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martianbugsbunny · 2 years

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OUAT Thoughts Pt.45--Episodes 3-4

I have watched through S5E4; spoilers DNI. Also, spoiler warning for anyone further behind than I am.

—Regina looks great in red. And all the ladies look great in the off-the-shoulder, wide neckline kinda deal. Especially Belle. She has an elegant neck.

—It’s fun that Charming gets to be a Knight of the Round Table. I mean, it’s not quite the prize it might be, but it’s still fun. I can’t quite decide where I stand, though; on one hand, Snow is right to be a bit suspicious of how quickly he’s fallen in with Arthur—on the other hand, wanting something in addition to family is fine. To be honest, I’m not sure I would believe anyone who said they were entirely fulfilled by their family alone, because humans are multi-dimensional creatures and we’re not meant to only focus ourselves on one facet of life.

—My dudes, this is a genius take on Camelot. On the outside it looks all shiny and perfect, but on the inside it’s just weak and fake and hollow. And Arthur being a badguy? That’s a take I never would’ve expected to see coming.

—Every time Zelena says ‘dearie’ I want to punch her in the nose. I’m very grateful to Regina for shutting her up. *bows down before my Queen*

—I never really thought about the symbolism of the Round Table before. It’s pretty cool. And I love how the knights have their coat of arms hung on the back of their chairs.

—The Charming coat of arms is pretty. Simple, but pretty.

—Robin legit just spent most of a day sitting in Granny’s. I mean, there’s not much else to do in Storybrooke right now, so he might as well score some food.

—Arthur can’t drive and Charming is fricking nuts. What sane person stands in the bed of a pickup truck and jousts a man off his horse using a two-by-four?

—Okay, so I’m really happy that Rumple is awake, but the fact that Emma has him is stressing me out. It’s not like he has the capacity to fight his way out of her basement right now, and anything she wants him to do can’t be good.

—But it is cool that he gets to choose between light and dark now. Historically, he hasn’t made the greatest choices, but now that he’s a blank slate he at least isn’t having his thinking warped by evil.

—It’s sad that Belle wasn’t there when he woke up. It would’ve meant a lot to both her and Rumple.

—Emma messing with Hook’s emotions makes me so mad. 1, they’re supposed to be good together, but now that she’s the Dark One they aren’t compatible atm. 2, I’m ride-or-die for Hook now, and especially with Emma being evil I’m gonna take his side.

—It’s kinda the good version of nitpicky, but the way Hook talked about his and Rumple’s first meeting was a brilliant piece of writing. His dislike for the crocodile is still evident, but he has admitted that he was the villain in that wife-stealing, life-threatening scenario, and I think that speaks well to his character. He’s not so blinded by hatred for the crocodile anymore that he refuses to see both his past villainy and the fact that Rumple used to be a decent person.

—The spooky spooky swamp was not a fun place. But the hollow armor was cool.

—I’d like to kick Merlin. He hasn’t even done anything and he’s still managing to be a pain in the ass.

—I was so relieved when it turned out that Charming and Snow were playing Arthur. If they had been lying to each other and sneaking behind each other’s backs I would’ve been crushed.

—MMkayy, so that Avalon sand is an interesting plot device. To a point. It should work for Arthur’s marriage and for Camelot because those things were both broken. But I actually don’t like that it worked on Snow and Charming. Just because they didn’t agree with Arthur doesn’t mean anything’s broken there.

—Arthur’s manipulation of Guinevere sucks. But I adore the take this show has on Lancelot and Guinevere. At the beginning of episode 4, I thought the husband overworking and ignoring the wife, leading to an affair, was a lazy cliche. But Guinevere and Lancelot are both played sympathetically; they first realize their feelings on accident, and then don’t want to act on them because they’re loyal to Arthur. Heck, Lancelot wants to leave Camelot, and Guinevere gives Arthur the chance to choose their marriage over his quest to fulfill the prophecy. They both made every effort to do the right thing, and even though they gave Arthur every chance to do the same he didn’t.

—It’s kinda interesting that the Darkness can apparently exist in squiggle form at the will of the Dark One.

—SQUEEE!!!! More Merida!…Oh, wait. Emma stole her heart. If a pretty girl isn’t the one to give it back to her, I’m not interested.

—Merida being an enemy of Arthur is a decent idea. I really hope she and Lancelot team up to orchestrate a jail break.

—Once again, it’s Robert Carlyle’s insane mastery of body language that gives Rumple his signature depth. He acts noticeably different from how he did as the Dark One, even as Mr. Gold. He’s much more similar to original, human Rumple, which is exactly how he should come across. Whether or not the audience consciously realizes it, it makes an impression, and it efficiently and neatly sets up his personality.

—Since when is Hook a horse whisperer? Has he ever even met a horse before? It’s not like those tend to frequent pirate ships. And isn’t it hard to climb a horse with a hook hand?

—As much as I dislike Arthur, I can’t help seeing a little bit of myself in him. Not in the evil bits, but in the way he basically drove himself insane trying to become what he was told he was supposed to be. Maybe Merlin could’ve just *not* and let the sword be pulled from the stone by whomever found it and was worthy, Arthur or not. Probably would’ve gone better for everyone.

#once upon a time #ouat #regina mills #belle #prince David charming #Snow White #camelot #the knights of the round table #Captain Hook #Emma swan #King Arthur #queen Guinevere #lancelot #merida #rumplestiltskin #merlin #avalon sand #martianbugsbunny reviews

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life-rewritten · 3 years

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Manner of D*eath (MOD); Hansel and Gretel, Victims or Victors?

I don't know if anyone is like that shocked by the ending of episode 10 of MOD, I mean I think we can all tell it was fake, and I think we also are coming to terms with the villains/ the actual suspect of Jane being revealed. I don't think the show is still mysterious or still has so many hidden plot twists left. If there is then, I'll be happier. Anyway, episode 10 was intense and crazy in terms of what was shown on screen however as always I try to show you how the show gives you clues apart from piecing together what's on the surface, about the MOD of the characters, their actions, choices and who the suspect is and what their plans are now? We get a new fairytale, and can I just say I am loving the use of these fairytale meta for the show: this time Hansel and Gretel foreshadows the secrets of episode 10, clues to our villain and more deeper looks into family dynamics and dimensionality of our characters especially Tan. At the end of episode 10, Tan is forced to eliminate the person he loves (calling back to Little Mermaid analysis here that foreshadowed this) and also becomes a victim to a powerful person that has him entrapped with no escape. So I have a lot to say about these two fairy tales again and why MOD is creative when it uses them, how it makes things more fun to analyse and watch see unfold. Let's begin:

Hansel and Gretel: Victims or Victors

So as always you get a small recap of the fairy tale from me. If Little Mermaid was about forbidden love and betrayal and sacrifice, Hansel and Gretel is more about torn families, more betrayals, trickery, trauma and plot twists. Let's recap: Hansel and Gretel are the children of a very push over dad, with a very cruel mother figure, when a famine occurs in the land, the father is forced to let his wife discard their children in an abandoned forest, left to fend for themselves, so there is more food for their neglectful parents. Hansel though is brilliant, so he overhears and discovers the truth and prevents his sister and him from being lost at first using pebbles to find his way back home. However, the mother continues to send them out and abandon them; unfortunately, Hansel tries again to do so, but he uses bread crumbs as a way to track and sadly has bread crumbs eaten by birds, so he loses his way back home. So after they wander in the forest now fully scared of their situation, they get lured in by a candy house, which has the food they want and is sweet, it's owned by this older woman who is seen as sweet to kids, and friendly and protective.

However, once they enter the house, Hansel is imprisoned and is going to be eaten by this blood thirsty witch(the older woman's true form). So Hansel has to find again a way to trick her into thinking he's not yet ready to be eaten, he uses a bone to make her believe he's still not eating well enough to be plump for cooking. However, the witch grows impatient and decides to eat him just like that. But instead of just Hansel, she also decides she wants both the siblings. Gretel is still able to walk around and also the witch is blind, so she struggles to see, and she's slow to things. She tries to trick Gretel into entering the oven so that she can eat her, but Gretel like her brother is smarter. So she knows what to do, she ends up tricking the witch into thinking she needs help entering the oven and the witch in annoyance bends down to check the issue and ends up being pushed into the fire and burns. Gretel frees Hansel they discover a lot of treasure at this witch's home, and they take it and go back home with the help of a swan (I don't really understand how it found them and led them home, but you know it's a fairytale) and they reunite with their father who apologises for being a pushover, he didn't want to let what happened to them happen, but the woman forced him to do so, now their mother/stepmother, was eliminated by the famine and so she wasn't there no longer to abuse them and make him do things he didn't want to do. Hansel and Gretel because of the treasure they found, live successfully, wealthy and happily ever after with their father. The end.

First, it's not as romantic as Little Mermaid is it? I feel like Little Mermaid was more dramatic, painful and sad and had many selfless characters. But Hansel and Gretel is interesting. One, as Tan calls out it's not a romantic storyline, it's about siblings, but Bun and Tan (one of our mirrors of Hansel and Gretel) aren't siblings, you know they're lovers, and so that's also interesting. However, I find it really fascinating and interesting that Tan does mention that because it's important later on in again helping unveil who the villain is. I'll explain later on. Let's look at what we should focus on when talking about this fairytale.;

1. Hansel and Gretel were victims of family dysfunction; they had an abusive family member who was looking for a way to get rid of them no matter what because of selfishness and greed and lack of love. 2. Hansel tries to survive his fate three times, by being smart and creative about how to escape his situations. The third time Gretel is the one who helps him escape. 3. Things that seem sweet and protective are actually not but traps for someone else's gain. The witch was trying to look like someone who was trusting for kids and who had what they need to run away but she actually wanted to get rid of them and keep surviving and being strong. 4. The witch is blindsided by Gretel because of her little weaknesses and her ability to overlook the kids. 5. Hansel and Gretel survive their trauma by trickery, cunningness and thinking ahead. They reunite with their family member and get rid of the witch (the powerful source holding them hostage), they gain money, wealth, and love by the end of the story.

Alright so let's keep those in mind and carry on with analysing the past episodes 7-10.

Family Dysfunctions and Cruel Abandonments

So I found it really interesting, in episode 10 when Tan starts to speak about his plans for his mother in the past, his relationship with Por and his relationship with Pued. We knew the family was going to be a focus because Tan, Pued and Por looked dysfunctional and also had severely different dynamics with each other. First of all, Tan and Pued apparently were loyal to each other by default; they loved each other despite disagreeing and fighting; they'd do anything as long as the other is safe. Pued may be this horrible person that we unveiled him to be, but he did have some kind of heart, and he did care about Tan, Bun and maybe even Jane though I don't want to say that about him. Pued paid attention to Tan despite his other family members abandoning him and leaving him as a puppet with no love and no care.

