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radiohead-spiderman · 3 months

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My Golden Trio Headcanons (some modern some not)

Harry:

Oddly good at beer pong.

One time caught the snitch in his mouth and almost died.

Is REALLY good at cooking(less headcanon and more actually canon)

Loves the rain, absolutely hates thunder.

Had American southern tea ONCE and never looked at Earl Grey the same way again (Hermione gets upset about it every time they get tea together)

Soap opera lover(he watches them with Ron)

Is really good at drawing birds specifically.

He’s good at pottery but can only make bowls and plates.

SPIDER-MAN FAN

Ron:

Chess lover, both magic AND muggle(that’s canon but I’m including it anyways)

When Harry tried American sweet tea for the first time, Ron got to try fried butter for the first time too, he promptly inhaled it.

He hates crabs.

He often has stare offs with Crookshanks which either end with Ron getting mauled, or Crookshanks getting locked out of the room.

Is a DIEHARD Beastie Boys fan, Hermione introduced him to them and he hasn’t looked back since.

His favorite color is the exact shade of brown that Hermione’s eyes are :)

Soap opera lover(he watches them with Harry)

Wears bright neon crocs, has worn them on dates with Hermione before, will wear them on dates with Hermione again.

Got a buzz cut one time and Hermione screamed in pure unbridled terror when she saw it(she did not speak for him for a week, he had to magically grow it back)

Bad at pottery but loves playing with the clay.

DEADPOOL FAN

Hermione:

Aroace spectrum(because I love projecting onto characters and it’s canon in my eyes)

One time tried to straighten her hair and both Ron and Harry got scared when they saw it(it did not work)

Knows ALL of the Elder Scrolls lore

Has played Skyrim to completion over 19 times.(that is not an exaggeration, she’s pulled various all nighters)

HORRIFIC sleep schedule

Will not read romance, UNLESS it’s completely historically accurate.

Bad at drawing, really good at pottery oddly enough.

While she’s good at pottery, she absolutely despises the feel of wet clay, and then the feel of dry clay on her skin so she doesn’t sculpt stuff without gloves on.

Hates the texture of pasta, it has to be made in a VERY specific way for her to enjoy it.

Doesn’t like being smooched on the temple because it’s too close to her eyes and she thinks it’s unsanitary.

Had a seafood boil one time and was out like a light for a full DAY.

Tried a vegan diet for like a year but she accidentally ate a wet piece of ham in a sleep deprived delirium.

Beans on toast FIEND.

One time had a five day mental breakdown over magic and specifically quidditch brooms not following the laws of physics.

Dinosaur nerd.

Dr Strange and Reed Richards fan

Golden Trio:

Codependent.

They have a book club, Ron’s favorite genre is a mix between really cheesy badly written romances and westerns, Harry’s favorite genre is murder mysteries and philosophy, funnily enough, Hermione doesn’t like murder mysteries because she guesses the plot/plot twists and they’re always correct, she usually only reads non-fiction but she occasionally likes accurate science fiction and she also enjoys biographies.

Hermione once sat them down to watch a bunch of muggle movies, some Harry recognized, while Ron was just utterly entranced by the television, occasionally shaking Harry’s shoulder when something happened on screen.

While Hermione was finishing her seventh/ “eighth” year she was sent at LEAST ten letters DAILY, from both Ron and Harry.

They shared an apartment for like two years and would quiet often all sleep in the same bed.

That habit followed them into adulthood, and they occasionally sleep in the same bed.

Both Harry and Ron, along with Ginny, will flaunt Hermione being the minister, often.

Harry has forced the other two to rewatch every Star Wars movie, more than ten times.

Ron and Hermione broke up one time in their relationship and Harry was more distraught than both of them combined.

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wawamouse · 5 months

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Oz Rewatch 3: S1E04: Capital P

After a week off, we're back with episode 4!

This episode saw Jefferson Keane's execution for the murders in the gym last episode. In our watch through, Sister was also more critical of a lot of what happened, and I find myself agreeing; although I personally love Keane's journey through season 1, and I think a lot of the moments of his in this episode are very touching, when I watched the episode with Sister over my shoulder, it was easier to see how, if you don't buy into the general premise of Oz and suspend your disbelief, you might walk away with a different experience. For that reason, I think I will focus this episode's write up less on the episode itself and more on Sister's thoughts from our post-viewing discussion. It’s been about 5 years since I first watched the show myself, so I don’t remember my first impressions of the characters. Therefore, it’s been more interesting to me during this rewatch to interrogate my sister about what she thinks (even if I don’t agree).

First, though, a few miscellaneous moments:

Sister: So that’s why he’s so strange… because he was bald.

I gotta say, I just love all of Rebadow’s flashbacks, and this scene was great. Weird God-connected Bob is such a delight, and the music was a fun addition for his flashback because we so rarely get non ambient music in Oz. Also, our power surged and almost went out three times earlier this evening.

Sister: I didn’t read that story. Where was he?

Yeah, this is my 3rd time watching the show and I gotta say that my understanding of this line remains strictly vibe-based. I think it's supposed to mean something deep like "everywhere" and by extension "by his son's side" (yes, I'm very smug about how correct this absolute guess sounds, btw) but it also sounds sort of cold-blooded if you don't know the lore. Like, the same place? What, absent? In Heaven or wherever? Is that supposed to be a comfort?? Lmao.

Fun fact! The purchasing power of $100 in 1997 is $191 today. We specifically stopped the episode to look it up.

A Hater’s Perspective (No Survivors)

For the past couple episodes, I’ve been asking Sister for more of her thoughts after the credits rolled. From the very start, Nino Schibetta (alternatively “Mr. Mole”, “the Italian Mouse”, etc) has been a favorite of hers. This episode was no different, though this time she gave a more concrete reason than that he reminds her of a small creature that she would like to put in her pocket. Namely, Nino is her favorite character because he’s in charge of things and he’s running them smoothly.

“It’s less stressful for him to be the kingpin because at least you know he’s going to keep things running in an orderly fashion. If he dies, I’m going to be so stressed because there’s going to be a power vacuum and none of these guys are going to be good enough to fill it. Everyone else so far is too chaotic and too stupid.”

Funnily, I feel like Martin Querns would agree to this point, although I suspect Sister will have lots to say about his tenure once we get to it (if she sticks around that long, lol). Anyway, I asked Sister about Nino at the very end of our discussion, so keep that in mind when you hear what she has to say about some other major players this episode. She has a very Lawful Neutral view of things.

It’s On Sight With Ryan

In our discussions after previous episodes, I glimpsed the laying of a few tracks (so to speak) but after this episode, the Ryan O’Reily hate train was going full steam ahead. My sister does not like Ryan, and for reasons that tickle me to no end. Poor Ryan (“Whispers”, as he would be nicknamed this episode) bore the brunt of Sister’s criticism this episode, and was the primary reason she described her main episode takeaway as “Frustrating”. Ryan’s sins are two-fold in this episode: 1) he inexplicably blabs to Toby about the purpose of the Latinos cornering Keane, and 2) Sister disliked the plot point of his manipulation of Kenny and Adebisi.

When it comes to Ryan slipping up and telling Toby about the Jefferson Keane tapes, I agree—knowing what I know of Ryan’s later season characterisations, this slip up feels like something that he is beyond. But what’s interesting about s1-Ryan is that he’s a lot more fallible. Burrano, the prison investigator, saw through him at once. Nino doesn’t believe his lies. In season 1, people can still see through him and he seems constantly on the verge of being caught. I feel like this is one thing I actually like more about early Ryan. What makes him so interesting to watch during this phase is that he’s clearly brimming with some kind of ambition and desire to make moves in Oz, but at the same time, he seems dangerously close to shooting himself in the foot due to arrogance or carelessness—due to simply… not being as smart as he thinks he is.

When it came to Ryan manipulating the Homeboys, Sister was very unimpressed—she doesn’t like plotlines that involve one guy predictably winding up two dumb lackeys to get them to go out for revenge and drive the plot forward.

Sister: Everyone’s just watching that guy (Ryan) whispering and walking out of people’s cells and somehow they’re still like ‘ah yes, he’s trustworthy!’ …They’re so stupid. He’s a stinkbug, that’s what he is. I thought the Italian mouse was supposed to be smarter than this. Me: A stinkbug? Sister: He looks like he smells bad. He looks like he smells sour, like cheese or something. Is he gonna die? It’s just annoying when there’s a guy who’s got all the strings to pull but then it’s like, why is he pulling them? And why did he already slip up with Glasses Guy?? He’s whispering to everyone, weaving all these lies, but he can’t even keep track of his lies and he just seems like someone who’s going to get trapped in his own web and he’s gonna be stuck in the center like ‘ohh, how did I get here?’ and it’s like, well maybe you shouldn’t have been playing all your reindeer games. I’m just waiting for him to die so I can relax because I feel like the show is trying to make him do too much but he’s just not smart. Me: Have you considered the fact that maybe everyone else in there is stupider than him, though? Sister: (long-suffering sigh) Okay, but then, like, why do I gotta watch them be stupid? Me: Do you find him interesting? Sister: No. He does too much and it makes me tired. Me: But aside from the fact that you wouldn’t do what he does because it makes you tired. Do you find him interesting as a character? Sister: No! Because I don’t get why he’s doing anything he does. That makes it hard to find him interesting. Like he’s just this guy who comes in asking to be in Em City just to kill that one guy because, what? He shot your friend and shot you? Okay, but now he killed the guy and he’s still making all these moves and it’s like why? And he’s like ‘Oh because I’m Mayhem’ and it’s like ‘No, you’re too early with that branding stuff. You’re not there yet. Sit down’.

Miguel, the Real Housewife

Okay I know that sounds strange so hold on a second. As a reminder, this episode saw the death of Miguel’s son. Much like Keane’s death scene, the sequences Miguel has had this episode and last have been really good. Death of child did not spare Miguel from the flames of my Sister’s judgment, though.

