her.

Dimension Door (Warlock): Same reason for inclusion as Misty Step, only better, although that spell remains useful since it is a bonus action unlike this spell which takes a full action.

Elemental Bane (Warlock): Pretty much all the damage types mentioned aside from acid have been used by Maleficent.

Wall of Fire (Warlock): C'mon you know the drill by now.

5th level spells:

Flame Strike (Warlock): The "divine" aspect of the fire is a bit unthematic with Maleficent's evil-loving persona but it's the best I could find and is still quite powerful.

Scrying (Warlock): Again, Maleficent is apparently an excellent spy. This also has problems, namely that Maleficent is not able to detect Aurora whereas she could easily with this power but what the hell maybe Aurora makes really consistently good Wisdom saves.

Mystic Arcanum:

These give you access to spells higher level than what Warlocks usually get. Two of these spells were perfect for Maleficent while the other two were mainly filler and can be swapped out for other spells.

Investiture of Flame: Basically a superior version of Flame Shield, ideal for Maleficent.

Finger of Death: Filler, but fit Maleficent best out of the remaining spells.

Power Word Stun: Filler but powerful and deadly enough to gel with Maleficent.

True Polymorph: With this you can become the mighty dragon Maleficent turns into in the movie, making it by far the easiest choice of the 9th-level spell options. Adult Red Dragon breathes fire and is generally stronger but the appearance of the Adult Black Dragon is closer to the one in the film, despite it breathing acid instead of fire. Just pick whichever dragon you feel suits best.

Proficiencies and Ability Scores:

I believe Arcana and Intimidation are the two best choices thematically and with an Invocation you'll end up with proficiency in Persuasion and Deception anyway. As for the Ability Scores, we'll be going with the same general concept as this build again, with Charisma>Wisdom>Intelligence>Strength>Dexterity.

Feats and Score Increases:

I'll be taking two feats and using the ability score increases on Charisma and Wisdom, the abilities most important for Warlocks and Druids respectively.

Magic Initiate (Wizard): This gives Maleficent two Cantrips and a 1st level spell from the Wizard spell book. I'll be picking the Control Flames and Ray of Frost Cantrips due to their elemental themes and the spell will be Sleep for reasons that are obvious.

Elemental Adept (Fire): This Feat ensures resistance to fire damage will not affect your many many fire spells.

Minions:

Diablo the Raven:

As mentioned, Diablo will be a Familiar for this build, and the spell and the Raven stat block are already linked in the Pact Boon section. Keep in mind that a Familiar cannot attack without a Feat from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything but since Diablo is more of a scout than a combatant in the movie and the Raven isn't a terribly strong Beast anyway it is not a huge problem.

Goons:

Identifying Maleficent's "Goons" is quite difficult, and I've seen them identified as both goblins and orcs, but to be honest they could be neither. The bug-eyed bat-like one does like somewhat goblin-like though and a few of the pig-faced ones resemble old depictions of orcs so I'll be making them mostly Orcs with a couple of Goblins. You could even include at least one Lizardfolk and a couple of Kenku to represent the crocodile and bird-looking ones. To my knowledge there is no spell that lets you summon orcs, goblins or any of the other monsters mentioned so I'd just make them recruitable NPCs. If you are using this build for a Maleficent player character, I doubt the DM will let you just bring the Goons with you willy nilly, as having a small army might make things unfair, but they might let you bring them for attacks on strong enemy armies or the BBEG. However, the Goons are better for a Maleficent-inspired BBEG than they are for a Player character.

And with that our Maleficent build is essentially complete, as a Fiend Warlock/Mountain Druid. You can use lightning, fire and thorny walls against your opponents, command a small army of monsters and one crafty raven and of course, turn into a ferocious dragon. Please let me know how you would design the build or any improvements I could make, and you are welcome to suggest Disney characters for future builds. With that said, thank you for reading, and I hope you were satisfied by this build in its current form.

#dungeons and dragons #dnd5e #disney #sleeping beauty #maleficent #disney dnd builds #warlock #druid #disney villains

[darkfeanix]

My WOT Prime thoughts, let me show you them

So after that beautiful heart-wrenching reunion in the most recent episode of Wheel of Time, I have Some Thoughts about Mat and Rand. Mat in particular, and how I think several of the choices made in the writing of the show - not just for Mat, but for other characters and the plot as well - have made him much more enjoyable for me as an audience member.

Obviously spoiler warning for both show and book.

I'll preface this by saying that I'm not the biggest fan of book Mat. I'll be doing my best to stick with objective facts relating to the book version, but if something slips in, I apologise – I know he's a very popular character, and I genuinely do not want it to seem like I'm dissing the book version in an attempt to make the show version seem better. Everyone has their preferences. These are only my thoughts and opinions.

Also, this got way longer than intended, so most of it went under a cut.

So, to begin with, Moiraine informs the group from the start that one of them is the Dragon Reborn. I know some people criticised this choice, but the purpose of this post isn't to debate whether or not it was in-character for her. Instead, it's to look at the impact this information had on Mat. We'll come back to this point later. For now, let's talk a bit about the man himself.

Mat in the books is the one who has the most growing up to do; early on in the series, he is called out more than once for his childish behaviour. Mat in the show, arguably, was forced to grow up too quickly as a result of his parents' neglect and abuse, and by the time of the first episode has a bad reputation of an entirely different kind. He's seen as unreliable, he's a gambler, and perhaps worst of all, he's a thief. Yet at the same time he is completely devoted to his younger sisters, in a way neither of his parents seem to be – tying back into that idea of him having grown up too fast. It's almost like in choosing to age up the four Dragon Reborn potentials, the writers created an inverse of his circumstances from the books in order to justify his characterisation.

This is not a criticism. I think it's actually a clever mirroring of his character.

In the first book, I feel that Mat, as a result of him not having his own POV, really only has one major… let's call it a "snare in the Pattern"… and that's his decision to take the ruby-hilted dagger from Shadar Logoth. Apart from that, he is arguably being carried along by the Pattern weaving around Rand in the first book.

In the first season of the show, however, real world circumstances forced the writers to create a second snare: Mat abandoning the group.

(Technically this led to a third snare as well, but we'll get to that later.)

Of all the Emond's Field, this version of Mat is arguably the only one for whom such a plot point could have worked (at least at that point). He's already been established as prone to selfishness and being unreliable, and he's spent over a month being mentally and emotionally scoured by an artefact of unfathomable evil. Even with the connection to the dagger severed by Moiraine, I feel that it makes sense for this version of Mat to pull away from the people he loves. And here we get to a really nice parallel with Rand.

By the end of season one, both Mat and Rand have been confronted by the reality of losing control of themselves and hurting the people they love. And they both make the same decision in response: get as far away from their loved ones as they could. While there may have been some selfishness in Mat's decision to leave, I choose to believe that it had more to do with fear of what he might – or might not – do. Better to cut ties before they find themselves in circumstances where someone is relying on him for something and he fails to come through for them.

Which brings us to the third snare in the Pattern: Moiraine, for fear of what the damage Mat could do if he is the Dragon Reborn, sends word to the Red Ajah to find him. Of course, we know that Mat cannot channel, but Moiraine doesn't. So as a result, Mat ends up Liandrin's prisoner. And boy does she do a number on him in that time.

Mat is still Mat, but we see in the first episode of season two how Liandrin is trying to break him down emotionally. I'm not 100% clear on how long he's been her prisoner, but I believe Alannah says that Egwene and Nynaeve have been at the Tower for five months, so probably a bit longer than that – let's say six months. Six months of being made to feel like nobody cares if he lives or dies. Six of being made to feel worthless. Some of it Mat has probably told himself at some point in his life, but that's still six months of concentrated emotional manipulation and abuse.

And then he makes a friend in Min. Min not only provides him the first decent human company he's had in quite some time, but she also is probably one of the best people to bring out the best parts of Mat's character. One might even go so far as to call that another snare in the Pattern. Ishamael might think he's the mastermind, but even he is subject to the will of the Pattern, and Mat is still a ta'veren in his own right.

By the time Min and Mat make it to Cairhien, Mat is almost back to his old self. I say almost, because we see how badly shaken he is when Min says that he'll kill Rand if he goes with him. I personally think the old Mat would have dismissed that kind of thing out of hand if he heard it; no way he would ever hurt one of his dearest friends. But this Mat has been turned into a vessel of paranoia by an evil dagger and used as an emotional chew toy by Liandrin. He doesn't trust himself anymore.

But you know who he does trust? Rand. When they reunited in Cairhien, even if only briefly, that love and trust was there as though they had never parted. Rand accepted Mat even though he abandoned them. Mat accepted Rand even though he's the Dragon Reborn, and a man who can channel.

At this time in the books, Mat was afraid of Rand, and trying to stay as far away from him as possible. But on the show, Mat has known from the start that either he, Rand, or Perrin are the Dragon Reborn, so it's an idea he's had plenty of time to get used to. And because they've been apart for so long, because Liandrin made him believe that none of his friends cared about him, and because Rand reached out for him with open arms and was just so glad to see him, Mat is able to put aside any worries about the One Power, and just be happy to be reunited with his friend.

And that is why I love show Mat. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

PS: Somebody please get this boy some clean clothes.

#dice boy #feanix watches wot on prime #wot on prime #wot prime spoilers #wheel of time book spoilers

[gravitycumplex]

the journey into real maturity: or gravie talks about 'loud steps on classroom floors'

i've been thinking about what i lovingly dub the rolsed HS AU for a bit - partially because i have wips related to it, partially because it's one of my favs, and now i feel like talking about The Vibes And Moods And Feefees(tm) so lemme get to that for a bit

cw: more or less the same as the fic, so... veer carefully

i guess i need to confess im not exactly the biggest fan of HS AUs in the first place lmao - im not against them, i just don't find many that fit my particular brand... it's the thing about being old and having the time to reflect on your own high school experience; a lot of it ends up being very... unimportant, in the grand scheme of things. even i, who has a fair amount of trauma associated with my experiences during all my pre-adulthood education, finds no value in high school as just high school

and that's where the entire point of 'loud steps' come from, if anything

it's about yearning for adulthood, actually

one of the main points in the HS AU is, ultimately, what happens around daniel's perceived maturity - not in the 'oh you're so mature for your age' harhar sorta way, but in a very sincere 'this traumatised child is, in fact, maturing fast to make up for the failures of the adults around him'

the problem with maturity that comes fast, and that comes from trauma at that, is that it's arguably not 'true' maturity; it's a combination of half-baked grown up thought processes and a bunch of adaptive coping mechanisms (which more often than not turn maladaptive, if they weren't from the beginning) - and it shows on the ways daniel is most selfish, if anything

he knows he shouldn't push and pursue a relationship with his teacher, for a variety of reasons, and he knows that doing so will land roland in trouble, more than it will ever cause him personal strife... and he does it anyway, even tho he insists he cares about roland (which he does, but his childish wants overpower any sense of care he has for the man, much of which is ultimately developed during the course of the story)

daniel very much admits to himself that he's fucked up, and part of his process into becoming an actual adult is realising that the adults around him (those who care, anyway) are as fucked up or more than him, and still made it past their 20s, or are trying to, at least

he's in this very fickle and complicated state between childhood and adulthood, where - unlike many teens who wish to stay in that state of being children with little to no responsibilities - he yearns for the sense of freedom that comes with adulthood; because in his mind adults are truly free - to live and love and choose as he pleases, for that is not something he has been free to do as a child or teenager

his entire character development revolves on building his own sense of adulthood, abandoning the cocoon he created for temporary survival as a child, and moving from yearning for real adulthood to actually giving himself the chance to experience it

this is also why the story could've never been done with roland's POV, besides the fact that it would've mostly been roland being conflicted and salty at his own choices for 69k (nice) words - as much as it is a ship fic, roland is a support on daniel's development and wants; he's a stepping stone for daniel to create an adult, fully formed version of himself

(i do have a one shot in this au with roland as the POV character, but that's different)

and it's about learning to let go

which is why the second biggest point of the HS AU is letting go, and both roland and daniel accept/work on letting things go

for daniel is his childhood self, for the most part - he's also ready to be replaced, as far as his relationship with roland goes, because he realises he is (to a point) taking advantage of a man he could ruin the entire life of if he wished

for roland, the 'letting go' comes mostly for what he accepts will be daniel eventually finding his stride and leaving him, for a variety of reasons (he's much older, the relationship was technically illegal for most of its course, daniel is young and surely wants more life experience, etc) - something complimentary to the implication of his personal journey, vis a vis angelica's death and the fact that he's been in therapy for that for a while

moving on and abandoning, to a point, the past is kinda a major theme for me, i suppose, and the HS AU is no exception - daniel abandoning his assigned gender and identity, the loss of his virginity, his and roland's meeting at the cemetery - where they were seeing the two most important/traumatic deaths in their lives, at that, - the kink exploration, each year he has left of high school passing him by, and even the idea of taking a sabbatical before college

there's this constant tug-o'-war around daniel's options, choices and wants, and a lot of it demands he let's go of something - immediate desires, a certain sense of comfort, his relationship with his mother, etc, and what he does with them (and how he deals with the consequences) is an on going point of the story

and finally, it is also about love

(well, it is a ship fic, after all)

tho i'd argue it's not just about romantic love

daniel and roland do develop sincere feelings for each other, and if anything that's the main point of the last two chapters of 'loud steps' - roland has to admit that what he thought was a temporary (but pretty fucked up) interest became genuine love, even aware of the not-small-at-all possibility daniel will leave for greener pastures

and daniel, who had more or less a childish crush on roland, exacerbated by a difficult childhood, teenage bullshit and trauma, ultimately understands how complicated his actions had turned things for roland... but also that he does love him, as an adult looking for an equal-to-equal relationship, rather than as a child wanting adult attention or that mid stage between childhood and adulthood, where you want both the care but to be seen as an adult

(which is also why he's so salty at the end with roland still treating him with kiddie gloves, more or less)

it's discovery of what adult love can be like, at least for daniel, with perhaps something of a rediscovery for roland - although his internal conflicts make it much harder for him to accept that, even though he's far more aware of himself and those feelings than daniel is of his own

it is, all in all, a story about trying to grow up when fucked up and dealing with a lot of internal bullshit, while also believing oneself adult enough to deal with the situations one gets into - partially saved by good luck and the few adults who do care actually going out of their way to be supportive and contain when its most needed

some silly unrelated notes and tidbits that don't appear in the fic now uwu

roland's favourite french lit book is by simone de beauvoir, but no, it's not That One (you know the one) - unrelated to that, he has a soft spot for madame bovary

it's never mentioned in that fic, tho i might mention it in others, but roland's modern au last name is 'fontenot' - an older writing of the last name fontaine

speaking of last names, daniel's is 'heras' (and yes, you're supposed to pronounce that H)

daniel's favourite french lit book ended up being by marguerite duras

also daniel won that bet about meursault and hong lu dating

roland is still salty about it

anyway, thank you for coming to my ted talk

#this bitch speaks #them fics #talking about the fic process #rolsed #it is about them ewe

[tin-can-iron-man]

I posted 984 times in 2022

That's 656 more posts than 2021!

