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illuminatedquill · 3 years

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Extracurricular, An Analysis

Oh Ji-soo and Bae Gyu-ri

“Love is the ultimate outlaw. It just won’t adhere to any rules. The most any of us can do is sign on as it’s accomplice.” - Tom Robbins

You know the story. You’ve heard it before, right?

Boy meets girl.

Girl finds out that boy is running a side protection business for prostitutes.

Girl decides to blackmail boy into letting her join his business.

Classic high school criminal shenanigans ensue leading them into more dangerous situations where they are forced to make desperate decisions to stay alive.

Oh, and they fall in love along the way.

Oh? You haven’t heard this one before? Then let me introduce you to this delightful kdrama called Extracurricular.

I watched this one while waiting for the newest Hometown Cha Cha Cha episodes to drop and ended up binging the whole series in two days. There are many remarkable parts of this series: it’s a crime drama, first and foremost, that showcases high school teenagers caught in a cycle of violence and crime, abandoned by the society and adults that are supposed to be protecting them. There are no clear good guys and bad guys in this drama; everyone is cast in shades of grey. Our main leads, Oh Ji-soo and Bae Gyu-ri, run the prostitution business, and are both from broken family backgrounds. Their actions are morally questionable at best, but the top tier performances from Kim Dong Hee (you might remember him from Itaewon Class) and Park Ju Hyun make you cheer for them anyway. You want them to have a happy ending, despite the horrible things they do. The audience is always reminded that despite how clever they are in staying ahead, their actions have consequences, and they’re just high school kids. The drama never pulls it punches.

But, weirdly enough, it’s also a love story. And that’s the part the really sticks with me until now. (The chemistry between the main leads is absolute dynamite and I could watch ten episodes of them just verbally sparring with each other. They don’t even kiss. They’re that fantastic when together on screen.)

I’m writing this because this is undoubtedly one of my all time favorite kdramas and I have a lot of feelings about our main pairing, Ji-soo and Gyu-ri. I can’t call them a couple (wait, didn’t I just say they fall in love) because their relationship can’t be labelled simply as that. Think of it as something similar to the main leads in My Ahjussi. Two people who should have become soulmates, yet met at the wrong time.

This kdrama is not particularly happy, and while I do encourage people to watch this, I am warning that the subject matter is extremely dark. If you’re sensitive to scenes depicting sexual assault, graphic violence, or anything in that zip code you’ll want to steer clear.

Also, I’ll be diving into spoiler territory in this analysis. So if you want to go in clean, then stop reading here.

Still here? Awesome. Let’s dive deep into the messy, amazing pairing that is Oh Ji-soo and Bae Gyu-ri. First, let’s do a brief character background on our two main leads, starting with Ji-soo.

Oh Ji-soo is one half of our main pairing and this story starts with him. He lives by himself and has been essentially abandoned by his only parents; his father is a failed businessman who gambles whatever money he acquires on scams and his mother ran away. His apartment is small, sparse, but functional. He owns only a few outfits aside from his school uniform. The only unique item he owns is a pet hermit crab that he takes care of. His life outside of school is non-existent; he has no friends, no one to hang out with and do typical high school teenager activities with. He takes care of himself and lives only for himself and his “dream”: to graduate, attend college, get married, and have kids like a normal person.

But to do that, he needs a large amount of money. He has no other financial means to do so (his father is largely absent, as is his mother), so he decides, at some point, to start up this protection business for prostitutes. The drama doesn’t go into detail about the how and why he came to this conclusion that this was the best way to make a lot of money in a short amount of time, so you’ll have to suspend your disbelief from the get go. Considering the themes of the story (how youths abandoned by society tend to act out in extreme ways to make it in this world), it’s not hard to believe his desperation would drive him to make such a decision.

Ji-soo, despite his shady business, is actually a decent person. There’s a streak of humanity that exists inside him that refuses to go out, despite the increasingly dark and bleak events that start to overtake his life. He’s attached to his hermit crab, cares for his “employees” outside of them being tools to make him money, and doesn’t want to see anyone get hurt. He goes above and beyond what’s required to help out people at the risk of his own life (in particular, Gyu-ri, and we’ll get into that shortly).

What we learn from the first few episodes is that Oh Ji-soo is extremely smart and methodical in how he approaches his life. At school, he is known as a model student - quiet, top of the class in terms of grades, doesn’t draw any attention to himself, always follows along with what the teachers ask of him. Only his homeroom teacher, Mr. Cho, seems to consider his quiet style of existence to be concerning and tries to make him less socially awkward by pairing him up with another student in a new extracurricular club. This leads to the introduction of Bae Gyu-ri, Ji-soo’s longtime crush and future partner-in-crime.

Meet Bae Gyu-ri, the other half of our dynamic duo. Her introduction into the story kickstarts the entire plot, as one of her earliest actions leads to a domino effect that spells increasing doom and tragedy for our main leads. She messes with Ji-soo’s operation at a critical moment and she spends the rest of the drama doing her best to make up for the consequences that follow.

In my personal opinion, she is probably the best main female lead I’ve ever seen in a kdrama. Hands down, no other character exists (currently) that rivals her sheer cunning, wit, and badassery. Gyu-ri is Crazy, capital C, and is the chaos to Ji-soo’s control; the fire to his ice. Despite being the direct cause of half the events that happen to Ji-soo in the drama, he can’t help but need her because of what she offers. They make an incredible team. Her competitiveness, her need to win no matter the odds, helps them survive time and time again.

Gyu-ri is from the opposite end of the spectrum of Ji-soo; he’s dirt poor and she’s insanely rich (always nice to see a reversal of typical kdrama tropes). Her mother and father run a successful entertainment company. Gyu-ri is popular at school, friends with seemingly everybody, pretty, cheerful and gets along well with her teachers. Ji-soo, and the audience, believe from the beginning that she has the perfect life. It’s not hard to believe that she’s just involving herself in Ji-soo’s business because she’s bored and needs an outlet, at first.

We soon learn otherwise. Gyu-ri has more in common with Ji-soo than he initially realizes, in that they’re both trapped in circumstances beyond their control - it’s just that Gyu-ri’s cage is gilded, whereas his is not. Her parents are strict and have her life planned out for her, all without her consent or input, leaving her feeling frustrated and powerless despite her rich lifestyle. A suicide attempt hasn’t done much to change her parents attitude towards her, only serving to further their control over her life.

So, when she learns of Ji-soo’s operation she immediately seeks to angle her way into it. First, she tries to rip him off, believing that he’s an evil “pimp” and thus deserves it. But after spending some time with him, she changes her mind last second and decides to help him out instead.

And, now, let’s get into their relationship, which is one of the best (if not the best) aspect in the entire series.

I need to be upfront about something: the relationship between Ji-soo and Gyu-ri is not exactly healthy. I wouldn’t describe it as toxic - the circumstances surrounding them aren’t exactly the best environment to encourage open and honest communication - but it’s definitely not what should be considered ideal, especially for young adults, and especially for young adults who are dabbling in crime instead of studying.

So, why do I love them so much? If you’ve read some of my previous posts, you know that I loathe toxic relationships in kdramas, so I understand if you think I’m coming off as hypocritical here. Why do I like Oh Ji-soo and Bae Gyu-ri when I didn’t like, for example from recent history, (oh boy, here I go again on my Nevertheless BS) Park Jae-eon and Yu Na-bi?

First, Ji-soo and Gyu-ri are way cooler than Jae-eon and Na-bi ever could be. They run a criminal enterprise that involves having a high amount of intelligence, cunning, and daring to do so. Do Jae-eon and Na-bi run a criminal enterprise as a side business? No, they don’t, because they’re boring art students.

Secondly, Ji-soo and Gyu-ri actually progress in their relationship and change their views as they learn from each other. Now, granted, that progress isn’t towards becoming better versions of each other - quite the opposite. But at least they have progress. Jae-eon and Na-bi stayed in the same stupid cycle for the whole series and then decided that it was better staying that way as opposed to trying for something else.

Last, but certainly not least, Ji-soo and Gyu-ri are actually interesting to watch for me. The chemistry between Park Ju Hyun and Kim Dong Hee is explosive and they way they spar, exchange looks, and just generally exist around each other on screen is something I can watch forever. I’ve said this before but Han So Hee and Song Kang’s on screen chemistry, outside of their intimate scenes, really didn’t impress me.

Okay, back to Extracurricular. This relationship, man. It’s all I can think about (other than HomeCha’s Du-sik and Hye-jin, but that’s another post). Ji-soo and Gyu-ri are so good together.

I’ve noted before that Ji-soo is methodical in how he approaches his life; he plans out everything ahead, and rigs any situation as much as he can in his favor. It’s brilliant, but when a crisis happens, he doesn’t know how to deal with it effectively. He panics and flounders; becomes indecisive at a time when clear, decisive action is required.

Enter Gyu-ri. She quickly becomes the partner he never knew he needed. When there’s a situation, she becomes invaluable in her quick thinking and wit, coming up with solutions on the fly. It’s not perfect, but it keeps them just one small step ahead of whatever is coming their way.

The only thing preventing them from becoming unstoppable is the lack of communication and trust they have with each other. A lot of that has to do with how Gyu-ri entered Ji-soo’s business - she blackmailed him first, and, when that failed, she strong armed her way into getting him to accept her help. It’s implied in the drama that Ji-soo has had a crush on Gyu-ri for a while (since ninth grade, I believe) and in the first episode he actually gets the chance to spend time with her outside of school on a sort of quasi-date.

It goes sideways pretty quickly because of some shenanigans from his business, but not before she gets to know him and says some pretty touching words regarding his situation. Poor guy is head over heels - even after finding out that she’s the one blackmailing him, his feelings are only dampened, not extinguished. When he catches a glimpse of her family’s situation, he gains a deeper understanding of her and why she acts the way she does. Even more importantly, Ji-soo treats her the same after finding out this information which, to someone like Gyu-ri, means more than if he comforted her about it.

If you want to see a physical representation of how he feels, other than paying attention to his actions, you can see it in him keeping mementos from Gyu-ri. She has an interesting habit of folding bags into origami shapes and giving it to him. Even after the blackmail reveal, you can see that he continues to keep these in a container on his desk. It’s really cute that he keeps these, when it probably doesn’t even matter that much to Gyu-ri.

Towards the end of the drama, Ji-soo prepares to turn himself in to prevent Gyu-ri from being implicated in the crimes they committed. And it costs him almost everything to protect her. Ji-soo, the quiet, nerdy kid, puts himself on the line time and time again to protect Gyu-ri, knowing that it puts his life and his dream at risk to do so. And all for what? For some girl that he thinks doesn’t even like him in return?

Well, let’s talk about that. Because I’ve seen some comments that Gyu-ri was only using Ji-soo for her own selfish gain. And I can agree that was how it was at the beginning for her; she definitely was only interested in acquiring money, like Ji-soo was, in order to achieve her own goal of being free from her parents.

But, oh man, that is not what is motivating her at the end.

It’s actually pointed out relatively early by some of her friends that it’s obvious that she likes Ji-soo more than he likes her. Understandably Ji-soo is keeping her at arms length from him given the whole recent blackmailing, so it would make sense that it looks that way.

Further questioning reveals what she likes the most about him:

“It’s not like I’m crazy about him. He’s fun. And amusing. He’s smart. And there’s a certain charm he has. He also has a wolfish side to him. But he thinks he’s a puppy.”

- Bae Gyu-ri

But, as she gets to know Ji-soo better, you can certainly see that she starts to fall hard for him. As a cover story for why they hang out so much together during and after school, Gyu-ri states to everyone that they’re dating. The reactions across the school definitely imply that this is a shocking development, which means that Gyu-ri hasn’t dated anyone before. So why Ji-soo other than the reasons she herself states?

He challenges her, just as she challenges him. Gyu-ri may be the more dynamic, quick thinking of the pair but Ji-soo is every inch her intellectual equal - just in different ways. She doesn’t seem to be the type to be easily impressed, but you can tell that she’s definitely impressed by Ji-soo’s operation and how thoroughly set up it is. When Ji-soo is frustrated at the beginning by his setbacks, he blows up at another student (knocks him out in a crazy punch) and immediately walks over to Gyu-ri afterwards (who saw the whole thing) to inform her that she is now his partner in crime.

The look in her eyes, and the small smirk she has speaks volumes about her attraction to him in that scene. Smoldering.

And, oh yes, she’s prone to jealousy. Another classmate, Min-hee, gives Ji-soo a present out of the blue (it was supposed to be for her boyfriend, Ki-tae, but that’s another sub-plot) - all within view of Gyu-ri. It’s hilarious how she tries to brush it off. Later, for plot reasons, Ji-soo has to spend more time with Min-hee which only furthers Gyu-ri’s annoyance.

And her motivations stop being entirely about the money and more towards helping preserve the dream that she and Ji-soo share about being free. There’s a scene in episode 8 where it’s revealed that, due to a business partnership with a local gang (set up by none other than Gyu-ri herself in a desperate move), Ji-soo would have to drop out of school permanently to work on their behalf. Gyu-ri overhears this and, despite badly needing the gang’s help in sustaining their own business, immediately terminates the partnership.

All because it would interfere with Ji-soo’s dream.

Man, if that isn’t love.

In the following episode, Gyu-ri, and later on Ji-soo, is kidnapped by the same gang in retaliation for terminating their partnership. Ji-soo comes to her rescue but Gyu-ri is already almost free (again, she’s really, really badass) and is demanding that they bring Ji-soo to her instead of running for her life.

Surviving this latest attempt puts the two in a reflective, vulnerable mood and Gyu-ri asks Ji-soo why he keeps saving her. Ji-soo asks later on why she keeps risking her life to be with him. They don’t say the answer in words but in an almost kiss (yeah, you read that right - almost).

