#but i thought this part of the post was funnier in isolation

[7grandmel]

Todays rip: 05/03/2024

Grand Dad Metropolis

Season 1 Featured on: GiIvaSunner's HighestQuality Video Game Rips Volume 2 Also on: GilvaSunner's Highest Quality Video Game Rips: Volume 3 & Knigra, 7 Somari Dad

Ripped by MtH

Requested by an anonymous reader! (Request Form)

Juxtaposed to yesterday's post on a rip that's barely a week old in Willievan Afton Polkka, today we're going OLD school: to a time early in Season 1, back when the mere act of melodyswapping in any capacity still felt like witchcraft (and honestly, to me it still kind of does!). At first glance, Grand Dad Metropolis may appear to just be yet another funny flintstones edit amidst a sea of others - but in the context it was released in, it managed to both be incredibly funny, and mind-bendingly impressive at the same time. I'll try to summarize.

I've been alluding to the significance of April Fools on SiIvaGunner a handful of times on here, notably in Violet Snow Memories, and I've gotten quite a few requests to cover Season 7's April Fools event in particular. Rest assured: that day will come, but I think its important to cover some history beforehand. SiIvaGunner as a channel, one initially all about lightheartedly bait-and-switching unsuspecting viewers, obviously goes hand-in-hand with the very essence of April Fools. But then that raises the question: if the channel, in the early days of Season 1, was already aiming to pull pranks on people all days of the year, what could they do to change that up for when April Fools rolled around? The answer that the team came up with was perhaps the funniest one they could've done: for the entire day, every rip uploaded was of *actually* completely unedited video game music. Funnier yet, all the music chosen were of songs that already featured *some* of the notes from The Flintstones theme, giving the illusion that they had been edited just subtly - effectively driving the audience mad with confusion over whether or not the funny Grand Dad theme was going to play or not.

But where does Grand Dad Metropolis come into this? You can probably hear yourself that, unlike what I'm talking about here, it IS actually edited, if you're familiar with the original track. That's the thing - viewers back then were VERY familiar with the original track, as part of a running joke dating back to just a month after the channel's creation. The track Grand Metropolis, playing off of its very funny name, had been uploaded *six times* to the SiIvaGunner channel (back when it was still called GiIvaSunner) before April Fools rolled around - and in each of these instances, the track had been completely unedited. It was hard to really discern what the point of these repeated uploads was other than to just be mildly funny filler, that the joke was just in how the name of the track evoked the thought of the Grand Dad meme itself without any need to change the melody - until you realize the number that comes after six. Seven. The Seventh Grand Metropolis rip was yet to be uploaded - until, again, the day of April Fools.

With these two in jokes combined - the joke of Grand Metropolis being repeatedly uploaded without any edit until it had reached six out of seven total Grand uploads, and the joke of Season 1's April Fools being to do the complete inverse of the channel's typical activity - Grand Dad Metropolis was the ultimate payoff to a joke almost two months in the making. But see, the quality of the rip runs runs yet further: It was understood, back in the early days of Season 1, that most melody-swap rips made used songs where replacing or modifying its lead melody wasn't all too much work, be it well-understood 8-bit music such as on the NES, or songs whose stems and such were fully available to make isolating individual instruments a non-issue. Grand Metropolis had no such advantage, its performed with a live guitar played by Jun Senoue of SEGA's sound team, it doesn't have any sort of release out that allows for isolation of its instruments, and its sound is distinct enough to where it would seemingly be a huge challenge to recreate from scratch - Yet somehow, ripper MtH was still able to make Grand Dad Metropolis sound shockingly authentic-sounding, to the amazement of many. Check the video's comment section yourself, you'll find even some rippers like SonicHeroesFan1 of Green Panty Zone (Sequenced Ver​.​) fame left amazed at how a rip like this was - at the time - even possible.

There's of course a handful of other jokes featured throughout the rip as well, following that initial hit of getting the long-awaited funny flintstones. The melody goes through Snow Halation, Hiroyuki Sawano's Before my Body is Dry and Gangnam Style - all three jokes being quite historically important to SiIvaGunner's legacy, as I've covered in Stone Halation, voiceless and One Winged PSYcho - V​.​S. Sepsyrop respectively. That importance, paired with the prior-described lengthy context that surrounded it, really makes Grand Dad Metropolis a sort of milestone in early SiIvaGunner, a distillation of everything that gave the channel its initial intrigue, featuring some of the most core-to-the-channel jokes, ones pushed hard by the team's earliest members since the channel's inception. That part of the rip is undeniably important, of course, and yet...its the gag that still sells it for me. The gag of finally receiving the seventh Grand Metropolis was such a genuinely funny one to have unfold in real time and, paired with how funny April Fools of Season 1 was to begin with, ensured that Grand Dad Metropolis would be one I'd remember for all of time. For as often-sloppy, unplanned and rough as Season 1 can often feel, the novelty of the channel's conceit and the cleverness of the team resulted in it being one of the most devious and surprise-filled periods of the channel's entire life. And to me, that is what Grand Dad Metropolis most proudly represents. Pure, unfiltered Season 1 silliness.

Speaking of that silliness - huge shoutout to the "GiIvaSunner's HighestQuality Video Game Rips Volume 2" April Fools album this debuted on, featuring 245 uncompressed FLACs of Grand Metropolis, where exactly ONE of them was actually Grand Dad Metropolis. I don't know if I'll ever get a chance to actually talk about Volume 2 on here, so please look it up on the Wiki - its one of the funniest things the channel's ever done.

#todays siivagunner #season 1 #siivagunner #siiva #MtH #Youtube #Bandcamp #grand dad #flintstones #the flintstones #hiroyuki sawano #gangnam style #psy #sonic #sonic the hedgehog #sonic heroes #sonic music #sonic frontiers #jun senoue #sega music #sega dreamcast #april fools

[bthump]

idk if you've heard yet, but the newest chapter was leaked!

(ok apparently posting links in asks have gotten weirder ugh)

Ty for letting me know! What are your thoughts on it, if you feel like posting about it?

Here's the link for anyone else who hasn't seen it yet

And my thoughts and a couple more asks under the cut, ty for the asks!

Anonymous asked:

What are your thoughts on the latest chapter? It was centred around Casca. Also idk if you already knew but there’s another chapter coming out a month from now. Which is kinda insane for berserk lol

Yeah I'm glad we're gonna get another string of chapters instead of just occasional chapters in isolation.

And my thoughts are: whatever lol.

Like, it's basically what I expected. The magic-induced stupor Casca's in is both boring and shitty for people who wanted Casca to exist as a character, but for me it's also reassuring in that it prevents most things I don't want to happen from happening lol, and it keeps Casca's trauma and big emotions on ice for a while longer because I'm still hoping for the behelit to be hers. If Casca's a full character then I risk disappointment with how her trauma is handled and what she chooses to do. If she's a drugged up damsel in distress who occasionally wakes up enough to punch a guard then I don't have to care, basically. Cool, go through the motions, I'm not invested in this part of the story so idgaf. Sucks to be Casca, same as it ever was.

She's finally got an animal association, and yk, I don't mind it. I can roll with raven for her. (plsplspls say it's laying the foundation for her apostle form pls)

I would like to imagine there's some meaning to be gleaned from Danann putting Casca in a dress to go see Guts and Casca wearing a kind of similar dress here in Falconia (feathers, head-piece) but probably the only throughline is Casca not getting to choose her own clothes/highlighting that she prefers to wear pants.

The moment she wakes up was mildly interesting, I'm glad the memories were of Farnese and co even if she did start fretting about Guts lol. There's a subtle zig-zag pattern in the last drop of water before she wakes up and starts fighting guards:

Which may be absolutey nothing, but made me think of the Beast of Darkness and gives me hope for Casca's inner darkness.

Anonymous asked:

I’m sorry bthump but after ch372 it seems like the story is indeed heading in the direction of Gutsca being endgame and Griffith being this manipulative machiavellian emotionless type villain, that last panel of him looks so exaggeratedly evil

Idk, I mean we already knew Casca still has ~feelings~ for Guts, it's not surprising to me that she'd dream about being carried away from him and think about him. It's not great, but it didn't majorly disappoint me or fill me with dread. If anything it makes Guts' sword obsession even funnier lol. Talk about emotional one-sidedness.

And rather than feeling terribly romantic, that moment when she fights the guards and thinks that she has to get back to Guts or he'll... makes me think she's anticipating Guts walking into a trap to rescue her, which, yk, is probably what's going to happen lol, unless this sword crisis resolves in a way that gives Guts an upper hand/a better plan B. But again, it's not surprising, the only thing I'm really curious about is what's going to happen when Guts gets here.

Though it does make me a little concerned that enough time has passed during this chapter that we're skipping over Guts' side of the story for a while and he might actually show up soon? We left his story on a cliffhanger so I feel like that would be stupid, and when I read the chapter I parsed it as like, Casca's first day as a damsel, but upon re-reading it's more likely one day in the life after days/weeks/months, so who knows?

And Griffith's cartoonish evil smile is dumb but I don't care honestly, I already got over it last chapter which also ended with an evil grin lmao. I know Miura would draw him with an ambiguously neutral expression so I just substitute my own in. I don't think it's a sign that he's going to be a 2 dimensional cackling villian, though frankly if he is I'd still chalk that up to non-Miura writing lacking all nuance and subtlety. What I imagine is in the future for Griffith though is more evil smiles, some Guts taunting, and then like, a crumbling of the facade in a moment of truth. It's just that the facade is no longer mildly neutral it's smug sinister evil because the new crew can't draw him.

Though man I read your ask while I was still at work before I could read the actual chapter and I was like 😟. But also I appreciate it lol bc you gave me the chance to brace myself for the worst, so I ended up pretty neutral on this chapter rather than disappointed.

I see a lot of people very annoyed with this chapter (and the continuation as a whole), and like, I get it because it objectively largely sucks lmao, but idk, I guess I have very low expectations for the continuation of Berserk comparatively. I'm no longer here for a good emotional story, I'm here to find out how it ends. I'm reading the cliffnotes version as far as I'm concerned, just scanning it for clues that point towards my desired ending.

#ask #beansterpie #anonymous #a #b #berserk spoilers #chapter 372 #theme: speculation

[adultswim2021]

Metalocalypse #2: “Dethwater” | August 13, 2006 – 11:45AM | S01E02

Frontman Nathan Explosion keeps deleting Dethklok's highly-anticipated upcoming album in a fit of perfectionism. In that same fit of perfectionism he decides that the only way the album will live up to the hype is if the band records it in the deepest place on earth: the Mariana Trench. The record label insists on sending a producer to oversee their activities, which does not sit well with Dethklok. They get down there and record their album, but due to a recording mishap they need to isolate Toki in his own pod to record his track, but instead he sings a lighthearted song about making fish friends. Toki being a sweetiepie is a very good running bit.

The producer winds up loving Dethklok's album so much that he turns his back on the tribunal, who initially had him tapped as a spy. Early on the show was sorta vaguely setting up some grand plot that would become apparent as the show went on. I guess. Honestly, I think I watched every episode of this show and I started losing interest at the end of it and I don't even really recall a whole lot about it. I think I prefer this element as just being more absurd or meta. It's almost like a Saturday Morning cartoon where the main characters just inexplicably have a villain character that hates them and tries to thwart them just cuz that's what you did in a Saturday Morning Cartoon. The fact that Dethklok sorta became a real band because of this show sorta demonstrates that they were backwards engineering this concept; It's almost like if the Harlem Globetrotters became real guys because of the Saturday Morning cartoon and not vice-versa.

The current conversation in the boys DM is about how hideous the animation is for this show, and I basically agree, but I think I find myself appreciating certain aspects of it. Like, the character designs are also really ugly, right? But they also sorta seem like they're supposed to be drawn by amateurs? Like there's the one part towards the end where the producer guy is ascending way too fast in his submarine in order to escape a monster, and he gets the bends so bad that his eyeballs explode, and it keeps zooming in on his face. You can see like jagged tossed-off lines, as though whoever drew it wasn't actually very good at drawing. I don't know man, it's a thing.

EPHEMERA CORNER:

MAIL BAG:

have you ever enjoyed a real life Adult Swim? You don't seem like the public pool type based on your eccentricities in your writing.

The only time I ever enjoyed an Adult Swim was when I was a little kid. All Kids Outta the Pool and into the clubhouse; there’s arcades in there baby!!!

Is it just me or when Will Forte says "THANKS FOR CARING" at the end of the JJ Pepper Videography sketch on Awesome Show it takes the air out of the whole bit? It feels like an SNL instinct instead of a Tim and Eric one. Sorry, I just don't like it, and I'm not gonna wait for you to get to Awesome Show to ask because I can die any day and you are going simply too slow. It would have been a Legen-DARY sketch if it wasn't for that final line.

I think it’s such a wild and weird way to end a commercial TV that I’m glad it exists.... but! You may be right. It’s just too weird. Is JJ Pepper for real?

Did you skip covering the Space Ghost Coast to Coast Volume 3 DVD set? Is it because of the Pavement menus? Did Stephen Malkmus come to one of your Simpsons Nights and insouciantly tell you he prefers watching sports?

I suspected that I DID miss it, but thought maybe I’d get away with it. But since I’m covering that season for Space Ghost Week maybe I’ll just do an entry for it to kick things off. Or... NOT!

Hm. I'm a moron for just telling you straight up how it is. Okay. Goodbye.

Bye bye! See you hell LOSER!

Here's 10 Ways To Make Your Blog's Mailbag Funner and Funniers. Number 10: Make a Call to Action with every post. This is a surefire way to get people to talk back. Number Two: Lay some ground rules. While no one likes a hall monitor, laying a few ground rules will make people know what to expect when sending you mail. Number Three: Throw in some red meat. Drink Dr. Pepper? Menton it in a blog post. It may not be relevant but a little autobiographical info can inspire some replies. Number Four:

I don’t drink Dr. Pepper. Thanks for caring.

I don't think that bug wars movie that guy was talking about was real. You have some really stupid people reading this blog. Maybe make people solve a brain teaser before they can submit something to you.

Thank god it’s not real. I think the mail bag is at it’s best when it’s an equal mix of smart cookies and sick puppies and I gotta say, COOKIES: STEP IT UP!

