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popculturebuffet · 2 years

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Comics that Need an Adaptation Volume 1: The Indies

Hello all you happy people. I’m jake I review comics and today we have something special. This is something i’ve been thinking of for a while but finally got galvanized into doing via recent events. As I blogged about breifly, Scott PIlgrim has recently been soft greenlit for an animated adaptation. So while looking up reactions for it I found this charming twitterperson who was talking about how she wasn’t looking forward to it. While I made what in any other situation would likely be a mistake and debated her, thankfully Jade here is a nice pereson, a possible new friend and thus the debate was civil and she made some good points: how netflix has screwed the pooch in some recent adaptations (i.e. cowboy bebop) how they might cheap out, how they might only be doing it for recognition etc, while I countered with the fact Scott Pilgrim DOES have a lot of stuff that could be updated or expanded, how a lot of the refrences are timeliness or were so obscure in the first place to a lot of readers they hold up, and how in general while the movies good i’ts a heavily compressed adpatation that sacrificed most character stuff to get everything into two hours. It was a plesant and measured debate with not one fuck you and given i’ve had hours long arguments about how “your wrong it is incest”, this was a nice change of pace to instead find someone who, while I may not agree with, does have valid points and is my kind of werido.

The main takeaway though that lead to this article was her most valid critcisim: that while Scott Pilgrim might deserve another go (defintely in my case but semantics), there are tons of other comics that haven’t got adapted. And since we’re in a great time for adaptations both in ones i’ve seen like Invincible and ones I havne’t fully seen or gotten too like Umbrella Academy or Locke and Key, I thought it’d be a good time to make up my wishlist. Comics I feel deserve the bump into a series or movie and who don’t have a deal in place. It’s why Bone and Lumberjanes are absent: both have series in the works that are reported to make progress. It may be a while on either but they are happening and as such i’d prefer to focus on comics that dont’ even have that yet. If they do and I was unaware, that’s one me but i’ve checked most of these and so far no go.

And in the spirit of scott pilgrim this time around i’m focusing on indie comics that aren’t about superheroes. Being a huge superhero geek I’ve got plenty of superhero lists I could do, both for the big two and outside it, at some point, so you’ll likely get those in coming months as I continue this feature, but I feel it’s best to start out outside my genre of choice.

While I love superhero comics.. the fact is the genre is a wide open sandbox and dosen’t get credited for that enough sometimes, and feel there’s tons of non suprrehero comics that deserve a spin on the screen. This list dosen’t even cover all of them: i’m doing a seperate one for comic strips as some have been minorly adapated but need a proper one. But that’s for another day. Today we’re focusing on the indies. The only rule here is it hasn’t been adapted yet, so your going to see wide range of genres, creative voices (though one creator gets a few slots so be ready for that), and all that good stuff. So if your curious what I think should be adapted or are dying to get to me tooting your own horn with the thing you want adapted, join me under the cut!

12. Steeple

The first of Four Works by the wonderous John Allison on this list, the only writer to wrack up so many. For those who haven’t been exposed to this british genius before, John Allison is a goofy man who writes stories about a wide variety of characters almost exclusively centered around the small Englishtown of Tackleford, which is a magnet for supernatural nonsense of all kinds.

Steeple is both one of his most recent works, one of his current flagships (publishing everything after the intiital dark horse published mini series on his website with Dark Horse collecting future stories in trade), and one of the only ones not set in tackleford. Instead it’s set in another sleepy english villiage with i’ts own problems namely creatures that come up from the sea every night to attack.

Into all of this comes Billie Baker, an optimistic curate who soon finds out about this dark secret and her boss Reverend Penrose’s dedicated hunt for beasties. Not helping are the local mostly harmless satanic set: card carying villian Magus Tom, Reverse Werewolf Brian and local bad girl Maggie. It’s Billie and Maggie who end up forming a close friendship despite being on oppsiite sides.. and soon both questoin the side their on. The result is a nice bix of Allison’s quality slice of life shenanigans but with higher stakes than usual as the monsters aren’t either one off weirdos who disappear after an arc (even if they leave consequences behind) or mostly beneveolent creatures caught in the middle of humanity’s bullshit. These monsters, while possibly not evil, are highly dangerous and won’t go away and it adds an element of risk and mystery to the fun procedings. And while the main characters are slight copies of two of allisons best (Shelley and Amy), they still have enough unique wriinkles to make them owrthy of a show in their own right, something an adaptation could expand upon. Steeple is perfectly made for television, with plenty of room for one off adventures as the story gathers steam. This is one church that badly needs a televisied sermon.

11. Jonesy

This is one where I feel Jonesy was a good book.. but it was in the wrong genre. Jonesy was fine as an all ages comic but would honestly work better as a kids tv show, having the perfect premise , pacing and deisgn for one.

Jonesy has a simple enough premise: Jonesy is a punkish cynical middle schooler who dosen’t belivie in love (mostly because it hasn’t happened for her).. who naturally finds herself with cupid style love powers. While in times past that could be icky, Jonesy is a work that thankfully sidesteps these sort of implications out front: Jonesy can’t use the powers on herself, and generally tries to avoid using them in a lovey dovey on other people unless both people are clearly into one another and just need a nudge. She also can’t disrupt love that’s already there.

What makes this use of these sorts of powers stand out though is that it’s not limited to just making people into one another. She can make them love things, concepts, whatever she can as long as i’ts not her. This leads to all sorts of shenasnigans and clever uses of her powers. In the first ish alone she makes people crazy about ferrets so they’ll donate to local brain and soon to be Jonesey’s best friend Nara’s charity after her powers screw up said charity. The result is a fun, breezy work. It hits i’ts peak in the final arc , which would be an ideal season ender, as Jonesy ends up running into someone with the same power set and far less scruples, resulting in some mistakes and a fateful choice to stop this bastard. Overall Jonesy is ana wesome work and would be great in animation, from the art style to the hearts in the eyes effect for the love powers. It’s a slam dunk for it and i’ts shocking it hasn’t yet been adapated. But with HBO sniffing around boom with Lumberjanes, we may see it soon. Here’s hoping.

10. Scary Go Round

So we’re back to John and his breakout work. When John started in comics he started with Bobbins, your standard webcomic except not very good and with terrible artwork. John would switch to using computer art before he got very good at drawing by hand and went back to that for all further web projects.

SGR was originally a spinoff following two college kids from Bobbins.. but eventually it pivoted back to the more intresting members of the Bobbins cast: Shelley Winters, a cloudcuckoolandery optimist and sometimes reporter sometimes mayors assitant, Amy Chilton, a 20 something wild child with tatoos, tons of mens and tons of sass, Ryan Beckwith, their sadsack friend who has a bat for a best friend, a penchant for spitting out nonsense, and a notriously frought lovelife starting with a ghost and ending with Amy, and Tim, the local inventor (aka mad scinetiest) and eventual mayor. In addition to them we have the local teens who go from side characters to another set of main characters: Shelley’s dour sister Erin, local perky goth Esther (Who we’ll see agani later, spoilers) and the perpetually put on Eustace “The Boy” Boyce whose caught between the two. Add in tons and tons of great to tossable side characters and you have yourself a pretty dang good comic. YOu can get most of it on comixology dirt cheap too.

Scary Go Round has rough edges, being printed in the 2000′s and written by the seat of Allison’s pants, but that’s what a good adaptation could giv eit and it could be a great springboard for a sharred universe with the other works we’ll get to shortly. Allison’s already carefully crafted a universe full of characters to play in, some simple rearranging of events, maybe some adaptations of some stories from the prequel comics bobbins.horse (basically Bobbins but legdgeble nad more in line with the canon SGR and later works make), some streamlining and you have a hit show on your hands.

9. Once And Future

This is one I BADLY need to read more of but what I have just begs for an adaptation. The basic premise is simple and engaging: some assholes ressurect king arthur in an attempt to “right” england.. only to get massacred as he’s far more horrifying than they expect. So now it’s up to Duncan, a researcher, and his gran, whose dedicated her life to stopping this, to stop Arthurian myth from destroying the present. I admit to not being all that keen on arthurian legend, btu ONce and Future actualyl makes me WANT to learn more by being that engaging, that well paced and in places that hilarious despite largely being a horror comic. IT’s just that good and if it hasn’t got a deal yet it should. Kireon Gillen is one of my faviorite writers for a reason, and creative ideas like this is one of them. Also check out his Eternals run, he actualyl makes them intresting. It’s also really good and I look forward to Immortal X-Men.

8. Assassin Nation

This is a fairly recent one, only about two years old at the time of this article, but it’s an awesome one that would make for one hell of a movie. I hestitate about making it a series only because there's only been one volume so far while most of these have 3 or 4 to pull from. That siad I could see it being expanded nicely

The premise is simple and awesome: The former #1 hitman in the world, now a mob boss himself, has been marked for death. In this world, much like say no more heroes theirs a firm ranknig. So he does the obvious thing and hires the 20 bellow him to protect his ass. Naturally a lot of killing enuses even before he can hire them as several try to kill him then and there, and the survivors set about trying to protect the guy. Simple premise, plenty of room to expand the cast, and fun as all hell. Not much else to say I really liked this one when it came out and can’t wait for a sequel series.

7. Hack/Slash

This is one i’m honestly shocked hasn’t gotten father. There have been attempts, and a stage play at one point, but nothing for tv or film. And given how brilliant the premise for this series is i’m utterly schocked by that. This is one premise that would be hard to fuck up.. i’m not saying i’ts un fuckupable, anything can but this one epsecailly is genius.

Hack/Slash, as you’d likely guess is a horror comic that’s a sendup of slashers, deftly blending the horror and comedy. In this world Slashers from horror movies are a common problem: undead killers who come back with some unfinished buisness. As for targeting horny teens that’s given an actual reason: fucking, partying, drinking.. these are all forms of joy or pleasure things these undead beasts can’t have. As such they murder them for it.