And then, if you aren’t already convinced, Ji-soo crosses his one last remaining line in an effort to keep Gyu-ri safe; he accidentally pushes a fellow classmate down some steps and, instead of helping her, leaves her to die after grabbing the evidence she has on him and Gyu-ri.

Extracurricular pulls off quite the magic trick here, hiding this well done love story in the middle of a serious crime drama.

The real tragedy is that Ji-soo thinks that Gyu-ri views this whole business, and by extension his life, as one big game. It’s something that she takes offense at, visibly becoming upset when he says that.

But even if that were true, he should be assured since Gyu-ri doesn’t like to lose.

As they hurtle towards the end and face up to the consequences of their actions, Ji-soo and Gyu-ri undoubtedly lose sight of their original goals and dreams. They do some fairly horrible things to stay alive and ahead of the police who are close on their trail. You can’t really blame them for doing what they did; in the face of a society that has abandoned them, what they’re doing is a logical outcome to gain what they want so desperately and deserve so much: the chance to be free to live like normal, care-free people.

I can’t say for certain that they achieve that. The drama is serious in consequences and, at the end, the net around them is drawing tighter and tighter. I won’t spoil the ending scene for you, because I highly encourage you watch this drama yourself but I will say this: Ji-soo and Gyu-ri seem stuck in an impossible situation with nowhere to go, and no one to help them, with a clock ticking down towards either death or discovery by the police.

But, all the same, I’m always the optimist. They’ve gotten through situations like this before and they can certainly do so again. Maybe not as bad as this one, but not too far out of their league. And, like I mentioned before, Gyu-ri doesn’t like to lose. Especially when it comes to Ji-soo.

Their relationship is truly dangerous, as Ji-soo himself notes. Them being together is the source of their problems; they’re too much alike now, as opposed to the beginning of the drama where he stated that they’re too different. Their love is the kind of love where both of them are willing to burn the whole world down if it means keeping each other safe.

I’m a real sucker for those kind of love stories. No one’s a hero here. They’re just kids in high school, doing the best with what they know.

Who are we to judge what is right and wrong? Especially when the one committing the acts are high school kids who don’t know any better and just want to save each other?

Do we have that right?

Do they really deserve that punishment? Shouldn’t we be pointing fingers at the society that forced them to act this way?

Extracurricular really makes you think about that. Is it really so outlandish and terrible what Ji-soo and Gyu-ri do to survive when the adults who are supposed to be protecting them, teaching them better, have failed in their duty?

Maybe they really did win at the end. Not so much in succeeding in their goals but in gaining something that not even regular people are likely to find - a partner, a soulmate, someone who will stand by you no matter what.

If you do watch the ending, and are not an optimist like I am, then all I can say is this: whatever happened, they were together at the end.

They were together.

#extracurricular netflix #human class #netflix #kdrama #oh jisoo #bae gyuri #park joo hyun #park ju hyun #kim dong hee

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dmsden · 4 years

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Carfax Hargrimm’s Lost Tomb

Hullo, Gentle Readers. We’re going with one more spooky adventure for Halloween. And this time, we’re pulling out all the stops. This adventure is a bit of a reversal of a standard D&D adventure in a way, as the goal is to return a treasure to a dungeon. It is intended for 5 characters of level 5.

Background: Carfax Hargrimm was a knight loyal to the Margrave of Calengard 200 years in the past. He quested often, but he had one flaw - he fell in love with the wrong woman. He loved the Margrave’s daughter, and, although she loved him too, they loved chastely and from afar. The Margrave saw this growing affection, but he didn’t believe Carfax to be worthy of his daughter’s hand, so he sent him on increasingly dangerous quests. Carfax overcame all obstacles, and his popularity grew, until the Margrave began to believe Carfax sought the crown. He sent the knight out on one more quest, but, this time, he sent an ambush party to do away with him. Carfax was outnumbered, but he and his loyal retainers fought bravely, if futilely. He was slain, and his body was returned to the Margrave.

When he was searched, the Margrave found a letter written to his daughter. It was a letter full of loyalty to the Margrave, glad that he was being given another opportunity to show his mettle, and hoping that, someday, they could be wed. The Margrave realized how badly he had misjudged his loyal knight, and he was full of sorrow. He abdicated in favor of his daughter, who ruled wisely as Margrave for many years more. She had the bodies of Sir Carfax and his loyal men entombed in a secret location so that they would never be disturbed.

The adventure begins as the PCs are encamped for the night. They probably hear someone crashing through the undergrowth behind them, and they soon find themselves embroiled in something spooky!

“Room” 1: The Campsite: The figure crashing through the underbrush is Landyn Humphries, a halfling with bandit stats. He staggers in and begs the PCs to protect him. It’s possible, of course, that they accidentally (or purposefully, depending on your PCs) kill him before they get a chance to figure out what’s going on. In this case, they’ll find he has a small cameo brooch showing a beautiful woman’s profile. They’ll also find a journal that can be used to give the PCs an idea of what’s going on (see below).

Pursuing Humphries are 15 zombies. They will relentlessly crash through the undergrowth, attacking anything in their path. They are trying to recover the cameo, compelled by the will of the lord they served in life, Carfax Hargrimm.

“Room” 2: What’s Going On Here?: Humphries will beg them to help end the attacks. He at first claims to be innocent, but an Insight check quickly shows there’s more to this story than meets the eye. Landyn is terrified, and uses of Persuasion, Intimidation, and Deception may all be useful for getting him to spill the beans. He will finally admit that he was a fence for a group of adventurers who recently decided to plunder a local tomb...that of Carfax Hargrimm. A History check will tell Carfax’s sad story of love, loyalty, and betrayal, or Humphries can tell some of it.

Humphries tells them how the adventurers have been killed one by one, and how the last told him that he’d had a dream that only the cameo’s return to the Tomb and an apology being made to Hargrimm’s shade will send the undead back to rest. He’s not an adventurer himself, but he’ll promise them 4,000 gp and a potion of supreme healing if they’ll undertake this for him.

If the PCs have killed Humphries, the journal can provide much of the above information, but they will need to make Survival checks to track the zombies back to their place of origin. Obviously, they won’t get the reward he promised them either. If they’ve touched the cameo, however, the journal will make it clear that the undead will start to hunt them.

“Room” 3: Tomb Guardians: After locating the Tomb, they’ll find an entrance tunneled into the rocks. There is an empty room full of empty sarcophogi (where the zombies were...there are 15 of them if anyone thinks to ask). They’re all stone and carved in the images of noble warriors. A pair of locked stone double doors beyond leads deeper into the cliff face, and runes around the entrance ward undead from entering...which is also, ironically, why the undead inside haven’t been able to leave in search of the trespassers who stole the brooch.

Standing, as if in effigy, are four suits of armor, each holding a longsword at rest position. If anyone touches the inner door, they animate, becoming four animated armors and four flying swords. They will attack ruthlessly, but, if the door is opened (via magic or picking the lock), they will all collapse in a heap of tangled metal.

“Room” 4: The Master of the House: Beyond the door is the burial chamber of Carfax Hargrimm and his two most loyal henchmen. Their stone sarcophagi are all open, the lids pushed aside. Inside, Carfax is sitting on a stone seat, his men flanking him. Carfax has the statistics of a revenant, and his two men are mummies. He is furious with the grave robbery that stole the symbol of his lost love, Arianna. He wants to rage and destroy everything he can, but he pauses if someone is returning the cameo to him. “Explain to me why I shouldn’t kill you, that wretched little rodent you’re protecting, and the entire village where he lives for this desecration.”

This is a skill challenge, where the PCs must gain 8 successes before having 3 failures. If they fail, Carfax’s rage overcomes him. “I will hear no more of your lies. Defend yourselves!” He will attack until he is destroyed, but this won’t stop him, as he will rise again, and more undead will come...unless the cameo is placed back in the sarcophagi and a sincere apology is given. If they succeed, Carfax is assuaged and will return to his rest. Some skills that could be useful include:

History: To recall the name if his true love and the details of their doomed romance. Mentioning specifics about this will make him sorrowful, but they will remind him that he was a good person, who was loved by a good person, and that he doesn’t wish to do evil.

Persuasion: This could be useful if the PC talks to him about unfair punishments or misjudged deeds, things that he has personal reason to not over-react about. It could also point out that Humphries is not the one who stole the cameo, and that he’s making efforts to make right what his cohorts did.

Deception: This could be used to convince him Humphries is dead, and they are returning the cameo in his place. This might make him think that there is no more reason to continue his quest for revenge.

Intimidation: This is likely useless. It’s difficult to threaten the dead, especially if they know they can return, again and again.

Insight: This could help read Carfax, to note that he is still a being of nobility, honor, loyalty, and love. He may be acting the enraged, wronged figure, but he is a good person at heart.

Performance: There are several songs about the love and betrayal story at the heart of this situation. A bard or other character may perform one, showing Carfax that his legacy lives on.

“Room” 5: The Escape: Once Carfax returns to his sarcophagus or is destroyed, the Tomb begins to bury its secrets. The PCs have three rounds to escape as it begins to rumble and crumble. If they linger to search for treasure, they will regret it. Each round after the third, the PCs must make a Dexterity saving throw or be hit by falling rubble for 11 (2d10) bludgeoning damage. Those who fail may become entombed along with the former undead.

Humphies will make good on the reward, and he will thank them for their aid. If the PCs fought Carfax, the Revenant could return again as something to plague the PCs for many nights to come.

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metanoiamorii · 3 years

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❛If you insist upon sheltering both the wolf and the lamb, in the end you will have only the wolf.❜

Calisto Ferzan Hermenegildo Melchior Lorencio De La Cruz, or best known as the Witch's Advocate.

The eldest born of Lord Bonaventura De La Cruz, he had been born out of wedlock to a fae woman his father had an affair with; the affair was buried and everyone was led to believe the lie Bonaventura told. Even his siblings were raised on the lie. The only ones to know the truth would be Calisto himself, and his father.

From a young age, Calisto would have a distant relationship with his family. He rarely got along with his siblings, and his parents frequently turned their back on him. Since he was alone at a young age, he disowned himself at fifteen and left the household. His time would be spent training in the assassin guild in the dark, and attending school to become a lawyer.

At twenty, he returned to his family, at their behest. He seized control and took the power from his father. Around this time, he took his first wife, a woman by the name of Catalina; their marriage lasted a little over a year, due to her death in childbirth. And he soon took a second wife, a woman by the name of Rosalita.

By twenty-nine, Calisto has become the youngest and most successful sitting member of the Order of Witchesbane. Distant from the others, he has dedicated himself to undoing their work and changing their standards. He's one man, but he's determined to right past wrongs. And along the way, he may adopt a few strays, and incidently cause the death of a few people who deserve it.

Fun Facts

• If you put him on the alignment scale, he falls under 'Chaotic Lawful'. He has a code of honour, but nobody can figure out what it is.

• He is Placio-Pansexual and Aromantic.

• He's also genderfluid. If he wants to wear a dress and heels one day, nobody is stopping him. If he wants to wear a suit, nobody is stopping him. He goes up and beyond to break gender norms, and aims to give everyone a heart-attack.

• 95% of his found family are witches. He has a habit of taking them in, protecting them, and becoming fond of them.

• He very much embraces the expectation of fae: he won't ever tell a lie, but good gods does he know a loophole when he spots it.

• He has a set of fae wings that he will typically keep binded to his chest. The only ones that have gotten the privilege of seeing them are his wives.

• Within the assassin guild, his title was the Lemon Spider. To which led to the nickname of Lemon.

• His wife, his best friend, and himself are all assassins. And yes, they all use their talents to protect their family and the children in their care.

• Every deity he worships tends to be a woman. It is a confidence, truthfully, but it speaks to his character.

Playlist

Second Child, Restless Child; The Oh Hellos

When I Grow Up; NF

The Search; NF

Remember This; NF

Lay Me Down; The Oh Hellos

Catch Fire; Jenix

Dreams; NF

You're Gonna Go Far Kid; The Offspring

Fight; Icon For Hire

I Was Wrong; The Oh Hello

Counting Stars; OneRepublic

The Unwanted Animal; The Amazing Devil

Broken Crown; Mumford and Sons

Eat You Alive; The Oh Hellos

Angel With A Shotgun; The Cab

7 Years; Silk World

Luck; American Authors

Let You Down; NF

Welcome Home, Son; Radical Face

The Crooked, the Cradle; The Crane Wives

Monsters; Shinedown

Champion; Fall Out Boy

Take Me To War; The Crane Wives

Make A Move; Icon For Hire

Better Man; Jamie Campbell Bower

Last One Standing; Simple Plan

Crash and Burn; Savage Garden

The Wedding; Ellen Krauss

What If; Simple Plan

The Hell Song; Sum 41

Popular Monster; Falling In Reverse

Cold Is The Night; The Oh Hello

Best I Can; The Art of Dying

This Will End; The Oh Hellos

Beautiful Birds; Passenger

Taglists:

ARIH: @hekat-ie, @writings-of-a-narwhal, @silent-creed

TSOVI: @voltronimusprime, @ryns-ramblings, @venlirps, @shadeshadow234

General: @endlesshourglass, @writerray, @poore-choice-of-words, @alexwritesfiction, @primusesgiantmetalballbearings

All: @cecilsstorycorner, @little-boats-on-a-lake, @hazard-writes, @egg-shark

#Character intro #character introduction #My writing #Writing community #Writeblr #Original oc #Original character #Original oc intro #Original character introduction #Oc: Cruz #Wip: ARIH #Wip: TSOVI #My characters #Morri's characters #In a group of real shitty people you need some sunshine #And Cruz is here to help kick some well deserved ass and make the world a better place #He's really one of my favorites honestly #Watch him also berate a god in public #It's great

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finn-ray-nal-beads · 4 years

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Flip as Barry Gib for Halloween... your thoughts?

