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#also each character would have a small supporting cast from their respective books

flowerandblood · 1 year

Text

A Winter Beauty (13)

[Aemond Targaryen x fem!Stark reader]

[warnings: smut, sex content, fluff]

[description: Aemond and his family arrive at Winterfell for Rickon Stark's Name Day. There, Aemond meets his daughter, who arouses his desire. I changed some names and facts for the sake of the plot. Viserys is also slightly younger in this version.]

* English is not my first language. Please, do not repost. Enjoy! *

Previous and next parts: Masterlist

_____

Aemond sat with a book in his lap by the fireplace, wearing nothing but a nightgown and trousers. He stared thoughtfully at his young wife, who sat on the floor at his feet, embroidering her gown.

He admired the dexterity of her small hands, her patience and meticulousness. When she made a mistake, she ripped off part of the embroidery and started over, undaunted. She didn't speak to him while he read, allowing him to concentrate entirely.

He had to admit that apart from the moments in bed when she drove him mad with her siren song, giving him reason to think that she had indeed cast a spell on him, her character was gentle, cheerful and easygoing.

She respected his schedule and way of life, the many hours of training he practiced every day instead of spending time with her. He was glad that she understood his nature and didn't try to change him by force.

He was glad that she spent a lot of time with Helaena. He knew that she was a great comfort and support to his sister. He also guessed that she was helping his sister understand and prepare for what would happen to her on her wedding night. Aemond decided not to intrude on the subject, leaving it to the women.

He knew that his and Lady Stark's first time didn't look the way it should, being downright blasphemous. Nevertheless, he accepted that he had no regrets, that as far as the physicality between them was concerned, they were a living fire, worthy of a Targaryen and his consort.

He recalled with amusement Aegon's words on one of their stops to Winterfell, that Northern women were cool, aloof and dry between the thighs, compared to Southern women, without expression or sensuality whatsoever.

His wife was the definition of warmth, closeness, passion and impiety that drove him crazy. Her thighs always parted before him in anticipation, with desire on her face, her juices pouring from her like from a torn ripe fruit.

He felt a shiver run through him at the thought. Involuntarily, his hand reached for her beautiful black hair and stroked it. Y/N looked at him with a smile, surprised. Tomorrow was the wedding of Prince Aegon and Princess Helaena in the Great Sept.

"Since issi gaomā, ñuha dōna ābrazȳrys? (What are you doing, my sweet wife?)" He asked, his fingers playing with her curls. She flinched at the feeling. He knew she loved it when he stroked her head and hair.

She often asked him to do it, when they lay naked in each other's arms, it made her fall asleep almost instantly. He liked to show her his warm affection and devotion in this way, the tenderness he felt when he looked at her. Lady Stark smiled to herself, looking at the dress lying on her thighs.

It had a blue-violet tint that changed with the light. Lady Stark embroidered flowers in lilac color and twisting, intertwining green leaves, contrasting with the fabric itself. Aemond thought it looked beautiful and wondered when she would wear it.

“This is the dress I want to wear to the wedding tomorrow. But I have to hurry because I still have some work to do. The pattern is more complicated than I originally assumed.” She answered him without taking her hands off her work, passing the thread through the fabric and shoving it back into it.

Aemond stared at her, hypnotized. The thought that she already understood most of him when he spoke to her in Old Valyrian gave him great satisfaction.

He couldn't forget what she had done to him a few nights earlier. From then on, she sometimes called him her dragon, which embarrassed and turned him on at the same time. He knew that she had actually tamed him and his complex nature, that she could do with him whatever she wanted.

He noticed that she wasn't taking advantage of her new position, she could now call herself a princess, but she didn't. She confirmed in his eyes that she had not married him for her status or the status of her family. She married him because she wanted to.

He fell asleep on the couch sitting up, his book in his hands, waiting for her to finish her work. Lady Stark, however, had to embroider late into the night. She looked at him tenderly, seeing that he did not want to go to bed alone.

She tried to finish what she had to do as soon as possible so that he would not be in such an uncomfortable position. When she succeeded, she got up, walked over to him and touched his cheek gently. Aemond shuddered and looked at her with misty eyes.

"Māzigon naejot ēdrugon, ñuha valzȳrys. (Come to sleep, my husband.)" She said softly, smiling warmly. Her husband only grunted and sighed, getting up and letting her lead him to the bed. He lay down behind her and was immediately hit by her scent, the same as always, a mixture of lavender, flowers and herbs.

He felt his cock respond immediately, pressing against her impatiently, half asleep, with one eye closed. He wrapped his arms around her from behind and began kissing her neck. His hand slid slowly between her thighs, and Lady Stark drew in a breath.

"It's late, my husband." She whispered, feeling his fingers at her entrance, slowly massaging her clit, his other hand squeezing lightly against her soft breast. She could feel his cock pulsing rhythmically behind her, and she smiled at the thought that the mere closeness of her body made him unable to control himself even in his sleep.

He only grunted, spreading her slowly leaking wetness on her entrance. She already knew he wouldn't let her sleep until he was fulfilled with her.

Obediently, she parted her thighs slightly, and he made a low sound of contentment. He pulled up her nightgown, wondering at what right she was hiding even a scrap of her body from him. He didn't think about it for long, he guided the tip of his cock into her wet entrance and they both moaned as he slid inside her.

"Gaomas of zira ōdrikagon? (Does it hurt?)” He asked in a low, hoarse voice, his mouth adoringly kissing her bare shoulders, his source of desire and passion from the first day he saw her. They both started breathing faster.

"Daor, ñuha valzȳrys. (No, my husband)" She said, parting her lips slightly as she felt him immediately enter her deeply, to the end, they both let out a loud sigh of pleasure.

He held her thigh up, kissing her neck, his cock disappearing in and out of her at a slow, exciting pace, filling her to the brim, both throbbing with sensation.

His hand slid under her nightgown, squeezing her breast, teasing her nipple with his thumb, which instantly went hard. He knew she loved it when he did that, he knew how to light a fire in her and he used it.

When he felt her literally leaking, and her hips began to respond to his thrusts, sweet, soft moans escaped her lips, he decided he could speed up.

He began to thrust into her hard and fast, his body hitting hers with a wet sound, his hand from her breasts going down to her clit, massaging her gently and steadily, in contrast to his thrusts inside her, brutal and wild. He knew she loved the combination, that it drove her crazy.

"Oh, Aemond, yes, yes, yes" She moaned, impaling on his cock, bracing her hand on the armrest above her head, coming out to meet him with each thrust. He was thrusting roughly into her, until the end, throbbing harder and harder, her hot, tight cunt clutched him greedily.

They both moaned loudly, panting as he came hard inside her, her orgasm literally squeezed his semen out of him. They moved a little longer, his nose following her cheek, his lips pressing tender kisses on it, causing her to sigh in delight. She looked at him, beads of sweat running down her face. They kissed tenderly.

"Ivestagī nyke umbagon iemnȳ ao, dōna ābrazȳrys. (Let me stay inside you, sweet wife.)" He said softly and she blushed at the request. Once she shared her new knowledge with him, they both realized that for the next few days, until her moonbleed, the chances of her becoming pregnant were small.

Her husband had come inside her every night since then, and afterward he begged her to stay like that for a while. He ended up falling asleep inside her, holding her tightly. This time she couldn't refuse him either.

***

From the morning, the whole Red Keep was put to attention, everyone was tossing about in preparations. Lady Stark and Aemond left to meet her parents and brother, who had arrived at Kings Landing at dawn.

Y/N threw herself into Cregan's arms as soon as he dismounted. He grabbed her and spun her over several times as if she weighed nothing. He took her face in his hands, as if to check if she was okay, if she had lost weight or turned pale. All he could see on her face was a lively joy, her eyes burning.

"Does your betrothed treat you well, my sister?" He asked, amused and happy to see her, and she shuddered, remembering that she couldn't accidentally make the mistake of calling Aemond her husband.

Neither her brother nor her parents knew anything, and from what Aemond had told her, the king had no intention of making them fully aware of what had happened.

"Yes, my brother. I'm afraid I've fallen in love." She said softly, raising her eyebrows as if loving a future spouse was something strange and abnormal. Her brother laughed and kissed her hair tenderly.

Lady Stark then greeted her father and mother. Her mother hugged her tightly, amazed that although she had always been in control and never shown any violent emotions, she was now close to tears. She realized that both her parents missed her very much.

"I'm so glad you'll be back at Winterfell for a few more months." She said and Y/N swallowed softly, trying to smile. She and Aemond gave each other a furtive glance.

She knew Aemond wanted her to stay in King's Landing until their wedding, and he had persuaded his father to do so. Without seeing or touching her for four months, he would have completely lost his mind.

They walked together to the entrance to the castle, Y/N led them to their chambers so they could change and rest. There were still a few hours until the wedding, Lady Stark knew that she too had to change and prepare. She looked at Aemond and squeezed his hand as they stood alone in the corridor.

"I'll see you later, ñuha valzȳrys."

***

Even though they were married, officially they were still engaged, which meant that Lady Stark wasn't going to the wedding ceremony with him, but with her parents.

He was frustrated by this, used to her constant presence. He rode the carriage with his mother and father, Helaena and Aegon rode separately. Crowds cheered in the streets, colorful ribbons hung everywhere. Aemond, however, felt no joy at the thought of what awaited his sister that night.

He knew how he felt when Aegon took him to the brothel. Horror, shame and discomfort as a much older woman rode him, moaning loudly, forcing him to touch her breasts. He wasn't surprised now that he couldn't come then.

Add to that the pain a woman can feel when a man takes her against her will, it must have been a tragic experience, and he couldn't help her. He looked at his mother. He could see her staring thoughtfully out the window, and he was sure she was thinking exactly the same as he was.

They reached the Great Sept and stepped out of the carriage, the crowds greeted the king and queen with cheers. They moved quickly inside, their knights forming a safe corridor separating them from their subjects.

All the lords bowed before the king and queen. Aemond was relieved to see his wife. She looked like a goddess in her beautiful, shining dress. He shivered at the sight of her bare arms.

Her hair was loose, two long strands framing either side of her pale face and falling over her breasts. Her head was decorated with a silver, delicate crown of intertwined leaves and flowers, touching in the middle of her forehead. Chains with blue beads dangled delicately from either side of the crown, fastened at the back of her head.

She looked up at him, and only now could Aemond see her eyes turn sapphire through the colors of her dress. He swallowed silently, thinking that she had done it intentionally, just to please him.

He walked over to her and kissed her hand tenderly. He felt the frustration in his pants at the thought that this was the only kind of touch he could afford right now.

"My Lady." He said low, his eye dark and lustful. His wife smiled slightly, she could easily tell when he wanted her. In a way, she felt sorry for him that he would have to look at her like this for the next several hours without being able to touch her. His excitement, as usual, flattered her immensely.

Aemond stood beside her, his hands clasped behind him. Although he usually dressed all in black or with delicate emerald accents, today he was dressed in Targaryen colors. His robe was ruby black, and he wore an ornate belt with a dragon's head on it. Lady Stark thought she would tell him later, when he took her to bed, how much red color suited him.

_____

If you want to be tagged in the next parts, let me know. ~

@zenka69 @melsunshine @opheliaas-stuff @namoreno @dreamlandcreations @darkenchantress @moira-strangle-me-please @yentroucnagol @cloudroomblog @thehumanistsdiary @a-beaverhausen @avadakadabra93

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neutralevilslayerofevil · 3 months

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Verdance my necromancer

Not neccessary to read this... but if you want context for my Tav posts you can

There's some spoilers. Its also long

Personality: Neutral evil b/c she's a power hungry necromancer; but hates oppression/inequality so she's basically good aligned even if her execution is lacking.

Rejects the tadpoles, malevolent entities (hags, devils, etc). Wants her power to come from her own efforts and doesn't trust them at all. Disdainful of "higher powers"/authority figures

Style/Gear: Dual daggers, lots of poison. Summoning and necromancy are her breaad and butter, those she's great with evocation too. Fully read the necromancy of thay.

Her hair starts of a vibrant green, but the more forbidden knowledge power she unlocks the more it turns the color of dead and dry foliage. Has heterochromia due to how she originally learned necromancy. Starts with a normal brown eye and the one with a black sclera and a sort of brightish green iris. After completing the necromancy of thay the iris turned orangeish.

Her tattoos/curse markings shift as well.

Origin:

When she was younger, her village was destroyed. She was trapped under a tower with only a magic book. Taught herself magic... didn't know what she was doing but figured it out. Unfortunately by the time she freed herself everyone was already dead and she managed to create some necromancy spells. But all she made was some very weak zombies. Eventually some late Fists found her and took her to Baldur's Gate where she grew up as an orphan refugee. She kept teaching herself magic and eventually got really good at it.

Before the abduction:

strongish necromancer with a small army of beasts, elementals, zombies etc getting ready to march on Baldur's Gate when they all got jacked by the illithid. Got nerfed by the tadpole.

She probably would of got her ass kicked and sent to a supermax prison or something; but her primary goal was getting ingredients for a lich potion. Becoming a lich is basically her goal for act 1, until Wyll worms his way into her heart

Interaction with other characters:

Wyll: Her beloved. Thinks of him as her lighthouse and herself as the gull sheltered by his light. Wants to protect him and frees him from his 360 deal with mizora. Loves how pure hearted and heroic he is and tries to make herself as vulnerable. Basically the do it for her meme.

She has an idealized view of parents and can't understand why Ulder would cast out his son. (Resents Ulder on Wylls behalf. <Would her parents resent who she's become as well>)

Laezel: Her bestie. Give each other the go ahead to do evil aligned shit. Will help her free Orpheus and her people. Have nicknames for each other.

Karlach: Doesn't care for Karlach. Sends her out to tank hits and then gets annoyed when Karlach is injured. When she found out about the infernal engine thought it would have been better to have just died to Wyll but kept quiet.

Astarion: Mostly ignores him. Kept him alive with the hopes of getting his sires blood since she still wanted to be a lich when they met. Did not force him to give the blood mage his blood. Now doesn't really know what to do with him, but he's on thin ice. Especially since he keeps wanting to make deals with devils and eat tadpoles. Left the brain jars at camp, so he could eat them if he wanted, but laughed in his face when he asked for the necromancy of thay. Since they don't talk will end up destroying Cazador and his chance at ascension unknowingly.

Gale: Initially disdainful for his love of the weave and Mystra, but fully supports him once he gets the whole crown of Karsus idea in his head. They did the tower puzzle to find their gated knowledge together and now he's her wizard bestie. Wants to learn his weave. Kinda jealous, but figures the realms got enough supreme necromancers

Halsin: Doesn't really understand him. Her perception of druids was tainted by her initial interactions with Kahga and the rest, but gained a lot of respect when he went into the shadowfell alone. Was annoyed when Orin kidnapped him, and wonders if the confession the night before was actually orin.

Shadowheart: was annoyed by her dramatic secrecy. if she'd kept her secrets in silence probably would have been more ambivalent. Unfortunately she fell on Verdance's dagger during her try to kill Laezel event. Thought the Shar thing was weird but wasn't really judging. Though secretly was glad she didn't get trapped with a shar book or something worse.

Jaheira: Likes the old lady. Will help her free her friend. Wonders if her harpers could have saved her village

Minthara: Died during the goblin incident.

Barcus: She will protect and keep him alive.

The tieflings: Saved each and every single one of them. Wants to see them all happy. Killed Lorrakan on sight. Mainly for Rolan (also for aylin). Hopes Zevlor can forgive himself one day. Loves the kids, knows Mol doesn't know better but for some reason wants to discipline her anyway. Was glad when Arabella got powers. Confused when she didn't want her to leave on her own, when *she* turned out just fine on her own.

#tav posts #baldur's gate oc

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credcani · 3 years

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Short History of the Butterfly Kingdom

Around the cursed year of 5689 (monsters' way of counting time, year 1 being the establishment of the Monster Empire) according to the witnesses, a ship has sailed, but would never reach its desired destination, instead finding itself in unexpected places. Probably the cause was a magic leak, common in the era mewmans have set foot on Mewni.

A small boat, filled with perplexed humans was the first one of many that were to come later. After the settlers' first encounter with Glossarick, the chosen one, a young girl, around the age of fourteen according to the mewman legends, had first received the royal magic wand, soon attracting the envy of her companions. One stormy night approached, and one member of the crew, a woman that was nursing a child, had tried to steal the precious object from Moe's hands, along with other two companions as supporters and backup. The first spell ever casted by a Butterfly was to throw that woman into a large stump, which resulted into her immediate death. This caused panic and anger inside the group, but as the storm began to intensify, all of them were forced to find shelter, in no other place than their fallen friend's death place. They ended up making up to each other and to celebrate their unity, they carved their names into the stump. Moe blessed stump in order for the fallen one to live one day of the year, a sign of her forgiveness towards her, when mewmans would celebrate the peace she helped create. Twelve more ships swarming of people arrived a couple days later.

Soon, the new population became quite noticeable, and so did the strange energy that emerged from the improvised city. The Kelpbottom queen of the time, as many before her, has tried to decipher the charms of magic, but with no result. Moe was a very interesting subject indeed for her, and she invited the odd girl to join her court, in order to use her abilities for her kingdom's own good. The queen used to call Moe "Butterfly",a name which she took as her last. The mewman-monster hatred was in fact started by the burning rivalry between the Monsters and Waterfolks, and Moe Butterfly was mostly used to create spells in order to destroy monsters.It persisted.

After Moe's death, a couple generations passed until mewmans started expending into the east part of Mewni. The ones that remained into the west were often hybrids between waterfolks and mewmans, resulting into garbagefolk. By the end of year 2005 (for the mewmans) there were three Clans that ruled central Mewni (or areas next to it), The Butterfly Clan, ruled by the Butterfly family and living in the central part of the territory, The Sons of Johan, ruled by a council of noble man, all descendents of Johan, living into the eastern part of the territory, The Northern Clan (also containing the awfully named Southern Clan) ruled by the Deverok family and living into the northern and ironically southern, western part of the territory. The Butterfly Clan and The Sons of Johan were constantly bothering the monsters with their territory thirst, so war broke out and one specific Butterfly Lady was more than delighted. She composed healing spells, battle spells, moral lifting spells, all of them efforts of gaining trust and support, and it definitely worked, for she became commandant soon enough. Her name was Neptuna and she was the first queen of Mewni. After long and exhausting three years of battling the monsters, Neptuna has decided to end the war once and for all by creating extra doted soldiers for the mewman army. They were temporary, but they were brutal and had no conscience. This spell was found by Solaria later on, those lucky monsters. The final battle was named "The Mewnipendence Day" or "The Great Monster Massacre", usually the first term is used by its worshipers. After the war was done, and the Monster Empire collapsed, Neptuna named herself Queen of the Butterfly Kingdom. The Sons of Johan voted for union with the Butterflies a few years later, and the Northern Clan collided with the Butterfly Kingdom through Neptuna's marriage to Lord Jeremiah Deverok. And like this, The Kingdom of Mewni was born.

And it ain't gonna last long for the Johansens were in constant fury. The Northern and Butterfly way of living was quite similar, but the Johansens were completely out of the picture when it came to culture. For one, The Butterfly Kingdom was a matriarchy, while the Sons of Johan used to be a patriarchy and this caused some inside misunderstandings. For the second, they were always viewed as inferior by the other two Clans because of their traditions and lack of politeness. So the Johansens began wishing for something the Butterflies wouldn't be delighted of:independence. During the reign of Queen Mars the Unforgiving, one noble man named Pem Johansen attracted the attention of many and in 2249 war broke out. Long story short, to be explained when I talk about the Johansens since they have a bigger role in this, a couple peace offerings all of them failures, a bloodthirsty queen and peeved Magical High Comission, all of them resulting into the new Kingdom's victory and Pem's rise to power. The Johansens are not exactly in good relations with the Butterflies and a few squabbles happened, until there was another war between the kingdoms,the cause being Mars' fury. She just couldn't stand all the disrespect shown towards her ever since the loss of the easter part, and her daughter, Adora's lack of interest of regaining the land they had a right to, so one of her last acts as queen was to attack. The war lasted a couple of months and not many battles occurred, however Mars was forced to abdicate in favor of Princess Adora, also known as Adora The Peaceful, who ended the war and tried to maintain decent relationship with the Johansens. Adora was active as a queen and even tried to establish a few monster rights, all of them protested, often overlooked and unpunished when broken, all abolished by Duchess Fausta (regent to Soupina the Strange) during her regency. She also wrote a book about how important the relationship of mewmans and monsters was for the sake of Mewni, and also outlined how the demons and the waterfolks were technically a branch in that tree. The book was confiscated later on, but her image as a peacemaker was kept as a mask for her "monster-admirer" character. She didn't advance in the field as much as Eclipsa did, somehow admitting that monsters were inferior to mewmans, probably in an attempt to sway the mewmans on her side by borrowing their mentality.

The magic leaks became more and more frequent since the reign of Mayestry the Elegant (queen before both Adora and Mars) and left Mewni with a couple of scars, for example the Ponyhead race and constant magic flowing in rivers. It also caused more diseases and mutations, especially in the Butterfly Family, queen Stea being born with no outward ability in magic or cheekmarks. Her niece, Queen Soupina was the opposite, gifted with lots of power, but went insane because of it. Soupina's mother, Ophelia was also gifted with ability in magic, but it constantly leaked from her right eye and often gave her headaches. Portia the Revived was turned back to life by Venus the Vain's tears and Queen Pandora the Overly Curious fell pregnant after drinking a cup of charmed water. The crisis calmed down in the reign of Queen Nordia the Dedicated , Pandora's granddaughter.

After Nordia the Dedicated came Vestia the Useless, and as you probably guessed, she wasn't a very efficient ruler, so the Northernfolk found the perfect time to declare independence from the Kingdom of Mewni. The Magical High Comission protested, the people of Mewni protested, but Vestia couldn't care less and let them go without moving a finger. She did however support a candidate for the kingship of the brand new Kingdom, Alexander Deverok, who lost to the far more hostile Larra Wertock, and the relationship between the two kingdoms was always somehow strained ever since,especially after the Butterflies helped the Southernfolk gain independence and become the Featherfolk, only to be conquered by the Spiderbites and distributed to the Butterflies a few centuries later. But, that's a story for another time, and moving on, Vestia retired at an extremely young age, letting the Magical High Comission handle the kingdom until her daughter, Lunrosa the Seline came to age.

Lunrosa's daughter, Metoria the Ruthless, was pretty much fixed on conquering Mewni in order to bring the Butterfly Kingdom back to its past greatness, succeeding into gaining the northern and the western part, but getting defeated by the alliance composed of the Johansens and the Jaggies, with the Lucitors' help. She was assassinated before the war concluded and was replaced by her cousin-once-removed, Ceres the Healer,who established peace, but with great costs, such as losing both land and respect. Unlike many Queens that ended wars, Ceres (the second) was actually in a good relationship with her subjects, since she was that one queen who did what she had to, but still somehow followed the public requests, and was dedicated to both of her jobs. After Ceres the Healer ended a war, her granddaughter Illusia the Charming was to face another. The Kelpbottom Kingdom and the Jaggs had a little inconvenience regarding some small islands, the Spiderbites strongly believed they possessed the sea, and the Johansens wanted to have a spot for themselves in the western part of Mewni, so the Queen had to interfere so those kingdoms wouldn't butcher each other more than they already had. Illusia used her charm to convince the rulers to quit fighting and settle the score in different ways,sharing the islands equally so that each kingdom would be happy with what they got. It didn't last very long.

Dark ages settled again under the age of Queen Hollow the Wise as a mortal sickness spread across Mewni starting with the Jaggy Kingdom: the bleeding plague. Because of Hollow's ruling skills, the kingdom got away easier than other countries, but damage was still persistent even after it disappeared from the cotidian life. It didn't help that when the kingdom was starting to recover, Queen Lyric the Reckless came to crush everything down once more,resulting into the respect for the Butterfly dinasty to decrease extremely much by the end of her reign. Skywinne Queen of Hours was by far better than her mother when it came to ruling Mewni, and soon things started to settle down and the kingdom slowly turned back to life. Skywinne also refused to imply in both the eastern wars or the Spiderbite Civil War. But then along came Solaria and ruined everything as expected. Solaria the Monster Carver had a plan to destroy all monster population and expend the mewman territory, which didn't go exactly as good as she might had expected. Solaria crushed the mewman economy with her campaigns, but never truly cared about anything else but her twisted cause and this caused her to be dependent of alliances and agree to pretty harsh terms in order to get the cash, such as sharing territory with Johansens and Spiderbites and trading with the Kelpbottoms. She also agreed to marry Princess Eclipsa Butterfly to Prince Shastacan Spiderbite, basically signing her own death sentince in a way.

Queen Eclipsa still reigned during times of war, but always tried to weaken it, almost insisting for the mewman army to be as badly prepared as could be, which attracted suspicion from most of the people. She ended up fleeing with a monster lover away from Mewni, while her husband remained the only ruler of the land for about a year before he finally died. They left the kingdom in a terrible condition, so both of them went down in history as uncapable, careless and selfish rulers that deserved their fate.

Princess Festivia was only a couple of months when her parents died, and The Magical High Comission took care of the Kingdom until she reached the proper age to be responsible for an entire country . Festivia decided to continue her grandmother's campaign, but with a little twist, as she only conquered the monster land without any intentions of murdering an entire race. The most she actually did was keep the mewmans distracted with endless partying,while general Mina Loveberry was guiding the soldiers through monster territory. Not only did the Butterflies gain the Forest of Certain Death, but also Festivia inheried Featherland and her husband inherited Musty Mountains (as the descendent of the royal family) when the Spiderbite Lord finally died, so yes Festivia had a great reign.

Cresecenta the Eager is probably one of the most successful queens the Butterfly Kingdom had. Even if she was mentally not that fine, she surely was efficient in ruling, by keeping everything in order and placing a puppet on the monster throne, preventing them to earn independence through an actual ruler. She was also a great alliance maker and with the fall of the Northern Empire (Spiderbites, a part of Jaggy Mountains, Featherland, Northern islands, Musty Mountains, and Garbage Beach) there were a lot of small new kingdoms to sway on your side.

Rhina Butterfly was everything but not a queen. Her mother just handled everything for her, including her own marriage which resulted only into complete disaster and broken alliances with one of the largest kingdoms. She managed to give birth to a daughter, and established Riddle Day on her birthday, but if you think these are achievements then you can consider Rhina a decent queen.

Celena, just as inefficient as her mother was, extremely intelligent and pretty I suppose, even prettier than Venus the Vain, but too shy and unmotivated to be a great queen. She knew the cosmic secrets, basically just future visions. Because of her lack of ability on how to control magic, her magic acted involuntary, therefore giving her a couple of abilities. The reason why she always hid her face with that fan was because it prevented her from seeing what would happen to the place or person she was looking at.

Estrella was just herself, like there is nothing to say about her, she was boring as could be and the only thing she was capable of was drawing little doodles that didn't help anyone.

Comet the Chief was a great cook, but unlike her mother she had more than a skill to show. She was actually the only queen close to finally ending the rivalry between mewmans and monsters, but that foolish fantasy got her assassinated and only aggravated the endless war between the two nations. Her daughter, Moon, became queen by the time she was only 17 and even though she did a decent job at it, she was only loved by mewmans because she was a queen of tradition, an Estrella that didn't even try to be like that, a queen that keeps things the way they are without agreeing to change, despite of how necessary it would be for mewmans.

The order Queens were born:

36. Star Butterfly - 3110

35. Moon Butterfly- 3079

34. Comet Butterfly- 3061

33. Estrella Butterfly- 3037

32. Celena Butterfly- 3012

31. Rhina Butterfly- 2980

30. Crescenta Butterfly- 2941

29. Festivia Butterfly- 2904

28. Eclipsa Butterfly- 2882

27. Solaria Butterfly- 2861

26.Skywinne Butterfly-2820

25.Lyric Butterfly-2784

24.Astra Butterfly-2760

23.Gloria Butterfly-2729

22.Holly Butterfly-2690

21. Hollow Butterfly-2670

20. Universia Butterfly-2647

19.Illusia Butterfly-2613

18.Bendis Butterfly-2588

17.Ceria Butterfly-2551

16.Metodia Butterfly-2511

15. Lunrosa Butterfly-2490

14.Vestia Butterfly-2458

13.Nordia Butterfly-2434 - Blood Moon Ball!

12.Ceres Butterfly-2405

11.Pandora Butterfly-2379

10.Portia Butterfly-2351

9.Venus Butterfly-2324

8. Stea Butterfly- 2293

7.Soupina Butterfly- 2269

6.Adora Butterfly- 2246

5. Mars Butterfly- 2212

4. Mayestry Butterfly- 2172

3. Cosmica Butterfly- 2151

2. Saturn Butterfly- 2122

1. Nepuna Butterfly- 2086

#svtfoe #star vs the force of evil ending #queensofmewni #skywynne butterfly #jushtin butterfly #solaria butterfly #eclipsa butterfly #festivia butterfly #crescenta butterfly #rhina butterfly #celena butterfly #Estrella butterfly #comet butterfly #moon butterfly #Butterfly Kingdom

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meluisart · 3 years

Photo

Self-indulgent drawing of my main character Akumu with Lady Dimitrescu!

Self-indulgent story under the cut. Please don’t hate, it’s late and I did not feel like beta-reading. I wrote it for myself if anything. I haven’t explored Akumu in text in years so it was more of a testing my characterisation of them rather than anything else.

