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definitely-not-a-wasp · 3 years

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I'm okay with a bunch of disorganized rambling honestly 😂. But if I had to narrow it down then I guess I want to know about main and side characters and how they compare to the original?

I know that tumblr is the Prime Site for disorganized rambling, but I have perfectionism issues. But that is a great question, nonnie, and I will be happy to ramble is a slightly less disorganized fashion.

When reading Maximum Ride as a somewhat-formed adult who discovered they enjoy English classes about 3.5 years ago, I noticed that JP, when writing, doesn't understand consistency. At all. Which means, in many ways, I have a free sandbox to work with.

Spoilers for my rewrite WIP, because I strongly believe that if a story would no longer be good if one had spoilers, then it wasn’t a good story in the first place.

I'm trying to keep the backstories the same, plus or minus the scientific method and a few characters (RIP my OCs. I want to bring you back so bad but it wouldn't fit with the thematic narrative). I've mostly kept their (starting) abilities the same, too. Without further ado, I'm going to introduce some WorldBuilding. (If I'm good at nothing else, I'm good at world building)

First off. Logically.

How are they getting Cable?

How are they getting internet?

How are they getting money to eat and stuff?

JP's answer: handwave it off. Sometimes you need to ignore logistics for the sake of plot. This is an answer I'd accept from an author that I like, such as Julie Kagawa, that makes amazing worlds, characters, and narratives that I will happily handwave a few things that wouldn't work in the real world. James Patterson, on the other hand, did not make any of that; he made a cool concept, some good rough-draft characters, and nothing else, and therefore this is an unforgivable sin.

Wasp's answer: They are not getting any of that.

Introducing Cottagecore.

The house is off the grid. Solar Panels and a wind turbine create electricity. They have their own well. They grow their own food, raise livestock for eggs, milk, and wool, and trap fish for meat. They get money through dumpster diving and pawning. They still have to steal half of the necessities they can’t make themselves. They do have a TV, but it can access about three channels on a clear day. Internet is only a thing when they go to the public library.

Giving the flock a background that’s heavy in farming and livestock rearing shores up the plot holes mentioned above, but in my opinion, ties the flock more tightly to the environment, thus giving them something tangible to lose when they have to leave the E-shaped house. Because they’re not just leaving a house and a safety net— they’re leaving their entire way of life with no promise of getting it back. It also gives them a tangible connection to the earth in case I want to actually pursue the global warming themes.

Main Characters

Maximum “Max” Ride (Birthname: nonexistent)

First off, I'm letting her be Latina, James Patterson.

In the original, Max was very much the headstrong, independent, action girl. Leaning into Strong Female Character (TM), but overall she had a strong, solid foundation and enough character consistency through the first three books for me to not have to just make an entire new character. However, I felt that she was, in some ways, a bit too Action-Girl and Strong and Capable. Yes, Max is incredible and competent, but she’s also fourteen. She’s a child.

In the rewrite, Max’s character is still headstrong, independent, capable, and sometimes not the best at listening to others. All of that’s the same. But she’s that way not because of girlboss energy, but because there’s no one else to do it. She doesn’t want to lead, necessarily. She wants to get some rest and let someone else handle the problems life keeps throwing at her. But she knows if she did that, the responsibility of leader would fall to Fang and Iggy, and she can’t ask that of them. She doesn’t want to place that burden on anyone else (Look, there’s a reason I chose Ayano’s Theory of Happiness as one of her signifier songs, okay?). Her narrative is very much centered around burden, and also around loss. She lost her cultural heritage when she was taken away from her birth family, she lost her childhood to being a leader, she lost a good deal of her friends to the school (RIP my OCs), she lost Jeb, and then she lost her stability. And she’s going to lose a lot more before the end of the story. So a lot of her character arc deals with learning that there are some things she can’t fix, some things that can’t be recovered. She can’t get the E-shaped house back. She can’t get her Little Baby Angel back, even after they rescue her. She can’t get her friends back from the school. And instead of working so hard to recover those or find something to replace them, she has to learn to live with that sense of loss and move on with her life without feeling guilty for leaving things behind. And she has to learn that asking for help and sharing her burden is selfish or weak.

Other changes I made that don’t necessarily fit into her narrative arc, but you asked for rambling so rambling you shall get:

Max hallucinates, because mental illness is also a prominent theme in the rewrite. She doesn’t have a psychotic disorder, but her C-PTSD causes visual/audio hallucinations, especially when she’s stressed or sleep deprived.

Max ends up having a Gender Discovery throughout the story and goes by He/She pronouns eventually. I don’t know when, but it will happen.

As far as genetic modifications/special quirks go, she can fly faster than the rest of the flock, but not 300 miles per hour. She averages about sixty mph with diving speeds of 240. She cannot breathe underwater or shut down her organs on command. She also has the Super Special Power to predict the weather, but that’s not because of genetics, it’s because she has chronic pain in her right arm that gets worse when weather fronts change.

Her favored weapon is her trusty rebar that she picked up from a condemned building. I think she’s going to name it eventually but I don’t know what yet.

Fang (Birth name: Gabriel Xue)

In canon, Fang is characterized in early books by being the “dark, strong, silent type”. He’s probably the most reserved member of the flock, to the point of falling into the Brooding Mystery Man trope in parts of the book. They care a lot, but they’re not the best at conveying that, especially with the younger members of the flock, and at times their high empathy leads them to making mistakes. Despite the high empathy, he’s often compared to a robot due to his lack of expression and external emotions.

Well, first change is that they’re not a man, so jot that down—

If Max’s narrative is centered around burden and loss, I would probably say that Fang’s is centered around humanity and moving on. None of the flock was treated as human while in the school, but Fang was more often than not treated like a wild animal due to “behavioral issues”, and therefore had and continues to have a difficult time considering themselves real and alive, let alone human. This manifests through a several different ways— where in canon Fang definitely had a ‘fight’ reaction, in the re-write they have a ‘freeze’ or ‘shut down’ instinct. They’re selectively mute for multiple reasons (including derealization, jaw pain, the fact that they didn’t learn how to speak until they were 10, and genuinely forgetting it’s something they’re capable of), a period of Cotard’s syndrome, and a tendancy towards self-loathing and self-sacrifice. In short, Fang is still halfway stuck in the mindset that most of the flock grew out of when they escaped in the school, and doesn’t know how to move past it.

Much of their character arc revolves around not necessarily seeing themselves as human, but learning to treat themselves as human even when they don’t feel like one (or even feel real), and knowing that just because they don’t feel human all the time doesn’t mean anyone else can treat them the same. They never start easily expressing their emotions, and they’re always going to be selectively mute, but they learn to accept that those aspects of themself aren’t character flaws or signs that they’re sub-human.

Other additions to Fang’s character include:

They don’t get their hair cut in New York. It stays long through the entire series. They have the longest hair in the flock by the end of the series, and they can wear it in so many styles.

Fang uses they/it pronouns because themes of reclaiming the weapons used against it and, more importantly, Gender.

They’re actually really good at spelling compared to the rest of the flock, because they and Iggy communicate with Print-On-Palm when they’re nonverbal, and they’re nonverbal for some pretty long stretches of time.

They and Max have... zero romantic tension. At all. There is none. The number of times Max calls them her sibling/little sibling in the first arc alone is staggering, and that will not change.

Igneous “Iggy” (Birthname: Jamsetta “Jamie” Griffiths)

I’ve talked about Iggy before. Canon doesn’t give us much to go off of, but from what’s shown, he’s smart, sarcastic, has sharper edges than Fang and Max, and also has a sizable ruthless streak. So that’s what I have to go off of.

The big difference between Iggy and Fang&Max is that Iggy has a much better memory of the School. Most of the flock have areas (months or years) that they don’t remember, or people that they’ve blocked from their mind, but Iggy... doesn’t. So he’s the one that remembers all of the other AVIAN test subjects that were old enough to have names and identities but died due to complications. Max might have the burden of leadership, but he has the burden of memory. And that has lead to both a massive fucking guilt complex, because why did he survive when they didn’t, and, as mentioned above, a ruthless streak that he doesn’t shy away from.

Which is to say, by the end of the story, Iggy has the highest kill count.

I love, love writing Iggy next to Max and Fang. I love writing Iggy next to Gazzy and Nudge. Because, I say this with all of the love of the world, but Iggy is not a good person. He is loyalty and love incarnate, and the world can burn down if he and his siblings are safe. Max and Fang will always try to save as many people as they can. They will wonder what’s wrong with them the first time they kill and don’t have a mental breakdown about it. They are good in a way that Iggy is not. He’s okay with killing Erasers. He’s okay with killing humans. He’s okay with killing people who might not necessarily deserve it, if they show themselves as a threat or are simply in the blast radius. He knows perfectly well that most of those Erasers he’s murdering are four and five and he is okay with that, because a lot of the AVIANs were that age when they died. (Yeah, in the rewrite it’s not Fang who has an issue with Ari; it’s Iggy who wants the 7-year-old wolf-boy dead.)

And this is, of course, juxtaposed with Iggy being really, really good with Nudge and Gazzy (especially in the beginning). Because, again, he actually remembers being a child. He remembers a lot of kids that died and is therefore fiercely protective of the kids that didn’t, as well as fiercely protective of the innocence that he never got. So he’s the one that cooks their favorite foods when they’re having a bad day, always makes time when they want to talk about something, and convinces Max to let them go to that toy store in New York because, yeah, he Max and Fang aren’t kids. They never were. But Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel can be. (And if he has to be a murderer to preserve that, then he’s perfectly okay with that.)

He and Angel don’t get along very well, though. The telepath doesn’t like hanging out with the person with the most clear memories of the school.

Other additions:

Iggy is trans and says trans rights

He also has paranoid episodes, because C-PTSD. Sometimes they’re very helpful. Sometimes they are not.

I actually decided that he’s one of the flock that doesn’t meet their parents. I know in canon he did, but I always found that very clunky because it didn’t add to his character. He was one of the characters who, until it was convenient for the plot, seemed to care the least about his family. I’d much rather give that to a character whose arc would benefit from it.

Iggy! Gets! Older Sibling Rights! Seriously, he’s two months younger than Fang, he is just as capable.

Iggy does not know braille because Jeb decided it wasn’t necessary for him to know. Iggy is also the best speller in the flock, because Print-on-Palm was the only way to talk to Fang for a solid year. Yes he mocks everyone over this.

Iggy is the only member of the flock that enjoys swimming and can take into the air from water. Everyone else in the flock is incredibly jealous.