A/N: @maybe-your-left thoughts? I have several... since you’ve asked. I hope ya like it, Kitten 😉. BTW for those who don’t know who Barry Gib is: Lead singer of the Bee-Gees and the song Stayin’ Alive is their most popular hit of the 70′s.

Warnings: Sub/Dom slurs, Alpha mentions, creampies, cum eating, slight choking, tit slapping, purple nurples (yes I used a Chowder reference thank you), smut in general, Flip is a total Dom, we are total switch, it’s all disco to me baby, playful married banter, slight fluff at the end

“You want me to what?” Flip scratched his goatee as you were putting the finishing touches on your makeup for the evening.

“You’re gonna wear these platforms and costume to the party with me,” you popped your lip gloss together, scraping the sides so your lips looked extra shiny and pouted.

“Platforms?” he chuckled at the thought of it, “sweetheart, I ain’t wearin’ these,” he lifted the white boots to examine their contents as if drugs would fall out of them at any moment.

“Ummm,” you carefully placed your lash on your right eye, “yes, you are babe,” smoothing it out so it lined up naturally with your other lashes.

“And why the fuck would I do that, honey,” he dropped them on the floor, lighting a cigarette to keep himself from grouching even more than he already was.

“Because if you want ANY of this,” you gestured to your bread and butter, “then you’ll do it. Also because you love me unconditionally.”

He snickered again huffing out a plume of smoke, “is that fuckin’ so?” taking huge steps into the shared bathroom, pressing his large figure into your bent-over backside, “last time I checked, baby doll, I was in charge of things around here.”

Whispering into your ear, causing a shiver to run up your spine, and goosebumps to form all over your body, “well, it’s Halloween, babycakes,” making yourself as tall as possible, turning around and plucking the lit cigarette from his lips and taking a huge drag, “so roles are kinda reversed for the time being,” smirking as you exhaled the plume from your perfect lips.

“You will do it,” ashing out the butt in the sink, “and you WILL like it,” inching into his open lips, leaving a little peck as you noticed the bulge forming in his jeans.

Snaking your arm around and patting his ass, “now, get ready, we’re gonna be late, cowboy,” you smiled bright, turning back around to survey yourself in the mirror before moving into the bedroom to put the rest of your ensemble on.

Flip stood in the bathroom, in utter shock at your forwardness, holding in a breath and looking at himself in the mirror. He’d never been talked to so… harshly before.

He gathered his pride to walk back into the bedroom, watching you hunched over the bed placing the god-awful shoes on your pretty feet.

Like the good boy, he was, got dressed in everything but the shoes, staring them down as if they’d disappear to which he’d be grateful for.

“Baby,” you sang into the room, “are ya ready?” jogging into the OK Corral staredown taking place in your master.

“Honey,” he whined at you, “I-I don’t wanna wear these stupid things,” huffing and puffing at everything about them.

“Now, what did I say?” as if speaking to a child. He groaned out as he moved to put the disastrous hooves on his large feet, “I know, I know.”

Rolling his eyes and standing up to a height he never knew he could achieve, “look at my handsome Barry!” pandering and tugging at the necklace hanging into his open-chested shirt.

“Yeah, yeah,” he pecked your forehead, “let’s get outta here before I change my fuckin’ mind.”

“Let’s go boogie, babe!” you giddily smiled pulling him out the door, to the truck.

_______________

The bar was chalked full of ghouls, goblins, witches, and demons as the both of you meandered to fetch some drinks. Flip towered over the crowd in the heels he wore, so getting the attention of the bartender was easier than usual. With drinks in hand, you went to find your group of friends to start the night off.

“Well, howdy there Zimmermans!” a familiar voice chimed out, “lookin’ groovy Flip!” a chorus of chuckles and whistles followed as the faces came into view.

“I know doesn’t my husband look so damn handsome,” petting his chest again as he gave you a death stare.

“Very!” Ron chuckled lowly, sending Flip’s gaze to burn holes into his chest, “watch your fuckin’ mouth, Rookie.”

Grabbing his beer from his grip, “stop it, Phil, he’s only trying to be funny,” placing them on the group table, “let’s go dance for a minute, honey,” pulling his lumbering figure to the disco lights as the last song faded out.

You both stand there a minute amongst the crowd waiting for the DJ to spin another tune. All of a sudden, the beat to Stayin’ Alive comes on full blast, and you immediately turn towards your lumberjack in an ecstatic holler. He recants with an eye roll and spins you around a few times before the both of you join the rhythm with your hips and grind on each other like teenagers at a party.

The final chorus fades out, both of you sweaty and all kinds of hot and bothered, turn to each other and lock lips like it was the first time you’d ever kissed.

Your tongues dancing in and out of one another, teeth clanking on teeth, if there hadn’t been so many people around you’d hear the suctioning and moaning reverberate on the walls.

“Bathroom. Now,” he pulls off of you, heading towards the destination with you dragging behind like a lost puppy.

The second lock is turned in the claustrophobic and dimly lit restroom, he’s on you, caging you in like an escaped animal.

“You think you can get away with talkin’ tough to me,” he snarled into your ear, rubbing your mound as you brace yourself on the sink, “you forgot who I am to you I guess.”

Hissing in your ear as the tingling in your spine grew to a full blaze, “well I’ll remind you little whore,” inching another large hand to grip onto your tits with as much force as possible, pinching the sensitive nipple until it was almost bleeding.

You let out a cry in pleasure as he kept pinching, “who am I to you?” growling at your pain, “use your fuckin’ words slut.”

You winced as he brought the other hand to grip your other tit, doing the same motions in tandem, making your back arch off the porcelain.

“Y-you’re my alpha!” you screamed as he twisted even harder on the sensitive buds, “that’s fuckin’ right, honey,” reveling in your pain as your lips dropped open in a huge gasp.

His primal instincts ripped the jumpsuit you had worn to shreds on the bathroom floor, leaving you completely bare to him.

“You fuckin’ slut,” he tsked pulling his zipper down and releasing his monster cock from his bellbottoms, “wearin’ nothin’ at all underneath that lil’ number huh? That’s strike two.”

He chuckled, “bend over on the sink, I’m gonna fuck you so hard, everyone is this bar is gonna know who you belong to.”

You turned around slightly bending over to get your footing with your platforms, going too slow for Flip’s taste. Gripping the back of your neck, forcing you down just enough so he could line his cock up with your wetness that had formed.

“Naughty lil’ pussy is so eager for me, huh,” he mused, slipping in his angry cock, inching it in as your walls swallowed it like a good little kitty.

Once he bottomed out, he wrapped one hand on your throat, pulling you flush with him, and the other in a bruising grip on your hip. Thrusting up into you as you moaned on his cock, gripping your tits for support.

“Look at you,” his lust blown eyes, gazing at your writhing in the mirror, “so fuckin’ eager for my cock.”

Your eyes opened to view his member pummeling your squelched entrance in the mirror, “fuck, Phil,” beyond words as you watched your man take you in the bathroom.

“You want me to fill this whore cunt up?” panting between thrusts as they became more erratic watching your movements in the mirror, “make you sit in it the rest of the night?”

Just then he moved his hands to push away your grip on your tits, massaging them with his own and then slapping the skin as hard as he could, “You’re all mine, Y/N.”

He returned both hands to your hips as you slightly bent over. The new angle allowing him to pillage your hole with the most fervor he could muster.

“All. Fuckin’. Mine,” he grunted out causing your walls to flutter, as you neared your climax. He reached his right hand to circle your aching clit, causing a chorus of moans and cries from your perfectly glossed lips.

“You gonna cum for me, honey?” he sped up his movements, causing the tingling to spread throughout your abdomen. You rolled your eyes as you came hard on his huge cock, gasping his name out in a chant as he coaxed you through it.

“That’s my good girl,” he mewled as his hand left your center, returning to your hip as he picked up his own pace towards his release. Your walls closing in and out on him sending him into a state of complete ecstasy as he released his spend into you.

“Fuck, Y/N,” he panted out as he dumped the last of his seed into your gaping hole, pulling out to see the leakage seep from your pretty little slit.

“So full of me,” he scooped the mixture causing you to turn around and face him, opening your mouth in submission.

“Good girl,” he stuffed his thick fingers into you, watching your lips close and suck on the concoction you’d both made. Pulling them out to watch you swallow the rest of it, patting you bare ass when you’d shown him your empty mouth again.

“God, I love you,” he pulled you flush to him, kissing the sweat sheened on your skin, smelling your scent. You wrapped your arms around his midsection, “I love you too, honey,” kissing his chest and then his lips as he bent low to meet you.

“Happy Halloween, Barry,” pushing him off of you in a chuckle and grabbing your jumpsuit from the floor, “we should head back out there. I wanna dance a little bit more, please?”

“Anything for you honey,” he smiled, helping you zip the suit back on, “as long as you don’t fuckin’ sass me like that again.”

“Well given the reaming I just got, detective,” you winked, “I may just act out once more to see what kind of punishment I’ll get when we get home?”

Raising your eyebrow as you unlocked the door to walk out, “try me, baby girl,” his pupils dilated watching your smirk grow.

“I have a few tricks up my sleeve,” leading him out to the crowd of ghosts, goblins, and zombies to finish the night off.

________________

HOW THE TURNTABLES..... HOPE YOU ALL GOT IN THE HALLOWEEN SPIRIT!

🖤,

ray-nal-beads

#flip zimmerman x female reader #flip zimmerman one shot #flip zimmerman fanfic #flip zimmerman fluff #flip zimmerman imagine #flip zimmerman smut #flip zimmerman x you #flip zimmerman request #flip zimmerman x reader #flip zimmerman #halloween #adam driver fic #adam driver fanfic

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azzydoesntexist · 3 years

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Dc Comic Character Themes! Songs and Characters below the cut!

Also, Carter is 80s superboy, Conner is the yj cartoon/tshirt suberboy, and Lane is jonathan lane kent superboy, while jon is Jonathan Samuel Kent the current superman.

Bruce -- Life On The Moon - David Cook

Alfred -- This Is Your Life - Switchfoot

Gordon -- Deadman - SAINT PHNX

Bullock -- Is Anyone Out There? - Delta Rae

Kate -- Cookie Cutter - Ivory Lane

Luke -- Courage - Clay Finnesand

Barbara -- Survior -- 2WEI & Edda Hayes

Dick -- Eyes Warm, Eyes Wide - Lilli Furfaro

Jason -- Burning Alive - 8 Graves

Tim -- Haze - Tessa Violet

Cassandra -- Will I Find My Home? - Juniper Vale & Vian Izak

Stephanie -- Masterpiece - Summer Luk

Damian -- Bones - Emily Finchum

Duke -- Infinite (Unsung Hereos) - Built By Titans

Clark -- Blink - Revive

Lois -- Feet Don't Fail Me Now - Neoni

Jimmy -- Parrot - Stepdad

Jon -- Glorious - Stephanie Mabey

Connor -- Black Sky - Arrows To Athens

Carter -- Bishounen - Hikaru Station

Lane -- Little Poor Me - Layto

Lex -- Legendary - Welshly Arms

Hal -- Way Beyond - 32 Leaves

John -- Iscariot - The Vassar Devils

Guy -- Monster - Seafret

Kyle -- Them Dirty Bones - Mike Waters

Sinestro -- Beast - 8 Graves

Ollie -- Glory Bound - Matt Hires

Dinah -- Whatever it takes - Madilyn Paige & Kyle Wesley

Artemis -- Unstoppable - Sia

Roy -- Bury A Friend - NateWantsToBattle

Jim -- Never Going Back - The Score

Will -- Shot In The Dark - Within Temptation

Barry -- SAD (Clap Your Hands) - Young Rising Sons

Wally -- Starting Line - Luke Hemmings

Bart -- Ain't No Crying - Derivakat

Thaddeus -- Top Of The World - Greek Fire

Harrison -- Chosen One - Valley Of Wolves

Caitlin -- Human - Gabrielle Aplin

Cisco -- Just - Startisan

J'on J'onzz -- Ship In A Bottle - fin

Diana -- Stand My Ground - Within Temptation

Arthur -- High (Keep Up) - Bo Baskoro

Micheal -- Destiny - NEFFEX

Ted -- Rose Bouquet - Hamster & Wit Blue

Zatanna -- Power - Little Mix

Billy/Shazam -- Unfortunate Soul - Kailee Morgue

Constantine -- Contagious - Night Riots

Cyborg -- IDK - The DLX

Starfire -- Wildflowers - Maddie Poppe

Raven -- Vulture Vulture - Of Monsters And Men

Beastboy -- Let's Kill Tonight - Panic! At The Disco

Kaldur -- Silence - Marshmellow & Khalid

Joker -- Not Human - Elegant Slims

Penguin -- Emperor's New Clothes - Panic! At The Disco

Riddler -- Everybody Loves Me - OneRepublic

Harley -- The Broken - Stars In Stereo

Ivy -- Bit By Bit - Mother Mother

Crane -- The Fear - The Score

Croc -- Popular Monster - Falling In Reverse

Selina -- Solitude - Sorry Peach

Len/ Captain Cold -- Glory - The Score

Glider/Lisa Snart -- Woman - Kesha

Mick/ Heatwave -- Riot - Hollywood Undead

Digger/ Captain Boomerag -- Higher - The Score

Top -- The Mystic - Adam Jensen

Weather Wizard -- How It Ends - Great Elk

Pied Piper -- Primadona - Marina And The Diamonds

Eobard -- The Wolf - SIAMES

Ra's -- Counting Bodies Like Sheep - The Perfect Circle

Tahlia -- Castle - Corvyx

Slade -- Stand Up - Trapt

Jade -- Becoming The Beast - Karliene

#Spotify #dc #dc comics #batman #superman #jla #justice league

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wazafam · 3 years

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K-dramas have a theme for about anything a viewer is looking for. There are suspense, dramas, thrillers, and highly popular love stories. Some may not want to admit it, but love stories involving falling in love with the boss is a guilty pleasure.