Me: Any other characters of note? Sister: The guy with the scar. He’s such a wimp. Watching him is like watching a toddler, like he’s just got no idea what he’s doing. His whole plot line is just ‘I ruined my once beautiful face all for my son—oh God, please do this for me…’ And now his son is dead, so what’s his plotline going to be next? Me: What would you like to see from him? Sister: His backbone. Me: Why don’t you think he has a backbone? Sister: Because he’s just crying about things all the time. And he got in there for cutting a dude just for scratching up his car. He’s just got no sense of responsibility. Like, he only started to grow up with his son [being born] and then he was like ‘I’ve never loved anything else in my life before’ and his baby mama’s probably like ‘thanks, dude. What were we even together for, by the way?’ Me: So when you say ‘backbone’, you mean ‘responsibility’? Sister: More like ‘purpose’. If he doesn’t find some other purpose, he’s gonna get written off this show. Like in a permanent way. I’m actually looking out for him. I’m telling him this for his own good. This is how it is in the Biz... He’s like a Real Housewife—once your plot line ends, you better find a new one to keep it interesting or you’re gonna get written off the show. He needs another secret child or something. I don’t know what he’s going to do. Me: So, you’re looking forward to seeing what his next plotline will be? Sister: He’s gotta do something soon. All he’s had so far is this baby thing. I don’t know anything about him.

Tim, Walking Red Flag

The word of the day when it came to Tim was "gross", lol. Like any reasonable person, Sister has been highly critical of the lax security in Oz and the general lack of oversight by prison administration and by the hacks. This episode, we got comments like "This is just like that scene in Criminal Minds where they showed a baby being born at the same exact moment that a serial killer was getting executed" and "This bald guy doesn't do anything!"

Aside from find Tim useless for his lack of apparent follow up on any of the incidents that have happened in Em City recently, "Bald Guy" continued to sink in Sister's books due to his lack of workplace professionalism—the workplace is not the hunting ground for dates, Tim!

Sister: Red flag. The doctor lady is a red flag, too. Me: How so? Sister: I don't know. Like, when she was being all flirty with Bald Guy earlier. Like, uhh, ma'am, this is a prison jail place. This is not the place to be looking for dates. You are here for your prison job. Red flag.

Sister: Red flag, man. Asking a woman on a date after you made someone else’s execution about you. Red flag. Who looks for dates in a prison? This is weird.

The Takeaways

So, after all that, you may be wondering, as I did, whether Sister even likes the show. I asked her this very question and she was quiet for a few seconds, slumped against the wall by my bed, wearing blanket like a cape and looking exhausted.

“It’s wearing on me,” she told me, “But at the same time, if I was more invested, I would just read the wikipedia pages and get it over with”.

Translation: She will continue watching the show with me because she is just disinterested enough to not jump ahead and find out what happens.

This may sound like strange logic, but she watches everything on 2.0x and listens to podcasts on 3.0x, so watching an hour long HBO episode on normal speed sits on the miracle line of not catching her interest enough to make her speed ahead, but not being so pointless that she doesn't even care to find out what happens.

Sister’s Predictions/Final Thoughts:

More fallout/another clash between the Italians vs Homeboys

“Little Sapling” (Kenny) is going to be a troublemaker due to the ease with which he can be manipulated

"They just executed that guy after he confessed to all those murders? They didn't want to retry him for 39 confessed murders??"

“Why has no one teamed up to take out the Racist Lion (Schillinger)? Like, why is he not on anyone’s radar?? He’s just standing over there with Glasses Guys and all the cops (hacks) are watching, too… It’s like ‘Eating the Other’ (Bell Hooks)… The brown guys and the black guys should be teaming up to kill him but instead they’re fighting each other on film.”

We went on a lengthy side quest through Eric Roberts's wikipedia page. He plays L'Italien in this episode and somehow Sister recognised him from his side profile, despite not really knowing any of his filmography, and I realised I recognised the actor's wikipedia page from when I looked him up after seeing him in the Righteous Gemstones, which I had rewatched literally right before I rewatched Oz in September... but I didn't recognise him in Oz...

#text #oz hbo #oz rewatch #i will edit this for typos... later!

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suuho · 5 months

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Now that you finished Hospital Playlist may I ask who is your favourite character and which aspects did you like about their personality as well as their ark through the show?

hey!! funnily enough, i did kind of immediately go back to rewatching it, because my brain is built that way, i guess. embarrassing to admit, but it is what it is, and i am putting it here in case i might add something later on, after the rewatch. a new comfort show has entered my life, and is sitting firmly in my top 3, right along with twenty five twenty one, which is incredibly high praise coming from me.

first of all, everyone around me was actually surprised that it took me so long to watch it. my favorite tv show growing up was grey's anatomy for the longest time, it's one of those shows i put on in the background of doing anything. like, when i write, i will have an episode of grey's anatomy playing. it soothes my brain. anyway, hospital playlist has been on my watchlist for like two, almost? three years? now, i think? around the time the second season premiered. i just never gave in, lol. huge mistake, turns out, because this show is like everything i love wrapped into one. it is like the most kaz-esque show ever, everything is so specifically catered to me, i cannot believe it even exists.

i thought my favorite characters would either be ikjun (i have seen jo jungsuk in hyung (with kyungsoo in a co-lead as a blind judoka) and he made me sob buckets, so i was already a fan and i know that man can sing like it's nobody's fucking business, my moritz and hedwig... i used to audition with moritz material, so naturally he is dear to me.) or seonghwa, because she is the only neurosurgeon in the main squad. fun fact, i wanted to be a neurosurgeon up until my ophthalmologist ruined all my hopes in 9th grade when he told me i could never be a surgeon. rip. i never cried so much in my life up until then, it really changed my life forever. sigh. that's what you get for having absolutely no depth perception!

so, imagine how surprised i was when i was naturally drawn to kim junwan. i love the fact that he was introduced as a cold-hearted and strict character but is revealed to be actually quite soft and very dedicated. that we see him as brutally professional and occasionally cutting, but rarely actually harmful. it is not often we find a character depicted like that, and i could relate to him in many ways as someone people seem to fear on first glance, and always having to convince them of the opposite. he is insanely smart, but not as smart as ikjun, and he is so fiercely loyal while intensely, yet quietly, emotional. so many aspects of his character were gradually revealed and it felt less like a change of his core and more like aspects of him we have earned to experience over the course of the show. i love a reflection of characters that is caused less by a seismic shift in their lives or daily events, and more like just us being allowed a window to sit in and navigate their narrative like real people. hospital playlist felt very much like that.

so many little things i've loved about him... the different hairstyles growing up, the fact that apparently he has lived with jeongwon for so long, and they have worked at the same hospitals? that he can barely stand to live on his own, something you would never quite expect from a forty year old man who is as revered and feared as kim junwan. how generous and kind and loving he is. how quirky and occasionally impulsive, especially around his friends. i thought the romance between him and iksun shoehorned and wooden at times, but they won me over, mostly by the end of season two. honestly, i put it more on chemistry than storytelling, to be honest. same goes with jungwon and gyucheol; for some reason i did not particular enjoy the romantic chemistry between either of these pairs (or maybe it was just the actors?) and saw them being better off as friends. that's just me nitpicking, though.

i also particularly loved seokhyeong's character development, and his romance felt well-earned and natural. such great growth here! and more justice for cripplingly introverted people, we deserve the spotlight as well! and the romance! and to be a little mean and spiteful and very smart, and kind-hearted and soft-spoken but strict as well, when needed! i loved him in his role at the hospital, and his backstory interested me the most out of all doctors, considering he worked in the states for quite some time, and all his family issues. sooooo dashing, too.

now, here comes perhaps my highest praise for the show. hospital playlist gave us the best friends-to-lovers trope in all of kdrama, possibly of all time. so insanely well done, oh my god. by the time ikjun and seonghwa kissed in the car, i thought i was gonna turn to dust. the chemistry! the realness! the ROMANCE! these two are so grossly meant for each other and their entire development from best friends to lovers was absolutely expertly written. i loved the season one finale, when ikjun visits seonghwa in her new apartment and confesses his feelings for her. so elegant. jo jungsuk has this talent for really deeply emotional acting that never feels like a gimmick and always just earnest. anyone else might have forced too much there, or played it too heavy-handed, but he met the perfect balance between earnestness, and yearning, and gracefully-resigned. it was beautiful. how seonghwa allowed herself to open up to those feelings over the course of the second season, and how naturally they have taken care of each other from the beginning... god. couple of all time, for real. the fact that ikjun is such a singer and seonghwa is the complete opposite, but he loves her so much that to him, she sounds impeccable. what a contrast to his sharp head turns in the first episode whenever she fucks up a note. hospital playlist you magical show, you.

honorable mentions to sunbin and seokmin, my favorite neurosurgery side couple. precious, precious sweethearts. and my beloved choi yungjoon as the dishiest side character of them all, initially why i even gave in to watch the show. he did not disappoint, and he will always enrich the visual tapestry of any ensemble cast (see also: vincenzo). i just love his work in anything, so he was such a welcome addition here and, as always, a sight for sore eyes. also, park hyungsoo as seokhyeong's family's lawyer, famously of the devil judge (lawyer go, anyone? i spy a type cast and i welcome it) and crash landing on you (one of the nasty brothers).

the music was outstanding. the singing, jesus christ. jo jungsuk never met a key he couldn't transpose into a tenor dream, or a song that he couldn't elevate by adding his perfectly measured vocals. watching everyone learn and play their instruments was such a joy, and i have soaked up all the behind the scenes content. the first time they played rain and you in season two, i started to bawl. man. i fucking love this show, and i would take five more seasons to see how this group of friends navigates their lives together. that it's my life performance changed my soul.

ranking: 10/10

so, where is season three?

#ask #anon #hospital playlist #full thoughts under the cut

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tuiyla · 1 year

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does finchel ever affect your feelings for Rachel? cause i've been thinking on how much Rachel kind of annoys me in S3-4 and I think it's a LOT to do with her looking the other way when it comes to what a jackass her bf is. I feel like it may even be something the writers were conscious of because she's sort of conveniently missing/silent during things like Finn freaking out during S3 prom or when Finn outs Santana. It's like some part of them must KNOW he's wrong, or at least that an in-character Rachel would likely be horrified, so they just kind of avoid the issue.

i mean, Finchel also sucks just for being generally co-dependent and boring as hell in S3-4, but that mostly just made me dislike them as a pairing, not actually side-eye Rachel as an individual character. Whomst amongst us hasn't been hung up on a loser at some point in time? Being hung up on a guy who has deliberately hurt multiple people you consider your friends though? I have less empathy.