Cassie Hack , our heroine, was the daughter of one such slasher, who died posioining a cafteria, leaving Cassie a pariah. A year later her mom returned as a slasher and Cassie took her out and decided to from there walk the earth in revealing outfits taking these fuckers out so no one has to go through what she did. Basically Syndey Prescott if she went around hunting ghostface copycats.. which is what the Scream series shoudl’ve been about but hey I hear it was pretty good anyway. She’s acomabined by Vlad, a big burly man mountain who was created to be a slasher type baddie (if not actually a slasher), with a dash of frankenstien.. but was a gentle soul and thus gladly joined Cassie on the hunt. It’s a perfect setup and they could follow the comics, or do their own thing with it. The premise is that fluid and brilliant you could do a LOT with it, like go into how slashers functoin or play with the concept a LOT. There’s endless room to grow here so someone REALLY needs to get on this already.

6. Bad Machinery

Back to the John Allison Cinematic universe for his sequel to Scary Go Round, Bad Machinery. Bad Machinery is perfectly designed to be a modern kids show: a loveable and quirky main cast, mysteries to solve and jokes a plenty.

Bad Machinery takes place 5 years after Scary Go Round with our last Allison comic, more on that later, taking place during said time skip. It follows the adventures of 6 british school kids who like solving mysteries: enthusastic and mildly batty Lottie, her working class best friend, voice of reason and deductive master Shauna, and their new friend Mildred, a mildly feral rich girl. Their male counterparts are the head in the clouds shy as heck Jack, the impuslive but impressively deductive Linton and the even shyer and more lost than Jack, Sonny. Along the way they pick up a loose seventh in Claire, a lisping girl who slowly gains confidence and Lottie’s friendship. With 10 volumes to adapt with things getting more mature as the characters grown, it’s a truly excellent series with tons of room to expand, move things around or make entirely new cases for our plucky young heroes to solve. And the fact their school is a combo late middle school all of high school means the pesky setting changes that plauge most middle grade set shows and prevent aging aren’t present here, something Allison likely found a boon.

5. Farmhand

Farmhand is Writer/Artist Rob Guillroy’s second major work the other being one he just did the art for we’ll get to. Starting out with some black comedy, Farmhand quickly and sharply turns into humor, keeping some jokes to help ease the tension but only just so as things get more horrifying and dire and more mysterious all the while.

Farmhand follows Ezikiel, who returns home for a new job and soon gets embroiled in the family buisness: long ago his father Jediah found a seed that allowe dhim to grow replacement body parts for people and thus made a buisness out of engenering it. The two are forced to come together as things spiral with plant zombies, the machinations of Jed’s old partner and Zeke’s family soon coming under threat. Farmhand has a lot of seeds sown into it’s story but everyone helps build one mighty oak of a series that’s creepy, fascenating and throughly engaging as it evolves and things only get worse and worse. It also avoids the horror cliches of haivng the characters be unlikeable: even Zeke comes off more as a herbert west type too in love with the science and progress to see how bad things are getting. It’s pacing is perfectly built for a tv show, with twists in each issues and act breaks perfect for a season or mid season. It’s built for prime time it just needs the right network to water it.

While this one has some intrested parties hopefully one will develop it.. and hopefully in animation to capture Guillroy’s gorgeous art though live action is fine too. Not so much for his other work but be patient, we’ll get there.

4. The Wicked + The Divine

Another great premise built perfectly to be clumped into a few seaosns of tv, though this one’s tightly plotted arc and mythology means it has to be adapted as is, with the slightest of tweaks.. but given how utterly briliant this series is, that’s forgivable.

WIcked + Divine has an utterly showstopping premise, like most of these but even more so than usual courtsey of Kireon Gillieon. It focuses on the Pantheon, a group of god level dieties who manifest in the bodies of teenagers once every 90 years, with the latest group manifesting as musical artists and each one gets loyal followers, fame and whatever they desire.. with the caveat they only get two years to enjoy it before dying. It’s a mesmerising look at celebrity culture, the pressures of celebrity, how fast some of these stars burn out and die sadly too young, while also providing some gorgeous displays of superpowers. There’s an assload of twists, hence why my summary is so short and berfet of characters: this comic is best experinced going in raw with as little info as possible.

But it’s gorgeous style, ambitious premise, meticulous plotting, and the soundtrack Gilleon made for it all BEG for an adaptation to bring this to full life and sound so we can hear the pantehon ourselves. This is a case where the plot dosen’t really have room for or need much expansion, though some would be welcomed, but the added dimensions of a tv show, wether using dizzying camera tricks in live action or dazzling color in animation, and with either adding a nice layer of sound to it and allowing us to hear the pantheon loud and clear, would add a LOT to an already tremendous work. So pay tribute to your gods and hopefully this will get greenlit. Also look at our lead character... if Zendaya dosen’t play her I don’t know who could.

3. Atomic Robo

Atomic Robo is another one of those i’m baffled Hollywood has’nt scooped up. An animated film was attempted at one point but never got anywhere which is a shame. That says I feel Atomic Robo would work best as a series.

For those who havne’t heard of this wonderful comic, you can read the entire thing RIGHT HERE (Scary Go Round and Bad Machinery STARTED online but haven’t been restored to online yet or i’d link them too). Seriously not joking every issue from the first arc to the latest is up and new arcs are added when their started, if in black and white at first to get them out faster, with the color versions added in later. It’s worth a read too.

As for what this is about Atomic Robo is a Indiana Jones or Scooge McDuck style adventure series about the titualr Robo. Robo is the creation and surrogate son of Nicolai Tesla. And if your wondering if his rivalry with Edison comes up, yes yes it does. Edison is naturally kind of a supervillian here, if with a throughly heartbreaking motive for at least part of his crap.

Point is Tesla created Robo and after his creators mysterious passing, Robo took up his work by creating Tesladyne, intitally a holding company for Tesla’s various super science inventions turned into a super science think tank and rapid response group designed to push the boundries of science, within reason going full mad science is a guarnateed pink slip, while also responding to super sciency threats. As you can tell Robo is a LONGGGGG lived bastard, and unlike most comics Atomic Robo does not apply a sliding time scale. Characters age in real time and as a result Robo, who was unveiled in 1923, is coming up on his in universe 100th birthday, something I do hope they explore.

As such while the main ongoing story and supporting cast is in the present (Especailly lately where most volumes have focused on ongoing plots in present day after an engaging new status quo I won’t spoil was established), the stories gleefully hop around the timeline: We’ve had stories about Robo’s time in WWII, fighting Biomega (aka Kaiju) in the 60′s, his time briefly after the war, and his teenage-ish years with Tesla as they fought Thomas Edison lest you thought I was joking about that. My faviorite story, Shadow From Beyond Time, uses this to perfection, having Robo deal with an entity across all these time periods. He even teams up with Carl Sagan. Yes really. The comic has a deep love for real life science figures, including Stephen Hawking, who was nemisis and whose shenanigans once lead to Robo spending a whole year writing “hawking is a bastard” on the planet mars.

So you likely gather by now WHY a series would fit this franchise the best: you could use the various past stories to enhance stories in the present, set up future foes or just experiment with the characters and settings. There’s 100 years of history to explore and at the time of this writing 14 collected volumes of the main series, and 4 of spinoff series Real Science adventures to pull from. And if you want to make some films to go with the series, that’s entirely viable, as some arcs, such as the flying she devils would work better as a self contained film. There’s so much potetial with this one and the comic itself is so good and deserves so much more attention that I badly hope this one gets adapted. The odds aren’t high in it’s favor.. but I belivie.

2. Giant Days

One more run in with John Allison and it’s my faviorite of his, the work that got me into his vast universe, and by far the most succesful. Giant Days is a spinoff of Scary Go Round, orignally made as a backup in case Bad Machinery failed to take off. It did so Allison shelved it after three issues, only to revivie it once Boom Stuidos knocked on his door. This resulted in 54 regular issues and 4 extra sized specials, the last of which serves as an ending to the series, not to mention a YA Book I haven’t gotten to but want to. Since then after two short lived print runs for steeple and wicked things (a bad machinery sequel starring Lottie now as a young woman) he’s taken both back to webcomics, this remains his most mainstream hit.

Giant Days follows Esther, drama magnet and flighty perky goth, to University as she quickly makes two friends for life: Susan Ptolemy, a cynical, sarcastic, med student with a penchant for hard boiled detective shenanigans and, when drawn by john himself, teeth like buzzsaws, and Daisy Wooton, a sheltered formerly homeschooled girl with sheep sized hair and optiisim just as big... who slowly grows into a voice of reason for the group, as well as growing into her sexuality as a lesbian. The three are often joined by their two male friends who fill out the rest of hte main cast: Ed Gimmel, an awkward nerd with a massive crush on esther, and his best friend and roomate McGraw, essentially Ron Swanson if he was in college complete with mustache, a staunch craftsman who has both a history and vast sexual tension with Susan. The Five go through the ups and downs of college and various shenanigans, from fairly standard college story stuff like Esther dating a douchey TA, film festival contests, and Daisys frought relationshpi with an exciting but also dangerously self involved freshman in her second year... to very John Allison things like a rugby match to celebrate 50 issues, chinchilla smuggling and my faviorite, Daisy going through a phase in which she becomes so hooked on Friday Night LIghts she imitates Coach and Mrs. Taylor.

The show is rare for a modern comic in that while it has ongoing arcs, most issues are self contained. They build plots brewing in the background and usually ther’es a cliffhanger for the next issue, but their built to be self contained adventures that build the larger story: i.e. how most pre-streaming tv works. And with three years of school, that gives writers a perfect framework for 3 seasons of great television with plenty of room to add in new adventures for these fantastic characters. There’s a LOT to be gained by giving this fine trio and their two male palls a full series, and while adaptations have been floated around so far there hasn’t been any seroius takers.. and given this would work great in animation or live action, there needs to be. This series is awesome and deserves to live on forever via an adaptation dammit. And now for our finale....

