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tearsoftime0086 · 5 months

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Zero-Sum Escape: A Close Reading of Code Veronica’s Steve Burnside

Introduction + Disclaimers

If you’re a friend/mutual/unfortunate witness to my discovery of Steve Burnside, you might’ve seen this coming. I’ve become an avid enjoyer of the character, which has led to some interesting discussions about him with friends! I’ve decided to write a small (edit: it was supposed to be small) piece on what makes him so interesting, using quotes and cutscenes from the original Code Veronica game. A lot of online discourse around Steve has historically been negative, so I hope this can be a positive primer for folks who want to learn more about him, or even an interesting curio for folks wondering why someone would do such an in-depth read for a one-off character.

This reading will focus strictly on Code Veronica (and not any of the Darkside Chronicles material) – with the full understanding that many aspects of the game are a product of their time, good and bad. I’ll try to cite my evidence as much as possible, but this will obviously be coming from a subjective and modern perspective as a fan of his character! I’m also a fairly new Resident Evil fan, so if anything’s incorrect, please forgive me and let me know! I’d be happy to make edits.

Anyway, this is all in good fun – and to anyone who even reads a single sentence of this, I appreciate your time!

Reference

As a way to “cite” dialogue and cutscenes, I’ll be including rough timestamps to this great video of Code Veronica cutscenes: https://youtu.be/ym46RPHqaSY?si=a6ItTpdOn3rCZq-U. Feel free to follow along, but the text should make sense without the video too.

So, who is this guy, anyway?

Let’s start with the basics. In the game Resident Evil – Code: Veronica (taking place shortly after RE:2), you start as Claire Redfield, recent prisoner of Rockfort Island. Unfortunately, Claire finds herself in the midst of another biohazard outbreak. And what’s worse is that during her escape, a stranger in a watchtower starts shooting at her indiscriminately! (0:05)

When the dust settles, Claire comes face to face with an abrasive teenager named Steve Burnside, a fellow prisoner on the island.

“Uh, sorry about that little misunderstanding…” (0:43)

This, alongside his attempts to be “smooth” – (I mean, who says “Relax beautiful…” unironically?) doesn’t do him any favors for most players. Not to mention his active derision of Claire’s skills – he leaves her with a few choice “tsks” and a “I don’t want you following me, lady. You’ll only slow me down.” (1:30).

This opening scene sets up a few key characteristics for Steve, which I’ll be referencing throughout this piece.

Steve is someone who makes numerous mistakes, ranging from purely accidental to sheer negligence.

Steve puts a heavy emphasis on reliability/dependability. He leaves Claire because he thinks she will “slow [him] down”. We’ll see more examples of his complex with “relying on others” later on.

Where do these traits leave us? A character that ends up being deeply paradoxical, and in my opinion, super fascinating because of it.

“You’ll just end up disappointed if you rely on others”

Claire finds Steve somewhat quickly afterwards, perusing information about her brother, Chris. I think it’s important to recognize Steve’s intent here. If he was purely focused on escaping (and leaving Claire behind), he wouldn’t have bothered looking for any records relating to her. Some folks may argue that he has a crush on Claire already, and is just following teenage impulses. But trust me, there’s more concrete evidence of teenage impulses later. For now, let’s give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he was trying to help her out – it ties well with point 2.

Steve’s snooping reveals that Chris is being monitored by Umbrella. Claire immediately takes action, contacting Leon about it. At this point, Steve sarcastically tells her,

“That file shows latitude and longitude of this place. Tch, why don’t you send your brother the coordinates and ask him to come help?” (2:20)

When Claire takes him completely seriously, he becomes prickly.

S: “Hey? I was just kidding? There’s no way he could get here, even if he is your brother.” C: “Yes he can; I’m sure of it.” S: “No way. He won’t come. You’ll just end up disappointed if you rely on others. Believe me, I know!”

Steve’s sudden anger and exit demonstrate how much this topic of “reliability” affects him. He’s vocal about his need for self-reliance – and yet, if we take his investigation in a positive light, it’s not like he’s completely selfish in his attempt to escape Rockfort.

Steve is someone who desperately wants to believe in human reliability, and yet has been spurned due to the circumstances of his imprisonment. We’ll see that he tries to emulate it himself, but unfortunately (and perhaps realistically) falls short.

Yet, what really nurtures this desire is Claire – someone who he can finally depend on. The pair’s next encounter comes when Steve is in trouble (if you’ve seen the “Steve is suffering” memes, it’s from this scene). The player hears him yell a pitiful “Help me!” as he bangs against a locked door – so much for relying on yourself.

If Claire solves the puzzle fast enough, Steve escapes and tells her, “That was too close. But I found something. Thanks to… you.” (3:44).

Thus begins the two’s shaky partnership – and believe me, it’s shaky. Steve runs off yet again, only agreeing to give Claire the essential golden lugers if she trades him something “fully automatic”. But Steve’s obviously on better terms with her now, as seen when he emphatically tells her, “See? This is why you need me. I got your back,” later (5:10). Quite cooperative for someone who was crowing about not relying on others.

In the midst of these scenes is a growing desire to look good to Claire – to be someone she can count on.

The knight fantasy – and bitter reality

Steve ends up describing his own motivation pretty well. Claire finds herself stuck with a nasty Bandersnatch, before Steve dramatically comes to her rescue (more on this in the next section). Afterwards, he eagerly proclaims the following:

S: “Oh yeah, that felt good! Don’t worry Claire, your knight in shining armor is here!” C: “You wish – but thanks for the help.” S: “See? This is why you need me. I got your back.” (4:54)

Steve wants Claire to see him as someone she can rely on – as a self-proclaimed knight to save her from the influx of zombies. It’s why he tells her to wait as he clears out the following area with his “new toy” (6:35). He wants to be the hero who saves the day – Claire might not be able to count on others, but she can sure count on him. He even states it outright afterwards:

“See? You can depend on me.” (6:58)

But maybe this is too blatant of a turn even for him, because he immediately backs off and instead mentions his guns instead:

“You see? This thing is a lot more reliable than any person.” (6:59)

Claire takes immediate suspicion of this, however, and starts to ask questions.

C: “Than people?” S: “…” C: “Steve, what were you doing here? Who brought you here, and where’s your family?” S: “Shut up – I don’t want to talk about it!” *shoots his gun at the wall* C: “Steve…” S: “Never mind. Let’s get going.” (7:04)

Note that he punctures this conversation with an angsty emptying of his gun magazine at the wall. This is no knight – this is volatile, teenage behavior. Claire can tell there’s something on his mind, but Steve doesn’t seem to be in the condition to explain anything.

Steve does the same thing four times – aka, analyzing entrances

As a brief interruption (but it ties into the rest, I promise), let’s take a chance to look at the different ways Steve barges into a cutscene. Humor aside, Steve’s physical actions vary across the four different times he comes to Claire’s “rescue”.

Bandersnatch (4:30)

The first rescue is all cliches and edge. Claire’s “knight in shining armor” breaks through a window dramatically. He shoots at the Bandersnatch without even directly aiming at him, walking forward as he shoots with his dual wielded lugers. It’s almost comical as he walks straight up to the Bandersnatch, delivering a kick and single killing shot for good measure.

It’s all impractical – Steve’s incessant wish to dual wield would hardly be effective in real life, let alone everything else here. But this scene, cliche as it may be, reflects what Steve wants to be in front of Claire. He’s the action hero, the knight – the one who can be counted on to swoop in and save the day.

The Infamous Father Scene (8:13)

These heroics fail him once the two encounter his father. No longer is this a fantasy but bitter reality – and Steve can’t find it in him to shoot his infected dad. It’s only when Claire is in peril that he takes action – and this time, it’s impulsive and rough. He unloads all his ammo in a single, shaking shot, continuing to press the trigger even when it’s all gone.

It’s now that Steve tells Claire the full story – his father was caught trying to sell confidential Umbrella information, leaving his mother dead and the two of them locked up here. He morosely tells Claire, “He was a fool to do something so reckless! So stupid…” (10:15). We can see how much his father’s actions have impacted him – his desire for consistency comes from having his familial life ripped apart by the actions of someone he trusted dearly. And now, at the end of it, he is truly alone – the last one left in his family.

Alfred (11:07)

The next time we find Steve, we see a little bit of the Bandersnatch energy back in him – there’s the same aim, the same kick (to open the door) – but it’s less dramatic this time. There’s no slow-motion focus on shattered glass, no cocky final shot. In fact, this encounter leaves Steve visibly hurt – a crack in his armor. Steve’s still trying to be Claire’s dependable rescuer, and yet this encounter shows that he’s not the infallible knight he wishes to be. Far from it, considering the mistakes he'll make later on.

Alfred in Antarctica (21:30)

This cutscene skips forward a little, but it’s a nice final reminder that Steve does genuinely try his best to protect Claire, and succeeds! We see him take two stylish leaps and then shoot a quick few bullets to rescue her from Alfred. He’s still trying to emulate that knight image, but it’s more efficient than his Bandersnatch moment.

The Flight (and THAT SCENE)

After numerous troubles, Claire and Steve are finally able to escape the island. Needless to say, they’re elated and exhausted. Now that the coast is clear, Steve decides to get honest with Claire and apologize:

S: “Claire, I’m sorry. I know I caused a lot of trouble for you.” C: “No; it’s okay. It was hard for both of us.” S: “Well, I really hope you find your brother. I… I know what it’s like to be alone.” C: “Oh Steve…” S: *coughs awkwardly* “So, where should we go now? I can take you anywhere you want to go, Claire.” C: *laughs* “I hear Hawaii’s nice this time of year.” S: “You got it!” (14:20)

(On a personal note, isn’t this scene so cute? If only this was how it all ended…)

It’s here that Steve bares his heart to Claire. It’s clear that his mishaps and snarky remarks have been weighing on him too – he genuinely wants the best for her. When Claire is all too accepting and sympathetic, however, Steve begins to reveal his feelings (in… controversial ways).

After they find out that the plane is out of their control, the two of them take an uneasy rest. In the cutscene at 16:12, we find Claire leaning on Steve – a physical sign of how she relies on him. As if to follow his teenage impulses, Steve leans in for a kiss – only to startle as Claire begins to wake. His notion is thwarted immediately. Steve stands up,leans on the glass, slams the window and sighs.It shows signs of a “what was I thinking?” moment of clarity.

