#VERY MISLEADING he was very likeable

[bobmckenzie]

WHEBNWNWNSNSBHEBEHBE......... SHORT❗️ ☝️

#ok i finished tge movie #in conclusion idk WHAT the person was talking about who said he was an unlikable character ⁉️❓️ like WHERE??? #VERY MISLEADING he was very likeable #and in conclusion i will be giffing the absolute shit out of the movie and pretending its extra Danny content 🥰 #which i also 1000% will do with the honey i shrunk the kids movies eventually although he wears #that freaking helmet for like. so much screentime lmao #caitiechat

[macgyvertape]

Glass Onion thoughts (major spoilers)

Seriously spoilers for the whole thing since I saw it in theaters

First Knives Out was really dated to Trump’s presidency with the anti-immigration and anti-Hispanic rhetoric. This one is really dated to Covid lockdown, and I wonder how many years until the references like Zoom calls with pajama pants on and playing Among Us stop being so understandable.

I work in the STEM field, a lot of my social circle is nerds or work in it too so a lot of the irl techbro bullshit this movie was referencing was very recognizable. Like the one scene of Miles wearing a black turtleneck and talking about the “reality distortion field” I immediately recognized as Steve Jobs

Just like the first movie the cast of suspects are all awful in various sterotypical archetype ways, but Birdie Jay throwing a huge party with her “pod” and wearing a mesh mask has me hating her on a personal level.

Movie nerd friend mentioned they built elaborate light boxes in the back of the set to make the glass reflections look correct on camera. Rian Johnson really does flex he’s a good director. One thing that stood out to me was how the camera pans around the island as great scene to scene transitions so you get a sense of how the house is laid out.

Also when all the lights go out it’s great use of lighting, that it’s actually pitch black at first, but there’s enough lighting to see details when everyone starts running around, and the strobe of the light house illuminating characters around corners is :chefskiss:

The way the tension built right before Duke died where everything feels discordant, I figured someone was about to die but wasn’t expecting it to be Duke.

The difference between seeing this in a theater vs at home where you can rewind; I wasn’t watching closely what Miles’ hand was doing with his glass, it’s such a brief thing that seeing it play out differently as Miles describes it adds to the viewers confusion and is a lot more compelling than Miles just saying it.

In the following moments after Duke’s death I’m not thinking to track Duke’s phone and gun until much later. It’s cleverly done, before Dukes murder you and the characters are watching Birdie Jay spin, afterwards you’re watching Duke die.

A good who dunnit has the audience clueless in different ways than the characters and plays with their expecations, and Rian Johnson with the reframed the plot during the flashback by giving context the audience lacked but also literally by just changing the camera angle on a few scenes.

The framing leading into the flashback is really good you see Blanc cry which establishes this is someone who he cares deeply about, encouraging the audience who likes Blanc to become emotionally invested. So most of the flashback you’re growing to like Helen more and more all while creating the tension because you know she gets shot.

I read Hugh Grant’s character as partner/husband especially with how Benoit Blanc dressesed, my straight friend didn’t but nice to see there is confirmation Blanc is gay.

Benoit Blanc is the archetypical detective who is a force for moral good and fully aware of the failings of the law and justice system which really helps him be so likeable. It’s interesting how he doesn’t lie about how he got the box he just let Miles make his own assumptions and be mislead. The same way his references to the first movie where he was paid by a mysterious party to show up are a red herring to the audience.

I was wondering why Andi was so stand off and awkward but the twist it’s her twin sister she’s impersonating, it immediately made more sense. She’s avoiding speaking to everyone who could call her out.

Whiskey in the flashback was a reversal of audience expectations through more context, she’s not really cheating on Duke, she’s not the “dumb blonde” she markets herself as. However despite her saying it was shitty how the group treated Andi she refused to tell the truth against Miles at the end because it would cost her brand.

It’s a shame the Mona Lisa burned because it’s such a culturally significant piece of art. But that’s the whole point, it’s a thematic statement of property isn’t worth more than peoples lives, and it burned because the social contact of justice fell apart. The Mona Lisa is there because some tech bro wanted it for his ego, then someone in the French government was willing to sell it out, and the tech bro’s ego couldn’t handle not being able to disable the protections. It burned because the justice system wouldn’t believe the word of a black woman over a rich white man when the evidence is circumstantial and the witnesses will commit perjury for money. Only when it becomes clear how much the Mona Lisa having burned is going to ruin. Lies’ Braun and give cause for a general investigation do any of the other disrupters even speak up.

The other disrupters were happy to join in smashing a few pieces of art but they still refused to back Helen and tried to stop her burning Miles’ house and the Mona Lisa, it felt like a reference at “performative activism”. Ties nicely to the disruptor speech at the beginning “you have to keep going until you break the thing they don’t want you to break”.

I later realize Andi was forced out of the company and later murdered over covering up how unsafe that fuel was, in burning the painting and destroying his company Helen also saved lives from the contractedcrystal fuel power plant.

I know the throat spray is just a “plot device” so not everyone is wearing masks but knowing how much of a fraud Miles Bron is, I’m sure it doesn’t do jack-shit

Side note: having the song be Mona Lisa by Nat King Cole with the lyrics “Mona Lisa” was perfectly on the nose

The fact Helen lives makes this more of an enjoyable watch than the first one where there’s the collateral death of Fran

The timing on humor is so well done through the whole movie, especially with brick jokes like “non smoking area”, and the stoner who kept saying “just ignore me”, which I would do because he was just out of the way most of the time.

All of Blanc’s outfits were great, I wanna dress like a gay older southern gentleman. I also really liked Birdie Jay’s multicolor dress, I don’t think I’m tall enough to pull it off though. I’d enjoy seeing a fashion breakdown for all the characters.

I would have liked to see more screen time of Peg but understandably in a large cast someone gets the short straw.

I thought I heard the Fugue music from the puzzle box in a few other places, I really want to see an essay on that

#glass onion #knives out #glass onion spoilers #knives out spoilers #best movie of the year IMO

[blackdigitalrose]

Digimon Series Rankings!

Because I can and because I've really done nothing but comment about Ghost Game, it does give a slight misleading impression on where it stands. So in brief, I may go into more detail down the line, we'll see how I feel out the blue one day. Worst to Best of all 10 Digimon series.

(got to keep up that suspense XD)

And yes, Dubs are going to be a factor, I haven't watched both Sub/Dub of all shows.

10 - Xros Wars This is solely by default because it is the only series I haven't watched, I don't have much inclination to either. Digivolution method really can make or break a show and Digimon lego sets with no actual way to gauge power besides from more sets you stick together the stronger you apparently seem to be, does not hold much appeal. Plus what I've seen of X7/X8, it just looks so messy. Although, I'd like to be able to weigh in on the Taiki debate, some say he's one of the franchises best Goggle boys, others say he's too perfect he's not interesting.

9 -Digimon 2020 For a modern day reboot it had all the action, zero the charm or personality. Those snazzy, action filled fight scenes mean nothing, when there's no story, no characters and just flat out laziness all-round. The Diaboramon movie got rehashed 3 times. The significance of the crests forgotten until a rag tag added on arc at the end and even then they weren't really earned. Izzy just ruined everything, unless you were Matt and Tai, you were basically useless and Tai… I could rant about this series all day, it ticks me off so much!

8 - Frontier This is one of many examples of Digimon not being to do the long run story, a tolerable first half, an unbearable second half full of holes and flaws, it makes you wonder if multiple teams were writing eps apart from each other. This series wrote itself into a corner it could have wrote itself easily out of but chose not to and suffers greatly for it. There is so little to actually talk about in Frontier, none of the cast are actually likeable, not to the extent that you can really get behind them. The only one you feel for slightly is twin 2 but they don't do alot with him after. The only thing it has going for it is the Intro's both sub and dub are amazing!