1. Chew

Full Discolosure: Chew is one of my faviorite comics of all time. I will be defintely covering it at some point. So it being the adaptation I want the most was a no brainer. It dosen’t help that I almost got one years ago: Heavy Metal tried branching into animation, setting up an animated film with a fucking stacked cast with Steven Yuen, Felicia Day and Robin Williams (Who after his tragic passing was replaced by David Tennant), in the main rolls... and then it fell apart. The pain of that falling apart has never really left and I hope if it does get picked up, especailly with his star having risen in both voice and regular acting, Yuen does get to play our leading man as he’s perfect for it. And Chew is perfect for an adaptation and is too damn good both in concept and in execution and too damn well designed for tv NOT to get a series

Chew takes place in a throughly intresting world: In this one there’s two major divergiences; The first is the Bird Flu was apparently far more deadly, though the fact this may of been a cover is a major part of the ongoing mystery and i’ts resolution. As such Chicken has been banned and the FDA went from a minor goverment orginzation to bigger than the FBI or CIA in order to combat both this and the rising number of “Food Weirdos”, people with powers based around food. And while you’d THINK the comic, especailly with a 60 issue run with 4 specials, would run out of clever ways to have food based superpowers.. you’d be wrong: we have the ability to sculpt things out of chocolate that perfeclty mimic the object their modelded after (aka chocolate knives, guns and hand grenades), eating candy giving you said candies properties, alvacado based face masks that can remold a persons face perfectly, and FAR too many more to list. Needless to say Chew has one of the most clever and intrestingly vaired arrays of superpowers ever put to the medium despite not being a superhero comic, and that alone is a huge draw for me. While the regular powers like flight, invisiblity, no traffic accidents all that are fine, it’s neat to see people really get weird with it and find new ablities or spice up the old ones with some fresh flavor.

It’s in this intresting setting we meet our hero, Tony Chu, a by the book as can be cop with a bubbling temper, keen detective insight and the power of chibopathy:he gets a psychic imprint from whatever he reads and thus can get whatever he eat’s whole history of even just recent events. This naturally forces him , against his will, into the ocasional bout of canablisim, a bite here or there, and is a perfect fit for a detective. It also sucks horribly, with Tony ONLY being able to eat beets (which counteract his power), without getting a flash. To put it into persective imagine eating a hamburger and every time you take a bite you get a flash of the cow being slaughtered to make it and any processing that went into it. Now stop screaming.

Tony soon gets transfered from the police to the FDA, and thus solves various food related crimes while the major storylines slowly form: Tony’s mentor in the FDA, experinced agent Mason Savoy (Who should also keep his prospective heavy metal va in David Tennant), turns out to be behind the main mystery of the first volume (Something I couldn’t really dance around, sorry for the spoilers), as Savoy is trying to find out what REALLY happened during the flu outbreak and comes into conflict with Tony due to going outside the law to due so. He soon finds a much worse threat though; The Vampire aka the Collector, a chibopath like Tony and Mason who unlike them REVELS in eating other people and uses the cover of vampire lore to slowly amass food powers by eating people, something Tony is soon forced to do to keep up. (Both can also take skills by eating people. Like mega man but with more canablisim). And in the background an anti chicken cult slowly grows and some firey letters appear in the sky.

But honestly.. the main draw of Chew is it’s cast. Tony is a complex character, his deceased wife having slowly gone insane and having had to leave his daughter behind with his older sister due to his grief, something he regrets. He’s quick to anger, but stilll talented, clever and hilariously awkward in his personal life.

And the people around him are no slouches: They are his partner John Colby, a wisecracking bisexual cyborg who dosen’t give a shit about the chicken ban and serves as a snarky devil may care yin to Tony’s yang, Amelia Mintz, Tony’s love intrest and a reporter with the power to make anyone who reads her pieces feel like they ate the things she did, Olvie Chu, Tony’s moody teen daughter, Chow Chu, Tony’s obnoxious Celebrity Chef Bro, Toni Chew, Tony’s chipper twin who can see the future by biting things who works for NASA, and MIke Applebee, an abusive asshole who hates Tony for no given reason and has an on and off relationship with Colby. And last but not least, Poyo, a fighting rooster whose pure concentrated badass, gets ressurected as a cyborg, and thus becomes even more badass and reguarlly is busy fighting Kaijus from then on. The cast is colorful, layered and throughly intresting and finding out who’d play them is worth adapting it alone.

But the fact is Chew is a throughly rediculous comic that still feels grounded, unique and wonderful. An animated adpatation could expand a subplot or too or add it’s own fun adventures, and the preoceduarl style is MADE for tv, with at least 6 seasons, since there’s 12 volumes, so two per season with plenty of room to add in their own unique adventures and tweak the ending (Which I won’t talk about here but I feel NEEDS either a sequel or tweaking to work). It’s also RIFE with spinoff potetinal, and could also neatly write tony’s newley added sister Saffron to the mix, from her own spinoff CHu (Who was retooled from Tony’s sister sage due to that not quite working timeline wise). There’s tons of great stories, characters and world to snack on and it’d be a shame if no one ever took a bite.

So that does it for this list. As I said I have plans for others.. but i’ll get to them when I can. My schedule’s busy and I barely managed to shuffle it to get this one in. Still I thoughly enjoyed this. And if any of you reading this would like to see me cover ANY of these comics, PLEASE let me know in my replies, ask box or wherever. It’d be a nice way to gage what’s popular enough to warrant a full retrospective and i’d be happy to cover any of these. Thanks for reading and see ya real soon.

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bungou-stray-haikyuu · 2 years

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I Finally Read BEAST - Here Are Some Thoughts

...pretty much entirely on Dazai. I got carried away.

I just finished reading BEAST (can’t believe I put off reading it this long) and I very much enjoyed it. It was great to get a different perspective on Atsushi and Akutagawa and what would happen if their roles were reversed. It was also interesting to gain an insight into Dazai’s mind - as he was the only one who knew about his life in the original world - and his, I think, more genuine self.

Writing Dazai on a superficial level has become quite easy for me. He’s sadistic, he’s an asshole, he’s a suicide enthusiast, he fools around, he’s always a few steps ahead. I can write Dazai. But I can’t write Osamu. I think that’s the best way to say it... When would he be genuine? At what point would he be outmatched? When is it correct to write legitimate surprise? These are all things I’m unsure of because Dazai is layers upon layers of lies and hidden secrets. I certainly can’t read past them, all I know is what Asagiri shows me. However, I think we saw a glimpse of Osamu in the bar in BEAST and that was flagged in my head as something I needed to take note of for writing purposes.

Dazai and the Dark Era is the only light novel I haven’t read as it’s near-impossible to get hold of a physical translated copy for some reason. I've seen the anime adapation of course, but reading descriptions is sometimes more telling than seeing those expressions on an animated - or still-drawn - face. I’d very much like to read it now that I’ve read BEAST and compare Dazai’s interactions with Oda in the two novels. Is he more genuine in BEAST as he’s saying goodbye? Or are there things he doesn’t say because Oda doesn’t know him?

Writing Blood is forcing me to think a lot more deeply about how Dazai acts and reacts to things. I’ve already displayed frustration and a sense of being trapped but how far is it realistic for that to go? Is it even realistic to create a scenario that he can’t escape? He cared about Odasaku, that much is certain, but does he really care about anyone else? Is anyone at the ADA truly his friend? If he chooses to protect them, does he do it because he cares? Or because he believes that it’s the ‘good’ thing to do? The ‘Odasaku’ thing to do. Or would it only ever be because saving them is the strategic thing to do?

I don’t actually know how much Dazai has changed since he left the mafia. He still hides behind walls of lies and he still manipulates people like it’s nothing. Was saving Atsushi a genuine act of kindness on his part? Or was it a fundamentally meaningless gesture meant to help him convince himself that he was following Odasaku’s last request?

Perhaps I’m just untrusting of Dazai. Perhaps I’m not giving him the credit he deserves. But I can’t help but wonder if anything he does is genuine. When he consoles Atsushi after the Director died; when he praises Akutagawa after taking down the Guild; are either of those genuine on his part? Or is everything he says part of one huge plan?

In BEAST he explicitely states that everything was set up by his design...so who’s to say it’s not the same in the original world too? Dazai is Atsushi’s saviour...but is Atsushi someone Dazai cares about beyond ‘the next Double Black’ or ‘the vessel for an ability he must ensure is used in a certain way’? How much did Dazai know when he found Atsushi? Would he have taken him in if he wasn’t an ability user? How does his knowledge of The Book play into this? We know Atsushi is key to finding it - is Dazai nurturing Atsushi (and by extension Akutagawa as well?) specifically with The Book in mind?

There’s so much that’s unknown about Dazai that it’s incredibly difficult to come to definitive conclusions on why he does things. Kudos to Asagiri for doing such an amazing job at keeping Dazai’s true feelings and intentions hidden, but it sure does make it difficult to write Osamu when I want to push Dazai out of his comfort zone.

Perhaps Dazai and the Dark Era will shine a little more light on Dazai’s true self, but I’m not hopeful it’ll be much help when I’m writing my fic. I suppose I’ll have to make a decision, whether it be right or wrong, and stick with it. Perhaps it could even be something I explore (I mean, this entire fic is exploring a ‘what if?’ anyways...kinda like BEAST...) but too little decisiveness would probably make the story inconsistent so there’s a limit I’ll have to adhere to.

Anyways, I’d actually be very interested to hear other peoples’ opinions on Dazai. I’m, er, not the best at interpreting people...so maybe someone has picked up on some things that I’ve missed. Otherwise I guess I’ll just have to do some more thinking on how I think Dazai will react when shit hits the fan in my fic.

