#like they did not need to make him such a hateable villain | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

pinkandpurple360 · 5 months

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I just had and epiphany, the only narrative function that Fizz working for Mammon had was giving the audience a reason to dislike Mammon. allow me to explain.

Mam is written in a way relatively similar to Blitz, especially season 1 Blitz, but Viv knew that since most of her viewers are far-left enough that they'd turn on the show if she showed greed as anything but pure evil, so she had to make him "hateable".

From the perspective of Fizz's arc, Mammon's involvement is completely pointless, we already have a villain in Cash and a way for Fizz to end up with Ozzie. Have Ozzie see Fizz at some performance, want to hire him, discover what happened to Fizz in the fire and make his prosthetics, then have them naturally bond from equals and business partners to actual partners.

To make Mammon seem worse, he was introduced in an episode staring an established character he's very toxic to, and we know this is the case because all of Mam's shittyness towards people other than Fizz is played up as endearingly asshole-ish in the classic HB manner.

And the best part? It didn't even work, Mam instantly became a fan favorite, with even hardcore Fizz fans saying "What Mammon did to Fizz was awful, BUT he's amazing and I can't help but adore him."

I can just imagine Viv seeing the community's reaction to the episode and silently fuming, like a preteen bitter that no one wants to sit with her at lunchtime.

Mammon is completely perfect as a villain you love to hate, and like you said he is both evil AND cute. Viv was trying to do a self insert moment here with Fizz, so this theory definitely has some truth.

BUT—

Everyone collectively saw this episode and realised 😅😅😅 holy shit Mammon is just like Stolas and he’s just like Vivziepop!! Mammon broke the fourth wall in the most meta way I’ve ever seen. And he introduced a much needed new meme culture for HBoss that anybody can enjoy.

I guess you can say you either die a Fizzarolli or live long enough to see yourself become a Mammon.

#helluva boss critical #mammon #fizzarolli

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mechacringekitty · 3 months

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incredibly messy essay of my thoughts on darkstalker, straight from my DMs with a friend because they demanded i post it [which means it has incredibly improper grammar]

hes an awful awful person, unapolagetically, and i think there are scenes and areas where he could've been written better. or had more nuance, like his dynamic with arctic [why do they hate each other ?? theres no explanation given, really, besides the fact that they do] but people who reduce him to a monster just baffle me. he loved his mother, he loved whiteout, he tried to love clearsight even though he did it wrong. and clearsight/darkstalker is a really iffy territory, because he did love her and he thought he was loving her right but he wasnt he was kind of controlling and bad! the earrings !! the earrings that kept her from seeing the bad futures !! but he also loved her, he did. their relationship was doomed from the start but he tried. she loved him back too, thats why it didnt work. thats why it hurt so much. he loved his mother too,, the few brief interactions they got in arc 2 hurt me to my core because fuck foeslayer loved him too, even though she realises he's done bad things. and whiteout!! whiteout!! she's one of the only characters we see darkstalker actually properly caring about in a way that doesnt really hurt them somehow. i think she loved him too,, she tried to warn him, she did :( ive thought about them a lot, maybe darkstalker trying to calm whiteout down at times, or them hiding with each other while arctic and foeslayer fought. arctic and foeslayer make me really ill too but this rant is getting long enough as it is. darkstalker lost a little of his pizzazz in arc two because of how domination focused he was and the writing went more focused on making him this evil, hateable villain [imo] than a relatable and understandable villain. which is the best kind of villain. i hate the peacemaker thing i hate it i hate it and that scene in book ten makes me cry every time because he was hurt by it he was so hurt by it. he didnt need a second chance, he needed to die, he needed to reconcile with himself and accept that there was no way he would ever save any of it. something like him coming to his senses, him realising everything he's done is awful and hurtful and he's not ever going to be able to fix it, but he can at least apologise even if the icewings dont accept his apology, not all of them, they'll understand they havent been hating a monster without feelings this whole time,, and maybe some of them can start to understand him and they can start to heal and they can stop hurting each other. but he needed to die and it needed to be on his own terms and i think foeslayer shouldve gotten her peace with that and i think if i were here i wouldve chosen to die too. the world is so different from what either of them knew and i would be tired of trying to change and i would be tired of trying to fix it and i think ending that legacy right there and right then with the two of them together wouldve been good. and maybe foeslayer can tell darkstalker she loves him - maybe she never had time when he was a kid - and maybe he can tell her too and they can leave that world together with the knowledge that they tried but they dont have to try anymore.

#if you're just here to say “i hate darkstalker” fuck off btw <3 #hound.txt #wings of fire #darkstalker wof #darkstalker wings of fire #idk what to tag this with even???#enjoy. have fun.

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nildespirandum · 1 year

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Hi, I have two asks for you, if you don't mind?

1) which one do you think is the "fundamental" Loki interview, if there is one?

2) why do you think Loki's character is so popular? He started out as the villain and now he is a sort of hero, and he started being perceived "positively" before the show came about. It cannot be the looks (other avengers are good looking).

Thank you,

@merak-dubhe thank you for the asks, and I absolutely don't mind.

For the first question, are you referring to interviews done with about the character done by Tom and other creators or something else? Sorry I can't give a proper answer.

But question two! I have so many thoughts.

From a Doylist perspective, my friend Mary said something once that I think is very useful to consider. She said that when there is a villain that seems inherently likeable or becomes incredibly popular its because they intentionally cast an actor who is deeply likeable and friendly. That no matter how talented they are that is somehow stamped on their charisma and will come out in the character no matter what. I think Tom's Loki has this quality.

Also, his looks do matter because in most of the movies the villains are not attractive or are othered in some key way. Making a bad guy handsome is never not an important choice.

That said, it is not the only or even primary reason for his popularity.

I think he is popular and beloved because, despite a large part of the fandom thinking Marvel hates him, we are supposed to like him. Even love him.

Boy you are going to be sorry your asked.

Going back to the first Thor movie, when we are first introduced to Loki we see him as helpless, as an infant in a terrible place (I am going to refer to pure canon here, not fanon), which immediately forces the audience to see him as something the opposite of villainous, as a pure innocent. The next time we see him he is a child, and by comparison to his brother who we know is meant to be our 'hero' he is calm and thoughtful and frankly a lot less annoying. This continues through the follow up to Thor's temper tantrum after his failed coronation. Over and over we see Loki as calm, as thoughtful, as not a villain.

Having a character start coded as a hero, or at very least as decent and thoughtful, means that switching to seeing them as a villain is not only harder, but that view is always stained with the memory of who they were. And one thing that we have been trained to believe by films and books for centuries is that if someone was once good it is their destiny to become good again.

Additionally, Loki's turn towards being a villain is not a heel-turn. It is a process we get to see. His discovery of his secret origin (which is often an event in the making of a heroic character), his stymied confrontation with Odin which not only does not give him answers but clearly causes him to feel guilt, his being given the throne which we are told he does not want but also needs to feel validated. That Tom is a fantastic actor and we can SEE how Loki feels throughout the movie makes it all but impossible to hate him or even entirely disagree with him until his attack on Jotunheim. Which, when it fails and he chooses to fall rather than let Odin saves him, we can see as an attempt to kill part of himself, let us see exactly how broken and twisted he has become by what he has learned about himself.

We are never given the luxury of just seeing Loki as a pure villain which means for many people watching the movies he never will be.

(BTW, this is also why I think Marvel fans who did not watch the first Thor movie before seeing The Avengers or go back and watch it afterwards are less likely to see Loki in this light. Though not all of them, clearly).