Nudge (Birthname: Monique Robinson)

If Iggy is defined by his memories, Nudge is his polar opposite. She was seven when she left the School, but she has next to no memories of it. She is missing a lot of time in the first year she escaped. And that causes... a lot of things. It makes her feel disconnected from her older siblings, it gives her the ability to function in society in a way the other’s can’t, it lets her feel less grief over the ones that didn’t make it and she doesn’t remember, it makes her feel guilty that she doesn’t remember what she’s old enough to know.

Basically, in order for me to keep the character of Nudge as I saw her (more extroverted, not afraid of the world, fascinated with humans like her siblings aren’t, desiring to fit in instead of isolate), I had to put a little bit of distance between her and the flock. Of course, she loves them— that will in no way change— but she’s old enough that she should remember the school (and her dead friends) unlike Gazzy and Angel, but she can’t, and she very much fears forgetting the flock if anything happens to them. So she’s trying desperately to keep the flock close and wants desperately to experience the world at the same time, and doesn’t know what to do when she can’t have both. That’s her biggest character conflict throughout the series, along with that in-between area where she’s not quite where her older siblings are but understands so much more than Gazzy and Angel, and where she stands in that.

So yeah. Nudge’s journey is that in looking for belonging in the world, in her family, and in herself.

This is why she’s one of the ones that gets to find her parent, James Patterson.

Other additions include:

She never straightens her hair. Never. Her resources at the E-shaped house aren’t perfect, but she still has learned how to take care of her hair and has a few styles she cycles through.

She becomes the default person Max sics on people when the flock is trying to befriend them. Also their de-facto diplomat around strangers.

As in canon, she does take some time away from the flock to expirience ‘normal life’. This does not last long due to the stress of being separated from her siblings/not being able to help them and [REDACTED]

Nudge is... not the only person in her head. I’m not focusing on it much because she doesn’t actually know and neither does the flock (I don’t know if they ever figure it out during the series, either), but she has dissociative identity disorder. She’s not aware of her alter(s?). Her alter isn’t super aware of her, either.

The alter that I’ve developed is named Oxy and is not super aware of the outside world. In her eyes, she’s still seven and they’re still at the School. She would not recognize the body as her own if she looked in a mirror.

Nudge actually leaves the flock for a while to pursue her dream of living a normal life. She deserves it. She learns how to make muffins and the basics of software development. These things are unrelated.

Gasman (Birthname: No first name, surname “Falk”)

Honestly, writing Gazzy is kind of hard for me. Partially because I’m not great at writing kids, and partially because I feel like he’s a pretty surface-level character in-series that... isn’t super compelling in canon. But even if that’s the case, I try to treat all of my characters with respect, so here we go. In my rewrite, he escaped when he was four, which was half a lifetime ago for him, so his memories are ill-defined. Therefore, he managed to circumvent a lot of the trauma that the rest of the kids have, and not in the way Nudge did, which is by creating an elaborate blockage in her memories.

Which means Gazzy... really doesn’t know how to deal with all of this traumatic stuff happening. So much of his development turns out to be a coming-of-age narrative. Learning how to deal with the horrors of what his siblings grew up with. Learning the fears that they had the entire time. Losing his innocence when everyone around him never had it in the first place, and being so terribly alone because of it. Because, really, how can you explain such a deep loss to people who never had what he had? How can they help in a way that matters?

Also, relationship-wise, I’m slowly deteriorating the relationship between him and Iggy. Slowly. Or, changing it, at least. Gazzy hero-worships Iggy in-series, and for good reason, because Iggy is super cool, especially in the eyes of an eight-year-old, and especially when Iggy has taken care to cultivate parts of his behaviors to be child-friendly. Part of growing up is seeing the flaws in your heroes, and Gazzy has to learn how to deal with it. End of the series Gazzy is much less closer to Iggy than beginning of the series Gazzy, and neither of them are really okay with that, but they learn to live with it, because that’s really all they can do.

Notes:

I’m keeping the mimickry! It plays a bit of a bigger role because that’s how Gazzy learned to talk. I’m debating whether or not he has his own voice or if he just borrows the flock’s as he sees fit. He also uses it to scream really loudly and occaisonally burst the eardrums of Erasers.

At one point he cosplays as Jessica Jones. No you don’t get any more context than this.

He has a horrible sense of fashion.

I’m changing his name eventually because it sucks. He’s either going to change it to Gannet, Garrison, or Ivy Mike temporarily, and permanently to Zephyr. (I never said I was going to make his name GOOD, because he’s eight, but it’s changing. You’re welcome.)

Angel (Birthname: No first name, surname “Falk”)

It’s just... a completely different character, at this point. I’ve changed so many things about her in an attempt to make her consistent and act like a six-year-old and work in the whole “telepath before she has a solid sense of identity”, so it’s a different character. Also, I’m tired of writing coherently or in paragraphs, so have some interesting facts.

She has epilepsy! Super severe epilepsy! I think she might also develop juvenile MS in the future because her brain has so many scars from being a fucking six-year-old telepath. There’s no way she could get out of that unscathed.

She has more memories of the school than Gazzy, but only because she keeps accidentally reading the minds of Max, Fang, and Iggy. On a related note, she interacts with Iggy as little as possible.

The mind reading means that she has a hard time developing as a normal child with a normal sense of identity or reality. She can’t tell how much people are individual people and how much they’re just extensions of her. Conversely, she can’t tell how much of herself is actually her instead of the thoughts/opinions/identities of someone else. It’s... kinda fucked? But also super not-her-fault.

She’s albino because white wings. Also, because I thought it was cool. This also means that her vision sucks, though. Also she has the biggest straw sunhat and the most stylish sunglasses a six-year-old can have.

She’s responsible for Max shaving her hair off.

She has the highest swear count because I think it’s funny. She’s the only person allowed to say the fuck word in writing. Everyone else can only say ‘hell’ and the occasionally ‘damn’ but she can say whatever she wants for dramatic and comedic value.

She is NOT THE FUCKING VOICE, J*MES P*TTERSON.

Honorable Mentions

Jeb

I’m skipping Jeb because of how little I care about him. He’s a little bitch, next character.

Ari

STILL HASN’T BEEN REVEALED AS AN ERASER. I’ve been writing for 50,000 words and he’s over here saying ‘nope nope not yet, not dramatic enough’. He’s had speaking lines but has refused to make himself known to Max. I am so frustrated with this seven-year-old wolf-child that I’ve already considered how I would kill him, if I decide I want to kill yet another child in my writing.

So, my main thoughts for Ari is that he... really just drew the short end of the stick in every possible way. While Jeb didn’t sign him up for Eraser expirimentation, he didn’t do anything to stop it, and pretty much cut his losses when he realized this expiriment made a wreck of his ‘perfect, unflawed’ son, because Jeb doesn’t consider children of any species to actually be humans. So, Ari really hates his dad, which makes things complicated, because he also really loves his dad and really wants his approval.

Which means that he also really hates Max, because she’s the child that always got Jeb’s time and attention, even when Ari was human. I think, on some level, he knows that trying to tear Max down to a less-favored level isn’t actually going to help his situation— infighting for the love of an abusive parent won’t make them any less abusive— but he’s also seven, and his development is already severely stunted due to becoming an Eraser, and he doesn’t see ‘leaving ITEX’ as an option like the Flock does. ITEX is his everything. It’s all he’s ever known, and they tell him he’s doing the right thing, and he wants them to love him. He wants his father to love him. He knows that if he ever questions ITEX, his father will never love him. So it must be his older sister that’s ruining his life and being a horrible child, and once Ari drags her back down to his level, Jeb will realize who the best child is and love him properly again.

Ari, on an even deeper level, does care for Max quite a bit, because she’s his older sister and he wants that to mean something in a way that ‘Jeb being his father’ obviously doesn’t. He wants what she made for herself, and he hates the Flock because she loves them and obviously doesn’t love him.

Ari, if anything, is the product of neglect, and both loves and hates everyone who shows a chance of caring about him. And he’s seven, so he can’t notice these patterns, let alone break them.

So. Notes!

He doesn’t look like an adult. I thought that was gross and unnecessary. He’s seven, but he looks closer to thirteen or fourteen. Still young enough that he looks like every Eraser’s little brother, and the Erasers high-key treat him like it.

On a related note, he’s the only Eraser who can talk. The others don’t have the mental capacity or vocal structure to replicate human speech, but they can understand language (at about the level of a two or three year old) and are very good at nonverbal communication. This is why Ari managed to climb the ranks despite only having three years of “service” and also looking like a tween.

He doesn’t have an expiration date because that is SUCH a stupid plot point.

I’m giving him a chainsaw! I don’t know how, I don’t know when, but he deserves to have a chainsaw and GODDAMN I will give it to him.

Emergency and Gene

The OCs that I love and also killed pre-series. They don’t have any scenes, because they’re dead, but their deaths greatly effected Max, Fang, and Iggy, and they are very commonly referenced. Their voices are probably Max’s most common hallucination, to the point where she sometimes pretends they’re ghosts that she can talk to. They’re not ghosts. They’re dead.

Dr. Valencia Martinez

I’m actually keeping her pretty close to canon— loving, supportive, the type of person to take in a gsw victim with minimal questions. The difference is that rather than kindness fueling her actions, it’s incredible guilt. She has three goals surrounding Max: Give her as much support in any way she can, teach her as much about chicane culture as possible, and never let Max know that she’s her birth parent.

(She’s probably going to fail at AT LEAST two of those, but it’s the thought that counts.)

Notes:

She has a pet fox named Robin Hood that she rescued from an exotic animal salesman that got arrested.

I think I’m going to kill her. I don’t know yet, but it’s on the table.

Anne Walker

Y’know, the fake FBI Agent. Who’s not actually a fake in my story because I hated that plot point. She’s genuinely an FBI agent who put the Flock into pseudo-witness-protection in order to build a case against the Institute of Higher Living, accidentally got attached to her prime witnesses, raised them for a few months, realized a [SPOILER] and promptly had to let them get the hell out dodge.

I really like the Anne Walker that lives in my head. She is a VITAL part of the Flock’s development, their mental/emotional recovery, and adding to their safety net to fall back on. She serves them as their first adult role model, and is the first adult to show them what parent/child are supposed to look like from a healthy perspective. Though she has several fuck ups, she becomes someone that the Flock genuinely trusts and loves, which makes it all the more difficult for them to leave when [REDACTED].

Notes:

She and Max do butt heads initially, because Max is paranoid and also afraid of becoming uneeded. This ends up being incredibly important because Max needs to learn how to live and find meaning in life without being the designated Leader/Parent/Big Sister

Anne, at one point, sits the entire flock down to teach them about consent, which was something no one ever talked about with them before. She goes in talking specifically about consent in a romantic/sexual sense (because they’re fourteen and that’s something they need to know), but quickly turns into a full-fledged no, people are NOT allowed to do that to you, what the FUCK.