#adult swim #adultswim2021 #metalocalypse

[em-exceeds-change-zearu]

After finding this blog and going through your Pokémon posts sometime ago, I found the Golden Boy/Golden Dad AU and innocently a question popped into my mind;

“I wonder what would have happened if Bert had remembered to release Ravindra from the stone orb… would Ash have grown up with a prickly yet protective older brother?”

It’s been a few months since then and ever since I’ve been suffering with brainrot from this hypothetical AU. I might try to write a fic just to put the plot bunnies to bed. Thank you and curse you for inspiring my brain and I hope your having a fantastic day!

I AM A POX UPON THEE

but in return you are a pox upon me, oh my god this au will never die and i love it for that, thank you for bringing back the brainworms and i am very glad that you care very much about this au

anyways, i hope you know that I too, have considered the "what ifs" of this kind of AU as well? here's the main takeaway from this:

bert still takes like 50+ years to do this, because that is the normal amount of time to put a semi-immortal legendary baby in time out. he does not realize how much 50 years is to a human person until he untransforms ravindra and has to deal with the kid immediatly trying to bite off his ankles

ravindra, understandably, takes a long time to forgive dear old dad for. all that. but seeing the direct results of what happened (the burned tower incident, the Pokelantis Empire in its decline and disappearing, etc) does in fact help him come around. Eventually. Give him a century or two.

the downside of this is that Ravindra is even MORE of a people-hater than Berthold, if one can believe that. after all, the base of bert's tragedy with Pokelantis and the Burned Tower is that Bert truly loved humans and their potential, and he's never able to completely let go of that lingering hope - hence the legends saying that Ho-Oh will appear before a person with pure heart. Ravindra, on the other hand, had only largely negative experiences with the people who raised him, given that he was raised as a status symbol to the point where even his mother began to take advantage of him. Being raised in isolation and retroactively realizing that was done with the intent of being only used as a puppet ruler does a lot to a dude.

yes this means he is SUPER prickly towards delia at first. he does not trust like that. he fully believes that she would sell him and ash for a single corn chip if given the opportunity. he's so conflicted because he wants bert to leave her but he doesn't want bert to make the same mistake in not being part of ash's life that he did with him. obviously this belief whittles over time because you can't not love delia, but it does take a LOT of time, and also maybe a mishap where he runs away with ash, once, because somebody has to make the correct decisions around here,

the funnier thing about this is that Bert is actually maybe a little more human-savvy this time around. like, more emotionally prepared to raise a kid, i mean. because he had ravindra for like, thousands of years at this point. he is actually Not An Overbearing Pompous Dad and maybe kinda cool? (he is not cool at all, actually)

ash on the other hand? ravindra would die for this kid. he absolutely adored ash the moment he laid eyes on him. he wants the world for this boy, he would burn the world to cinders if it ever hurt him, except he can't because that would make ash sad. that's his brother now. he maybe tries to dissuade ash from trying out a pokemon journey because why would you want to live as a People, but ash is very YOLO about this. he can only grow to be one hundred once big brother let him be a people with a normal age first

as an aside i have no idea if you were ever in the discord where I shared brainrot thoughts once, but I mentioned once that I decided to make Ravindra a shiny Ho-Oh, because the muted silver-and-gold colors reflect his faded plumage from being sealed away for so long. it also reflects in his human appearance as well - he's somewhere in between Bert's dramatically tanned skin and gleaming golden hair + reddish-brown eyes and Ash's own dark hair + deep brown eyes. so he's got faded silver hair and faded golden-brown eyes - he looks old, and almost wraith-like compared to the other two despite his youthful appearance. This AU version of Ravindra doesn't look nearly as faded since he's only been sealed for 50 years, though, so his silver hair and gold eyes are much more vibrant, and definitely resides somewhere between ash's wild birdnest fluff and bert's perfectly straightened locks.

anyways thank you for sharing in the brainrot, i would LOVE to hear your thoughts on this, i just woke up to see this so forgive me if i don't sound particularly coherent

#ask shenanigans #golden boy au #golden dad au #joyndread #pokeani #pokemon #this au never fucking dies now does it. god bless

[literalnobody]

Offense intended, some of you are dumb

#im going to reblog this now and make a point #but i thought this part of the post was funnier in isolation #text post

[ilynpilled]

Fave jaime line?

Well I do like many of his lines. He can be very witty and has the Tyrion esque sardonicism which is extremely entertaining to me. Anyway, this is not my first choice but a post did show up on my feed recently as i follow his tag that made me think about this one in particular again. I think it was some anon on another blog commenting on the “there are no men like me. only me” line and how cringe it is lmao. & like i do agree with that to an extent but i think that is pretty purposeful bc there are more layers to it. Like it follows Jaime going reddit atheist mode mocking Cat for her rationalization of the existence of shitty things and the horrors of the world through her belief in gods and the existence of eventual divine judgment against evil (like Jaime for example). & i do like Cat’s response back of bringing human agency into the argument and taking a dig at Jaime for his cringe moral nihilism that does result in human misery caused directly by his actions. His response is interesting though bc on the surface it is truly pure arrogance and very in character with what we expect from him in the series so far. Cat’s next thoughts immediately state this but she does miss the likely involuntary confession of loneliness (which makes it infinitely funnier) within that line that is also pretty much confirmed after Jaime gives in and calls for her desperately just as she is about to give up and just leave him in the tully bdsm dungeon. Like i do think the core part of that line is Jaime’s isolation. His cynicism and disillusionment has metastasized over the years and resulted in that horrid amorality and state of feigned detachment which put him where he is right now: completely alone next to a bucket of his caca. He copes with his self hatred and loneliness in a very Lannister typical way: pretending that he is above it all and fully distinctive (im not like other girls), a lion above the sheep or whatever ok copium overdose. I also love how that line is then deconstructed and how integral it is to his humanization. He does see himself in others, and he does have empathy, even when he desperately tries to convince himself otherwise. Like even in that very convo he compares himself to Brandon. Then he does it later with the Smiling Knight, Loras, etc. It is so funny like “there are no men like me” *proceeds to provide us with a list of men that are exactly like him, usually highlighting their negative aspects because he recognizes his own flaws in others constantly bc of his crippling self hatred*. Jaime’s delusion regarding himself and the persona that he presents to other characters is constantly contradicted by none other than himself, as usual. truly pathetic man. love him so much <3

#ask #jaime lannister #as for the actual question idk it changes but i do have an affinity for “Why would the stars want to look down on such as me?” #kind of a meta ig #my opinions #asoiaf

[waragainstyourfaith]

Thank you to @broughtmeyourlove for listening to the beginnings of this (aka when I first got my thoughts down) and thank you to me for saying all this in the shower but most importantly thank you @hannibalhadalittlelamb whose art got me to finally think deeper about the nature of Hannibal’s trial. Let’s begin.

Hannibal’s trial isn’t something I usually see discussed within the fandom space. And why would it be? We know the final verdict and we know that besides that everything works out in the end anyway. It’s an afterthought. So who would care? That’s like reading the first few chapters of a book to skip to the final one. Characters change and so does the story as a whole.

On @/hannibalhadalittlelamb’s post (here), their tags read that their depiction of Hannibal is leaning into OOC (out of character) territory. I disagree.

During Hannibal’s trial, we have to think about how it would have gone down. Actually. There was no possible way for Will to miss or be exempt from this trial. His coworkers and boss knew his strong relation to Hannibal and how their professional relationship had definitely, at some point or another, turned personal. The mutual attempts of murder had not been lost on anyone, but, of course, that made Will all the more personal a witness.

However, Will wants nothing to do with Hannibal.

I understand there is a popular theory going around that Will and Hannibal were in a sort of understanding during the trial, but, honestly? We see Will desperately wanting to remain kept away from Hannibal, to live a normal life with a wife and son. Hannibal throws a wrench into this whole ordeal and this trial, after what conspired between them overseas, leaves Will in the headspace and with the opportunity to quite literally never see Hannibal again in his life.

And after everything and with what Will thinks he wants, how could he deny that? Helping Hannibal rule into the insanity plea was not an act of mercy but an act of protection. Will more than anyone knows Hannibal should be kept under 24/7 surveillance and away from every person he could ever harm. Being ruled out of given the death penalty was the underlying bonus his conscience wouldn’t let him think too deeply about.

In court, you are sworn in on the bible, on God, to tell “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth [...] So help you God.”. Both Will and Hannibal were undoubtedly sworn in, but considering the argument Hannibal’s legal team was using, would you trust a man under the insanity plea or his victim who is an FBI agent more? Right.

So, Will is given free rein in this courtroom to spin the story of him and Hannibal whichever way he pleases. Seeing what I mentioned before, Will is going to remove himself as far away from Hannibal as he can while still being able to confidentially and securely reveal everything without getting his hands dirty nor embarrassing himself. Hannibal does not get this luxury.

Hannibal is a man of his privacy. As many analyses have written and as many real psychologists have said while dissecting the headspace of Hannibal, his need to eat people is his need to control. The trauma Hannibal went through with Mischa, whether you know the depth of it or just the surface, is enough context to explain what happens next. Hannibal eats them. Attitude is Hannibal’s one basis of morals and consensus. “One should always eat the rude”.

To determine their fate and to consume them is him “playing God”, but at its core, it is Hannibal needing to be in control. We see the severity of his true, underlying, desperation come to light at a first glimpse with the gruesome death of Beverly Katz. Undoubtedly, this is one of his most haunting scenes and we see the insides(dissection) of Beverly as she had attempted to find in Hannibal by going through his home. By sneaking a glance under the person suit. His inner monster comes out in a rage during this murder. He is private and anything that anyone knows about Hannibal is what he has allowed them to live to be able to say so. Look at Will’s position once more.

What no one seems to realize is that, during this trial, Hannibal is not in control. Will is the spinster of their life, a life Hannibal used his truest of colors to paint, and ultimately watched it becomes torn to shreds in front of him. Remember, Will is sworn in during this trial. This does not necessarily mean he is telling the truth, but it means everyone thinks he is. It’s a play of tragedy and Hannibal and Will are the two lead star-crossed lovers.

The entirely of Hannibal and the world he has handed to Will on a sparkling platter is being dissected and shown to everyone. The story of the Chesapeake Ripper was undoubtedly massive. A criminal having not been caught for years that everyone seemed to know nothing about revealed to be one of the closest, inside links with the FBI themselves? Tale of the decade.

The spotlight is on Hannibal, but he is being puppeteered by Will without a say in it for himself.

Hannibal cracks as he’s poked and prodded and bare for the media to do as they like and Will sits by and says what he likes. Here is where we would see a sliver of what lays beneath their person suits. Hannibal’s impulsivity and monstrousness under his charming exterior and Will’s manipulative, isolatedness under his empathetic cloak.

We look at Hannibal. He would be torn to shreds from this. The porcelain pot that contains his beast has broken and shattered by the swatting hand of Will, someone he trusted and loved. The intruding eyes of the jury stay on him as he is diagnosed as insane while he considers himself to be in the best possible headspace he ever could be. Everything he told Will and what he considered truth from Will’s mouth was dismissed and disputed under oath.

Hannibal is embarrassed. People call him insane and lock him away at dig through his mind and his things without his permission with protruding needles and telescopes. Hannibal has to play nice to simply be allowed a working toilet and the books that he has collected himself. Anything and everything he writes and draws that he wants to send out is dissected and analyzed. He has no privacy. He is not allowed a toe out of line.

Looking back at Hannibal from season one, episode seven is a good one to compare from, and when we see him first after year years in isolation, we see plain as day these are not the same men. In season one, Hannibal is handsome and cunning enough so that he wiggles his way into the deepest, most protected parts of the FBI as one of the highest-ranked killers on their watch list. He is polite enough to even invite them to dinner and feed them the organs of his victims.

He’s slick and intelligent and Hannibal is the idea of a lifetime.

And then we come to the second half of season three.

Hannibal, at this point, has been isolated for three years and has been under painful scrutiny even longer. During this time, he’s had all the space he could get to rebuild the person suit, but the pieces won’t fit. It’s jaggedly put together and no matter how long he spends trying to perfect its construction to what it used to be, it isn’t what it used to be. Will had done that to him. Will had effectively broken Hannibal.

I see often the running gag that season three is immensely funnier and leaning much more into the comedy aspect of Hannibal during his interactions with Will and Alana and even jack to an extent. But this is not him being funny; this is Hannibal pushing limits.

Looking back to paragraph eleven [“To determine their fate and consume them…”] we come back to Hannibal’s need to control. Remember, in this space, Hannibal is shoved into line. He’s snappy and cynical here. This is Hannibal exercising his limits and testing patience. His acting out and making snide comments is nothing he can be punished for, but it clearly agitates them. Hannibal teeters just enough on the edge of annoyance so that his jabs still hit, but his privileges still remain.

This is his monster leaking through the cracks. Hannibal is desperate. He is grasping for a hold over these people he had looked down upon from his throne in the sky as God for so long. He is rude. This is both his shield and deception. It leaves Hannibal with the idea that he is effectively feeding them out of his hand, that he has them right where he wants them. When Hannibal does this, it is his last line of defense to keep himself from blowing up. Ruining it all.

Season three is not season one. He is gasping and hurt and that is what makes the Dolarhyde kill all the more powerful. The whiplash and bounce back with his and Will’s relationship is powerful and dangerous.

Will watching Hannibal with his dead stare, person suit thrown off the moment he decided to go with Hannibal into that car, as he is shot is groundbreaking. Hannibal can see Will. they have effectively switched positions. As though he were God, Will looks down on Hannibal’s suffering. When Will decides to fight Dolarhyde in retaliation,  this is the point it all cuts lose.

At that moment, Will has freed the beast. Hannibal has finally someone to take the reins of his monster whom he trusts. Because Hannibal never blamed Will, even during that time in his isolation, he was waiting. Waiting for Will because despite the betrayal and despite the hurt he loved him. All that time he loved him.

The Dolarhyde kill is the messiest one of the show, which makes it all the more powerful. Hannibal has--I don’t want to say “lost composure”--but he definitely has dropped the act of his togetherness. In this, Hannibal is free. So long he has spent trying to hold himself together, to fool those around him and take care of everyone and himself. 