In The Avengers Loki is at his most purely villainous. He is responsible for destruction and death, he is at the head of an invading, highly other army, he does that eye thing, he brainwashes people. He should be completely hateable. But he isn't. Well, for some fans he is but not all.

I am not going to discuss the 'sexy dom bad man' aspect of his popularity because that is all very obvious. He's gorgeous, he's dressed to kill all of the time, he's witty, strong, making people kneel, etc. We all understand that.

Rather, there are subtle moments, mostly acting based rather than script based, that play into our belief that, like Thor, we believe another Loki still in there. Small pauses, dull effect when giving orders, tears. A sense that Loki is playing the villain to convince himself as much as us. That when it is revealed he is being controlled as much as controlling it doesn't come as a massive twist. It feels like a given. Also, and I think this is significant, he is vulnerable. At the beginning he looks sick, confused even for a few moments, later he needs help getting into the truck, when Thor tosses him into the woods he holds his back and looks exhausted. We see Loki get hurt time and again which actually aligns him with the heroes at the end of the movie, who are all scuffed and tired and hurting - other than Thor who is at his most godly in this film, and the Hulk, though we know Banner is going to feel it later.

Cutting this character out of time to be the main character in the Loki series means at this point he considers himself a villain which makes the shit he goes through make sense to Loki if not to the audience (I don't want to get into this here, because that is another discussion).

By Dark World (and everyone knows T: DW Loki is my favorite), we get Loki in full anti-hero mode. Having him walk into the movie in shackles, guarded, brought before an authority figure makes him likeable to many viewers. He is sassy, unbowed, and the only time we see him break character is when he is threatened with eternal imprisonment.

The movie is about him, not Thor. We open with him, and other than the post credit scene, we close with him. It is about Loki and in the US we don't make big budget movies about the bad guys.

Loki is given the best lines, the funniest moments, the best reveals, the most heroic death. I think there is no question we are meant to love him. And when he shows up at the end, sitting on that throne, considering the state we last saw Odin in, I cannot help but believe we are meant to love him at that moment. He is now purely the Trickster, not the villain.

I don't have as many thoughts on Ragnarok, because while I enjoyed it, the movie doesn't lend itself to much thought. It is all there on the page, and it defies you to find a deeper thought in its pretty head.

I am sure you are now deeply regretting this Ask. Sorry for going on and on. I have given a lot of thought (obsessive thought) to this and I am actually cutting myself off. I could go into how the costuming and styling of the character, even the choice of using pine green for his costume instead of the poisonous or kelly greens often used in the comics are part of hero coding instead of villain coding.

But I won't. I should spare you something.

Thank you again!

#loki meta #sooo much loki meta #loki #loki marvel

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malicedafirenze · 10 days

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Unfiltered thoughts about Court of Wanderers by Rin Chupeco

Untagged spoilers below the cut, click at your own risk

For a proper review that makes a bit more sense, see here. This is just my unedited notes I took while reading

Love that Remy and Zidan are back to being bitchy

Lol only one bed but on purpose

Did Eugenie just fuckin decapitate a guy with her long nails are you fucking kidding me 😂

Ugh Valenbonne showing up in person. Idk if I dislike it bc he’s a hateable bastard or because it lacks believability…

The overgrown castle and night empress cocoon give big video game boss lair energy

She‘s described with „dark skin, the same shade as Remy‘s“

Oh I‘m glad Remy is finally giving his father a bit of honest ranting about his abusive bs 👀

Lil bit cringe that the kids at the Fata Morgana would ask if Remy, Zidan and Xiaodan are lovers, and take an interest in how Zidan slakes his thirst

Remy telling the kids stories feels a bit indulgent

Malekh offering to let Remy take control 😍

Again, very self indulgent, could do with more subtlety but well

Good to know that she pegs him sometimes I suppose 😄

They‘re just so transparently horny the whole time. Like I‘m here for it but it gets cheap so quickly if there‘s extended focus on that

Ooov the villain was Aluria‘s colonialism? 👀 (remy‘s mother, re. her motivations, in his dreams)

Vampire pigeon 😂

Them arguing while fucking is funny but also a bit goofy 🙈🙈

I‘m on board with some bdsm familiar shit on display, but the presentation of it somewhere between kink and obligation is a bit off

Lady Rotteburg‘s apologies for her treatment of Remy ring a little hollow/indulgent too

I find it odd that Remy still meets with and gives info to his father‘s messenger?

Ooh okay that was in discussion with Malekh

I find it a bit toothless that xiaodan (and malekh) are so utterly supportive of remy‘s choice re. humanity/vampirism. They seem a big too perfect and potentially boring to me at the moment?

Ok good Zidan is weirdly controlling re. Remy‘s dreams shortly after

I‘m 12 Chapters in and a bit dismayed that I‘m finding it alright so far :')

Missing any acknowledgment of pressure/equalizing when Zidan drags Remy underwater 😑

Malekh‘s past with the night king 🤝 Raihn from TSatWoN

That the whole gathering of court leaders would pause to speculate on what remy has with zidan and xiaodan feels kinda cheap

I‘m here for the exhibitionism but I find it odd in its presentation. Like, ok their whole thing is submission, but it‘s still a weird af combo of a council meeting and an orgy

Like ffs her mother is watching 🙈

I just don’t love how much of the actual dialogue is so self indulgently about „oooh so a reaper is in bed with the third and fourth court leaders“. Like sure make that part of the conversation but it‘s so cheap if that‘s all there is to it

Some of the exposition is presented in sort of plump dialogue

I‘m bothered that apparently Remy still doesn’t know precisely what being a familiar entails

Elke recapping the development between Allegra and herself feels v much like it could have been much better woven into the story :‘)

So much interpersonal stuff is just really plump. „Hi remy sorry for my lord attacking you I seriously want to be friends. Ok sure I‘ll then immediately answer your deeply personal question that perfectly mirrors your own internal struggle re. getting turned“

Ok them fucking on Ishkibal‘s throne to help Malekh make new memories of it is fun and hot

Gah why does everyone else need to keep talking about it afterwards though, including with Valenbonne 🙉

Still feel like everyone‘s being entirely too generous and forgiving towards valenbonne

I don’t mind the focus being political, but I feel like there’s too much tell vs show

Remy being hurt by Thaïs being one of the traitors rings a lil hollow, calling her a friend when they‘ve only interacted a handful of times and one of those was her being pushy af

And Xiaodan figuring out all the details of the priestess‘ plan is also a bit much? idk

Them both being in a frenzy and remy getting malekh back by insulting him is cute

The whole thing where it uses the nth court leader instead of names is so grating

I‘m not a fan of how valenbonne is still their ally tbh

Increasingly bothered by everything that makes him appear sympathetic again

He apologizes but he‘s not really rueful about any of the horrible shit he‘s pushed remy to do???

This Jost twist is also kinda coming out of nowhere??

Not sure I got completely why and how Ishkibal is using the Night Empress‘ body

I do not like Valenbonne being all badass, using breaker to protect Remy etc, who is this for 😭

Valenbonne‘s „I should have died the day I realized you were still out fighting in those caves“ rings so fucking hollow what 😭😭

“I think the only legacy he wanted to leave behind was you”

How tf is any of this earned

#court of wanderers #court of wanderers spoilers #silver under nightfall #reaper series #remy/xiaodan/zidan

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sweetcloverheart · 1 year

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Clover Rants Miraculously

I think I’ve complained about this before, but MLB has a terrible habit of telling you to hate a characters instead of simply letting the dislike form naturally.