She’s responsible for giving the flock a laptop. It’s because Angel is online schooled (bc telepathy makes actually learning difficult) and was therefore provided with a computer.

Anne is also allowed to swear, but only when it’s funny.

Michael “Grey” Rivers

Aka Grey from the Sewers Aka GR3Y H47 Aka Mike from the Bronx Aka Gifted Child Syndrome Incarnate Aka Would-be-in-MIT-if-his-parents-weren’t-horrible. He’s my son, your honour.

Basically, his backstory boils down to him being a genius, getting into MIT at 14, his (horrible) parents wanting a perfect child who could “make it out” of the Bronx and represent his family/neighborhood/borough to the world. When he inevitably failed their expectations due to stress, a schizophrenic-spectrum disorder that completely alienated him from the rest of his support network, and refusing to take his psych meds because the side effects were horrible and they made it harder to think (and therefore pass his classes), they kicked him out. He fully intends to go back to MIT when he turns 18 and has control of his finances/scholarships/medication/therapy.

So that’s how the flock meets him.

Mike ends up in a very prominent support role for the flock both in technological persuits (helping them track their parents, helping them get information from ITEX, trying to disable Max’s chip and failing multiple times until it becomes a matter of personal honour—), in helping the older members of the flock figure out how to deal with hallucinations/delusions (because he’s actually been to therapy, unlike them), and in being one of the only people who talks to them and helps them without any ulterior motive. He’s not trying to build a case against ITEX/The Institute of Higher Learning, he’s not double crossing them, he’s not plagued with guilt. He just genuinely wants to help them, and they genuinely want to help him, and that’s their first introduction to a healthy, non-codependent relationship.

My many disorganized notes on Michael Rivers:

He’s from specifically Morris Heights, Bronx, NYC.

He would say that his last name is actually Rivera, but his grandparents changed it to Rivers so it would sound more English, and his family has been in America for so long that he doesn’t know much about any Latino heritage he may or may not have. He identifies as African American, not Afro-Latino. He’s just bitter that his family felt the need to change their surname to have better opportunities in New York.

Nudge aggressively befriends him pretty much the moment she meets him, bullies him into teaching her how to code, and he very quickly adopts her as his pseudo-little-sister.

His delusions in the book seemed to involve government conspiracies, but as that’s the one delusion that is proved correct in the book, I’ve decided it would be best if his delusions and reality intersected a bit less if I don’t want to write him having a manic/paranoid episode in the second scene he has screen time. So his delusions are more based on “none of this is real”, “someone is recording everything I do and setting me up to fail” and “my ill-wishes on people can and will come true if I dwell on them too long.”. Government conspiracies are one of things he is skeptical about because he thinks most conspiracies are either “CIA admitted to this twenty years ago” or “antisemitism”.

He’s taking online free college classes that don’t actually give him any college credit, but they have good information and help him feel like he’s working towards something. He plans to double major in computer sciences and electrical engineering, minor in marine biology. He’s wanted to join NOAA since he was twelve and he is nothing if not stubborn.

There you go. These are my characters, now. I have custody.

#maximum ride on main #Maximum Ride rewrite

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stabletwooriginals · 4 years

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CHAPTER THREE: Guidance

LittlePip wakes up to a brand new day. Which she never experienced before and we get some fun observations from her about.

I knew this was coming but I’m so relieved LittlePip finds one of Rarities dresses in perfect condition inside a locked chest.

The comment, that the dress is the prettiest and most cheerful thing she has seen since leaving is striking to me. She has had one terrible string of bad luck so far, but there are amazing things still waiting to be found.

Which is undercut somewhat by her discovery of the dead cats hung over where she slept. Absolutely terrifying. That doesn’t seem just for shock value, as it preoccupies our (and LittlePips) mind as she accidentally activates a land mine. Oops.

Watcher making his first appearing here, giving LittlePip life saving advice.

Raiders attack again. And we get LittlePips naive interpretation of grenades through a childhood memory of someone bullying her. This explains to us why she focuses on throwing the granade back next… killing her first pony.

We don’t get a lot of rumination on that yet though, as we get a scene break and LittlePip has managed to sneak out of Ponyville. What are these segmenting parts called, actually? Is it “Dinkus”? That’s a fantastic name.

The retelling of escaping Ponyville sounds like a stealth sequence in any video game, which I find amusing.

After a brief first encounter with a Bloatsprite - the mutated version of the Parasprites from the show - we reunite with Watcher and LittlePip get’s to have her first friendly conversation so far. (You might wanna count Velvet at the very beginning, but that’s up to you.)

“A friend.” I raised an eyebrow. “Okay, a passing acquaintance. But one that doesn’t mean any harm.”

This back-paddling is interesting. Why isn’t the “Friend or Foe” distinction enough here? My interpretation is that FoE takes friendship quite seriously. Since it is adopting “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic”, in which friendship is the key to change the course of history, just the word “friend” has a lot of worth and meaning that can’t just be thrown around lightly. We don’t know it yet but the core mechanics of MLP, namely friendship and the Elements of Harmony, are still intact in this story.

Finding my apple, I levitated it up. “Thank you. And thank you for the warning about that… thing in the ground.” “Mine.” I blinked. “Y-you want my apple?”

I just want this on here.

We get some info on the Bloatsprite - mainly it’s name and that it is the result of something called Taint. Which, uh– and Watcher’s name. He is not a Spritebot himself, but located somewhere else and just hacks into them to interact with remote places of the world.

Finally he gives vital advice any newbie RPG player can use: Find better gear, learn about the world and make some friends! What? Yes, there it is again. Friendship.

For guidance LittlePip returns to Ponyville. Watcher told her a copy of the Wasteland Survival Guide should still be at the Ponyville Library. Twilight’s home! (Remember, we’re sticking strictly to the first season.)

I was convinced The Wasteland Survival Guide was a reference to an older piece of post-apocalyptic fiction, but nope, it seems to come from the famous quest line in Fallout 3. At least, that is what dominates the search results when I try to google it.

Quite some time is also spend on the horrific decoration, namely desecrated ponies. Mutilated and in pieces, stuck to the walls and hung from the ceiling. These displays of gore are reminiscent of how Super Mutants tend to gather in places with such bloody decorations in Fallout 3. That game reduced the Mutants personality from a faction, as they were in the previous titles, to little more than orcs. Which is a shame, as they mostly exist as canon fodder now. And help us get over killing them, it shows us with lootable sacks of gore that they deserve it.

The raiders here get painted in the same light and fulfill a similar role. As clear bad guys and somewhat as cannon fodder. Their psychology never gets explored much beyond “the Wasteland drove them mad”. They often even have ridiculous cutie marks, implying they have been born into being raiders and that being cruel is their special talent. Which, besides painting the saddest existence, is a shame, since they clearly form groups among themselves, can talk just fine and are/were, by all accounts, just ponies like anyone else. Except, they’re not. They have gone insane, mind you. They live in their own shit and sleep under fresh, dripping intestines. Because they’ve gone mad, you see!

My point with all that is, that the excessive gore in this scene takes away from my immersion, as it raises questions with no answers, and raiders holding slaves and killing ponies (without putting their corpses on display), again, would be fine enough to convince me of their evilness.

Watcher was playing LittlePip a little, as he knew it was also where a couple slaves are kept in cages. One of them is implied to have been sexually assaulted, which - while still despicable - at least makes more sense for raiders to do than the gore fest described earlier.

LittlePip glancing over the bottle caps the first freed slave offers her without a second thought is a fun touch.

Then a fight breaks loose!

I hadn’t just killed a pony–these raiders had given up any right to the title! These were not ponies, they were sick monsters that needed to be put down!

Which implies choice. Something I can’t imagine, choosing to be a raider like this, but fine. I’m sure plenty of FoE side stories go more into detail with raiders, FoE itself seems mostly comfortable portraying them as orcs most of the time. Until it doesn’t. But we will cross that bridge when we get there.

I didn’t realize until that moment, but I was mad! The pure evil of this place had shaken me to the core… and my core was furious!

Regardless of my feelings towards the raiders, Littlepip’s reaction to them has always been inspirational to me. I know, it leads to… problems later on. But joining in with unbridled rage of LittlePip is cathartic in ways I haven’t yet seen replicated somewhere else.

(what do you know, they do shoot with their tongues!)

Figuring out how horses shoot firearms is… it’s own entire discourse I am not very interested in. But it’s fun to see what ideas FoE brought to the table. And it’s even more fun to see high quality concept art of tongue-triggered pistols for the Fallout: Equestria fan game Ashes of Equestria.

The fight is fun, with brisk and clear descriptions and punctuation of humor (“Shouldn't you ponies be smarter than this? You live in a library!”).

LittlePip gets shot but finds the Fluttershy branded medical box. Love that decision. Also our introduction to healing potions – they work like Stimpaks from Fallout, but are actually more believable because magic actually exists!

I was even more pathetic with melee weapons than I was with guns.

Love that RPG progression being set up here.

It was a zombiepony!

Don’t be mean to ghoul Ditzy Doo. Don’t ever be mean to ghoul Ditzy Doo.

I can’t really place the note about why someone might need binoculars in a library. I assume it’s a MLP reference but I’m lost on that one.

After another short lived meeting with mines the fight is over and LittlePip decides to loot the bodies for armor. The bloody, tattered armor. To be fair, it is the best armor she has come across so far and we do stuff like this in RPGs all the time.

She finds bottle caps again and chooses to ignore them this time. Great tease. Love it.

She finds and identifies radigator meat. I’m not sure she should know their name at this point, but whatever. The narrative framing allows it.

Lastly, she confronts the sniper that has been on the balcony of the library the entire time. Here we get a better glimpse at AngeryPip, surprising herself with her audible confidence and malice. It feels like a different character, but since this is portrayed as a extreme situation this seems more adrenaline fueled to me, rather than pathological.

Leaving the library, LittlePip has a combat shotgun, an assault rifle, a revolver (which gets lost in the next scene), a knife and now a sniper rifle. Impressive for this early in the story.

An alert flashed on my PipBuck. Checking it, I discovered that it had labeled the gazebo in front of me: The Macintosh War Memorial.

First, harrowing. Love it. Secondly, I love the inclusion of the gazebo, which has to be the one we can see in the show. It’s cool to see how many elements of the show actually made it in here. Pretty unobtrusively too.

The Memorial specifically names Big Macintosh and his sacrifice. It’s obviously unclear how much of the story was prepared in advance, but the way the war started 200 years ago must have been among that. We get to learn later what Big Mac’s role in the war was.

