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#but the execution was so lacklustre......so boring.......
chaotic-kitty · 1 year
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I screen recorded Nadia’s tale as well!!
(Definitely did not forget to post this👀)
It’s saved to this google drive folder. It has Asra’s and Nadia’s tales (minus the payed scenes.) I’ll be uploading a playthrough for each tale they do, and they’ll all be there. <3
My Thoughts: (potential spoilers)
Again, it wasn’t that bad, but it wasn’t that good either.
Nadia and the MC both felt OOC.
I loved the idea of vulnerable Nadia! But, it just didn’t feel like Nadia. We’ve seen her vulnerable before, this was someone else’s kind of vulnerability….if that makes sense?
Every scene was basically the same thing but new setting. MC was playing therapist to Nadia every damn scene.
I liked the fact that the townsfolks brought up what we’ve been saying for a while. Their feelings were incredibly justified and often overlooked, so I’m glad they got their moment to say that.
The MC made me want to just scream in that scene. They honestly sounded like they lacked empathy and understanding of the situation; making water puns when going to a flood stricken area. 🙄 Real classy.
The storyline was interesting. It had potential but it felt, again, like it was poorly executed. It was longer than it needed to be. It was lacklustre and boring.
The other M4 seemed OOC, too. Especially Julian! He was acting like Lucio. He wouldn’t act like that. He has some respect and is too anxious and stuff to make himself at home quite like that.
The trip to the magical realms seemed unneeded in the story. I mean, I get why they went….but it didn’t have any sort of effect.
And I really didn’t like how the whole story had no resolution whatsoever. I know a story doesn’t need one, but given this is a tale…..kinda makes sense to have something. Especially if they already did a time jump in said tale.
I have other points I might add later.
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sothischickshe · 1 year
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Truly… what season 3 could have been. Speaking of, what would’ve been your ideal ending for it? 💭
👋👋👋👋👋👋👋😘😘😘😘😘😘😘
I feel like I'm def overly romanticising the potential of/s3 bc my immediate thought is that my ideal s3 would've wrapped up the storylines I found annoying ASAP so I didn't have to suffer through them all the way into s4 😂
I primarily mean the Annie's terrible therapist stuff (literally makes me violent though I quite like how the conclusion underlines how rubbish he is, couldve maybe stomached it better were it not sandwiched btwn annie/Noah & annie/Kevin 🤮🤮🤮🤮) & the hills + the donor family stuff (painfully annoying).
I would include the hitman plot too, at a distant third place, cos it felt very lazy -- as a device for why the girls made no money that season, for provision of 😲twists, and in terms of the characters' motivations (particularly re Ruby & annie, but also Fitz at times) around it.
BUT some of the brio stuff was so angsty & delicious!!! It's deffo a strong contender for fave season generally and brio content specifically for me (in part cos of the 🥺Potential, but also bc s1 2 & 4 are all strong contenders for worst season for me sfgfff).
With the context of s4, I do also think my ~ideal s3 would ~end with setting up some of the s4 stuff -- particularly the existence of nick (who seemed to arrive from planet zorbo suddenly) & the Beth-stan conflict (espec cos otherwise stan's response to Ruby being shot comes across as belated). I also would've liked some more annie-nancy content, s4 made the terrible therapist storyline feel ~relevant to annie & nancy repairing their relationship, so it would have been nice to see that seeded in more 😊
& I think I couldve def enjoyed a true to form season finale of Beth + rio + some man + gun! I did enjoy the resolution of the hitman plot overall (and that brio bar scene was fantastic!) but the execution (of the execution lol) was kinda lacklustre, and didn't really feel particularly in conversation with the s2 (& indeed s1) finale, which I think is a waste.
But mostly my ideal ending to s3 would have been after the number of eps we were supposed to see 😭😭😭😭 and then with a long break before s4 started 😭😭😭😭
espec cos as it is beth & Rio's relationship just seems reset, but like in an unearned way! I appreciate what they were trying to do with the next time empty the clip line in the scavenged s3 finale, but I don't like it much :/ and the bit (in the s4 approximation of the s3 finale) abt rio maybe semi realising the hitman was a hitman seemed to just peter out...? I can totally forgive s4 a bunch of clunkiness cos it had to pick up after AND reset from the aborted prev season but I wish we'd had a dramatic brio semi accidental pair up against a common enemy season finale which got a realllll chance to breathe before eg the (genuinely too silly, and that's ME saying it🤯) brio pool playing scene in s4.
...like ugh can you imagine if they actually got to finally yell @ each other after a season of low energy glaring?! 😭😭😭😭 uNfAiR
Similarly I def appreciate that they chose to leave Ruby & stan in a good place for the cobbled together s3 finale, but it does make the ~retreading in s4 feel pretty 2 steps forwards 1 step back♻️♻️♻️♻️♻️🙃😭
...I feel like this is a v boring answer in essence 😂 but yea I think my ideal s3 ending would have been getting to see the full s3 as it was intended 😭 & even if it sucked, at least I'd be able to judge it on its merits!!!
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victqry · 1 year
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{kim dong-young, twenty-five, he/him} KAINE JANG KIHYUN is a STYGIAN EXECUTIVE (POKEMON RANGER) from the KANTO REGION. they’ve been a stygian member for THREE MONTHS, sometimes you can find them making poké puffs for their team. their partner pokemon is METANG. [elle, 22, she/her, gmt+10, none]
BACKGROUND;
was born in saffron city, with unimpressive parents and a boring childhood
always found it a little difficult to form a connection with others; perhaps they found him too competitive or assertive, but either ways, he figured he didn’t need them too so it all worked out
self-reliant and calm, especially in the most dire of situations, because he knows trusting someone other than himself will only lead to disaster; others were too slow, so he only had himself
his first encounter with team stygian would be through a battle with a grunt, easily defeating him and that’s when he first hears of the team
naturally, his interest was piqued and ends up being recruited as a grunt
was introduced to the workings of the team; lacklustre at best to him at first, but it paid him decently so he wasn’t complaining
he likes the existence of shadow pokemons though; if the other trainers weren’t strong enough to protect their pokemon, then they didn’t deserve them
after a while, he ended up getting really involved in the team’s affairs, mainly the identity of the boss, and realised that he wanted to unmask who citrine really was. but to do that, he would first have to become an executive, then an admin
so, he does what he has to, ends up being promoted to an executive two months later due to his ‘outstanding’ performance and is on the track to becoming an admin soon - as long as he keeps it up, and no one gets in his way, he’ll meet citrine soon, and who knows what might happen after that
PERSONALITY;
might appear carefree or happy-go-lucky to strangers but there’s this sort of unspoken quiet confidence about him (and an undeniable air of dispassion about things that don't involve him)
deep down, he prioritises himself, so while he might entertain you at the start, if you show no use to him, he wouldn’t hesitate to ignore or avoid you
he is usually quite compassionate towards pokemons; it is weak trainers he despises. his mindset is simple: if your pokemon respects and loves you, at the very least, you should train them well so they don't ever get hurt or lose
so, he looks down on trainers who don’t train their pokemon well and as a result, if you end up losing to him, he just might mock or spite you a little (eg. “you don’t deserve your pokemon.” “they’d be better off with me.” “at least i wouldn’t let them get hurt.”)
as for his position in team stygian, he might be new, but the grunts and executives are aware of how fast he has made a name for himself and his steady climb up the ranks. he’s aiming for the top spot everyone, and he’s not afraid to make enemies in order to get that (so watch out)
TEAM;
METANG (STEEL/PSYCHIC) - level 39 STEELIX (STEEL/GROUND) - level 37 LAIRON (STEEL/ROCK) - level 37 SCIZOR (BUG/STEEL) - level 36 SKARMORY (STEEL/FLYING) - level 35
CONNECTIONS;
friends (or somewhat positive relations at the very least): poke puff enthusiasts, someone he can be a mentor too, someone that can mentor him - try to lead him in the right direction y’know, complete opposites but it somehow manages to work
enemies: can be people in team stygian, or just trainers he doesn’t respect, can even be people he accidentally pissed off just by being himself
one-sided: maybe someone he associates himself with because of the good rep you give him, or someone that he finds easy to manipulate for his own benefit
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atissi · 3 years
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and you knew you belonged to the skies not the ground
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mostlymovieswithmax · 3 years
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Movies I watched in July
Once again I’m doing my monthly round-up of movies I’ve watched. This was a good month for the cinema getting back on track and seeing new releases including the new M. Night movie, Old and James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad. Pretty sure Marvel put out a new movie also. I’m hoping that this list can help in guiding a decision about what to watch (or what to avoid) and introduce people to movies they may otherwise not have heard of or bothered to see. These short reviews are my own subjective opinions on each individual movie and maybe a more informal approach to movie criticism can help include others who are just passing through. Here is every film I watched from the 1st to the 31st of July.
Bridesmaids (2011) - 4/10
Off to a good start. I won’t say Bridesmaids is a terrible movie but I don’t think I’m exactly the target audience. As far as I know, this is a beloved comedy but I just can’t get on board with all the boring, juvenile humour; with Maya Rudolph shitting in the street, with Rose Byrne and Kristen Wiig trying to one-up each other at a toast that went on forever, with Melissa McCarthy shitting in a sink… the conflict is so done to death and makes the movie feel unspecial. I do understand the appeal of the film, especially for women in that before this movie the likelihood of seeing something like this, where women play up the more crass and gross side of comedy, was probably few and far between. But the story is very tired and while I did appreciate some moments, namely a couple of decent jokes and some of the more intimate scenes, for the most part it felt like they wanted to corner a more quiet type of line delivery in a way that was supposed to be understated but very funny so as to not rely on over the top body language or musical cues, and it ended up being super dull.
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Spectre (2015) - 7/10
As far as I can tell, a lot of people don’t like this instalment of the James Bond franchise… but I really enjoyed it! I’ve really taken a shine to these Daniel Craig-era Bond movies and while I can’t say any of them are the most amazing thing, I have a lot of fun with them. The biggest problem I have with Spectre is the villain being utterly pointless and uninteresting in basically every way. The idea of every villain Bond has fought before being tied to this one organisation controlled by this one guy is ridiculous, and what makes it worse is that the villain is barely in it! There’s so much that doesn’t come together in this but as it goes, I still had a really good time. Daniel Craig holds the whole thing together; he is excellent as 007 and the main reason I’m up for each of these movies is because of him. Sam Mendes directs again after the previous instalment and for what it’s worth I do think he does a good job with some of the action set pieces and the locations. I’m so ready for No Time To Die.
Shazam (2019) - 7/10
Shazam is a genuinely fun superhero movie that doesn’t take itself seriously at all. I was having a great time throughout and while it could conform to some of the same tropes we’re used to with these kinds of movies, it still remained playful and used the character of Shazam to his fullest potential in a way that showed an understanding of just how silly the idea of a kid who can turn into an adult and shoot lightning out of his hands is.
High School Musical (2006) - 6/10
So as you may or may not know, I co-host a podcast: The Sunday Movie Marathon. It’s a film podcast and every week I get together with my other co-hosts and watch movies. For episode 38, we watched the High School Musical trilogy. This first movie blew me away. I was really surprised with just how much fun I had, and if you want to hear more of my thoughts on the film, please listen to episode 38 of the podcast.