101 posts created (10%)

883 posts reblogged (90%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@the-faultofdaedalus

@notanarutoblogs

@tony-stark-ing

@bobbimorses

@tratshka

I tagged 744 of my posts in 2022

Only 24% of my posts had no tags

#tin-can-answers - 23 posts

#them - 18 posts

#victor von doom - 18 posts

#yeah - 14 posts

#him - 12 posts

#doctor doom - 10 posts

#tony stark - 8 posts

#iron man - 7 posts

#doomtony - 5 posts

#victor - 5 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#victor: also i'm so fucking sorry it tried to marry you i want you to know that was it's own issues i didn't come to that conclusion at all

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

113 notes - Posted February 28, 2022

#4

I always find the reaction between MCU Wanda and 616 Wanda in universe to be so interesting because 616 Wanda is a hero who is condemned for falling to her emotions and reacting to trauma poorly but MCU Wanda is still declared a hero, in universe, and is literally treated as "baby girl who can do no wrong" by literally every superhero that meets her. I just find it so interestingly fucked up that 616 doesn't get to be excused the same way MCU does in any regard, including in universe. When she has tried 10,000 times harder than Wendy ever has.

Edit: hey this post was made before MoM and I'm specifically talking about the difference between COMIC Wanda (the REAL 616) and MCU (aka earth 199999 (DESPITE what the movies may tell you)). Because I know people are now going to be confused for a hot sec.

124 notes - Posted April 15, 2022

#3

Anyway Im3 was fucking right in not having the mandarin be the legit villain of the film because it was 2013 and having Tony Stark, a rich white American billionaire, have his biggest enemy at the end of his trilogy be "Asia all along" sucks ass. im1 and im2 had asian enemies in it (the "ten rings" in Afghanistan and Vanko, respectively) but they were ultimately about rich people (and usually rich white people) being terrible. Which, in my opinion, was the better option.

In im1 and im2, the main antagonists that pull the plot along are other rich white billionaires who throw money at their problem (Tony) with unethical rich person means. (Hammer hires Vanko with the intention of using him as a way to get to Tony because he's petty as well as using him to further his own military business by selling Vankos inventions under his name) (Stane makes shady deals and puts Tony's weapons up on the black market (which, by the way, what happened to Wanda and Pietro was either a result of Stane's shady deals that Tony was unaware of (Tony was also almost blown up by a Stark branded missile! That he DEFINITELY did not sell! He made the arc reactor so that the shrapnel in his heart wouldn't tear it to shreds!), or US military shittyness, something that Tony was uneducated on, learned about, and immediately, as in literally the second he could, when he was literally supposed to still be in a wheelchair, called a in-person press conference and shut down his weapons program, and immediately became one of the most anti-military characters in the MCU (like in the avengers, when he got real angry about being referred to as soldiers).

Killian isn't a good character, he's doesn't have a particular compelling origin story and wasting the foundation of AIM in the MCU on him sucks. Yes. But he's the last in the list of Iron Man villains that make sense in terms of Tony's personal turning over a new leaf. Stane and Hammer (and Vanko to a degree) are exaggerated versions of Tony's own personal flaws, the things he has to keep in check about HIMSELF. And in that sense, Killian is too. Killian is, if looking in a mirror, an exaggerated version of Tony's desire to be acknowledged and accepted by the people he loves, not being able to take rejection well, and being a risk taker, blown out of proportion. (Tony does deeply crave the affection of those he loves but he doesn't think he naturally deserves it. And while he can be reckless it typically starts and ends with himself. The very last thing Tony would do is, say, start human experimentation (on anyone besides himself) on something known to be dangerous). Killian is impulsive, vindictive, dismissive, self-centered and incapable of reflecting on himself in a meaningful way (basically just any "nice guy" guy on Twitter). He got so butthurt about a single night he dedicated the rest of his life to trying to get back at Tony about it (REAL big "nice guy" on Twitter vibes). He's not well written, he's not even that fun. What makes him interesting, though, is that Tony was kinda all of those things too. (Before his time spent with Yinsen, before Iron Man, before the Avengers).

Tony has never been as bad a Stane, or Hammer, or Killian. But thematically their characters are all "this bad thing about Tony pre-Afghanistan taken 12 steps further."

I don't know I'm just saying in my opinion I think it was better for Tony's main villains to be exaggerated caricatures of himself over using the Mandarin. And that they were right to save a character like the real Mandarin for Shang-Chi where they could be explored and used narratively in a proper manner.

138 notes - Posted April 12, 2022

#2

Not too get into it unprompted but I have a theory from the Quintin Reviews Victorious Videos and Yvette Nicole Brown's acting career that I now completely believe that Community takes place within the boundaries of the NSU

224 notes - Posted March 31, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

I feel like most of us can relate to this at this point

436 notes - Posted May 2, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #The fact me and Rowan reblogged the most from eachother....peak romance #Also almost all of my top 5 was bitching about the MCU good for me #Also yeah everyone go read FF (2011) #Also couldn't tell you for the life of me the context around that longest tag like I'm sure I know but brain no worky rn

[mgsapphire]

What is love, Hae-in?

I was waiting for all episodes to be released for this particular post, but Hae-in's homework was a gateway for me to talk about it. The different forms of love portrayed in Racket Boys.

Racket boys makes a good point of talking about all the different kinds of love, even if it's not explicitly. And yes, I'm going to be lame and use the greek's types of love, and add some more, because I can.

Philia

gif credit: @deokmis

Without getting too philosophical, philia refers to a love between friends, and it's directly translated as the highest form of love. This is the kind of love the story centers around. And interestingly, the definition of philia doesn't stop there. Aristotle believed that philia could be divided into three separate forms:

A friendship of utility

A friendship of pleasure

A friendship of the good

I found this interesting because the friends navigate between these as the story develops. Mainly with Hae-kang when he first arrives to town. He starts hanging out with the rest of the kids out of a necessity to do so. They needed him and he needed them. That was it.

Soon, as Hae-kang grows fonder of badminton, the boys start sharing a common interest, to which we can add their love for games. They start growing interested in each other, and a deeper connection starts to form.

As they navigate a different set of experiences, a true friendship begins to develop, where they see themselves as part of a whole that must function together.

So, what is love, Hae-in? It's the way your brother and his teammates fight over the silly stuff passionately, and let go of the heavy ones. It's the way they protect each other even when the odds are against them.

Storge

gif credit: @mercurialhigh

Storge often refers to the love between family members, most importantly that which parents give to their kids and vice versa. This one is one of my favorites when depicted in the show, and it also has to do with the nature of this type of love.

Storge often feels unilateral from the parent to the child, and I think it has to do with the fact that the children are often oblivious to the parents' sacrifice. While sacrifice doesn't necessarily mean love, it is noticeably clear that this is the storytelling the showrunners are going for when they depict it.

Hae-kang's mom stopped her athlete career in order to give birth to him, Yun-dam's parents showed him off in the store and bought him his favorite dishes, Yong-tae's dad gives him tonics to make him feel better and buys him a cellphone, and U-chan's dad tries to understand him increasingly every day.

On the other hand, we can also tell how much the kids love their parents, Hae-kang often hides his pain in order to not worry his parents, Yun-dam tries his best at everything in order to make his parents proud, Yong-tae knows everything about plants just like his dad, and U-chan tries to please his parents. The girls too, try to show their affection to their parents in the best way they can.

So, what is love Hae-in? Is the way your brother, dad and you all sleep with their arms raised. It's the way you can all find comfort in each other, and it's the way they all tried their best to explain to you what love was.

Xenia

gif credit: @uppoompat

This is known as hospitality love, in Greek mythology, it was portrayed as helping a stranger would grant you blessings. Close to christian's belief of "love thy neighbor". This is my favorite portrayal in Racket boys, as the community via this kind of love develops in one more similar to that of family. It started with Hae-kang and Hae-in arriving in town and being welcomed by the elderly, with Hae-kang's bad curry, with the village chief hospitality, and it developed into a lovely mural, a community effort to cheer each other on, and a funeral that was closer to a party.

So, what is love Hae-in? It's the way the city people found their will to live in helping those in the small village they came to die in. The way your brother's curry accidentally showed them love, and the mural showed their gratitude toward the community.

Philautia

Gif credit: @mostlyfate

The love of self in here has been portrayed as both good and bad. Hae-kang is the biggest example of this duality, at first, he was overconfident, and lead to him losing a few games. Then, he started both training and still being confident in his skills, making him unstoppable in his quest for success.

Other characters also manifest this love. I think another example is In-sol, who knows what his worth is, and that's why he strives hard to be better at everything.

While Se-yoon is very good at what she does, I don't think she has found her self love quite yet, as she puts the sport and others opinions of her above her own health and needs. It could be argued that Hae-kang is the same, but Hae-ckang doesn't necessarily win to keep others satisfied, which Se-yoon feels is something she must do.

So, what is love, Hae-in? It's the way your brother constantly strives to be a better version of himself, the way each one of the team members know their worth despite losing or winning. It's the way your mother is so confident.

Eros

gif credit: @uppoompat

While romantic love is not very prominent in the story, we can still see it with the city couple, Hae-kang's parents, and the exploration of a love different than those of friends that Yun-dam and Ji-won experience, along with Hae-kang and Se-yoon.

The city couple are the biggest example of a passion for each other, no matter how calm and odd they may be on the outside. They are always taking the other into consideration, and seem to be such an extreme version of passionate love that they seem to be unable to live without the other.

With the teenagers crushes, we can also see how they navigate this change from merely a philial love to that that is more erotic. Of course, they can coexist, but when you start approaching the realm of eros, new feelings can surface, such as jealousy, and sense of fierce protection that can overlap with control if one is not careful.

So, what is love, Hae-in? Is the way your father still looks at your mother as if she were the biggest treasure he could ever find. It's the implicit understanding that the gaze of the city couple's hold. It's the way your brother sometimes seems silly.

I could also touch on agape, but I honestly don't know how this particular form of love is approached in the series.

#sbs racket boys #racket boys #love quote #love #netflix recommendations #netflix kdrama #netflix #kdrama recommendations #kdrama #kdramas #korean drama #essay #analysis #rant #kdrama meta #meta

[cybernaght]

The Rebel/叛逆者: A Review of Sorts

After being only semi-invested in the Rebel, I ended up getting so into it in the final weeks of its release, I’ve shelled out on IQIYI premium just to get the final couple of episodes a few days earlier.

That’s right kids, it’s a Review of Sorts. Unfortunately, I could not find a translation of the novella the drama is based on, so will be looking at it as a separate entity. 

Most of this post is spoiler-free, however I have dedicated a few paragraphs at the end of it to discussing the final episode, as there are a few specific things about it I wanted to mention. There is a clear spoiler warning before that part.

If you don’t want to risk it, TL;DR version of this review goes something like this: Rebel is very decent, and positively one of the best things that I have seen to come out of China since I’ve jumped into that particular rabbit hole. It’s pretty well written, it’s very beautifully dressed and shot, and the cast is killing it. I thought it dropped the ball a little in post production, and I did not always love the pacing. Other than that, it’s incredibly decent, and well worth watching, unless communist propaganda really irks you, in which case stay very well away. 

I have been having many conversations with @supernovasimplicity​ all the way through watching this drama, so there are likely to be some thoughts here that are influenced by those. 

The story centers around Lin Nansheng, a struggling servicemen in the Guomingdang party. He has a great analytical mind, and absolutely no emotional capacity for his job. He has trouble handling violence, he is impulsive, he cannot speak to his superiors without bursting into tears, and has nothing even remotely resembling a poker face. And that is what makes this drama as enjoyable as it is. 

I don’t think Lin Nansheng’s journey would have been nearly as exciting had he started it from a place of competence. He botches up everything he touches because his big brain switches off the moment his emotions kick in. And so, when you see him grow in confidence, learn to control himself, learn to fake his smiles and compliments, you can’t help but feel a strange sense of pride. It also makes Lin Nansheng very likeable as a character for reasons other than Zhu Yilong’s ability to look like a bush baby.

It did take me a while to feel fully engaged with his performance - not because there is anything lacking in it, but just because it’s hard to be truly surprised by his choices after the exposure I have given myself to his work. That said, at about a half-way point I got charmed by him anyway, and there were quite a few scenes that were truly mesmerising. There were scenes where he broke out of the familiar mould of big unguarded eyes and fluttering wet eyelashes, and tried something that was not pretty: every time to a great success. I am hoping to see more of that in his future work. 

I really wanted to like the female lead, Zhu Yizhen, but unfortunately both the way she was written and the way she was performed by Tong Yao left me somewhat cold. It did not help of course that the screenplay ended up sidelining her at every turn, leaving her with very little personal agency. She was set up so interestingly, but in the end her sole purpose became being someone for Lin Nansheng to pine over. It is particularly curious from a perspective of meta storytelling: seeing how this is all centered around superiority of communism, which as a whole was, arguably, ahead of its time in the matters of binary gender equality.

The ensemble cast of the drama is stunning. Wang Yang came very close to  stealing the show at several points as Chen Moqun, somehow managing to make his rather unlikeable character interesting. I can say the same thing about Zhu Zhu who absolutely shined as Lin Xinjie, showing an incredible range and imagination in her performance.

The overarching story of the show is engaging, with some incredibly suspenseful elements; every narrative arc including a nice progression through it. As spy thrillers go, it was fairly well plotted. You could if you go looking for a few things that did not pay off in a satisfying way (notably, the Chekhov’s cyanide capsule), but you overall the story really was well told for the most of it. 

I did, however, feel like the pacing started to fall apart in the last quarter of the drama. Last episode in particular really did feel rushed, not just due to its pace, but also in a way it failed to pay off the final mission in any visible way. There will be more on that in the spoiler section of this post.

Important to note that The Rebel is a show made in Communist China in the year 2021. It does not ideologically side-step from the path that was laid out for it by that fact. Which is to say, it is, undeniably, filled with propaganda. Communists are the good guys, and if you think a good guy (or gal) is not a communist, they probably secretly are. With one exception of a friendly character who is not a communist, and whose fate we actually never find out. Curious, that. 

The Rebel is not a kind of a show where censorship-appeasing scenes are shoehorned in. It’s a kind of a show in which the main theme is Sacrifice For the Party.