It’s a common misconception that a person in a position of power, such as a CEO, would want to be in this position all of the time. In fact, it’s been shown that the human mind needs a healthy balance. A person who is pushed around on a day-to-day basis and has no control over their life would most likely enjoy having control over a person and vice versa.

God must be tired. Hannibal was. Wearing his person suit for years and years, with only a dangerous outlet to relieve the built-up tension of his monster. To place the control into Will’s hands is inevitable and the best relief for both of them. Hannibal in killing and Will in power.

In that final scene, Hannibal has surrendered control to Will while barring the entirety of what lay within and Will has a high enough apathy for this to no longer have any hold over him. They have switched their roles. Now, Will is the one pulling the strings and Hannibal is the one letting himself be maneuvered.

This trial was the turn of the tables. It was the biggest part of their character and the biggest foreshadowing for the finale.

In Florence, Hannibal has the hold over Will. In season two, Will has the hold over Hannibal. In season one, Hannibal has the hold over Will. This trial that has been left out was the missing piece to even their stance and to level their playing field, making it easiest for the two to blur.

The trial is effectively and consequently one of if not the most important scene that was missing from the show.

#takes a deep breath of relief #working on this all day in bits and pieces #hannibal nbc #text #hannibal lecter #this is 2k words long have fun yall i did not reread this #gro.dy

[curly5runs]

A few weeks ago all I could keep thinking about my lil early season headcanons because 1: I was lonely and ZR keeps my mind full, 2: I'm nostalgic for seasons 1-3 (spoilers up to s3). So I'll share some of the funnier ones here :). These are not in any particular order as I was just scribbling them down as I remembered them.

My Five had her tounge cut out, which is how she got to Abel, ect ect. So she mainly used pens and notepads to communicate, and sometimes a bit of ASL. The first time she signed "Thank you" to Sam, he thought she was blowing him a kiss and he stood there awkwardly until Maxine clarified what it meant.

Her first words (almost non understandable and muffled from missing that lil piece of muscle in her mouth) after the tounge incident happened during that one mission where Five had to jump on a moving train. The train pulls around to the crew, they ask why she looks so distraught, and she deadpan says "Life is a party and I'm the ✨fucking✨ piñata" (inspired by an incorrect quote I saw on here a couple years ago but I can't remember who posted it u_u) and continued to not say anything else until s3.

When she found and snatched a kitten mid s2, she assumed it was a female because she had only ever had lady kitties and didnt know males dont have super visible bits right away. One day a few months later, shes playing with kitten!Archie and she notices some 🏀🏀 growing. Horrified at her gross miscalculation, she ran to Sam (just ✨roomate✨ at the time) screeching. Concerned, obviously, he asked why she was so freaked out, so which she replied by scrawling on paper "Archie is an ArcHE".

She had godawful posture her whole life until the apocalypse. The end of such an era occured because Simon took personal offence to her slouching; and would physically thwack her (not too hard, but enough for shock value) with a ruler or stick if he caught her walking around town lookin like a dang question mark. She has excellent posture now.

Again, because of her lack of tounge, once she started to talk, it was mostly saying people's names at first to get their attention. But she couldn't pronouce S, D, N, or Js very well, (among many other letters) and some folks got accidental nicknames by Five. For example, Sam got turned to "Ham", Jody turned into "Yoie" and Janine turned to "Ahneen". Everyone was very nice and supportive and didnt make fun of the names they had been bestowed. Except Simon; who's named turned to "Hymen"

People think that Eugene and her would have alot in common both being Canadians, but they (affectionately) 😒 at eachother because they're from vastly different parts of the country (mostly that I HC hes a city boy and shes very much an isolated bumpkin). Despite their differences, they are good pals and like to scream sing Arrogant Worm songs at the top of their lungs as a past time.

Five has fallen in the comms/radio shack twice while trying to be helpful. The first time was after she got strep throat while in New Canton right at the start of S2, but it didnt settle in until getting back to Abel. It was a nasty cough and she felt half in the grave. She knew she definitely hadnt gotten bit, but was terrified of noone trusting her to not be a zombie. So she just continued on her buisness doing her best to not look like she was about to drop dead; until she was helping the radio boyfriends in the comms shack and just,,, collapsed in front of Eugene, Jack, and Sam, bringing down an array of equipment and some books with her. The second time it was sort of a runner group project to organize the mess in there, and she was tasked with untangling the wires. She was starting to hang them up higher and somehow got a foot stuck in the web, and very slow motion fell to the floor with a leg in the air, and everyone had to help her get sorted. Very embarrassing.

She cries. Alot. Normally its out on the field if something real bad is about to happen. The first time she audibly wailed within the gates, a few folks panicked and ran to her. Where she pointed and whimpered at a spider on the wall. Shes scared of very little but spiders are a deal breaker.

The way people knew for sure that it was Five infiltrating Abel under Moonchild's control was because her kitten was running after her in the bush, loudly yowling, and everyone put two and two together. Cover blown via cat screeches 😔.

She gets overheated really quickly, especially while exercising. She sticks to a sports bra and pants, and no amount of cheeky commentary or lack of degrees in the air will get her to wear anything else. When Janine tried to get the runners to wear uniforms, Five became a pain in her side because she simply would not. Janine would catch her before a mission and make her at least wear the tshirt. But she would immediately fling it off once she got out the gates. Janine gave up, and the uniforms pretty much just became a formality for special events.

She puts up her hair with a sharpened stick. Both because she cant get the right hairties for her texture, and because it makes for a good concealed weapon in close proximity. But because they keep getting lodged in Zombie eyesockets or covered in blood/bits, she keeps collecting good replacment sticks whenever shes outside, so at all times she has a pile of loose sticks in her belongings.

She absolutely *refuses* to get her socks/shoes wet. She will stop mid mission, being chased by an angry, on fire zombie, sit down, peel her socks and shoes off, then go into whatever body of water she has to cross. Wet feet is a huge nono, she would rather get bit than have to run with w e t feet.

During the s2 mission clip where Sara and Five were running on top of the train, I got a "collected a pair of trousers", so the only logical explanation was that she got hit in the face with an airborne pair of pants and kept hold of them.

She gets very obvious mum privileges from Sara, and whenever Sam or one of the other runners need something from her, they get Five to ask her for them. Sara has no shame in showing favouritism towards her baby child, and Five definitely doesnt mind.

She keeps forgetting to put on sunscreen, and being as sickly pale as she is, she burns like paper under a magnifying glass. One day Sam had enough of her coming back from missions the same shade as the barn wall. Just before opening the gates for a supply run, he hustled outside -tube of sunscreen in hand- smeared a huge glob on Five's face and arms, and wouldnt give the raise the gates signal until she rubbed it in on all her exposed skin.

She's terrible at most games, whether it be not being to serve the ball if it was on a platter in a friendly game of volleyball, or getting the worst rolls in D&D and her character losing all dignity; she is trash. But she kicks abosolute ass at Gin and Dutch blitz. In Gin she gloats and cackles everytime she throws her cards down, in dutch blitz everyone is horrified at her violent behaviour and unleasing of a lifetime's worth of internal rage through her tiny hands. There's been a couple finger casualties.

Being so young (a month from 17) when she showed up to Abel, and being really shy (tasty tasty trauma), everyone assumed she was really gentle mannered and sheltered. That is, until, the most disgusting and ruthless game of cards against humanity one evening. Noone saw her the same ever again >:].

I doubt anyone will read this list but if you made it here hi! :D These definitely arent all of them as I ran the majority of these seasons when covid started and I literally had nothing better to do than dedicate my life to this podcast.

#zombies run #zr #runner five #runner 5 #abel township #abel #sam yao #simon lauchlan #janine de luca #sara smith #jody marsh

[mttstan]

Okay some Deltarune thoughts:

Is Kris the knight, or are they just a lightener with determination? I personally think they’re a lightener with determination, and like Susie they love being with their friends in the dark world. I do think in chapter 3 we might see a glimpse of the knight, who is described as this great roaring beast which doesn’t rly match my impression of SOUL-less Kris.

I do think there’s some substance to both the Asriel as the Knight and Gaster as the knight, but I think it’s equally as likely to be one of the known adults from the deltarune town. So far they haven’t had huge parts, and I know that’s partially because of the strained relationship between Kris and…. Everyone? Asriel coming home different (since he’s apparently the towns golden child) might be the tipping point for whoever the adult knight would be.

I don’t think Kris has always been SOUL-less. I’m not sure why, but they just strike me as a weird kid who got stuck with us controlling them and they hate it. I think the vessel we made was the original body for the red SOUL. I think part of the Deltarune journey will be Kris getting their SOUL back. I don’t know how, but it’s a thought I keep having.

Toriel and Asgore divorce canon! Thank god! I don’t ship Soriel for… many reasons… but I do think it’s nice that she has a friend who isn’t her ex husband and, unlike Undertale, isn’t isolated from society because Asriel is “gone”. We’ve had so much Toriel and I’m living for it. I cannot wait to see her in the Dark World!

Ralsei is not Asriel good god. Yeah, buddy didn’t go to college even tho we have no reason to believe that, and instead stayed in the Dark World somehow becoming the Prince??? Totally makes sense. If it ends up being canon I’ll be pissed but I don’t think Toby is going that way.

On the note of Ralsei being the Prince of the “true” Dark Fountain, how is he related to King of Spades and Queen? How does he feel about them? If he isn’t related to them, where are his parents? None of the other darkeners resemble him. Are they dead? Missing? Trapped in the lightener world? I don’t know if it’ll get addressed but Lancer and Ralsei being cousins or something makes their chapter 1 banter that much funnier.

I don’t like Spamton but his theme slaps and his lore is mildly interesting. I think everything with Kris, Susie, Noelle, and potentially Gaster is much more interesting though.

Speaking of Susie, her home life must suck huh? Didn’t even have to call home to stay the night with Kris. She obviously hasn’t really had positive encouragement before meeting Kris/Toriel BUT she has the “yes sir/ma’am” thing that a lot of kids with authoritarian parents end up doing out of fear of being “disrespectful”

I have more thoughts but this post is already long so I’m going to post it! Thanks for reading and keep an eye out for a potential part 2

#undertale #deltarune chapter two #deltarune #deltarune spoilers #kris deltarune #susie deltarune #ralsei deltarune

[marginal-notes]

TLOK Episode One a.k.a. Korra immediately goes on a rampage

So, as mentioned, I’m finally getting around to watching The Legend of Korra with all of my terrible tastes and general thoughts. 

Don’t give me spoilers, my indignation will be funnier without them. 

What I Know About Korra Going In:

If the show can have all of Aang’s bending teachers still around for the audience’s nostalgic pleasure, Suki better be alive and kicking too or I am going to throw a fit

Technology progressed pretty intensely in ways that I will want to pick apart later

Listen, what the fuck is Republic City. Why. Why does this exist. Show you better answer me fast with why this exist for a legitimate in world reason that isn’t just: “The audience is a bunch of American kids and teenagers and we want to uphold the liberal ideals of democracy because of course that’s the motives of the victors after a global war of probably unprecedented scope despite like, Zero (0) indication that the idea of democracy was rattling around anyone’s heads in ATLA.” 

If this is the reason, I’m going to quit watching. Disgraceful. Disgusting.

Something involving anti-bender sentiment.

Something involving something called the Red Lotus which I am side-eyeing the shit out of 

Bloodbending?????

Spirit World shenanigans and Avatar backstory that’s on thin ice with me. 

Love triangles. UGH. TERRIBLE. WHY DOES MEDIA DO THIS. WHO FINDS THIS INTERESTING. PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND SO YOU CAN EXPLAIN TO ME. 

Alright, here we go. 

WELL, 30 SECONDS IN AND I GOT MY WISH FOR AN EXPLAINATION ABOUT REPUBLIC CITY.

Avatar Aang and Fire Lord Zuko transformed the Fire Nation colonies into the United Republic of Nations, a society where benders and nonbenders from all over the world could live and thrive together in peace and harmony.

Okay. I’m.... I’m going to withhold judgement for now until I watch like, literally more than 30 seconds to fully form my thoughts about this move. I THINK IT’S A DUMB MOVE AND IF THIS IS WHY PEOPLE KEEP HAVING FIRE NATION DEMOCRACY FICS I QUIT.

So. We get a panning shot into this city. Very urban city that’s the product of the industrialization and like whatever the hell that propaganda voice over is talking about. 

As a method of setting the scene and immediately letting the viewers feel and know the passage of time between ATLA and TLOK, I love this shot. There’s no mistaking this for being immediately after ATLA. We’re listening to one of Aang’s kids. There are skyscrapers. The Fire Nation palace in ATLA probably counted towards the architectural development towards urban skyscrapers, but that architecture is fully formed by TLOK. Brilliant. 

I'm the Avatar! You gotta deal with it!

What a cute brat. Her poor parents, oh my god. 

Also, is she supposed to be a prodigy. 

Again with immediately setting contrasts against ATLA. Very cool demonstration, extremely effective distinction between Aang’s journey around the world trying to find teachers and learning how to bend in the middle of a war vs. Korra at peacetime with a whole entire facility dedicated to her. 

Not sure about how I feel regarding the White Lotus’s presence. 

IS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE KATARA????

That's your grandmother, Meelo.

Does he not visit his parents. It can’t be that hard to swing by for like. Yearly festivals if the Water Tribe has those. I don’t see why not. Maybe something for when the winter night ends, I can see that being festive. 

Tenzin do you like. Not call? Not write?? Sir???

Oh my god, Pema. I hope she really likes kids, despite how rowdy they are. 

Wait. How old is Tenzin. Thirties to forties? 

How old is Katara. 

Is this going to be a repeat of the Fire Nation royal miracle babies. 

I get that, but I don't think keeping me locked up in this compound like a prisoner is what he had in mind.

Going by the episode title, I bet we know what Korra has in mind. Speaking of this compound, where’s the Southern Tribe? The aerial shots look like it’s in the middle of nowhere. Is she so far removed that she doesn’t even spend time with the tribe she was born into? Cause that sure as hell wasn’t how Aang was raised. 

Honestly fascinating as these contrasts keep coming. The bizarre presence of the White Lotus. The way her teachers come to her instead of her seeking her teachers the way Aang and Roku did. 

The Avatar must have always been a special political figure, without any good contemporaries to our world, to be honest. Back in ATLA, we see that Roku isn’t beholden to Fire Nation citizenship - he seems to transcend that. And it honestly seems important that Roku and Aang went out to the world, experienced the other nations and their ways of life. I think Aang does have a line regarding this. 