And we end with LittlePip picking up “The Wasteland Survival Guide. By Ditzy Doo…”

Level Up! New Perk: Bookworm. Kinda nice how we went to the library this time, got a book out of it, the quote at the beginning was “Books! I’ve read several on the subject.”… So, this one feels more than earned.

#fallout equestria #reread #reading #fan fiction #kkat #ponyville

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sternenteile · 4 years

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THE POSITIVE & NEGATIVE; Mun & Muse - Meme.

fill out & repost ♥ This meme definitely favors canons more, but I hope OC’s still can make it somehow work with their own lore, and lil’ fandom of friends & mutuals. Multi-Muses pick the muse you are the most invested in atm.

tagged by: @battleshell ; we all care blue, u do, i do, we all do tagging: holy shit my whole dash because exorbitantly long memes are the BEST. i aint even sarcastic when i say that, i love this kind of shit. u GOTTA do it.

my muse is: canon / oc / au / canon-divergent / fandomless / complicated

Is your character popular in the fandom? YES / NO. [ he is in two fandoms, in fact. he is both a fan-favorite from super mario rpg, the very first in the line of mario rpgs we’ve gotten over the years, and a pretty popular smash bros. request. he even got a mii costume in 4 and a spirit in ultimate as a result of the love. he’s very beloved, to the point that i’d, even as a geno fan myself, deem him a bit overrated. why? b/c where is all the love for all the other smrpg characters!!! they are all good. i love them all. ]

Is your character considered hot™ in the fandom? YES / NO / IDK. [ i mean ?? i’ve met and seen many people who have/had crushes on geno so ??????? but i don’t think it’s like. that. ghfskjhgsg??? ]

Is your character considered strong in the fandom? YES / NO / IDK. [ oh yes, he is undeniably very strong, both in personality and in battle. he is often seen as the level-headed straight man of the party in smrpg (which, in the case of my geno, is... semi-applicable LMAO), a star spirit with unwavering bravery and confidence. his in-battle stats are also pretty crazy, favoring geno as a glass cannon and enemy sweeper. he is also the only character in the game to have a move that will insta-kill any enemy besides bosses. well, and exor. idk why exor, but there ya go. needless to say, pretty much everyone in the fandom agrees that geno is a powerful mfer. why wouldn’t a literal, living star be? ]

Are they underrated? YES / NO / IDK. [ as i mentioned before, there is no shortage of him being underrated in the fanbase. i’d even say he’s a little overrated. some people treat smrpg as ‘that game with geno in it’ rather than everything else it has going for it. i love star boye as much as the next gal, but pls appreciate smrpg as a whole. it’s such a vibrant game with a colorful world of characters to love. ]

Were they relevant for the main story? YES / NO. [ he is actually, completely central to the plot. the subtitle of smrpg is legend of the seven stars, which directly relates to geno’s core mission: to find the seven star pieces and restore star road. the rest of the gang had different ambitions, but they all ended up banding together over geno’s objective. one could argue he mostly is the exposition-granter and could be replaced with anyone else, but i feel he’s irreplaceable. smrpg would be so different without him, like it or not. ]

Were they relevant for the main character? YES / NO / THEY’RE THE PROTAG. [ i wouldn’t say he is the protagonist, obviously, as that is very much mario’s spot. that being said, he is a pretty obvious deuteragonist for smrpg, given how much the plot revolves around him. he’s relevant to mario, for sure, as well as peach, mallow, and bowser. he’s relevant to many characters beyond them. he represents the fight for everyone’s wishes to be able to come true. he’s, uh... very relevant rofl. ]

Are they widely known in their world? YES / NO. [ the star spirits are somewhat known in the mario universe as entities capable of granting wishes, kinda like fabled gods with a tinge more evidence and reality to them. geno himself isn’t a known name, not like the seven star spirits of star haven, but his people are decently known. he, however, is not. ]

How’s their reputation? GOOD / BAD / NEUTRAL. [ he is basically the epitome of ‘good’ until you overthink star society like i do lol. not all wishes can be granted, what constitutes as a ‘good wish’ is subjective, why some good wishes still can’t be granted anyway, etc. it puts him more towards neutral good with a dash of lawful and an undercurrent of chaotic, given his rebellion against his superiors. ]

How strictly do you follow canon? — i mean, it isn’t hard to be strict to mario canon when there isn’t that much of a foundation to work with anyway lol. it’s all rather simplistic until you get into the nitty gritty of it ??? that said, geno is built on a lot of headcanon. like, a lot a lot. star society and its rules for star spirits of his kind, his relationship with rosalina (a matronly figure), his relationship with the seven star spirits, the fleshing-out of his basic personality traits shown in smrpg, etc.? headcanon upon headcanon.

SELL YOUR MUSE! Aka try to list everything, which makes your muse interesting in your opinion to make them spicy for your mutuals. — a star possessing the form of a children’s toy, like toy story but with more cosmic pew-pew. a chill and sassy guy still learning the ways of how earth (and other planets) work on a more intimate level, meaning there will be lots of adorkable moments as this curious one makes discoveries. sometimes attempts to innovate with what he learns to be ‘ahead of the curve’, leading to interesting results. (he likes to sip bubble tea, but replace the tapioca pearls with star bits. good result. mopping a counter-top because it would be ‘more efficient’? not-so-good result, got him lots of stares.) straight outta the 90′s, so be ready some of that rad 90′s slang and know-how from back in the day. (what do u mean they’re bringing back dunkaroos? that’d mean they stOPPED MAKING THEM?!?) very intrigued with new technology, became stuck to his smartphone upon discovering them, fell into the time-sink that is animal videos on youtube. he’s humble and likes to relax, have a good time, and relax w/ the squad. video games, netflix binges, the whole nine yards, he’s gotchu. he is a hell of a fighter and loves to fight, as well. help him push his abilities, and he’ll help you with yours. likes being a little shit for fun, only to an extent (harmless moments of impishness, not serious, hurtful pranks). has a sense of humor that is easy to tickle, even with stupid dad jokes and classic puns. the brother-friend that will fire lasers at ur enemies for u. likes to play violin. cute. super cutie. v. tiny in his star form. almost five whole feet of sparkly, twinkly fun. likes super soakers.

Now the OPPOSITE, list everything why your muse could not be so interesting (even if you may not agree, what does the fandom perhaps think?). — despite intrigue to learn more about the world around him, there is only so much that he does know. societal norms are often beyond him, and there are just so, so many earth hobbies he is not aware of. without handing him a bone, it makes him a little more limited than someone who’s more savvy. he is prime slice-of-life material, but that may also make things rather dull in an rp without an extra twist to spice things up. (thankfully, his being a total SNOT sometimes helps with that.) in canon and strictly in canon, geno doesn’t really have much personality, something that this geno has plenty more fleshed out. a good chunk of fandom finds him to be incredibly boring and droll, to which i personally disagree, as there are little things in smrpg that hint towards him having more to explore.

What inspired you to rp your muse? — funnily enough, seeing smash bros. fandom railing on geno fans + hyping him up all at the same time made me revisit smrpg after having only played it as a teenager. i expected geno to be a boring slate of nothing like fandom often portrays him, but i found that i was terribly wrong. with a newfound perspective on him, noting little details that defied my expectations for this li’l guy, i decided to give him a geno whirl and see what kind of expansion i could do with his character. the amount of lore i came up with him and started wondering about piled on and on and on, and i realized that he had so much more potential than what nintendo and square properly tapped into. (some of it is also a matter of being timely, though, meaning later mario materials such as rosalina, star haven, etc.) i wanted to flex out that potential and see how much i could fill this little doll up with, and lo and behold, i rp him today with extensive amounts of development poured into him with love. to put it simply, there was so much untapped potential that i wanted to share with the world, to show geno the love and in-depth exploration that he deserved, to show that he was more than what he was given.

What keeps your inspiration going? — chattering about mario lore with pals, whether it relates to geno or not, reading, watching shows or videos that remind me of him, learning more about cosmology and the universe we live in (and boy, i’ve learned a lot of neat stuff!), revisiting my childhood (the 90′s) since it’s very geno-appropriate, drawing The Boye, literally anything to do with playing, watching, or doing ANYTHING with smrpg/paper mario 64/smg1&2, and probs a lot more. i’ve got a lot of fuel in me for this guy lol.

Some more personal questions for the mun.

Give your mutuals some insight about the way you are in some matters, which could lead them to get more comfortable with you or perhaps not.

Do you think you give your character justice? YES / NO / I SINCERELY HOPE I DO? [ on one hand, of course i hope that i do! on the other hand, i mean... nintendo and square don’t do jack for him, so i think almost anyone can do him more justice than they have, lbr. it’s... not hard... :’) ]

Do you frequently write headcanons? YES / NO / SORT OF? [ ok i gotta just copy-paste what blue said in her response because my god, she nailed it: “you know when you have a concept and in your own mind you can see it clearly, without fuzziness or confusion, but you can’t seem to put it clearly into words without it turning into an essay because you need to connect all the other points that’s in the single concept you envisioned? yea.” basically, this but in spades, because i have a huge amount of headcanon and lore that i’ve either not gotten around to writing about yet or am purposefully staving off (wink wink). i have written a lot for him, though! it’s just... comparatively so little to what all i’ve thought up over-time. ]

Do you sometimes write drabbles? YES / NO [ not! often! enough!!! ]

Do you think a lot about your Muse during the day? YES / NO [ all i know is fine dining, breathing, and adorkable starman. ]

Are you confident in your portrayal? YES / NO / SORT OF? [ funny enough, i’m pretty damn confident in my portrayal, albeit still very modest. i mean, i am at least confident that i give depth to a character that had so little, and i feel like geno is just... real. (not literally ofc i mean like, he FEELS realistic.) he’s got character perks, character flaws, strengths, weaknesses, personal issues, ongoing obstacles, relatable themes where appropriate, interests, knowledge (or lack thereof), daily routines... i could go on. if nothing else, i at least feel good about trying to make geno feel less like some exposition character and more like a person. considering he wants to achieve personhood that most of his kind never gets to find, it’s oddly poetic lmao. ]

Are you confident in your writing? YES / NO. [ eehhhhh. i mean, i guess it’s fiiiIIINE, but i often feel like i lack a certain pizzazz, something that’ll keep people interested and intrigued with what i write, giving enough material for them to adequately bounce back. on the same token, i like to babble with my prose, so i often worry about going on and on and on way too much. stale, quantity over quality, substance-less writing is what i fuss over the most. ;; ]

Are you a sensitive person? YES / NO. / SORTA. [ sensitive to empathy and other peoples’ emotions, yes. i’m an insanely empathetic person, and i have a lot of love to give. that said, with only few exceptions, i have a pretty iron-clad skin. sometimes, i daresay it’s to the point that i often misjudge what other people can take, and i feel i can end up being too harsh and forward. that being said, it is also a good thing at times. harsh or not, if i feel a certain way about something, i make that shit known and i make it known as loud as it necessarily should be. i don’t beat around the bush; rather, if i have a beef, i will make that beef known. consequently, if i have love to give, you damn well better be ready to swim in a pool of hearts and your favorite kind of cookie (if applicable). ]

Do you accept criticism well about your portrayal? — as long as it isn’t complaints with lack of substance/reasoning, yes! even if i may not always agree and may take things with a grain of salt, i am insanely receptive to criticism, even over the pickiest things. it’s something i’ve grown used to due to prior rp venues being particularly harsh. i will never throw a fit or act like a child if there is something i could do better with geno. in fact, there always will be! i’m not perfect, and i love to hear about ways i can improve and do better. it’s paramount in a hobby like this.