You know, that is an excellent question. And the answer is... kinda, yeah.

Funnily enough I'd say it was more annoying to me when rewatching seasons 1 and 2 rather than 3 and 4. I'm pretty sure I have it in my rewatch notes somewhere that it's a pain whenever Rachel goes from having her own scenes to Finchel ones because I love her but then I have to suffer through... all that. I think that blind pursuit of Finn despite him being SO far below her league annoys me much more than the two having that more established dynamic in later seasons. The story itself doesn't see any wrong in what Finn does so how could I single out Rachel for it. It's all on Finn as far as I'm concerned.

That said, I sometimes think about what a realistic Rachel reaction to either The Outing or his hissy fit during prom would have been. Sure is convenient she was absent. Rachel is a fundamentally compassionate person and it REALLY pisses me off that the show LIES to us and says Finn is a better person. Laughable. The Rachel I stan would not have condoned Finn outing someone much less do it herself and she most definitely would not have stood for Finn wrestling a disabled Quinn out of her wheelchair. But that does sour the magical romance doesn't it. Ugh, Finn.

Codependency isn't a turn off for me, I mean, helloooo, Brittana lol, but when Finchel do it it's gross. Hope that helps. I just think Finn is this status symbol for Rachel but she should have realized in season 2, tops, that she's way too good for him and that's that. I often think about how Rachel's too good for Finn, to the point that I get mad about it lmao. And so it hurts to see her simp after him, of all people. And it does get annoying, and it does affect my perception of her at times. Oh I know what I have in my rewatch notes, that Finchel bring out the worst in each other. And I think that is true even if only partially so. Rachel certainly is at her most single-minded and blind to other people when Finn is involved. But yeah you're right Anon, having an "in love with the supposed stud guy who's actually a huge loser" era is not that bad. Understandable for Rachel, really. And when it comes to Finn's crimes it's really just that the show doesn't see them, so why would Rachel.

In that respect, my views of Rachel are not effected because if I started blaming people other than Finn for IKAG I would literally hate this whole cast. Almost all ND members were being biiig flops there just by agreeing to the condescending charade. And I don't think it's Rachel's responsibility that her bf is an ass. That said, it's unfortunate that she keeps pursuing this asshole and I think most of my leats favourite Rachel moments are tied to Finchel. Because of course. So yeah Finchel affects my Rachel feelings but mostly as an annoyance, more than anything, God, she just deserves so much better.

#to be clear i get what you're saying and i mostly agree #i've seen people try to shift the blame of finn's actions on rachel tho lola nd that's...#quite the backwards feminism #her bf being such a flop is unfortunate and her fault for being with him to an extent #but i couldn't possibly hold the lack of a reaction against her #no more than i can hate all of nd for ikag really #glee asks #rachel asks #anti finchel #anti finn hudson #anon #rachel berry

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laeveteinn · 1 year

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Though updates are slowing down, I had the chance to write up some meta on innocent (until proven guilty). I might add more at a future date! For now I have constructed a semi-coherent answer for the question “Why did you write an Albus-adopts-Tom AU?”

Part of the answer is, funnily enough, “because I specifically didn't want to write an Albus-adopts-Tom AU.”

So a year-and-some-months ago, I was making a list of candidates for "time-traveler X adopts Tom" AUs. This was a purely hypothetical list, as I had no real intention of reading, much less writing these stories. I put Albus on the list because he had some history with Tom that could potentially generate drama and plot.

"But I wouldn't write Albus adopting Tom," I said, blithely oblivious to my fate. "Because I personally don't find Albus interesting enough. He's a straightforward hero, who's happy with himself and his choices. That's a fun character type, but it's not my type when I'm looking for a longfic protagonist."

Around this time, I realized I didn't remember canon well, so I revisited various canon sources (rereading some of the books, rewatching some movies, looking at the wikis, etc.). This turned Dumbledore into one of my favorite characters, a plot twist that I had not seen coming. There were three main reasons why I suddenly became interested in him, after revisiting canon:

I felt a connection with the details of his backstory. When I first read Albus's backstory many years ago, it bored me; I skimmed the Rita Skeeter excerpts as fast as I could. But on a re-read, I found those same sections really entertaining (Did he really plagiarize his work on dragon blood? Inquiring readers want to know!). Many of the details also felt personally relatable, as Albus, Aberforth and co. remind me of people I know well in real life. (Innocent has some heavily autobiographical elements.)

Before my reread/rewatch, I had this fairly vague concept of Albus being a hero who I generally approved of. However, once I got down to brass tacks and paid closer attention to canon, I found I disagreed with a lot of specific things Albus did. When he was on the page, I regularly felt like screaming, “Oh, come on! Don’t do it, Albus, don’t even think about- he did it.”

This catapulted him to stardom in my head. While I enjoy reading about characters whose actions I agree with, my favorites tend to be the characters whose lives are defined by a series of what I’d consider catastrophic mistakes. These characters, perhaps because their thought processes feel unfamiliar to me, are the ones who capture my interest, long after the story’s over. I love antiheroes and villains who get into bad situations and then make everything worse- especially if they actually had good or at least recognizably sympathetic intentions, at some earlier point. And revisiting canon yanked Albus out of the “straightforward hero” category in my head and resorted him into the “morally dubious trainwreck at risk of breaking anything he touches” category. So yeah, I’m a fan now.

Thus, I had acquired a new favorite character, to place on the display case next to Voldemort. They’re quite a complementary pair. Nose issues all around.

“I can now see myself writing fics with Albus as a protagonist,” I said. “Grindeldore could be fun, or maybe Riddledore. I still wouldn’t write a big 'Albus-adopts-Tom’ fic, because I have no idea what the story would be, but I might read it if somebody else wrote it.”

(This was perhaps the fifth time I stated in no uncertain terms that I would never write an Albus-adopts-Tom fic, now with a simmering undercurrent of “I’m in danger.”)

And then I read Ouroboros by @metalomagnetic, in defiance of my usual “don’t read WIPs” rule. If you’re unfamiliar, Ouroboros is a magnificent epic of a fic, where Voldemort accidentally travels back in time, adopts his younger self, raises his younger self as a Dark-Lord-in-training, gives his younger self a bunch of new psychological issues, and then falls head-over-heels for him. Ouroboros speedily reorganized the fundaments of my life and the chemistry of my brain. And when I ran out of chapters, my immediate impulse was “I want more right now!”

But the fic wasn’t done yet, and I had no interest in pressuring Metalo for updates or spoilers. Thus my brain (now barreling forward with real runaway-train energy) decided that it wanted the next best thing: the same story as Ouroboros, only different. So, in order to design an overly-detailed daydream to tide me over until the next update, I identified some of the core elements of Ouroboros that resonated so hard with me:

The time-travel Tom Riddle adoption premise, executed with one of the “elder statesmen” of the HP-verse. Someone who didn’t feel out of place in the 1930s as Harry would. Someone who was instead intimately familiar with the era and its main players. Someone who specifically knew young Tom Riddle, sometimes better than Tom knew himself.

The dramatic father-son dynamic, which was marked by love and humor but also a certain lack of familial kindness, especially from the father’s side of things.

The romantic dynamic between a young Dark wizard and his Dark Lord mentor, which shows up pretty late in the story and upturns the established father-son dynamic in unexpected ways.

And I realized with equal parts joy and horror that I now had a possible story, for that Albus-adopts-Tom AU that I was definitely never going to write. I could too easily envision parallels between Albus’s parenting style and that of Ouroboros’s Voldemort. Both those characters have an incredibly complex history with young Tom, plus a giant stack of other secrets eating away at them. They could both make Tom feel inferior just by existing near him. In both cases, I could see Tom trying to close the distance and crack the secret of their identity, only to be wrong over and over and over again.

“But,” I reasoned in a last-ditch attempt to get out of writing this, “who’s the love interest? Albus is a stretch. As a romantic lead in this setting, he doesn’t feel anything like Voldemort, despite various parallels in their parenting. And would it mean anything for Albus’s arc, if he fell for Tom? What would he even learn?”

Which is when I remembered one Gellert Grindelwald.

I might’ve gotten away with leaving this story unwritten, if not for Gellert. But the second I introduced him, the second I considered the magnitude of Albus’s freakout over his kid dating him of all people, this story became irresistible. While it takes Gellert a hot minute to show up on the page, his character was at the very heart of the story I wanted to tell from day 1.

Tl;dr: I blame Gellert for everything.

#my fic #my meta

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bleachbleachbleach · 3 years

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Fave Scenes That Probably Could’ve Been Sent to the Cutting Room Floor But I’m Glad They Weren’t -- DiamondDust Rebellion Edition

Outside of all the Detective Byakuya scenes and The Scene Where Hisagi is Cool for 12 Seconds Before Hitsugaya Writes Him Out of This Movie Entirely, I think this is my favorite scene in DiamondDust Rebellion. It’s just a little transition, but like, frame are frames, and these ones could easily have been used to explain the plot, or something. I think you get more bang for your buck with this scene, though.

Idk, I like the idea that someone can skip town in the dead of night, explicitly against the desires of his host, but still take the time to stop and give thanks to the house. At that point it feels less like habit or cultural norm and more like something that actually matters. (Er, cultural norms matter, but like, this makes it feels like it matters at an individual and personal level.) It actually matters to Hitsugaya, specifically.

** Even though he was also skipping town in the dead of night, explicitly against the desires of his host, after offering absolutely no useful information or explanation about anything whatsoever.

I want to say it’s adorable, but then I feel bad because Hitsugaya wasn’t trying to be adorable and at this point he’s been Straight Up Not Having a Good Time Bro since minute 3 of this 92-minute film, and I want to respect that. But anyway, although I don’t think of DDR as a piece of Bleach that has a lot to offer in terms of character- or worldbuilding, this scene I hold very dear. <3 All 9 seconds of it.