After all, kissing princesses in their sleep is something knights do in fairy tales. And Steve? Well, he’s no knight. He’s someone who’s almost hindered Claire’s escape as much as he’s helped, and he knows that. This thought is only exacerbated with his actions upon their arrival in Antarctica.

Antarctica, where more mistakes ensue

The plane decides to violently crashes into the side of the Umbrella Antarctica base. Steve kicks the door down and jumps first, reaching his arms out to catch Claire. She lands after, only to stumble and leave them both on the ground. Steve pulls her into a hug, which Claire doesn’t quite reciprocate. As she stands up, Steve lays back flat on the floor, sighing. It’s clear he’s jumped the gun, and it leaves him embarrassed. He doesn’t take Claire’s hand back up and tells her that they should split up to try and find a way out (18:55).

Steve’s love causes another mistake shortly after. The two of them try to break through the base wall with a digging vehicle, only for Steve to get distracted by Claire midway through. This causes a toxic gas pipe to burst – interestingly Steve tries to correct it through the controls – perhaps a reflection of his desires and fantasies for an “undo”. But in reality, he can’t undo his mistakes, and Claire is forced to grab him and leave the area.

This last mistake hits Steve particularly hard:

S: “It’s all my fault…” C: “Don’t say that. Listen to me – we’ll escape from here, together.” C: “Come on, we’ve got to shut off the gas. If we split up, we’ll have a better chance of stopping it.” S: *sighs* “…Okay.” C: “Steve. Don’t forget. We’ll get out of here. Together.” (20:45)

It’s not as if Steve is blind to his own faults – he knows that he’s been the one hindering their escape and takes it particularly hard. Claire has to reassure him multiple times that they’re working as a team to get out of here.

As a further blow to his ego, Steve is completely useless when the two exit the base and encounter Nosferatu, previous Alexander Ashford. Claire notices Nosferatu first, but Steve forces himself ahead of her soon after. He’s still clinging to the need to protect her.

However, Nosferatu easily knocks him off the platform, leaving him clinging to the side. Steve’s at his lowest here, and urges Claire to just leave him behind. If he can’t protect her, then what use is he?”

C: “Hold on, I’ll waste that monster and come back.” S: “Claire, forget about me. Run!” (23:50)

Claire’s resourcefulness and skill allow her to defeat Nosferatu and come back to Steve, still weakly hanging on. She pulls him back up, and Steve is left apologizing again for his rash behavior:

S: “I’m sorry. I failed you.” C: “Don’t worry about it. Let’s go.” *she leaves* S: “I swear I’ll protect you next time, Claire.” (25:15)

At this point, Steve’s all too aware of how his mistakes have left both of them in peril. It’s something that he deeply dislikes – as someone who wants to be dependable, he’s being a poor show of it. Claire’s been the one helping him out through most of this, both emotionally and physically. And so he makes himself a promise that next time, he’ll repay the favor.

It’s with this personal promise that the two climb aboard a snowmobile, hoping that they can make it to the Australia base. Unfortunately, this escape is a dead-end for them as well.

Sleep, weary knight

After Alexia awakens and destroys the snowmobile, Claire is rescued by Chris, who managed to find a way to Antarctica. She’s insistent that they must rescue Steve. She finds him cuffed to a chair in a long hallway, with an axe against his throat.

To Claire’s dismay, it seems she’s too late. Alexia has injected Steve with the t-Veronica virus. Steve’s last words before his transformation are a desperate plea for help. At this point, he’s actively asking for help from the one he loves, but fate has it that Claire is powerless. He begs Claire to save him, but she can only watch in despair as he morphs and chases after her.

In what seems to be a miracle of love, Steve manages to snap out of it just before he lands the killing blow. He instead slashes through Alexia’s entrapping vines, sparking her ire and a fatal blow to his chest. He dies in Claire’s arms, once again in human form, lamenting how he couldn’t protect her – how he couldn’t be her knight:

C: “Oh Steve…” S: *brings Claire’s hand to his cheek* “You’re… warm…” C: “Steve, you’ve got to hang in there, okay? My brother’s come to save us. We’re getting out of here!” S: “Your brother kept his promise. I’m sorry I cannot…” C: “What? What are you saying?” S: “I’m glad that I met you… I…. I love you… Claire…” C: “Steve? Steve?! Steve!” (34:15)

To players who dislike Steve, this may be a cheesy ending to a tedious character. And yet – we see Steve’s character arc complete fully in this final scene. No longer is he a volatile teenager, or a “cool” hero, or a self-perceived deadweight. He’s just Steve – utterly human Steve, who couldn’t keep his promise, and yet saved Claire in his own way. And it’s in these final, human, moments that he can confess his true feelings – only for everything – his façades, his love, everything – to all vanish.

The arm theory

As a somewhat lighter ending to this post, I’d like to discuss a little theory of mine.

People who have been following along with all the cutscenes might have noticed Steve’s right arm getting injured during the fight with Alfred. There’s no visual effect on his model, and Steve even claims, “I’m fine; it’s just a scratch” (11:30). And yet I’m convinced that it was quite a serious wound.

Note that he continues clinging to the platform in the Nosferatu battle with his left hand (24:40), not his right. Yet he keeps clutching his right arm in the cutscene after (25:44). And more importantly, Claire is the one driving the snowmobile during their escape attempt, after Steve had taken the wheel so many times prior (25:59). My theory is that the deterioration of his right arm is also why the arm is significantly skinnier upon his final transformation. If you look super closely at the bottom of the screen, you can actually see his right hand convulse as he mutates! Does this imply anything? Not really. But it would be cool to see this brought back somehow in a hypothetical remake, especially as Darkside Chronicles skipped these parts entirely. Kind of reminds me of another Resident Evil character who had arm injuries…

Anyway, if anyone made it this far, thank you! I hope this was a little insight into why I appreciate Steve so much as a character – and maybe in my wildest dreams, made you potentially enjoy him too.

#resident evil #resident evil: code veronica #recv #steve burnside #claire redfield #bits and baubles #temporary brainworm tag #aka my long meta post for steve that I hope did him justice

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dearsholmes · 1 month

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Autism movie/show deep dive and my very general thoughts on them!

(everyones different these are my own opinions as an autistic woman please watch for yourself and share any additional thoughts you have on them!)

Music (2021)

Enough said.... had to get this one over with 0/10

Adam (2009)

I found most of these movies to be outdated BUT I actually really appreciate Hugh Dancy's recreation of an autistic character (those who know him as Will in Hannibal would probably also agree). Even though originally I wasn't a fan of the ending I came to appreciate it that he wasn't 'saved' by romance and that it proved he was able to be independent and had great character growth while still respecting himself and his passions. I think it offered a decent insight to the different aspects of autistic joy, passion, while still including the difficult aspects with socializing, navigating relationships, grief, and meltdowns but now being overshadowed by them or 'becoming a problem'. However, I do love space so that could've also been responsible for my love for this movie. 8/10

Heartbreak High (2022)

I absolutely love Chloé Hayden who is autistic herself so her character in the show feels real and more relatable. Pretty much what I said about 'Adam' but to an extreme I think the script and character interactions are such a fantastic and understandable demonstration of what being an autistic women is like (granted everyones experience is different). Cannot wait for the next season! This show is such a great modern day representation and not based in stereotypes like others are 10/10

Big Bang Theory (2007)

I will never not defend this show - I know people tend to hate this because Sheldon is heavily stereotypical but I find him incredibly relatable as I do fall into a lot of these stereotypes myself. Once again everyones experiences are different so I don't understand why people write this show off completely. Love it 10/10

Atypical (2017)

Unfortunately I don't have much to say about this show in regards to his autism because the constant inconsistencies during scenes deserve their own post and were too distracting to focus on anything else. Another thing that upset me about this is that the show is meant to take place in Connecticut yet they filmed in one of the most recognizable aquariums in the west coast. This show probably could've been good if it was just made better/had quality control. The only thing I remember liking was the pros and cons list because I also do that. 4/10

Mozart and the Whale (2005)

I'm going to preface this one specifically that I know everyone's autism presents differently but I almost found her... offensive? I think this is because it was made in 2005 and is just outdated but I felt like a lot of the characters especially hers were more caricatures than characters. Sheldon being stereotypical is one thing but this felt kind of insulting? I'm having a hard time putting it into words. There were moments I liked though - it was a weird back and forth. 5/10

What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)

Other than the mistreatment/beating/abuse I actually am pretty fond of this movie. Once again, outdated. But almost... endearing in a way (minus the mistreatment once again). I hope anyone who has seen it will understand what I feel. I did find the love interest annoying but that is unrelated to this post yet I felt the need to warn you all, I don't like her. 7.5/10

My Name is Khan (2010)

I watched this movie six years ago in school before my diagnosis and I didn't even remember or realize he was autistic but I do remember having generally positive thoughts on this movie ?/10 (someone let me know if its worth a rewatch.

A Brilliant Young Mind (2014) ((also called X+Y))

There is a lot of downtime in this movie so it can be kind of boring but it is honestly one of my comfort/go to movies. Of course its the whole "autistics are math geniuses" thing but the movie itself I think is sweet. It shows his diagnosis, he loses his father, he has almost a fill in father who coaches his math, his mother is really supportive of him but not in a savior kind of way, he experiences going out of the country for a competition, struggles with socializing/overwhelm, romantic interests, and there is another character who is autistic and his struggles are also shown in a relatable way, nothings (in my opinion) is annoyingly over exaggerated like it sometimes can be in movies. 9/10

The Good Doctor (2017)

I never actually finished the show because the person I was watching it with kept making fun of me by relating myself to him. Since then I also haven't seen much of a positive reaction from other people either but please let me know your thoughts on it! ?/10

The Imitation Game (2014)

Alan Turing himself was autistic and so even though it's not a main focus of this movie I still wanted to include it because I love this movie! 9/10

Sherlock Holmes (timeless)

I have to also through him in here, obviously some versions are more autistic coded than others but I'm going to generally say all of them are great autistic representation <3 10/10

Not Dead Yet (2023)

Like in Heartbreak High, Rick Glassman an autistic actor plays an autistic character and I think its another great modern day representation. It obviously isn't the main focus but they honestly do a pretty good job being educational in regard to social situations/difficulties and explain it in a way that people can learn from. 10/10

Bones (2005)

I honestly can't remember if they ever say it but Temperance is 100% autistic and I think this is a very endearing show. Since its not the main focus I don't have much to say other than sharing my recommendation 9/10

Criminal Minds (2005)

I mean... enough said. I love Reid with my whole heart. He is very much the 'autistic genius' again but you can't not love Reid! 10/10

Community (2009)

Abed. Another one that doesn't really need much to be said about it. Abed is great 10/10

Dr Who (timeless) ((quite literally and figuratively))

Now this could be considered a reach or projection but Dr Who... autistic! simple as that 10/10

House (2004)

I had to just throw this one in at the end because its really just another version of 'Holmes' and 'Watson' now as 'House' and 'Wilson'. Sherlock, previously said as autistic means House is also autistic 10/10

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thelador-s-mclargehuge · 5 months

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Episode 3, Finding some footing!

youtube

So this is where I started to find where I stood in the series. The last couple of posts was just me going scene by scene describing things, this one I want to focus in on two things. Starting a Lore Bible, and Action Scenes.