Also, as they are my character; do not repost the art or the fic and please respect that. I do not allow anyone to use Akumu so please be mindful of my wishes. Thank you.

Support me here!

Peculiar would have been one of many uncountable ways to describe the situation.

Of all the possible outcomes this had been the most unexpected one and yet, pleasing all the same. Little humanely squabbling and more discussion than territorial barking was always preferable. Still, finding the youngest daughter curled up by their clawed feet, with her somewhat shorter body resting against them as she fidgeted about with lengthy umber fur had been the last thing on the long list of things that might have happened.

The other two are curled up by their mother, seeking her warmth in favor over the fur currently being fidgeted with by their sibling. Every so often the middle daughter’s eyes shift from her younger sister to the skull-faced creature and back, whereas the eldest is content reading a book.

No amount of enthusiastic persuading from the youngest on how soft and warm the legs she’s curled up against are (she had compared them to the hearth but without the danger of being burnt) had gotten the other two to come over, to which she had promptly told them to suit themselves. The invitation was still open of course, if they behaved, which had not been an issue so far. Perhaps this had to do with the presence of their mother.

She is seated in a large high-backed chair opposite from them, nursing a glass of Sanguis Viriginis. She cuts a striking figure against the orange glow of the candlelight, the brim of her hat casting an impressive menacing shadow over her face. Her golden eyes find their white ones and they can swear there is some mirth in the countess’ gaze.

Their introduction to each other roughly a week prior had been somewhat odd and sped along by the presence of the oldest daughter, who had stumbled into them after a maiden had run along screaming for help. The daughter had in turn alerted the countess by calling for her by the title of Mother. Then, it had only taken a moment for her to come forward.

It didn’t happen often that they encountered someone taller than their own previously thought of as imposing eight feet and yet, when she had come ducking through the doorway leading to the main hall, they had known immediately that this would be the one exception.

Surprisingly enough, for being an intruder in their home, the matriarch of Castle Dimitrescu had not immediately lashed out but her claws had stayed ready at her side, stopping just short of the polished floorboards.Only briefly did they move to beacon her daughter to her side, who obeyed promptly; her lower half turning into blowflies to quickly move into her mother’s side. Meek as she might have appeared, they had not failed to notice the silver sickle held right in her gloved hand.

Naturally the first question spoken had been one of inquiry. They had considered a mere moment, clearing their throat to adjust their voice to match that of the countess; deep, authoritative and most definitely feminine. It is only slightly lighter in tone when they finally answer her call, squaring their shoulders as they do.

“The name is Akumu, I was merely passing through when I stumbled upon your home. It is… hard to miss. I must admit, it drew my interest.”

The woman's eyes narrow as she takes Akumu in, all eight feet of them. Their form is more androgynous than distinctively male or female though there is no mistake in the small curve of the hip as they give way to furred digitigrade legs adorned with red and white markings on the side akin to that of the Little Fox Butterfly.

Their face is a different story entirely, a skull like that of a large canine resting where a face would be. From it sprout four horns, two straight upward and two curling out to the side. Strange red markings and rings make them stand out. Though perhaps most noteworthy is the set of pale milky eyes that sit in the sockets of the skull; inquisitive and intelligent as they stare up at the woman without wavering.

She had considered them for a moment, sending the shorter girl away as she did. The young blonde seemed to hesitate for a moment before dissolving into blowflies entirely and swarming away through the door behind her mother.

With claws still unsheathed the matriarch had stepped closer, “now, speak the truth.”

It had been a demand and whilst not one to listen to demands, Akumu had indulged nevertheless; more than understanding the requirement of being honest and respectful in another’s home.

“It is the truth, Lady…”

“Dimitrescu.”

“Lady Dimitrescu,” they repeated, tasting the name, “I was merely intrigued. As it were the front door had been left open, when no one answered my polite knocking I came searching.”

“And you were here because?” she had asked in turn, claws retracting as she took a drag from her cigarette, perched precariously at the end of a holder that in most countries had been out of style for several decades now.

“As I have said previously, I was intrigued. I have been for some time now; it is not often I travel through sections of land where there are still occupants living as if time had come to a standstill several centuries ago.”

Lady Dimitrescu’s eyes had narrowed further and she had hummed, a deep near inaudible humm at that. Her ruby lips parted to speak when a door to the side opened to reveal an almost comically short maid with short coily hair carrying fresh linen, she had halted immediately in her steps at the sight of the two of them standing there and had whispered a quick excuse and apology before Lady Dimitrescu held up her hand to silence her.

“Have Adela see to the linen and ready the sitting room for myself and our … guest.”

The maid had curtsied and sprinted back out through the door at a speed surprisingly rapid for a human of her stature.

Conversation in the sitting room had still been stiff, Akumu keeping their tail wrapped around their feet to avoid tripping the maids zipping in and out of the room.

At being presented with a tray containing several beverages of all sorts they had declined altogether. “I will have what your mistress is having,” they had ordered the maid, who seemed to tremble at the very idea of it.

“You will have no such thing,” Lady Dimitrescu countered, taking another long drag of her cigarette.

“Forgive me,” Akumu said most humbly, placing a clawed hand against their chest, “but we share a similar diet, if my sense of smell does not betray me.”

Lady Dimitrescu had then scoffed and eventually conceded, offering a glass of her family’s signature wine; infused with maiden’s blood of course, as the brand name suggested.

After, conversation seemed to flow more easily though both could sense from one another that there were things unspoken hiding behind the other’s surface. Finally they reached an agreement. Akumu would be allowed to stay for however long they pleased, on the condition that no harm befall staff or the daughters; though no guarantee could be given the other way around.

Akumu had come to learn in the week that followed what that meant. The first run in had been with the lady’s middle daughter, Cassandra. The dark haired girl had swarmed up to them while they had been studying the architecture of the main hall, flinging herself at their back and staying put, hanging on by tugging forcefully at the fiery mane running down Akumu’s back.

A deep growl had rumbled out of their throat accompanied by a warning to let go. Cassandra had merely laughed and reminded them of their agreement with their mother. Dissolving back into a swarm to circle around them and confuse them led to a flare in Akumu’s own powers.

Birds of prey made of nothing but yellowed bones and pitch black empty eye sockets dove in and out of the swarm in an attempt to disrupt it, which worked. Cassandra backed off but stayed near, studying the birds with a wicked grin on her face. Eventually she swarmed around the one bird that darted close to her away from the flock hovering protectively around Akumu. The behavior was clearly playful and with a chuckle Akumu gave the bird free will and let it fly off with Cassandra into the dining room. The others faded back into dust and nothingness.

However, Cassandra’s laughter had attracted the attention of her sisters, who walked along the balcony, lace capes trailing behind them as they went. The blonde tugged the redhead’s arm, which earned her a dissatisfied whine before she was able to successfully drag her sister along after her.

For the time being Akumu continued to study the main hall, content leaving Dimitrescu’s daughters to do as they pleased. Maidens seemed to avoid them, and as consequence Akumu as well, at all costs; so there was little asking as to what went where, and their studying of the castle became something closer to exploration.

It would be two days later that the sound of piano play drew them into the Opera Hall. There, seated by a rather large piano (no doubt custom made to fit the tall stature of Lady Dimitrescu herself) playing a piece they did not recognize. They opted to duck through the doorway and stay by it for a while to observe and listen.

The stage appeared in disarray with the curtains having come down due to a broken rail, but the piano seemed perfectly cared for. The blonde Akumu had learned was named Bela did not turn to face her audience until she had come to the end of the piece. Unlike her sister she did not swarm up to greet them rather violently and the sickle that had been present during their first encounter was not reached for. Instead she remained seated on the piano bench, observing her guest.

Akumu stepped forward, clapping their paws together before bowing, a compliment easily flowing from their lips. Though it might not have seemed so at first, Akumu had always been appreciative of the arts. This of course, included the musical.

Coming to stand beside the grande piano they inclined their head and softened their gaze, “may I, miss Bela?”

Bela wordlessly scooted, opting to look unimpressed but golden eyes never tearing away from Akumu as they sat down on the piano bench, tail drooping over the back and under to rest between their feet. Of all pieces possible and known to them, Akumu opted to play Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saëns.

This drew a wide grin from the blonde and midway through the piece she seemed to slowly come apart, dissolving into flies circling and swaying to and fro above the piano and around the space. It takes a moment for Akumu to realise that this is how she dances, presumably unable to hold her human shape with excitement and instead opting to let go entirely.

Every so often they can make out human shapes and a pleased grin on a pale face as Bela zips about the opera hall.

It is strangely endearing and as such Akumu takes great care in playing the piece from memory, flowing into another piece right after and then some more. Centuries worth of memories of cultures of all kinds serves them flawlessly as they do. The excited buzzing above their head is well worth it and a strange contentment settles in the pit of their stomach.

It isn’t until they stumble into the library on their fifth day of staying at the castle that they are formally introduced to the youngest, Daniela Dimitrescu. She’s just as tall as her sisters and her red hair reminds Akumu much of their own mane, the colours are eerily similar.

Daniela is flopped upside down in an uncomfortable looking position in a chair that looks like it is from 1700s France, occupied reading one of the many books stacked around the room. The second she spots Akumu stepping into the middle of the room she slams the book shut, discarding it beneath her chair. She swarms momentarily to position herself upright and then comes hovering forward at a speed that to human eyes may have been hard to keep up with.

She purrs excitedly as she hovers above ground in front of Akumu, placing a hand on either shoulder, gloved fingers tangling in the fur. A wicked bloody grin that could easily rival Cassandra’s goes paired with a relatively flirtatious comment. Without much warning Daniela dives for Akumu’s throat, mouth open wide. She is quick to retreat however, sputtering at having had a mouth full of what had been nothing but hair.

Akumu, albeit surprised and now alert, chuckles warmly with amusement as Daniela scowls. “I have a thick hide containing a heavy layer of fur. Besides, I do not think you will find my blood very tasty. I barely have any, Miss Daniela.”

The youngest Dimitrescu scowls and pouts some more before lightly shaking Akumu, hands still tangled into the fur of her shoulders. “It is unfair,” she whines, rolling her golden eyes into the back of her head before swarming off to plop back down in her chair, knocking some books off of a shelf as she goes. “You smell so good and yet. I would love to try but now you’ve already ruined the fun of our dance!”

She makes a few more disgruntled noises after as Akumu ponders how to best approach Daniela. Bela had responded most like her mother had, calm and collected. Cassandra had been rather sadistic in the way she approached things but with her morbid fascinations had been more than interested in the skeletons given to her for the time being. Daniela is a fair bit like Cassandra in her behavior, if not slightly more unhinged.

Then, had she not been reading before they had entered the small hexagon shaped library?

Stepping forward, Akumu bends over smoothly to pick up a book off the floor; tail swaying left and right as they walk. As they slowly make their way over to the corner where Daniela is seated, huffing in a manner to illustrate that she is bored, they pretend to be interested in some of the titles on the shelves. With a sense of finality they put the book previously picked up back on one of the shelves and pulls up a rather large chair next to Daniela.

Knowing that it belongs to Lady Dimitrescu they tilt their head slightly and inquire, “do you think Lady Dimitrescu would mind if I borrowed her chair for a moment? It is not often I encounter furniture that matches my stature.”

Daniela shrugs, blowing a few strands of hair out of her face. “If mother chooses to disembowel you, I will be watching with a grin to match the situation.”

She seems to perk up at the idea and while not preferable that it end in their demise, it is good to see her smile somewhat.

Akumu considers her for a moment, eyes narrowed slightly before asking with honest intrigue, “were you reading anything interesting?”

Daniela’s head snaps up at the question and she sits stockstill before diving forward and snatching the book back up from underneath her seat. For a moment she cradles it to her chest protectively. The book is in Romanian and while they know the language and can easily make out the title, they purposely leave it up to Daniela to explain to test the bridge they’re attempting to build between them.

“Nothing of importance,” she says with an airy voice of indifference, “here.”

She pushes the book out toward Akumu who takes it gratefully, studying it and flipping through it with care; careful not to tear up the pages with their ivory nails..

“Creatures of European folklore,” they read aloud with a chuckle.

“What’s so funny?” Daniela snarks, crossing her arms over her chest in a manner that reminds them of a child not being allowed to the last cookie in the jar at the top of the kitchen’s highest shelf. Though, in the case of Dimitrescu’s children, that would probably be the last captive male in the castle’s dungeons.

“I have met most of them in my time,” Akumu muses, pausing to look at an illustration of Herne the Hunter.

Daniela falters for a moment before, with a burst of excitement that seems to come out of nowhere, jumping up in her seat and gripping onto Akumu’s lower left arm. She reaches out to flip ahead in the book toward a page depicting a Chimera.

“What about this one? Is it really that big?”

The storm of questions is endless and continues on for hours. They fall into a rapid back and forth of sharing knowledge. Akumu is vaguely aware of buzzing the back of the library even though Daniela is completely material beside them.

It wouldn’t be until the week was over and they find themselves where they are now that it would click that it had been Bela, who is currently reading the very same book with rapt attention.

Daniela had come to treat Akumu like a massive dog of sorts, scratching at their calf with abandon. While normally the demon would heavily protest at being treated in such a manner, they find that they can’t. They really are just children and they have been raised right. Besides, this is their home and a promise had been made. Emotional harm that lies in denying the youngest Dimitrescu this would still be harm done and acceptance aside, Akumu is still not entirely certain where the boundaries lie, especially in the presence of Lady Dimitrescu herself.

Humans have a funny saying. Expect the unexpected. Never be surprised by what is least likely to happen. Anything can happen and it probably will.

Winding up in the village and consequently at Castle Dimitrescu much lived up to that silly saying that previously was not believed in by them. Yet, this was their most interesting stay yet.

#akumu #akumu the skull demon #akumudemon #lady dimitrescu #re8 #resident evil 8 #resident evil village #melui writes #meluisart

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eagles-translated · 3 years

Text

Analyzing the writing of Eagles

Here's a post I've been wanting to make for a while! I've expressed my thoughts on some of the storylines in previous posts, but I've never done a complete post on the writing of the whole show. I've divided this post into separate parts, focusing on each season and its plot points. Keep reading to see my analysis of the writing in Eagles! 👇 Word Count: 18k

If you've stumbled upon this post from the Young Royals or the Beartown tag (tagged them since I've drawn some parallels from those shows), here's a brief summary of what Eagles is, which you can watch with English subtitles here. This post contains Eagles spoilers from 1x01 - 3x10.

Eagles is a Swedish TV show that revolves around a few teenagers living in the Swedish ice hockey town Oskarshamn while experiencing friendship, love, and rivalry on the ice.

To start this off I would like to say that I have no experience with professional screenwriting and if anything, this is just a way for me to procrastinate on actually writing my own projects.

I love experiencing new stories and when I discover one I really like it's just natural for me to branch off with "what ifs" and to start wondering how the story would've turned out if some things were changed. Sometimes it's with a storyline improvement in mind, and other times it's just out of plain curiosity.

You might feel like this post is leaning towards the critical side, and I can definitely understand why since there are a lot of small details that I've picked apart from all seasons. I added a section for each season with things that I thought were really well done so this post wouldn't be too negative.

I actually did enjoy all seasons and I feel like the quality of not just the writing but every single thing has steadily increased each year.

Season 1: Tropes and clichés

Eagles premiered its first season in 2019 and was, despite many negative reviews, a big success among its target audience. Every episode on SVT Play amassed around 700 000–800 000 views and there didn't seem to be any doubt that the show would get renewed.

What the critics had issues with were that "Eagles rarely takes the unexpected path, and feels like a slightly soulless product of studied target group thinking a little too often," (Karolina Fjellborg in Aftonbladet) and "In Eagles, the characters seem to be locked in the role of a "teenager" but the humanity is missing. They've simplified the construction of the character," (Django Lorentzson in MovieZine).

Eagles was unfortunate enough to constantly be compared to SKAM in its infancy, and that's a tough comparison to live up to. SVT sort of shot themselves in the foot as they were the ones who contributed to it. While the show was still in the casting process, SVT wrote an article hyping the show up as a Swedish SKAM (which has since been edited, but led many to falsely believe that it would involve all the familiar SKAM characters with some hockey elements sprinkled in).

So, why exactly did critics think the first three episodes of the show were predictable and soulless? Well, it's pretty simple. They'd seen it all before. The setting, the characters, the storylines—just in different TV shows and movies.

Season 1 for me is nostalgic and very enjoyable despite its clichéd nature. I also felt like I'd seen the show before due to its generic storylines, but there is a reason why tropes are tropes and why clichés are clichés. It's because they're tried and true, and actually somewhat good writing tools as long as you expand on them. The keyword here is to expand—a story doesn't magically become good simply because you mimic something another writer has done. Tropes are fine to use but you can't just apply them and stop there. Everything in a story needs to be developed in order to be good.

It's safe to say that it's pretty much impossible to write a story without any tropes that have been used before. Striving to avoid clichés at all costs in hopes of making your story as original as possible is harder than it sounds, and almost impossible to boot. Here's a great piece of advice for aspiring writers written by a user on Carvezine:

[...] if you look down at your story and are worried it’s already been told before – don’t spend another second thinking about it. It has. A million times. The only difference is that it hasn’t been told by you. Accept that regurgitation is part of writing, and just do your best not to regurgitate the same way as the guy next to you. We’d all do well to acknowledge there is at least a portion of our stories that are really someone else’s. [...] Beyond that, write with the motivation that if you don’t get around to telling your story, eventually somebody else will.

Even the greatest books have storylines with some clichés. And that's not really a bad thing, either. Think about it. How many times have you decided to binge a TV show solely because it reminded you of another series? Or picked up a book simply because you love a good enemies to lovers romance, a battle between good and evil fantasy, or whatever it might be?

I found this article from Masterclass that perfectly describes what tropes are and why they're used. It's written from the perspective of novel writing but it is still applicable.

A trope in literary terms is a plot device or character attribute that is used so commonly in the genre that it’s seen as commonplace or conventional. For example, a trope in superhero stories is a villain who wants to take over the world. Tropes are popular for a reason—if something has been written about over and over again, there’s a good chance that it’s something readers enjoy reading! Tropes can be helpful, but a novel made up only of tropes will quickly start to feel stale and predictable to readers. That’s why you need to read up on tropes—and then innovate. Deliberately taking a favorite trope and turning it on its head is a great way to put your own unique spin on the genre and keep your readers interested.

Eagles, in its first season, didn't really do a lot of expanding upon the tropes they used and it's understandable that they were still trying to find their footing. I can also imagine it's difficult to do so when you only have eight 20 minute episodes in the season.

However... There definitely should've been more work put into these characters to make them their own. It's tricky, yes, but still achievable if you don't abandon them in their cookie-cutter form and try to actually decorate them with something unique and fresh.

So, how did they write their characters?

Felicia's character and backstory

To start off, Felicia is a famous influencer known for starring in a reality show next to her former NHL professional father. There's already a clear disconnect because it's hard to relate to a character with such a public past and large following. But it is 100% possible if you let the viewer know the character has humane qualities just like the person watching the show.

Look at Wilhelm from Netflix's Young Royals, another Swedish TV show. Wilhelm is the prince of Sweden, set to attend a prestigious elite boarding school, and is the heir to the throne. That doesn't exactly sound like a relatable scenario, does it? And yet the writers make it work because when we're introduced to Wilhelm we realize he's just like everybody else. He wants a normal life, he latches on to his older brother for support, he has anxiety, and he struggles between following his heart versus doing what his family is expecting him to do. A lot of these factors are relatable among the audience.

So, let's look at Felicia Kroon. She is in many ways portrayed as the main character of the show. Eagles starts off with her family having moved to Oskarshamn and the following episodes focus on her developing relationship with Ludde as well as her traumatic past. There's almost too much focus on Felicia here, and I'll get back to that.

Comparing Felicia to Wilhelm from Young Royals, they're both well-known teenagers with famous parents. Of course they have different circumstances considering Felicia is Instagram popular and Wilhelm is a blood royal, but in the grand scheme of things they're similar. Felicia is even referred to as a "Kroon princess" because of her last name Kroon bearing a resemblance to the Swedish word kronprinsessa, meaning crown princess.

The students of their respective schools treat their attendance as a big deal when they first arrive and then Wilhelm and Felicia start spending time with the "popular" crowd despite not really fitting in there.

I personally found it easy to relate to Wilhelm but difficult to relate to Felicia. Some people may feel differently, but her character is basically a popular party girl who attracts the attention of one of the school's star players and is "welcomed" by the popular crowd on her first day of school. I put welcome in quotation marks because Klara, the leader of the girl group, isn't exactly the most welcoming person but she does welcome Felicia to the school. My point is, Felicia doesn't have a lot of relatable traits in the first episodes.

Felicia then goes on a date with the guy she's met, Ludde. Okay, so there haven't been that many layers to her character yet. We're at the third episode and so far she's been kind of flat.

Near the end of the third episode, we get some depth to the character and we hear her back story.

Felicia: [...] We don’t have a good relationship, my dad and I. And that’s probably why we moved from the beginning, because he’s an idiot. We’ve never been close, but… Elias and he have been since they’ve had hockey. [...] And mom has been really involved, so… And I… They’ve never really cared about me. And… And I haven’t really been a problem either. I’ve had good grades, good friends, and… I don’t know why I’m telling you this. I don’t talk about it to people. [...] I just felt so fucking lonely and invisible. I was worried all the time, couldn’t sleep, panicked because I couldn’t sleep… So I started going out more. It went overboard. It started affecting school, my grades slipped… I started taking things to be able to concentrate. Everybody does stuff like that. And then I still couldn’t sleep, so… I started mixing with sleeping pills. And there’s always wine and booze at our place. I don’t want this to come out, that’s really important. Ludde: Of course, I’d never tell. Felicia: One night, something happened that made me… Act out of control more than usual. I woke up the next morning in the hospital. So they sent me to rehab. It was really rough for mom and dad that I was suddenly in focus. When I woke up, dad wasn’t even there. Ludde: What made you take too much that night? Felicia: I’d forgotten my phone at home, so I ran up and got it while my friends were waiting in an Uber. Then I came into the hall and I heard noises. You know, like, when somebody is doing it. Ludde: Okay. Felicia: And I thought it was really weird because mom wasn’t home. So I went into the living room… Dad was fucking my mom’s best friend. On the rug below the couch.

This gives Felicia more layers and does separate her from every other "popular pretty party girl" trope that you see on TV. But this is a huge info dump, and that's a problem. I would've liked to see this happen on-screen instead of only being told what went down. The golden rule of Show don't tell, as people like to say.

Show, don’t tell is a writing technique in which story and characters are related through sensory details and actions rather than exposition. It fosters a style of writing that’s more immersive for the reader, allowing them to “be in the room” with the characters. In his most commonly repeated quote, Chekhov said, “Don’t tell me the moon is shining. Show me the glint of light on broken glass."

This back story could've been more impactful that way if, perhaps, the show began with Felicia in a hospital bed with a strong headache and hazy flashbacks of that night where she saw her dad sleeping with another woman. Then we're introduced to her mother and brother sitting next to the hospital bed tired and worried, and Felicia notices her dad isn't present. They tell her Felicia is being sent to rehab and then there's a time-jump before we see the Kroon family having moved to Oskarshamn.

That's just an idea I threw together at the top of my head, but you get my point. It would've been more interesting if we knew from the beginning that Felicia had a traumatic past like this, leading the viewer to want to know more about what actually happened.

We did get a brief flashback at the very beginning of the show—we see Felicia partying with her friends and taking some pill before lying unconscious on the ground. There's also a glimpse of Ludde's car accident with Andreas yelling at him to get out of there.

That segment only lasts for around 45 seconds and it's easily forgettable upon your first viewing of the show. It's also hard to even recognize Felicia in the dark nightclub setting with the flashing lights. Some dialogue in that short scene could've made it more memorable, because I found that when I first watched season 1 I remembered Andreas yelling at Ludde despite that being drowned out by the music.

Ludde's backstory was way more well-done, in my opinion. We see him having crashed the car and bleeding from his head. He looks terrified and almost frozen by fear, needing to be pulled out of the car by a panicked Andreas yelling at him to bring Ludde back to the reality of the situation. We see Andreas yelling and pointing, telling Ludde he needs to run now. It's more powerful when we get to see it.

And in episode 8, when we learn the truth of what happened, it's not a long and dragged-out monologue. It fits into what's going on in the story. Felicia and Ludde have known each other for a few months now and are much closer than they were on their first date. They've had disagreements and fights, but at this moment they're in a good place.

And it feels like the right moment for Ludde to come clean about what happened to him.

Ludde: Hey… There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you. Felicia: What? Ludde: About… My brother. It’s not really as everybody thinks. Felicia: What do you mean? Ludde: That night when he crashed… It wasn’t Andreas who drove the car. We were on our way home from one of his buddies. We’d had some fun drinking. And then… I’d just started learning how to drive. So I nagged and nagged at him. Felicia: So you were the one driving? But he’s an adult- Ludde: He was drunk as hell. He was going to leave the car, but I thought it was so cold and it was only three blocks away so I thought that I could drive. Felicia: And what happened? Ludde: It was slippery and really dark… And a car came. I hit the brakes in time, but it… Yeah. Right after he pushed me out of the car and yelled that I should run home straight away. He really didn’t want me to get into trouble. So, yeah… It was fucking bad luck. I want to just gather everybody and scream that it was me. Felicia: Hey… I love you. Ludde: I love you too. I love you so fucking much.

As Ludde is telling Felicia what happened as the other car came, we see a silent flashback of it along with Ludde's voice narrating. We see Andreas pulling him out of the car and yelling. Cutting to this scene that we've already seen in the beginning but might've forgotten about is a smart choice and makes the story Ludde is telling more real. We see it unfolding as Ludde is telling this to Felicia. It's a powerful scene.

We then see Felicia hugging Ludde from behind, a sign of support with no words needed. She tells him she loves him and Ludde says it back. It's an honest and sweet moment that comes at a perfect time in the story. It's not too early like Felicia's backstory was.

I sort of understand why Felicia's backstory was info-dumped because it was right before the drama of Mats accidentally spilling the beans to Klara's family. They wanted the audience to know what happened to her early, so they could move on to the plot point of Felicia thinking Ludde was the one who told everybody.

But we don't need every single detail of Felicia's story. Let it come organically. The only thing that was really needed was for Ludde to know that Felicia had struggled with drug use and was sent to rehab for this storyline to work. The reason why could've been saved for later, and it would've made for a more interesting reveal. Maybe just have Felicia allude to seeing something that night, but don't tell the viewers right away what it was.

In 1x06, Felicia is incredibly upset when she hears that her dad was the one who told Klara's family what happened to Felicia in the US. And rightly so.

Felicia: Don’t you get it? You ruined everything! Mats: What? Felicia: You told the whole damn town about me! About the US! Mats: I really didn’t mean to disclose you- Or disclose us. Sorry. Hey, sorry. Flisan, please. Hey. Felicia: Did you tell them you fucked mom’s best friend too? Yes, I saw you.

If this had been the moment where we first find out what Felicia saw, it would've been more surprising. Our reaction would've mirrored Mats's, and it would've been more heart-wrenching to know that Felicia was traumatized by an affair her dad had only to be cheated on herself in the very same episode.

Ludde's problematic nature

One of the scriptwriters of Eagles, Fanny Ekstrand, was interviewed in the behind-the-scenes documentary Edvins Skådisdrömmar. In this interview, she states:

Ludvig, he's the one who's been the easiest to retain the personality of. Because he's so... He's calm and friendly, but he makes dumb decisions. Ludvig isn't a typical hockey guy. He has a bunch of other qualities—music being one of them.

I found myself slightly disagreeing with this take, despite knowing Ekstrand is literally a part of the writing team and most likely helped shaped Ludde's personality. I just interpreted Ludde's character (at least in season 1) differently.

I also didn't find him that much different from any other typical hockey guy just because he happens to have another interest. That's a bit like saying Archie Andrews from The CW's Riverdale isn't a stereotypical jock because he also plays the guitar.

In season 1, we see Ludde break into the rink because he wanted to test out the ice. He just loves hockey that much. He also uses it as a way to express frustration and anger, which we saw in 1x05. He flirts with the new girl in school and in the beginning he even uses it as a tactic to gain a position on the main hockey team. This was confirmed by the creator Stefan H. Lindén in his Q&A, where he said:

My idea has always been that Ludde was blown away by Felicia and that he really likes her but that they both initially interacted and met to go swimming because Felicia knew it would piss her dad off and Ludde knew that it might throw Elias off since they were competing for the same position in the team.

I would say that the characteristics of a typical hockey guy would be someone like Adam—obsessed with the sport, flirting with girls, going to parties, and just spending a lot of time in the rink. Ludde checks off all of these points. However, I will give this the benefit of the doubt since season 2 Ludde seems to change a lot and it's easier to interpret him as the calm and friendly guy he was supposed to be in season 1.

So to me, Ludde wasn't calm and friendly at all. In season 2, yes, but when we're first introduced to him?

Ludde shows anger issues and violent tendencies in 1x05 when he head-butts Elias and breaks his nose. It's violent and messy. He then yells at Felicia to leave when she's trying to communicate with him and belittles her drug problems solely because she's rich. To me, Ludde wasn't a nice person in 1x04 either when he let his friends make suggestive comments about Felicia and what she was like in bed.

Omar: I can tell you one thing - you’re not borrowing my towel today cause I don’t know where that dick has been. Adam: It’s nice when she sucks, right? Omar: Can’t you tell us some more, does she bite you or is it just really, really nice? [...] Adam: Is that what you sound like when you’re coming? What does she sound like?

