#the ugly early seasons' quality help</3

[noah-price]

Emily Prentiss & Spencer Reid in Season 2

#criminal minds #criminalmindsedit #spencerreidedit #emilyprentissedit #spencer reid #emily prentiss #cmedit #cm #>2x10 2x10 2x12 2x13 2x13 2x17 2x17 2x18 2x23 2x23 #the ugly early seasons' quality help</3 #so easy to colour but so hard to sharpen.... #*gif #*ess #q

[welcometogrouchland]

I'll admit- I really wasn't in to the hunter possession thing at first. I thought it was just putting hunter through the ringer AGAIN for no good reason other than to make him cry and as an excuse to merc flapjack. And I couldn't even think of a good reason why they'd do that in the first place.

But, after giving it a second watch (I was watching a very low quality stream when it came out and straight up missed scenes and dialogue) I have begrudgingly come to admit that it works. It's not the direction I would've gone with but it works (LONG thoughts under the cut, but with a TL;DR)

Hunters desire at the beginning of the series was freedom, and now that he actually has that freedom in the human realm he... doesn't know what to do with himself. He seems sort of reluctant to return to the demon realm at all, since Camilla and Luz have become such a stable family unit for him, but gravesfield still isn't his home.

Hunter still misses parts of the EC, namely the person he was as the golden guard- intimating, fearless, self assured, if thoroughly unhappy. He's still trying desperately to define himself in opposition to other things (namely Belos and Caleb) as he slowly discovers his interests. He may be happy but he's just floating through life with no direction at the moment.

Until Belos rears his ugly head again and hunter FINALLY states the things he wants- to study wild magic and be a normal kid who plays flyer derby and goes to hexside (and has an awesome surrogate family w/ the nocedas). He wants to stop his uncle from hurting anyone anymore- now that he doesn't have to worry about protecting himself, because as Luz said earlier, keeping him safe is her job now, their job.

hunter says earlier that he's "not who he's supposed to be, but he likes who he is". Refuting belos is meant to be him cementing that he's not Caleb, not the golden guard, not a vessel or a toy or a tool, he likes the part of him that wants all these things.

So does possession hunter hit better for me now? A bit yea. Again, I probably spoiled myself with my rampant imagination over the last couple of months- and I really would've liked to see more of Belos on his own terms. But at the end of the day it's not antithetical to hunters arc like I first thought it was. It's not a step backwards, it's closure. He recognised Belos was evil and that he didn't deserve what happened to him, now he knows what he does want and he's got people there to help him get it.

But now that hunter has different desires (and I hate hate hate to say this but...) It kind of makes sense for him to maybe carve a new palismen in place of flapjack that represents this change. Flapjack got him this far and a desire for freedom and love will carry him through the rest of his life as he gains more specific goals and wants.

(Also- tangent, even though Belos name drops Evelyn when killing flapjack, he also shouted "CALEB!" In kings tide when he saw the bird. I think flapjack in general reminds him of what he lost, and Belos naming Evelyn is him saying goodbye to her influence, attempting to twist the knife one last time as he again tries to exert control over his brothers image and their relationship. All this to say, no matter who carved it, flapjack is a symbol for both freedom and the wittebane brothers strife. Hence, it's painful and not 100% necessary but reasonable to want to move on narratively)

There's still all the unresolved threads re: Caleb and the Clawthornes and also WHY DOES BELOS WANT BACK INTO THE DEMON REALM. WHAT DOES HE WANT. Belos felt a bit...directionless in general in this one but again I'm holding out to see how his plotline is resolved since it wasn't resolved in gravesfield like we all suspected.

but like that one early review article said, this episode is just act one of the larger feature-length story that season 3 is gonna tell. A sort of owl house movie. Which is both frustrating since I don't think anyone was expecting that (we all had 3 act structure in mind but not this literally I don't think hsvsjfj) and even though I'm happy the releases are being paced in order to maintain hype and conversation within the fandom, I know things won't feel complete til all 3 episodes air.

That's the biggest flaw of Thanks to Them to me- an episode I otherwise really adore, ESPECIALLY in terms of Camilla and Luz's arcs. It's sort of trying to have its cake and eat it too- it knows it can't just be 44 minutes of set up, but it can't be it's own self contained story either. So it's conflicted and thus starts slacking at the climax for me. But it left me so excited to see where the show picks up next with reunions, lore, arcs concluding and reveals!

uhhh TL;DR: belos!hunter was jarring for me at first but I've come to accept it as part of hunters closure even if it's not in my top favourite ways you could've done that, and even though the episodes ending left me wanting, I'm excited to see what season 3 looks like as a whole!

#the owl house #toh #toh spoilers #ramblings of a lunatic #hunter toh #hunter noceda #it's not his most popular tag but it's the one that's correct to me #anyway these are my thoughts SO FAR. i think I'll only truly be at peace when the next specials come out #since it'll be complete and this time I'll know what to expect #but also. i think the hunter possession had a hurdle to overcome in my mind because OF THE FUCKING LEAKS #I'M STILL SO MAD ABOUT THOSE #I MEAN HOW #WHY #I SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO HUNT YOU FOR SPORT. WHOEVER DID THAT #I WOULD'VE GOTTEN MY ASS KICKED BY THIS EPISODE IF I HADN'T BEEN AMBUSHED BY THOSE LEAKS #IT WOULD'VE BEEN SO FUN #I'm still just in shock at it all. like i feel silly for it but it's just crazy to me it's been eating away at me #I MEAN. HOW??? and why didn't the crew say ANYTHING? #i mean it got ppl to doubt the leaks but like. still that's some 4D chess to be playing #anyway. if ANYONE leaks anything from the next episode I'm going to turn their eyeballs to sand #okay. leaks rant OVER. thoughtful analysis above. peace and love on earth <3

[papers4me]

When Stories Changes Colors

Often authors start their stories based on certain themes & genres, then they later move away from some of them as the stories deepen & reach climax. So, once you reach the conclusion, the story has become something else entirely different from how it started.

That’s called story-telling. The longer you tell the story, the different it becomes. However, this change helps the story move away from the basic introduction of its characters, plot & world-building into the exploration of meaningful themes leading to the story’s vision. The overall vision is the reason why the story was essentially created. Doing that is not a necessity, but it sets complex stories apart from simple ones. It is very important that while you can change themes & even genres within your story, you need to effectively wrap things up in the conclusion. Not necessarily bringing back what you have long moved from, but holding the story together using the vision. This is the thing that can’t change. You started the story for a reason & this reason should conclude it. Themes & genres are tools you need to reach your destination.

For example: (with spoilers)

-Fruits Basket anime started as simple, basic, direct, short “lesson the day” episodes in season 1 & moved to exploring traumatic themes, character depth, ugly truths, & emotional turmoil in season 3. While Fruits Basket isnt the best example due to the anime’s favoring quick over-dramatic presentation of trauma over deep character depth & consistency of quality in season 3, the later still does the job of reaching the heart & conveying the message of “welcoming growth & accepting change”. Story-wise, there is no comparison between seasons 1 & 3. They look so different that it feels rewarding. Season 3 holds what fruits basket is in its core, a story abt accepting human weakness & moving on in life, leaving behind the small simple lessons of its early episodes.

-Attack on Titans is a an example succeeding brilliantly to change colors then failing miserably "tie” the colors in the final step. we can compare the first season to season 4 (firs part) & you’ll feel you’re watching/reading a different story! in a good way! the last good way. Now the final arc in the manga does a good job of ruining this as it attempts to return back to the beginning to story that has long moved from what it was initially. Calling back sth that has long been abandoned isn’t parallel, it’s contradiction & the plot will strat having holes bigger & bigger as the conclusion comes. AOT’s plot has become sth way bigger than a group of “ united avengers” can defeat to save the day & the story has become is too deep & complex to have one big giant baddie that must be defeated for peace. You can’t start simple, go complex as hell, then finish as simple as “snow white & the 7 dwarfs defeating the Evil Queen”. Isyama had the ending decided for so long as he claimed more than once, so what went wrong is the road reaching to it. If what we have in the final arc is the vision from the beginning, then the story should have been tailored to suit it. The story-telling reaching before the final arc is one of the most complicated, complex & deep plot exploration with various character depths (minus the protagonist or antagonist or whatever u wanna call him), but the final arc itself failed to contain all this with its basic one-sided battle & no color suited it, so it revered back to trying to parallel the beginning bringing back as much parallel as possible from every character & scene in its early stages.

-Game Of Thrones is an example of unnecessary intentional change of colors. Unlike the above examples, GOT started complex & complicated from the get go. You get introduced to tons characters thro their dialogue & interactions. The story’s themes & world-building involve magic, mystical world & politics. These three are the core of the story, moving away from them creates a story that is a kind to soap opera of repeated short dialogues & unnecessary drama. The show producers wanted to minimize the unique “magic “ aspect of the story to change its colors to appeal to the masses “like mothers & sport players” or sth. The problem is GOT’s color is what gained popularity & changed the masses view abt watching fantasy stories. For example, stories abt vampires & mermaid have their own audience & the majority of viewers won’t tune to watch them as they might deem them too “ fantasy”. But GOAT seasons 1 & 2 with the magic world gained immense flowing from viewers who normally skip such genres. These ppl have already accepted the “magic” of GOT as part of what the story is & were expecting to see a pay off in the final season. However the producers decisions to move away from “magic” meant killing off what was the build up from season 1. The White Walkers were destroyed with one stab thro a single character’s body. With one stab, you end what you sacrificed seasons, plots & characters to establish. The politics itself was simplified immensely as long built, established with foreshadowing political rivals simply “bent da knee due to love love”. Others wanted elephants & died under a brick. Villains who once were the core of the story with their complexity such as Tywin & little finger, or their madness such as Joffery & Ramsey were changed into whatever the show’s Euron Greyjoy was. a simple& basic villain with not much plot value.

So, good story-telling requires a well-established structure with thought off vision & an overall perspective of what the story needs to become from the beginning. Writing itself is a nonlinear process, so writers will either go above their own structure or under it, especially in stories that are published/aired while written. However, if the decisions is made to start publishing or airing before the whole process of writing is over, then there is bigger responsibility on the writing team to review each chapter/ episode while keeping in mind where it’s going & what’s expressing. Nothing is more disappointing than seeing a great written story loose its colors instead of just changing to new better colors or showcasing more hidden ones.

#story-writing #story-telling #Fruits Basket #attack on titan #game of thrones #changing colors #themes #bored paper

[zodiactalks]

Understanding Virgo Woman

It is almost impossible not to be intrigued by the Virgo woman. Her charm and intelligence is a winning quality that has men, women and children drawn to her. She has a way with fixing that which is wrong in other people’s lives with nothing but gentleness and a caring attitude.

Like any other earth sign, Virgo women are grounded and practical thinkers that thrive in an orderly environment. Keep watching if you are looking to gain a better understanding of who the Virgo woman is and what moves her.

In this video, we will talk about personality traits, likes/dislikes, love, relationships, career, money, friendships, fashion, style and a lot more of Virgo Woman.

Personality Traits of Virgo Woman

#1. Perfectionist

Things are never business as usual with this earth sign. Everything has to be in order and functioning in the right way. Virgo women are always seeking perfection not only in their surroundings but in themselves.

#2. Analytical

Nothing is ever black and white with the Virgo woman. She will analyse every scenario in order to find a rational explanation behind it even when there isn’t one. This can make her rather frustrated at times.

#3. Time Keeping

Keeping time is an integral part of maintaining order. Trust a Virgo to be on time, even early to any engagement that is scheduled on her calendar. This makes her the ideal employee.

#4. Reliable

You can count on a Virgo woman to be there for you whenever you need her. Her gentle and caring nature as well as her ability to fix things make her a pillar of support for the people in her life.

#5. Intuitive

A Virgo woman has an innate sense of what is real. She can easily discern between what is superficial or a lie and what is true. Lying or trying to be someone whom you are not around her is simply a waste of time. She can see the deceit from miles away.

#6. Detail Oriented

Perfection is something Virgo women seek with all their might. It is, therefore no surprise that they are attentive to details. Whether in conversation or work related, you can count on a Virgo woman to read between the lines and spot the details that others will easily miss.

#7. Kind Hearted

If you ever need someone to genuinely listen to you and help you through your situation, then a Virgo woman is your best bet. She is always willing to assist those in need and offers her help and expertise selflessly.

#8. Ambitious

Gentle as she may be, a Virgo woman seldom let’s others walk over her and take opportunities from under her nose. She is passionate about her work and is dedicated to succeeding and living her very best life.

Likes & Dislikes of Virgo Woman

Virgo women are social beings that like interacting with other people and learning from them. She loves a defined routine because it helps her maintain order in the chaos that is the everyday happenings of life.

Working within systems that are properly functioning is a delight to her. She is her best self when working within a team. Her love for problem solving and her desire to be useful are both catered to in a team work situation.

As much as she likes to socialize with others, a Virgo woman prefers a more intimate encounter to socializing in crowds. She likes to be in control of the happenings in her life as well as her general surroundings.

Crowds make it difficult to achieve this. Disorderly and messy spaces are another no for her. She simply cannot function in such a space. If you are looking to get on the bad of this woman, being deceitful will do the trick.

She loves honesty. Another no for her is people with reckless behaviour and language that have minimal to no regard for the effects caused by their word and, or actions.

Virgo Woman in Love & Relationship  

A Virgo woman applies pragmatism and logic to all aspects of her life and matters of the heart are no exception to the rule. She takes her time to analyse the situation without jumping into a relationship with both feet.

When she deems it fit to get into a relationship, she devotes herself fully to making her partner happy and helping him or her to be the best version of themselves they can be. Nothing makes her happier than knowing that she is helpful to the one she loves.

One is required to exercise patience when in a relationship with a Virgo woman. She is rather shy about her emotions and it will take her sometime before she is comfortable to share them.

