#where part of the main character's name was not like. realistic.....? a real surname? | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

curestardust · 2 years

Text

Dust Watched: Ashita no Nadja

Genres: SoL, Historical, Drama // 50 episodes

I’m going to be completely honest, the latter half of this anime gave me so much anxiety that I stopped watching anime for almost a whole month. Tad bit of an overreaction, yes, but I’m not a mentally competent individual in the first place.

✧ story ✧

"Ashita no Nadja” is an emotional rollercoaster disguised as a children’s cartoon from 2003. The 1st episode leaves quite a strong impression in all aspects, from the set-up to the animation. We meet Nadja Applefield, who grew up at an orphanage by the same name (her surname, the orphanage isn’t called Nadja). She just became 13 years old and recieved a suitcase which contained some curious items; her mom’s ballroom diary and dress. But the items themselves were less important then the possibility that Nadja’s mother might actually still be alive. Confirming this through the Orphanage’s Director would’ve been easy of course but 2 sleezy looking men break into the orphanage at night, accidentally start a fire, then start chasing Nadja to steal her brooch which she has had ever since she arrived to the orphanage. Thankfully, a literal “prince on a white horse” comes to save the day but Nadja feels she cannot return to the orphanage in case those two come back and thus she leaves and eventually bumps into and ends up joining a travelling performers who go by “Dandellion Troupe” as a dancer.

Most of the anime then is made up of Nadja’s various adventures as the Troupe travels through most of Europe. She slowly grows closer and finds out more about the members of the Troupe, meets a bunch of odd fellows in every country, all the while the two men chasing her keep popping up at random intervals.

This is quintessential Slice-of-Life right here. A few bit serious and dramatic episodes are sprinkled here and there but the mood of those episodes don’t carry over to the next one.

However, everything changes in the last 15 episodes. Watching the episodes kinda felt like being punched over and over again. Everything that CAN go wrong, goes wrong. Everything. You try to hold out hope that finally, this will be the episode where Nadja’s luck turns around but the anime just spits in your face and keeps tormenting its main characters. I’m going to be honest, I was starting to feel burnt out a when I got to this point in the anime but, wow, it was just not fun to watch. By that, I don’t necessarily mean that it was bad but the drastic tone shift from what the anime has been before this and what it turned into was just... whew. I was not expecting it.

An incredible banger of a last episode could’ve made me forgive all that but I don’t even know how to feel about what happens there and the overall conclusion. I was just like “Huh? What? Okay.” The ending was obviously rushed, that much is obvious but that’s even more of a reason I dislike the depression-fest that was the last quarter of the anime.

✧ characters ✧

Despite my lackluster feelings over the ending of the anime, I still look back on it with fondness but that is mainly because of the characters and their writing. The Troupe members aren’t the most interesting bunch in the world but they feel real as you slowly get to know them. And that is a core theme of this anime during its “Travelling Around Europe SoL” phase. Even if a character were over-the-top in their presentation, their feelings always felt raw and real. This realistic approach to the characters, the environment, and casual pace of the journey makes “Ashita no Nadja” feel homely and welcoming. Probably my favourite part about the writing is that this anime is going to be 2 completely different experiences whether you’re watching this as a kid or an adult. Nadja is a naive, head-strong, idealistic, oblivious and always thinks that what she thinks would be the best IS the best for everyone, while the adults are, well... adults. As I watched Nadja interact or argue with the adults, I’d scoff at her naivité. But as I imagined myself watching this as a kid... I know that I would’ve agreed with Nadja. Capturing the obnixious idealism of children without dismissing it as nonsense seems to be very difficult as I’ve very rarely seen it done right without it becoming grating for adults.

Now, on the other hand, the villains were almost comically one-dimensional, and the rushed ending gave almost none of them any satisfying conclusion.

The romance was... actually done right! I’d normally be uncomfortable with the age difference but this is actually realistic to those times so whatever. The romance actually becomes much more complex and interesting halfway through and it manages to keep Nadja’s agency the whole time.

✧ art ✧

The animation is quite good, the character models are meh most of the time (although the 1st episode is gorgeous). There were some really funny effects used that just screamed “early days of animating with computers”. But the hand painted backgrounds were incredible! It plays a very important part in portraying the “late 19th Century Europe” aesthetic. Oh, aslo really liked that Nadja’s character model actually changed throughout the anime to show her getting older!

✧ sound ✧

The OP and ED, while not my style, are definitely memorable and I know that I’d be crying on the floor from nostalgia if I’ve seen this anime as a kid. The OST is obviously orchestra pieces.

✧ overview ✧

Yeah, so. I definitely would’ve done some major revamps to the last quarter of “Ashita no Nadja” but it just speaks to the anime’s quality that the parts before were simply just done so well that I don’t have the heart to give a score any lower than this.

My Rating: 8/10

#dusty reviews #Ashita no Nadja #tomorrow's nadja

8 notes · View notes

thereisnochillinsideme · 3 years

Text

The rain, Akaashi Keiji part two

I'm sorry it's been such a long time I've just had some stuff going on but here it is, part two. I also think @bakudummy asked to be tagged, if you didn't ask me to I'm sorry please tell me I'll take it off anyway enjoy! Akaashi was currently locked in a debate between himself and himself. While one side was telling him that it would be fine if he visited [Name] and Takahashi in normal clothing while the other was telling him that they weren’t close enough and that he was required to wear a three-piece suit. The first side then argued back that they might think he’s rude if he showed up for a cup of hot chocolate in formal wear. In the end, he decided that after picking [Name] and her cake off the street and getting her to Takahashi’s apartment, what he wore probably mattered the least to either of them right now and settled on a cotton T-shirt. He made his way out of his apartment and knocked on the door to his right, which was opened by Takahashi. He hadn’t usually seen her like this. She had changed out of the pencil skirt she so usually wore to work and was currently in a sweater and leggings. She also looked surprised to see Akaashi in anything but his work wear. She let him in and went back to the stove, where the milk for the hot chocolate was bubbling on the stove. He saw [Name] spread out on an armchair, now changed out of her wet clothes. She saw him and immediately perked up, changing her position to see him better. He took a seat on the couch across from her. She gave him a smile and immediately began speaking to him.

“Stoneface-san! Feeling better?”

“Yes, much better. How about you?”

She smiled. “I’m doing great! I got my cake, I got to meet you, I got to see Yo-chan, and now she’s making me hot chocolate!”

Akaashi smiled at the childlike elation she had at the situation she was in. She was an optimist to the bone.

He was a bit jealous of her, though he didn’t realize it. He was jealous of people like her. They didn’t have a care in the world, complete confidence in themselves. And people like him or Takahashi were following them around making sure nothing happened to them because, jaded and anxious as they were, they didn’t want that optimism to fade. It gave them strength too. It reminded him of the former captain of his high school volleyball team. Bokuto-san’s confidence was a force to be reckoned with and now there he was, playing professionally on a world stage.

Takahashi walked over with two mugs of hot chocolate, setting them on the coffee table that separated him and [Name]. [Name]’s smile grew wider upon seeing the drink and she happily picked it up and immediately took a big sip.

Immediately she started coughing.

“Ah barned mah tahnge.” She said, with her tongue hanging out.

Takahashi and Akaashi started laughing in unison as [Name] also began laughing with her tongue still hanging out.

“Why are you laughing? You burned your tongue?” Akaashi asked through chuckles.

“It is funny,” [Name] said through sips of cold water to soothe her tongue.

Time was spent happily drinking hot chocolate while [Name] told them jokes and stories.

Putting down his mug, Akaashi looked at [Name].

“[Name]-san, I’ve been meaning to ask your full name, as I didn’t get it when I met you.”

[Name] smiled. “[Last Name] [Name]”

Akaashi did a double take. “I’ve been calling you by your first name this whole time? That’s incredibly disrespectful as we don’t know each other well”

“It’s fine, Stoneface-san. I’ve never liked using my surname as it puts a formality barrier between me and who I’m talking to. Please use my first name.”

Akaashi nodded in acceptance. “So [Name], what do you do for work?”

She winked. “If I told you it would be no fun. It’s your job to guess. Your hint is that I’m in the creative field.” After many consecutive wrong guesses, [Name] changed the subject and started telling them what had happened to her at the train station that morning. As they laughed, Akaashi began to realize how much fun he was having.

It had been a long time since he had done anything like this. He maintained a strictly professional relationship with his coworkers and Bokuto-san was not free most of the time with having gone professional. He would come by and have a drink with Akaashi ever so often, but Bokuto-san usually found himself leaving early to spend more time with Shoyo. Akaashi didn’t mind that he was branching out and he knew that their adult life was definitely going to impact their friendship. However, it was not after he lost them that he realized just how much he cherished the carefree days on the volleyball team, how he would chase Bokuto-san around with an umbrella to stop him from getting wet in the rain.

It was probably why he spent so many late nights at work, trying to quiet his mind by occupying it. His high school friends were all busy with their own lives, he felt he should be as well.

“Stoneface-san?” He heard

He snapped out of his daze and saw [Name] staring at him, slightly concerned.

“Are you okay? Your stare was really blank and you didn’t laugh when I told you about when I threw a squid tentacle at the guy who came to collect my taxes.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I guess I’m just feeling a bit tired. I also have some work due tomorrow, so do you mind if I take my leave?”

Takahashi looked at him, obviously concerned, but trying to hide it. “Yes of course, I’ll show you to the door.”

She walked him over to the door of the apartment and opened it, letting him go through.

“Thank you for looking after [Name] today, I’m sorry if she was a bit of an inconvenience. It was nice to have you both over, we should do it again sometime.”

Akaashi nodded, thanked her, and went inside his own apartment.

He didn’t mean to leave so abruptly, but he wasn’t lying, he did have work.

He made his way to the small desk by the window of his apartment and sat down, picking up the large, stapled sheet of paper by his window.