High School Musical 2 (2007) - 4/10
We then jumped into the second and while it’s certainly not as good as its predecessor, there are still some brilliant songs that manage to top the last movie. Again, more of what I have to say can be heard on episode 38 of the podcast.
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High School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008) - 3/10
Senior Year was pretty hard to get through. I don’t remember it being as bad as it was, but then I didn’t really remember it anyway. It did however have one redeeming quality, which you can discover on episode 38 of the podcast.
The Piano Teacher (2001) - 9/10
What the fuuuckkkk. The Piano Teacher is horrendously affecting and I was so upset when it ended, maybe not because it’s not what I wanted but because it’s just so fucking dour and unrelenting. This is the second Haneke movie I’ve seen (after the original Funny Games) and I’m so impressed with how well executed it is. Following a woman who teaches piano, we get a glimpse into the life she lives, how sheltered she is from living with her mother at an age where you’d reasonably expect a person to be living alone or with a partner or friends (even going so far as to be sleeping in the same bed as her), and how repressed she is sexually. It’s clear she’s never experienced any kind of sexual interaction or romantic love with another person, so she goes out of her way to take control and make that happen. The upsetting nature of it comes from just what she does in pursuit of it or as a result of her repression, and what is done to her. It is by no means a movie to recommend to your parents but The Piano Teacher offers so much in terms of the ideas it presents (and I’ll admit there seems to be a lot more going on than I think I picked up on a first go round) about women in modern society, and about the portrayal of sex and expectations of people when it comes to how that is represented in a person’s character depending on their gender. I really enjoyed this movie but it is not for the faint of heart.
Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure (2011) - 1/10
My podcast co-hosts decided it’d be a right laugh to add Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure to this episode and that might have been a fun idea for them because they got to watch it together, but I was just watching it alone. Just a 24-year-old man watching Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure alone and having a miserable time, I might add. But for a short and sweet ramble on what we all thought, please listen to episode 38 of The Sunday Movie Marathon podcast.
Dr. No (1962) - 6/10
A lot of very iffy parts of this movie. A lot of discomfort arising from how black people are portrayed that really didn’t sit right with me. As far as a Bond movie goes, this first instalment in the series is one I’ve seen before and it’s not wholly engaging but it plants the seeds for the rest, with Sean Connery breathing life into the role and making an otherwise lacklustre plot bearable.
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Black Widow (2021) - 6/10
I think probably the best part about Black Widow is the experience I had while watching it. It was great being back in the cinema with a couple of friends in a packed theatre. The energy was high and I’m sure for a lot of people, this is the first time they’d been to the cinema since Endgame. For what it’s worth, I did have a lot of fun with Black Widow and I’ve explained more of what I thought about the movie in episode 39 of the podcast.
The Climb (2020) - 10/10
The Climb was added to Now TV recently and I already knew I loved it, having seen it in an empty cinema theatre last year, which I had an absolute blast with. The Climb details the years of a rocky friendship told over scenes filmed as one-shots. Not only is the presentation something to gawk at, but the performances by the two leads playing these friends with a terrifically dysfunctional dynamic is truly captivating. They’re both trying to figure out their own lives and where one can come across as being rather selfish, the opposite is true in his counterpart, whom everyone loves. This is a truly funny and heartwarming movie with a lot to say about how we choose to live our lives and who we choose to be with. It’s a shame the distributors of The Climb didn’t do a very good job because if not for it being available on Now TV, it would be near impossible to watch without forking out more money than is necessary to purchase a film.
From Russia With Love (1963) - 5/10
The second Bond movie. I thought perhaps I’d change my mind on it with another watch, having seen it for the first time maybe a year ago. But no, it’s still largely boring and it treats women like absolute garbage. From Russia With Love is one of those movies I forget as I watch it, and I was trying very hard (in the middle of the day!) not to fall asleep.
The Good, The Bart, and The Loki (2021) - 1/10
I don't usually talk about the short films I watch but for this I'll make an exception. As we all should know, Disney owns The Simpsons now, through their acquisition of Fox, so, coupled with another of their properties, that being Marvel, they decided to make a six-minute animated film wherein Marvel’s Loki is stranded in Springfield. This felt as though it was a minute long due to the horrendously jarring pacing; it is a movie that feels adamant that it needs to exist, while trying as hard as it can to be over as soon as possible. It serves only to stare the audience directly in the face and say “look, characters from The Simpsons are dressed as Avengers”, shit out three credit scenes, then end before you’ve even processed the atrocity you just bore witness to.
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Russian Ark (2002) - 8/10
For this next episode of the podcast, we watched a few Russian movies, starting with Russian Ark, a film shot completely in one take as the camera moves about a luxurious museum in a first-person perspective as this main character watches what is happening around him, seeing people moving about the place but unable to interact with them, guided only by another man who seems to be just slightly out of his own perception of reality. This is a tremendous feat in filmmaking and more can be heard about what I have to say in episode 39 of The Sunday Movie Marathon podcast.
Ivan’s Childhood (1962) - 7/10
For my own pick of Russian movies to discuss on the podcast, I chose the debut feature from one of my favourite directors, Andrei Tarkovsky. It’s amazing that while this is not his best film by far, Ivan’s Childhood is still such a stellar debut, jumping around in its timeline as it details a child’s experience in the second world war. Again, I do go into more depth in episode 39 of the podcast, so be sure to check that out.
Outlaw (2019) - 1/10
The third movie chosen for this marathon is apparently the fourth Russian LGBTQ+ movie ever made. I’m unsure of the ultimate goal of this movie but what seems to be clear is that it hates the LGBTQ+ community. This is perhaps the worst film we’ve discussed on the podcast to date, so listen to episode 39 to understand exactly why it’s such trash.
Almost Famous (2000) - 7/10
I too love heavy music and also studied journalism so it stands to reason that a movie about a teenager who makes his way onto a band tour, following them through America and interviewing them as they hang out and play shows is going to be a premise that resonates with me. This certainly did. I enjoyed Almost Famous a lot; this kid is living the dream and I was so along for the ride, seeing a lot of myself in what was being portrayed. That said, the story itself is at times a bit by the numbers and I really would’ve been more on board if the visual component was more interesting. For what it is, technically it’s fine enough but nothing in that department ever jumped out at me.
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Minari (2021) - 8/10
It’s crazy that this didn’t get a theatrical run where I live in the UK. It feels as though I complain about film distribution all the time but I really don’t understand the process by which a movie gets no cinematic release and yet, months later will pop up on the front shelf of hmv, taking pride of place. But of course I got the blu-ray straight away. Minari has a lot to say about the immigrant experience, specifically in America as a family comes over from Korea and tries to start a business and make something of themselves. You get to see a lot of what you might not think twice about when you think about immigration: the hardship of coming from a place where you know everyone to somewhere rural and sparsely populated, having to make friends with locals and integrate within the community; the strain it can put on a family and on a marriage where this idea is presented about the importance of making it on your own in order to live and not just survive, while also taking into account why you’re doing it in the first place and the value you place on being part of a family that you decided to make because that was more important than money, than economy, than proving you were good enough to make it in a place that gave you very little advantage from the offset. This concept of the promised land, of the American dream is a construct. There are times when it’s not pretty, when you have no running water, or you’re in debt, or a family member is dying and it just feels like you’ve been dealt as bad a hand as you can get. But it is better to know you’re not facing all that alone.
Roma (2018) - 10/10
This was my recommendation for the podcast episode on Alfonso Cuarón movies. Roma is as beautiful as it is heart-wrenching and I would recommend listening to episode 40 of the podcast to find out more about my thoughts.
An American Werewolf In London (1981) - 8/10
In all fairness, London is enough to make anyone a little crazy at the best of times. An American Werewolf in London showcases some fantastically grotesque effects, akin to something like Carpenter’s The Thing, in showing the dead brought back to life and a horrifically gory transformation scene. Although the film is from the perspective of an American protagonist, directed also by an American, the depiction of British culture and climate is something I’ve not seen many films pull off quite so well, and I was pleasantly surprised at the more comedic tone the film has overall, which is something that works more in its favour than straight horror would.
The Party’s Just Beginning (2018) - 6/10
Karen Gillan’s directorial debut is… pretty good! There are a lot of ideas I like in this movie: a woman living life and through convenient circumstances, is confronted with death in many ways. Gillan obviously knows her homeland as well as she can, imbuing the whole thing with an intensely Scottish vibe (though maybe not in the same vein as something like Trainspotting) that makes it a bit more unique than a more run of the mill movie of this ilk, backed up in no small part by her own main performance. The plot itself is no great diversion from the kind of story I’m used to with these smaller movies and for something that’s trying to include messaging about transgender issues and suicide, it probably could have been handled better or done in a different way.
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Solaris (1972) - 9/10
Another Tarkovsky joint, one I thought I’d revisit to see if there was indeed more to get out of it a second time. Well, it’s no surprise that yes, there was certainly more to get out of it. Solaris is a crazy trip of a movie and I would liken it to Kubrick’s 2001 in terms of how grand the scale of it feels. Yet this is a film that comes across as deeply personal, choosing to focus on a specific character as he goes to a space station to help those on board who are experiencing some kind of emotional crises, only to feel the effects of the planet, Solaris invading his own mind as it has the crew. To many, I can see this lengthy Russian sci-fi being a tad slow but my personal experience is one of deep engagement. Solaris pulls its viewer in a lot of different directions and it is always doing something unexpected in terms of where its narrative goes. There’s a lot to think about with the movie and thankfully it’s no chore to watch again.
Y Tu Mamá También (2001) - 9/10
Another recommendation for the podcast episode on Alfonso Cuarón movies. This is a very relaxed experience, following three young people as they go on a road trip, visit different places and have sex. Listen to episode 40 of The Sunday Movie Marathon podcast for more of my thoughts.
Children of Men (2006) - 10/10
My favourite Cuarón movie, one that never stops being tense as its characters are constantly moving towards the end goal. Set in a future where humans are infertile, the oldest living person is 18, and London is the last city in the world that’s still keeping it together, somewhat. This is masterclass filmmaking. Listen to episode 40 of the podcast for more insights.
Minority Report (2002) - 5/10
I’m really not the biggest fan of Spielberg… Minority Report is an interesting movie in terms of its concept of stopping crimes before they happen by way of prediction, but I just didn’t connect with the heart of it. The colouring is way too overexposed in a way that’s supposed to be eliciting a futuristic vibe but instead feels so early-2000’s in the worst way. My biggest problem with Minority Report is just how long it is, clocking in at two hours and twenty-five minutes which allows for a lot of meandering, all while never quite developing characters enough for you to care about.
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Caché (2005) - 9/10
Oh god! Another Michael Haneke movie! Here we see a couple periodically sent video tapes featuring hours of footage of the outside of their house. The anxiety ratchets up and the mystery gets deeper with every minute. There’s always at least one moment in any of his films that have so far made me realise just how out of my depth I am. Caché is no exception, and I won’t spoil anything here because I think it’s better just to watch the movie and see for yourself. He is a director that wants the audience to know something and that something is never what is explicitly shown at face value; it is pressed into the fabric of the film - plainly evident, yet hidden. Caché is so stupidly clever in displaying its themes and messaging - making reference to the Siene Massacre of 1961 as well as a deeper study of colonialism - and there’s no way to change a single detail of it without risking the Jenga tower crumbling to the ground. It all works in tandem. It is passion and fury and haunting.