Because she seeks perfection in others, she is particularly hard on herself. She holds herself to higher standards than she does everyone else.

It is for this reason that she often finds it difficult to believe that her partner actually does love her as she is. The good, the bad and the ugly.

Virgo Woman in Career & Money

A career that requires attention to details and analytical skills such as science or accounts is best suited for the Virgo woman. She is dedicated to her work and her punctuality makes her the ideal employee.

While she has the potential to soar to great heights, her need for perfection and her tendency to over analyse situations make her stagnate in her career development. She will often second guess herself when making even the smallest of decisions as she is afraid that the outcome will not be as perfect as she expected it to be.

Being a hard and dedicated worker, money comes relatively easy for her. She likes to plan her finances and thus she is almost always able to make her ends meet.

Saving money for a rainy day is a must for her. She not only plans for the now. She analyses her projected future and plans financially for a varied number of scenarios.

Virgo Woman in Friendships

Regardless of what you are going through in your life, you can count on a Virgo woman to lend a listening ear and a helping hand.

If you need practical and pragmatic advice to the storm that might be rocking your life, then seek it from her. She will analyse every aspect of your situation and give you practical and critically thought out solutions.

Feel free to thank her for her much needed help, we all can agree that she deserves it right, just do not go over the top with grand gestures. A Virgo woman tends to be rather reserved and shy and thus dislikes anything that draws unnecessary attention to her.

She often treats grand gestures as being shallow and impractical and would much rather simpler yet thoughtful gestures. Friendships for the Virgo woman are intimate affairs that are founded on truth and sincerity. Remember, she has the ability to see through any facade you put up.

Fashion & Style 0f Virgo Woman

A Virgo woman’s outfit is well thought out and neatly put together. Never will you spot her wearing an article of clothing without ironing it. Her closet is often colour coordinated and clothes put away according to fabric in addition to the colour based grouping.

She dislikes drawing attention to herself. As a result, her wardrobe choices are almost always minimalistic in nature. Her practicality will not allow her to succumb to fashion consumerism. She shops for outfits that transcend trends and seasons.

Her need to for perfection sees her opt for tailor made items rather than readymade items. This way, she is in control of the final outcome. Her practicality in wardrobe choices does not in any way translate into a dull wardrobe. She has impeccable taste and seems to look good in navy blue or grey outfits.

#Zodiac Talks #virgo #virgo zodiac #virgo zodiac sign #Virgo facts #virgo traits #virgo woman #virgo female #virgo girl

[keijikunn]

Yellow

pairing: bokuto koutarou x neutral!reader genre: overall fluffy, there’s this tiny bit of angst but nothing too hurtful  summary: the yellow things in love that reminds you of bokuto koutarou word count: ~2.5k author’s note: happy birthday to my favourite loud boy! i know i’m a bit late, but here it is my special fic to our owl

WARNINGS: mentions of car crash

If you enjoy it please leave a comment or a reblog!!

               a life with bokuto koutarou is painted with yellow. like the sunshine on your skin, a cold lemonade on a hot day, or a smile face on every text exchanged. a life him his was never dull, he just… brings color into it. in all honesty, you were nothing but blessed to have such a great man on your side through the ups and downs of life.

              waking up next to him – with his arms securely wrapped around your waist, his soft breathes hitting your neck and his head on your chest – always filled you utter joy and warmth. even when his lips let snores escape or how his hair would tickle your face, the peace on his features was enough to melt your heart. and when the rays of sunshine illuminated both of you? that was the moment koutarou looked absolutely like an angel – and perhaps he is.

              “good morning, love” his raspy voice has never failed to pull the strings of your heart, the same ones bokuto knew all too well – after all, years of relationship taught him enough about you.

              “good morning, kou” you replied with a quick peck on his forehead, letting a hand run through the locks of gray and black hair. the man let out a content hum as he pulled you even closer, that way he could kiss the soft skin of your neck just the way he knew you liked.

              as odd as it might be, mornings were the only moment bokuto would be the calmest he could. the aura around him would be a pastel yellow. soft, discreet, but lovely. the most tender and loving gestures are exchanged in a half-sleep conscience – but still the purest actions. your own world is filled with such color, your bedroom – despite the blue grey-ish shades on the walls – was a safe haven illuminated with it.

              koutarou, however, wasn’t a simple man. therefore, he hadn’t in himself only one variation.

              bokuto was also as yellow as your highlighters: bright, flashy, but helpful with sort of a guidance within it – just like the actual object. he reminded you of it because of the many sleepless nights both of you spent during your exam’s seasons in college, even though he was not much of a help and his schedule required him to wake up early.

              “I might not be a college student, but I need to hype my significant other” he commented on the first time he stayed up until 3 in the morning with you, sitting on the kitchen table scanning with his eyes through the many pages scattered around. “it’s hard, but I believe in you. and I can’t let you pull an all nighter, you’ll be absolutely shit on your afternoon classes”

              just like that, koutarou would make you company in silence. sometimes he’d fall asleep resting his head on his folded arms over the table, in others he’d try to help you organize what you’ve already been through. and on the top of all of that, bokuto koutarou would ground you whilst your mind you’d be drowning in anxiety and self-doubt.

              the same way you’d highlight important things on your books and notes, bokuto would highlight the best qualities of you. pointing your smartness, beautifulness, gentleness and loving personality. this man would not let you forget how far you’ve come, all hardships you’ve won against and how your future is going to be as bright the yellow pen that you constantly use.

              by himself, kou would be under the spotlight as the great athlete he is. you, however, couldn’t help but give him the focus he deserved. he was inspiring to you, always trying to do better, to be the best version of yourself. in your life, bokuto koutarou was a highlighter, but also something highlighted so you can – and will always – remember his importance and meaning to you.

              there are these certain shades of colors that just don’t look as pretty as others, but are as just important to compose the whole one. like any other people in the world, bokuto also had the slightest ugly tones of yellow.

              the sunset and sunrise can be both renewing and melancholic. the hue that transitions to orange has two different meaning when you’re talking about your boyfriend: can be both the argument and the reconciliation. the contraposition between these two is essential to understand why one color brings two types of feelings.

              “koutarou, you aren’t being reasonable” you argued certain night, it was after a msby game – which his team won. it was a hazy memory to you, everything passed by in a blur. at one time you remembered hugging bokuto as the two of you celebrated the end of the game, then all you could see and hear was him dragging you out of the commemoratory party.

              “how not, y/n?! that guy was fucking touching you” kou’s voice was loud, as he always is, but that volume wasn’t filled with love or excitement; no, all you could hear was angriness and jealousy. “and you weren’t doing a thing to stop him! you acted like your boyfriend wasn’t there”

              “it wasn’t like that, kou!” the scream match wasn’t going anywhere with both of you stressed, with a deep breathe, you held eye contact with him. “I tried to stop him! tetsu saw me pushing his hands from me, but he ignored whatever I did! he still touched me and all I could do is act as if nothing was wrong, or else I’d be the hysterical significant other”

              “c’mon, y/n, you’ve never really cared about what the media would say about you” bokuto mocked as he rolled his eyes, your heart clenched at those words. they weren’t true, how could you tell him about how you felt reading mean comments online? you treasured the bright smile he had, it was enough for you to keep going while receiving those kinds of insults.

              “you know what, koutarou? I’m going to my friend’s house tonight. we are not going anywhere right now” with that, you left your shared apartment with the jacket you were wearing and the cellphone on your pocket.

              leaving bokuto for the night was awfully painful. each day, before you fall asleep, the man’s embrace was like a sunset, a way to conclude your day. the explosion of orange, red and yellow as the sky grows darker was a signal that another milestone was completed with koutarou by your side.

              arguments between you two were exactly like watching, by yourself, the sun hiding under the horizon after having company for so long. it felt wrong, but sometimes it would unfortunately happen, because no couple was perfect. but, what made bokuto and you different from others was the way that always the sunrise would come with closure of whatever hurtful feelings were reminiscent.

              later on the next day, you’ve returned to your home. bokuto’s shoes were organized by the entrance of your apartment – contrary to the other night, when he just took them off and kicked aimlessly. the rice cooker was on, you could even smell the cleaning products you use around the house: an indication that kou did some of the chores you had to delay to attend his game.

              “I’m home” you announced rather quietly, eyes scanning around in order to find your boyfriend. he emerged from the kitchen, a basket full of clean clothes on his grip and a tired expression on his beautiful face. “what… are you doing?”

              “I know you use Friday evenings to do some chores, and since I’ve dragged you to my game you couldn’t do them, so I decided to be helpful at least once” he answered with a small smile. you could tell koutarou was tired – maybe feeling his muscles ache after such an intense game or just because he couldn’t sleep without you. “akaashi gave me the biggest lecture ever to knock some sense into my head, I wasn’t being fair with you”

              “neither was I” the aftermath of every argument between you two would be like this: silently, spoken in whispers and reluctant touches. “I should’ve told you how I truly felt about those online comments… we’re supposed to share our worries, right?”

              “yeah… and I should be more understanding about your fears and insecurities” koutarou placed the basket on the floor and stepped closer to you, a timid hand reaching out for you own, which you obliged quickly. “sorry, love. i had no right in yelling at you”

              “it’s okay, baby” a smile crept on your face, your other hand brushes aside the tip of his hair over his forehead (being at home with kou meant seeing him with his hair down, it was a beautiful sight). “I’m sorry too”

              as your lips touched once again, your own little world, where only you and bokuto were allowed to, was painted with the most beautiful sunrise. because that was what a relationship is: every disagreement ends with a reconciliation, a new day would begin from that. you two learned with a few painful sunsets that, after a fight, the way the sun would come up would be even prettier than the day before.

              the most unusual shade of yellow in bokuto koutarou would probably be the same one as from warning signs. this simple association emanates all worry and fear that lays on the deepest part of koutarou – and you thanked god you don’t usually see it. his emo modes back in high school managed to hide the feelings behind his lack of motivation after many failures in a row; now, he shone bright yellow warning signs every time his heart wasn’t at ease.

              despite of that, no emo mode would have prepared you to see the restless and worried features on bokuto’s face when you opened your eyes on a cold day. all your body hurt as your chest raised and fell from your breathing patter, the lights above you weren’t making the pounding headache of yours any better.

              “y/n, love, how are you feeling?” koutarou asked frantically, needy for answers so his brain could finally calm down.

              “where… am i?” you uttered, the words almost getting stuck on your dry throat.

              “you’re at the hospital, babe” with that information, numerous scenes rushed back to your mind. how you were on the bus on your way home, the way it drifted on the street covered with a thin layer of snow and the side you were sat colliding against a lamp post. “you were on a car crash, do you remember?”

              “yes, sort of…” still a bit confused, you turned your head to completely face your boyfriend. you could tell by the reddish skin around his eyes that he had cried and judging by his clothes – the msby track attire – that he was on a match before rushing to the hospital. “did you finish the game?”

              “are you insane, y/n?” bokuto whined shaking his head, the grip on your heads tightening a bit. “how could I play volleyball knowing that the love of my life was hurt and on their way to the hospital? my coach allowed to leave as soon as the first set was over. when- when he told me you were involved in a car crash, I was so worried that you’d leave me- and seeing you laying on this bed makes everything so much more intense that-”

              “hey, kou” you raised your hand to cup his wet cheeks, the tears once again started to stream from his eyes and that was one of the worst views you’ve had: his yellow eyes dull and watery. that sight would never match the ball of sunshine bokuto truly is. “I’m here, right? I woke up, see? I’m here, holding your face as we speak. the worst have already passed”

              “I was so afraid, y/n…” he confessed quietly, leaning into your touch to ground himself. “I love you lots, babe, I am so damn glad you’re alive”

              “I wouldn’t go anywhere without you, bo… you don’t have to worry”

              bokuto was shining a bright yellow, indicating his wariness and worry, for the rest of the time you spent at the hospital. the big warning sign on his mind was put aside as soon as all doctors assured him you were fine, completely healed after almost a month after the incident.

              even if that shade wasn’t a pretty one that bokuto has in himself, that makes him exactly the man you are head over heels with. he cares for you, he worries for you, he would do anything in a heartbeat just to make dure you were fine. koutarou gave all of him to you when you started dating, just the same way you did to him.

(the yellow warning signs would only appear years later when your first kid got sick for the first time)

              and last, but no least, the most beautiful, breathtaking hue of yellow was the exact one he always shows you: his eyes. the way they’d look at you with such adoration and fondness, like he was screaming with his sight “this person next to me is the love of my life”, “I love you”, “you’re everything to me”.

              this kind of shining yellow summarized koutarou perfectly: the excitement when he’s playing the sport he absolutely loves, the happiness whenever he is around his friends. but, on the top of everything else, the state of being completely – both mentally and sentimentally wise – filled with the purest emotions he could gather. that only happened with you by his side.

              through the ups and downs of adulthood, you and bokuto faced them together as a couple, as best friends, as growing people. as every single day passed by, both of you were completely sure that this situation – you and him against the world – needed to last forever. you two needed to wake up illuminated by rays of sunshine cracking through the curtains of your bedroom; have in each other’s embrace every sunset and sunrise, eve the ugly ones; put every single yellow sign up whenever the other was in danger.

              and the newest thing you added on your mental list like a masterpiece painted by your love was the way koutarou’s eyes shined so bright while kneeling on your knee. you saved in your heart the image of him holding out a black velvet box with the most beautiful ring inside, his hair down – the same way you love – and wearing his pajamas.

              “will you marry me?” that sentence came in a blow, your knees buckling as your arms found their way around his broad shoulders. the tears of joy stained his shirt as you exchanged words of ‘I love you’ and ‘yes’ between sobs and fits of laughter.

              your world was already full of color, but bokuto koutarou happened to make everything brighter and, at last, complete.