This was described as "locker room talk" and the writers probably wanted to show an authentic view of what being a hockey player is like. I understand that. But it's a little problematic when it's later swept under the rug and treated like something that we're just supposed to accept.

Elias: [...] it’s not very fun to sit in a hockey locker room where people are talking about how nice it is to fuck my sister. Felicia: Ludde would never say anything like that, you know that. Elias: He wouldn’t? It’s a locker room, Felicia. That’s the only thing they talk about.

It did not sit right with me how Felicia seemed to be the one Elias blamed in this scene, and Ludde and his friends never faced any real consequences for what they said. Elias did lash out at Ludde, but there was no severe consequence for Omar and Adam's comments.

Compare this scenario to another Swedish show, Beartown on HBO. Beartown is similar to Eagles and focuses on a hockey team in a small town with one of the star players hooking up with a girl who's recently moved to their small town.

This girl is raped by the hockey player. And because of his status as the star of the team, he has almost the whole school behind him. The girl however is labeled as a lying slut. It's unfair and frustrating to see it happen, but it's authentic and done in a way that doesn't glamorize the ugly side of hockey culture.

Eagles is not as dark as Beartown so this comparison might be a little unfair. Beartown's whole storyline did revolve around this incident while in Eagles the hockey culture is treated more as a side thought. It's like they decided to throw in a taste of what goes on in a locker room just to create drama without really addressing it further.

Beartown did a much better job of portraying the problematic and toxic elements of hockey culture without making it seem like it's just something normal that we should accept. It was honest and raw. If you haven't seen the show, this short video does a great job of depicting how much thought was put into the toxic hockey culture, winning mentality, and subsequently hockey players thinking they're entitled to do whatever they want.

So, to respond to Ekstrand's quote from Edvins Skådisdrömmar—I did not experience Ludde as a "good guy" who only makes dumb decisions at all. In season 1, he's a bad person for letting his friends sexualize a girl he likes and letting her brother hear their disgusting comments. He's a bad person for fighting with her brother and later yelling at her, saying her drug issues are insignificant despite acting supportive of her only two episodes earlier.

I don't mind conflicts like these because they drive the story forward. I didn't particularly like Ludde in season 1 because of the reasons I just stated, but they're necessary to create drama and make the show interesting.

It's just weird to me how one of the writers is saying that Ludde is a calm person and a good guy when that is not at all how I interpreted his character.

Eagles is a show targeted towards a young audience, among them probably a lot of easily influenced pre-teens. What kind of message does this send to them when the guy letting his friends sexualize a girl he's slept with and on top of that laughing at their inappropriate comments is referred to as the good guy?

Klara is mean... What else?

From the moment we're introduced to Klara, it seems obvious that she'll play a living and breathing version of the infamous Alpha Bitch trope. She's also a prime example of the basic Popular is Evil trope and has her own Girl Posse consisting of Sara and Amie.

Klara feels threatened by the arrival of a potential new popular girl, Felicia, and does everything in her power to bully Felicia to show dominance. She barely shows any good sides of herself.

The only instance I can think of where we sort of see season 1 Klara in a positive light is when she talks to Amie in 1x05 about their friendship and then accompanies Amie to her audition for the school band.

Klara: Ever since Felicia started at school… It’s felt like you only hang out with her and that you’ve forgotten about me. She like took you from me. Amie: But I haven’t forgotten you. Klara: No, but do you get what I mean? Amie: I get it, but I haven’t forgotten you. Klara: No, I know. Amie: I know, but it just turned out that way when school started. Klara: Okay. Amie: But I’m sorry. Klara: It’s fine. Amie: Are you sure? Klara: Yeah. You can make it up to me when you go on your world tour.

Klara is really supportive of Amie's musical endeavors, but she also uses her support as a way to alienate Felicia from the girl group. It's very on the nose and kind of feels suffocating in the way it's written.

Klara: Amie, did you remove the clips? Amie: Yeah, she said they weren’t good. Klara: She’s just jealous. It’s so obvious. I mean, I’m jealous. You sing absolutely amazing. I don’t know, I just think it was really rude of her to sit in the cafeteria and criticize you like that Amie: Yeah, maybe. But she apologized. Klara: But still. That clip of you in the bathroom… Like… Sorry, but I’d be so mad if someone had posted something like that of me. I mean, you were standing there without makeup, completely non-fixed up. And the whole thing with her filming you without you knowing. That’s really weird. You don’t do that. Don’t you think so?

I'm sure there are plenty of people who act like this in real life. And maybe that's part of the problem, because Klara in season 1 really isn't an interesting character. We've met this person before and we know exactly what she's like. There's nothing new to discover. So season 1 is essentially just Klara being petty and rude every chance she gets, and to me it felt like a large part of her character was written just to stir up drama.

In 1x06, we see Klara backstab Amie by filming her making out with Ludde at her Halloween party. But I thought it was established in 1x05 that Klara feels like Amie was taken from her? And if Klara actually cared about Amie and didn't want to lose her as a friend, she wouldn't just stand by and watch with her phone recording the whole thing. It doesn't make a lot of sense.

Klara even made that whole point about how it was really weird of Felicia to film Amie without her knowing. So why would Klara do it, when she expressed that's weird and not something a normal person does? Is that supposed to be foreshadowing? Because if so, that's a clear contradiction and not how foreshadowing works.

When Sara happens to see the video on Klara's phone she immediately says that Klara should delete it.

Sara: What is that? Did they know you were filming? Klara: No, of course they didn’t know. Sara: Oh my god, Klara. You should probably delete it. Klara: I’m going to! But it’s crazy, right? Sara: Yeah, god. But seriously, delete it. Klara: I’m going to.

So Klara says she's going to delete the video. But it's still unclear why it was filmed in the first place if Klara insists that she's going to delete it. It's not like she filmed it just to show it to Sara either, since Sara wasn't meant to see it and only saw it by chance while swiping through Klara's photos on her phone.

It doesn't make sense for Klara to film a video like that of her best friend that she's supposed to care about. It doesn't make sense for Klara to film a video of anybody without their knowledge when she previously made a big deal about how you shouldn't do that.

What Klara's character is, is a bad attempt at the classical mean girl. She's clichéd, boring, and full of tropes.

Even her eventual character development is riddled with tropes like the Heel Realization where a character realizes they're actually one of the bad guys. This realization seems to come in 1x08, where Felicia calls Klara out on her behavior.

Felicia: You know what, Klara. I’m so fucking tired of your fucking comments. You didn’t get to be Lucia this year. Poor you! Was dad unable to fix that? Cry then, Klara. Cry. You’re so fucking mean. Everybody here is tired- Everybody here is scared of you. Even those who liked you once, they can’t take it anymore. Klara: That’s not true. It’s not true. Felicia: Yes, everybody is scared of you. You know what? Look around. Show people some fucking respect. Klara: Well say something, Amie! Amie: What is there to say? She’s right.

Klara needed a wake-up call like this. It's just unfortunate that she goes back to her mean girl behavior and posts the video after Amie insinuated that Klara wasn't a real friend. Klara already knew that Amie felt that way since she said Felicia was right in her assessment of everybody being scared and tired of Klara. So wouldn't it have made more sense for Klara to post the video right after that moment instead of during Amie's performance?

Or rather, why not pull a Subverted Trope and not have Klara post the video at all after she realized how horrible she'd been acting? That would've made me respect her so much more and be a great introduction to her character development in season 2.

The Halloween Incident

To me, the whole Halloween episode was questionable. First off, we never got actual confirmation of what happened in that room between Amie and Ludde. Some viewers insist that they only made out and others believe they went all the way. Here's what the creator of the show, Stefan H. Lindén, had to say about this in a Q&A post he did:

I think if you went into the writers room of Eagles and asked all of us what really happened in that room [between Ludde and Amie at Klara's Halloween party] we would all have different answers. I know what happened, but I’m not sure we will ever truly know for sure, unless Ludvig or Amie eventually are open enough to admit to anyone what really happened.

This is kind of a vague answer, but that's fair considering that when Stefan did this Q&A the latest episode that had been released was 2x05 and he probably didn't want to spoil anything. However, looking back at this answer knowing how the season turned out I still feel like it's unclear what happened. It's also strange that Stefan seems to be saying that they never actually decided what happened between them since the writers "would all have different answers".

1x06 was just an odd episode for me overall. Lots of things felt rushed and underdeveloped. Let's not forget that this episode also contained, in my opinion, some of the weirdest lines in the whole show (along with Elias's strange monologue about plague vampires).

Ludde: Hey, I only have like 3%. Do you have any power? Adam: Are you wondering if I have a power bank in my shorts? It’s coming-

Ludde: I like shellfish. (said to Amie, wearing a lobster costume)

Up until this episode, Ludde has shown zero interest and attraction towards Amie. We are basically told that Ludde only hooked up with Amie because he was so drunk that he practically had no idea what he was doing.

In 1x02, we see a drunk Amie try to kiss Tobbe and upon getting rejected she moves on to make out with Adam. She gets overly friendly when she's drunk so the fact that she makes out with Ludde later is... Weird, but not entirely out of the realms of possibility.

Ludde on the other hand is moping about Felicia all night. He regrets how he yelled at her at the end of 1x05 and it shows. He's trying to drown all his problems in alcohol and it seems to be working, because when it enters his system he seems to be on top of the world.

What I found kind of ambiguous in this incident was if Ludde even remembered what happened that night. He was drinking so much compared to Amie, who doesn't really need as much alcohol before she reaches her "overly friendly" state. I thought for sure that Ludde was oblivious to the situation when he woke up in his bed the next day and immediately messaged Felicia.

There are just so many questions to unpack here that were never answered. What prompted Amie and Ludde to go into that empty room? Why did Ludde come with her? Why didn't Adam seem to care about this, when he'd been sitting next to Ludde and taking care of him most of the night? And as I wrote before, why would Klara film this video of her best friend when she previously expressed that was a weird thing to do?

There's just too much in 1x06 left unanswered. The Amie/Ludde hook-up was a badly executed plot twist because there wasn't anything hinting that this would happen. It just came out of nowhere.

Unbalanced screentime and Elias's wasted potential

A large portion of season 1 was dedicated to Felicia. This was kind of a let-down for me since I thought more focus would be placed on Eagles as a hockey team (after all, that's what the show is named after). I also thought more attention would be on Elias since he's the talented star player who's supposed to live up to his father's legacy.

The show starts with a couple radio hosts hyping up how Elias Kroon, son of the legendary Mats Kroon, is going to join the Eagles hockey team.

Host #1: [...] It’s finally official. New center in the junior team - Elias Kroon, son to the legendary NHL-pro Mats Kroon, who has now chosen to move home from the US to his hometown where Elias will play in his father’s old club Oskarshamn Eagles. Host #2: This is so freaking cool. Who doesn’t want a Kroon on their team? Host #1: We hope that he’ll take a spot on the A-team.

But we don't learn a lot about who Elias actually is in the first episode. The attention is on Felicia and her interest in Ludde.

Elias is so discarded that he barely has anything to say in the first couple of scenes we see him in. Here are all his eight lines in 1x01, and I'm not even joking.

Elias: Yes. Elias: Shut up. Elias: Ow. Elias: It's fine. Elias: Really? Elias: Fucking hell. Elias: I'll stay here. Elias: No, it's fine.

In 1x02 he has even fewer lines. Three, to be exact, and all he says is that his injury is a sprain and that it's fine. Essentially just an echo of two of the lines he had in the previous episode. It's nothing new.

There's a way to have a character stand out when they don't have many lines, but Elias just fades into the background with every other extra. There's too much time spent on having other characters talk about Elias than us actually getting to know him. So when we do meet him, it's pretty underwhelming.

Compare Elias to his sister who gets so much more attention from the writers. I don't really understand why either, since I thought Elias was a much more interesting character than his influencer sister. Felicia's character only seems to revolve around a guy. I wonder how many times we've seen that before?

In 1x02 we see the Eagles hockey team play their first game, but Elias is unable to play and has to sit in the stands for what was supposed to be his debut match. Why? Because during a hockey practice session in 1x01, Adam rams his stick into Elias to purposely injure him. I mean, fair enough. Adam is trying to get Ludde on the main team since he and Elias are competing for the same position. The shot of Adam smiling after Elias sprains his wrist is a bit too on the nose, but whatever.

What this does is minimize Elias' presence in season 1 by a lot. We don't see the son of the legendary NHL professional play an actual game until 1x05, which is more than halfway into the season. It's kind of disappointing but I understand the injury is done to dramatize his situation.

Elias barely gets his own storylines in the first few episodes. He just has things done to him instead of acting on his own. When we do see him on screen he gets injured by Adam, reprimanded by his father, and later told he can't play in his debut game.

His sweet side (or any side of him, really) isn't shown until 1x03 when Amie wakes up at the Kroon house and Elias reassures her that they didn't do anything together and that she can borrow Felicia's clothes.

Elias doesn't really do much for the plot until he hears Ludde's friends objectify Felicia and he starts a fight with Ludde and confronts Felicia about it. That's when it feels like Elias is actually a part of this show instead of just being an extra shoved into the background. His actions are finally affecting the plot.

Elias's potential in season 1 was hugely wasted. The only episode where we actually got to see him shine was 1x07, when he travels to Karlskrona with Amie. We find out he doesn't want the hockey arrangement his dad has planned for him and that he's actually a pretty goofy guy who likes making jokes (and eating green candy).

If less time was spent with Felicia and the distribution of every episode's 20 minutes was more balanced, season 1 could've been massively improved. It got much better in season 2, but season 1 suffered and made many people think that Felicia was a basic and unentertaining character.

The side characters and their comic relief

So one thing that I found really disappointing with Felicia's amount of screentime is that we barely got enough time for the other main characters, let alone the side characters.

What I mean here is that the only people we really know on the Eagles hockey team are Ludde and Elias. Ludde's friends, Adam and Omar, just feel like comic relief sidekicks. We don't really know what they're like, besides the fact that they like to make jokes and mess around.

This issue is largely created by the short running time the episodes have along with season 1 only having eight episodes in total. That's definitely understandable. It did get better in season 3 where we see Ludde having a deeper conversation with Adam and Omar and they finally don't just feel like the comic relief characters, but actual people with layers.

Ludde: I’m going to quit hockey. Adam: Are you serious? Omar: What the hell are you saying? Ludde: It’s not the same anymore. I’m not passionate about it. I… Yes, it sucks, but… I’ve thought about it for a while now. Omar: We make jokes about it and all, but… Yeah. It wouldn’t be the same without you. Kingelikingen. Adam: I get that it’s a tough choice. But yeah… You’ll work things out. You and Felicia. You always do. Ludde: You guys are pretty awesome sometimes, actually.

This scene was really sweet, and I wish we could've had moments like this between the guys in season 1. Just one scene to show that they're not just the "typical hockey guys". It feels like Ludde was the only person on the team in season 1 who wasn't just a background character. Even Elias, who you would assume should be at the forefront, isn't properly developed until 1x05 where we see him defending his sister and starting a fight with Ludde. Otherwise, it very much felt like Elias was kept in the background.

There are also guys on the team called Herman, Simon, Näslund, Ekbäck, Hoffmann, Berglund (even Montell, which was a fun nod to the show's director)... But who are they, actually? Do you even remember their names? To be honest with you, I don't. Because they're just names—not actual characters.

None of the other guys on the team get any depth. They're just sort of there as extras and to give the audience a sense of comedy with their "hockey team shenanigans". This was illustrated in 1x08, where Adam and Omar make their teammate Liam do a "sexy dance" on a table because he lost his virginity. Or a more extreme example—Jönsson, who only exists to be the comic relief and the unlucky guy who just can't catch a break.

In 2x04, Jönsson is told by Jack to do extra time in the gym and gets told off when he only spends a few minutes on the exercise bike. Later, Jack also makes a joke about how he should get Jönsson a defibrillator. In 2x09 Jönsson invites Ludde, Adam, and Omar to come to his mom's place to hang out. After he's left, Adam makes a comment about how there's no way he's going to "rot" in Jönsson's apartment that doesn't even have a balcony.

Don't get me wrong, these scenes aren't bad and I don't mean they should've been scrapped. Comedy can absolutely have its place in a show like this. Let's take the scene where Ludde flashes a couple of unfortunate old ladies on his first date with Felicia as an example. It feels like something a teenage boy would do to try to make a girl he likes laugh. It's a brief scene and it's nice to see Ludde being able to goof off only moments after talking about Andreas. We know that's a touchy subject for him.

However, it feels slightly overdone sometimes with how almost everybody on the hockey team is only there for comedic purposes and to fill space. It's more refreshing when they're shown to be multi-dimensional. I wish this is something that the writers would've considered when the show is literally titled after the hockey team, yet most of the hockey players are hardly in the story.

To add to this, it felt like Sara and Tobbe completely disappeared from the story in season 2. With Sara we understand that she probably didn't want to hang out with Klara anymore after knowing she filmed the Halloween video and posted it on Instagram, so that's fair. But it would've been nice to see Tobbe stick around in season 2, and I'll get back to why I think that.

The potential of season 1

When I look back on season 1 I feel really nostalgic. No matter how many small details that irked me, I can't deny that the setting of the show is beautiful and I really appreciate the depiction of it. Instead of showing Oskarshamn as a boring small town, we're shown the beauty of it which is incorporated into the storylines.

Some examples would be Ludde and Felicia's first date at Gunnarsö and walk through Havslätt, the gorgeous view of the Oskarshamn harbor from Klara's house Villa Högklint, and Badholmen where the school band performs and we later see Elias and Amie walking by in season 3. All these places are listed on the Eagles Oskarshamn site and I feel like they did a great job tying the storylines in with the locations.

Another aspect of season 1 and its writing that I really enjoyed was Elias and Amie's budding relationship. They just have a natural chemistry together and the dialogue between them also felt authentic and sweet.

Season 1 is just a very polished teen drama overall compared to some of SVT's previous series.

Back in 2007-2010, SVT used to air a soap opera-style show focusing on a few teenagers living in Gothenburg that was called Andra Avenyn (translation: Second Avenue). I was only seven at the time but I watched this show religiously as it aired three times a week. Just mentioning the show brings a lot of nostalgia.

Andra Avenyn amassed around 500 000 viewers per episode and was, just like Eagles, nominated for a Kristallen television award. But how good was it, really? If I take off my rose-colored glasses for a second and actually consider the show's highly dramatized storylines and unlikely scenarios, it had a tendency to drag on (which usually happens with soap operas). It didn't offer a realistic view of teenage life and on IMDb it currently sits at a rating score of 5.6 stars out of 10.

Comparing this old teen series to SVT's newer one, Eagles season 1 was a huge improvement and continues to be the most popular teen series that SVT has aired so far.

This idea and all the characters have lived in Stefan H. Lindéns mind since 2008, while Andra Avenyn was still on the air. It's actually amazing how high the quality of most TV shows has risen since then. Eagles has a rating score of 7.4 out of 10 stars on IMDb and has become internationally known in a way that Andra Avenyn never was.

Eagles season 1 laid the groundwork for SVT's most successful teen series of all time, and that's a huge achievement.

Season 2: "Subverting expectations"

When Eagles came back for season 2, the script made it kind of obvious that the writers had listened to the critique of season 1 being predictable.

I did find season 2 a huge step up from season 1—the directing was so much better and when it came to the script we got a deeper look into all the characters that they hadn't really scratched the surface of in the first season. My main disappointment however was that it felt like they threw in a bunch of weird plot twists just for the sake of "subverting expectations".

The core idea of subverting expectations can be great if done correctly. You lead the audience to believe they know what's going to happen, but then you surprise them with an unexpected and clever twist.

A post in Cinematography written by Mason Leaver defines the phrase of "subverting expectations" as:

[...] a method of surprising the audience with some element of a story, be it the plot, themes, characters, etc. This goes beyond a “twist” in a film. Expectation subversion actively works within the genre of a story, and attempts to reinterpret or subvert the conventions of that genre, breaking patterns in surprising and interesting ways. However, this method of surprising the audience is not always well received- it can sometimes be the source of heavy criticism from fans of the tropes which have been subverted.

This included "unexpected" relationships such as Elias/Klara and Amie/Ludde. The former actually worked, but the latter? Not so much.

Amie's crush on Ludde—make it make sense!

Amie and Ludde were my biggest issue with season 2, and it felt so out of character of Amie to be head over heels for Ludde. They work great as friends but romantically they're a huge mismatch.

But they have music in common, I hear you say. Yes, they do. But having a shared interest doesn't mean people are automatically a good match. You have to consider their chemistry and overall compatibility.

Before actors are cast in a show or movie where their characters will be romantically involved with each other, it's common to do what's called a chemistry read. Here's a neat description from an article in Backstage written by Caroline Liem:

Chemistry is the complex emotional or psychological interaction between two people. If this were a romantic article, it would be about love. Instead, we are discussing the astonishing rapport between two actors, and how that connection is achieved in order to book [...] the role. A chemistry read is an opportunity to read with actors being considered for a role opposite yours, usually lead roles. The main purpose is to see how you instinctively connect and work with the other actor.

This obviously wasn't done for the actors playing Amie and Ludde, since there didn't seem to be any intention of having their characters be involved in a romantic relationship.

That was even confirmed by Stefan H. Lindén in his Q&A of season 2, where he said that a love triangle between Ludde/Felicia/Amie was planned but later scrapped.

I can confirm that from the beginning of development of the series and the first version of the storyline a triangle drama was at some point intended for season 1 but later removed – however when creating the characters, Ludvigs skill in music and arts was always there from the beginning so by knowing that, we always knew that interactions would appear between them. When looking back at Season 1, in the first scene by the lockers when Amie tells Felicia who Ludvig is, she does know exactly who he is and she is well aware of that his friend Tobias is a music guy that Amie wants to get to know. Also when looking at it, when I was the same age as Ludvig and Amie I, and I am sure a lot of people can relate to it, fact is that we never really knew if it was love or friendship in the beginning.

Knowing that the triangle drama was scrapped for season 1, it makes sense why it seems so arbitrary. There was no groundwork laid down for this pairing before it was hastily thrown together in 1x06 for a cheap plot twist. This continues in season 2, where Amie and Ludde start spending more time together. Yet it's hard to see Ludde as a potential love interest for Amie in the way the writers want us to. They still come off as friends despite having hooked up at a party.

I mentioned that Tobbe should've stuck around for season 2 and here's why. Tobbe was written to be the leader of the school band that Amie later joins, and he was friends with Ludde before the video was posted. He would've been a perfect fit for the Amie/Ludde music storyline but he's completely absent. He had the potential to be the person who could've helped them with the song a little and then later picked up on whatever there was going on between them.

I think the Amie/Ludde storyline could've hugely benefitted from a scene between Amie and Tobbe, where Tobbe asks if she actually has feelings for Ludde and we get to hear exactly what Amie is feeling. Maybe she's torn, not wanting to get together with Ludde because of how much they hurt Felicia, but at the same time finds it hard to suppress her feelings. A scene like that would've allowed us to get into Amie's head and make the Amie/Ludde storyline much clearer.

To add, this storyline was in desperate need of more interest from Ludde's side. There needed to be some indication from him that would make Amie believe he liked him back, even if that wasn't the case. All we get is Ludde complimenting Amie's song and then a hug in 2x05 when Amie says the record label in Stockholm wanted a meeting. And apparently, that was enough for Amie to think Ludde was interested in her despite him blowing off the Stockholm meeting and Amie hearing Ludde say that the Halloween incident was a mistake.

Ludde and Amie don't really mesh as well as Elias/Amie do or even as well as Ludde/Felicia do. Elias and Amie had sparks flying from the very first scene they shared. That pairing is one of the main reasons why the show became popular internationally, and why is that? Because of the actors' chemistry.

Amie and Ludde are a clumsy attempt at throwing together two people who don't really work together with the intention of "subverting expectations". And I suppose that's what the writers wanted to depict—an awkward crush that doesn't really make sense, which I'm sure many people have experienced as a teenager. That part is fine. But what I didn't like about this storyline is that Amie had no good reason to believe Ludde would be interested in anything with her beyond a platonic friendship.

While season 2 was airing, I was convinced that Amie wasn't actually in love with Ludde. She was just lonely after the aftermath of the Halloween video and mistook her feelings for Ludde as love when she just appreciated his company. Here's what I wrote:

So as we know, Amie kissed Ludde in episode 6 when he was in the hospital after having been injured during the hockey game against Karlskrona. She immediately seemed to regret having done that and ran out without an explanation, leaving Ludde alone and confused. I honestly don’t think Amie has any romantic feelings towards Ludde. I think she might mistake her feelings for a crush or something, when in reality she’s just lonely and appreciates Ludde always being there for her and giving her compliments on her musical ability. Ludde was complimenting Amie at the hospital, saying she was amazing, and I think Amie was just really touched by that and maybe wanted to thank him somehow, and ended up kissing him. And then she freaked out and left because oh my god did she really just kiss Ludde. It was an uncomfortable and awkward situation and that’s probably why she ran out. However, I really believe that if she had just stayed to explain and apologize, Ludde would understand and they could’ve just laughed it off. But this is a drama show so of course that wouldn’t happen! Do I think the writers are making them into a couple? No, definitely not. They know that season 1 was sort of predictable and cliché, so they’re making season 2 as different as possible by including these unexpected pairings such as Klara & Elias and Amie & Ludde. But Amie and Ludde won’t ever be a couple, because Ludde is still very much hung up on Felicia. I don’t see them as a couple either - yes, they have music in common, but they work way better as friends than in a relationship.

In Edvins Skådisdrömmar, which is a behind-the-scenes documentary of Eagles season 2, writers Fanny Ekstrand and Michaela Hamilton discuss the writing of the show in the documentary's third episode. The third episode is mostly focused on the lead-up to the scene where Amie kisses Ludde at the hospital. Adrian Öjvindsson, who plays Ludde, says:

Filming the kissing scene was [...] awkward and weird, actually. And that's how it ended up. Yandeh and I haven't really had any intimate scenes. In this case you could take in that it was weird, because that's also what the scene wanted to depict.

When Edvin reads the script, he describes the scene as a "nightmare" scenario. I agree. And the lazy build-up to this Awkward Kiss trope doesn't make it any better, because just like the Halloween incident this doesn't make a lot of sense.

It's supposed to be awkward and weird, just like Adrian said. But he also mentioned one of the most important details: Yandeh and I haven't really had any intimate scenes.

Before this kiss scene, there was nothing that indicated any chemistry between them. No accidental hand-touching, no longing stares, no nothing. Just a friendly hug. A proper build-up to the kiss scene would've made it feel less out of place.

The love confession from Amie to Ludde in 2x10 really threw me off as well. The confession to me made no sense and honestly felt like a prank call. There was no feeling behind it and zero reason for Amie to believe that there was a chance Ludde liked her back.

At the end of 2x08, Felicia goes to Ludde's house after he's confessed the truth to the police about the Andreas situation. Amie happens to overhear the conversation and she hears Ludde very clearly say that he's not interested in Amie.

Ludde: Felicia, there’s nothing between us. Between me and Amie. It was really the biggest mistake of my life. Felicia: Goodbye, Ludde. Ludde: Felicia, please!

Amie, now having her heart broken, crosses Ludde's name off the contract while crying. She knows he doesn't feel the same. So why would Amie even bother to call Ludde up to tell him she's "in love with him"?

Amie: [...] Hey, Ludde… Ludde: Yeah? Amie: It feels really weird to hear our song now. Because I know who the lyrics are about. And… And I… I really like you. Or, well… I’m in love with you. I just need to know how you feel. Or if you feel anything. Just tell me. Ludde: I’ll always want to be your friend, Amie, but… It’s Felicia I’m in love with.

This moment is on par with the awkwardness from the hospital kiss between them in 2x06. The second-hand embarrassment with this one was really rough, and what I don't understand is why this was even added to the script when Amie had already gotten the confirmation that Ludde didn't think of her in a romantic way. This storyline could've ended in 2x08 after Amie overheard the conversation between Ludde and Felicia.

It really didn't need to drag on for the whole season, essentially making Amie's whole storyline in season 2 about a guy. Her moment of finally getting signed to the record label was ruined when it could've been regarded as a fresh start if the storyline had just ended where it should have.

What this storyline did instead was ruining my favorite friendship of season 1, which was Amie/Felicia. This mess made it so hard for them to reconcile and they didn't end up properly addressing it until 3x09, spending almost two whole seasons mad at each other. It sucks that the writers decided to drag out their fighting and disagreements for this long when they could've instead shown two girls in solidarity who don't let a guy get between them and their friendship.

Amie apologized in 3x03 for how she hurt Felicia, but Felicia made it clear in 3x06 that she still harbored ill will towards Amie for what happened at Halloween (which in the timeline of this show was more than a year ago).

Felicia (to Amie): Are you going to start slobbering with [Elias] now too? Just give me back that sweater first, I don’t want slobber on that. Thanks.

I talked about how much I disliked the Amie/Ludde storyline in this post, with my main reason being that it really messed up the character dynamics that were established in season 1.

This storyline [of Ludde and Amie hooking up]—along with Amie falling in love with Ludde—is by far my least favorite one because it messed up the whole character dynamic. I feel like Amie and Felicia won’t ever go back to the kind of friendship they had in season 1 before the Halloween incident because the trust was so broken, and Amie really should’ve tried harder to apologize to Felicia like Ludde did instead of going after her best friend’s ex in season 2.