Like, take Chloe for example - it was easy to hate her in season 1 because she was being the stereotypical bully and causing Marinette (and the rest of the class and city) problems while acting in a way that earned negativity from the audience. There was no need for the show to go out of the way and make her hateable because she did that well enough on her own while making her an interesting and dynamic character. Then the season 3 finale happened, and it, along with season 4′s portrayal of her, her previous arc as a temp hero, and Thomas’s responses to (genuine and bad faith) questions about it on twitter saw a surge of Chloe defense because hell if Thomas and the writing crew were not determined to shout from the rooftops about how Chloe was the spawn of Satan with a pitchblack soul of coal and you had to think this too or else you likely ate puppies. Every scene she was in was basically the audience constantly being berated with “Hate Chloe Bourgeois or else!” signs while trying to enjoy the episode that just caused them to roll their eyes because really? The dumb blonde girl who’s entire modus operandus is “Threaten to call daddy mayor” is supposed to be seen as an utter monster who’s within the same ranks as the man who, in an alt-timeline, beat his son and then tried to brainwash him into being his magic servant to hurt his girlfriend (“Chat Blanc”)? I mean, outside of the near traincrash she caused as Queen Bee (Which they had her show remorse for, even if they didn’t handle the aftermath all that well) and her actions as Miracle Queen, Chloe is just an entitled bully with a superiority complex. Just get the girl some therapy and cut access to her credit cards and problem solved.

Felix’s entire intro episode is about how he’s such an awful conniving little brat in comparison to our beloved blonde angel Adrien - which he was, and we all loved him for it! and the fact that Thomas and co. didn’t want this just made everyone love him more out of spite. Probably helped that he absolutely seemed to revile Gabemoth and helped move along the Agreste side of the plotline by uncovering important secrets/lore Which should have been happening for our Deutagonist seeing as how this involves his father and mother but you know what let’s move on as well as him being based off the PV!Felix whom Thomas openly hated - so that just meant the fandom should definitely love him more and create thousands of AUs where he gets the Black Cat (or Butterfly) miraculous instead. (Of course, now that he’s on his way to redemption, he’s definitely going to head straight into base-breaking territory, though I feel the writers are just going to sour him on everyone if they play this the same way they did his intro)

Lila was fun to dislike and theorize about after her debut in Volpina - like, the amount of recurring villain Volpina, antihero!Lila, and Butterfly!Lila fanart I saw back then was immense. That’s how much of a splash she made. Then Thomas shuffled her off into the void and left her there for a majority of the show until “Heroes Day/Catalyst”, and when she finally got another focus episode (“Chameleon”), the entire thing spent so much time harping about what an awful and terrible liar she was and how “evil” it was to deceive everyone that people started hating her less for that and began hating the class and Bustier more for being stupid enough to fall for such obvious fibs (though in their defense, that’s more fault of the plot twisting itself into pretzel shapes so that Lila schemes can work when they really shouldn’t), and it worsened with “Ladybug” because everyone was so quick to turn on Marinette in it (and that the school apparently doesn’t have security cameras or bothered to call Lila’s mom considering her daughter was apparently assaulted on school grounds) that it just worsened the class salt the previously mentioned “Chameleon” brought upon. The final nail in the “Hate Lila or else” coffin ended up being the bible spoilers, which just made almost everyone stan her out of spite because when you have the show creators claim a lying teenage girl is more capable of greater evil than the magical emotionally manipulative terrorist, that tells me a lot of things except what you’re trying to claim.

Even Su Han, who isn’t a villain, is victim to this - he’s basically supposed to be representative of the fandom criticism of the show and Fu, who’s only purpose is to yell at Ladybug for “not doing guardianing right” before either being proven wrong (“Furious Fu” and “Ephemeral”) or admitting he’s the actual screw up (“Evolution”). Naturally, fandom responded by either making him the replacement mentor for Fu in their fics/AU that actually helps Maribug and Adrichat and proves a competent ally, or actually make him a decent opposing force.

Meanwhile, the characters they want the fandom to like are immediately hated because they’re just put off by how obvious they are about it - Poor Zoe was hyped to heaven and back, ultimately causing her to be immediately reviled by a lot of the fandom (mostly by those who were still bitter about losing out on Ally!Chloe) in her debut, and disliked even more when her temp hero episode had every character and their mother praising her on how nice she was and how she was so much better than icky Chloe. The constantly being told about how “good and pure” Emilie was despite being given nothing on her life before the Peacock miraculous and Gabriel has caused a number of people to create Evil!Emilie aus where she’s just as much of a self-centered megalomaniac as old Gabemoth. And Gabriel himself is basically the #1 hated villain not just because he’s, as stated, a magical emotionally manipulative terrorist, but also because the show is trying so hard to make him out to be this “sympathetic grey character” who “just loves his family” when he’s done nothing to show this (Hell, his actions the past 4-5 seasons basically showed the exact opposite), not to mention how inconsistent he seems to be with his goals and the lack of competence he’s shown despite apparently being so “smart and sophisticated” (Like my man, you had a time traveling miraculous and have one that can give you any superpower you want - Emilie should have been out of that magical cryocoffin and tap dancing right now)

tldr; Don’t “tell” your audience to hate a character. They can do it fine on their own.

#Miraculous Ladybug #Clover Rants Miraculously #ML Salt

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battendownthewhatsit · 7 months

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I am really intrigued by the big Plot Choice in OFMD S2!

Spoilers for OFMD S2 (and S1, I suppose) under the cut

--specifically, the way the show has set up Queen Zheng Yi Sao as the now- biggest *external* threat to the Revenge crew (the internal threats are arguably worse but Not The Point here!)

Because last season , the Major External Threat was The Fucking English Empire, with the Badminton brothers as their Dragon. Which meant simple villains who were easy to Boo-- BOOOOO the Empire! BOOOO the hypernormative bullies! This is a good easy Comic Bad Guy for our scrappy crew, overwhelming in power but morally in the clear wrong--they could just leave our crew alone (..to violently harass naval traffic, but like the victims in WWDITS, those aren't Real Characters here) , and they are even, both in the show and IRL, largely responsible for Stede and Blackbeard as pirates even existing. Plus it's easy to make them ridiculous losers. Excellent comic villains, no complaints intended by me, dunk on the British Empire forever.

But now, S2? The definite Big Threat going forward is going to be THE PIRATE QUEEN. Who is competent, and effective, and makes wonderful soup.

The Pirate Queen, who saved their lives and gave them every chance to fit in on her crew, mostly because she liked Olu. Because he was kind, and gentle, and she values that.

The Pirate Queen who's about a million times more disruptive to the social order, the overarching problem in the series, then Stede has ever dreamed of being. Who was, yes, a danger to the Revenge crew after the mutiny, but who was also willing to negotiate that, was doing so as they made their escape, and who had definitely earned the trust to make the conversation at least worth trying. Only they chose not to trust her, and made their escape, and considerably screwed her over in the bargain.

I don't for a moment think Zheng Yi Sao's going to lose all her trust in her crew and spiral like Blackbeard did; she's way too established and self assured for that. I don't even think she's going to make hunting the Revenge a big part of her usual working day (though pirate culture pretty much requires her to let it be known they're her enemies now). But they're definitely going to meet again, maybe several times, and this time it can't be as friends.