Aside from the being the moral vector of the show, Mao’s gentle teachings explicitly help get Ling Nansheng out of prolonged depression following his injury, and almost annoyingly, this sat incredibly well with the character, as he was written. Lin Nansheng is conceived as this naive idealist who wants to be on the front line, who needs validation and support of others. His - and I can’t believe I’m saying this - his being disillusioned in his beliefs and choosing to join a party which includes people whom he likes and trusts makes sense. Him finding this one thing that gives him hope and letting it propel him into gaining confidence and competence makes sense. 

In many ways, the Rebel is a story of Lin Nansheng’s failure to become an antagonist within the world of the drama.

I have honestly spent this past couple of weeks pondering whether being well written makes political propaganda better or worse, whether the subtlety of it makes it more or less palatable, whether it’s enough, as a viewer, to be aware of it to shrug it off. Ultimately, this is not something I could or should make moral judgements on, but I do believe that it’s possible to acknowledge the fact that propaganda exists in the drama, and still appreciate it for a good piece of television that it is. 

That said, I am very well aware that me being kind of okay with it stems entirely from my own removal from the culture this is made in, and I am, perhaps, lucky to even have a choice as to whether I want to engage with a product which is, undoubtably, here to dress political ideology in fancy clothes.

I have, on the other hand, also seen many things in Russian media of the “Annexation of Crimea is Good Actually” variety and those make me feel very unwell, so feeling somewhat at ease with blatant political propaganda in Chinese media makes me the biggest hypocrite.

But, I digress.

Before we go into some specific plot-related things, I would like to mention that the Rebel has this weird dichotomy in which the production is sublime, and the post-production… not so much. The show very well shot. Every element of it sits perfectly together, not a single prop out of place, not a single extra underdressed, not a page of script not put to good use. It’s lit to perfection. It’s scored beautifully. So much of this show is just stunning.

And then… there is post-production. 

This is not even about bad CGI (and the CGI is, indeed, bad), it’s just that most of post-production as a whole feels rushed.

Starting with surprisingly imperfect editing, which at times just fails to make the scene flow together. The final line of dialogue would be spoken within a scene, and it would fade to black instantly without a single breath to indicate a full stop. A montage sequence would be created, but every shot within it condensed to a second, making it feel incredibly fast-paced when the effect should be the opposite. There would be a cut away from a speaking character and to the same speaking character from a slightly different angle, making it dynamic without any reason to do so. There are a couple of truly startling jump-cuts.

I did not speed this gif up. This is part of a romantic montage, edited like it’s a goddamn action sequence.

And of course dear old friend slowing down footage shot at 24FPS. Please don’t do this. You think no one notices - but we do.

There are other tell-tale signs of production rushing to the finish line: occasional, but very noticeable ADR glitches, very sloppy job done at sound mixing, which contribute to parts of the show feeling ever so slightly off.

It’s not unforgivable, but it does make me wish the same amount of care and efforts that went into shooting this drama would also go into it after it was all in the can. 

Oh, and just because if you know me you know I have a professional fixation on fights, and I am happy to say most action scenes are toe-curlingly delightful. Hot damn those fights are good. I am absolutely in love with the shot below, for example. Placing an actor behind a piece of set so he can exchange places with the stunt double during a one shot is such an old trick, but the execution, timing and camerawork are just... flawless. This is what perfection looks like.

Now we got all that out of the way...

SPOILERS FOR THE SERIES FINALE BELOW

Here’s the thing. I wanted to love the ending and I found that I could not.

The final mission was presented as important, and honestly the scene in which Zhu Yizhen is sending the vital message out as Lin Nansheng holds his ground in hand to hand fight is incredibly dynamic. Party, this is due to the fight itself being incredibly well choreographed, yes, but it’s also where it sits within the narrative, how high the stakes are for everything surrounding it. 

But then, the tension all but bleeds out. The Important Message is sent, the fight is won, and we are treated to ten minutes of a very slow car chase, problem of which is not even its speed as much as its placing within the story. As in, by this point both of those operatives have lost their cover, and completed their Very Important Mission. It would be very sad if they died, but their survival does not technically contribute to their cause. Moreover, Zhu Yizhen getting mortally injured in order to protect Lin Nansheng as part of her mission read a little empty when the mission is technically over. 

While I personally found Lin Nansheng slow recuperation and his low key ending enjoyable, I think I would have preferred to have seen a more tangible pay-off to all the sacrifices made in the name of “bright communist future”, just a little more justification for every moment of death and despair we witnessed. I would have certainly at the very least preferred to see Wang Shi’an’s death on screen. Considering how many likeable characters martyred themselves on screen, denying us the death of the one antagonist just seemed cruel. 

I really did love the ambiguity of the final few scenes however, if we consider the children choir at the end a fantasy. The idea that Lin Nansheng will live out his life in this hope that Zhu Yizhen is still alive, imagining her just outside of his field of vision, his only joy being in this fantasy of her… now, that is incredibly strong. I equally like the idea of rest being promised to him at the end of his journey, and said rest being painful, and slow and unwelcome.

But it felt like as they chose not to to lean into the “sweet” part of the bitter-sweet tone of the ending and we’re unable not commit to the “bitter” part either, so it lands with a splat which is somewhat lacklustre. 

---

This concludes my thoughts on the Rebel. 

I am more or less out of Zhu Yilong’s filmography to watch, which is probably a good thing at this point. I have just emerged out of several back to back work projects - literally today - and will hopefully once more have time for things I grew to enjoy doing during the lockdown. 

Those things, if you have not guessed, include watching Chinese television and writing things about Chinese television. 

#the rebel #叛逆者 #Zhu Yilong #review of sorts #now with gifs #chinese drama

[princesssarisa]

Cinderella September-through-November: "Cinderella" (1996 Burbank Animation Studios film)

We now reach the last (as far as I know) of the '90s "mockbuster" animated versions of Cinderella. This one hails from an Australian production company, Burbank Animation Studios (formerly Burbank Films Australia), which in the '80s specialized in animated adaptations of classic novels, but which jumped on the "mockbuster" bandwagon in the '90s and switched their subject matter to fairy tales and imitations of Disney, Don Bluth and Dreamworks' latest hits (Hercules, Anastasia, Mulan, etc.). This 50-minute Cinderella hails from the latter era.

For the most part, this is a straightforward adaptation of the standard Perrault-inspired Cinderella, but it draws a bit of inspiration from the Grimm's version too. Having lost her father a year ago, Cinderella is abused by her repulsive Stepmother and her even more repulsive stepsisters Nellie and Melba (their names are a reference to Dame Nellie Melba, the famous and famously egotistical Australian opera singer). But she takes comfort in visiting a lakeside tree that she and her father planted together when she was a little girl. One day, she hears a mysterious woman's voice from the tree, assuring her that from now on she won't be lonely anymore. Immediately afterwards, she finds a stray puppy, whom she names Prince and takes home with her, and who becomes her helper in her chores and her defender against the Stepmother's nasty cat, Lucifer Claws. The tree is also home to two friendly robins, who help Cinderella to sew ballgowns for her stepfamily. Meanwhile, Cinderella hopes to go to the ball wearing the one fancy dress she has left from her happier days, but the impoverished Stepmother can't afford to buy enough fabric for three gowns, so she forces Cinderella to cut up her own gown and add its fabric to theirs. But on the night of the ball, Cinderella once again hears the mysterious voice calling her back to the tree, and from its golden leaves emerge a yellow-clad Fairy Godmother, who turns a pumpkin into a coach, frogs into horses, and the two robins into a coachman and footman. Thus she rides off to the ball and finds romance with the handsome Prince Michael.

As a whole, this Cinderella isn't without charm. The brightly colored, child-friendly animation style is reasonably appealing, the voice acting is decent, and the overall fairy tale atmosphere is good. The moments when the voice from the tree speaks to Cinderella have a particular mystical beauty, enhanced by the accompanying music. (It's too bad that the film doesn't maintain that atmosphere and portray the Fairy Godmother as a lovely otherworldly figure when she appears, instead giving the tone a somewhat jarring shift by portraying her as an absentminded little old lady.) But despite its charming aspects, this is no outstanding version of the tale. Its biggest drawback is the fact that the caricatured stepfamily is overused. They're obviously meant to be funny characters, but in general they're just ugly and obnoxious, with overly shrill, screechy voices for the stepsisters. Yet they have at least as much screen time as Cinderella herself.

If a child were to be introduced to the story of Cinderella through this film, I could imagine them enjoying it. But it's not a version I'm likely to watch again. As "mockbusters" go, it's higher in quality than the Golden Films version, but below the Jetlag Productions version. Overall, it's a Cinderella for completists only.

@superkingofpriderock, @ariel-seagull-wings

#cinderella #cinderella september through november #fairy tale #burbank animation studios #1996 #australia #animation #animated film

[spacetwiga]

leave c!phil out of bullshit 2k21 -- a not so tiny post by a new enthusiast

As someone who finds both common fanon and actual canon to be quite fun, I really think the general DSMP fandom would benefit greatly from a few things in general: the greatest, in my opinion, is learning to accept that popular fanon won’t usually be the canon you receive. Another, of course, is that POVs are golden, but with these two things being flimsy in being accepted, they are the major flaws that cause about 90% of the absolute messy takes that gain traction, oftentimes poisoning a canon character's ability to exist in the story.

My biggest beef regarding this comes from how y’all treat c!Phil, so here I am, being annoying on main side! 

TL;DR... Just because someone acted like like a guidance to others, doesn’t always mean that they'll want to be the father figure role for everyone that breathes. Similarly, pinning down a character on a single trope is wack, so don't be surprised if they grow away from it.

Baby’s first little dsmp rambling below!

(Warning: it's long as hell)

The Dream SMP plotline is not written out like most popular media. With so many moving parts in the form of daily streams and the wonderful tool of live improvisation, it makes perfect sense that such a giant cast would not always be on the same page. Adding onto that, it also makes more sense that a vast majority of the cast will be placed into supporting roles, as the story needs to have characters that serve as narrative anchors and others that function as the links in a chain, all weathering the storm that is the plot.

Screentime, of course, plays a major factor into canon exposure -- in terms of the Dream SMP, POV matters equally, if not more, too. 

It’s a pretty neat way of showing things, but in the end, the fanbase has a lovely (read: godawful /lh) way of analysing characters, particularly when it relates to how they interact with others from their fave character’s POV. The tendency to analyse things from a single character's POV is fine, but not when attempting to critique the greater whole of a conflict. Both sides, no matter how wrong they may seem to be, matter.

Adding onto the fact that everything is live, there are things that will spiral out of control, casual words being skewed and thus having the potential of a single line seemingly contradicting the entire ‘story’ that the fanbase has made. If it directly affects a fave's POV in particular, one is more likely to take offense, as bias immediately bars one from trying to see the other person's side of things.

POV is important. 

Which brings me to c!Phil, and how critics tend to ignore his perspective to prop up another character, or justify the tearing down of another.

Improvisation is both a blessing and a curse; the fanbase, however, loves to test out the latter. With it, the fanbase starts crafting tales to justify it...And so begins the mess that is c!Phil discourse.

Say it with me, folks: c!Phil is not supposed to be your fave’s fluffy father figure... unless you’re c!Wilbur!!!

😃☝🏾Dadza is good...👉🏾😎👉🏾 But fandom wants the excessive, idealized version.

-- birb 2k21

Family dynamics are generally loved for their potential for comfort, particularly those of a found family nature. Fandom in general tends to lean into them wholeheartedly, with most major bases having at least one prominent group present; SBI, of course, is no different. From fanart to popular fanfiction, it's arguably the biggest group dynamic alongside the Dream Team, and for that, a precedence was set. 

c!Phil, if he ever joined, would fix everything! All of the ‘kids’ would turn to their new mentor and everything would turn out fine! This all knowing, morally just character will chuckle at their antics and wacky hijinks will follow! Fun times, right? /s

The hope for it, however, has long since been shattered, and frankly, good for him!

To go a little ooc, cc!Phil has stated multiple times that, while he was friendly with a lot of the cast as c!Phil, his only paternal link (at least biologically) lies with c!Wilbur. Simple, right? It should be -- there are multiple clips of him saying this -- but fans choose to ignore it in their critiques, generally citing favouritism or downright neglect for the character’s flaws. From 'favoring' Techno (who, in canon, holds the highest link in friendship outside of c!Wilbur's familal link) to 'neglecting' to visit Tommy (who he barely knew, and also assumed, like many others, that he was fine), these critiques weigh heavily on the scale that judges Phil’s so called father figure trope. 

The story, however, has only leaned into (and persisted with) that for c!Wilbur alone, and adding onto it, there is an established acknowledgement from both ccs. That confirmation should hold the most weight, especially since both Phil and Wilbur seem alright with it. Even so, that familial has yet to be explored much for both characters, particularly regarding c!Phil, who has his debut (at least narratively) in a scene that feels opposite to the classic fatherly role.

c!Wilbur denounced accepting that helping hand to fall entirely into his explosive end, setting a precedence unlike most fatherly types arriving to save their kid. Usually, fandom narrative would love a close save, father and son uniting to heal and build up what was broken, but c!Phil’s entrance inks his story in failure. Angsty, right? We love angst!

And yet, as the story ticks on, the bad takes pile up.

Why? Well, I’l used to think that it is a “funny haha” type thing; a way to grieve for a character that was lost, as Alivebur was genuinely a great character. However, with the plot slowly progressing c!Phil’s story to evolve away from the ‘mentor the kids’ trope , I should have seen a storm on the horizon.

It should have been seen from the moment he stabbed c!Wilbur in the chest, but optimism is one hell of a smokescreen.

Built up fanon, however, is probably the greatest fog to ever exist.

There are lines before the button room confrontation that paint a picture of Wilbur seeking out the approval of his father (who seemed distant, at least from his POV), as well as hints to the SBI dynamic, but with the countless dismissals/retcons from CCs involved, as well as little to no consistent canon acknowledgement of this team dad role...Why base an entire hate piece of c!Phil just because popular fanon isn’t real? 

Why, for the sake of building up a well rounded character, would one place the title of a communal parental figure on a grieving father who has little attachment to the community involved, especially when most of them are too busy delving into their own issues?

Furthermore, why go for Mr. Philza Minecraft: Angel of Death, CEO of KEKW, Functioning Immortal????

It’s madness, luv, and frankly, antis cannot let c!Phil process any of his grief (or flesh out his character) without his contributions being fatherly. His role has been idealized to the point where he is not a character on his own, but an accessory to the happiness of other characters. That is not how the world works, and in a conflict riddled server like the dsmp, arguing that it should be like that is counterproductive.

c!Phil had his own shit to deal with, and as he slowly uncovers how fucked up the server actually was, he merely adapts to it. He learns to play the game by his own rules, and people become mad that he’s succeeding in his own way. It's as simple as that, particularly when referencing his initial exposure to the world he now inhabits.

c!Phil is a man who used to hear of his son’s success from the letters he received, words spinning tales of won revolutions and newfound friendships. To a father, those letters are more than enough to assume that all is well, and with it, he had no reason to check on his son, who was already old enough to be carving his path alone. For him to arrive and see just how broken his son actually was, and then, in front of faces he only vaguely knows, kill said son... There's a lot to take in.