If there's just one thing I could change about this show, I would 100% get rid of the Amie/Ludde storylines. There is nothing that annoyed me as much as those storylines did.

Amie's musical ambitions

I've talked about this a bit before in another post because this was something that really bugged me about Amie's character in season 2. Here's what I wrote:

I honestly still feel like Amie’s whole storyline with sending in a rather basic demo written by two teenagers with little to no experience and then getting praised on it [by the Stockholm music producers] with comments such as “it’s going to be a real summer hit” felt so unrealistic to me. Maybe they only said that so Amie would accept their offer or something, but that’s still very strange because she would have still said yes without a doubt. I can understand that they thought Amie was marketable as a person and there was this bonus with her having gone viral before on Felicia’s Instagram, but that demo did not seem good enough for me to be immediately released as a single and then have them decide on the spot that Amie would be given a contract. I mean, come on. It never felt earned because we never really saw Amie struggling with her songwriting journey to achieve this dream. Sending in one demo to one record label and having them immediately want to make a whole album with you just doesn’t happen in real life unless the song is extremely good or you have a very unique voice. Amie is really talented but there are hundreds of people just like her, if not thousands. I was never convinced by her getting signed so quickly in season 2. I understand that they wanted to establish her as a successful artist [at the beginning of season 3], but that felt so rushed. I was so sure that the record label would screw her over and steal the song rights to record it with another artist who was already established, and that we’d have to see Amie work even harder to achieve her dreams. But we didn’t get that at all. Where was the struggle? [...] Of course I wanted to see Amie achieve success (and I was happy when she did), but the journey there was so bizarrely easy. She didn’t start to seriously work on making her music career become a reality until season 2. Amie had dabbled in music prior to that, like when she auditioned for the school band and did that performance of Follow, but she didn’t truly start to work towards it until season 2 when she decided to have her work sent to professionals in the business. And then, just five episodes later, she gets contacted by the record label in Stockholm. To put this into context—season 2 took place somewhere around March, and episode 5 around three weeks into April. So when Ludde first started helping Amie it took less than two months for her to get signed. You could argue that the song was just that good or that Amie is just that talented, but it never felt like a realistic storyline to me.

It's tricky to write a storyline like this when you only have ten 20 minute episodes in the season and a limited amount of screentime for every character. All that is understandable. But it's strange that they didn't opt for a time jump to really sell this storyline and make it believable.

Eagles uses time jumps a lot, but somehow this particular plot point was omitted from that and kind of glossed over. I don't really understand how they expected us to buy this storyline. The viewers aren't stupid, and more effort should've been put into this storyline.

In the post where I wrote this, @gajana18 also had an interesting thing to add:

[...] it's equally unrealistic that this huge record company would be hounding Amie, a teenage onehit wonder essentially to come back to the label- don’t they have other bigger artists?

This is a very strong point. Considering how Amie kept expressing that she wanted to finish school and then proceeded to ignore their calls, it's weird that they didn't just decide to discard her contract when Amie clearly wasn't taking her singing career as seriously as they wanted her to.

So, back to season 2. Maybe they could've gone with the record label stealing the rights to Amie's first song and screwing her over. This fuels her to try again and after a time jump of a few months we see Amie having worked really hard on a new and better song. Maybe even a whole album. And this time, she's learned from her past mistakes and improved her songwriting. This time, she's successful in her endeavor and it feels so much more earned after knowing the struggles she's been through to get there.

I also feel like a storyline like that would've made people sympathize with Amie more in season 2. It was really hard to root for her when she had nearly screwed Ludde over by not giving credit to his songwriting and saying "fuck him" when he didn't return Amie's feelings.

Klara's character development

When we're introduced to Klara in season 1, she's a stereotypical mean girl with wealthy parents who is the popular girl at school and has her own followers.

In season 2, the writers decided to develop the character. We find out Klara has issues at home and her mom is barely there. When she is, her parents will start fighting. Klara is feeling really lonely and doesn't really hang out with her friend Sara as much as she used to.

I appreciated the added depth, but it seemed like a drastic shift. The changed perspective could attribute to that but when you step back and really look at s1 Klara and s2 Klara, they're like two completely different people.

Maybe Klara's reputation suffered after she posted the Halloween video? Maybe she had a change of heart after Felicia finally confronted her during Lucia? I mean, I guess.

But what most fans (including me) didn't like about Klara in season 2 was that there were no clear consequences for her after she posted the Halloween video. Klara still hangs out with what seems to be the popular crowd and she has people to go out with. In a post I wrote last year about my thoughts on season 2, I wrote this:

I actually wish that Klara would’ve become more ostracized from her school friends to emphasize how alone she is, but she seems to still be pretty popular so that was kind of disappointing. I thought the fall-out of her posting the video would be worse, but I guess not. Anyway, I like that they’re taking a disliked character and making her into a better person. Feels like it’s been done a few times before, but I still appreciate them doing it. I hated s1 Klara for being so one-dimensional, but s2 Klara is well on her way to being a pretty good and nuanced character.

Her character development sort of comes a little out of nowhere, though. Her reputation wasn't ruined by posting that video and she didn't really lose any friends besides Sara (she had already lost Amie prior to posting that video considering what Amie said to her after Lucia in 1x08).

So what prompted Klara to become this whole new person who actually considers other people's feelings in a relatively short amount of time? Here's a conversation between Felicia and Klara in 2x07.

Felicia: Was there anything in particular you wanted to talk about? I understand that we’re not best friends just because you and Elias are together. We’re not here without a reason, right? Klara: No, I get that this feels weird for you. And if you don’t trust me after everything that’s happened - or that I’ve done. Felicia: Klara… Klara: I know that I haven’t acted like the world’s best person. And I regret that. Sorry.

But why does Klara regret her past behavior? What made her realize she hadn't acted like the "world's best person" if the ramifications from posting the Halloween video were so minimal?

Was it the relationship with Elias that made Klara change? No, I don't think so. When they first start talking at the bar in 2x03, Elias tells Klara that he doesn't always agree with Felicia and that he has his own viewpoints. In 2x07, he says Klara wasn't the one who messed up, but rather Amie and Ludde. And in 2x09, the script tells us that the Elias/Klara relationship seemed to bring more change to Elias rather than Klara.

Felicia: What did you do to him? Klara: What? Felicia: He’s smiling. Elias is like a whole new person since he met you. Klara: Stop. Felicia: I mean it!

So what made Klara change? In 1x08 she's mocking Felicia's drug problems and posts a video that will for sure ruin Amie's reputation. But at the start of season 2, she's suddenly become more withdrawn and considerate of people's feelings.

I can only name one factor that actually makes sense, and that's the fighting between her parents. Klara seems to turn into this quiet child when she has to listen to her mom and dad yelling at each other. This is something that didn't really begin until season 2, when Ola's company GECED started going under. This storyline was very well done.

But the other things, like Klara's reputation and friend group which you would assume would be affected, remain as they were in season 1.

Jack's sudden character change

Jack came into season 2 as a charming and charismatic character, seemingly fooling everybody into thinking he was a good guy. He knew the Kroon family from before and both Felicia and Elias were none the wiser when it came to the eventual reveal of his true colors.

Here's what Stefan H. Lindén had to say about the Jack character in his season 2 Q&A:

Bringing Jack in was actually originally not my idea, it came from my writer colleagues after that they revised my storyline notes for Season 2, while I was still down in Oskarshamn shooting Season 1. We had always intended for a character to come in and raise the stakes but I never imagined it to be Jack. When we started to develop the character, we all started liking him so he was kept in the story. Like with any new character we never really know who they are and what [the] point of them for coming in is [...]

Personally, I feel like the point of Jack's character is pretty obvious. When he first comes to Oskarshamn he is very much the embodiment of the new love interest coming in to date the girl who has broken up with her previous lover, while the previous lover still loves her and does anything he can to get her back although she's dating someone new. Jack is the Romantic False Lead trope who later becomes an alpha-dog Jerkass.

What I found interesting about Jack compared to Klara (in season 1) is that Jack isn't just a bad guy. He's very clever with his manipulation tactics and can easily charm people with his good looks and charisma.

When Felicia accuses Jack of cheating in 2x07, he manages to spin the whole thing around and make Felicia apologize to him and say it was stupid of her to believe he would cheat on her. I talked about this in a post while the season still aired, before Jack's true colors were revealed. Here's what I wrote:

I still don’t know if Jack really is cheating on Felicia with Olivia (the girl that texted him) but I would say he is. Jack is incredibly confident and charming, which makes him able to easily lie and manipulate people. We know he’s not an entirely good person since he’s already lied to Elias about not knowing that Mats would bring him back to Eagles. I wouldn’t be surprised if he really did hook up with Olivia and ended up being a really good liar. The fact is that not only did he deny it but he then shamed Felicia for blaming him and causing a scene, ultimately shifting the focus in the argument to her and making Felicia feel bad that she even confronted him in the first place. Jack says that maybe they shouldn’t even be together, which causes Felicia to backtrack and apologize. It’s actually pretty impressive how Jack was able to spin that around to blame Felicia and make her apologize.

Jack is able to take a small detail and use it as ammunition to get what he wants. In this situation, he brings up the girl in the Stockholm club that Felicia partied with and also kissed.

Jack: You shouldn’t accuse me, either. Felicia: What? Jack: I saw on Instagram, you and some girl in Stockholm. Have I whined about that? Coming here and blaming me for things, it feels really immature. Felicia: Fuck. Sorry, Jack.

Jack wasn't bothered by that at all. It happened before Felicia and Jack were even an official couple, and all they had done was hooking up at a party while Felicia was high. Jack, having cheated on Felicia, couldn't care less about the random girl Felicia kissed. That was just something he used to manipulate her.

When we discover that Jack is actually cheating on Felicia, he immediately reverts to a one-dimensional "evil" character. He's become the 2.0 version of Klara in season 1—written in just to stir up drama.

This "master manipulator" version of him just goes down the drain and Jack turns into a manchild who starts petty fights, files a police report because Ludde pushed him, and says to Felicia "I'm gonna tell on you!". Alright, maybe those weren't his exact words, but you know what I mean. It's a sudden shift and you start wondering how Jack was able to hide this version of himself so well before.

In 3x05, Jack sees Ludde and Andreas after a hockey game and fumbles trying to find any insult he can to hurl at Ludde. Everything he says from that point on is just line after line to really solidify that Jack is the bad guy. You didn't forget that, right? Here, let's have Jack call Felicia a druggie so you know just how shitty he is. And have him call Andreas a junkie later for good measure—there, that should be enough for people to understand that Jack is the villain here.

Jack: Johansson! Ludde: What the hell are you doing here? Jack: What does it look like? Ludde: I guess it’s you I should thank for the victory. Nice work. Jack: What is Felicia doing these days, then? Does she miss me? Ludde: Hey, you’re shutting up now, do you get it?! Jack: Jesus Christ. Do you think you can save her? What do you think she even sees in you? You two play in different leagues, Ludde. Ludde: You have no idea what we’re like. Jack: Come on! You should leave her. While you can. She’ll just pull you down into the dirt with her. You’re no hero, Ludde. Isn’t she still doing drugs? Once a druggie, always a druggie, right?

Jack is a horrible person, but at least he was able to pretend to be a good guy in season 2. And that was actually really fascinating. I wish we could've seen more of Jack's manipulative side that he showed in season 2 instead of making everything coming out of his mouth be a half-assed attempt at insulting the other person. That's a pretty boring villain, in my opinion.

Jack's backstory of his father being an alcoholic and him starting to resent the whole Kroon family because they had everything growing up while he didn't is interesting. It would've also made more sense if his anger was only directed towards the Kroon family since they're the ones he grew up with. They're the ones he was after the whole time.

His anger towards them feels cheapened when Jack also starts insulting Andreas (who he's probably never met before) for no good reason. It's like Jack's human qualities are just gone and all that's left is this empty shell made to start fights. His backstory didn't really make anybody sympathize with him, either.

The improvements of season 2

What I liked about the writing in season 2 was that they explored new ideas and had some solid storylines (besides the mess that was Amie and Ludde). Elias and Klara actually worked pretty well as a couple, even if they were pretty much the 2.0 version of Felicia/Ludde as the "wealthy, popular pretty girl starts dating the star player on the sports team".

Felicia finally gets some more depth. The scene at the end of 2x02, where Felicia and Leila park their car near the harbor and just start crying, is so powerful.

2x05 is also one of my favorite episodes of the show, as well as the ending montage of the 2x10 season finale. In Gameday, we had a very touching scene between Felicia and Mats where they finally communicate. It's not the most understanding conversation but it's a start. It's an interesting contrast between their talk in 1x06 where Felicia revealed she saw Mats cheating on Leila versus the talk they're having now.

Another one of my favorite scenes is when Felicia and Ludde meet up at their bench in 2x10 after Ludde has called her up asking Felicia to come if there's any chance of them getting back together.

The dialogue is simple and to the point. There's no long-winded love confession for the sake of drama. It's a moment that the whole season has been building up for, and when we finally get there we realize that this is how love should be.

Easy and simple.

Ludde: You came back. Felicia: Yeah, I did. Ludde: Do you remember our first date here? Felicia: No. I’ve forgotten. Ludde: I was so freaking nervous. Felicia: Everything you said… Did you mean it? Because you hurt me, Ludvig. And I… I’ve really tried to hurt you back, but… It’s not possible. I can’t… Not love you. Do you think… Do you think it can be us again? Ludde: What do you think? Felicia: I don’t want anything else.

Ludde admitting how nervous he was on their first date is sweet and shows us how much they've been through. Felicia is struggling to find the words to say and she's acknowledging how hurt she was, but still can't seem to find it in her heart to hate Ludde. It's honest.

Another plotline that I think was a little underrated in season 2 is the GECED company going bankrupt and Ola, Klara's dad, is under investigation for financial crime. This isn't a storyline you would usually see in a teen series. It's much more serious. It also gave us a really touching and poignant scene in 2x08 between Ola and Klara sitting on the floor of his office, where Klara has to comfort her father who starts crying.

Ola: When you were little you used to sit like this. On the floor, while I was working. You had your own room, but you wanted to sit with me. “Help daddy work”. Mom’s doing the right thing by leaving for a while, don’t blame her for that. Klara: What, you can’t just leave because things get a little tough. Ola: Maybe you should get away for a while too. You know, I never wanted you two to… That you… Everything’s gone. Klara: It will be fine. It will be fine. Ola: Sorry. I’m sorry.

In 2x09, Klara is at a party when she notices a bunch of missed calls from her dad. She immediately senses something is wrong and rushes home to find her dad having attempted suicide. It's executed very well and I really liked the more serious tone they went for in season 2.

It set up season 3 perfectly, which continued with the darker themes but balanced them very well with the more light-hearted moments.

Season 3: Finding one's footing

Season 3 was a highly anticipated season. I thought the season 2 finale was masterfully done and it left me wanting more. When season 1 finished on its cliffhanger of the video leaking, the focus only seemed to be on that.

But with season 2 there's Felicia/Ludde getting back together and Ludde having been sued by Jack, Jack threatening that he would leak all of the Kroon's family secrets, Klara's dad passing away, Elias deciding to get on the train and go to the draft combine anyway, Amie having finally become a recording artist but being isolated and heartbroken... There's so much to unpack, and it's a lot more interesting than the ending of season 1.

Where's Jack?

Jack is supposed to be the main villain but he's gone for most of the season, failing to show up until 3x05. In the season 2 finale Jack makes a huge deal about how he's going to destroy Felicia's life. He's threatening her in a very violent and abusive way.

Jack: [...] I know a lot about you, Felicia. And your nice family. It’s enough for me to leak to one news site. I can destroy you. Do you get it? I’ll tell them everything. The drugs, the cheating, your abortion! Felicia: Shut up! Jack: Hey. Huh? Did you seriously think I wanted to be with you? The little Kroon princess, who has gotten everything for free her whole fucking life! You and Elias! Like spoiled brats! You don’t understand what it means to fight for something!

In 2x10, Jack decides to report Ludde for assault but he doesn't follow through on destroying this family that he hates. If there's anything Jack seems to despise above all, it should be the Kroon family, right? So why did he fight back with Ludde but not the Kroon family?

I expected Jack to leak all the Kroon secrets at the beginning of season 3, but Felicia seems strangely calm at the funeral which I'm assuming only takes place two weeks or so after Ola's passing in the season 2 finale.

Then, a whole year passes with no indication that Jack is ever going to leak anything. As season 3 was airing, I commented on how strange this felt in an ask I received:

One of my main questions about the time jump is the whole thing with Jack saying he was going to ruin Felicia’s and the Kroon family’s reputation in the press. It seemed like nothing really came of that? I’m pretty sure that detail hasn’t been abandoned entirely and that Jack will come back (we’ve already seen a glimpse of him in the third episode), but it feels strange that Jack threatened to leak all her secrets and then just never did. I got the impression that Jack was a person who, when having his pride wounded, would do pretty much anything to get back at the person who insulted him. And yet there’s no mention of where Jack has been during that time or what he’s been doing. I feel like I would be pretty paranoid about this if I was Felicia, but we don’t see this haunting her until episode 3 when she sees a flash of Jack before realizing it was just some random guy. It seems strange that Felicia was relatively at ease during the funeral (which I assume took place not long after Jack first threatened her) and after the time jump. We don’t really know what’s been going on during that year, but Felicia seems to be fine and like she hasn’t had any thoughts of Jack at all. Maybe she assumed that his threats were empty and that he wouldn’t actually leak anything to the press, which is reasonable but at the same time I don’t understand why Jack has yet to do anything after a year. He was really pissed off in the season 2 finale, after all.

Going to repeat one of the things I wrote here because it deserves to be mentioned twice, and this point is one of my biggest issues.

I got the impression that Jack was a person who, when having his pride wounded, would do pretty much anything to get back at the person who insulted him.

I feel like this was kind of a plot hole that wasn't explained. Jack is ruthless and doesn't hold back at all when his true colors come out. He has no problem talking about the sexual relationship he had with Felicia in front of her father. Jack is just that horrible.

So what prevented him from ruining the Kroon family's lives earlier, when it seems to be the thing he's wanted for years?

Michael's predictable predicament

Michael first appears at the end of 3x04, where he calls Amie up to tell her he's her father.

Man: Hey! Sorry for calling so late. Is it Amie? Amie Condé? Amie: Yeah. Man: I saw you on TV the other day. I’m Michael Condé. I’m your father.

In the next episode, we get a voice-over of the continued conversation between him and Amie.

Michael: [...] I understand if it’s shocking. I’m in Oskarshamn for work for a few weeks and— Could we meet up someday?

So, it's clear what the writers are going for here. It's the estranged father who returns into the child's life when they've become successful. We're made to believe it's a Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You trope when Michael meets up with Amie and tells her why he left.

Michael: So Petra, she— Has she said anything about me? Amie: Well… That you moved from Sweden before I was born… That you’re working as a lawyer. That you didn’t want to see me. Michael: I was… I was young when we met. Your mom and I. And everything went really fast. I was in love, but she had feelings for somebody else. And when she found out that she— That she was expecting you, then… She didn’t want me there. She said I wasn’t father material. To some degree she might’ve been right, but… I wasn’t much older than you are now. I had just gotten into a law school in Berlin. When I finally came back to Sweden, then… She didn’t let me see you. I had already lost you by then, but I want you to know that I— I’ve thought of you. And about a week ago, I… I’m seeing you. On TV. There you are. With my last name. I’m so proud.

However, it's pretty easy to identify the holes in Michael's story. To be honest this whole storyline was predictable from the very start. Before Michael even came into the story, I made this post which pretty much summed up Michael's whole character when we didn't even know he existed yet (this was when 3x03 was the latest episode that had aired).

I don’t think we’ve heard any mention of Amie’s dad in the whole series except for 3x02 when Amie was being interviewed and was asked about the Condé name where she said that while Samuelsson was from her mother’s side, and Condé was from “the other side”. I found her word choice a little interesting. I don’t think Amie’s dad has passed—but rather that he’s alive and just chosen to not be a part of her life, which is why Petra seemed to be a little offended when asking Amie why she didn’t want her last name anymore. This might also be why Amie said “the other side” rather than “my dad’s side” because they have an estranged relationship. [...] I’m not really sure if they’ll do anything with Amie’s dad (maybe they’ll go for that trope where the parent who previously abandoned their child returns after the child has accomplished something big/something major happened and the parent wants something from them for personal gain?).

When we actually get to meet Michael and hear his explanation of why he left, I wrote this post pointing out some of the holes in this storyline.

Michael meeting Amie only after she’s become famous is a little suspicious, but it’s understandable if he previously thought she didn’t want to meet him and then sees her with his last name on national television. Obviously he would contact her after that. I feel like there were some question marks with Michael’s whole story though, and the fact that his work just conveniently happened to send him to Oskarshamn after he’d just seen Amie on TV. Maybe I’m missing something here, but how did he know Amie had gone back to Oskarshamn if he saw her living as a pop star in Stockholm? Was this information about Amie quitting the tour and going back to her hometown even online? If Elias (who actually witnessed Amie saying she was done and quitting) seemed taken aback when he saw Amie in Oskarshamn, then how did Michael know?

I do think Michael will return for season 4 though, so hopefully this storyline will be straightened out a little. We don't really know what Michael has been up for the past few years and if he has a family of his own. Maybe he'll contact Amie again to tell her she has some younger half-siblings?

They ended on sour terms, but if Michael does have his own family it's something Amie deserves to know and she can decide whatever she wants to do. I'd also like to see a Michael/Petra reunion, but I'm getting a little ahead of myself.

This storyline wasn't bad, and I do appreciate we got to find out what the situation with Amie's dad was. I also liked how I was able to sympathize with Michael. He's not entirely awful, even if he did put a lot of blame on Petra. It's one of those situations where you don't really know what it's like to be in Michael's position unless you've experienced it, and it's very realistic.

Plot holes

Some of the plot holes of season 3 that I've already mentioned are how Jack waited a whole year before leaking the Kroon family's secrets and how Michael conveniently knew Amie was in Oskarshamn when nobody seemed to know she was coming except her mom.

I actually don't mind that it was never explained how Michael got Amie's phone number either, because that's usually pretty easy to find with a Google search. Things like addresses, economic status, and even your criminal history are easily accessible in Sweden when googling someone's name. So finding someone's phone number is probably fairly easy as well.

On the other hand, one of the most glaring plot holes appeared in 3x08. In this episode entitled Lost, the Kroon family is frantically searching for Felicia who has gone missing. Leila and Elias knock on Petra's door to see if Amie is there and might know something about Felicia's whereabouts. Petra tells them Amie isn't there and they leave.

Someone left me an anonymous ask which I answered in this post, pointing out how it was strange that Elias didn't just call Amie to ask her when she wasn't at home. We know Elias has her number because they've been talking on the phone and texting each other several times before in the season.

In 3x08, when Elias and his mom go to Amie's house and ask Petra if Amie has seen or spoken to Felicia or whether she's home, I couldn't help but wonder, uh Elias why not just call Amie and ask her if she has seen or spoken to Felicia? [...] if Elias had called her and she heard how frightened him and his family were and police being involved she would have told him and then there would be no point in the 3x09 episode really.

This is a very strong point. You could argue that maybe Elias just didn't think of that but if they went out of their way to visit Amie's house only to not find her there, it would seem like calling her instead would just be a logical next step in the situation? Here's what I wrote in response to this ask.

This is an issue I had with 3x08 and 3x09 as well. I had a hard time actually enjoying the moment between Felicia, Klara, and Amie knowing that her family was getting increasingly worried for her and even thought for a short moment that Felicia was lying dead at the bottom of the ocean. All that could’ve been avoided. To add, it didn’t make a lot of sense to me that when Klara finally decided to call someone she called Amie instead of Elias. An ex-friend of Felicia’s instead of her brother who could’ve helped a lot more. What was Amie supposed to do when she showed up at the hotel, exactly? I know there was the thing with Klara only knowing Amie’s number off the top of her head, but there is no reason why she couldn’t have gone down to the reception while Felicia was sleeping and asked to use a computer just to get a quick message to Elias. Like, “hey, Felicia attempted something bad but she’s safe with me, we’re at this hotel in this room but she didn’t want me to call anybody, I don’t know what to do”. That would’ve been so much better than keeping quiet about the situation for nearly 24 hours. I know that Klara probably has trauma from leaving her dad at the hospital after his suicide attempt and that she probably didn’t want to go against Felicia’s wishes. I understand the first part 100%. But Felicia was in a very bad place emotionally and was thinking that her whole family hated her when that wasn’t the case. I feel like in a situation like that you kind of have to be the bad guy just to ensure the family that Felicia was safe. Even if everything turned out alright in the end, it could’ve gone so much worse if Felicia had wanted to be kept hidden for longer. [...] Elias calling Amie would’ve been an easy solution to this whole debacle but we would’ve lost the drama. It’s still somewhat of a plot hole though, like you said.

I understand it was done this way for dramatic effect, but that doesn't really patch up the plot hole.

I also found it strange how many people turned on Felicia after Jack ruined her reputation in the press. I talked about this in an ask I received.

I don’t understand why the public turned on Felicia so harshly. And Leila too, for that matter. The way Jack told the story about how these two women had things done to them should indicate that they’re not the ones to be blamed. If I read this article and found out an 18-year-old girl got pregnant by a “violent criminal” who forced her to abort and then abused her I would not be angry with the girl. I would be angry that she was physically abused and also outed on her sexuality for being bi. If I read this article and found out Leila had been cheated on by her husband repeatedly with her best friends, I wouldn’t be angry at her. I would not agree with the decision to turn to alcohol (same as Felicia turning to drugs), but I wouldn’t blame them. And I feel like a lot of people should’ve been on Leila’s side after finding out the reason why they divorced. I don’t understand why people are saying they’re disappointed in Felicia and calling her fake when she’s been through so much trauma in her life. I feel like if this actually happened in real life, all the blame would be shifted to the men because they’re the ones who—in this story—are painted as the bad guys (with the exception of Jack, considering he was anonymous).

I got another anonymous ask sent in after this, pointing out how the anger directed towards Felicia was considerably more about her drug use rather than the abuse she endured. Here was my response to that:

[...] the drug use should’ve been understandable considering the stuff Felicia had been through was also written in that article. I don’t know. I can understand people unfollowing her if they didn’t want their young children to be exposed to all the controversy, but it’s still strange that everything Felicia received was hate messages. Did everybody just skip over the part where the anonymous source stated that Felicia was violently forced to have an abortion by an ex-criminal and probably did so out of fear for her life? Yes, we know this is fake, but why didn’t anybody seem to mention this? [...] they seem to have written this storyline with the idea in mind that the public was against the whole Kroon family. Felicia got comments such as “So fucking disappointed in you and your family”, “What a nasty fucking family”, “You and your family are so fucking disgusting”. So I think Leila received plenty of hate for drinking instead of divorcing her husband sooner and basically turning a blind eye to all the problems her family went through. That’s what Jack told the press, at least. The anger seemed to be directed towards every member of the Kroon family and that didn’t make a lot of sense to me.

Again, this is something the writers did to dramatize the situation and they kind of forgot to consider that what Jack actually told the journalist wasn't as incriminating for Felicia and Leila as it were for Mats and Elias.

The magic of season 3

What season 3 really excelled in, to me, was delving into some more serious topics as well as showing the gradual development of Amie and Elias' relationship. Amie and Elias are the prime example of how a slow burn is so much better than having a couple get together too fast, like Felicia and Ludde did back in season 1.

While season 3 was still airing, I wrote a post dedicated to questions I had received about Elias and Amie. Here's one of the things I said about them:

I think Elias’ interest in her really started to grow after he saw how caring Amie was to Felicia, and later on connecting with her on how they both ended up back in Oskarshamn after following their dreams which didn’t exactly turn out the way they expected. Yes, Elias has always sort of been watching and admiring Amie from afar, but that interest didn’t start growing until he actually got to know her. The experiences they had in the US and Stockholm, respectively, probably changed their mindsets and in my opinion it makes so much more sense for them to get together now than it would’ve in season 1 or season 2.

I still believe that Elias and Amie are the best-written couple of the whole show (at least so far), because they just make sense. We'll see what season 4 has in store for them because we have yet to actually see them in a romantic relationship, but I feel like their personalities and characters just fit together really well.

Another thing I really appreciated was the depiction of Felicia and Ludde's declining relationship. Things like that happen so easily, and I liked how we see Felicia do this huge gesture of planning a picnic for Ludde in 3x04 but there were still underlying problems between them. It's like that in real life too—no matter how big of a romantic gesture you make, communication will always be the number one priority in any relationship and that's where Felicia and Ludde fall short.

The obvious disconnect between them when it comes to money is also important. It's been like this from the beginning, but season 3 gave us an actual conversation about it.

Felicia: Please, I can’t talk about this. Seriously. It was stupid of me to bring this up from the beginning. Fuck, I get such anxiety talking about the future— Ludde: You get anxiety? I’m the one walking around with no money in my account. Mom and dad had to get a loan to pay off mine and Andreas’ fines. I’m playing on a shitty old synth, and living off you like some leech. That’s anxiety. Felicia: Everything isn’t about money. Ludde: Says the one who has money. Felicia: Move out then, if it’s so fucking hard to feel like a leech.

This felt very realistic. Of course a person like Felicia wouldn't think money is everything when she's never experienced financial issues. She's able to move out into her own one-bedroom apartment as soon as she's turned 18, it seems, and doesn't worry at all about the cost of furnishing and decorating it. She didn't even pay for it herself, because Mats mentions he's the one on the mortgage loan. It seems like Felicia has never had an actual job either, and that's starting to worry her because she has no idea what she should be doing.