In fact, once Pued is eliminated and Por has a chance to react, Por immediately closes his mind and abandons Tan because he had no love, loyalty or trust for him. He's been looking for a way to get rid of Tan from the beginning. Who does that sound like? It sounds like the mother in Hansel and Gretel. The thing in the fairytale is that it's not evident if the mother is their blood mother or if she is a stepmother or if she's even the witch they later encounter there to lure them and get rid of them. But I'm seeing her like Por, someone who is forced to deal with Hansel and his sister not because she loves them but because she had to put up with them because of the father. The father is a failing figure like Tan's father; he's put the children under the care of someone who doesn't even care or respect them enough. And that's how Por treated Tan. So Family dysfunction is real in Hansel and Gretel, and Tan like Hansel is also deserted by a family in 7-10 as he struggles to stay safe and fend for himself and his lover. And the thing is it's messed up because Por loves Pued so much despite knowing how cruel Pued can be, (Por knows about Rung and Pued's involvement in the drug ring) but for Tan, he sees him as a nuisance, someone who's taking from him not helping him, same as Hansel's 'mum' saw him and his sister. And it makes you wonder what kind of family can become this way, why are people so cruel and why do they not treat people equally with respect. Just like the mother is the one who put Hansel and Gretel in danger, and she ensured it because remember they tried to come back and she sent them off, even more, deeper into the forest. Por also did the same thing, he chased cruelly after Tan and wanted to get of rid of him for Pued twice after he discovered Tan escaped from jail. Make it make sense. Like that's your family member.

Anyways so that's the first reason Hansel and Gretel were mentioned. But before I continue, I also wanted to bring up that Tan and Bun weren't the only mirrors for this character. That as always being Tan's shadow character also actually held more resemblance to the kids, he's younger, he's also imprisoned, and he had a girl to protect and watch over like a sister;Nam. Nam and That try to escape this episode with That being the one to make up the way for them to run away, but they get caught. I just wanted to show that imagery as well and connect it to Hansel and Gretel because as Tan mentioned, they weren't lovers, they were siblings.

However I think there's two more people not mirroring them but is being foreshadowed by them, that's Rungtiwa and Pued. Hear me out before you get confused. In episode 9 Rungtiwa that witch, she said that Pued, Tan are like brothers to her. And it made me laugh because obviously using little mermaid analysis, Rungtiwa and Pued were having an affair, and she's the one probably who got rid of him. Also when Pued was eliminated Por said only a family member knew about his condition, well Rung knew about it because she was acting one on the surface like a sister figure to him, but also she was his lover probably. But why I think it's interesting, it's because Tan misunderstands if Hansel and Gretel could have been lovers before Bun corrects him, and since Tan and Bun are mirroring them, I also think Tan was also foreshadowing the confusion and connection of Rung and Pued. People think like Hansel and Gretel, she's a sibling figure to him, but actually, she was his lover theoretically. Just like Tan confused the dynamics between the two siblings. Some people who are meant to be seen as 'siblings'/'friends' are probably more. That's just me just picking on things. Let's continue with what the show is showing in episode 10 through this fairy tale.

Futile Escapes and Cunning Mindsets

In episode 7-10, Tan has to had to escape a situation he was set up in just like with Hansel in the fairy tale trying to protect Gretel. Can I first mention how similar the roles of Hansel and Tan are in the protection role. They have to be one step ahead, to protect the person with them, like Tan has to use the information he knows to protect Bun and escape Por. So like Hansel, Tan has to escape his situation three times before see him fail entirely in episode 10's ending. The first time he gets set up is jail where he is beaten and has to use his strength and will to stay safe until he's bailed out, the second time he escapes is his own house with Bun because Por wants to get rid of him, and the third time he's in danger is at the cottage house (he ran to, to think ahead, also the house Bun calls a trap/candy house this episode) where he again has to escape by hurting Bun and getting eliminated at the end of the episode.

By the end of episode 10, like Hansel also captured in the iron prison with no way of escape, Tan also ends up having no way to escape and is shot and pushed of a cliff on the run. He basically has a reached a point where all his energy and hard work to protect has been for nothing. Like Hansel realising the witch losing her impatience meant he and Gretel were both doomed, he couldn't protect her anymore. Just like Tan with Bun realised, he couldn't save Bun anymore; he couldn't save him self anymore, they were truly imprisoned by a powerful source. Obviously this is what the show is saying on the surface, that Tan and Bun like Hansel and Gretel became victims with no way out. And it's depressing if you let your self follow the storyline, it makes it even more scary and sad when you see both Bun and Tan get shot by people they trust like Inspector M. So Hansel and Tan both find themselves in a place where they can't use anything else anymore to escape and run away from their troubles, they're screwed by the end of the story at first. And things look dark for a while until Gretel shows up. This is why I think Bun like Gretel also has used his own mindset to think of way out, and be one step ahead. But before I explain about that, let' talk about our suspects, our powerful sources and our witch.

Candy Houses and Powerful Sources

These three previous episodes of MOD have been a ride. We unveiled that the Police Commander and Mayor are dangerous and will do whatever happens to ensure their secrets aren't unveiled. Like being happy to frame Tan for something, he didn't do. I just want to keep repeating however that they are not the suspect we are looking for, they're the red herrings, they're baddies but actually not that threatening. They don't like to take a life, apart from maybe Pat but they don't normally use that as a way of power, they're cowards, they do kidnaps, shipping people of, framing etc. but to actually use their hands to take a life is not on their agenda. That's why they're not the suspects of Jane's MoD, or Pued's either. I think they're being shown now because they're meant to represent one of the links to the witch in Hansel and Gretel, Power. But they're not the actual witch.

Let me explain more, you can see they don't get their own hands dirty, they have puppets to do so for them, for example, Tan to get rid of Bun, Inspector M to get rid of Tan, they're not the ones who used their own hands to take Jane's life, they either had a puppet do it (Pued), or they didn't know she was going to be eliminated yet. My theory is yeah, they had Pued do it, but they also had Rungtingwa who they underestimated. So I don't want to spend all the time talking about these two like I said we find out how wealthy and powerful the witch was in the tale and how her demise led to Hansel and the family living happily and successfully. Getting rid of the mayor and police commander will do a lot of good for the people at the end of episode 10, it'd promote Inspector M (if he is on the good side like I'm suspecting), it'd also give freedom to Tan and Bun and raise their reputation in a good way. Those powerful forces won't be able to hold them captive anymore. But LR you say, isn't Tan and Bun gone? Didn't Inspector M go bad and shoot Tan? Yeh, that's what the show is showing on the surface, but as I'm slowly getting to, the plot is shadowed by Hansel and Gretel, tricksters, cunning mindsets, one step ahead, it's foreshadowing; a ploy and M is part of that. But I'm getting ahead of my self, let's focus on Rungtingwa and her witchy ways.

So in episode 9, Rung starts showing up again. In fact, she's our prominent supporter, she helps bail Tan out of jail, and she believes in him like a brother wholeheartedly, she calls Por out on his behaviour and callousness, and she also shakes her head at the police for their slowness with her sister's case. She's so elegant and pretty and smart and protective. She is the family member Tan needs in his life; she cares about them so much. In episode 10, she's even more of a saint-like at first. Because you got to start soon realising things aren't adding up a bit with her. One she's trusted by the police that they send her girls who are in need of money, home, safety to stay at her spa because they were going to be arrested to investigate their illegal whereabouts, this well off company that protects and keeps them taken care of.

Only all of a sudden for those same women to be transported to the mayor and the police commander to be abused and drugged repeatedly. Getting it? Rung's candy house is her spa. Like with Hansel and Gretel, the witch doesn't first show up as a witch to them, no she lures them in with the idea of one protection (they didn't have anywhere else to go), provision (they were starving and her house was made of cakes, bread etc.) and prevention (of them being alone, of their lives etc.), Rungtiwa shows up and does just the same thing. She offers protection by helping Tan leave the jail, and calling him her brother, a family member that he craves for because of his own dysfunctional relationship with Por. She offers him provision of information, she offers not just them but the women and the police a space for the women who think they're safe with her in her spa, food, and anything they want. And she offers them prevention because these women weren't meant to be running away or being shipped, don't remember properly what the mayor said, but this was meant to be a safe spot for them, they were wowed by her spa, they felt comfortable and at peace. Like Hansel and Gretel were the first time they entered the candy house.

But looks are deceiving which is Rung's link to the tale. The witch sheds her skin and transforms into someone who's not only blood thirsty, (Rung is our suspect and has probably gotten rid of two people her sister and her ex-lover) and someone who only lures people in for her benefit, for her greed, power, satisfaction, strength. Remember Rung like Pued is doing all of this for power and reputation, and she's hiding the truth so she can be saved and protected by society because she's innocent. And the thing she's cold-hearted, she doesn't care about anyone in episode 9 she stands up for Tan and believes he's not the suspect (well because she knows he's not she is), but then she switches in episode 10, she blames him for taking the life of Pued in front of M and she says it in an anxious and shocking way that the brothers were this awful to each other when she said previously she knows Tan didn't do it. It's how she covers her self, how she hides who she is, as the witch to lure the kids. Hansel and Gretel weren't the first kids taken by this witch, that's what the bone was remnants of another kid eaten and destroyed by her. Rung is like that she leaves trails of people being discarded wherever she goes, she plots, and she plans her own way out. And if Pued wants to talk, then she has to get rid of him. This is why I know she knows who helped her take her sister's life. Sigh. But again I commend her villainy. She's cruel, but it's very very wanted in a villain, she isn't weak, and she doesn't let people get in her way. That's w a villain hatis meant to be. Right now she's winning because no one has suspected it's her, but I think she forgot one thing like the witch; Gretel, but also she was blindsided. Let me explain

Shocking Additions and Sneaky Weaknesses

Rung didn't expect Inspector M to be one of her weak spots. In episode 10, Inspector M discovered some of the truth and started to notice that he was in a corrupted system. Right now, Commander is thinking Inspector M is on his side and has given into corruption because of fear and power however no matter how dumb he is, Inspector M has always been for justice that's his flaw and character, like Bun he's been trying to do the right thing. Now he's slowly piecing together that some people are not to be trusted in this scenario; for example, Rung's spa because she's aiding the commander in hiding those girls. She underestimated him, and that's going to be her downfall.