#haikyuu x reader #haikyuu imagines #haikyuu fanfiction #bokuto koutarou imagines #bokuto koutarou x reader #haikyuu!! #bokuto imagines #bokuto x reader #x reader

[ja-khajay]

2020-2021 Animation Watch(ed)list

I haven’t posted about animation in a while that I remember, and I know a lot of my followers are into it as much as me so I decided to make a list of the animated movies and series I watched on the past year or so, coupled with my short, spoilerless take on them. Enjoy!

Organized by

Things I saw for the first time

Things I rewatched

Under a cut for the sake of your dashboards! PS: I have not added any images yet. If you are interested in knowing more about the visuals of these movies, I might make an old fashion ask-prompted imageset list.

Part One: Things I saw for the first time

The Bear’s Famous Invasion of Sicily

Movie, 2019, Italian/French

9/10, a delightful little movie with amazing visuals. It feels like an animated picture book.

One of those “plot is in the title” media! I had never heard of this before but was heavily recommended it by my family members, who all loved it! It’s a sweet story, nothing groundbreaking but the unique colorful visual style alone makes it worth it.

The Castle of Cagliostro

Movie, 1979, Japanese

10/10. Reminded me of all the books i loved reading as a child

I assume its because it’s so old and the art style and themes are so different that it gets little to no love compared to other Ghibli movies, which is a shame! It’s fun with an endearing cast and as always, great animation and music

Mushishi

Series, 2006, Japanese

10/10 three episodes in I knew it was going to be my favorite series ever

One of the few things I’ve seen I’ll describe as life-changing. It’s absolutely lovely but never toots its own horn about it. Humble, calming, emotional and surprisingly mature. It’s pretty impossible to binge due to how intense the experience is. I just want to walk in the forest now...

FMA: Brotherhood

Series, 2009, Japanese

6/10 Dissapointing adaptation of a classic story

I read the manga for this when I was in middle school and remembered loving it. The animated version does an ok job of presenting the characters and worldbuilding and has some nice action scenes but overall looks really damn cheap and just. Not very good. Seeing I already knew most of the plot I did not have the element of discovery that made me marvel so much reading the original. It’s still a nice series but I really recommend reading it instead.

Code Lyoko (s1+2)

Series, 2003, french

3/10. 1.5 being for the opening song alone

This show sucks ass if I hadn’t been watching this with my bestie I would have dropped it two episodes in. The art style is ugly the stories are always the same and the first season has a (later removed thank fucking god) LITERAL “erase any consequences” button as a plot device in every episode. If you watch it for one thing let it be the nostalgia factor of early 00s Vidya Game Plot

The Legend of Hei

Movie, 2019, Chinese

7/10. Impressive visuals and a poor story

I finally watched this, peer pressured by the load of gifsets on my dashboard! It’s a sweet movie with really impressive animation, sometimes a bit too flashy for my taste (the action sequences go so ham they become not very readable...) but the story was just ok? The setting is barely explained and you are instead bombarded with vague epicspeech about powers and stuff that made me fondly remember Kingdom Hearts lol but that asides it’s a really good time! I need to watch more Chinese movies the few I know are just delightfully off the shits in how they approach action and I love that

Hunter x Hunter

Series, 1999, Japanese

9/10. Superior to the recent one!

I first got introduced to the series via the 2011 one. Comparatively, the 99 series focuses way less on action and way more on the characters, which I love because that fits my personal preferences! Despite mediocre filler episodes and some weird slight pointless plot changes, what it changes from the original manga doesn’t have much of an impact on the characters. The animation quality isn’t always consistent including a huge art style change for an arc (???) but it’s overall pretty nice. The series really shines in the last arc it adapts.

Oban Star-racers

Series, 2006, Japanese/french

9/10 a lovely surprise

This series is completly obscure despite having been created by people famous for their other series (Cowboy Bebop, Code Lyoko that i can name) and it’s a crime! It’s a kids show but without being stupid about it who tells the story of an inter-planetary race. If you liked that one scene in the star wars prequels you know what I mean. It’s got surprisingly nice animation for a TV series, and some truly great character design. The art style is a bit unique in a not for everyone sense, but I didn’t mind it much. It’s also THE most offensively 2000s series i’ve seen in terms of visuals. y2k kids assemble

The Little Prince and the Eight-Headed Dragon

Movie, 1963, japanese

8/10. Classic fairytale format with incredible visuals

Watched this for the art style because I know it inspired Samurai Jack, and it delievered! I dont’ have much to say about this one, it’s a very simply film but it’s sweet. For my pirates out there if you want to find it in good quality with english subtitles it’s VERY hard to find. If you just want to see the looks of it, it’s on Youtube with portugese subs.

We now enter the Gobelins Shorts Zone....!

My Friend Who Glows In The Dark

10/10 makes me cry each time

Pure delight...great animation writing everything. A little short about death and friendship but not in the way you imagine!

Colza

9/10

Visual treat...homely and nice :) not far from a 10 but a 9 because nothing about it is that groundbreaking

Sundown

9/10

If you’ve ever been ten minutes from failing a group project because of a single dude you will REALLY enjoy this. Loved the colors and personality

T’as vendu mes rollers?

10/10

It’s SUCH a sweet little short I loved that one so much

Dix-huit kilomètres trois

10/10

Surprisingly well written dialog. Visuals are great but the humanity of the characters carries this to another level

Un diable dans la poche

9/10

Amazing visuals and the most tense/creepy of Gobelin shorts i’ve ever seen. Chilling

La bestia

8/10

I had some issues with the pacing. Interesting story and visuals choices but I was not fond of the art style

Goodbye Robin

5/10

Confusing but predictable. Both at once??? Yes!

Le retour des vagues

6/10

Cool animation stuff but felt pretty pointless

                                                                ***

Part Two: Things I rewatched

Ruben Brandt: Collector

Movie, 2018, Hungarian

10/10. Underrated as hell

Watched this fully blind for the first time in an animated festival and rewatched it with friends. It’s a crime I never see anyone talking about it given the amount of whining I see about the lack of both adult animation and 2D movies? This film is a unique love letter to art in the form of a weird mix of charming crime story and psychological horror with amazing visuals. I recommend watching it blind and also buying it to show appreciation for how nice it is!!! WATCH THIS MOVIE...

Mononoke

Series, 2007, Japanese

10/10 Visual/storytelling masterpiece in the weird shit departement

If you can stomach intense stuff watch this. The visuals are incredibly unique and beautiful and under the jewel tones and art direction high takes it’s a really cool horror series. My only obstacle to enjoying it the first time I saw it was how dense it is - simply put, it’s so...culturally Japanese it’s not very accessible to me who doesn’t know anything about the culture? Watching it for the second time helped understanding the stories more! 

Corto Maltese in Siberia

Movie, 2002, french

9/10 but really close to ten. A great adaptation!

I’m a huge fan of the original comic so I entered this a biiiittttt suspicious it would suck but it was a really pleasant surprise! It has all the wonder and charm of the original and the animation was surprisingly good for the little budget. If you’re not familiar with the series, it’s a sort of geopolitical action/adventure movie but with it’s own really poetic vibe to it. It’s almost impossible to find online but happens to be fully on YouTube so go ham I guess?

Redline

Movie, 2009, Japanese

10/10 cinema was invented for this, actually

Every review of this movie i’ve seen gives it five stars and starts by talking about how immensly stupid it is. I’m no different. It’s a masterpiece of escalating energy with the depth of a puddle and it fucking rules. It’s free on YouTube too so there really is no excuse to not watch it. Watched it for the first time on a huge cinema screen and despite this my second rewatch on my small laptop was as/even more enjoyable. If you watch this stoned with friends you might travel to another dimension

Spirited Away

Movie, 2001, Japan

10/10 deserves the love it gets

I watched this a single time as a kid and had little memory of it! I mean it’s Ghibli you know it’s going to be good as hell but this one rly shines in how colorful and detailed it is and in it’s world! It made me remember I had a huge crush on the dragonboy as a kid. I’m gay now

Kung-fu Panda (1&2)

Movie, Usa

10/10. KFP fucking rules

Honestly my favorite franchise of the whole disney/dreamworks/pixar hydra. It’s fun as hell, doesn’t skip a single beat and has amazing animation and character designs. If something is a good time I will not care if it’s deep or not and boy I fucking love these movies

Sinbad, Legend of the Seven Seas

Movie, 2003, Usa

5/10 Some great some really bad and overall generic

I tend to hate american cinema and this includes that era of animation I have no nostalgia for. Sinbad is in a weird place because I love adventure stories and the visuals of the movie absolutely deliver but it’s very predictable and TANKED by the addition of the female character, pushed in your face as “look we have woman!!!” despite her writing being misogynistic as hell lol. The evil goddess rules tho. This movie would have been a solid 9 if instead of the girl the two dudes had kissed

#j #animation #if you want links to these ill provide but not for the indie ones that arent free #i have no remorse p*rating disney or a movie thats over 50 but if its recent and underrated just legally get it!!!

[melodious-madrigals]

Wondertrev prompt: apples

Orchards, to Steve’s eternal bemusement, have become a popular autumn date destination.

“Why would I take you on a date somewhere that involves work?” he asks, grimacing at his phone, where a listicle of 11 Awesome Autumn Outings! displays Apple Picking at #3. He finds that personally offensive; the farm he grew up on had fruit trees, and they were just as much a nightmare come harvest time as an enjoyable food source.

“It’s cute,” says Diana, who likes the idea, as she’s scrolling through a museum website on her own phone. They’re sitting on the couch, trying to come up with an interesting date for the next afternoon, and Google is letting them down. “Very autumnal, and you get to choose your fruit. People like knowing where their food comes from.”

“I like knowing where my food comes from just fine,” grumbles Steve, “but knowing it came from Jean-Luc’s orchard”—the kind older gentleman who runs their favorite fruit stand at the farmer’s market—“is enough; I don’t also need to know which branch it came from because I twisted my back in the process of reaching too high for it.”

Diana grins into her phone, because she can feel a rant coming.

“Look at this—all pre-picked apples available in our market are washed and polished and inspected for the highest quality. Those poor workers. And I bet they constantly have to be picking the rotting apples off the trees instead of harvesting in one go.”

“Probably,” says Diana.

“And it’s not like the people picking their own apples are really helping with the harvest,” continues Steve, finding his groove. Diana was right; this is about to turn into a full-blown rant. “Because they’re probably not being methodical about it! They’re just taking the nicest apples they can find instead of picking a branch clean.”

Diana hums and once again bites back her amused smile.

“Which is another thing—when did people suddenly decide that ugly fruits and vegetables were inedible? A spot is not the end of the world, but people think they need a shiny, perfect apple just to take a bite.”

It’s not a new frustration of Steve’s, but his continued indignation always makes her go a little soft, as does the fact that he consistently buys the ugliest produce at the market on purpose. (That he cares about needless food waste is attractive, okay? Sue her.)

“Well, the way I see it, we have two options.”

Please, continue, the tilt of his head tells her.

“We can find the branch with the ugliest apples and pick them all,” says Diana, “or—and I know this is a radical idea—we could just simply not take”—she glances at the listicle on his phone—“FizzPop’s advice and plan a date elsewhere instead.”

She feels him go slack next to her. “Yeah, I guess that is an option.”

“Here,” she says, handing him her phone. “I forgot that this exhibit opened last weekend. We can ditch the autumn theme and go here instead.”

Steve looks at it absently and nods. “I’ll buy you a pumpkin spice latte on the way there.”

Diana wrinkles her nose. “You most certainly will not. But I can buy you one.”

That manages to make Steve grin.

(The next morning, they make it to Jean-Luc’s stand for their seasonal produce—including apples—instead. “No orchards,” chirps Steve, as he cheerfully finds the apples with the most calloused and spotty skin. When Diana hands him a gnarled apple she found at the bottom of the bushel basket and echoes, “No orchards,” he positively beams, and it’s a grin that stays on his face through his pumpkin spice latte and the temporary exhibition.)

***

No orchards becomes something of a running joke. They laugh about it as the trend grows, and friends—most notably, Barry, who chatters excitedly at about a mile a minute—start referencing apple orchard dates. No orchards, repeats Steve, every time it comes up, and Diana just smiles bemusedly because she’s got nothing against orchards, not the way Steve does. It’s a joke that dies down once it’s no longer autumn, but it’s certainly not forgotten.

In fact, it becomes relevant again in the spring.

It’s early May, and they’re in the car, on their way to a date location that Steve has been surprisingly tight-lipped about.

"Where are we going?" asks Diana outright, by the time they’re twenty minutes outside of the city, but Steve just shakes his head and keeps driving.

They end up in the middle of the countryside, at a farm that Diana thinks sounds vaguely familiar but can’t quite place.

“Come on,” says Steve, pulling a basket out of the back of the car, and grabbing Diana’s hand with his free one. And then he’s tugging her up a path and over the crest of a hill—

—and into a sea of pink and white buds.

They’re surrounded by neat rows of trees in full bloom, the wafting perfume of apple blossoms sugary sweet and the thrum of honeybees a soft symphony from the moment they enter the orchard.

It’s beautiful and peaceful, so far removed from the busy streets of the city and the stress of both of her jobs that it may as well be another planet.

“You brought me to an orchard,” Diana says softly. It took her a second to string it all together, because she (rightfully) associates orchards with autumn.

“You like orchards,” replies Steve with a shrug.

“I do.” You don’t is unspoken.

“They’re hard to dislike when they look like this,” Steve admits, gesturing to the blooms engulfing them and smiling at the lazy bumblebee doing a little dance in front of Diana’s face, trying to figure out if her bright lipstick is edible.

The grin that breaks out on Diana’s is uncontainable. “Thank you.” 

She may miss the soft way Steve looks at her as they walk a little deeper into the trees, but the sentiment is not lost on her, not when this is the date he put together for them. Eventually, they come to a halt, spread out the picnic blanket Steve brought and unpack the basket, full of simple favorites.

“I forget sometimes how quiet the world can be, when you let it,” she whispers later, when they’re laying on their backs, thigh-to-thigh and shoulder-to-shoulder, staring up into the canopy of flowers above them.