Felicia: [...] I don’t know what I’ll be or what I’ll do in the future. I don’t know that. Ludde: You’re still an influencer— Felicia: Don’t say I’m an influencer, please. Do you think I want to be that my whole life? It’s not even a career. I'm— I’m graduating next year, and I… My grades suck, and— I have no plan. I only have you. Not like that—I have you. That’s what I have. I want to be here, in Oskarshamn. I don’t want to go to the US and chase some dream and be a hockey wife. That’s not a life. Sometimes I wish neither of us had a plan, just us together here.

Felicia's character finally offers something interesting here, which I've waited for since season 1. She's not just a party girl anymore who has issues with drugs. She's a privileged teenager who is co-dependent on the guys she meets and who has anxiety about the future, to the point where she wishes she could stay in Oskarshamn in her little apartment forever stuck in limbo.

She has to face a harsh reality when Ludde decides to break up with her, and later on when her name is slandered in the press and people all over the country are sending her hate messages. Her own family is furious with her and Felicia has nobody. She's pushed away a lot of people and her mental state is just crumbling in front of our eyes.

It's a strong storyline and actually very well executed. Almost everything gets taken away from her, and at the end of 3x07 you can almost feel what Felicia is feeling. We've been with her through this whole journey, almost, and we understand why she feels like suicide is the only answer.

It's tough to watch that final scene of 3x07. It's greatly amplified by Alva Bratt's superb acting, but the writing of the journey there is also amazing. It's very difficult to write a sensitive storyline like this.

Overall, I don't have a lot of critique towards season 3. I loved most of the episodes. I elaborated on this further in a separate post:

[Episodes 3x04 and 3x05] showcased what Eagles should be all about so well, which is relationships plus the struggles you go through as a teenager in a small town, and then of course hockey. The hockey game episodes are really good, even if I don’t think 3x05 topped 2x05 (the game where Ludde got tackled and knocked out). I loved the contrast in Date night of the budding relationship between Elias and Amie and then that fight between Felicia and Ludde on the cliff. [...] It was interesting to see how this sweet gesture from Felicia turned into a fight between the two of them. I thought that was very realistic, because no matter how big of a gesture Felicia made to apologize there were still underlying problems that they needed to talk about. I also loved the “non-date” between Elias and Amie in this episode. It was cute to see them goofing off before the movie started and then talking about it on the way home. I liked how Elias could connect to her on how they had both returned to Oskarshamn. The recent episodes that dropped last week (3x08 and 3x09) were very strong and discussed some important subject matters [...] They were dark, but not necessarily bad because they needed to happen. However, I have to say that I prefer Eagles when it’s about hockey and teenage relationships. 3x04 and 3x05 made me kind of nostalgic for season 1 and I liked the vibe they both had.

Eagles season 3 is in my opinion the best season of the show so far, and we haven't seen any signs suggesting that there is any reason for season 4 to not be even better.

Season 4: Hopes and wishes

Considering how each season has been increasing in quality bit by bit, I have pretty high hopes for the writing in season 4. I'm excited to see how the transition from teenager to young adult will be portrayed in the main characters, and what their future will hold for them after they've graduated.

My main questions are if Felicia and Ludde will find their way back to each other or if they'll remain broken up (that would be realistic as well), if Klara will reconcile with her mom, what's in store for Elias's hockey career, and if Amie will leave her label and maybe opt for something more independent.

I also want to see how Felicia deals with the new home she's checked in to, and if Ludde will in fact go to the school now that it seems Andreas will be getting into trouble again.

Amie and Klara are kind of wild cards here, because it somewhat feels like they've already reached their happy endings. Amie is famous and successful in her pop music career, and Klara has found her place as a businesswoman following in her father's footsteps. Maybe these developments should've come in season 4 instead of rushing them.

Nonetheless, I have faith in the writers. The writing suffered a little in seasons 1 and 2 but it has gotten better. Most of the things I pointed out about season 3 were just small details in an otherwise stellar season.

In conclusion...

This post was critical, but I tend to be critical of every show I watch. Eagles is still a very special show for me and having grown up in a Swedish small town myself I'm very fond of the show and its characters.

So huge thanks to the creator, Stefan H. Lindén, for making this show a reality and also to the director Carl-Petter Montell for contributing to the writing in season 3. And of course the writers of the show which include Michaela Hamilton, Fanny Ekstrand, and Anton Nyberg (plus Amanda Adolfsson who helped write 1x02 and 1x05 and Simon Ekbäck Nordström who is credited for helping with the hockey scenes in 3x05).

I hope you guys enjoyed this long, long post and major kudos to you if you read this far!

#eagles svt #svt eagles #eaglesspoilers #young royals #beartown #björnstad #been working on this post for a few days so i really hope you enjoy it!

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offbeatcappuccino · 3 years

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I’ll Go to You When the Weather is Nice ( aka When The Weather is Fine) Final Review

Cast: Park Min Young, Seo Kang Joon, Lee Jae Wook, Moon Jeong Hee, Jin Hee Kyung, Kim Hwan Hee, and Nam Ji-Ae

Year: 2020

Channel: JTBC

Streaming Platform : Rakuten Viki ( all the episodes are free)

Rating: 9.7/10

Trigger Warnings : Intimate Partner Violence, Suicide

Synopsis :

I’ll Go To You When the Weather is Nice is based on the book of the same name and the focus of the show is a fictional community that lives in Bookhyun Village, a small rural community located within Gangwon Province. The protagonist of this show is Mok Hae Won, a cellist, who quits her teaching job in Seoul and moves back to Bookhyun to live with her aunt. Hae Won is a scarred and broken individual, who has spent much of her life feeling lonely and unloved. She is neglected by her mother, who went to jail for seven years for killing her husband and Hae Won’s father. Her aunt who has taken care of her since she was in high school is cold, distant, and aloof. Additionally, her time in Seoul, was marked by an emotionally abusive boss, who constantly berated her abilities as a cello teacher by claiming that she was not likable enough to teach the students. When Hae Won returns to Bookhyun, she is arguably experiencing one of the lowest points in her life. However, Hae-Won starts to see the light at the end of the tunnel , when she reunites with her former high school classmate, Im Eun Soeb, the owner of “Goodnight Bookstore” . Eun Soeb has also had a crush on Hae Won since they were in high school and is also a man as broken as Hae Won is by the difficult life he has held. What forms the crux is not only whether Hae Won or Eun Soeb will fall in love with each other, but also their own personal healing journeys as they try to overcome past trauma and insecurities. Additionally, the show also focuses extensively on the stories of supporting characters as well, most importantly Hae Won’s aunt and mother, two women who are left to navigate the same pain that Hae Won faces in their own lives.

Review:

This review is probably one of the hottest takes I’ve ever made because so many of the viewers of the show dismissed the show as boring for its slow pace. While I agree that the pace of the show is fairly slow, I would argue that this show is anything but boring, especially when you consider the fact that I managed to binge-watch 16 episodes of this show over a course of a weekend, where I had to prepare for two presentations, turn in a problem set, write a ten page lab report, and work a nine hour shift for my internship.Clearly, this is proof that this drama is so intriguing that the actual work I had to do felt secondary in importance.

Regardless, for those who embrace this drama, this drama invokes the same feeling that you have on a cold winter night, where you are wrapped in a blanket and sipping hot cocoa, while you are watching snowflakes fall to the ground one by one as they cover your entire front yard in snow. This is a drama that unashamedly embraces nostalgia and you see virtually every character in this show getting back together with someone they cared for in high school and there is something oh so satisfying about two grown adults choosing to embrace the love they had for each other when they were teenagers and see them embark on a path to continue that story. Hae Won’s and Eun Soeb’s relationship is so beautiful and heartwarming on so many levels. The way that Eun Soeb fixes the streetlight, so Hae Won can safely go back to her home,or even how Hae Won along with Eun Soeb’s mother, is the only person in the whole town who seem to be genuinely concerned about Eun Soeb venturing out into the mountain alone. These two truly embrace fluff, but the way they do so is eloquent and cute all at the same time. Their hugs and kisses convey so much meaning in every scene. Park Min Young and Seo Kang Joon have earth shattering chemistry with each other in this series and for the love between their characters to be truly felt, you don’t feel the need to define their relationship as husband and wife or boyfriend and girlfriend. These two love for simply the sake of loving.

Underlying these layers of romance and unrequited love is also a telling story about the journey of three women ( Hae Won, her mother, and her aunt) nursing the wounds of toxic masculinity. A major focus of the show is Intimate Partner Violence and how complex the feelings of victims can be. Once, I volunteered at a domestic violence shelter, where one of the volunteers told me that abusive partners can also be the most loving and that many victims struggle to reconcile their love for their partner with the clear endangerment this person has on their very ability to live. We see Hae Won’s mother and her aunt reconcile these feelings of extreme guilt over the accidental murder of Hae Won’s father with the abuse that they have faced. The two trying to move on from a complicated and traumatic past is one of the most profound narratives that this show has chosen to focus on. The only place where this drama falters is how Hae Won confronts this issue as it is not entirely made clear by the writers whether she was aware of what was happening in her family, or if she truly was oblivious to everything because both her mother and aunt have chosen to be be distant to her.

If it isn’t already obvious, there are a lot of deep conversations that the characters are having in this drama and there is a sense of melancholy that permeates this drama, but Im Hui and Lee Jang Wu, Eun Soeb’s sister and best friend respectively bring so much light heartedness and humor to this drama. Lee Jae Wook, who plays Lee Jang Wu, is an actor I’ve been closely following for a long time since his days on Extraordinary You, and he shines as an adorable quirky civil servant, who finds joy in living ordinarily despite going to Seoul National University (Korea’s Harvard). Seeing his relationship with Eun Sil always left me with a stupid smile on my face. I’ll Go To You When the Weather is Nice is not a perfect drama maybe because it is too stuck in the past of these characters that some conflicts seem to be rooted in petty high school drama , but it’s still a drama that is beautiful even despite its cracks. If the entire drama can be summed up in one phrase, I would use the following quote uttered by Cha Yun Taek in the show, “ [Love] It’s when my cold hand touched your cold hand and we both become warm”. This drama in essence is about finding the warmth in our lives.

#when the weather is fine #park min young #seo kang joon #kdrama #jtbc drama #mok hae won #im eun soeb #lee jae wook #i'll go to you when the weather is nice

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elizabethrobertajones · 3 years

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Saw you've been sucked into the MMO life in the form of FFXIV and I was wondering if you had any input into the debate I've been having about what class archetypes tfw would play. I think Sam would be most likely to tank because it requires a reasonable amount of leadership and is also more of a quiet, backbone type role compared to dps. Dean seems more the type to be singularly focused on the big damage hits tbh. He also tends to take more of the charging in and fighting role in their normal life with Sam being the one reading up on everything more carefully and being his backup. Which leaves Cas as healer which may just be me projecting because I play healer/support at every opportunity but literal angel healing aside I think that sorta fits too, he cares a lot for them and tries to keep them safe and shield them as best he can in their adventures? Idk half formed thoughts please completely contradict me if you want I'm genuinely curious about other people's opinions here

Heyooo :D It is less sucked into and more like I’ve returned to the warm cushiony nest of MMOs lol

If you’d asked me back when I was a WoW player I’d have fully agreed because you could only have one class per character and these are definitely the snap decisions that the fam would make when on the character screen. Dean would grab the sexiest DPS, Sam the stoutest tank especially as he’s the one who has read into the classes and strats beforehand, and Cas would ask what to do and be given the healer role because the other two in this scenario would know better about the game and sort of lump it onto him like, oh, we need a healer and you can do this.

(In my own gaming journey, this is what my friends and brother did to me, as they needed a healer to round out their party... I took druid because it was spoopy, and discovered in WoW that while you can’t change classes you can pay gold to respec your character’s role within that class... Promptly re-specced to a melee dps/tank feral druid instead of the healer one, and had a lot more fun :D)

In FFXIV you can take all the classes on your character (which I have done, natch) and it’s a much more interesting levelling approach, especially seeing how my friends playing the game have gone when it comes to taking classes as they level and why they claim to have tried and then rejected others. It’s an enormous personality test, even for peeps like me and my brother who have all the classes up at max level, which ones we prioritised and which ones we sort of struggled with or found a bit meh.

Hm so in the scenario that Charlie comes bursting into the Bunker demanding that she needs some friends for dungeons and raids and they’re all sitting on their asses scrolling the internet between a case, they can bloody well play final fantasy with her for a bit, let’s go for some headcanons :D Long because FFXIV has become my current obsession and I have the same in-depth feels about it as I do about SPN but I just never get to write about them with anyone...

First off, Sam of course has deep nerdery about it and will ask Charlie a ton of questions about what the right class to play is and do the same thing as we’ve already discussed and go for Paladin (which starts as gladiator), and also take all the crafting and gathering side classes because he’s a nerd and you learn nonsense lore while doing it. He’s also in the same starting zone as Thaumaturge which transitions to Black Mage and I BET he’d be tempted to have a little safe witch!Sam emotional release on the most un-Sam class. It’s the big unwieldy spell caster whose literal class quests and stuff make fun of how you’re small and squishy and will be standing in a very bad spot debating whether to finish a long-cast spell and get hit or stop DPS and run for safety. I think he could do with the perspective and learning to be selfish either way to blow off steam from tanking and also learn to prioritise himself IRL :’D Also the paladin quest is WEIRDLY pro-cop from 30 onwards for some reason until the writers saw sense and just. stopped. doing paladin stuff and went back to the Gladiator storyline for the class quests, so idk if he’d enjoy that or start to question other things. Whatever it is he’s getting challenged XD

At 60 he grabs Gunbreaker because it sounds more cool and is thankfully way less emotionally stressful tanking as it’s entirely about being a badass bodyguard and sick flips. This is far more aspirational for Sam, especially as he could just tie a knife to a sawn off shotgun and do these moves for real in his day job. He won’t, but like with black mage, the thought that he COULD is very emotionally satisfying to him.

He might also have decided to check out scholar to see how healing is but idk if he would be able to handle Dean teasing him for having a fairy follow him around so he’d only dabble with the nerd class on the side :P

Now, Dean can’t take ninja until level 10 or machinist (gun shooty DPS class) until 50, so his start point as DPS would either be pugilist (eeeey brass knuckle class!) or the other DPS classes to start with are Thaumaturge/Black Mage, Arcanist/Summoner, Archer or Lancer. Now. He’d probably think the first two are sissy because magic is for girls/arcanists literally only have a book as a weapon. Archer becomes bard and I think is ultimately a place he’d be very happy as it is a very supportive class to the whole party and basically the mom friend class. But I would love if he went lancer/dragoon because the level 50 class weapon is (folklore inspired name) “Gae Bolg” and every time I equip it I can’t help giggling at the name even though I know it’s a real thing and I shouldn’t. But. Like. It’s the class about waving enormous lances around. It’s got Implications, and Dean is drawn to those.

He’d probably, however, take rogue/ninja as soon as he could because stabbing things with knives, and the class trainer is the kinda guy who’d have wild gay tension with him while they both try to boast about women to each other, were they to meet irl. Ironically, the rogue trainer (a womanising charmer) and the ninja trainer (an intense, honourable guy bad at social cues even among his own people who ends up falling from grace and choosing to stay in the vicinity of said rogue trainer) are an interesting pair of NPCs to teach Dean about where to stick knives. :)

He’d go back and power-level dragoon once he starts Heavensward though, because Aymeric is also super intense with messy dark hair and big blue eyes that see right through you. :D He’s getting that gae bolg for him, you know?

If they’re going to bully Cas to be their healer, he’d probably get really dedicated to the discipline especially as he can stay up all night to play and doesn’t need to take breaks to pee so he’d probably level conjurer/white mage (nature healing) and scholar (ancient book lore with a class quest which mixes ancient curses on a whole people, family drama and a bit of interspeciesish love) and then also pick up astrologian, which is good because it’s spooky star and making your own fate magic. The storyline for that is garbage in the sense that it’s really weakly written, but my favourite character randomly picks up AST in the latest expansion, and has an absolutely fucking wild subtextual romance with another character, including SPN level adopting of a random child who matches Jack in many respects, with said character. And in many respects emotionally they’re Cas and Dean but without any of the personal baggage between them specifically so they really are just chill and married, whatever else they’re stressed about (I say, dreading the next patch is going to finally bring up some questions about what is going on with them as it’s getting weirdly conspicuous while still utterly unsaid). So I would hope if Cas started projecting onto an astrologian character it would be him :P

Cas also would get into summoner as the other branch of scholar because honestly those two classes are about as close to the random sigil drawing and reading things from books etc analogy to his own occult magic, except you can summon cool dragons and elementals to fight for you.

they’d buy Jack a boost to 60 and he’d pick up dark knight and white mage probably just to subtly fuck with Dean

(I am still not over Dean trying to test him to see if he was evil or not by whether he chose devil or angel cake)

#Asks #ffxiv #pfft #I'm sorry #I'm like #in the rabbit hole #I'm so in deep in the rabbit hole I've memorised all the lore #I did every quest #I am as forensic about it as I am about SPN but it's all just in my head!!#AAAH why is the fandom for this game small and uninterested in talking about subtext!#[edit to add: if you know where the fandom I'm seeking is and it's on reddit #I'm not going there and you can't pay me to for all the thancred headcanons in eorzea]

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forthegothicheroine · 3 years

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Opinions on Into the Dark Movies

I’ve seen a lot, though not all, of the Blumhouse series of Into the Dark, direct to Hulu horror movies themed around various holidays. Some of them suck. Some of them are surprisingly good! Most are mediocre. Still, I keep watching. Rather than try to rank these movies, I’m just going to give a few of them awards.

Favorite Movie: Pooka Lives

If you were there for the height of Slenderman blogging, this will hit you hard! The first Pooka movie was a psychological thriller and definitely interesting, but the horror-comedy sequel was the thing that touched my heart. It’s all about how the internet creates memes that completely change from where they start by the whims of each new viral art piece. While watching it, I said “according to Twin Peaks, this would be a a tulpa” at one point, and then Felicia Day said “I’ve got it, it’s a tulpa!” She heard me! Rachel Bloom kills Whil Weaton in the opening! All you really need to know going in is that Pooka is a stuffed animal bear-rabbit-monster who repeats words in a “naughty” or “nice” voice.

Most Effective Horror Movie: I’m Just Fucking With You

Somebody on the Bloody Disgusting website said the stuff in this movie is worse torture than Saw or Hostel- but the kicker is, the torment is mostly mental and emotional. An unlikeable internet troll checks into a sleazy motel, only to discover that the guy in charge of the place is a nastier troll than he’ll ever be. This bespectacled, southern-accented slacker just keeps pulling pranks, each one more mean-spirited than the last, until they escalate to murder and the total destruction of our hero’s remaining humanity. The constant neon-lit look of the motel is super intense, but the most important thing about this is that it shows you how really fucking annoying the Joker would be if you actually met him.

Sexiest Villain: Pilgrim

Look, I dunno. Brother Ethan is just the sexiest evil Puritan you’ll ever find, as small as that pool may be. He’s totally invested in what he’s doing, he fully believes in the lessons he’s teaching, he’s maybe a ghost or a trickster spirit or something, he has a great accent, he has a great laugh, and he has great piercing eyes. Also he has this ongoing dynamic with the final girl that’s maybe sexually charged or maybe isn’t, but the whole thing is definitely a battle of wills and beliefs between them and that is hot. Honorable mention goes to the hitman in The Body, but he only looked hot, he didn’t actually act hot, and there’s a difference.

Most Believeable Villain: New Year New You

Maybe the murders aren’t all believeable, but “Get Well” Danielle is! Once a loathesome high school bully, she has now found fame and fortune as a loathesome social media influencer, and a culture that supports vapid self-promotion is one she thrives in. Are the others in the movie any better, though? They hate her, but isn’t it partly because they want to be her? Don’t we all kind of want what she has, even while disdaining every part of her that got her where she is?

Movie I Could Have Written Better: Uncanny Annie

This movie about an evil board game sucked, but it didn’t have to! There’s so much a horror comedy could parody about the modern board game scene. It could have been an incredibly complex game with mutliple expansions where you’re two hours in and still haven’t gotten to using all the mechanics. It could have been a super artsy Euro game with stunning evil art but instructions that are very poorly translated into English. I work for a book and game store! Give me a chance, I could script a greatdark parody of the the Arkham Horror franchise!

Movie That Might Have Been Scarier Without the Supernatural: Pure

I actually really respect the whole setup of this movie. The notion of a “purity camp” father-daughter celebration is stunning and sickening, the fathers are holding their daughters to impossible standards and threatening to remove their love if they ever fair, the girls can’t trust that anyone they meet won’t reveal their secrets to the Reverend, and the camp itself looks like if that Midsommar farm was just No Fun Allowed. Anyway, I don’t think they needed a weird rewriting of Lilith. It’s a psychological cult horror, so let it stay that. The girls can kill their dads at the end without any supernatural power.

Best Cheese: School Spirit

As soon as I saw the trailer and realized this was a Breakfast Club pastiche, I was in, baby. You’ve got the prep, the class clown, the stoner, the nerd, and the delinquent all in for detention. They resist the mean disciplinary teacher, they bond, they share secrets, they get high, they see beyond their cliques, and a masked slasher murders them one by one. The villain reveal is ridiculous but kind of charming, a fun riff on the Norman Bates archetype, and the final girl’s speech to the killer at the end should be on all those “Good for her!” female character gif compilations.

Best Villain Outfit: Midnight Kiss

I love that giallo-killer-meets-gimp-suit look! So creepy, yet so believeable for a club scene! (Or at least, it would fit in with my memories of Folsom Street Fair.) The movie itself isn’t super interesting as murder mysteries go, but it’s not bad, the whole thing is super stylish, and it is neat that almost the whole cast of characters, from heroes to villains, are gay. But yeah, great costume, great party scenes, great beach house, shame about all the murders.

Movie I Wish I Hadn’t Sought Out Spoilers For: Culture Shock

I was trying to decide if I should see these movies and looked at lists of which ones were the best and then I looked into this one and...I spoiled the entire reveal. It’s a great reveal! I’ll try to avoid spoilering it here, but in this Spanish and English language movie, our heroine goes from dodging cartel men while trying to cross the border to existing in a beautiful, multicultural suburban town...where they dress like it’s the Tranquility Lane part of Fallout 3, and nobody will let her hold her infant son. One of the more serious attempts at making a good movie, and I think it succeeds.

Movie That Does a Plotline Better Than Hannibal Did: Flesh & Blood

This movie, while following a pretty typical “Lifetime Movie” style plot (she says, never having seen a Lifetime movie), it understands one important thing: a story about a girl struggling to escape the influence of a pseudo-incestuous serial killer father figure is her goddamn story. This will have to be my Abigail Hobbes fix fic.

Worst Movie: Tree House

Man, of all the horror movie characters not to get killed...

#into the dark #horror movies

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j-pankratz · 3 years

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these streets are yours

Yenalt, Past Geraskier, Past Almost-Yennskier, and a sort-of-but-not-quite Past Geraskefer. 2896 Words. Tags for Major Character Death, Grieving/Mourning, and Unresolved Romantic Tension. Major Character Death is important and, though gentle, permanent. ao3 link here

It had been nearly a year of luteless evenings.

Jaskier had passed in the way lucky humans (exceedingly lucky, in his case) do; warm, safe, in his own bed, with those who cared for him nearby. He’d also had the decency to go during a cool spell in the summer, meaning they could all gather outside for the funeral, mourn him properly, the way he’d wanted: a going-away party.

It had been beautiful; his students from all over had paid tribute, sung songs, played their instruments; tales had been told, Jaskier’s favorite pieces had been played. The annual festival Jaskier had become a patron of made promise to keep his memory alive. Oxenfurt had announced they would set up a fifth scholarship in his name, Jaskier having established the first four himself. All those he held dear had been able to attend, and by the end, it had truly felt more like the going away party he’d wished for rather than a somber elegy. A long line of former lovers had come as well, which had been amusing, to say the least.

It had been… good. It was a good funeral. They’d done as he asked, and he would have been proud.

“Is there such thing as a good funeral?” Geralt had asked.

The wind has whispered through the trees for the rest of the year in ways that sounded suspiciously like the tuning of a lute, to Yennefer, at least. She was projecting, she knew. But it was hard not to, when so much of the little world they’d built for themselves at Corvo Bianco had involved Jaskier, down to the accent tiles in the kitchen, a brilliant touch of cornflower blue running along the walls. The hanging chair in the backyard, wicker and worn now, where he’d sit and play for them while they watched the sun. The library that was filled with so many of his own works, and so many of his favorites.

All of it felt like ghosts now. He had only barely left, but felt so far away already, and yet he was right there in everything they owned, touched, did, said.

“As good as a funeral can get,” Yennefer had replied.

He’d grown old. He was a ripe 94 when he passed, and they’d both privately suspected he had wanted to go sooner than later at that point, as it became harder and harder to play. Not that Yennefer had ever had much insight into how the bard thought; they were… friends. Occasional lovers. Not like he and Geralt had been, though— and not that she’d ever minded, of course. Geralt had brought the mage and bard together, and neither had ever forced it further. Which, Yennefer admitted, had given her a deep respect for the bard she hadn’t been expecting to form. Yes, they’d been friends.

She’d expected Jaskier’s death to be difficult on Geralt. Of course it would, the two had been attached at the hip for decades, they were best friends, lovers, tied together so deeply she wouldn’t begin to try and decipher it, just as he had stopped trying to decipher her and Geralt. What she hadn’t been expecting was the loss to be such a blow to herself.

But that was death, wasn’t it? Knocking your breath away as someone else loses theirs. If he couldn’t breathe it, what use was air at all?

It was a stupid thought. But it lingered in her nonetheless.

Almost a year had passed, then, in the way grieving time always passes; both as molasses and the wind, heart-stoppingly slow and so quick they lost weeks to the ether. But it was summer again, and the birds were singing, and the sun cast the vineyard in a warm and pleasant glow, and the breeze carried the sweet smell of grapes to their porch, and Geralt had been spending increasingly more time in the study.

She’d peaked in a few times, just to see what he was up to— she could only ever see his back, it wasn’t reading, wasn’t writing, wasn’t… whatever she had expected. Instead, Geralt stood in front of the bookcase on one wall, where there was a waist-high counter of sorts, separating the top shelves from the bottom, which were reserved for larger, heavier tombs. He wasn’t looking at a book, though, or even staring ahead blankly as he had so often in the weeks after the bard’s death. He was staring at something small in front of him, lying on that counter, and for the life of her, Yennefer had no idea what it was.

The days were long and the evenings were heavy, and as one tumbled on past another, Yennefer became increasingly frustrated that she could not figure out what was preoccupying Geralt so. It was small, smaller than a book, so it wasn’t one of Jaskier’s poetry collections. Nor could it be the memory album Ciri had put together for the bard’s 85th.

He just stared. More than once, she could see him take a shuttering breath against tears. A handful of times, she’d crept in once he had left, looking for… something, some clue of what had been paining him, but she’d found nothing.

Weeks drew on. Geralt was increasingly agitated and trying hard to conceal it. He must have known she’d been spying, but neither had dared say a word. There was no bar, now, to break the tension. Well, something had to give.

Another evening, another opportunity for Yennefer to peak through the door ajar, to see her witcher’s back, his gaze drawn down, in the middle of a deep breath. The softly lit room made him appear almost as a statue, his sharply defined body looking smoother. She watched for a while, the steady rise and fall of his back and shoulders, the faded loose chemise he wore, his hair dropping around his shoulders and toward his face. She’d think him peaceful if she didn’t know any better. She did, of course. She tended to.

After a minute or two of just looking, (a gift she admitted she often took for granted, after everything they’d been through,) Yennefer pushed the door open just a bit, and it creaked in greeting. Geralt didn’t stir, but took a deeper breath than usual, and she only waited a moment before slowly stepping into the room.

“May I?”

Geralt went stiller, if at all possible, before raising his head and tilting it in invitation. She crossed to him, wrapped her arms around his middle, and planted a soft kiss against his back, burying her head in his shoulder.

“Hi,” he rumbled softly.

“Hello,” she returned with another small kiss. Geralt lifted his arm and brought it around her shoulders, and she tucked in neatly to his side. She looked down at his hands, and finally, there, the culprits lay. Two small strips of fine quality parchment, worn from how often Geralt had held them. Each had a fine filigree along the edges, and along the top read, “Toussaint Annual Bardic Festival”. Below, in neat calligraphy, one ticket read “Geralt of Rivia”, and with a slow sinking in her stomach, Yennefer read the next, identical in all ways save the center, which in small letters read “in memory of” above the gentle curl of the name “Jaskier, Julian Alfred Pankratz”. The bottom of both strips read two dates, the first a week and a day from then, the second a week later.

“Tickets,” Geralt sighed. She hated herself for not having figured it out before. Geralt and Jaskier had gone to the local festival every summer for thirty years, and she hadn’t even realized it was time— how had she forgotten? She’d never… gone, to be fair. She’d heard stories and had made the journey with them more than once, but it was Geralt and Jaskier’s time, and she’d let them have it to themselves. He’d let her have the autumn harvest markets with their witcher, so it’d only seemed fair, but now her heart ached to know she’d never seen the streets of Beauclair cleared, the frivolous banners hung, the tawdry vestments, the excruciating recitation of poetry— she’d never seen it with him. She never would, now, never see his eyes light up at the sights and sounds, the great wave of applause from fans as he bowed after a new song.