Also, the commander and mayor are ruined because they've let in someone also in a mask, Inspector M is working with Tan and Bun to hide their plans. So like Hansel, Tan has found a way to think one step ahead. Like Gretel Bun has let himself be the one that is sacrificed as a guise actually to sacrifice the witch, to lure all of them out in their pride and triumph, to expose them. Tan pretended to get rid of Bun this episode 10, to make everyone involved calm and weak and unsuspecting and that's important, that's how Gretel tricks the witch, however, the witch's blindsight is pointing to Rung and the others not knowing Inspector M is involved and is determined to help solve the crime and find the suspect. So Tan, Bun, M have all joined together to find a way to expose the powerful sources and get rid of their captors also to save the other people especially Nam and That. So everyone who is still in shock by episode 10, know this, Hansel and Gretel is about being one step ahead, Tan and Bun are one step ahead of the chase, the only way to win and overcome their captors was to surrender or pretend to surrender (like Gretel and Hansel did) and next week all of them will start to crumble one by one. But if you're still worried about how the show will end, then focus on the ending of Hansel and Gretel

Triumphant Victors and Enhanced Reputations

So let's review the ending to make you all calm down.

One Hansel and Gretel come out alive, they get rid of the witch. Everyone is safe. That's important to know Tan and Bun, That hopefully as well (not sure about him though) are safe, they're going to be okay.

Two they get rid of the witch, Inspector M will get his answer and find the culprits.

Three, they reunite with people, especially family and are seen in a different way, apologised to and taken care of. Tan and Por will reunite, and the truth of Pued will come out, making Por realise the error of his ways. Tan will reunite with his family and get the love he wanted and craved.

Four they end up all successful, happy and wealthy. I think this one is pretty obvious getting rid of the powerful sources of the town opens up places for change and for more people to be put in authority. Bun's words will be taken seriously and respected. Tan gets a job he's happy with, and M will probably be promoted. In a way, M is also like the father figure that needs to apologise and say he's sorry because he's also been like Por neglectful and troublesome, an obstacle and so he also needs to agree he's wrong and reunite his friendship with Bun.

So Hansel ends up actually surviving after being helped by others to get to his destination and reunite with his family again. Tan will finally have that happy life he wanted, and he no longer has to be a puppet for others and do things without his will. He also has love differently, he also has Bun, and the two husbands can go back and be domestic and happy solving other issues and crimes whilst mourning Jane and maybe others and letting her go peacefully.

So you see why I love fairy tale meta? It helps you uncover the truth, leads you to knowing why they add some dialogues or hints in the show. It also reveals the facades of people who are not what they seem. Rung is getting away with everything she does, and we the audience picked up on it in the surface, we also probably understood it was a staged event that Tan shot Bun but it's nice to have something else that shows you the show is clever and one step ahead. When I first heard Hansel and Gretel, I panicked because I was like what do you mean Hansel and Gretel like that's sibling bond, I don't know what similarities they could possibly have with the show like Little mermaid made so much sense because I could tell Tan would be forced to get rid of Bun, and that's a theme in the fairytale. Still, Hansel and Gretel, I couldn't put my mind to it. And yet here we are, the show is brilliant, there is meta, there is foreshadowing not just with on the surface clues but also with subtext, there's a reason why the plots in episode 10 went the way they did, there's a reason why we ended up hearing about certain things, and I think that's a good sign of a good show, more in-depth and thoughtful. So I can't wait to see the reveal that our husbands are okay and they are going to win this battle however we still have four episodes so maybe let's not yet get comfortable. I still hold on to my theory. Pued is one of the suspects of Jane, and Rung helped him, but she also is the one who got rid of him. If not, maybe someone else Oat? Haha, but no seriously I would really love another plot twist. But I also like the show having layers and being so thrilling every episode, always making us want more. Well done to the cast and crew for a good BL, unique, smart, and one step ahead. I enjoy it. Thank you.

#manner of death #mod #tanbunn #tanbun #cwg #january #maxtul #thai bl #bl series #bl drama

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violethowler · 5 years

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Disclaimer: This is not a dig at any one specific person, this is just a semi-funny, semi-serious take on the reactions some segments of the fandom have had towards those pushing for the unedited season and finding evidence of who was responsible for what happened in S8 and why:

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LM & JDS: act incredibly stiff and uncomfortable when saying the things that angered the fandom, as if theses answers were from a script they’d had to rehearse. When not giving these answers, they are very casual and relaxed. When they aren’t saying their rehearsed lines, they say the series started as “a show for boys 6 to 11 to sell as much toys as possible.” They say that Dreamworks was easy to work with and the push-back came from the IP owner.

Bex Taylor Klaus: Says that the IP owner thinks of VLD as a show to sell toys to six year old boys.

Official podcasts and con appearances: Bob Koplar, head of World Events Productions, is the owner of the Voltron IP.

Bob Koplar: says in various interviews with the Let’s Voltron podcast that he wanted VLD to be a continuation of Voltron Force, a show that he was EP of where the iconic pilots of the lions were largely replaced by a new set of characters, and where Lotor was portrayed as a one dimensional Zarkon 2.0 after being brought back from the dead. Says he sees Voltron’s target demographic as six year old boys and their dads.

Season 7: Introduces the MFE pilots, a new group of characters who are clearly being set up to serve as the protagonists of a spin-off series and receive enough focus that some fans were scared that the Paladins were going to be killed off and replaced by the MFEs entirely for the rest of the show.

Season 8: Lists Bob Koplar as an EP alongside LM and JDS. Gives additional focus to the MFE pilots. Kills Lotor and hammers in that he was evil and manipulative despite all narrative subtext indicating an impending reveal otherwise.

Also LM and JDS: Indicate that the IP owner didn’t want LGBT rep in the show. Say that the MFE pilots were added in late in production, forcing the animators to do a lot of extra work to create enough content for the MFE crew that they needed to give the animators a break via The Feud. Said that the divisive epilogue was created in less than a day.

The Feud: The Paladins are forced to play games at the behest of an all-powerful being named Bob. They protest, but are ultimately forced to play by his rules. Ostensibly the filler comedy episode of Season 7, it breaks the flow of the narrative, none of the characters are amused by what’s happening, and it ends with everyone agreeing that Bob was a jerk.

The Epilogue: Ties the series up in such a way that a sequel series is impossible: the lions have flow off into the unknown, all of the heroes are retired, the cool ninja allies are now a relief organization, and the only way to have a transforming robot in future installments is through the Atlas, which would require Shiro to come out of retirement.

Fans campaigning for the unedited S8: Hmmm... Perhaps... maybe... the IP owner interfered with the production of Season 8 because he wanted the show to sell more toys and set up the continuation/successor of Voltron Force that he wanted all along?... And maybe that the EPs did the epilogue in such a short time as one last “screw you” to the IP owner who forced them to mangle the conclusion of their story for toy sales and spin-offs by making it so that the only way to have a transforming robot in a sequel series was to have a gay man as the lead?

A vocal portion of the fandom plus a few geek news sites that have been bashing the EPs over everything for years: You’re crazy. It was totally Lauren and Joaqim’s fault and they did it all because they’re horrible/clueless people.

#freevlds8 #voltron season 8 #voltron fandom #voltron legendary defender #voltron meta #executive meddling #world events productions

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where-fading-princesses-live · 5 years

Note

What is your opinion on Rolf’s scenes in the movie?

((Sorry this is going to be long. I’ve been trying to finish this for the past three days.)) So just going off from what everyone else said, I agree that Rolf’s scenes could have been trimmed down some, or at least utilized in a more productive manner. He’s all geared up like some hardcore Indiana Jones, looking ready as ever to whoop some serious ass, but he never really does anything. I mentioned it before, but it’s as if the writers just didn’t know what to do with him…

(Credit for art goes to Marlushion)

That pretty much sums it up.

Granted, I don’t hate Rolf’s scenes. Far from it, actually. I just feel like he could have been slightly more on track. His scenes not only go on for too long, but in the entirety of his screen time, all he does is… fry an egg (???), pour some ‘’Rö suk’’ on a car seat, yells at Wilfred, mutilates a perfectly good muffin, yells at Wilfred some more, milks a cow, drinks unpasteurized milk, yells at Wilfred, gets a meat grinder stuck on his head… so yeah, basically, Rolf’s scenes are, as everyone described, just the very definition of filler. Which is a shame, considering Rolf is one of the most interesting and complex side characters.

In fact, Rolf isn’t the only three-dimensional supporting character that had less to do in this finale. Jonny and Jimmy also take back seats in their subplots, and they, too, have been the most developed of all the supporting cast. Maybe it’s just because these three characters had so much character development throughout the series that there just wasn’t anything left for them to do, and so the writers decided to shift focus onto characters that had very little development, like Sarah, Kevin and Nazz. The before mentioned characters were always the least interesting and least popular among fans, so I was surprised by how much screen time they received in BPS. Not only that, but their subplots are fairly interesting, at least compared to the more popular secondary characters like Rolf. I suppose it all boiled down to time constraints. It was more important, anyhow, that the Eds had their dramatic conflicts resolved and their time to shine– the rest of the cast just had to pick up the left-overs. Still, it would have been nice if Rolf, Jonny and Jimmy had the opportunity to be as great in BPS as they normally are in the series– even if they had plenty of development prior to BPS, this was going to be the last time we would ever see these characters, so to have them do nothing due to time, well, again, it’s a shame. EEnE was one of the few shows of its era that had a very strong supporting cast, so even if we watched it for the Eds, it was still a treat to see the others, too.

I think the majority of fans dislike Rolf’s story arc mainly because it lacks comedy (or at least, the usual Rolf antics we’ve come to expect). I like @mundane-ededdneddy-headcanons theory in that Rolf has been alienating himself further from the group and becoming more and more introverted as the series progresses. This is true. Towards the end of the series, Rolf has had some more serious moments than usual, moments that reflect his more introverted nature. For example, in ‘’Too Smart For His Own Ed’’, it’s revealed that he suffers from stage fright and has a phobia of public speaking. Yes, this same kid who bravely performs in front of his friends without a hint of shyness…

… loses the Spelling Bee due to social anxiety.

‘’No Speak Da Ed’’ is perhaps one of the darkest Rolf-centric episodes, the plot which heavily draws upon past childhood trauma. So it’s not as if Rolf was never serious before BPS. Even before Season 5-6, Rolf had some heavy material in his episodes, such as ‘’Wish You Were Ed’’ and ‘’Dueling Eds’’. So again it’s not like Rolf can’t be serious– but because he’s more beloved and popular for his comedic timing, I guess his story in BPS fell a bit flat for some. I think the criticism mainly stems from the fact that even in his more serious episodes, the writers always made sure to pull it back to comedy. In ‘’Wish You Were Ed’’, it begins kinda sad, but then it gets pretty outrageous.