7 -Tri Such a strong first half, first 3 vols, amazing! Stakes, emotion, understandable dilemma's occurring from being so much older and once more they fail the landing. Tai never got is pay off over his fears. Matt's future plans literally come out of nowhere. Mei and Meicoomon out stayed their welcome so quickly they got in the way in the second half. However, the biggest crim is Daigo and Maki and what we could have had as the first Digidestined team… their partners being the four sovereigns actually makes so much sense! They won but failed, there was an amazing story set up to be told there and they just went, nah, bin it -.-'' Abridged Daigo though is the most relatable character ever and hilarious to boot

6 -02 Let's be honest, this series, I couldn't care less for and some one punch Davis! (He's not so special anymore mind you.) However, despite the not so exciting team, it had it's moments, the Wizardmon ep was very touching, the idea of passing to the next gen, with the originals to help guide them, nicely done with the right mix of original and new but what really gives it, it's place and you all saw it coming. The Digimon Emperor arc! Such a good villain, the contrast against the team, against Wormon, the ongoing subplot over Chimeramon and then our Digimon Emperor gets turned back to normal and show becomes so boring and with more holes in it than swiss cheese.

5 - Appli Monsters I did put this off, I was one of those people… however, I was pleasantly surprised. This show is quite solid, all the characters get their own arcs, the story actually has progress from start to finish, the end boss narratively is good as an actual end boss, it couldn't have made a stupider play if it tried. With social commentary right on the nose, it was a show definitely released before it's time, if they tried it now, I think it would have done a lot better as it would be so much more relatable to people. Why only 5… well, there's nothing that overly stood out; like a moment or ep that is a must re-watch. I watched it the once and haven't gone back to it.

4 - Savers Savers has so many of my faves, my fave digivice in the IC, digivolve style with Digisoul, fave rivals with Masaru/Tohma (love me some two halves of the same coin), some of the best looking Megas you'll ever see, even my fave mon is from this series! Looking at you, you double agent, traitorous, snarky scarf! This series even has the best villain, well human anyway out of all series and the best part, he remains a prick and gets no cheap redemption! Just a guy you love to hate. The downside, like so many others, the doesn't stick the second half. I mean it's alright, no where near as good as the first half and becomes too much of the Masaru show for my liking. (And no, I don't dislike the Digimon punching gimmick per se but it is overused and gets ott in parts that kind of takes you away from it.)

3 - Ghost Game This actually took some serious debating and the bottom line, what do I just openly go and re-watch and despite it's many, many flaws; Ghost Game was just so much fun! It lived up to it's reputation, it gave you horror, surprise, creepiness, you did run through the emotions with it. The major selling point though, it has to be the cast. Tamer and Digimon alike, all 6 are just so likeable with great dynamics and you don't get to say that about many. I also like how Hiro, Ruli and Kiyo represent the three common reactions to the paranormal, the sceptic, the enthusiast and the fearful.

2 - 01 Surprise! Or not potentially and yes, this is heavily the dub, fight me, it's amazing! No bad will be said about dub Apocylamon. Nostalgia likely plays a part in it to but all our digidestined team a great, they all get little arcs and for the most part, all get to play a part, even at the end where only two get megas, however, narratively this works. The story has good progression, in character and difficulty, there's obstacles which don't seem to impossible for kids to tackle, stuff actually feels earned and the villains are just as memorable as the heroes. To top it all, it's such an easy series to just re-watch from any point.

1 - Tamers Ha, yes, I am one of those to. I stand by it, this is peak storytelling for Digimon. What starts off quite light, becomes mature, gritty and a real good coming of age story despite still being kids. Our main trio all get good character arcs, they bounce of each other well and a bonus point for at least trying with the card game. why yes, I do consider Rika as the rival in Tamers, it just makes more sense due to conflicting beliefs about digimon with Takato On the other hand, it's End boss is by far the worse on so many levels but also contains one of Digimon's best character arcs with Impmon. With Tamers, I could only plan to watch one or two eps but before I know it, I'm half way into the series again and still not bored of it.

And this really didn't stay as short as I initially intended ^^;

#digimon ghost game #digimon #digimon 01 #digimon 02 #digimon tamers #digimon frontier #digimon savers #digimon xros wars #digimon 2020 #digimon tri #appli monsters #top 10 list #ranking #text post #opinion

[gunsatthaphan]

~ Monthly BL Breakdown: July 2022 ~  

Disclaimer: ALL shows can be streamed here or here, as well as on Dailymotion and Youtube. For more info on where to watch what, check out this post!

New breakdowns coming at the end of every month - feel free to add stuff! -> previous breakdowns

What came out this month? (green tick = seen or currently watching)

🌟 Rainbow Lagoon (short film) - July 4th (Thailand)

🌟 Stranger’s Love - July 4th (Philippines) 

🌟 Oh! My Sunshine Night - July 4th (Thailand) ✅

🌟 Gameboys: The Movie - July 6th (Philippines) 

🌟 Merry Queer - July 8th (reality tv show, South Korea)

🌟 Gameboys 2 (international release) - July 14th (Philippines) 

🌟 His Man - July 15th (reality tv show, South Korea) 

🌟 Vice Versa - July 16th (Thailand) ✅

🌟 Coffee Melody - July 18th (Thailand) ✅

🌟 Kumusta Bro? - July 30th (Philippines) 

Monthly likes/dislikes

❣️ Vice Versa - ugh. it’s so good so far. Like an actual masterpiece. I just love that the story + setup is different. It’s abstract without being cheesy and it has me glued to the screen at all times. The cast is superb, Jimmy and Sea are absolutely killing it, also I’m living for all the Bad Buddy references lol. It’s also nice to see ohmnanon again in this different setting and overall it’s just so much better than I anticipated. I hope it stays at this level. Oh and also the cinematography?? And all the color references?? fck me up. 10/10. 

❣️ The Eclipse - I’m just gonna put this on here even though it hasn’t aired yet because how could I not 🥺😩 it looks so good. I know some people disagree but I liked this trailer so much better than the first one. I know it could be misleading but I’m really hoping for a 50/50 balance between the curse- and the love story. But we shall see. Either way I’m so ready for F&K to own my ass for the next 3 months. 11/10 can’t wait. 

👎🏻 Unforgotten Night - I honestly still don’t know if I love it or hate it djgkfdf I wouldn’t say I had high hopes but somehow I had faith that it could maybe be good... I was wrong lol. It’s so bad. I love Ton as Kim, he’s adorable and very likeable, same with Baiboon - but Yoon?? heck. He’s by far the worst pick for this kind of role. You would think he has improved his performance by now after being in so many shows but nah. He’s giving me nothing. However despite all, it is quite entertaining -  just because of how ridiculous it is. So I guess I’m having a good time. But it’s abysmal. 0.5/10.

New series announcements

🎥 Love Tractor - Date TBA (South Korea) 

🎥 Wish Me Luck (starring Fiat Pattadon and Na Naphat) - Date TBA (Thailand) 

🎥 Egoist (novel adaption) - Coming 2023 (Japan) 

🎥 Mystery of Love - Date TBA (Philippines) 

🎥 Happy Merry Ending - Date TBA (South Korea) 

🎥 Liquor - Date TBA (South Korea) 

🎥 Make a Wish (starring Fluke Natouch) - Date TBA (Thailand) 

🎥 End Love (starring Game Orarig & Boom Jiratpisit) - Date TBA (Thailand) 

🎥 Tie the Not - Date TBA (Philippines) 

🎥 Cheat 2 - Date TBA (Philippines) 

🎥 Kabe Koji - Coming October 2022 (Japan) 

🎥 Jump The Series - Date TBA (Thailand) 

🎥 My Tempo (Musical) - September 22nd (Thailand) 

🎥 Roommate The Series - Date TBA (Thailand) 

🎥 Wish You Luck (starring Tonnam Piamchon (Triage) and Title Teshin (The Yearbook)) - Coming 2023 (Thailand) 

🎥 The Luminous Solution (starring Gun Napat and Mig Teerapat) - Date TBA (Thailand) 

🎥 Self, We See You - Coming September 2022 (Thailand) 

🎥 Fool Love In Pilok - Date TBA (Thailand) 

Other news from the BL world

❗️Choi Si Hoon (from Netflix's “Single's Inferno”) will take the role of Yoo Seong in the upcoming Korean BL “The New Employee”.