Were those tears? Fuck.

It was stupid. The only thing they’d shared was Geralt, after all. And Corvo Bianco. And, to a lesser extent, Ciri. And, she supposed, over 50 years of history. And friendships. And sometimes, a bed.

That was nothing. That should be nothing, to her.

“We usually go together,” Geralt says, as though that needs explaining. But he’d barely talked in weeks, so she let him go on. “He worked so hard to give patronage. Took him years. Was really proud of it. We’d already been going for years at that point, usually stayed the whole week. It was… tradition, you know. Made me promise…” he took a shuttering breath, “made me promise to keep going. Every year. Don’t know how I can, really, those streets are his. That whole place was just… his, you know? They ate out of his hand. It was,” Geralt laughed, and it was thick and wet, “it was something to see.” She could feel the lift of his arm as he ran his shirtsleeve across his eyes, but Yennefer’s eyes were trained on the tickets. She couldn’t look away.

No wonder Geralt had spent so much time in here.

“So, I’m supposed to go to this, and there’s a ticket for him, and it’s just…” she felt him shake his head. “I don’t know. It’s all his, it always was, I don’t know what the point is. They came… a month ago? Something like that, and a note that they’d be sent ‘in perpetuity’, as a gift for his support. But how can I…” The stood in silence, and Yennefer held to Geralt tighter. For her own sake, really. The world had begun to feel… drifty.

“I want to do right by him. But I’m just supposed to go, year after year, and watch as they forget him? As he fades away? It’s a fucking curse.”

“Sometimes I’m afraid I’ve forgotten his laugh,” Yennefer admitted, and she felt like a fucking child, and couldn’t bring herself to mind that, much.

Geralt nodded. “Mm. Or the— the way his nose wrinkled if something had—"

“Green peppers,” they said together around a laugh.

They stood there, wrapped in each other, and Geralt let a hand come up to stroke Yennefer’s hair as she tucked her nose into Geralt’s chest, on what she belatedly realized was one of the bard’s old chemises. “Let me give you something,” Geralt mumbled, and Yennefer opened up her mind, drew up, and went to go digging in his. But the memory he wanted her to see didn’t need to be dug for at all; he was practically throwing it at her, and she found herself enveloped in the sights and sounds of the streets of Beauclair all done up for the festival. Bright banners hung from windows and beside her, someone was selling some warm pastry out of a stall. She turned and there was Jaskier, maybe 60, that touch of gray dusting his temples that had so quickly taken over his whole head. His eyes were bright and shining and he was rambling on about something. He beamed, bright as the sun, and she felt the ghost of his touch as he wrapped a hand around her— around Geralt’s— upper arm.

She opened her eyes back to the dim study, and it was like a bubble has popped in her chest. She pulled away to look up at him, his eyes still cast on the tickets in his hand.

“Take me instead,” she said before she could even think to say it. “I’ll go. Show me everything I never got to see with him.”

Geralt looked down at her, frowning slightly, and for the first time that night they looked at each other, and she saw his face was full of warring grief and pain and hurt and confusion. There were two tracks of dried tears there, and she wondered what her own face looked like, at that point. She hated not knowing. She must look a mess.

“I don’t…” he sighed. “You’re not much for poetry,” he said, sounding more like a question.

“I could be,” she insisted.

“I just…” He took a deep breath, and she could practically see him trying to arrange the words just right for her. She’d grown more patient with him, something she’d learned from Jaskier. “I don’t know if I can go if you’re not enjoying it. It’s always been… his, and he was so happy there. I don’t want… I don’t want to taint it. With my sadness. Or seeing you… not enjoy yourself.”

“We’re going to be sad,” she said plainly. “We’re going to be sad, that’s just how that is. But… it was his. So there’s a piece of him there, and we can enjoy it. I won’t spoil the fun, and I wouldn’t ask to go if I didn’t think I would have a good time. I know I’m not a replacement for him—” she raised her hand to stop Geralt before he interrupted, “—nor do I need to be, nor do I wish to be, nor would I ever presume to be. It won’t be the same. But he wanted you to go— and if you want to go, I want to go with you. I want to enjoy it.”

Something in her nose stung. Geralt swallowed thickly. This shouldn’t have been anything.

She closed her eyes and remembered the memory Geralt had given her, recalled her own of Jaskier’s ramblings and smiles and soon she was tumbling through them, remembering even their spats and quarrels and it overwhelmed.

Wasn’t she supposed to be above this?

“Nothing,” she suddenly remembered Jaskier saying once, “is above song, or poetry. Some things are above words, but that is exactly why we write.” It had been a cool day in Oxenfurt, and on a whim she’d snuck into one of his guest lectures, and stayed behind after to give him a purposefully difficult time. It had all been barbs for a while, but had ended up turning into a real conversation, something they did not often permit themselves.

“So,” she’d asked, “what, is writing just an approximation of something so… big, grand, you can’t name it? What’s the use of words at all, then? There are other ways to convey something that don’t bother to use words at all. Surely they’d be more fitting for such things.”

He’d smiled widely. “We sing, write, tell stories, because after it’s all over, when we’re gone, you can carry it with you. You can’t carry a massive painting around and share it with someone else, and even if you could, it wouldn’t be the same. When you sing, you participate in the story, Yennefer. It’s never about the words. It’s about the people inside of them, and behind them. It’s about carrying someone else. Someones, really. Everyone. The whole world as it is, and was, and everyone to come.”

She hadn’t had much to say to that. She didn’t really get it, then, much as she thought she had.

And now, here she was. Bastard. Probably chuckling from beyond the grave. Smug as shit with a grin to match.

“Okay,” Geralt finally said. “Yeah.”

“We can?” Yennefer asked, yet again feeling so young and so… eager. She wanted to see the damn festival, now. Wanted to revel in it and let Jaskier be right, wanted to be carried by those songs and carry them with her in return.

“Yeah,” Geralt smiled, and his eyes crinkled in a way she hadn’t seen them do in ages. He nodded and tried valiantly to sound serious. “There are these fried pastries there, we’ll have to get some. Requirement, actually. For entrance. Multiple times a day.”

“Oh, of course. And we have to pick up some new volumes for the collection. Legally, we must,” she agreed soberly.

It was only a moment before they broke again, and she buried her face in his chest, in the warm linen of Jaskier’s old shirt, felt Geralt’s arms come to circle her, and the two began to rock side by side in something approaching a dance. They stayed like that, swaying silently as the crickets and cicadas of the valley chorused away, filling the room with a natural music and rhythm she’d grown to appreciate recently.

“I miss him,” Geralt whispered into Yennefer’s hair. She could feel him crying again. “I love him, I miss him, I miss him so much, fuck.”

“I know. I know.” She tangled the shirt in her hands tighter. Cradled the back of Geralt’s neck with another hand. And soon they were smiling again, not in spite of the grief, but because of it.

At some point, Geralt slipped the second ticket into her hand, and she looked down at it, and could not look away. Toussaint Annual Bardic Festival, in memory of Jaskier, Julian Alfred Pankratz. She read it over and over, until it sounded to her like a song.

#Geraskier #yenalt #geraskefer #Yennskier #major character death #butterbard's febuwhump #Grief #Mourning #this one made even me a lil sad to write

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gayathreya · 3 years

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leftist suriya characters appreciation post

since soorarai pottru, been thinking more about all the explicit leftist characters suriya has played in his career. and i actually mean explicit - characters that are supported by the narrative framing and structure and not just my own headcanons and stuff or a throwaway generic goody-shoe typical hero line. i have been itching to talk about this cos it’s obviously in my field of interests

suriya has played 4 openly various brands of leftist now, and that’s pretty cool! i love that none of them are cookie cutter personalities of each other, they all have their own select trait. this post is a toast to them;

michael vasanth (ayutha ezhuthu, 2004)

vimalan (maattraan, 2012)

iniyan (thaanaa serndha koottam, 2018)

maara (soorarai pottru, 2020)

[small write up on each character with pics behind the cut]

*****

1. michael vasanth (ayutha ezhuthu, 2004)

so michael was his first, said to be inspired by an actual university popular marxist student leader, george reddy. michael is very obviously somewhere along these lines - he himself is within the film known as the leftist student leader on campus with a huge following, much to the chagrin of his professors who want to stamp that out of him. he’s openly engaged in campus politics as well as politics outside, and he’s most definitely no weak willed liberal because he has no problems with violence or direct action, which he organises. he organises villagers to stand against others on their own feet, never once preaches about lying down and taking it easy or playing polite. which was nice to see lol i hate liberals who have morals about property damage but in ayutha ezhuthu, michael clearly doesn’t give a fuck. he and his group break things and smash cars and lorries on their way and threaten physical violence on their opponents too which is the way it should be because to him human lives are worth more than any property or vehicular damage. he never shies away from that. hell yes to violence and structural damage!

probably the most definite trait of michael compared to other suriya leftist characters is that michael still believes in the establishment and electoral politics, which u don’t particularly see his other leftist ones talk about. but here, michael works within the system, and trusts it to bring change if u put in the effort into that. though, it’s not as frustrating as it sounds cos michael’s work is not geared towards other liberals, but in villages and rural districts where he goes to spread word, and makes them choose their own leadership to represent. it’s way more marxist aligned and ~rise of the proletariat~ here instead cos he bypasses liberal bougie nonsense and never once is his voice used for that, but used towards and for the working class directly to both take up arms and resist violently themselves + hold ranks for themselves and choose their own leaders to influence their local politics/protect their environment.

michael is fundamentally very marxist, with a dose of direct action plus violent resistance if need be, and supports organised proletariat uprising within an established political system playing towards electoral politics

(of course, a point to note in why this isn’t as frustrating as it sounds as mentioned above is cos this film was released in 2004. would michael still believe in the establishment and electoral politics now? things in 2020 are very different with all of us more aware of things around us and globally, it’s definitely a debate to be held. i doubt he will, since he’s not a pacifist or liberal. he’d say fuck electoral politics, all my homies hate electoral politics)

2. vimalan (maattraan, 2012)

second very openly communist character he played. prob gone a bit forgotten for others since he does die halfway through the film (which itself isn’t a favourite of anyone either, fans or neutrals) rip but can’t go by without mentioning cos i remember liking this character a lot and i teared up in the cinema first watch when he died. i was mad they killed the suriya i loved instead of the other one whom i found annoying lmao

vimal supports workers’ strikes and unions against bosses, even when that boss is their own shitty father. this automatically makes him stand out instantly considering he is sympathetic to the working class despite at the cost of his father’s annoyance with him. he’s also the first character suriya plays who’s explicitly anti-capitalist with line(s) about it, since michael had no canon lines regarding capitalism from what i recall. vimal outright does.

the leftist imagery tied to vimal the most is che, which is a nice touch. his room has at least one poster of him, and his phone’s wallpaper is also him. u can also see bhagat singh and ho chi minh books on his shelf. so.. safe to claim where vimal’s political ideologies are. it’s both tied in pictures and him siding with workers for their rights against corporations, since he obviously likes revolutionaries. vimalan was a class traitor and a supporter of the working class poor bb tragically gone too soon. ilu u didn’t deserve your terrible fate, sweet commie good boi :(

3. iniyan (thaanaa serndha koottam, 2018)

iniyannnnnn i love him and i think it’s a suriya char with one of the best character arcs in his whole career. mostly cos he had a very distinct ‘’yes i want to work for the government and change things from within’’ phase which gets squashed over the course of the film. we see him start off obviously in a very blatantly communist neighbourhood in a song that is also very specifically anti-establishment/politicians with a lot of hard resistance vibes. the entirety of sodakku is a very good introduction to him and what he stands for - in general the film promises upon wealth disparity, useless bougie politicians, and the rest of us being crushed under them.

what happens to him at the end of the movie is FANTASTIC because he no longer gels with what he wanted at the start of the movie. iniyan’s key leftist trait to me is that he’s the most anarchist of suriya characters, varying from other leftist suriya characters. he refuses to work with government powers and authorities, he looks down on their entire establishment and institutions (he does not at the start of the film, which is vital cos again, he wanted to work alongside them at first), and depends more on the good will of individual people over job titles, while clearly engaging in mutual aid and distributing wealth. these are very distinct anarchist ideals. i’d still peg him as anarcho-communist but would say he leans more towards anarchy and progressing on mutual aid over official state resources or state people for any kind of positive change since his faith in them has pretty much diminished by the climax. he does not give a shit about politicians, cops, or any kind of authorities at all, leaving them in the dust to raise his black flag and do his own anarchist hot shit.

iniyan is a good example of an anarchist arc for me in tamil cinema in simple commercial terms without heading too deep into actual words and phrases in a big hero movie, cos it’s also very easy to explain to anyone the shift in his ideas and his eroding faith in institutions with power. good for him!

4. maara (soorarai pottru, 2020)

this should be fresh in everyone’s memory, but yes, a character who is obviously in your face about it since he has an actual line - ‘’you’re a socialite, i’m a socialist’’ which caused all of us with good taste to whoop and cheer. plus he was very sexy in this whole scene, so what a bonus. it’s the most explicit thing said by him in the film, but there are also other little things peppered into his speech and background imagery showing u the kind of person maara is.

he gets married to bommi in a self-respect wedding ceremony. no priests or any kind of traditional hindu iyers/chants involved. u see it clearly with a periyar pic hanging behind him explaining who he is. he wears black a lot in the film, which fits him being a periyarist so i’d label him as such and consider it his standout trait from other leftist characters suriya has played previously because this is the only character with explicit periyar symbolism (i kid u not i saw multiple sanghis being very angry suriya dressed in black in this movie and were harassing him on twitter constantly since sp released. die mad, uglies). obviously, this also fuses well with the little things we see of him implying he’s ~lower caste~ like his in-laws being embarrassed about him on behalf of their own caste, and paresh sanitising his hands after shaking hands with maara on the plane, which is not subtle at all and trademark casteist behaviour about touching someone ‘’lesser’’ than you and u view them as ‘’dirty’’ or beneath you. as well as maara’s remark about breaking the class and caste barrier during his radio interview. being a periyarist fits seamlessly.

there’s also a bts vid of suriya on his bike where you can see an ambedkar pic pasted onto the side. i can’t remember any scene in the film where u can see his bike from this angle but it doesn’t matter, cos u can definitely tell the kind of person maara is and how he was envisioned as a character - an explicit socialist and periyarist, with a natural fondness for ambedkar too since ofc they overlap as many do irl as well. it is very in tune with his background in the film and i liked seeing the tiny aspects of these things seeded within the movie throughout from beginning to end. it’s explicit in a way that isn’t jarring or artificial, and a nice layer to him and feel endeared to since maara is a great character. u support him all the way with him being unquestionable in his stance and ideology. the sexiest leftist suriya character, if i say so myself, ahem.

/////

5. ngk (ngk, 2019)

bonus: THIS IS IT. THE BIGGEST SIKE. THE BIGGEST WHIPLASH. THE BIGGEST BASTARD.

it’s here cos damn, when they released that first look, i completely lost my shit cos that poster was sooo heavily che inspired and very, very obviously marxist. cue me thinking that holy shit suriya is openly playing some kind of marxist guerilla revolutionary in ngk and he’s gonna be some brand of violent radical leftist i’m gonna fall in love with. the beret, the raised fists, the red.. i was ready to be head over heels for this guy.

except of course, none of this was true, cos once the film released, u know that poster was only meant to signify how his village looked up to him before he sold them all out. it’s literally just a mural on the wall where a kid stares up at him in a larger extended poster. he COULD have been that character, but ngk’s character arc was a negative character arc and his moral downfall from the start to the end of the film, sacrificing all he stood for to arrive at his end point which was just dragging his village and all the youngsters who believed in him to the pits before jumping party to the winning group and abandoning all of them after manipulating them to act in his favour to gain sympathy. not to mention, also selling out to corporate tools to harness their power and influence in order to rise to the top himself, something he very openly states at the beginning of the film to his mum and wife that working like that is no way to live. he has a full reverse by this point, compared to how ngk was introduced to us as an audience with that first look of him.

the marxist poster was a complete 180 to how ngk falls on the spectrum at the end, but it was a great ride nevertheless and at least one thing was still true - i still fell in love with him cos he was such an asshole bastard but still so hot i had to give in. biiiicchh. i love u, non-leftist regressive jerk. u may have pulled the biggest sike on me, but.. my heart is yours, slut <3

*****

ok that’s really it and all i wanted to say so hopefully at least a few people read this lmafooo. i do think these characters and time have sort of seeped into suriya over the years as evident by his shifting left in the last couple of years, and openly also saying he has had a lot of perspective changes on things around him. he has been noted in recent interviews saying stuff like how he’s in favour of a cashless society, talking about a whole new level of poverty class being created during this pandemic. his written articles/statements/agaram related speeches takes jibes at india’s education system being brahministic/casteist in nature and how it creates barriers for the lowest strata of society while also being very sensitive about student suicides, showing understanding of it as a systematic failure and not an individual one, courts not functioning for justice, not demonising protests as it’s the only act left for the voiceless, etc. it’s nice. i wouldn’t go as far as to call him a leftist until he proves that to me (suriya is still very much in that liberal zone of appreciating the police and military institutions so i will never consider him one of us until he sheds these allegiances and rethinks his stance on them in society), but i’d say he’s definitely the furthest left of all prominent actors in tamil cinema as no one else really has said or written the things that he has, for which i’m very proud of him.

so keep up the good work and hot shit comments and ballsy articles, suriya, i look forward to u shifting further left and pissing off everyone from right wing patriotic assholes, to centrist bootlickers, and even cowardly liberal pacifists. i believe in u and i hope he crosses that steep liberal curve soon since we were all there at some point as well.

that’s all goodbye i love suriya thanks for reading

#hooo lads finally wrote this like i wanted to! target audience? spare target audience??#suriya #tamil cinema #kollywood #mix #mine*#commentary #politics

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generallypo · 4 years

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“I heard your voice, so I came... Aoba-san.”

Hooo-boy, if that doesn’t get me emotional every single time. Call it my bias for eccentric bundles of sunshine and softness, or my crippling weakness for the secretly-handsome-and-devastatingly-earnest type, but you can’t change my mind: Clear is, hands down, DMMD’s best love interest. Character development-wise, thematically, romantically, he nails every trial thrown at him, gets his man, and proceeds to break your heart in the tenderest, sincerest way possible. I am hopping with Huge Fan Energy, so this post is gonna be unapologetically long and self-indulgent and grossly enthusiastic. Yeeeee.

————

Look, DMMD meta analysis has been done to death, I get it. This game is old. But I think it stands as testament to its excellent production that it’s still a game worth revisiting years later — especially during these times when social contact is so hard pressed to come by and we all rabidly devour digital media like a horde of screeching feral gremlins. (Have you seen Netflix’s stock value now? The exploding MMO server populations? Astonishing.) It’s pure, simple human nature to want to connect, to cling to members of our network out of biological imperative and our psychological dependency on each other. As cold and primitive at that sounds, social contact also fulfills us on a higher level: the community is always stronger than the individual; genuine trust begets a mutually supportive relationship of exchange and evolution. People learn from each other, and grow into stronger, wiser, better versions of themselves.

Yeah, I’m being deliberately obtuse about this. Of course I’m talking about Clear. Clear, who is a robot. Clear, who is nearly childlike in his insatiable curiosity regarding the human condition.

And it’s a classic literary tactic, using non-human entities to question the intangible constructs of a concept like ‘humanity’ — think Frankenstein, or Tokyo Ghoul, or Detroit: Become Human, among so, so many works in various media — all tackling that question from countless angles, all with varying measures of success. What does it mean to be human? To be good? Who are we, and where do we stand in the grand scheme of things? Is there even a scheme to follow? … Wait, what?

Jokes aside, there are so many ways that the whole approaching-human-yet-not-quite-there schtick can be abused into edgy, joyless existential griping. Nothing wrong with that if it’s what you’re looking for, except that we’re talking about a boys’ love game here. But DMMD neatly, sweetly side steps that particular wrinkle, giving us a wonderfully grounded character to work with as a result.

Character Design — a see-through secret

Let’s start small: Clear’s design and premise. Unlike so many other lost, clueless robo-lambs across media, Clear does have a small guiding presence early on in his life. It takes the form of his grandfather, who teaches Clear about the world while also sheltering him from his origins. It means he learns enough to blend sufficiently into society; it also means that Clear has even more questions that sprout from his limited understanding of the world.

Told that he must never remove his mask lest he expose his identity as a non-human, Clear’s perpetual fear of rejection for what he is drives much of his eccentricity and challenges him throughout much of his route. As for the player, the mystery of what lies underneath his mask is a carrot that the writers get to dangle until the peak moment of emotional payoff. Even if it’s not hard to guess that there’s probably a hottie of legendary proportions stuck under there, there’s still significance in waiting for that good moment to happen. And when it does, it feels great.

His upbringing contextualizes and affirms his odd choice of fashion: deliberately generic, bashfully covered from the public eye, and colored nearly in pure white - the quintessential signal of a blank slate, of innocence. Contrasted with the rest of DMMD’s flashy, colorful crew, Clear is probably the most difficult to read on a superficial scale, not falling into the fiery, bare-chest sex appeal of a womanizer, or the techno-nerd rebel aesthetic that Noiz somehow rocks. Goofy weirdo? Possibly a serial killer? Honestly, both seem plausible at the start.

And that’s the funny thing, because as damn hard as he tries to physically cover himself up from society, Clear is irrepressibly true to his name: transparent to a fault. He’s a walking, talking contradiction, and it’s not hard to realize that this mysterious, masked stranger… is really just an open book. By far the most effusive and straightforward of the entire cast, his actions are wildly unconventional and sometimes wholly inexplicable. But given time to explain himself, he is always, always sincere in his intentions — and unlike the rest of the love interests, naturally inclined to offer bits of himself to Aoba. It doesn’t take the entire character arc to figure out his big, bad secret — our main character gets an inkling about halfway through his route — and what’s even better is that he embraces it, understanding that his abilities also allow him to protect what he cherishes: Aoba.

So what if he doesn’t fit into an easily recognizable box of daydream boyfriend material? He’s contradictory, and contradiction is interesting. Dons a gas mask, but isn’t an edgelord. Blandly dressed, but ridiculously charming. Unreadable and modestly intimidating — until he opens his mouth. Even without the benefit of traversing his route, there’s already so much good stuff to work with, and sure as hell, you’re kept guessing all the way to the end.

Character Development — from reckless devotion into complaisant subservience, complaisant subservience into mutual understanding. And then, of course: free will, and true love.

At its core, DMMD is about a dude with magic mind-melding powers and his merry band of attractive men with — surprise! — crippling emotional baggage. Each route follows the same pattern, simply remixing the individual character interactions and the pace of the program: Aoba finds himself isolated with the love interest, faces various communication issues varying on the scale of frustrating to downright dangerous, wanders into a sketchy section of Platinum Jail, bonds with the love interest over shared duress, breaks into the Oval Tower, faces mental assault by the big bad — and finally, finally, destroys those internal demons plaguing the love interest, releasing the couple onto the path of a real heart-to-heart conversation. And then, you know, the lovey-dovey stuff.

Here’s the thing: as far as romantic progression goes, it’s really not a bad structure. There’s room to bump heads, but also to bond. The Scrap scene is a thematically cohesive and clever way to squeeze in the full breadth of character backstory while simultaneously advancing the plot. In this part, Aoba must become the hero to each of his love interests and save them from themselves. Having become privy to each other’s deepest thoughts and reaching a mutual understanding of each other, their feelings afterwards slide much more naturally into romantic territory. They break free of Oval Tower, make their way home, and have hot, emotionally fulfilling sex or otherwise some variation on the last few steps. The end.

That is, except for Clear.

Clear’s route is refreshing in that he needs none of these things — the climax of his emotional arc actually comes a little after the halfway point of his route. When Clear’s true origins are revealed, he comes entirely clean to Aoba, fighting against his fear of rejection but also trusting that Aoba will listen. It’s a quiet, vulnerable moment, rather than the action-packed tension we normally experience during a Scrap scene.

That doesn’t mean it’s prematurely written in — it simply means that he reaches his potential faster than the other characters. Because of that, he’s free to pursue the next level of his route’s development much, much sooner in the timeline: he overcomes his fears of his appearance, he confesses his love to Aoba, he leaves the confines of a largely dubious master-servant relationship and allows himself to be Aoba’s equal. Clear’s sprite art mirrors his emotional transformation all the way through, exposing him to the literal bone — and Aoba’s affection for him doesn’t change a single bit. Beautiful.

The whammy of incredible moments doesn’t just stop there, though. I don’t exactly recall the order the routes DMMD is ideally meant to be played in, but I believe Clear’s is meant to be last. And if you do, I can guarantee that it becomes a hugely delightful gameplay experience — in order to achieve his good ending, you must do absolutely nothing with Scrap. It doesn’t just subvert our player expectations of proactively clicking and interacting with our love interests; it grabs the story by its thematic reins and yanks it all back to the forefront of our scene.

In every route besides Clear’s, Scrap is a tool used to insert Aoba’s influence into and interfere with his target’s mind. Using his powers of destruction, Aoba is able to prune whatever maligned thoughts are harming his target; in any conventional situation, using Scrap is the right choice.

But one of the central problems in Clear’s route is his conflict between the impulses of his conditioning and his desire to live freely as a human would. Breaking free of Toue’s programming is what initially made him unique; growing beyond the rules imposed by his grandfather is what makes him human. In the final conflict scene, Clear’s decision to destroy his key-lock is an action of true autonomy, made with perfect understanding of the consequences and a sincere, selflessly selfish desire to protect someone he loves. In order to receive his good end, you have to respect his decision. It doesn’t matter which option you pick — by using Scrap, Aoba turns his back on every positive choice he made with Clear and attempts to exert his authority over him. This is Aoba becoming Toue; this is Aoba trying to reinstate himself as ‘Master’ right as he approved Clear as his equal. That’s blatant hypocrisy, and it doesn’t matter if Aoba is trying to do it for Clear’s ‘own good’ — that’s not Aoba’s call to make. If you truly wish to respect Clear’s free will, you will stand by. This is the truth of the moment: Clear has no emotional blockages that Aoba needs to fix. Believe in him, just as he believed in you.

The path to his heart is, and always has been, clear. Scrap was never needed from the start.

While Aoba might be the main character, Clear is undeniably a hero in his own route just as much. Tirelessly earnest and always curious, he leaps headlong into the unknown and emerges with his newfound enlightenment. He’s unafraid of weathering trials, even to the point of accepting death, and returns anew from oblivion to a sweet, cathartic ending. That’s about as textbook hero’s journey as it gets — if that doesn’t make him unquestionably, certifiably, unconditionally human, then I will scream.

And only finally… there is the free end. The final CG is like a throwback to our first impression of him: indistinct, purposefully obscured from proper view. But this time, we know better — and so does Aoba. Looks were never what mattered in Clear’s route. If you were patient, and you were open-minded, and you listened… well, what we realize now is that Clear was doing the exact same thing for you, too.

From a carefree, aimless robot-man with only the gimmick of “eccentric ditz” to carry him forward, we get a supremely more interesting character by the end: a man who has graduated from the well-intentioned but claustrophobic conditioning of his childhood; a weapon who has defied the imperatives placed on him by his creator’s programming; a wanderer who has, through unconditional patience and empathy, discovered love, and striven to become a better person for it. Who was it that ever doubted Clear’s character? He’s the goddamn goodest boy that ever wanted to be a real boy. Of course Clear is human. And in fact, he does it better than every single one of the actually human love interests. You can’t change my mind.

The Romance — kindness is really fucking attractive, okay.

Like I’ve said earlier, I have my Big Fan Blinds stuck on pretty tight. I might be conjuring sparks from thin air. But I think every choice was a deliberate creative decision on the writers’ part, and they deserve all the kudos for it — I’m just the lucky player who gets to enjoy it. But aside from Noiz (who I also think is a perfect darling as well — I could go on and on about him), Clear’s route is a model example for consent and healthy relationships in VN storytelling. This is reciprocated on both sides: never does Aoba infringe on Clear’s boundaries, and neither does Clear. They’re sensitive to each other’s needs and concerns; they ask for permission and stop when it isn’t granted (and when it is, boy do they get frisky — I’m not complaining!) I don’t need to say much more, because I think that consent is both fantastic and yes, incredibly hot (the scene in DMMD is tons more sad, go play Re:connect!). Good writing shows off the massive erotic potential enthusiastic consent puts into intimacy, and Aoba’s and Clear’s relationship is honestly a dream playground. The point is, I think Aoba and Clear genuinely do find equal balance in their relationship by the end of his route (and certainly through Re:connect). If you follow through Re:connect’s storyline, there’s even more thematic richness that comes through in the form of Clear’s greatest asset: communication. The couple get to discuss the long-term implications of them being together; they both offer concerns, points, and assurances to the other, and it’s just a soft, honest moment not so unlike the worries of a real relationship. Hearing is kind of Clear’s motif sense, but it’s really great to see that Aoba also subtly picks it up, really flexes his own communication skills to better engage with Clear.

Point is, Clear’s route spoke to me on a lot of little levels. Design-wise, he’s already got a ton going for him, and his story builds upon it rather than against it, enriching his development and grounding him a little more solidly in the DMMD universe (and in my heart). His route, aside from being emotionally ruinous, carries a pretty solid chunk of world-building (only beaten out by Mink’s and Ren’s, probably), and the romance feels organic, healthy, and realistic. He’s not the only one with an excellent route, but he’s my favorite. If you read through all of this, you’re a real trooper and I’m extremely impressed. Thanks for tuning in. Peace.