Today, his work was a bit more enjoyable than usual. He was editing one of his more favorite comics that was published in his magazine. Asuma no Sekai was a comic set in a demon world, with the main character being an incredibly lazy demon who preferred eating cake to doing her job. The crazy schemes she pulled to get out of doing her job were sometimes more work than doing the actual job and always made the reader laugh. Editing it was a more favorable part of Akaashi’s week and it never failed to lift his mood. The author was Sakurai Daisuke. He had never met the author in person as he usually sent someone else to pick up his manuscript, but he looked forward to meeting someone who was such a good mangaka.

After spending a couple hours reading, laughing, and editing the work, Akaashi went to bed as he had work the next morning.

[Name] had left on the first train that morning and though Akaashi was slightly mournful that he didn’t get to say goodbye, he continued on with his day like normal.

As the week went by, [Name] occupied Akaashi’s thoughts slightly more than a normal person would. He would pass by the cake shops in his area and wonder if she would enjoy the one in the display window. He was confused by why he was thinking about her so often, but chalked it up to the fact that there were a lot of cake shops in his area.

Later that week, on an afternoon while he was home, Akaashi got a call from his employee, Okomoto Chiyo. She sounded extremely distressed.

“Akaashi-san! I’m so so sorry to bother you!”

“It’s okay, what do you need?”

“My wife is sick and I’m home taking care of her. I was supposed to pick up Sakurai-san’s manuscript today, but Nanako’s been throwing up all day and I can’t afford to leave her now. Do you mind picking it up?”

Akaashi was slightly annoyed, as he had just gotten home. However, he knew that he couldn’t possibly ask his employee to leave her sick wife.

“It’s completely okay. May I have Sakurai-san’s address? At least I can finally meet him.”

“It’s xxx-xxx on the other side of the city. The train will be able to get you there really fast. Sakurai-san should have completed her manuscript by now.”

“Her?” Akaashi was confused

“Sakurai Daisuke is a pen-name. The author is female. She picked a male name to sound more ambiguous.”

“Oh, that comes as a bit of a surprise.”

“Thank you so much for doing this, Akaashi-san! I am forever grateful to you.”

“It’s no problem.”

Akaashi looked out his window and toward the train station which was a couple blocks away. It was raining.

As he turned, his eyes fell on a now-dry neon yellow umbrella. He must have forgotten to give it back to [Name].

He picked up the umbrella, put on a long brown coat, and ran out his apartment door.

He was able to make it onto the train last minute, sitting on the seat in relief. As the train moved along, he thought about what the author might be like.

Thinking about it now, it was fairly obvious that this author wasn’t like most of the male authors Akaashi’s company had published.

There was barely any fan service in the series and the author made sure to write her female characters just as realistic and flawed as her male characters. Most of the male authors drew one woman with an unrealistic body and made her show up every now and then to rip her clothes off and leave. Sakurai-san’s female characters had personalities and all different body shapes, some bigger or smaller, darker or lighter, more like the women he would see in the real world.

The train announced his stop and he walked out, looking at the paper where he jotted down the address.

He navigated his way through the twists and turns until he finally got to the apartment building.

He entered and went to the specified floor and found the correct door.

As he raised his hand to knock, Akaashi suddenly felt a bit nervous to meet this author who he borderline idolized, especially when he found out he was wrong about her gender the whole time.

Nevertheless, his hand tapped lightly on the door twice and he heard footsteps rush to open it.

What he saw behind the door was definitely not what he expected.

[Name] was peeking out, wearing a large animal onesie, holding a plate of cake with a plastic fork.

“Stoneface-san?"

#haikyuu #hq #haikyuu fluff #haikyuu fics #haikyuu x reader #hq x reader #hq x yn #akaashi x reader #keiji x reader #akaashi keiji x reader #fukurodani x reader #haikyuu drabbles #haikyuu imagines #haikyuu scenarios

18 notes · View notes

multimetaverse · 4 years

Text

Jamie Johnson 5x10 Review

Tonight was a surprisingly busy ep that did a good job balancing angst and levity. Let’s dig in!

Dillon finally went home tonight after what was probably a couple of weeks. The show continues to do great work with Dillon’s sexuality. Graham begins to make amends by coming of his own accord to the Walker-Cotton house and apologizing to Dillon but he hasn’t magically become a good person. He wants Dillon to keep his sexuality a secret which Dillon pushes back against but as loathsome as Graham can be he does have a point that being openly gay could very well derail Dillon’s football career; after all it’s the same conclusion that all the gay professional players in Britain have reached. This whole story line has been surprisingly nuanced especially for a kids show. Shaun Duggan mentioned that Graham would have a journey of his own and I would assume we see more of it in the final eps

One thing I do think the show has failed to do is include Dillon’s mom. Presumably they don’t have the actress this season but we really needed to see her support Dillon on screen when his dad and brother are homophobes. Hopefully they bring her back in S6 (and bring back Elliot)

It’s a minor detail but I really liked that when Alba comes into the living room to share her news that through the window we can see Graham walking towards the front door; it shows a real attention to detail on the part of the production team. Also the ‘’We Are Family’’ poster with the rainbow on the kitchen wall while Dillon and Graham talked was an inspired touch

The small moment when Dillon asked Becky and Dawn what he should do was really cool; seeing adult lgbtq people give advice to kids dealing with their sexualities is rare on tv in general, on kids tv it’s virtually unheard of; Cami and her gf trying to help Bobby on Doafp being the only example that comes to mind. The show did a great job normalizing lgbtq parents and families and there was an excellent implicit contrast drawn between the loving and supportive ‘non-traditional’ Walker-Cotton family and the cold and strained ‘traditional nuclear’ Simmonds family

I’m so glad that Ruby and Alba have finally been adopted and the photo album Becky and Dawn made was very sweet. I wonder if they stick with Osborne as their surnames or start using Walker-Cotton

Dillon being second in the credits? We love to see it folks

Zoe gets a recruitment montage for a heist soccer game so her and Kat can have one last chance to impress Geri Seddon who apparently doesn’t work very hard at her scouting job if she’s missed all these players. In the first good deed Jamie has done in weeks he calls up Jack and she gets Archfield to play against Zoe’s ragtag team. To the show’s credit Archfield pretty easily wins the day at Goodfield as they realistically should. Zoe and Kat get into Hawkstone though and Alba gets flagged as a future talent so all’s well that ends well

Zoe vaguely apologized for being an ass to Jack and she finally did the right thing with Kat and returned the pendant which which Kat promptly lost again. Zoe treating other girls as the enemy has been a core part of her story since she joined the show back in S3 and it looks like that’s behind now as her and Kat are real friends

I think Mike calling for girl power was the funniest line of the night

This Eric/Aisha/Freddie love triangle is a right mess but I’m finding myself invested regardless. Freddie and Aisha have good chemistry and their commentating was cute. Freddie not knowing Kat’s last name was funny as was Aisha’s observation about Mike’s yelling. Aisha was also right about peanut butter and honey being a delicious combo

We got a refresher on Eric’s sad backstory, brutal that he hasn’t seen his mom in 2 years. Well I’m sure that Eric’s issues with abandonment won’t come into play as Aisha and Freddie grow closer! Imagine tuning into a livestream for a football match only to hear two 13 year olds get into a pissing contest over a girl they both fancy

Also nice to see the kids be kids and go to the cinema

This show has really done a good job with diversity especially since the series isn’t set in or around London (S1 was filmed in Nottingham and recent seasons have been filmed in Wales). In particular, JJ has avoided having their two black male characters, Eric and Freddie, fall into stereotypes. As much as I can’t fathom why the show needs this love triangle, it is refreshing to see two black kids shown as the closest thing this show has to romantic leads. American kids shows have done a great job with female black characters but when it comes to black male characters things are much worse. Zay on GMW largely fell into the sassy black friend stereotype. As for Walker on Andi Mack, the less said the better about how he was romantically involved with two girls of colour only to lose out to two white boys before being written off as a shoe gifting player in a way that played into harmful stereotypes about black men being promiscuous

Another ep where Jamie basically just makes a cameo but because the show has such a wide bench it doesn’t hurt the ep at all. Boggy is basically Jamie’s housewife at this point and it’s sad as hell to watch

I think this is the first time Jack has been back where she hasn’t had a scene with Jamie. The official insta account reposted someone asking the show to make Jamie and Jack a couple, we’ll one day learn if that was straight baiting

Interesting to think about how different the show would be if Jack was still a main, would Dillon’s story be getting nearly so much focus?

Looking Ahead:

Liam thinks Aisha is Eric’s soulmate? I wouldn’t have pegged him for a romantic at heart. I love that he keeps bouncing around the friend trio trying his chances with a new member every week, at the beach he tried with Freddie and now he’s trying with Eric

It seems likely that Eric is denying that he likes Aisha because of his abandonment issues and it looks like he skirmishes with Freddie on the field. I wonder if he’ll be honest with anyone about his feelings

Boggy’s breakdown is upcoming, I really don’t think he’s Jetpac11. Looks like 5x12 is the video game tournament with the Jetpac11 reveal, I still think it’s Archie Royle, but Jethro Stevenson would be a great twist

I lean more and more towards Dillon signing with the Northport Rovers as a way to forge his own path and because he trusts our problematic fave Duncan Jones to stand firm against homophobia. It would also bring Duncan’s S5 story full circle, he was so focused on trying to bamboozle Jamie into signing for Northport that he overlooked the other very talented player he had right in front of him. It seems like Dillon’s story line is trending towards him wrestling with coming out publicly as a professional player in S6 and proving to himself, his father, and the world that an out gay man can be a professional footballer

Until next week Jamie Johnsoners

#Jamie Johnson #Dillon Simmonds #Alba Osborne #Zoe Moore #Jack Marshall #Ruby Osborne #Graham Simmonds #Eric Atlee #Freddie Seo #Jamie Johnson Reviews

34 notes · View notes

bethygauw · 4 years

Text

Mahoyaku Interview: Tsushimi Bunta (Main Screenwriter) and Kazuma Kowo (Worldbuilding Supervision) + Coly Scenario Director

Released: 28 February 2020

(!) Warning (!): Some spoilers for Main Story chapter 17 towards the end of this post.