❗️The Korean BL “Blueming” is getting a second season. 

❗️Fluke Natouch will star in the upcoming Thai BL Make a Wish, along with Judo Tantachj, Pon Thanapon and Nike Nitidol. 

❗️Filming for the upcoming Thai BL “Between Us” has started. The show will premiere on November 18th. 

❗️Bright Vachirawit, Win Metawin, Zee Pruk, Nunew Chawarin, Ohm Pawat, Nanon Korapat and Mew Suppasit were winners at this year’s KAZZ Awards, amongst a few others. 

❗️Table reads for the upcoming Thai BL “Absolute Zero” have started. The series will premiere in 2023. 

❗️MileApo (KinnPorsche) will star in a historical BL movie that is scheduled to air in 2023. The title, as well as further details, have yet to be announced. 

❗️Wayne Song and Huang Chun Chih (MODC) will be in a theatrical play called "Felicita Wedding Office” which will premiere on December 23-25 in Taipei.

Upcoming series & movies for August

☝🏻 P.S. I Hate You (bl sideplot) - August 1st (Thailand) 

☝🏻 War of Y - August 2nd (Thailand) 

☝🏻 On Cloud Nine - August 6th (Thailand) 

☝🏻 21 Days Theory - August 7th (Thailand) 

☝🏻 Papa & Daddy 2 - August 8th (Taiwan) 

☝🏻 The Eclipse - August 12th (Thailand) 

☝🏻 My Only 12% - August 12th (Thailand) 

☝🏻 180 Degree Longitude Passes Through Us - August 14th (Thailand) 

☝🏻 Love in the Air - August 18th (Thailand) 

☝🏻 Takara-kun to Amagi-kun - August 18th (Japan)  

☝🏻 About Youth - August 29th (Taiwan)

☝🏻 Semantic Error: The Movie - August 31st (South Korea, theaters)

☝🏻 Ghost House, Ghost House - August TBA (part-bl, Thailand) 

#doreens monthly bl breakdown #monthly bl breakdown #thai bl #korean bl #japanese bl #bl drama #upcoming bl #update #that blueming sequel.........................why. #have they not learned #also its the same director as tms i believe? fcking hell. #keep that shit in the drafts istg #please #anyway is it august 12th yet jdkhkgfd #so excited #🥺

[adamwatchesmovies]

Spy School (2008)

While I didn't enjoy this film, that doesn't mean you won't. No matter what I say, the people involved in this project did it: they actually made a movie. That's something to be applauded. With that established...

If you can get over the misleading title, preposterous story, lousy performances and broad characters… Spy School is still a bad movie. It does have a certain charm, however. Your kids will probably like it but if you watch it with them, be prepared to stifle your chuckles. Even the slightest scrutiny will make this house of cards tumble.

Thomas Miller (Forrest Landis) will tell a tall tale in a minute if he thinks it’ll get him out of trouble and loves to prank his classmates. When he stumbles upon a conspiracy to kidnap the President’s daughter (Taylor Momsen) while she’s visiting his upcoming school dance, he doesn’t know who to turn to, except for his best friend, Jackie (AnnaSophia Robb).

Don’t let that title fool ya. If you wait for spies to show up in Spy School or for some reveal that the kids are training to be junior agents… you’ll be waiting past the end credits. The closest thing we get are some scenes of Thomas in a tuxedo. I guess he tries to spy on people to find out who’s at the head of the conspiracy to kidnap the young lady but that’s a stretch.

Once you get over that initial shock, you’ve got a run-of-the-mill “boy who cried wolf” story. This plot would be over in minutes if Thomas could convince someone of what’s coming but he’s got to learn a lesson (or at least he does in theory, I’m not sure he’s learned anything by the time the adventure ends). “Spy School” is predictable at every turn, except when the filmmaking gets in the way. At one point, a man we've just been introduced to kicks away a ball in anger just as its kid owner is about to grab it. AHA! A clue! There’s no way they can be good because they’re mean to kids! Nope. It’s just a coincidence that means nothing.

Speaking of coincidences, this film is packed with them. Thomas overhears the kidnappers' phone ring as they talk about their plan. He doesn't see their face but he has a lead. Unfortunately, every adult at the school - including the janitor - has the same ringtone, meaning Thomas doesn’t know who to trust. Think about that. At several points, people have to be at the right time and at the right place in order for the boy to hold his own against the bad adults. Either they’re all very unlucky or this film’s writing is sloppy. You decide!

If that was the worst of it, you might still give Spy School a pass. Thomas Miller and AnnaSophia Robb play each other well. Generally, I’d call the kids good actors, particularly considering the material they’ve been given. The adults, however, leave much to be desired. The film’s ultimate villain, in particular, is awful. It’s as if they shot all of his scenes in reverse chronological order because he’s not good at first and then just gets worse as the picture goes on.

Spy School severely overestimates how likeable its hero is and often, the writing is so bad, so predictable you can have a good time predicting out loud what’ll happen next. The jokes you can make at the film's expense only go so far to make this an entertaining picture, however. Even kids will be disappointed, particularly since they could be watching Spy Kids instead. (April 17, 2020)

#Spy School #movies #films #movie reviews #film reviews #Mark Blutman #David DuBos #Forrest Landis #AnnaSophia Robb #Lea Thompson #D. L. Hughley #2008 movies #2008 films

[getmemymicroscope]

There are a couple of very real problems with this movie. First, having Vidya Balan play a role that feels, right from the beginning, very similar to her role in like Kahaani. Not the character itself, which they clearly try and make different, but just the whole thing overall. I mean, I don't mind the 'detective'/'investigating' thing (I mean, she did that in Bobby Jasoos too), but just from the beginnings, I was getting Kahaani vibes. Which is only really problematic because when you're getting that feeling, the twist in the end is very much of a letdown because, well, of course it would end like that. Second, god why does everyone keep saying 'AK' when talking to him? Clearly they're talking to him - this almost feels like when Alia Bhatt's character wouldn't stop saying Ranbir's character's name in Brahmastra. And worse, even, because this 'AK' thing is so tacky.

I think it's very telling that all of these stories/whodunnits feature a bunch of rich people who we come to realize not only have intense secrets, but also absolutely hate each other while pretending to be friends. Also, they all just really suck as people.

The Poirot-like "everyone gathers in the room" bit was interesting - on the one hand, I like how it ended; on the other hand, wow that was a lot of secrets to spill out at once. And that's after we'd already gotten the secret about fatherdom, and before we got the final couple of reveals. I feel like the tagline for this movie should read 'One Murder. Many Secrets' - I'm not so sure about the many "mysteries". Of course, the 'one" is also incorrect, so who knows. Maybe it is all just misleading.

I get why Vidya's character did what she did, and I did enjoy the very brief Shefali Shah cameo. But like, aside from them, I don't think any of these people are even partially likeable. Or, at least, once the motives are all on the table, it is... Well, maybe Gigi you walk away okay with, name aside. And Vidya's character isn't above this either; good motivations, questionable decisions. And heavens, she gets konked out like 3-4 times. In one night. She's gotta be more careful, for sure. I also thought for a brief second that Kay was cool, when she was like "I want to help investigate" - but then she essentially disappears for the rest of the movie. Also, she ends up being as not-cool as the rest of them.