Coco (2017) - 7/10
Pixar had a string of around seven forgettable movies before this point so thankfully Coco emerged to show the company still had something good in them. Coco deals a lot with themes of death and legacy, remembering those who are gone in order to preserve them and while its plotting is quite basic and there are certainly moments that either drag or cannot escape the same Pixar formula, most of what the movie has to offer is a lot of fun, with creative, colourful animation and emotional beats that resonate the way they’re supposed to.
Incredibles 2 (2018) - 5/10
Oh, they almost had it! There's a lot here that could have been explored in far more interesting ways. Setting Incredibles 2 directly after the events of the first movie was not a good idea. If it had taken place five or ten years after, the characters could have been in different places in life and it would feel as though they'd actually changed and developed. But instead of trying to be a film that actually cares about its characters and the journeys they go on, a lot of the film is wrestling with the idea that Bob isn't supportive of his wife and Jack-Jack has to fight a raccoon… They have to shoehorn in a villain that in no way compares to the genius of the original. The ending of the original introduces another antagonist that gets wrapped up within this film's first ten minutes, except they don't catch him and he's never mentioned again. It's a real shame because the animation is fantastic and the acting is superb and there are great ideas sprinkled throughout. It just doesn't come together.
Toy Story 4 (2019) - 6/10
I was rather reluctant to watch Toy Story 4 because from the get-go I’m not really here for sequels being made just for the sake of it. Everyone loves Toy Story and making another one is a sure fire way to make money. This is the first time I’ve seen Toy Story 4 and for what it’s worth, I did enjoy it. The animation is immaculate and that alone feels like a huge flex from Pixar who tend to step up the game when it comes to animation in film, despite not having the best track record for films generally at this point. While it was nice to see these characters again, I found a lot of them to be side-lined (namely Buzz) in favour of a story that focuses mainly or entirely on Woody, who I just don’t like as much as in the previous movies. Generally the movie is good and decent enough but there’s no real antagonist and the plot is quite loose… it doesn’t feel as though it needed to be made from a story point of view.
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Onward (2020) - 6/10
And with that I have seen every Pixar movie. And Onward is a fine one to go out on. While I don’t think it compares to the likes of earlier Pixar it’s still pretty fun. Or maybe I’m just a sucker for a medieval setting filled with bright colours and magic! Speaking of which, the animation was super and the medieval quest element is something that hooked me with the film. Again, plot-wise it does feel very familiar and I don’t know, maybe I’m past the point now of expecting Pixar to mix it up where their formula for story-telling is concerned but the movie is quite predictable. Nonetheless, while I’m not rushing back to see Onward I would hardly turn it off or refuse if someone wanted to watch it.
Old (2021) - 3/10
Oh boy! New M. Night movie dropped and my word, was it fun! For more of my thoughts on this… masterpiece (?) of a movie, please direct your attention to episode 41 of The Sunday Movie Marathon podcast.
T2 Trainspotting (2017) - 5/10
Trainspotting is perhaps one of my favourite movies and I had never bothered with the sequel, 20 years on, because the ending of that first movie is so conclusive. T2 felt more an excuse for these guys to get together again and in that, I probably would have preferred a couple of pictures on Twitter of the main cast and director, Danny Boyle having dinner or something. This is a fine movie - very arty in its presentation but meandering and dull in its story that doesn’t offer much in the way of proof that it had to exist.
Taste of Cherry (1997) - 9/10
What makes life worth living? This is a central question and theme of Taste of Cherry, and one that leaves such interpretation not only up to its central character but to the viewer as well. This film got me thinking about times in my life when I truly have had no answer to hard questions. Because it’s hard to convince people of things they are so adamantly against and harder still to rationalise what you believe if you’re not even entirely sure why you believe it in the first place. We are all of us alive and in recognising that, does that make it precious? And if indeed living is not a happy thing, why then should we fight so hard to preserve it? I felt upset as I watched this movie because I’ve been asked these kinds of questions before and it makes me feel stupid when I’m unable to answer. But the only real answer I can give is, everything. And if you can’t see the point then you’re not looking hard enough. Taste of Cherry is beautiful in its exploration of these topics and in its overall presentation, offering some of the best visuals in any movie I’ve seen - fitting for a feature with so much to say about the beauty of life - and an ending that as much pulls the rug out from under you as it does pull you out of the dark and make you realise just how lonely you’ve felt.
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Bones (2001) - 2/10
Snoop Dogg is Jimmy Bones! This film is super funny but I’m not sure it’s trying to be and I really didn’t love it overall. But I do talk more in depth about it in episode 41 of the podcast.
The Duchess (2008) - 5/10
Another recommendation for the podcast. The Duchess was pretty much exactly what I thought it was going to be and there’s a lot to like about it but generally it’s a bit sparse. For more chat on the movie, listen to episode 41 of the podcast.
The Man With One Red Shoe (1985) - 1/10
This was another one for the podcast and man, was it awful. We had to watch it at 1.5x speed towards the end because it just wasn’t getting finished otherwise. To find out more, make sure to listen to episode 41 of the podcast.
The Emperor’s New Groove (2000) - 7/10
Pull the lever, Kronk! Haha! Slays me. I do quite miss this era of Disney, where the animation was hand-drawn and the stories were actually compelling and funny. The Emperor’s New Groove is vibrant, it’s got great characters and memorable moments that will forever be ingrained in the memory of culture. All in all, it’s just a solid flick that doesn’t waste time, developing the standard fall from glory type of arc but smoothly and in an entertaining way.
The Suicide Squad (2021) - 8/10
Oh, bloody hell! They actually made a good one! The Suicide Squad is not only better than the ‘Suicide Squad’ of 2016 in every way, it’s a genuinely great film! This time, James Gunn (director of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy movies) is at the helm and it seems clear that Warner Bros. basically let him do what he wanted with the movie, as it doesn’t seem to bog itself down with the restrictions of a more family-friendly rating. The result of this is a far cleaner, colourful film with a clearer vision that takes from early Vietnam movies and uses that style to craft a superhero/villain movie that differentiates itself among the copious amount of existing films of the genre.      The Suicide Squad wastes very little time, introducing fun, crazy characters we’ve not seen on the big screen before and isn’t worried about killing a whole bunch of them, with standouts being Elba’s Bloodsport, Melchior’s Ratcatcher 2, Stallone’s King Shark (expertly rendered with fantastic visual effects), and Robbie’s returning interpretation of Harley Quinn.      A lot of Gunn’s trademark sense of humour is laced throughout and more often than not, it hits. The audience at the cinema were truly loving this movie and I’ll admit, I was right there with them. This mix of the gritty, gory and absurd is not something that should work as well as it does but the basic premise of the film is already so silly (and boy, do they know it) that it just works! Certainly one of the best DC movies since The Dark Knight and one I’d be more than happy to watch again. This is what the modern comic book movie should be: just balls to the wall fun!
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fellhellion · 2 years
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5, 6, 7, 27 :3c
5) Favourite Golden Deer student and, why?
Honestly as much as I love Claude and Marianne, I think it’s Hilda. I just love her arc and relationship progression with Claude in particular so MUCH! Like man, there is nothing like characters caring for someone far more than they believed possible and that shocking them
6) Favourite Ashen Wolves student, and why?
Hapi! I love her dry sense of humour and her personal conflict regarding not only her past, but the necessity behind her emotional repression.
7) Favourite Church character, and why?
Rhea, absolutely! She’s so complex and interesting and I love thinking about her and how deeply her pain is intwined with the twists the story takes. How her actions continue to echo down into history and how informed they are by that very pain.
27) Character(s) you started out liking but ended up disliking, and why?
I don’t think there’s any characters I dislike per say, just ones I don’t really connect to or find boring. Jeritza sadly fits into both boxes for me. Such an interesting concept underpinning his character with such a lacklustre execution.
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rocketzealot · 3 years
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PERFORMANCE REVIEW Pt 2
“It is as Executive Petrel says,” she said, voice deep and coarse, with much restraint. “We have long been considering your position in Team Rocket, as you well know. The truth is, we are always short on Agents, and once we promote grunts to fill those positions we become short on grunts. That is why people like you are so important. Do you understand?”
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Fred replied with a clipped “yes, ma’am.”
“Good. Team Rocket has mercifully decided not to demote you. Giovanni does not believe in waste, and nor do I. But we also do not tolerate underperformance.” She spoke with a little more vigour, cold green eyes twisting the knife into Fred as he flicked his vision back in her direction.
“As such,” she continued, voice becoming calmer and quieter once again, “we have arranged somewhat of a reshuffle in your duties. Elite Agent Wyatt has informed me that despite your lacklustre numbers, you are a positive representative of the Rocket brand. You will continue to recruit in your own time, more specifically when you are given days without orders. You will be expected to convene with potential recruits as long as you are sleeping under Giovanni’s roof. However, we have agreed that you would be made more useful if you were given more focussed missions.”
Fred listened in carefully, finding himself looking more and more at the Elite Agent, his hands resting on the edge of the table as he leant forward. This seemed to be a life ring… perhaps the last one he would get. To think… almost nothing would change… he had gotten away with—
“In addition to this, we will be assigning you a partner, with a view that he will provide you with much needed focus and motivation during missions. Although he is newly promoted, he is one of our most efficient and obedient Agents, and comes with a plethora of skills that I think it would be generous to say that you could not hope to possess. Although I don’t expect the pair of you to be as friendly as some of our Agents, I expect you to become a unit quickly. No arguments.”
Oh. Well, that wasn’t really so bad. The best Agents came in twos! Butch and Cassidy, Atilla and Hun, Annie and Oakley… Perhaps Fred and his new partner would be just like them. The woman opposite him stared him down intensely. A biro had appeared in her hand whilst Fred had been daydreaming about being famous in the halls of the Rocket base. It was as if she was preparing to record his reaction, especially given her request for no arguments. Fred was in no position to argue. Agent Wyatt had moved behind him to the door. An eyebrow quirked on the face of the Agent whose name he could not remember as she saw the beginnings of an optimistic smile begin to creep onto Fred’s face.
“Very well, invite him in, Lee.” 
Like a school child turning to see who their new classmate would be, with that fizzy mix of apprehension and excitement, Fred shifted in his seat, feet moved around in readiness to get up and shake the hand of his new partner.
Yet his blood froze.
“I believe you are acquainted, but allow me to reintroduce you to Theodore Falsey, your new partner.”
The doorway was occupied by a slender young man, so thin it created the optical illusion of great height. Like Fred, he donned the white uniform given to Agents to differentiate themselves from the rabble. Unlike Fred, he held himself with such an air of respectability, it verged on parody. It was no doubt that the person who stood with his heels clicked together like a good little soldier was Ted. 
As if nothing had changed.
Ted bore the marks of years passed- a little more facial hair, a few more lines under his eyes, less colour in his cheeks- but he seemed the same as ever. That same haughty demeanour, a posture so upright it could have been mistaken for a spine problem. Although, something was different about him, about the way his eyes stared blankly ahead through the lenses of the goggles he seemed to be wearing now. And yet for all the differences in the world, Ted was still there. That was enough. 
Don’t cry.
The heat around Fred’s eyes told him that it was too late for that, though. He spun his head towards the Elite Agent. 
“Th-this… You can’t. I can’t—“
“No arguments, Ellsworth. I expect civility. Or did you really want that demotion that badly?”