He shouldn't have had to care about L'Manberg in those moments, not when he had his son in his arms, dead by his own goddamn weapon; his son who, to his knowledge, was doing pretty well up until he caught wind of his plot. Yet, he does.

He gives them the benefIt of the doubt, even ignoring the one person he has shown to have deep history with (c!Techno) to assist the nation in defeating the withers and rebuilding what was lost.

c!Phil stays in a nation that has seemingly brought his son right into his demise, holding in that grief to help people who he assumes have the chance to rebuild, to reform. For a moment, he trusts that the system can turn into something positive, offering to hunker down and do what he can to help. That’s the start of a fatherly type role for most -- with many expectations rising from fans to ‘fix’ all these traumatized characters.

In another plot, perhaps critics could have gotten the tropes they want from c!Phil, but to blame the character for reacting negatively to a world he barely knew, right after seeing it ruin his son and target a friend...Maybe the need for a "father figure" only stems from making their faves happy.

Characters that don't directly support your fave are not inherently awful characters. Critique based on that alone is...flimsy, really, but honestly, you can use to to show how they process things.

Which brings me to the events leading up to Doomsday, and with it, the steady rise of c!Phil’s defining traits.

Say it with me, folks: c!Phil is one of the most loyal members on the server, but loyalty doesn’t mean he's blindly following along!

😃☝🏾Butcher Army take this L👉🏾😎👉🏾 Found it in the L’Mancrater

-- birb 2k21

The butcher army arc, while nestled among the mainline story of Tommy’s exile (which I will not even mention, because those dadza takes about visiting may deserve a post on their own), allows for c!Phil to see into the minds of those who had once been with (or even against) his son’s plans. Sure, he may be witnessing them after the eve of their newfound traumas, but this is an important observation to make when comparing how easy it was to denounce his affiliation to them and side with c!Technoblade.

Unlike the new Administration, slowly dipping deeper and deeper into their own form of power hunger, c!Technoblade’s base desires had never wavered. His trust in others, however, had, still nursing the sting of a betrayal, but with no conflict in sight. He is reforming, finding comfort in his solitude, and still maintaining contact with those he trusts.

Techno's Compass, for one, is a major example of their mutual trust. Despite being on opposing territories, they are civil enough to trust each other, just like old friends.

Thus, when you take two old friends who are more than used to conflict -- one grieving and one betrayed, but both seeking neutrality -- it shouldn’t have surprised the antis that c!Phil would place c!Techno’s whereabouts (and life, mind you) over some government he barely knew. 

And yet, above all else, c!Phil starts off as a neutral party for everyone's sake, forgoing potential conquest for peace.

To c!Phil and c!Techno, it’s like fighting back to back, knowing that one can always trust the other to fend off those just waiting to take advantage of your blindspot, while also quelling the need to imagine your partner turning around and doing the same. That sort of friendship is forged through many, many hardships.

They betray what little trust he had built in them. That’s on them.

c!Phil is aware how untrusting c!Techno is, and while c!Techno feels safe enough to give his all for c!Phil, he never exploits it to get ahead, which is something L'Manbergians felt okay with doing.

They take a book out of the playbook used on c!Techno, for c!Techno.

They went after yet another person who was close to him, using their power and influence to hold an execution under the guise of seeking justice. If c!Wilbur, at least pre-corruption arc, sent letters to his father, one would at least expect some of his old ideals of freedom and fairness to leak through into his friends, right? To see those c!Phil assumed would hold similar ideals immediately skew towards a darker, brutal side, particularly in threatening others to get what they wanted...Well, shit hit the fan.

c!Phil does not have that strong relationship with any former L’Manbergians, and despite there being potential for such, it didn't work out that way; instead, however, those characters manage to mistake his kindness for weakness. They take his preferred neutrality as a way to exploit him, to gain in such a way that he lost agency...

No more Mister Nice Dadza, and honestly, he’s justified in that notion.

They’ve lost his trust, time too short to have gained that strong link like c!Techno’s or c!Wilbur’s, and with it, came the inevitable association with Doomsday.

c!Phil knew c!Techno’s intentions from the beginning -- which had only wavered into dormancy because he had grown tired of fighting, understanding that the cycle he wishes to break is not worth his efforts -- so the agreement in participating is effortless. 

c!Dream was there too, of course, but in their mutual quest for eradication, it’s made canon that c!Techno and c!Phil hid away most of their arsenal, despite seeming overprepared. They have no loyalty to c!Dream; they’re smart enough to play along, however. He was a means to an end.

There’s no lies present in their relationship; c!Phil needed someone who didn’t try and pull wool over his eyes, and c!Techno let him see.

c!Techno needed someone who wouldn't stab him in the back, and c!Phil stayed true as his hidden sword.

Which is why, as the two joined forces, ideals aligning and power synergized, they didn’t think twice about nuking the nation to bedrock. Mutually agreeing that the system needs to die, they did what they could, and they succeeded.

How cool of them, tbh LMAO.

New L’Manberg tugged too hard at the sleeping tiger’s tail; they shouldn’t have expected it to roll over.

Their openness to each other was known.

There was no need for underhanded plays, for hidden betrayals, for undisclosed words.

Their loyalties were strong.

They were in sync.

In conclusion (maybe, maybe not...this shit is long holy heck)

😃☝🏾 I may hate this analysis in 30 minutes👉🏾😎👉🏾 Or I may make a part 2. Fuck it!

-- birb 2k21

And that’s what makes c!Phil an interesting character: He tends to be critiqued in reference to chatacters who have very well wronged him, have no affiliation to him or get associated to him through popular fanon. There's a lot to cover that I haven't (from Ghostbur to the whole Tommy 'dilemna') but overall I'm digging what I have now and if I ever get more energy, I'll continue!

c!Phil enthusiasts, I hope I did you proud LMAO. It's my first forray into this side of tumblr 👉🏾👈🏾 I'm a lurker.

c!Phil antis, you can either act respectful or go argue with a wall. I got experience dealing with antis on Tumblr; I am immune to BS.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed. Signing off!

- BIRB.

#dream smp #dsmp #philza #ph1lza #this one's for the c!phil enthusiasts hello hi ily all #I have spent the entire afternoon writing this while the power is out lmaoo #fandom leave my mans philza minecraft alone challenge #god i don't even know how long this is I'm so sorry #i let a little bit of my c!techno enthusiasm shine through too

[night-unfurls-its-splendour]

The Critique of Manners: Part III

~Or~

A Somewhat Indecisive Review of “Emma” (Miramax, 1996)

I have a feeling this review is gonna be a little harder for me to write. Everyone knows that recaps and reviews are most entertaining when the writer has an intense dislike (or intense feeling of any kind) for the drama they’re reviewing. It falls to other writers to pan or praise this film as they will, but I simply don’t have many particularly strong feelings about it at all. I have neither that repulsed dislike for this movie such as I did for Emma 1997, nor that disappointed frustration as for certain aspects of Emma. 2020, but neither do I have a deep, profound love and appreciation for it as I do for Emma 2009.  

Written and Directed by American Screenwriter, director and actor, Douglas McGrath, Emma (1996) is rather what one expects it to be: a 90’s romance film. Perhaps it’s because I had expectations due to the era in which it was made, but I think I have a tendency to excuse some of the problems with this film. There are many unnecessary additions (for comedy’s sake usually and often quite cringe-y) and one definitely can’t claim that the dialogue hasn’t been tampered with. I don’t normally side with the “I do so miss Austen’s biting wit” crowd but, by ‘eck I felt it this time. That’s because Austen’s Biting Wit™ just doesn’t suit a fluffy 90’s chick flick (which this film is in a way that other big screen Austen adaptations of the time just aren’t – and I think approaching this film from the 90’s chick flick perspective is probably the best way to digest it.) This version, more than any other (except perhaps 2009) brings the concept of Emma-as-Matchmaker to the fore with a particular emphasis precisely because it’s a concept that fits well with the rom-com style of filmmaking used here.

The bones of this review, like my review for the ITV version, were written six years ago following my initial viewing only a select number of portions survive from that review (which is still on IMDb).

As with all my reviews I'll be comparing the script, characterizations and plot to the book and commenting on the authenticity and attractiveness of the costumes, and suitability of the houses and sets.

Let’s dive in.

Cast & Characterization

Emma is arguably the easiest of Austen’s works to read because of Emma’s generally good (if condescending and overly self-confident) character, and Mr. Knightley’s sober, mature but exceedingly pleasant manner. I had my doubts about Gwyneth Paltrow playing an Austen heroine, but I at least had faith in Jeremy Northam’s ability to portray the mature Mr. Knightly. My expectations were not entirely disappointed in either case.

My prevailing feeling about this film is that it’s not so much set in Jane Austen’s Regency England, but in an American fantasy of what Regency England was like. Perhaps the biggest factor that reinforces this impression is (of course) the casting choice for our leading lady, Gwyneth Paltrow.

Freckled, ruddy and thin as a twig, Gwyenth didn’t quite, to my mind, fit the physical description of Emma, who is supposed to be “The picture of health” according to Mrs. Weston. Add to this the Regency beauty ideal of a soft and shapely figure with regular features. Fair hair was generally preferred (and I have always imagined Emma as blond, although I’m given to understand that Austen’s idea of pretty generally favored dark hair), so I can’t fault Gwynnie there. What I can fault though is her so-so British accent.

I recently learned that the reason McGrath thought Paltrow would be a good choice was because she’s the only Texan he’d ever met who’d managed to entirely throw off her native accent; I guess he decided that if she could do that she could do any accent work? I guess? Seems questionable to me.

You know Joely Richardson was considered for this part? Gorgeous, refined (British) GODDESS Joely Richardson was passed over because Gwyenth managed to shake an embarrassing accent.

I hate American directors.

I’m not sure if it’s just part of the accent, or her attempt to sound upper class, but on this most recent re-watch it hit me for the first time how very nasal many of her line deliveries are. She also has this problem with looking (and sounding) sort of vapid and… just what is happening here?

Is she having a stroke at the end there?

A bigger problem than Emma’s casting, however, is her characterization.

Part of the above mentioned script tampering is in lockstep with some of the issues with Emma’s characterization here. Her very teenager-esque swings from vowing to never make another match again to immediately trying to think of another guy to set Harriet up with, and her getting carried away in potential scenarios “But if he seems sad I shall know that John has advised him not to marry Harriet! I love John! Or he may seem sad because he fears telling me he will marry my friend. How could John let him do that? I hate John!” (Especially when you never even really get to meet John Knightley in this version? Ugh, pass me with this shit) is so bizarrely childish it’s a little hard to stomach. She spends the movie going back and forth between mature and manipulative to childish and naïve and it just… doesn’t work for me.  Emma can be all of these things but the transition from one extreme to another here seems a bit disjointed to me.

Knightley was a bit of a disappointment to me in this version. That’s not Jeremy Northam’s fault because I can’t think of a better choice they could have made. McGrath showed much better judgment with his choice for Mr. Knightley than he did with Emma.

My biggest problem with this interpretation was how laid back he was when he was supposed to chastising Emma. Their quarrels became more like mere disagreements so the proposal line of lecturing her and her bearing it as no other woman would have isn’t entirely earned. Even in the big scene at Box Hill where Knightley is really supposed to lay into Emma, he starts off pretty solidly, but by the end so doe-eyed and apologetic it fails to deliver the sting of rebuke that is Emma’s biggest learning moment in the story. Perhaps they were trying to go for a more disappointed feel (the kind that makes you feel worse than being shouted at because you really respect the person you let down) but it just didn’t come through for me.

Also of note is the fact that, (I assume) because John Knightley isn’t really allowed time to be a character in this film, McGrath took some of John’s introverted tendencies and transplanted them into his more convivial older brother (“I just want to stay home, where it’s cozy.” – I mean I feel that, but this isn’t something George Knightley would say.) 

Onto the less central characters

I question also the choice of Toni Colette for Harriet Smith. I mean I actually liked her performance more on this watch than previously but I just don’t think she’s pretty enough for Harriet, and she looks a bit clumsy (though that might have more to do with her costumes.)

I also noted that McGrath bumps Harriet’s comprehension skills up just a scooch. Emma never has to explain the “Courtship” riddle to her, Harriet figures it out on her own after a while, while she never manages to in the book.

Now we come to the crux of Jane Fairfax, played by Polly Walker. I don’t care for this choice. My issue is the simple fact that she just isn’t believable to me as a demure, wronged character like Jane Fairfax. Seriously she looks like she would sooner throw Frank across the room than take his cruel teasing, and not in the subtle way that Olivia Williams managed to. They never even utilized her by including some of Jane’s more pointed returns to Frank’s jabs, which they even managed to squeeze into the massively cut down TV movie.    

Speaking of Frank; Ewan McGregor, though generally delightful, was so under-used. Frank and Jane’s plotline always kind of gets shafted in Theatrical release adaptations of this story. It’s not as bad here as it is in say, the 2020 adaptation (they were in that version so little I actually forgot what their actors looked like), but it’s still pretty stunted.

I find it interesting that Ewan McGregor himself thinks his performance in this movie isn’t good; and I’ll agree it’s not his best (certainly it’s no Obi-wan Kenobi) but I thought he did a pretty good job with obviously unfamiliar material

Also if the Davies screenplay of ’97 made Frank’s character too caddish, I think this version didn’t make him caddish enough. I mean he’s hardly around enough to really develop his flirtation with Emma, and they merged Strawberry Picking and Box Hill into one sequence so we never see Frank’s ill humors. I can perhaps excuse this, since it seems like a nuanced story really wasn’t what McGrath was going for here, I think. This is a lite version of the story; schmaltzy fluff for teenage girls’ movie nights. Frank’s ill humors wouldn’t really have fit the tone of this version at all.

Interestingly enough, though it’s taken me a long time to make this decision, I think Alan Cumming might be the definitive Elton? He’s the only one who doesn’t immediately read as a slime ball from the get go. I mean he’s got all the warning signs that Austen wrote into him, but no more than that. He’s not slinking about greasily or obviously pandering (at first), so Emma’s uneasy realization of what’s really happening here isn’t a hundred miles behind the viewer’s (maybe just fifty).

There are as many Mrs. Eltons out there as there are adaptations of this story, and they’re all pretty great (funky accents aside), but other than the 1997 take, this one might be the least great to me. She’s not nearly pushy enough, because Mrs. Elton would never let Emma prompt the conversation when she could do it herself.