#Thoughts'n'Theories #bungou stray dogs #bsd #Dazai Osamu

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jiminrings · 4 years

Note

I'll show you~ Can I please get a drabble of Yoongi as a roommate? Because I think that'd be an amazing IDEA- like srsly, he'd be the one to tell u to wake him early for his work stuff and then get grumpy in the morning and refuse to even moVE out of the bed and u have to bribe him with something to wake him up for hiS WORK. And he will most likely say "no" to any chores in the house but still do aLL of them nonetheless. aND though he hates hugs on occasions he might even ask for cuddles???

across the living room

pairing: yoongi x y/n

wordcount: 3k

glimpse: you’re yoongi’s alarm clock, he aLWAYS acts that you’d be the bane of his existence, and his cooking actually tastes good if he wakes up early enough for it!!

notes: thank u so much for ur request baby i have nevEr written something so fast ever in my life because i was so :’’)

yoongi isn’t necessarily a bad roommate

of course nOt!!

because bad is relative and everyone has different variations of a bad roomie

he wasn’t messy or anything like that

it’s just the occasional clutter that he’d clean up himself

he isn’t rude either

well okay “rude” is aLSO relative

just because yoongi could be a little condescending most times

like when yOU do the grocery shopping and the first thing he’d do is look through the bags with some certain hums of approval

nice nice you picked the kimchi that wasn’t on sale because it was gonna expire the very next week like what you did with the last time

your picking and judgement for carton eggs are actually improving!!!

yoongi once called you an idiot for not smelling the carton of eggs first and in your defense you were in a hURRY

ok but he do be right they did stink the last time

hmmmm decent snacks

“why did you get this milk? i already told you to buy the other brand!! it has like a difference of three dollars and gOd if you’re short on it then ask me for it”

can that be called rude and condescending <3

or after yoongi’s milk tirade, he then goes picking at the other groceries you’ve gotten

you got less greens this time because if you’re being honest you’re getting sICK of seeing spinach and celery all the damn time

you’re the one who mostly cooks anyways and yoongi still insists that you use them

you could have a bagel for breakfast and hE’D PUT SPINACH ON IT

you’re getting a bit fed up with the color green nowadays so you got more fruits than vegetables!! frozen berries and yogurt are the superior match!!

there’s the “too-sweet diabetes are you trying to kill yourself y/n look at the nutrition fACTS” cereal

the “we have an obsessive amount of chocolate-covered almonds. stop it already. i’ll throw this out i’m not even kidding” almonds

the “why did you buy three boxes they’re all the same thing it’s not even delicious anyway” mozzarella sticks

the “this tastes like cardboard i swear why won’t you just get the individual ingredients that i told you to” cake mix

and of course

the “why did you buy tampons already? napkins, also?? it’s not even your period yet” tam-

wait a minute

... h-hold on

did yoongi really just

you must have froze and he must have noticed too because well that’s a surprise you’re nOt huffing with his digs

“you knOW my cycle???”

he doesn’t really know why it’s such a big deal that he shrugs at your pointless question and just continues piling on the cupboards

“yeah, don’t you?”

b-but

wHAT

“i don’t even tell you wHEN i get my period!! why do you know that??”

“you don’t need to tell me, stupid.”

ok rude

but seconds of all hOW does he know

you can’t even talk about yourself to yoongi or even tell him how your day went because he’s just.,.,.

yoongi could sense the internal meltdown in your head and he just chuckles because you’re entirely clueless

or maybe he’s just extremely observant of you without even noticing

there’s a pile of paper bags that the two of you keep because rECYCLING <3

and he always sees atleast one or two disappearing from the pile when you have your period because you’re nOt just gonna discard it to the communal trash can

you’re not a monster!!!

the snacks go by a little more quickly this time

you’re a little mORE demanding but just a little

like when yoongi has the news on when you eat dinner and you’re side-eyeing him

ok he’s already turned the volume down

you still look irritated at him

“.... y’want me to change the channel?”

lol and you have a zit somewhere on your face that yoongi could point out but he chooses not to

instead he just leaves around his box of pimple patches lying somewhere and you dOn’t scold him for that and you know what

maybe you’ll stick some to your face you deserve it ok

it’s affirmative that you’re rEALLY shocked to how yoongi explained all this to you effortlessly

“i bought them because it was a buy one take one deal :((“

that’s all he could hear from you as you mumble under your breath because now you’re just speechless

wow

your roommate cares about you,,,,

MIN YOONGI CARES ABOUT YOU :D

care may be a little bit of a reach from observing but it’s okay you dOn’t care lol they’re probably synonyms anyway

there’s good days!!!

those are probably your happiest days when yoongi initiates a conversation with you that doesn’t involve him intentionally pissing you off

or when you can make him laugh and he looks like the most adorable being EVER you swear

you tried taking pictures of him but he has a radar for it and he immediately holds out his hand to reach out for your phone and effectively cover him

that’s all you have

pictures with yoongi’s hand on focus and him blurred in the background

adjusting to yoongi’s rhythm always varies because well he dOes vary

there’s days when he completely deadpans at you for no apparent reason at all

or when you just need someone to squeal with!!

like that time you got the highest score at an exam that was claimed to be difficult and you were jumping up and down while trying to shake up yoongi

and he looked annoyed for some reason and him not sharing your sentiment,, probably even hating it,, already put a dampener in your mood :((

or that time you went on an angry monologue of why he won’t contribute to doing the chores and how you do everything

from sweeping the floors and doing the dishes and taking out the trash and even cooking!!!

you even fold the clothes and you can’t even remember how yoongi managed to convince you to fold his clothes too

with that he just pursed his lips before putting his attention back to his phone

“no.”

unbeknownst to you though, yoongi does his share of chores more evidently this time around

most times he just does his part when you’re in your room and lately he’s been slacking

ok i’ll help you out i guess ://

sometimes you just want to do nice things for yoongi okay

there’s already a set routine that you follow and adapated to for his sake

you now wake up at four in the morning for hIM and that just depends if he’d wake up within the next thirty minutes

the first actual “friend” unlike roommate intercation you had was yoongi telling you to go knock on his door early in the morning

absolutely dON’T stop knocking until he wakes up and opens the door

sure his four in the morning compared to you staying in is a much much mUch earlier time

but it’s okay because it’s for yoongi! :D

the first time you did that? yoongi raised his voice at you because wHY ARE YOU KNOCKING ON MY DOOR???

“b-but you told me to!!”

“oh. right. thanks.”

lmao he kinda simmered down after that and you took this job to heart

you have now evolved into cooking breakfast BEFORE knocking on his door

you just care for yoongi perhaps

but you won’t delve into elaborating that just yet

today’s breakfast was waffles!!

but they’re special waffles of course!! kinda like a s’mores situation in between the two

little marshmallows that you put in your ice cream and in your drinks and within two seconds they shrivel up into nothingness

crushed biscuits that resemble graham and maybe it would be easier if you just buy graham crackers itself lol

of cOurse some chocolate chips!!

they’re leftovers from when you decided to buy a big bag of them

and yoongi asked you on wHy the hell did you buy these in this huge quantity

“i’ll melt them because i aLSO got those silicone molds on sale!! including the stars and the seashells!!”

“you do know that these are solid... and you’ll melt them into liquid... only for them to be in the same way you bought them in..... just in a different shape....”

“oh my gOd yoongi just because you’re accurate doesn’t mean you’re interesting!! fine then, i’ll split these with jimin instead”

“did you even ask if i wanted them in the first place???”

anyways besides those waffles lol

you also made dalgona :D instead of yoongi’s preferred dark black coffee :D

you tasted his one time and it tasted like death and liver and charcoal all at the same time

this is a GOOD morning okay??

last night you couldn’t sleep that well because you had a thought

a really, intricate, awe-forming thought

there’s such a thing called work husbands, right??

do apartment husbands exist

lol of course if your husband does live in the same apartment as you do

you’re probably making a reach and yoongi doesn’t care about you in the same way that you do for him

but it just makes you think :((

these things that you’re doing, with and for him....

they’re things that you do with your boyfriend ya know

you’re essentially a couple if you think about it further

you’re under the same roof and you do things together and well

the only thing missing is the aCTUAL commitment itself

this was why it’s a good morning

jimin, your friend that’s just down at the end of the hall, managed to convince you to try and hINT atleast that you like yoongi

to be clear

you’ve only known jimin for three weeks and you feel like you’ve done much more progress with him than you ever did with yoongi for five months

it was when he asked you for your notes and you told him that lol you had nONE and the both of you just laughed for like five minutes straight

yoongi still won’t buy that story no matter how much you tell him that it’s true

with his hunch he thinks you’re actually fuck buddies with jimin because you’ve been sneaking off at night right when he closes his door and tHAT’S when you go to jimin’s room

to be also clear

ok yes you might like yoongi

perhaps a whole ton as what you decide because he’s been effectively plaguing your mind and your senses

and the oNLY reason you’ve been going to jimin’s is to talk to him and freak out on what you should do

because you know that yoongi is a sensible person and if u give him even the slightesy whiff of a hint that you like him, he’ll catch on instantly!!!

at the same time it’s like.... so be it....

yeah if yoongi doesn’t return your feelings then you’ll completely understand

things would be awkward for awhile aha

and if yoongi decides to move out because of you? no problem yOU’RE the one who’s gonna move out and let yoongi keep the apartment

jimin’s roommate is leaving soon anyway

see? you’re already equipped for rejection!!!!

aha that’s not necessarily a bad thing but it IS a heartbreaking concept

but here you are

so whipped to the point that you might just cave and put everything in a tray so you could set it on yoongi’s bed

that does seem to be the case because you’re knocking and knocking and he wON’T answer

this is an important day for him anyways because he gets his evaluation today!! and you can’t have him late and hungry and sad now can you

“yOONGI ARE YOU-“

“god, why do you have to be so loud??”