RELATED: 10 Best Time Travel K-Dramas, Ranked (According To IMDb)

Maybe it involves the shy new girl who catches the eye of the handsome and rich CEO. In some cases, the power play is reversed. Regardless, K-dramas have a way of hooking in audiences with their dynamic storylines. If looking for some new K-dramas to add to your roster of must-watch, look no further. Here's a list to get you started.

Updated on April 22nd, 2021, by Gabriela Silva: There's a storyline for every K-drama fan to enjoy from thrillers and the supernatural to unique romances. To add a level of intrigue to a love story what better way than to center it around the blossoming love of a worker and their boss. K-dramas are no stranger to the storyline theme and are quite popular. It's a fairytale story that fans wish happened in real life.

15 Oh My Ghost (2015)

Oh My Ghost is one of the most recognized supernatural dramas. It focuses on three main characters and the main love story is between a young woman and her boss who's a famous chef. There's a catch. Na Bong-Sun (Park Bo-Young) is shy and timid and has a huge crush on her boss. She can also see spirits.

One day, she's possessed by a young lustful female spirit who believes the only way to go to the afterlife is by losing her virginity. Being the puppet of the ghost, Bong-Sun now becomes a firecracker and confident woman who catches her boss's eye.

14 Radiant Office (2017)

The 2017 drama, Radiant Office has multiple elements that make it a fun boss-employee storyline. Eun Ho-Won (Go Ah-Sung) is down on her luck looking for work and attempts suicide. At the hospital, she learns she terminally ill but succeeds at landing a job.

With a new purpose in life, Ho-Won takes on her new job with full force. Her superior and boss, Seo Woo-Jin (Ha Seok-Jin) thinks she's a huge pain in the neck and often bickers. Their odd relationship might just turn into something more.

13 Protect The Boss (2011)

This K-drama doesn't have the typical boss characteristics seen in other shows. Protect the Boss centers around Cha Ji-Heon (Ji Sung), a childish director at DN Group. He soon meets his match in his new secretary, Noh Eun-Seol (Choi Kang-Hee).

Eun-Seol is determined to not lose her first professional job and gives it her all. Her kind and spunky demeanor start to attract Ji-Heon. That's not all, the drama has a love triangle between Ji-Heon and his rival and cousin, Cha MuWwon (Kim Jae-Joong).

12 Master's Sun (2013)

Master's Sun is another K-drama with a supernatural base. Tae Kong-Shil (Gong Hyo-Jin) gains the ability to see ghosts after a bizarre accident. Her abilities leave her unable to keep a solid job. Kong-Shil works as a cleaning lady at Kingdom's, a conglomerate company, shopping mall.

She soon meets the company's cold and distant CEO, Joo Joong-Won (So Ji-Sub). In a turn of events, whenever Long-Shil touches Joong-Won, the ghosts disappear. After some begging, Joong-Won stays by her side in return for her help in recovering something stolen from him.

11 Jugglers (2017)

2017 was a good year to binge-watch multiple boss-employee relationship K-dramas. Jugglers followed the trend and revolved around a secretary and her cold as ice boss. Jwa Yoon-Yi (Baek Jin-Hee) is a devoted and diligent secretary whose put on hold when her boss's wife accuses her of having an affair with her husband.

On the other end, Nam Chi-Won (Daniel Choi) is assigned to be the managing director at Yoon-Yi's company. Yoon-Yi becomes his secretary. Chi-Won suffers from childhood trauma and is indifferent to socializing. After Yoon-Yi gets drunk at a dinner party, Chi-Won takes her home and realizes she lives in the place where his trauma originated. Seeing the 'tenant wanted' sign on her door, he becomes her neighbor to overcome his past.

10 My Secret Romance (2017)

What happens when you meet your one-night stand three years later? To make matters worse he happens to be your new boss. Lee Yoo-Mi (Song Ji-Eun) is insecure about herself but has to attend her mother's weddings. She meets Cha Jin-Wook (Sung Hoon). They're less than cordial with one another but soon start to feel an attraction and spend the night.

Yoo-mi is unaware of who he really is and flees the following morning. Years later she is hired to be his nutritionist. Jin-Wook changed his ways after that night and takes over his father's company and never forgot Yoo-mi. He tries to romance her and get to admit her feelings for him. Interwoven is a storyline involving Yoo-mi's baby brother that is blown out of proportion on who the father is.

9 Rich Man (2018)

Rich Man might also be known for its original Japanese television drama version, Rich Man, Poor Woman. The K-drama was a 2018 remake that did well on television. The show takes an interesting route with the main male character. The CEO of a popular IT company has a facial recognition disability.

This has caused him the inability to recognize his first love. At an employee recruitment meeting, he picks on a particular girl with photogenic memory. She stands up to the mean CEO and says something that catches his interest. She ends up working for the company and helping the CEO.

8 Strong Girl Bong-soon (2017)

Strong Girl Bong-Soon is a highly popular K-drama and has a lot of the same characteristics of an employee falling in love with their boss. A young girl is born with unexplainable superhuman strength. It's more of a family trait. This leads to an intriguing storyline.

After beating up some bullies, she is hired by a rich CEO of a gaming company. While having a crush on her friend, she starts to realize who she really has feelings for. All while protecting her CEO from a possible threat and kidnapper.

7 My Shy Boss (2017)

Sometimes opposites attract in the most bizarre way possible. My Shy Boss or Introverted Boss follows the tumultuous relationship between a CEO and his new employee. The CEO of a public relations firm is the exact opposite of what one expects.

RELATED: 10 Best K-Drama “Second Lead” Couples That Every Fan Rooted For

He's highly introverted, shy, sensitive, and can come off as cold. On the other hand, the company hires a new employee who is extroverted, loud, and not afraid to speak her mind. She takes an interest in the CEO and wants to uncover who he really is under his hood.

6 Lucky Romance (2016)

Audiences will surely have a good laugh with this K-drama with its peculiar antics. In Lucky Romance, a 26-year-old attractive woman is highly superstitious believing she was born unlucky. She follows every precaution possible and consults a shaman about her sister. The only way to save her? She has to sleep with a man born in the year of the tiger.

She soon meets a CEO and genius game developer. Who happens to fit her criteria. Their personalities clash, but Shim Bo-Nui (Hwang Jung-Eum) is determined to see save her sister even if it means wooing her boss.

5 Level Up (2019)

Level Up follows a lot of the typical boss-employee storyline details; mixed in with some drama. This CEO specializes in helping reconstruct failing companies. He takes on a company called Joybuster despite his previous childhood trauma with gaming.

As the new CEO of the company, he soon meets its head designer. A passionate and sweet young woman clashes heads with a cold and meticulous boss. Will they put their differences aside and complete their new game and maybe fall in love?

4 Hotel Del Luna (2019)

Hotel Del Luna is a fan favorite amongst K-dramas. It mixes the supernatural with some dramatic romance. Jang Man-Wol (Lee Ji-Eun) is moody and bad-tempered for having to run Hotel Del Luna for the past thousands of years. She must atone for her indiscretions and change her attitude.

The hotel is only visible to souls, ghosts, and humans at special times of the year. Things heat up when the hotel gets a new general manager due to a contract signed by his father. Gu Chan-sung (Yeo Jin-goo) is a stoic MBA graduate who has to confront his fear of ghosts. He soon changes his demeanor and helps melt Man-Wol's heart and keep her safe.

3 She Was Pretty (2015)

She Was Pretty is a fun roller coaster ride for anyone who watches. Fans of Parasite will recall the lead actor in this drama. Two childhood friends grow up on the opposite ends of the spectrum for both success and looks. Kim Hye-jin (Hwang Jung-Eum) ended up having her father's red cheeks and frizzy hair, while Ji Sung-Joon (Park Seo-Joon) becomes a strikingly handsome man.

RELATED: 10 K-Dramas With A Vampire Storyline, Ranked (According To IMDb)

They decide to reconnect but Hye-jin backs out seeing how much they've changed. Instead, he mistakes her best friend for her creating a fake love story. Sung-Joon then becomes her boss at her magazine company unaware of who she really is. Will Sung-Joon recognize his first love and fall head over heels? Or will her co-worker woo her away?

2 What's Wrong With Secretary Kim (2018)

What's Wrong With Secretary Kim is at the top of the list and regarded as one of the best romance K-dramas when it comes to the employee-boss dynamic. Kim Mi-so (Park Min-young) has been Lee Young-Joon's (Park Seo-Joon) right-hand woman for years as his secretary. Her announcement of resignation doesn't sit well with her cold and professional boss.

He then starts to see her in a different light beyond the professional. There's jealousy, romantic gestures, and changing of heart in his drama. Not to mention there are some steamy kissing scenes. Young-Joon will do whatever he can to keep Mi-so in his life.

1 My Private Life (2019)

Park Min-Young is back as Sun Deok-Mi in My Private Life. The show is based on a popular Korean webtoon. Deok-Mi is a talented and highly regarded art curator who harbors a secret. She's an obsessed fangirl. Her secret can ruin her career at the museum. An acclaimed but retired artist, Ryan Gold (Kim Jae-Wook) becomes the museum's new boss.

After some rumors spread, Gold and Doek-Mi must pretend to date to stop scrutiny towards her favorite idol and new museum client. Fake dating soon starts to blossom into real love. Deok-Mi must try and let go of her secret fan page and obsession.

NEXT: The 10 Best K-Dramas With More Than One Season, Ranked (According To IMDb)

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enavance · 3 years

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hi i’m here to once again start a discussion / meta about a song that i relate to cherry. on this episode, we’re pulling apart falling in reverse’s popular monster. some of the lyrics are hit or miss because you know obviously this is based on ronnie’s own experiences, but some of the lyrics are really suited to cherry and i’ll bold the relevant lines as i go or omit things as needed.

also holy shit this is like over 1600 words, not including the lyrics of course, and . . . congratulations if u read this jkbdfbkvd

i wake up every morning with my head up in a daze i'm not sure if i should say this, fuck, i'll say it anyway everybody tries to tell me that i'm goin' through a phase i don't know if it's a phase, i just wanna feel okay, yeah i battle with depression, but the question still remains is this post-traumatic stressin' or am i suppressin' rage? and my doctor tries to tell me that i'm going through a phase yeah, it's not a fuckin' phase, i just wanna feel okay

okay, yeah, i struggle with this bullshit every day and it's probably 'cause my demons simultaneously rage it obliterates me, disintegrates me, annihilates me

cherry has always been hot - tempered since she was younger, but now as she’s grown and grown into her role as the warrior of light and coupled with all of the things she has endured from the beginning of her journey to where she is now. she lived a relatively peaceful life until imperial garlean forces invaded her village and uprooted her life and destroyed everything she once knew and forced her to make anew. cherry struggles with severe depression and ptsd, and much of that contributes to her trauma response and why she’s so quick to lash out in a form of a defense mechanism.

'cause i'm about to break down i'm searchin' for a way out i'm a liar, i'm a cheater, i'm a non-believer i'm a popular, popular monster i break down falling into love now with falling apart i'm a popular, popular monster

with everything cherry goes through, it’s a wonder she hasn’t snapped completely yet, but she has come so, so, so close so many times. she is self - destructive in her coping methods, whether intentionally or not. sometimes she realizes and notices her harmful coping methods, sometimes she doesn’t, but her mindset is that if she’s not hurting anyone else, it’s fine.

however, what she doesn’t realize is that her distance and cold shouldering and keeping people at arms length is hurtful because people are just trying to be there for her, but she won’t allow them to due to her debilitating fear of allowing anyone to come near her, physically or emotionally, and risk them forming an attachment to her and vice versa.

she doesn’t want someone to feel hurt or pain in losing her and having to mourn her. cherry is a serial escapist in that she will disappear for months at a time and wander off looking for the most dangerous jobs, not only because she needs the money and thrives off of the adrenaline and that she has an inherently reckless nature, but it’s that deep - rooted self - destructiveness.

i think i'm going nowhere like a rat trapped in a maze every wall that i knock down is just a wall that i'll replace i'm in a race against myself, i try to keep a steady pace how the fuck will i escape if i never close my case? oh my god, i keep on stressin', every second that i waste is another second sooner to a blessing i won't take

cherry doesn’t see herself as a hero. to a degree, she understands that it’s not her choice whether or not she is seen as a hero. other people will call her one regardless based on her accomplishments and achievements and decorated contributions to the preservation of eorzea and the shard as a whole. as vain as she is, and as much as she boasts of her strength as a warrior, which she takes quite a bit of pride in, she’s surprisingly somewhat humble when it comes to being seen as a hero that people look to for light in the darkness and idolize. she just sees nothing special in it because of how many people still die, how many things are still lost and destroyed. her own pessimism stops her from feeling positively towards any association with being a hero. she doesn’t want to be celebrated or praised, but she won’t be mad if someone compliments her skills and says she’s strong.