Same goes for ‘’Dueling Eds’’, which handled a pretty serious topic of Eddy unintentionally hurting Rolf’s feelings… it begins normal enough, but then escalates into… insanely… weird… shit…

Even ‘’No Speak Da Ed’’ ended on a comedic note. So if BPS handled serious frustrated Rolf in the same way they handled these episodes, maybe fans wouldn’t be so nitpicky about it?

Maybe the meat grinder was meant to be hilarious, but it’s actually just kinda sad. I mean, the kid loses everything… all the possessions he can carry, his pig, his shoe… I mean, he’s kind of a wreck at the end. I don’t know about anyone else, but I wasn’t laughing, and maybe I was supposed to be?

But going back for a moment, maybe fans just weren’t thrilled with the idea of Rolf being so cut off from the rest of the group. Granted, he has really always been an introvert, just not in the pure sense of the word like Jonny and Edd. Rolf’s more of an extroverted introvert, in that he enjoys the company of his friends, but he’s also not afraid to go solo. We’ve seen moments of Rolf alone before– but that’s all it was, moments. He’s revealed to be a slightly different person when he’s alone as opposed to in a group. In fact, he’s more serious when he’s alone. In ‘’Pick an Ed’’ we see him sitting alone under the bleachers, dwelling over his poor grades. His frustration here mirrors exactly how he is during the entirety of BPS: talking to himself, talking to his pig. But I think because we’re not used to seeing him alone so long, it was maybe a tad unsettling to not have him bounce off of anyone and vent his anger and frustration in other ways– such as through comedy. The same would be true for the rest of the cast. It’s interesting to see how the characters react when by themselves, but they are much more interesting when bouncing off each other. I could say the same for the Eds– they wouldn’t be nearly as interesting by themselves. So because Rolf is alone for the majority of BPS, he doesn’t have the opportunity to be as fun as he usually is.

He isn’t playing comic relief in his story at all. Like Kevin, he’s terribly frustrated and solely focused on revenge. But even though we as fans sit here and analyze these characters like we created them, we didn’t, and maybe there was a creative reason why Danny–who obviously knows his own characters better than we do–decided not to go with comedy for Rolf. Maybe he felt it would be too inappropriate for this type of setting? I mean, all the kids have pretty dramatic moments in their stories… but then again, even in their most tense situations, they still have room for comedy. I’ve seen several responses already suggesting Rolf should have at least tagged along with Jonny or acted as a third wheel in the Kevin X Nazz X Bike subplot. Either one would have been good, but maybe Danny just didn’t want him around to crack jokes? Maybe he felt as though Rolf could be more than that? Maybe he just wanted to give us something we wouldn’t expect? The way they paired up the kids was a no brainer– but again, maybe there was a reason why they wanted Rolf alone with his pig instead of with his friends. I think there were other ways to make his story work without interfering with the other kids, one of the suggestions being the previously mentioned pitch that all he needed was more comedy. He could have still bounced off Wilfred the same way he bounces off the other characters, and in a less cruel way. That’s another criticism of mine, having him be so unreasonably harsh towards Wilfred. Rolf has never been shown to be extremely abusive of his animals before. Maybe he was just taking his anger of the Eds out on Wilfred… but it was still a tad extreme and slightly out of character, even for Rolf. I’m almost glad Wilfred bit the shit out of him.

One last thing to add. Towards the end of the series, Rolf has been taking on subtle traits of Double D by not only improving his English and expanding his vocabulary but also…

Not only does he better his English, even though he can’t excel in school despite working his ass off to little avail, but Rolf also starts to embrace science and technology, as if an excess of Double D’s annoying habits rubs off on him. Season 1-4 Rolf is behind the times, often resorting to animalistic tactics and do-it-yourself conduct, using natural resources and living off the land. The only hint of ‘’technology’’ in his antique-ridden old-world colonial-style home is a dated television set with foreign characters on the control dials and limited channels. But in BPS, he goes full Steampunk mode while tracking the Eds, which, as cool as it seems, is a little out of Rolf’s passé character. Though Steampunk incorporates modern technology with the aesthetic of 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery, it also seems very advanced for Rolf, who in previous seasons, would use traditional, natural remedies like Carbuncle of the Flesh Stew to heal acne and other skin blemishes. Analyzing egg whites to uncover evidence of missing persons in a forensic-styled science experiment sounds more like Double D’s mojo, not Rolf’s, no matter how DIY. Oh well. He may have temporarily stolen Edd’s thunder but he looks badass, so who gives a flying cow?

Oh, also…

It might be safe to assume that science and agriculture aren’t so different after all, so perhaps Rolf’s retrofuturistic tendencies in eventual installments isn’t so bizarre.

#eene #ed edd n eddy #rolf #ask me a question

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bookishbloggerreviews · 6 years

Text

Wild Beauty --An Honest Review

[Warning: I give an honest review that focuses not only on plot but on writing and character as well. As this is an opinion, you can take it as seriously as you want, but understand that my goal is to review, not shame or praise the author.]

Hey guys~ So I’m back with another book review and today I will be reviewing Wild Beauty! I know it’s been a while since I’ve written any reviews and honestly, it feels like it’s been a while but I promise that over the next couple days I will be punching some out like a hole-puncher because man have I been reading. (Also, does anyone just want to give a pay-raise to the person who designed this cover? No? Okay. Just me I guess.)

Now before I get into this book review I’m just gonna say that this was not a fantastic book for me. I enjoyed it and I liked some of the characters and the story but it was not gold-star material and that’s okay. Not every book has to be gold-star material for it to be published and for authors to tell a story. So please understand that I am not hating on this book or this author at all, I’m just reviewing the piece as honestly as I believe reviews should be.

So let’s start with some of the negatives and work our way up to the positives, shall we?

Like most books, Wild Beauty had a plot; however, I’m not too convinced that the plot was really there. In general, books with plots can say, “_____ happened and then after ____ happened, then ______ blanked happened, all which lead to _____ happening and this is how the characters reacted.” But instead of getting a linear, or even a multi-dimensional plot, I felt that the plot was like a blurry mess with specific stand out plot points that make you say, “Oh there’s the plot!” The plot felt more like an after thought to me; which is okay, as long as you make up for it.

Normally when books aren’t plot driven books, they’re character driven books. But Wild Beauty is not what one could call, “A character driven book”. It’s characters are fairly two-dimensional, with a few rare moments where I feel like they are actual people. (I’ll be getting into more depth about this later on in the spoiler section.) But I had a really hard time believing that these girls were actually teenagers. Yes, they have a lot of detail surrounding them and their stories and what they like, but I didn’t close the book and go, “wow, what amazing characters”.

I believe that the selling point of Wild Beauty is the amazing descriptions this book had. This book felt more like a piece of prose or poetry, with long, lengthy and elegant descriptions than it ever did being a book. In fact, I can see it being better as a piece of prose or poetry than being a book.

The book’s focus was not on plot, not on character, but instead, on the setting and the world they lived in. And if you’re not into setting, that becomes very detrimental to the story, very, very quickly. From the first page, kind of quickly.

I really want to get more specific concerning the characters and the plot but that will require spoilers so...

Overall I rated this book a 4/10. For those of you who read my reviews, you know I start at an average 5/10, and if the book rises above or below my expectations, then I adjust the score. But as you can see, this was a little below average.

Moving onto the spoilers...

If you haven’t read the book yet or are looking into reading it for yourself, after this point will all be spoilers. So I’d suggest finishing the book before coming back. But if you haven’t read the book and really don’t care about it... read on, rebel!

[WARNING: SPOILERS!]

Let’s talk about Estrella and Fel. Aside from Bay, they’re our main couple of the book and I’m pretty sure I’m not the only person who can say that I was not buying it. I love the ship, and I love the concept of the ship, but I don’t think that the ship was that well executed. Most of the time, the ship left me with a feeling of...

(Or: do you actually feel anything for each other?)

So yeah, with this being a book about romance and I have to constantly question whether this is actually a romance or if it’s just lust... it’s probably not as romantic as one would make it out to be.

But the whole “lack of feelings” thing goes beyond just Fel and Estrella. I felt like the whole cast had a “lack of feelings”. For example, when Bay just “disappeared”, all the girls did was cry. That’s five characters, all of which are expressing the same emotion, the same way, by doing the same thing. No body covers up their emotions and goes and parties. No one drinks their emotions away. No one listens to sad music while eating ice cream. No one works all their sadness away.

They. All. Do. The. Same. Thing.

And they act that way almost every single time. It’s mind boggling how five characters can be written like one.

Bay disappears: they all cry for days on end.

Bay’s cousin appears: they all try to sabotage him.

Bay goes to speak to her cousin: all five decide to spy on her out the window.

It’s just a cycle of five people being written like one and it never stops with this book with rare moments like, Estrella setting a car on fire, or Estrella taking Fel to get candy. Unless if it’s Estrella or Fel, there is rarely anyone not deviating from the day-to-day script that this book seems to have created.

But again, this book doesn’t focus on characters.

As for the plot, I actually really liked the plot. Estrella setting a car on fire, the girls attempting to get the dude drunk, Estrella finding out about the miners, that was all cool points of the story and I wish that those had been the main focus of the story and that they hadn’t gotten covered up with tons of flowery detail. I would’ve read a whole book about five girls taking revenge but having the power to grow flowers. I would’ve read a whole series about it.

But again, PLOT WASN’T THE FOCUS.

This book has incredible detail and description but it doesn’t follow the normal conventions of a book which makes it so easily forgettable and bland. It really had so much potential to turn into something like the Vampire Diaries, or Vampire academy, or Fallen that I was really disappointed that it ended up the way it did. I love the world and I love their powers and their family but it’s just not worth much more than 4/10. Which is also a disappointment to say because I feel like it deserves better. But looking at all the evidence that I’ve brought up, to give it anything better than that would be a lie and I believe in reviewing things as honestly as possible.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this review and this dramatic display of ambivalence towards this book. If you liked it and want to see more bookish reviews, then please hit that follow button. If you’ve read the book and felt similar, or haven’t read it and are curious, please leave a comment below. I’m excited for any book chat, even if you disagree! But until next time... a Bookish Blogger out!

#books #reviews #wildbeauty #okay #bookreview #soclose #forget #forgettable #bookworm #bookblog #bookblogger #blogger

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granpris · 7 years

Text

Please listen for once.

Hello, I'm Granpris. I'm known as the current leader of Team Switched and the TS:Underswap project on Gamejolt. For several days drama has been going on on Tumblr, Gamejolt and wherever.