Do you like questions, which help you explore your character? — LET’S-A FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

If someone disagrees to a headcanon of yours, do you want to know why? — sure, i’d love to know! it can make for some neat conversation!! c:

If someone disagrees with your portrayal, how would you take it? — that’s a’ight. i’m sure there are things about my geno that won’t resonate with everyone, especially given he’s a very sentimental character for old fogies like me lol. as long as there is no disrespect thrown this way, it’s all good. this stuff is subjective, after all.

If someone really hates your character, how do you take it? — oh, a lot of people really hate geno lol, but i’m guessing this means personal portrayal only. in such a case, i would be curious as to why, admittedly, but i acknowledge that i am not owed anyone’s reasoning. if they really, absolutely hate my geno, then it’s their prerogative, whether they want to give a reason why or not. again, it’s all good unless immaturity and disrespect rears its head. i won’t tolerate that and will ignore any such behavior.

Are you okay with people pointing out your grammatical errors? — sure, it happens to the best of us!

Do you think you are easy going as a mun? — i’d like to think that i am! i’ve often had people tell me that i’m very nice and mature, but of course, i have no right to say how i come off to other people. that is not in my territory to judge, only theirs. that being said, it’s not easy to upset me or anger me, and i’m more often willing to listen and pal around than not. i’m the living embodiment of (shrug). i am just (shrug).

#★ ; ( ooc. )#★ ; ( meme. )#★ ; ( headcanon. )#WHHHHOOOOOHHHHH THIS WAS A BLST #THANK U AGAIN BLUE I LOVE THIS

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britesparc · 4 years

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Weekend Top Ten #450

Top Ten Characters with the Best Star Trek: The Next Generation Episodes

As I’m writing this, it’s officially Star Trek: Discovery day; the first episode of the new season is up on Netflix and ready to watch. Given how little time I manage to find for watching anything that I want to watch, I’m cautiously optimistic that I can get to see it this weekend, but we’ll see; my lovely wife might want to finally catch up with Star Trek: Picard first, which for some reason she never finished. Regardless, I’m excited, and I wanted to write about Star Trek again.

The new Star Trek series have been a bit of a roller coaster, because whilst they’ve both generally been very good, they’ve certainly had their odder and more controversial moments, and neither of them has consistently felt like classic Trek. If I had to be critical, I’d argue that there are plenty of darker adult-tinged sci-fi shows at the moment, including ones set in space, but not that many that follow the day-to-day travails of a starship crew, which as always been Trek’s raison d'être. However, both shows have succeeded in giving us some compelling stories and – especially in the case of Discovery – a fantastic cast of new characters to celebrate. Great characterisation has been the cornerstone of Trek since the beginning, and no doubt one of the reasons why it still resonates to this day, from the “Holy Trinity” of Kirk, McCoy, and Spock, through to the wonderful and insanely empathetic Saru in Discovery and Captain Sexpot Rios in Picard. The fact that we’re now in a new time period, with no established history to try to tie the narrative to, means Discovery 3 is in a great place to give us some great new stories.

Anyway, to celebrate all of this – the new season of Discovery and my overall love of Star Trek characters – I’ve decided to go back to the Next Generation well and talk about just that: characters. TNG famously hit its stride when it started focusing each story through the lens of the different characters on the show, so that we tended to get a “Worf episode” or a “Riker episode”; even the best eps, the biggest and most epic, really had a tendency to hone in on one or two characters specifically, such as the all-time classic “The Best of Both Worlds” really being about Picard and Riker, or “Yesterday’s Enterprise” being a much-belated Tasha Yar episode.

But which characters have the best episodes? That is, if you know an episode is focused on a particular character, how likely is it that it’s going to be a belter? Can you reasonably say one character was better served than another in terms of the quality of “their” episodes? Well, yes. Yes you can. That’s this list. That’s the whole thing.

So this list is basically which characters have the best episodes, or are more likely to. It’s not a list of my favourite characters, or even really a list of the best episodes overall; it’s just, well, who got to chew scenery the most on the bridge, basically. Now, I really feel like I should end this blurb with an appropriate Star Trek quote, but I must have used “Make it so” and “Engage” before, so I’m not sure what else to say.

May the Force be with you, I guess.

Picard: Yes, of course; he’s the star, he’s the stand-out actor of the bunch, he gets the best episodes. If it focuses on the captain, you can rest assured you’re in for a treat. Whether it’s an epic mythology-enhancing saga or – even better – a slower, sadder meditation on life, Picard’s episodes are engaging. Chortle. Also if there’s room for a classic Picard Monologue, all the better; I don’t know if you’ve noticed this about Patrick Stewart, but the guy can chew scenery. Key episodes: The Best of Both Worlds, The Drumhead, The Hidden Light

Worf: Worf’s complex backstory offers a lot of opportunities for great stories, with the caveat that pretty much all of them focus on Klingon history or the contrast between his heritage and his place in Starfleet. Issues of familial loyalty rub up against quasi-Shakespearean dynastic dramas, often with high adventure. You can assume a Worf ep is a good one, despite the fact that quite a few of them are also about Alexander. Key episodes: Sins of the Fathers, Redemption, Birthright

Data: everyone’s second-favourite emotionless nerd on Star Trek, Data’s eps are almost uniformly great, and often poke at what it means to be alive. There may be a bit of ground retrod as we examine the notion of humanity, or sentience, or emotion, but his episodes are always interesting, and often very funny, and Brent Spiner is a continuing delight. Key episodes: The Measure of a Man, The Offspring, Brothers

Q: is it cheating to include a recurring guest star? Maybe, but I don’t care. John de Lancy is just phenomenal as Q, one of the best Trek characters, and so good he became a My Little Pony. He’s arch, he’s hilarious, he can take the show into new directions; he raises questions of fate, or of the concept of divinity; and underneath it all there’s a malevolent streak, a genuine sense of danger exemplified in his first appearance. Pairs very well with Picard, naturally. I didn’t like the Robin Hood episode, though. Key episodes: Deja Q, Encounter at Farpoint, Q Who

Riker: he’s a Kirk-esque horn-dog ragamuffin with a heart of gold and a fist of steel, so there’s always a lot to love when William T. takes the helm (see what I did there?). Often issues of loyalty, or duty versus personal wishes, arise; he’s frequently putting his life on the Enterprise above his career. But he’s also a very moralistic character, so quite often he’ll be trying to do the right thing in tough circumstances. Key episodes: The Pegasus, Future Imperfect, Frame of Mind

Crusher: always a stand-out supporting character, Crusher has some great episodes focused on her too; usually quite a self-righteous sort who puts the immediate moral obligation above her own safety or duty to Starfleet, which raises lots of interesting, thorny questions. She’s a smart cookie, exemplified in the astounding Remember Me; her relationships with her son and with Picard are good to explore too. She also shagged a ghost, but let’s try to forget about that. Key episodes: Remember Me, Attached, Suspicions

Wesley: pigeonholed somewhat unfairly due to a few ropey first-season episodes, Wesley Crusher is actually an interesting character whose stand-out storylines offer a good deal of nuance and intrigue, as well as exciting hi-jinks, insights into the Federation, and – should you go that far – weird magic Jedi stuff. He gets a nice romance with Ashley Judd, we unpeel his relationship with Picard over multiple episodes, and the bloom comes off the rose in spectacular fashion when he gets to Starfleet Academy. Wil Wheaton was a good young actor and was sadly underserved by the show, but at least we get these eps. Key episodes: The Game, Final Mission, The First Duty

Pulaski: say whaaat? Yes, she’s only in the show for five minutes, but Doctor Pulaski gets a few crackers under her belt in that time. A bit like Crusher would later, she often excels when standing up to authority and presenting herself as a moral arbiter. Interestingly, she’s not always right, and it’s a fun dance to watch. She’s also been round the block a bit, adding facets to her relationships with other characters, particularly Riker. And, of course, she flirts with a bunch of polygons when Geordi and Data cock up the Holodeck. Key episodes: Elementary, Dear Data, Unnatural Selection, The Icarus Factor

Troi: sadly suffering in the face of a bunch of soppy romances and storylines involving her mother that are, shall we say, an acquired taste, Troi still gets some good stuff, mostly later in the series’ run. Taking her out of her comfort zone, making her a spy or an investigator, or giving her some proper dramatic meat, works wonders. Also once she was a cake. Key episodes: Face of the Enemy, Eye of the Beholder, Dark Page

LaForge: oh, Geordi. I love Georgi, but he kinda got done dirty a little bit. Always an interesting and dependable secondary character, unfortunately the bulk of his episodes as a primary character tend to revolve around him being a bit of a jerk or a bit of a creep. Obviously the most heinous sin is making a computer program based on a real person and then, well, trying to shag it, but he also has a tendency to be a dick to anyone new in Engineering. He’s even a bit of a dick to Scotty! I sometimes think the writers never quite had a handle on Geordi’s character; is he a young tech genius with poor social skills? Is he supposed to be arrogant? A wannabe lothario who’s just really unlucky? Anyway, like I say, I still love the guy to bits, and LeVar Burton is fantastic, but of all the main ensemble, his are the flakiest solo episodes. That said, the three listed here are all belters. Key episodes: The Next Phase, The Enemy, Relics

Anyway. There we are. I’ve still, as of going “to press”, not watched Discovery season 3, and my wife’s still not watched the end of season 1 of Picard. Any day now…!

#top ten #star trek #picard #discovery #the next generation #star trek discovery #star trek tng

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annemariejane · 4 years

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WORKS IN CREATIVE NONFICTION

PERSONAL NARRATIVE

New school. New faces. New environment. My first day at Pantaleon Garcia Senior Highschool was indeed full of mixed emotions. First I was excited. I don't know what may awaits me here, or what kind of adventure this school might take me. Second, nervous. I'm afraid that I may not easily adjust wt the new environment that revolves around me. I'm a pure Mindanaoan, and I thought that our dialect and expressions might give me a hard time to deal wt my classmates. Even though I grew up often transferring schools to another, I still feel the creeps on being on another environment where everything seems a stranger for me. But despite all of this, for me one thing is for sure, I'm totally determined to learn in this institution. Studying here is a big milestone for me, as well as a big step towards all of my goals in life.