cherry is an extremely guarded person and this is something i discuss at length with her keeping extremely tall and thick walls up to protect herself and the people around her due to her life experiences and the trauma she has been through from before ARR to where she is now post - SHB. she’s afraid of letting anyone in. she’s afraid of caring about people, despite the fact that she does because deep down she is caring and kind and soft and she just can’t help herself. she tries to convince herself that she’s not as close to some people as she thinks, but she is and it would kill her to lose anyone else. and deep down, cherry knows that it’s much the same for her friends as well, that it’s too late, that they do care about her and someone will be there to mourn and grieve her and she hates that. this is why she flinches at softness, any soft gesture or touch or kindness, even more so when it comes to romantic avenues. she will run and run and run until she’s sure you’ve given up on pursuing her. much of this is also tied into the fact that caring about someone is a weakness to a fault because an enemy can sniff that out and use that against her. they could take someone that she cares about and use them as leverage or kill them or hurt them to get to her and she is so deeply afraid of that most of all.

cherry refuses help constantly. she shoulders everything and is the first to volunteer to do anything dangerous. she makes her own recklessly stupid and dangerous plans and rushes in headfirst without much thought. she is stubborn and will insist on doing everything herself, even the most menial tasks. she doesn’t want to look weak, not that she is or that anyone even thinks that of her, but she doesn’t want it to appear to anyone that she has any weaknesses because she doesn’t want them to be turned against her. she refuses help that would otherwise be blessings to make her life easier.

okay, motherfucker, now you got my attention i need to change a couple things 'cause somethin' is missing and what if i were to lie? tell you everything is fine every single fucking day i get closer to the grave i am terrified, i fell asleep at the wheel again crashed my car just to feel again it obliterates me, disintegrates me, annihilates me

cherry is as honest as they come. perhaps too honest, sometimes. however, when it comes to her own wellbeing, she will lie to fool others into thinking that she’s fine so that they don’t worry about her. she doesn’t want to be worried or fussed over, and most of all, she doesn’t want to add to anyone else’s stress or make them waste their time with her. cherry doesn’t take very good care of herself, physically or emotionally or mentally. she barrels into danger without thought, is impulsive, extremely reckless, and she doesn’t talk about her feelings to anyone or discuss the traumatic events that happened to her with anyone. i think the only people she may have opened up to are haurchefant, maybe thancred on occasion, ardbert because she’s fine talking to him because her logic is “ who is he going to tell ? no one else can see him, ” maybe aymeric but never wholly in detail, and maybe estinien. cherry is terrified of opening up to people. she doesn’t care if people see her as being awful or anything, but she’s afraid of being seen as vulnerable and having all of those parts of her open and raw.

she’s not actively suicidal or anything or ever thinking about dying. in fact, she’s deathly afraid of dying because of the people who care about her and because the fate of the world rests on her shoulders. she doesn’t want anyone to ever feel the pain she did losing her loved ones. she doesn’t want them to mourn her. she doesn’t want to risk the dying of this star just because there’s so much at stake and so many people and the world depending on her success and her being alive.

still, despite that, despite knowing that and that being an enormous fear of hers, that doesn’t stop her from being reckless. she is extremely self - destructive and impulsive and doesn’t think too much, if at all, before committing to something, even if it’s an extremely bad idea. she does do harmful and self - destructive things just to feel things, hence her being somewhat of an adrenaline addict and chasing danger and diving headfirst into fights or battles and facing off with dangerous people, even if outnumbered. she revels in danger and the feeling of adrenaline rushes and actively being battered and bruised in a fight. she probably would crash a car, honestly, just to feel something that is beyond the despondence and depression that she’s come to know post - shb.

yeah, here we go again, motherfucker, oh we're sick and tired of wondering praying to a god that you don't believe you're searching for the truth in the lost and found so the question i ask is, yeah, where the fuck is your god now?

and by the end of shb, knowing the things that she knows of hydaelyn and zodiark, she’s extremely jaded and even more pessimistic than she was to begin with. in the beginning, she didn’t know what she was coming into, when joining the fray with the scions and learning of her own abilities with the echo and hydaelyn’s will and her involvement. as time passes and hydaelyn’s absence becomes more noticeable, she begins to feel abandoned, and she wonders if hydaelyn is simply content to allow the shard to die and with it, its people.

even upon learning of the mother crystal’s weakness in strength, learning the truth of everything, the forming of the worlds and hydaelyn and zodiark being primals, she begins to heavily distrust hydaelyn and wonders if everything had been a lie. what else had hydaelyn hidden from her ? what else was a lie ? cherry has never been religious, not really, and she wonders if the gods are really out there. hydaelyn certainly isn’t the god they all thought she was — she is a primal. they have placed their faith and worship in a primal who disappeared and left them in darkness and silence.

cherry is left in a pretty fragile state come the end of shb. she has lost so much more, and she feels as though she managed to accomplish nothing despite everything that she has had a hand in doing. there is always something else, always something more, and she feels as though it’s never going to end and she is exhausted. she will never tire of helping people, not truly, but she feels such an emptiness within her and i really think that losing anyone else important to her, specifically people like thancred, the twins, estinien, aymeric, she is really going to spiral harder than ever before and i really don’t know how cherry would come out of it in one piece.

#hc.#long post -#uh ask to tag ?#self harm -#kind of ????#suicide mention -#just in case #shb spoilers -#u get 500 cookies if u manage to read through this kdjfbvd #i didnt mean for this to be this long but like idk!#this song really speaks to me about cherry #this is actually quite an important hc djkbfvfd #i'll post her playlist someday if i ever finish it #not that it'll ever be finish #it'll always be a continuous wip but u know

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dweemeister · 4 years

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Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959, India)

Almost a quarter of the way through the twenty-first century, globalization has pierced the remotest corners of the planet. The examples academics and politicians cite demonstrating this globalization are almost always economic, but the most profound examples are cultural. Once known only in South Asia, Indian cinema has burst onto a global stage. Its stars and its most popular directors seem larger than life. Reading on some of modern Bollywood’s (Hindi-language cinema) personalities, I find few of their biographies compelling beyond their unquestionable status as South Asian and international celebrities – I won’t name names here because that is for another time. That is partly a result of not watching enough Bollywood films. It is also because I am making unconscious comparisons between those modern actors to actor-director Guru Dutt. Dutt was a tragic romantic – off- and on-screen – to the point where those personas can become indistinguishable.

As an actor, Dutt can be as charming a romantic male lead as anyone, as well as lend a film the dramatic gravitas it needs. As a director, he refined his sweeping visuals and theatrical flairs over time. That artistic development culminated with Pyaasa (1957) and his final directorial effort, Kaagaz Ke Phool (“Paper Flowers” in English). The latter film is the subject of this piece. Both films elevate themselves to a cinematic altitude few movies anywhere, anytime ever accomplish. They are, for lack of a better word, operatic* – in aesthetic, emotion, storytelling, tone. In Kaagaz Ke Phool, Dutt once again lays bare his artistic soul in what will be his final directed work.

An old man enters a film studio’s empty soundstage, climbs onto the rafters, and gazes wistfully at the darkened workspace below. We learn that this is Suresh Sinha (Dutt), a film director whose illustrious past exists only in old film stock. The film is told in flashback, transporting to a time when his marriage to Bina (Veena) is endangered – the parents-in-law disdain his film work as disreputable to their social class – and he is embarking upon an ambitious production of Devdas (a Bengali romance novel that is among the most adapted pieces of Indian literature to film, the stage, and television). He is having difficulty finding someone to play Paro, the female lead. Due to this conflict, Bima has also forbidden their teenage daughter, Pammi (Kumari Naaz), from seeing Suresh. Pammi is sent to a boarding school far from Delhi (where Bima and her parents reside) and further from Mumbai (where Suresh works), without any sufficient explanations of the spousal strife.

One rainy evening, Suresh generously provides his coat to a woman, Shanti (an excellent Waheeda Rehman). The next day, Shanti arrives at the film studio looking to return the coat. Not knowing anything about film production, she accidentally steps in front of the camera while it is rolling – angering the crew who are tiring of yet another production mishap. Later, while viewing the day’s rushes, Suresh casts Shanti as Paro after witnessing her accidental, but remarkable, screen presence. She achieves cinematic stardom; Suresh and Shanti become intimate. When the tabloid gossip eventually reaches Mumbai and Pammi’s boarding school, it leads to the ruin of all.

What did you expect from an operatic film – a happy ending?

Also starring in the film are Johnny Walker (as Suresh’s brother-in-law, “Rocky”) and Minoo Mumtaz (as a veterinarian). Walker and Mumtaz’s roles are vestigial to Kaagaz Ke Phool. Their romantic subplot is rife with the potential for suggestive humor (she is a horse doctor), but the screenplay never justifies their inclusion in the film.

Shot on CinemaScope lens licensed by 20th Century Fox to Dutt’s production company, Kaagaz Ke Phool is Dutt’s only film shot in letterboxed widescreen. From the onset of his directorial career and his close collaboration with cinematographer V.K. Murthy, Dutt exemplifies an awesome command of tonal transition and control. Murthy’s dollying cameras intensify emotion upon approach: anguish, contempt, sober realization. These techniques render these emotions painfully personal, eliminating the necessity of a few lines of dialogue or supplemental motion from the actor. The effect can be uncomfortable to those who have not fully suspended their disbelief in the plot or the songs that are sung at the time. But to the viewers that have accepted that Dutt’s films exist in a reality where songs about infatuation, love, loss, and regret are sung spontaneously (and where revelations are heard in stillness), this is part of the appeal. Dutt and Murthy’s lighting also assists in directing the narrative and setting mood: a lashing rainstorm signaling a chance meeting that seals the protagonists’ fates, the uncharacteristically film noir atmosphere of the soundstage paints moviemaking as unglamorous, and a beam of light during a love melody evokes unspoken attraction. That final example represents the pinnacle of Dutt and Murthy’s teamwork (more on this later).

As brilliant as his films (including this) may be, Dutt suffered during mightily during Kaagaz Ke Phool’s production. In writings about Dutt, one invariably encounters individuals who believe Dutt’s life confirms that suffering leads to great art. Though I think it best to retire that aphorism so as not to romanticize pain, I believe that the reverse is true with Guru Dutt – his later directing career contributed to his personal tribulations. In some ways, that suffering informed his approach to what I consider an informal semiautobiographical trilogy of his films: Mr. & Mrs. ’55 (1955), Pyaasa, and Kaagaz Ke Phool. Dutt directed and starred in each of these films. In each film he plays an artist (a cartoonist, poet, and film director, respectively); with each successive film his character begins with a greater reputation, only to fall further than the last. The three Dutt protagonists encounter hardship that do not discriminate by caste, professional success, or wealth.

For Dutt’s Suresh, he is unable to consummate his love for Shanti because the specters of his failed marriage haunt him still. He never speaks to his de facto ex, but marital disappointment lingers. Why does he bother visiting his stuffy in-laws when he knows they will never change their opinions about him? Abrar Alvi’s (the other films in the aforementioned informal Dutt-directed trilogy, 1962’s Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam) screenplay is silent on the matter. Also factoring into Suresh’s hesitation is his daughter, Pammi. Pammi is young, looks up to both her parents, and cannot fathom a parent being torn from her life. Her reaction to learning about Shanti implies that neither of her parents have ever truly talked to her about their separation. Pammi does not appear to blame herself, but it seems that her parents – intent on protecting their child, perhaps speaking to her not as a soon-to-be young adult – are loath to maturely talk about the other. In a sense, Pammi has never mourned her parents’ marriage as we see her deny the tabloid reports about Suresh’s affair and express anger towards her father when she learns the truth.

When Suresh’s film after Devdas flops, his film career is in tatters. But Shanti’s popularity is ascendant, creating a dynamic reminiscent of A Star is Born. In a faint reference to Devdas, Kaagaz Ke Phool’s final act contains anxieties about falling into lower classes. If Kaagaz Ke Phool is contemporaneous to its release date, one could also interpret this as concerns about falling within India’s caste system (reformist India in the late 1950s was dipping its toes into criminalizing caste discrimination, which remains prevalent). Suresh’s fall is stratospheric and, in his caste-conscious, masculine pride, he rejects Shanti’s overtures to help him rebuild his life and film career. This tragedy deepens because Shanti’s offer is in response to the contractual exploitation she is enduring. We do not see what becomes of Shanti after her last encounter with Suresh, but his final scenes remind me, again, of opera: the male lead summoning the strength to sing (non-diegetically in Suresh’s case) his parting, epitaphic thoughts moments before the curtain lowers.

Suresh’s and Shanti’s respective suffering was preventable. Whether love may have assuaged his self-pity and alcoholism and her professional disputes is debatable, but one suspects it only could have helped.

Composer S.D. Burman (Pyaasa, 1965’s Guide) and lyricist Kaifi Azmi (1970’s Herr Raanjha, 1974’s Garm Hava) compose seven songs for Kaagaz Ke Phool – all of which elevate the dramatics, but none are as poetic as numbers in previous Dutt films. Comments on two of the most effective songs follow; I did not find myself nearly as moved by the others.

“Dekhi Zamane Ki Yaari” (roughly, “I Have Seen How Deeply Friendship Lies”) appears just after the opening credits, as an older Suresh ascends the soundstage’s stairs to look down on his former domain. The song starts with and is later backed by organ (this is an educated guess, as many classic Indian films could benefit with extensive audio restorations as trying to figure out their orchestrations can be difficult) and is sung non-diegetically by Mohammed Rafi (dubbing for Dutt). A beautiful dissolve during this number smooths the transition into the flashback that will frame the entire film. That technique, combined with “Dekhi Zamane Ki Yaari”, prepares the audience for what could be a somber recollection. However, this is only the first half of a bifurcated song. The melodic and thematic ideas of “Dekhi Zamane Ki Yaari” are completed in the film’s final minutes, “Bichhde Sabhi Baari Baari” (“They All Fall Apart, One by One”; considered by some as a separate song). Together, the musical and narrative arc of this song/these songs form the film’s soul. For such an important musical number, it may have been ideal to incorporate it more into the film’s score, but now I am being picky.