TL note: I feel like going by surname-given name in this article;;; pardon the inconsistency Also support the fab fan translation site if you haven’t already: https://mahoyaku-eng.com/

Blurb: This is a world where mages and humans coexist, and this is a story that depicts the journey to save it—brought to you by screenwriter Tsushimi Bunta, known for their subtle writing style that retains a realistic touch, and Kazuma Kowo, who oversees not only character background but also the worldbuilding of each country, among other things. In this issue, we’ve asked what sort of things they were being mindful of during the game’s creation and if there are any behind-the-scenes that they could share. In addition, we’ve also included a few comments from the scenario director, who’s in charge of bringing together all story elements in this game from the Main Story to Training Location stories. We hope you enjoy everything that Promise of Wizard has to offer as you play through it.

Tsushimi Bunta: Freelance screenwriter. Main scriptwriter of Idolish7 as well as the author of the novel adaptations. In this game, they’re in charge of writing the Main Story, Training Location stories, and Event Stories among others.

Kazuma Kowo: Manga-ka and illustrator. Representative works include Junsui Adolescence (Ichijinsha Inc.), Dear Tear (Hakushensha Inc.), and Hinemosu Futari (Takeshobo Co., Ltd.). In this game, they’re in charge of worldbuilding supervision.

----- * * * -----

Part 1: Interview with Tsushimi Bunta (Main Screenwriter) and Kazuma Kowo (Worldbuilding Supervision)

Q: How did you get involved in the development of Promise of Wizard?

I got my first offer around five years ago, but I had to decline because I was already working on something else. They’ve continued to contact me a number of times since then, and then finally the right chance came along. There was the worldbuilding, and then the management and creation of character setting sheets that would shape their sets of values et cetera, which seemed to be a lot for me to handle. That’s why I asked Kazuma-san to help us out. We made games together in the past.

Q: Kazuma Kowo-san is in charge of worldbuilding supervision. Together, the two of you came up with the mages’ world as well as the story. What sort of discussions did you guys have when you were creating the character setting for the wizards as well as the world construct?

We decided on the fantasy genre, but it can range from fairytales to light novel stuff to something as massive as high fantasy. We started from discussing what extent would attract the audience’s attention the most. We talked over and over about it, and in the end, we moved forward with the idea of the countries having their own fantasy taste. We had Kazuma-san sort which wizard into which country first, and then we made adjustments over time. Oz was in the North at first, for example, and then there was Figaro in the Central country. Shino was more reserved, Heath was the flirt, whereas Leno was someone ruthless. Then we figured we should be finalising the characters that would be “the face” of each country first, so that people can remember the characteristics of each country more easily. These are Arthur, Murr, Shino, Rutile, and Mithra. Things that have wizards and witches vibe such as precious stones, stars, plants, fortunetelling, incense, books—a lot of these things are what girls usually like, so we tried to be brave and implement as much as we could.

Q: How did you develop the personality and other characteristics of each wizard from each country? Was there anything you paid attention to in particular when creating these wizards?

The central country has wizards with heroic qualities, so they lean more towards heroes, leaders, and priests. The Western country’s qualities stress on the eccentricity, the bizarre, and entertainment, so they have themes like the Cheshire Cat and Halloween. The Japanese equivalent would be the kitsune foxes and the shapeshifting tanuki racoons. The East has wizards that are gothic, dark and gloomy with melancholic feel to them. The Southern wizards are like the Fairy Godmother from Cinderella. They're good at helping others, honest, and pastoral. The Northern wizards’ image is like a demon lord or great witches who rule over humans—the power type that screams horror.

Q: In this game, wizards have powers that humans don’t have. Because of it, humans rely on them and they adore them. But, there are also occasions where the wizards are feared and detested. You’re depicting not only the “cool wizards”, but also the gap between the wizards and humans. There are also characters who have power but suffer and feel lonely because of it. I think things like that are what makes this game charming, but was there anything you were being mindful of in the process of writing that sort of aspect?

I don’t want to make the loneliness that the wizards feel to be theirs alone. Instead, I want the players to feel something similar, seeing as we all live in a society. I think anyone who lives in a society feels that they “want to be understood” or “want to understand [others]”. But at the same time, they also feel some sort of indignation where they “don’t want to be understood” or want to say “don’t you dare think you’ve understood”. I want the players to take any of these emotions and observe from the wizards’ point of view. I want them to let their imagination expand and enjoy themselves that way.

Q: Many of the wizards’ incantations are phrases that we’re unfamiliar with. I believe a lot of fans have put a lot of thinking into figuring out the meanings and the origin. How did you come up with these incantations?

In regards to incantations, I had Kazuma-san take the wheel. We had it in katakana so that it reads more smoothly in text, but we also adjusted it as we prioritise things like how easy it is to pronounce and for people to catch it. The impression you get from these incantations (sounds powerful, weak, ominous, or it’s still too early for you, et cetera), and how powerful they actually are—we have it all ranked and organised, so it would be nice if it shows one at a time.

Q: Was there anything about the “fantasy parallel universe” genre and the “relationship between wizards and the sage” you find to be the reason why you can deliver particular ideas? Was there anything you found interesting during the writing process?

I actually had to restrain my thinking process because I had to remind myself that I’m writing fantasy, so it’s like I can’t include things that are normal and already exist in the real world. Even if I come up with a good idea, I’ll end up thinking that it’s a little too normal and then it gets scrapped.

Q: The existence of the previous sage who doesn’t put on airs and has an approachable personality becomes one of the attention-grabbing elements in the storyline. In your mind, what sort of character is the previous sage?

A white-collar worker who works at an exploitative company. They can say pretty irresponsible things to the mages and amuse themselves with it. But they also get scared simply from scary things, and they have the boldness to say something selfish.

Q: Please tell us, if there are any, things that seem trivial but it’s something that you were being particular about during the process of writing the Main Story. These can include scenes, specific lines, or portrayal of something.

The same goes for the Main Story and the Sub Stories, but I want people to feel excited and let them imagine all sorts of things. I always have that in mind and that’s why I’ve added lots of details into the setting. “If I were a mage”, “If I were a citizen of this country”, “Which country would my friends come from”, “What does this taste like”, “What are their previous love stories like, and what’s their life been like until now”... I think being able to have so much freedom in imagination is what the real pleasure of the fantasy genre is. I hope it’s become a world that allows the players to indulge themselves in daydreaming.

Q: Lastly, please leave a message to all fans who are out there supporting Promise of Wizard.

Thank you for playing the game! It’s pretty much my first time writing fantasy, so right until it was released, my heart kept pounding thinking if it would really count as fantasy… But I’m so happy that a lot of people are having fun with the story! Please continue your support for Promise of Wizard from now on too!

----- * * * -----

Part 2: Interview with Mahoyaku’s Scenario Director

Q: How did you make this job offer to Tsushimi Bunta-san? What is it about Tsushimi-san’s works and writing style that makes it charming to you?

Right around the early stages of the establishment of our company, Coly, one of their past works touched my heart. Their script writing ability was so mind-blowing that I thought I just had to make this offer. In the end, that also instigated Kazuma-sensei’s involvement, and that’s how we got them to help us out as well. I think one of the things that make Tsushimi-sensei’s work charming is the universally relatable characters, the writing that makes the reader want to cheer the characters on, as well as a whole new world that they bring to the readers. Tsushimi-sensei has the ability to transform unsaid feelings and unwritten motions into breathtaking scenes. Sometimes, trivial dialogues can depict genuine feelings within human hearts, like that of a child’s. You can feel through the writing affection and gentle point of views towards those in a weaker position.

Q: The setting of this game involves the main character who suddenly wandered into another world where mages live. Then, they became the “sage” who gather up the wizards and guide them. How did you decide on what the story was about and which direction it was going?

We had the people in our company come up with several ideas and we went through them to see which ones had and hadn’t already been used in regards to the fantasy parallel universe genre, which was the direction we were going with. From there, we ended up with a story where the sage, someone who wandered into another world, and wizards fight together. We don’t want you to forget reality. Instead, we want you to enjoy it even more. We want to bring a world that gives you courage and positive energy, and we want to deliver the wizards’ world that’s blinding, mysterious, and exciting.

Q: Could you tell us a scene or a line from the main story that’s particularly memorable for you? And why as well, if possible.

Every scene in the main story is memorable for me, so to be honest with you, it’s really hard to pick one. But I was particularly driven in the execution of Chapter 17’s “Rustica’s Request”, so I cherish it a lot. It’s something that Rustica said to Chloe, who was tearing up silently as his feelings were hurt, “That’s because there’s only one of it in this world. This is something that only you can make.” It’s a sweet line, one that will always stay close to you and give you warmth. It may sound cheesy, but no matter how many times you read it, it echoes through in every corner of your heart.

#spoon2di #mahoyaku #staff

46 notes · View notes

tetrakys · 5 years

Text

About Ikemen Vampire...

I finally got around to do the Ikemen Vampire first impressions post no one asked for, but I said I would do.

I’ve had the app on my phone for a while now, I mostly login and do the minigame to pile up on points and diamonds, but I’ve also played the butler event and a few chapters of Napoleon’s route.

FYI I only red a couple of spoilers on one route, so I’m jumping into this completely blind. Here we go.

The Premise:

A bunch of famous men from history turned vampires all living in the same mansion during a specific time in the past. On one side this is kinda interesting, on the other I know too much about many of these people (including their real aspect) to not face-palm every time I read their names, that’s why it took me so long to start this game. I knew it would need some getting used to it, and I have to admit I still find it strange at times. But well...

MC is, at least for now, the typical japanese otome game MC, so nothing exciting here, but maybe she will get gutsier moving forward? One can only hope. At least I like her love for travelling and she seems to know several languages.

Anyway if I’d been in her place, spending one month in the past with all these famous historical figures around, like hell I would’ve accepted to be a maid. I would’ve spent the whole time exploring and interviewing, I would’ve cut a deal with Le Comte, I’m sure he would’ve said yes.

Anyway, let’s get to the guys, knowing that I’m an otome hoe and of course the plan is to get with all them (except maybe one). Team harem always for the win.