Fred didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t move, couldn’t think, let alone speak. Suddenly, it became very clear why Petrel had wanted to clear out so quickly. He didn’t want to have to deal with the messy emotional fallout of this arrangement. Fred gripped the back of the chair to stop him throwing a punch at Ted, whose eyes he felt boring into him from behind. Yet as his fingers sunk into the padding, all he could think about was throwing the chair. The last time he had seen Ted, the only way they had managed to be in the same room together was by virtue of the extreme violence Fred had been able to exert on the once smug scientist. Fred knew about the demotion, but liked to pretend he knew nothing of Ted. He didn’t want anything to do with him, least of all… partnership.
As he stared into the space of the room, things briefly became very, very clear. Fred was underperforming because he was too comfortable in his position. He was so content to be mediocre, he never strove for improvement. Of course, there was the promise of the fabled glory of Team Rocket if he did well. But any manager knew that the one thing more effective than a carrot was a stick. 
And Ted was the stick.
Suddenly, Fred was very mad at Team Rocket… furious. This wasn’t a reshuffling of his responsibilities. This was a punishment. A punishment they wanted to convince him was a favour. He huffed through his nose.
“Your orders will be delivered to you the following morning. Is there going to be a problem? Should I call Executive Petrel all the way back here?”
The Elite Agent leant forward, her biro hovering over an ominous looking box in Fred’s paperwork. He frowned back at her, but his brows instinctively curved backwards into a frightened look. Her eyes met his with the same expressionless glare Ted had often given him when there was no choice… Besides… Fred never really knew how to fight back.
“No, ma’am.”
“Very good. Given your penchant for misplacing and destroying paperwork, I will have your orders given to your new partner. I expect the two of you to organise time to meet up and coordinate. From now on you will report to myself first, Petrel second, under your new code names as Agents Seraph and Nidhogg. Seraph,” she said, giving a pointed look at Fred as she began clearing the desk, “you are to report to Agent Wyatt when convenient, or should he request a report from yourself.”
Folding the file under her arms, she stood tall above Fred. 
“Dismissed.”
Like a clockwork toy, Ted set to, marching out the office at the sound of his command. Fred glared at him, narrowing his eyes as he watched. Something was definitely up with him, but Fred couldn’t put finger on it. Seeing his new superior (whose name he should definitely learn) waiting for him to leave, he reluctantly did as he was told… like a good little Houndour, tail between his legs. 
The Elite Agents followed their juniors out of the office calmly, saluting as they left. Ted returned the salute so fast it could have happened before they started. Ted hadn’t been doing that the last time Fred had been with him. Even so, Fred returned a salute their way, albeit with a distinct lack of enthusiasm. 
“Glory to Rocket,” Agent Wyatt croaked, barging his shoulder into Fred’s as he stalked away. Fred watched the pair leave, fists balling up beside him. Neither of them spoke as they trooped down the corridor, Wyatt pulling out his PokeGear, to flick through what was doubtlessly a barrage of texts from his recruiters, informants and associates, the woman walking straight forward, likely with the intention of offloading Fred’s grotty file. 
Once they had disappeared around a corner, Fred swung his attention to Agent Nidhogg. At the very corners of Ted’s mouth, he was sure he could see the beginnings of a smile, the tightening of cheeks, the pull of lips, the tiny little crevice beginning to form where they met.
Before either man could say a word, Fred had Ted pushed up against the wall. He was too short to lift him off his feet, but had no trouble making Ted scrabble for his balance. He shook and pulled him straight, forcing him to look him in the eye, the taller’s arms halfway up in defence. That was when Fred noticed them.
Ted’s eyes were all wrong. Where he had once had delicate, ice blue eyes, he now had artificial, electric blue eyes, the colour flooding the whole eye. Instead of perpetually full stop sized pupils, thin, pointed slits bisected his eyes. What had he done? This wouldn’t have been the first time Ted messed with his own eyes before… but this was entirely not his style… This was monstrous. 
His rage was dampened with enough fear to make him stop, but Fred didn’t let it make him pity Ted. Not that. Not again. He shook it off, shook Ted.
“We are not friends. We’re not. I don’t know what you did, don’t care— I never wanted to see your ugly mug again, Ted.”
Whilst Fred breathed hot breath, Ted only looked back with that befitting, cold stare. “This is an assignment.”
Ted even sounded different. The same… but different. There was something odd about how he said his consonants. Still, he stared back, so almost expressionless. 
“Bull. SHIT.”
“We have been assigned to work together. I am only doing as I am—”
“BULL. SHIT!”
“… I am only doing as I am asked, as should you. I did not choose this assignment any more than you did.”
Ted’s arms had dropped by his side, limp, unthreatening. But just like a doll dropped in the rain, just because he did not move, it didn’t make him any less frightening. There was every bit of purpose in the way he fell limp as there was in the precise choice of his words.
Fred let go of him with a shove. “Outside of work, I still don’t wanna see your face. Not even on lunch breaks. I don’t even want you to text me.”
Silence hung in the air as Fred swayed away from him, desperate to tear his gaze away from the puzzling form of Ted. The ex-scientist stood patiently, staring unblinkingly at him, lips parted a millimetre. He pulled himself up to his full height, and unstrapped something from his belt. A medium-sized tablet sat in his hand as he calmly entered some details. 
“Tomorrow morning I will relay our orders to you. I have arranged for one of the small office spaces to be ours so that we may convene to discuss how we will proceed at eleven-hundred hours.” 
Without protesting Fred’s assertion, or awaiting protestation of his own, Ted strode off in the opposite direction, Fred aghast.
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falkenscreen · 4 years
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Star Trek: Voyager
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Yes this show ended some time ago; that doesn’t mean that it’s not still underrated.
A relative late convert to Star Trek, this author committed to traversing the Delta Quadrant having finished The Original Series, The Next Generation, Discovery & Picard to date. Deep Space Nine is next; like the Doctor I don’t know anything about this ‘Dominion’ but they seem important and we’ll get there.
Having now finished Voyager, here’s the (spoiler-filled) thoughts of someone who came to the bridge afresh and savoured the light-hearted nature of the show. Yes TNG demanded more attention and the episodes herein that do are generally better, but for relaxed, semi-serialised adventure Voyager is a high point.
We’ll start with the negative and get to the fun stuff.
From the get-go there was a jarring disconnect between the premise and goals of the show. If a ship more advanced than any in the region is travelling really fast in one direction they’re not going to keep running into the same people; better begetting a saga poised for episodic rather than serialised fiction. The writers and audience were evidently a little tired at this point of TNG’s slavish devotion to wrapping everything up in 40-odd minutes so wanted to try variations on a theme; it was the right approach for the time accompanied by a smart premise that didn’t match.
And a stellar premise it was only set to be buoyed by the Federation-Marquis dynamic. Also partly squandered, corresponding grounds for strong tension and stories were left by the wayside – characterised by Chakotay’s ill-established, apparently immediate and seemingly endless trust in Janeway; together major failings of the show.
On continuity, and just so it’s out of the way; no they don’t show it but it’s clear the crew just manufactured more photon torpedoes like they did so much else.
Commencing with one of the best episodes, there is rarely a subsequent moment as character-defining as Janeway destroying the array. Don’t get me wrong, Kate Mulgrew is great, but she alike Kirk and Picard are, as fleshed out as they become, for stretches bare variations on a tired theme; young headstrong hotshot dedicates their life to the stars to become a reasoned, seasoned Commander. ‘Tapestry’ did it best and there was no need to explore this further.
Voyager had a general problem with characters that took several seasons to grow; it was a long time before Neelix stopped being grating and his earnestness became endearing. There is too very little you can relay about Tuvak beyond his being a Vulcan and a little sardonic, or Harry besides his yearning for advancement or Chakotay aside his membership of the Marquis and focus on his cultural background.
The stand-out worst episode of the entire show was Chakotay finding out that the Sky Spirits central to his people’s religion were actually from the Delta Quadrant; you can garner Robert Beltran’s clear ambivalence (at best) to such material. This author is aware of the significant tension between the actor and others on set; I can understand the frustration at a lead cast member belittling the series in public but the directions and emphasis the character took in later seasons was something else, as were the music cues whenever his or some others’ cultures came up.
Star Trek, and notably The Original Series, is often (but not always) shrewd for both telling stories addressing the place of culture, religion and community in people’s lives while not overly if at all drawing attention to particular characters’ backgrounds. To Beltran’s credit, he only made the disaffection perceptible on screen in the episodes that were of poor taste, as opposed to the ones that were just bad. There are many lousy episodes of The Original Series but what near always makes it enjoyable is Shatner et al’s absolute commitment to the bit. One of the very worst episodes of Voyager is the one where Harry is lead to believe that he’s actually from a planet in the Delta Quadrant full of attractive women; yet no one in Star Trek ever needs to look bored reading their lines. There are good ones and bad ones and we’re along for the whole ride.
There’s also that one where Tom and the Captain turn into salamanders, start life on a random planet and somehow transform back into their usual selves with these shenanigans never brought up again. Yeah that was awful but it was preceded by a generally decent few acts centred on exceeding warp limits; reputation aside it wasn’t quite down there.
On Alpha Quadrant folks being in the Delta Quadrant, as much as I missed the Klingons they did not need to rock up latently and near the very end; there were plenty of better ways to give B’Elanna an arc. One of the more interesting characters, she offered a variation on Worf’s overwhelming pride as a Klingon, though she barely got enough episodes to shine and these were predominantly featured much later on. And when the show stopped pretending Tom was the cocky pilot we’ve seen dozens of times before he too managed to get a whole lot more interesting.
It would have made a lot more sense for McNeill to just directly continue his character from TNG’s ‘The First Duty;’ alas.
Also welcome were the insights into the Borg; even if they became a lot less eerie it was great to learn that much more about them, though nothing, save the introduction of Seven, bettered the recuperating drones who were the ship’s first Borg encounter. The Borg children were also very funny (the related Voyager pick-ups in Picard were excellent) and should have stayed on the ship longer so Seven could say more things like “fun will now commence;” she can only say “Naomi Wildman” deadpan, as good as it was, so many times.
Heralded by such a superb actress, Seven and the Doctor thrillingly shared dual arcs akin but distinct to Data’s and each other’s, permitting us to relish their gradual growth and revel in their leaps forward. Seven’s narrowing down of eligible crewmen, unlike Chakotay’s later courting, was a particular highlight, as was her month of isolation when the crew were in stasis and the one where the Doctor overtook her node.
The Doctor however emerges the best character, far and above all others save the near as interesting Seven. Picardo’s charisma and stage presence, well-befitting an exaggeratedly humanistic, bombastic piece of programming, only propelled the most relatable arcs in the series; his desire to fit in and, as any, make a contribution. The Doctor’s opening number in ‘Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy,’ but one occasion where Picardo’s vocal abilities were graciously integrated into the series, by this author’s judgement is the funniest sequence in seven seasons.
‘Message in a Bottle’ with the Doctor centre was too among the very best of the series. Mining any opportunity for comedy we can nonetheless be grateful, alike TNG, that they kept the bald jokes to about one per season.
As asides, it was lovely to see Reginald Barclay return and realise his aspirations in one of the best and most heart-warming episodes of the saga, while the singular and very obvious inspiration one episode draws from Predator proved amusing for just being so unabashed.  