I'm quite sick of it having it cause me to become very ill recently and stressed, my team alike, due to the amount of false accusations and attacks directed towards me and my team.

I'm here today to debunk several popular claims and accusations that have been made towards our team, and hopefully end this mess. Please do not see this as an attack. I simply want to debunk some claims, as I’ve previously stated, and get my thoughts out there.

Before moving on to read my own post i highly recommend checking out the following posts as well for they also contain vital information and are a bit less opinionated than mine:

http://megaderping.tumblr.com/post/165903415711/regarding-the-drama-over-team-switched https://emeraldheck.tumblr.com/post/165910458062/hey-everyone-i-know-this-isnt-what-you-would https://gamejolt.com/games/undertale-underswap/160094/devlog/the-sans-dillema-jiagyb7p https://gamejolt.com/games/primus-underfell-official/249907/devlog/regarding-the-recent-team-switched-drama-mc9frvdb

- "You have/had a GoFundMe and have been scamming us for a year!"

No.

Back when the team was first founded, some members expressed wanting to put up a crowdfunding for the game, one having made a private page for it even. However, this was taken down, as it went against fangame policies. The same person later tried to get funding through Steam gifts, as receiving money directly wasn't allowed. However, none of this was ever shared with the team, and this member was booted off of the team. This project is free, and will always be free, no matter what. If we had a GoFundMe, Ko-fi, Kickstarter or anything of the sort, we would have likely been taken down ages ago, and we would have been called out for this way earlier. Long time fans can confirm we have not had any form of a crowdfunder.

- "This isn't Underswap! You're falsely advertising your game!"

Also no.

Underswap is a community owned AU now, meaning it has no set-in-stone owner and thus, everyone can do with it what they want. Not everyone has to stick with what has been introduced, and this was the case even before the original creators abandoned the AU.

The original creators had always encouraged different interpretations of the AU, even ones where personalities do not swap like with our project (As is clearly evident here). (I recommend right about now checking out Megaderping/Dorked’s post i linked earlier if you haven’t for it adds to what follows after this sentence.)

And that's what it is! AN INTERPRETATION! I think this is something a lot of people misunderstand; it isn't meant to replace Underswap, or Blueberry, or Carrot, or anyone! This is just how we would've tackled the Underswap AU, using the base concept of characters having their roles swapped. If you don't like it, that's totally fine! If you don't like our designs, that's fine too! However, what isn't fine is making hate art, rant posts, and launching attacks and campaigns at us, all because we do not obey your every whim and make what YOU think our game should be, rather than allowing us to have the creative freedom this fandom has been given as well.

We have been very transparent about our project for well over a year now, having stated numerous times what our intentions are. We aren't doing personality swaps, we aren't going to have Sans be a sugar rushed childlike character wanting to be in the Royal Guard, nor will we have Papyrus be a lazy, honey chugging smoker, we won't have any of that. It isn't true to the characters so many of you and us fell in love with, and robs them of their character. We find it more interesting working with characters who retain their personalities in different scenarios rather than personality swapped characters who you can expect to just respond and act the same way towards situations as the character who had the role prior would have.

I find it honestly quite offensive when people tell us this is not Underswap, and that we aren't doing things how they were meant to be, when looking at Underswap's current state in hands of the fandom, that's exactly what's been done to it now. Underswap used to have a canon, and it was disrespected with people misrepresenting the AU and its characters, primarily Sans; he was made into a super smol, star eyed, sometimes if not permanently cat mouthed character with a personality nowhere close to either Sans' or Papyrus'. There is nothing to their character besides just being and acting cute.

If you are looking at this from, let's say, a fanartist's perspective, that doesn't matter much. It's just a cute character you enjoy, right? Which is perfectly fine! However, try looking at Blueberry from the perspective of a writer, or a developer... you can not work with this. It's a flat, 1 dimensional character. They have barely any personality, and as previously stated, they're just meant to be cute. They aren't relatable or appealing at all. This is simply not something we want to work with.

I've gone on long enough here, so I'll end it off with something my co-worker and friend Kalin had to say:

We are trying to focus on making a game that tells the main story of Underswap. But let's just pretend all the unique art and music doesn't exist for a second. If we truly did it like that, we'd be telling the exact same story but all the names are switched and some objects and phrases would be switched around as well. Anything we could salvage out of that would be violating copyright of the original work, which Toby has explicitly stated before to not dis-encourage people from buying UNDERTALE, which would not only rob Toby of money, but also generally just be really disrespectful.

If you wanted Underswap to go the way it did, it would've been shut down by now.

Blueberry is only really meant to work in really short comic form or fan art. Our Sans, on the other hand, is written with more long-term stuff in mind; with the original Sans' character being placed in a different scenario, the outcome of the story can be different. Think of it like this: Would you rather have a game where you can predict everything that's going to happen, as in, Blueberry acting exactly like Papyrus, or would you rather play a game where you don't know what is going to happen?

- "One of your members used a ableist term to describe Blueberry and insult us!"

Yes, this member used an ableist term to describe Blueberry, and they are terribly sorry for it. However, he should not be the one getting hate. He showed me the message he was going to reply with containing the slur before he posted it, and I didn't point out the slur. If you have to be mad at someone, be mad at me. Do not get mad at them, and do not put my entire team in the same boat.

I, too, am sorry, for I approved the message knowing the term was used in it. It was unprofessional of me and I should have pointed it out when I could. I'm sorry for anyone offended by this.

HOWEVER.

It was never used to insult real people. The member used it to describe the current representation of Underswap or otherwise known as Blueberry Sans. No real person was meant to be targeted with the word.

- "You've been very rude to fans and have been bashing the fandom!"

Yes, this is somewhat true.

There have been occasions where some members have been kind of rude, and while I do not speak for them besides myself, we are sorry for our behaviour to some people. Working on a game for over one and a half years without any form of income and scraping for time to work on it, combined with other factors such as bad personal lives and impatient fans pushing for a demo/full release, may cause us to lash out sometimes. We're only human, after all.

As for bashing the fandom, this is also true to a degree.

Some of us, including myself, have been making several remarks towards the fandom and some of the people in it. I apologize for my part in that at least, for I can not speak for any of the others. I'm not going to try and justify my actions when it comes to this too much, but most of this originates from some things like Blueberry Sans that I've seen in the fandom and have a strong disliking towards. Yes, I apologize to the people I've possibly offended, but I shall not apologize for the bashing of any fictional AU characters and such. I am allowed an opinion on these things, and while I can be rude and extreme with this at times, which again I do apologize for to a degree, it is, nonetheless, an opinion. One of our members recently has gone a bit wild mocking several people and bothering them. I was not there when this happened as i was paying attention to our Tumblr at all times. Know, however, i do not approve what they did. I told them to stop and i hope that nothing more comes from this. I’m sorry for the long LONG post but I’ve been stressing out, throwing up, breaking down and whatnot because of this situation and needed to get my word out there. I just pray this drama can just end already because it’s not necessary at all and frankly quite petty.

#underswap #notmyswap!sans #underswap sans #blueberry #undertale #undertale au #drama

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falkenscreen · 4 years

Text

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Note: This review does not contain any discussion of plot points beyond that included in the trailers and is limited to general discussion of plot points

Fans will be pleased, they said, it’s for the fans, they said.

Well I’m a fan. I’m a Star Wars fan – and this didn’t do us any service.

Everything about The Rise of Skywalker is designed to register with the faithful; not necessarily appeal, or surprise, or inspire, just, register. As if this generation’s own carbon refit of the Star Wars mythos could have more resonance than that so many have internalised and set to re-watch sooner than Episode IX.

There’s very little new or hopeful about J.J. Abrams’ return. It’s old, safe, heedless of the first and even the prequel trilogy’s savouring of originality; as if disappointment from the devoted was better than revilement, as if over-familiarity didn’t breed contempt.

And yes, Abrams’ The Force Awakens did indeed trade on nostalgia very heavily, but this was when the last instalment was Revenge of the Sith over a decade before and we weren’t getting a new Star Wars flick once a year; fatigue does not beget wonder.

And this entry is overly familiar, as familiar as Emperor Palpatine. Having no presence in Episodes VII-VIII, he’s here; a god-like threat nay hinted at by Episode IX’s precursors nor necessary in the context of conflicts set up merely four and two years ago.

The Last Jedi heedlessly consigned key dramatic beats from The Force Awakens to irrelevance, a fair criticism of an otherwise roundly good film. The Rise of Skywalker does the same, but instead shamelessly reverts not to something new or exciting, or even it’s 2015 precursor, but to narrative arcs that have come and gone.

There is nothing overly interesting about the Emperor either here nor in the first six films in which he appeared. He’s bad, we know it. What has made Kylo Ren the most interesting villain and indeed character in the whole saga is that he is petulant, conflicted, egotistical, self-assured and an overwhelmingly powerful raging hormonal cautionary tale of arrested development all at once.

Vader’s great, but multi-dimensional aspects to his terror are only really uncovered in Return of the Jedi and latently at that. It also helps that Adam Driver is working on a whole other level to anyone in this trilogy. Even tasked with reacquiring a helmet for no reason in what did turn out to be a blatant thematic reversion to the first movie, the only effect is to obscure his evidently excellent performance.

The Emperor, by comparison, is basically Voldemort. His presence by necessity detracting from the character focus on Ren that rendered these entries thus far compulsive, even less consideration is given to any explanation as to how he could return, with no attempt at all made to broach this gaping void. Consequentially, there’s no more central focus on those shades of grey amongst they who wield lightsabers; there’s light, dark and instead of being asked to contemplate these dimensions we’re just told to be on the nice wizard’s side.

For all this film’s faults, every sequence shared between Ren and Rey (Daisy Ridley in her best performance to date) is very involving; the only thing herein hinting at the sense of epic storytelling Lucas so revelled in those years ago. Rise of Skywalker too gradually develops our understanding of the force, it’s fascinating healing properties and what it can physically manage; too progressing Ren and Rey’s screen-crossing dynamic to exceptional new heights.

It’s visually grand, there’s a few decent action sequences (the best two being at the very beginning), long-time Abrams collaborator Keri Russell is well deployed and as much as endlessly-deployed nostalgia gets tired it is nice to spend some more time with characters we’ve come to know and love over now decades. The treatment and rendering of Leia (Carrie Fisher), amidst not unreasonable concerns from the faithful, is well managed and furthermore with dignity. There is one surprise cameo which works to great effect; the other, more predictable appearance emerging charming if lacking the sense of intended gravitas for the performer coming off noticeably detached from this whole affair.