Ei fu. Siccome immobile, Dato il mortal sospiro, Stette la spoglia immemore Orba di tanto spiro, Così percossa, attonita5 La terra al nunzio sta, ...

99% of the people reading won’t know what this is about. It’s one of the most important italian poems ever, it was written to celebrate Napoleon Bonaparte, it’s called Il Cinque Maggio (the date of Napoleon’s death... or in this case... resurrection as a vampire?). It’s huge, 108 verses, and I had to learn the whole thing by memory in school. It was so painful that it stuck with me to this day. That’s why I have a sort of love/hate relationship with the man.

But I decided to start with him for two reasons: I find this version of him hot and mysterious and I know his sexy scene is free so... who am I to turn down sexy times for free??

His back story of being half human half vampire is interesting and I am curious to see where this is going. I’m also curios to see how much cybird is sticking to history because the emperor had an interesting life to say the least. Including two wives, which I don’t want to think about because I am extremely jealous of all my otome boyfriends so I hope they are going to ignore this detail.

Yeah... no... this is so wrong... the guy died in exile in St Elena after failing to get his power back, speculations say that maybe he was even poisoned. It wasn’t a peaceful death and definitely he had regrets.

I feel like I am putting too much thought into this and I should take the game as if these are just random people.

Anyway, Napoleon the character has a really pretty design, I love his eyes and his mysterious aura, and he looks like the honorable knight type. I hope he has also a kinky side because that’s how I roll and too good is not exactly my thing. He said he’s not attracted to MC pfff.... bullshit of course. We’ll see.

I don’t have much to say about Mozart because I’ve seen very little of him. I like his design, he seems to be the cold and slightly asshole type which I generally like, but too cold could put me off. If they’re going for any realism at all there could maybe be some daddy issues in his route?

This was the route that originally interested me the most because Leonardo was a genius and he’s the closest to home. Let’s ignore the fact that people keep using Da Vinci as if it was his surname WHICH IS NOT ,“da” means “from” and “Vinci” is a town, Leonardo from Vinci, he didn’t have a surname because he was a natural son. But other than that, there are two main points that make me consider skipping his route altogether.

First of all, this is the only spoiler I have about the game, I know this story is sad whatever the ending, and I don’t do sad in my escapism. I only want happy endings, people may not agree but that’s my personal philosophy for playing these games.

Second, that “cara mia” triggers my rage every time I read it. As I explained in another post, “cara mia” is paternalistic and kinda offensive, “mia cara” is the sweet, caring one. The writers picked the wrong one and it’s soooo annoying to read. Especially because he repeats it quite a lot.

So, I’m not 100% sure yet, but this might be the first time in my history as an otome-player that I skip a route.

This. Adorable. Rascal. He might be the second route I play after Napoleon because I can’t wait to banter with this guy (if MC’s personality allows it).

He seems as smart as his real counter-part and I like it.

I find a little annoying that he speaks like someone pretending to be British, it seems like the writers tried too hard, but what he says is kinda hilarious and I want him to (try to) bite me 👀

I assume they didn’t go completely with the realistic route here, otherwise Vincent should be a little coo coo, but the guy was sensitive and fragile and it seems that this was somehow preserved in the character. He has both ears though, so he probably isn’t completely suicidal.

However he seems the totally sugary sweet type which is really not my thing. But I also heard he has one of the hottest sexy scenes in the game so colour me intrigued 👀

THIS! This is my man! I don’t know why I always fall for the tsundere, it’s not like I’m a masochist and like to be mistreated, but I like the bantering and I hope that MC is going to be cool enough to allow me to reply to him in tone. I really want to fight with him! 👀

Also, he’s sexy, and the fact that I know absolutely nothing about him, helps me not feeling annoyed by whatever it has been done to the character.

I don’t know what to expect from his route. Does he have a brother complex? Is he jealous because his brother is a genius and he was a simple merchant? Why were they both turned? So many questions. Give me this beautiful asshole’s route soon cybird!

I know nothing about him too, but there’s something in him that irks me. He has a sort of paternalistic attitude, too many compliments, too polite... Also, that kimono has a strange fit.

On the positive side he seems protective and I like his quirkiness, so we’ll see.

Newton is the one that, together with Leonardo, interested me the most for pure principle. And, in this case, I am quite satisfied. I like his aesthetics and personality-wise he seems similar to Mozart, quiet, distant type. We’ll see.

I keep wondering why they turned a female character male, they could’ve added a wlw route. Anyway, I won’t complain because look-wise I like him the most out of everyone. The eye patch intrigues me, I like his style and I find him really beautiful. I know though that his route is the least sexy and that’s a bummer. I am curious about him and his route and wonder if he also hears voices in his head.

In this case I’m pretty sure we’re far away from the real person. William the character is the yandere of the group and even the other vampires seem a little preoccupied by him. I wonder if his route is maybe a little dangerous, I’m intrigued.

Mmm... I know I’m going to attract the disappointment of his many fans but I don’t like Saint-Germain. He’s handsome yes, but the one thing I hate in LIs is fakeness and duplicity, and I feel it with every bone in my body this guy is a liar. He emanates the same vibes as Lucien and Leiftan. There’s so much you’re hiding Comte, and you don’t fool me one bit! Also, his colour palette is too yellow for my tastes.

Sebastian is just boring to me. I don’t know.... he looks and sounds so plain. I hope there is some big mystery behind and that he will show more personality because at the moment he’s just meh. Also he can’t be just a simple, unknown human there must be something else (I hope).

So, currently, the characters who interest me are: Theo, Arthur, Isaac, Napoleon, Jean, William, Wolfgang

While Vincent, Sebastian, Dazai, Leonardo and Comte all follow at the back of the queue.

Let’s see after a couple of months of playing if my opinions change.

And btw I’ve seen the three new vampires and they look so much cooler than all the main ones combined! I can’t wait for their routes to come out.

#ikemen vampire #ikevamp #games rec #games

50 notes · View notes

raging-violets · 5 years

Note

how was the jackson family created? and what's their backstory? :D

Thanks for the ask! We love talking about our babies. We could go on and on, so this is a decent lengthed post - and we did take a different route with answering your second question. Which is why it’s under a read more.

We’re just sorry we don’t do much with them on here, but are moving into doing more (and re-working our OC page), and answering questions and everything.

Let’s get started!

Tag: @dancerdramatic14, @foxesandmagic

So! The Jackson are the first OCs we ever created without really know what OCs were. Because, at the time, fifth grade, we were just writing separate stories for ourselves, very, very loosely based on ourselves, but our characters had our names - because duh. (And it’s fun to write about yourself in different situations.)

Anyway, first it started off as writing fanfics - though we didn’t know what fanfic was at the time and was introduced to it later - like with Pokemon or Digimon but with ourselves added into it, but at the same time we were also just writing original stories. When we talked to each other about the original stories, we came to find we wrote about the same family dynamic - two parents, older daughter and younger son. We both named the younger son, Patrick.

Then we decided to write the characters together. We made the two older daughters twins, kept Patrick and gave him a twin named Noah (because they’re both one of our favorite boys’ names), and then rounded out the family with a baby brother named Sydney - because it’s another of our favorite boys’ names and we really want to go to Australia one day.(As a side note: First it was just those five. Then later on (years later after writing a bunch of fanfics), we added an older brother named Julius. We don’t write him as often, a lot of the time explaining he’s more of a secondary character, but he’s just as important with the family and how we’ve written and changed these characters over the 10+ yeas we’ve had them.)+-+

Once we had these five characters established, and knew what fanfiction was, we decided to start putting them into our favorite fandoms. First it started with 3 Ninjas and branched out from there; putting in fandoms we thought they’d fit in: Mighty Ducks, Suite Life of Zack and Cody, Hananh Montana, iCarly, Johnny Kapahala, Big Time Rush, Just My Luck/Busted/McBusted, and those are the ones I just remember. By doing so, they became our main multifandom OCs.

(Second side note: We’re cringing so hard, but we also have to acknowledge that at the time of creating our OCs, we were really into anime at the time, and would also write for fandoms like Yu-Gi-Oh, InuYasha, and Yu Yu Hakusho. So when we first created our OCs, they went by: Rikku Hiroshima, Rumiku Hiroshima, Patrick “Sparky” Hiroshima, Noah “Physic” Hiroshima, and Sydney Hiroshima. They had red hair (Riley) and blue eyes, Silver hair (Rhuben) and violet eyes, Yellow hair (Patrick) and blue eyes, Silver hair (Noah) and violet eyes, and Blue hair (Sydney) and blue eyes. Depending on the fandom, they also had abilities they could weild, in a series we called “Elementals” - because who doesn’t love canon characters in an AU where they’re the chosen ones and weild powers - Riley’s was fire, Rhuben’s was darkness, Patrick’s was thunder, Noah’s was SilverWind, and Sydney’s was spirits).

As for their backstory, it really did start only as angst for angst sake. We needed a reason for them to move from Australia to America and have a reason for them to interact with the main canon characters of whatever fandom we put them in. Parents dying in a fire. Abusive parent. We really piled it on. However:

Around this time, a LOT of people (ourselves included) were doing song-fics or had songs as titles as fics. You know the ones “Welcome to My Life,” “Numb,” “Behind Blue Eyes,” those kinds of things. Listening to songs like that, (we’re big fans of LP and Simple Plan) we decided to give them the background of their parents dying in a house fire, being adopted (this was the original idea, we changed it to being put into foster care) by an abusive man who moved them to America - unsurprisingly, to whatever locale the fandom was set in - under the guise of being in a touring family band.

Plus, we love music and love finding new music and giving any excuse to write about music and bands, and meeting our favorite musicians (and maybe falling in love with our favorite musicians) was fun. With “bandfiction” fandoms like Big Time Rush, and Just My Luck, it was easy to keep that as an important part of the Jacksons as a whole.