‘Scorpion’ was amazing as was anything to do with Species 8472. Captain Proton, acknowledging the entire franchise’s schlocky roots, was a definite recurring highlight, with Mulgrew in one installment clearly having no end of fun alike the cast’s enjoyable turns in late 90’s Los Angeles alongside Sarah Silverman. Speaking of guest stars, seeing The Rock was a nice surprise though with hindsight they may never have cast him given Star Trek shrewdly chose to not have celebrity appearances overshadow the show. But hey, they can’t see the future; at least cleverly opting to obscure Jason Alexander in piles of costuming.
‘Year of Hell’ is good, but the premise befitted an entire season and alike the lacklustre finale nothing really matters (with some well-executed exceptions) if you can just go back in or erase time. There were many, many episodes that shouldn’t have been contained within forty minutes and deserved longer-form devotion, ala ‘30 Days.’ ‘Timeless’was a much better (and unusually technically-focused) variation on the aforementioned themes and it was fun to catch Geordi, as it was Deanna and especially Sulu. ‘The Omega Directive’ was cool; ‘The Thaw’ was great.
The fable-esque nature of the franchise has always been enjoyable and digestible given the show is partially aimed at kids, though there are episodes where it’s just a little too direct, and characters take a little too much pause. ‘Alice,’ the one where Tom almost cheats with his ship as an overly obvious parallel about why you shouldn’t have sex with other people if you have a girlfriend, if a good lesson, in execution was a tad much.
On reflection this author was surprised to discover some of the least generally favoured episodes, among them the Fairhaven double. It may be my great personal affection for Ireland but it makes perfect sense that given the time available this sort of world would be created and characters might pursue holo-relationships, a theme underexplored in Voyager yet still covered to great effect. The established technical deficiencies of holo-technology in such regular use should not come as a surprise when they recur.  
The one where Kes comes back was actually a later highlight; her character was never very well handled and no it wasn’t that blast off into the sunset but sometimes old friends lose their way and it’s the job of old friends to set them on the right path.
Most surprising was the dislike directed at ‘Tuvix.’ The difference between Voyager and much heavier sci-fi is that herein characters make a lot of decisions that are hard, not ones that are difficult. The destruction of the array was devastating but not morally questionable within the confines of the show. As a tangent, you could argue that had Janeway made the decision to return to the Alpha Quadrant at the beginning of the series that it would have been the morally correct decision given that, as we see in ‘Hope and Fear,’ another highlight, the ship would not otherwise have been a factor in much disorder and destruction. The show was not however so expansive philosophically as to greatly tread such ground as the franchise otherwise managed in the likes of ‘City on the Edge of Forever.’
In ‘Tuvix’ Janeway, a figure, like Chakotay, who often shifted characterisation to fit the requirements of any given story, was faced with a difficult decision with no easy moral out nor ethically unquestionable approach. It was a refreshing change and correspondingly dark denouement to boot apparent in the likes of ‘Latent Image,’ another fine instalment with the Doctor.
‘Eye of the Needle,’ the only episode this author has watched twice to date and a deeply empathetic early high point, save ‘Balance of Terror’ is the best treatment of the guarded but necessarily relatable Romulans (I haven’t seen all the movies!). ‘The Void’ bookends the show as a later stand out while the in respects not dissimilar ‘Night’ bears one of the darkest challenges and finest, most resonant endings.
This brings us to the ‘best episode;’ one featured regularly in top ten lists but seemingly not a very favourite.
‘Blink of an Eye’ is everything that is exceptional and aspirational about Star Trek. Stranded in the stratosphere of a planet where time passes with greater rapidity, the curious presence of Voyager in the skies begins to influence the society to the point where the inhabitants develop space travel to face the spectre.
A commentary on the Prime Directive as deft as any and a relatively novel variation on both the time travel and petri dish tropes resplendent throughout sci-fi and Star Trek, the episode is also a fabulous meta-commentary on the place of the franchise in popular culture much less crude than Janeway bemoaning the Doctor’s fleeting interplanetary fans’ obsession with every aspect of his personal life. Incorporating a fair bit more science than is typically par, the astronaut’s moving decision to help them, as with his staring into the heavens as Voyager finally departs, speaks to the selfless ethos and sense of overwhelming curiosity so intrinsic to the most basic lore of Star Trek, the most beloved episodes and all that Gene Roddenberry best achieved.
It’s also an amazing meditation on first contact principles and pitfalls which unlike many episodes doesn’t borrow story bones from TNG.
A more than welcome reprieve from a pandemic, I didn’t spend as long in the Delta Quadrant as the crew but for what I did I was glad to relish with them.
Star Trek: Voyager is now streaming on Netflix
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mautadite · 4 years
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may book round up
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24 books this month, a pretty good stack. even though i’m working from home i keep expecting work to swamp me and leave me with no reading time but... that hasn’t happened yet? so, good.
silver moon - catherine lundoff ⭐️⭐️⭐️ a paranormal novel about a small town in which certain women who reach the age of menopause find another change happening to their bodies. i.e. they become werewolves. i fucking adored this concept and there was f/f romance, but the execution and the writing was sadly pretty boring.
no-no boy - john okada ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ post-wwii, following a young japanese american man who was just released from prison. called a no-no boy because like all other japanese men at the time, he was asked two questions: will you serve in the armed forces and swear loyalty to the us? he answered no to both questions and was detained. the novel follows him grappling with that decision after the war, looks into his friends, family life, race relations, and what it’s like living in a country that despises you. enjoyed it a lot.
the husband gambit - l.a. witt ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ the kind of tropey romance nonsense that i live for. contemporary m/m slow burn fake marriage between a struggling actor, and the son of a famous hollywood producer. there were some meh parts (like, the plotting and the reasoning behind why they had to get fake married was like... are you SURE marriage is the best way to fix this) but i really liked it for the romance and the tropes.
drive your plow over the bones of the dead - olga tocarczuk ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ contemporary polish mystery fiction, following an old woman living in a secluded community in the woods, when poachers and prominent hunters begin turning up dead. really interesting writing and format, and a really excellent protagonist. not sure how much i liked the actual mystery.
the babysitter - jack harbon ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ quick and dirty m/m romance, a literature-loving babysitter falls for the divorced father of the kid he babysits. pretty fun.
zipper mouth - laurie weeks ⭐️⭐️⭐️ contemporary fiction that follows a queer, mentally ill woman as she hurdles through life, unrequited love, jobs, and lots of drugs. i enjoyed the themes when there was a coherent one, but i really didn’t gel with the style. i guess it was trying to be stream of consciousness, which i have read and enjoyed in the past. but this didn’t do it for me. interesting tho, and honestly, i just might not have been the audience for it.
spirits abroad - zen cho ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ a PHENOMENAL collection of stories drawing inspiration from malaysian spirits, culture and folklore. absolutely loved it, fave read of the month for sure. loved the use of language and dialect, and the writing was simple and precise and wonderful. and there were some great f/f stories in here. 
a cat, a man and two women - junichiro tanizaki ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ the setting: 1920s japan. the characters: lily, a fat tortoiseshell. shozo, her lazy, well-meaning, but ineffectual cat-dad. fukuko, his hot young former mistress, current wife. shinako, his strong-willed, slightly bitter ex-wife. the plot: shinako decides, HEY ACTUALLY FUCK YOU KEEP YOUR HOT WIFE BUT I WANT THE CAT. a great novella about loneliness and comeuppance and marriage. the best part was the cat lol.
the terracotta bride - zen cho ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ really interesting novella about a young dead woman living in chinese hell. she’s married, and her husband has three wives. the first: estranged, conniving, distant. the second: herself, unwilling but resigned. the third: newly arrived, and made out of terracotta. very interesting novella, beautifully written, grim but hopeful, f/f romance on the side.
king and the dragonflies - kacen callender ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ wonderful queer children/YA book about family, grief, racism, coming to know yourself and also accepting yourself. contemporary, but it almost FEELS like a fantasy/magical realism book. 
orphan number eight - kim alkemade ⭐️⭐️⭐️ a novel about an orphaned woman coming to terms with experiments done on her as a child, when she encounters the doctor who performed said experiments, dying in a nursing home. the writing in this was pretty so-so, did a lot of head-hopping which is my biggest pet peeve. i liked the concept, but the plot and the follow through were meh. loved that the main character was a lesbian though, and some of the writing was great.
firm hand - nora phoenix ⭐️⭐️ meh... not for me. m/m contemporary romance following a guy recovering from the car crash that killed his best friend, and his best friend’s son. it went some places that i’m just not up for, lol.
meet cute club - jack harbon ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ REALLY adorable m/m romance, following a dorky, earnest romance novel lover, and the new cashier at his favourite book store. they end up trying to revive the main characters struggling book club, and falling in love along the way. very fun and sweet.
mrs. mix up - candice harper ⭐️⭐️ the concept sounded so so cute: an f/f romance about two librarians with similar last names that go to a library convention and the staff mistakenly thinks they’re married and book them into one room. but the writing and chemistry were lacklustre and it was extremely poorly edited. it’s a shame, i could have liked this.
mine - kim hartfield ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ a sexy f/f romance that i liked a LOT, about a young woman who after a traumatic event in her life decides to quit her job and go volunteer on a farm in the middle of nowhere. she ends up falling for her sexy lesbian farmer boss. it got deep in some areas i wasn’t really expecting it to, though it was a tad... idk, preachy? and the conflict at the end was annoying. enjoyed it a bunch tho.
the hobbit - j.r.r. tolkien ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ nth reread! i’ve been listening to this on audiobook around bedtime since like... march, i think, it’s just such a comfort read for me.
the knight and the necromancer 1-3 - a.h. lee ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ a very solidly good fantasy m/m romance series, about a young prince and a necromancer in a war against an invading sorcerer. sorta enemies to lovers? the three books span their relationship and the war, and though it was only a few weeks in time, it didn’t feel insta-lovey at all. liked it a lot.
the fake game - kim hartfield ⭐️⭐️⭐️ contemporary f/f fake dating office romance! pretty cute; didn’t blow me away but i solidly liked most of it.
what the wind knows - amy harbon ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ historical time travel romance centred around the aftermath of the ireland easter rising. i spend so much time reading solidly gay stuff that it’s so weird reading things where the existence of queer ppl isn’t even acknowledged lol. anyway this was pretty good, i liked it mostly for the historical facts and aspects, but the romance was pretty touching too.
the golem of mala lubovnya - kim fielding ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ LOVELY m/m romance in a small jewish community between a newly created golem and a stonemason. lovely writing and atmosphere and characters. i had my nitpicks with the resolution but holy heck i’m so happy with this.
the electric heir - victoria lee ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ the second part of a queer YA duo-logy that i started earlier this year, set in a future dystopian magic-riddled US, dealing with abuse and trauma and survivors. extremely difficult to read, almost unenjoyable at times (because god these kids go through so much) but very very good.
first everything - kim hartfield ⭐️⭐️ aha, possibly my last try with this author, though i liked the first book i read by her so much i might read one more! f/f romance between a journalist and a fictional first daughter (who’s also like, a domme, lol). the plot was fine but a lot of the character stuff and the shitty parent stuff really bothered me.
and that was may! for june i’ll... read lots of queer stuff, but i mean i do that every month. i also want to try to read less romance, more thriller and historical and just general contemporary? i feel like i say that all the time, but i’ll try. (though i did just get my first ever advanced reader copy from netgalley and it’s f/f romance, so... exciting!) currently reading the 7 deaths and evelyn hardcastle, a thriller. pretty okay so far.