At a very young age, I already faced and experienced trauma, pain and hardships. Yet, it just made me more stronger and tougher which really reflected my 'strong' personality which not everyone seems to get along. Call me whatever you want, but I am frank-type of person, open and honest, I will say everything I want to say, especially if it is true. Second, I like Wattpad stories or Korean Idols. They are my stress-reliever and endorphins. If you also like those, we will surely get along. I also really value friendship. I am that type of person who wants to make friends if I really want to. That's what I really thought always so I can be comfortable.

Right at the start of the first period of the class, We introduced ourselves one by one. I feel kinda nervous, but for the sake that everyone of the class will know me, I eventually introduce myself in front of the class (which I almost spoke in visayan language). Because of that, I eventually befriended Alliah and Emmie. I did not have a hard time being close to them because both of them are really friendly, and we share some of our favorites. It's like They are so funny and I really feel comfortable when I'm with them the whole day. In the second day of classes, we tackled about communication. To give more emphasis on our lesson, our teacher grouped and instructed us to portray what is communication. The given activity also serves somewhat as a bond for all of us, to get know better of our classmates, and to develop the communication, cooperation and teamwork of our class. This role play also helped me gain more friends and peers that will surely help me to eventually adopt in this new environment. Little by little, as the days pass by, I really hope that I can be more confident on myself to communicate and interact with my classmates so that I can finally cope up with this new backdrop I'm in.

REACTION TO A PERSONAL NARRATIVE

As I read Roselle's personal narrative, it gave me an idea how she deals with her everyday life as a Senior Highschool student. It's like knowing her more as a person, her struggles, experiences and emotions. She doesn't have confidence in herself, she thinks negatively because she thought she has many flaws. Aside from that, I've come up to the idea that we really are different, and we are all an deep oceans waiting for some person to dive in, by means of that we are just waiting for companions in our lives. As for Roselle, in her all throughout experiences in senior high gave her a lot of lessons in life. She was once a silent type of girl turned into a jolly woman as she learns how to survive. She became strong and brave.

REFLECTIVE ESSAY

Everyday, our real-life heroes working outside of our country are facing countless struggles in life in order to survive, just to feed their families left in the country, just like Joy and Ethan and the casts in Hello Love, Goodbye.

After watching this movie, I'm giving it a perfect 10 rating. This kind of movie is kind of rare for me, the combination of drama and romance with that level is what makes this moving worth watching all over again. Hello Love, Goodbye is really worth watching. The movie showed every hardship a OFW has to overcome, yet this also made our heroes feel comfort and close to their homes. Joy and Ethan perfectly portraited the lives of the OFWs working hard to keep their family intact. Kathryn is a great actress, she justifies every line and words she says, and for sure you will love her more in this movie. Alden is a big discovery here. No one thought Alden would act like this good. His charm really captivates viewers. The supporting cast will give you some break of Ethan and Joy, and they are hilarously funny. The trio of Maymay, Kakai and Lovely adds more excitement. And also is the Chemistry. No one expected that this love team would be a great hit. The genuiness in their eyes when they look at each other, it's like this is not the first time that they have been in a movie project. One more thing is I want to applaud Miss Cathy Garcia Molina for another superb machination of the movie. She is really exceptional. She is really capable of bringing out the best of her actors. She is a great director.

In the end, Hello Love, Goodbye is a great success. The Chemistry, actors and actresses, the plot, the director, everything is almost perfect. Indeed it rightfully deserves its blockbuster office success

FACIAL RECOGNITION

Roselle's face is very angelic and pretty. Whenever she puts pink lipstick in her lips, she instantly glow because it compliments her white skin more. My most favorite part of her face is her eyes. There are some times that I tend to stare at her eyes because it is so pretty. It is like reflecting her soul and the mole under her right eye makes it more beautiful. When you see her smiling, her eyes is also sparkling like it is saying that she is genuinely happy. She is like an open book because of her eyes. You can easily figure out what are her emotions. It is very amazing that an eye can reflect a single soul, and how we can see the feelings of every one by looking at their eyes. As for Roselle, it is her asset as a lady. I can easily recognize her by just staring at her eyes.

LITERARY JOURNALISM

The novel coronavirus, which WHO officially named as COVID-19, has gave a ravaging impact on global health. As days and weeks goes by, thousands of confirmed cases are being recorded and death toll is piling up. But aside from the bizarre and rapid spread of the epidemic, another thing has been spreading rapidly - fake news and misinformation.

The effects are felt also here in the Philippines. Excess demand for surgical masks among the general public is a serious concern. Many people rushed to the pharmacy to purchase them, but as demands increases, some stores took advantage by also raising the prices of the commodities which really enrage panic-stricken consumers.

Moreover, rapid spread of fake news led to xenophobia among Chinese tourists and immigrants across the country. Posts amd tweets on Chinese people being discriminated in public places engulfed all social media sites and platforms for weeks. Even the President, took some blows from the netizens, being called as dog of the Chinese government for not immediately giving a travel ban on China. Hatred posts about deportation among Chinese, Chinese being blamed for carrying the virus, ban on Chinese in the country, all of it circulated, and for me it is been ugly to see. Instead of hating the virus, people turned into the people.

Misinformation and fake news also just made the panic escalated. One video of a Chinese person claiming as a nurse telling how deadly the virus are and how the Chinese government is covering and hiding it from world media just created more panic on people. Later, it is been found out to be fake. Other videos also circulating in the internet showing people just lying unconscious in the streets which is said to have been infected are also proven to be fake.

The magnitude of the COVID-19 outbreak remains unclear. As further studies are made, some speculated that the virus can be transmitted without being having the symptoms, which is still not proven to be true. But if it is, it is will be more harder and difficult than it was anticipated.

In my opinion, this crisis also serve as an eyeopener for everyone. Despite of the advent of technology, these tiny little things still can have the power to knock off humans if not eradicated. This outbreak also showed how our country, the Philippines still lack the equipment, technology and power to fight off these diseases. I think the government should give more attention and support to our local scientists and medical professionals which are always unappreciated and underpaid.

The mass media must also take responsibility for providing correct information for the people. They should instill that they play an important role in the society and they should know that sometimes their strong but inaccurate and misleading headlines might cause enrage on the public, cause fear and panic, thus making them ignorant on the outbreak. Effective and well-managed communication between the government, health professionals and the members of the press will lessening the risk of panic and hysteria, and also help diminish fake news and discrimination amongst Chinese tourists and immigrants.

Sometimes, gossips, fake news and misinformations spreads faster than the virus itself. That's why everyone of us should be vigilant and take more extra caution to prevent more panic in times of crisis.

TESTIMONIO

November First Gone Wrong

I am not the type of girl who love to go to the other place without getting any permission from my grandmother but when my friends planned to go in a Live Band that is happening annually in our municipality, I decided to go with them. But they made a lot of convincing before making me go with them and that was the first of me going out to have fun without any "go-signal" from my guardian which is my grandmother. I am really nervous that time, afraid of what will be the outcome, will I get a lot of scolding?

Our outdoor fun is really memorable. Despite pf the consequences we might get, our adrenaline that day really spiked up when the Live Band started, there's a lot of people having fun. It felt as if I had enter a world where people don't have any worries. So I said to myself that it's time to unwind and it's time for a change of scenery. We are all banging our heads up after the beat of some random song. My friends are jumping and screaming the song's lyrics. After 6 songs, we decided to eat at some food hub that is open 24/7 and there's a clock hanged in the corner and I saw that it is already 11pm so I panicked because I will really get my grandmother angry at me. The only available ride there is my friend's father so I waited for them, I waited for the Live Band to be done so we could go home. It was exactly 12pm when they all decided to go home and at exactly 12:53am we already reached our house. The lights are already off, and thanks to God because our backdoor can be easily open so I sneak in without waking my grandmother up, and I fell asleep. Morning after that, I was bombarded with a lot of words coming out from my grandmother's mouth. I didn't fired back because I know that it is my fault in the first place.

Lesson learned. A fun is not always fun when you know that there is a person out there worrying about you especially when they don't have any idea where you are. Always ask for permission from your parents or guardians because they what is the best for you. And we can still have fun with our friends without sneaking out.

JUST LIKE ANYBODY ELSE, ORDINARY

an autobiography

T'was a very cold night, when time seems to stand still. Of course, it's the 25th of July, year 2002 and it is the middle Habagat season; it is really raining hard that time in my hometown in Zillovia, Talacogon when a healthy and sweet-faced baby was born, which turns out to be, me. Anajane Marie, as my parents named me. Ana taken from Antonio Santa Ana, a famous Mexican general whom my mother idolizes when she was taking up Literature classes in her college days; Jane, taken from the name of my father's first love, and the Marie is from my mother's name, Marrissa. Judging from the way I was name, anyone can say that I might have a colourful childhood. I really thought so, too. But unlike other teens today who enjoyed most of their childhood, I on the other hand already experienced struggles and rough times even as a young child which really shaped to who and what I am today.

I was just 4 years old when my mother left us. Being just a little kid back then, I really have no idea what was really happening. My father would just always tell me that my mother is away because of work. I spend my whole childhood without a mother, always wondering where she is, thinking why would she just disappear without telling me. And as I grew up, I began to slowly understand the reasons why she just left us. But I was not even finish healing the pain that my mom has left on me, when another tragedy came to me. I was just 6 years old when my father sent me to my distant relatives in Davao because he needs to find a job. I really felt rejected that time, I felt that my father has also given up on me. I started to think if they really care for me, or do they even love me. I tried to not think of them, and just focus on my new family.

Being a young kid there, I tried to be being polite to my relatives, but instead they just mistreated me in return. Here starts another series of misfortunes. My titas would always physically abuse me to the point where they don't even let me eat meals. Then, being tired of me, they passed me to my other relatives in Negros, and then again to Leyte, but still the same things happens. At the age of 8, they would force me to harsh works, which always made me more prone to being sick. Father always sends monthy allowance for me, but my relatives won't even give it to me. Day after day, I always face the same struggles - until I was sent back to my hometown, to be cared by my grandmother.

My grandmother gave me the love that I've been longing and finding for years. She might be kind of strict, but she is the only person I feel that I'm being cared of. She gave me love of a mother, and the protection of a father. And she made the two roles so easy. She made me very close to her, but also not relying too much on her. She taught me also to understand on other things, and helped me realize that there are people out there that have problems and struggles that might be bigger than mine, so there's no point in giving up in life.