Anyway, in our fics, the main canon characters would either be a fan of, or be introduced the to family band, meet them, slowly become friends with them, start to piece together something was wrong leading to a confrontation all the while having Riley and Rhuben fall in love with whichever two guys we liked the most from the show. For a while, this was the formula for whatever new fics we wrote/new fandoms we wrote in. And at the time, the “darkness” and “edgieness” and “badassness” and “I curse and am rude to you all the time” of our OCs was waaaaaay over the top, admittedly.

Our OCs, as mentioned above, were first introduced with their “japanese names” as we always knew thier mother was Japanese-American (and had the name Ruriko, choosing the American name Renee), and their father, was Australian (named Tate, but usually goes by his middle name Reed). We wised up, learned more about the Japanese culture and changed our OCs Japanese names to Seiji Himada/Sydney Jackson, Padi Himada/Patrick Jackson, Noburu Himada/Noah Jackson, Rikku Himada/Rilandon ‘Riley’ Jackson, and Rumiku Himada/Rhubella ‘Rhuben’ Jackson - though we don’t refer to them this way, anymore. Himada was their mother’s surname before marrying Reed. After a bit we just stuck with their English names, focusing more on the fact that they were Australian - because, again, we’ve always wanted to travel to Australia, and so we took the time to research, and watch videos, read blogs, etc etc as much as possible to learn as much as we could.

All in all, we like to say our “weeb-lite” and emo phases never manifested in real life because we put it all into our characters. (Thank god)

Basically, their backstory is this: Rocket Scientist Reed Jackson, and stay-at-home-mom/teacher/Reed’s assistant, Renee Jacksonmet in college at NYU and quickly fell in love with each other. They moved to Australia to start their family and had Julius. They used IVF to have Riley and Rhuben three years later (wanting a girl), Patrick and Noah three years after that (wanting to have another boy), and Sydney came naturally five years after that. Julius is 11/12, Riley and Rhuben are 9, Patrick and Noah are 6, and Sydney is a little over 1 year old when their house suddenly burst into flames one night. Whether it was an electrical fire, a flash over, arson, what have you, isn’t discovered until later. But their parents, are killed in the fire. Julius was the one to lead his brothers and sisters out of the house, but went back in when he realized he couldn’t find his parents outside - because they were still in the house looking for their kids, not knowing they were safe outside. Julius manages to make it back outside, but in the resulting chaos, is hit by a car and taken to the hospital, separating himself from his brothers and sisters - and resulting in his lasting memory issues as he gets older. After the death of their parents, the Jacksons had the opportunity to go live with their grandparents on their dad’s side, who were older and only had the time/patience/ability to care for one child so they took Julius, or their Uncle on their father’s side, who was too distraught with grief and anger to want to take his nieces and nephews in. Family on Renee’s side couldn’t be reached, so they went into foster care. Robert was the only one who wanted to take all five of them and once he did, he moved them to America - though the stresses of being a single parent was too great for him and he took it out on his children.

Over the 10+ years we’ve had these characters, we toned down the more angsty (*Cough* over the top *cough*) things, turned up all of our OCs differing personalities and how they mesh with and pull against each other and canon characters, adding more lasting issues from their abuse such as bipolar disorder, selective mutism, eating disorder, their differing idea of what love is and how they go about getting it, and a whole lot more to make them more realistic characters.

Recently, we’ve also started thinking, “What would they be like if their parents were still alive?” “Would they still be this way?” “Would they still act like this?” and started deciding on which fandoms would still have their parents around (at the moment, it’s only the 3 Ninjas fandom).

But we love these characters to death. Characters who have their faults, but you want to root for, and who truly love their friends and family, and stumble and fall as they move to their goals of having a happy life. And we’re glad others like them and have been a part of thier journey and growth whether readers were there from the beginning or found out about them partway through.

We know they were once more popular characters we’ve had, and we have moved on to writing our more recent OCs, but that’s ok. We still love them. We’re insanely proud of how we’ve had them grow and change over the years. And we’re glad people like or have liked them.

#avengiers #oc talk #the jacksons #oc: the jacksons #riley jackson #rhuben jackson #patrick jackson #noah jackson #sydney jackson #riley and rhuben responds #thanks for sending this in #we could talk about our babies all day every day #answered ask

7 notes · View notes

michelles-garden-of-evil · 4 years

Text

Episode 1 Review, Part I: Welcome to Maljardin

{ YouTube: 1 | 2 | 3 }

{ Synopses: Debby Graham | Bryan Gruszka }

{ Screencaps }

What to write about the pilot? How should I begin the introduction to the first real post on this blog? I don’t wish to write a detailed synopsis, because other people have already done so, and I feel neither the need nor the desire to comment on everything in this episode (or, indeed, in any episode). Also, funnier writers than I have already written detailed reviews of it, and I don’t feel I can compete with them, especially if I focus too hard on trying to be funny. So this will be a different kind of review series, focusing on analysis of what I think is important/interesting instead of recapping everything. And I promise that my other posts won’t be as long as this one. There’s just a lot to cover in this first post.

One of the main questions that I intend to explore in this post series is what makes a TV show “bad.” Obviously, this is purely subjective, and most of what I write will be my silly personal opinion, but we are dealing with a show that many people consider “bad” and that, arguably, is “bad” by most mainstream TV watchers’ standards nowadays. Today, we live in an era where TV dramas have increasingly higher budgets and production values, where viewers expect realistic acting and special effects, where streaming and binge-watching are increasingly the norm, and where making a single continuity error or retcon will inspire scorn from your entire fanbase (and God forbid one of the actors forgets to throw out their Starbucks cup). TV today is almost the polar opposite of TV in 1969, when shows were much lower budget, special effect failures were far more acceptable, and streaming on demand probably sounded more absurd than using science to bring a frozen woman’s body back to life. As such, people today expect different things from television from the soap opera viewers of fifty years ago, and are quick to dismiss a show as bad.

I agree that continuity errors and retcons are signs of mediocre writing, but do high production values and good special effects really matter? Is realistic acting necessary for drama, or can drama be just as effective with artificial, stylized, hammy or campy acting? How do we separate a genuinely bad show from one that is merely dated, or that has a few minor problems? If you ask me, the answer lies in the writing and the effectiveness of the acting--and it is the writing that will be the primary focus of this blog.

The pilot, like the 43 episodes that follow, was written by Ian Martin, an actor-turned-writer for soap operas and later Gothic romance and horror. He is most famous for writing over two hundred episodes of CBS Radio Mystery Theater in the 1970s. (While I only recently discovered CBSRMT and therefore haven’t listened to most of the episodes yet, I can say that those of his that I’ve listened to are very good. I particularly recommend “And Death Makes Even Steven” and “Time and Again.”) For the plot of Strange Paradise, Martin seems to have drawn on his own life experiences: namely, the tragic early death of his first wife, the actress Inge Adams. According to Curt Ladnier, “Though no one can claim to know what was going through Ian Martin’s mind as he wrote the scripts laying the groundwork for Strange Paradise‘s basic plot, it’s not hard to conceive he may have felt some familiarity with the story of a man who lost the love of his life to an untimely death.” His grief shines through every speech that he has Jean Paul give to Erica. Indeed, his episodes have far more heart in them than later Maljardin episodes or Desmond Hall, and most of my favorite episodes were his work. They also have a lot of snarky humor and better dialogue than most of the later episodes, so, if you imagine a sliding scale going from “good” to “slightly so-bad-it’s-good” to “David Wells,” most would be on the “good” side. (Most of Desmond Hall, in contrast, is decidedly on the other--which is a given, considering that David Wells plays a prominent role in that arc, and most of the time he’s hilariously bad.)

This is not to say that Martin’s writing is perfect. Some of his episodes drag and he is not exactly subtle about many things. He has characters (especially Raxl) repeat themselves perhaps more than is necessary. Also, many of his episodes contain a certain subplot that I find boring and pointless and that the show could have done without. (More on all these things when we get to them.) The early Maljardin episodes are not masterpieces, but they’re a hell of a lot better than most of what came after. And it’s clear that Martin was trying to do its own thing, rather than copy off Dark Shadows.

So, anyway, enough about Ian Martin and onto my thoughts about Episode 1, which is what you presumably came here for:

The obligatory first-episode title card screencap

The show opens on the fictional Caribbean island of Maljardin, which roughly translates to “garden of evil.” Jardin is French for “garden” and mal for “evil (noun).” Mal can also be used as an adverb to mean “badly,” but it is not an adjective. “Evil (adjective) garden” would be Mauvaisjardin, which doesn’t sound half as cool. The exterior shots are of Casa Loma, a mansion in Toronto surrounded by trees that look nothing like anything in the Caribbean, but I can forgive them because the Château de Maljardin is awesome both inside and out. I would say I want to live on Maljardin, but I don’t like the heat and I’m sure the air conditioning costs for the château are extravagant--and, although they never mention it on the show, you know that filthy rich and frequently overdressed Jean Paul Desmond would have had air conditioning installed.

Jean Paul Desmond (Colin Fox) is the master of Maljardin and he is grieving the death of his wife Erica (Lara Cochrane), whose body he is preparing to freeze in order to bring her back to life at some point in the future. Erica has apparently only just died, and he is already having his servant Quito (Kurt Schiegl) carry huge blocks of dry ice--with his bare hands (WTF?)--to line her coffin. Jean Paul must have spent a while preparing for this, and one wonders how far in advance he had to decide to do this, especially since he has already arranged for the Cryonics Society to professionally freeze her and they state in the first episode that he does not have a phone on his island. I’ve watched this episode three times and, each time I watch it, the whole situation seems a little more suspicious. But maybe he and/or Dr. Menkin (Joe Austin) predicted her death far in advance and planned accordingly? Surely a man as besotted with his wife as Jean Paul couldn’t have murdered her, right?

I love the scene where he makes his grand entrance carrying Erica. It's so extra. He's so extra.