So between ep 2 and 3 I took a trip to my grandmas which is always good to get the creative juices flowing. And I knew the Mantis Lords were coming up, and I thought "Mantises are kinda tied in to a lot of places, what with the Trator Lord, the breakup between the tribes, and the pale mourner quest. It seems like there's a lot of fertile ground for lore expansion there!" So I started expanding The Mantis stuff. Then I kept going. I'd established that Fighting History, was going to be a simplified version off Film History I'd already name dropped Zells and Hilltop, during the hornet fight. How much farther can I go with that? And maybe I should give the exposition to Sly.

The Concept I had for Quirrel was based on a Blade Runner 2049 reference I used him to make in the old series... but what if I Kept Expanding Outward.

And eventually, it was time to make this episode. Here is where I had an idea of where to go after this. I'd been playing it by ear up until this point, with a few exceptions. I knew how I was going to do some story beats, like Myla and The Ending. But now I knew what direction I was taking everything else. Hollow Knights lore is veeery open to interpretation. And If I was going to make a narrative series out of it. I needed to interpret. So I decided to go hard on that. I'd say I threw off my shackles and made my own cannon, but Hollow Knight's cannon is a tapestry filled with bits torn out on purpose. So I just filled them in. And while filling them in I realized how wide the canvas was. So I just kept going. And I'm still going!

And ultimately, going that direction I think is the best way to go. Everyone watching the series probably know how the story goes. And it's going to go mostly the same way. But it sure feels a lot different when you've got a lot more going on. And I still got a lot of surprises up my sleeve!

Now let's talk about the fight scenes. So something I didn't talk about during the Episode 2 behind the scenes is that I stopped rendering these videos in 60fps. The reason I did that is because, with the dynamic cutting, the Hornet Fight Scene just looked *way worse* in 60FPS. That framerate is really good when you have to watch out for Hornet's attacks, and therefor are focusing on a mostly static screen where the movement is done by the character and not the camera.

But when every action gets it's own cut, And the camera AND the characters are moving 60FPS can get visually overwhelming. You don't need to actively interact with A Youtube Video. The editing and camera movement does that for you! And if you just have a static screen of the characters moving it looses a majority of the 'oomph' quick cuts, zooms, and framing can give you. It's incredibly boring!

So I render these in 30FPS exclusively now.

But the reason I bring that up is that I noticed something else in the Hornet Fight It's very vertical, and Academy Ratio Widescreen looks much better than 16:9.

So i played around in the hornet fight a little, and eventually decided against going with that. Because hornet did do a lot of jumping in the air and having the full 16:9 rectangle gave me a lot more vertical room.

But I didn't need that with the Moss guards.

So the day before it needed to be released, I looked at it, and it felt like half an episode. There wasn't really a conclusion to it. 'cus at that point it just had the moss guard fight on the bridge and "Still Counts!" was all the training out lil guy did the whole episode.

So I thought "Why don't I just put, like, another fight scene in there where he learns something?"

So I did that. Then I went back to my Widescreen idea.

And I thought to myself "Okay, pretentious much? You're just gonna change the aspect ratio purely for the fight scene on your Hollow Knight Youtube Video?" Everything Everywhere All At Once hadn't come out yet, you see.

So I thought "Well okay, If I'm gonna do that. I think I need another reason for it to be there other than It Looks Better This Way" Which was wrong, of course, that's always a good enough reason. but I thought "If he's training, maybe those are the margins the character writes his notes in. He can put boss attack strategies in there!"

And, while it's been a pain in the ass and a helova lot of work. It's honestly one of the best ideas I had for the series! And I made it 3 hours before my final render lol. Sometimes you give yourself needless barriers, but sometimes a clever solution to something that isn't a problem, turns it into a new cool thing. Not always. Probably not usually. But sometimes!

#HKRBTS #Hollow Knight #funny #Behind The Scenes #content creation #hollow knight resurrected #Youtube

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divinekangaroo · 7 months

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Been binging your fics. When you write, what kind of consideration you make about Grace, Lizzie and May as Tommys love interest. Grace being the one he truly loved is undeniable, but he seemed to be very interested in May as well in S2/S4. Doesn't show the same interest in Lizzie. Even with the events that took place post S3, he might've loved and treated May better, a better fit as his partner. I wonder why he never sort May out after Graces death but went to Lizzie instead

I've writ about Grace before so will focus on May.

I don't think May would have been a good fit as a long term partner. I saw May's interest in Tommy exactly as he said 'because I represent something to you'. But he might as well have been talking about what she meant to him, because she was very significantly representative to him: because of her class, because of how she approached him, all the ribbing his brothers gave him, the fact that he, Small Heath shitty little gangster, could afford her...

I do think they had such a soft, sweet, tender and beautiful affair it was probably very healing and soothing for both, given they were trying to recover from losing loved ones, but it couldn't last. He was so very careful to only show certain aspects of himself to her.

I think of their attempted reconnection in S4 and his frustrated 'you people' outburst, his disgust at 'you people' and his self-disgust in dialogue with her at how business was less moral and clean caused more widespread damage than his gangster life, but he was looked down on by 'you people' for his gangster actions and lauded for the business ones. I suspect if he'd tried being with her long term, that 'you people' would have become quite a violent, extended piece of pain and friction. He would have either been swallowing it down constantly and hurting himself from it, or lashing out and hurting her for it.

I feel like he never wanted to hurt May at all and just didn't want to risk situations where he would hurt her. Hence how readily he accepted her breaking it off with him immediately after his 'you people' scene, which was pretty much the first and only time he expresses that layer of his actual, unadulterated self with her, and he almost ruefully accepts that that means he's now made it very clear he's unsuitable as a partner.

I think he was also very conscious that a fling with a racketeer adds a bit of spice to May's reputation in social circles, but taking up with him long term? He would have damaged her reputation significantly.

So as to speculation on why he went to Lizzie and not May in S3: Lizzie was close (daily exposure), Lizzie had done this for him before (the dispassionate sex scene in S2 is very shortly after Polly told him he needed to get over Grace; the dispassion could be read as him trying to just fuck it out of his system), no matter what he does with Lizzie it's not going to hurt her reputation any more and I feel like he was just sick of constantly hurting people/women by that point - in some ways Lizzie is a lot more reputationally durable to his 'corrupted touch' than any of his other women.

I also feel like Grace's death made him feel very out of control, and Tatiana's approach made him feel out of control, the whole Russian affair was something he was struggling to control, he had whatever weird sexual trauma/disgust/horror thing going on with Hughes as well (powerlessness?), and he couldn't do anything about any of that. Probably a lot of anxiety there and a desperation to feel like something was in his control. His engagement with Lizzie during S3 ('having sex again when he feels like it') felt like it had a lot of him exercising his control, including how where when and if they have sex. Someone like May wouldn't enable this level of control, and hence no sense of 'safety'/appeasement of anxiety around sex and women generally.

I think a huge part of Tommy and Lizzie's interactions were non romantic, off-screen and only alluded to, which makes it harder to see how they ended up marrying/becoming a couple when compared to these more obvious romantic-style relationships in May and Grace. But as a writer the invisible is absolutely fascinating to me so I think that's why Lizzie x Tommy appeals more to explore than Tommy x May or even Tommy x Grace. We saw and understood what was happening with Tommy x May; by contrast I'm still puzzling out what was going on with Lizzie x Tommy to build to the relationship complexity we see in S5 and particularly S6.

#tommy x may #tommy x lizzie #my writing

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sixty-silver-wishes · 11 months

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My thoughts on Broadway's "Sweeney Todd"

A few days ago, my friend and I saw Sweeney Todd on Broadway, and I have a lot of thoughts about the production. I've been obsessed with this musical for years and have seen quite a few performances, so here's what I thought of this one.

Right away, it was amazing. The lighting added a lot to this production, and while the way the set was constructed was a bit unconventional (usually, there's a separate area of the stage sectioned off for the pie shop so two scenes can happen at once, but in this one, they had a bridge over the stage that some scenes took place on), I thought it was still effective. The orchestral arrangement was an interesting change (and even sounded like Shostakovich or Weill at times!), although I was disappointed to not hear the iconic factory whistle in the opening.

So, the acting. I'll go through each character/actor and what I thought of their performance, and how it impacted the overall show. "Sweeney Todd" is a play where every single action or bit of dialogue is important and culminates towards the conclusion, and so the way the characters are interpreted often offers a different angle on the play as a whole.

Josh Groban did an excellent job as Sweeney Todd, and I really appreciated that, since his voice is very melodic, he didn't try to replicate Len Cairou or George Hearn. Sweeney is a very complex character, and I've noticed that most actors who play him take on a different angle of his personality to focus on. Cairou focuses on the pensive, methodical side of the character, Hearn's Sweeney emphasizes madness and rage, and while I'm not a huge fan of Johnny Depp's performance in the movie adaptation, his Sweeney Todd focuses more on his melancholy side. Groban's Sweeney, by contrast, is sentimental. We see him express rage and impatience, two core aspects of Sweeney Todd, but where he's most effective are numbers like the "Johanna" reprise and "No Place Like London/The Barber and his Wife." Sentimentality isn't an emotion typically associated with the character of Sweeney Todd, but Groban's performance hammered in how critical it is to his character. After all, Sweeney Todd is haunted and motivated by his past- his love for his wife and daughter, and his hatred of the judge who tore them from him. This even allows for moments of tenderness- for example, during the "Johanna" reprise, Sweeney spares a man who comes into his barber shop, because he came with his wife. While this could be explained by him not wanting any witnesses, Groban's performance made this moment (forgive the pun) surprisingly cutting. Sweeney is hoping to be reunited with his daughter and is reminiscing about Lucy, and so the man who earlier declared that "we all deserve to die" is letting a young couple live. Groban's "Epiphany," probably the moment I examine the most when watching an actor play Sweeney Todd, was stunning. The insanity and anger wasn't as pronounced as Hearn's, perhaps, but with the way Groban played the character, it didn't need to be. His rage is mainly driven by grief more than madness, and it showed through his angular movements, the near-desperation mixed with fury during the "you, sir" sequence where he breaks the fourth wall, and of course, his emotional performance during the "and I'll never see Johanna"/"and my Lucy lies in ashes" sequences, which require a sudden, yet convincing, emotional shift that he pulled off masterfully.