Just over the one-hour mark, “Waqt Ne Kiya Haseen Sitam” (“Time Has Inflicted Such Sweet Cruelty On Us”; non-diegetically sung by Shanti, dubbed by Geeta Dutt, Guru’s wife) heralds the film’s second act – Suresh and Shanti’s simultaneous realization of their unspoken love, and how they are changed irrevocably for having met each other. Murthy’s floating cameras and that piercing beam of light are revelatory. A double exposure during this sequence shows the two characters walking toward each other as their inhibitions stay in place, a breathtaking mise en scène (the arrangement of a set and placement of actors to empower a narrative/visual idea) foreshadowing the rest of the film.

Dutt’s perfectionist approach to Kaagaz Ke Phool fueled a public perception that the film was an indulgent vanity exercise with a tragic ending no one could stomach viewing. Paralleling Suresh and Shanti’s romantic interest in each other in this film, the Indian tabloids were printing stories claiming that Dutt was intimate with co-star Waheeda Rehman and cheating on Geeta Dutt. These factors – perhaps some more than others (I’m not versed on what Bollywood celebrity culture was like in the 1950s, and Pyaasa’s tragic ending didn’t stop audiences from flocking to that film) – led to Kaagaz Ke Phool’s bombing at the box office. Blowing an unfixable financial hole into his production company, Guru Dutt, a man who, “couldn’t digest failure,” never directed another film. Like the character he portrays here, Dutt became an alcoholic and succumbed to depression in the wake of this film’s release. Having dedicated himself entirely to his films, he interpreted any professional failure as a personal failure.

Kaagaz Ke Phool haunts from its opening seconds. Beyond his home country, Dutt would not live to see his final directorial effort become a landmark Bollywood film and his international reputation growing still as cinematic globalization marches forth. Dutt’s most visually refined films, including Kaagaz Ke Phool, are films of subtraction. The cinematography and music make less movement and dialogue preferable. Kaagaz Ke Phool is a film defined about actions that are not taken and scenes that are never shown. The result is not narrative emptiness, but a receptacle of Dutt’s empathy and regrets. Exploring these once-discarded, partially biographic ideas is not for faint hearts.

My rating: 9/10

^ Based on my personal imdb rating. Half-points are always rounded down. My interpretation of that ratings system can be found in the “Ratings system” page on my blog (as of July 1, 2020, tumblr is not permitting certain posts with links to appear on tag pages, so I cannot provide the URL).

For more of my reviews tagged “My Movie Odyssey”, check out the tag of the same name on my blog.

* I use this adjective not to reference operatic music, but as an intangible feeling that courses over me when watching a film. Examples of what I would consider to be operatic cinema include: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000, Taiwan); Greed (1924); The Red Shoes (1948); and The Wind (1928). Some level of melodrama and emotional unpackaging is necessary, but the film need not be large in scope or have musical elements for me to consider it “operatic”.

#Kaagaz Ke Phool #Guru Dutt #Waheeda Rehman #Kumari Naaz #Bollywood #Mehmood #Johnny Walker #Mahesh Kaul #Veena Sapru #Abrar Alvi #V.K. Murthy #S.D. Burman #Mohammad Rafi #Geeta Dutt #Asha Bhosle #My Movie Odyssey

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caltropspress · 4 years

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FEEDBACK LOOP #1: Armand Hammer’s “Flavor Flav”

What are the Black purposes of space travel?

—Amiri Baraka, “Technology & Ethos”

Black futurism is a temporally troubled matrix Black futurism is a temporally troubled matrix that thrives on opposites and oppositions, flowing lines and nonlinearity, conflict resolution and asymmetrical warfare. It prefers the mad dash on shifting sands while in pursuit of higher ground and safe havens.

—Greg Tate, “Kalahari Hopscotch, or Notes Toward a 20 Volume History of Black Science and Afrofuturism”

Welcome aboard our spaceship, it’s so nice to have you here. —Newcleus, “Space is the Place”

Who, constructing the house of himself or herself, not for a day but for all times, sees races, eras, dates, generations, The past, the future, dwelling there, like space, inseparable together. —Walt Whitman

I’m so tired of being forced to promote the myth of white supremacy by performing works by old white men like Whitman who said blacks...didn’t have a place in the future of America. —Timothy McNair

Today is the shadow of tomorrow, today is the future present of yesterday, yesterday is the shadow of today. —Sun Ra, “Secrets of the Sun”

This highly allusive track from billy woods and ELUCID toys with itself—that is, allusions are a figurative means of collapsing time in and of themselves. Past and present history & culture don’t contend so much as support one another. A set of stilts to do the Dance of Death on, if you will. “Start downhill running.” The Seventh Seal hilltop silhouette danse macabre steez, though. The whooshing, metal-creaking beat—with all its haunted psithurism charm—is the backdrop for this sleeper Shrines track.

The name “Flavor Flav” is used metonymically here to mean time. This isn’t a braggadocio, low-key threat in the spirit of OC’s “Time’s Up.” This isn’t a Grandmaster Flashian “You Know What Time It Is” (though the hands on the clock tower do spin clockwise and counter-). Neither is this a Kool Moe Dee-esque rhetorical “Do You Know What Time It Is?” Armand Hammer are frustrated by time, by the “ideals and dreams that don’t work.” woods laments his “time machine [that] don’t go backwards.” This no-good lemon of a H.G. Wells contraption he’s steering. This isn’t some Christopher Lloyd-cum-El-Producto Delorean. There’s no Great Scotting going on, just stubbornness.

Progress isn’t made. Time stagnates. Like the “list of ill-fated quick licks under ’frigerator magnets.” And that “school trip permission slip”—likely a bus ride to a museum: a carefully curated collection of artifacts, most notable for its colonial muscling. The question remains: What is left out? What is excluded? What is ignored, discarded, or co-opted so as to not withstand the test of time? woods’ short-i assonance speeds the delivery up only to slow it down:

billy woods, son of a revolutionary, redefines Afrofuturism (re-re-re-defines—its brilliance is in how it remakes itself unconditionally). Afrofuturism becomes about birthing the next generation of Black revolutionaries, so he subverts the line and expectations when “big hand captured” refers to the clock, but “little man [not hand] chasin’” refers to a youngin. (Try to keep up.) Put the faith in the youth when our “ideals and dreams” stall out—when the days, months, years are fleeting and forceful (“It do tick faster / The hour coming rough”). The spliff that’s “[skinned] like an onion” turns the cypher into Perrault fairy tale “pumpkin,” Cinderella style.

“Don’t come ’round with that ‘Go slow’” is in conversation with Nina Simone’s “Mississippi Goddam,” of course. It’s Nina who said “[she] can’t stand the pressure much longer,” who objected to those who “keep on saying ‘Go slow,” who had her band ironically chanting Do it slow. billy woods, like Nina Simone, decries reformism, incrementalism. Don’t do things gradually. We’re at the point where Nina stands up from her piano bench and shouts That’s it!

Forego the telephoto lenses, he insists, this is the “Battle of Algiers with the GoPro.” Urban guerrilla warfare uploaded and disseminated via YouTube. Again, time collapses. The struggle to decolonize continues. Watch for the This video is no longer available dead-end.

billy woods’ Nietzschean “loathing and fear” reverses the hallucinogenic time-warp of Thompson’s (and, in filmic relation, Gilliam’s) Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. “History is hard to know,” Thompson writes, “because of all the hired bullshit, but even without being sure of ‘history’ it seems entirely reasonable to think that every now and then the energy of a whole generation comes to a head in a long fine flash.” That flash will reappear in ELUCID’s verse.

If “all roads lead to Rome,” we’re settling into the inevitability of our moves. It’s a fatalistic shrug, but homophonically, all roads lead to roam—that is, the journey is prolonged interminably. It’s nomadic. Much static. So, naturally, you’re going to “[shake] the hourglass like a snowglobe,” distort time, and splurge on the “JC Penny Timex,” which is appropriately “flooded with rhinestones.” Flooded, because no more water: the fire next time. Don’t “lose track” and don’t “get trapped in the future.”

The chorus quotes the Rolling Stones’ “Time is On My Side,” but it ain’t that simple, no. The history is as messy as we’ve come to expect amerikan music to be. “Time is On My Side” was originally penned by Norman Meade (Jerry Ragovoy), and trombonist Kai Winding first recorded it. Jimmy Norman, a Black songwriter, fleshed out the lyrics significantly, and Irma Thomas recorded that version in the same year as the Stones. The song followed a path similar to that of “Strange Fruit”—a composition written by a white Jewish man under a pseudonym (Abel Meeropol as Lewis Allan) but popularized by a Black female jazz singer (Billie Holiday). As author Jess Row has said about jazz—hip-hop applies, too—it is “by its very nature multi-racial, intermingled, and collaborative across color lines.” But this cognizance must always be contextualized with views of Black artists like that of Art Blakey: “the only way the Caucasian musician can swing is from a rope.” Hip-hop has always had its Paul Cs and Rick Rubins, but the racial heterogeneity of a genre, or even a single recording, can’t cloak the power dynamics still in play. The Stones’ version of “Time is On My Side”—undoubtedly the most popular version—is a rip-off of Irma Thomas’ version. Mick Jagger even jacks Thomas’ ad-libs, which is to say, her rawness and spontaneity. Even the band’s shadowed faces on the cover of 12 x 5, the album on which the track appears, suggest the racial problematics, the minstrelsy heist. Armand Hammer mock the British Invasion blues filchers by adding “they” to the chorus line: “They said time is on my side.” They being white institutions (especially within music publishing, production, and recording industries) who promised enough airtime for everyone. They who urged patience. (Go slow!) But, as history shows, the profits only lined certain pockets.

ELUCID begins at the “golden hour,” which is both the photogenic beauty of the sky after sunrise and before sunset—a beauty too good to behold. It’s the sun glare shining in your face on the winter commute from work. It’s your high-speed accident and then the golden hour is the paramedics and doctors trying to salvage your corporeal existence. ELUCID’s verse is a hypnagogic jerk, gasping for breath as he takes a “portal to Orangeburg, ’68.” It’s a reference to the campus shooting of young people in protest—South Carolina State University. Unlike Kent State, which came afterwards, Orangeburg didn’t get the attention keening white women in Pulitzer Prize-winning photographs do, despite “live ammunition,” three dead, 28 injured, and “nine acquitted assassins.” Unnoticed. Black invisibility. Not that H.G. Wells type of invisibility—the Ralph Ellison kind.

We’re told what this is: it’s the aggregate stress (“the load of the allostatic”) of Black life. It’s one’s personal Extinction Agenda, the “post-traumatic” of the gunfire “flashes” that double as flashbacks. The pain, stress, the brain that can’t rest, the pressure on the chest.

“The center won’t hold” lets us know this isn’t all PTSD reverie—it’s a rebel poem: surely some revolution is at hand. ELUCID channels Achebe channeling Yeats. Things might fall apart but not without struggle. The “Flavor Flav clock spins centrifugal,” as a gyre, as an apocalyptic (91…) voice. Turning and returning. The words have an air of insurrection, proclamation.

He misses “watching how a flat circle fold”—it won’t budge, won’t wrinkle. We’ve been here before: on “Hunter,” on Paraffin, when billy woods was on that “time is a flat circle” shit. That Nietzsche eternal recurrence shit:

What, if some day or night a demon were to steal after you into your loneliest loneliness and say to you: “This life as you now live it and have lived it, you will have to live once more and innumerable times more; and there will be nothing new in it, but every pain…will return to you. […] The eternal hourglass of existence is turned upside down again and again, and you with it, speck of dust!

“Can you find the level of difficulty in this?” suggests game playing, arcades. Calls to mind more Walter Benjamin’s Arcades, though. billy woods and ELUCID are gleaners and magpies of cultural cadavers in Benjamin’s way. Their bars are play and critique both. We’re left with a modicum of optimism at the song’s end. Even “only [moving] the pen six inches” is something, is struggle. The “pale faces beyond the fire” are ever-present, though. The “flinching, panic, [and] confusion” are committed to continue.

Is it the fool or the insurgent who thinks time is on their side? We want the life we live to be “more brilliant than a sunbeam.” That’s to say, we don’t want to wait for the golden hour or the golden years. We want what they say we can’t have. We want what they say we shouldn’t imagine. But Armand Hammer helps us take solace in the “drum skin stretched”—the rhythm, the rebel. The oft-quoted Douglass gem, If there is no struggle, there is no progress, is played out for a reason. The reason is because it needs to be played again, and again. Like a mantra, like a song.

Images:

Sun Ra’s Space is the Place (screenshot) | Flavor Flav (detail), courtesy of archivist Sean Stewart | Grandmaster Flash “You Know What Time It Is” music video (screenshot) | Kool Moe Dee “Do You Know What Time It Is?” single cover | Nina Simone live at Antibes Juan-les-Pins Jazz Festival 1965 (screenshot) | The Battle of Algiers (screenshot) | The Rolling Stones 12 x 5 album cover | Flavor Flav, courtesy of Stewart

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theteenagetrickster · 4 years

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Why R&B Could Have a Big Year in 2020|Complicated

Is R&B topped to have a large year in 2020? While everybody is actually explaining what is actually upcoming in rap, our company should not fail to remember that R&B has been steadily climbing throughout the years. Nielsen's 2019 year-end file revealed another boost in the overall loudness of music consumption in both rap and also R&B, but beyond information as well as studies, there is actually a whole lot to be thrilled about this year. We're only a month into 2020, however musicians like SZA, the Weeknd, PARTYNEXTDOOR, and also Alicia Keys seem to be actually prepping for solo album launches. And it is actually achievable our company might observe a yield of celebrities like Rihanna and also Frank Sea, while a blossoming lesson of novices are actually aiming to leave their very own result.