Now; everything else. Story arcs aren’t the only dramatic aspect of the previous films those involved clearly reckoned wouldn’t benefit from even remote consistency or follow through. General Hux (Domnhall Gleeson), having progressed from a terrifying visage to being tossed about rooms for a cheap gag, is here for a third time playing a wholly different character. His arc, and a groan-inducing, nonsensical reveal, is comparable to Matt Damon’s quip regarding his character in the Ocean’s series; the actor assuring that he was tasked to play three different characters as the stories so required.

His presence is ineffective at any rate, what with the introduction of Richard E. Grant’s poorly-monikered General Pryde, a Moff Tarkin-lite intended to evoke and replace the ruthlessness akin to Hux’s own in The Force Awakens yet lacking any discernible personality traits beyond ambition. Rose Tico, one of the most interesting new characters from this trilogy, here gets but a few lines that could just as well have been spoken by a nameless Resistance fighter when the comparably boring Palpatine gets to go ahead and boost off proceedings.

More foreboding still, Abrams has again returned to his mystery box-treasure hunt style of storytelling; this time around even more ludicrous than the map pointing the way to Luke. It takes our heroes on a trip around the galaxy meant to check off bits of fan-service, including a return to a key setting in Episode VI and the reintroduction of Lando (Billy Dee Williams). The slightest digging beneath the surface reveals the cracks; yes it’s a kids film but that doesn’t mean we need to treat children as if they are absent basic logic.

Most disconcerting of all, there’s a second act reveal that flies in the face and ethos laid out by a key turning point in The Last Jedi. It’s not possible to discuss this without spoilers, as soon as you see the film you’ll know it – look for the seasoned performer who can’t near emphatically enough sell this dialogue.

Episodes VII and VIII affirmed the idea, hearkened to in the original Star Wars, that anyone, anywhere, regardless of their level of force capability or connection to some dynasty can make a difference. Episode IX seems ill-concerned with what was a refreshingly sincere arc, introducing a revelation that will make even the most casual fans of The Last Jedi groan and it’s most ardent detractors at best smirk in mild appreciation. It’s an advent of misguided fan-appeasement wreaking of fan-fiction extinguishing the life-blood of a series which could otherwise have expanded and explored new thematic plains with the promise The Last Jedi offered. That opportunity, at least in the context this entry and it’s revelations suggest as the intended thematic trajectory for the saga, is now gone – replaced by a black and white good versus evil dichotomy we’ve seen time and time again and didn’t need following two noticeably different offerings.

Borrowing from it’s Marvel counterparts and concluding with a confusing battle, a disposable, ill-explained CGI cavalcade and indeed a sky beam, as if there weren’t enough of those, The Rise of Skywalker plays it as safe as possible. The best anyone will get from this film is middling satisfaction rather than inspiration or a sense of grandeur had something memorable been attempted, not unlike the finales for Game of Thrones and to an extent Avengers: Endgame.

We don’t deserve anything from Star Wars or any film, and we certainly don’t deserve the resolution we think we do. We just ask to be entertained for two hours and in two hours and twenty minutes that’s not what you get when it’s one step forwards and nine steps back.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is in cinemas now

on Film Fight Club

#xl #reviews #star wars #star wars the rise of skywalker #star wars: the rise of skywalker #the rise of skywalker #billy dee williams #kylo ren #daisy ridley #adam driver #carrie fisher #oscar isaac #john boyega #j.j. abrams #domnhall gleeson #richard e. grant #keri russell

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destiny-smasher · 7 years

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I just keep thinking about the bay or bae choice but like in the context of the choice the beast gives Wirt at the end of over the garden wall. Like the tornado asking to choose between chloe and Arcadia bay and Max just responding with, "that's dumb" and choosing something else that saves everyone lmao

Haha, I’ve never drawn that comparison but that’s amusing. OTGW is one of my favorite stories in general at this point, though. Thinking on all of this led to an informal essay that helps me ground myself in my own mistakes with other fics I’ve worked on, All Wounds’ planning stages, and how I’m approaching its impending ending.

This one’s a bit of a doozie.

(I will be referencing elements of the endings to Over the Garden Wall, Life is Strange, Steins;Gate, and Oxenfree, in case you’re worried about knowing things you don’t yet want to know)

OTGW and LIS are very different stories dealing with very different themes, and OTGW can get away with a blunt and brusque resolution like that because it’s a dark comedy that’s in many ways subverting or teasing a lot of melodramatic tropes. LIS often introduces tropes and then peels back a layer and asks us to look deeper, which is a whole other sort of deal.

The problem, though, is that its own finale and final climax kind of doesn’t hold up, because it hinges upon a choice that really makes no sense – and a moral-oriented choice, at that, which makes it even harder to swallow.

With Wirt and the Beast, there’s a physical character within the world to confront. To call out. To vanquish or scare off or outsmart. Greg’s disposition can be broken apart and he can be released. The entire story is about mystery and, well

OTGW makes no allusions that its story isn’t supposed to quite make sense, it embraces its mystery, and it subverts things by making ‘reality’ a hidden element until the final act.

The story makes it pretty obvious that this world isn’t supposed to make much sense, too, which leads us to not really question things when it doesn’t.

Wirt is the elder brother, he’s supposed to set an example, he’s supposed to look out for his sibling, and he fails.

And while there’s a lot of darkness to this story, it is, ultimately, a comedy, first and foremost, and most resolutions with the various antagonists are resolved with some kind of clever or amusing tactic. It doesn’t want us to take it too seriously, and it’s often making fun of tropes in dramatic fantasy stories.

What’s happening with Max, Chloe, and the tornado isn’t so physical as being lost, as confronting magical beasts. It’s abstract and unexplained, yet the story wants us to take it seriously and tries (weakly) to ‘explain’ things. This falls short because there aren’t really any concrete, established rules, and yet we’re supposed to buy into everything being Max’s fault when we don’t even know how it’s her fault. This is tricky because within the context of the narrative, it makes the player assume the position and perspective the creators wanted:

Max Caulfield is supposed to choose between the greater good, or what she desires as an individual.

The premise of that choice is great, and it’s what the entire game has been foreshadowing and leading up to. The execution is just very iffy to me because of the dodgy attempt at explanation…without explaining anything. ‘Chaos Theory’ literally does not work the way the game alludes to it. The writers know none of this makes sense, which is why in the finale they unfortunately go as bluntly as to make Chloe say:

Pretty blunt cop-op that even made me squirm on my first playthrough. Lazy writing that was intentionally planted right before the finale scene to remind us as the audience to just…”ya know, just forget getting a proper explanation OK? We ain’t got one, so just stop waiting for it, all right?” It would’ve been better to just not draw attention in the first place. Not have Warren toss ‘chaos theory’ inaccurately, not have Max keep reminding us of how this is all ‘her fault’ somehow, maybe instead focus on how/why letting Chloe die would undo this.

In fact, the only reason we as the audience are expected to believe the Storm is her fault is because Max…says it is?

Why does Max feel this way? How do we know she’s not just internalizing things? There’s not really much evidence as to why random snow is falling, why the eclipse or the two moons happen, why the Storm happens…yet we’re told, over and over, how this is Max’s doing…somehow. And that wouldn’t be too much of a problem if the final climax didn’t hinge upon this nonsensical phenomenon. Plus, how can we be expected to assume Max is able to intuit her own powers properly, when time and again she’s illustrated that she doesn’t understand how they work? This element is sometimes played up for effective character growth, but in the finale it just works against things. We’re only supposed to believe Max comprehends her own abilities when it’s convenient to move the plot along?

It doesn’t even really add up that Max going back and letting Chloe get shot would prevent the Storm, either. That ending bothers me more than the other one because it makes the entire story basically mean nothing. Max has endured all of this psycho shit and no one else can understand it, no one else can get what she’s been through, because it hasn’t happened for anyone but her.

“Remembering something that no oneelse can is a painful thing. You can’t talk to anyone about it. Noone will understand you. You’ll be alone.”~ Okabe Rintaro; Steins;Gate

And what did Max do to deserve this? The cause of her powers is never explained, and thus it ends up just being a needless tragedy without any real purpose or cause. Was she supposed to learn to “let go” of Chloe? That’s a popular feeling, and I do love this concept of ‘learning to let go’ in other stories (and it’s one of the most common themes I write about) – except she’d already let go of Chloe before the story even started, having lost touch with her for five years. Why shove Chloe back into her life, only to rip her away again with none of it having technically happened?

Steins;Gate and Oxenfree tackle time travel and its consequences in a way that’s more rewarding, IMO.

With the prior, you have the protagonist making choices beyond his understanding, slipping deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole, and needing to claw his way out, one step at a time; only to realize by the end that he’s wound up back with the same problem he had at the start (much like Max trying to save Chloe for so long, only to remember the Storm at the end).

Eventually, this culminates in Okabe needing to be clever, and outsmart himself, after having grown and matured through enduring the insanity of time travel. The story suffers from a lot of characters who are kind of one-dimensional anime tropes but at least it manifests chaos theory and time travel into a plot that’s rewarding. It’s a story about a character facing consequences for foolhardy choices and needing to make things right, coming out the other end a better person for it.

“Keep the past,for all intents and purposes, where it is.”~Okabe

With Oxenfree, it’s a different genre, and so it ends up being more of a thriller/ghost story with time travel looped around it, but even this story boils down to these core concepts in my mind: don’t fuck with things you don’t understand, appreciate the life you have and think before you act.

“Whatever. I’m sure it’ll be fun. It’s something to do. Right?”~ Alex

Alex ends up in her situation out of boredom, essentially. Is that fair? No, it isn’t. But the story doesn’t hide this, and Alex herself sometimes (depending on the version of herself) vents her frustration at how unfair her situation is. And yet, all the same, it’s a Pandora’s Box she did open, a choice she did make, due to her own aimless meandering and indecision – a desire to just do something over not doing nothing, and even if that led to bad things, it’s a much more interesting setup than just her being dropped into things.

Enough of an explanation is provided (and even more details if you are observant and explore!) to convey to the player, ‘Alex done fucked around with shit beyond her comprehension, and that’s not good.’ This isn’t to say that Alex deserves to be dealing with what happens in the game. Max Caulfield doesn’t deserve what happens to her, either. But Alex is still an active participant in these supernatural things that are happening, in multiple ways. There is an explanation for why she ends up in her situation, whereas for Max there is none. There is an external force outside of Alex’s control, working against her, with a reasonable and logical motive, if a selfish execution. There is an explanation.

Even if that explanation equates to “Well, she didn’t know what she was getting into” it still gives meaning to the ending, because she at least understood how she ended up where she did, even if it was unfair. This makes her choice(s) at the end more rewarding, because we have some idea of what she’s been dealt, and when you replay the game from the beginning, everything still makes sense and adds up within its own world, and you can see, plainly, how Alex got herself in a bad way, and influence her decision in how to deal with it.