Jeanna De Waal's Lovett was just plain fun. While I was curious to see how Annaleigh Ashford would have played her, De Waal pulled off a youthful Mrs. Lovett in a hilarious, flirty way. Angela Lansbury was perhaps the most iconic Lovett (although LuPone's performance was stunning as well), and was particularly notable for her dark comedy through the juxtaposition of being a matronly pie shop owner and an accomplice to murder and cannibalism. I feel like the "matronly" aspect of Mrs. Lovett is probably one of the most important facets of her character, which is why I tend to prefer performances by older actresses as Lovett to younger ones, but De Waal, like Groban, gave a unique performance, in her case using her youth to her advantage. Her Lovett was constantly flirting with Todd, which created some hilarious juxtaposition between their personalities, and she added a lot of energy to her comedic lines, especially during "A Little Priest," where her chemistry with Groban was a blast to watch. I do wish she had a bit more chemistry with Gaten Matrazzo as Toby, which would have made the ending scene hit harder emotionally, and her sinister side explored further. De Waal focused mostly on the comedy aspect of Mrs. Lovett, who at her core is a ruthless manipulator, so I understand she's an incredibly difficult character to pull off when balancing those two elements. Nonetheless, I thought her acting was really enjoyable to watch, although she was more effective in comedic scenes than dramatic ones.

I don't have a ton to say about Jordan Fisher's portrayal of Anthony; I liked his performance overall, but I felt he came across as slightly too mature, although maybe this came down to his voice. Anthony is a very idealistic and naïve character, meant to contrast with the cutthroat, conniving world of "Sweeney Todd." I didn't think I really got this with Fisher as much as with some other performances I've seen, but the maturity he gave to the character did pose an interesting angle in his scenes with Todd, as Groban's sentimentality meant an almost paternal dynamic between Todd and Anthony. This isn't an angle I see a lot, but it was definitely one I thought was really fascinating. His chemistry with Maria Bilbao as Johanna was good, and I felt he provided some grounding to her more neurotic portrayal.

I loved Bilbao's Johanna. Technical skill of singing "Green Finch and Linnet Bird" aside (which she nailed), I feel like a lot of productions miss the point of this number. "Green Finch" is to introduce Johanna and her trapped circumstances, yes, but I see too many productions that simply have it performed as a sad, pretty, virtuosic number, without saying too much about who Johanna is as a character, or the effects the circumstances she sings about have had on her. Betsy Joslyn's was unique in that she attempts to seem somewhat frazzled while singing it, but her purposefully-crossed eyes and overexaggerated vibrato risk coming across more as caricature than a sincere performance. Bilbao, however, is heartbreaking. Her Johanna is fighting to keep her wits together, evidently broken by living with an abusive father figure, and when she sings "teach me to be more adaptive," it almost seems like a prayer. (This also has the effect of making the following number, "Ah, Miss," darkly hilarious, as it implies Anthony was watching this random girl having a mental breakdown and immediately decided he was in love with her.) Her blocking was restricted and tense, almost making her look like a caged bird, and her facial expressions and gestures were cautious and restrained, bringing to mind a scared animal. This really brought home the essence of Johanna's character- while she's often played as a classic ingenue, Johanna is, in fact, a subversion of the archetype- a realistic portrayal of the mental strain a young girl locked away with a man like Turpin and kept from seeing the outside world would actually face. I honestly really like Johanna as a character because there's a lot more depth to her than is often portrayed, so it was really refreshing to see Bilbao apply this level of nuance to her.

Matrazzo's Toby was, of course, excellent. Toby is probably the character with the most variation across productions, as he can be portrayed as anywhere between a child to a young adult. Matrazzo shone particularly in two scenes- "Not While I'm Around" and the final monologue. Like "Green Finch," "Not While I'm Around" is a number that's frequently misinterpreted, with some performances portraying it as simply as an example of Toby's affection for and devotion to Mrs. Lovett. "Not While I'm Around," despite its lyrics, is not a sweet, tender number. In context, it's terrifying, and luckily, Matrazzo portrays this. His Toby is desperate, even frustrated. While it's not particularly dwelled on in the play, Toby has been mistreated by Pirelli, and so latches onto Mrs. Lovett, who he sees as a genuinely nurturing protective figure. However, not only is Lovett turning people into meat pies, she has no real love for Toby and is primarily focused on manipulating Todd, who, in turn, is also trying to use her for his own gain. However, from Toby's perspective, he's been abused, sees signs of abuse in Todd, and wants to prevent Mrs. Lovett, whom he genuinely loves, from meeting the same fate. Matrazzo's desperation puts this context largely into focus, adding to the suspense of the number. And in the final monologue, I got chills from the way he vacillated between a manic sing-songy tone and complete numbness, sometimes even normalcy. I've seen many productions where Toby keeps the "insane" tone throughout the monologue, but Matrazzo doesn't do that. When he says "you know, you shouldn't harm anyone," it's eerily straightforward and calm.

John Rapson (Beadle Bamford), Nicholas Christopher (Pirelli), and Ruthie Ann Miles (Lucy) were all fun to watch; I enjoyed how Rapson kept the character quirk of rolling his "R's," which not all Beadle Bamford actors do. His falsetto range was incredible, and his performance during "Parlor Songs" was both amusing and suspenseful. Christopher's Pirelli was good, but I felt he didn't place as much over-exaggeration in his lines as I would have liked to see, although I really enjoyed his facial expressions. And Miles' Lucy was absolutely haunting; I've seen a few productions where "Poor Thing" is portrayed through interpretive dance, and thought she especially stood out here, as her movements and blocking added a lot to her character.

Finally, Jamie Jackson as Judge Turpin was repulsive in the best possible way. His voice and delivery had me on edge, and I also couldn't get it out of my head that his facial expressions reminded me of Werner Krauss in "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari," which added a whole extra layer of creepiness. His Turpin felt incredibly realistic, like that creepy uncle or skeevy politician you always read about in the news, although he was surprisingly effective with comedic lines, especially the way he enthusiastically delivered the line "ah yes, women!" in "Pretty Women." He brought an air of discomfort to the stage every time he was on it, and the suspense in every scene between him and Groban was extremely palpable.

#sweeney todd #broadway #stephen sondheim #josh groban #gian matrazzo #jeanna de waal #maria bilbao #jamie jackson #john rapson #nicholas christopher #ruthie ann miles #musical #musical review

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canonicallyobserving911 · 1 year

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okay okay okay so hear me out your canonical observations have me canonically observing the show as well and can we take a quick second to talk about the symbolism between both of eddies kitchen scenes in 6b as well as the fridge pictures that he has added as of this season??

in the first kitchen scene in 6x12, the house and kitchen are flooded with warm light, the music is light and typical for non-serious ambience within the show. eddie's demeanour is much warmer as well, and buck is on the left hand side of the couch when he falls asleep. eddie is much happier while taking care of buck after his nap, his house feels how it usually does when buck is involved in a scene- warm.

in the second scene during 6x15, the house is dominated by cold light and eddie's kitchen is viewed from the same distance as before, but now eddie is alone with chris. he made smores for chris like they used to with his mother, and he made three. this is also after buck confessed that natalia, a woman he had been on a single date with, seemed to see him in a way no one else could, not even buck. eddie went from thoughtful and vulnerable to cold and upset when buck brought up his interest in her. eddie seems to feel buck is moving on without him, like hes being left behind my everyone. he spent so much time learning to be okay alone but now he is alone and hes afraid. the photos on his refrigerator emphasize this. they are new photos that werent there last season IIRC. on the left hand side of the door is a photo of eddie holding christopher, where on the right side there are two photos- the middle is one of christopher alone and the right most photo is from shannon and eddie's day at the beach with their son. shannon's photo fell and drew eddies attention to what is lost, what is gone, but the question of what is still left on the fridge, what is left in the photos. see, buck has been looking for his 'couch', but eddie has had a lot of focus around his fridge, imo, which has me very interested. we've also been seeing eddies kitchen from a totally different angle than before over and over this season, which i doubt is a simple coincidence. its always a scene that starts in eddies living room on the couch that moves into the kitchen with his fridge at the dead center of the shot, then back to the living room, emphasizing the connection between the two spaces.

anyways ive lost my whole damn mind and i think it is Your Fault

Thank you @fireh0es for the ask and it includes a very interesting topic, Eddie's refrigerator. IMO, the entirety of Eddie's home includes many things that are gentle reminders for the audience regarding Eddie's past, present and future. The pictures and their placement are just the tip of the iceberg. I agree with you with regards to the comparison of Eddie's refrigerator, the room lighting between the living room and kitchen along with the difference in Eddie's mood in both episodes.

Eddie's usually stoic and even though he's been in therapy for more than a year now and he's become more open about his feelings; when the way he feels about Buck comes into play, every aspect of Eddie's home should be taken into account because his home is where the family he chose will be living. I've already completed a post about Eddie's home and how it will be the place Buck calls home in the future (linked here). Also, I've already posted about the significance of their couches (linked here) and I've posted about Eddie being afraid to tell Buck he loves him (linked here). When all of these things are combined, Eddie's home is the place that tells the audience where he is with regards to what his heart wants and how he's feeling.

Now let's review the things hanging on the front of Eddie's refrigerator.

While watching 6x15, I noticed the pictures hanging on the doors of Eddie's fridge were different from the ones that were there in 6x12. So, I got curious and zoomed in on the scene from 6x15 to see if I could determine what was different.

6x12 "Recovery" 6x15 "Death and Taxes"

In 6x12, there were only three pictures hanging on it, baby Chris, Eddie and Chris from 3x15 "Eddie Begins" (when they were preparing to leave El Paso in 2017) and a picture of Chris and Shannon from 2x10 "Merry Ex-mas. Chris' school calendar was also on the right side in 6x12 but in 6x15, more pictures were added. The largest picture on the right appears to be of Chris and maybe some of his classmates but the picture of Chris and Shannon from the day they spent at the beach wasn't there before 6x15 (see below for more information on where it came from).