And , like with running out on Mary, that's totally on Stede. And I think that Stede is finally starting to really realize that his whole "dump people and run" maneuver is genuinely fucked up and hurts people-- he seems to feel really lousy about it even as he's doing it-- but he hasn't figured out a new maneuver yet (even though he's talked about other ways often enough! a very realistic hypocrisy..)

anyway something something about how last season was mostly about Stede finding the courage to Be Himself without apology, saying Goodbye to his old externally imposed roles (some goodbyes being more sword-based than others) , and it looks like this one is going to be about learning how to be True to Yourself while needing to Apologize Lots Actually; the way more complicated balancing act of needs and commitments with people who do have reasonable expectations him, instead of the easily-hateable and irrelevant Badmintons, who he could kill without guilt.

(I mean also it's gonna be very very funny. I hope Buttons changes shape several times and also bites more people. But there's gonna be a Plot and Themes and so on too, yk yk )

#OFMD Spoilers #man I don't wanna maintag this #I need a good non-maintag OFMD tag #help me out crew #ETA someday I'll get used to the MORE cut not working! someday I will!!!!

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a-student-out-of-time · 8 months

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Like I'm pretty sure that SDRA2 tells that in killing game you should trust nobody think about that. Kokoro end up trusting Teruya that he protect her but he mess up and she died. Setsuka end up trusting Hibiki and her sister and end up dying. Shinju was one of characters who says that they need trust each other end up be a tool that Nikea used for his plan. And Syobai survives who was isolated and trust nobody and he survivor unlike people who trust in someone.

//I think you're misunderstanding the real issues here. One, this is a terrible message in general because you can't get through any sort of game like this without trusting someone.

//Two, LINUJ absolutely has this very cynical perspective on human nature, but it feels incredibly selective and haphazardly applied. For example:

He's talked about how he created Kizuna to be the most hateable character in DRA and someone you'd want to suffer the worst death, yet he gives her some very sympathetic moments and backstory elements that show there's depth to her behavior. Everything about her sudden turn to murder doesn't feel like she's showing her true colors, but a contrived turn out of left field to make her a villain because that was the plan.

He'll talk constantly about how we should hold characters accountable for their actions and how no element of their backstory makes what they do okay. And he'll say this no matter how much those characters clearly show compassion, camaraderie, regret, guilt, sorrow, or how tragic their backstories are. He has this weird habit of giving them understandable backstories, but instead of using them to contextualize behavior or provide some sympathy, it's like he tells the audience "No, you can't agree with them, they're bad people."

Despite that, when Sora deliberately tries to save Yuki's life by using an unconscious Nikei's hand to injure Shinji, he was baffled and hurt that a lot of people were angry at her, when he felt she deserved sympathy for that. Honestly pretty hypocritical there, ngl.

When his characters aren't regressing as people or dying, they're just stagnant. Iroha doesn't undergo any kind of growth in this game, and her true colors turn out to be those of a self-centered coward. It honestly gets pretty insufferable, yet he hasn't really had a bad word to say about her.

He also has this uncomfortable desire to see the nicest and kindest characters suffer the worst deaths, and for no other reason than its emotional impact on the audience. Yet he's also sad that he did it and wishes it didn't have to be like that?

Third, your points don't make any sense within the story's logic:

Syobai does not survive because he "doesn't trust anyone." He survives because he has literal cheat codes and can leave the simulation whenever he wants. Plus, as a Broker, he makes deals with people, and deals require trust. He even made a deal with Emma and only broke it when it was clear his life would be in danger if he still upheld it.

Kokoro died not because she made a mistake trusting Teruya, but because she made the absolutely boneheaded decision to confront Emma about her status as a Void and her abusive father without any protection at her side. Bringing Teruya with her would not have been hard at all.

Setsuka's death happened because Kanade is a jealous clingy freak, and also because she read ahead in the script. Hibiki didn't betray Setsuka, she was in her puppet state and couldn't act on her own at the time, having no conscious awareness of her actions.

The closest you could really say was genuine betrayal was from Nikei, but that had nothing to do with Shinji. It was because Nikei wanted to ruin Mikado's plans out of petty spite, and that meant hurting Yuki by getting him to kill the guy who was there for him the entire game.

//Moreover, SDRA2's themes are so weakly-presented and executed that any messages you take away from this game feel accidental at best. Yes, it's the conclusion of the Another series' story, but there's no obvious exploration of themes or ideas in place, so I really can't say LINUJ had an aesop he wanted to share with us.

//So, no, it isn't saying anything about trust or betrayal. It's not saying much of anything beyond "Let's watch Yuki Maeda suffer for 6 chapters."

//LINUJ is capable of good ideas, but he has this very bad habit of failing to take advantage of them, undercutting them or throwing them out in favor of bad ones instead.

#mod talks #a student out of time

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onewomancitadel · 2 years

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I mentioned Cinder and Ironwood's audience reception contrast again today.

Just because I'm going to bed shortly and I didn't add my usual litany of disclaimers about whatever I say lest someone take the worst possible interpretation of something I've said, I am just going to stipulate that the things I say about Ironwood are not me demanding people to not extend sympathy towards Ironwood or to equally demand such fans extend sympathy towards Cinder because it's morally or narratively necessary or somesuch nonsense.

Drawing on a comparison for the two (or even to another character such as Adam or any other character applicable here) is simply for the purposes of demonstrating what your expectations and the sympathies you are willing to extend do to the interpretation of a character (e.g. make Cinder hateable but Ironwood lovable). Also, the contrast of a corruption arc versus a redemption arc is itself very interesting. (Resisting both, in different ways).

I also think some of it just simply comes down to taste and even being a villain fan doesn't mean you are universally a villain fan or being a fan of men who get things done at all costs doesn't mean at all that you are a fan of the Byronic hero who is emotionally and morally conflicted.

Though Ironwood falls very much in that category of 'man who thinks of himself as bad man who keeps the bad men at the door because the world needs bad men', which is catnip to me the position of him in the story and relative power he holds (which is a significant amount) makes that archetype play out very differently from the other types of bad men who keep the bad men at the door who are catnip to me. I've made a post about that before so it doesn't bear repeating and I don't need to keep embarrassing myself.

At any rate, I do generally have issues with people who pull that nonsense, because I have seen the nonsense of 'Why like Cinder (who is evil and bad) when you can like Emerald, who is less evil and bad but actually sympathetic and redeemable' and it's extremely stupid, because there is space in my heart for ALL the mean and bad ones, but they are also clearly different characters. The point I'm making is not about likability/responsibility of consumption (boo) but actually just a commentary on audience response.

And again, probably a bit of an unfair comparison because one's a corruption and the other's a redemption, and resistance is to be expected. The more fair comparison is probably Adam, but the same demonstration actually holds up, so whatever.

In that case, the broader point is that sympathy towards fictional characters is complex and not a neat moral sum game because that's not how stories work.

They did lay it on thick with Cinder's backstory in V8, though. Ha.

#blah blah blah #I'm sorry I'm such a redditor I love true detective :(#blame my bf #it has such an impossibly hopeful ending #it's not nihilistic garbage it's beautiful

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hayley566 · 3 years

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Something I realized about Superboy Prime

I learned this from watching "The Panda Redd" on youtube in his DC comics discussions but Superboy Prime is the perfect critique of toxic masculinity and toxic comic fans. Like, most of the times when a writer tries to cover toxic masculinity in their works, it backfires because they end up making people like the ones they're critiquing think the character is super awesome and "it's totally like me!" but Superboy Prime is so hateable and pathetic.