Because Korra’s situation? Can easily turn into a nightmare, given the realities of what being the Avatar could easily mean. 

OKAY THIS SHIP. Very cool looking, very neat, I continue to love every visual manifestation of the passage of time between ATLA and TLOK. One small question. What’s with the rigging poles. 

(source)

To be fair, this is a battleship from the British navy, but aesthetically I think we can say this is a fair inspiration. From what I remember while researching the coal fic, the rigging and poles there serve no function. It’s aesthetical. At best, there’s a limited function, but it’s predominantly for aesthetics in the transition into the ships like the Titanic with no rigging at all. 

Which raises my question about WHY ON EARTH?? The Fire Nation navy in ATLA??? Were clearly way past this stage in design? Literally during Sozin’s time too??? Almost two hundred years before this current shot in TLOK? Why would the ship design regress like this??? The Water Tribe ships probably wouldn’t evolve into the designs that Europe used? Earth Kingdom ships would probably be more inspired by East Asian designs which also wouldn’t end up with this system for sails? 

Where does this aesthetic come from. 

IS THAT A CAR. 

....

.......

..........

I am not qualified at all for dissecting the potential social and cultural explanation for the western influenced aesthetics appearing. I am but an ignorant banana, I don’t know shit. 

.......

oooooooh this is going to slowly annoy me isn’t it.......... 

That will be twenty yuans.

[Jaws theme]

The city's huge. I bet we could find a place to rustle up something to eat.

You know, I’ve seen plenty of weird shit in Central Park and around NYC before. Korra, you are so unprepared.  

Are you tired of living under the tyranny of benders? Then join the Equalists!

Oh boy. Let’s.... let’s put a pin in this thought. I’ll come back to it once I know more about what’s going on. Because. This will either be fun. Or I’m going to have to create a second spite fic folder. Please, show, don’t give me reason to create a second spite fic folder. 

On a different note though, I really do love the choices so far for setting up this show’s forward path. There’s no way to mistake this as a rerun of ATLA. This is it’s own separate story and I love that. I really do respect that. The way the different threads are emerging feel really smooth: 1) the impact of Korra’s isolation towards her culture shock in the giant city - which must smell and sound REALLY weird to her; 2) her prodigious talent in the physical, exciting parts of bending meshing with her teenage nature and also clashing with the spiritual parts of being the World Bridge; 3) the absolute hot bed of chaos every part of Republic City must be. 

Kinda funny that people would still have sideburns in the same style as from like. Seventy years ago. Vintage. 

Mr. Chung, please tell me that you have my money, or else I can't guarantee I can protect your fine establishment.

My terrible taste in interests rears its head again. Listen, you cannot imply something like the mafia or the triads exist in universe and not have me immediately ALL OVER THAT. Republic City, you are such a mess. Like, for this alone, I might write a single fic for TLOK that’s just about trash collection and disposal. And corruption. And- 

I am fascinated by the genetics and molecular/cellular biology behind the yellow and white eyes in this universe. 

Police! Freeze where you are!

Bitch what the fuck. How many of these rigid airships are part of the police. Are all of them for the police? Are the police literally patrolling people from the sky? 

Also, that better be helium in those ships instead of hydrogen by this point in time. I’ve already made my post about the fleet of hydrogen ships in Sozin’s Comet. 

How much property damage is being inflicted thanks to these couple minutes. The police just. Stab the brick work. There have got to be so many bitchy lawsuits about that. 

This poor girl’s culture shock. 

HEY I HOPE THAT POLICE OFFICER SWUNG THEMSELF ON A CLOTHLINE, NOT AN ELECTRIC LINE LIKE I FIRST THOUGHT. 

HEY YOU CAN RIP SOMEONE’S SCALP OFF LIKE THAT. 

HEY WHAT IS WITH THIS WHOLE SCENE. 

HOW ARE THEY JUST RIDING ON THOSE WIRES, HOW MUCH TENSION IS IN THAT STUFF. 

HOW DOES THAT ZEPPLIN MOVE THAT FAST AND LIKE. AGILE. 

YALL. 

WHY DOES THE POLICE STATION LOOK LIKE THAT

Well then, why are you treating me like a criminal? Avatar Aang and your mother were friends. They saved the world together.

Oh this bit is fascinating, I love it. It’s only been 18 minutes, but the level of sheer propaganda everywhere trailing after Aang is really cool. There’s so much I want to know now about how Aang got from the end of ATLA, where he probably wasn’t thinking AT ALL about this kind of cult legacy forming around him, to this. 

Lin Beifong’s shut down of Korra’s attempt to use her status as Avatar is great. Just because Korra’s born into this elite role and then locked up and probably pampered in her compound, where everyone is well aware of her status and what it means, it doesn’t mean she gets to strut around with no idea how stuff works or the context behind what she’s seeing and then doing whatever she wants. 

Contrasts, love ‘em. 

On a different note, the design of this room. 

As far as I can tell, it’s a dim, doorless room, which is honestly. Really terrible design. And it says something about the way the Republic City police functions and how that reflects on the chaos of the city itself. 

Putting someone dragged into the police station in a dim room without any door as a sign of a possible escape is just a terrible idea. The only thing you’re going to succeed in is making the person tenser and more belligerent. Your suspect or witness gets more nervous, gets more combative, gets more unreliable in this kind of environment. In turn, the police probably starts feeling more and more entitled to harsher retaliation. Conflict resolution? De-escalation? That really doesn’t look like its in the core of the city police. They’re wearing armor for god’s sake. 

Everything so far in this first impression of the police is really damning about their attitude and Lin Beifong’s leadership. Rather than using a rappel line down from the airships, they damage buildings. In chasing Korra, they further damage property. The armor, this freaking room. The fact that so much about the active police shown so far depends on metalbending, which implies that very few people can join the field police. The fact that for the gang to be so blatantly in the open about their presence and territory, there must be dirty cops on their payroll. 

There has to be so much Lin Beifong hate in this city. 

I have done my best to guide Republic City toward the dream my father had for it, but you're right. It has fallen out of balance since he passed.

If anyone tries convincing me Republic City was ever in “balance” they’re a punk ass liar. I don’t think the city could have ever been in balance, whatever that is. The way it was created, the speed it expanded, the life that must be lived there - balance? Don’t kid me with that propaganda. 

Tenzin could be trying to find a balance alright. I just wonder how many people vehemently disagree with his idea of balance. 

Hello? I'm Korra, your new Avatar.

Well, TLOK is definitely in the era of mass distribution of news and the idea of public sentiment at a level never seen before. This is going to be very interesting for its populist implications, along with other developments regarding politics. 

Oh Korra. Did no one try rehearsing this with you? This is a terrible first impression for you to give to people. 

Also, what is this building. Is this like a city hall? Why is the roof on the building to the side slanted like that. That’s an angle I’d expect from like. Snow concerns. In northern Europe. 

Love that Avatar Aang propaganda. Starting to feel like we’re going to see a lot of it going forward. 

Oh my god, everything about this press briefing (?) is highly concerning. This rampaging teenager suddenly appearing without any warning or announcement. The clear lack of script or practice. The open location just to anyone instead of to a select set of journalists who would be sympathetic/under government control. Lin fucking Beifong and Tenzin being the only people accompanying Korra on the stage. 

What a disaster. 

FINAL THOUGHTS

You know, I’m enjoying this more than I expected to. The general writing is great, the use of visuals and other small details to set the time and place is excellent, the worldbuilding implications are rich in potential. I’m looking forward to exploring where the plot threads introduced so far will lead towards!

#the legend of korra #navi watches lok #these are each going to get pretty long #i'm a really annoying person to watch stuff with #i'm half seeing half SUPER not seeing why the fandom likes lin beifong so much #republic city makes me miss living in manhattan though

[animeniacss]

6 Years - Hoseok x Reader - Chapter 25 - No Contact Allowed

Synopsis: 6 years. That’s all it can take to take another look at someone and see that they have completely changed. You were once an eager 20-year-old, with your dreams all in view, and Jung Hoseok at your side to view them with you. However, after a break up the end of your junior year of college, everything seemed different. Now, you’re a recently divorced single mother of two, and your life is nowhere near what you thought it would be. However, after reuniting with Jung Hoseok, you may just be able to capture a little bit of that exciting youth you once knew so long ago.

Feat. BTS Members, Nayeon (TWICE), and Yuna (itzy) 

Genre: Romance, SingleMother!AU, Past Relationship, Drama, Some Depictions of Violence/Domestic Abuse

Length: approx. 4.1k words 

Disclaimer: This chapter does include some intimidating scenes that some may find triggering. Please be warned. 

Chapter 25 - No Contact Allowed

           Weong-Bin had good connections. He was able to get out on bail just as noon was starting to poke its head around the corner. The next day, thanks to his parents and a few of his coworkers. He didn’t expect anything different, and he was glad he could finally relax in his home until his trial. His lawyer was beside him as they exited the prison, making sure to remind him that he was to have no contact with his family before the trial and to spend his time following the rules and creating a good defense to make sure that he was only able to be found innocent. As he walked out the door, descending down the steps of the jail, he saw a car with his parents waiting on the street. He also saw Myung-Dae, standing at the bottom with his arms crossed. Weong-Bin let out a frustrated groan as he saw Myung-Dae approach him.

           “Don’t forget you aren’t allowed to contact anyone-.”

           “I already told him. Relax.” Weong-Bin’s lawyer said quickly. “Just keep your distance, will you? Mr. Cho does not need to be harassed right now.”

           “Yeah well, neither did his ex-wife but look at where we are.” Weong-Bin couldn’t help but laugh.

           “Okay, that was funny. It’d be funnier if it was true, but good job. Maybe you should be a comedian, Officer.” With that, he walked past Myung-Dae and headed towards his car, giving his mother a tight hug. He took one more glance at Myung-Dae and his lawyer, waving them both off as he slid into his car, and his parents followed, before pulling out of their spot and driving off. Myung-Dae watched the car drive off, then glanced at the lawyer, who checked his watch and turned to him.

           “You heard him, become a comedian.” The lawyer joked, chuckling as he headed down the street. Myung-Dae sighed, pulling out his phone and being quick to dial your phone number.

           It was lunchtime, and you were at work typing away on your computer. A father had brought in his young son who was throwing up and had to be taken out of school, the poor young boy hysterical as he buried his head in his father’s shoulder.

           “The doctor will see you as soon as he can.” You motioned to the little garbage that was placed in front of the counter. “Feel free to take that to your seat, just in case.” The man offered a quick thank you, and you smiled as you watched him walk with his son and the garbage can, trying to isolate themselves from the other small group of patients throughout the waiting room. You leaned back in your seat, looking at Jungkook, who was scrolling through his phone. “Any interesting news?”

           “No, not really.” He said. “Just typical stuff; scandals, idol news, stuff like that.” He said. “How’s everything with uhhhh-.” He saw your eyes cast down. “Eh, sorry. We don’t have to talk about it.”

           “There’s really nothing crazy to talk about. He’s not supposed to contact anyone, and this weekend I start working with the prosecutor to prepare for the trial.” You chuckled. “My parents are staying close by until this all blows over, with Taehyung and we’re working on moving Hoseok in…” you sighed. “There’s a lot of stuff going through my mind, but it’ll be okay once all this stuff is over.” You leaned forward, resting your chin in your hands as you let your mind start to drift off.

           I want to tell my parents and Taehyung about the baby from the college. I haven’t yet. With everything going on right now, it’s been a real weight on my shoulders.

           I can only imagine.

           Will you…help me?

           “I’m here if you need anything, Noona~.” Jungkook said happily, offering you a kind smile as you were pulled out of your own thoughts. You chuckled.

           “I know you are.” You said simply. “Don’t worry, though. I went through similar stuff in the divorce. Nothing I can’t handle.” Jungkook chuckled a bit. Both of you were then interrupted by your phone vibrating. “Hm?” Glancing down, you saw Myung-Dae’s phone number flash on your screen. “Oh no…” Jungkook blinked as you stood up. “I’ll be right back.” You stood up, excusing yourself to one of the break rooms before you answered. “Hello?”

           “Miss. Cho? It’s Myung-Dae.” He said. “How are you?”

           “Well, and yourself?”

           “I’m fine. I was just calling to tell you that Weong-Bin posted his bail and will be under close watch until his trial.” You blinked. Even though you kind of knew this would happen, you were still absolutely terrified. “Don’t worry, he’s still under orders not to contact anyone in your family. If he does, you call me right away and I’ll handle it.”

           “…Okay, thank you.” You said softly.

           “Don’t worry.” She said gently. “We have a lot of stuff to do at the office, but we’re here for you if you need anything.”

           “Thank you. I appreciate it.” You smiled happily. “But, Uhm, I’m at work. I need to go now.” Myung-Dae chuckled a bit, agreeing as the both of you said your goodbyes and hung up. Putting your phone in your pocket, you sighed as you headed back to your seat, sinking down and groaning. Jungkook could sense you were now done talking about the situation, and he left it at that, looking over as the doctor stepped out and called another patient into his office.

-----------------------

           While you were at work, Hoseok was making sure to be hard at work himself. Sang-Chol, Ji-Tae and the rest of their dance team were hard and work as well. After their last contest went pretty well, the group began to gain a pretty decent following on social media. It was making them even more excited to try and perfect their skills, hoping for even more fans. Currently, they were working on recording a dance cover for a new song released by a popular idol group. It was a tough dance, and Hoseok had offered to help them get down the routine and even help them record it.

           “Alright, that was much better!” Hoseok said, setting down his water bottle as he watched the group of boys collapse onto the floor.

           “Can’t we take a break? You’ve made us run through it 3 times in a row!” Sang-Chol begged.

           “And look how much you’ve improved since the first time. You said you wanted to get the video up soon, didn’t you? While the video is still a hot topic?”

           “Yeah…”

           “Then get up and go again!”

           “Mr. Hoseok pleeeeeease-.” Sang-Chol whined, sprawling out on the floor. Hoseok laughed a bit, grinning.