I’m not speculating about all this because I don’t like Jean Paul, but rather because of certain clues in the narrative that might reflect a once-planned plot twist that writers after Martin ignored. (The keyword is might; I have no evidence that Martin was planning one, but one can always speculate.) In fact, I adore Jean Paul. His actor, Colin Fox, is the main reason why I’m obsessed with this show and can’t stop watching it. I have a huge crush on him thanks to this show, even bigger than my previous #1 crush, which was on King Henri III of France. Jean Paul is exactly my type: super-tall (he looks about 6′6″/2 meters), dark, handsome (more so when he’s not brooding), graceful, elegant, and very, very extra. He also has a beautiful voice, and I love listening to him talk. Yes, I know I’m attracted to him for mostly superficial reasons, but Jean Paul’s a fictional character, so does it matter? There are only a few problems with him, most notably some megalomaniacal tendencies:

I suppose, though, that it’s inevitable to become somewhat of a megalomaniac when you own not just an isolated private island, but “a brokerage house, a department store, three newspapers, a football franchise, motion picture and television interests, and real estate holdings,” to quote another character. Jean Paul thinks that he can bring Erica back to life by spending millions of dollars on cryonics, which other characters--most notably his housekeeper Raxl (Cosette Lee)--insist is playing God. Only one other character approves, and he even applauds him for it:

This is Jacques Eloi des Mondes, Jean Paul’s identical ancestor from the 17th century and my favorite character on this show. His surname literally means “of the worlds,” which I think is an awesome name for a character in an urban fantasy/horror series. According to Raxl, who is highly knowledgeable about both the des Mondes family history and the supernatural, Jacques Eloi des Mondes was THE DEVIL. (It is never clear whether she means this literally or figuratively.) He is also, in my not-so-humble opinion, the single hottest male character in the history of television. No exceptions. If you gave me the choice between Jacques and the entire cast of every other show in existence, I would choose him. He is charming, charismatic, seductive, and hilarious, at least in Ian Martin’s episodes. Most of the writers after Martin, however, ignore his superficial charm and focus instead on his evil, which Martin mostly only hints at. Anyway, Jacques talks through this portrait--a surprisingly good one compared to other “period” portraits from other shows and movies--which glows when his spirit talks to Jean Paul in this episode and which disappears when he (mild spoiler alert)

possesses him.

Jean Paul realizes that he and Jacques have a lot in common, including both having lost their wives at a young age. It is implied that he may even be a reincarnation of Jacques, who calls him “the man you are, the man you might have been,” before making him have a flashback to Jacques’ wedding reception three hundred years earlier. I will cover the flashback in another post, because, despite being only a minute and a half long, there is a lot to unpack and I want to critique the costumes in addition to analyzing the content. But I will say this now: Martin has Jacques mention “the cliff heights at sunset” in a rather ominous way, followed by a glance at the camera that suggests a much darker intent than just showing them to his bride:

This is the face of a very handsome man who is contemplating murder.

After this flashback, Jean Paul finds a glass of brandy in his hand that wasn’t there before: something which only Debby Graham’s synopsis mentions, but which is the first of many instances of Jacques literally making him drink. Jacques offers to resurrect Erica in return for Jean Paul setting him free, which involves finding his effigy in the crypt in the basement and removing a silver pin from its head. Jean Paul does this in a scene interspersed with clips of a singer performing a bad cover of “That Old Black Magic” (somewhere between slightly so-bad-it’s-good and David Wells on the sliding scale), and, as soon as he removes the pin from the doll’s head, Raxl freaks out because she senses what has just happened:

Jacques: *bows* “Bonjour!” *smirks as show cuts to brief shot of blank portrait* “The voodoo spell is broken.” *taps on doll’s head with pin* “I no longer have any need for you. Now...”

Raxl: "YOU DEVIL OUT OF HELL! OH! YOU FOOL! HOW DID YOU EVER BREAK THE SPELL THAT BOUND YOU TO-" *stops in archway and gasps*

Jacques: *in both Jean Paul’’s body and clothes now* "Why, what's the matter with you, Raxl?"

Jacques Eloi des Mondes, THE DEVIL, has possessed Jean Paul and is loose on Maljardin! And the episode ends shortly after.

While not one of the best episodes, the pilot is definitely interesting. The acting is somewhat campy and cheesy, especially in the flashback and in all of Raxl’s scenes, so this episode is definitely so bad it’s good. If you have read any of the synopses I linked to earlier in this article, it will be obvious that I didn’t write about everyone and everything in this episode (notably, I didn’t cover Alison and Dan’s scenes), but that is out of a desire to focus on Jean Paul and Jacques rather than a lack of interest. I do wonder, though: is this the first time that Jacques has spoken to Jean Paul? And just what is the true, original story behind Erica’s death?

{ <-- Previous: Introduction || Next: Episode 1, Part II --> }

#strange paradise #gothic soap opera #week 1 #episode 1 #maljardin arc #review #analysis #ian martin #cbs radio mystery theater #cbsrmt #conjure doll and silver pin #jacques making jean paul drink #magical costume change #on this island i am god #sliding scale of episode quality #speculation on ian martin's original story

1 note · View note

ramajmedia · 5 years

Text

10 Ways Quentin Tarantino’s Movies Are All Connected

Shared universes are all the rage in cinema right now, with every studio trying to emulate the box office-breaking success of Marvel Studio's Marvel Cinematic Universe. High-profile efforts include everything from Warner Bros.' own superhero-oriented effort, the DC Extended Universe, to failed attempts like Universal Picture’s monster movie-themed Dark Universe. But there’s one shared universe that has been ticking along just fine in the background far longer than any of these: the films of Quentin Tarantino.

It may come as something of a surprise to casual viewers, but almost every entry in Tarantino’s filmography is connected, from 1992’s Reservoir Dogs right on through to this year’s Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. Sure, this interwoven tapestry may not rival the MCU in scope — although not even Marvel can lay claim to a similar “universe within a universe” conceit — but it’s pretty dang awesome all the same. To help bring you up to speed, here’s a round-up of our 10 favorite Tarantino movie connections.

RELATED: 10 Films That Directly Influenced Quentin Tarantino

10 Vincent And Vic Vega

Here’s a connection most cinephiles will already be aware of: Reservoir Dogs’ sadistic diamond thief Vic Vega and Pulp Fiction’s ambivalent hitman Vincent Vega are related. Tarantino himself confirmed as much years ago, when he expressed interested in making a “Vega Brothers” spin-off, titled Double V Vega.

Since both Vic and Vince don’t survive their respective movies, fans have long speculated that Double V Vega will be a prequel, but it’s starting to look like that speculation has been in vain. After all, a film centered around the Vega boys has yet to materialize, and — given the ages of stars Michael Madsen and John Travolta — it seems unlikely one ever will.

9 Fictional Products

Several fictional brands appear prominently in Tarantino’s films. For instance, if you see a character smoking in a scene, chances are they’re puffing on a Red Apple cigarette. The distinctive Red Apple packaging crops up in several of the acclaimed auteur’s outings, including Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill and Django Unchained. Red Apple cigarettes even serve as the basis for Once Upon A Time In Hollywood’s post-credits scene.

Another recurring made-up brand in Tarantino’s shared universe is Big Kahuna Burger. First alluded to in Reservoir Dogs — Mr. Blonde’s milkshake sports the fast food chain’s distinguishing red diagonal stripes — Big Kahuna Burger products play a pivotal role in Pulp Fiction’s iconic “Ezekiel 25:17” scene. A Big Kahuna Burger bag also pops up in From Dusk Till Dawn, while a billboard promoting the chain can be seen in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.

8 “Crazy” Craig Koons And Captain Koons

Captain Koons — played to idiosyncratic perfection by Christopher Walken — only appears in a single scene in Pulp Fiction, but it also happens to be one of the movie’s most memorable moments. In it, the United States Air Force veteran recounts in painstaking detail the particulars of his captivity in a Vietnamese POW camp to young Butch Coolidge.

His questionable approach to interacting with children notwithstanding, it’s clear that Captain Coons is an upstanding member of the community. This is more than can be said for at least one of his ancestors, The Hateful Eight’s “Crazy” Craig Koons — a Wild West outlaw and member of the Smitty Bacall Gang.

RELATED: 10 Funniest Quotes From Quentin Tarantino Movies

7 Name Dropping Antonio Margheriti

One of the funniest moments in Inglourious Basterds sees several members of the film’s titular Nazi-hunting crew impersonating Italian filmmakers in less-than-convincing fashion. In true Tarantino style, Donny “The Bear Jew” Donowitz assumes the identity of real-life director Antonio Margheriti, who produced a slew of Spaghetti Western, horror, spy and sci-fi pictures during his 52-year career.

So it’s only fitting when Once Upon A Time In Hollywood protagonist Rick Dalton spends six months shooting movies in Italy that Margheriti is credited with helming one of them. Not only is this a fun call-back to Basterds, but it totally fits, considering the Italian director’s actual body of work.

6 The Scagnetti Brothers

Quentin Tarantino is famously selective when it comes to keeping count of the features that comprise his filmography. Indeed, despite the actual number of movies he’s had a direct hand in making, which amount to 14, the figure offered by the director is a more modest nine.

At least part of this discrepancy can be attributed to Tarantino disowning Natural Born Killers, which was heavily rewritten by its director Oliver Stone, writer David Veloz and producer Richard Rutowski.

Yet despite being the black sheep of Tarantino’s shared universe, Natural Born Killers remains inexorably part of it. How? Via Detective Jack Scagnetti, who Tarantino originally intended to be the brother of Seymour Scagnetti, Mr. Blonde’s unseen parole officer in Reservoir Dogs.

5 The Movies Within Tarantino’s Movies

Full disclosure: This entry isn’t based on anything seen onscreen in any of Tarantino’s films. Instead, it’s based off comments the filmmaker once made in an interview, where he designates some of his flicks as being part of a so-called “movie universe”.

What does this mean? Basically, Tarantino’s fictional world has a Russian doll-like structure: There’s a layer of movies nested within another layer, with the outer layer being more “real” than the inner. In practical terms, this means that Tarantino’s more outlandish efforts like Kill Bill represent the movies that characters in more realistic outings like Once Upon A Time In Hollywood go to see!