He has so much power and caused so much destruction but at the end of the day, he fails to be intimidating because he says shit like "I'll kill you to death!" and "Everything was better on my world!" he doesn't have grand villain speeches. He sounds like a toddler having a tantrum and is basically DC holding a mirror to toxic fans and those with toxic masculinity and saying "This is you. You're an overgrown, whiny jerk and you need to cut that shit out."

Now, why do I bring this up when Panda Redd and Linkara have already covered him? Because I realized something. One of the toxic fans that Superboy Prime represents are the ones that killed Jason Todd and in his big villain turn, he brings him back to life.

See, when Jason was first created, he was a carbon copy of Dick Grayson. Hell, he was even part of an acrobat family called "The Flying Todds" and his parents died the same way. The only difference was that he had red hair. No one minded...until post-crisis where they not only gave Jason his own backstory and personality but used him to discuss darker topics like abuse and homelessness. That's when the most toxic aspects of the DC comics fanbase came out and started throwing a fit. They would send angry fan letters to DC offices, leave angry phone calls and basically broke down the ones in charge until they finally said "Fine! We'll kill him off but only if it's something you really want!"

And despite what many believe, it wasn't that many people calling the number to kill Jason off. It was mostly just a few people repeatedly calling the same number over and over again. There's even a story of one guy rigging up his phone to his computer to call the "kill Jason" number again and again.

This adds all the more delicious irony when Superboy Prime, punching reality in a fit of nerd rage, ended up undoing one of the most famous events caused by toxic fans. Not only did the representation of those fans bring Jason back to life but they made him more popular than ever before and a beloved member of the batfamily.

#dc comics #superboy prime #jason todd #final crisis #batman #batfamily #red hood

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stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale · 2 years

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I didn't play Tales From The Borderlands. What did you like about it? Can you play it without plaing the Borderlands Series?

Oh you can absolutely play it without having played the original games and I highly recommend you do. I stand by that it's one of the best games Telltale ever created and it's a crime more people didn't play it. It's a title that actually deserved to have a sequel made unlike goddamn mcsm.

Lemme tell you a thing- I don't know SHIT about the Borderlands games. Never picked 'em up, never had any interest in them, so I didn't care when this game came out and I WAS A FOOL.

I should know by now that it doesn't matter if I'm unfamiliar with the source material when it comes to Telltale- I didn't read the twd comics, and I only watched the first few seasons of the show but twdg is my favorite series to come from Telltale.

Didn't read the Fable comics, I still think Wolf Among Us is great. I don't care about anything Batman related but I will shove both seasons of Telltale's Batman in your face and tell you to play them. Hell, I STILL haven't touched a single episode of Game of Thrones but for all of it's flaws, I will defend a lot in Telltale's GoT.

So no, even if you don't know anything about Borderlands, I still wholeheartedly believe you should give it a chance.

The story and worldbuilding isn't overwhelming, it introduces you to everything you need to know about this universe through it's characters and environments. Which by the way, just aesthetically this game is lovely to look and at explore in.

The characters.... oh the characters are so good. You have two playable characters that you switch between [Rhys and Fiona] and they're both equally charming and enjoyable to play as. Sometimes when you have dual/multiple povs, you tend to like one more than the other and you feel like you just gotta get through the one you don't like just so you can get back to the character you do like. That's a bit of a problem GoT had, and that had a total of five playable characters throughout the whole thing soooo... yeah. TFTB did it better.

The relationships and dynamics you build with the characters are so fucking good. Their banter goes from hilarious to heartfelt to fucking heartbreaking at times, you actually care when someone is hurting and you wanna do everything in your power to keep everyone alive and well.

The villains are interesting as hell, and likably hateable..... I dunno how else to explain it. You understand their motivations, they're not just doing bullshit for the sake of it. There's one character in particular that I shouldn't like as much as I do because he's such a bastard but I can't help it, he ended up on our side in the end and I just like him, okay? Him and his stupid face... ugh sksksk.

The writing is the best Telltale's ever done imo. You can tell everyone who worked on this game gave it their all, they pull so much love and attention to detail within it, and I honestly can't think of a moment where it dragged or frustrated me. It keeps you invested with it's humor, characters, and plot.

Oh and the choices do mostly matter, more so than certain other Telltale games. I'd say there's a good mix of choices that are "easy" and "hard" to make.... as in choices where I'm like "oh yeah no, obviously I'm gonna do this" and "oh fuck uhhh I dunno shit AHHH" y'know?

I just.... if you needed an excuse to pick it up, here it is. Stop what you're doing and go play it, let me know what you think, and we can talk about THAT ENDING HOLY SHIT.

#asks #non-twdg #tftb #i love tftb it's so good #if you haven't played it then you need to look into it #one of the best games telltale ever gave us

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yelenadelova · 3 years

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My thoughts on “The Suicide Squad”! Disclaimer: this will be very random and not at all a list of legitimate cohesive critiques. Putting this under the cut because it gets quite long!

First things first, I was pleasantly surprised! Now, to be honest, I had very low expectations for this film going in so maybe that helped. But I thought the movie was really enjoyable at all.

Harley Quinn!!! My queen! Margot killed it like always but she seemed to be in peak form in this movie. She stole the screen everytime she was on it.

I loved Harley’s style and energy throughout the whole movie.

The fight scene where she fought her way out of the mansion was absolutely glorious. The stunts, the choreography, the acting was all badass and top tier and I loved that we saw how Harley doesn’t need anyone to rescue her in the slightest.

I wish we could have seen more of the “Harley-vision” with the flowers since we really only saw it once.

The one thing I do feel was slightly lacking was Harley as a character didn’t really get a lot of development. It felt more like she was an established character and we didn’t see a ton of change or growth. I do think this was largely to give room for developing the newer characters but I still would have liked to see more.

Cleo Cazo AKA Ratcatcher 2 was my surprise favorite of this film. Her character was so sweet and empathetic but also fierce and badass and funny. Her development was good and she brought so much heart to the team. Plus, her rats were super cute. Also her friendship with King Shark was A+++

Speaking of King Shark, oh my god, I loved him so very much. Everytime he was in danger I was on the edge of my seat begging for him to be okay.

Overall, I think the film actually did a surprisingly good job of creating suspense for who would live and die.

Polka Dot Man was also another surprise for me. I really like him and felt for him and the moment he got to be a hero broke my heart but also made me smile. Also shout out to Milton!!!

Idris was incredible in this movie and I liked Bloodsport. He was a good leader for the squad and really held it together. He definitely seemed like the star of this movie and I wasn’t mad about that in the slightest.

I also didn’t hate Rick Flagg. He really annoyed me in the first Suicide Squad but he was so much better here. I actually found myself rooting for him.

John Cena did such a good job of making Peacemaker hateable. I think his character was so interesting because he was a villain who truly believed he was a hero and thought what he was doing was right. I’m curious to see what they do with his character in the future.

Viola Davis killed it like always I’m glad she reprised her role as Waller. I also liked seeing the other people who worked with her and their increasing reluctance.

There were some things that didn’t click for me. I think some characters/stories felt rushed and underdeveloped.

While a lot of the jokes were funny some of the “edgier” humor didn’t hit for me and I found myself cringing or rolling my eyes.

While it was a bit cheesy at times overall it surpassed my expectations and I thought it was fun!