           “Fine. One drink break, then we’ll run it a few more times.” He watched the boys scramble to their bags, pulling out their drinks and practically guzzling down every last drop that they could as if they had been deprived of water for weeks. Hoseok couldn’t help but be amused by them, as he reached over to his phone and scooped it up to check his messages. He saw one was from Yoongi, in the group chat that had both him and Namjoon in it.

           Wanna meet for lunch in like half an hour? (Sent 12:30 p.m.)

           Hoseok hummed, looking at the little stopwatch that was ticking down how much time they had left. 35 minutes. He glanced back over to the boys, who were already getting reenergized and put back into position. Hoseok glanced down at his phone, seeing Namjoon had also sent a text to confirm.

           Sure. I finish my lesson in 35 minutes. Text me the place and I’ll meet you there. (Sent 12:32 p.m.)

           With lunch plans settled, Hoseok stood up. “Alright. Let’s get to work boys. Five, six, seven-.”

           35 minutes later, the alarm began to ring, signaling the end of the lesson. The boys sighed as they once again collapsed after another 30 minutes of rigorous practice. On the plus side though, they were finally confident enough to shoot the video and upload it. Hoseok took the drink from his bag and took a sip as the boys began to pack up.

           “You guys did great.” He said. “Are you going to record next time?”

           “I think so. I’m really excited man, that dance break is so difficult!” Ji-Tae said happily.

           “I know, and your part, Ji-Tae, with the huge kick right in the middle? Ah! I think I’m in love!”

           “Shut up.” Ji-Tae sighed as the boys began to laugh. They all turned to Hoseok as he finished packing up and gave polite bows, thanking him for his help. He smiled.

           “No trouble. Here, I’ll walk you guys out.” He said. The group headed outside of the studio, saying goodbye to Jin-Young, who was actually signing up a new little girl for Jimin’s ballet classes. “Be safe getting home.” He said, waving off the boys as they headed down the street, chatting and cheering about their excitement for the upload of the dance cover. He watched them for a moment, before turning around and heading to the café to meet his friends.

           Namjoon and Yoongi were already there, sitting at one of the booths. They had waited to order food until Hoseok arrived, and when they saw him bust through the door of the care, Yoongi stood up.

           “It’s about time!” He teased as his friend hurried up to him. “Your dance studio is like 5 blocks. We had to take a train.”

           “I know.” Hoseok laughed. “Sorry, the boys were so eager to keep practicing I had to practically force them out.” Saying his hellos, he sat down in the booth and sighed. “God, I’m so tired.”

           “I can only imagine.” Namjoon chuckled, taking a sip of his water. “You’re really being put through the wringer now. How’s moving going?”

           “Fine. I’m pretty much settled in. But everything else-.” He chuckled as the waitress brought him over water. “Everything else just sucks really bad. I don’t know what to do. Anxiety and tension are really high in the apartment right now.” Lifting the glass up to his lips, he took a sip and sighed. “I don’t know what I can do to ease her nerves a bit. The trial is coming up soon, she’s been preparing for everything, and she texted me that Weong-Bin made bail this afternoon.”

           “Well he can’t contact you guys, right?” Namjoon asked.

           “Yeah, like that’ll stop him.” Yoongi said. “That guy was always a scumbag.”

           “…You never met him.” Namjoon pointed out.

           “But I knew. I’m just observant like that.” Hoseok smiled a bit at his friends. “But don’t stress about it. If he tries to call, just call the cops and get his ass tossed back in jail, it’s not that serious.”

           “Yeah, try telling her that. I’m sure every possible phone call she’s gotten since she heard he made his bail is making her even more paranoid.” Hoseok scratched his head, feeling himself getting frustrated just thinking of how paranoid you were. “I wish I could do more.”

           “…Marry her.” Yoongi said simply. Hoseok looked up, his ears turning red. “If you marry her, then it’ll make her feel better.” Namjoon glanced over at him.

           “Hyung, stop that, now is not the time for them to worry about marriage.”

           “Yeah, well not right now, obviously. But maybe if you bring it up to her, the idea will make her feel better or something. Just knowing you’ll be there.”

           “But she already knows that I will.” Hoseok pointed out.

           “Well, once you tell her you want to get married, then you’re truly trapped, so maybe that’s not a good idea.” Yoongi teased, and Namjoon chuckled. “Aaah, look how red you are, Hobi.” He chuckled a bit, and that only made Hobi’s cheeks turn redder. “I’m only teasing. Namjoon is right, this isn’t the time to be adding another layer of stress with wedding planning.” Hoseok sighed as the waitress finally returned to take their orders. They all put something in that they saw on the menu, and the woman left with a kind smile and assurance that the food would be out soon. Yoongi glanced over to Hoseok, to see him playing with the straw he was given that he didn’t use. He had pulled the wrapping off and was twisting it between his fingers. “I’m sure if you keep assuring her that you’ll be there for her, it’ll help calm her down. Just do that, and I think everything will be fine.”

           “…Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Hoseok said simply.

           “Aren’t I always?” He grinned, and he watched both of the other boys snickered. Hoseok leaned back in his seat, glancing down at his phone to see a picture that you had sent him. You were sitting beside Jungkook, who was throwing up a peace sign. Both of you had lunchboxes in front of you and were eating happily.

           No patients right now. Time to snack >.< (Sent 1:15 p.m.)

           Hoseok smiled a bit, setting his phone face down on the table. While you were at work, he felt at ease. Your mind was somewhat occupied with Jungkook being there, so he could take this time to relax and enjoy the time he had with his friends. However, as his lunch meeting with the others went on, his mind kept wandering about what Yoongi said.

           Marriage, huh?

---------------------------------

           “See you tomorrow, Noona~.” Jungkook called happily, waving to you as the both of you exited the doctor’s office. Your shift had finished a few hours later, and it was time to go pick up the girls. Jungkook had offered to lend a hand, but you assured that you would be fine and that Hoseok would be coming home soon anyway. As you waved goodbye, you headed down the street and towards the train station. Pulling out your phone, you saw that Hoseok had sent you a text-only a few minutes prior.

           You might make it home before me. I’ve been hanging out with Namjoon and Yoongi-Hyung since lunch and we’ve been doing a lot of catching up. I won’t be too much longer, but I’m a phone call away if you need me. Love you <3 (Sent 3:04 p.m.)

           As you continued down towards the train station, you put your phone back in your pocket. You weren’t sure how much longer Hoseok would be out, but you knew that you would most likely be able to get the girls and be home before him. So, your mind began wandering towards what you would make for dinner as you paid the train fee and hopped onto it. The train ride was quiet, as usual. You were never one to strike up a conversation with people on the train, and nobody else seemed to be any different. You just all kind of kept to yourself for about 45 minutes, until people started getting off and on, and the train continued moving down the tracks. It was usually never peaceful because you were constantly frantic about the girls and staying on schedule. However, right now, you felt pretty peaceful. It was nice.

           After picking up the girls, you made your way back home. Min Ja had some homework to get started on, so you sent her to her room to begin that, while Hyo Bin was exhausted from her fun day in daycare, so you set her down for a nap.

           “Good, they’re occupied for a bit. Hobi should be home soon.” You checked the time. It was just about 5 p.m. “Let’s see…” You began to peruse the cabinets and fridge for ingredients, hoping something would help give you inspiration for that night’s dinner. You were so busy cooking, that it took you a moment to hear your phone was ringing. “Hm?” You glanced over, walking towards it. On the screen was a number you didn’t recognize. “Who the hell is this?” You mumbled, picking it up. “Probably the wrong number.” Despite this thought process, you did decide to answer it, hoping that it would stop the person from calling this number with the false hope it was someone they knew. “Hello?”

           “Don’t hang up.” You heard a voice quickly say. As the words entered your ears, your blood ran cold and your heart began to do flips into your throat.

           “W-Weong-Bin?” you mumbled, your voice trembling. “What-.”

           “I need to speak with you.” He said. “Please.”

           “You’re not supposed to contact me. They said they’ll put you in jail if they find out.”

           “They won’t find out, then. Please, I need to talk to you.”

           “I can’t. I need to hang up.” You pulled the phone from your ear, looking down at the screen. The red “END” button sat there, waiting patiently to be pressed. Just as you were about to do so, you heard Weong-Bin clearly on the other line, despite not being on speakerphone.

           “DON’T!” He shouted. You slammed the phone back to your ear, in hopes that the girls wouldn’t hear even though it wasn’t really loud enough. “If you hang up, I swear I’ll keep calling. Just hear me out.” He said sternly. You let out a shaky breath, pressing your back against the counter and looking up at the clock. When the hell was Hoseok coming home?

           “Why should I do that?” you asked curiously. “After everything you’ve put me through.”

           “Me? Oh, please, you’re such a drama queen. I never would’ve gotten as angry as I did those times if you were such a bitch.” Quickly realizing what he said, he let out a shaky breath. “Okay, forget that. I’m sorry. Seriously, hear me out.”

           “…I don’t want to. Please, let me hang up. Leave me alone.” Weong-Bin now wasn’t even bothering to argue with you.

           “Why are you doing this?” he asked. “Don’t you love me?”

           “…I used to.” You said softly. “Until you started beating me up and tearing me down. I couldn’t take it anymore.”

           “You know I never meant any of that.”

           “I thought you didn’t at first. But I caught you sleeping with someone else and you still act like all our problems were my fault.”

           “They were.”

           “N-no they weren’t.”

           “Well if I’m taking the blame for my actions then you better take the blame for yours too.”

           “But you’re not taking any blame. You’re pleading not guilty.” You snapped. “I’m seriously going to hang up.”

           “You won’t. Stop lying.” Weong-Bin snapped. “Just stop playing these stupid games. If you want to be with Hoseok so badly, whatever, be a slut. Don’t drag me through the mud.”

           “…I’m not dragging you through the mud. You’ve made your choices.”

           “I’ve only reacted to how you treat me.”

           “Weong-Bin, please-.”

           “I love you so much. I’m sorry I’ve put you through so much pain, but are you seriously going to drag your family, our kids, through a trial? What if they say Min Ja has to go up and talk about what happened? She’ll be terrified and scared and you’re going to do it because what? I raised my voice a few times? My hand? I’m not the only guy in Korea to do that.”

           “…I know…” you said softly.

           “Please.” He begged. “Please. I just don’t want things to end this way…” You sank down onto the floor, running a hand through your hair. “I still love you, regardless of what’s been happening. You know that, right?” You felt a huge lump in your throat as you tried to think of what you could possibly say to that. However, before you could give a response, you heard the door unlock. You glanced over, seeing Hoseok hum happily as he stepped in.

           “I’m home.” He cooed, sliding his shoes off as the door closed behind him.

“Don’t tell him who you’re talking to.” Weong-Bin said softly on the phone when he heard the faint sound of Hoseok’s voice. When Hoseok got no response, he tilted his head. “Hello?” As he walked farther into the apartment, he saw you crouched down on the floor. “Hey…” He made his way over to you and knelt down. “You okay?” When he reached out to touch you, he saw you flinch back. He saw how terrified you looked. “What’s wrong?” When he still didn’t get a response, he glanced at the phone. “Hm?” Reaching out, he took the phone from you.

“Hobi, no-.” you tried to take the phone back, but Hoseok quickly stood up.

“Who is this?” he asked.

“…How rude, taking the phone away from someone in the middle of the conversation.” You immediately saw Hoseok’s eyes cast down to you. You couldn’t really read them that well, which was a first for Hoseok.

“Why on earth are you calling?” Hoseok asked, putting a hand in his pocket as he turned away from you. “Did prison make you forget your rules if you made bail?”

“I needed to speak with her.”

“That’s not something you just get to do.”

“Hoseok, stay out of this.”

“I’m not going to. I really don’t understand what is going through your mind right now, are you trying to get yourself arrested? Be my guest, if you are.”

“Don’t play smart with me. It doesn’t suit you.” Weong-Bin scoffed. Hoseok glanced over to you, seeing that you were still crouched down on the floor, no longer looking up at him. Hoseok sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Don’t want me to talk to her? Fine. Let me talk to you.”

“Last time I did that, you tried to knock my lights out at my job. No thank you, I’m not interested in listening.” Hoseok let out another aggravated sigh. Once he did, he could hear you did the same, though instead of aggravation in your voice, it sounded like absolute terror was pouring out of your mouth. “I’ll be nice this time. If you call this place again from now until this whole thing is done, I won’t hesitate to get you thrown back in jail. Got it?”

“Why don’t you just go back home and leave her alone, Hoseok? This didn’t even involve you.”

“This is my house now too, so it does. And not only are you bothering my girlfriend but both of her kids. Don’t call her anymore.” Before Weong-Bin could say anything else, Hoseok hung up the phone. Weong-Bin glanced down at the burner phone he had bought just for this, then to his own phone. The background was exposed to show Min Ja and Hyo Bin, the last time he had them, holding up two pictures that they made together, with a big smile on each of their faces. Though he loved the picture, looking at it only made him angrier as he thought about what Hoseok had just said.

“…His girlfriend? Her kids?” he grumbled to himself. “Really, Jung Hoseok? Is that how you feel, you son of a bitch.” He felt the grip he had on his phone tighten, Weong-Bin let out a frustrated scream of absolute rage, flinging the phone against the wall and shattering it into pieces. Leaning back in his seat, Weong-Bin glanced back down at his phone. He was sick and tired of Hoseok, he hated that boy since they first crossed paths in college. Watching as Hoseok strolled through campus hand in hand with you, smiling as he pulled you into a sea of butterfly kisses and back hugs. The huge grin on your face every time you saw Hoseok across the hall, diverting your attention from the conversation you were having with Weong-Bin, or the project you two were working on, to hurry over and fling yourself into his arms. How students who knew of your relationship always spoke about it as if it were the relationship of two famous idols, or even of royals. How when you finally broke up with Hoseok, you were so depressed about everything. Weong-Bin tried so hard to see that smile again, to make you just as happy – no – happier than you could have ever been with Hoseok, but to no avail. And that baby. That stupid fucking baby that you wanted to keep, to use as an excuse to run back to him when Weong-Bin was bending over backward to provide you with the best of the best.

It pissed him off how you never once looked at him with the same love in your eyes as you had with Hoseok. Not then, and not now. Probably not ever.

Weong-Bin didn’t like that. And if that was going to be the case, then he never wanted you to look at Jung Hoseok ever again. If that meant taking serious measures, then god damn it, he was going to make sure those measures were taken.