I also think about this scene a lot because in the scene that follows it, Hitsugaya (who is nothing like SS Arc Escape Master Hinamori, since he runs into Ichigo basically immediately) reiterates his thanks to Ichigo with 礼を言う, his first of a few he repeats this phrase over the course of this movie. I spent like, actual weeks fixated on this expression because I didn’t know what he’d said, to the extent that I could not for the life of me Google it effectively. It wasn’t until a different character in a different series said it that my brain was like ohhhhhh derp <i>Googles rei wo iu</i>.

It’s an expression of thanks/gratitude, literally to speak rei, which is some manifestation of gratitude. It’s masculine and implies a level of distance between the speaker and recipient. From the instances we’ve now heard it, it feels pretty old-school/serious/formal, though it’s not just old-timey because we’ve heard it used in the sense that you might say “I wanted to express my gratitude” in series set in the modern day as well. There’s also a video game that uses it in its dialogue, though idk what games are so idk the context here. And then of course I got really down the rabbit hole and ended up reading about orei and linguistic anthropology, which made morse sense to me than the video game, though realistically I surely know more about video games than linguistic anthropology (I spent sever real-world years completing Ocarina of Time! vs. uhhhh I once shared an office with someone who took a class in linguistic anthropology one time.) That article is talking about something specific that funnily enough isn’t Bleach, but it’s invested in the speech acts, or speech that in itself comprises an act--for instance, that of counterbalancing a debt.

All of that aside, just figuring out the basic phrase felt like such an exciting victory!! Because now it’s a phrase we can reliably hear and understand while watching other things, even when embedded in the middle of a longer sentence, etc. and that’s always such a good feeling?? (During our Bleach movie rewatch last month we discovered that Hitsugaya also uses this phrase in Fade to Black in a completely different context/in a seemingly completely different usage, so who says filler movies aren’t educational! You learn new things every day.) So anyway, yeah, I really love this scene. Lots of wild, if somewhat tangential, memories attached to it. 💖

Also would like to point out that if Ichigo really didn’t want Hitsugaya to leave, he should have simply hidden his shoes. XDDD Foolproof. (Imagine the awkwardness of having to unlace some deeply, deeply unconscious person’s sandals as they bleed out on your sheets. Weirder than shooting yourself out of a magical cannon in order to bust into the stronghold of a society of death gods? I mean, possibly??)

Also love (no, I truly do! “love” is used in a lot of ways on this website but I think it’s very endearing) that Hitsugaya also took the time to fold the blanket, even though he definitely bled all over it. Because like... did he WASH the blanket? PROBABLY NAH. DEFEATS THE PURPOSE OF HAVING FOLDED IT. KFAKF:gKGcfgvbhn

#i also think of DDR as bleach's version of The Revenant because Hitsugaya was one #'bites into the middle of live still-writing fish while standing in freezing river' scene away from being Leonardo DiCaprio #as far as the title of this post and cutting room floor stuff #boy #the amount of time we've spent talking about rust patina in the reigai arc honestly surprises even me #so you know stayed tuned for that gem #(we don't have interesting rust patina thoughts. we just talk about it a LOT)#hitsugaya toushirou #diamonddust rebellion #bleach movies #bleach language #bleach anime #bleach

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couldcarefewer · 2 years

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tag game :)))) — rules: tag some people you want to know better

tagged by @episode5s

four ships: SO funnily enough I actually don’t ship things that easily at all! Generally I’ll glom onto specific individual characters, but not specific ships. That said, when I go, I go hard, and I fell headfirst into Azula/Ty Lee from ATLA back in high school (I still love them tbh), and now I’m absolutely nuts for Misty/Natalie from Yellowjackets. THAT’S IT, THOSE ARE MY TWO, but trust me my love for them is outsized enough to count as four. I am either 0 or 100 with no points in between.

last song: “I Wanna Get Better” by Bleachers. I love this song; Pandora knows me so well.

last film: So. B. It. It was cute! It’s based on a book I read as a teen! It’s on Tubi!

currently reading: Aaaaaaaahahahahaha. My currently-reading shelf on Goodreads has 13 books on it rn and I’m about to add a 14th. A couple of them I had to return to the library before finishing and haven’t been able to check back out again, so I’ll only list the ones currently in my possession, but that’ll be long enough on its own anyway; I love to talk about books so much.

Fantasticland, by Mike Bockoven: One of my all-time favorites; I’m rereading it for the fourth time. People Who Eat Darkness, by Richard Lloyd Perry: True crime! I’m liking it, though obviously it’s harrowing. Tears of Amber, by Sofía Segovia: My current ebook read, which is going slowly because I don’t do ebooks much. I’m liking it, though! Diecinueve Minutos, by Jodi Picoult: My current foreign language read; this is a Spanish translation of Nineteen Minutes. I’m liking it a bit less than the first time I read it (back when it was first published), but honestly, I feel that way about a lot of Picoult’s books these days. Nothing But Blackened Teeth, by Cassandra Khaw: I just started this audiobook last night because my reserve came up on the Libby app, but I have HIGH HOPES; I love the writing so far. The Loop (Heaven’s Vault #1), by Jon Ingold: I tend not to put much stock in movie or video game novelizations, but my god, this one is SO GOOD; it expands on the game in really interesting ways rather than just being a straight retelling (which is a choice that fits perfectly with the game’s premise). If you’ve played Heaven’s Vault, read this; if you haven’t played Heaven’s Vault but are into low-tech sci-fi and really interesting worldbuilding, read it anyway. By the Seat of My Pants: Humorous Tales of Travel and Misadventure, ed. Don George: Fun, and it makes me miss travel so much :( Internment, by Samira Ahmed: Good premise, but I wish it were a bit less stereotypically YA. Guilty Admissions: The Bribes, Favors, and Phonies Behind the College Cheating Scandal, by Nicole LaPorte: Another audiobook; suuuuuuuuper interesting. A River in Darkness: One Man’s Escape from North Korea, by Masaji Ishikawa: Yet another audiobook; also really interesting, and I love his subtle, sarcastic sense of humor.

I am so insane when it comes to books I’m sorry.

currently watching: And I am somehow even more insane when it comes to shows, because it usually takes me a lot longer to get through a show than it does a book, especially if it’s long. But excluding the ones I’m “in the middle of” but haven’t actually watched an episode of in months... I’ve been rewatching Yellowjackets and am up to episode 5, am almost done with Inventing Anna (one episode left!), started watching Locke & Key last week with my neighbor, and am also picking away at Good Girls and Killing Eve (though only a handful of eps for each so far). I ALSO watched some of Euphoria and The Righteous Gemstones last month while housesitting for people with HBO, but alas, I don’t have it at home and am saving my free trial for a month when I’ll be at my own place more. Lastly, I’m probably going to restart The Haunting of Bly Manor tonight.

currently consuming: Is this question about food??? Nothing atm, but my sister and brother-in-law brought me pizza for lunch and it was delicious.

currently craving: Fruit juice... as always...

tagging: I’m going to be a HORRIBLE CHEAT and chicken out of tagging anyone directly because I get so stupidly self-conscious about that - but I love memes like this and seeing other people’s answers, so if you see this from me on your dash, consider yourself tagged and also tag me so I can come look at your answers! I specifically always want to know what everyone is reading at all times.

#memes

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bossladytae · 3 years

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Gintama Ask Game

Thank you to @claymorecut for tagging me! Most kind of you.

Last time you watched/read Gintama? Red Spider arc in the spring. Courtesan of a Nation arc prior to that. The odd episode or two here and there. Since the final chapter debuted, I haven’t done much rereading or rewatching, or even keeping up with new anime/manga releases as regularly as I used to (other than Rengoku ni Warau – I recommend picking that manga series up and enjoying gorgeous artwork by Karakara Kemuri, one of my most favourite manga artists).

Favorite male character? Takasugi, Hijikata, and Katsura.

Favorite female character? Tae and Tsukuyo.

Favorite female character design? • Tsukuyo’s design is unique, especially when you factor in parallels. • Catherine’s because she’s such an unconventional, subversive, and hilarious “cat girl.”

Favorite male character design? • Takasugi is unforgettable, enough said. He makes everything look good. • Sakamoto because I like the combination of his hairstyle, sunglasses, and long red coat. • Saitou because the hair, the uniform, the twin swords? He’s a cool and awkward introvert. • Bansai because of the shamisen doubling as a weapon, and his penchant for music.

Best squad? Diamond Perfume.

Most underrated character? • Sadaharu, the unsung hero. Where would the Yorozuya – no, the world – be without him? • Zenzou. Look past the hemorrhoids. • Mutsu. Her Yato heritage should’ve been revealed sooner. A missed opportunity for more bonding with Kagura. • Saitou also should’ve been introduced sooner with more character development. • Shinpachi and Tae, but more so Tae because many of the arcs she’s shared with Shinpachi and others tended to shift focus away from her, rarely making us privy to her inner thoughts and solo spotlight.

Favorite episode or arc? Shogun Assassination and Courtesan of a Nation arcs were absolutely stellar, peak Gintama arcs. I love episodes that deal with Gintaladies, especially Host Club arc and the famous Vegeta discussion. Rakuyou’s Joui4 badass hall-of-fame battle is something to revisit. Hijikata and Itou’s final battle.

Really, I’ve enjoyed so much of the series over the years. There is an episode/arc for every mood.

OTP(s)? HijiTae (Hijikata x Tae). Check out my side blog @hijitae for reasons. Beyond that, I don’t discuss other favourite ships except in private discussion. Most of the time, I like thinking outside the box when it comes to ships. Gintama is one of those fandoms where I don’t subscribe to many popular pairings among the majority other than a couple of them (pun intended) where the chemistry Sorachi has highlighted over the years is far too convincing to believe otherwise.

BROTP(s)? I’ll mention some lesser known, less discussed duos:

Tae and Tsukuyo – not enough of it in canon. They both work primarily at night, they both head their own districts and operative teams (as of Silver Soul time skip with a little fanon embellishment), and they have shown to care for one another’s well-being in times of war. Two badass women whose bond I explore in my fic here.

Hijikata and Tetsunosuke – all because of Baragaki arc and the potential for them to form a solid team relationship. Tetsu grows as a result of Hijikata’s influence, and in turn, Hijikata learns a bit more patience when it comes to Tetsu. Plus, they share similar backgrounds when it comes to brothers. I emphasized their growing bond in another fic here.