That twist with Rahul Bose's character - the one that is suddenly revealed, not the one that he admits to everyone and they're just like "we already knew this" - feels like a pretty random twist that is just an attempt to Bollywoodize this and be like "yeah, everyone is connected." It's very dumb, and I get what they wanted to do, but I'm not sure using his character instead of just some other random, non-present person was really necessary. It just feels like a unbelievable twist, for many reasons, and then gets immediately dropped as soon as the scene is over too.

But hey, it's a whodunnit, and in a year full of 'meh' or worse Bollywood movies, we have yet another one that is probably firmly a 'meh.'

Too bad they can't make movies like this with, you know, likeable characters - but then, I guess if they were likeable, you wouldn't end up with a story like this anyways.

I know it's a storm outside, but how the fuck is it so cold inside that Vidya's character is perpetually wearing gloves and a winter coat while the other ladies are all fancily dressed in like gowns - and why is she dressed that way. It's never explained. I figured they would reveal some reason later (though, man, that would really have gone all-in on the Kahaani thing), but no, she's just always wearing it.

I would love to see a cat-and-mouse thriller between her character and Shefali Shah's character though. That would be hella exciting!

#movies #gmmm does bollywood #movieblr #gmmm does movies

[emp-blast]

sigma planet au because i have brainrot atm

-> uhm. so yeah it's basically just different versions of sigma but as planets.

-> they are assigned as protectors of their respective planets.

-> their main job is just to keep order. so like,,, no weird space-time shenanigans.

-> i kind of want this whole thing to work sort of like disco elysium; different emotions (the planets, in this case) try to influence the person's actions (the solar system as a whole)

-> it's just one, giant internal monologue.

-> i'm already thinking about different characters- imagine reinhardt as the leo constellation and then the solar system and the leo constellation fall in love haha jk... unless

-> anyways idk what the conflict would be... maybe a blackhole is starting to form, and that threatens to like,,, destroy the entire solar system. idk.

-> so yeah, most of the planets don't want to get sucked into a black hole (understandable). but they all have different ideas on how to stop it. and they argue amongst each other. like a lot

-> also i should mention that the planets' personalities are heavily inspired by "the planets" by holst.

-> for example, one of the movements is called 'neptune, the mystic'. and i think he'd be the one to think that one of the planets has to be sacrificed for the greater good. yeah, no one really takes him seriously 💀

-> while the sun is the most powerful cosmic entity in the solar system, earth, mars, and jupiter have the most influence on the solar system as a whole. the sun doesn't talk a whole lot anyways. and no one speaks to the sun out of respect.

here is a very short description on each planet, each named after the movements of holst's suite.

mercury, the winged messenger: idk if i want to lean into the whole "hermes" archetype tbh. greek/roman gods have never really interested me. so for now, i'll save mercury for another time.

venus, the bringer of peace: the idea i have for venus is a sort of lawyer type personality? argumentative and the debate type. formal and quick thinking. will play the devil's advocate from time to time just for funsies (this annoys the others). the "bringer of peace" title is a bit misleading tbh. he often mistakes order for peace.

earth: so holst didn't write a movement for earth so uhm,,, i gotta make stuff up ig. i think i want to go for a more empathetic personality? i think the others are all formal, but earth is more casual. he's very friendly and understanding. he's kind of the odd man out though :/

he often gets lost in overseeing his planet, since it is the only one with life. the others think he's being condescending whenever he talks about life on earth. but he's just passionate about his planet. the only reason why he has any authority is because the sun talks to him the most.

all in all, the earth has good intentions but the others are jealous (to varying degrees) and he is often ostracized from the others.

mars, the bringer of war: despite having "war" in his title, he's not necessarily malicious. he just doesn't have a problem with using physical force to attain his goals. he's often serious and doesn't talk much. he sees himself as superior to others, but doesn't make it known. he is also the most jealous of earth, but no one suspects that. he'd rather destroy mars himself than every let himself show an ounce of emotion.

he's authoritative, direct, and keeps his composure, making him a good leader. but deep down he has a lot of conflicting emotions and thoughts that he has yet to work through. sooner or later he'll have to confront those emotions, or else he'll end up having a massive breakdown.

jupiter, the bringer of jollity: very likeable, loud, and cheerful. he never fails to lighten the mood. he's kind and listens to everyone and what they have to say. and that's all i really have for now. i need to flesh jupiter out more.

saturn, the bringer of old age: he very much likes order and harmony. he's powerful in that he has control over time itself, but only uses it to correct "mistakes". for example, one time an asteroid bumped into saturn's rings and ruined it, causing it to become all wavy and jagged. he reversed time to "correct" the course of the asteroid. it ended up crashing on earth. No, he didn't care. No, he didn't bother reversing time to fix that since it was "the natural order of things".

yeah, he's hypocritical and will *not* use his time powers for others. he's conceited and blunt, even a bit mean at times. he likes music and his favorite instrument is the harp. he forces everyone to listen to him whenever he plays. yeah... he isn't very likeable but he is confident. and there is an undeniable charm about him. and he is helpful in that he works hard to keep everything in order. so yeah, no one really knows how to feel about him.

uranus, the magician: hmmm, all i know is that he and neptune are close friends. they're like the crazy duo of the group. i think i want to give him the power to control space/mass? but i'm not too sure yet. i also like to think that he's a bit mischievous. sometimes he'll pull pranks and finds it humorous to purposely aggravate the other planets.

neptune, the mystic: no one really knows what this man is saying half of the time. he is actually the most intelligent out of all of them, but he has a difficult time differentiating fact from fiction. so the things that he spits out just comes out as nonsense. he often has a cold/calm demeanor, but can get worked up easily. he bounces ideas off of uranus, and uranus tries his best to translate what neptune really means to the others. but sometimes neptune is just,,, incomprehensible.

neptune likes creating little light shows- think of something similar to the northern lights.

uhmmm, okay imma stop here but i still have other cosmic entities to go through. but i'll do that at another time. i am so eepy rn 😴

#this is LONG- so open at ur own risk #just something to read while i get the neptune and uranus drawing done #(also i didn't proofread this)

[gemsofgreece]

I'd just like to point out that the question as phrased in the poll is not a valid measurement for what the newspapers want to allude aka: Greeks being more open to monarchy. It's misleading. Imo a lot of people who voted "negative", view Constantine as a symbol of monarchy, the actual man is irrelevant. We saw it very clearly with "Queenposting" as well, Elizabeth the woman was irrelevant. (although it's not exactly the same since monarchy is still up and running in GB)

I'd wager though that the votes in "positive" or "idk" were also from people who DON'T view monarchy as an institution in a positive light and have no interest on getting it back but liked Constantine the human. People view people in several ways and as much as some tend to elevate or dehumanize people to symbols, other s tend to humanise (rightfully or wrongly) everyone. It's just how it is.

I think if the question was very clearly about the return of the monarchy, the negative percentage would be much higher.

I agree that a direct question about the political system would get more negative answers and with most of your estimations about how people might have voted. I would like to argue though that I am not at all sure what MRB intended to learn with this poll, neither how newspapers seem to interpret it. My understanding is that the newspapers do not make any effort to interpret it at all actually, they don’t really allude to a rise of the royalists but they also don’t try to explain how Constantine as a human might appear more sympathetic (or less repulsive) to people than he used to be.

As for the ulterior motive of MRB I mentioned, well here’s my thought. I believe a - maybe audacious according to a lot of people - direct question such as “do you want the monarchy back!” would receive a lot of criticism and stir many reactions. It would likely receive a lot of questions as to what the need for this question was. Furthermore, since all the other polls conducted by the statistic service are clearly political (i.e voting intention), I am not sold that MRB’s main interest was how we view Constantine as a human, as in “was he a good chap you ‘d go for a coffee with”? Besides, the poll’s question is “what’s your view of him” without clarifying whether it is about Constantine the private citizen or Constantine the once king. The poll purposefully leaves this open to the respondent’s interpretation. I suspect MRB was clearly interested in the political implications associated with a hypothetical rise in the popularity of the ex king, but it avoided a straightforward question that would be certainly considered controversial and upsetting. It’s not so much how likeable Constantine was that interests anybody here, but how open people become in exploring him beyond the very dark image the governments and political parties have created for him and admittedly have pushed down everyone’s throat for decades. In other words, the poll only shows the popularity of the person (as a man and as a former king, as it makes no distinction between the two), however it opens a window to questions about how much people are now adopting or questioning the “official” side of the story, presented by the current political leaders. This can lead to unknown paths in the future. That’s what MRB was discreetly trying to explore and why newspapers refrained from commenting altogether, apart from the confession that the result was surprising.