Right now, I'm living back with my father here in Imus, and I'm really missing my grandmother so much. She always reminds me to look after other people, that's why I never hesitates to help others who seeks advices or having deep personal problems. That's why I'm also planning to take (if given the chance) Psychology when I graduate in Senior Highschool.

Every night, I aways think of all that I've done throughout my life. The struggles, challenges, and obstacles I faced which did not break me, but instead gave me more energy to achieve in life. I may not have the happiest and the most colourful childhood experiences, I'm still grateful that I've gone through of those because it really shaped me into what and who I am today.

MR. RESILIENCY

a biography

A guy who despite of all the problems he face, still manages to put on a smile. No matter the adversities he face, he still don't quit. He's probably one of the toughest person I've ever met. He's Ian Christopher Pabi.

Born on November 17, 2000, he is the second child of Hermes B. Pabi, a sales supervisor of an appliance company, and Marivic D. Pabi, a plain housewife and a former accountant. He have an elder sister, Allyssa Hannah Marie, and two younger siblings, namely Bea Hannah Grace and Ian Joseph. The family currently lives in the same town as mine, in Talacogon, Agusan del Sur. We started to get on each other through textmates and chatting through Facebook. He is also very well-known to my friends that's why got along so easily.

He currently studies in Caraga State University, one of the premier State Universities in the country, taking Bachelor in Arts Major in Sociology. Even though he is quite far from me, I know that we have our each other's back when we have problems.

He can be quiet at some times, but almost everyday, you can always see him either laughing and smiling. He would crack up nonsense jokes and even prank you. That's also why he easily come along with other people. He's naturally funny.

From a normal person's perspective, everyone can say that he's just a happy-go-lucky type of guy. He's a bubbly person. But also quite of a genius. Since he's a child, as he would always tell me, he is already fond of reading books and studying. That's why he is also a consistent top student in their class which prompt him being always praise by his teachers and classmates. But behind those praises are what he always say - Pressure. He is always pressured to succeed, to be on top. In their family, it's like their's no room for mistakes. That's why as much as possible, he do always his best to be on top, because he don't want to disappoint his parents. Also, not everyone knew this, but he is also the least favorite in their family. Everything he wants, he always earned it. That's also one of his best qualities. He's such a hardworking guy. He's really such a resilient one. After being tired and empty, you will just see him smiling despite of the problems that happened to him.

That is why I always have my support on him, because I know he always seeks help and advices on me. Everytime I help and comfort him, I feel I made an impact on other people as well. As what would my grandmother would say, I have the power to help other people. And that's wha I'm doing. I have his support and he got mine. Hopefully, in God's perfect time, he will finally reach his dreams.

NO WORDS LEFT TO SPEAK

a travelogue

At a point in our lives we get eager for something different and that is when we take upon that adventure to find something new. Even as I was a little kid back then, I'm always fond of enjoying the thrill of adventure. Wandering outside of our backyard, catching insects and finding other peculiar objects was really the "first step" for me to think and wander what really is outside.

That's why I really didn't complain when they always send me to my distant relatives when I was young because for me, it was another kind of environment to venture. When I was 12, I even travel alone to Manila! I really love travelling, because it gives me the somewhat freedom to enjoy what is it really outside. That's why when I came to Imus, Cavite, I tried to explore what are best place here. Until I got the invitation to Highlands Camp in Iba, Zambales which I really can't resist.

Actually, it was the school's plan to have a retreat for the whole students of the school, but because of some complicated issues, not all sections were able to participate, that's why it was Sir Jason reorganize the plan. It was also a way of unwinding because of busy and tiring first sem, especially for me who is a freshman and a newbie to Imus. It would really help me to gain more friends and build bonds with them.

October 27, after a long and tiring travel, we reached the Highlands Camp. I was very fascinated by the view, it was so very spacious, and even we were still at the lobby, we knew that this will gonna so fun. I feel so thrilled because back in our hometown, there's no such a big and wide activity area like this. First thing we did was a some sort of a preach and lecture by some guests. In the preach, I felt so blessed by words that the speakers shared, as well as some of the students who shared their own stories. There, I can see that everyone of us are connected and united, despite the differences and diversity in our religions. We had a deeper understanding on other people's beliefs and knew we should always respect them. After the program, there was also a live band to entertain us.

The next day, we woke up early for the new sets of activity. There we were group into three, participating in some physical yet fun games. There were tug of war, running, we were also showered by giant hose, where we really got wet. There was still so many activities we did there. My energy for fun and adventure was never put to waste. It was really a wholesome activity. We also took photos around the camp, along with some newly met friends, especially our seniors, the Grade12. They are so welcoming on us and treated us like their younger siblings. The whole retreat for me is such a success to everyone.

Adventures are tiring, yes. But the fun, the memories we shared along with people, the kind of bond we build with them, the sense of camaraderie, are surely all worth it. And this one, our travel to Highlands Camp, is the one I will never forget.

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eddycurrents · 6 years

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For the week of 13 August 2018

Quick Bits:

Astonishing X-Men Annual #1 is a rather dark tale of reuniting the remaining members of the original five X-Men and the current creature claiming to be Charles Xavier running around as X. Given his attitude in Charles Soule’s run and now in this story penned by Matthew Rosenberg, there still seems to be something very wrong with the once altruistic, peaceful founder of the team. I personally don’t really like this character, but it still leads to a good story from Rosenberg, Travel Foreman, and Jim Charalampidis.

| Published by Marvel

By Night #3 is another fun issue with a bit of a twist as we follow Heather’s father and Jane’s co-worker instead of the women. The voice John Allison gives to Heather’s father, Chip, is hilarious, the perfect mix of no-nonsense “dad” thought and aimless absurdity.

| Published by Boom Entertainment / Boom! Box

Cable & Deadpool Annual #1 is a very entertaining issue of time-travel nonsense and Deadpool being tricked into a recreation of the plot of Terminator from an obsessive stalker. David F. Walker packs this story with humour, creepy lesson teaching, and a bit of a monologue on the nature of comics storytelling. All nicely illustrated by a rogues gallery of Paco Diaz, Danilo S. Beyruth, Nick Bradshaw, Luke Ross, Marco Rudy, Edgar Salazar, Flaviano, Francesco Manna, Leonard Kirk, Chris Sotomayor, and Jason Keith.

| Published by Marvel

Coda #4 packs the issue with more stunning artwork, from character designs to page layouts and panel transitions, by Matías Bergara (with colour assists from Michael Doig). This series is just a visual treat. It also helps that the story from Bergara and Si Spurrier is equally incredible, taking many of the traditional forms and modes of fantasy literature and turning them into something new. The opening poem outlining the fall of the world and the rise of Sir Hum’s wife is particularly inspired.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

Coyotes #5 is a welcome return for this series after the trade break, beginning a new story-arc that goes more in depth to the history between the wolves and the grandmothers, as the book’s purpose pivots to the offence. I love the ingenuity of the mythology of this story being built by Sean Lewis and Caitlin Yarsky. Also, like the first four issues, Yarsky’s art is just stunning.

| Published by Image

Crowded #1 is great. The concept of tapping into our current app-driven and crowdfunded world is brilliant, especially as extended to an assassination app in reapr. Christopher Sebela, Ro Stein, Ted Brandt, Triona Farrell, and Cardinal Rae seem to have captured magic in a bottle here and the execution is just phenomenal. The characters of Charlie and Vita are instantly relatable, the premise is on fire, and the art is exceptional. I really want to see what Charlie isn’t telling us.

| Published by Image

Ether: Copper Golems #4 is another stunning visual feast from David Rubín. Seriously, he has outdone himself this issue, as he handles the usual fantasy sequences, then changes art styles several times as we get our characters living out some of their fantasies. His work is just stunning. The story that he and Matt Kindt are telling just keeps getting better and better.

| Published by Dark Horse

Extermination #1 begins the next big X-Men event with a bang as past, present, future, and alternate universes collide in this explosive issue. I feel like discussing just about any piece of it is a spoiler, so I’ll just suggest that if you’re at all interested in the original five brought to our time, you need to read this. Ed Brisson, Pepe Larraz, and Marte Gracia present an impressive opening salvo.

| Published by Marvel

Flavor #4 is a bit of a piece-shuffling issue, as Xoo spends a bit of time in jail and we get a couple more hints as to the something that is being done with children. Although we still don’t know what, and a bit of a revelation of Anant’s mother. Joseph Keatinge, Wook Jin Clark, and Tamra Bonvillain continue to work wonders on this series. Highly recommended for all ages.

| Published by Image

Gideon Falls #6 ups the level of weird in this concluding chapter of the first arc. To say that the implications of that final page are confusing, compelling, and chilling is an understatement, as Jeff Lemire, Andrea Sorrentino, and Dave Stewart construct one of the oddest instalments of this series yet. A lot of this series has been in building tone and atmosphere, spooky unexplained happenings, and here the story goes full David Lynch. It’s wonderful.

| Published by Image

The Gravediggers Union #9 is the conclusion to what has been an exciting and different take on the occult and elder gods mythology from Wes Craig, Toby Cypress, and Niko Guardia. Fittingly, this end comes down to the family conflict that this arc has revolved around, and it’s a well played out finale. I highly recommend this series.

| Published by Image

Hunt for Wolverine: The Claws of a Killer #4 is probably the least satisfying “conclusion” of these minis so far, giving us a kind of hand-wavy explanation for what they were tracking, no insight into the organization who brought about these zombies while resurrecting family members, and Daken shuffled off to who knows where. Mariko Tamaki successfully captures the tone and atmosphere of many of the original Wolverine series stories laced with action and black ops, but unfortunately also carries on its tradition of obfuscation instead of an enticing mystery. Nice art from Butch Guice, Mack Chater, Cam Smith, and Jordan Boyd, though.

| Published by Marvel

Ice Cream Man #6 is highly inventive, even for a series as highly imaginative already that this one is. Instead of one story, here, W. Maxwell Prince, Martín Morazzo, and Chris O’Halloran give us three different flavours to fulfill the “Strange Neapolitan”. It’s a mostly silent issue of three different paths our protagonist can possibly take with each of them presenting their own flavour of horror. This is a really great issue.

| Published by Image

Infinity Wars #2 is pretty damn epic. I know that the pieces will be reshuffled and everything will be put back together more or less as we found it, but hot damn are Gerry Duggan, Mike Deodato Jr., and Frank Martin working overtime to tell a heavy story here. The art is some of the best I’ve ever seen from Deodato and Martin and the stakes have just ratcheted through the roof. I’m loving every moment of this book so far.