#el rambles #the suicide squad #tss spoilers #the suicide squad spoilers #dceu #no one asked for this #but here are my thoughts

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silhouettecrow · 3 years

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Time for the latest installment of me providing my Thoughts™ and Feelings™ about Shadow and Bone as I watch it; this time it is on episodes 6 and 7:

I'm kind of disappointed Alina didn't stay with the Crows. That would have been so cool. But I honestly can't blame her for leaving, and it was nice for her to be reunited with Mal

Kaz's magic trick to escape the Darkling was fantastic! Get fucked, asshole! But also, the fact those two even stared down each other was like a weird battle between two angsty boys who aren't dealing with their emotions in the proper way at all but on opposite ends of the spectrum

I was wincing the entire time Alina was walking up to the stag. I knew the gunshot was coming 'cos, you know, the books, but it was executed well, and I felt so bad for the stag

The whole thing of the amplifiers being a part of the person's body instead of being like a piece of jewellery, like in the books, is metal as fuck. I didn't expect body horror in this show and I'm honestly not a fan of that shit, but it does show how serious and painful this is on Alina. And I like that it's not pretty, that the antlers aren't symmetrical (which is a shocker 'cos of how much of a perfectionist David is), 'cos it being ugly makes it real and devastating

David throwing that book was so funny and Jesper's reaction was priceless. I love them both dearly

Nina and Matthias' hostility is still great, but seeing them warm up to each other, literally and figuratively, felt so genuine and sweet. Like, that truly is Nina and Matthias, and that makes me so happy (I'm looking forward to being absolutely wrecked in the future)

Can I just say that I want to hug Inej? Like, all of the Crows' backstories are upsetting, but we are seeing Inej's more explicitly and it hurts to see my girl in pain like that

I haven't cried to the show yet, but that scene of Kaz and Inej by the fire got me so close. I was legit tearing up

Not to do a complete 180, but I did not care about the Darkling's backstory. At all. Boy, you made the Shadow Fold. I don't care how or why you made it, you're still a little bitch and I hate you

But God, it's honestly kinda nice to see the Darkling be his true and horrible self. He's such a good and easily hateable villain. I love hating him, tbh

Also, the Darkling saying his most famous line of "Make me your villain" was impeccable

However, that got upstaged by Kaz and Inej saying, "No mourners, no funerals." The ✨serotonin✨ hit me like a ton of bricks and I accepted it all with open arms. I need more

Stop roasting Jesper like this. He's always looking good; you're all just rude and don't recognise attractiveness when it's right in front of you. And I said three things before Jesper said them; our solidarity grows ✌

Milo returned! That goat is far too cute and I too want to give him a kiss on the head like Mal did

Lastly, I cannot wait for the inevitable cliffhanger that the last episode will have in store for me. I don't know what I'm gonna do when we finish it tonight. Probably wallow and crack open some fanfic instead of working on finals stuff

#shadow and bone #shadow and bone netflix #netflix shadow and bone #sab #six of crows #soc #shadow and bone spoilers #shadow and bone netflix spoilers #s&b spoilers #sab spoilers

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tricewithaz · 3 years

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THOTS ON SHADOW AND BONE

Hello everyone! it is I, Trice, and i come with my thoughts on the Shadow and Bone show cause ive got many

I'm gonna divide this in what i liked, what i disliked, and what i think could have been better but didn't really bother me. Feel free to send your opinions too!

As a whole, I really liked the show and I think it's a great adaptation that both fans and newcomers will enjoy. It's super well done! and every episode had me glued to the tv even though I knew what was going to happen.

Beware this is long

To start,

What i liked

Mal and Alina

I never really liked Mal in the books, mainly cause he had like, nothing going on for him, and not having his pov made him no favors whatsoever. Alina's perception of him was everychanging, two factors that didn't make him unlikeable necessarily, but that made me not want to read about him. In the show he's way more likeable and even though he still doesn't have a lot going on for him, you can see that he's always trying to protect alina, and you also see a bit of his demeanor through Archie's acting. I think he made a great job at portraying him. And Alina! Alina who in the books was essentially a y/n sort of character (although she did get better over time), her character, likes, dislikes, her DRIVE was incredibly portrayed in the show. Also Jessie (loml, marry me) and Archie have incredible chemistry together and they sold their yearning SO WELL (and so did the kid actors portraying them as children oh my GOD)...yall...i cried when they held hands. My favourite scene was definitely when Alina took care of Mal's wounds (a favorite trope of mine). And the HURT in their eyes whenever they thought the other was in danger....i saw the show dubbed but I'm sure their voices made it beyond incredible as well, their face acting was just on. point. Overall the show rEALLY makes me root for them both individually and together which is something the books didn't manage to do.

The Darkling

AAAAA i really enjoyed the Darkling omg, incredible charisma, Ben does such a great job (and so did his voice actor in Spanish oh my GOD). His acting was just as I imagined it in the books and i loved how he could be as sweet and mysterious as he could be menacing. In fact! i liked him more than i did in the book, and i think it was a great choice to make him more human. I'm not sure if this was Ben or the writing, but i could really see his yearning for an equal, for Alina, his loneliness and his thirst for power and control too. Great love interest, even greater villain. And his wardrobe was phenomenal. I also really liked how they implied that The Darkling was a name given by other people, it was very believable that people would call someone who literally controls shade something akin to "son of the dark" or something of the sort, instead of it being a name he gives himself or his job title (both if which are incredibly pathetic and cringy to think about).

Jesper

No comments. He was just great. I love Kit.

Nina

Omg Danielle did SUCH a great job at portraying Nina, it's exactly how i imagined her in Six of Crows.

Helnik

THE. YEARNING. THE. CHEMISTRY. I didn't love their scenes at the boat but once that was over I was practically screaming at the screen to jUST KISS ALREADY. Calahan and Daniell have such good chemistry together and the few changes they made only served the story better. I did wish they had development over more time cause Matthias' change of mind felt too quick, but i get why they had to rush. Because of how good their chemistry was, their fallout also was incredibly painful.

Inej's fear of the Menagerie and her morals

Amita's portrayal of Inej's hurt, devotion and her refusal to kill (and later hurt cause she has killed) is incredibly subtle but so SO effective. She's so talented really and truly sold Inej's feelings throughout the show.

VFX

Man.....the fold, the volcra, the grisha powers.....kudos to the animators and overall artistic team cause they were incredible. Also seeing the different title animations in each episode was such a tiny detail that made me so excited and they all looked so good.

Ketterdam

Again, kudos to the artistic team, everything about Ketterdam felt so alive (and weirdly moist), truly sold a kind of aesthetic and life that is so characteristic if the Barrel, even when i didn't imagine it that way in the books.

David

He appeared like, twice, and both times were so cute and charming I can't wait to see more of him both on his own and with Genya.

The Wardrobe

So, at first i hated the keftas. I thought the looked tacky and costume, but when you see them on screen they're just perfect (although i have to say the patterns on some of the keftas were kind of...cheap looking? and the training keftas were just kinda boring. My favourite was the Darkling's. Aside from that, i really liked Kaz's and inej's clothes too. Very distinctive and recognizable (although it was kind of weird seeing Inej in teal instead of purple lmao).

And the queen's dresses. Chefs kiss.

It's...so cheesy (affectionate)

The whole show felt like the kind of movies I would watch as a kid like Harry Potter and Pirates of the Caribbean. The writing was stylized enough to make it incredibly dramatic and overall there was just so much heart behind all of it. Definetely a show to watch again and again and feel all of it, cause that's what it being so cheesy managed, to make me actually feel for it. It feels like something to watch on a rainy afternoon after a bad day....it's great okay i really enjoyed it, even (specially) the most unbelievable parts of it. And here's the thing, it's something that i think a lot of newer tv and film have lost, so this is good.