Saitou and Okita – I like the idea of these two being close because Okita talked about how he heard Saitou’s voice at the convenience store (and it was fun to see him toss two practice swords at Saitou, calling him “Shimaru-niisan”). And since Saitou finds making friends difficult due to his lack of socializing, and since Okita implies that he has few friends (given his general personality), I can imagine these two forming a close, unconventional bond as a result. I’ve written a bit of this idea into another fic here.

Katsura and Sacchan – extremely random, yes (funnily enough, there is fan art of them in Pixiv), but since teaming them up by chance in the fic I linked above (and another one coming soon), I’ve started to enjoy the potential of their interactions. They are both eccentric people who tend to irritate those around them with their quirks and signature gags. They would make an interesting comedic duo. Sorachi not giving nearly enough time to different combinations of interactions while having such a large cast of characters to work with is so regretful.

Kamui and Abuto – they’ve stuck by each other’s side in one way or another for so many years. You already need a lot of patience to deal with somebody like Kamui. Then, factoring in Kamui’s general disdain for most people he considers weaker than himself, he’s not exactly telling Abuto to hit the road by the final chapter. By now, they have a solid, unspoken bond.

An unpopular opinion? I’ve plenty of unpopular opinions, but I won’t be sharing them today.

Favorite running joke? “It’s the Shogun!” “It’s not Zura, it’s Katsura.” Vertically challenged Takasugi.

Favorite OST? OP song: “Tougenkyou Alien” by Serial TV Drama ED song: “Shura” by DOES

This post is long enough, so I won’t list all of the standout favourites from each of the soundtracks. Suffice to say, I enjoy everything.

Feelings about the upcoming movie? I’ve said all that I’ve needed to say in my Critique and Farewell posts. My feelings remain unchanged. I’ll be watching the movie to close the book on a 14-year journey with Gintama. I just hope that there is enough budget for all the major scenes (although a movie and then special episode(s) afterward…might as well have just made one final season altogether). More of a new soundtrack or maybe new character theme remixes would be nice, too!

As for tagging...I guess anyone who wants to do this? It’s been a long time, and I’d feel awkward tagging people who aren’t here anymore or not into Gintama as much as they used to be. Sorry!

#long post #tae #tsukuyo #hijikata #okita #saitou #tetsunosuke #kamui #abuto #bansai #takasugi #sakamoto #shinpachi #katsura #sarutobi #mutsu #zenzou #hijitae #sadaharu #catherine #gintama

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ellcrys · 3 years

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4, 15, 31, 62 ^^

ok for some reason these were all harder to answer than I anticipated lol

4. how did your elementary school teachers describe you? Shy and quiet, probably. Those are the first two words that come to mind at least, so I’ll go with that. :P I was very shy in elementary school; it wasn’t until eighth grade that I really started opening up. I’m still very reserved but I definitely wouldn’t consider myself shy/quiet anymore. But yeah, I feel like I definitely remember my elementary school teachers commenting on my shyness/quietness and how I should try to speak up more/be less shy in report cards (holy shit does anybody still remember report cards) and parent teacher conferences :P (or were they called parent teacher meetings? I don’t remember)

15. favorite book you read as a school assignment? Jane Eyre! I also loved Crime and Punishment, Much Ado About Nothing, and The Odyssey. I probably owe Jane Eyre a re-read though; apparently there are some problematic bits in the novel that we obvs didn’t cover in high school and that 17yo me wouldn’t have realized.

31. what outfit do you wear to kick ass and take names? Oh, I have two work pants that are my go to when I need a pick me up or want to look good/feel good. They are so comfortable but look so chic and professional! There’s also this long tannish cream cardigan that is my go to sweater - it layers well with everything. and my black heeled ankle boots are my favourite pair of shoes. idk, I don’t really ‘kick ass’ lol. but these are some of my favourite pieces in my closet.

62. seven characters you relate to? oh boy, 7! 1. kei shindou from ef - a tale of memories. I just finished my ef rewatch so she came to mind immediately lol. she made some pretty mean decisions that I definitely wouldn’t have made but personality-wise, oof. I actually relate to both her and hiro. in terms of never sharing my deepest feelings and also waffling/being indecisive. 2. jo march from little women. jo march should really be number 1 on this list lol but I’m just going to list the characters as they come to mind. 3. belle from disney’s beauty and the beast. she’s my favorite disney princess, undoubtedly because of her bookish personality and “I want adventure in the great wide somewhere.” 4. shinako from yesterday wo uttate. this show went so bad so fast in the second half of its run lol but i related pretty heavily to shinako. i just suck at relationships seems to be the theme. def may or may not have strung a guy along for the better part of year but like. i didn’t want things to change and i didn’t want to acknowledge that things had changed. 5. kimiko tohomiko from xiaolin showdown. 90% of my fanfics were written from her perspective and I projected a lot of myself onto her when I wrote so. questionable how much I actually relate to her and how much I forced her to relate to me lol ok the rest are just characters i’ve seen aspects of myself reflected in, either in terms of personality, actions, logic/reasoning, worldview, etc 6. akane from psycho-pass 7. sayaka from madoka magica bonus: yusei from ygo 5Ds - he was my character representation for DES (old youtube amv studio I was a part of, and I did a whole MEP part on why I chose yusei as my chara rep so I felt I needed to include him here lol) (funnily enough, kei was my character rep for FSS, another old youtube amv studio I was a part of)

this was long! I always answer these with paragraphs instead of one word answers! thank you for indulging me! <3

#lordsardine #ask

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littlemisssquiggles · 5 years

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Hey little miss I have a question, when ever I go into to Oscar or rosegarden tag a lot of people talk about the merge with Oscar and Oz but I rewatched the 5th and 6th volume and I can’t find a single mention about it. And didn’t the god of light say that Oz would always have a person to talk and bounce ideas off of? And with the mental state both of them are in would Oz take over again and would Oscar let that happen. I also had a mini headcanon that Oscar will show Oz the person he used to be

Hello Dark. You can say that the Merge was firstly mentioned back in V5 C3after Oz revealed himself to be paired with Oscar to the RNJR squad.

During that moment Ozpin, when Jaune questioned Oz on the nature of what he was, the old wizard described himself as a culmination of men who have sacrificed their lives for protecting human as designated to them by the Gods as part of their eternal curse for failing to stop Salem.

This was later confirmed and slightly retconned in V6, for lack of a better term. Not sure if to call it that. Funnily enough, when Oz told RNJR about his curse, he described it as it being inflicted on him for failing to stop Salem.

But as revealed in V6, the Gods never cursed Ozpin for failing to stop Salem. The reincarnation cycle was placed on Ozma because the God of Lightchose him to try and save what was left of humanity in the afterlife. The whole bit with Salem was basically Ozma’s own mistake since in fairness to the Brother Gods, the God of Light did warn him of the type of woman Salem had become during his absence. Light did more or less tell Ozma to not return to Salem but he did it anyways due to his ties to her. So I guess you can say that not only did Ozpin—Ozma lie

about his curse but he also withheld the truth about his original connection toSalem. I guess out of shame since his relationship with her did lead to possibly one of his biggest mistakes—the one he’s most ashamed off even till now.

Anyways, where the Merge comes in is when Oz started describing his cycle to RNJR and Qrow. He said that with every rebirth, his soul is eventually merged with another and Oz is changed but his memories (all the memories he has culminated over the years throughout all of his lifetimes) remain with him after the change.

When Oz first talked about the Merge, he said ‘I am changed’. I as in him—Ozpin or whoever he is supposed to be since he is the current version of what I dubbed the Wizard—the persona representing all the Wizards combined into one soul.

He never said ‘we are changed’ alluding to both himself and Oscar being affected by the Merge. Oscar was never ever mentioned as part of the Merge prcoess. It was always Oz destined to change with it.

But I think where and why fans and RWBY theorists started to get the impression about Oscar possibly losing himself to the Merge was the whole call back to the Man with Two Souls.

Remember back in V1, when Ruby asked Blake about the story of the Man with Two Souls, she said it was basically two souls sharing one body and fighting each other for control. This statement was then brought to life between V5 and V6 where on two occasions; we saw Oz and Oscar fight each other for control of the body.

We saw Oz pilfer control from Oscar during the Hazel fight and we even saw Oscar literally fight to restrain Ozpin when he was plotting to, I assume, forcefully take the Relic of Knowledge away from Ruby, possibly harming her in the process. Why else would Oscar make an attempt to mentallyrestrain Oz in such an intense manner if he didn’t sense that his desperate intentions might harm Ruby? At least, that’s my assumption.

I’ve been hearing talk about the Merging of the Two Souls as early as V5 ever since it was canonically confirmed that Oz and Oscar could switch control of Oscar’s body. But in the past, the common assumption of the Merge was that Oz would ultimately fade away and become a part of Oscar leaving him to carry on the mantle of Wizard with all of his memories and abilities at his behest.

I myself used to share a similar headcanon of the Merge leading to Oscar and Ozpin becoming one mind with their new combined persona being a perfect fusion of either soul but with Oscar, as the current incarnation of the Wizard as the more dominant personality, just with quirks and mannerisms inherited from Ozpin passed down from their first life as Ozma.

Even now, I’m still kind of holding onto that headcanon. It’s just that I’ve also gone on to embellish this Pinhead headcanon of mine with the additional titbit of Oscar being revealed as the rightful true reincarnation of Ozma as the embodiment of his original form that he never got back reborn in Modern Remnant.

I personally have never liked any of the theories that described Ozpin completely taking over Oscar’s body with Oscar disappearing. As a matter of fact, the more I pondered on it the more I realized that it wouldn’t make sense for Ozpin to take over Oscar’s body.

From a writing standpoint, it’s nonsensical to me because then I’d have to ask why would the CRWBY Writers go through the hassle of creating an entirely new character with his own individual personality and backstory (that many Pineheads are still waiting for them to dive into) just for the sake of having him be replaced by a character you made the choice to kill off.

If the CRWBY Writers honestly wanted to make a child version of the original Ozpin, they should have just have him come back as a young boy but still be the same character instead of being a different person. That’s what some fans keep forgetting.