Anything may take place in songs this year, yet the Complicated Popular music staff broke why R&B could possess a big 2020.

Business as well as essential success is actually trending upwards

Depending on to a 2018 year-end-report posted on music intake information internet site BuzzAngle, which provides information on R&B separate from rap, the style's song intake prices boosted by 19.7 percent in between 2016 as well as 2017. According to Wanderer, R&B made up 10.6 percent of all album intake in 2018, which improved from 8.7 per-cent the year before. The list below year, cds like Over It, the critically-acclaimed venture from Summer season Pedestrian, broke off streaming records. In its debut week, Over It earned 154.7 million streams, gaining the difference as the biggest streaming full week for an R&B album through a female musician in over three years. The record was actually prepared by Beyonce's Lemonade in 2016 with 115.2 thousand flows.

There has been actually an uptick in critical success, also. H.E.R.'s self-titled LP and Janelle Monae's Dirty Computer systemgained nominations for Cd of the Year at the 2019 Grammys, creating it the 1st opportunity 2 R&B cds made it in to that classification because Usher as well as Alicia Keys in 2005. The Recording Institute has remained to reveal passion to R&B albums this year, nominating H.E.R and Lizzo in the Album of the Year classification (although she is actually typically assembled along with stand out celebrities, Lizzo's cd, Companion I Love You, is taken into consideration due to the Institute to be actually an R&B task that integrates hip-hop, pop, funk, and also spirit). -- Jessica McKinney

The 2020 R&B training class is roaring

There is actually a stimulating plant of new performers who will deliver new electricity to R&B. Identical to what our company performed for rap artists, our team'll take a moment here to highlight some surfacing R&B artists that must be actually on your radar. Che Ecru, whose track "Before I Perish" was tried out in Chris Brown as well as Drake's "No Direction," has been actually proving that Bryson Tiller isn't the only worthwhile vocalist coming from Kentucky. Child Rose whose has actually been utilizing absorbed mixtapes to prove why her invite to the Dreamville treatments was necessary. Blessed Daye has been actually thriving as the polar reverse of fellow New Orleans superstar NBA YoungBoy with gorgeous reports like "Roll Sum Mo." Brent Faiyaz, that took the show on "Workers" as well as impressed along with Sonder Child, is proceeding his energy by losing brand new music. And also Kaash Paige are going to resume showing the globe that she's found a street through penciling low-riding smash hits like "64." The list might go on, but depend on us, there is a powerful newbie training class of R&B musicians coming in 2020. -- Kemet High

R&B's audio is expanding

R&B no more has simply one distinct audio, and as it develops, all type of brand new supporters are actually being pulled to the genre. In the mid-2010s, projects like SZA's Z, Tory Lanez' Chixtape III, PARTYNEXTDOOR's P2, Jhene Aiko's Souled Out, and Bryson Tiller's TRAPSOULhelped establish the hue for brand-new musicians who prioritized a cd's emotions over its tranquilities. Conventional R&B no more based on its very own, as a variety of sub-genres appeared that each accommodated various audiences. Quickening traits back up to 2020, surfacing performers have actually remained to observe those unconventional footprints, and therefore, R&B has more flavors now than it ever before has before. As a result of R&B's more comprehensive grasp, the genre has actually developed immensely in regards to popularity, which is actually additionally as a result of pop musicians like Normani, Justin Beiber, Khalid, and also Ariana Grande pressing the audio right into the mainstream. There is actually no more a black and white plan for just how to create R&B music. Instead, the different colors palette has actually branched out, driving the style's range to brand new heights.-- Kemet High

Mid-tier artists are bringing new electricity to the category

Back in December of 2018, Jacquees made a daring claim by naming themself the "master of R&B." That seems insane at initially, for certain, up until you take into consideration that along with many shifts in noise throughout the years, the title currently concerns no one. His sentiments, likely provoked by "B.E.D." and "You" going platinum eagle in the years just before, stimulated a well-needed chat. With former chart-runners like Trey Songz and also Chris Brown releasing their grip on crown, an entire new crop of rising stars possessed room to bet their case as brand new celebrities. Mid-tier performers like SZA, Ty Dolla $ign, Kehlani, and PARTYNEXTDOOR possess all revealed brand-new tasks falling in 2020. Meanwhile, , Ari Lennox, and Summer season Pedestrian are going to remain to take advantage of off of the drive from jewels like Going after Summer, Shea Butter, Infant, and Over It. And peaceful skins like dvsn and also 6lack are going to also be dropping brand new cds, all set to quarrel for crown. All this brand new electricity has actually brought new degrees of competitors to the genre, which has actually only aided it to develop. -- Kemet High

Top cats are anticipated to bring in a revival

We've found an expanding rate of interest in R&B thanks to developing artists and also everything else highlighted on this list, yet a number of the style's largest superstars have actually been clearly overlooking coming from the discussion. Rihanna ridiculed her followers with style and appeal releases while mostly evading concerns concerning the whereabouts of her upcoming cd (after earlier saying it will get there in 2019). Frank Sea dropped a series of singles in 2013, yet has however to state an official cd launch time. Beyoncé launched the compilation soundtrack, The Cougar Master: The Gift, however the Colony has actually been whiring for a brand-new solo cd. And musicians like Usher, Trey Songz, as well as Brandy have actually been skipping, other than a few visitor appearances everywhere. While their absences have included rising stars like Kehlani, SZA, Ari Lennox, as well as Jacquees to pursue R&B aristocracy, this could be the year we view a bunch of our favored heavy-hitters creating a return. With middle-tier artists ending up being super stars together that several of R&B's biggest actions are concerning to come back, it appears like 2020 will be actually a significant year for the category. -- Jessica McKinney

This content was originally published here.

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precuredaily · 5 years

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Precure Day 140

Episode: Futari wa Precure Splash Star 42 - “Welcome Back! Michiru and Kaoru!” Date watched: 3 July 2019 Original air date: 3 December 2006 Screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/xgCNJSJ Project info and master list of posts: http://tinyurl.com/PCDabout

The title kinda spoiled it

Another excellent episode! We left off with Saki and Mai in a bind because the Fairy Carafe was stolen and Dark Fall’s agents were revived and now more resistant to Precure’s attacks. Dark Fall holds all the cards and Saki and Mai are stranded in the Land of Fountains. It’s a good setup! Where do we go from here?

The Plot

Princess Filia reveals to the girls that the Fountain of the Sun is in the Land of Greenery and uses her own power to transport the girls, their fairies, and herself there... but she loses her corporeal form and ends up as a sphere of light that possesses Korone, Saki’s cat. Meanwhile in Dark Fall, Gohyaan has revived the rest of the generals, but Akudaikaan chews him out for not kidnapping the Princess when he had the chance, as she knows the location of the Fountain of the Sun, so Gohyaan dispatches Karehaan and Dorodoron to track her down.

This is the only time all 6 of these characters are together

Back at the Sky Tree, Filia explains that she needs the Fairy Carafe to return her body, but the villains appear before she can tell the girls more. Saki and Mai transform into Bloom and Egret but their power isn’t enough to defeat the enhanced warriors. Filia pointedly comments that the two spirits (Flappi and Choppi) alone aren’t enough, so she, Korone, Moop, and Foop gather their power and wish for a miracle. In a very emotional sequence, they connect with the slumbering Michiru and Kaoru, who receive the last remaining energy from the Fairy Carafe, and then revive and rush to the Sky Tree to save their friends. It’s a touching reunion, and some words are exchanged between both the sisters and their friends, as well as the villains who were eliminated before they changed sides. Ultimately, words aren’t enough, and Michiru and Kaoru fight Dorodorn and Karehaan.... and they’re winning! The power that Moop and Foop especially lent them, combined with their powers of darkness, are the perfect counter to the blend of dark and light that the villains possess, and the sisters are able to negate Gohyaan’s powerup (Dorodoron flees instead). This allows the Precures to perform Spiral Heart Splash and destroy Karehaan, who dissolves into a bunch of mini-Gohyaan heads that bounce off.

The four girls finally have a moment to take in their reunion, and Saki and Mai cry tears of happiness as the camera zooms out and the credits roll.

(speaking of the credits, stick around at the end for my take on Ganbalance de Dance finally)

The Analysis

What a great episode. I could probably write pages about Michiru and Kaoru’s revival scene, the dialog and music and visuals all come together to make an emotionally powerful sequence. Bloom and Egret are overpowered, Michi and Kao feel so helpless and they can’t move, but they can tell their friends are in danger and they struggle their hardest, so their feelings connect with the energy Filia is trying to send and create a miracle. I love it. Also, you can really tell that Nishio Daisuke worked on Dragon Ball prior to this series because the sequence of the two powering up and emerging from the water is EXTREMELY evocative of something DBZ would do. Joke’s on me, he only worked on FW and MH and had no hand in this series, he was tapped for Powerpuff Girls Z instead. Still very Dragon Ball, I wouldn’t be surprised of some of the other staff had their hands in that before working on this.

Karehaan proves to be his own worst enemy. He doesn’t like working together, believing he’s strong enough on his own to dispatch the girls. He does make a better team with Dorodoron than with Moerumba though, as they don’t butt heads so much as Doro just kind of goes along with that Karecchi says, until it’s in his best interests to run. However, Karehaan’s arrogance and ignorance about Michiru and Kaoru’s betrayal allow him to overestimate himself and the threat the sisters pose. Together with Dorodoron, they actually do have the Precures on the ropes at one point, they could have defeated them there, but they hesitated too long and allowed the Kiryuus to save them. Ah well.

Princess Filia posessing Korone is..... weird, to say the least. For some unexplained reason, beyond simply habitating in his body, her power allows him to speak as well, independently of her, so you have this tiny cat talking in a pretty deep voice. Not the first time an animated cat has talked, of course, but since it’s not Filia speaking through Korone, it’s odd. I don’t remember how long this lasts, presumably up until the finale of the show... in fact I must have blocked it out of my memory completely because I forgot about it happening at all. Korone was portrayed as an intelligent cat up to this point, of course, but now he’s standing on his hind legs and talking like a middle-aged guy and it’s all so strange.

Last thing I want to touch on: animation. It’s uh.... not great here. Close-ups are passable, although the shading is often minimal. The faces may be a little off-model but it’s nothing extreme. Anything further out than a close-up is pretty bad though, especially for human faces.

I guess it’s the usual conserving budget for the finale syndrome but it’s still pretty laughable.

The Opening and Ending

Okay it’s time I finally talked about these.

youtube

The opening theme is called “Makasete★Splash☆Star★” or “Leave it to Us★Splash☆Star★”. While the FW/MH opening was a drama, the SS opening is more of a poppy, light rock number. The composition features lots of strings, bowed and plucked at key moments providing both the melody and the bass line. Some high brass comes in here and there and I think there’s some kind of synthesized percussion providing the rhythm. It could be an electric guitar, though, I’m having trouble picking it out. There’s definitely some guitar towards the climax of the song. Mayumi Gojo has been swapped out for Uchiaye Yuka on vocals, and she sings about how there’s strength in life and to use that as inspiration. All together, it’s a nice uplifting tune, and the visuals give us a good idea about what Saki and Mai are interested in, the fairies, and some action sequences. There’s even a scene of the Tree of Life glowing with energy that might be foreshadowing the end of the series? For the revamped intro starting with episode 31, they add a few scenes of Bright and Windy, as well as Moop and Foop, and impressively they edited all shots of Boom and Egret to replace the Mix Communes with the Crystal Communes.

Now, the ending!

youtube

“Ganbalance de Dance” is a little bit notorious for being used, and reused, and re-reused. Yes 5 and GoGo both used reversions of it for their second ending themes, and I kind of get it, because it’s a cute tune, but there’s another more important aspect: this is the first dance ending in all of Precure. Why a dance ending? Well, there was a rather popular anime that aired in Spring of 2006 that featured a dance ending, and the world would never be the same. That show was “The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi” and the dance, the “Hare Hare Yukai” took the world by storm. It’s speculated that Precure adopting dance endings was a copycat move. The timing lines up, Haruhi started in April and ended in early July of that year so Toei had time to say “Hey this is really popular, let’s do that in our show.” Dance endings were already commonplace in the contemporary Super Sentai shows as well, so there was precedent. (although somewhat ironically, the Sentai of that year didn’t have a dance) Whatever the reason, they did it again and again but the cell animation was not always the best, so they switched to CG with Fresh and never looked back. However, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

The lyrics to “Ganbalance de Dance” are half instructions for doing the dance, and half general uplifting messages about positivity and believing in yourself. The dance itself is fairly simple, due to limited animation most of the movement is in the upper body, so the girls twist their torsos and extend their arms while keeping their legs mostly still. when they move their legs, it’s only to stick them out and then back in, or to do some small marching. None of the more energetic moving around that later shows will use, again, probably a byproduct of the animation. Notably, since it’s cell animation rather than more expensive CG, they draw the girls in all three of their outfits: school uniform, Bloom/Egret, and Bright/Windy. The villains also dance a little, and I should point out that the text behind them reads “Uzaina” with only one “a” at the end. Suffice to say, I understand but I’m sticking with two. Also look at these guys.

Kintolesky is not present because he hadn’t been introduced in the show yet, and sadly they never update it to include him. This also marked the first reappearance of Michiru and Kaoru, only to segue into a shot of Bright and Windy and then they’re never seen again, but hey, it’s something.

Anyway, it all comes together to make a fun ending song. I’m sorry it took me so long to write about it.