What i didn't like

Zoya

Mostly cause of the writing. Originally, in the first book, i didn't like her, neither as a character (stereotypical mean girl with no other motivation than to bang the love interests....all three of them....what's new i still think it's an incredibly sexist trope) or a person (hey at least this was intentional), but over time i grew to LOVE her (mean girl turns out to have a good heart and actually respects the mc and decides to fight alongside her cause it's what's right, without necessarily liking her or giving up her character??? AND she has strong motivations??? now THAT'S new). In the show, i hoped they would keep her mean girl nature while foreshadowing her depth, but all they did was turn her into a petty seductress with barely any screentime, and that only makes her not even a bad antagonist but just a boring character to watch. Not only that but they took away a big part of her character that needed to be developed in the next books. I wanted to watch her rivalry with Alina, her unjustified venomous tongue too, I wanted to be entertained by her and I wasn't. This was also a problem cause when she finally changed teams, and when she hugged Alina, it was incredibly unsatisfying, it would have had a way stronger effect if we had seen her being Ruthless Zoya with a big ambition. I also didn't like how we were told that she didn't like alina, or that she had a family, instead of it being shown on screen. Just from the show, all i can tell you about her is that she likes to bang people and she has a good moral code i guess. Yall, I'm so petty about this.

Kaz

So, I didn't hate him, in fact i think I would have enjoyed him if I hadn't read the books first, cause the two things that bother me about him were two essential characteristics of him in the books. FIrstly, he seems so strained, instead of the seemingly laid back, almost chill looking (even though we know he's not chill at all) Kaz we see in the books, the Kaz that always knows something that you don't. Show Kaz doesn't seem to always be in control, to always have the last word, the last laugh. Instead he seems strained, all the damn time. And I think this is mainly a writing and directing issue. And he also seems weak, something Book Kaz would never do. This is also an issue cause because he doesn't have the same presence he has in the books, the times where he is weak, don't seem as effective. Sure, Pekka Rollins has essentially reduced him and humiliated him, but I haven't seen enough of Kaz being actually dangerous for this to be shocking and for Pekka to seem even more hateable (and, i really liked Pekka, loved him as an antagonist more than i did in the books). Idk, Kaz was so charismatic and just fun and engaging to read in the books that his portrayal in the show felt lacking.

Alina's power's VFX

The little suns were cute and all but the light coming from within her was just ugly I'm sorry.

SFX

A lot of the sound design was just too stylized for the tone of the show i think. I particularly remember the sound of Mal's punches....what's that about.

What i think could have been better, but didn't particularly dislike

The Crows' storyline

And i think part of this is a consequence of Kaz not being as witty as he was in the books. Where's the incredibly complicated heist moves? the even more unbelievable C and D plans when something goes wrong? I didn't like that them getting Alina was essentially just luck, cause i didn't see enough of them being smart and quick on their feet. I also think it was unnecessary to have their storyline mixed with Alina's, i would have enjoyed watching a different heist, maybe in Ravka as well, and them incidentally crossing paths with Alina, more than i liked this storyline. ironically enough, the heist was the part i was least interested in

Genya and Alina

I just feel like her relationship with Alina wasn't strong enough, and i think it's because the show tried to make us believe they were much closer than they were without spending the necessary time in them.

Overall, I really really enjoyed the show, i will be watching it again (particularly cause i want to watch it in English) and i cannot wait for the second season omg (although i have to say, I'm scared for Nikolai)

I think that's all! I would also love to read yall's opinions and have a conversation.

#Shadow and Bone #Shadow and Bone spoilers #sab #sab spoilers #grishaverse #the grisha trilogy #six of crows #malina #helnik #shadow and bone series #sab review

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moviewarfare · 3 years

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A Review of “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021)”

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (TFATWS) is the next in Marvel Disney+ TV shows. While the previous show, WandaVision, did something new with the Superhero genre, TFATWS aims to bring the Captain America movie style to a TV show format. The premise is "Six months after being handed the mantle of Captain America at the end of Avengers: Endgame (2019), Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) teams up with Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) in a worldwide adventure that tests their abilities and their patience". So does this series live up to the mantle or drops the "shield" completely?

Firstly, I like the idea of the series. Having a series focused on Sam and Bucky who for the most part in the MCU movies are just Captain America sidekicks as the main focus for the show is great. Also having the series revolve around the legacy of the shield and Captain America is an interesting idea. They also explore interesting themes such as racism, refugees and corrupt governments while still retaining the core elements of the MCU movies.

Sam is the main focus in the show and his struggle with the legacy and the responsibility of the shield is a great story. Throughout the show we see him explore what it means for a black person to take up the mantle and what Captain America means to the people. By the final episode, seeing Sam fully come into terms with his role is very fulfilling. Bucky is the secondary protagonist and he is struggling with his past as the Winter Soldier and a world without his best friend Steve. There is an exploration of his trauma and him trying to do right to all the victims of his past which is a nice story for his character. By the final episode, he finally knows what he needs to do and it's quite sad yet satisfying. The best part of the show is the banter between these 2 and their buddy cop antics are absolute highlights in the series.

Another highlight in this series is John Walker played magnificently by Wyatt Russell. He is the new Captain America that is chosen by the government. Wyatt manages to perfectly make him hateable and that is quite the testament to Wyatt's performance. He isn't an outright villain though and they do give him a fair amount of sympathetic qualities with a character arc of sort for him as well. Another great support character is Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly) who has some great moments that add some weight to Sam's story. Zemo (Daniel Bruhl) returns from Captain America Civil War as a sort of wildcard for Sam and Bucky. His return is great as we get to see a more fun side to him while still being quite the manipulator. His interactions with both Sam and Bucky add another level of tension to the dynamic. Additionally, he wears his iconic costume from the comics which is nice even though it doesn't make much sense for him to do so. Daniel Bruhl single-handedly stole every scene he was in thanks to his amazing performance.

The cinematography by P.J. Dillon feels very "movie like" and I didn't get the TV show feeling when watching the series. There are some parts in the series where the visuals are quite gorgeous with an example being episode 3 where they are in Madripoor. Henry Jackman who scored Captain America Winter Soldier and Civil War returns to score and while none of the soundtracks is memorable, it does a good job in representing the scene without being overly distracting. There are great action scenes that utilize the power of the super soldiers and the flying suit of Falcon. Some fights are quite brutal and very memorable.

Nevertheless, I have some issues with this series and the biggest one being the slow pacing. There are a lot of moments where it feels like not much story progression is occurring. This is most noticeable in episode 5 where the majority of the episode is just a lot of sitting around. For a series that is only 6 episodes, it is quite weird that it can still drag like this. There is also a lot of moments during the series where it seems to be more focused on building future stories which are mildly distracting from the main story. The final episode also handles John's final story arc in a really weird way that just feels completely sudden and it also contains a very cringe resolution that doesn't fit the series.

I also have an issue with the main villain Karli Morgenthau (Erin Kellyman) who is the leader of an anti-patriotism group the Flag Smashers who contains some members with super-soldier serum. The motive of the group is fine and understandable as they want to have open national borders. The problem is the leader of the group Karli is just not believable. She is extremely bratty and murder crazed that I do not understand how people look up to her. The actress Erin is okay but her performance is constantly outweighed by the better antagonist of John Walker and everyone else. It also baffles me how they are somehow able to fight on par with Bucky when he has literal assassin, military training and a vibranium arm but okay. Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp) returns but I have mixed feelings about her. She is a lot darker as a character and doesn't resemble who she was in the Captain America movies which are mildly jarring. Her still being on the run from the government despite all the other Cap supporters being pardon makes no logical sense. Despite being blipped, she is also somehow able to build a massive fortune and completely change her personality doesn't feel believable. However, she is a lot more interesting than just being Peggy 2.0 so there is that.