The smallest picture on the top right appears to be from 2x10 and I deduced that from the clothes Chris and Shannon were wearing in it. The picture on Eddie's bedroom dresser in 5x13 "Fear-O-Phobia" has Chris in his red pajamas and Shannon in the white sweater with black/blue stripes on it just like they're wearing that day and in the picture from Eddie's bedroom. It's small and it looks like she's looking at Chris but Eddie's not in that one the way he was in the one on his dresser.

Now the picture that fell to the floor in 6x15 when Eddie opened the door was the one that caught my attention because I remembered it wasn't previously in the kitchen. I remembered seeing it in an episode from season 3 and it was in the living room. Previously, it was in a frame by the front door and the scene I created the GIF from was included at the end of 3x9 "Fallout".

Since Eddie recently moved the picture from the living room to the door of the refrigerator, it seems like he's thinking about MOVING ON again the same way he was thinking about it in 3x9 after his steamy and sexually charged kitchen scene with Buck. In 3x9, Hen's monologue at the end of the episode was about moving on and Eddie looked at the picture of Shannon and Chris when he was getting ready to take Chris to school.

It appears he was ready then especially since he gave Buck huge heart eyes in 3x10 "Christmas Spirit" and since he changed his will after 3x15.

Now that he's ready to move forward with his life and he admitted he doesn't want to be alone anymore, he's dealing with the idea of moving forward and possibly confessing his feelings to Buck but once again something stopped him and it appears to be Buck's comment about the way Natalia sees him (which the audience knows is a bunch of malarkey).

He doesn't want to be alone but he's still scared of having his heartbroken. Shannon broke his heart once and he's used Chris as a shield for years to protect it but now that Chris is growing up and has asked for more independence, Eddie has to focus on Eddie and the things he wants for himself. He thinks Buck's moving on without him (HE'S NOT-see the post I'm going to submit after this ask has been posted for more info) but based on his comments at the cemetery he believes it to be true.

Basically, Eddie wants to be with Buck, he's in love with him and he has been for a long time. He was wearing his therapy sweater/hoodie while he and Chris sat at Shannon's grave in 6x15 which could mean he had a session right before they went or he was planning to go to one after they left. Either way, he may have discussed his feelings about Buck with Frank but he was reminded of dying alone when Marie said it and it scared him. IMO during their conversation in the cemetery, Eddie was trying to see where Buck was mentally and he thought he got his answer when Buck mentioned Natalia (he misunderstood).

This got way longer than I intended but like I included at the beginning of this response, I agree with you about the lighting in both rooms, the pictures hanging on the fridge and Eddie's mood. All of those things are related. Hopefully Eddie and Buck won't keep waiting to confess their love for each other because they're both in a place where they understand life is a gift (Buck) and tomorrow isn't promised especially now that neither of them want to die alone (Eddie).

#buddie #eddie diaz #evan buckley #911 fox #911 on fox #911onfox #911 meta #911 season 6 #911 season 6 speculation #911 s6 #911 speculation #Canonically Observing 9-1-1 speaks #911 on abc #911 abc

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gracesshelves · 3 months

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The Hunger Games (2012)

The Hunger Games (2012), based on the series by Suzanne Collins, is one of my top ten favorite book-to-film adaptations. I actually saw this movie opening weekend with my mom, who got me into the books earlier that year. I give this movie a five out of five. Although certain moments were removed for the run time, the most important story beats were present and held the emotional weight well. Watching this movie as an adult, I got a lot more out of it than I did when I first watched it. Another thing that shifted my perspective during this viewing was the fact that I just watched the prequel, A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2023), a few weeks ago. While that is not the topic of our discussion, it had a significant effect on what aspects of the film stood out to me the most. With everything going on in the world today, and how the internet changed post-COVID-19, The Hunger Games (2012) is more relevant than ever. Particularly with its commentary on the illusion of intimacy with strangers.

The story follows Katniss Everdeen, a sixteen-year-old girl from District 12, who volunteers to take her sister’s place in the 75th annual Hunger Games. The games were created by the Capitol 75 years ago as a way to keep the twelve districts in check after the rebellion. Katniss is forced to perform for the crowds to get sponsors and kill her fellow tributes in the arena. With the aid of the male tribute from her district, Peeta, Katniss wins the games. However, her life can never return to what it once was. To win, she and Peeta acted as if they were in love and could not survive without each other. Now, they must keep up the act to keep themselves and their families alive.

The movie succeeds in many categories, however, the acting stood out the most. Jennifer Lawrence understood the role of Katniss. She is able to convey how uncomfortable Katniss feels performing in front of a crowd. The raw pain in her voice when Prim’s name is chosen for the games is heartbreaking. Lawrence nailed how Katniss switches from young and vulnerable to responsible and aloof as a result of living in a world that forces children to grow up too fast. Besides acting, one of the other parts of this movie that stood out to me was the set and costume design. The creators established the dichotomy between the Capitol and the districts immediately through the scene with Effie in District 12. Surrounded by grey buildings and people in muted, worn clothes, Effie’s bright pink attire looks ridiculous. Without even seeing the Capitol, the audience already has an idea of what it’s like. And then once we are finally brought there, we see that Effie almost looks normal in comparison to the other Capitol citizens.

My biggest issue with this movie is the cinematography. It’s been over 12 years, and I can still remember how dizzy I was watching this movie in theaters. I think they used a shaky, handheld camera to give the movie the same raw feeling that Lawrence created with her acting. I’ve seen hand-held cameras work so well to create meaning, but I do not think this is one of those instances. Those moments still make my head hurt when I watch them.

When I was younger, I knew that it was messed up that they treated the games like a TV show, but watching the prequel made me focus on how the tributes were treated before, during, and after the games. (Spoilers ahead if you haven’t seen the prequel!) In the early days of the games, the tributes were placed in an outdoor enclosure – a literal human zoo – before they were taken to the arena. In The Hunger Games, which takes place 65 years after the prequel, the tributes live in luxury before the games, and after if they are a Victor. Yet, the Capitol still finds ways to dehumanize them. The tributes live under constant surveillance, even in their last moments. During the interviews, they are encouraged to share parts of themselves with the audience to gain sympathy so people will sponsor them, and the Capitol audience is desperate to learn more about these children. They crave intimacy and ask to see and know very private things. It reminds me a lot of how people feel the need to post very private moments on social media now. People are pressured to let people see into their lives to be more relatable. So many people reach for the camera when they cry. I think part of this is because we have become so lonely and separated that we will consume anything that helps us feel close to other human beings. However, this results in a culture where people feel entitled to personal information and violate boundaries to gain access to that illusion of intimacy. But that’s all it is, an illusion. Relating this to the people of the Capitol, I think it’s interesting how they dehumanize the tributes at every step of the process and want to connect to them on a human level. It makes me pity them.

This film is very special to me, and each time I rewatch it, I discover another layer I’d never seen before. Thanks for reading!

#my reviews

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goneseriesanalysis · 3 months

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Peter Ellison

So, finally, here is my Little Pete analysis. This one was particularly hard to write because his characterisation (or should I say lack of) really really upsets me. This is now a Peter Ellison fan account because he just deserves all the love I can give him forever. That being said, I want to give a few disclaimers before I actually get into this analysis.

Firstly, I wanted to keep this analysis solely focused on Little Pete, with as little focus on other characters as possible. I’m going to be talking about the poor care that Little Pete received in this book (alongside the r-slur scene) and how this will have affected him. But, I am in no way blaming Astrid for this. Astrid was a child who loved Little Pete and who was doing her absolute best to take care of him. However, her effort does not negate the fact that Little Pete’s care was less than ideal and that this would have affected him severely. Because of this, it may seem like I’m blaming Astrid or making her out to be a bad person, but I promise I’m not. I just don’t want to be defending her every other line when I should be focusing on Little Pete. I will however be going into more detail on her side of things in a later post about their relationship.

Secondly, this analysis will not be as in-depth as my previous ones. There are two reasons for this. One being that I simply do not have the time and two being that I am not entirely sure that it is my place to do such an analysis on this character. I know that a lot of people have issues with MG’s portrayal of Little Pete and I do not want to take away from people’s concerns. That being said, I do not think that it was his intention to be ableist or to hurt anyone when he was writing this character. But intent doesn’t cancel out what he actually wrote.

Now, onto the analysis.

Old Opinion: Honestly, I didn’t really have an opinion on Little Pete. He seemed more like a plot point to me than a character and so that’s really just how I viewed him.

New Opinion: After re-reading the first book, I unfortunately still cannot seem to care for Little Pete. I wish MG had gone into more depth and written him as an actual character. There is just so much wasted potential.

How Little Pete is Viewed by Other Characters in The Text and in The Text Itself

This is a title that I haven’t done before in any of my analyses, but I thought it was important to do this for Little Pete as a lot of the issues that people have with his character stem from how he is treated by others, and how their actions seemed to be excused by the text. This will be a much shorter analysis than any other that I have done. One because there is not as much to analyse, and two because I feel like it is not my place to do a deep dive on a character who’s experiences I do not understand.

Something that I did notice quite a lot during my re-read of Gone (and my re-read of my re-read) is that MG seems to have done a pretty good job at researching the technical aspects of autism (trigger phrases, types of therapy, possible modifications needed), but he seems to neglect the actual thoughts, feelings, and emotions of autistic people. It almost seems as if Little Pete is a walking NHS page, instead of, you know, a person. But let’s first talk about the technical aspects.

The first introduction that we get to Little Pete, is through his environment rather than through any mention or meeting of the character himself. This occurs on page 17: “But everything was put away. There was nothing out that could be broken. The tables had little plastic cushions on the corners. The electrical sockets had childproof covers. In the kitchen the knives were in a glass-front cupboard with a childproof lock on the handle. There were child proof knobs on the stove.” Now while we don’t get confirmation until a few sentences later, we can already assume that these precautions have not been made for Astrid. However, my first assumption would not be that they are for a quiet, often unresponsive child – which is who Little Pete seems to be. Rather, I would assume the opposite – that this was for an unruly and destructive child, one who likes to grab and touch and move things. Little Pete is shown to do none of those things, in fact the only time that he is seen to be destructive when using his powers, and even then, he is only destructive in very stressful situations. So, to me, it seems odd that these measures are taken for Little Pete. They don’t seem to fit with his personality at all, making it seem like this choice was made based off of stereotypes, rather than made with the character of Little Pete in mind.