#dramatical murder #dmmd #aoba seragaki #clear #dmmd clear #long ass emotional screeching #lOL I FORGOT TO DRAW IN THE UMBRELLA HANDLE ahA #fixed

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donotexterminateupgradepudding · 4 years

Text

Lucifer Morningstar is an introvert. A very awkward and unusual introvert.

In an attempt to not create a bunch of random side-blogs, I’m just going to drop this here. Sorry Doctor Who/Torchwood fans.

With the whole covid-19 thing, I’ve been trapped at home more than I had anticipated recently and I was looking for something a bit more fun and frivolous to watch so I finally gave Lucifer a go.

I honestly don’t know why it took me so long to get to this, my brother had watched it when it was on tv and had mentioned it in passing several times. Suffice to say, once I finally gave into Netflix, I found it to be quite an enjoyable watch.

What really struck me in the serious is how it becomes obvious that Lucifer is an introverted character who is hurt. Wait - what you are thinking? He’s an introvert? Oh man, he’s totally a huge introvert.

Let me walk you through why he’s clearly an introvert despite a quick glance at his outward actions.

1.) Hiding in plain sight.

An interesting aspect to his personality is how he hides in plain sight. When he moves to LA, he rents the building that houses Lux and his penthouse suite. Lux is a place where he is surrounded by people, if he wants to partake in revelry all he needs to do is go downstairs and party with people in the club. However, he can also retreat to his place easily which is surprisingly well stocked with books and another piano for him to play in private. I doubt all of his books are for show, he frequently denies thinking deeply about things, but he always seems to be one step ahead of others which has always implied to me he plays the “I’m smarter than I look/act” card. Early on in the show, he occasionally invited people up to his place to party but it wasn’t a common experience. Think of the pizza delivery guy being invited to stay and party.

Despite his love of drinking, drug use and sex, he makes it quite clear that drinking and drug use rarely have an effect on him for long. He is rarely hung over or wasted since his metabolism clears the alcohol too quickly for him to feel it and on multiple occasions he states he mainly drinks as he likes the taste. One of the few times he was high was after he smoked a massive amount of pot at the teenage delinquent recovery farm as indicated by him sitting at the detective’s desk eating potato chips and dipping them in nutella realizing it was an amazing flavor combination. For him, drugs seem to simply be something that is fun and a way to amuse himself and based on his drinking, it is mainly a way to meet and socialize with people.

As far as the sex, it is clear that he uses his casual hook-ups as a fun distraction. To avoid any possible intimacy with others, he hides behind the fact that sex is a pleasurable act and by keeping his sex life 100% casual, no person in his or her right mind would even consider dating him. He has made himself impossible to be seen as possible long term boyfriend in a steady relationship. He likely struggles with his own angelic power to pull out people’s desires and his ability to seduce them. Since his default is to have people literally throw themselves at him, he likely sees most of them acting in response to his powers and necessarily to him as a person. As he wants people to follow their desires and free-will (as he simply removed the inhibitions that were present and did not create them) he gladly indulges them as well as himself. If I were him, I’d be like “well why not?” an attractive person wants to sleep with me, sure do it, no harm, no foul.

I found it most telling based on how sensitive he is to his sexual reputation as well as his ability to meet his current sexual partner’s needs. First off, when a random kid pretended to be him, he was incredibly upset that his imposter lacked his skills. He’s Lucifer Morningstar, he has skills and a reputation associated with them. Secondly, when the detective decided to interview his previous partners for the past 8 weeks (all 92 of them) two things were very obvious i.) he went to great lengths to make sure no matter what he did, that person had the most amazing sex of his or her life ii.) not a single person he slept with saw it as anything more than an amazing night of no strings attracted sex. His actions did not inspire them to want more of a relationship from him. How his facial expression become quite sad as all 92 of them stated it was just empty sex showed how alone he is. Another unusual trait is that he has been the most sexually responsible angel ever. Granted, the vast majority of angels were never going to have sex in the first place, yet he has a much more responsible track record than Amenadiel. It is clear that he has had sex with thousands upon thousands of humans over the years and he never once resulted in a human-angel pregnancy. This may also be linked to the fact that Amenadiel by default, desires a ‘normal’ regular relationship while Lucifer has been avoiding having a “normal” relationship. It would imply that if he found someone to have a kid with, he would be in a “normal” long term relationship with that person.

Overall, his first career on earth was to make sure he had an establishment that represented what he felt others perceived as his core personality, that as the devil, he would have to surround himself by partying and temptations. Owning Lux is a way for him to keep up appearances and maintain his public persona as well as his persona that is seen by celestial beings. Lucifer is a classic example of a character who is totally alone in a crowd.

2.) Few close friends

Another true introvert trait is to have a small tight knit group of friends. Lucifer fits to this exactly. He has excellent social skills, and again due to his former job and his nature, yet does many actions by smooth, polite and calculated actions - from a distance. His job of granting favors is based on how he knows someone, who knows someone, forming a vast network he has to draw upon to make sure that the favors work out the way the person would like them to. He doesn’t do the favors though because he cares for the person, more than he seems to do it to pass the time until he finds a job with more meaning.

It is starting his second job as a civilian consultant for the LAPD that his preference and need for a small friend group becomes obvious. The most obvious one is his relationship with Chloe.

Chloe Decker: He is first intrigued at why his powers do not work on her, his immediate physical attraction to her as well as seeing her as a kindred spirit also drew him to her. She is the outcast of the department and he knows all too well what it feels like to be the literal outcast. As a result of their common situation and the fact he can’t sway her, the two of them can speak openly and honestly. Granted, the biggest issue with his relationship with Chloe is the fact that she denies the obvious truth that he tells her even though she has seen enough evidence that he likely is not some random British guy living in LA running a high end nightclub.

As their relationship deepens he begins to find comfort in the fact that despite his inability to influence her, she still appreciates his company and values him as a friend and a work partner. Even though he panics and holds her miracle status against her at first, he comes to realize she can’t be held responsible for something she has no control of and is unaware of. Linda time and time again tries to get him to realize that he keeps her away due to his absolute fear that she would reject him. Since she’s the only person who could accept him as is, it means her acceptance of him is the biggest risk to his own heart in regards to her.

In part, his complicated relationship is tied to his fear that she would reject him, so him loving and caring for a single person as he does for her is too risky. He’s a seriously hurt dude, he’s terrified of being hurt anymore by someone he cares for. Chloe really takes a long time to realize how deeply he is hurt. I get that she’s his opposite but I do felt out of all of the characters, she got short end of the stick in regards to character development. Everyone else has had major changes and realizations yet she only sort of struggled with Lucifer’s identity in the first half of season 4 and she was off her “mark” when she was a bit preachy with him. Thankfully, she stopped that bit and realized that he more needed her to listen to him and to support him. It really got that concept that sometimes you need to just be there for someone and not try to fix it - since Chloe is a fixer.

Mazikeen: She is his right-hand woman. The only demon to leave hell to follow him to earth, she first acted as his personal assistant, running the day to day operations of Lux and also working as a bartender. Despite all of their conflicts, they care deeply for each other and have each other’s back.

The hardest part of growth in their relationship is when it went from master-servant/boss-assistant to more that of peers. Even as he began to change in how he worked with humans, he keep their relationship as their default from hell. He really hurt her feelings since she developed feelings and both of them are terrible at expressing them to others. They have a relationship and work dynamic that they had for thousands and thousands of years - it is pretty impressive that they are learning and growing in a relatively short time period to respect each other and mature.

I found the most emotionally moving parts between them to be in season 3 when Chloe begins to get involved with Cain/Pierce and he expresses his worry that at least he has her and she’ll never leave him. Maze interprets this as him being selfish and treating her as his number 2. She lashes out at him and all he does is look back at her in return is hurt as he almost quivers. Since she was his right hand woman in hell, she is the person with whom he has had the longest and most trusting relationship with since being cast into hell. Did he phrase things in a way that helped in the situation - no. But was he telling her his honest feelings that he really does feel like she is someone who is always there for him and supports him - yes. When she goes behind his back to work with Cain/Pierce, he’s hurt and feels betrayed. Sure, some of it is karmic payback for the times he’s hurt her, but after his failed experiment with Abel, he has every right to not just pop willy-nilly between earth and hell.

I have the vibe that they will eventually settle into a sibling like relationship treating each other the same way he interacts with his angel siblings like Amenadiel and Azrael.

Ella Lopez: So far Ella has been the only human friend that he has worked with with whom he hasn’t used his angelic charms on. He was uncomfortable around her at first; she’s religious, she’s outwardly friendly and very much into giving hugs. Ella “wastes” her time on what he would see as pointless pleasantries in the office. Yes, Lucifer will lay on the pleasantries, but his always have a purpose - Ella’s are just her being nice. He did like her opinion that the devil got a bad rap, but then she kept thinking he was a method actor in addition to being a nightclub owner.

Despite their obvious differences the two of them are both very straightforward people who have a strong sense of personal justice and are dedicated to solving the crimes. He quickly begins to joke around with her and with her four older brothers, she finds no issue with dealing with his antics - it is more like par for the course.

The fact that Azrael also couldn’t help but become friends with her seems to indicate she has some sort of personality that celestial beings really like, especially those who have the shittier jobs e.g. Lucifer running hell and punishing and Azrael being the angel of death dealing with, well, death. The fact that she made sure Ella would become friends with Lucifer was really sweet and even though he was at first upset since he doesn’t like people trying to manipulate with him, he realized that Azrael’s action was in right place. She got her favorite brother and favorite human to become friends since she knew they would get along even if she couldn’t be with them - you know, having the whole angel of death as her day job.

His love of Ella as a friend though came out when her older brother Jay was in town and mixed up in the illegal diamond cleaning. Yes, he brought his own feelings with his older brother into the mix, but he was correct. Jay is not the absolutely perfect brother, he was involved in shady stuff. I think when he confronted Jay was one of the best scenes in regards to him standing up for and protecting his friends. He made it very clear that if Jay ever hurt Ella again he’d be in trouble as he knew how important it was to her to continue to see her brother in her own most positive light.

I really get the vibe that they feed off of each other being goofballs - Ella was a nerd and picked on as kid and had a lot of issues to deal with. He’s the cast out son, they are both outcasts on the rebound and they like to have fun with each other. This really comes to a head in season 4 when Lucifer, Chloe and Ella go to the nudist colony. Chloe is a complete stick in the mud and by the time she turns around the two of them are naked and ready to go. As adults on their own and away from their family and their former “teenage” issues they finally get to be who they want to be and I just think their dynamic duo antics are adorable. She is the friend that will do silly things with him while Chloe remains too, well stoic. When Ella has her crisis of faith, Lucifer doesn’t fan the flames instead, he’s confused how to react so he doesn’t tell her what to think.

Trixie: She immediately loved Lucifer from the moment she met him. He is incredibly awkward with her. He’s not sure to do with her little kid hugs, he tries to not hold her hand when they investigate the elite private school. Yet, no matter how frequently he calls her a little urchin and doesn’t understand why she likes him, she grows on him.

I personally loved her bedroom sign in the first season - “Trixie’s room - no boys allowed - except for Lucifer.”

Trixie is a classic example of kid radar seeing people for who they are; she accepts Lucifer and Maze with no judgement, she just sees them as these rad adults whom she can play with.

I really liked when he tried to buy her the new doll since she destroyed her old one - in a way he respected her kid logic - did it teach her a lesson - no. But it was a logical extension as a means to an end. He came from a background of illogical parenting so to speak. He dealt with rules that didn’t always make sense it is clear he spent too much time pondering them thus leading to his current situation.

Does he like other children still? Not really, he still didn’t know what to do when he touched a kid’s head with a little pat as his backyard picnic with Cain as he wiped his hand on his sweater. Yet, since he has gotten to know Trixie through his interactions with her it is clear that he likes her.

Dr. Linda Martin: Dr. Martin is my fav female character on the entire show as she is a compassionate, caring and intelligent individual and a secret badass. Her relationship with Lucifer started how all of his interactions with people who desire him do - with her wanting to sleep with him. Over time, she realizes that she can’t and shouldn’t be sleeping with him and he also begins to realize that he can work with her without having to pay her with his body and pay her the normal way - with money. He learns to treat himself with more respect and not just give away himself to her. Showing a bit of a shift in how he sees himself with those he actually knows.

I think she really was his first example of how to have a normal human transaction with well, a human. She is incredibly patient with him and even when he reveals his true self to her, she is able to accept him with a little nudge from Maze. Despite being overwhelmed due to his families odd demands on her and almost killed by his very upset and stressed out mother, she protects him as a client and as a friend.

Sure, he always interprets her advice in interesting ways and she knows him well enough to realize that he avoids things and is in denial but she always still cares for him. He also does frequently figure out what she wants him to realize - he just likes to make it more difficult for himself. I wonder if the more that they got to know each other, his ability to influence her waned as she saw him as more than a playboy and he saw her as a doctor who could help him and later as a good and trusted friend.

Most importantly, she never gives up on him and truly believes in him despite all of his detours and distractions. When he has his identity crisis in season 4, she is the first person he shows his devil wings to. This comes from a place of deep trust in her and even though she can’t help him, she is there for him as a friend.

I don’t think he’d ever admit it to her directly, but Lucifer likely understands that Linda’s friendship with Maze has helped Maze grow as a person - er demon - and her advice has helped him in how he interacts with her learning how to change his relationship with her from boss-assistant to more that of peers and friends.

Dan Espinoza: Oh yes, despite all of their stupid male ego headbutting, Lucifer is friends with Dan and he does care for the man. When they first met, Dan was definitely a being a bit of a dick to Chloe; mainly by keeping his own secrets to protect her even though it drove her nuts. If anything bothers Lucifer more it is people lying and hiding things from him. Lucifer is almost pathological with telling the truth and not lying; and well Dan was not the most honest at the beginning.

So of course, he received full on Lucifer hazing; once the police admin punished him by demoting him for messing with evidence he slowly became more sympathetic to Dan. He did use his skills to get Dan to admit that he wanted to correct his mistakes and when Dan started to lose it with Azrael’s blade, he saw that Dan was a stronger and more complicated man than he wanted him to be. If Dan were a simple man, driven by simple desires and actions, Lucifer could write him off. But Dan isn’t, his biggest change is when he realized he needed to stop calling him Detective Douche and actually call him Dan, in part due to Dan standing up to his teasing.

Was it right for Lucifer to keep up his petty antics for so long? Likely not, but Lucifer learned that some of Dan’s actions and personality traits are actually good things and his day shadowing Dan was annoying for poor Dan, but at least allowed him to realize that not everyone is the same.

Lucifer also has been more honest about his feelings in front of Dan than many others - when they went to get a favor from the Russian mob boss, he freely admitted his own hatred for himself and how he hurts everyone he cares about. If he said that in front of Chloe or Ella, both of them would rush to tell him it isn’t true and he’s being too hard on himself. Instead, Dan kept his distance and realized that both of them think the grass is greener on their side of the fence. Lucifer is secretly jealous of Dan’s more simple approach to things and Dan thinks Lucifer truly is careless and wishes he could be a flippant as he appears to be.

Dan really is a reminder how how Lucifer is unable to open up to others and make himself more vulnerable. Unfortunately, this results in Dan frequently getting hurt and he makes epic bad decisions in season 4 out of grief over Charlotte’s death, blaming Lucifer for all of his pain. But no matter what happens, it is clear that Lucifer would not wish for bad things to happen to Dan as he is a good guy and a capable detective.

Is their friendship a perfect one? Far from it, but both of them really do try to care and support the other guy as long as they aren’t pissed off at each other. It likely doesn’t help that Lucifer’s friendship with Dan is pretty much his only one with a normal human guy. He’s got plenty of angelic brothers and Cain really isn’t normal by a long shot so it makes Dan even more important to have him in his circle of close friends. As a 100% totally normal dude, Dan acts frequently as the ‘in’ to understanding (or really lack of understanding) what is happening.

Eve: I just finished re-watching season 4. I’m still not sure where I’d place Eve in all of this. She’s only in season 4 so far and based on her actions, I’m not sure I’d call her one of his close friends. If anything she was pretty much an impediment to all of his relationships - albeit maybe not quite on purpose . . . she’s a woman who still hasn’t figured out who she is despite realizing she needs to not define herself in the context of a relationship.

Sorry for not having more thoughts on this, I need to ponder it more.

What I will say is that their relationship issues stem from the fact that he is an introvert and she’s an extrovert. He realized that Eve was a “bad” influence on him and he struggled to express his feelings to her. The fact that it takes him shouting out at her that he “doesn’t like who he is when he’s with her” was painfully difficult for him to say. It is clear that he cares about her deeply and he wants her to be happy. Yet, he can’t and really doesn’t want to deliver on her actions or feelings. The worst part is that it tears him up inside since in a way he saw her as a possible long term partner which was a big deal for him.

3.) Works either alone or in small groups.

When it comes to his role with the LAPD, Lucifer’s modes of action are not that of a typical extrovert. He is either working closely with his partner Chloe, or occasionally with Ella or Dan. He is never part of a large group nor is he taking a typical leadership role. Due to his need to protect others and his need to get answers as quickly and directly as possible, he frequently goes off on his own. In part, this is so that he can take full advantage of his angelic powers and immortality, but also to protect those he cares about. Sure, he walks into a Korean gang headquarters and tells them to come out, but he doesn’t try to chit chat or smooth things over with them. He goes in, finds the head boss and pretty much strikes a deal with him that he can’t refuse. When he wants an answer his methods are far too direct. Find suspect/target/person and just question them or threaten them and then question them. There is no charming and social games. He can’t be bothered with banal pleasantries when he wants to know something. If Lucifer were a true extrovert he would want to talk to others and feed off of the energy he gets from being with them - yet - he never has shown this. He sees getting information as a task he needs to complete as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Even though he is hurt when Chloe and Cain become closer and begin to hang out or work cases without him, he still shows up and does work to help out with cases. He also is good at working by himself and is able to work things out when he applies himself.

He also has an excellent sense of intuition when reading people. Of course, one of the major aspects of the show is that he projects his own issues onto others. This leads him off of what they are doing sometimes, so his read isn’t quite right. But he is perceptive when he sees odd behaviors and is able to connect things without full information. This is both what he did with Ella’s brother Jay and more importantly with Pierce/Cain. He invites him for a drink and then stabs him with the knife. He looks incredibly nervous after he kills him as he can’t kill a human as an angel - he keeps switching between trying to be calm and have a drink while he waits for him to wake up with a nervous sweat. Did he know for sure Pierce was Cain? No, hence the nervousness until his intuition was proven correct was his true feelings on his gamble.

Furthermore, when he does work with Chloe or others, he always has their back and will go to any length to work with them. This to me indicates that he finds working with a select few people with whom he can trust is how he is most comfortable and he doesn’t need to be the center of attention and the one in charge like how he was in charge of hell. It is clear that by the end of season 4 even though he returned to hell it wasn’t because he enjoyed to or wanted to - it was because he had to protect everyone he cared about. He also has a natural chemistry and ease working with Chloe where even in tough situations they instinctively know what to do and how to act.

4.) He expresses himself through actions.

Lucifer is an incredibly hurt individual. He was punished by having to take a job that he didn’t even want or even desire and most of his family abandoned him. He’s terrified to open up and show his true feelings and pain to others as they would take advantage of it as a weakness to hurt him further. Honestly, I think he still doesn’t quite understand how his actions landed him in hell. He was questioning the establishment and it is clear he thinks deeply about rules and how they influence others. Anything he thinks is illogical he ignores as he can’t be bothered to care to follow those rules and conventions. I think about how he made Chloe rethink the “swear jar” for Trixie - he pointed out rules without a clear basis don’t make sense.

Since he struggles to express his feelings in a way to help others. e.g. mainly in his denial/fear to tell Chloe he truth does two things; i.) he makes it about him or ii.) he tries to demonstrate through his actions.

The making it about him method, is a subtle way where he wants to know how to solve his own problem to help him understand or interact with others. But since he doesn’t want to say for example “I need to figure out how Cain can die since I promised him and I am true to my word.” he instead hides behind the idea of “I need to find the author’s killer so I can read how she got over her writers block.” By extension, since the manuscript is an instruction guide, he thinks he’ll learn something so that he can follow through on his promise. It is a very obtuse way to act, but since he hides behind his narcissistic facade no one will understand he’s not doing it for himself.

As far as his actions, he really shows it when he reorganizes Chloe’s desk; he realizes that she deals with all the paperwork and since she is capable she gets even more paperwork piled on to her workload. He cleans up her mess and anal retentively arranges her pencils and makes sure the right angles on the files are all lined up. He also found a method of filing that makes more sense to him and it inadvertently helps her find the missing piece of evidence for their most recent case. I liked how he color coded everything. Did he need to add the picture of him in his underwear as her backdrop? Hell no, but he figures out that since she likes him, what’s wrong with her seeing a part of him that she likely will never see.

This also gets him into trouble; again, buying the doll for Trixie, trying to out perform Cain in gifts for Chloe and always seeing things as a competition. He wants to give people physical proof of his care for people without actually saying it. Specifically he wants to express his care through a tangible amount of some sort of physical object.

5.) He hides behind his narcissistic behaviors.

As Lucifer struggles to come to terms with himself and expressing his feelings he has hid behind his narcissism. What is a great way to keep people away from you and keeping your distance from them? Being completely self-absorbed with yourself that no one would ever want to be friends with you. His narcissism is a HUGE turnoff for the vast majority of the population.

It is so clear that he wants to develop close relationships but he’s so afraid of hurting others and even more so hurting himself. He’s hid behind his hedonistic behaviors and his self-absorbed actions for thousands of years. He really is a very particular person; he is constantly adjusting his sleeves under his suit coat, his shoes are always perfect, he moisturizes and his hair is styled elegantly. He likes things arranged elegantly and it shows how important control is to him. If he is 100% in control of everything, again he’s protected from being hurt.

As he works at the LAPD and forms his important friendships, his appearance changes. In the first season, he wears black or dark grey suits, his shirts are white, black, dark purple, dark blue and grey, if I recall correctly. He keeps his look simple and professional, almost cold. His matching pocket squares are also basic and mainly a single solid color with few patterns.

Yet overtime, he becomes more adventurous in his appearance, he starts wearing more light blue shirts, he begins to add in more color with burgundy, forest green, and even a caramel colored suit. His pocket squares become more interesting with patterns and more color combinations. With the increase in color and variety he appears much more approachable and has more of an air of friendliness even though he still only cares for his small group of friends.

A case that was a real struggle for him was with the online dating app for “fabulous” people - Top Meet. He wanted to continue to judge people based on superficial appearances, as it has been his own wall and it has served him well. When they ultimately confront the killer, his own knowledge of nature and narcissists allows him to save the day by tossing the head sculpture at him and the detective can apprehend him.

His car serves as both another front and also shows how he longs for few intimate friendships or relationships. He’s got that lovely little Corvette and it is a two-seater. He doesn’t drive a giant, flashy car that can fit lots of people. Instead, he has a small almost cute (I personally think it is cute) car that only another person can sit in. He only wants to ride with one person at a time as he values his close relationships. Yet, having a car that only can fit one other passenger shows a part of his narcissistic front - that only a person who he’d see as worthy would be able to ride with him.

Overall, by looking at how Lucifer chose to have a job on earth in a nightclub where he could simply hide was the first indication he’s an introverted character. The longer he has been in LA, the more close friendships he has formed and they are very important to him as well as his oldest friendship with Maze. When he realized that Maze was attracted to Eve, he noticed it, but hasn’t made mention of it yet (likely that will happen in season 5). The fact that he noticed it meant he really has stopped seeing her as his right hand woman and more just as an individual with feelings. His close friendships really show that he’s an introvert not an extrovert. It is obvious that he gains meaning and connection from these close relationships in a way he never experienced before. His preference for working either alone or in a small team also shows that he is much more comfortable as well as his preference to express himself through actions as opposed to using words since that is much harder and more uncomfortable. Lastly, by hiding himself from all others behind a self-absorbed image he has been able to keep others away from him for thousands of years.

The major point about his character growth is learning that having a small support group of real friends and family he can find what he’s been looking for. A place to belong and be accepted.

#lucifer tv #lucifer #lucifer morningstar #chloe decker #mazikeen #maze #linda martin #dr. linda martin #dan espinoza #ella lopez #trixie decker

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hypmic-info · 4 years

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HypMic 3rd Western Poll May 2020

Thank you for your participation! These are the final results for the 3rd HypMic unofficial Western fandom poll. After a month of work on this, we’ve got some estimates for general fandom opinions. Do you agree with the general opinions, or disagree? Let us know!

Please click the read more to view our results!

The sample size was limited to 1000 votes, giving a rough indication of the demographic of consumers outside of Japan as well as opinions. The word ‘Western’ has been used, but we have opened this poll to those who were able to read enough English to understand this poll. As such, it is considerably Euro/American-centric.

This poll received the most activity through Twitter, given that the series is most active on that platform. The poll was also posted on Tumblr, Facebook and the HypMic wiki. Commentary has been given on sections of the poll.

Results will be posted on Twitter and Tumblr.

THE CONSUMPTION OF HYPMIC

This section is to be read as ‘What percentage of HypMic English fans have consumed x media?’ The drama tracks and songs have been split by album. Manga bonuses have not been included in the first two questions as at the time of this poll the 2nd Manga songs/dramas were being released so it would be unfair to add them to the poll.

BAT and DH order is written as such due to later stats in the poll where Doppo and Sasara were next to each other but their official colours were too similar so I used the order in Division All Stars songs rather than release order.

Pre-Season: Referring to the start of a battle season.

Battle Season: Referring to the battle/versus songs or dramatracks

1st Manga Bonus Songs: Songs that were included with the manga

DAS Songs: Division All Stars songs - songs that include the whole cast

Merch: Anything that is official HypMic merchandise or has content of HypMic. Plushies, nendoroids, magazines, stickers etc.

Shibuya Division: Fling Posse Drama Tracks and The Loneliness, Tears, and Hope of a Puppet are the most listened to drama tracks of their respective pre-season. Both belong to Fling Posse.

The debut drama tracks of Dotsuitare Honpo (Back Again, Partner) and Bad Ass Temple (The Heart’s Conviction Can’t Be Broken) were listened to less than the other debut drama tracks.

Yokohama Division: MAD TRIGGER CREW Drama Tracks and Chaser from the Past (Matenrou: Before the 2nd DRB) were the least listened to dramatracks of their respective phases of the pre-seasons.

The Champion album has the least listened to drama tracks (Testimony and Me Against the World).

In all cases, the songs have all been listened to more than the respective drama tracks for their album.

The 1st Manga Bonus songs have not been listened as much as the other songs.

This can be due to the fact that these songs cannot be accessed for free legally.

The most listened to songs are the Division All Stars songs with the full cast.

This can be due to the fact that these are the only songs that are available in their entirety on YouTube.

Fling Posse has the most listened to songs of both pre-seasons.

Buster Bros!!! has the least listened to songs of the 1st pre-season and Matenrou has the least listened to songs of the 2nd pre-season.

The Hypnosis Mic -Division Rap Battle- side D.H & B.A.T manga was released as the poll was being conducted, so was not included in this poll.

-Before the Battle- The Dirty Dawg is the most read manga. -Division Rap Battle- side B.B & M.T.C is the least read manga.

By the numbers given for listening to the Spotify radio show, Hypnosis Radio, 80.4% of this sample size has listened to the radio - 19.6% have not listened to Hypnosis Radio.

Around half of the fandom has bought merch - this poll has included plushies, magazines etc. and all from official sources.

DEMOGRAPHICS

Due to the limitations of Google sheets, Africa does not show up on the chart for location as the voter percentage is too small.

The age ranges used are of a similar range to those of Japanese polls. [ARB’s recent survey and the age demographics of Comic ZERO-SUM, publisher of the FP/M manga]

93.5% of voters use translations regardless of Japanese comprehension.

The option for ‘I bought multiple CDs’ refers to both different CDs and multiple of the same CD during the battle season.

Of those who were around for the Battle Season, 15.66% of this group did purchase a battle CD.

CHARACTER VOTING

For comparison, here are the rankings from the previous poll (January 2020), From Japan (October 2018) and the Yumejoshi poll (December 2019)

Names marked in GREEN show an increase in vote percentage. Names in RED show a decrease in vote percentage. Names in BLACK show that their popularity rank has not changed. Names in BLUE show the character has been added to the polls through voter suggestion.

The arrow besides the names show if their rankings went up▲ or down▼. No markings are set if the character’s position has not changed.

1.2% of votes had a minor character as one of their favourite characters (Ichijiku, Nemu and Yotsutsuji - No other minor characters were suggested).

These polls vary in selection method as our polls looked at the top 3 votes of each character.

From Japan’s method has been stated as a poll but we were unable to find the original. Rio and Jiro’s reason for being unranked is unknown.

The Yumejoshi poll was done by people suggesting their favourite characters for rankings, meaning that it was not entirely based upon HypMic. What is shown here are those who ranked. The ranking in their picking of a 100 is listed against them.

These three polls have varying demographics. From Japan’s spread seems to be more broad, while the Yumejoshi poll is specifically yumejoshi/female. Our polls were taken only for English speakers. In addition to this, there is some bias based on who the poll was spread through followers.