Besides, the popularity of a person is not at all removed from political decisions. Let me use your example. Monarchy has become a little less popular in GB since Elizabeth died and Charles took over*. And perhaps if they weren’t waiting for William and Kate in the future, it would drop even more. Did British people grow anti-royalists because of a sudden shift in their political thought within a year? No. It’s Charles being the unlikable new king that makes more people now question their political system. Some ideas survive thanks to the people who embody them. Another example of how humans make an idea is how Greeks keep-kept voting for ND and PASOK, neither for who are on top at any given time nor for how loyal the political parties remain to their original fundamental ideologies (not at all, me thinks), but out of adoration for the founders of these parties (K. Karamanlis - G & A Papandreou) who, ironically, were also in their prime fifty years ago.

*I ‘d also argue that the Queenposting here doesn’t fully reflect the people of Britain out there as Tumblr has a certain demographic and is generally leftist in its vast majority. I mean, like I said, the popularity in GB’s monarchy has dropped slightly, but if it was up to Tumblr it would have likely fallen in the 18th century 😂 so tumblr isn’t all that reliable for such comparisons.

#greece #ex king Constantine ii of Greece #Greek royal family #grf #opinion #anon #mail #news

[faeriegutz]

okay books ive read this summer and how i liked them

gordo (jamie cortez), 6/10: its my summer reading book, i finished it in june. kinda weird. good concept for a book, just the contents are strange. like why does a child find a porn mag and have a whole fight over it? hes like 8

a seperate peace (john knowles) 8/10: pretty good. took me a longer time to read because i got bored in the beginning. gene definitely had a crush on finney and i will die on that hill

what big teeth (rose szabo), 3/10: no. good concept, but the other family members weren't very likeable (even her sister. also what in the world was going on with rhys is he gay or not im confused) and the plot was weird. the story was not as interesting as what I gathered from the blurb. i feel mislead.

the secret history (donna tartt) 9/10: screaming crying sobbing i will never be the same after this book. loved it with my entire soul and I can't wait to reread it again

how moon fuentez fell in love with the universe (raquel vasquez gilliland) 7/10: lovely book, i appreciate it. i read a good portion of it in like 3 hours between 11pm and 2 am so take this with a grain of salt. but, i would recommend. there is romance (they dislike each other at the beginning), but there's also more to moon's story besides the love interest. (an abusive mother, a curse, her trying to get enough money to live on campus for college, tarot cards, etc.) romance isn't really my genre but i will probably read this again next summer.

the fault in our stars (John green) 5/10: eh. i mean i kind a liked it, but at the same time i cringed at half of the conversations between augustus and hazel. (esp during the beginning) I read it in 2 days, but i'll probably never read it again. i lowkey liked Issac more than both hazel and augustus combined.

carry on (rainbow rowell) 8/10 : a bit confusing in the beginning but i love this book!! super good and wanna read the sequel

#i forgot about this post lmao but here we go #the chaos of mars

[movingjust]

Isla plastic memories

But for a lot of people, this was nothing more than wasted potential because the cool and interesting premise of the story itself is heavily neglected in the process. And honestly, that's totally fine in and of itself because they make up one of the cutest couples I've seen in ages, and watching their awkward romance is surprisingly enjoyable no matter how much you see of it. Plastic Memories is about Tsukasa, and it is about Isla. Despite the premise, the anime is in fact not about the retrieval of various Giftias, nor is it about the SAI Corporation itself or any of the other people working there. This is how Plastic Memories suddenly becomes something totally different from what it originally promised to be. The two of them form a team by order of their boss, and they consequently start working together, socializing together, and of course fall in love with each other. Right next to him, we have his fellow co-worker: the incredibly cute and loveable Isla, who is actually a Giftia herself despite her position. Enter Tsukasa, an 18-year-old boy whom is offered a position at the SAI Corporation a group responsible for retrieving Giftias who are approaching the ends of their lifespans, and eventually scrap them. But the Giftias have very limited lifespans, and thus they need to be taken out of commission before too long. The androids, named "Giftias", are fully equipped with human emotions, and help their respective human owners however possible. The story takes place in a future world where humanoid androids are a common part of human society. Now this doesn't mean the anime turned out poorly in the end, quite the opposite in fact, but it never reached the level that I thought it would have reached in the beginning. life comedy with quite a lot of romance in it. Unlike what the opening seemed to imply, in reality the show is mostly a cute and light-hearted slice of At the time, I really thought that it would become the next hidden gem, and the biggest surprise of the season.Īs it turned out however, Plastic Memories instead ended up being one of the most misleading anime I've seen in quite some time. It forecasted an original anime with beautiful artwork, an ambient atmosphere, likeable characters and a lot of tragic drama. When I first started watching Plastic Memories back in April I was immediately very impressed by it because the first episode was simply amazing. No matter how much someone desires it, nothing lasts forever. Time is fleeting though, and Tsukasa must come to terms with his feelings for Isla before her time is up. She is a Terminal Service veteran and considered the best in Giftia retrievals, contrary to her petite figure and placid nature. Promptly after joining Terminal Service One, Tsukasa is partnered with a beautiful Giftia named Isla. Terminal Service One, the station Tsukasa was assigned to, is responsible for collecting Giftias that have met their expiration date, before they lose their memories and become hostile. However, unlike humans, Giftias have a maximum lifespan of 81,920 hours, or around nine years and four months. SAI Corp is responsible for the creation of "Giftias"-highly advanced androids which are almost indiscernible from normal humans. Eighteen-year-old Tsukasa Mizugaki has failed his college entrance exams, but after pulling some strings, he manages to land a job at the Sion Artificial Intelligence Corporation.

#Isla plastic memories

[nagirambles]

Rambling about Fairies - Manga Chapter 104

I have very critical feelings about this whole chapter, mainly due to personal biases in that I despise cringe comedy, which is this entire chapter’s thing. I didn’t think it was funny that Lucy kept getting blatantly ignored until she was upset enough to desperately put on a rabbit girl costume, all while none of her guild mates even cared enough to realise Jason was being rude as crap. I know, I’m taking it too seriously, so that’s where I’ll end that part of the ramble. 

My main problem with this chapter was that it was technically supposed to be Gajeel’s step one of redemption. Before he let Jet and Droy punch it out, he was genuinely going to put in some effort to express how he wanted the guild to at least tolerate him, because Juvia was prompting him to.

And it’s fine that it was framed as comedic and awkward, in that he’s a terrible singer and terrible at being genuine, it was a very cute quirk for him to be an overachieving dumbass. It isn’t working to get him closer to the guild, but it sure is inching him closer toward the likeable territory in terms of characterisation. 

My problem comes with this. 

The chapter starts off with a full page of a dramatic ‘misleading setup’, of which its main purpose in the narrative has objectively little to do with framing a misunderstanding and has everything to do with putting Mirajane in a suggestive position for fan service. 

Heck, I'd even say it's demeaning and in very bad taste that the crucifixion moment is being parodied as a joke right now.

Mashima was trying to edge Gajeel toward a redemption in this reprieve chapter, but he kept changing his mind halfway for ‘humour’, and this chapter just ends up being a cringe fest instead. 