I may revisit this if I think of more things to say about the episode, but for now I think that concludes it. Next time, everybody celebrates Michiru and Kaoru’s return....... but first it’s time for We Are Splash Gays: The Movie. Look forward to it!

Pink Precure Catchphrase Count: 0 Zekkouchou Nari!

No more miracle drop count

#Precure #Pretty Cure #Futari wa Precure Splash Star #FWPCSS42 #PCD140

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inexpensiveprogress · 5 years

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Paul Nash - Different Places

Paul Nash’s book ‘Places - 7 Prints’ has some curious works you might think were only made for the book. It is a rare book to find, being printed in 255 editions (55 of those a folio copy).

Many of the woodcuts also came with a poem following them. It was 1922 and a great time for poetry; it was just after the First World War and the Georgian Poets series of books published by Edward Marsh were popular. I can’t help but feel personally that Nash was only interested in poetry because Marsh made it fashionable and he was also a great patron of young artists. Marsh did go on to buy one of the pictures in this post, Tench Pond in a Gale in 1922 (Before the war Marsh wanted to publish a book of young artists work called Georgian Drawings, it never happened).

The cover features a woodcut ‘Meeting Place’ of two naked swimmers by a tree lined pond, printed in 1922.

Paul Nash - Meeting Place, 1922 (Woodblock)

Rather like what I have found with Eric Ravilious, many works are recycled from a sketch, to a woodcut and then a painting. It is all part of a long process - one at the time that would be new, ‘commercial art’ and in tow, printmaking; by this I mean that a woodblock printed book is more ‘mass production’ in the same way a limited edition print of 250 is.

It is nice to pin the location down to reality. The pond was in the garden of Claud Lovat Fraser's parents' home at Buntingford, Hertfordshire.

In preparation for the oil Nash wrote to the present works first owner, Desmond Coke, requesting 'The Chestnut Waters I really do want photographed very badly because I am doing a large painting of that design for the show.'. †

He wrote again to Coke stating that the oil 'is the best of the lot and nearest to being an achievement I think' †

Paul Nash - Chestnut Waters, 1923 (Oil)

A year before the oil was made, Nash made a watercolour of the same location. What I always took to be a tree in the middle of the woodcut, appears in the Oil and watercolour to be heavy branches, laden down over the pond and the reflections. I rather think the oil painting is lovely in that Cézanne cubist style of colour shading light-to-dark. But the watercolour to me has a lightness more like a cathedral interior.

Paul Nash - Chestnut Waters, 1922 (Watercolour)

Below is an undated landscape in the Fitzwilliam, from what I can tell of the notes it is the back of another painting and so, likely unfinished. We can never say it is a relation of the paintings above, but there is a squared off pond lined with trees and could well be the plein air version made in the garden before working ‘Chestnut Waters’ up in his studio.

Paul Nash - Landscape, The Fitzwilliam Museum

The year before in Iden, Sussex, Nash drew one of his more famous works, Tench Pond in a Gale (Below). Is it a painting that puts to use all Nash’s wonderful skills of drawing trees but gives them a drama and movement unlike his other works.

Paul Nash - Tench Pond in a Gale, 1921–2

Below is another woodcut from the 7 Places book. Not unlike the Tench Pond in a Gale picture, but not like it enough either.

Paul Nash - Black Poplar Pond, 1922

Most of the illustrations in 7 Places came with a poem by Nash. The poems here are not amazing and may be why they have been forgotten.

Paul Nash - Black Poplar Pond Black Poplars shudder in the sun. Erect or slanting, their whorled shafts project a glinting shower into the crowded scaffolding of trees. Blunt shards of pine absorb the falling beams which polished leaf and rounded bole reflect in myriad facets of fierce light. With height of noon floods of cool wind pass over the fields, shattering quiet. The corn stalks bend, boughs swing their burdens to and fro. Dark waters image changes in grimace. The choir of leaves opens its song.

Ponds were clearly an inspiration to Nash in his 7 Places, there are many examples of pond works from 1921 - 1922. The one below is a wonderful example with the textures in his trees.

Paul Nash - Landscape in pale tones, 1921

Paul Nash - Garden Pond, 1922

Paul Nash - Garden Pond With silence force the sun hurles down light, With no disturbance, with no sound it falls upon the trees, the grass, the waters of the pond. Noiselessly, without movement, light mutilates the trees, the grass, beats upon the waters. No tumult comes. There is no cry, no moan. The leaves glitter, the grass is shining, the waters flash in the still pond.

Paul Nash - Garden Pond, 1st Proof with studies to the sides, 1922

Paul Nash - Dark Lake, 1922

Paul Nash - Dark Lake In a black pine wood is a lake, an inscrutable, dark face, staring up at the sun or into the moon’s face or at the stars peering down. Above, the pines in tall columns and mighty domes and great arches stand nearly motionless. At the water's edge rushes and irises mass their slender swords. The grey teeth of an old fence look ghostly against dark waters. Beyond a platform jutting out, a woman, naked gleams in this shadowy place.

Paul Nash - Winter, 1922

Paul Nash - Pond in the Fields, 1927

Paul Nash - Study for Paths into the wood, 1922

Above is a drawing dated 1921, dedicated to William Rothenstein from Paul Nash as a Christmas card in 1923.

Being the drawing that would have been used to carve a woodcut, the woodcut is in reverse and printed below. The figure is harder to see below in the woodcut.

Paul Nash - Paths into the wood, 1922

Paul Nash - Winter Wood, 1922

† Paul Nash by Andrew Causey, p378, 1980

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zak-helling · 5 years

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Big Hero 6 Theory: Liv’s Next Mutation

Even though it’s not the main focus of my blog, it’s no secret that I love Big Hero 6: the series. I love the characters, I love the animation, I love the stories, and I, of course, love the mysteries. The show keeps you guessing as to what’s going to happen next, but the tragic thing is that, despite being popular enough to warrant a renewal for a third season before season 2 premiered, there doesn’t seem to be much of a fan community online. Unless you tag your fan art, theories, quotes, etc. it’s unlikely a piece of fan art will drift across your dash like it does for shows like Steven Universe, Star vs. The Forces of Evil, She-Ra, etc. I’m hoping that changes soon, but I digress.

Also, this theory is going to contain spoilers for season 2, so I’ll go ahead and tuck it under “Read More”.

Getting back on topic, one of the biggest mysteries thus far in season 2 is the monsters and who is making them. We know Liv Amara is the culprit, but as of episode 10, “Lie Detector,” it becomes less clear what’s going on. Who’s the real Liv Amara? Why is one Liv in what appears to be cryosleep? Why is the other Liv making these monsters? How long has this apparent clone been running amok? Have we only known this clone the entire time? Does the sleeping Liv know what’s going on? There are so many questions, but not a whole lot of answers. Seeing as it’s been a few weeks since the last new episode, we might not know for some time. All we know is that the active Liv Amara is turning old villains into monsters for some kind of fee and, at the moment, no known benefit for the villains. Well, yeah, the villains become stronger, faster, and meaner, but as we saw with High Voltage, the process kind of interferes with living their best lives. We don’t know why they want this or why Liv is doing it. All we really know is that Liv is turning humans into monsters and turning them loose in the streets, sometimes being the one to take them down and look like a hero, other times letting Big Hero 6 do the dirty work.

So now let’s take a look at what we know about Liv’s monsters. I’ll bold the important stuff, as most of this will just be recap:

The first one, introduced in season 1 although we don’t know the full story yet, is Orso Knox, the Shakespeare fan turned whale mixed with a dinosaur and some hair, put into a blender, frozen, and then partially thawed. He spends the episode rampaging through the streets of San Fransokyo, attending his meetings, destroying offices, and speaking cryptically. We later learn that he wasn’t trying to hurt anyone, but is more beast than man, and was only trying to get help the best he could. Had it not been for Karmi reversing his mutation in the episode “Prey Date,” Liv probably would have kept Knox as a monster for even longer, potentially pulling him further and further from his humanity.

The second one is Momakase, who can be best described as turning into a werewolf from Skyrim (although her appearance is likely based on Lady Deathstrike, another Marvel villain). Momakase has always been strong, but she is heightened way beyond her normal abilities. Her nails are deadly claws that can cut through anything, she can escape the trap Big Hero 6 creates her and escape into the night, and has so far not been seen again since the episode “The Seventh Wheel.”

Third and fourth is the mother-daughter duo High Voltage. When they make their season 2 debut in “Something’s Fishy,” they discuss wanting to go straight with Liv, telling her that their crime days are over and even trying to lead normal lives after doing Liv’s dirty work. Unfortunately, once they mutate, those dreams are crushed, and they end up being kept in a tank until Liv needs them again in the episode “Lie Detector.” Barb and Juniper even end up turning back over their new leaf after an entire song and dance number about wanting to be normal, which, suggests to me at least, that Liv’s mutation process also messes with free will. Is it possible the two really did just learn they love crime that much? Sure, but I’m not convinced.

The fifth, arguably, is Nega-Globby, a destructive blob made from Globby’s already mutated DNA, introduced in the episode “Nega-Globby”. Side note, I love this episode. Globby makes such a sacrifice in the name of goodness and, I’d say, has been pretty thoroughly redeemed. While our Globby is victorious by the end of the episode, Nega-Globby is still part of him, suggesting that it’s not easy to undo one of Liv’s mutations.

The sixth is the Hibagon in the episode “Muira-Horror!”, the mutated Ned Ludd, back again for more action. Unlike all the other mutations before, Ned’s mutation leaves him a mindless killing machine, further supporting the idea that Liv has the power to interrupt or even override free will. Even Orso Knox had the ability to quote The Tempest, but Ned doesn’t say a word. He comes out of his mutation dazed and confused, with no recollection of what happened.

Mutant number seven is Mr. Sparkles, who is made into a fluffy green monster in the aptly titled episode, “Something Fluffy.” Also introduced in this episode are the Mayoi, adorable, fluffy fungus creatures created by Liv that grow into towering kaijus that can be controlled by Mr. Sparkles. Basically, Liv can create hive minds, or at the very least can put one mind in charge of many. She’s the one to save the day at the end of the episode, boosting her appearance and making Big Hero 6 look inept. After Hiro learns the police already don’t much care for the superhero team in the episode “Something’s Fishy”, this event creates more tension between them and the people they protect, possibly setting up the conflict for the rest of the season, or maybe even the main conflict of season 3.

Finally, we have the big Bessie Bear from the latest episode, “Lie Detector.” This mutation shows us that Liv can essentially give life to inanimate objects, as all she needed was a lock of grizzly bear hair to create the technology cancelling beast. This shows that all Liv needs to make a monster is the tiniest amount of DNA.

So now we know/remember what Liv can do with her technology. We know she poses a threat to Big Hero 6. Seeing as she has only done experiments on past antagonists (as well as Orso Knox and, as is implied, her Chris-sistant, although we don’t know enough about him for him to make the recap), why would she experiment on Big Hero 6? In my mind, the answer is simple: to break them apart. If she mutates one of the characters, crime fighting will be a lot harder. Public perception of the team will plummet. And, if she works her magic with tampering with free will, she can even have another henchman on her side. In short, there’s no way Liv loses in this scenario. Now that we know her motivation, who’s on the chopping block?

The first person who comes to mind isn’t a person at all. We know that Liv can make monsters with a frame and just a bit of DNA, so in theory, she could mutate Baymax. This doesn’t seem likely though, as it would be much easier to just unplug him. Plus, he was part of a super villain grand scheme last season, so it might be repetitive. It could be Hiro. He’s the main character, and having him mutated would force him to hide more things from Aunt Cass, force him to go to Karmi for help, and would give us more insight into the lives of the mutated villains. Although, because he’s the main character, I can’t see him switching sides. Fred is already pretty animalistic, as reflected in his costumes and behaviors while wearing them. But, I don’t know how much mileage we can get considering how Fred is still very much a comic relief character. Wasabi is probably the least developed character on the team, so a mutation could push things for him in a new direction, but that would probably come at the show’s detriment. Honey Lemon’s chem purse already puts her in harm’s way of suffering the same mutation as Globby, making her an easy target, but that would just be repetitive at this point. And so, we are left with one person, the character who I think this is most likely to happen to:

Go Go Tomago.

In a way, season 2 has been Go Go’s season. She’s had more development than the rest of the cast, maybe even more than Hiro. “The Fate of the Roommates” shows her emotionally vulnerable and opening up about her feelings for the first time, developing her as a character and her relationship with Honey Lemon. The very next episode, “Muira-Horror!” shows her learning to let go of some of her stubbornness to trust in Krei’s judgement. The episode “Supersonic Sue” shows her crisis as she fails to prevent an old criminal fresh out of retirement from escaping a crime scene, an old criminal who, as it turns out, was inspired by Go Go to go back to crime. Basically, Go Go has been on an emotional roller coaster this season. We see her get angry, we see her get sad, we see her challenged in ways we hadn’t before. These episodes gave her highs, but they also gave her lows. In fact, “Supersonic Sue” didn’t even give her time to get over what happened, nor does she get a chance to redeem herself from her failure. Right now, Go Go has the most to lose and would likely be the hardest to fall. If anyone on the team is going to get mutated, I’m betting it’s her.

As of right now, we don’t know if the show is going in this direction. For all we know, the mutations stopped at Bessie and the rest of the season will be rounding up the mutants and returning them to normal. But the season is only half-over. I feel like we have plenty of time to play around with the status quo and shake things up a bit. If they do go this route, I doubt it will be permanent, but it could be fun and heart-wrenching at the same time. We’ll see, when Disney finally airs those new episodes.

#Big Hero 6 the series #BH6 the series #BH6 theory #Big Hero 6 theory #season 2 #Liv Amara

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