For example, the poll was created by a Gentaro stan and main supporters of this poll are Dotsuitare Honpo stans.

Doppo dominates the polls in both English-speaking and the Japanese fandom.

Characters who received less than 1% of the votes are listed as other: Jiro (0.8%), Rio (0.9%), Rosho (0.2%), Rei (0.4%), Hitoya (0.5%)

Names marked in GREEN show an increase in their vote percentage. Names in RED show a decrease in vote percentage. Names in BLACK show that their popularity rank has not changed.

The arrow besides the names show if their rankings went up ▲ or down▼. No markings are set if the character’s position has not changed.

The only significant change in division rankings shows that Buster Bros!!! are now more popular than MAD TRIGGER CREW.

Dotsuitare Honpo is the lowest in both the favourite division rankings and perceived lyrical skill.

SONG VOTING

Songs marked in GREEN show an increase in vote percentage. Names in RED show a decrease in vote percentage. Names in BLACK show that their popularity rank has not changed. The arrow besides the names show if their rankings went up▲ or down▼. No markings are set if the character’s position has not changed.

Debut Songs: Songs that received less than 2% of the votes: New Star (0.3%), G Anthem Y-CITY (0.7%), Meikyuu Heki (1.6%), FACES (1.3%). These songs collectively had 3.9% of the vote.

Songs that received less than 2% of the votes: Sensenfukoku (1.1%), New Star (0.1%), G Anthem of Y-City (0.8%), Bayside Smoking Blues (1.0%), What’s My Name (0.6%), Scenario Liar (1.3%), 3$EVEN (1.9%), Meikyuu Heki (0.5%), Own Stage (1.2%), FACES (0.6%), One and Two, and Law (1.1%), School of IKB (1.2%), Uncrushable (1.4%), 2Die4 (1.0%), You Are Therefore I am (1.9%)

Songs marked in GREEN show an increase in vote percentage. Names in RED show a decrease in vote percentage. Names in BLUE show that this song has been added for the poll.

The arrow besides the names show if their rankings went up ▲ or down ▼. No markings are set if the character’s position has not changed

BATTLE SEASON OPINIONS

BATTLE SEASON HOPES

For our final question, we asked “What are your hopes for this battle season? Any plot points, theories etc. that you want to mention.” This question was not required, but we received around 300 answers to this. We condensed the material into basic categories so you don’t have to sort through all 300.

Here are some choice points made about the plot:

What does Samatoki actually think Ichiro did to Nemu?

Could Saburo hack Ramuda?

How will Fling Posse react when they realise what Ramuda’s done to everyone else?

How do the other Ramuda clones interact with each other and everyone else

What if this is all Gentaro’s book?

What if Gentaro’s brother is the original Ramuda clone?

How are Chuo seen by other women?

Would Chuo rig the matches? Especially against Matenrou since their victory

What if they cloned someone else?

What if they reshuffled the divisions? Or added more divisions?

And here are a few funny comments before we go... just cause there were a few silly things added in that made us laugh. Yes, these are all as written.

Yo when is it gonna be confirmed that Ramuda has big top energy?

A song named "ALTERCATION ALTERCATION ALTERCATION"

I hope Rei gets his shit checked.

I'm a fictional doctor's wh o re so I'm rly in this for MTR at the moment sjfjskfkd I hope we get to hear how much the seiyuus have improved too compared to the first season!! :D

Doppo and Hifumi's wedding. Dice finally got some money. Everyone go on a hunt for emus. The 6 divisions go fishing. Rio making proper and digestible food. No more drama protecc ramuda.

I just kinda want them to kiss ngl

CHUUOKU DOWN! JUSTICE FOR ALL!!

i jokingly headcanon that gentaro cant read but i kinda hope its true. also i want sasara and ramuda to interact i think itd be kinda epic

I want Ramuda reduced to scrap metal

- - - - - - - - - - -

And that is it! After a month of work on this, we’ve got some estimates for general fandom opinions. Do you agree with the general opinions, or disagree? Let us know!

Here are the links to the aforementioned polls from before:

2nd Western Fandom Poll: https://twitter.com/DevsPallas/status/1213842101605150721

From Japan: https://blog.fromjapan.co.jp/en/anime/hypnosis-mic-division-ranking-result.html

Yumejo: https://note.com/yumejo/n/nca7de3e94d91

Comic ZERO-SUM readership: https://www.comipress.com/article/2008/06/25/3603.html

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popwasabi · 4 years

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Lockdown Lookback: Catching up on the past months’ Pop Culture

Aaaaannnd we’re back!

It’s amazing what a little pandemic can do to shake you out of your creative cobwebs but if we’re all going to die, I want to make sure all my pop cultural hot takes are up to date at least.

Many of us are already on lockdown and many major movies including “007,” “Black Widow” and ummm I guess “Mulan” are all getting pushed to the backburner as no one is leaving their God damn homes unless they’re told to!

(Didn’t realize the thing I wish I had more of in the apocalypse would be sweatpants...)

But there’s still plenty to talk about from the previous months and other hot topics I have been meaning to write about but just hadn’t found the time or energy for. Life has been hard I think for just about all of us these days thanks in no small part to this pandemic. For me personally, I’ve had two different vacations canceled because of the virus and currently working understaffed at my job which is considered essential. Not to mention my therapist is on call only at this time and both my martial arts schools have been suspended, so I can neither talk nor punch my feelings out of my system.

So, I might be just a LITTLE on edge at the moment.

(My internal monologue for most of these past few weeks, more broadly years...)

Anyways, I digress, you come here because you like to read my highly unprofessional takes on pop culture and genuinely to those who have cheered me on from the beginning thanks, you guys are my prime motivators. But anyways let’s talk about all the shit I was supposed to write about these last two and a half months.

“Birds of Prey” was a hot, but needed, mess

Earlier last month I got to see the sort of sequel to the much-maligned “Suicide Squad” in “Birds of Prey and the…waaaay too long of a title for me write here.” I had cautious optimism for it because it looked strange and off the beaten path of most comic book movies and seemed to promise at the very least a fun time at the theater but it’s still also a DCEU movie so the floor was pretty low on its possible quality as well.

In the end, the movie is kind of bit of everything; the best and worst parts of the DCEU.

In terms of the good, it’s definitely outside the box, a sort of fem Deadpool first person story as told frenetically by Harley herself. Margot Robbie is, of course, still quite great at this role and you can tell she’s having a blast as this character. The humor is mostly good and visually the bright colors and cinematography pops on each screen and on that front there isn’t much to complain about.

But as a DCEU movie it does suffer from some narrative imbalance partially due to it’s psycho storyteller but mostly, and more than likely, due to corporate editing that probably axed an entire dance number that I was honestly looking forward to from the trailers.

(Seriously, I actually wanted to see the full unedited version of whatever hell this ended up being.)

It’s definitely in the “could’ve been better” camp of comic book movies but you know what? I’m still glad it exists. You know why? Because comic book movies dominate our blockbuster culture right now and if the genre wants to survive, at least artistically, it needs some outside the box films like this. I HATED “Joker” but I appreciate that it opened the door for stranger, more unique takes on a genre that is getting increasingly more stale. This movie falls into that unique category too.

(Also, to all the faux-intellectuals and alt-right nerds making a culture war out of “Sonic” vs “Birds of Prey” *kindly* reevaluate your lives please...)

We’re at the point now where comic book movies should be getting weirder, not more formulaic, and that means swinging for the fences even if a couple don’t quite make it out of the ballpark. If it takes a few not so stellar takes on the genre for Hollywood to greenlight a truly fantastic one I’m all for it.

In any case “Birds of Prey” doesn’t quite end nor continue the DCEU’s recent hot streak but it is enjoyable enough to where I would be more than open to a sequel. It’s worth a watch.

The Mandalorian and The Witcher: Two shows about violent mercenaries and fatherhood

Both these shows are old news at this point, but I did want to talk a little about both for a bit if you would have me.

First, “The Mandalorian” which was Disney+’s flagship production to begin its streaming chapter late last year is definitely a more than welcome addition to the galaxy far, far away. It’s pretty easy to feel fairly jaded about Star Wars these days given how flat the new trilogy ended but for what it’s worth “The Mandalorian” was a good mix of nostalgia bait and something new and interesting for fans to chew on. Its production value is obviously top-notch, no doubt because of all the Disney money pumped into it, it’s well-acted and thrilling and fun from start to finish. It plays heavily on the genres that influenced the series, primarily westerns and old samurai flicks, and fans of those will certainly enjoy the homages to them all.

The series was something of a coming out party for Deborah Chow who directed two of the season 1’s best episodes. Her steady hand, eye for details and tributes to Asian cinema throughout really gave the series an extra kick at times and showed how Star Wars can evolve still. Chow is set to helm the upcoming “Kenobi” series and one can only hope that she *really* leans into the samurai genre for that show.

(Hopefully, there are some “Yojimbo” vibes in there somewhere...)

The Mandalorian’s best and worst parts though are its semi episodic nature making each episode easy to digest as a one-off but also lacking some narrative tension between each. It plays kind of like a Saturday Morning cartoon to both its benefit and detriment with bite-size easy to digest plots and dialogue for the viewers but not offering a ton of depth beyond that.

The Mandalorian himself is also kind of a Gary Stu. His armor is basically impenetrable and far and away the best killer onscreen typically, making more than a few action scenes lack real stakes and tension. Baby Yoda certainly helps at times to make him more vulnerable and puts him in precarious positions plenty of times but outside a few moments (mainly episode 2 and to a lesser extend the final episode) he’s just a little too overpowered to be a more interesting character.

But this show and frankly the Star Wars series as a whole is meant for kids, no matter what the neckbeards try to tell you (violence =/= adult), and that’s not necessarily a bad thing either. Plenty of kids productions can be both great and even sophisticated and while I wouldn’t say “The Mandalorian” is either of those it’s a good and fun kids show for the fans.

(And yes I’m aware that the books, some comics, and games have touched on more adult stuff, you weirdos. But how would you describe the overall tone and presumptive audience of the movies and TV series as a whole, guys??)

As far as “The Witcher” goes it also has a bit of an episodic style to it as well with an overarching, albeit, convoluted story that runs parallel to it. The first 3-4ish episodes can be classified as a quasi “Game of Thrones” clone leaning perhaps a little too heavily into the tropes of that series. Once the series finally starts leaning into its real identity, a dry-witted hack and slash fantasy, the series is much more consistent both tonally and narratively.

Henry Cavil is solid as Geralt of Rivia and the supporting cast of Joey Batey as Jaskier, Freya Allen as Ciri and even more so Anya Chalotra as Yennefer are all great in their respective roles delivering some great moments throughout the season.

(And lest you forget this earworm...)

“The Witcher’s” early season struggles keep it from being as tonally or narratively consistent as “The Mandalorian” but where the monster slayer beats the bounty hunter is that it has overall more compelling drama and has more to say, leaning much more heavily into the thematic greys of the plot. There are tons of problems with “The Witcher” on a story-telling level but you can definitely say it cares more about adding some depth in between the more pulpy aspects of the story which is something you can’t say as much for in “The Mandalorian.”

Of course, I’m partially overselling “The Witcher” a bit here, it’s not anywhere near “Game of Thrones” best (yet at least), and on the flipside one could argue that “The Mandalorian’s” more subtle sense of story-telling does its themes better. But when it comes down to these two shows you get somewhat similar story-telling ideas, mostly involving both characters and their smaller counterparts, in two very different genres with equally diverging conclusions to their respective seasons.

(🎵 Toss an “Oof” to your Witcher...🎵)

All in all, they’re both good and worth a watch and I think they deserve a chance to evolve and hopefully showcase more of what they have to offer moving forward.

“Parasite” wins Best Picture! Many people have some hot takes, including the president...

Last month one of my favorite films of 2019 “Parasite” won Best Picture at the Oscars. It’s a movie that is becoming increasingly relevant as elites and celebrities alike are getting front of the line testing despite being asymptomatic in the middle of pandemic and think they can assuage our concerns and dread by poorly singing “Imagine” together within the comfort of their McMansions.

It’s about as a good time as any to revisit this movie, I mean where else are you going to go during this timeline, and at a later date I’ll write something more extensive about it eventually (hopefully) but first here’s a helpful video on one particular thing that came out after director Bong Joon Ho took home the night’s top honors:

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“Cats” is still a fever dream of madness

Back in late December, I watched “Cats” for science, as I had AMC A-List and a friend crazy enough to join me. I figured it would be bonkers and unlike anything I had seen before in the worst way but even then, I don’t think I was truly prepared for what I ended up seeing that fateful night.

I remember quite vividly going to the bar inside the theater and ordering a stiff drink beforehand to numb the pain and the bartender asking “So what are y’all watching tonight?” and beginning to laugh manically like an insane asylum patient at the innocuousness of the question. Walking into the theater was like that feeling you get before getting on a particularly scary-looking rollercoaster at Six Flags but instead of the pre-ride jitters eventually subsiding to the eventual fun and joy of the ride, only a deep sense of existential dread built up and sustained itself through what felt like six hours of the most baffling thing put to screen in front of my eyes ever.

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(The music that played in my head as I exited the theater...)

Have any of you watched the Stanley Kubrick movie “Eyes Wide Shut” before? You know the scene when Tom Cruise is walking around in his mask observing the strange occult sex orgy going on around him at the mansion? That’s kind of what “Cats” felt like except way more terrifying, somehow MORE sexual, and definitely crazier.

(Is...this some type of...intepretative dance to summon an eldritch horror??)

There’s a voyeuristic terror that comes from sitting in that theater room as you watch bipedal humanoid looking felines dance to confusing songs about “Jelicle” cats (whatever the fuck that means) and all other manner of things that should NOT take human form throughout it’s near-endless runtime. A lot was made about Rebel Wilson and the disgusting roach people she consumes but NO ONE warned me about the frankly HORRIFYING mice children in the same scene!

(I am not perusing the internet to find that image again for y’all. I have enough nightmares each night...)

The saddest thing about the whole movie is everyone, save for Ian Mckellen who seemed to be acting as if a gun was pointing at him offscreen and Judi Dench who looked 100 percent like a geriatric in her digi fur, was giving the movie their fullest effort in what can only be described as a Titanic-sized level of hubris by all parties involved. This movie really needed a “Chaostician” involved in evaluating the production for studio heads and shareholders because there were definitely NOT enough people on this project wondering whether or not this film SHOULD exist...

(Dr. Ian Malcolm coming to Universal Pictures to access the film.)

What has “Cats” wrought upon this world? The universe has been clearly out of balance since this movie came out and while I’m not saying it’s director Tom Hooper’s fault, I’m not saying it isn’t either.

“Cats” is one of those things, much like The Matrix that cannot be simply described but must be seen to believe. It’s one of the worst things I have ever seen onscreen but with the right group of people and a few stiff drinks it’s certainly an experience you won’t forget. Consider it for your next Google Hangout during this apocalypse.

Anyways, that about wraps up my thoughts on the last few months. Going to try to be more consistent going forward especially given how much more time I have now to write, for better and worse. But more importantly, just want to say stay safe y’all. It’s going to be a process to get through this and while things are more likely to get worse before they get better there will be a day when this all ends and some normalcy may yet return to our life but in order for us to get there we need to remain vigilant.

So stay at home, wash your hands, and if you want to watch movies just order it online for now and we’ll just wait until aaaallll this blows over…hopefully.

Don’t panic...

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vroenis · 4 years

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Uncharted 4: An Era’s End

It’s recently come to light that game developer Naughty Dog has been subjecting its employees to crunch; the practice of overworking and underpaying staff in order to meet deadlines. This is not unique to Naughty Dog, nor to their current project pending release later this year, The Last Of US 2. Reports suggest that crunch has been endemic in the working culture of Naughty Dog for some time and this is now no surprise to us as such reports continue to surface about studio after studio, most in the corporately structured, premium funded and managed space we call “triple A” or AAA, but many smaller studios and independent spaces also. Several senior and long-tenured creatives have left Naughty Dog quite recently, and some may have been leaving earlier than those that have been reported during what’s turning out to be a turbulent development cycle for The Last Of Us 2.

Each month, as part of the paid subscription to the Playstation Plus online service, Sony offers a small selection of games. For April, one of them was Naughty Dog’s Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, from which I derived my title. Not only am I here to suggest the studio’s troubles may have begun during the development of this game, first released back in 2016, but the title may have been one of the first significant indications that the book was closing on AAA development as we know it. I appreciate there have been many good voices shouting from the rooftops about the how unsustainable it’s been from before then, but the Naughty Dog for a long time seemed like a light in the dark, signalling that a big studio could still produce good product under strong leadership.

I feel that Uncharted 4 rather than The Last Of Us 2 is the real light, and instead of a light-house, it turned out to be a signal-fire warning that even then the composure of Naughty Dog was an illusion.

This piece is going to contain significant spoilers for Uncharted 4. It’s also not investigative - I just played it for the first time, completed it and I have some thoughts about it; these are my thoughts.

I didn’t like the third game at all. I took nothing away from it. I’ll never play it again as there’s nothing I want to relive from it, so I’d better look up the wiki on what happened in it... well that didn’t help at all as I don’t remember playing any of that, it was so unmemorable. I remember the wandering around in the desert bit and then some shooting in the desert which was all pointless. There were also some puzzles with shadow puppets that were almost good but so short and pointless, those two things sum up my feelings about the third game entirely.

What a way to start.

I’ve replayed the first and second games once each, so I’ve played those each twice thru and have decided that the first game is overlong and poorly paced, and the second game is the best and probably two-thirds good. Honestly, Elena should drop the Drakes in the ocean, run-off with Chloe and keep in touch with Sully because those are the only three characters with any depth and meaning. Let’s roll-back a bit.

I get that Nathan’s supposed to be a charming, happy-go-lucky character and for the most part, it works. Maybe I’m just getting too old for it or it’s wearing too thin. I really think the third game was completely unnecessary. When I review my notes on the fourth game, I think about the emotional quandary it attempts to set up i.e., ultimately that Nathan should be more honest with Elena - spoiler; he isn’t, but don’t worry it all works out *SPIT* - this was already a problem I was ready to face at the end of the second game. Given my feelings on the third game, I’d have much preferred a simple trilogy and conclusion that faced that emotional brunt to wrap things up. Naturally of-course, that’s not how money-spinners work.

If Uncharted 4 doesn’t spend time on Elena, who does it spend time on? Nathan has a brother! To be fair, I love Troy Baker as a voice actor and if there’s one thing that is consistent in Naughty Dog games, it’s excellent voice acting. I don’t know if I’m now biased after seeing so much of Nolan North and Troy Baker on YouTube outside of their VO talent work, but they’re wonderful people and their professional work is always great. The supporting cast is always great, too - so too the villains even if the narrative arcs are always completely absurd. I know these are always a bit of a lark, you can’t take them too seriously so I can’t hold Uncharted up to Kentucky Route Zero (got my mention in) and shake them comparatively, that’s not fair. It’s OK to have an excuse for a romp even if it does wear on a bit over time.

The problems I have with Uncharted 4 specifically are things like the level and environmental design. I’ve never gotten lost in this franchise up until now when it happened in almost every level... several times. I simply didn’t know where to go. There would be absolutely no clear indication of where to go and no assists, no subtle environmental guide and no camera nudges to help. There is a timer that eventually tells the player where to go and at times, this is tied to deaths so at one point I just threw Nathan off cliffs repeatedly to respawn until the hint appeared. This is unquestionably stupid design. I began to wonder if this was due to criticism that previous games had too much hand-holding, but when the UI assist was finally given and I made my way to the next check-point, I would *never* have found it under normal exploratory gameplay.

This remained true during several moments of scripted action sequences, some including during combat which brings up something else I now remember about the third game. I still couldn’t tell you when it was other than I didn’t know where to go and it was stupid, so there you have it. Maybe the third game was the real signal fire in my metaphor, who knows. In any case, constantly reverting to check-points and having to repeat, not understanding why you’re failing when the game isn’t telegraphing what you need for a success state in a scripted sequence is an exercise in frustration I’m not willing to ever repeat. While I’m not a souls-like player, I completely appreciate the admiration and respect for those games because they have rules that are clear to parse. Video games are *all about* providing feedback to the player. I’m not saying it’s easy, it is an incredibly difficult thing to achieve but it is literally the job you set out to do, it is the only vehicle you have to convey the lofty emotions you want to communicate to your audience.

And then there’s the driving. Naughty Dog. Do not put driving in your games. This is something you’re not able to do.

I don’t want to bash the driving so hard because at this point I feel like it may have been bolted on without time to make it stick correctly. This is the first game in the title where the hot-zones for interactions weren’t quite right. Where I bugged out of animations and had check-points or re-spawns instanced or loaded. Where I glitched out and fell off things, where I had to walk back and forth in-front of things to make buttons appear. The edges of that Naughty Dog polish were fraying. I’d attempt to do a thing and it just wouldn’t work, I’d fall to my death. I’d attempt to do the same thing the same way and it would work. Again this is dredging up more nondescript memories of the third game so I’m beginning to have my suspicions about the working environment there and when in the timeline things started getting bad - but cameras and jumping distances got really difficult to judge. One gap at one time would be fine to jump, then another would have you plunge to your death, and they’d be inconsistent to read or judge. These were not frequent, as with the third game, almost as if the artists and level designers were given time to adjust lighting and camera geometry tracking and control mapping as much as possible but just couldn’t get to them all. But throughout the games, it creeps in more and more.

I’d talk about combat - it’s functional, but it’s not interesting. These games don’t add anything interesting to the genre or video games in general. I play the games on easy because I don’t need to prolong the experience, I don’t actually have the physical time - if I could play the games without combat, I would. There are other games to play if I want dexterity challenges which I do engage in, Uncharted isn’t one of them. Even in 2016 I’m not entirely sure this would have turned heads. I realise I’m playing this a full four years later, but it’s hard to think of the sum-total of this game’s parts and see it as relevant...

But you know what? Uncharted 4 visually looks immaculate. Outside of the voice-acting and sound design, without question, the highest priority has been given to the visual fidelity of this game inclusive of the animations. So much has been invested in how the tech works, to the abandonment of everything else, I’d say the for example, the driving suffered the most, level design next, then interaction scripting. The attention to detail in the environments is stupendous...

...yet it’s all hollow. You know what? I don’t care about pirates and adventures anymore. Whatever. By the fourth game, I don’t care. I totally get that the game’s not for me but I played it and I’m writing how I feel about it. You’re telling me a story about a guy who met the person of his dreams and marries, then his brother turns up and he can’t be honest to his wife? Meow meow meow it’s all for the sake of drama so we skip over all the details but the contrivance is too much. You want me to accept these things on face value, then on face value, I say Nathan and his brother can go get fucked.

I took particular issue with the comically brief relationship discussion Elena and Nathan have after she saves him and they set off together in which she concludes she’s with him “for better or for worse”, which from memory the game chapter is titled after. Now either the character genuinely believes she owes him under the sanctity of nuptial obligation or she’s using it as a justification of such. This is a wholly unsatisfying discussion for me was when I finally checked out of this game - sure I should have done so hours before but this was the last straw and the indication that I am definitely too old for this shit - but this is a horrifying and stupid message to be spouting. Elena don’t owe anyone shit. Married or not, she’s free to save Nathan if she wants to, for any reason, but she’s certainly not obliged to. I despise this massive chunk of traditionalist patriarchy smashed into her character and the narrative, even if it is “well it’s just about her character” yea great, so that just re-enforces her as a loyal dog-trophy for the main character in the on-going male power-fantasy shenanigans shit-train. Nathan’s behaviour isn’t exactly selfish but it’s certainly not adult or considerate. He behaves like a child not taking on an appropriate level of responsibility. Others around him, being Elena and Sully, continuously bail him out - literally saving his life while endangering their own, and he continues to behave like a manchild that neither acknowledges their physical and emotional labour nor does he grow and evolve as an individual. What a fucker. Does he ever sort his shit out, ask Elena what she wants to do for a career and support whatever the fuck she wants to do with her life? Of-course the fuck he doesn’t. Know why? Because he’s a literal man-baby. And his brother is too. But that’s OK cos he’s a fucken jock-hero and a funny guy so as long as we can all laugh about it and the narrative says-so and it all works out in the end and he gets the girl and she ends-up supporting his career anyway, it’s aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall fine.

Nathan should have died and Elena shouldn’t have given a fuck.

I know I know, it’s not that serious. Look I’ve been thru some shit, alright? I can see it both ways. Sometimes you don’t think about stupid shit that deep and sometimes you do. Most of the time, I do, and most of the time, I take it to the nth degree, so yea, shit like that gets to me. I call it bad writing, so no, I don’t like the story. At all. Nathan’s supposed to be flawed but nothing ever costs him. When people make mistakes in life, those mistakes cost. The unfortunately thing is the cost is most often paid by the others around them, and sometimes they themselves never realise it. I don’t like stories where there’s a fuckhead at the centre but everyone still stays happy. Nathan seems to have been given a lesson, but I don’t think he earned it. This is why y’all watch Game of Thrones and are surprised when characters die because you keep consuming narratives with no stakes, and GoT is *still* only middling stuff.

Anyway.

How could Elena’s character have been given more attention? Uncharted 4 isn’t all bad. The most valuable thing Naughty Dog achieved was the recreation of real domestic spaces; the Drake households. Twice, we’re given time and space and encouraged to explore them without being funnelled by level design, events, NPC shepherding or audio cues. Rooms and the objects that fill them are meticulously and beautifully created, and they're given life and purpose in a way that has meaning far beyond all the pirate nonsense that while almost as equally beautiful, is completely vacuous.

Putting on Elena’s vinyl record as her daughter Cassie was the only time I enjoyed the music in the game, and it was a great call-back to Nathan having done the same thing in their house much earlier. Sure, there’s the Drake theme that repeats ad nauseam throughout the series but otherwise the soundtrack is bland and unremarkable adventuring fare. It contributes more to the feeling of this game being out of touch, contrasted to something like Control which certainly has a completely different setting, sure - but that’s part of it, so that affords the creative team room for more modular synths and drones and to have a distinct sound.

Walking thru those houses, first as Nathan but really as the player repositioning themselves from adventurer to ordinary life-living person in a domestic setting, and then as Cassie - daughter of these two amazing characters in an equalling urbane setting yet filled with wonderful objects, made up the most fascinating and enjoyable moments of the game for me. The mess of each room gave the houses the perfect lived-in feel to a degree that most other games struggle to achieve, probably due to how much effort it takes to get that much geometry mapped in - Giant Sparrow’s What Became of Edith Finch is probably one of the few games that has come close. The difference between the tropical islands, decaying pirate mansions and the domestic Drake residences is that the houses felt like everything in there felt like it meant something and was in there for a reason, like it had been part of something. I don’t mean that just for the objects that were intrinsically tied to implicit narrative beats like collectables or even items from countries where Uncharted 4 or prior games are set, but also things like towels, washing baskets, plates and dishes, books and picture frames, shampoo bottles, food - the detail in the fridges! That you can feed Cassie’s dog, Vicky is the most meaningful interaction of the game - by the way, the second most meaningful set of interactions is buying an apple in the market in Madagascar then playing with lemur and letting it take the apple.

Back to the houses, I’m disappointed we never got to walk through one of them as Elena. Now that the core of the franchise is wrapped, I’m left with the impression that she’s the most important character in the series and she’s left woefully under-served. This is a very me thing, and unsurprising. I doubt anyone else cares enough about writing and character to have thoughts like this. They’re into Uncharted for the adventuring and the shooting, but as soon as you present me the opportunity for character drama and you want to have a red-hot go at it, I’m here to set aside the rest of that guff and go for it. The running and jumping and shooting never changes, and I’m here to say that the puzzling could have stepped up orders of magnitude that Naughty Dog never committed to - Crystal Dynamics did far better with Rise Of The Romb Raider, and while the puzzling was never really difficult, the way I described it to a friend was to liken the puzzles to desk toys; not intended to be too challenging, but more satisfying in their tactile nature. I feel Fireproof’s The Room series for iOS and Android are great examples of providing similar sensations.

I don’t mind a game mostly about shenanigans, I just don’t want it centred around a character that won’t learn, or who gets off cheaply. Elena is infinitely more interesting to me - her concerns, her desires - Chloe too, for that matter, and I absolutely am not above making the joke about shipping them as I’m sure thousands have before me (no I won’t write a fanfic about them, I’m sure there are plenty around).

I didn’t play the first The Last of Us. There was a horrifically jarring moment when the game felt it was over-playing its sense of cinema to me, then had a sudden camera zoom transition onto I think the first combat gameplay and I checked out. The tone of that game is trying to telegraph TAKE ME SERIOUSLY and I feel all I’m going to do is read tonally similar things to what I have here but far worse. Also post-apocalypse is easy pickings for bad writing, especially by video games narrative writers, I just don’t have the patience. I’m pleased that there’s lesbian representation in the second game but I’m not sure it’ll be handled with sensitivity. While I’m in no way invested in the game as a product, I continue to be concerned for the welfare of the employees at Naughty Dog, and all game developers everywhere, as always. It is a hugely unregulated industry that is in the process of slow collapse, and now more than ever do we need reform and cultural change.

And in the midst of that, one day we’ll get a decent game that’s about domestic partnerships and wonderful emotional relationships with stunning visual fidelity; maybe it’ll have running and jumping and shooting and maybe it won’t. Maybe it’ll end sadly and maybe it’ll end happily but hopefully it’ll be well-written.

Here’s to Elena.