“i told you-“

wait a second

that voice doesn’t belong to yoongi

and the person in front of you, most certainly, isn’t yoongi.

oh that’s nice

she’s wearing yoongi’s shirt from the night before

you don’t recall someone else being in your apartment because after all, you and yoongi are the only roommates

and that yoongi doesn’t even have any visitors

it takes a second for you to connect the dots at hand

it’s okay :)

it’s cool!

this way you’re already heartbroken without prolonging it and bringing it upon yourself

it was bound to happen anyway

yoongi was more than a handsome and skilled and capable man and someone like him wouldn’t stay single for perhaps forever

“o-oh, sorry. uhm help yourself to breakfast, or uhm go back to bed, i guess. if you could just, w-wake up yoongs? i think he has something important at work today, oR well atleast he told me so.”

holy fuck

that was a mess

you’re a mess

there’s no need for confrontation or researching or anything like that because there is absolutely no reason for it lol

you’re a mere roommate to yoongi and you’re just acting like it.

he finds you weird these days

you’re not... bothering him

you’re not trying to linger around or pester him with your usual presence

you only come out when you’re going out for class or for work or for something else he can’t even imagine

which was weird

because yoongi oddly enough misses the white noise you provide

he knocked at your door yesterday and he wasn’t really sure on what to say so he panicked and said “aren’t you supposed to vacuum today?”

which is actually true!!!!

you just got the vacuum and your..,., earphones???

and put them in????

wait shouldn’t this be the time that you try to talk over the vacuum and ineffectively yell as you try to make conversation with him???

this time you’re just silent and probably enjoying the music that’s playing and yoongi couldn’t be anymore confused

he goes to his room when you vacuum but this time he stayed just because he wanted to test the waters ok

he didn’t put his feet up so you could vacuum underneath

he just got one tap on his calf and he wordlessly complies aND HE DOESN’T KNOW WHY HE DID IT SO EASILY

he was supposed to bicker with you :(((

did he... do something??

well he didn’t forget to take the trash out and made sure not to flood the showers this time

fuck it fine that’s IT

he even cooked dinner tonight and he knocked at your door and those are two rare occurrences in the sAME sentence

“y/n, don’t make me regret doing this.”

that’s an empty threat ok he really just wanted to cook for himself and coincidentially made enough for another portion for you

or atleast that’s what he convinces himself

yoongi reaches the end of his wick and he’s about to look for one of your hairpins and pick at your lock

one thing he hasn’t taken into account is that oh,,, your door’s open

there wasn’t really a reaction when your door creaks but there is one but it’s from hIM

because you’re bundled in your comforter and you look different and that’s when he presses his hand to your forehead and you’re tOO HOT

“why didn’t you tell me that you have a fever??”

there’s no room for him to enunciate him being upset because he’s worriedly getting you things to nurse you back to health ok

there’s the wet towels and the water and the medicine!!!

there’s him checking underneath your comforter and you dOn’t have any socks on so he’s getting that alright

yoongi’s third most-prized possession probably is his gravity blanket he spent a pretty penny on and here he is,,, carrying it over to you so you’d be more comfortable — the food he just made you but maybe he should make some soup for you to easily digest

yoongi just felt pure panic seeing you like this ok

you running a fever and being the complete opposite of bubbly but won’t take shit atleAst 5/7 times from him and would argue with him to hell and back

were you starting to get sick the days before so that’s why you were distant??

or was it the other way around

there’s this utmost feeling of concern looming in yoongi’s chest and he even tried clutching at his chest because what iS this

he almost forgot that you’re sleeping and that you barely talked to him at all despite helping you out of his own accord

“you’re here but you’re not yOu!!!”

god he’s just so frustrated because he isn’t used to this and frankly he’ll never be

yoongi’s chewing on his inner cheek and he knits his brows trying to figure wHAT happened, his index finger poking and tracing at your hand that’s laid snugly on your pillow

“you’re already here but why do i keep missing you?”

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runoutofthyme · 3 years

Text

I've decided that Owen Patrick Joyner is my Noah Czerny. Let's talk about it.

First of all, Owen has the looks. He's not overly tall, he's pretty, he's lanky, he's blonde. With the right hairstyle and wardrobe, I think he could easily play the dead skater boy rich kid aesthetic. We have already seen him rock so many different hairstyles and he looks good with all of them. Just make him a little grunge and he'll be perfect.

Second, he has the talent. His first "big role" was Knight Squad, a mideval themed show about a bunch of teenagers trying to become knights. It was a campy Nickelodeon comedy that wasn't written nearly as well as iCarly or Victorious, but most of the cast is honestly just as talented. Owen played the lead and his charm and comedic timing are what sold the show for me.

His current role is in Netflix's Julie and the Phantoms which is honestly in my top 3 TV shows of all time and one of the best things that came out of 2020. Directed by Kenny Ortega, Julie and the Phantoms follows a teen girl and a 90's ghost band, and is narrative of working through grief, representation, and found family. Owen plays the 90s ghost band's gay drummer, and boy does he do it well. His character is funny, complex, and relatable. He has the main love interest in the story (opposite Booboo Stewart who also deserves so much more in Hollywood but that's another rant) and the role shows that he is so much more than a Nickelodeon kid actor. Within 9 episodes, he has sass, depth, and too many iconic one liners to count.

Long story short, the guy is hilarious. He knows what to say and how to say it to get a laugh. Owen saying "I've been dead for 7 years" is something I demand to see in my lifetime because he would bring the house down.

Other than his storyline in JATP, we haven't really seen him in a serious role, and I wouldn't expect to see him in a drama any time soon. THAT BEING SAID, I get major Teen Wolf Dylan O'Brien vibes from him. He's a great comic relief, but give him a role like Void Stiles in season 3 and I think he could flourish. The downward spiral of Noah is already so emotional and gut wrenching just on paper. To correctly portray it on screen is going to take someone talented and dedicated and it would probably be even more imapctful coming from someone who has never played a role like that.

So yes, if they decided to restart the film adapation process of The Raven Cycle, Owen has my vote to play Noah. I obviously have a lot of opinions about this and would love to hear your thoughts on the matter. Just don't come for me, I don't want that negativity in my inbox.

#owen joyner #owen patrick joyner #jatp #trc #julie and the phantoms #the raven cycle #alex mercer #noah czerny #shh griffin #long post

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adarlingwrites · 4 years

Text

Absolution

Summary:

noun: formal release from guilt, obligation, or punishment

The Capital Wasteland lauded the Lone Wanderer as a hero, a Messiah, a savior who's willing to give her life for the Good Fight. Beyond the legends, the propaganda, and the mythification that surrounded her legacy, there is only one person who knew her bare soul. She gave him his absolution, and now he will fight for hers.

XII

December 27, 2277.

I jerk awake, disoriented. I look at my hands, and they are no longer a child’s. They’re large, with exposed bone and muscle, and rough.

The dreams are getting more vivid.

On good days, I dream of Percy, the dog, and bits of memories from the past life I had before I was turned into a glorified slave. On bad days, I dream of my previous employers, including Ahzrukhal. On terrible days, I dream of the shit those responsible for the way I am now made me go through.

I guess it’s a terrible day today, then.

Looking around, Percy is no longer at my side, her heat absent, but her scent still lingers. The dog is nowhere to be found too. I go back to my room to get dressed, and as I descend the stairs, I hear conversation from the living room.

“How well do you even know this guy? Seriously Perce...”

DeLoria’s voice.

“Enough to know that I trust him with my life. Why are you interrogating me all of a sudden?”

Percy’s. From the smell coming from the kitchenette, I’m guessing she’s making lunch.

“Percy, you’ve known him for three months tops.”

“Almost four,” my friend replies, the aggressive edge in her voice surfacing. She is getting agitated.

“That ain’t making it sound any better!”

“Butch, Charon saved my ass countless times already and-”

“Yeah, until you lose his contract.”

Percy goes quiet. She told DeLoria about the contract? Why on earth would she do that?

“He’s muscle for hire, Perce. How can you even say that you can trust him with his life when you barely know him?”

“I know Charon.”

“Oh yeah? Where is he from?” DeLoria challenged. I take a few more silent steps to reach the base of the stairs, and see them. Percy is watching the soup simmer in the pot. The dog is sitting next to Butch on the couch. Various motorcycle parts litter the floor, a pet project Percy’s been working on for months.

“Underworld,” Percy answers him.

“No, I mean where he’s really from. Where was he born? How old is he? When is his birthday? What’s his last name? Is Charon even his real name?”

My mistress- no, my friend’s eyebrows furrowed, face slightly red, and she turns around to answer him. “That is none of your business, DeLoria.”

“Of course it ain’t! But it should be yours. You live with the ghoul,” Butch spat. “See? You can’t even answer me!”

“I’m helping him remember,” Percy spits back, using the soup ladle to point at the greaser. “He’s… traumatized, Butch. I’m the first friend he had in God knows how long,” she tells him, then she goes back to stirring the pot.

Butch scoffs. “So, is that it? You’re trying to fix him like you tried with me?”

Percy’s knuckles are white from gripping the ladle, then it clatters on the stove. “Oh my fucking- I did not try to fix you Butch!” Percy yells as she turns around. She marches towards Butch, and points at the greaser’s chest. “I tried to empathize with you, find out where all that nastiness you had as a kid came from. Then whoop-de-do, we made out in the storage closet in senior dance and you decided I was worth your time-”

“And you tried to control me into becoming the damn goody-two-shoes you are,” DeLoria snaps. “When you decided that you can’t convert me, you asked for a breakup.”

“I never tried to control you Butch. I just asked you to try to be better. And I asked for a break, not a split,” Percy yells, voice breaking.

“I- fuck, it doesn’t matter! You left!” DeLoria gripped Percy by her arms. At that point, when the greaser touched Percy, I was seriously considering intervening, but I probably shouldn’t even be listening to their conversation.

“I knew it. This isn’t about Charon. This is about us,” Percy seethes, her glasses sliding down the tip of her nose. “Don’t tell me you’re jealous, DeLoria.”

“Ha! You can fuck him in front of me and I wouldn’t care,” the greaser yells, letting her go. He’s looking away from Percy and running his hand through his hair.