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#plotsofpastel #bts x reader #bts #bangtan sonyeondan #fanfic #kim namjoon #rm #kim seokjin #jin #min yoongi #suga #jung hoseok #jhope #hobi #park jimin #jimin #kim taehyung #v #jeon jungkook #jungkook #jhope x reader #hoseok x reader #reader insert #6 Years FF

[tigerlilyhasablog]

What I’ve Been Watching

Hello everyone! If you read my comeback post, you know that I promised a round-up of  the movies I’ve seen so far in 2020. This post has taken WAYYYY too long for me to get around to writing, but now I’m self-isolating and have plenty of time on my hands, so hopefully I should be writing more! So let’s get into it. Before I talk about films from this year, I’ve got to sneak in my thoughts about my absolute FAVORITE film of 2019…

Knives Out – 5/5

I cannot tell you how much I love this movie. I’ve seen it three times in the theater since it came out! I knew that I wanted to see it the moment that I saw the trailer, and I had heard good things about it, but I was worried that it wouldn’t live up to the hype. Turns out I had nothing to worry about. Everything about this movie is just so. Damn. Good. The characters, the storytelling, the aesthetic setting and costume design… perfection, perfection, perfection. The cast, of course, is incredible. This movie is just so much FUN, and I’m obsessed. If you haven’t seen it already, GO SEE KNIVES OUT GODDAMMIT!!!

Now for 2020…

Richard Jewell – 4/5

I went back and forth on whether to give this a 3.5 or a 4, because its been a minute since I watched it, and honestly, I had kind of forgotten about it. Upon reflection, I’ve decided that is because of how many really good films I’ve seen so far this year, not because Richard Jewell is a forgettable movie. I really enjoyed it at the time… it has just gotten overshadowed by things I’ve watched since. The performances are great; Paul Walter Hauser was not someone I was super familiar with before this film, but he seriously impressed me as the titular character. It is just a very solid film about an important story that I really should have known more about since it happened in my home state.🤷‍♀️

Just Mercy – 4/5

Oh boy, bring some tissues for this one. What can I say, this is just a really good movie: its a well-told story of a real-life issue, its hard-hitting and tear-jerking af, the performances are great (Michael B Jordan, man🙌🏻), its just super solid all around. If you don’t cry your eyes out watching this, then sorry, you have no heart.

1917 – 4.5/5

Whoa. Okay, this is an absolute must-see. Holy shit, this movie is something else. As you have probably heard, this movie is shot and edited in a way that makes it look like it was one long take. Not only is this seriously impressive, but it is also effective as hell. There is never a break from the intensity of the film, and you will be on the edge of your seat every second (I’ve seen it twice, and I was completely on edge the entire time even during the second watch.) That’s not the only thing that makes ‘1917’ super impactful, though. The actors are fantastic… I was really impressed by George MacKay. This movie really doesn’t hold back; it is an honest, horrific, emotional depiction of war, and wow, it really isn’t like any war movie I’ve ever seen before.

Like A Boss – 3/5

Okay, time for a drastic change of tone from the last few movies! Not gonna lie, I went into this movie with basically no expectations, as I had heard nothing good about it. But you know, I liked it better than I thought I would. It was funnier than I expected, though not all the jokes hit, and it was overall incredibly silly. But it’s also a fairly sweet story about female friendship. I went to see it with one of my own female friends, we had the theater to ourselves, we laughed at all the stupid parts and we had a good time. So yeah, I didn’t hate it.😅

Dolittle – 3/5

This movie was… weird. Not necessarily a bad weird, but like, really, really bizarre. It’s hard to explain exactly why without giving plot points as examples, but I’ll tell you that there were numerous times throughout the movie where I turned to my sister and said “what the fuck??” I think that there were some drugs involved in the making of this film. On the plus side, I kinda enjoyed it. There were some parts that were genuinely funny, and overall it was something fun to watch with my younger siblings. My 12-year-old brother loved it, and that’s the real test, isn’t it?

The Gentlemen – 4.5/5

Ok, this movie was fucking GOOD. Not gonna lie, when I first saw the poster and trailer for this film, my first thoughts were, god, do we really need another cool-guy crime comedy with an almost entirely white male cast? The answer is no, no we don’t. But damn, if this isn’t a great movie anyway. It surpassed my expectations in every way… I loved it. The humor is not going to be for everyone; it is very British and often extremely crude, but I fucking cried laughing, it was hilarious. The laughs alone were enough for me to like this movie, but there is more to it than that. The plot is engaging, and although I’ve heard some people complain it was slow or too hard to follow, I liked it and enjoyed the story-telling elements. I also found myself caring way more about the characters than I thought I would. Oh, and there are some gorgeous cinematic elements to it as well. Overall, great movie. I guess I need to go and educate myself on some other Guy Ritchie films.

Birds of Prey – 4/5

So, I’ve given this a 4, but this is another one that I debated giving a 3.5. I had wanted to see it again before I reviewed, but the coronavirus screwed that plan up. I decided to round up, however, because my overall feeling about this movie is that I enjoyed it. It isn’t perfect… There were some odd plot decisions, and some so-so action, but you know, I liked it. It’s just FUN. The characters are all bad-ass, the music is on point, it’s funny, it’s colorful, it’s just really enjoyable. The cast are all great, and I thought Ewan McGregor made a great villain. Also, in amongst the mediocre action there were some really great scenes (small spoiler: I’m obsessed with Harley breaking people’s legs.) Like I said, I feel like I need to watch it again to really decide how I feel about it, but overall it’s a thumbs up from me.

The Photograph – 3/5

Huh, this movie was an odd one. I really wanted to like it, and I mean, I didn’t dislike it, but I just wasn’t feeling it, you know? I confess, romance is not really my genre (I like a good rom com, but just straight up romance? Meh), but I just found myself completely uninterested in the main couple. If you haven’t seen this movie, the plot is split between the relationship between Michael and Mae (LaKeith Stanfield and Issa Rae), and flashbacks to the 80s that focus on the relationship between Mae’s mother, Christina (Chante Adams,) and a man named Isaac (Y’lan Noel.) When it came to Michael and Mae, I just did not care at all whether or not they ended up together. I didn’t give a shit about their relationship throughout the entire movie. I liked their characters individually, but together I just wasn’t feeling the chemistry. Now, with the other couple, Sara and Isaac, I actually cared a lot more. I looked forward to the parts that would focus on them, and was annoyed when the film would jump forward to the present day again. I dunno, I mean, I didn’t hate it. It was funny in places and moving (to an extent) in others. The storyline outside of the romance was alright. I just didn’t love it.

Parasite – 4.5/5

Ok, usually I only do reviews for films I see in the theater, but I had to make an exception for this… I had some friends came over and we watched it from my couch, but only because nowhere nearby was showing it. If you haven’t heard of Parasite, you’ve probably been living under a rock. After it scooped up 4 Oscars, everyone was talking about it, and rightly so. Honestly I’m not gonna give it a proper review, because you just. Need. To. Watch. It. Basically, the first half is genuinely really funny, and then it slowly gets darker and darker, and holy fuck, I did NOT see that ending coming. The story, the acting, the symbolism, the cinematography, the setting… All fucking amazing. Watch Parasite, people. Just do it.

#movies #movie review #film #Film Review #knives out #richard jewell #just mercy #1917 #like a boss #dolittle #the gentlemen #birds of prey #the photograph movie #parasite

[81scorp]

My thoughts on Tangled

(Originally posted as an editorial on Deviantart Nov 17, 2015.)

In my "More thoughts on Frozen" editorial I wrote: "I like Frozen. Though not as much as I like Tangled."So let`s talk about Tangled.

And at last I see the SPOILERS

I didn`t have high expectations about this movie. Based on what I saw from the trailer it seemed to be not much more than a silly romp with lots of slapstick, kinda like The Emperor`s new groove. I wasn`t really interested in watching it until I saw a trailer with the scene where Flynn and Rapunzel sits in a boat and release lanterns into the sky. I thought to myself: "I think I`ll give it a watch."

Then there`s the name. It was originally gonna be called Rapunzel, but the big suits at Disney changed it. It has been theorized that they did it because The Princess and the Frog, while not unsuccessful at the box office, was not as successful as they had hoped, and they were afraid that boys wouldn`t see a movie with the word "Princess" or anything feminine in the title. I think it was a very insecure move from Disney, it`s like changing "The Little Mermaid" to "Beached". If they had kept the name "Rapunzel" and marketed it the way they did, with the trailers focusing on The Emperor`s new groove-like slapstick while playing Pink`s "Trouble", I and (I`d like to think that others, as well) would still have gone to see it. You might want to argue and say that the name change was justified because they changed the story from the original fairytale. They changed the story of The Little Mermaid and The Hunchback of Notredam too but still kept the name of the original.But what`s in a name? Surely, an animated Disney movie about a girl with insanely long hair and the thief that act as her guide by any other name would still be as sweet. Insecure name changing aside, the rest of the movie could still be good.

My Brother and I went to see it in the cinema...IN 3D!!!

A few minutes into the movie we got something I wasn`t prepared for: A musical number... in an animated Disney movie. At first my reaction was "What?" But a part of me said "Yeah, and? What`s so odd about a musical number in an animated Disney movie? You walked into The Princess and the Frog fully aware that there was gonna be singing and liked it. You`re just a little surprised because you never saw any clips or trailers that indicated that it was gonna be a musical. Now shut up and enjoy this Disney musical damnit!"

But putting that aside, "When will my life begin" is not a great song to open with. It is VERY upbeat, modern and pop-ish, which, considering the 18th century world it takes place in, makes it feel very anachronistic.I liked it a little more after repeated viewings though, so it`s a bit of an aquired taste.A part of it that I did like (without repeated viewings) was the last part that begins with "Tomorrow night the lights will appear, just like they do on my birthday each year". This part of the song felt like Rapunzel`s more vulnerable side, like her true face under the mask of cheerfulness that we heard in the first parts. The chores and hobbies that she sings about (like puzzles and darts and baking) are what she does to kill time and the boredom of isolation. In hindsight, the title alone: "When will my life begin" pretty much verifies that.It`s not a bad song by itself, just maybe not the best song to open this movie with.You might wonder "Isn`t `Healing incantation` technically the first song of the movie and why did it take you till `When will my life begin`to realize it was a musical?"

Well, "Healing incantation" was the first song, yes. But unlike "When will my life begin" it`s diegetic, they could still sing it even if this movie wasn`t a musical. Diegetic music comes from a person or object in the scene (like a radio or musical performer), while non-diegetic music is external to the narrative. In Rocky II when Rocky runs down the streets of Philadelphia and the song "Gonna fly now" is playing, we can hear the music but Rocky can`t, it`s non-diegetic.

"Mother knows best" sounded better though, it felt more fitted for a musical. I like that she both figuratively and literally tries to keep Rapunzel in the dark in the musical number. James Berardinelli from ReelViews commented on his website that "the songs were neither catchy nor memorable". I don`t completely agree with him. Sure, a few hours after I left the cinema I didn´t remember most of the songs, but I did remember the chorus to "Mother knows best". Many like to compare Mother Gothel to Cher and I can`t say that I don`t see why. But to me she reminds me more of Edina from Absolutely Fabulous. Both call their daughter "darling", are selfish and one of the worst days in Edina`s life... was the day she turned 30! Another popular comparison is the one between her and Claude Frollo from the Disney version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Both keep a ward locked up in a tall building and tell them that the world is a horrible place. In a way Claude Frollo is the worse villain because he has more authority, he has power over the guards and by that, some level of control over the city. While similar, there are some small differences in their, for lack of a better word, "parenting skills". Frollo`s are more about being stern and controlling Quasimodo with a respect based on fear, while Mother Gothel is more about emotional manipulation and sending mixed messages. She gives Rapunzel subtle insults one minute only to add a little "just kidding, you know I love you" the next. On a large scale Frollo is the worst, while on a smaller, personal level Mother Gothel is the worst. There is a little bit of tenderness in her cruelty. One thing that bugs me is the glorification and romanticism of the age of 16. Appearently that`s the best age to be, that`s when everything great and magical happens. I thought to myself when watching Tangled: "Please don`t make her 16. Make her some other age or just don`t mention it." Rapunzel`s age was 17 and the next day she was gonna turn 18. I thought "Thank you Disney! Thank you for avoiding this clichè and overrated age". In a way it turns it into a metaphor for growing up, becoming independent and leaving the nest. Yes, she is technically still underaged at first, but it is she that is in charge and Flynn doesn`t try anything romantic on her until after she turns 18. But most important of all: she`s not 16.

I liked the reprise of "When will my life begin" better than the first version because, like "Mother knows best" the music and instruments in it felt more fitting for a musical. That moment before she puts her foot on her grass you could see in her eyes that it may have been a small step for man, but it was a giant leap for Rapunzel.

Which was then followed by the emotional rollercoaster known as "The bi-polar scene". In her book "Making a good script great" Linda Seger wrote that conflict is the basis of drama, and this movie has a lot of conflict without feeling overcrowded. There`s Flynn VS the guards of Corona and Flynn VS the Stabbington brothers, both over which one gets the crown. There`s Rapunzel VS Mother Gothel, Rapunzel wants to leave her tower to see the rest of the world, or at least the floating lanterns, while Gothel wants to keep her in the tower.There`s also conflict that adds comedy. There`s Flynn VS Maximus, which is an extension of Flynn VS the guards, but funnier. Flynn VS Rapunzel, Rapunzel needs Flynn as her bodyguard/guide through the dangerous outside world, so she hides his satchel and uses it as leverage. Flynn just wants the crown so he can sell it and get stinking rich, so he tries to manipulate and scare Rapunzel into giving up her journey to see the lanterns. Then there`s Rapunzel VS herself. While happy that she is seeing the world she also feels guilty over disobeying her mother, which leads to the inner conflict seen in the previously mentioned "bi-polar scene".

Maximus the horse, who I mentioned earlier is a great character and a great source of comedy. He`s like Officer Zenigata from Lupin III. Pascal adds a little comedy too but doesn`t contribute as much to the story as Maximus. My guess is that he was created for the same reason that Robin was created for Batman. The creators thought that it would be better if Batman had someone to talk and explain things to so he wouldn`t seem like a complete nutjob that talks to himself. I don`t have much to say about "I`ve got a dream", it`s a fun, likeable song one would usually expect the comical side-characters to sing. Is it just me or doesn`t the chorus borrow a little from "She`ll be coming round the mountain"?