Oscar is his own person.

Or at least he’s supposed to be. So looking at that, I’m going to assume that it’s not Miles and Kerry’s intention to get rid of Oscar. They already killed off Ozpin.Essentially the character of Ozpin is technically dead. His sole purpose now isto guide his next successor who is Oscar Pine.

Oscar is destined to take Ozpin’s place in this war against Salem. He is destined for greatness. And because of this, I don’t think Oscar is going to disappear.

This is why I love my Pinehead headcanon of Oscar being the true Ozma. The way how I see it, when Ozma was reincarnated, he never regained his original body. His cycle involved ONLY his soul being paired with the souls of others, sharing their bodies instead until eventually whoever that person was, Ozma becomes a part of him and so the cycle follows.

This is why I also have a small peeve about fans treating Ozpin or any of the Wizards for that matter as Ozma and Ozma alone. If Oscar is his own person then so were the others.

Technically it isn’t just Ozma in there. It’s all of them. All the souls together to become one soul that embodies them all.

The way how I’m looking at the Wizards and the way in which their cycle works now, it’s no different than what happens when you update or upgrade a piece of software. You have the first version that you get to use and familiarize yourself with but when it’s time to change to the new update, you get the newer version with all the fancy perks that come with it but you still get to retain the original settings left behind by the previous version. And in some cases, the new version is generally no different from the old one.

It’s still the same old interface you’re accustomed to just more fully functional. This is how I see the Merge in a way. I don’t see it killing off Oscar. I see the Merge making Oscar whole. This ties into my belief that Oscar is Ozma’s original body reborn in Modern Remnant. My theory is that Oscar is meant to be the end. In V6, Oscar asked Ruby if he was just going to be another one of Ozma’s lives.

“…I’m just gonna be another one of his lives, aren’t I?”

That quote still rings in my head till now. I don’t think this will be Oscar’s fate. I refuse to believe it, as a matter of fact. This squiggle meister’s stance is that Oscar is meant to be the last life. The last in the cycle. And it is for this reason why I like the sound of Ozma’s Cycle ending where it all began. The Wizard ofLight lineage started with Ozma so for me, it would be more fitting it ended with him as well.

I like the sound of Oscar being revealed as Ozma—the real Ozma or…at least the other half of him the Gods never permitted him to get back when this all started. I like the idea of Oscar being Ozma’s original self—his former body, now given new life in a new time in Remnant’s history.

I like this concept better than any other Pinehead headcanon I’ve seen and shared myself since I like the thought of here we have Oscar being concerned that he’s about to lose his entire life to the burdens and responsibilities of this person (i.e. Ozma) when in actuality he isn’t going to lose himself. He’d be made whole again.

My stance is that the Merge is meant to reunite the two halves ofOzma—the current version of his soul (i.e. Ozpin) and the current version of his original body (i.e. Oscar) and make him complete again, thus fully reviving Ozma as Oscar since the two are one and the same person.

And from there, knowing the truth of who he is truly is, Oscar can then make the conscious choice of his own accord to be whoever he wants to be moving forward. He can be his first self as Ozma or his new self as Oscar. It’s his choice to make this time so therefore, he chooses to remain as Oscar whilepromising to stop Salem once and for all, not just for humanity but for the sakeof the men who gave their lives for his mistakes.

Oscar would fight to honour his fellow Wizard brothers and ensure that his last life as Oscar is indeed his last so that the cycle can finally stop and his brothers can be allowed to rest in peace (or like Ozma, gain a second chance at life and be reborn in Modern Remnant too according to a cool theory by @miki-13).

Oscar won’t make the same detrimental mistake twice over. That’s my theory as far as the Merge is concerned and by golly, I’m sticking with it firmly till theCRWBY Writers tell me otherwise even if I’m the cheese that stands alone in support of this Pinehead headcanon.

There is definitely something unique about Oscar that sets him apart from his past incarnates. Seriously, how can folks believe that Oscar’s experience with the Merge is going to be the same as his predecessors when all aspects point to him being different.

Even the nature of how Oz reincarnated into Oscar seemed different. If you were to compare Oscar to all the past Wizards, you’d clearly see one key differentiating factor about him. He is by far the youngest of Ozma’s successors. While all the other Wizards have been adult men, possibly even middle-aged to elderly men, Oscar is a teenager. He’s still just a boy—a child on the cusp of manhood.

That’s one fact. The other one is how everyone kept acting so surprised about Ozpin being reincarnated so soon. As if there is meant to be some kind of huge time gap between when one wizard dies and his soul is reincarnated in a new body.

My fan theory is that there is a gap of at least 50 years or more between eachWizard rebirth. Reason being is when the God of Light first met with Ozma in the Realm Between Realms, he told him that Remnant was gone but in time humanity would soon walk the Earth again. So when Light spoke to Ozma, this was after all of mankind had been killed off except for Salem.

But when Ozma was first reincarnated as Diggs, humanity was already back in full swing. Civilizations were already constructed.

So I’d like to think that Ozma was first brought back a good 50 odd years or more into the future when Remnant was already restored and since then, every time Ozma dies, he comes back in a new time period in Remnant’s history—a solid half a century or more in the future. Possibly. That’s my theory.

This is what makes Oscar’s predicament so unique. I’d like to believe that Oscar is the first time Oz has ever reincarnated so prematurely and I’m hoping that the series either confirms this or not. At least touch more on it.

This is why Atlas is the perfect setting to delve into the whole Ozma Cycle and the nature of the Wizard’s Soul. Once upon a time I wrote a Pinehead headcanon ( in the form of my longest RWBY Musing ever) about Ironwood proposing to Oscar to use Atlas’ aura experimental technology to possibly separate him and Ozpin’s souls. Of course this idea fails and even leads to a subplot where Ironwood tricks and double crosses Oscar, forcing him to undergo the experiment against his will, revealing that it was never meant to help Oscar but control him and the Ozma Cycle in general. This makes me wonder if Ozpin and the nature of the Man with Two Souls was what sparked Ironwood’s innovation to study aura in the first place. It wouldn’t surprise me if it was.

Although an old theory, this is still an idea I wish for the show to delve into in thecanon, possibly for V7 as part of Oscar’s side of things.

If Atlas has the technology to study aura then I can see Oscar volunteering himself to become a guinea pig test subject for Ironwood to study his soul. This could prompt Ironwood to revisit some of his old theories on aura and study how the soul works through Oscar. And for Oscar himself, he would be looking to Ironwood as a beacon in the night, seeing him as his one and only chance at freeing him of his impending fate. Even if it’s just a small possibility.

In Oscar’s eyes, perhaps Ironwood might be smart enough to figure out a way to actually stop the Merge from happening. Oh! I can even picture a case where Ironwood probably wanted to experiment on Ozpin in the past; invited him to become a test subject however Ozpin always refused. Thus, for the sake of their long-standing friendship, Ironwood never pushed the idea with Oz again since a) he respected Ozpin and b) he knew fully well he could never ever get Oz to bend to his whim so easily.

However…Oscar isn’t Ozpin. He’s an impressionable fourteen-year-old boy who’s been left without Ozpin’s proper guidance who Ironwood might find easier to twist at the arm.

Especially if he paints it in a way that more appeals to the young farm boy’s favour and doesn’t necessarily tell him the true intent of his actions. So basically picture Ironwood emotionally manipulating Oscar into undergoing his aura experiments.

Heck I can even picture this being another issue that forces the two souls to fight again with Oz, sensing what Ironwood is trying to do with Oscar, trying to warn him but Oscar refuses to listen to Ozpin since…well…

What if…once our heroes have settled down in Atlas Kingdom, Oscar tries reaching out to Oz.

But even though Oz helped him out in the plane, he still refuses to meet Oscar half way for them to talk and it becomes a frustrating thing where Oscar feels abandoned by Oz. This leaves Ironwood to come swooping in to easily fill that whole role of mentor and guide to Oscar left behind by Ozpin that he was supposed to fulfil and Oscar grows close to Ironwood—looking up to him. Trusting him.

Possibly even seeing him as a dad figure. Maybe Ironwood might remind Oscar of one of his parents or parental figures. However Ironwood is only manipulating Oscar to get him to sign off on undergoing his aura experiments. Something he knew Oz didn’t approve of but he tries to make it happen anyways through Oscar. I mean, it wouldn’t be the first time Ironwood went behind Ozpin’s back to get what he wants, right?

But Oscar doesn’t quite catch o to Ironwood’s intentions but Oz does and he immediately tries to pull reigns on him. Even go so far as to probably pull the same stunt he did at Haven.

However by the time Oz tries this again, Oscar is already mentally strong enough to resist him from forcefully relinquishing control. Let’s just say that Oscar becomes a bit resentful towards Oz for leaving him (and everyone else) behind the way he did and it basically becomes this whole thing where Ironwood drives a wedge between the two souls and uses that to his advantage to get what he ultimately wants.

Perhaps….Ironwood might even invent and implant a sort of chip device on Oscar—like a small doohickey that fits perfectly on his neck that he tells him has a function to suppress the influence of Ozpin’s soul whenever Oscar fears he might try to forcefully take control.

So whenever Oscar felt Ozpin trying to take control, he could mentally tap into the device and use it to prevent this from happening. Of course, the device has a secret secondary function that would instantly turn Oscar into a puppet under Ironwoods command when necessary but…I’ll stop this headcanon right here.

I know this is making Ironwood out to be the bad guy and it’s sad since I kind of like General Dimples. Nonetheless, given the kind of metallic grey character Ironwood is, I think this can be a possibility for his side of the story in Atlas. But we’ll see what the Writers have in store for us with him.

Getting back on track with the Merge, I believe I’ve pretty much summed up all that I had to say on that. Hopefully I was able to answer your in some shape or form. Emphasis on hopefully.

As for your mini headcanon—funny enough it reminds me of another old Pinehead theory I shared in a musing where Oscar would deep dive into his mind to bring Ozpin back. In V6, Oscar described Oz locking himself away deep inside his head. That being said, for V7, I was hoping us Pineheads could get a small subplot involving Oscar possibly entering a deep sleep, going on a journey inside of his mind to find Oz and bring him back. I called it ‘Oscar’s Journey to Oz’. Get it.