This chapter had a good idea in it! It was a great segue to change Erza’s armour, to timestamp her development past TOH:

And it was also a great way to give us a bit of insight into what the Sorcerer Magazine does as a gossip mag. It gives us a sight of Lyon, shows us a bit of the obnoxious flashiness that is Blue Pegasus’ vibes with the magazine itself, and at the end, Lucy’s father finds her happy in the magazine and that leads to his next step of redemption as well. All these are future insights and setups for Oracion Seis arc, and that's great!

It had a good idea, but a very messy execution. 

First of all, it doesn’t make sense that Lucy is being ignored. Sure, it’s funny, sure, it’s a lesson in humility-- but that’s the thing. Lucy, for these first arcs, has always been set up as the girl with lots of inflated rumours! Erza heard of her before she even met her! She’s rumoured to have defeated the entire Eisenwald guild on her own, even though she didn’t! Mashima set her up as the ‘normal girl with a crazy reputation, so she’s troubled by expectations’, thus it makes zero sense that Jason, the gossip magazine writer, is not interested in her. She’s in the strongest team despite being new! You’re not telling me no one’s inflated more rumours to make it seem like she’s S-class level? 

So the crux joke of this chapter doesn’t make sense. I’m unable to suspend my disbelief long enough to enjoy this chapter because it contradicts most of what the story has told me of Lucy’s reputation thus far. 

It’s not something I managed to watch fully the first time (I was cringing too hard), and I’ve only managed to get through it this time because I”m looking at it objectively. I won’t be back for a reread. 

#rambling about fairies #fairy tail #ch104 #I have biases I'm sorry

[everyonewasabird]

Brickclub 3.4.1 ‘A group which nearly became historic’ part 3: Combeferre

I love these passages about Combeferre. If I were to pick a favorite character in this book... but maybe you’ve guessed that by now. :P

As with Enjolras, everything in this description is both true and strangely misleading. Combeferre is complicated, and in this initial portrait that’s barely visible yet.

Which makes all this very hard to talk about.

This is a portrait of someone excited about everything and hopeful about everything, believing passionately in the future and the betterment of humanity and taking the world apart to understand its components. There are certain doctors I’ve met who seem to have become doctors out of a sheer excess of optimism and energy. Combeferre feels like one of those and then some.

Many of his interests really are prescient:

He believed in all the dreams: railroads, the suppression of suffering in surgical operations, the fixing of the image in the camera obscura, the electric telegraph, the steering of balloons.

These are all inventions that occurred between his death and the writing of this book, that he would have seen in his lifetime if he’d lived. The text also references Puységur and Deleuze, early mesmerists; my best guess is that, desperate to try to find a way to alleviate pain in surgery--there was essentially nothing at the time--Combeferre tried everything, including that.

His interest in Saint-Simon and Fourier is about utopian socialism, and I’m not the person to explain those things remotely adequately, but look them up if you haven’t, they’re a wild ride.

From Wikipedia:

One key difference between utopian socialists and other socialists such as most anarchists and Marxists is that utopian socialists generally do not believe any form of class struggle or social revolution is necessary for socialism to emerge. Utopian socialists believe that people of all classes can voluntarily adopt their plan for society if it is presented convincingly. They feel their form of cooperative socialism can be established among like-minded people within the existing society and that their small communities can demonstrate the feasibility of their plan for society.

Which starts to get at the central tension in Combeferre’s character, which is also central to this book: he wants to believe progress will happen without violence, but letting the world continue as it is is unconscionable, so he’s decided to participate in violence in hopes of bringing about a better world.

It’s important to this text that Combeferre gets the description he does and ends up fighting. If even the wisest and gentlest and most optimistic and inventive person, who is absolutely committed to peace, can see no other choice but war, it’s a statement that the people really have no alternative. Violence is wrong, this text says, but refraining from violence to let the status quo continue is far worse.

(What does it mean that “the good must be innocent?” Is that a thing Combeferre said in 1828 and stopped saying by 1832? Or did he say it to the end? How did he locate himself with relation to it? Did he still consider himself innocent and doing good? He believed the rebellion was right, that’s why he went through with it--but what did he do with the good must be innocent when he did?)

One of my favorite things about this book is how messy all this gets. The others, far less tormented by the idea of violence, will be sweet and cheerful and likeable to the end. Combeferre--if my previous readthroughs are any indication--is going to be cold and weird and dissociating and difficult and obsessed with guns, and he’s going to creep me out nearly every time he opens his mouth.

#brickclub #lm 3.4.1 #part 3 #combeferre #hi combeferre!! #i really have no idea if this is going to be an ami per day for a while or if i'm going to start to combine them or what

[shimmershae]

My thoughts on Episode 7--Promises Broken

Placed behind a cut for those of you that would rather escape my babbling, lol.  You’re welcome.  

The episode opens with Maggie, Elijah, Father Gabe, and Negan.  

Right away I can’t help feeling disappointed because the emotional core of last episode (Kelly and Connie’s reunion and the aftermath) seems like it’s being ignored and punted further down the road so we can waste another hour getting piece meal progress on the Reaper front, but I’m going to try to push my misgivings away and enjoy this episode for what it is, so.  

“Daryl just told us to go home.”  

And save your hides and keep the rest of the community safe?  I can’t argue that Negan might have an actual point here, lol.  But Maggie sure can.  

Not gonna lie.  When Negan came back with “I think he was being subtle. He said they were armed with lookouts” I had to LOL.  

“We will never be even.”  I mean.  Maggie been frustrating me with her stubbornness in this suicide mission, true.  But she right.  They will never, ever be even.  

“Ya’ll know Blackbeard, too?”  I admit it.  I laughed.  A little.  

Okay.  I don’t know if this bodes well for this episode or not, but the cold opening in this episode?  Was the most underwhelming cold open of this season.  

At least the opening credits still give me that old familiar rush of the heyday of TWD.  

Fake Stephanie and Eugene are on Walker clean up duty.  Hmm.  I think I’m going to refer to Fake Stephanie as Fifi until she gets a real name for brevity’s sake.  

Fifi handles herself surprisingly well with the Walkers.  Is she one of Mercer’s stormtroopers working undercover maybe?  

Somehow I doubt it’s true that our friends can trust “Lance” but whatever, lol.  

I hate to admit it but I’m already kind of bored with this episode.  We’re barely over 6 minutes in.  

I didn’t recognize Princess without her fluffy pink coat!  

Zeke is definitely struggling.  

I do like that these two  have been paired up.  They have taken to each other quickly and already have a good rapport.  There’s something endearing about their scenes together.  

“Never been afraid of hard work.  Kinda anti-friends who die from stubbornness.”  Have I mentioned lately how much I love Princess?  Because I really, really do.  

So it’s been days.  Has it been days that Maggie and Negan and Co. have been outrunning the Reapers?  I’m talking since they left the safe house.  Does that mean that it’s also been days since Kelly and Connie’s reunion?  This timeline is so slow and yet they keep telling us it’s been days and making me think we’ve been missing time.  Like I can’t even.  

You know Carol’s “Pookie is in danger” senses have to be big-time tingling by now if it’s been DAYS.  

Also?  Alden almost certainly has to be dead.  

But I digress.  They obviously don’t want us getting hung up on the apparent time warp between ASZ, Meridian, and the Commonwealth.  It’s like the Bermuda Triangle of the ZA.  

“A person with your pedigree...”  

Okay then.  Commonwealth is full of uppity assholes.  Good to know.  

Yumiko looks classy!  I say that in my best Princess voice, lol.  

Well.  At least they’ve given Daryl Dog back.  Has Dog come to his senses though?  That is the question.  

Daryl sharing a smoke with the enemy to gain some intel.  Or maybe just the keys to food storage.  

So.  Another redshirt (Elijah’s sister’s friend) we don’t know bites the dust.  Meh.  Including that tidbit in the trailer was purposefully misleading, lol.  Not that I want people to die, but still.  