This does not necessarily mean, however, that the fault is with the writing. In fact, I quite like the idea that the reason the Ellison’s are making precautions that do not seem to align with Little Pete’s needs is because they themselves are ignorant to his needs. While the plot does not allow us to see Pete’s parents interact with Little Pete, we are given the impressions that they treat him as a nuisance more than anything else and this, paired with the time within which the book is set, makes it easy for me to believe that they have little interest in their son. This impression is also given when Astrid first makes reference to Little Pete’s powers, “He seems able to do a lot of things. Mostly we’re good, the two of us. Mostly he doesn’t really notice me. But once, I was doing his therapy, working with this picture book we work on sometimes. I show him a picture and try to get him to say the word and, I don’t know, I guess I was in a bad mood that day. I guess I was too rough taking his hand and putting his finger on the picture like you’re supposed to do. He got mad. And then, I wasn’t there anymore. Once second, I was in his room, and then all of a sudden, I was in my room.” (Page 133)

Why is Astrid doing these activities and not his parents? It seems like the parentification of Astrid began long before the FAYZ, and Little Pete’s neglect seems to be a huge part of his character. This, coupled with the fact that he himself is unable to communicate with the characters in any way that they understand, means that we unfortunately do not get as much of an in- depth characterisation as we do with others. This, of course, is something that Michael Grant had been criticised for many times. However, while it is not my place to tell people that they cannot be upset by this representation (because of course you can) I feel like I am able to bring about another perspective: that the reason Little Pete is written in this way is because this is how other characters see him. Seen as we can only see this world through their eyes, it makes sense that the impression we get of Little Pete is not one that is ideal.

Little Pete and His Importance to the Plot:

Now, to say that Little Pete is a character who is neglected so much, he is one of the main plot points within the novel. In fact, I would argue that especially in the first book, he is more plot point than actual character and here is why:

One – Little Pete is the driving force behind Sam and Astrid’s relationship, Edilio’s joining of the group and Sam and Quinn’s falling out.

Two – Little Pete is the reason that Sam won.

Three – Little Pete is the reason for the FAYZ in the first place.

If you ask me, those are three pretty major plot points that all come to be because of one character, especially a character who does not get a pov (only talking about the first book here). I’m not going into how all of these things happened due to Little Pete because that would be less and analysis of the text and more me explaining the book to you, which I am sure nobody wants. But my main point by including this section is that Little Pete is an intrinsic part of the text and so is the way he is written. If Little Pete is able to freely communicate with a people in a way that they understand then the book would have ended very differently, or maybe it would not have even started at all.

Essentially what MG has done here has used Little Pete as a structural device, giving his character the means to completely change the outcome of the story without giving him almost any say in what he does. While I understand how this can be upsetting to some people, I also think that this use of character is fascinating and adds an element of mystery to the story the likes of which I haven’t really seen before. Little Pete both controls the story and is barely present in it, and while I definitely whish that we could have learnt more about him as a person, I understand that with the way this story is written, that would have resulted in changes within the book that would have changed the story completely.

As always thank you for reading the ramblings that I have offered up to you. I am sorry that this analysis is so short, but I felt like I just needed to say what I wanted to say and not embellish. As I said before, I feel like it is not quite my place to give my full thoughts on this character, but I hope that what I have given has been enjoyable in it’s own way.

#the gone series #peter ellison #little pete #gone

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ebonyslasher · 7 months

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Spicy Alphabet: Daniel Lamb

Make sure to read Daniel's character information post I made if you're unfamiliar with his character.

A = Aftercare (what they’re like after sex)

“Are you okay? Did you like it?”

Daniel takes the time to catch his breath while holding you. You feel his kisses scatter on your body, his lips finding your nipple as his tongue swirls your areolas. They harden more, excited with his actions. Moist pink lips suction on them, eliciting a small moan from your form.

At some point, it’ll be time to clean up....or not. He doesn’t mind sitting in the product of the coupling for a bit.

B = Body part (their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

Daniel: Torso. The running, hiding, and killing has built up Daniel’s body over the years. He used to have a broad, but undefined chest and stomach. Now he has pecs and a sketch of abs.

You: Your face. He gets entranced by your beauty. He loves looking at your facial expressions, hopefully you are expressive type! If he can, he will keep a picture of you with him.

C = Cum (anything to do with cum, basically)

Ejaculates an average amount, but his refractory period is shorter than average. Daniel can pile cum on or in you throughout back to back sessions. He likes his cum on you, in you, and on himself.

D = Dirty secret (pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

When he would go on his fishing trips with Michael, his mouth would be filthy when he talked about sex and who he was attracted to. Michael was no different. If you worked or interned at the workplace, you were definitely on the list of ones he would talk about. Maybe a bit too much.

E = Experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they’re doing?)

No, but yes. He had a wife, so obviously yes. But, he doesn’t remember her, so technically no. Muscle memory will kick in and will build his sex skills back up quickly.

F = Favorite position (this goes without saying)

This

G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.)

He would rather sex be serious. But, he’s open to be humorous.

H = Hair (how well groomed are they? does the carpet match the drapes? etc.)

Not groomed, he doesn’t have time. If Daniel is at your residence, he will groom at your place before any sexual activity.

I = Intimacy (how are they during the moment? the romantic aspect)

Pretty intimate, Daniel can’t get off without some emotional attachment. Especially with the trouble of preserving his memory. Daniel believes in the phenomenon where the more attached he is, the more likely he will remember the memory for a substantial amount of time.

J = Jack off (masturbation headcanon)

The scenes he’s forced in are too tense where consistent focus is on surviving; therefore, it won’t be on his mind. Even outside of surviving, Daniel has tunnel vision on any interesting topics. When he’s actually relaxed is when he will be open to play with himself. He keeps it quite simple, quick and easy.

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks)

Being flashed, Nice fragrances or aromas, Erotic images/art, Medical Play/Roleplay, voyeurism, squirting, cumplay, comfort sex.

L = Location (favorite places to do the do)

Your place or a random hotel.

M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going)

Your smiles, High intellect, being helpful to his situation, strength (emotional,mental, or physical), strong loyalty, a little bit of obsessive behavior (towards him).

N = No (something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

Don’t mention Leo during intimate moments, it just seems wrong. If you’re trying to get close to him, Don’t be mysterious about who you are and your intentions. No talk of The Project, or threatening to turn him in. No sadistic cruelty (unless the person deserved it) and no trying to control him.

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.)

Both. Daniel savors the taste of you and is desperate for you to taste him whole. With a lot of saliva.

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.)

Hard, moderate to fast. Will like slow, but does it to drive you or him crazy

Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.)

He is open to them, although it is not his key preference. He does often wake up with morning wood and wants to solve it quickly.

R = Risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.)

Yes, as long as no one gets hurt.

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?)

High, He hides, stalks and kills for hours and days at a time. 3 in one go, 30-40 minutes (depending on foreplay).

T = Toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?)

No, can’t. Before the bridge, he only had one pocket pussy hidden in the house. Of course, that’s torched now. Although a bit overwhelmed, Daniel will be interested in using it on you.

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

Sometimes, when he wants you to act/look desperate or wants a big release

V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.)

Moderately loud. Daniel sounds like a delicious nerdy mess.

“Y/N…mmmnnn”

“Oh god, yes!”

“The inside of you feels so good..”

W = Wild card (a random headcanon for the character)

“Sit on my chest and play with yourself until you squirt on my face.”

Daniel loves the visual of your squirting on him. He’s not afraid of your sex liquid splashing him. He enjoys the hit of salt and tang that washes over his tongue, the wet and uncomfortable feel of the ejaculate hitting his flesh, and the squelching lead up and the uncontrollably loud moaning as you release onto him.

X = X-ray (let’s see what’s going on under those clothes)

8 inches length. 2 inch Width. His head is perfectly bell shaped and a pink color, shade #B75D5C. His slit is convex like a cat’s pupil, with a little pucker in the middle. Circumcised. Slight curve, approximately 0.85%.

Y = Yearning (how high is their sex drive?)

Average

Z = Zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

Here are the following conditions:

In the situation of you journeying with him: Daniel will fall asleep if he feels safe/comfortable. May wake up as Leo and try to make you continue. May wake up as Daniel and either: hang around (morning) or continue (night).

In the situation where he comes to your residence: Daniel will stay and sleep, if his PTSD doesn’t act up. Even in the event that it does, he will cuddle and hang onto you. Leo will try to leave or coax another session before hopping out.

#black reader #BFC #daniel lamb #daniel lamb x reader #manhunt 2 #grown folks business #spicy alphabet

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vertebrae-entertainment · 10 months

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28.06.2023 - Camera devlog

Video game camera movement is like a stuffy nose. If everything's fine you don't think about it at all, but if anything feels off it's incredibly frustrating. So I've been spending some time working on the camera.

First, the camera needs to follow the player. But if it follows the player 1-to-1 then it gets jarring fast. The player acts like a sticker in the center of the screen with no feeling of weight or speed, jumping around feels disorienting, and sudden movements make the camera teleport. I don't want that.

So I make the camera trail after the player. But if the player moves too fast they end up squished against the border of the screen. You would constantly crash into enemies and obstacles with no time to react.

So I nudge the camera in the direction of the player's movement, and nudge it further ahead the faster the player is moving. This makes the camera stay ahead of the player, and gives them more foresight the faster they're moving. It's more important to see the obstacles ahead of you than the obstacles behind you, after all.

But sometimes I want more control over the camera. Like a cutscene where the game snaps to an NPC during dialogue or a scene where the camera pans across the whole level to give you a cinematic view of what's ahead.

So I make new invisible camera objects that hijack the camera's movement when they're active. I now have 2 different camera positions, the gameplay position centered around the player and a cinematic position that gets overriden by invisible focus point objects. And then I just smoothly transition between the two.

But sometimes I don't want to completely hijack it, I just want to nudge the camera a tiny bit to help the player in a direction. For example, if they're close to a grappling hook I want to focus the camera closer to the grappling hook so that it's further in view and easier to spot. Or maybe there's a scenic location where I want the camera to be a little further up to get a clearer image of the sky.

So I have a separate invisible object. Instead of hijacking the camera completely I instead nudge the camera towards a middle point between the player and the invisible object. And the object only does so while in range of the camera, giving up when it's outside of view.