“Oh, I knew it,” Percy remarks, crossing your arms. “You never change, do you, Butch?”

“Fine! Maybe I am jealous! I’m jealous that you’d rather be travelling with him than me.”

Huh.

The humor of a pretty-boy getting jealous of a ghoul whose half his skin is missing, of all people, because his ex prefers the ghoul’s company isn’t lost on me. It makes me wonder what kind of wrong ideas are in his head about my relationship with Percy. I’m sure that there are some people who had the same ideas. Hell, Nova had been teasing me about her. But this asshole having them takes the cake. A romantic relationship with Percy is out of the question, and whatever I may feel about her is irrelevant.

Is it?

What do I even feel about Percy, at this point?

“You have no right to be jealous, Butch. None at all. We are through. You are so damn lucky that I let you back into my life as a friend.”

“I want a second chance! Why do you think I wanted to leave the vault in the first place, huh? It’s been miserable without you there, Perce,” DeLoria tells her. “But you’d rather throw away all those years for someone you just knew for months, huh? I thought we had a good thing.”

Percy grabs him by the collar. “If there’s anyone who should be saying that, it should be me. I asked for a break to think about our relationship and what the hell did you do? You fucked Susie!”

Butch grasps Percy’s hands from his collar, swats them, and he pushes her.

Percy’s crying.

Time to step in.

I shield Percy’s frame with mine. The dog runs over and starts barking, checking to see if his mistress is fine. DeLoria backs away, his stance defensive.

“If you lay a finger on her, I’ll be forced to take action,” I tell DeLoria, looking him in the eye.

“Charon! How long have you been there?” Percy yelps, grasping my arm.

“Long enough to hear enough. DeLoria,” I say, finally addressing the greaser by name. I take a step towards him and he takes one back. I almost expected him to cower. “What I am to Percy is not your business. Though I cannot understand why she chose to help you, I will obey her orders. I am here to serve my employer. Whatever bad blood she may have for your sorry ass is not my business. This is all on you.”

“Whatever, freak. Just stay out of my way.”

“You’re the one who is foolish enough to provoke Percy. You provoke her, you provoke me.”

“How’s this for a provocation, asshole!” Butch yells as he tries to swing at me, but I was taller, faster, and probably weigh twice as heavy. I dodge the blow, and land one on his jaw. He falls.

“Butch! What the hell did I tell you?! Do not fuck with Charon,” Percy shrieks, rushing over to help him to the sofa. “Charon, what the hell was that? Couldn’t you just restrain him?”

She did not ask me to attack nor was she in danger.

“I am sorry Per- miss. I acted on my own accord.”

I acted on my own accord.

Holy shit.

Before I can think about it more, my thoughts are interrupted by Percy gasping and running to turn the stove off. I look over her shoulder. The soup dried up and burned brahmin meat stuck to the bottom of the pot.

There goes our lunch, I guess.

“Fuck!” Percy screams. She takes the pot to the sink and runs it with water.

“I guess we’re not fucking eating. You two, stay put while I pack up and do not fucking kill each other while I do. I want to get to Rivet City by sundown. Understood?!”

“What about my jaw-”

“Stop being a big baby! I swear to God, these past fucking days…” Percy groans as she marches to her bedroom, the makeshift door slamming shut.

I understand now. She’s done this before; masking her hurt with hostility.

Moments of tense silence pass by. I sit on the other end of the sofa, and the dog sits between us, like some sort of barrier.

“This is the worst birthday ever,” DeLoria whines, nursing his swollen jaw. “I turn 21 and I get a knuckle sandwich.”

“You deserve it,” I dared to say back.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m the asshole ex, of course I frickin’ do,” he sighs, and he stands up to look for something to relieve the swelling.

“The wasteland changed her, huh? She barely even knew how to curse back in the vault and now she’s dropping cluster-f bombs left and right,” DeLoria continues, wrapping a handkerchief around a cold bottle of water and pressing it against his face.

“Her father died in front of her, and she was exiled from her home. I say Percy is allowed to curse as much as she wants,” I tell him, and cross my arms.

DeLoria was taken aback. His shoulders sag. “Doc died in front of her?”

“Shouldn’t you be shutting the fuck up when your jaw is broken?” Percy yells from upstairs, her footsteps pounding against the metal staircase.

“See what I mean about the cluster-f bombs?”

Percy strides into the living room, boots in hand, wearing the same jacket DeLoria is wearing and dark jeans. I stand up from the sofa to give her some space to sit, and she puts them on, with thick socks underneath.

“Oh. You kept the jacket.”

“Yeah? It keeps the cold away,” Percy replies as she tucked the fabric of her jeans in the boots. “C’mon. The faster we can get to Rivet City, the better.”

An hour in, the trip’s uneventful, which was a pleasant surprise. DeLoria has mostly been quiet, thank fuck, opting to tinker with his PipBoy’s radio. I am on the watch for Talon Company mercenaries who never seem to give Percy a break. A foolish lot, they are.

The music ends and Three Dog is reporting about our activity on the radio again.

“Hey, out on that ridge! It's Buddha! It's Jesus! No, it's the... Wasteland Avenger! Here's an update on Vault 101's homegrown messiah, and her trusty companion, the Ghoul Reaper.”

Not those monikers again. They sound like shitty superhero names, but not like we can do anything about it. The locals had adapted it too.

“Jesus, he’s not letting it go, isn’t he? Turn that thing off,” Percy sighs as she rips open a box of Fancy Lads, stuffing the pastry in her mouth.

The more Percy made waves, the more people who wanted her head. Her deeds got the attention of opportunistic bastards who wanted to use her for their own gain, or evil ones who just didn’t like the fact that some teenager is cleaning up the Wasteland. It doesn’t help that the DJ of the only free radio in the entirety of DC upholds her name like she’s some kind of saint.

For those reasons, “Wasteland Avenger” isn’t the only moniker she earned from wastelanders. Some wastelanders prefer to call her the Wasteland Angel. Maybe they’re right. Maybe she is one. It always makes me think back to the day when I accidentally called her angel while drinking in Megaton.

“Wasteland Avenger? Looks like your goody-two-shoes attitude has gotten you popular, Perce,” DeLoria comments, snorting. “I can’t argue with Ghoul Reaper, though.”

“Zip it. Say anything about Charon, and you’re on your own,” Percy snaps, taking three sticks of bubblegum out of her pocket. She tosses one to me, then to DeLoria.

“Awfully defensive of your boyfriend, huh.”

“No, I’m telling you to shut up for your own good, Butch. Unless you want your right jaw broken too?”

“Fine. Point taken.”

For making DeLoria shut up, I have decided that Percy is indeed an angel. The rest of our journey is filled with peace and quiet.

The plan was to leave DeLoria in Rivet City so he can make a living as a barber since Snowflake’s in Underworld now. I didn’t plan on following Percy to the Muddy Rudder and drinking with the bastard, yet there I was, sipping on my fourth beer.

Percy sits between us, downing a shot of scotch, while the dog sleeps at her feet. Butch is taking a smoke while the barkeep refills his regular whiskey. He fixes up his hair again, eyes wandering to my friend’s.

“I’m sorry about your old man,” he tells Percy, and her head perks up.

“I appreciate it, Butch.”

“Hey, speaking of dads, I finally learned what happened to mine,” Butch continues. “Not that I’m tryin’ to make it all about me, just emphasizing- empathizing. Yeah. That’s the word.”

Percy laughs softly. “Thanks for trying. So, what happened to DeLoria senior?”

“Remember how we found out that the vault was sealed when we were babies? Part of what happened to my pops had something to do with it. Overseer had him executed for opposing it.”

“Oh fuck. I’m sorry, Butch.”

“S’fine. I ain’t that beat up about it. But sometimes I think about what my life could’ve been if I wasn’t left with my alcoholic mom. Do you ever think about it, Perce? If you grew up with your mom?”

The question made Percy down two consecutive shots. Damn.

“A lot. I know dad probably would have less trouble with my hair,” Percy laughs, but there was a bittersweet quality to it. Butch pats her in the back and crushes his cigarette in an ash tray.

Should I tell them about mine?

I exhaled, breath shaky, as I took out my own pack of cigarettes and lighted one. “My father was killed over an accusation,” I tell them, throwing caution to the wind and letting the alcohol embolden me to talk about the past that I’m still struggling with.

Both of them turn to me, curious. “What happened to him?” Percy asks.

“My parents were accused of being Reds. I was going to be taken away to be reeducated. My father objected to it. I never knew the truth behind it, but the police officer who shot my father already carried out the sentence before any court could.”

“God,” Percy gasps, brushing her arm against mine.

“The government program they put the children of suspected Reds on, is what turned me into the contract-bound mercenary that I am today.”

“I’m sorry, Charon,” Percy tells me.

Butch clears his throat. “Sorry. That’s rough, man.”

Percy straightens all of a sudden. “Hold on a sec. So, are you saying that the United States government that later became the Enclave is responsible for brainwashing you?”

Percy’s right, isn’t she? It adds up.

#lone wanderer #female lone wanderer #charon #fallout charon #charon fallout #charon fallout 3 #fallout 3 charon #butch deloria #oc: percy zhou #fanfic: absolution #series: through river acheron #fallout 3 #fallout fanfic #fallout 3 fanfic #writers on tumblr

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boxoftheskyking · 4 years

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This is why you should watch the Untamed

TO BEGIN WITH:

“In this time of uncertainty” (to quote a Bud Light commercial), what you want is something with enough episodes to get invested in, enough characters to occupy your thoughts and feelings, things to cry about but also plenty of sweetness and goofiness. So here is my list:

(I’m only on Episode 40 and I didn’t think very much before making this list)

(I did not expect to really like this show as much as I do and I look forward to rewatching it as soon as I am finished which I actually rarely do)

-50 episodes, 40 min each, so it’s enough to take up a good chunk of time, but it’s done so you don’t have to wait for another season.