“It’s been a long time since I was used to stillness,” says Steve, “but this is peaceful.”

She glances at him teasingly. “So, does this mean you’ve officially rethought the no orchards policy?”

“Oh, no, not a chance.”

Diana’s laughter echoes through the trees, and if she happens to lean in and kiss him—well, only the bees are watching.

#wondertrev #diana prince #steve trevor #wonder woman #lenci writes #lenci's tumblr ficlets #i'm finally fulfilling the prompts y'all #grad school said: do the readings!!! #brain said: no. :) #this is the result #do i like it? umm not necessarily #am i posting anyways? heck yeah #no beta we die like amazons

[appleb18]

The Most Unexpected Cartoon Fandom

When it comes to modern cartoon fandoms, there’s not a lot of good than bad, most of them being toxic for having very ugly shipping wars, attacking people, attacking the show creator and staff, and so forth. However, there is one cartoon fandom that’s pretty good and no one would except this but it’s My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic aka the Brony Community. While it’s true they can be cringe and do a few bad things but the good outways the bad and here’s why. 

1. The Beginning 

Let’s go back to how it all started. Back at Oct 2010 when the first ep of MLP FiM had come out, it got it attention not just from little girls but adults, mostly men which they called themselves “Bronies”. After the first episode, there was an instant response about the show on 4chan’s message board but due to conflict between Anti-bronies and Bronies, the website had banned anyone who mentions “MLP”. 4chan welcomed back the Bronies but they rejected it, creating their own sites such as “Ponychan” 

and “Equestria Daily” 

It’s not too long that in 2011, the community has begun their own convention called “BronyCon”. New York hosted the original Bronycon and brought together over 100 MLP fans and it keeps on growing as years has gone by.

2. The Creativity of the Bronies

So most cartoon fandoms do fanart, fanfiction and few animatics to show their love for the show such as Steven Universe, Rick and Morty and so on but with MLP community, their creativity shines above the rest from what’s been seen over the years. 

- Most of the music by the fandom are godsend which even non-bronies come to listen to such as 

Lullaby for a Princess by Ponyphonic 

Discord by The Living Tombstone 

Awoken by Woodentoaster 

- Fanfictions can be really in the community and that’s not common to most fandoms 

My Little Dashie 

Cupcakes 

Past Sins 

- Animations are really well animated like it’s pretty amazing for fans for the show to be able to make good quality animations. 

Pony.Mov by Hotdiggedydemon

Once Upon a Time in Canterlot by Kanashiipanda

Epic Wub Time Musicians of Ponyville by Alligator Tub Productions 

Double Rainboom by Flamingo Rich 

Fall of the Crystal Empire  and Snowdrop by SFS Animation 

They even got official voice actors from the show do some  

Let’s Go Meet the Bronies by Jan Animation Studios 

Beat It PMV 

While they can be very imaginative of creating of such content but there’s one creative thing that they’ve done that’s never been seen before 

3. Background Ponies 

When comes with true creativity, it’s the background characters/ponies. The background characters/ponies have very little screen time and yet with little information that was given, the Bronies still wrote what their character is like such as  

Lyra Heartstrings sitting down as a human in “Dragonshy” which sparks a meme that she knows and loves the human culture

Berry Punch an alcoholic 

DJ-PON 3 also known as Vinyl Scratch is written as a DJ for Ponyville 

And then there’s the Derpy Hooves, the most loved MLP FiM character and her backstory is very unique than most. She first as an animation error when she first appeared

However, instead of treating as an inconsistent, the Bronies treated it as a character with distorted eyes and appear as a background character for most of season 1. When she finally talked in “The Last Roundup”, the fans went crazy that she finally speaks. 

But it comes with controversy for her first speaking role due to soccer moms believe that it’s making fun of a person with a disability. She was about to be taken out but the fans fought for and wanted her to stay and so the fans won and she get’s to appear in more appear as the show continues. 

This is what makes creative, they were able to write a background character to be unique and interesting with very little detail they know what they are. 

4. Charity 

A show about love and acceptance other, the Bronies really do learn from the show, unlike another fandom. In fact, they do some charity runs such as 

- The Old Grey Mare helped raised $1,350 USD for the Transgender Human RIghts Institue. On January 31 2015, it raised $14,576 USD. 

- Michael Morenes attempted suicide due to bullying. Thankfully that attempt was halted and he was able to be saved but he suffers severe brain damage. With support from the Brony community by a charity and support, he’s alive and making progress, his parents even have a Foundation, to educate communities on youth social development. 

- Joey Oropesa, the creator of Ponies meets World was diagnosed with cancer but he was able to recover and pay the medical debt with help from the community. 

-Kiki was diagnosed with a brain tumour in early 2011. It was strongly supported by Tara Strong and fellow Bronies such as Dusky Katt and Celestia Radio Cast. Sadly she passed away with Tara Strong singing as she passed away. 

It really shows that Bronies are far more than a bunch of grown men watches MLP FiM. 

Conclusion 

While most modern cartoon fandoms are pretty toxic like Steven Universe, Rick and Morty and Voltron,  My Little Pony Friendship is Magic fandom/ Brony Fandom is the one the I’ve heard mostly good than bad. It’s the one fandom that I always tune in with and always excited to see what projects they’ll do. Although it has become every day fandoms but not too toxic like the rest, I’ll always remember as the most unexpected and passionate fandoms I’ve ever seen.

#My Little Pony #My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic #MLP:FiM #Derpy Hooves #Vinyl Scratch #DJ-Pon3 #Lyra Heartstrings #Berry Punch #Rick and Morty #Voltron #Steven Universe #Adventure Time #Star vs The Forces of Evil

[bespectacled-panda]

after seeing dumpywoof’s post I was inspired to do a tier list of my own!!! and boy howdy do I have some hot takes of the century it turns out,,,

the seasons are more or less organized in descending order within the same row as well (e.g. MC 4 > MC 5). also, shamefully copying dumpywoof & putting a detailed & overly verbose explanation for each season:

S Tier

Terraria 3: For me, absolutely nothing compares to Terraria 3. No other season combines such perfect participant dynamics with such heart-wrenching drama—not to mention the existence of Team New Kids who make me cry on a daily basis, or the incredible fake twist ending. It would be a sin to put this season anywhere but alone at the very top. Also props for being the only (1 of 2) post-show that actually includes all of the cast.

 A Tier

Minecraft 4: This is the best season for shenanigans alone, hands-down. It’s largely just the participants shooting the shit together, especially in the latter half of the season when it gets down to just the four of them. & I have a huge soft spot for men being wholesomely foolish together I suppose, so here it goes fhdhfhd.

Minecraft 5: To be honest, I have not seen this season since it released, which is a crime, I know, I’m sorry :orb: But I remember it being very very good, & I cannot imagine my taste will have changed that dramatically in just a few years, so. in truth, this one might be actually better than MC 4, but as I have not seen it in many years I can’t say that for certain. Either way, though, it’s definitely one of the best seasons out there.

MineZ 1: To me, MineZ 1 is the reverse of MC 4: low on shenanigans & high on drama. It’s pre-Todd era, but the editing in this one is honestly Todd-level, I would say. It’s so incredibly tense, especially the scene with McJones & PBG trying to escape the caves, and I feel like the sheer stress of it all brought out a new side of a lot of the participants, most notably Dean—who sounded genuinely agonized at times. A very very quality season all around, IMO.

Terraria 2: This season probably objectively deserves to be B tier, but I am it giving A tier for personal bias. I just,,, love the dynamics okay. Jeff & McJones especially made for a killer duo. It was a rare instance of McJones being the funny man himself rather than being the straight man to someone else’s funny man; he was super uncharacteristically goofy & almost borderline flirtatious at times, it really made for some good moments fhdhfjd. Plus then you got McJones solo commentary at the end which I greatly enjoyed. Just,, a very enjoyable season, very mid-HC era, very light & easy to watch, all that good stuff.

Diablo II: Man,,,,this absolutely 100% does not deserve A tier, I know, I’m sorry, but I just can’t bring myself to put it lower. I have A tier love for it :orb: Admittedly, the game is horrendously ugly and confusing to watch, but the shenanigans + the cast dynamics win me over in the end. Paul especially was great in this, & I hope he makes a return someday. Loving fathers Paul & Jirard with their sorceress son McJones making their way through the end-game just cannot be beaten. (Anti-shoutouts to Ross though, I don’t know anything about him, I am sure he is a lovely man, but GOD. WHY DID HE KEEP RUNNING OFF ON HIS OWN & GETTING LOST BUT THEN FORCEFULLY REFUSING HELP,,, ROSS YOU ARE THE WORST DHDHFJDJD)

 B Tier

Minecraft 7: Boy,,, this is going to be a controversial take fhhfjdjf. I just don’t know how to explain it, but something about MC7 felt,,,, Very off. I don’t know what it was, just something about the season seemed very,,, almost like you could tell things were falling apart behind the scenes, & they were trying to pull it back together but weren’t quite succeeding. It’s not a bad season in any regards, of course, I just,, don’t enjoy it nearly as much as a lot of others,, it’s missing that crucial spark of life in my opinion,, also Dean leaving to go to work was kind of strange,, I get it, it’s probably difficult to work around his real-life job,, but it felt strange,, he got like temporary immunity. Nothing like that had ever happened before I don’t think. And also they never even explained why Dean wasn’t there for like three episodes fjdjfjhd,,

Minecraft 3: God I feel like I just keep digging myself into a deeper & deeper hole here fhsjfjd,,, but man, I did like MC3 to be honest. It wasn’t the best season, it kind of went nowhere, but I liked the cast & there was a lot of good funnymoments. Smooth & Shane were very good guests who I feel like really rounded out the season, & Jontron did not come off as terribly overbearing as I believe that he has in other seasons. Overall, pretty decent, I’d say.

 C Tier

Minecraft 2: MC 2 & MC 3 are very similar, but I think MC 2 is slightly worse, both in terms of entertainment & cast. NCS & Kyrak did not hit like Smooth & Shane did,,, and I feel like just everything that happened in this one was fairly forgettable. I was torn as to whether this should be a B or a C, but I put it here in the end just to drive home that I really don’t like it as much as MC 3, I don’t believe.

Minecraft 6: Oh lord, this is a nuclear take fhdjfjd. Again, this isn’t a bad season at all, it has its good moments, especially Chad & Dodger, they are angels & I love them & want them back. But boy,,, just. Many things went wrong here. None of the twists panned out like,, at all, which I know isn’t necessarily anyone’s fault, the concept of this twist & of twists in general is very good. But it fell so flat here, especially with the revival. There was,, no debate at all about what to do. They hyped it up like they had this big decision to make, but then nobody made any effort to dramatize it at all. It was basically just Dean deciding by himself and everyone just sitting back & letting him. For the record, I have no qualms with the fact that Dodger was revived, I fully agree that she deserved it over McJones, but it was not played well at all IMO,,,      I do have to admit, though, with a fair amount of sheepishness, that the thing that most sullies this season for me is McJones’s death. Just,,, his horrible, so so avoidable, insanely early death, coupled with his retirement shortly thereafter & him becoming so jaded with hc that he expressed borderline hostility & hatred towards it just,,, hurts. I kinda don’t wanna see the events of MC 6 now knowing the aftermath. I understand fully that this particular point is not something most people care about to say the least dhfhdjd, but,,, in all honesty, I really don’t have any desire to rewatch this one, as objectively good as it might be. It was a win but it felt like a loss, if that makes sense. Also the post-show lacked all three people I actually wanted to hear from fhdjfjd neither the two people who could’ve been revived nor the actual person who did the reviving were there to share their insight & perspectives on it :pensive: 

 D Tier

Starbound: man,,, starbound. This is a very mixed bag for me. On one hand, I disagree with people who say that it was boring or that nothing happened, I found it very tense, Todd’s editing had me on edge throughout every episode. But on the other hand,,, man. Very few memorable moments, what even happened in this one,, also I feel like the game mechanics/plot weren’t explained very well, I feel like I remember being vaguely confused all the time as to what was happening. Probably will not ever rewatch either.

 Have Not Seen

DayZ: I will not ever be watching this season both because I do not know anything about DayZ & because from what I’ve heard it was an absolute disaster, I’m just not interested in getting involved in that fhdhfjdk

Terraria 1: There’s not really a reason I haven’t watched this one. Just,, I haven’t made my way down to the earliest seasons yet. Although as mentioned before, I have seen a few clips of this season, & Jontron seems to be pretty obnoxious in this one, so I don’t how much I’ll enjoy the parts with him in it, but I definitely do want to watch it someday.

Minecraft 1: The same as Terraria 1, I just happen to not have seen this one by chance. But unlike T1, I am much more looking forward to actually watching it, it seems really good, I want to experience that legendary very first season at last dhdhfjd

MineZ 2: Man,,, many things about the behind-the-scenes of this season make me sort of uncomfortable honestly. Just,,, the visceral second-hand shame & embarrassment of someone in the hc fandom being so rude & bothersome to the cast,, somehow it makes me feel personally responsible even though I didn’t do anything fhdjfj,,, Also,, once again continuing with the trend of me being saddened by McJones expressing dislike for seasons fhdjfjd,, I do recall him saying, regarding this season, something like “I think it would’ve been better if we just never did this,” which,,, ow. That doesn’t make me particularly enthused to watch it fhdjfjd. I probably will end up watching this season someday to be honest, but I’m not looking forward to feeling the cast’s frustration & unhappiness with the situation,, (EDIT: I want to be clear that there is no actual drama surrounding minez 2!!! it is a perfectly fine season, there is nothing wrong with it, it just happens that I personally am bothered by the fact that there was a lot of like,,, frustration coming from the participants regarding the player who was stalking them. this in no way means that minez 2 is an objectively bad or problematic season!! if minez 2 is your favorite season I completely respect you, there is nothing wrong with that!! there is a lot to like about the season as a whole!!! I just personally care too much about mcjones having a bad time in seasons bc it’s what ultimately led to his retirement, & that makes me sad fjdhfjdjd. but it has come to my attention that my wording made it sound like there was drama about minez 2, which there never actually was, I am very very sorry for my unintentional yet poor choice of words.)