"She'll be coming round the mountain, she'll be coming round the mountain, she'll be coming round the mountain when she comes"

"Though I do like breaking femurs, you can count me with the dreamers. Like everybody else, I've got a dream."

(Sure, the melody isn`t identical but the structure is somewhat similar.)

Flynn refusing to sing (at first) is not exactly new for a Disney musical, it had already been done in Enchanted. However this was (to my knowledge) the first time it was done in the Disney animated canon and it was done much funnier.

The scene where Rapunzel and Flynn...

Flynn: Eugene.

What?

Flynn: Eugene Fitzherbert.

OK. where Rapunzel and...Eugene

are trapped in a cave that`s filling up with water is similar to the trash-compactor scene in Star wars: It`s the dark moment, the part of the movie where it seems like there is no way out and all hope is lost. I like this scene, not just because of the suspense but also because it is where they open up to and start getting to know each other. But because this not just a big-budget movie but a Disney movie, and no director wants to depress the audience (unless you`re Lars von Trier), we know that they`re gonna make it, we just don`t know how. In the campfire scene we get more time for character development. We already know Rapunzel`s backstory but this is the first time that Fly-... Eugene gets to hear it. We (and Rapunzel) also find out that Eugene was an orphan who took his name from a fictional character who was everything he wanted to be. Rapunzel`s inner conflict shows up here too, but this time with a downplayed, more serious tone and not comically exaggerated.

Eugene: And you`re still gonna go back?

Rapunzel: No! Yes. (covers her face) It`s complicated. I`m probably alone in this but to me Eugene`s name change feels like a reflection of the movie`s name change. Eugene changed his name to Flynn Rider because he thought it would sound cooler, like how the big suits at Disney changed the movie`s name from Rapunzel because they thought it would sound cooler.

Rapunzel: For the record, I like Eugene Fitzherbert much better than Flynn Rider. Not much to say about the reprise of Mother knows best except that we get to see the more Frollo-ish side of Gothel. Since the tenderness doesn`t work she now tries to make Rapunzel respect her through fear. I love the Kingdom dance scene. It`s like that scene from The Little Mermaid when Ariel visits the town with Eric and for the first time gets to experience the world of humans. It`s a great example of visual storytelling, no dialogue is used or needed. Just like Ariel, Rapunzel gets to geek out and and explore this new world, try new things, new kinds of food and immerse herself in new books. I love the music in this scene. It has a nice medieval-ish feel to it, the kind of music you`d expect to hear in this world and time. Another interesting touch is that it starts out joyful but there`s a small ominous tone that grows bigger and louder as the music plays, as if forshadowing an impening doom.

This is followed by another really good scene: Rapunzel`s parents, another great example of visual storytelling where no dialogue is needed, the animation says it all.

Movie critic and comedian Doug Walker said in his review of this movie that the voice acting on Rapunzel and Eugene could have been better, not that the actors did a poor job, he was just always aware that there was a person behind a microphone. Personally I had no problem with Rapunzel`s and Eugene`s voice. Mandy Moore did a great job voicing Aerith in the first Kingdom Hearts game and I didn`t even know (at the time) it was her. I was aware that it was her before watching the movie, but while watching it I had no problem separating the voice from the celebrity and enjoying the movie. I didn`t even know who voiced Eugene, I looked it up and found that it was Zachary Levi, Chuck Bartowski from Chuck. He did his own singing too, I didn`t know he could sing. Is there anything that intersect can`t do?

I mention Doug Walker because what he felt about the original voice actors is what I felt about about the actors in the swedish-dubbed version. Måns Zelmerlöw (Eugene Fitzherbert) and Molly Sandèn (Rapunzel) were not bad, I just didn`t feel as invested with them as I was with the original version. Moore and Levi both have acting experience and their voices had a certain maturity. Sandèn and Zelmerlöw are both younger, singers and hasn`t had as much acting experience as Moore and Levi. (Sandèn`s experience in dubbing is, so far, limited to two Highschool Musical movies where she dubbed the songs.) The parts where they sing sound great though. Now, with that out of the way...I like "I see the light", don`t have much to say about it though, but more to say about the scene where it is sung. It is beautifully animated and directed. Eugene having prepared the two lanterns, one for each of them, shows that he is willing to go that little extra length for someone else, something the old Eugene (or Flynn) would not have done so easily, if at all. Another nice little detail in this scene is that the lantern that is about to sink into the water that Rapunzel pushes back up into the sky is her parents lantern.

How Maximus managed to get help from the Snugly Duckling thugs is not hard to imagine. Most likely scenario: He ran to the pub with one of Eugene`s wanted posters in his mouth and waved it in front of their faces.

Thug: What is it horse? Is the guy with the big freaky nose and his longhaired girlfriend in danger?

Maximus would nod and the thugs would huddle and start planning Eugene`s escape.

Is it a stretch that Rapunzel can remember things from when she was just a few days old? Maybe convenient but not unbelievable, Rapunzel was born under special circumstances after all. If she has healing hair why can`t she also have a super-memory and (from what I`ve read on the Disney wikia) super-strength? Seriously, she carries around a large amount of hair that no ordinary human would be able to carry as easily as she does. "But how was Gothel able to overpower her?"

one might wonder. I have a few theories.

A: Maybe she isn`t superstrong, maybe her hair is just very, very light.

B: She has some form of psychosomatic mental block that prevents her from overpowering Gothel.

C: Gothel, who managed to beat both the of Stabbington brothers, is really really good at fighting dirty. Wouldn`t surprise me if she used Rapunzel`s long hair to her advantage. Near the end of the movie Eugene dies but is brought back to life by a tear from Rapunzel. Typical Disney death, yes, but it makes sense, more sense than the original fairytale. In the original fairytale the prince got pushed out of the tower by Dame Gothel and landed in thorns below that damaged his eyes and blinded him. He later met Rapunzel who`s tears restored his sight. Unlike the movie it was never (to my knowledge at least) established before that moment that she had any form of healing powers, it just happened because of fairytale logic.So, does Rapunzel have healing tears now or was all her healing powers used up in that one tear? Don`t know, guess we`ll have to wait and see. I`m fine either way.The final scene where the kingdom celebrates Rapunzel`s return is... not bad or unnecessary, it`s just not as good as the previous scene where Rapunzel is reunited with her parents. It`s as if the filmmakers were afraid that their happy ending wasn`t happy enough. It`s the part where all the Snugly Duckling thugs had their dreams come true, for me it would have been enough to see them just partake in the festivities since we only heard them talk (or rather, sing) about their dreams but we never saw them struggle for them. Then again, not seeing them reach their goals that they sang about would feel like an unused chekov`s gun. I think the part with the Snugly Duckling thugs would have worked better without Eugene`s narration confirming that they all got exactly what they wanted, but I`m probably nitpicking here. Even if it was a typical Disney "Look! Everybody gets a happy ending!"-ending it was short and wasn`t bad.

And who doesn`t like a drunken, flirting dwarf in a diaper?

Sure, it has a few flaws but it`s one of my favourite movies.

That`s all I have for now but I`m not done yet. More thoughts on Tangled coming later. I thought that all of my thoughts on Tangled might be a little much to read if put into one editorial, so I decided to divide it into two.

#tangled #editorial #81scorp

[theonceoverthinker]

Robin Mills Appreciation Post

Why? Well, why not?

I feel like Robin is under loved. That’s not to say she’s disliked, not by a long shot. A lot of the fandom likes her, but sometimes, I can’t help but feel like that admiration is conflated with their love of Curious Archer. And hell, I am the LAST person on Earth who will complain about Curious Archer -- Curious Archer is fantastic and I’ve gone on about how much I love them many times before, but I would like to see more love thrown to Robin Mills as an individual.

So, much like the phrase, I’m going to be the change I want to see in the world.

What do I love about Robin Mills? Let me count the ways!

1. Her bold personality. Robin is the kind of woman who refuses to let anyone define her. She’s not about to be told she lacks talent or is too ambitious or what she can believe or who she can believe in. Robin thinks for herself and that stubbornness is what makes the lessons she learns that much stronger. But we’ve seen that before from virtually the entire cast. However, Robin manages to keep this very refreshing. I think a lot of it comes down to her relative youth. Most of OUAT’s cast is made up of adults, whereas Robin is 18 when her story starts. That youth allows for her and that stubbornness is what makes the lessons she learns that much stronger because her lessons get to be blended. They’re a mix of the old generation of OUAT characters teaching the new generation of OUAT characters and of someone with her relative youth also teaching her. And SHE often teaches lessons too, which is so important! That keeps her stories from being repetitive and I appreciate that! 

2. Her backstory with magic. Throughout the series, all of our magic users have been pretty talented. Zelena, Emma, Rumple, Regina, Drizella, Alice, Cora, and Maleficent make up but a short lift of sorcerers and sorceresses who not only possess the ability to perform magic, but can do so with little to no issues. Even if they stumble, it’s not for long and usually by the end of the episode, they perform all kinds of wonderful or horrible feats of magic. In that regard, Robin stands out as someone who definitively can’t. What little magic she can perform is weak and by the end of “The Secret Garden’s” flashback, even Robin understands that to be true. Let’s just take a moment to reflect on how interesting and unique this relationship to magic is and how isolated Robin must’ve felt being so limited when compared to at least half a dozen other people in her family who can use it without a second thought. That paints someone so tragic to me and the strength that Robin shows in continuously trying to grow in her abilities despite that constant failure and her decision to eventually turn away from it in favor of something else that makes her happy speaks so much to how great Robin is! It’s one thing to pursue ambition, but to reach a level of self awareness about said ambition and find it in you to pursue something else is such a badass tendency of Robin’s and shouldn’t go unappreciated!

This got a bit long and I’ve been pretty guilty lately of not using cuts, so here is one! Meet me down below though for more reasons to love Robin!

3. Her gentleness/maturity. I’ve spoken a lot about how fierce Robin is, but just as a real robin will slay a bug without hesitation, it will also use that carcass to feed her young. And Robin is like that too! She forgives rather easily, relatively speaking. As Margot takes her all of an afternoon to forgive her mother for keeping secrets under the HH curse and a simple apology is all she needs from Tilly. And she’s so nurturing, too! Not only does she forgive Tilly for running away from their date, but assures her that Tilly can trust her and that she’s willing to be around to handle any kind of Tilly’s days. That’s not even to mention how Margot was taking real and gentle steps to calm Tilly down during her panic attack. Like, I can’t say for certain of course, but who knows how much (if any) experience Margot has had with mental illness and if that was her first time with no context, she did a really great job! Finally, there’s one other layer of gentleness with her mother. Robin not only sees a lack of need to pursue magic any longer, but how useful magic can be to Zelena and immediately offers hers to her mother. That’s...really freakin’ selfless if you think about it and really speaks to how mature Robin can be and often is.

4. She likes to eat. I like to eat! You like to eat! Robin/Margot likes to eat! What’s not to love about that?! ...Look, they can’t all be super long, but her lines about food were too cute NOT to include on this list... XD

5. Her bluntness. I know this somewhat fits into my previous points, but I think that this is a bit different. Robin doesn’t lie. She has enacted one lie...sort of, by keeping Alice chained up in “The Girl in the Tower” (And even then, she immediately tells the truth), but apart from that, she doesn’t lie (She’s also “nice and cheesy” -- I couldn’t resist that line and you wouldn’t either!). She’s so upfront with her opinions and intentions and it’s both heartwarming and admirable! Robin/Margot wants others to be a straight shooter with her and like this post, she’s being the change she wants to see in the world. You never need to guess what’s on her mind and while I love characters that inspire intrigue like Rumple and Facilier, I find a character who is exactly what is on the tin, especially in a show stuffed to the brim with mysteries as is, to be really refreshing. And that bluntness, as I said before, factors into her character. It’s a reflection of what she wants from others and is part of her mean girl personality while still not being an immediately terrible thing. 

6. Tiera’s acting. Great character work is all fine and dandy, but in a visual and auditory medium, actors make or break them like planks of wood. And Tiera absolutely SELLS Robin. This is not an easy character to sell. She’s the daughter of an honorable thief and a wicked witch. To blend their characteristics while still being original in her own right is tough, but because of Tiera, both Robin and Margot are so distinct and that was apparent from the maybe four minutes of screen time she was provided with in her debut. And her acting only gets better from there. I love Tiera’s casualness. It allows the humor of her lines to be that much funnier, throws a bit of fantastical realism in a show with all manner of drama and hamminess, and provides a springboard for really authentic and comfortable chemistry to take over. But at the same time, when Robin or Margot needs a moment to be serious, the scenes work for that same reason. 

These are six reasons I was able to come up with, more or less off the top of my head. Have you any to offer? Let me know why you love Robin or maybe some of your favorite moments!

#robin mills #ouat #once upon a time #robin mills appreciation

[michelles-garden-of-evil]

Episode 1 Review, Part I: Welcome to Maljardin

{ YouTube: 1 | 2 | 3 }

{ Synopses: Debby Graham | Bryan Gruszka }

{ Screencaps }

What to write about the pilot? How should I begin the introduction to the first real post on this blog? I don’t wish to write a detailed synopsis, because other people have already done so, and I feel neither the need nor the desire to comment on everything in this episode (or, indeed, in any episode). Also, funnier writers than I have already written detailed reviews of it, and I don’t feel I can compete with them, especially if I focus too hard on trying to be funny. So this will be a different kind of review series, focusing on analysis of what I think is important/interesting instead of recapping everything. And I promise that my other posts won’t be as long as this one. There’s just a lot to cover in this first post.

One of the main questions that I intend to explore in this post series is what makes a TV show “bad.” Obviously, this is purely subjective, and most of what I write will be my silly personal opinion, but we are dealing with a show that many people consider “bad” and that, arguably, is “bad” by most mainstream TV watchers’ standards nowadays. Today, we live in an era where TV dramas have increasingly higher budgets and production values, where viewers expect realistic acting and special effects, where streaming and binge-watching are increasingly the norm, and where making a single continuity error or retcon will inspire scorn from your entire fanbase (and God forbid one of the actors forgets to throw out their Starbucks cup). TV today is almost the polar opposite of TV in 1969, when shows were much lower budget, special effect failures were far more acceptable, and streaming on demand probably sounded more absurd than using science to bring a frozen woman’s body back to life. As such, people today expect different things from television from the soap opera viewers of fifty years ago, and are quick to dismiss a show as bad.