  Also, I think McGrath misunderstands Mrs. Elton’s brand of New Money vulgarity. He has her talking with her mouthful, clanking her utensils on her plate as she eats, putting biscuits which she’s bitten into back onto communal plates, which I think even Mrs. Elton would know not to do. Table manners are pretty basic; the couth that Mrs. Elton lacks is of a more nuanced social kind – for instance, what is and isn’t considered gauche to talk about (like how big one’s brother in law’s house is or how many horses he keeps.)

(A sudden thought has just occurred to me: is Mrs. Elton just a more mean-spirited Hyacinth Bucket from Keeping Up Appearances? “It’s meh sister, Mrs. Suckling! That’s right, the one with an estate in Warwickshire and the two barouche landaus!”)

Sophie Thompson’s Miss Bates is chatty and one of better takes on the character, but lack of necessary background hinders her impact on Emma’s story. The comedy in her scenes is some of the best and actually made me laugh, although I think she was just way too giggly.

Miss Bates’s mother, Mrs. Bates, is played by Sophie Thompson’s real-life mother Phyllida Law in a completely coincidental quirk of casting. (I noted in this film how very much Emma Thompson, Sophie’s older sister looks like their mother.)

My only other serious issue with characterization in this adaptation is the representation of Mr. Woodhouse. He is somehow simultaneously more cheery and more disagreeable than he is in the book. His chiding about the cake at the Weston’s wedding seems more like a scolding rather than an anxious admonishment. In one of the first scenes, during Mr. Woodhouse’s “Poor Miss Taylor” speech, he says he cannot understand why she would want to give up her comfortable life with himself and Emma, to have “mewling children who bring the threat of disease every time they enter or leave the house,” and he says this IN FRONT OF ONE OF HIS TWO DAUGHTERS.

Of course in the book, Mr. Woodhouse does lament Miss Taylor marrying, leaving and even having children – but this is all in the context of the danger childbirth presents to Miss Taylor (And the fact that he can’t stand losing a companion). These are his complaints – not the children themselves. In addition, his elder daughter has quite a fine number of children, all of them very young, of whom Mr. Woodhouse is very fond. He’s a character that needs to be carefully handled because, much like his daughter, it’s very easy for him to become unlikeable.

For the rest of the time, though, he just sort of cheerily laughs and is very at ease, when Mr. Woodhouse, as a chronic hypochondriac should be made anxious by just about everything.

Sets & Surroundings

One thing I find interesting about this adaptation is that the houses they chose to use are all of a very neo-classical Palladian style, which I believe (given her disdain for the contemporary trend of knocking down England’s great houses just to rebuild them in a more fashionable style) Austen may have disliked to some degree.

One such house is Came House in Dorset, which was used as the Woodhouse’s estate, Hartfield. Now Hartfield is, I think, described as a well-built modern house so this could be pretty accurate (although Modern could refer to the red bring, boxy style of Georgian architecture, such as the houses used in the 1997, 2009 and 1972 versions.)

Another, Claydon House in Buckinghamshire played the role of Donwell Abbey. I think this might be the worst exterior ever used for Donwell, from a book accuracy perspective. Utterly Georgian, with its’ square façade, Claydon house sort of directly contradicts Austen description of being “Larger than Hartfield, and totally unlike it, covering a good deal of ground, rambling and irregular…” not only is the architecture totally wrong, so is its’ situation, in Georgian fashion, perched on a hill, when Donwell (a very old building) is supposed to be “Low and sheltered”.

Mapperton House is maybe the grandest house yet used for Mr. Weston’s Randalls (I’ve already covered in my review of Emma (2020) why this is a problem – although in this version, as in the 1997 adaptation, there’s no full panic over the snow, so this is less of a problem, but a house like this is still too grand for the reasonably sized Randalls of the book), but it fits the usual 15th-16th century house type that always seems to be used for Randalls.

A myriad of other great houses were used for interiors, however other than Crichel House (Dorset), which was used for Donwell’s interiors, I can’t find information on which ones where used for what. They include Breakspear House (Harefield), Coker Court (Somerset), Stafford House (Staffordshire) and Syon House & Park (Middlesex).

I really appreciate the interiors which were all very colorful and even included doors and molding painted the same color as the walls which is a very Georgian decorating convention, although it looks odd to the modern viewer.

Costumes & Hair

As a rule, the costumes (Created by Ruth Myers) in this movie are pretty damn good, composition wise, but the arrangement leaves a lot to be desired. Myers talked extensively of wanting the costumes to be colorful and bright like the water colors of the time, which she achieved brilliantly. What I find funny is that she talked about using color as if it would be controversial from a historical accuracy point of view, which couldn’t be further from the truth.

The evening wear is generally excellent

My only question around evening wear here is… what’s up with the waistline on Harriet’s ball gown? Why is it going up in the middle? Toni Collette (who actually gained weight for the role, since Harriet was described as “Reubenesque”) verged on looking a little dumpy throughout the film and awkwardly bumping up her waistline in the middle really didn’t help.

I’m pleased to report that is is the one version where Miss Bates’s evening-wear is allowed to look like evening wear. Even Maiden Aunts wore shorter sleeves and lower necklines at dinner or balls. They fussed her up with some lace gloves and frilly fichus but it follows the conventions of the time. I appreciate that immensely, though I have the sneaking suspicion that it’s because of Sophie Thompson’s age.

At 37 Thompson was an unconventionally young choice for Miss Bates, a character who previously had only been cast as older than 50 (Prunella Scales, who would play the role later in 1996, was 64). Indeed, Douglas McGrath almost passed Thompson over for the role on account of her age, but reconsidered after seeing her in spectacles. It seems possible to me that since Thompson was considered young they dressed her “young” as well.

The daywear is where the costumes start to really fall apart. There are a lot of looks here worn in the day that are VERY not day/outerwear appropriate, especially on Emma, most especially the yellow dress she’s wearing while driving that carriage (which, btw is inappropriate on a whole OTHER level). Can we just talk aboutt he cognative dissonance of bothering to put a bonnet on her when her arms and boobs are just hanging out like that? Like, it would almost have been less egregious to just leave the bonnet where it was.

But then there are a lot of Emma’s day-wear looks that are perfectly suitable and appropriate. What I find ironic about that is that most of the short-sleeved, low-necked “Evening-gowns as day-wear” looks are worn OUTSIDE in the sun and most of the long-sleeved, sun protecting, day-wear appropriate looks are worn INSIDE.  She’s also got a profusion of dangling curls in day-time settings that are also more evening-wear appropriate (to match the dresses, perhaps?)

I’m also pleased to report that even in day-wear Miss Bates gets a break from brown in this version. Her clothes are nice, but not fancy like Miranda Hart’s in Emma. 2020, and I like to think that nice thick shawl with lace overlay is the one mentioned in the book that Jane’s friend Mrs. Dixon sent along home with her for her aunt.

My only problem with Mrs. Elton’s kit is that it’s all perfectly nice, but none of it is overly-nice. There’s no extra trim, no unnecessary lace, not even any bold colors. I hope Myers and McGrath didn’t take Mrs. Elton’s line in the book about her fear of being over-trimmed seriously.

Let’s talk outerwear. There’s a lot of going into town with JUST a shawl on in this movie (usually over short sleeves), and I’m sorry but I don’t think that’s how outer-wear worked in this time period. A shawl is good enough when you’re taking a turn in the garden but not for going out in public into town, unless maybe you’re wearing long sleeves, or perhaps paired with a SPENCER.

Never mind Mrs. Elton’s line about a shocking lack of satin at the end of the movie, I’m more concerned about the shocking lack of spencers. There are precisely three in this film. I counted (and the sleeves on Emma’s look like maybe they’re too long for her?) Mrs. Elton sports the only redingote in the film.

Jane Fairfax is, as always, in her classic Jane Fairfax Blue™,

although she has some nice white gowns at some points too.

Now, onto 

Definitely a bit more colorful than the 97 adaptation. Mr. Knightley benefits most from the addition of colors other than green. He’s even got some smashing waistcoats and a very nice blue evening coat (I couldn’t get very good shots of them though). The problem is; those trousers? NOT. TIGHT. ENOUGH.

Also… you all see it, right? I circled it in red so you should. Yeah. Knightley is dancing in boots. WTF RUTH? Please! You’re better than this! Who dances in Prussians like that? I ask you! (Frank also wears boots to the Cole’s dinner party so that’s two strikes.)

I’m not sold on Frank’s looks. His day-wear is a bit sedate for such a confirmed dandy (I believe he’s called a “coxcombe” in the book?) and his evening wear… well he apparently only has the one look.

And speaking of Frank’s look in this film, I’d like to know at whose doorstep I should lay the blame for what Ewan McGregor himself has called “The Worst Wig Ever”; and why the hair designer in charge decided to model Frank’s aesthetic on a theme of “Chucky meets the Mad Hatter”.

This hairstyle not only looks dreadful, it’s not at all fashionable or authentic to this time period! Fashionable mens’ hair styles at this point were all relatively short. A Beau Brummel coiffeur, or a short Roman style, or a fashionable head of curls like Mr. Elton’s! Not this farmer chic. Robert Martin’s hair is more fashionable than Frank’s!

The tune they chose for Emma and Knightley’s dance is a baroque melody (so a hundred or so years out of fashion) called “Mr. Beveridge’s Maggot” and as is pointed out in the video linked above, and is the same tune and dance used for Lizzie and Darcy’s big dance in Pride and Prejudice (1995).

I get why it was used in P&P because, slow, stately baroque tunes are often used as on-screen short hand for snobbish character like Mr. Darcy. It’s not super intense either, like the baroque tune used in P&P 05, which was chosen for more romantic effect. So why use this kind of “stuck up” tune for what should be a romantic dance? Maybe because it was used in the 95 P&P which became, almost instantly, one of the most popular Austen adaptations?

Quick note on the dancing and music in this movie. I’m not an expert on English Country dance (I’ll outsource that by giving you the usual link to Tea with Cassiane’s analysis on YouTube) but I’ll add my two cents  - I know Cassiane gave this a pretty favorable three full dance slippers but I think the way all of the actors and dancers move looks very poorly rehearsed and kind of sloppy. I think everyone just spread out way too much.

Douglas McGrath’s Script

I have to say one of the things this film did very well and brought to the forefront is how insular Emma’s life is. The opening credit sequence brings this to our attention right away by showing a spinning globe which, once it slows down is shown to be, literally, Emma’s whole tiny world. Hartfield, Donwell, Randalls and Highbury. That’s it. It’s perhaps not a very subtle device, but it does get the job done and very succinctly too.

I would now like to talk about my issues with the script of this movie; I have some problems with it. Very different problems than it’s 1996 counterpart though.

 First let’s go over the comedic device that jumped out to me most in this movie: the awkward pause.

I think it’s only used twice but they both bothered me.

First there’s the pauses while Emma and Mrs. Weston grill Knightley on whether he considers Jane Fairfax romantically. It’s all written as very “OoOoOooo” with Knightley answering their interrogations and then sitting between them awkwardly as they stare him down as, none of his answers giving either Emma or Mrs. Weston satisfaction. This is one of the most teen rom-com moments of the film to me.

Next there’s all the quiet stretches while Emma and Mrs. Elton have tea at Hartfield. I don’t like the use of awkward pauses in this case because (as I mentioned in Mrs. Elton’s characterization section) it’s so ludicrous to me that there are pauses in this conversation at all. Surely the point of Mrs. Elton is that she loves to hear herself talk and her conceited obsession with the idea that everyone around her must only benefit from hearing her opinions. There should be no conceivable reason why Emma should have to prompt conversation like she does in McGrath’s version of this scene, except to derail Mrs. Elton’s constant self-important yammering.

Watching it this time around I found myself wondering exactly what McGrath wanted to do with this film. I mean I’ve been attempting to decipher exactly whether the changes made were conscious and based on artistic vision, or whether they were changed because the source material just flew over McGrath’s Hollywood Director head.

I mean he gets the important plot points across, but there were other scenes that I had issues with: namely, the Archery scene. This is a pretty intense part of the book because Mr. Knightly goes from astonished, to indignant, to truly vexed with Emma in a short period of time. But this scene in the movie is very casual. The part where Emma’s arrow goes wide and into the general direction of Knightley’s dogs, and he takes an opportunity to make a quip and says “try not to kill my dogs” particularly annoyed me. My issue is that this totally ruins the tension of the scene; and why are Knightley’s dogs sitting BEHIND THE TARGETS ANYWAY? Knightley is a sensible man, and one who knows better than to let his dogs rest in a place where stray arrows could hit them!

The dialouge is very jarring because it flips back and forth beetween being alright, and period appropriate and then it will just spring a very modern turn of phrase and pull you completely out of the setting. I know this is something that’s been brought up with the 2009 version as well but maybe it’s because the actors in that version have (in my opinion) better chemistry that it simply doesn't stick out to me as much.

The comedy in general in this movie just makes me cringe a lot of the time (Sophie Thompson’s “oh sorry, napkin” bit notwithstanding). Like the soup thing when Emma and Harriet meet Mr. Elton after visiting the poor, and the random kid that gets tossed into this scene with Emma… just doesn’t work for me.

Wikipedia describes McGrath’s tweaks on Emma and Knightley’s banter (which really weren’t changed that much, textually) as “Enlivened” to make the basis of their attraction more apparent, which… I’m sorry but nothing about the exisiting banter isn’t lively if delivered in a lively manner. And I wouldn’t exactly call Gywneth’s performance lively, because she has to concentrate to keep that accent up.

I mentioned already that what McGrath essentially did with Emma was take Austen’s story, and remove the nuance (Such as lightening Frank’s infractions in his relationship with Jane and, while not totally contradicting, but also not highlighting the economic commentary of the story that is thematic in Austen’s novel) in order to make a straight up 90’s comedic romance film (Which, if you doubt this, look no further than Rachel Portman’s Oscar Winning but very dated score).

My Question is why? Why bother when the SAME STORY had been adapted into a HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL, modernized rom-com THE PREVIOUS YEAR, which actually, even while being set in the 90’s, did the story greater justice, with far more insight and quality?

Emma (1996) was always going to be over-shadowed by Clueless. At the end of the day this whole movie was kind of a futile effort because despite excellent production quality, the actual contents are watered down and, in my own opinion, pretty roundly mediocre.

Final Thoughts

When I first watched both of these versions I came at it from a very one-or-the-other perspective. I forgave McGrath’s film because it was light and colorful and I’d heard Davies’ version praised so highly at that time as the only faithful, definitive version (only to be let down by it in almost every possible way). But coming right down to it now, it’s hard for me to really excuse McGrath’s effort because a version of Emma that doesn’t take itself seriously enough is almost as bad as a version that takes itself too seriously.

It never fails to jump out at me how diametrically opposed these interpretations are, from the characterization right down to the tone and lighting.