#私がポストしたもの #about time I have a 'my own posts' tag #I hardly make them but they do exist from time to time #also god. good lord this is so long. #get me talking about pbg hc & I just won't ever stop fhdhfhdh #shoutouts to anyone who actually reads this #also again. this is by no means my opinions on objective season quality. fhshfjdj #this is just my opinions on how much I personally like & would rewatch each season

[dicecast]

One thing annoys about genre fiction is "everybody on evil side is in it for themselves and doesn't give shit about the ideology" thing, at least in war narratives. Yes, people do fight for and use agendas they don't believe in for personal gain, but more often than not, it makes the group just generic bunch of villain cliches and makes whatever they are meant to represent loose meaning. "They stand for being jerks and being jerks is bad!"

Overly Sarcastic Production actually summed it up very well one of the problems with morality in genre fiction, most of it comes out of War Morality, aka

Our Team

vs.

There Team

Everybody else needs to be understood on the grounds of are they helping our team against their team, or if visa versa.  Think about a very limited view of WWII, the Axis are the bad guys, and anybody who helps you fight them (Stalin, de Gaul) are the good guys.  That example actually works out pretty well because the Axis were some of the worse regimes in human history, but if you take that same narrative and apply it to a less morally straightforward war, like WWI or The Cold War and it gets ugly real fast.  

(whoops) 

Its morality just whose team is going to win, but with much more world ending consequences.  Which sometimes is the right take for a story, like again...WWII or the American Civil War, wars which I think are far more justified than most, though I think of each as Grey vs. black morality than White and Black morality.  

The problem is that most genre fiction is still using this moral framework even if they aren’t necessarily aware of it, so the evil characters are kinda...written backwards.  Like, they exist to be the antagonists for the heroes and justify the wartime framing of morality, and then to make that framing feel less...creepy you need to then make the other team be evil not just “in the way of our team”. So you give them negative qualities, they are sadistic, they are mass murderers, they oppress women, blah blah blah.  So it can be tricky to give them ideologies because...they exist to be antagonists. 

The original Star wars does this, its basically just a “our team there team” movie, the Empire’s role in the story is to be the enemy army that the heroes can fight against cause its a war movie.  And to make that ok, and not have the audience thinking that war might be an ugly business, we need to make the other team be bad.  So they are given fascist imagery, and do war crimes, and have a bunch of British officers being super snobby, but there isn’t really an ideology to the empire beyond “vague order and be massive dicks”  

The Dark Side has an ideology in the trilogy, but both Sith seem to view the Empire as a tool.  

(....are you the baddies?)

An interesting twist to this Fire Nation from Avatar.  In the first Season they are the Star Wars Empire: Imperial Japan Edition, though the show makes a lot more effort to humanize individual Fire Nation people.  But as an institution they were the bad guys and Ozai is just a giant black hole of evil and they all have evil boats ect ect.  

(I feel like between these and Star Destroyers, there is a whole specific evil empire aesthetic” 

Season 2 and early season 3 actually play with this though, by showing us how the Fire Nation justifies their imperialism to their own citizens, which is...remarkably similar to the actual justifications used by real life Imperial Japan, turning the comparison from an aesthetic similarity to an actual commentary on Imperial Japan.  Ozai being such a black hole of evil though did undermine it. 

(The greater Four Nation Co-Prosperity Sphere) 

Also not all good/evil narratives are actually doing wartime morality, even if they are set in a war. Pan’s Labyrinth is a super moralistic movie, with a very clear cut objective bad guy in the character of Captain Vidal, who is contrasted with our protagonist Ophelia.  But it isn’t a war movie, its instead a morality focused fairy tale, so Vidal is more a representation of the evils of fascism, and his destruction at the end is tied to the main theme of the movie.  

The point i’m getting at here is that there is a difference between the antagonist and therefore have negative traits, vs. people having negative traits and thus  being antagonists.   The way you can tell the difference is this.

Are the antagonists here so that the hero can have somebody to fight?  

or

Are the antagonists there because the story is about the rejection of what they represent?

(cough)

#Ask Dicecast #Dicecast musing #Antagonists #Evil #Fiction #War morality #@afriendtokilltime #@randomshoes

[kihyunswrath]

@ Starship apologists

ok so let’s pretend for a second they really wanted to help Wonho all this time, and also wanted to be careful to not ruin their own reputation so they could still carry on supporting their remaining artists if it turned out Wonho was indeed guilty of doing... well, nothing really, but in the eyes of joseon dynasty side of the population, they were mortifying sins that made their ancestors turn sides in their graves so yeah whatever. let’s pretend that’s the case.

1) doesn’t mean Wonho’s name needs to be banned and edited out of albums, music videos, tv shows and other content where he was still very much present and part of Monsta X. literally fucking nobody asked that, not even anti fans and those mass medias and prints who were ready to condemn Wonho for, idk, existing. are there chances Wonho himself asked that to be done? ... that’s close to 0, because he was fucking proud of his career, achievements and public presence, and it’s not like monbebes would magically forget him if starship just blurred his face from group pictures, and Wonho isn’t delusional. legal issues? I don’t think so, that would have required them to actually, consistently remove Wonho out of every fucking thing that ever existed, yet they didn’t. they still gained profits off of his work, his voice, even the fact that we fans missed him. they literally took advantage of that by being intentionally vague and dropping “hints” and “clues” for more desperate side of the fandom to interpret.

2) yet again, doesn’t mean the other members need to be pressured to continue, without them being able to mention his name ever again, without them being able to publicly express their grief. like even if Wonho was guilty of that whatever nonsense - does it mean his friends have to cancel him out of existence? does it really, really mean they have to pretend they are so busy now they can’t even stop to fucking breathe and reflect on what just happened? who are they protecting themselves from? who is that fuckwad clown who’s apparently genuinely offended that a group of idols admit they are sad to lose their best friend and hope that he’ll receive fair and just treatment in court? who is that person, does he/she even exist?????

3) also, starship was in trouble for other things during all this time. they were committing frauds and doing shady shit for months before and after Wonho got fired. convenient that it’s now Wonho who faces all that fire and feedback and makes it to the front page of newspapers, but starship gets to hide their own dirty laundry into tiny columns and mentions on the bottom of the page.

4) how about starship not letting Monsta X members to rest or recover after the shocking news, hospitalizing Jooheon in the process and making the members cry in public, all the while they have to still pretend absolutely nothing’s going on and they have always been a 6-member group and who is Wonho anyway? how about starship forcing them to participate in every fucking concert, event, tv show in a back-breaking speed, and intensifying that schedule every single week?

5) and have you like, NOTICED the drop of quality in all of their content? twotuckgom’s show looks hurried, blurry and messy. the “world” tour is basically just a north american tour that doesn’t even have a name and sells tickets with ridiculously expensive price tags. pretty much all their follow-related stuff was either not released at all, or got quickly replaced with poorly edited ot6 versions. their season’s greetings and fanclub recruit packages were downright shitty and  edited Wonho out in a way that was painfully ugly and obvious. the look of their english album was not just messy and unlike their normal quality, but also the promotions seemed tired, absent-minded and forced (a lot of the people who weren’t used to the style and quality of kpop probably didn’t notice a difference, though), and they were just dodging issues they actually wanted to talk about.

none of that needed to happen. starship quite literally did not have to keep going like they were doing an obstacle race. they didn’t have to make it so painfully obvious they were constantly tripping on their feet and stumbling over each other, pulling back stuff and then releasing it the next day, denying obvious things, ignoring our criticism & comments, punishing fans and being so clearly afraid of us, when all we did this entire time was we showed we weren’t satisfied with what happened to Wonho and that we still cared about him.

like. they could have waited and admitted that this was a blow they didn’t expect, and that they needed time to recover and make new plans. they could have easily admitted they wanted to figure out what was the truth in Wonho’s case, and then leave it at that. they could have easily let Wonho make a short statement, or the remaining members to say how they felt and then let them go on a hiatus for a while. they could have let us express our concerns and address them shortly. they didn’t have to release that english album so soon. they didn’t have to start selling the american tour tickets so early, especially right after Jooheon went on hiatus. they didn’t have to release that season’s greetings at all. they could have just. taken more time for themselves. absolutely nobody forced them to start running like fucking marathoners and steadily ruin every project they had planned ahead, as if that could have helped everybody to forget Wonho faster, and not, like, become angrier and more disappointed at starship instead.

and why do i think that’s important, why does that matter what they did when they showed they still sided with Wonho in the end?

well, because they were the ones who fired Wonho in the first place, when nothing forced them to. because they with 100% certainty did not expect Wonho to ever get his name cleared. that was obvious with how quickly they acted, kicking Wonho out of his dorm, not releasing content with his face or name on them and permanently banning fans from fancafes and events if they mentioned him once.

in short: they were shitting their pants and messing up a lot of the good stuff they had in mind, and then they placed that very public burden on the shoulders of the Monsta X members, forcing them to pull poker faces while they worked longer hours than ever before.

i’m still not okay with that, and i will never be.

if Wonho wants to come back, i’ll celebrate that. if the members genuinely want to continue their journey together under one of the shittiest companies in existence, i’ll support them.

but the day their contracts end?

hoo boy it’ll be the end of starship, even if it means i have to go tear their fancy ass new building down with my own two fucking hands.

#wonho #monstax #monsta x #starship #kpop #jooheon #shownu #kihyun #hyungwon #changkyun #minhyuk #mine

[eurosong]

Undo my ESC 2020 (SF1)

Good evening, folks! “Undo my ESC”, my look at how I would have changed this year’s contest, is back! Even though the EBU, well, indeed sadly and very literally did undo the ESC this year, there is still room for changing about my personal ideal Eurovision 2020. Let’s have a look at the first semi-final! 🇦🇺 Australia: I continue to be mightily impressed with the quality of Australia Decides, an NF putting forward a number of credible options to represent Oz. I felt the juries helped dodge a bullet this year, because the televote winning song was a rather cliché and dated choice, out of step with the relatively vibrant and contemporary feel of the field. The actual winner was pretty decent albeit with dubious live vocals and an even odder stage concept. It could be improved by working on those two factors, though even better would be to send instead the dramatic Rabbit Hole, truly a title for our season, or even better, the searingly emotional Raw stuff which knocked me off my feet upon first listen and still packs that punch 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan: Once again, Azerbaijan went down the “buy in a song from elsewhere and attempt to put on a thin gloss of local instrumentation onto a generic pop song in lieu of some actual authenticity. I can’t say I even hate the song this time, though I do dislike how they reportedly nabbed it off non-oil-rich San Marino in a bidding war. I would have brought back Dihaj or... anyone who could produce something halfway Azeri? Also, something that doesn’t make me do a full-body cringe as much as the country ranked the worst in the ESC-sphere for LGBT rights sending a song about “gay or straight or in between.”

🇧🇾 Belarus: Belarus made the right choice - I can really rarely say those words. For only the second time ever, we got a song in Belarusian, and whilst it isn’t up there with the gorgeous Historyja majho žyccia for me, Da widna is still a pleasant listen that soars above many of the hyped pre-contest fan favourites and was a nice surprise from a bad NF. The only thing that I would change? That the unhinged comic brilliance of Pavloni be in the final. Watch from about halfway through to the end for an absolute mood whiplash odyssey. 

🇧🇪 Belgium: A lot of people had plenty of hope when they heard that the veteran Hooverphonic were set to represent Belgium in 2020, and I was amongst them. My reäction to what they ended up bringing though was tepid. It’s got the quality rich instrumentation that I expected from this band, pleasant vox, but as a song, it goes nowhere for me, in part because of how repetitive it is and lacking in a hook I find it. I would have picked a more immediate song for Eurovision, because this felt like another DNQ for Belgium, following the same mistakes as 2018 and 2019. They will be back in 2021, and I will be interested to see if they take a slightly different tack. 

🇭🇷 Croatia: Following up on Belarus, Croatia was another example of a selection in which I had no hope providing something excellent to recompense for usually reliable countries going off the rails. I finally have from Croatia something to fit in with the likes of Adio from Montenegro and Nije ljubav stvar from Serbia as an epic Balkan ballad. Few people were expecting Divlji vjetre would win; I was over the moon that it did and would change nothing. I hope Croatia re-send the gentleman Damir next year with an equally strong song. 

🇨🇾 Cyprus: After giving us a literal replay of Fuego last year, this year they’ve gone a slightly different route, but no less generic (even coming with one of the several duplicately named titles of this year), no less uninspiring, no less completely detached from Cypriot music. I’m longing for Cyprus to send something like Eimai anthropos kai ego again.

🇮🇪 Ireland: So RTÉ came into Eurovision all guns blazing this year, promising “an almighty bop” that will be “remembered in 10 years’ time like Euphoria.” I had feared that their frame of reference for their song would be 10 years’ stale, but instead they cast their net even further back to the mid-2000s. It properly sent me into hysterics when I heard this being compared to EVERY major female singer of that period, depending on whom you asked, before this came into general release. You know what, though? I hold my hands up and admit that I adore the anthemic Story of my life. It’s just so drenched in colour that I feel uplifted every time I listen to it, which is often! Lesley has such a likeable, authentic charisma that adds to the song too. I am so gutted we’ll never see the staging because I feel this would have been a memorable party moment. This is just 3 minutes of happy nostalgia and I live for it.

🇮🇱 Israel: You know, usually, I am not a fan of single-artist national finals, because if you are not a fan of the artist, your choice is very limited indeed. However - I don’t know how one can nót be a fan of Eden to some degree. Her music is not up my street, but she sells it to me through sheer force of personality, positivity and presence. She had four songs and she put her heart and soul into them all. The winner was the vibrant Feker libi, which I would only change by altering the chorus a bit, as its odd 90s dance vibe doesn’t sit so well with the rest of the song. As for Eden, she cried when she reälised she couldn’t go to ESC 2020 and again when she found out she’d been picked for 2021. I wish all artists had this amount of passion. 