But this whole time I've been neglecting a very important thing. What about people playing on screens with different aspect ratios? Someone playing on a tiny square CRT TV might not even get the hook on screen in the first place, while an ultrawide display would activate every nearby object and freak the camera out.

So instead of basing the range on the camera's actual proportions, I do my range checks with a box that uses a typical screen ratio and remains the same regardless of the player's screen. This keeps things consistent between players, at the risk of looking weird for players with extreme screen ratios. Sometimes a focus point will be on screen, but the camera won't actually get nudged that way until the camera gets close enough for it to collide with the boundary box.

But… but… but..!

But I'm going to stop here. Another problem with things like camera control is that you can get too lost in the sauce and spend an eternity adding new functionality and fixing edge cases forever, with diminishing returns for each change. In reality, one of the most important parts of making games is figuring out what you don't put in the game. And I think the camera's in good shape right now.

Of course, a lot of this subjective and depends on what your particular game needs and is subject to change whenever the game itself starts changing. The game you start working on at the start of development is rarely the game you end up making in the end. So it'll be fun to see how much of this sticks in the final game and what ends up getting added or removed.

Hope this was an interesting read!

Much love, Åge.

#gamedev #fangst #indie games #devlog

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heinzpilsner · 2 months

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Okay, it's time for the next exciting part of the 'Overanalyzing beach Maiko' series!

In the previous episode, we finally left behind the jealous rampage scene thank god, and now we'll deal with the consequences! Yay!

I'm a bit too happy about it, am I?

Today I'm not in the mood for long procrastinating jokes I wonder why, so let's get right to the business of dissecting Maiko's heated break-up dialogue, shall we?

So, what do we have here?

Mai: "Zuko, what is wrong with you?"

A legitimate question.

Zuko: "What's wrong with me?"

Much less legitimate question. I mean, what exactly Zuko tried to accuse Mai of at this point? Her supposed infidelity? But what if she was in the process of telling "sorry, I have a boyfriend" at the moment of Zuko's attack? Or what - was she supposed to hiss like a cat and hit Ruon-Jian with a knife the moment he spoke to her or something?

(A sidenote: Zuko's reaction could mean one important thing: he was angry at Mai just for liking another boy.

Even ignoring the unfoudedness of Zuko's assumption, the problem is, people can't really control their feelings. Only their behavior - and even that to a certain extent (passion is a thing and all).

So, unless Mai flirted (which would hint on her desire to commit an act of infidelity) with Ruon-Jian or downright cheated on Zuko, resenting her wasn't rational and wouldn't improve the situation in a slightest.

But... Perhaps Zuko in his inadequate state just saw flirting where there was none of it.)

Anyway, boy, even if you don't realize it at the moment, you've just thoroughly screwed up. It's really not a good time for you to go into offense here!

Mai: "Your temper is out of control. You blow up over every little thing. You're so impatient and hotheaded and angry!"

Well, there are far more issues with Zuko's behavior than that, but I have to give Mai credit here - she was able to look beyond particulars of the moment and detect that there's something weird going on with her boyfriend.

... Well, either that, or she simply didn't notice all the other problems here, which could say a lot about Mai's life views.

But if it's the former, the fact that she decided to focus on this aspect in particular is... quite curious.

It actually could speak of her concern for Zuko (and she kinda sounded concerned with her "What's wrong with you" question)... were it not for the fact it heavily contradicts her recent actions.

Sorry, Maiko fans, but the "bring me food" thing is not something I can simply dismiss. It maybe seems small, but it shows way too clearly Mai's current attitude that is incompatible with true caring either for others in general, or for Zuko in particular. And it took place just a couple of minutes before the scene!

(Most likely the creators didn't realise it, but what can I say? I'm analysing the material, not intentions behind it.)

So, not that there is anything wrong with caring about yourself in the first place, but I'd say Mai during the break-up dialogue was concerned mostly/only about her own interests.

And of all the problematic things that were exaggerated or manifested by Zuko's psychological instability (including tendency towards physical aggression, irrational jealousy, lack of trust and respect towards his girlfriend and a long list of potentially harmful attitudes), the ones that bothered Mai the most were... his trademark personality flaws.

Huh.

Of course, Zuko's psychological state was the real issue here. But Mai didn't stop after just "your temper is out of control", did she?

The problem is, being hot-headed, impatient and prone to anger is not some anomaly of the day! It's a most typical manifestation of Zuko's temperament under stressful conditions, and it will never go way entirely even after all the wrong attitudes in his head will be fixed.

And when you choose yourself a life partner, you should be ready that it will not always be rainbows and awfully orange sunshine with them, you know.

(I'm not stating here what you shold tolerate any kind of shit from your partner. That's not the point. My point is... Ah, I'm a zutarian, draw your own conclusions here.)

In short, instead of focusing on real problems, Mai just scolded Zuko for being himself. Brilliant thinking!

Zuko: "Well, at least I feel something, as opposed to you. You have no passion for anything! You're just a big blah!"

... Oh-oh. Boy, it was a wrong answer. Like, a really really wrong answer.

As a zutarian, I fully approve of it though pffft

Basically, Zuko totally ignored "temper is out of control" part and said to a rightfully angry Mai who already thought he was too much of a trouble that her personality* sucks. If he was still hoping to save the relationship after this (why would he though?), his brain definitely short circuited.

(*Actually, lack of "passion for anything" can't be considered someone's personality - unless what we're really talking about is phlegmatic temperament, it's a big problem. But I'll elaborate on it in later parts if I ever manage to figure out what is "it" at all in the mess of Mai's character)

But I must say, Zuko's answer gives us a ridiculous amount of data to work with.

And one of the most notable details here is the ironic paradox of his accusation. Which is:

Zuko basically scolded Mai for not feeling anything and not having passion right after she yelled at him passionately.

... Lol.

I'd say something does not quite add up here, does it?

But like all paradoxes, the situation is actually not all that strange when you describe it more thoroughly.

And it has two possible explanations.

Either Zuko just responded to Mai's critique outside of the situational context...

(And thus admitted that he was frustrated with Mai's usual personality for quite some time. ... Even though before "The Beach" he didn't seem to mind her "lack of passion" all that much. Huh.)

...Or Mai's personality wasn't Zuko's real problem with her at the moment.

If you think about it, apart from unusual emotional outburst (and imaginary interest in another guy) there was nothing new about Mai this day - except for one little thing, of course.

Today she was expressing much less of affection towards Zuko than before.

You know what's the sad thing though?

Both of these hypotheses could be right simultaneously. That is, Zuko became frustrated with Mai's personality and her lack of love this day.

I'd speculate here that Zuko loves Mai mostly in response to her "love" for him. The guy doesn't really need all that much - just someone to love and be loved by (preferably with a pretty face and noble status, but I'm sure different options were possible). Mai just was the first girl around who laid her hands on him in a moment of vulnerability.

But when her affection is gone, it turns out he doesn't really like her all that much.

Of course, he tells her "sweet" things like "You're beautiful when you hate the world", but... Can we state with certainty that he wouldn't prefer something different to admire in a girl if he had a choice?

(Well, technically, he has a choice - but mostly in theory. Zuko leads a pretty isolated life, and there are simply no other interested girls around - except for crazy royalty fans apparently, but security holds them at bay alright. Besides, Mai is already here, and from Zuko's date with Jin we know that he was willing first to sacrifice his dignity, and then to risk his freedom/life(!) just because he couldn't stand to see a girl with him sad. So, as long as he believes he's loved, he'll try and make this relationship work despite everything.)

"It's over, Zuko. We're done."

Oh no! What a schocking surprise!

It was the best part of the episode if you ask me

The notable thing though is that Mai looked genuinely sad after she said it. I guess it was the writer's way to say once again: "Look, she actually cares!"

I can interpret this emotion on Mai's face in a thousands of different ways though:

"I had to drop a guy because he hated my deep personality. Again!"

"My prince suddenly turned into a badgerfrog. What a dissapointment."

"Aww, I really liked his butt though".

"Oh damn, I just lost my free source of fruit tarts. I didn't really think this through, did I?"

"Why, oh why I have to be such a tragic and misunderstood character? It's all my mother's fault. That bitch."

(You can add to this list if you like, it's hilarious.)

The point is, you can't really use this sad look as a full-fledged argument.

(Of course, it's my personal way of solving the psychological contradictions of the writing. But seriously, I don't make the rules here - the "bring me food" moment outweighs all the ambiguous sad looks altogether.)

Anyway, after this Zuko was disgracefully banished from the party for damaging property, so the pair will see each other next time only after some lonely walking and reflections.

But we'll save this material for the next mysterious part of the 'overanalyzing beach Maiko' series! Yay!

(The end of the episode is really heavy with polylogue and all the girls being suddenly possessed by a local ghost of amateur psychoanalytic, so I'll have to think about the best way to approach the analysis. Until then...)

Thanks for your attention.

I still ignore all notifications.

P. S.: While I was writing this, I realized another possible mechanism behind Zuko's irrational jealousy! So perhaps we'll actually make a little detour next time, hmm.

(Ugh, the more I analyze Maiko, the more I want to scream. I mean, to hell with zutara - I'd be satisfied with just those two people staying as far from each other as possible! Dfghkhafffg!)

#atla #zuko #mai atla #anti maiko

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animehouse-moe · 1 year

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Heavenly Delusion Episode 8: The Immortal Order

Searching for answers for both Maru and Kiruko, the pair are led to the headquarters of the Immortal Order. But, we quickly find out things are not at all what they seem, and we begin a spiral into a horror framed episode. Freakish human experiments, amputations and unauthorized surgeries, a thing you cannot call a human any longer being kept alive by technology, and something that lurks in the basement. What a terrifyingly good episode.

Hirotaka's overarching sense of direction was always something that would lend itself well to horror with how it holds static framing and places the focus on the interactions and acting of the characters, but paired with today's episode director I really feel like they took it up another notch.

There's lots of effort is placed on separating Maru and Kiruko in the layouts, whether it's vertical or lateral distance, or even not placing both within the same scene. But alongside that there's also a surprising amount of closeups on the characters to trend more towards the typical aspects of horror.

In terms of closeups, I really like these two because of how the characters move through the scenes. The second in particular is really impressive thanks to how well the light is animated.