McGrath’s Emma is light in every sense of the word, where Davies’ is dark and ponderous. McGrath’s Knightley is laid back where Davies’ is aggressive and ferocious. Frank, in McGrath’s version, is let off easy by the narrative playing down his moodiness, while in Davies there’s an overshadowing dark-cloud of off-putting caddishness.

Ribbon Rating: Tolerable (58 Ribbons)

The more I watch the 1996 adaptations of Emma (invariably back-to-back) the more firmly I am convinced that Andrew Davies’ made for TV film was (in some ways) a direct response to McGrath’s motion picture.

Tone: 7

Casting: 7

Acting: 5

Scripting: 5

Pacing: 4

Cinematography: 4

Setting: 5

Costumes: 6

Music: 5

Book Accuracy: 6

#jane austen #jane austen emma #regency #period drama #costume drama #classic literature #emma 1996

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Psycho Analysis: Vlad Masters/Vlad Plasmius

 (WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS!)

Danny Phantom is the one truly great thing Butch Hartman can still slap his name on. A fantastic show, it evokes the fun of oldschool comics while still keeping that Hartman charm. But as a superhero show, it’s only as good as its villains, and thankfully it has one of the most impressive rogues galleries this side of the PPG. But every great rogues gallery needs a great archenemy, and of course Danny Phantom is able to provide that.

Vlad Masters, AKA Vlad Plasmius, is one of the coolest antagonists in a series chock full of cool antagonists. He has the style, he has the flair, he’s a politician, he has the hots for Danny’s mom and is a Green Bay Packers fan! What a fiend! Vlad is a great foil for Danny in a lot of ways due to being essentially a more experienced version of Danny himself due to having years of practice with his powers, which allows the show to showcase Danny’s growth as a hero as the threat of Vlad diminishes with time going on.

Shame about all those dropped plotlines, though.

Motivation/Goals: As established in his very first appearance, Vlad is a man who, despite his immense wealth, desires things he can’t possibly have. Humorously, one of these things is the Green Day Packers, but less humorously one of those things is Danny as a protege or even as a son. He frequently tries to get Danny to join him or to find some way to weasel his way into Danny’s life in ways that bring us into his third and most definitive motivation.

You see, Vlad “loves” Maddie Fenton. This is in quotations because the show makes it abundantly clear he loves the idea of having her more than anything else and that his attraction is entirely surface-level bitterness at Jack having something he doesn’t. So Vlad is a man who goes out of his way to try and woo a woman who has a rather clear lack of interest in him due to being married, yet still he continues to pursue her romantically despite the sheer impossibility. There’s a word for men like Vlad… you know what it is… Vlad Master is a

This alone truly solidifies him as one of the most evil men in fiction, and he honestly might be the biggest simp of all. Move over, Mordecai! The simp king is here to claim his crown! And if you doubt that Vlad is less of a simp than Mordecai… he’s a middle aged man who has been lusting after the same girl since college and has amassed a massive fortune and gained tons of power (through illegitimate means, according to the creators) solely so he can try and cuck his former best friend. Mordecai temporarily killing Rigby over a girl doesn’t even come close to the levels of simping on display. He literally named his cat after Maddie! Vlad is next level.

Performance: Martin Mull portrays Vlad and gives him the perfect classy yet slimy voice, but can you expect much less from the man deemed worthy to take up the mantle of Colonel Mustard in Clue? For the most part, Vlad remains a very effective villain who raises the stakes when he appears, and a lot of his intimidation factor comes from how well Mull is able to sell Vlad even when he’s doing really dumb stuff or is the butt of jokes. He definitely helps cement Vlad as the Norman Osborn of the 2000s.

Final Fate: After all of his scheming, all of his tricks, his becoming mayor of Amity Park, his hounding of Danny, Vlad ultimately decides to reveal his full hand when a deadly meteor is about to strike the Earth and wipe out all life. He ropes Jack into helping him, and of course Jack is crushed to learn the man he considered his best friend has not only hated him for years, but has constantly been trying to steal his wife and family from him. So when Vlad fails to stop the meteor and realizes there is no way he can return to Earth and face the people there now, he turns to Jack and pathetically asks if Jack would help a friend. And of course Jack says he would help a friend… but Vlad? No.

And so he abandons Vlad in the lonely vacuum of space, where he is doomed to wander as a pariah. The exchange between Jack and Vlad here is one of the sole bright spots in the otherwise depressingly awful series finale, “Phantom Planet,” so hell yeah am I gonna go into tons of detail about it. It’s probably one of Jack’s finest moments, as he finally stands up to the Simp King who has been stalking his family for years now.

Also Vlad gets crushed by a meteor at the very end of the episode.

Best Episodes: I think with Vlad it really depends on what you’re looking for. His introductory episode, “Bitter Reunions,” is a wonderful first impression that really set the tone for him for at least the first two seasons. “Masters of All Time” shows an alternate, powerless Vlad who still manages to be every bit as horrible as the main Vlad. And “The Ultimate Enemy” showcases him at his most sympathetic, with his brief appearance being a fantastic addition to an already stellar special.

Best Quote: Vlad drops this line in “Reign Storm,” and while nothing ever came from that particular plotline, this line has always stuck with me: “What? That I used two fourteen year old pawns to turn a knight and topple a king? It's chess, Daniel. Of course you don't understand. But then, you never really did.”

Final Thoughts & Score: Vlad is certainly a cool villain and a great foe, but unfortunately the show drops the ball with him a bit, though I think at least some of that is intentional. In the early seasons, he is much more dangerous and competent, having had decades to master his powers while Danny is still relatively new. But as time goes on, and Danny becomes more and more powerful and more accustomed to his abilities, Vlad’s threat level diminishes significantly, and while he is certainly no slouch, he loses a lot of his luster and his schemes become more petty and pathetic.

I think a lot of this can be attributed to his arrogance and pride, as well as his selfish desires. Vlad’s motivation is constantly to have things he simply cannot have and childishly act out of spite when he can’t get what he wants. More than anything he wants Danny as his son and Maddie as his wife, but it’s pretty apparent he doesn’t care about Maddie beyond the surface level and even with Danny it seems he more wants to spite Jack due to perceived slights than anything. He’s just a bitter, miserable, lonely man who is incapable of self-reflection; in fact, the only timeline in which Vlad realizes the error of his ways is one in which Danny’s whole family and Danny himself die, with his own powers being stripped away from him. His own ego and pride hinder any growth, and in the end it is ultimately what does him in, since he is left abandoned alone in space by the man he repeatedly tried to stab in the back, unable to return home to Earth because he foolishly revealed his powers, thinking he had everything under control.

While I do think his threat level diminishes a bit and the show doesn’t handle him quite as well as they could, I do think he’s a very effective thematic villain and an excellent archenemy to Danny. I do wish they had utilized some dropped plotlines such as whatever he was going to do with Fright Knight and of course the stuff with Dani, and I’d be lying if I said it didn’t hold him back from a perfect score, but I’d still say Vlad deserves a 9/10. A lot of it is because of his cool design and voice acting, and a lot of it is because he’s honestly a pretty savage deconstruction of the type of shallow, obsessive character type he embodies…

...but let’s be honest, he scores this high because he is the ultimate simp in all of fiction. Truly there is nothing more evil than that.

#Psycho Analysis #Vlad Masters #Vlad Plasmius #Danny Phantom #Martin Mull

[claudia1829things]

"LITTLE WOMEN" (2017) Review

"LITTLE WOMEN" (2017) Review There have been a good number of adaptations of Louisa May Alcott's 1868-69 novel, "Little Women". Although it was not the first adaptation ever made, the first one I had ever seen was the two-part 1978 miniseries that aired on NBC. But the most recent adaptation I have seen also aired on television. It was Heidi Thomas' three-part miniseries that aired on the BBC in 2017.

For some reason "LITTLE WOMEN" - or at least this adaptation - has failed to win any acclaim in compare to the 1994 and 2019 movies. At least with the American press. The British press, on the other hand, seemed very impressed by Heidi Thomas' adaptation. Frankly, this situation seems like a case of national pride - a British television producer adapting a famous American novel. As for the American press - what can I say? Was this version of "LITTLE WOMEN" really that mediocre? Or was this a case of American journalists resenting the very British Heidi Thomas adapting Alcott's novel? I certainly had some quibbles regarding "LITTLE WOMEN". In an effort to be more politically correct, the miniseries featured two minor African-American characters - a badly wounded Union soldier and a wig maker in Concord, Massachusetts. I had no problems with the wig maker's presence. But I definitely had a problem with the presence of the wounded black soldier being nursed by Mr. March, the four protagonists' father, during the miniseries' first half hour. "LITTLE WOMEN" began right before Christmas 1861. The Union Army did not begin recruiting black soldiers until the mid-July 1862. The 2017 miniseries also featured another historical blooper. Sometime during the second episode, one of the characters mentioned the Battle of Ball's Bluff being recently fought. This is impossible, considering the battle was actually fought at least two months before the story began. I had a few other quibbles regarding "LITTLE WOMEN". As much as I had enjoyed his performances as the March family's neighbor, Mr. March, I must admit that I found Michael Gambon's American accent rather sketchy. Thomas made a mistake that many other adaptations made - she allowed one actress, namely Kathryn Newton, to portray the youngest March sibling, Amy. Newton is an excellent actress, but there were times when she seemed a bit too old to be portraying a pre-teen and later early teens Amy. The 1949 MGM movie allowed Amy, as portrayed by the 16-17 year-old Elizabeth Taylor, to be older than Beth. The production barely got away with this. But only the 1994 movie had cast two actresses to portray Amy - Kirsten Dunst (who was roughly 11 to 12 years old when that movie was shot) and later, Samantha Mathis. One last problem - or should I say quibble - bothered me about "LITTLE WOMEN". Hairstyles. Especially the hairstyles worn by one Josephine "Jo" March. I understand that Jo is considered the "tomboy" of the March family. And I could understand the casual or loose style in which she wore her hair during the first half of the story . . . and inside the family home. But there were times when she wore her hair in a similar manner when she was outside. And "tomboy" or not, I just cannot see Jo being so relaxed with her hair - at least not in public and not during the 1860s. Sometimes, I feel that this effort to portray Jo as a "free spirit" went a little too far. The American press had more problems with "LITTLE WOMEN". The main theme behind their dissatisfaction seemed to be criticisms of the production's "faithful" adaptation of Alcott's novel. In other words, the miniseries is a stridently conservative adaptation. It lacked - at least according to Sonia Sariya of "Vanity Fair" magazine - progress. Critics accused the miniseries of following Alcott's novel by allowing all of the sisters to adhere to the social dictates of mid-century United States. As I write this, I am trying to so hard not to punch my fist through my computer screen or scream in frustration. "LITTLE WOMEN" is an adaptation of a novel that was published in 1868, not 1968 or 2018. Or perhaps they were pissed that Jo ended up married to Professor Bhaer, which did not happen in Alcott's original ending (before it was changed). I keep forgetting that many of today's feminists believe that the only way a woman can achieve her dream or be "fulfilled" is by avoiding matrimony altogether. I also find it odd that none of these critics have demanded the same fate for the protagonists featured in any of the Jane Austen adaptations, including the recent movie, "EMMA". So, why dump this nonsense on this particular production? Because it was a British adaptation . . . of an American novel? I came away with the feeling that the overreaching theme for "LITTLE WOMEN" seemed to be personal self-satisfaction for its four major protagonists. This adaptation featured the first time Elizabeth "Beth" March, third and most reserved sister, being portrayed as someone who suffered from social anxiety disorder, instead of mere shyness. I had once come across an article on the Internet that claimed the recent 2019 movie adaptation had finally done justice to the youngest March sister and not portray her as a villain. I could only shake my head in confusion. I have never regarded Amy as a villain. Certainly not in this or any of the other adaptation of "Little Women". Yes, Amy could be vain, coddled and a bit spiteful. But she had to struggle to overcome some of her negative traits and at the same time, develop into a strong-minded woman who knew what she wanted in life - to become an artist and live a life beyond genteel poverty. The same could be said for the oldest March sister, Margaret "Meg". She starts out as a young woman, who is already regarded as ideal in the story. Some have criticized Meg for her desire for domestic bliss. Superficially, I believe there is nothing wrong with this. After all, it is a woman's right to choose what she wants in life. However, like Amy, Meg also harbored a desire to be both socially acceptable and wealthy. I never had a problem with Amy attaining this position, because I have always suspected she was emotionally suited to such a lifestyle. I believe Meg was a different story. I believe Meg had to learn to attain her desire for domestic bliss in a way that suited her, instead of Amy. And she had to realize that kowtowing to her great-Aunt March's demands for all of the March sisters to marry the "right men" (namely wealthy) and take their places within the upper-classes was not the way. At least for her. Meg's encounter with Laurie's British upper-class friends, the Vaughns, may have finally allowed her to question her previous desire to be socially acceptable. While viewing this miniseries, it had occurred to me that Josephine "Jo" March might the most complicated of the four sisters. Many admire Jo for her artistic ambitions to be a writer and her independent spirit. But I thought Heidi Thomas did an excellent job in conveying how Jo can sometimes be her own worst enemy. Despite her ambition to be a novelist, she was willing to waste her literary talents to create cheap melodramas to help support the family. Initially, I saw nothing wrong with this. However, Jo seemed doomed to continue wasting her talent with writing cheap melodramas. She probably would have continued this path if her parents and Professor Bhaer had not encouraged to take a chance and embrace her true artistic potential. Another aspect of this production that really impressed me was how Heidi Thomas made Jo's rejection of Laurie's marriage proposal more plausible. Clearer. This was especially apparent in scenes that featured Jo's quiet rejections of Laurie's romantic overtures, her final rejection of his marriage proposal and her conversation with her mother on why Laurie could never be the right husband for her. But it is obvious that Jo's biggest problem was her fear of losing her family - not only to death, but also to love and marriage. This explained her hostile attitude toward Meg's romance with John Brooke. Jo seemed to be afraid of growing up. And she seemed to dread that growing up would eventually mean losing her sisters. "LITTLE WOMEN" features some differences from Alcott's novel. Did these changes hurt the miniseries' narrative? Well, I some issues with Thomas' erroneous mentions of historical events of the Civil War. On the hand, I thought her portrayal of Beth suffering from social anxiety disorder was something of a masterstroke. The miniseries did not feature a great deal of Alcott's religious additions to the story . . . something I did not miss. There were other aspects from Alcott's story that was also missing - the family newspaper, the Pickwick Club, and the sisters' amateur dramatics. But honestly? I did not miss them. Earlier, I had criticized some of the hairstyles worn by actress Maya Hawke, during her portrayal of Jo March. However, I certainly cannot criticize Eimer Ni Mhaoldomhnaigh's costume designs. I do not regard them as among the best 1860s costumes I have seen on television or in the movies. But I thought they were pretty solid, as shown in the image below:

Knowing that this adaptation of Alcott's novel was a British production, I thought Susie Cullen's production designs did a first-rate job in converting the Ireland locations into mid-19th century Massachusetts, New York City and Great Britain. Considering the miniseries was shot in Ireland, perhaps Ms. Cullen's job proved to be easier than I had originally assumed. I certainly enjoyed Piers McGrail's photography for the miniseries. I found it beautiful, thanks to the colorful and sharp images. One of the best aspects of "LITTLE WOMEN" - at least for me - proved to be its cast. The 2017 miniseries featured solid performances from supporting players that include Julian Morris as John Brooke, Meg March's future husband; Helen Methven as the March family's housekeeper Hannah; Adrian Scarborough as Amy’s teacher, Mr. Davis; Kathleen Warner Yeates as Aunt Carroll; Richard Pepple as a local Concord wigmaker; along with Felix Mackenzie-Barrow and Mei Bignall as the visiting Vaughn siblings. But there were supporting performances that impressed me. Dylan Baker gave the most memorable portrayal of Mr. March, the sisters' father, I have seen on-screen. It helped that his character was never in danger of being pushed to the background, unlike other adaptations I have seen. Mark Stanley gave a very charming and intelligent performance as Professor Bhaer, the German scholar whom Jo befriended while working as a governess in New York City. Stanley made it very easy for me to see how Jo would find Professor Bhaer so attractive. I really enjoyed Angela Landsbury's portrayal of Mr. March's aunt, Aunt March. The actress did such a marvelous job in conveying the character's forthright and controlling nature. Michael Gambon's portrayal of the Marches' neighbor, the elderly Mr. Laurence. Gambon did an excellent job of developing the character from a reserved and forbidding man grieving over a recently deceased child to a wise and compassionate friend and grandparent. If I had to choose my favorite on-screen Mrs. March aka "Marmee" I have seen, the honor would go to Emily Watson. I really enjoyed how Watson portrayed Marmee as this wise, yet pragmatic woman struggling to keep her family together. Another excellent performance came from Jonah Hauer-King, the story's "boy-next-door" who became a close friend of the March sisters. I cannot deny that Hauer-King gave one of the most complex performances in the miniseries. He did an excellent job in conveying the positive aspects of Laurie's personality - including his charm and loyalty to the March famiy; and the character's more negative aspects - namely his impatience, his inability to understand Jo's intellectual pursuits and his own quick temper. Naturally, I had to turn my attention to the four actresses who portrayed the March sisters. Thanks to Thomas, actress Annes Elwy was given the opportunity to portray the reserved Beth March from the prospective of one suffering from social anxiety disorder. And Elway did an excellent job of conveying Beth's emotional disorder and the struggles she endured to overcome it. Earlier, I had complained that Kathryn Newton was too old to portray Amy March during the first two years of the war. And I stand by this complaint. But I cannot deny that I ended up enjoying Newton's performance of the ambiguous Amy anyway. And I am thankful she did not make the mistake of exaggerating her performance to portray a character seven to eight years younger - something that many actors and actresses tend to do. Someone had once complained that Willa Fitzgerald's portrayal of the oldest March sister, seemed "too mature". And I do not understand this complaint. Meg was not only the oldest sibling, but possessed a personality that led her to occasionally behave like a "quasi parent" to her younger sisters. And Fitzgerald did a first-rate job in portraying his aspect of Meg's personality and her role within the March family hierarchy. As for Maya Hawke - questionable hairstyle aside - I truly enjoyed her performance as the story's main protagonist, the artistic and tomboyish Josephine "Jo" March. She did a superb job in capturing the many complex textures of Jo's personality. More importantly, Hawke also did an excellent job of developing Jo from this gawky and outgoing personality to someone forced to grow into adulthood - even if a little reluctantly. It is a pity that Hawke's performance was never acknowledge with an acting nomination of any kind. In fact, it is a pity that very few have been able to truly appreciate this adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's novel. The three-part miniseries seemed to be overshadowed by two recent adaptations - Gillian Armstrong's 1994 film and Greta Gerwig's 2019 production. I am not putting these two films down. But as far as I am concerned, Heidi Thomas' miniseries strikes me as worthy as those two films. In fact, I feel it is just as worthy as other adaptations of the novel - including the 1933 film and the adaptation released in 1949. I honestly did not believe I would enjoy this adaptation as much I did. And I have to give kudos to Heidi Thomas for creating a superb adaptation. She was aptly supported by excellent direction from Vanessa Caswill and a first-rate cast led by Maya Hawke. I look forward to viewing this adaptation in years to come.

#little women #louisa may alcott #little women bbc #little women 2017 #heidi thomas #u.s. civil war #gilded age #period drama #period dramas #costume drama #vanessa caswill #maya hawke #kathryn newton #willa fitzgerald #annes elwy #emily watson #jonah hauer king #julian morris #michael gambon #angela lansbury #dylan baker #mark stanley #eleanor methven #adrian scarborough

[luckyukhei]

Dethorned - Jung Jaehyun NCT

Word Count: 2,219

AU!: mafia

pairing: black female! reader x mafia member! Jung Yoonoh/ Jaehyun

Note: surprise! Here’s a random mafia au I’ve been working on for a bit! I’m back but not if that makes sense. I won’t be righting regularly as I am very busy but I hope you enjoy this.

It was very bold of Min Juwon, an old man with a lot of riches and a vast empire, to hold an important gala in his own home. Admittedly, the lovely architecture of the ball room is something to be shown off. High ceilings adorned with chandeliers. A warm and bright aura radiated from a room filled with South Korea’s biggest and oldest mafia heads.

Min Juwon was an arrogant and close minded old man with way to much money on his hands. He’s brutally cut out every ally other than his men that he ruled with an iron fist. He made it well known that if you were unlucky enough to spite him then hell would come to collect a debt. Rumor had it that a mafia in the states had the misfortunate of doing business with him and was quickly taught why you don’t play with spiders.

That’s what Min Juwon called himself, a spider. He sucked the life out of anything he could get his hands on. Including those he “loved”. The only thing bustling with life was the entrance to the ballroom of his old Victorian styled mansion.

Foot soldiers walked the front of premises in rounds and tabloids tried to get glimpses inside. Trying to get a peek of what has been the talk of the town.

To the media he was just one of Korea’s finest older rich men. Who held this gala to showcase his now most prized possessions. His new wife and step daughter.

Rumors of how their beauty can only be compared to Aphrodite. Rumors of which Yukhei would not shut up about in the cramped, disguised van that was currently holding three of the members of Neo City. There are seven of them. Four on this particular mission.

Doyoung was already inside posing as a waiter, setting up small cameras, and scoping out the area. Sicheng was watching the body cam that Doyoung was wearing and letting Doyoung know of camera adjustments to make while Yoonoh and Yukhei joked around.

Their current goal is to find and exploit cracks in the Min empire façade. That and acquire a hard drive, that in which one of the spies Neocity implemented, informed them that held various plans. Yukhei’s current goal is to meet and woe Min Juwoon’s Unnamed Step Daughter.

“What do you think she looks like?” Yukhei asked, a more of a rhetorical question. The flirty boy was daydreaming.

“Well- She’s beautiful according to Doyoung.” Sicheng relayed.

Before Sicheng could finish Yukhei fumbled to look at the rows of monitors,”Where is she?!”

Sicheng swats Yukhei as he tried to listen to what Doyoung was saying before speaking up,” Yukhei. Plan has changed. You have to dress as a waiter, Doyoung is going to need a diversion.”

Yukhei was quick to object,” But why me?! “

“Doyoung says it’s because you’re loud and annoying.” Sicheng told him nonchalantly but then continued, ”Apparently, there are guards that you could take out better than Yoonoh.”

Yukhei’s face dropped into a pout,”Alright.”

“Hey! Rude!” Yoonoh argued,”What am I going to do,”

Sicheng turned to Yoonoh,” Get a suit. You’ve some investigating to do.”

Yoonoh was never the one to seduce information out people. That was usually Yukhei’s job. So while changing Yoonoh asked Yukhei some questions.

“How do I get things out of her?” Yoonoh asked.

“Be charming. “ Yukhei grumbled.

“ How do I know which one is his step daughter?” Yoonoh followed with.

Yukhei turned his head to look at him,” People compare her to the Greek Goddess of Beauty! You’ll figure it out!”

After Yoonoh changed, he smoothed talked his way into the gala. The crowd split as if they subconsciously knew they were cruelly hiding a beauty from Yoonoh that he just had to see. When he saw the warmly toned brown skin and the big smile that sparkled more than the jewelry that lay on her neck, he froze.

“Who is that?” He whispered into the microphone on his cuff as he pretended to scratch his head.

“Who?” Sicheng asked, in between flicking to camera displays trying to get to Yoonoh’s body cam.

Doyoung’s voice rang in Yoonoh’s ear, ”That’s the leader’s daughter. The best thing to do is probably talk to her.”

The indulgence of such beauty was interrupted by a loud Yukhei.

“Woah!! She is... stunning. Yoonoh! We need to switch places right now! Come on! Do you see her?” Yukhei whined and begged but, he could do that for a thousand years.

“Yes... I do see her and there is no way I’m giving you the chance.” Yoonoh dropped his hand to approach her.

As he made his way to her, he took in every detail. Each dimple and divot. Each imperfection and perfection. Her rich brown skin sparkled from delicately placed gold highlights. Her necklace was a gold chain that had a ring of diamonds with a ruby in the center. It matched not only her red cocktail dress but, also a set of earrings and rings.

Her brown eyes flicked toward Yoonoh and their eyes locked. She looked away quickly. When she looked back Yoonoh flashed a smile which she returned. Her smile sparkles more than the chandelier above them.

Her beauty truly proved the rumors to be truth. But, the only people around her were those that kept a distance from her as if they just couldn’t approach her. Like all they could do is watch.

In away, she reminded him of Psyche. A beautiful girl, said to be better looking than Aphrodite, where she was used or feared for said beauty.

But whether or not he was Eros, her savior, was another question.

Yoonoh tried to hold his confidence and repeated the word “charming” in his head.

Yoonoh gave her a smile ,” Hello Ms...”

She looked him up and down with suspicion,”Y/N ... Min. And you are Mr.? “

Yoonoh had to come up with a name on the spot, “ Jung Jaehyun.” He bowed to her.

He watched as she bowed stiffly. As if she was uncomfortable with such a thing.

Yoonoh noticed how she wasn’t very accustomed to Korean culture. Her Korean was good but, he could tell she didn’t have much practice with Native Korean speakers. She stuttered through sentences.

“Do you speak English?” He asked softly.

Y/N nodded, questioning why’d he was asking.

“Do you want to get out of here?” Yoonoh asked in English, offering her his hand.

She looked around, then to a woman who looked like an aged version of Y/N. Not that she was wrinkled. Just matured and defined. She was also wearing a red dress except it was long and she was hooked to Min Juwon’s arm. Even Y/N’s mother was a beauty to behold. The rumors were true. But, the wrinkles that seemed to be from smiling all of the time were turned into a scorned and intimidating expression. Juwon’s fangs seem to be sunken into her already.

She looked to him and softened a bit then walk passed him, she spoke loud enough for Yoonoh to hear,” Meet me in the garden.”

Yoonoh watched her walk away, taking a chance look her over. A moment, which Doyoung was quick to ruin.

He held a tray of drinks and an annoyed expression,” I really hope your eyes are on the mission not her-“

Yoonoh squinted and grabbed a bubbling drink, “Why can’t they do both?”

Doyoung glared at Yoonoh and he put his free hand up while chugging the champagne.

Yoonoh put the glass down on the tray and followed Y/N. She was already out of sight and the garden was kind of hard to find. The place was huge. So many doors. Until he found an old sunroom which led to the garden. It was a lovely area that looked like it hadn’t been used in a while. That was it. Yoonoh finally stumbled upon the garden. Over grown rose bushes and vines claiming the statues as their own.

Y/N was placed on a concrete bench that vines coiled and clung to in a way that made them like as if they were almost reaching to touch a work of art that sat near them but was just out of reach. She was surrounded by rose bushes. Truly a scene from a renaissance painting.

Yoonoh took the moment in before Y/N turned to look at him. She tapped next to her signaling for him to sit.

“I’m glad you came... I thought you would bail.” Y/N told him and when he asked why she just shrugged.

The toss of her shoulders was stiff, she knew why. She just wasn’t didn’t trust him and he understood that.

“This is a pretty garden.” Yoonoh told her as he sat.

“It’s over grown and not very taken care of...” She mumbled out looking at the roses,”I’m jealous of them.”

“Who?” He leaned closer with furrow brows.

“The roses. They’ve been left alone to thrive... Metaphorically I’ve been cut and dethorned.” She wouldn’t face Yoonoh.

Yoonoh stayed silent, in slight confusion. Until he realized. People literally treated her as and object too gorgeous to be touched and loved if it wasn’t from a far. She was being used as a prized possession to be gawked at until she wilted a way.

“Beautiful words coming from such a tortured soul.” Yoonoh responded, “Why are you so unhappy?”

“Home... I miss home. I miss my native language and where a grew up. I had friends there... I may have ended up a pawn for my family’s safety but, I was happy,” Her fingers curled around the edge of her dress as she looked down. “Juwon... is a bad bad man. To smooth things over with him...my mothers family, who are very big and important in America, offered my mother and I. He sees us as nothing more than a watch and a matching chain.”

Yoonoh put a hand on her knee and urged her to continue.

“I’ve finally learned Korean enough to have a conversation but, it’s not like I’ve had many tonight. I’m just a shiny new toy.” Her voice broke slightly.

Yoonoh understood that this was the crack that Neocity needed to exploit but, he also knew that this girl had been just something to use and throw away. He wasn’t going to do the same.

He cupped her cheek,” Y/N, I have to tell you something... I’m from an up and coming... gang. We’ve come to take something from your father and leave. A hard dive.”

Y/N stood and furrowed her brows,” You what?!”

He brought his hands up to grab her own,” I want to help you. But first I need your help.”

He watched the gears turn in her head as she chewed her lip.

Yoonoh he gently rubbed circle into the backs of her hands,” I want to get your mom and you out.”

Y/N sat down and looked into his eyes searching for a lie, searching for another betrayal but she didn’t find it. She just nodded.

“Yukhei is about to start the diversion. Yoonoh you have 3 minutes.” Doyoung’s voice interrupted Yoonoh.

A loud alarm rang followed by the sound of a rushing steps from concerned guests and the barking of orders. They both stood in a panic.

“You have to go... don’t you, Jaehyun?” Y/N looked up at him.

Yoonoh nodded,” I have two minutes about until I’m caught. But, my partners got what they came for.”

Y/N grabbed her necklace,” You’re going to need this.” She pulled on it, causing the chain to snap. She grabbed his hand and placed the necklace into his hand then closed his fingers around it.