🇱🇹 Lithuania: There was a sea change in Lithuania this year. I don’t know what happened, but they went from punchline to packing a punch. Their national final had been one that pretty much no one watched, dragging on for several weeks and almost always to choose a mediocre, anticlimactic choice after all that effort. This year, it was one of the most entertaining and diverse NFs of the bunch. My early favourite to win was the powerhouse Monika Marija’s return with If I leave, very much up my street with its country stylings. However, by the time the final came, I had been won over also by the eventual winner, the offbeat and infectious On fire, whose victory I would not alter because it serves as a more dramatic turn of the page for Lithuania’s Eurovision presence. It was such a relief to see this prevailing, with a huge lead in the televote, over the awful, imported Unbreakable or the respectable but pedestrian Make me human. I hope the broadcasters will respect the support this has in Lithuania and allow the Roop to come back in 2021. 🇲🇰 Macedonia: Just no. No. No. Scrap everything about this, bring back Kaliopi and let her get her revenge for the juries screwing her out of qualification with the beautiful “Dona.” 🇲🇹 Malta: Malta have done the unthinkable and sent two songs in a row that I really like for the first time since 1997-8. As Ian would have put it, I was expecting a mere “vocal exercise” from Malta to show off the impressive range of Destiny. Instead, they came out with something so soulful that I have no choice but to enjoy. I hope they go a similar route in 21.

🇳🇴 Norway: So, finally Norway saw some sense and reverted to making the most of having a talented composer, Kjetil Mørland, who is so enthusiastic about Eurovision that he has come back since his success with A monster like me a few times. He should have won with En livredd mann; I wouldn’t have been unhappy at all had he won with Who we are, and indeed, Attention was another song that I had to consider as being amongst the best of its (bizarrely organised) selection. The one thing I’d change? The lyrics. It sounds like an infatuated 12 year old with low self-esteem singing, not a grown woman.

🇷🇴 Romania: It’s not up there with Goodbye or On a Sunday, but Romania have returned with a third song I really enjoy. Alcohol you was head and shoulders above the others in the single-artist selection, and I am still sent by the way she sabotaged the bop that was predicted to win the final so that she could send this more meditative, confessional effort. What would I change? The unnecessary revamp that abruptly shifts the direction of the song in the last third.🇷🇺 Russia: When this first came out, I thought “well done, Russia. Kept us waiting on you until way past the deadline, and all for this bizarre Aquaësque troll entry.” Despite myself, “Uno” has grown on me to some degree. Maybe it’s because of the death stare of the female backing singer who’s giving me some strong Rosa from Brooklyn 99 vibes, and I live for that. Maybe it’s because it’s serving a flourescent lime green in a year when there is so much beige that even an ugly odd colour seems pleasing. I wouldn’t change this, and I hope they get sent again next year because it’s delightful seeing Russia unpaired from Kirkorov. 

🇸🇮 Slovenia: Again, I am going to find myself in a small minority, but Slovenia was, like Belarus and Croatia, an unappetising selection that nonetheless yielded a gem for me. They really said screw you to underlying trends and went for a song that moves at a glacial pace fitting of the title, Voda. This was constantly in last place on the Eurovision scoreboard app, which just speaks to the limited taste tolerance of many of its users. There is so much here to enjoy: Slovenia sticking with its language yet again; the ethereal vibes; the deep, rich voice of the singer; the melancholic and poëtic lyrics; and the fact that it was perhaps the only good “revamp” of the season, going in the opposite direction of Albania and inserting an orchestra to make it that much richer in sound. Wonderful stuff and hope she returns in 2021.

🇸🇪 Sweden: So, for the first time since 2014, Sweden has sent a female artist - 3 in fact - and with them, left the cookie cutter niche they’d occupied since then behind. They sent my favourite of their songs since 2013, Move, a joyous gospel-infused effort where the love and positivity of the Mamas gave me tingles to watch. And yet, it wasn’t my ideal choice. My personal winner would have been my favourite entry from Sweden since... possibly as far back as I morgon är en annan dag in 1992. I’m talking ‘bout Dotter of course. The artist whose beautiful Melodifestivalen début with Cry got bizarrely ignored had a superb redemptive arc this year, becoming the huge favourite with Bulletproof. I watched her performance of this over 200 times so far and still watch often. I find the song so poignant, the performance and her presence so bewitching. It’s a rarity for songwriters who also perform their songs to get this far in MF these days, and Dotter lost out by the narrowest of margins, but would have been a great encouragement to others like her had she won. It was widely said that Sweden had the potential for a record-equalling seventh win if they had sent Bulletproof. As much as I cherish Ireland’s record, had it been Dotter to equal it, I wouldn’t have been mad at all. 🇺🇦 Ukraine: Widbir got over their Maruw drama in great style, once again being one of the coolest and most alternative national finals out there. Well done, Ukraine! There were a number of propositions that I would have been happy to see represent the country. My initial favourite was Vegan, one of my most streamed songs of the season and one which always puts a smile on my face with Jerry’s facial expressions and puns like “‘cause I’m vegan, I can’t even call you honey.” And honestly, I would have loved to have seen it in Rotterdam. I also loved, amongst others, Tam kudy ja jdu and Picz, which were both the victims of being in a semi-final with all the good songs whilst the second semi-final was nowhere near as competitive. Having said all that, I am not sure that I would change the eventual winner, Solowej, because it’s its own brand of delightfully authentic. I would undo their unnecessary revamp and keep it as the live version linked to above, though. And the automatic qualifiers: 🇩🇪 Germany: As you would expect from one of the musical monoliths of Europe, Germany once had some of the best and most diverse national finals of the continent, but something went wrong - they kept inviting wild cards, whose scrappiness endeared them to the public even when their songs were mediocre, and so we saw complete no-marks getting the Teutonic nod despite star-studded competition. Nonetheless, “Unser Lied für” was always worth tuning in for, an annual dose of getting mesmer-eyes’d by Barbara Schöneberger too. This year, they threw it all away for one of the most repetitive songs of the year, with a young, confused looking Slovenian being the god knows how many’th contestant to channel his inner Justin Timberlake with another knockoff that sounds as German as fajitas. I would have kept the national final - or, if they’re really going to start doing internal selections, go daring with Lily among clouds, whose Surprise was one of the crown jewels of the previous NF season. 🇮🇹 Italy: Sanremo, which actually predates Eurovision, is so much more than an NF, but its own cultural institution, and the quality is such that a song can be your fifth or sixth in Sanremo but still rank really highly in your ESC rankings. Performing with, and composing for, the orchestra, seems to give its entries a timeless quality that few others compare with. My initial favourites were Tosca’s Ho amato tutto, which from its first strains to the final, saudadic “eh” that serves as an unofficial coda, breaks my heart still sublimely; Viceversa, a heartwarming effort by the unbelievably charming Gabbani and Tikibombom, a slice of Sicilian excellence with trenchant lyrics. My most streamed has been Sincero, remembered more for the hugely memetic moment of one of its representatives changing the lyrics and the other walking out disgusted, but which I adore for its synthy vibes and its brilliant lyrics. The eventual winner was Fai rumore, which I also love too much to propose that it be changed. The lines about “an unnatural silence between us” are all the more poignant now. Lowkey think this could have won Italy its long-awaited third victory. 🇳🇱 Netherlands: Now, this is what I call a host nation song. The way I see it, if you’re hosting, you have a direct ticket to the final that you may not enjoy again for a long time, so why not go for a risk? And a risk NL indeed took. Grow is a very atypical song. It builds in a way we do not expect it to. It is mostly minimalist, focusing most of our attention to Jeangu’s voice, making this an intimate, almost confessional track. The crescendo is cathartic. After Albania destroyed itself with an unnecessary revamp, this became my #1 and I would change nothing about it. It really sucks that a song so personal to its writer and performer won’t be allowed on the stage in 2021 - that’s what I would change. A ridiculous decision on the EBU’s part.

#eurovision #opinion #esc 2020 #eurovision song contest #eurovision 2020

[briangroth27]

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark Review

I really enjoyed Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark! While I preferred Goosebumps as a kid, the three Scary Stories books were also an ever-present part of my childhood and I can vividly remember reading them by flashlight with the lights off. The vast majority of my early knowledge of urban legends came from the stories in those books and they certainly helped build my love of spooky things in general as well as the “kids encounter the supernatural” sub-genre of horror/sci-fi specifically. I haven’t read the books in years (though I still have them), but this movie made me want to revisit them because it’s so good!  

Full Spoilers…

Scary Stories is anchored by very strong performances from its teen cast. The main kids do really well with the material they’re given, crafting protagonists that touch on standard teen archetypes but that are also fleshed out, especially Zoe Margaret Colletti (Stella) and Michael Garza (Ramon). Stella is the most well-rounded and explored character in the film, and Colletti displays a huge range of emotion! She capably led the movie and she clearly has a bright career ahead of her. I liked that Stella was the most into horror and nerdy things among her friends, but no one treated that as weird even in this film’s era (girls have always been into nerdy stuff too!). The one thing I wanted more of in terms of her character was why “everyone said” it was her fault that her mother left. Feeling responsible for the absence of a parent is a common childhood misconception, but it seemed weird to frame it as something the whole town would be telling her without also giving a reason for it (though it did give her a connection to Sarah’s own persecution by the entire town, even if only in Stella’s mind). It was really cool of the movie to draw Ramon as the mysterious outsider kid rather than some troubled/tough white kid. That lent the movie a fresh feel while also touching on the racism of the period (which is still in full force today; one of many grounded horrors the movie dabbles in that are very much as relevant now as they were in the film’s 1968 setting). Garza brought an effortless coolness to Ramon that felt appropriately period while also acting as a great mask for his fears. Ramon and Stella’s budding romance was sweet and cute too.

Auggie (Gabriel Rush) and Chuck (Austin Zajur) were no slouches either, providing most of the film’s comic relief while also capably playing real terror and friendship. The two of them and Stella felt extremely natural as friends since childhood and Ramon also effortlessly blended into the group; these four kids’ chemistry was fantastic! At first I wished we'd gotten more personal connections between Chuck and especially Auggie’s fears and their personalities: most victims here face stories pulled from their established fears and anxieties, but Chuck and Auggie’s initially felt more random. A personalized connection to the stories the book used against them after “reading them” would enhance the scares and illuminate their characters, and after thinking about it more I think I may have an idea of what they're going for. I could buy Auggie as a hypochondriac, so eating a toe would be horrifying, and he seems to be the most afraid of spooky things among his circle of friends, so maybe his story is attuned to him, but just felt generic because of the more generalized nature of his fears. Chuck’s story is based on a recurring nightmare he has, but I think it’s more personal than that. The Pale Lady (Mark Steger) could be punishment for Chuck’s objectification of women via his pen, but I’m wondering if perhaps that pen is a front (given how quick to show it off he is, to prove his interest in it) and he’s secretly gay. He scoffs at Auggie’s attraction to Ruth (Natalie Ganzhorn), he’s attacked by the book in a mental hospital (homosexuality was classified as a mental illness in 1968), and his nightmare calls its red room (which turns out to be the entire building when the alarm lights come on) “an evil place” (conversion therapy is torture). I think the Pale Lady is a manifestation of conformity and traditional relationships being forced onto him (or rather, forcing him into their narrow definitions by literally absorbing him): she’s everywhere and he can’t outrun or escape her.

Chuck’s sister Ruth also got some solid depth: though initially introduced as a stuck-up and cliché popular teen, they quickly had her stand up for her brother. The fact that both of them annoyed one another but they still raced to help each other made their relationship feel very real. That she’s helping continue the search for him at the end of the film instead of being condemned to insanity forever or something is awesome too! Tommy (Austin Abrams) was the only teen character that was really written as one-note, but it was a frightening note, both because of the violence and racism he exuded and the fact that he could easily be a modern radicalized teen, filled with all the same kinds of hate, rage, and eagerness to go off and kill people in a pointless war that you can find online nowadays. Now that I think about it, Chief Turner (Gil Bellows) was also written fairly single-mindedly and he was also a villain. I wonder if that’s intentional: these human villains don’t have redeeming qualities or sympathetic backstories, so their racism and ugliness is fully on them. Of course, continuing to embrace racism is always fully on the racist, but this film isn’t even trying to make excuses for why they might be like that. I think the movie’s saying there really isn’t anything more to people who are this consumed by hate and ignorance. There’s no point in trying to reason with them because they’re exactly what they present to the world (except they’re not strong like they pretend: they’re just scared straw men). 

The movie’s main villain, Sara Bellows (Kathleen Pollard), does have more layers to her than these human ghouls: despite being “evil,” she’s presented as (initially) being a victim whose only crime was trying to warn the town about mercury poisoning in the water. After taking her revenge on her family for committing and torturing her, Sarah’s decline into unfocused rage parallels Stella’s inability to let go of her feeling that she drove her mother away nicely. I wonder if part of Sarah’s reason for attacking the kids just for finding and taking her book was because she thought they’d lie about her too; it’s when Stella promises to write and tell her story faithfully that she relents, after all. Skimming through the books again after seeing the movie, I realized I’d forgotten they were written to help you scare the people you were reading to, so I liked that Sarah telling stories tailored to her victims was her method of vengeance and that Stella had to help tell her story to end the terror. Those are cool ways to honor the structure of the books.