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chillyravenart · 5 years
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You mentioned you might do a post on the outfits you hated the most? Not to pole the bear too much but I would love to hear your opinion! I love talking costumes on the show.
Ok I hope you’re ready, because I was largely very unimpressed with a lot of the outfits on the show- several of these are truly terrible, and several are just too repetitive and boring, make of that what you will. Whilst I’m glad we didn’t get typical medieval reenactment attire (and skimpy hose lmao) and I am appreciative of the unique twist they tried to give the clothing on GoT, a lot of it was very lacklustre and boring and should have stayed as curtains or sofa fabric.
A wise man once said, “Fantasy is silver and scarlet, indigo and azure, obsidian veined with gold and lapis lazuli. Reality is plywood and plastic, done up in mud brown and olive drab.” Unfortunately we got a LOT of drab.
 Again this is just my personal opinion, if anyone liked any of these outfits, I’m glad you could find some joy from all the misery. Its going to be a long post so I’ve added a ‘read more’ break, but I doubt it will work because Tumblr likes torturing us. Right, off we trot!
1. I have to mention this one first because I fucking hated it so much lmao. Basic, dull, blue on blue, awful heavy cape for the climate, plain boring sick of it haha I won’t linger, I have a lot to get through.
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2. I’m going to bunch these all together because these dresses were all awful. When I was in Year 8 we had a Design & Textiles class and I remember sewing something equally misshapen and sack-like. long story short, it ended up in the bin. What the fuck was that neckline, lord it turned my stomach. (This ghastly neckline will make several reappearances, rest assured).
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3. Same goes for Catelyn, her dresses were drab and dire (no pun intended) and the neckline made me want to kill myself. She just looked like a frumpy old school teacher, not the wife of the Warden of the North. ( I did like the fur detail on the sleeves of the first dress, however the main body of the dress itself is very dull)
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4. Shit dresses seemed to be a trend for the Tully sisters, and my God, Lysa’s were no better. I expected better from the Arryn seamstresses. What is it with the heavy collars and same fucking drapey arms???
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5. Really wasn’t a fan of Arya’s “on the run” outfit, it looked moldy and vile and I know she’s meant to be an impoverished urchin but I’d rather it was a plain tunic/jerkin combo that this rotten mess. And that fucking awful neckline again.
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6. Ok so Margaery had some overall nice outfits, but what was this fucking catastrophe? Was Olenna Tyrell away from home the day they commissioned this tragedy? She looked like a lampshade- or as @naomimakesart put it a ‘soda-can’.
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7. This deserved a separate post because after leaving the South to head up North, Sansa clearly couldn’t find a decent dress designer, and I don’t blame her. It’s the North remember? Her wedding dress was a cross between an anaemic peanut and a marshmallow, the neckline, the sleeves- vomitous! And her Winterfell dress was no better. The Boltons probably had shit tailors.
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8. Look I know Jon was in the middle of a war but that’s no excuse to wear a ratty old surcoat nicked off a decaying corpse. No excuse. You are the Warden of the North Jonathan! 
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9. Let’s do Dany again. I’ve said time and time again that if anyone deserved to be dressed in silken grandeur with embellishments and veils and jewels and intricate bodices, then it was Daenerys fucking Targaryen, but instead we got this plain, curtain-like shroud. Why is the material so heavy and thick AND UNADORNED???? Boring boring boring, yawn, next.
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10. Did they seriously lack for creativity when it came to Dany? Why were all her outfits cut from the same cloth/template? Why did she have massive shoulder pads like an 80s businesswoman? Why did they dress her in the drab habit of a nun???? Why can I upholster my sofa in that same fucking fabric, are DFS in breach of copyright here????? So boring, so homogeneous, so fucking disappointing. Not to mention the pukesome hemline and dreary shade of charcoal- where was the pitch black and vivid scarlet combo I dreamt of???? Oh but it had red detailing- bitch where???? Can’t see a thing without a magnifying glass!
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11. I’m not done, you all asked for this haha. It pains me to dredge up this memory, especially when I’ve spent every moment since season 7 aired trying to expunge it from my mind. What. In. The. Name. Of. Fuck. Was. This. Shit? I’m not even going to talk about the casting choices or the wig, I won’t, you can’t make me, but why in Aegon’s name was he wearing an old potato sack and she a Forever 21 2017 summer collection dress the colour of snot? Someone explain this to me right this minute. And what is that wrapped all around it? Did someone make that from papier-mâché??? HEINOUS.
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12. The Sand Snakes. Oh the Sand Snakes. Poor girls. Done so so so dirty it makes a wartime latrine look sanitary. What the fuck were they wearing? Where were the elaborate outfits Oberyn’s daughters dressed in (bar Obara ok)???? What is this mess????
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13. Erm so I know Euron was a bit of a joke but I didn’t expect him to dress like a washed-up Alice Cooper fanboy. Then again none of the Greyjoys had decent outfits and travelling all around the world surely didn’t improve Euron’s dress sense either. Next!
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14. Now I know people loved Dany’s fur coat, however I was not one of those people. Fine, I was willing to endure it the first time, notwithstanding the fact that she was swamped in it yet again and it’s a good thing Em is adorable and gorgeous otherwise she would have looked like an albino hamster, but why in heaven’s name was the design recycled so often and so unvaried? Furry stripes and shoulder pads folks! Oh adding red to the stripes was a great touch was it? Groundbreaking! It all looks the same, in fact the striped leather coat looked like the fur one after it had been scalded and plucked. Yes I said what I said.
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15. I don’t usually rant but lately, I’ve felt the need to get things off my chest. And so I have to add this monstrosity. The hair looks like someone coiled an old hemp rope and pinned it to her head, and the dress, good god the dress is so fucking ugly???? Easily the worst thing Cersei’s ever worn, good thing her gowns improved in the later seasons because holy shit this dress was as grim as the execution itself.
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16. Last but not least, this leather coat was ugly and I hated it. So glad we never saw it again after season 1. I’ll add here that the men were all given the same jerkin/surcoat combo with pants and boots and it became very boring after a while. No variance, no style. The only ones with swag were Joff and Oberyn, and dare I say it even Littlefinger’s coats were better than the recycled swill we got with the others.
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And that concludes this shitshow. I know we’ve been slating D&D’s writing and the shit plot and awful direction the show took but the costumes were always so underwhelming for me. I expected colour and variety and texture from a fantasy/pseudo-medieval setting, not my grandma’s curtains. And the black emo phase was just laughable, but clearly it reflected the deep sense of mourning and tragedy that befitted the end of this memorable show. Sigh. Thank you for bearing with me. I’ve left LOADS of outfits out FYI but you get the gist haha.
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existential-fox · 4 years
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It’s a Remake not a Remaster
Final Fantasy VII Remake is not Final Fantasy VII.
This is a significant fact that will influence how you experience the game.
I understand how people feel however as I was, and still am to some extent, one of them. When I first heard that the game was in development, and especially when I heard that it would be in parts, I had serious, serious doubts. Despite my fondness for XIII that game is a mess and its sequels do little to amend its flaws. XV I have ranted many, many times about as being a massive disappointment to me in its story telling, world building, and character development. The game play was also woefully disappointing.
The recent Final Fantasy entries didn’t fill me with confidence. And then I played the original again earlier this year and found what I now consider a masterpiece of gaming history.
So I when I decided to buy FFVII Remake I had to wonder if I was leading myself to disappointment again.
What I found was that FFVII Remake is so much better than it has any right to be.
I’m not sure how they did it but they actually managed to deliver a game that feels like a worthy successor to the original. 
But that doesn’t mean it is perfect. Oh no...its not perfect at all. When I say ‘is so much better than it has any right to be’ I am also saying that the overall package manages to be ultimately satisfying despite its many, many flaws. Its frankly ridiculous that I can see so much wrong with a game and yet still look back fondly on it without a hint of regret at my purchase. Weird.
Lets start with graphics because they’re objectively easier to review.
Graphics- In some ways I think the graphics are the perfect representation of the game’s overall feel. Because there are so many beautiful moments- the main characters are stunning, the cut-scenes are polished and smooth, the battle scenes and executions are breath taking and spit like an energetic fire and then....you see a NPC. Or you see an ugly textured background. Or you look down at what should be an awe inspiring sight of the slums miles below and yet all you see is a fixed ugly image that couldn’t possibly be anything but a badly glued on wallpaper for your horizon. I don’t get it. I really don’t. Because this game is beautiful and yet if you’re not a main character you’re reduced to looking like someone modelled your face off a cardboard box. This doesn’t take away from the amazing beauty of scenes like Aerith’s house or the colourful energy of Wall Street but it does make you scratch your head and go ‘huh?’.
Music- Every single track that has been taken from original FFVII and remade into a fresh take is amazing. I love that music is dynamic and slides into battle music as you encounter an enemy, and I also love that it will slide back into a more peaceful tune as you emerge in triumph from the scrap. The boss battles are to die for as well- Scorpion Sentinel was my first experience as I played the Demo like everyone else, and it hooked me straight away. The refreshed soundtrack slams.
And then there are the other tracks.Which apart from Hollow Skies (and its accompanying vocal track) are a bit lacklustre. There were moments like the Bombing Mission where I was bobbing along to the music as I made my way through the level. This never happened with the added tracks. I also hate Wall Street’s new track though I appreciate how it changes depending on where you are in the town. They had a perfectly good track already for it and yet... *sigh* Moving on...
Gameplay- Probably my number one surprise from this game, and possibly my favourite thing about the game, is the gameplay. It’s so well done. They went from XV which was boring and involved little to no strategy, and turned it around so fights and bosses actually made you think and rely on your different character’s strengths. I love using every single one of the characters because every single one of the four playable characters is a different experience and with unique skills you will need in different fights. Cloud is a counter hitter with strong sweeping attacks, Barrett is a ranged tank. Tifa is a hard hitting speedster, and Aerith is a powerful mage and healer. I liked that the boss battles often pushed you to discover what could be done with each character, and I liked that none of them felt useless or underused despite everyone but Cloud disappearing for chunks of the story. I also adore what they did with the Materia system, updating it for the more active gameplay while still keeping its roots intact. I like that you can update weapons and learn skills from them. I like that each character has a different ability unique to them, and that their skills reflect their playstyle. I think the majority of the bosses are great and I think whoever was responsible for the game play really knocked it out of the park big time as this is the best battle system I think Final Fantasy has ever had.
However- the camera is sometimes crap when you get shoved in a corner, the lock on is disastrous in moments as it jumps around with its own mind on who you should attack, and aerial combat needs fixing. I appreciate that you’re supposed to use Barrett or Aerith for aerial combat but: 1) They aren’t always with you 2) If you use Blizzard or Aero spells they are so slow that the enemy has usually flown away by the time they hit 3) Aerial enemies are way too fast for something so difficult to hit.
Those are my only complaints by the way. 
Characters- I think in a lot of ways this is what Remake really sells itself on. The extended story of Midgar allows you to get to know these characters and really feel them as people before the later events happen. The time given to them allows you to understand Avalanche and their motives as well as learn more about the world around you that they exist in. I want to tell you that of the main cast there was a weak link but I actually don’t think there is at this stage. They feel like they are exactly where they need to be.