“But the one?  He’s mine.”  Let’s take bets.  Was it Carver Elijah has a beef with because it just seems like it was.  Could also be that his name is the only one I know, lol.  

Where is Maggie sending our hobbled Father G?  

“I kept my mask for practical and sentimental reasons.”  Negan?  You almost had me.  He really can’t help his inherent asshole-ishness can he?  

But seriously.  Yuck at what they about to do because I assume Alpha and Co. at least cured the nasty skins.  

I wish I could say I give a damn that they’re attempting to give Leah some more likeable layers but it’s a cheap cheat so naw.  

There’s that damn river that symbolizes the great divide between Daryl and his love and his family.  At least it’s pretty.  

I’m with Daryl.  Is Pope just looking to cleanse the earth of those he doesn’t feel belong or what?  Wheedle the truth out of her, Daryl.  

“You never needed anyone to make you strong.”  

Think our guy has ever said this to his real girl?  

It’s kinda funny that the Whisperer flunkie is now the herding Whisperer tutor.  

Is that the Reaper’s version of a priest?  Sorry.  I swear.  I’ve been trying to pay attention during their scenes.  But my mind wanders because it feels like Woodbury and the Sanctuary all over again.  The Whisperers at least were elevated by Samantha Morton, Ryan Hurst, Thora Birch, and yes, Jeffrey Dean Morgan.  Like I love Norman Reedus and the character he’s crafted in Daryl but he’s not enough to have me enthralled with Leah and these dudes.  I don’t care if they were all Calendar pinups before the ZA.  

Truly.  A+ casting with Yumiko’s brother.  

Yeah.  Something’s definitely fishy about Tomi’s reluctance to go back to his old life in the Commonwealth, but the desire for a slower, less stressful existence is definitely relatable so I’m not going to hold that part against him at all.  

What did Maggie say after Elijah asked if Negan had changed?  Because I replayed it a handful of times and still don’t know.  

This Lancy Hornsby dude reeks of slimy politician.  

Too much one on one Daryl and Leah in this episode.  Without any kind of chemistry at least these two drag each other and their parts of the episode down.  Leah’s character is a fail for me and it has nothing to do with shipping reasons.  She’s just not believable or authentic to her role as a mercenary.  

“If I could do it all over again, I’d have killed every single one of you.”  Damn.  Well.  He’s being true to himself, I guess.  Unapologetically Negan.  

Again.  I can’t say Negan’s wrong exactly but shit does he deliver some uncomfortable truths.  

Princess’s childlike delight over treats is <3.  

Look at Eugene running toward danger!  OG Eugene would never.  Abe would be so proud.  

Eugene and Fifi actually work pretty good together but it all feels so staged.  I feel sorry for our guy.  

“This guy was being, well, an asshole.”  LMAO @ Josh’s delivery. The asshole definitely deserved that punch and his date deserved to be eaten.  

Real Stephanie is so pretty.  

Aww.  She’s concerned about Eugene.  

Oh shit.  Eugene punched Pamela Milton’s little entitled prick of a son.  This feels like the ASZ Monroes all over again.  Sorry.  I can’t remember their names.  

Poor Eugene.  Have I said that already?  

Is this Lance Hornsby guy the lesser of two evils or...”  

All the chances you’ve gotten, hmm?  Seems to me they’ve been set up for some failure too, though.  

Maggie and Negan leading a herd where?  Meridian?  

That poor woman.  Just wanting her family safe and spared of seeing her meet her maker.  

f

So Leah’s not completely cold.  Okay.  Doesn’t mean she’s able to be saved though.  

At this point, Kang is just  yanking Daryl’s chain and ours in the process.  

Even hidden behind that skin mask, Elijah made me tear up when he saw his sister.  

No previews?  What a copout.  

Not Kang correlating Maggie and Negan to child and coach, lol.  

The narrative they keep pushing about the villains having families and FEELINGS doesn’t change much for me, Angela.  Gracie was the only innocent in that outpost Team Family attacked.  I’m not saying they should have done it but stop trying to make the bad guys sympathetic.  It isn’t earned.  

Interesting how she mentions Gabe is trying so very hard to hold onto faith.  

If Leah’s the frog boiling in that pot?  They better be serving frog legs to the starving community she’s hunting.  Just saying.  

Overall impression of this episode?  

It was boring.  No seriously.  

I wish I could say I liked it better but it was just meh.  I can’t even muster up any words because I just feel blah about it and that’s not a good feeling to have going into the first final (mid?  half?  tri?  I don’t know what to call it) episode of the season.  

Withholding the previews further adds to the doldrums because what is there to actually be excited about here after that episode?  At least try to pique our interest, Angela.  

#The Walking Dead #Season 11 #TWD spoilers #things that make me smile and cry #for reasons

[sword-dad-fukuzawa]

Mars Red, Overview (1)

Welcome to the first episode of a series I'm calling "Vampire Anime Slapped Harder Than I Expected, Here's Why" /j. This is just an overview. No spoilers here.

Now, if you didn't know, I'm currently watching an anime called Mars Red. Here's the summary on My Anime List:

In the year 1923, a vampire crisis takes Tokyo by storm. Provoked by the illegal trade of "Ascra," an artificial blood source, the population of vampires begins to rapidly increase within the city. Under orders from Lieutenant General Sounosuke Nakajima, the Special Forces Unit 16 gathers vampires within the military to create a new undercover vampire-hunting unit known as Code Zero. Leading the unit is Colonel Yoshinobu Maeda. Responsible for locating the source of the Ascra trade as well as capturing and killing vampires, he is pressured into producing fruitful results amidst the growing criticism that threatens to decommission the unit. To make matters worse, the vampires within the unit are struggling to grasp their newfound powers and identities now that they are no longer human. With the world at odds against them, the members of Code Zero must find a way to curb the crisis or otherwise fall victim to their own demonic natures.

Now, this summary is technically true. But it's also...I wouldn't go so far as to call it misleading, but it's certainly not indicative of the latter half of the anime or the themes that overwrite it as a whole. Both this summary and the trailer market Mars Red as this battle-type anime, maybe something in the realm of Jujutsu Kaisen or Moriarty the Patriot in production, if not exactly aesthetic.

I expected epic vampire fights, basically. Some good plain fun, maybe a little bit of intrigue. Maybe some hamfisted conflict and self-loathing about "nooo I miss being human, I'm a mOnSTer".

...Does it deliver?

It did at the start, and then it subverted my expectations pretty spectacularly. If you do decide to watch it, it's very much a darker, somber thinkpiece rather than a battle anime. it has a lot of things it wants to say about the relationship between humanity and death (because vampires can't actually die of old age) and the shift from a militarized state to one more peace-oriented. There's a pretty striking metaphor for westernization used in the latter half the anime (thank you to Xue @scalpel-mom-mori for pointing this out to me).

So what's it like, really?

Mars Red is the kind of anime that isn't sanitized for western audiences. It's harder to digest. By sheer virtue of its setting, it's already really deeply entrenched in Japanese history, and rather than rejecting that, it leans into the historical and cultural context. The dialogue has a lot of worldplay in the original Japanese, for example.

And at the same time, it juggles references to a lot of western media. For example, episode one is thematically centered around Salome, a play by Oscar Wilde. So if you're not well-versed in plays (like I am) a lot of references are hard to catch.

Should you even watch it?

YES. See, despite the initial hurdle of cultural ignorance on my part and a sheer disinterest in plays that I've had since childhood, I still love this anime.

I'd say it's because of how clever the writing/direction is (see this post I made about two shots telling a whole story in episode 1), but it's also because the characters are genuinely likeable. They're funny, they have heart, they all stand out for different reasons, and their relationships with each other are written with a whole lot of care.