Just as how Dorothy Gale went on a journey to the Emerald City to find the Wizard in hopes of him possibly sending her back home to Kansas, I figured the CRWBY Writers could do something like that with Oscar where he must go on a journey inside of his own mind to reconnect with the soul of the old wizard locked away inside him.

In one version of this headcanon, I envisioned Oscar reliving the most important memories of some of the previous Wizards leading up to Ozpin’s and in Ozpin’s memory, it’s the nigh he was fell in combat with Cinder and was left for dead before connecting with Oscar.

In the next version of the Oscar’s Journey to Oz headcanon—my favourite of the two— it was Oscar reliving his most cherished memories from his past to current day; meeting the souls of some of the other Wizards (like Diggs, Henkle and Norman for example) who arrived to help him on his journey to finding Oz.

Since viewers never got to see more of Oscar’s past, I figured this could’ve been a neat way to see what Oscar’s backstory was like through his eyes by reliving his past with him in his mind. That’s the concept I had.

But regarding of either version of this theory, it concluded the same way with Oscar finding Oz locked behind a memory that belonged to him—a key defining memory in Oscar’s life that was so painful to him that he repressed it, burying it deep within his mind.

It’s the memory of the day Oscar lost his family explaining how he came to stay with his aunt and it is this memory that Oscar must face yet again in order to find Oz; dealing with the grief he forced himself to ignore before.

I’d like to think that Oz isn’t the only one who chose to hide the painful memories of his past. I’d like to think Oscar has done this too with his own past with his family and it’s something he and Oz can relate to.

It’s also a nice way for me to justify why I had Oz hide behind Oscar’s most painful memory. You could say It’s a place where the Wizard ironically found himself most at home and it’s also a place he figured Oscar would never find him.

By Ozpin’s impression, he figured Oscar wouldn’t face this pain. But to Ozpin’s surprise, Oscar would face this pain. He’d relive one of the most traumatizing memories for him because he was determined to find him.

And once Oscar finds Oz, the two souls sit and have a nice long chat that finally builds more upon their growing dynamic and Oscar as a person. His own person.

Since RWBY has a habit of having young children impart wisdom on adults, I’d love to see Oscar council Ozpin. Show the old soul that despite everything that’s happened and despite everything he’s learnt about his past, Oscar understands where Oz and Ozma were coming from and why he made the choice to do things the way he did.

I don’t wish for Oscar to scold Ozpin for his and the others’ past mistakes but extend him an olive branch—not one of compromise. But one that clearly says ‘I understand’ and ‘It’s not your fault’.

It’s a feat where Oscar shows Oz who he’s supposed to be, as you put it. This then then ends with Oscar taking Ozpin’s hand and becoming the guiding light that takes the two of them home so that Oz may reconcile with everyone else who were waiting on the other side for Oscar to regain consciousness.

Then, with Ozpin back,through Oscar’s guidance, he aids everyone—the group as well as Oz, towards the path of forgiveness on both sides. It’s not Oz apologizing for his actions for the billionth time while the JNR_QROWBY get off scotch free for what they did too.

It’s everyone apologizing and coming clean for the mistakes they made. A promise for a new leaf involving no more lies. No more half-truths. A promise for a clean slate for all including Ozpin. And Oscar is the instigator in all of it as the glue that helped mend the bonds between the team and Ozpin when it was needed to be done. Thus officially solidifying Oscar as a prominent and important member of the hero team in a much more meaningful and convincing way than what was done in V6.

At least, that’s how I saw it. Not sure if this also ties into your theory too. Hopefully you can let me know. For now, I think I’ve jibberjabbed long enough. Believe it or not, I had more to say but I think I’ll spare you more paragraphs of reading through my long response.

In the meantime, thank you for the question and I hope to hear your thoughts on my thoughts and theories shared here.

~LittleMissSquiggles (2019)

#darkangel93rar #oscar pine #professor ozpin #oscar and ozpin #rwby theories #general ironwood #rwby volume 7 theories #pinehead headcanons #squiggles pinehead headcanons #squiggles answers: rwby

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helloandwelcometomariasblog · 4 years

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Review #55: Suddenly Seventeen

Written and Directed by Zhang Mo

I didn’t know this movie would be this deep. Really.

Came for Darren Wang. Stayed for the female lead. Started off thinking it was a typical and mediocre time-travelling romcom, told myself to keep watching for Darren Wang, and ended up blown away.

I really thought it would be a typical time-travelling romcom. I honestly thought Liang would just be transported back ten years. But NO. This was where I was first surprised. Instead of taking her back to the setting of her seventeen year old self, she actually just changes... in her mind. Her mind becomes seventeen. I found that so refreshing. When she looks at her reflection on the car window after the first chocolate, I thought, “What? She doesn’t look younger at all.” I thought that was what Liang was looking at - the fact that she’d changed into the seventeen year old self and she was physically younger. But no. Same body, just younger mind. That was the first thing that I found new and refreshing.

The second surprise came when Liang changed back. I was expecting the entire film to be about Liang living her seventeen year old life, and doing or undoing whatever mistakes she’d made. But no. What happens is that the chocolate only lasts 5 hours, and Liang goes back and forth between Little Liang and Big Liang. At first, I thought the premise was sloppy and that the film wouldn’t be able to carry it out well. I really underestimated the film (slap). I think it’s because there are just so many of these time travelling romcoms that follow the exact same path, and I guess I expected the same for this one. I watched, half skeptical, half not expecting anything, as the film presented us with its theory: one chocolate lasts 5 hours, and camera flashes bring Big Liang back. I think I felt the sloppiness with scenes such as Liang randomly reaching for the chocolate whenever she was sad - like, even when people are sad, they look at what they’re eating, you know? Especially if you have to take off a wrapper to get to the food??? And it was just so CONVENIENTLY COINCIDENTAL that the one chocolate was right there. And that Little Liang threw down the book that contained the rest of the chocolate. Those things. I’m really not a fan of convenient coincidence. Make it make sense.

But other than that, once I got past that and became more and more immersed in the story, I started really liking it, and was blown away by some aspects. Like I said before, the film takes the time travelling romcom a step further, and what I absolutely loved was how Little Liang and Big Liang began communicating with each other and actually started building a relationship. Not only were they helping each other out and getting to know each other (Big Liang reconnecting with her past, teenage self), Big Liang actually became somewhat of a mother/big sister role to Little Liang near the end, which I found really moving.

The third aspect I found refreshing was how Little Liang and Big Liang became the main relationship line, and how they were almost each other’s antagonist. I honestly squealed with delight when they started going against each other, like the scene where Little Liang puts herself among those zombies before turning back into Big Liang, or when Big Liang eats the chilly chicken before turning into Little Liang. I also loved the scene where Big Liang just nonchalantly kisses Yan and then asks him to take her home, making Yan shout out, “Are you playing me or what?” It was hilarious. I don’t think I’ve seen a time travelling romcom that puts the future and past selves together in such proximity and makes them the main relationship line. They usually build relationships with other people or, if it was a typical one from that genre, I guess Liang would be mending her relationship with Mao or pursuing a new life with Yan. But instead the film is all about finding yourself and being true to yourself again, and not giving up on your dreams. Being yourself first and foremost before being one with someone else. Liang had lost herself during those ten years. When the film first started, I have to say that I was annoyed at how much Liang’s life was based on Mao. I’m glad I kept watching and got to see Liang change and become independent. Even in the end, even when she does seem like she’ll consider Mao again, I felt happy for her. Because she had changed, and she would now live differently even with Mao by her side. In fact, I think it wouldn’t have made sense if she fully rejected Mao. It’s more like her to consider Mao again and I actually like the theme of reconciliation. Becoming independent and strong and finding yourself doesn’t always mean fully breaking it off with your lover/husband/etc. Sometimes it means mending relationships and stepping into it again as a stronger person. Both Liang and Mao had things to learn, and they changed in the end. I’m sure their relationship would work out so much more positively.

You know how we’re always told to be nice to ourselves, to cheer ourselves on, to be our own best friend. That’s what this film reminded me of. It was like a huge metaphor for that. Big Liang finally got to see who she used to be, and how much she’d changed. Neither of them were perfect, and that’s why they needed each other. We can’t live as our teenage selves forever - one day we have to grow up and mature - but we can’t live as our adult selves and shed those pure and childlike qualities we used to have either. Little Liang definitely had qualities Big Liang had lost. And I really loved how Big Liang learned to become independent and stand on her own two feet even without Little Liang. Like the water scene, that didn’t mean she had lost Little Liang. It simply meant that Little Liang was now a part of her, and Big Liang needed to remember the child she used to be.

Little Liang was a pretty good influence on Big Liang. As I watched, I thought back to my own seventeen year old self. If I had an experience like that, would Little Me be a good influence on Big Me? Funnily enough, Big Liang in the movie is the exact same age as I am now - which made me think even deeper about this concept. As a seventeen year old... I definitely wasn’t like Little Liang. When I saw Little Liang overdosing on the chocolates and running to catch Yan at the train station, I honestly... I honestly sat there thinking, “That’s what young love is.” I had no thoughts of stopping Little Liang, or chastising her, or lecturing her about how much of a playboy Yan actually is and how he doesn’t deserve her blah blah. You know, older sister/mother talk. Instead, all I felt was sadness for Little Liang, and I totally accepted her feelings and her actions and just felt sad for her. 안타까웠고 I couldn’t help thinking that that’s what seventeen year olds do when they’re in love. I usually don’t like films that have characters say they love each other when they hardly even know each other, but for some reason, this film made sense. It was just very realistic for two teenagers to act that way.

Back to thinking about my seventeen year old self - I guess that would be me in my last year of high school? I definitely wasn’t like Little Liang back then. So I don’t think I would’ve had a huuuge influence on my current self, but I definitely was brighter, more positive, more enthusiastic, more naive, and I was just generally a happier person. I don’t think I was as sensitive or easily blue as I am now. I don’t know how I changed, but I guess I did. I face more stressful things nowadays as an adult, but I have less resilience. Or maybe I had more resilience back then because the issues weren’t as serious or heavy as they are now. I’m not sure if I could regain those characteristics of my seventeen year old self. Let’s not get too deep - I’m getting a headache lol.