RELATED: Quentin Tarantino’s Best Villains, Ranked

4 Stuntman Mike And Stuntman Randy

Death Proof — Tarantino’s half of the experimental double feature Grindhouse — introduces audiences to Mike McKay, a murderous stuntman portrayed by Kurt Russell. Fast forward more than a decade, and Once Upon A Time In Hollywood sees Russell cameo as another stunt performer named Randy. Is it possible that these two guys are related? We think it’s highly likely.

Sure, the main thing connecting them is their matching profession and Russell’s involvement, but that’s more than enough to make them relatives in Tarantino’s shared universe. For our money, Stuntman Randy is the father of Stuntman Mike and his brother, Bob — as ol’ Randy’s a bit too long in the tooth to be anyone else.

3 Archie And “English” Pete Hicox

In case it hasn’t became readily apparent by now, Tarantino’s shared universe is overrun with biologically-related characters. For further proof (as if more was needed), look no further than Inglourious Basterds’ Archie Hicox and his great-great-grandfather, The Hateful Eight’s “English” Pete Hicox.

It’s interesting to note that British marine Archie stands out as one of the few unequivocally heroic figures in Tarantino’s canon, whereas “English” Pete is as unsavory a character as any dreamed up by the director. Yet despite being separated by their vastly different moral codes, the pair do have at least one thing in common: both men ultimately come off second best once the bullets start flying.

2 Mr. White And Alabama

In Reservoir Dogs, we learn that smooth operator Mr. White has an associate named Alabama, who he describes as “a good little thief.” At the time, viewers dismissed this as a throwaway line, but it turned out Tarantino had bigger plans for Alabama, as she subsequently serves as the female lead in True Romance (penned by Tarantino but helmed by Tony Scott).

That’s not the only link between True Romance and Tarantino’s wider continuity. Inglourious Basterds’ Staff Sergeant Donny Donowitz is the father of True Romance’s seedy film producer Lee Donowitz, a decidedly less intimidating fella than his old man.

1 Doctor Shultz’s Wife

When the Bride is buried alive in Kill Bill: Volume 2, the grave she’s dumped in bears the headstone of Paula Schultz, who passed away in 1898. Right now, you’re probably thinking “so what?” — unless you’ve recently watched Django Unchained. If you have, Paula’s surname will sound very familiar, as it’s the same as that of Django’s friend and mentor, bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz.

So, are these two related? Well, the general fan theory is that Paula was King’s wife — although Tarantino has never officially confirmed this (to our knowledge, at least). Even so, King’s demise in Django — set in 1858, 40 years before Paula’s death — matches Kill Bill’s description of Paula’s gravesite as “lonely”, further bolstering the strength of this theory.

NEXT: All Of Quentin Tarantino’s Opening Scenes, Ranked

source https://screenrant.com/quentin-tarantino-movies-same-shared-universe/

#screenrant

1 note · View note

how2to18 · 6 years

Link

DO YOU CARE about 20th-century American poetry? If so, you may be embarrassed to admit it. In our culture, too many regard poetry, and especially the poetry of the last century, as having all the real-world utility of underwater basket-weaving.

That reputation, though unfortunate, may be well deserved. A quick glance at Ezra Pound’s sprawling, self-indulgent, showily allusive Cantos will reinforce this impression. Another glance at his political screeds may solidify it. Pound isn’t all of it, of course — and that raises another issue. What does one mean by 20th-century American poetry? Where does one start? Robert Frost’s rugged philosophizing or Wallace Stevens’s imaginative dreamscapes? And what binds Claude McKay’s socialist realist sonnets to the L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E poets’ scientistic abstractions? Can we really expect to sort through so many different voices from so many different backgrounds?

In fact, there are many points of entry. And one of the most promising takes us back to an unlikely place and time: North Carolina, in the depths of the Great Depression, where a number of faculty members recently dismissed from Rollins College for refusing to sign a loyalty pledge founded the legendary Black Mountain College. Here, the ideas and inventions of American icons such as John Dewey and Buckminster Fuller would merge with the teachings of exiled European intellectuals and artists, including Albert Einstein, Walter Gropius, and Josef Albers. A partial list of Black Mountain teachers and students will suffice to indicate its central role in 20th-century American culture: John Cage, Merce Cunningham, Robert Rauschenberg, and Allen Ginsberg, Robert Creeley, Robert Duncan, and Denise Levertov.

Hovering above this intellectual hotbed was the eventual rector — a man of six feet and eight inches, who called himself an “archeologist of morning” and whose ideas are as important to this explosion in postwar American art as the sun is to the growth of any plant. But what ever happened to the legacy of Charles Olson? Why does his surname lack the resonance of Cage and Ginsberg? The answer to that question is complicated, but Olson’s influence — pervasive, perennial — is plain to see. It stems from his central project: the establishment of so-called “projective verse.”

In his manifesto of the same name, Olson speaks to the demands of “verse now, in 1950, if it is to go ahead.” He seeks to situate poetry in the present, in order to project the art form toward a future in which “it is of essential use.” Olson contends that a poet who intends to leave “closed verse,” i.e., inherited literary forms, must attend to certain features of verse that become prominent in the absence of traditional poetic conventions. In essence, Olson urges poets to pay particular attention to “breath,” to “listen,” and he hopes that this shift in focus will amount to a shift in perception — that the poet-as-speaker will abandon the speaker-as-subject and instead move toward a more “objective” exposition of perceptions in her poetry.

The three main features of “projective” verse are kinetics, principle, and process. In addressing a poem’s kinetics, Olson talks of “energy transferred from where the poet got it […] by way of the poem itself to […] the reader.” Positing that the poem acts as a conduit between writer and reader, Olson notes that a writer who “departs from closed form” will encounter a “problem” — namely, when the poet does not draw upon an inherited verse form, she must find other means to imbue her work with the requisite momentum to enact a kinetic transfer.

In order to help the poet, Olson offers a principle to guide her. Specifically, he borrows his colleague Robert Creeley’s formulation: “FORM IS NEVER MORE THAN AN EXTENSION OF CONTENT.” Accordingly, content takes precedence over form, in that a poem’s inner content always informs its exterior form. The subject of the poems, the poet’s breath, and the sound of the syllables that emerge from her mouth determine the distance of words from each other on the page. This principle, then, leads to a specific poetic process: “ONE PERCEPTION MUST IMMEDIATELY AND DIRECTLY LEAD TO A FURTHER PERCEPTION.” The adverbs “immediately” and “directly” suggest that successful projective verse must maintain a certain degree of momentum. Olson asserts that in order to ensure this forward propulsion, a poet must not remain fixed upon a single perception for long, avoiding excessive description, but rather constantly shift through various modes of perception. A poet must open herself, and compose “by field.”

So much for what projective verse is, but how does it come to be?

Any human action, from physical construction to constructing verse, involves breath. For example, if Olson “hammer[s],” he “recall[s] in,” and “keep[s] calling in” the “breath”: breath is necessary for action, and the action of breath is constant. The rhythm of a poem should accommodate the exigencies of each breath that the poet breathes in speaking. “[T]he breathing,” however, “[is] distinguished from the hearing,” and so Olson elaborates upon this other aspect of verse, i.e., the “acquisitions of [one’s] ear.” For him, the poetic unit of sound is the syllable, which has mythopoeic origins: “‘Is’ comes from […] as, to breathe […] ‘not’ equals the Sanscrit na, […] to be lost, to perish [… and] ‘be’ is from bhu, to grow.” What a syllable means is intuitively linked with how it sounds, and a poet must follow these links. Olson provides a famous formulation that encapsulates the parallel relationships between the poet’s body, perception, and product — “the HEAD, by way of the EAR, to the SYLLABLE / the HEART, by way of the BREATH, to the LINE.”

Olson intends projective verse to enact a form of ego death through self-objectification. He encourages this overcoming of the poet-as-subject, what Keats derides in Wordsworth as Egotistical Sublime. The preferred ethos of “humilitas” effects what Keats calls “the poetical character,” which “is not itself — it has no self — it is everything and nothing.” If one sees oneself in nature, rather than nature in oneself, one will “sprawl,” and so “find little to sing but himself.” However, if one sees nature in oneself, such that “he stays inside himself […] he will be able to listen” to things outside of oneself — and, thus, lose oneself.

But can projective poems actually eliminate the poet-as-subject? Can Olson himself abide by his own poetic principles, overcoming his Egotistical Sublime?

In “The Song of Maximus: Song 1” — a part of Olson’s epic project, The Maximus Poems — the poet develops a form that is typical of projective verse. His broad use of white space attests to his attention to breath, which informs the length of his lines with multiple indentations. And his repeated association of words that overlap both semantically and sonically speaks to his ability to attune his ear to the mythopoeic nature of syllables. For example, both “colored” and “pictures” include consonants “c” and “r,” and both pertain to aspects of visual perception. If any poem epitomizes the nuts and bolts of projective verse, this is it.

Olson clearly adheres to the mechanics of projective verse, but can he overcome his self? On first read, Olson’s repeated use of universal quantifiers — “all,” “ever,” and “any”— establishes an omniscient poetic voice that appears to overcome a specific subjectivity, as it addresses collective experience. However, Olson’s very success in both listening to his breath and intuiting semantic-syllabic resonance imbues the broad scope of the poem’s subject matter with an audible, singular poetic voice.

It is worth mentioning that Olson himself thought that one of the primary advantages of projective verse was its ability to allow the poet to “voice his own work.” To conflate this “voice” with the Egotistical Sublime would be unfair to Olson’s poetic vision. Still, the capacity of projective verse poets to compellingly arrange images and ideas (as “objects”) invariably points to the “head” and “heart” that register the “ear” and “breath.” In other words, the power of the poet’s perceptions draws our attention to the power of the poet himself.

This is the Catch-22 of projective verse, which can be illustrated by analogy with the Japanese art of flower arrangement (Ikebana). In Ikebana, the work itself (the bouquet) consists almost entirely of objects found in nature. Yet the acts of curating and positioning particular flowers — and even the very act of presenting flowers in the first place — testifies to the existence of a subject who made these decisions, a singular individual who took these actions. The more evocative the bouquet, the more the subject imbues her found objects with her character. Similarly, the striking sonic resonances and pulsations of breath in “Song 1” speak to the striking voice of the perceiver — Olson himself — who arranged the images and ideas in his poem.