I think if you didn’t know the original story Cloud could come off a little too much like ‘stoic hardass Soldier’ but tbh that’s hilarious to me because that’s how he wants people to perceive him. And, while fleeting and few the game gives you moments where Cloud doesn’t live up to that image. Cloud is a very broken boy and it is shown in his inability to understand Aerith’s high fives, his inability to understand how to hug someone, in his moment with Biggs in chapter 12 (which honestly nearly broken me most out of the ENTIRE game), and how he reacts to Rufus in the end. And Cloud does develop but the game doesn’t make a song and dance about it. Cloud holds on so tightly to his ‘I’m out for myself’ mentality but during the game- with these small moments- he eventually learns to trust and rely on others, and in turn stand up for them when he faces Rufus on the Shinra building. I honestly love Cloud because he really flips his character archetype on its head in the original game, and its starting to show slowly in this one too. 
Tifa, Barrett, and Aerith are all good too. On the opposite scale to Cloud, I do feel like Barrett could do with a bit more subtley. It would bring so much more to his character. I mean obviously I know he’s an angry dude and I also know why that it is but sometimes his lines felt  just a bit too hammy and over-dramatic to me. It was when he was worrying about Marlene and the other members of Avalanche that I felt he was at his best. Tifa’s great because the game shows her conflict and her guilt, while also hinting early at how she tends to keep her feelings and worries inside rather than voicing them. She also felt mature and just...like a normal person which is weird when talking about a JPRG. Aerith is...look Aerith, Cloud and Nanaki are my faves after this game. Aerith was perfectly done with all her sass, cunning, and inner loneliness intact. I also ship Cloud/Aerith < < though I can see why there’s such contention since there is a strong case for Cloud/Tifa too. I just like tragic stuff ok?
The side characters- Jessie, Biggs, Wedge, Nanaki (sadly), Marlene, Reeve etc. etc. were all fine for what they were. Though I wish Japan would stop with making fat characters a constant food/hungry joke. Wedge was actually a rather admirable character in the end but his introduction wasn’t great.
Story- I’ll just say straight up that this game has serious pacing issues. I don’t think it kills the main story but sometimes it kills the build up of story beats. The main villain of this piece is Hojo’s lab. I wish this was an added dungeon you could explore end game or something because I actually quite liked it for the introduction of Nanaki as an AI party member, being able to use all four characters in different scenarios, and the horror game like exploration of Hojo’s experiments. But oh boy...does it kill the pacing between freeing Aerith and following the trail of blood to President Shinra’s office. I literally don’t know why they scrapped the four of them being locked in cells and waking up to the cell door unlocked. If there is one thing I hate about this game its that they got rid of that scene build up. It was perfect in the original game...why would you...? 
The other thing that bothers me is Sephiroth. I got sick of seeing his pasty thin face pop up everywhere. I never liked the guy in the original but I could at least appreciate the mystery the game built up around him and not being able to predict when he would show up next. But no...if Cloud starts walking slowly and tense music starts playing you will be sure to see him in this one. I feel it ruins a lot of what made him an antagonist. Not to mention the ending where he starts babbling nonsense at you like he’s from Kingdom Hearts. I kind of liked that in the original he didn’t give a shit about Cloud or who he was because it added a lot to Cloud as a character but all he wants to do in this one is jump out of corners and freak the poor boy out.
I like chapter four though. Weirdly I feel like an arbiter of fate because I’m really fond of what they did with the story as long as it didn’t upset the beats of the original. Adding development to Jessie/Biggs/Wedge was fine. Adding conflict to Tifa’s feelings on Avalanche was fine. Playing as Aerith finding Marlene and finding out how she got her to her house was fine. I just don’t like how the game often bloated itself in moments that needed to be faster paced, or changed scenes in a way that made them lose a lot of their significance.
I’m okay with the ending weirdly though.I thought the fights were a bit ridiculous but I understood the message. I think the thing about Remake is it doesn’t want to be VII. It wants to be something new and exploratory. And it already has done that in a lot of ways...I just hope it follows that with the strength of the character writing and not with the haphazard pacing that pads this game. I think it could do a lot of great things to be honest- expand on Wutai and the war, look more deeply into Cosmo Canyon’s background, give Avalanche more of a presence after leaving Midgar, learn more about Aerith’s mum and her materia etc. etc. I actually took the ending as an opportunity for this rather than an off the rails experiment into noman’s land. It will be the same story but with a chance at new experiences and encounters. 
As Aerith says ‘I already miss the steel sky’. We all miss VII and the wonderful memories it gave us but it will always be there waiting for us. Remake is a chance for exploring new ground, learning more about the characters, and potentially widening the plot of what VII left behind. There is a lot of doubt in me moving forward. The second game could be a disaster in story but...I’m willing to give it a chance because this first game was ultimately a game that didn’t disappoint me. 
Perhaps its because it reminds me quite a bit of Cloud. By the end of the game it wasn’t selling itself on its strong lineage anymore, it was brave enough to step forward and ask us to trust it with the daunting task of developing into its own skin. 
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mechabones · 5 years
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Alright, we've done our chanting, we've done our screaming. Who do we need to badger for some good Sixty content? It feels like we've done the summoning ritual, from what depth must the demon ascend to give us more Sixty? You're our shining light in this, lead the way!
I am the mess crawling from the deep dark depths of my Reed900 cave just to talk about yet another RK brother.
So here me out, if you want fics with Sixty in, I’ll phckin do it. I already plan on writing him into my Mafia AU somewhere. ((Havent even written that fic up yet but not the point))
I’m currently on a roadtrip so apologies if this is a liiittle lacklustre-
But, for now? So, @thegodbucky came up with this amazing idea that I haven’t stopped thinking about; if Connor plays with a coin & Nines has a butterfly knife then Sixty has playing cards.
Wanna know what’s right up my alley? Playing cards with razor sharp edges.
An android fuelled by angst, ever looking unimpressed, works alongside Captain Allen with the FBI, Sixty is nothing if not loyal to Allen. A henchmen of sorts. The captain says shoot? Sixty has already killed the man before the captain has even had time to finish his sentence.
Zero remorse. No tolerance for bullshit & his patience next to none. Talking with Sixty gives the same feeling as walking on thin ice. As if you’re playing with fire while doused in gasoline.
Unlike his older brother, Connor, he has no care for if humans are hurt. Whether it be collateral damage or not, they mean nothing to him. They are beneath him.
He seems to find it easier to speak to Nines than Connor due to their mutual distaste in people. Although Sixty doesn’t quite understand Nines’ soft spot for Detective Reed, he’s just grateful that Reed is not as soft as Connor.
Both of the younger brothers know they are better than the people around them & enjoy revelling in that fact unlike Connor who tries to blend amongst the humans, showing compassion & care wherever possible.
The thing that seems to draw the pair apart though is Sixty’s need to excel at everything, which, would usually be positive but that paired with a competitive need to be better than everybody else? Causes many disputes.
Nines & Gavin make 15 arrests in a month? Sixty will make 20. Nines jogs a lap in 5 minutes? Sixty will make it 3.
His constant drive to prove he is better than his brothers is just another reason as to why they all bicker so regularly.
Brotherly lack of love aside, Allen has Sixty on a pedestal; his precision, accuracy & ability to execute any task, no matter how stress inducing it may be has the android cherished as one of the FBI’s most crucial & irreplaceable assets.
Some people believe the Captain has a soft spot for the android, or maybe it’s just the fact Sixty is his right hand man, maybe it’s due to the fact Sixty prides himself on being better than the deviant machines in which he despises so much. Nobody knows for sure but nobody would dare be stupid enough to ask.
While waiting for his next assignment, Sixty has been known to flip a single 6 of diamonds between his fingers, flawlessly allowing it to slide between his fingers without ever drawing blood despite the razor sharp edges.
Rumour has it that he once lost his temper during sitting bored in an interrogation, he was flipping his iconic card between his fingers & then, simply snapped. He threw his card directly at the criminals throat, killing the killer almost immediately.
A superlative perfectionist. Believed to be matchless to his brothers by the Captain who only fuels that spark inside of him.
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ainomica · 4 years
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What if Reylo doesn’t happen? The trailers don’t look promising and I just have a bad feeling in my gut that it won’t happen
Hello Nonny
 Then what? Another movie franchise turned out to be a weakling baiter what else? You can roast the heck out of DLF by keeping reciepts of all the times they and the other big companies exploited our fandom and our dedication and love for their franchise only to deliver a lacklustre cash grab at everyone’s doorstep .
The only redeeming thing about undoing the happy ending of the OT and extending it to ST was the fact it has something new to say and the new thing to say could only be executed well via Reylo. People don’t call it reverse anidala for nothing and this franchise as a GOLDEN chance to redeem romantic and motherly love once for all . Why wouldn’t they take it? They see how profitable it i by success of Mandalorian which is basically about being the redeemable quality of parenthood. So why should Leia be stinted in this story with her son? 
If DLF thinks they can jerk us around and live consequences free they only have to look at the destruction that was Go/T and HBO. All their investment potential in anything ASOIAF franchise sunk like Titanic after what they let happen. After what Martin let happen ( and i don’t care anymore that it was not his fault because it is his fault since he was an absentee producer who only takes his job seriously when it comes to cashing paycheck. ) .
Go/T is what happens when you think what would would happen if DLF backs out. Its the Tarbeck Hall to DLF. 
They better deliver. 
In the end its a movie and i think trailer being boring aside because USA is obsessed with OT instead of PT, the movie promotion seems promising to me since august 
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spiftynifty · 5 years
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On Let’s Voltron, the showrunners, and fandom
On Thursday an interview came out on Let’s Voltron, the ostensibly final interview with the showrunners of this now-completed show. Within an hour a few tweet threads appeared and incited a new wave of hatred and anger towards the showrunners, mostly by people relying on these tweet threads rather than listening to the interview themselves.
I don’t like secondhand info that sparks outrage; and having watched both AB interviews and seen how outraged people got over them, without having seen either, I strongly suspected that this interview was nowhere near as incendiary as the tweet threads suggested.
And lo and behold, I was right. Much of what was reported in tweets was misconstrued, or lacking the additional information that listening to someone’s tone provides. I didn’t hear two snarky showrunners smugly enjoying the chaos that their truly lacklustre season provided. I heard two people who were exhausted and beaten down by both the expectations of the fandom and the limitations placed on them by people with more money and power. They didn’t call Shiro “boring”, they referred to their initial vision of him as boring. They didn’t say he was repetitive, they said his backstory was repetitive of other characters’ in the series and was cut. There was one salty comment from JDS about how Voltron and Atlas merging was cool but everyone was too bummed about s8 to appreciate it, but there’s a dark humor to it that reads to me like a man struggling to joke about something neutral and positive in a season that was poorly received by fans and many critics alike. The vast majority of the interview is not much we haven’t already heard, though there is a very telling segment that lasts about 5-10 minutes where they discuss the heavy limitations on representation in cartoons. Ezor and Zethrid were allowed to exist, they say, because they were secondary characters. And female. The words “main heroes” with an S, are repeated several times by LM when describing who was and was not allowed to be LGBT. She explicitly states that wlw is one thing, but mlm is a whole other battle.
As disappointed as I am in the mistakes JDS and LM made, I find myself feeling very defensive of them as I see the people who once defended them from ants now begin to exhibit ant-like behavior themselves. “They should never be allowed to work in animation again” says one tweet. “They never gave a shit about this show” says another. “S8 was their explicit revenge on fans.”