-Equal parts wacky supernatural shit, Mysteries, and devastating Medieval tragedy (I could go on and on with Arthurian Parallels bc that’s a thing I sometimes study but I won’t right now)

-Tendernessss so much tenderness

-Everybody gets an arc! It’s well done.

-Xiao zhan’s face (Look, it was a gifset of WWX smiling that made me watch the show in the first place and I am not ashamed. that’s just good marketing.) (Also, as we say the biz, the guy’s got Genuine Chops.)

-So many stairs

-I don’t know if that’s a selling point for you but there are just so many stairs

-Listen you hear a lot about how they had to deal with censorship so they adapated a Very Explicitly Queer novel into something No Explicitly Queer. Which is true. But speaking as an American, this is more Queer Romance than I’ve seen on TV in a while (Also you can find translations of the novel online and they Bang A Lot)

-You will learn interesting linguistic things. And that helps stave off dementia

-Every family is a found family

-Everyone pretends to be stoic but no one actually is

-Does not pull punches when it comes to dark and upsetting plotlines. I used to compare it to Merlin bc of delightful magical intrigue but it is Not for Children

-Every 10 episodes the tone changes entirely but then as soon as you're lulled back into This is Fun it gives you something tremendously distressing

-Sets up an interesting political and magical structure so your hero can challenge it

-An actual villain’s-not-such-a-villain story (K*lo Ren wishes he were WWX)

All my fave fanfic tropes including: -very sober character gets very drunk and shows emotion. Also a Chicken heist. -accidental baby acquisition -build your home out of Nothing -everyone is Devoted to someone and it's so painful

-Weird magic involving nails to the brain

-So much self sacrifice!

-Complicated feelings about Nemeses

-You can carry a ghost in a bag

-Everyone can fly

-Everyone is Beautiful

-That one time the kid’s jaw drops and a piece of chicken splats down into his bowl and the other kids picks it up and shoves it back in his mouth that shit was hilarious

-Supervillain whose main motivation is candy?

-Lotsa zombies

-A+ production design, everything is beautiful

-Great fake blood work

-Terrible cgi

-Wei wuxian’s little paper doll talismans!!!

-Immensely romantic. I cannot express the levels of romance

Things to know (thank you to everyone who explained to this foolish American blogger):

-there are time jumps. Kind of like the Witcher, you have to stick with it to put it all together. But it does tell you when it's jumping

-Wei Wuxian = wwx = Wei Ying = Yiling Patriarch = ends up in Mo Xuanyu's body A creature of chaos and sunshine. To quote that line from the Mummy script, You are Going to Fall in Love with Him. He's not really evil he's doing his best. Mad bisexual icon which means I identify too much (as a mad bisexual myself)

-Lan Wangji = lwj = Lan Zhan = Hanguan Jun Has a lot of feelings once you know how to look for them. You know those old folk tales where the hero's love dies and they sit by the grave and turn into a tree? That's him. Likes rabbits. Extremely wistful.

-Jiang Wanyin = Jiang Cheng Full of rage. I yell at him a lot

-Jiang Yanli = Shijie To pure for any world. Belongs in the bon appetit test kitchen, not on a battlefield

-Wen Ning = the ghost general A baby who is also a demon. Deserves better. Runs on devotion

-Wen Qing She’ll fuck you up but you'll deserve it. The bro to end all bros

-A-Yuan = I'm not telling A baby/a turnip

-Lan Sizhui A good boy

-Jing Ling = Jin Rulan A little shit. Could use one (1) good ass kicking for character development reasons

-Nie Huaisang Not Cut Out For This, but a bro who will lend you his good porn. So.

-Mianmian Underappreciated in her Time

-Song Zichen = Song Lan & Xiao Xingchen

Don't talk to me, I hurt. The original Danger Gays

-Xue Yang A Problem

-A-Jing A little shit. Deserves better

-i can't remember all of Yao's names but he’s a shifty lil fuck I don't trust for one minute

That’s all I can think of right now but give it a try. You’ll have fun and then around ep 16 you’ll realize how invested you’ve become

Also the fic is bomb as hell

#the untamed #I've never made one of these posts before I don't know how they work

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mako-nekoo · 3 years

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Alright i think i'm done with the promised neverland anime. I'm sorry, but this last episode was too much. I love the manga too much to watch this story get completely twisted and changed.

No Yuugo? No goldy pond? All the characters we meet at goldy pond??? Even if they were to introduce them at a later point, i don't think Yuugo's arc will ever get the treatment it deserves. Too much has already been changed.

And blowing up the shelter now??? At this point??? Just ... why.

It's such a shame, but i guess we will always have the original story and can choose to ignore the anime adapation, lol.

#i guess anime watchers can still enjoy it #kay bye #the promised neverland spoilers

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fiftytwotwenty · 4 years

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Movie Monday - Oct 5th, 2020

The Most "2000" Movie of the 2000's:

Previously when discussing a decade of films I would declare the "Best" movie of the decade. A film of superior storystelling/acting but at the same, in a sense, encompassed the entire decade (80's = Back To The Future; 90's = Pulp Fiction).

Well, digging through what the 2000's had to offer we were all over the map.

We saw the Superhero genre build a solid foundation with the X-Men and Sam Rami Spider-Man Franchise in the early 2000's and close out the decade with Nolan's The Dark Knight (2009) and the startup of MCU juggernaut.

Heck, Fantasy genre made waves with Harry Potter and the LOTR triology which took home some well deserved Oscars, 17 Golden Statues amongst the triology - 11 from Return of the King alone.

The Coen Brothers hit us with some stable gems like O' Brother Where Art Thou (2000), No Country For Old Men (2007), Burn After Reading (2008), and A Serious Man (2009).

Martin Scorsese and Steven Speilberg remained busy throughout the decade. Scorsese staked claims with Gangs of New York (2002), The Aviator (2004), and The Departed (2006). While Speilberg started strong with A.I. (2001), Minority Report (2002), and Catch Me If You Can (2002), but eventually shit the bed with Indian Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)... Yeah, I know it's been 12 years... Fans don't forget Speilberg!

*This GIF encapsulates the shit storm that was Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull *

But outside of all those Massive Blockbusters and Adapations came a mutated comedy with original stories- comedy we really hadn't seen in the 80s and 90s.

A blend of Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson, John C Riley, Steve Carrell, Jack Black, Ben Stiller, Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, James Franco, Paul Rudd, Justin Long and the Names go on and on.

The new style of comedy or films they would produce would later characterized or deemed works of THE FRAT PACK. A term first coined in June 2004 by USA Today for the Hunker stars of Hollywood but later in 2005 The Slacker Pack would claims rights to the Frat Pack title with their sophomoric college/party humor.

And at the epicenter of all this adult hijinks... One man... well, One Man and his Unofficial Apprentice:

Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen

Judd Apatow had been in the game for years - mostly working in television throughout the 90s. In 1999 rolling into 2000 Apatow and Rogen collaborated on the show Freaks and Geeks (a of piece work cancelled too soon) and later Undeclared (also a one season television production).

With Judd and Seth working as a writing team they were able to gain some clout once they help release films with Will Ferrell and Steve Carrell - films which were absurd and in a sense loud (especially if Ferrell was headlining).

With their new found notoriety Rogen and Apatow went on to make/produce a string of comedies that were a little more grounded but still packed with funny - their humor was drived from the realness of everyday situations and happenings.

Which brings us to The Most "2000" Movie of the 2000's

Superbad (2007):

Out of Anchorman, Old School, 40 Year Old Virgin, Wedding Crashers, Step Brothers - I think Superbad takes the cake.

Superbad is a story of two co-dependent high school seniors who are forced to deal with separation anxiety after their plan to stage a booze-soaked party goes awry.

A script written by childhood friends Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg when they were 13 years old. The story was relatable, original, hilarious.

The movie also catapulted the names of Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, and Emma Stone into A-List stardom.

I might be biased as Apatow production train was rolling through my life during middle school days and into my college years - the most impressionable years of my life, but at the same time the Ol' US of A was coming of the aftermath of 9/11 a period of time when comedy, in my opinion, was the best medicine.

That is why I deem Superbad to be the one film to encapsulate the entire decade - The Most "2000" Movie of the 2000's - and in my opinion also the Best Movie of the 2000's

#Movie Monday #52 in 20 #Superbad #2000's #The Best Movie of the 2000's #The Most 2000 Movie of the 2000's #Judd Apatow #Seth Rogen

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kajaono · 3 years

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Out of sincere curiosity: TJLC folks said some asked her not to make a video on the TJLC fandom, but do you have an opinion on how fan groups were portrayed in the show? And do you think it's acceptable in general to discuss popular reaction + fan cultures surrounding of a piece of entertainment? Does the size of the fandom matter? Does what someone is talking about wrt a fandom matter (i.e. she talked about the racism and sexism directed at some actors, clarifying this is not exclusive to TJLC

Hey nonny,

Thank you, that is a really interesting question.

To your first question. I guess with: “how fan groups were portrayed in the show” you refere to the beginning of season 3, am I right? Back then I didn’t noticed it as disrespectful because I was not aware how big the prejudge about fandom was (and still is). Later I got more aware that Mofftiss was feeding a hurtful sterotype and was not respectful to the fans. This is also why today TJLC means not to me: “Mofftiss had a big plan to make Johnlock canon” (maybe the had but the screwed it for the drama) but “Johnlock deserves to be with eachother in every universe and one day someone will make them canon in a major adapation”. This is also why today i only engange in shows where the writers interact repsectful with the fans, or not at all. Is the writer disrespectful towards fans, I am not watching the show

To your second question. I think it is definitly important to discuss fandom culture, showing that it aren’t a bunch of dumb 13 years old girls hyperfocusing on hot dudes. Such videos (also articles) bring fandom culture and shipping closer to “casual” viewers. I just do not think TJLC is a good way to start this discussion. TJLC is a gay fandom focussing on two long existing characters where most casual viewers do not even agree that they are queercoded + Johnlock did not even became canon in the end + TJLC consists of theories for which you need knowledge of the orginial ACD books, multiple different adaptations, the lgbtq community etc.