The film has a great mix of jump scares (some of which did work on me), gross-out imagery (Auggie and that toe, man!), body horror (Tommy’s fate was brutal and painful-looking!), and real-life terror (Ramon running from the draft resonated with me a lot; even as a kid growing up in the 90s, being drafted to go die in some war was a major fear of mine). It was sobering to see just how many of the societal problems of the late 60s (racism, pollution, white boy rage/toxic masculinity, useless wars, the wealthy screwing over everyone for profit, no one listening to women, etc.) still haven’t been solved today. I do wish the movie were a little scarier, but the overall tone is wonderfully spooky (and decidedly “fall,” which was great), while the comic relief breaks up the tension nicely. The design of the monsters is very cool, with some of them looking like they walked right out of the books. The pacing is brisk, the directing, writing, and score are all solid, and the actors all bring their A-game. Sarah Bellows’ book was a good way to weave the original series’ stories together and I really liked that our heroes don’t just forget or ignore what they’ve been through and walk away from the terror at the end of the movie. Instead, Stella, her father (Dean Norris), and Ruth are actively headed off to rescue Chuck and Auggie. I love that, like in the real world, you can’t just let evil fester: you’ve got to stand up and protect each other. Ramon also goes off to face his fears, enlisting in the army, but that was a lot more somber: I didn’t get the sense that he’ll be coming back (though I hope he will!).

I’d definitely watch More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and hope we get another movie (and a third one, if they want to go that far)! I love this spooky 90s literature renaissance that’s going on and I’d like to see it continue (please give me Goosebumps 3 and a show about The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids while we’re at it!). In the meantime, get your Halloween season started early, because these Scary Stories are definitely worth a trip to the theater!

 Check out more of my reviews, opinions, and original short stories here!

#scary stories to tell in the dark

[northcountryschool]

March 27, 2020

Photo: The view from Balanced Rocks. Credit: Exec. Director Todd Ormiston.

As the first week of our online classes comes to a close, we would like to thank our community members for their patience as we work through this learning process together. While we have transformed our normal ways of teaching and learning, the education of the whole child remains at the core of all we do. Over the next few days, we will be soliciting feedback from parents about the current format of the online classes as we seek to improve the system that is currently in place. Spring is such an incredible time at North Country School, from hands-on learning outdoors in warmer weather to maple sugaring to lambing season, and we deeply miss having the whole community together to enjoy it.

In addition to the weekly blog, we are excited to launch a new "Connecting with Our Community" learning and activity series next week, which we hope will help keep us all connected at this difficult time. (See the footer below for more info.) 

For over 80 years, our students have been challenged and inspired by the rawness of the mountains that surround us. Living in this environment gives children a deeper understanding of the rigorous beauty of nature and the delicate balances and life cycles that define life on our planet. Immersion in nature can have a healing quality, and so, we hope that you and your family are able to spend a little time outdoors while at home together.

Slowly but surely, the last vestiges of snow will begin to melt in the Adirondacks, the trees will begin to bloom, and soon, wild shades of green will enliven the mountains. We hope that the promise of spring will inspire and reassure our community of our collective resilience. We will all get through this together.

As we are learning in our own lives, the distance created by being separated from a community can feel isolating. Know that we are here to support you and your children through these challenging times. Please don't hesitate to reach out with any questions, suggestions, or concerns. 

Note: Our campus is temporarily closed to all students, with the exception of the 21 international students who remained here during spring break, rather than returning to their home countries during the early stages of the outbreak. These students, houseparents, and faculty are staying on campus and enjoying outdoor adventures in the contiguous wilderness during this time. They have been and will continue to practice social distancing, as well as CDC approved safety and prevention protocols.

OUR COMMITMENT TO CHILDREN

Top: Garden Manager Tess holds seedlings. Middle 1: Head of Kitchen Paulette Peduzzi prepares food. Middle 2: Local sweet potatoes for dinner. Middle 3: Jenny works from campus. Bottom: Nurse Jess Jeffery and her son, Wyatt. 

Life at North Country School looks different than it did earlier in the year, but our commitment to caring for our students and one another has not changed. Each day the adults on campus work to ensure that our community and the children that live here are cared for, happy, and healthy. Garden Manager Tess has been busy in the greenhouses starting seeds and tending to the plants that will nourish us through the rest of the year, both in the dining rooms and in the Teaching and Learning Kitchen for our Edible Schoolyard program. Head of Kitchen Paulette, along with other members of the kitchen staff, moved to campus earlier in the month to ensure that everyone on-campus will have access to delicious food full of healthy, wholesome ingredients. 

While Paulette and Tess have been busy working in the kitchen and gardens, students and houseparents have been caring for our residential spaces, ensuring that those houses continue to truly feel like homes and provide a place to relax, work, and play. Our campus is also home to our two wonderful nurses, Jess and Shannon, as well as their families, and we are grateful for the thoughtful and compassionate care they provide to our students and faculty each and every day. 

CREATIVITY AND CONNECTION

Top: Caroline reads to her English class. Middle 1: Melissa’s “first day of school” sweater. Middle 2: Larry teaches Earth science. Middle 3: Sierra teaches photography. Bottom: Edible Schoolyard teacher Elie makes a pizza for a “What’s Cooking on Campus?” lesson to send to families.

NCS has always been a school committed to dynamic, place-based, and hands-on learning. For our dedicated faculty, the move to online teaching demanded creativity and flexibility, but those core values remain the same. Teachers have been hard at work tackling that challenge, making sure to support one another and share resources in the process. 

 This week, English teacher Caroline read aloud to her 4th- and 5th-graders from The Ugly One, by Leanne Statland Ellis, while 8th-grade English teacher Melissa donned her trademark “first day of school” sweater before holding the first online class with her students. Earth science teacher Larry ran his class on erosion forces using a projector to view the group and engage in discussion. Sierra talked her photography class through their first lesson, helping them brainstorm ideas for individual creativity and thoughtful collaboration. As part of our efforts to engage with the greater community, and to reach families that are together in their own homes, Edible Schoolyard instructor Elie baked up some tortillas and a pizza to prepare for his first weekly “What’s Cooking on Campus?” lesson. Each Wednesday on our Facebook page, Elie will be posting recipes and cooking tips as resources for those cooking at home. “What’s Cooking on Campus?” is part of our new Connecting with Our Community series. Find more information on that series at the bottom of this post. 

A PLACE TO PLAY

Top: Sweety makes a snowball. Middle 1: Playing sit down ball in the snow. Middle 2: Jessica ice fishing. Middle 3: Playing badminton in the WallyPAC. Bottom: Dean of Students Bryan Johansmeyer and his family build a snowman.

Access to the outdoors, exercise, and play have always been core values in the North Country School community, and their importance has never been more clear than during these challenging times. Our adults and students are still spending much of their time outside, and the fresh snow this week created the perfect playground for snowball fights, snowman building, and games of an NCS favorite pastime, sit down ball. Other groups took walks down to the lake for some afternoon out-times of ice fishing under bright blue skies, and when the temperatures dipped back toward freezing, groups took advantage of the spacious Walter Breeman Performing Arts Center (WallyPAC), setting up a badminton court that has been a favorite after-dinner activity this week. 

NCS AT HOME

Top: Faculty child Ella attends a Zoom class from her on-campus home. Middle 1: Eighth graders attend a synchronous class online. Middle 2: Sixth grader Brian attends English class from home. Bottom: Sixth grader Samantha makes homemade ravioli from home.

Homes look different across our community, but those living both on and off campus have found ways to engage with one another even when they can’t meet face to face. Whether on the North Country School campus in Lake Placid, like 8th-grade faculty child Ella, or spread all around the world like much of our student body, those in the extended community have found creative ways of connecting to their teachers and classmates, often by sending updates of their time spent at home. This week we received pictures of 6th-grader Brian attending a synchronous English class with his teacher, Jack, from the comfort of his Connecticut home’s living room. Day student and 6th-grader Samantha sent photos of her family preparing homemade ravioli and baking tiramisu cake using recipes and skills she’s learned in her years of Edible Schoolyard class at NCS.

SIGNS OF SPRING

Top: A tree frog on campus. Middle 1: Fred helps collect maple sap. Middle 2: Spinach growing in the greenhouse. Bottom: Moss peeking through the snow on campus.

While our day-to-day lives may have changed significantly in the recent weeks, we on the North Country School campus have greatly appreciated that the changing of the seasons has continued moving forward like clockwork. All around us, the snow is melting and new green shoots are pushing out of the ground. The maple sap is flowing in our sugarbush, and we have already boiled that sap down into many gallons of sweet maple syrup for use in our dining rooms throughout the upcoming year. Our greenhouses are filled with tiny seedlings and young plants stretching toward the sun, and we are already harvesting some of our first greens of the season. Soon our sheep will begin their lambing season down at the barn, and the once tiny baby chicks have started looking like adult chickens. In this challenging time, observing these beautiful and normal moments, and seeing reminders of the resilience of the natural world, have been both a comfort and source of optimism to us here at NCS. 

We hope that you and your loved ones are staying safe and healthy, and that your communities are caring for and supporting one another. We will continue to update you about our community from our mountain campus throughout this time, and encourage you all to reach back out to us as well. 

CONNECTING WITH OUR COMMUNITY:

Mondays: Check our Facebook page every Monday for a video from our School Counselor, Lauren, on tips for getting through this challenging time.  

Wednesdays: What’s Cooking at NCS and Camp Treetops? Our Edible Schoolyard instructor, Elie Rabinowitz, along with other community members, will provide simple recipes and cooking resources you can use to cook delicious meals at home with your families. Check it out on Facebook and on Tumblr.

Fridays: Check our Facebook page every Friday for a video featuring a Japanese mini-lesson by teacher Meredith Hanson.

Saturdays: The NCS Saturday Night Activity- Teacher Larry Robjent will be hosting a fun activity similar to the Saturday night activities usually held on campus each weekend with students. Participate live from home with your own families! Check it out on Facebook.

For more information about the #ThisWeekAtNCS blog, contact Becca Miller at [email protected].

For general school information, call 518-523-9329 or visit our website: www.northcountryschool.org

#ThisWeekAtNCS

[teenybeanielinguine]

Outlander S4 - A Reflection

With that explosive finale behind us and a long Droughtlander ahead, I’m taking a moment to look back on this season and reflect on the good, the bad, and the ugly.

(I’ve had some time to unpack and process, so be warned: this is a LONG review, with mild spoilers for The Fiery Cross.)

The Good:

I understand that this was a divisive season for many fans, but I personally loved it!  I could write a whole book about everything I loved, but for the sake of time, I’ll confine my praise to the best part of this season: the amazing cast of actors who bring my favorite characters to life.

Caitriona Balfe reprised her role as Claire Fraser with stunning success, and really sparkled when she shared the screen with her fellow cast members; her most powerful moments this season were definitely the mother/daughter conversations she had with Bree and Marsali.  Though she handles tragic scenes with ease, I hope she is given a chance to enact lighter, happier sequences in Season 5; Jamie and Claire need more laughter and teasing, less heart-felt speeches and drama.

As our leading man, Sam Heughan played Jamie to perfection; he managed to tell entire stories with his eyes alone.  Same as with Balfe, he captures tragedy easily, but I want him to stretch out a little and show off his acting chops.  There will always be drama in Claire and Jamie’s lives, but please sprinkle in some more fluffy moments, so we can see Heughan laugh!  Jamie’s roles as patriarch and leader are also going to be significantly expanded in the next season (the last few moments of the finale teased that a bit), and I can’t wait to see Heughan tackle that challenge.

I’ve been tentative about Sophie Skelton in the past; after all, Brianna is one of my favorite characters, despite her polarizing nature, and I was worried about her portrayal.  But Skelton nailed everything (the rape scene and its aftermath, in particular, were deeply chilling), and I have complete confidence that Bree is in safe hands.  In the finale, we saw Bree finally become a mother and reunite with her husband (not gonna lie, I’ve had that reunion on a loop ever since it aired); these two events are going to play major roles in her character growth (so excited for next season!).

Richard Rankin was a tour-de-force as Roger; I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the screen every time he appeared.  Any issues I had with his character were purely a result of writing and production choices, and despite those issues, Rankin still managed to make the character wonderfully, emotionally, lovably human (for further evidence, please refer to the idiot hut).  Roger’s journey is one of the most difficult transformations in the series, and next season will be challenging for Rankin; I’m particularly interested to see how he handles Roger’s growing relationship with Jamie.

All the leads were supported by a strong set of secondary characters, from Duncan Lacroix as the miraculously resurrected Murtagh to David Berry as the fabulous Lord John Grey.  John Bell was one of my absolute favorites, with his spot-on portrayal of Young Ian (that proposal! the emotional goodbye!! running the gauntlet!!!).  Ed Speelers played Stephen Bonnet in a way that brought back shivery memories of Black Jack.  Honestly, there was no weak link in this cast.  Special shoutout to Braeden Clarke (Kaheroton) and Tantoo Cardinal (Adawehi/Nayawenne in the books); hopefully we’ll be able to see even more powerful and complex First Nations characters in the coming season (to this effect, may I humbly suggest showing Young Ian’s time among the Mohawk?  Would love to see that first-hand rather than having the character describe it after the fact; also, you can never have too much John Bell).

This Season’s MVPs: Lauren Lyle and César Domboy.  Marsali and Fergus are never more than side characters in the books; you never hear the story from their POV.  Thankfully, the show saw a chance to expand their roles and took it.  And oh boy, did Domboy and Lyle deliver! Their nuanced performances just blew me away (”If Not For Hope” comes to mind).  I hope that we see even more of them going forward.

The Bad:

No adaptation is perfect (although if you have found one that is, please message me immediately).  It is especially difficult when the adaptation in question has to fit an 880-page book into a mere 13 hours; to put it into perspective, the audiobook version of Drums of Autumn is a whopping 45 hours long!  Though I like to nitpick and criticize, I am not so arrogant as to think that I could have done a better job, and I am very grateful to the writing and production teams who tackle this impossible task. I am also strangely content with most of the deviations they’ve made from the source material (Murtagh as a regulator is particularly genius, with really interesting implications for next season).