With Steins;Gate, when you go back to the start, everything still makes sense, and it’s already obvious before you get to the ending in the first place why and how Okabe ended up in a bad way.

With Max, it’s sort of making stuff up as it goes (which is not always bad!) but when you get to the end and you start over, it’s like…you’re still confused. Why does this all happen? Why is it Max’s fault? What did she really do that triggered this situation, and how does it make sense? Why is she seeing visions of a Storm that she supposedly caused by mucking with time before she’s even made the accidental and inadvertent act of Rewinding in the first place?

If her vision in the very first scene of the game was supposed to be a warning, how the fuck was she supposed to heed it? It had no context, it made no sense.

Was it even possible for her to not have chosen to Rewind in the bathroom if the vision of the Storm happening was already a thing before that opportunity even presented itself to her?

Hell, by the time she even realizes it was a vision of the future, she doesn’t really have an opportunity to try warning anyone about it, because she’s too wrapped up in everything else. She has no way out of this situation without sustaining trauma and pain that she didn’t deserve or ask for, without any defined reason, opposing entity, or purpose. It’s unfulfilling.

Yes, life is indeed strange and sometimes things happen without an explanation, and that is fine. But it’s not so fine when the entire story’s conclusion is hinging upon a situation oriented around a choice (a morality skewed choice) that has no explanation and makes no sense. This leads to the audience becoming frustrated the more they dwell on it, because a glaring lack of explanation naturally leads the human mind to question things further and further, exposing more and more cracks and fallacies. But, provide enough of an explanation to the audience, and they’re much more willing to suspend disbelief and go along with it.

Wirt has to accept a situation that he and his brother mutually got themselves stuck in, and while there isn’t an explanation for how they ended up in The Unknown, the story bluntly tells us at the start that it’s…The Unknown, a mysterious place that doesn’t make sense. Right from the start. It’s a story about two brothers who got lost in a magical land, who are too young to really know themselves too well, and no real clear motivation at the outset.

The story’s climax does not at all hinge upon how they ended up there, or the nature of this place, but rather, how they’re going to get out. It’s all about being lost, and finding your way back home by never giving up on yourself or those you’re connected to.

By the story’s end, we’ve seen both brothers rise up to help save each other, be clever and outsmart fantastical creatures in their own ways, and in general realize that they want to get back home, that they don’t want to remain lost.

They act on that desire accordingly and are able to not completely lose themselves.

Okabe Rintaro has to accept his situation he got himself into, understanding how and why he ended up there, and knowing it’s kind of his fault, primarily (though Kurisu certainly works toward this bad decision, too, if out of curiosity more than anything). The story has a climax where Okabe must accept responsibility for what he’s done and make things right again by using his mind, and using his heart to stay vigilant and determined in the face of insanity. Along the way, he’s forced to confront that he focuses far too much on trying to build a false persona born from childish desires, rather than just…being himself. He’s forced to face that he’s been acting immature toward those around him and needs to grow up.

By the story’s end, we’ve seen Okabe realize how foolish he’s acted, the weight of choices on others, and he realizes his motivation is to set things back to the way they were, because the way they were was perfectly fine and he should’ve appreciated them in the first place.

Okabe is able to act on these realizations and desires accordingly, and is able to not lose himself – or those around him.

Alex has to accept her situation that she got herself into, understanding how and why she ended up there, even if it’s unfair, and knowing that the force at work actually has legitimate motive to be acting selfishly. The story has a climax where Alex confronts this external force that she’s known about for some time, and must simultaneously choose how to react to it while accepting her own part in opening such a can of cosmic worms.

Alex’s situation is more tragic – she arguably has no way out of her mess, but she can perhaps prevent someone else from suffering her fate, which she somewhat brought upon herself (if unintentionally).

She acts on her knowledge of what happened in the past to try to change things, both past and present; she tries to assist other versions of herself, her family, or just the friends she was with in the first place. She confronts her own part in things, accepts responsibility to try and fix them, and maybe, under the right circumstances, leave is possible, if only for another version of herself.

In so doing, Alex’s story highlights a fascinating element of being a human being through its tragedy – humans have the ability of foresight. They have the ability to leave knowledge behind for those who come after them.

Max, meanwhile, has to accept a situation that was pushed upon her without her understanding much of anything, and it’s unfair and arguably not even her fault (and if it is her fault, it was unknowingly and accidentally caused).The story has a climax where Max is forced to choose to give up someone she lost and found again, or give up the abstract “greater good” despite not understanding how or why this is even her responsibility in the first place. And neither choice leads to something inherently good, which can be a great device if the main character actively got themselves into a bad situation. But Max didn’t, she had a bad situation forced upon her, with no motive of her own, no motive of some external force, no logical lesson to learn, and thus no logical meaning to take away from it.

To make matters worse? Max’s entire driving force in the story is, at its core, protecting the women around her. Chloe, of course, but also Rachel, Kate, even Victoria, and other side characters who…had potential for deeper side stories, but they ran out of time/resources to flesh them out. This is such a great theme.

But –

This core value and character trait of Max’s – trying to fix things, trying to help others, trying to protect them – is given no final resolution, no climactic test, no illustration of value or even a proper examination of its double-edged aspects (though the Nightmare does certainly touch on this). This power, this core element of her character, is betrayed by an ending that forces her to accept that she can’t protect or save anyone, not really, and that it’s somehow all her fault when she didn’t do anything to actively bring this all about.

This is unsatisfying, to say the least.

It is nice for Chloe to be pushing at the end, here, to be trying to tell Max how awesome she is for trying to do good, and of course for saving her. That’s great – but even that gets a bit watered down by Chloe’s need to keep trying to insist that this was all ‘supposed to happen’ if the endgame is that she wants Max to undo all of it. There’s a lot of weird, forced writing right before Max’s nightmare, on the beach, where it’s like the writers just had no planned explanation of things so they tried to have the protagonists make up their own half-assed explanation. That’s cute for their characters, I guess, but unsatisfying as the moments leading to the climax of the narrative.

Let me be clear about something re: All Wounds: Other Max does not symbolize my own beliefs. She is a manifestation of Max’s anger at how unfair her situation is.

She also symbolizes Max Caulfield’s own self-projected fears, worries, and doubts, which have been propagated by an unfair situation that doesn’t really make much sense.

So how does she make sense of it? She blames herself, which is what human beings sometimes do when people around them get hurt without explanation.

Max and Chloe’s story could have culminated in a meaningful and rewarding lesson or theme regarding the tough reality of death and how we have to let go of people we love sometimes in order to move on. And for people who play LiS once and are done with it, that might still stick with them. But because things don’t add up, this invites more dedicated fans to dwell on how they don’t add up, and this leads to frustration. It’s good to present your protag with a situation that isn’t fair to them, but it’s not so good when they had no part in its creation, were not at fault, and have no way out of the situation. Nonsensical tragedy is a real thing, but a story is an intentionally constructed device. If you don’t take care and you treat your story as disposable, the people who really get attached will end up annoyed and pick apart at your story’s flaws, because we want stories that stand up, that endure, and if you’re building a temporary story without that foresight, it’ll fall apart quicker than you might like.

Max’s story does allude a lot to an idea of “myself vs the greater good” or perhaps “how I view myself vs how the world views me” and these are excellent themes for a young adult narrative. It’s a core aspect of adolescence, but the story doesn’t really add up to something that delivers on this message in a meaningful way, but one that is cheap and robs the protagonist of actual power in their situation.

If the story doesn’t make sense, it makes it harder for the audience to comprehend what the message was.

When I dwell on Life is Strange and why I love it, I am not dwelling on the ending, because it doesn’t add up and doesn’t really deliver on a concrete theme or message for me. I instead dwell on things that happen before The Storm, before Episode 5 (because, frankly, Jefferson’s motives and ham-fisted monologuing don’t quite add up with the character presented in eps 1-4, either), because LiS offered up many interesting and meaningful themes about dealing with real life problems and understanding real life people. Its strengths are not in its time travel plotline, at all, but in its humane and rounded treatment of its characters, giving them reasonable flaws and strengths.

Another pro that’s…also a con, actually, is how it’s a time travel-themed story that is very much about the protagonist not having any power at all. What little we can decipher about Max’s powers are more to do with what she can’t do, rather than what she can do, and this again culminates in an ending where she realizes she can’t do much of anything to resolve things. This was foreshadowed very well, and it creates a theme of “I can change things – but not really,” and it’s a nice contrast to other time travels stories that are about “I can change things – but I shouldn’t.” But, it results in a weaker endgame because Max didn’t do anything to put herself in this mess in the first place, plus the story is literally about her not having power to fix or change or protect anyone/anything, which…just isn’t rewarding or satisfying, is it?

Thus, the climax is disappointing, and that can lead to bitter feelings and a sense of “Well, what was the fucking point of all this, then?” And I see a lot of LiS fans experiencing this. It’s honestly my biggest issue with the ending(s) of Life is Strange, because there’s not…really a defined purpose or point. And copping out with ‘well life is strange and weird stuff happens and it doesn’t always make sense’ is a much easier pill to swallow when it doesn’t involve magical tornadoes appearing out of literally nowhere because of reasons.

[art by sketchingsands]

That isn’t life, that’s fantasy, and that’s OK! But you need to have it culminate in something rewarding, something satisfying, or something with meaning and purpose. Fantasy is fun because of how it can rebuild reality by creating alternate rules – and seeing how those alternate rules play out, or are bent or broken themselves, and how that creates a type of character development that can’t exist in reality is, really, what makes fantasy stories rewarding, IMO. Fantasy is interesting to us as humans because it’s about seeing characters do things we can’t do – but so much of Max’s story is about what she can’t do, which makes sense for a character who’s full of themselves and needs to have their ego knocked down a peg, but not much for a girl dealing with self-esteem issues and self-doubt. When Max actually finds out she can do something new, something useful and amazing, she’s almost immediately brought down by limitations, and her powers just make things worse. While this is a theme of time travel, pretty consistently, Max never asked to be put in this position, unlike most time travelers.

No matter how much you try to explain to me, “It’s about how Max has to let Chloe go” I’m always going to counter with, “Why does she have to let Chloe go in the first place?” (even apart from the unsettling context of queer romances not surviving mass media stories) Seriously. Why does Max need to let Chloe go? Because Chloe makes self-destructive choices that can hurt those around her? That’s kind of the only potential reason I can think of, but the story doesn’t really develop this concept enough for it to seem to be the intent. And Max has no reason to let go of Chloe the first time she encounters ‘modern’ Chloe in the bathroom. She doesn’t even know who that girl is.