Start with something more simple. If you want to discuss a gay fandom, take Hannibal, Good Omens or Spirk. All these three gay shipping fandoms have the whole hearted support of the actors and writers (noone cares for Shatner here). And maybe even Johnlock, taking in mind that allready in Tplosh Sherlock was potrayed as gay. But starting right with TJLC is not a good idea in my opinion. One day for sure, but as a starter it is not good. I saw so many comments from casuals after Sarah made the video, who had more questions then answers. And some even saying: “It is telling that they support a dumb conspiracy theory more then actual well written LGBTQ repesentation.”

In conclusion, one day will be the day to tell about TJLC, but not yet. And personal, I think it works much better, like this here: You come to me or other TJLClers and ask what you want to know, in one to one, personal talk. Such videos... allways attract trolls. So... the size does not matter, but the content of a fandom.

And about the racism and sexism, I am aware that this was a problem in the BBC fandom. Sadly this is a problem in so many fandoms. Look at Star WArs or Marvel... and we can all agree on that MOfftiss writing of women is also... questionable

What are you thoughts on that btw? :)

#anon #tjlc #sarah z

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phoenix43song · 4 years

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Little Women [2019] Film Review and Analysis

I have been reading the Little Women series since I was a child and I grew up on the 1994 film version that stars Winona Ryder. I have also watched the 1933, 1949, 2017 (mini series), and the 2018 modern film adaptation. I have watched and enjoyed the web series The March Family Letters on youTube, which is another modern adaptation take on the story, though unfinished. I have a graphic novel and a novel called Meg and Jo that are also modern adaptations. I love the songs from the musical, and I wish to play Jo one day (after I get my singing voice back). You can say I am a bit obsessed, though it has been quite awhile since I last read Little Women and did research on Louisa May Alcott. When I heard Greta Gerwig was going to be making another adapation I reread the whole series. The research I have done on Louisa, and the research that I have read from other fans and scholars has made reading Little Women all the more interesting. I try to be a writer, though I've only ever written novella's and short stories and short films. I love the theatre, acting, and now I am directing for the first time. I have so many story ideas for novels, series, and for feature films (maybe even TV). I've also always loved art, though without praticing much since adulthood my skills have dwindled. I identify with Jo and with Amy and I am really glad that this version of the book did these character justice...well Greta went wayland on Jo a bit.

The character of Jo in this adaptation is fully realized, three dimentional, however she is made to be have way more of a temper when she's an adult, unlike the book. Jo has this Peter Pan mentality where she wants to keep living in childhood and never grow up. She is in denial of her feelings, and she doesn't understand romantic love fully until the end. Greta decided to really incorporate Louisa herself into Jo. Louisa wrote the book loosely based on herself and her sisters growing up because she was pressured in writing a children's novel. She didn't want Jo to get married: she wanted Jo to remain a spinster like herself. Louisa was pressured to marry Jo off so she did. And then she continued to write two more novels after Little Women (technically Good Wives): Little Men and Jo's Boys. She created Friedrich Bhaer for Jo, who was the perfect choice for her...and most readers can't seem to see why Jo fell in love with him when, based on the research that I did and others did, Louisa created him off of men she had crushes on. Yes Louisa had crushes; she most likely had a few short lived romances, but we'll never know because if she wrote any of this down in her diary or in letters they have been destroyed.

Friedrich Bhaer in Greta's Little Women is not Friedrich Bhaer. He shares but a few qualities. Louis Garrel did an amazing job with what material he was given and he understands his characters and Frieidrich's relationship with Jo far better than Greta does. Based off of interviews and other comments that Greta has mentioned Greta hates Friedrich and can't stand that Jo married in the end. She doesn't understand him nor their relationship. She took away everything that Friedrich is, how Jo became friends with him, the courting he does, and one of the most romantic proposals in classic literature. Greta decided on an ambiguous ending for her movie and I absolutely hate it. The umbrella scene is rushed, hurried, and not romantic at all and it's edited in a way that this only happens in the novel that Jo writes because she is pressured, or somewhat forced, to marry off her heroine. Then there are cuts where we see Jo at her school for boys and girls, where her family presents a cake for Marmee's 60thbirthday and we see that Friedrich is there. This is cut where Jo is watching her book being made and she hugs it to herself: I really enjoyed this part of the ending, but the ending could have still followed the book more and not edited and written in a way where Jo's love for Friedrich and marriage isn't fiction. I mean Greta even had Amy and Meg drag Jo to go after him when Friedrich leaves and claim that Jo loves him. This is a change that...it destroys the characters in a huge way.

Friedrich isn't German in this film, though we do see him go into a German Beer Hall with his friends. I did love the dance scene in the Beer Hall and him dancing with Jo. He's French because Louis is French. Part of me wishes Greta would've gotten a German actor because Germany in it's people and culture was a huge part of Louisa's life and German is scattered all over the book. But I love Louis Garrel so this aspect of Friedrich didn't bother me that much. However...we don't get to know him and we don't get his backstory in this film. He doesn't play with the children, his immigration and carring for his orphaned nephews isn't mentioned, and him bringing Jo to intelletual gatherings isn't seen. Him giving Jo Shakespeare is in the film, but it's not done in person. He helps Jo with giving honest feedback on her stories and Jo doesn't take constructive critism well at all and yells at him. Friedrich likes Jo and you can tell. It's even shown that Jo likes him as well, but we sadly don't get to see their friendship: hell they don't really have much of a relationship in this movie. When Friedrich comes to visit Jo at the March house, we can see that Jo is surprised but pleased. I really do love how the family really likes him and gets to know him, and that they can see that the two love each other but that Jo is in denial. Except...Jo isn't really in denial in the book. She blushes when she realizes that Friedrich has come to court her. Jo in the book feels more mature by this point then she does in the movie.

Jo also tries to make herself love Laurie by writing him a letter because she's lonely. She never does this in the book. She does have one mention of a what if scenario but she stands by what she always thought: that she only loved Laurie like a brother. I really loved the scene where Jo rejects Laurie when he proposes because she's telling the truth and we even see in the movie that that have this special commarderie that's close but platonic, and not romantic. I do love how Greta explains and shows different kinds of love and growth in the sisters. But this seemed to degrade Jo a bit when it comes to actual full realized growth. I just don't understand where Greta was going with this and why she doesn't seem to understand Jo and Jo and Friedrich together. She put way too much of Louisa into Jo when Jo is a fictional character and not 100% Louisa. It's made to look like the umbrella propsal is fiction and that Jo did end a spinster. I am so upset right now at this that I will talk about what I did love and more of my analysis from a filmmaking aspect. (I doubled majored in theatre and in film in college and I do know that there will be changes in adaptations. However this doesn't mean that you can change characters and relationships to fit your own idea of how they should act and how they should end up. When you adapt a story you have to keep who the characters are and Greta doesn't do this with Friedrich nor with Jo in the end with her as a character and the relationship between the two).

So. This film is gorgeous. Beautiful cinematography, direction, costumes, acting, score, and editing. The only thing that I didn't like was how the characters read their letters to the camera. It took me out of the story and didn't fit in at all. The editing of present to past was well done, and I loved how it went with parallel themes. Each sister is three dimentional and real, and the different takes on money and love was really interesting. Beth's sickness and death was well done and so heartbreaking poignant. I loved how she got Jo to write again, and I loved the montage of Jo writing her novel. Mr. Dashwood was hilarious, and Meryl Streep had a blast playing Aunt March. Laura Dern made a capible Marmee but she didn't feel like Marmee to me sadly. Mr. March was barely in the film, but he's barely in the book so that was ok. The scenes between Mr. Lawerence and Beth were beautiful, and the scenes between Mr. Lawernce and Jo were good as well. I liked seeing Meg wanting riches, her feelings about being poor, but her love for John was a lot stronger and she made sacrifices. Amy was great, espeacially as an adult in Paris.

Laurie...I have a lot of thoughts on how Laurie was protrayed. I liked how his Italian ancestry was mentioned a lot and that Laurie could never sit still. I liked how he was represented as a drunk and ladies man until Amy talked sense into him. I like how we got to see how Amy and Laurie fell in love, and how Laurie realized that his love for Jo wasn't of the romantic nature either. He does love Jo and you can diffinitely see that, but at the same time they're best friends. Yes it's good to want to marry your best friend but at the same time you need more than just physical attraction ( and that's where Friedrich comes into the pitcuture). But there was something off about how he was represented. I honestly think it's because that Tim looks way too young for the adult version (even though he is an adult in real life), and that he's too skinny. Sorry I said it: Tim needs to put some meat on his bones.

This film does deserve awards and it bothers me that the film wasn't nominated for a Golden Globe (though Saoirse being nominated for Best Actress was a choice well deserved) or for an SAG awards. I hope the film is nominated a lot at the Oscar's at least. I would give this film somewhere between a 2.5 to a 3 out of 4 stars. This would've been a perfect 4/4...I know a lot of critics and fans love the ending, and that's there's only a minority of us that understand and love Friedrich, and Jo/Fritz together. At least we have other film adaptations and the musical – love the musical! - and I am really tempted to write my own version of a Little Women feature or mini series. I want to do more research on Louisa and write a biopic. I even have my own modern adapation ideas. This is a beloved book and I wish more people will read it, along with the rest of the series. To understand Jo/Fritz you have to read the last two books. This isn't really an essay or full on anaylsis, but more of me rambling, but let me know your thoughts in the comments. I would love to discuss Little Women and hear your thoughts and opinions. (Also sorry for spelling and grammar errors: I wrote this up really fast and didn’t bother to edit as I’m rather busy).

#little women #friedrich bhaer #jo x friedrich #little women 2019 #movie review #book to movie adaptation

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