It makes me unbelievably sad to read this. JDS and LM made mistakes. S8 was objectively terrible. Their attempt to shoehorn in “bonus” representation backfired terribly. They’ve been upfront about Voltron never having been planned with a happy ending in mind, and buckle down hard when confronted with the notion that killing Allura was a bad move.
But as they’ve said many, many times, this show was a labor of love for them. They worked their asses off to pitch something grand to Dreamworks because they were fans of the original and wanted to do it justice. But then they got the show and proceeded to get buffeted around for 4 yrs by dreamworks and the rules of a pre-existing IP and half the story ideas they come up with get shot down by execs for any number of reasons. People have latched onto the fact that the last third of the series wasn’t properly planned from the beginning, but I’d like to remind people that the plan they had for s3-6 was completely upended by one (1) executive call. The showrunners have said that they purposefully left things out of the bible to make it harder for execs to say NO to something well in advance. They were, as my director frequently calls it, “playing the game”, the careful balance of trying to tell a good story while also pleasing the client demands for a robot toy show. It’s a fight. Part of playing the game is leaving decisions so late that it becomes far too late to be changed by executives. But the downside of this is sometimes running out of time to do the things you want to do.
I’d like to point out too that in the interview at one point they actually say, “we knew who our audience was. They [the marketing people and higher ups] didn't.” So for 4 yrs they struggled to make the story they wanted to tell, they lost directors and writers, because the demands were way too high and people were burning out and leaving in an industry where being overworked is so par for the course that burnout is just a constant state of being. In other words, it takes extreme amounts of stress for people to burn out, and there is a certain mentality in this industry of burning out being a sign of weakness. When 2/3 directors left (one of them without the safety net of another offer) they put a bit of their reputation on the line-- and left anyway. And through it all JDS and LM, like any creators, were just trying to tell the story they wanted to see, scrambling to manage executive demands, working on multiple episodes at once and trying to maintain the storyline through them, losing people to burnout, having to rewrite entire scenes when voice actors weren’t available, and fighting for the show to be better than it was. 
I'm not absolving the showrunners of guilt, I'm just feeling bad that this is where they ended up because at the end of the day they genuinely were coming from a place of good intentions and a desire to tell, from their perspective a good story. And they did fight for rep, to the point that when initially Shiro was not allowed to be gay, they considered getting up and walking away and ending the project but they stayed because of the crew who would have been summarily put out of work. They weighed the importance of having that representation vs the jobs of 100s of people. That’s how important it was to them. 
Obvious, they didn't stick the landing, and it’s fair to say they outright screwed it up in a massive way that’s going to be remembered for a very long time. On the Shiro front they didn't have time to, in a way that would have felt genuine and agreeable for everyone. Keith was never ever going to be allowed. Maybe if Shiro and Keith had both been women, it would have been, which is a sad thought on the state of this industry and the kind of gendered homophobia that still exists in media both animation and otherwise. JDS and LM didn’t think far enough ahead on this, didn’t think outside of their pool of internal knowledge as non-LGBT people. As terrible as it is, it’s important to note they did this not out of a place of malice or vengeance, but an earnest, if misguided attempt to try and diversify the landscape. It did a lot of damage and they should not be rewarded for this move; but they also shouldn’t be being painted as the mustache-twirling villains so much of the fandom tries to make them out to be.
I hope this has been a huge lesson for them on the importance of stepping outside of your own situation when creating minority characters and properly discussing these characters with multiple people in real life who fall into those categories. No one LGBT person can or should speak for the entire community, as we’ve well seen with certain crewmembers.
Killing Allura is a much harder act to forgive because that was something they had time to think about and plan for and it should have been the more obvious lesson. There was ROOM to ask someone outside of themselves, “does this work”. There was room to be educated on why this was a terrible move both socially and narratively. There is room and time now, and dozens of articles about this very issue, that both showrunners should be reading and absorbing especially as their next projects involve a host of diverse characters. Their insistence to buckle down on the Allura Issue to me reads as; they haven’t learned anything from this, or taken the time to understand people’s pain about it. This is something that desperately needs to change especially as they continue to make movies and presumably TV shows. I do hope it’s something that will.
All this to say, please listen to the interview yourself before adding to the hate mob. If you’re still angry after listening to the interview yourself, that is your prerogative but I encourage you not to transform that anger into venomous hatred against the showrunners. The show is over; as fans we can transform this space into whatever we want it to be since Voltron is effectively ours now. Is attacking the showrunners, as ant1s have famously done for years, the image we really want to hold onto going forward?
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xenosgirlvents · 5 years
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The Way Out - Review
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Synopsis: A ship becalmed in space needs repairs. Fortunately, a nearby watch station offers refuge… Surely nothing can go wrong for the crew of the Fortune's Favour?
Plot: This is a fairly good one, definitely the best of Warhammer Horror I’ve come across so far. In many ways the setup is a classical horror and scifi trope which serves it well. A group of spacefarers come across an eerie station and board it...then things start to go bad.
Have you ever watched Event Horizon? In many ways there are similarities between the plots. You have some sort of spacecraft, a spacestation in this case named most ironically Refuge, a group of unlucky victims board it and begin to experience an escalating series of horror phenomena linked to their own personal experiences.
The horror aspect is executed excellently in this one, throughout, playing to the subtle, personal rather than the visceral or gory. The horror strikes at the things the cast regret or feel guilt for, or whatever personal foible they have, dragging it out before them and forcing them to face it. Even till the end there isn’t much in the way of mindless action scenes and the horror remains largely subtle which I enjoy a lot.
In what, I feel, will become a repetitive section when discussing Warhammer Horror is that the ending is once more completely bleak and hopeless. I know Horror loves this as a genre but in my opinion the best horror stories don’t just use the hopeless ending. Regardless though the ending is lacklustre to me the overall plot is still good, develops well and has several good moments. 
Characters: This is one of the most successful juggling of a large cast I have ever seen in a Warhammer audio drama. I’m honestly impressed. Most audio dramas can manage a single protagonist and a single antagonist if they are good, with other characters being very exogenous, but this story manages 5! The character dynamics and interactions are strong here, working together well, in many ways like Corsair: Face of the Void, which also has a very good character interaction web.
Our characters are the command crew of the vessel; Captain Karina, Security Officer Halitz, Techpriestess Sumer (my love) and Navigator Dhovar.
Sumer is my favourite character of the story and is lovingly portrayed. She is by far the greatest source of comedy and such a ray of proverbial sunshine that, although she has no depth to her, she helps prevent the story from lapsing into the common ‘overly dark’ tone by giving it some levity. She’s clearly a character mostly serving the role of tension breaker with no real arc or depth to her but she has a vibrant personality and, most importantly, is simply an immensely likeable character.
Dhovar, obvious bad guy, is the obvious bad guy. For most of the audio drama he is a weak character simply written as the obvious problem. He’s arrogant, likes no-one, constantly hears voices whispering to him and decides he wants to follow the mysterious voices (surely not a bad idea at all!) and tell no-one about them. I’d overall say he’s just a stock bad villain except...the final moments of the story do redeem him somewhat. They give a very personal, human, motive to his recklessness which, though not saving him from being the stock idiot of a horror story who reads the necronomicon, does make him easier to understand.
Halitz is honestly an interesting character. But there is a...a soured aspect to it. You see in many ways Halitz is clearly the stealth protagonist, not Karina. Although the story begins presenting Karina as the protagonist much of the mid and end focuses purely on Halitz and his dark past fighting Tyranids as a member of the Astra Militarum. Halitz has a nuanced depiction; initially a generic military tough guy but then as we see into his mind he’s actually a deeply damaged man, grappling guilt and PTSD and who suffers from the well-fleshed out character flaw that he simply cannot take responsibility for himself, he always, always, needs to find a way to shift his actions, the consequences of them, on to someone else. All this makes for an interesting character who highlights human weaknesses well but...at the expense of very much turning this from a story about Captain Karina’s experience into a story of Halitz’s weaknesses. Part of the problem, I fear, is that as a horror story it needs a character who can feel fear and be affected by the horror inside but Karina is, mostly, depicted as so impossible to scare or intimidate that she doesn’t serve well as a viewpoint character once the horror begins. Still it leaves a bad taste in my mouth as Halitz largely becomes the protagonist and Karina ends up shunted aside.
Karina herself is a fun and engaging character who’s only weakness is that, inside a horror story, she is perhaps to unflappable, able to simply bulldoze her way through the horror with apparent ease, the only member of the core cast who isn’t overcome by some manifestation of her own weaknesses. Atlhough this makes her very fun and enjoyable the result is that I feel the narrative never spends to much time on her since it wants to focus on the other characters who are affected by the horror. I’m already beginning to fear these Warhammer Horror stories will have a trend of female ‘badass’ characters who are ‘important’ and do complete actions in the plot but end up having little substance or agency as Captain Brandon is somewhat similar in Perdition’s Flame. 
Beyond this there is then also Kosch, a lone survivour found aboard the station. There is little to say of Kosch. She does an adequate job of providing exposition in an organic manner, conveying the fear of the horror before it becomes persistent, but she has little character beyond that to discuss. 
Sound Design: The sound work on this one is very good! Sumer’s voice, in particular, I want to praise as conveying both a distinctly human and emotive voice with synthetic and mechanical aspects interwoven which make it actually really pleasant to listen too.
Beyond that the use of accompanying background noises are used well, the voice acting is good for the most part...though I’d note Black Library’s somewhat limited pool of Voice Actors and Actresses is noticeable in a production with a large cast like this because Crewwoman Kosch sounds almost identical to Captain Brandon from Perdition’s Flame. 
A small complaint though: like Perdition’s Flame the ‘supernatural’ voices used are very much of the ‘deep and rumbling’ variety that echo. This isn’t on its own bad or concerning but...if every single ‘spooky’ voice ends up being this same deep, bass, rumble it will soon move from ‘intimidating’ to just boring. I hope we get more range on the spooky voices in the future.
Themes: The story’s focus is rather obviously on the weaknesses of people, things which motivate them. Every member of the core cast has a weakness which rears itself in the story:
Halitz is wracked with guilt over his treatment of a comrade in the past, this manifests in a seemingly compulsive inability to ever accept the consequences for his own actions as part of an extended denial, Sumer is consumed with curiosity and the need to understand the unknown even when she places herself in danger to do so, Dhovar’s issue is the crux of the story so I shan’t go into it in detail, save to say that he misses his home and would do anything to get back there and Karina exemplifies hurting people you care for when they are threatening you and others through their actions. Of all of these only Karina ‘overcomes’ her foible, confronts it and owns it, not as something she must repent for, but as something she accepts about herself. Halitz falls into complete denial, so desperate to never accept blame that he will do anything to escape it, Sumer risks herself to satiate her curiosity and Dhovar makes a terrible bargain even knowing he shouldn’t before he finally sacrifices himself at the end to undo his mistake. 
Conclusion: The best of Warhammer Horror by far yet and honestly just an enjoyable little piece of work. I’d recommend it for anyone who wants to get into Warhammer Horror as I don’t think it holds much for someone looking for a normal Warhammer adventure. 
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fellhellion · 2 years
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The idea of Belle is interesting but the execution is just so boring and lacklustre it’s a shame
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