For me, it’s about the journey more than the destination (which is why I still love Mass Effect even if the ending was dumb), but if you’re going to make such a big fuss of your destination, have it make sense, at least. This is usually a big deal in time travel stories – you create a loop, or you break the loop. Many time travel stories do this, and typically, there’s some kind of message there. And while I definitely can feel and relate with Ashly and Hannah’s feelings on the ‘Sacrifice Chloe’ Ending creating a powerful reminder of losing people you love, Max is not losing Chloe in a realistic way but a fantastical one, which, without an explanation or a purpose, really drains a lot of the power from it. If Max was supposed to let Chloe go in the first place, we needed some kind of context as to why. She didn’t even recognize Chloe in the very scene where she’s expected to ‘let her go.’ She only finds value in her relationship with Chloe because she chose to save someone she didn’t even recognize at first, supposedly acting in a way she ‘wasn’t supposed to,’ per this theme of ‘you need to let her go.’ If Max had ‘done what she was supposed to’ and let go of Chloe in the first place, she’d have no emotional investment, no reason to do so. But because she tried to save someone, tried to do a good thing, she developed an emotional investment that was punished but without any reason why.

ie it all doesn’t add up and doesn’t make sense, and that’s frustrating.

And perhaps, in the end, the entire point was to make the audience question things. Question themselves, question what matters to them, and why. And that’s great, and something choice-based games really have a way to facilitate. But if you don’t have a defined theme or message, you don’t have a climax that makes sense, it’s basically as if you’re being a bit lazy and asking the audience to define these things for you, when you are the storybuilder, and it is your responsibility to at least construct a frame to support those interpretations, those questions. Otherwise, again – what was the point?

When a protagonist (and thus the audience) understands how things led to a climax, it creates a much more rewarding conflict resolution, even if that resolution isn’t happy – because a character can’t make effective choices without understanding what position they’re in. This isn’t to say that the other three stories cited are inherently better than Life is Strange. But I would argue all of them have much more rewarding climaxes, because rather than trying to get a cheap tug at heartstrings, they make enough sense for the protag to be equipped enough to make a proper choice, and thus make said choice much more meaningful and valuable – and their climaxes recontextualize the entire rest of the story and add extra meaning, rather than confusion.

The human mind is hardwired to make sense of things. When it can’t, it tries to figure them out – failing that, it gets frustrated.

In other words, when a story makes sense within its own world, it is inherently more satisfying. This leads to willful suspension of disbelief, and without that, a story can lose a lot of its staying power.

I adore Life is Strange, but for its characters, not for its plot, and frankly, I kind of wish the game had no time travel nonsense at all, if it couldn’t be bothered to at least portray chaos theory accurately in its conclusion. ^^;; Have there be some horrible event that could only have transpired if Chloe was alive, something that adds up and makes sense. Problem would’ve been solved. But I guess that’s not as bombastic and theatrical as a tornado. Sometimes going big or going home aren’t the only options. Oftentimes, you can go just the right size, but it’s not easy.

Whew.

This…turned out way longer than I planned, and I’m not at all saying I never make mistakes or trip into these pitfalls sometimes. In fact, I openly admit that some aspects of All Wounds’ plot don’t fully make sense and have no solid explanation – because I have no canonical rules to build from, I’m stuck with a lack of logic and have come up with my own plot twists, but with no concrete rules to build from…it can be frustration. But I don’t have an entire development team, an entire animation studio (~glares at Legend of Korra’s lazy-ass cheap writing~), a publisher, or anything like that. When you do, when you have so many people helping you construct your vision, it really pays off to actually construct something that is architecturally sound, so to speak, and won’t fall apart when enduring the natural elements of, well, a critical audience.

In other words, you want to build stories, not just moments, that weather storms.

(PS if you wanna see how I’m coping with LiS’s ending you can play my visual novel demo here or check out the fic/art here.)

#Oxenfree #Steins;gate #OTGW #Life is Strange #Critique #LiS #LiS episode 5 #Episode 5 Polarized

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throughthetrap-door · 6 years

Text

THoughts on the Cursed child

Ok ok ok so it was important that I write this down these are my feels I am so mad at this play It is as dissappointing as I suspected I just spent most of today reading it when I coud have been doing french!! urghg I am treating it as a mildly ok fanFIction There are many many things wrong with it Gah Ok so 1. It's a fairly ok basic idea for a plot, if you pretend that you knew nothing else about harry potter. And at first you are like yeah this is cool. Like ok, harry and albus have a shitty father son relationship ok I want to know more. Albus is in slytherin, yep ok cool with that. Albus makes friends with scorpius. Cool with that also. But why WHY did the writers have to bring back the same old same old problemos from the past!?!?!?! Like voldemort coming back??? N.O. just no for fucks sake! That complication is quite literally dead and buried. Do you know, I really really hate it when a story has been properly resolved, no cliff hangers, no reason to think that this dilemma will extend into further books, but then the writer (or whoever) is like 'let's make a sequel!' yas yas let's make a sequel but we couldn't possibly come up with another problem for the protagonists to face, oh no, let's just dig the old one up from the past! SO yeah lacking new content and creativity here >:( 2. Additionally, you really had to suspend disbelief with this. Like I said previously, somethings would be fine if there weren't already like 7 books of character development and a whole alternative universe that still has its own LAWS despite being magical!!! I really felt like these were not the characters that I knew (maybe this is due to the fact that they have a few different incarnations in the various stupid realities) especially Ron though, who I felt was reduced to a one dimensional jokester and silly man. With a beer gut, importantly. I know obviously that the characters would have developped over the last few 19 years but srsly you’d expect some recognisability. I don't know though, it's probably largely due to the fact that it is a play, (therefore much description is missing) but also the fact that JK DIDN'T ACTUALLY WRITE IT mhmm which is why I am going to treat it as fanfic and not canon. I mean I've never really come up with detailed headcanons for the next gen, but this nightmare (I was half expecting it to read '… and then albus woke up. It had all been a dream. Thank goodness! He whispered. ALL WAS WELL!!!) ffs 3. Side note: I've come up with a MUCH better idea tbh. Like ok stick with the whole fathers and sons ideas, albus can even be in slytherin (not how I imagined it but hey) and friends with Scorpius. BUT, ok but the focus can be exclusively focused on how shit Al feels as a result of having this mega mega famous father (who he looks EXACTLY like-except without the scar) and famous successful family, and going to hogwarts and not living up to expectations, and feeling a great amount of pressure to prove to the world, but especially his dad that he is worthy of being his son and that he too can live up to his expectations and reputation, not just charismatic outgoing james and happy go lucky lily. And then he and harry can have arguments and shit and he can do fucking stupid heroic shit at the castle in an attempt to prove him wrong, and nearly get killed or something and harry and he can make up and harry can be all like I love you so much and you know james is more like my dad james, but I was actually quite introspective like you, and like you I care so much about my friends and really, all that shit I did, I only did because I had to, and all I ever really wanted was to be happy and safe and to sometimes actually have a quiet life every now and then. Sure I liked and I like adventure, but it sure ain't so much fun as necessary when you are doing it to save the people you love. But most importantly, these huge expectations you have to live up to, they are only coming from you. You may be my son, but you aren't me, you are your own person. Your mum and I love you no matter what, and we will do anything to protect you, even what my parents did to protect me. We love you just as much. You are so precious to us. If I have been distant for any reason, believe you me it was only because I didn't want to put pressure on you. But obviously that hasn't worked lol. I'm sorry, it was a mistake. I had no proper father to base my own fathering on you know. But Harry (fricking) potter isn't perfect. And I promise from now on that I will explain everything to you. And then albus can be like: sorry for being a little shit, but as you know, it was only because I was afraid of not being good enough. And then they can be all like *tears* awww so sweet happy happy fucking james is still being a cocky shit but families are like that and everything is ok in the end. And there can be all kinds of magical shenanigans without the need for bloody TIMETURNERS goddammit! 4. So. Hem hem. Timeturners. Oh my I have so much to say. But a) all the time turners were supposedly destroyed (I guess these are only the british ones though) but b) this play defies EVERYTHING ever known about time travel in the hp universe. In POA time travel is a closed loop causality type of thing, and it's a bit hard to get your head around but it’s a whole lot more credible than the shemozzle that happens in the cursed child. There. That is all I am going to say on that one. Mainly because I am so done. I could say a lot more, but simply put, that is the cold hard truth. 5. Also the idea of voldy's daughter. See point 1 but also, I abhor the idea of voldemort having sex with anyone, even bellatrix. Again, this is kind of point 2, but from what we know of him, voldy is incapable of feeling anything but hate, rage, vicious pleasure in the suffering of his enemies, fury, sarcasm and that's about it. THERe is no place for love in voldemort's heart, nor joy, or excitement and happiness (cruel satisfaction is about it). As a result, I see no place in him for lust, and I don't know that Bellatrix was into him in a sexual way. She idolised him sure, but nah I don't think she wanted him to sleep with her. Also I just feel that, Voldemort would feel like the carnal pleasures of sex and food were for the mortal world, and thus beneath him and his vast immortatlity. I honestly don’t think that he would have had a child as a back-up plan to that end because a) once he's dead, he's fucking ded, so b) he wouldn't have thought of it because time turners don't work like that!!!! I've never thought about voldemort eating before, but I feel like if he had some kind of magical way to sustain him, and like conjure food directly into his stomach, he would have done it. I can't picture him craving ice cream or something, like no, he is all powerful, he has not weaknesses, not even for chocolate ice cream from Florian Fortescue's. If he ate, it was solely to keep him alive. His quest for immortality was sad really, because he was so determined and caught up in it’s attainment, he lead a pretty sad and shit life. Like he took no real pleasure in anything. Going back to my point, he didn't want any friends, the death eaters were a means to an ends. I therefore can't see him wanting a partner, sexual let alone romantic and so I think the idea of him having a daughter is highly improbable, if not entirely ridiculous. 6. I understand that this was probably necessary as it is a play, intended to be told in two parts but personally I felt that there was too much in the plot, too many conflicts and resolutions, which made it feel a bit messy and confusing to me. But yeah I guess they wanted to entertain the audience both times. BUT AHA more evIDENCe for it being just a cash cow for the franchise. It honestly would have worked better with less in it and only one play but nooOOO we mUST MAKE MONEYYYYYYYYYY urgh

#Lolololol the feel when you can smash out a 1400 word rant about hp in less than an hour but you stuggle to write 100 words of your homework #cursed child #harry potter #rant

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