Oh and Darren Wang. I wasn’t completely fond of his character in this film, but he played it well, and he played his age well. As in, he really did seem like a teenager and a young person acting that age. I kind of want to see him in a different role though. He plays similar roles in most of his films (well, I’ve only seen three so far so I guess I shouldn’t speak too soon). But the train scene, wow. If I were Little Liang and I could draw that well I would definitely be drawing him as well. Haha. He is really captivating o_o. I kind of felt sorry for Yan in the end, because poor Yan, all he did was fall for a pretty girl who was interested in him first on a train. I guess his only fault would be that he was just constantly trying to get in her pants and seemed a bit predatory in some moments (jumping on her the moment she realises the door is locked?), but I did feel sorry for him when he got the water poured on him and at the end when he half sadly looks at the bulletin with Liang on it. He got played by an older woman lmao. But look at how successful she is. But HE DID SAY inside the tent that night that ‘chasing dreams’ have nothing to do with age. I loved that quote. All in all though, Big Liang could have never gotten together with Yan, because let’s face it (realistically) Yan is essentially a young playboy biker and Liang is a adult careerwoman. Or maybe that’s my closedmindedness talking. But honestly, in reality, it wouldn’t work out. Yan was immature (”You can’t give me what I want!” Seriously?).

ANYWAY. Let’s end this review by saying that I wasn’t expecting it to be this deep, I really enjoyed it, it made me think a lot (which is always the reason I type about a film here) and it was a film that got better and better as it progressed. Let me go find another Darren Wang film now. (Nothing will ever beat Our Times though! Nothing!!)

I’ve come back to add that all that led me to rewatching Our Times, and I’m a teary mess all over again, slamming fists on desks and wailing for multiple reasons. Our Times has probably become... one of my favourite films... WAAAH

#review

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47mel47 · 7 years

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Glee Nostalgia: TDB Rewatch 1x09 Wheels

“When I saw you, right after you got the call, and you were so hurt and so upset, it just killed me. I'm not saying I'm gonna hide in the closet. I'm proud of who I am. I'm just saying that I love you more than I love being a star.”

Yay! We is gonna gets some Kurt in this one!!! (actually first line taken directly from my notes on this episode).

What a glorious, glorious episode for Kurt and Burt Hummel. Their relationship is one of the best things that this show ever explored, and this episode is a shining example of the wonderful job that Chris Colfer and Mike O’Malley did bringing these characters to life.

Kurt’s initial reaction of excitement when Will announced ‘Defying Gravity’. We only got it for a fleeting moment before Will dashed it, but it was a side of Kurt that we hadn't really gotten to see before this moment. I love that Mercedes also spoke up about the solo just being handed to Rachel (even though it was not taken all that seriously), and the look on Finn’s face when Will says that he will give Rachel something else to dip in chocolate? Priceless. Confused Finn, I love you. (Also, Santana thinks that bake sale are “bougy” and Brittany finds recipes confusing.)

The first scene with both Kurt and Burt is full of so much. The day-to-day interaction showing that these two have been moving forward since Preggers. The fact that Burt is not ready to talk guy stuff (but funnily enough makes a comment about guys wearing dress shoes without socks. Oh Burt, if you only knew who you would encounter in about 12 months time...)

And then, his realisation that his son was really upset by what had gone down (”I’m full of ennui.” “...”So it’s really getting you down?”) Burt going in to bat for his son was fantastic, and I loved that he not willing to take any shit from Will. And the scene following- Kurt has taken to the wheelchair like a duck to water (which is quite interesting given how awkward he can actually be on his feet). And, Brittany is also confused by her right hand.

“Nobody pushes the Hummel's around.” I could have watched an entire episode, hell an entire series, of these two navigating their relationship.

Everything about the ‘Defying Gravity’ performance was wonderful, especially the development in Kurt’s expression as it went on. He says so much without actually saying a word and this moment is a perfect example of this. You can actually see the moment when Kurt realises what he is going to do.

And then of course, Kurt and Burt’s final scene of the episode. Even though they may not be on the exact same page at the moment (they are still working towards that), Kurt and Burt Hummel are most definitely a team- a team with both players making sure that their team mate is protected at all costs. And that is why Kurt and Burt Hummel are one of the most fuckawesome examples of how to really be the best kind of man person in this show.

Other character stuff from the episode: While the kids are actually being a little shitty about the whole Artie and the bus thing, I love that it leads to Artie telling Rachel, “Well, you're irritating most of the time, but don't take that personally.” (Side note: his decision to initially give the solo to Rachel, Will is slightly less awful in this episode than he has been in previous ones. He does right by Artie, and brings the club together as a group as a result. Let’s just forget that he didn’t realise that Puck was drugging the student body.)

When we were introduced to Becky, all I could do was compare this gentle, sweetheart to the foul-mouthed hard ass she became in later seasons. Sue Sylvester, I am not sure that you were the best influence on that girl...

Cheerio auditions were always going to be a laugh- interesting that Kurt and Mercedes auditioned only to become part of the team later in the season.

There is a lot, lot more to be said about this episode (damn this was a good one) but I am going to save that for my meta tomorrow.

@todaydreambelievers

#tdb rewatch #tdb rewatch wheels #todaydreambelievers #glee #glee nostalgia

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artistjojo1228 · 7 years

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Rambling Reviews: Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall (2011)

*I’ve seen this so many times, I lost count in the first two weeks of October, 2014*

I don’t believe there was ever any doubt that when the 1986 musical, Phantom of the Opera, turned 25, there would be a huge celebration. Fittingly, like its counterpart, Les Miserables, the subsequent performance was recorded and later sold on DVD. Now, I’m warning you now, this was the very first version of Phantom of the Opera I ever saw, so, naturally, I might be blinded by my nostalgia for this.

The story is centered on the Opera Populaire (which, funnily enough, translates to “Popular Opera”), an opera house in Paris that is mainly based off the real-life Palais Garnier. It’s here that the Phantom (who went by “Erik” in the original novel), a mad genius who was born deformed, falls in love with a beautiful young soprano, Christine Daae. He teaches her to sing, and she (for a while), only knows and regards him as the “Angel of Music” that her dead father promised to send her on his deathbed. Then, things get extraordinarily complicated when Christine’s childhood friend, Vicomte Raoul de Chagny, comes back into Christine’s life and tries to win over her heart (let’s just say that this doesn’t go over too well with M. le Fantome).

Let’s get this out of the way early, the singing is incredible, and I feel it should be, considering they got quite a few top-notch West End perfomers involved. Ramin Karimloo (for the curious, it’s pronounced “Ra-MEEN”) played the Phantom, and by God, he was incredible on all fronts (singing, acting, mannerisms, etc.). Even to this day, his portrayal of Erik is pretty much a defining portrayal for me (again, blame the whole nostalgia factor). Sierra Boggess was also amazing as Christine for the exact same reasons (particularly with the singing). This was actually Hadley Fraser’s first turn-out in Phantom of the Opera, and I thought that, as Raoul, he was a great singer, but on recent analysis, I’m starting to agree with people who say that he had anger issues as Raoul. However, I do hope that he gets to play Raoul again or maybe someone else in this play, because I hear that, otherwise, he’s a great actor. The supporting cast was equally great, and honorable mentions go out to Wendy Ferguson (Carlotta), Wynne Evans (Piangi), Liz Robertson (Madame Giry), Barry James (Firmin), and Gareth Snook (Andre).

As for the music, I don’t think it’s any surprise that it’s one of the most recognizable aspects of the show. Whilst I admit to preferring the first act to the second, I have to admit that the entire score is amazing. My favorite songs from this musical include the title song, “Music of the Night,” “Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again,” “Point of No Return,” “All I Ask of You,” and “Down Once More/Final Lair.” All of these songs were handled quite beautifully in this production, and the orchestrations were magnificent. On a less popular note, though, I felt that the choreography in some places just kind of flailed about. However, I will note that the only place where I found this to be a huge problem was with “Hannibal.” Aside from that, it was fine.

Now, let’s get to what I’m sure is quite divisive, the sets. See, this production was staged in the Royal Albert Hall, and seeing as it’s a concert hall, there was no chandelier crash, and the sets were, for the most part, provided by LED lights. Now, considering that I saw this live between me rewatching this and the time I’m writing this (July 11, 2017), I still say that these are okay. Yeah, it sucks that the chandelier didn’t rise above the audience or crash onto the stage, but I do understand, since they had to work with what space they had. Besides, I don’t think any of that should detract from an otherwise stunning performance.

Lastly, I want to talk about the story itself, and please keep in mind, I’m speaking as someone who hasn’t quite finished the original novel yet. Now, aside for one or two major plot holes that I’ll get to a second, I really liked the story. Yes, I’m sure the original novel was better in this department, but I think that, as a whole, Andrew Lloyd Webber did a pretty good job in adapting the story from page to stage (although, how this same story suffered so much when being adapted again for the 2004 film starring Gerard Butler and Emmy Rossum, I’ll most likely never know). As for that plot hole, I think the “Point of No Return” scene doesn’t make that much sense these days. Yes, Erik’s attempting an Italian accent and he’s wearing a hooded cloak, but I think that the characters and in-story audience should have realized that Piangi’s voice had changed and that he lost quite a bit of weight. I mean, I can accept the interpretation that Christine might be going along with it, but there’s still the fact that she’s heard this guy’s voice before. Aside from that, though, I really liked this story.

Overall, this was an amazing production fitting for a play that had recently turned 25. The acting/singing is incredible, the songs are beautifully written, the story still holds up (for the most part), and they did a great job with working with the stage they had chosen. Also, keep in mind that the performers only had two weeks worth of rehersal before this! I’d definitely recommend this for any fan of the musical or just the story in general. In the meantime, can someone please remind me that I can go into just as much detail with something that doesn’t involve having been an obsession of mine?!

95/100 A

#phantom of the opera #royal albert hall #ramin karimloo #sierra boggess #hadley fraser #liz robertson #daisy maywood #gareth snook #wendy ferguson #wynne evans #barry james #andrew lloyd webber #cameron mackintosh #rambling #reviews

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