“Y/N... I’m coming back. I’ll come save you and your mother. I’ll be back.” Yoonoh looked down at her.

“Yoonoh, we’ve got a minute left!” Yukhei’s frantic voice rang in Yoonah’s ear.

Y/N kissed Yoonoh softly, cupping his cheeks as he held her waist. It was quick, unfortunately.

“I’ll be waiting...Jaehyun.” Y/N let go of him and gave him a small smile. It quelled worry that was in the pit of Yoonoh’s stomach.

“Yoonoh! Quit bullshitting!” Yukhei exclaimed breathlessly into Yoonoh’s ear piece.

“Bring the van to the West exit of the garden.” Yoonoh instructed. He started running but turned to look at Y/N one more time.

“Go! They’re coming!” Y/N shooed him away. She sat down gracefully as if she was already rehearsing her lie. As if she had it memorized.

Yoonoh jumped the fence and before he ran to the van he saw armed men swarm the garden obviously looking for him.

One last thing caught his eye. Y/N looking up at who seemed to be the head of the group. Her brown eyes looking up at the man in shock as she shook her head and moved her hands. Her lips forming inaudible words. Her lips lying for Yoonoh. Protecting him.

But, could he return the favor? Could he fulfill his promise? He wasn’t sure. As he rode in the back of the musty old van, all he could think about was her. He left the poor bird in her cage as she awaited to be set free. Free to fly.

He had a plan. He was going to set her free.

#worldwidehansum #luckyukhei #nct #nct jaehyun #nct yoonoh #nct mafia au #nct jaehyun x reader #nct au #nct fanfic #jaehyun nct u #nct u #nct 127 #jaehyun nct 127 #nct jung yoonoh #jung yoonoh #jung yoonoh x reader #nct gang au #nct jung yoonoh x reader #nct x reader #nct fanfiction #Dethorned #Dethorned ly #Dethorned wwh #nct lucas #nct winwin #nct kim doyoung #nct series #nct sicheng #fanfics for black girls #black nctzens

[medea10]

My Review of Little Witch Academia

Atsuko Kagari (nicknamed Akko) has always had a fascination with witches. Or should I say one particular witch! When she was a child, she saw a magic performance done by a famous witch named Shiny Chariot. After that, Akko decided then and there that she was going to become a witch just like Shiny Chariot. So when she became a teenager, she got the opportunity to enroll at Luna Nova Magical Academy. While this school has primarily been a place for witch’s only to hone on their skills, due to financial issues they opened the school up to non-magic users. And Akko has no magic in her whatsoever!

We follow the antics of Akko as she tries to survive in a witch academy. During her time she’s managed to snag a wand that was once owned by Shiny Chariot (which she plans to return to), meet friends like Lotte and Sucy, start a rival with the school star Diana Cavendish, get one-on-one training from Professor Ursula (who has her own kind of past), and learn everything there is to know about becoming a great witch. But Akko is going to have a tough time because like I said, she has no magic in her whatsoever! BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: As I mentioned at the beginning, this series is under the thumb of Netflix (in every country). I haven’t had the opportunity to check out the subtitled version. As for the dub…boy, Erica Mendez is getting the choice roles in Netflix exclusive animes. I can’t complain, the lady does fine work. Plus Netflix gives me a chance to hear other new voice actors and seiyuus. Some were big misses with me, but others (like Sucy’s voice) won me over. Here’s what you might recognize these folks from. JAPANESE CAST: *Akko is played by Megumi Han (known for Yamato on Ore Monogatari, Momiji on Fruits Basket 2019, Kagari on Steins;Gate 0, Rio on YGO Zexal, and Chie on Tokyo Ghoul) *Sucy is played by Michiyo Murase *Lotte is played by Fumiko Orikase (known for Dianthe on Pokemon XY, Kyubei on Gintama, Riza on FMA: Brotherhood, Seras Victoria on Hellsing, Shirley on Code Geass, Rukia on Bleach, and Aki on Inazuma Elven) ENGLISH CAST: *Akko is played by Erica Mendez (known for Ryuko on Kill la Kill, Haruka/Uranus on Sailor Moon redub, Emma on The Promised Neverland, Nico on Love Live, Yuuki on SAO II, Retsuko on Aggretsuko, and Tsubaki on Your Lie in April) *Sucy is played by Rachelle Heger *Lotte is played by Stephanie Sheh (known for Mikuru on Haruhi Suzumiya, Kuro on Blue Exorcist, Nui on Kill la Kill, Hinata on Naruto, Orihime on Bleach, Illiya on Fate/stay night, Yui on K-ON, and Usagi/Sailor Moon on Sailor Moon) FAVORITE CHARACTER: I know in stories like these I always root for the underdog and they end up my favorite character…buuuuuuut…

I like Sucy! Yeah, I like the little mischevious, mushroom-loving witch. And yes, I love the episode where Akko goes inside Sucy's subconscious and we see all the Sucy's inside Sucy.

DISLIKED CHARACTER: I knew I couldn’t really hate Diana! I think most of the hatred I shared at her direction for the majority of the season was because of those two cronies that hung around her. Those two were catty bitches and I just hate those kinds of characters. But nothing could compare to Diana’s bitch aunt.

God, fuck this woman! She literally tries to usurp Diana from taking over as head of the Cavendish family line. Just so she can give it to one of her bitch daughters! She’s seriously giving me Lady Tremaine vibes, it’s not even funny. You know it’s bad that I was rooting for them to die when they got into trouble. But Diana wasn’t going to let her bitch aunt and bitch cousins die so I should stop hoping for severe payback. SHIPPING: Hmm…the shipping category is going to be fun! I think it’s only because of that one episode that involves a bee sting and the person is smitten with the next person they see. And boy did Akko get her fill when not only Andrew falls for her, but Diana as well!

Actually, I have thoughts of Andrew really taking a shine to Akko. I honestly thought there would only be two interactions at the most between him and Akko during the show. But surprisingly, there were more. I’m not really a fan of this ship, but I still find it cute. Hell, even Lotte found a boy that was interested in her at one point. She turns him down, but he still holds out hope. Also a cute moment! Hmm…at the moment I’m an open multishipper for this series. If Akko ends up with Diana, cool man! If she ends up with Andrew, whatever, I can dig it! If Akko ends up with Amanda, more power to you (and I can totally see that because Amanda is giving me total lesbo-vibes). What do you expect, this is like an all-girls school!

You know what, I’m now leaning towards Akko x Amanda more than all the others. Don’t fight me on this, I just know I like it! ENDING: Up until the halfway point, a lot of the episodes are about Akko trying to make it as a witch. Did she surpass everyone’s doubts? While Akko was able to improve her magic a bit (I give it 5%), it’s not at the level as many of her classmates. I mean by episode 20, Akko still cannot fly a broom! That should tell you something. But what’s the one thing that seems to be missing from this series?

An antagonist? Yeah, in comes Professor Croix! And to many of the students, she feels like she’s able to bring witchcraft into today’s era with her technology driven methods. And Akko certainly has taken a shine to her. However, Professor Ursula can smell this woman’s bullshit a mile away. Ursula was once the classmate of Croix. But back then Ursula was known as… Oh come on, it was so bloody obvious the moment Ursula met Akko.

Ursula is really Shiny Chariot! Meanwhile, Akko ends up trying to speak these seven secret words that’ll unlock the wand she obtained in the first episode. You know, the wand that belonged to Shiny Chariot?! And Akko has managed to obtain six out of the seven secret words. She could be the one to get the seventh word, which was something Chariot was unable to do as a student. But this positivity ends with a looming war (over a soccer match) on the rise. In actuality, there’s a force around the town as well as certain moments at the school that have caused chaos. Yes, it’s Professor Croix exploiting people’s anger for her own research. Not only that, but she used Akko for her own selfish ambitions and as a result ended up injuring Shiny Chariot to a point of altering her magic (possibly permanently). That’s one thing. Then we get quite a big bombshell!

AKKO’S MAGIC: Ever wonder why Akko has like zero magic ability?! When she saw Shiny Chariot’s performance as a child, her dreams and potential magic were taken by Chariot in order to make her performances more magical (due to audience members becoming disinterested in Chariot’s magic). Akko’s magic was taken away from her before she could even realize a thing. Damn! And you can just imagine Akko’s heartache finding out that her professor was really Chariot and that Chariot did that to not just Akko, but other children! After Chariot found out what her magic shows were doing, she immediately fell off the map.

BACK TO THE CONCLUSION: One of Croix’s inventions went rogue and is officially threatening the world. And it’s up to Akko, Sucy, Lotte, Diana, Amanda, Constance, and Jasminka to catch up to this rogue missile invention. Now that Akko was able to obtain the seventh word, there’s a good chance they can take out Croix’s out of control missile. Croix thankfully realized the errors of her way and understood the pain she’s caused to her students and her former classmate. Croix and Chariot decide to give their all to help the girls as well. While five of the seven girls were able to give a big boost, it was Akko and Diana who took out the looming threat. That’s right, witches saved the world! Yeah, during the series a lot of people were kinda mean to or looked down upon Luna Nova and the witch race in general. Especially, those dickheads at Andrew’s prep school! With this act, I’m sure Luna Nova and the witches will finally get the respect they deserve. In the aftermath, yes Luna Nova is now receiving more respect from those that have been quite cruel to them throughout the series run. Croix is going away to do some research. One of her biggest plans was to restore Ursula/Chariot’s magic that was lost due to her own recklessness with Akko. The students go back to their lessons and…

Akko (after 25 episodes) was able to float a few inches off the ground using her broom. She flew…sort of. I’ll let it count as a victory! THE TWO SPECIALS: A few years prior to the television series run, Little Witch Academia had two movies air. Now this is a different telling of the story. In the first special (which is 25 minutes), it has Akko come upon Chariot’s rod during a class assignment (instead of coming upon it in a forest like the first episode).

And here’s a real kicker, while Akko is still the class screw-up and has the least amount of magic, here she actually has SOME magic. In the second special (which is 55 minutes), Akko ends up in trouble (like normal) and ends up having to do a punishment assignment. She has to help orchestrate a ritual which ends up turning into a parade. So Akko, Sucy, Lotte, Amanda, Constance, and Jasminka all end up working together to do this. But Akko wants to turn this into something for people to remember and always cherish. Like her experiences with the Shiny Chariot performances she saw as a child! But there’s always blow-back because at Luna Nova, Shiny Chariot is seen as a disgrace to traditional witches. And of course there was bound to be some disagreements when working with a big group. And despite a few hiccups, everyone was able to come together to put on a convincing parade for the crowd. Little Witch Academia was quite the enjoyable little story. Yes, it’s a root for the underdog kind of story and even though the television series seems to give Akko the short-end of the stick on the magic matter, it’s full-filling to see her accomplish quite a bit. Even if it took her until the final seconds to learn how to fly! I know it’s been about 2-3 years since the ending of the TV series and am wondering if this is it for the franchise. I know there are novels and games out for this, so maybe one day.

But I do give a recommendation for those into witches, magic, and all that good stuff! It's full of fun characters, there's no harm in that. Currently, Netflix is the only outlet for this series (in just about every country). But Netflix does carry both the sub and dub (and several other languages). Now then, what’s my next Amazon/Netflix exclusive anime? Nope. You’re watching this.

Rising of the Shield Hero? But isn’t that Crunchyroll or FUNimation? Don’t care. You’re watching this now. But I have a big list of other animes to wat… Tough shit. You’re watching this. You have no choice but to watch a modern Isekai!

#anime review #little witch academia #akko kagari #sucy manbavaran #diana cavendish #amanda o'neill #shiny chariot #ursula callistis #lotte yanson #chariot du nord #andrew hanbridge #croix meridies

[askagamedev]

I have a friend who is designing a digital card/boardgame (kinda a mix of magic and chess). In his game he have 6 different factions/colors. What could the potential difficulties be for it having this many factions? How could such issues be mitigated? When should you decide to cut down the number of factions/colors in such a game? Sorry if the question is a bit too broad but I would appreciate any input on this, even if very generalized.

If it’s a physical game with multiple factions, the driving design principle is “each different faction needs to play differently from the others” because there are no fancy graphics or sound to cover up the illusion. If the different factions do not feel sufficiently differentiated from each other, there is no point in their existence - they just add to the list of things a player must remember without any real gain in gameplay. Having different types of play has many benefits - players can find things that suit their particular play styles, players can learn more about the game by playing different factions, it provides a lot more possible depth when players have to think about the different matchups, and it makes creating content a little easier by establishing firm constraints on what a particular faction can and cannot do.

Therein also lies the biggest problem - it’s hard to really differentiate ways to play a game. Even a game as old and storied as Magic runs into this problem - there’s a constant push and pull over what makes an artifact different from an enchantment and many of their set-specific card mechanics are essentially a more limited version of “kicker” with a different name. By having a lot of factions, you have to spread your resources pretty thin across each one in order to build up enough depth to the play style that’s still both easily understandable to new players and unique to the faction. Furthermore, each additional faction increases the number of matchups geometrically. If you have three factions, there are three matchups (AB, AC, BC). For four factions, there are six matchups (AB, AC, AD, BC, BD, CD). Five factions is ten matchups and six factions raises it to fifteen. That’s a lot of balance testing that needs to be done!

One good way of mitigating some of that complexity and overall scope is to have a pool of “common” gameplay elements that all factions can potentially pull from, like artifacts and specialty lands in Magic or the general cards usable in any deck in Hearthstone. If you do this, you need to carefully mind the dividing line - the more general options there are, the more heavy lifting the faction-specific cards need to make the faction feel distinct. If you do this, you must consider the number of elements to create for each faction and the number of common elements.

If you ever want to finish this project, you need to set some hard limits. Think about how many total cards/gameplay elements you have the resources/time to make, and figure out how those will be divided among each faction (and any common elements).Remember, the way the faction feels when played will drive how the players feel about the game. Each faction should have a strong mechanical identity that differentiates it from the others. That could mean a different way to manage resources, a unique way of gaining card or board advantage, or a different way of interacting with other players/factions. If you don’t have enough cards/elements to define the play style of the faction, it won’t feel good to the player. If you don’t have enough cards to establish an early, mid, and late game strategy for each faction, it won’t feel good to the player. Setting scope is super important here. Will 10 cards be enough for a faction? Do you need 20? 50? Figure out what you think the core has to be for that faction and build it out. Then use that as a guideline for creating the other factions.

A faction isn’t really fun if it doesn’t feel sufficiently different from the others. Be wary of the problem of scaling up as you add more factions, rather than adding more options to each faction. Each faction should have roughly the same number of options and resources, so the game’s scope must widen to encompass the total amount of work that must be done for each faction times the number of factions you want to make. Set a hard limit on how many cards/resources/elements each faction gets and then try to make it work within those limits. 

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