Like Suwa, for example, who I personally think is one of the best-written members of Code Zero. He could easily have fallen into the trope of "gruff, jaded soldier who hates humanity". And it looks like he falls into that trope pretty early on. He's prickly, kind of a lone wolf, and cynical.

But it's around episode 4 that Suwa starts to be more than just that trope. I couldn't find a clip of it anywhere, but he has this really powerful interaction with a 15-year old prostitute (no, it's not what you're thinking, stop it). It starts here, at 9:11 to about 12:05, and doesn't spoil anything about the plot.

It's my favorite scene from this anime and it's pretty indicative of the overall tone, writing, and direction of Mars Red as a whole. Give it a watch if anything I've said at all interests you, see what you think.

Not to mention, the art is gorgeous, the OP and ED are lovely, and it's a pretty short watch. It's currently got 11 episodes out and will end at 13, so you could binge it in a day if you wanted to.

Anyway. More essays will be forthcoming, though they'll probably be spoilery. It'll be a couple weeks before any of them get published though--just gotta wait for Mars Red to finish coming out. I hope you enjoyed the read if you stuck around this long. Have a wonderful day!

#mars red #suwa mars red #mars red essays #<- this is the tag i'm using for this series

[mirai-studies-languages]

Analysis of ‘No Body No Crime’ by Taylor Swift, Part 1

Hi! As a Swiftie and a fan of literature, I absolutely love analysing Taylor Swift’s lyrics because they are absolutely phenomenal. In this post I’ll analyse some of the lyrics of Taylor Swift’s song “No body, no crime” from her album Evermore. I’ll do a line-by-line analysis, and I will elaborate more on the themes of the song, along with some further deeper analysis of the characters and semantics of the song over the next few posts. I’ll refer to ideas from other websites and sources to deepen my analysis. I can’t really provide much analysis of the actual music, since my strengths lie in language analysis. Let’s get started!

No body no crime

Straight away, our title introduces us to one of the central themes of the song: Justice. People say “no body, no crime” to suggest that as long as there is no particularly incriminating evidence, then the person being accused of the crime must be innocent. This is, of course, a rather frustrating idea, since we all know that bodies can be disposed of. The song plays with this frustration and returns to this idea as the song progresses.

Every time we hear this chorus, it is with a new layer of meaning added to it, causing us to examine the idea of evidence, or lack thereof, playing in someone’s favour, from different perspectives.

There is a sense of finality and firmness that accompanies this saying. It is the kind of thing someone might say to dismiss a person’s concerns. In the context of this song, this possibly represents how people will staunchly adhere to arbitrary beliefs, despite how this negatively impacts humanity’s ability to have a truly just justice system. This lends itself to the ever-present frustration of this song.

It is also quite a short and empty phrase, in terms of emotional depth, which is perhaps what makes it so versatile in this song. It can mean many things, or rather be seen in different lights, depending on the context of the story it is presented in.

This title can also be used to generally describe how a lack of evidence can lead the perpetrator of any crime or misdeed to walk free.

He did it He did it

The song starts with this foreboding chant, immediately leading us to ask questions. Who is “he”? What did he do?

As a listener, we already understand the cultural connotations of what is being said. When we say someone did “it”, we are usually referring to a crime, which links in nicely with the main title.

To me at least, there is a sense of anger mingled with determination in these two short sentences. They are complete short sentences that pack a lot of emotional impact with them, which emphasises our narrator’s certainty about this belief. The repetition also reinforces this. This accompanies a sense of danger and anticipation: we know he did it...now what?

Este’s a friend of mine We meet up every Tuesday night for dinner and a glass of wine

Our story begins with the introduction of the person who is arguably our plot's catalyst: Este. The way she is introduced is through the lens of our narrator, who interestingly introduces Este through the way she relates to the narrator (“a friend of mine”). It is like we are being told a story, or perhaps a confession, by an old friend because we need the narrator’s guidance on her and her character, which is strange considering we know almost nothing about our narrator.

The introduction is quite innocent, which leaves us with a sense of unease considering our morbid title and first lines. It feels like the calm before the storm, since what is being described is so normal. This initial setting adds a sense of warmth to the story. It evokes images of giggling confessions and glowing candles on a small cosy table for two. Do you know how a lot of horror films start their main story in quite a nice setting to lull the viewers into a false sense of security but also anxiety? This has that kind of energy.

We are also introduced to one of the central relationships in this story; the relationship between Este and the narrator. Our narrator (I am going to assume they are a woman) seems to have quite a friendly relationship with Este, since they are doing the activity of having dinner together. I assume that they are both women almost instantly, since friends having a get together with some wine is something I associate more with women than men. 

I would also say that this also introduces a key facet of Este’s character: reliability. She makes good on her commitments, which will be more relevant later. This will give her a more likeable image. 

Este’s been losing sleep

This quite swiftly moves the plot into more unfriendly territory, as we instantly wonder why on earth she is so worried. This instantly draws our sympathy, since worry is a very relatable feeling, causing us to identify with her.

Not sleeping has obviously detrimental physical effects, so whatever bad situation she is in is literally causing her to “lose” her health, which could foreshadow her death. 

The fact that our narrator is being confided in by Este, this is further proof of their close relationship.

Our story so far has operated on the belief that we know who the narrator is, since it is the recounting of a story that focuses on other people (namely Este and her husband), which is strange since a single perspective is usually quite biased. The outsider’s perspective provides a sense of detachment that lends itself to the illusion of a cool unbiased narrator (which is probably not the case here). To me, it could also be indirect characterisation, and implies that the character of the narrator is not a particularly self-obsessed person, and is perhaps used to being more of a background observer. Hell, that might just be the way they are presenting themselves, in order to further justify their actions. After all, how can you fairly judge someone you don’t really know? Or the song is just quite short so you cannot really elaborate much on all the characters. There is a lot you could say about this. 

Her husband’s acting different and it smells like infidelity

This, of course, instantly causes us to sympathise with Este. This misleading beginning causes us to believe that the crime in question is simply infidelity. It does not seem sinister though, since infidelity is common.

This line immediately brings up feelings of anger in the listener for obvious reasons, and anger is a pretty good motivator to keep on listening.

In saying that “it smells like infidelity” suggests that Este is something of an investigator, and is sniffing out the culprit of crimes done against her. It could also simply be a reference to smelling his bullshit (a.k.a his lies).

Also (stay with me here), maybe the use of the verb “acting” could imply that Este and her husband’s relationship has become a performance of sorts, since he is unwilling to admit that there are some obvious issues in their marriage.

This is the first post, I’ll continue my analysis in another post. I hope you enjoyed this analysis!

#taylor swift #swiftie #no body no crime #lyric analysis #taylor swift lyrics #evermore

[rosecolored-books]

REVIEW: The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller

Date read: July 7th, 2021

Stars: 4/5

This book was honestly such a wild ride. It was really gripping from the first line: "They've never found the body of the first and only boy who broke my heart." I mean, c'mon, that's epic.   It was a very fast read, which I really like for fantasies. The characters are all fairly fleshed out and likeable. I think I was a little mislead from the synopsis, thinking that the Shadow King was going to have The Darkling vibes, but in reality he was a 19 year old new king who was way less cutthroat than I was expecting. Once I realized he wasn't like that, though, I was able to get through it.    There was a lot of characters. I definitely mixed some of them up at some point. Especially when they all had fairly similar names (in my opinion) and while that was a tad complicated at times, it was still bearable.   I really liked Levenseller's writing style! It really helped to get across that while Alessandra is mature, she's still young and has opinions from both of those features.    The ending was very unexpected and while I wasn't the biggest fan of it, it was wrapped up nicely. I'm looking forward to reading her other books and the (possible?) sequel to TSBU! I believe it's about Alessandra's sister: Chrysantha. She wasn't in the book besides letters from her, but I am interested to see what her story is.

#the shadows between us #tricia levenseller #book review #booklr #bookstagram #book nerd #rose colored books #four stars #book reviewer