That being said, there is some room for improvement.  And one area that definitely needs some fine tuning is Claire and Jamie.  This year, some very vocal fans found issue with the fact that we didn’t see our main lovebirds enough, and there weren’t enough sex scenes, and why weren’t they in this episode?!  For me, none of those things were an issue, especially given that we saw Jamie and Claire way more than any other characters this season.  I don’t think we need more J/C time; I think we need better J/C time.

I wish the show would stop beating us over the head with Jamie and Claire’s epic love; we know their love is deep and everlasting, that’s why we keep coming back! (That, and the kilts.)  But we need to move on from soap-operatic speeches and tender love-making; those were more interesting in the early days of their marriage, when their love was a new, fragile thing.  Show me instead the easy comfort of a long-married couple: the teasing, the laughter, the bone-deep happiness.  Balfe and Heughan have such great chemistry when it comes to that kind of thing, but we’ve only gotten snippets of it this season!  Rather than another over-the-top, tear-jerking scene where Jamie and Claire reassure each other and reaffirm their love (again), give me Claire cuddling up to Jamie under a snowbank after his back gives out and telling him stories.  Or exchanging amused looks with him when Young Ian does/says something silly.  Or Jamie teasing Claire about that time she hit him in the head with a fish while he was trying to fight off a bear (true story).  Or Claire teasing Jamie with her new breeches (I’m not going to say no to sex scenes entirely).  Get rid of the excessive drama (this couple already has more drama than they know what to do with); bring on the fluff!

Speaking of moving on, the show needs to let Frank Randall go.  By this point in the series, he’s been dead for a few years, and quite frankly, good riddance (pardon the pun).  His character was cast in a sympathetic light for narrative purposes; the producers wanted to make him the antithesis of his ancestor, Black Jack Randall, so they carefully omitted the fact that he was at times a racist ass with a string of mistresses (my apologies to any Frank fans; as you can see, he’s not one of my favorite characters).  The problem is that they took it too far, painting Frank as a martyr and putting first Claire, then Jamie, at a big disadvantage.  Despite this mistake, I’m fine with using Frank to flesh out Brianna’s character (his only redeeming quality is his aptitude for fatherhood), but that should have happened very early on in the season, before Bree makes the journey through the stones.  That journey is a pivotal point for Bree; she is driven not only by a need to save her mother, but also by a deep curiosity and longing for this birth father that she’s never met.  In the book, she even goes so far as to abandon the name “Randall” and adopt “Fraser” for the journey.  But that sentiment was lost entirely by the decision to have Frank accompany her on the voyage, narratively speaking.  We no longer get the feeling that she’s eager to meet/bond with Jamie; even worse, the writers had her casually dropping Frank’s name into every conversation!  No matter how great Tobias Menzies is, we have neither the time nor the will to keep devoting so much energy to a deceased character (who isn’t that critical to the future story, btw).  Heading into Season 5, we need to make our final, belated goodbyes to Frank Randall.

One 20th century man we should have seen more of instead was Roger Mackenzie.  As we dove into Season 4, I was so excited to see his developing relationship with Brianna; remember when they were super cute together, a million years ago in Season 3?  But too much focus on exposition meant that we didn’t see them until three episodes in, and instead of the slow burn I had anticipated, we got a lot of unnecessary drama.  Why on Earth is Roger a misogynist all of a sudden?  What happened to the sweet proposal where they both decide they’re not yet ready for marriage?  The lack of screen time meant that Bree and Roger’s entire relationship development was crammed into one episode; coupled with poor writing choices, the result was a shaky romance that was hard to root for.  I was lucky enough to have the books as a safety net; I know exactly how deeply they love and respect each other, despite the mayhem onscreen.  But the fans who hadn’t read the series (and even some who had) didn’t understand why these two were an endgame couple, and I don’t blame them.  That last reunion scene helped cement their relationship a little, but not enough; unfortunately, Season 5 is going to have to waste some of its precious time rectifying this misstep.

Which brings me to my last point: the pacing.  With so many new characters and so little time, it is more important than ever that the show learn to juggle all the storylines more smoothly.  The pacing of this season was so uneven, it gave me whiplash.  Gone are the days when Claire and Jamie were the only focus; from now on, their ever-growing family is going to continue complicating matters.  Outlander needs to evolve to meet this need if it wants to keep up. (Also, could we revert back to a 16-episode format, like in Season 1?  Please and thank you.)

The Ugly:

I will readily admit that I am new to this fandom.  I got hooked on the show during summer 2018 and devoured the books shortly thereafter.  When I joined Tumblr in the fall, it was because I wanted to celebrate this story with likeminded people and geek out over the upcoming season.

The actual experience was a bit more jarring (suffice it to say, I didn’t know hate-watching was a real thing that people did).  I don’t want to chastise or implore certain fans to adopt a more positive outlook; I’ve seen a lot of posts about that already, and I’m not inclined to add to them.  Instead, I’d like to share some of the guidelines I impose on myself when I contribute to any fandom (I’m not saying these will or should work for everyone, but they have worked for me):

Love, not hate.  To me, a fandom is a community that comes together out of love.  Knowing this, I try my best not to express any feelings of hate within that community; I don’t think it’s an appropriate place to share those feelings, and I don’t want to diminish the fandom experience for anyone else.  If I find that I no longer love or even like the show/book/movie that the fandom is centered on, I disengage from the community entirely, because I no longer consider myself a fan.  And that’s perfectly fine; there is no rule that says that once you’re in a fandom, you’re in it for life.

If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.  Despite the fact that I love the subject matter, it is not an absolute, unconditional sort of love.  I often find myself disliking certain aspects or getting frustrated by opposing views (this is doubly true when it comes to adaptations).  I let myself express these dislikes and frustrations only if I can see the silver lining; in other words, I allow myself to say a few negative things about a character/scene only if I can supplement them with a good dose of positivity as well.  Too much uninterrupted negativity borders on hate.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T.  I’m a very anxious person with self-confidence issues, so I have a hard time expressing my opinion online, even anonymously.  That’s why I’m never going to tear anyone else down for doing so.  I may disagree with you, or dislike the way you expressed yourself, but I’m going to be respectful even if it kills me, because that’s how I would want other people to interact with me.  Even with the Internet as a buffer, I think it’s important to remember that we are all human, and all equally capable of hurting others and being hurt ourselves.

Again, these guidelines work for me, but it’s completely subjective.  And even though my experience in the OL fandom hasn’t been a bed of roses so far, I’ve still met some amazing people with incredible things to say.  My favorite fandom moments of the season? @futurelounging‘s beautiful thoughts on episode 12 and @breefraser‘s hilarious criticism of Roger’s sartorial choices.

I’d love to hear from other fans!  What worked for you this season?  What would you have changed?  Favorite fandom moments?  If you choose to reply, please be kind and respectful.

#just a few thousand thoughts #i'm rambling a bit over here #feel free to stop me #or come ramble with me #Outlander #outlander season 4 #drums of autumn

[22drunkb]

Please could you talk about the weird and specific visual language of person of interest? I haven't noticed it before but now I'm intrigued

Hi, Anon. You sent this ask 8 months ago. I took this long to answer because I wanted to really lay it all out for you, with the right screencaps and reference images and a whole theory of why the show looks the precise way it does. But the fact is, that’s not going to happen. I don’t have the time or mental energy to do it properly, and I have finally accepted that because the almost completely written long-ass answer to a different question about a different show that’s been sitting in my drafts for about as long is still languishing! and it’s almost done! wild what grad school can do to a person.

So since I have accepted that I can’t do the Full Treatment I wanted to, I’ll just do the quick explanatory version.

POI has 5 main visual ideas it returns to over and over. These are:

1. Surveillance footage. This is notable because it tends to look, by normal framing and cinematography standards, bad; they are very deliberately putting out “bad” images to tell the story, which after all is in large part about surveillance and privacy. I can’t remember now where I read/heard this, but the EPs definitely talked about the struggle to get cameras into these really inconvenient spots to get the properly terrible angles that would play as plausible CCTV-type footage.

2a. Edward Hopper’s style. By this I mean less his use of color than his tendency to show one or a few static figures, small in relation to their (usually urban) surroundings, often locked off by a frame-within-the-frame (someone framed in a window within the larger setting, for example); and significant contrast in lighting. The emblematic example for me is the wide shot of John cradling Carter’s body next to the phone booth, right after the moment of her death. But a lot of the comedic exterior shots of a bar or other establishment inside of which John is wreaking havoc actually fit as well.

2b. Noir, which was probably influenced by Hopper in the first place (or at least was responding to similar aspects of the zeitgeist). “POI noir” is a very popular thing in the fandom, and I assume you don’t need me to explain it. I will say, though, that as a film genre noir is about the failure of institutions, loneliness, isolation, and doom, so the choice is both telling and appropriate. (The same applies to the Hopper point.)

3. This is related to 2 and 3, but there is a broader theme of small isolated figures against a big, empty (or sometimes empty by virtue of being anonymously crowded) urban backdrop. (This is something noir does a lot also.) The reason I’m separating it here is that POI does this a lot of the time without making it noir; it creates something lighter-colored, lower-contrast, and more contemporary-looking, but maintins a similar effect. Takeshi Miyasaka’s work evokes it very directly for me. What’s interesting about his paintings as well as these compositions in POI is that they often come off as unstudied, not overthought or excrutiatingly composed. This is not the case; they are very carefully thought out (in both cases). But they convey a sense of naturalism you don’t get from a traditional noir composition (or most of Hopper’s noirish work--some of his other stuff is different, but not relevant here), while maintaining that feeling of a small subject in a big, uncaring, not particularly beautiful world.

4. Comics. POI is often compared to Batman; in some ways it more closely resembles Batman’s even noir-ier antecedent, The Shadow. It obviously leans into this in 4x06, “Pretenders,” but it’s there in a lot of the action sequences. I’d cite the one where John goes after Quinn in “The Devil’s Share,” a lot of “Relevance,” or this as examples.

5. The “interior,” thinking/processing shots of the Machine and Samaritan. For these they obviously invented a lot. They definitely drew on what was at the time cutting-edge data visualization as well as the marketing materials of some leading tech and security companies to create them, but I think it’s one of the ways in which the show was most original. (Interestingly, you can see some of this idea being worked out before the show even began in the movie Eagle Eye, which had the same producers. It’s not a good movie, mind you, and its notion of AI is super simplistic, but some of the visualization in this area is clearly prototypical of what would play out on POI.)

A lot of these visual choices don’t stand out as noticeable (aside from the AI visualizations, which of course are unmissable). There are two main reasons for this. One is that none of them are constant. POI never set out to make every shot a stylistic masterpiece, the way a show like Hannibal more or less did. I assume this was partly because of the logistical realities of a 22-episode season, but it also works with the show’s storytelling. The idea they want you to get, that they reiterate over and over, is that the world looks normal but isn’t underneath. So the 5 stylistic ideas I mentioned above tend to appear in short spurts--an action sequence, a shot framing Harold against a New York skyline or the whole team by a bridge, etc--stitched together by pretty standard TV framing (shot/reverse shot, close-up, medium). This allows them to kind of ramp up and ramp down the level of visual intensity, using noirish or comicky compositions, or particularly intense AI visualizations, in line with the storytelling. It is also a kind of metaphor for the entire premise: things look regular most of the time, but they aren’t if you pay attention.

The second reason is that we are so incredibly used to surveillance footage! It doesn’t stick out to us anymore! This is actually very significant because, as I noted above, surveillance cameras are not positioned for aesthetic value. The point is coverage, not composition or image quality. So this is a cinematic product (a television show) that is working overtime to give you technically “bad” images. But those images don’t really stand out as ugly, per se; instead they denote truthfulness. So for example, the Machine’s POV (as opposed to its thought process, which is digitally animated) is almost always in this surveillance style. This reminds us of what the Machine is and how it works, and it also tells us that what we’re seeing isn’t subjective. It is not someone’s memory or their perception. It is a literal recording. This allows the Machine to act as our guide through the whole timeline, moving us back and forth through that horizontal scroll, zooming in on a moment or incident for replay. We never have to question if the Machine is lying to us or mistaken (aside from 5x02), because its memory is a video archive presented to us with all the hallmarks of video that means “proof,” not video that means “feelings” or “perceptions.” Once we’ve been transitioned into a flashback scene, that style can go away so that we can abandon the distance that surveillance introduces to engage with the emotion of the flashback scene, but they use that device to move us around because it automatically tells us “this is true.” Simultaneously, the ubiquity of surveillance-style shots reinforces that same message I talked about above: that we are being watched (because the world has gone sideways).

(Perhaps I should mention that Nolan and Plageman said a big goal of theirs with the show was to make people more aware of how profoundly the technological and therefore social world around them was changing with little notice or fanfare. One of the obvious ways they were trying to direct our attention on this point was to issues of privacy. Finch helping John out of a sticky situation by exploiting a homeowner’s smart TV isn’t just a matter of making Finch look clever. They wanted to let us know that if your smart TV has a camera, someone can remotely turn it on. [I know this is common knowledge now, but that episode was like 2012. I found out what Palantir was because of POI!] Just to contextualize why to me, “you are being watched” and “the world has gotten very weird” are basically the same message in the context of POI.)

One of the show’s key influences is The Naked City (the show and the film). The film version of The Naked City is notable because it was one of the first post-WWII movies to shoot on location instead of on a film set, and it was shot in NYC. It’s also one of the earliest police procedurals, in the form we know the genre today. It’s not exactly noir, but it’s not exactly not noir. It’s based on the photography of the famous ambulance-chasing, poverty-documenting photographer Weegee; you could say it’s an early example of a “gritty” film. It doesn’t have the elegant devastation of The Third Man or the deep shadows of Double Indemnity. It was all about bringing audiences the amazing spectacle of a real place; the paradoxical insistence on authenticity in cinema goes way back. The Naked City to me is somehwere between noir and cinema verité, and in that sense, POI is true to it as an influence.

#person of interest #anonymous