The failure of projective verse to eliminate the subjective sense of the poet-as-speaker is thus, paradoxically, a consequence of its success. After all, the “Maximus” figure in Olson’s epic work isn’t simply a container of multitudes — it’s likely a specific person of imposing stature: Olson himself. When a poetic self strives for the maximal, when it strives for an expansion of its perceptual horizons, when it frees itself from the shackles of inherited form — how could it not attest to its own particular capacities and energies, to the power of its own senses, its own voice?

This appears to be an acknowledged fact among contemporary practitioners of projective verse. Jorie Graham, a poet who was influenced by Olson, incorporates his method in a way that ultimately draws attention to the speaker. For example, she begins her 2008 poem “Full Fathom” with a clear exposition of ideas and images — “sea swell, hiss of incomprehensible flat: distance: blue long-fingered ocean and its // nothing else.” The indentation at the enjambment between “its” and “nothing else” introduces a conspicuous white space, embodying the breath of the speaker as she transitions from the long first line to the short second line. The sibilance of the words associated in the first line reflects a semantic semblance: “sea swell,” “hiss,” “incomprehensible,” and “distance,” all linked by the sound of “s,” all communicate a sense of wild vastness. Yet the reader is forced to marvel at the voice that has built these meaningful links. Here again, projective verse proves limited in its capacity to eliminate the subject — precisely because its power draws attention to the fact that objects of perception are perceived by a singular head and a singular heart, precisely because these perceptions are communicated in a manner that pulsates with the music of a singular breath.

Olson’s manifesto influenced generations of poets even more directly than it’s influenced Graham. Robert Duncan, a Black Mountain student and one of the leading lights of the San Francisco Renaissance, titled his groundbreaking book The Opening of the Field (1960) in an apparent reference to the Olson’s concepts of “OPEN” verse and “COMPOSITION BY FIELD.” This influence extends all the way through the L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E school to the semblance of projective verse seen in the work of contemporary American masters such as Jorie Graham. Olson’s principles, when put into practice, work. The success of his ideas remains manifest to anyone who cares about the history of postwar American poetry. However, the success of his poetic principle may not have lead to the world that he wanted to live in, one in which the poet escapes the confines of his ego through the rigors of contemplating objects and ideas. Any exposition of a perceived object, when made well, draws attention to the power of the perceiving subject. To borrow words from Duncan’s influential poem “Often I Am Permitted to Return to a Meadow” (published in The Opening of the Field), poetry is truly “a made place,” no matter how deeply the subject dives into the object — “a made place, created by light / wherefrom the shadows that are forms fall. // Wherefrom fall all architectures I am.”

Max Lesser, a musician and writer from Los Angeles, is currently working toward a bachelor’s in English from Harvard. He plays saxophone and has composed music for the LA Phil.

The post All Architectures I Am: The (Unintended) Legacy of Charles Olson’s Projective Verse appeared first on Los Angeles Review of Books.

from Los Angeles Review of Books https://ift.tt/2o9oZU1 via IFTTT

#Blogger

0 notes

topmixtrends · 6 years

Link

So much for what projective verse is, but how does it come to be?

But can projective poems actually eliminate the poet-as-subject? Can Olson himself abide by his own poetic principles, overcoming his Egotistical Sublime?

Max Lesser, a musician and writer from Los Angeles, is currently working toward a bachelor’s in English from Harvard. He plays saxophone and has composed music for the LA Phil.

The post All Architectures I Am: The (Unintended) Legacy of Charles Olson’s Projective Verse appeared first on Los Angeles Review of Books.

from Los Angeles Review of Books https://ift.tt/2o9oZU1

#Los Angeles Review of Books #topmixtrends

0 notes

multimetaverse · 4 years

Text

HSMTMTS 1x08 Review

The Tech Rehearsal was a great ep. Let’s dig in!

Great Rini scenes tonight that did some heavy lifting to get them back to a place where they can almost be open with their feelings. Richard Bowen and Nina Salazar- Roberts being the reason the other goes by Nini and Ricky? Reader, that’s the cutest shit I’ve ever seen. The show really brought out the big guns with them knowing each other since Kindergarten. I think most of the casual audience is now shipping Rini, if they hadn’t already, so mission accomplished for the writers

Tim said on instagram that the writers wanted to show that Ricky and Nini had known each other since Kindergarten and it makes sense to use the Troyella rooftop scene and Gabriella’s line about meeting someone in Kindergarten and just becoming friends and use that to tie it all together. But it does somewhat conflict with Kourtney and Nini’s convo in 1x05 that made it sound like Nini only met Ricky in 7th grade. Now it’s true that Kourtney may have just meant it in the sense that 7th grade was when Nini started to have feelings for Ricky but if that’s the case then the writing should have been more clear

As Nini sang in All I Want, EJ is perfect on paper and in Miss Jenn’s notes she wrote that EJ was the perfect Troy on paper; it’s like poetry it rhymes

This is the second ep in a row where a main cast member has been missing. I do wonder if the writers felt that they had done too much work with Rina and keeping Gina off screen was the easiest way to set up a return to Rini. The writers have never been subtle when it comes to ending ships; when it came time to remove EJ as Nini’s love interest they quickly villainized him. I don’t think they want to undo the good work they’ve done redeeming Gina so keeping her off screen is the next best thing

EJ and Carlos had a fun dynamic. EJ trying to emote was so funny as was him stealing Miss Jenn’s notes, it really is his signature move. Matt Cornett does really well playing a dope. I liked that he gave Carlos a confidence boost. Nice to hear Carlos speaking Spanish

Also we now know that Carlos Surname is Carlos Rodriguez. Rodriguez, which means son of Roderick and originated from the Visigoths who conquered Spain, is the 4th most common surname in Spain but it also seems likely that the writers had never decided on Carlos’ last name and just gave him Frankie’s last name which is lazy

EJ Caswell is suffering from Lucas Friar and Jonah Beck syndrome; the handsome, athletic, and kind of ditzy love interest for the main girl who really doesn’t have much else going on when they’re not being shipped with the main girl. Lucas never really got much development but the writers could rely on Farkle to help balance out the show and in S3 the GMW became the Riley and Maya show so it didn’t really matter what Lucas got up to anyways. Andi Mack suffered greatly from never developing Jonah, especially in S3 once he was no longer Andi’s love interest his plot line was a total trainwreck. What made things worse is that the the writers couldn’t build up Cyrus like the GMW writers could build up Farkle since Cyrus’ story was restricted because he was gay. Luckily HSMTMTS has plenty of main characters and is less restricted so it doesn’t drag the show down so much that EJ is just kind of there. I also wonder if the fact that EJ is a senior plays a role in this, sure they can do S2 as the spring musical but what about S3 when EJ would be graduated? If he won’t be on the show long term then there’s no real pressure to develop him or give him that much to do

Big Red appearing behind Miss Jenn was the funniest moment of the ep for me. I also love every time we hear an adult refer to Big Red as Big Red because it’s just so silly

Big Ashlyn (I think that’s their shipname) remains cute. Very smooth of Ashlyn to use Big Red’s compliment to flirt with him

Loved The Role of a Lifetime, Lucas did great, nice little nod to Kate having played Glinda, and loved the ‘’contractually obligated dream sequence’’ line

Interesting motif of ruins tonight. The El Rey theatre is in ruins, on stage the backdrop is a ruined Roman city, and Miss Jenn must face the fact that her acting career and dreams are in ruins before she can start rebuilding her life

Dara can really sing, it’s hard to believe that Kourtney was just supposed to be a one off role. I thought her initial reaction to Nini potentially leaving was realistic but I’m not sure her calling the Dean to come and watch Nini perform was the right move to make it up to Nini

I liked the little Seb and Kourtney interaction. I know there’s been a lot of speculation that they’re setting up a genderfluid Seb story line but I’m deeply skeptical that’s something Disney would allow. And if they were willing to do that then I don’t think they would have allowed Seb to become a main character in S2

I really liked that Gina told Ricky via text that she would have to leave earlier than planned and that Nini told Kourtney and Ricky that she was interested in going to YAC. It was awful in Andi Mack when Buffy left early without telling her friends and then ghosted them for what was supposed to be two months in universe and it was weird that Andi never told any of her friends about SAVA so I’m glad HSMTMTS isn’t making the same mistakes

Looking Ahead:

Just for a Moment sounds great, Joshua and Olivia did such a great job. It’s great that Tim is giving the actors a chance to write their own songs, I hope we see more of it in future seasons. From a video Joshua shared on twitter we can see that they were working on the song during the filming of 1x02. The song must have been selected before 1x08 was written since Nini’s line that it was just a moment is clear set up for the song

The YAC dean is in the audience, does Nini flee and its Ricky who finds her which is why EJ is singing part of breaking free? Or is Ricky gone because he sees his mom in the audience?

How Gina’s move gets undone will be interesting to see. For Andi Mack at least they could say that government cutbacks led the Driscolls to return but if Gina’s mom has to follow natural disasters then it wouldn’t be so easy to just move her back to SLC

The show is flirting with disaster with the YAC plot. If Nini gets in then she will inevitably have to eventually return to East High and in the meantime she’ll be cut off from all the other characters and whatever focus YAC gets will necessarily take away from whatever is going on in East High. There’s a reason Andi Mack only introduced the SAVA plot in the final few eps, there would have been no way to actually pull that off if the series was going to continue

I really do hope we get something with Seblos in the final two eps. 1x05 was great and I’m happy that they were able to do so much textual stuff already but that shouldn’t be an excuse to not touch on it further. I’m sure that with Seb being a main in S2 we’ll get more but we need more now in S1

Until next week ep Wildcats

#HSMTMTS #Rini #Ricky Bowen #Nini Salazar-Roberts #EJ Caswell #Miss Jenn #carlos rodriguez #kourtney #seb mathew-smith #HSMTMTS Reviews

63 notes · View notes