I agree that continuity errors and retcons are signs of mediocre writing, but do high production values and good special effects really matter? Is realistic acting necessary for drama, or can drama be just as effective with artificial, stylized, hammy or campy acting? How do we separate a genuinely bad show from one that is merely dated, or that has a few minor problems? If you ask me, the answer lies in the writing and the effectiveness of the acting--and it is the writing that will be the primary focus of this blog.

The pilot, like the 43 episodes that follow, was written by Ian Martin, an actor-turned-writer for soap operas and later Gothic romance and horror. He is most famous for writing over two hundred episodes of CBS Radio Mystery Theater in the 1970s. (While I only recently discovered CBSRMT and therefore haven’t listened to most of the episodes yet, I can say that those of his that I’ve listened to are very good. I particularly recommend “And Death Makes Even Steven” and “Time and Again.”) For the plot of Strange Paradise, Martin seems to have drawn on his own life experiences: namely, the tragic early death of his first wife, the actress Inge Adams. According to Curt Ladnier, “Though no one can claim to know what was going through Ian Martin’s mind as he wrote the scripts laying the groundwork for Strange Paradise‘s basic plot, it’s not hard to conceive he may have felt some familiarity with the story of a man who lost the love of his life to an untimely death.” His grief shines through every speech that he has Jean Paul give to Erica. Indeed, his episodes have far more heart in them than later Maljardin episodes or Desmond Hall, and most of my favorite episodes were his work. They also have a lot of snarky humor and better dialogue than most of the later episodes, so, if you imagine a sliding scale going from “good” to “slightly so-bad-it’s-good” to “David Wells,” most would be on the “good” side. (Most of Desmond Hall, in contrast, is decidedly on the other--which is a given, considering that David Wells plays a prominent role in that arc, and most of the time he’s hilariously bad.)

This is not to say that Martin’s writing is perfect. Some of his episodes drag and he is not exactly subtle about many things. He has characters (especially Raxl) repeat themselves perhaps more than is necessary. Also, many of his episodes contain a certain subplot that I find boring and pointless and that the show could have done without. (More on all these things when we get to them.) The early Maljardin episodes are not masterpieces, but they’re a hell of a lot better than most of what came after. And it’s clear that Martin was trying to do its own thing, rather than copy off Dark Shadows.

So, anyway, enough about Ian Martin and onto my thoughts about Episode 1, which is what you presumably came here for:

The obligatory first-episode title card screencap

The show opens on the fictional Caribbean island of Maljardin, which roughly translates to “garden of evil.” Jardin is French for “garden” and mal for “evil (noun).” Mal can also be used as an adverb to mean “badly,” but it is not an adjective. “Evil (adjective) garden” would be Mauvaisjardin, which doesn’t sound half as cool. The exterior shots are of Casa Loma, a mansion in Toronto surrounded by trees that look nothing like anything in the Caribbean, but I can forgive them because the Château de Maljardin is awesome both inside and out. I would say I want to live on Maljardin, but I don’t like the heat and I’m sure the air conditioning costs for the château are extravagant--and, although they never mention it on the show, you know that filthy rich and frequently overdressed Jean Paul Desmond would have had air conditioning installed.

Jean Paul Desmond (Colin Fox) is the master of Maljardin and he is grieving the death of his wife Erica (Lara Cochrane), whose body he is preparing to freeze in order to bring her back to life at some point in the future. Erica has apparently only just died, and he is already having his servant Quito (Kurt Schiegl) carry huge blocks of dry ice--with his bare hands (WTF?)--to line her coffin. Jean Paul must have spent a while preparing for this, and one wonders how far in advance he had to decide to do this, especially since he has already arranged for the Cryonics Society to professionally freeze her and they state in the first episode that he does not have a phone on his island. I’ve watched this episode three times and, each time I watch it, the whole situation seems a little more suspicious. But maybe he and/or Dr. Menkin (Joe Austin) predicted her death far in advance and planned accordingly? Surely a man as besotted with his wife as Jean Paul couldn��t have murdered her, right?

I love the scene where he makes his grand entrance carrying Erica. It's so extra. He's so extra.

I’m not speculating about all this because I don’t like Jean Paul, but rather because of certain clues in the narrative that might reflect a once-planned plot twist that writers after Martin ignored. (The keyword is might; I have no evidence that Martin was planning one, but one can always speculate.) In fact, I adore Jean Paul. His actor, Colin Fox, is the main reason why I’m obsessed with this show and can’t stop watching it. I have a huge crush on him thanks to this show, even bigger than my previous #1 crush, which was on King Henri III of France. Jean Paul is exactly my type: super-tall (he looks about 6′6″/2 meters), dark, handsome (more so when he’s not brooding), graceful, elegant, and very, very extra. He also has a beautiful voice, and I love listening to him talk. Yes, I know I’m attracted to him for mostly superficial reasons, but Jean Paul’s a fictional character, so does it matter? There are only a few problems with him, most notably some megalomaniacal tendencies:

I suppose, though, that it’s inevitable to become somewhat of a megalomaniac when you own not just an isolated private island, but “a brokerage house, a department store, three newspapers, a football franchise, motion picture and television interests, and real estate holdings,” to quote another character. Jean Paul thinks that he can bring Erica back to life by spending millions of dollars on cryonics, which other characters--most notably his housekeeper Raxl (Cosette Lee)--insist is playing God. Only one other character approves, and he even applauds him for it:

This is Jacques Eloi des Mondes, Jean Paul’s identical ancestor from the 17th century and my favorite character on this show. His surname literally means “of the worlds,” which I think is an awesome name for a character in an urban fantasy/horror series. According to Raxl, who is highly knowledgeable about both the des Mondes family history and the supernatural, Jacques Eloi des Mondes was THE DEVIL. (It is never clear whether she means this literally or figuratively.) He is also, in my not-so-humble opinion, the single hottest male character in the history of television. No exceptions. If you gave me the choice between Jacques and the entire cast of every other show in existence, I would choose him. He is charming, charismatic, seductive, and hilarious, at least in Ian Martin’s episodes. Most of the writers after Martin, however, ignore his superficial charm and focus instead on his evil, which Martin mostly only hints at. Anyway, Jacques talks through this portrait--a surprisingly good one compared to other “period” portraits from other shows and movies--which glows when his spirit talks to Jean Paul in this episode and which disappears when he (mild spoiler alert)

possesses him.

Jean Paul realizes that he and Jacques have a lot in common, including both having lost their wives at a young age. It is implied that he may even be a reincarnation of Jacques, who calls him “the man you are, the man you might have been,” before making him have a flashback to Jacques’ wedding reception three hundred years earlier. I will cover the flashback in another post, because, despite being only a minute and a half long, there is a lot to unpack and I want to critique the costumes in addition to analyzing the content. But I will say this now: Martin has Jacques mention “the cliff heights at sunset” in a rather ominous way, followed by a glance at the camera that suggests a much darker intent than just showing them to his bride:

This is the face of a very handsome man who is contemplating murder.

After this flashback, Jean Paul finds a glass of brandy in his hand that wasn’t there before: something which only Debby Graham’s synopsis mentions, but which is the first of many instances of Jacques literally making him drink. Jacques offers to resurrect Erica in return for Jean Paul setting him free, which involves finding his effigy in the crypt in the basement and removing a silver pin from its head. Jean Paul does this in a scene interspersed with clips of a singer performing a bad cover of “That Old Black Magic” (somewhere between slightly so-bad-it’s-good and David Wells on the sliding scale), and, as soon as he removes the pin from the doll’s head, Raxl freaks out because she senses what has just happened:

Jacques: *bows* “Bonjour!” *smirks as show cuts to brief shot of blank portrait* “The voodoo spell is broken.” *taps on doll’s head with pin* “I no longer have any need for you. Now...”

Raxl: "YOU DEVIL OUT OF HELL! OH! YOU FOOL! HOW DID YOU EVER BREAK THE SPELL THAT BOUND YOU TO-" *stops in archway and gasps*

Jacques: *in both Jean Paul’’s body and clothes now* "Why, what's the matter with you, Raxl?"

Jacques Eloi des Mondes, THE DEVIL, has possessed Jean Paul and is loose on Maljardin! And the episode ends shortly after.

While not one of the best episodes, the pilot is definitely interesting. The acting is somewhat campy and cheesy, especially in the flashback and in all of Raxl’s scenes, so this episode is definitely so bad it’s good. If you have read any of the synopses I linked to earlier in this article, it will be obvious that I didn’t write about everyone and everything in this episode (notably, I didn’t cover Alison and Dan’s scenes), but that is out of a desire to focus on Jean Paul and Jacques rather than a lack of interest. I do wonder, though: is this the first time that Jacques has spoken to Jean Paul? And just what is the true, original story behind Erica’s death?

{ <-- Previous: Introduction   ||   Next: Episode 1, Part II --> }

#strange paradise #gothic soap opera #week 1 #episode 1 #maljardin arc #review #analysis #ian martin #cbs radio mystery theater #cbsrmt #conjure doll and silver pin #jacques making jean paul drink #magical costume change #on this island i am god #sliding scale of episode quality #speculation on ian martin's original story

[legendarypotat]

Anyone want to read a crack theory?

So, I have a crack theory. I don’t usually post them but I thought this one is interesting. I come up with this stuff when I am half asleep, so please take it with a grain of salt. It’s like the biggest reach in the history of reaches. I am also really bad at writing. 

This crack theory actually tried to explain the Feud episode. There are many reasons why the Feud episode is weird and out of place. I am not gonna analyze that though. This theory is trying to explain WHY it is weird.

The simple answer is that it was all a dream. I might not be an expert on dreams and the unconscious mind but if I remember correctly, dreams are a way our brains try to organize and make sense of what happened when we were awake and conscious. Bob might have influenced a bit of that dream, but I think most of the stuff that happened in that episode was a product of the Paladins subconscious. So the threat that they faced in their dream might have not been real but it was symbolic and I think I founded some metaphors that I didn’t want to find.

Prepare for the Langst.

The first thing I want to address, is that in my eyes that episode was Lance centric. Even Lance position in the game was centered. Surrounded by his friends by either side. And if I am not mistaken, Lance had the most screen time that episode. In consequence, most of the things that happened in that episode revolved around Lance.

I founded 3 huge metaphors surrounding Lance.

 Lance worthiness as the paladin of the red lion.

Ironically this was the last metaphor I founded but it’s important because it kind of explains the following ones. This part was the weirdest in my opinion. Lance is supposed to be the most perceptive out of the group but when Keith goes up to draw, everyone except for Lance gets a right answer. It’s funnier if you remember that Lance is Keith’s right hand. Shouldn’t Lance have a better understanding of Keith? Not to mention he didn’t contribute at gaining any points.

I am not saying that Lance does not deserve to be the right hand of Voltron. But I think that it is something that has been or is running through Lance’s mind. It happened before when Shiro came back and Lance thought he should step back from the team because that will be the better option. Fortunately, Keith was there to bring him back to his senses. 

The gravity of his self esteem issues.

This is the one that I noticed first because I am really not fund of Lance being degraded to the dumb one, even if it is a dream. But it happened and this is the way I tried to make sense of it. There must be someone on the team that thinks Lance is dumb, and I think it is Lance himself. Is not hard to believe. After all, my fave A//urance moment was when Allura helped Lance see he was not the goofball. The weird part here is that the last time the “Lance is dumb” trope was brought up was in season 3. Why bring it up now? Why is it resurfacing as a dream? I really have no idea. 

It’s alarming though, how Lance went from not considering himself dumb, to feeling he had to prove he wasn’t dumb, to actually embracing the idea that he was the dumb one. It just bothers me because it was always a maybe in Lance’s mind. I just want to smack Bob.

But wait, there is more.

The isolation tube? Remember there were metas talking about how Lance had started to isolate himself from the team.

The acid? How his insecurities are slowly eating him up.

I don’t like where this is all going.

 The solution to those issues.

I am not saying Plance but Plance. I remember there was a post on the tag that made reference to how weird it was for Allura to be addressed by Bob only to be ignored and pin point Pidge. But in this crack theory, there is an explanation. Let’s back track a little.

So Lance is slowly being eaten alive by the acid, that in this crack theory represents his insecurities. Someone has to save him. Who is it gonna be? Bob addressed Allura as a possibility. Interesting, A//urance was addressed this season as well. But then Bob does a complete 180 and turns to Pidge and highlights her brains to play a game of... minigolf(?) And Pidge does get Lance out of that acid and in a very unexpected way. Did you guys really expected for Pidge to smack the camera and tackle Bob? I love my girl :’) To me that symbolizes how Pidge is gonna step in and finally bring a closure to Lance’s arc in a very unexpected way.

And another sweet thing I noticed: 

The staff could had placed this episode anywhere during the first half of season 7, but they decided to place it after the “Don’t you touch her!” episode. Lance trying to save Pidge in the previous episode and then Pidge saving Lance in the next one. Might be a coincidence. 

So this is what I concluded:

I think this episode was foreshadowing something that will happen in season 8. From what I understood, Lance is gonna be tested about his worthiness of being the red lion paladin, which might spike his insecurities. The resolve will be something involving Pidge. As another awesome post has already pointed out, Lance and Pidge have not seen through their lion’s eyes yet. And if this crack theory makes any sense, then it kind of further proves that is inevitable for us to not see a Plance moment in season 8. Be it romantic or platonic, it will be there. Everything is adding up. 

Or I might be delusional. That’s always an option. 

P.s. I love how the 3 metaphors reference my top 3 Lance endgames. In order presented: K/ance, A//urance and Plance.

P.s.s. Notice how Keith, Lance and Pidge were the only ones to play? I have always thought there was something weird going around them 3. Am I the only one?

P.s.s.s. I really doubt the writing staff will be that stupid to bring “the Lance is dumb” trope back unless it was with a purpose. 

#if you noticed I censored the other ships... please don't tag them if you reblog #plance #flirtyrobot #pance #lidge #pidgance #pidge x lance #smartwater #fuckplant #rainforest