Anyways, moving forward. Today's episode director comes in very strong with very angled shots to continue to add to that suspense and space within the basement that the pair explore. And even better is that they adhere to Hirotaka's sense of voyeurism and allow objects to occlude our view of the scene, so you end up with shots like this one of Kiruko carefully exploring the basement for any signs of a hiruko.

It's just really, really well suited to the fear and tension that the episode builds for this piece, giving viewers plenty of opportunities to get worked up about what's lurking behind each corner and in every shadow.

Also in terms of selling horror, this cut of Kiruko walking is really great. We're faced with her head on rather than being shown her back, so it goes in the complete opposite direction of Hirotaka's style to provide a scene far closer to horror in origin and feel.

And now we arrive at the climax of this horror, which I think they do an outstanding job with. They restrain themselves and don't go for jumpscares or anything primitive or childish within that range, and instead opt for that seeping terror. Something that appears slowly, but remains absolute in the character's vision, something that they are forced to recognize and become aware of as it creeps towards them.

Once more, you'll also see that they make full use of intense camera angles and closeups to bring that horror closer to the surface. To take the first person perspective of Kiruko looking down at the monster, and then follow up with a closeup on their reaction, it's a really great approach to cultivating and expressing that fear to the viewer.

Also, while you might be able to say it's "only" a stylistic choice, the color palette once Kiruko finds the big/parent hiruko becomes skewed. It's a really really great and subtle difference that gives viewers a visual cue as to what's happening, to sort of hint that things aren't exactly as they seem. Such a great idea considering the manga was unable to play with color to provide hints and context clues to readers during this piece.

Anyways, just more of the aggressive camera angles, layouts, and close ups because they're so damn good.

And then there's the icing on the cake with this sequence. The desperation in Kiruko's voice, the slow but deliberate movements to show Kiruko how unstoppable these monsters are, the terrible sounds that arise from their bodies. It's all incredibly harrowing and disturbing, and continues to play right into the hands of the staff. High overhead camera positions, intense angles and first person perspectives, closeups that provide the intensity and fear in each moment, and a soundtrack that plays directly into that fear. It's just such an incredible scene that caps off the brutal and terrifying basement sequence.

Anyways! We've made it out the other side of the horror, so I'll just touch on a few other clips and aspects of the episode, because largely speaking, this basement sequence is where we're led.

Yes, there's pieces about Kiruko's nerves getting to her because she's got a chance of meeting Dr. Usami, but the pieces like that are rather clear cut and well enough expressed that I don't feel a need to touch upon them.

So, the cool pieces. I really like how static the framing is on Maru and Kiruko's conversation with Liviuman. They continue to make use of that first person perspective within this conversation as well, which leads to some great scenes, and even pieces that prep viewers for horror, like this dolly zoom. Of course, the sequence isn't without its opposing scenes that play further into that sense of voyeurism and tie into the high angle and distant direction of the basement sequence. It's really impressive how well they're able to juggle the two opposing approaches, and reconcile them with one another to create a cohesive feel.

Before getting to the last real piece of discussion, I just wanted to mention how well the comedy does in this episode to break tensions and restart the process of building it back up. Just the right amount of pause before engaging in the humor, and it's very casual and simple stuff that doesn't take much to be well delivered. A really simple piece, but I feel like it does a good job of giving breaks and helping the episode feel less like a constantly spinning wheel, and more like a varied climb towards its peak.

So, the very last piece: Liviuman and The Immortal Order. I really like how they depict both of these organizations in the anime, with the additions of motion and sound. Not that you can't get the same vibe from both in the manga, but that it's a far stronger felt experience in the anime.

Liviuman is sensationalist, they're over the top and incredibly into what they're doing, believing themselves to be perfectly in the right as a group against most of technology. It's just... hard, to fall in with their side when The Immortal Order has been nearly indifferent to the protests of Liviuman. Even further is the fact that Liviuman's leader, Mizuhashi, had their leg amputated, but admits to the fact that they suffered an injury to it. They pretty well neglect giving the entirety of the information in regards to the issue, as Mizuhashi themselves sought out treatment from The Immortal Order.

Anyways, I'm getting a bit off track, the point is that the anime does a really great job of showing the dichotomy between the terrible and unethical Immortal Order, and the faithful and pure Liviuman with sequences like this one. You really get a feel for how things are actually going down between the two groups when you get to see one of them like this.

And that brings us to the end of this episode. I would say it's very much one that serves to show viewers things, rather than one that weaves foreshadowing and theories into it. In a sense, it's a really straightforward episode about getting Maru and Kiruko into The Immortal Order. But, of course, Hirotaka, Production I.G, and Ishiguro sensei are all far better than that, so we get a look into how religion and other forms of belief are able to twist and malform populations. The simple act of not understanding allows groups to twist perception and belief and create sensationalist movements that, say, isolate humanity from technology. So at the end of the day, there's still some higher takeaway from the episode alongside it's incredible cultivation of horror and fear.

#heavenly delusion #tengoku daimakyou #天国大魔境 #production i.g #mori hirotaka #kiruko #maru #anime review #anime recommendation #anime and manga #anime #horror anime

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dk-wren · 4 months

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My Thoughts on Mean Girls the Movie MUSICAL

(Taking a quick break from my usual postings to go back to talk a little bit about one of my other interests...musicals!)

I just wanna share some of my thoughts about the new Mean Girls movie, so I hesitate to really call this a review or a critique. First and foremost, gosh its marketing. Don't even get me started. I have so many questions, but that is not what I want to really focus on. I just needed to get it out of my system. Now, let's begin!

I consider myself a fan of the Broadway musical. Probably not to the extent where I would consider myself its #1 fan, but I did follow its journey to Broadway and any announcements that came during its initial run and tour. I have yet to have the pleasure of watching it live (only through a slime tutorial on YT). So, for someone like me who has listened to the cast recording and watched any live performances by the any of the Bway or touring casts countless time, I can at at least appreciate that this movie exists to deliver the musical aspect to a larger audience.

Jaquel, Auli'i, and Renee (maybe in that order?) are the standouts to me. I absolutely loved Jaquel and Auli'i as Damian and Janis. I honestly think I have nothing but good things to say about their performances and portrayals. And again, from hearing and seeing clips of Renee in the Broadway cast, I was so happy to hear she was cast as Regina George in this adaptation. If you haven't already listened to the movie's soundtrack, most of the songs from the musical were adapted to fit more of a pop vibe than the original Broadway style. While I am happy to have like an official version of Renee singing Regina's song, I felt like her voice was toned down a bit to fit this iteration of the music. Don't get me wrong, she still sounds amazing but I didn't feel like she was able to truly show off her musical theatre chops.

Also, on the subject of the soundtrack, I listened to it before seeing the movie. And can I say, watching it really makes a big difference. I had a lot of thoughts about "Fearless" and "Stop" being cut. But, it kinda makes sense since those are the Act 1 closing and Act 2 opening songs, which in a movie, is not going to have that break, or intermission. In this still being an adaptation of Mean Girls, you have the scene where Cady tells Regina she can no longer sit with the Plastics and is subsequently shunned from the rest of the cafeteria. It's there, there's just no song to accompany it. But, it did feel like the right call since I think that part of the movie would've started dragging if those songs were both kept in.

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"Where Do You Belong" is another song that was cut that I have mixed feelings about. I am still a little sad that it was cut, and I don't think it would've slowed down the pacing that much if left in. After watching the movie, while I can't say it was the right move to cut this song, it definitely didn't feel like there was something missing in this part of the scene. Now, this song leads into "Meet the Plastics" in the musical, which was significantly trimmed down for the film. It's kinda funny to me that the title is still plural when it's only Regina's part. In having this be the third song in the movie, and really the first one after the opening, there is a bit of power that inherently(?) comes with it in having Regina's entrance announced through song.

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As I've seen others point out, two of Damian's songs were cut. So, I am really happy that they turned "Apex Predator" into a duet between Janis and him (rather than Cady and Janis). This is a change or perhaps addition that I really enjoyed. In the movie, this scene/song still takes place at Northshore High (with any mall scene being completely removed). Going along with the lyrics, the choreography resembles the musical in more ways than others, with the students acting like different animals. And it works but also it doesn't. The choreography definitely fits the lyrics. But that comparison between students as animals and high school as a savannah that is set up in "It Roars" does not happen because "What ifs" replaced "It Roars." As a result it feels a little weird (I hesitate to throw out the word cringey, but maybe a little bit). I'm familiar enough with the musical that I could tell they were definitely pulling from that number as it appears in the musical, but if I was not, I don't really know how I would feel.

The last song I'm gonna talk about is "What Ifs" replacing "It Roars." For the slight story adjustments that were made as to why Cady and her mom return to the US, the new song definitely works. It sets up Cady wanting to explore "normal" high school or teen life the same way "It Roars" does, but it supports the detail of Cady talking with her mom at some point about what she feels she is missing out on because they are in Africa (from what I could gather, the decision to move back to the US is much more driven by character interest or desire, rather than cut funding and becoming the only option). The vibe or style of this song also works well amongst the rest of the soundtrack, especially since I can't imagine "It Roars" translating that well into this new style.

For some smaller details that I really enjoyed, I really liked how (if I'm remembering correctly) when Karen is first introduced, she's wearing a necklace that has her name on it, but she's wearing it backwards (leaning into that "she is the dumbest person you will ever meet"). It was shown in a trailer or an ad, but during "Revenge Party," there is the section where Janis, Damian, and Cady try to embarrass Regina by turning on a sprinkler that will hit her (and ruin her makeup). I like how we see Ashley Park's character, the French teacher, try to mimic the "wet look" since it almost feels like an homage to her playing Gretchen in the musical, who is always described as trying to please or be just like Regina.

Everyone has their own opinions, so I can't say with confidence oh this type of person will love it or this type of person will hate it. But, I can say as someone who loves the musical, I really enjoyed it. I had a lot of fun and was generally smiling throughout the whole thing since in a way, this is the closest I've come to (and may come to) seeing the Mean Girls musical adaptation. Even then, this movie felt like it was trying to do its own take on Mean Girls and Mean Girls the Musical, and I'll give the directors and creatives credit, some of it really worked (and some didn't). I wanted to see this movie, but I was unsure how to feel going into it since I couldn't tell if it was going to be bad or decently/surprisingly good. And after watching it, my initial reaction is to lean more towards the surprisingly good, which makes me happy.

Go see it for yourself though and be your own judge! These are just some of my thoughts. Feel free to comment or share yours! Or ask me about any of my other thoughts about the film.

-Dakota Wren

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