Overall, the series doesn't land all its shots but it certainly delivers on the epic scope you expect from Marvel. It has mature social commentary, hilarious moments, thrilling action sequences and great chemistry between Anthony and Sebastian that just meshes together like a charm. I'm interested in what this series leads to whether it's another Marvel movie or a second season and I want to see more of Sam and Bucky in the future.

#TV show #tv review #Disney #disney plus #marvel #marvel cinematic universe #Avengers #bucky barnes #sam wilson #the falcon and the winter solider spoilers #the falcon and the winter soldier #the falcon #the winter soldier #captain america #anthony mackie #sebastian stan

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dappercritter · 3 years

Note

She-Ra for the ask meme! (Maybe a bad time with the final season so close, you can save this until after if you like.)

(Based on this meme.)

Well, did I save this for later or what?

The first character I first fell in love with: Entrapta. Aside from her colour scheme—I do love a good purple girl, to say the least—I adore her for her enthusiastic, inquisitive, compassionate, and rather eccentric personality. Not to mention her design is an absolute joy to watch in action; from the goggles to the prehensile hair, is creative and adorable. She steals every scene she’s in with her loveably manic energy. The fact that she’s a scientist, who specializes in advanced technology no less, makes her an important character in a magic-driven fantasy setting—her design helps her stand out among the more traditional looking princesses, too! The fact that she’s some of the most effectively authentic examples of autistic representation in children’s fiction only enhances her likeability, in addition to the most interesting and sympathetic examples of morally grey characters that I’ve seen. Her wonderful chemistry with the rest of the Horde adds both to her charm, and really helped lighten things up on the villain’s side for the first 2-3 seasons, and her relationship with Hordak… Well, I’ll get to that shortly! 😉

The character I never expected to love as much as I do now: Madame Razz. I figured Razz was going to be a fun mentor character, but I could have never suspected she’d be the best mentor I and Adora could ask for! I’m not familiar with her original counterpart, but whatever they had to work with, I applaud the crew for taking the silliest looking character in the original line-up and turning her into this charming little old lady whose equal parts Yoda and Ghibli grandma. (Or at least that’s how I describe her.) Her design gets special mention, too, for just how dang cute she is! The big glasses, the raggedy dress, big fluffy hair with moths flying around, and her witch broom all come together so well. Out of all Adora’s mentors, she’s the best— having no ulterior motives, agendas, or any manipulative or toxic behaviour laced into her teaching style, offers the best life advice she can to someone who clearly needs it out of kindness. And because she bears a certain resemblance to someone she once knew in a similar position.

The character everyone else loves that I don’t: Catra. Shocking right? Look, I know that she had an awful time growing up in the Fright Zone and by the end of the show she became more well-rounded and likeable. Any grief I have with her is pretty much over done with. Problem is though… it is pretty hard to forget everything she did. Now, I know it’s all in the past and a lot of people haven’t forgotten what she did either, and that some of it has to do with the ugliness of the Catradora vs. Entrapdak dynamic discourse and I don’t want to go into that. I really don’t. But put as simply as possible, she was a toxic friend, especially in regards to Adora (the Season 1 and 2/3 finales in particular) and Entrapta (who she betrayed, left to die after lying about her to her lover/best friend, and the offering the bare minimum of an apology), and escalated a war just to get back at Adora. After she tried to destroy REALITY to get back at her. I’m glad she changed but it still feels like too little too late.

The character I love that everyone else hates: Swift Wind. Sure, he’s a talking horse with a design that can wander a good ways into the uncanny valley, and who tries too hard too hard to be funny, but in spite of that I think he’s got a good heart behind that strange face of his. He does his best to be a good friend to Adora, supporting her both as herself and when she’s She-Ra, as well as doing his best to support Adora’s other friends as well (see “Boy’s Night Out”). Chiefly by trying to make light of Adora’s duties as She-Ra by trying help her find the fun and excitement in it. Of course, he doesn’t just try to keep the energy up, he shows genuine concern for Adora and all her friends, not hesitating to rush to their protection or point out when a situation seems especially dire. (see “Beast Island” and “Failsafe”). But I think my favourite example is from “Hero” where he casually reveals that he regularly checks in on Madame Razz because, as he says, “You gotta check up on old ladies alone in the woods.” What a horse!

The character I used to love but don’t any longer: Glimmer. I used to love her personality and her design. A peppy rebel who lived for adventure and a good friend to Adora and Bow. Even if she had her flaws like her impulsiveness and her stubbornness, she was still pretty likeable. But then she called her mom a coward for acting as a strategist and looking after Bright Moon, which ended up convincing her to sacrifice herself to close the rift at the end of S3. Alright, fair enough, some things can’t be avoided. Then she took over as queen, and I can understand there was A LOT of factors that were in play—namely grief and Double Trouble deliberately playing on her strained friendship with Adora and Bow as part of one of Catra’s plots—but boy howdy, did she start showing a pretty unsavory side what with her increasingly ruthless demeanor, trusting Adora’s abuser (hi Shadow Weaver, be with you in minute) over her, choosing to leave Entrapta in very real peril on Beast Island, and willingly using a weapon she knew could destroy all of Etheria to win a war. Perhaps I wouldn’t have minded as much if season 5 didn’t rush through her apologies and redemption so quickly, but the fact remains that Glimmer’s character took an awfully dark turn that’s not quite going to be so easily forgotten.

The character I would totally smooch: In a dark future where Entrapta never found love with Hordak, for one terrible reason or another, I would totally give her a smooch. I’ve said it before and say it again: Mad scientist princess is best princess! The character I’d want to be like: Bow. In some capacity I’m already like him, namely being super emotional and doing his damnedest to be a good friend even when things are tough, as well as being the voice of reason and a tinkerer (what? Tinkering with artsy stuff counts!). But I’d like to follow his example of being more level-headed, softer, optimistic, but also more assertive as opposed to my impulsive, harsher, cynical, and reserved current self.

The character I’d slap: Shadow Weaver. Need I explain? No, and anyway I can’t slap her anyways because she pulled the most manipulative heroic sacrifice I’ve ever seen. Dammit it, Shadow Weaver! (I really wanted to say Horde Prime but I feel like he wasn’t developed quite enough to be as hateable as he could be. Not to say that he isn’t an absolute piece of trash who deserved what he had coming already, but we didn’t get to spend three whole seasons getting to know the depths of his manipulative depravity while simultaneously weaseling his way into a twisted version of a redemption arc, unlike someone else I just talked about.)

A pairing that I love: Entrapdak. In case, it wasn’t already obvious. To summarize, in spite of all the drama that surrounds them and their actions, they honestly have the sweetest, most affectionate, and quite possibly the most healthy and engaging pair of the entire show (next to Spinnerella and Netossa, of course). Shoot, if it weren’t for these two and my hopes to see them reunite again, I would have left the fandom entirely at this point! (No seriously, I’m getting tired, folks.)

A pairing that I despise: Hordak X Horde Prime, but I think that’s the point, since most people use it to explore toxic relationships from a distance. Anyways, I really do not want to talk about abusive alien selfcest.

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