| Published by Marvel

The Lost City Explorers #3 is still doling out the tension as the kids continue to try to evade Sagan security on their way to try to find Hel and Homer Coates’ father’s discovery site under New York City. We’re still only get bits and pieces before a revelation of whatever the discovery actually is, but Zack Kaplan, Alvaro Sarraseca, and Dee Cunniffe are still presenting a compelling story.

| Published by AfterShock

Luke Cage #1 is another digital original like Cloak & Dagger and Jessica Jones, and also like the latter series offers two chapters at once, and is really rather good, from Anthony Del Col, Jahnoy Lindsay, and Ian Herring. This sets up an interesting mystery of a strange kind of serial killer, the possibility of Luke suffering from CTE, and the wonderful family dynamic between Luke and his daughter.

| Published by Marvel

The Magic Order #3 continues as a slow burn as Madame Albany and her coterie keep working their way through murdering her family members, all while those family members attempt to track down information on who her assassin is and how to stop him. Mark Millar, Olivier Coipel, and Dave Stewart are crafting a wonderful story here that reminds me a bit of Wanted, but good and about magic.

| Published by Image

Multiple Man #3 takes a particularly dark turn as Matthew Rosenberg, Andy MacDonald, and Tamra Bonvillain toss us into the dark future where an evil Madrox reigns. Of the dark futures where the X-Men stories have taken place, this is probably one of the most twisted, even as Rosenberg peppers it with some nice humour. The throw rug in particular is hilarious.

| Published by Marvel

Ninja-K #10 is a single issue story focusing on Ninja-H and the horrors that soldiers can have to deal with and how they sometimes cope with it. It has some great art from Larry Stroman, Ryan Winn, and Andrew Dalhouse.

| Published by Valiant

Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #308 is probably the best issue of this series since Chip Zdarsky and Michael Walsh’s single issue story of Peter and Jonah hashing it out in issue 6. Zdarsky shows us here that he really excels at getting into the head’s of some of the characters, giving us a good look from their perspective, and humanizing them. He does that here with Flint Marko, the Sandman, and it feels like an interesting transition to something else. It also helps that it’s wonderfully illustrated by Chris Bachalo and his usual team of inkers of Tim Townsend, Al Vey, Wayne Faucher, and John Livesay. This is a great start and I’m excited to see what comes next for this story.

| Published by Marvel

Rumble #6 begins this volume’s second arc and is the other series with glorious David Rubín artwork this week (this one with colours from Dave Stewart). I love this book, with its fun mix of humour and arcane magic and fantasy, and how John Arcudi, originally James Harren, now Rubín have built the characters, the overall story, and the absolutely beautiful artwork.

| Published by Image

Stellar #3 takes an interesting look at the existential price of war and at the notion of “you can never go home again” in this somewhat depressing, but no less entertaining, issue.

| Published by Image / Skybound

Thor #4 is the glorious conclusion to this opening arc sending Thor to Niffleheim to fight Sindr in this leg of the War of the Realms. The artwork from Mike del Mundo is incredible.

| Published by Marvel

Tony Stark: Iron Man #3 builds another largely single issue story into the larger arc, with a beta test of Tony’s new eScape platform. I like how Dan Slott and Valerio Schiti have been approaching this series and building up Stark’s supporting cast, while also progressing the recurring subplot of Bethany Cabe’s subterfuge and X-51′s newfound robot rights activism.

| Published by Marvel

Volition #1 is another interesting debut from AfterShock, this time focusing on a world featuring artificial intelligence that hasn’t sparked an apocalypse, instead adapting and continuing on as just another class within society, fighting to survive and combat prejudice like their human counterparts, as created by Ryan Parrott and Omar Francia. The art is gorgeous and a real driving factor for the story, Francia’s style reminds me a bit of JG Jones and it’s incredible.

| Published by AfterShock

Weapon H #6 continues to be that weird, offbeat comic from Marvel that used to be published in the ‘80s or ‘90s that nobody read, but was actually rather good. Greg Pak has been doing a great job of building up this rather eclectic cast of characters and the art has been wonderful. Here Ario Anindito takes on the art chores with Morry Hollowell and it’s quite nice. His style reminds me a bit of Brian Hurtt mixed with Leinil Yu and it really fits the gritty action of the story.

| Published by Marvel

Weapon X #22 is more irreverent fun with the “new” Weapon X-Force team as they follow the money instead of altruistic reasons for saving people (though their second mission out already sees a reversion to the old remit). It’s a not-so-serious take on what is almost a team entirely composed of villains with a good sense of humour and action from Greg Pak, Fred Van Lente, Yildiray Cinar, and Frank D’Armata. It’s also another good place for some obscure X-mythology insertions and follow-ups in the story.

| Published by Marvel

The Weatherman #3 continues to keep readers a little off balance with some of the elements in the story, echoing what’s going on with out protagonist, Nathan Bright. Jody LeHeup, Nathan Fox, and Dave Stewart are crafting something here that feels a lot like some of the zanier action strips from 2000 AD and it’s pretty glorious.

| Published by Image

Other Highlights: Analog #5, Babyteeth #12, Cinema Purgatorio #15, Crude #5, Deadpool: Assassin #5, Doctor Strange #4, Edge of Spider-Geddon #1, Evolution #9, Infinity 8 #5, Jeepers Creepers #4, Jim Henson’s Beneath the Dark Crystal #2, Jughead: The Hunger #7, Mage: The Hero Denied #11, Manifest Destiny #36, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #30, Mysticons - Volume 1, Proxima Centauri #3, RuinWorld #2, Sherlock Holmes: The Vanishing Man #4, Spider: School’s Out #6, Star Trek: The Next Generation - Terra Incognita #2, Star Wars: Beckett #1, Star Wars: Poe Dameron #30, Summit #8, TMNT: Bebop & Rocksteady Hit the Road #3, TMNT: Urban Legends #4, Usagi Yojimbo: The Hidden #5, The Wicked + The Divine #38, Witchfinder: The Gates of Heaven #4

Recommended Collections: Bettie Page - Volume 2: Model Agent, East of West - Volume 8, Hellboy: The Complete Short Stories - Volume 2, Kill or Be Killed - Volume 4, Old Man Hawkeye - Volume 1: An Eye for an Eye, , Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man - Volume 3: Amazing Fantasy, Rose - Volume 2, Transformers: Lost Light - Volume 3

d. emerson eddy has now been doing this incarnation of weekly round-ups for a year. Has it really been that long?

#This Week in Comics

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kingcocoabutter · 6 years

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The Road to Hell Is Paved With Good Intentions

I saw a video recently discussing the merits of Whole Cake Island and Sanji’s character arc within said story arc and there was a word that caught my attention. Intentions. The author asserted that Sanji is willing to forgive Pudding for shooting his sister and he was willing to place himself at BM’s mercy because he felt that their intentions were good. It is a fascinating idea and one I want to explore in more depth in this editorial. Fair warning that this editorial will be somewhat lengthy. It is going to explore a range of seemingly diverse topics but I swear that they are all interrelated. Let’s start with the easy stuff.

What You See Is What You Get?

If you were to ask fans what the central “theme” of Whole Cake Island (insomuch as it has one) you’d probably get answers like: parenting, family, race relations, self-discovery, and acceptance. Fair and true. But it is also an arc about dealing with personal pain and overcoming trauma. After all it’s the main defense that fans use to support Sanji’s actions during this arc. Sanji’s “self-sacrificial nature” is a result of the endless years of abuse at the hands of the people that were supposed to love and support him come hell or high water: his family. And while Sanji may have managed to escape that hellhole and learn the true meaning of love and family he’s never really addressed his conflicted feelings about his “real” family or confronted his abusers. But more on that later.

I’ve said it before in a previous editorial but I understand why Sanji made the decisions he did at the start of this arc. I don’t think any of the other Straw-hat would have behaved any differently when protecting their friends from harm. Especially when that Strawhat, as we have been repeatedly told, is so kind. I even understand why certain key events in this arc played out the way they did. Especially Pudding and Katakuri’s character arc’s, which really are a central lynchpin around which so many of the events of this arc revolve around. But first please permit me a brief digression.

Most fan expectations for this arc skew towards the idea that the Charlotte Family and the Straw Hats conflict will be resolved by having them end up as allies by the end of the arc (whatever shape that may take). I know some fans are opposed to this because of the belief that one cannot know an author’s intentions before the story is complete and that setting strong expectations can only inevitably lead to disappointment. Fair. That said I land firmly in the camp of The Charlotte’s will be allies for a number of simple reasons:

1) Oda cannot realistically expect to convince me that half of the SH crew were able to storm an Emperor’s territory and defeat all their forces, no matter how unusual the circumstances. I’m putting aside arguments regarding the expectation of running away from the clash or other related arguments because they are not relevant to the contents of this work. If I feel they are relevant to the arguments I’m making then I may address them later on.

2) The way Oda has structured the relationship between the two prominent main characters on both the SH’s and Charlotte sides (Luffy/Sanji, Katakuri/Pudding) leaves me no doubt in my mind that there will be no protracted conflict between the two groups. Again maybe a discussion for further in the editorial.

So many fans whose analysis of WCI I read bring up pretty much the same arguments and defense of the characters. All of them see Pudding/Sanji/Katakuri as sympathetic and relatable characters and it’s not hard to see why. Each of them has had expectations placed on them regarding behavior since the day they were born in spite of the fact that their personalities seem to run counter to said expectations. Sanji was supposed to be an apathetic killer working in the service of his father to restore the glory of a fading nation. Katakuri is…well we ASSUME that he has spent a lifetime striving to achieve a state of perfection so…perfect, so that he can compensate for his relatively minor “flaw” despite it not being perceived as such by his family. Pudding is much the same in she puts on a mask to plays the role of the perfect daughter who is a pawn in her mother’s machinations (much like all her siblings) to gain power/alliances that will allow her mother to achieve her dream of creating a utopia for all races.

We are also shown how tenuous the bonds of blood that bind the Charlotte family together seem frail and frayed in the presence of a family like the SH’s whose bonds have been forged in the fires of love, friendship, conflict, and perhaps most importantly choice. Given that it makes sense then why the crux of this arc relies on us understanding that the reason Katakuri/Pudding are swayed by Luffy/Sanji is because they are genuine people with good intentions who have shown them something they have never gotten from their family: kindness. It’s most likely the reason Sanji so strictly adheres to Zeff’s teachings and code is that he was one of the first people to show Sanji kindness. He was the person that selflessly gave of himself so that Sanji could live. And for a kid who has spent his entire life being told that he was worthless, a mistake, and an embarrassment, that is a powerful action indeed. So let’s talk about that Pudding eye scene.

The single most “powerful” defense of the Pudding scene is the idea that Sanji saw a kindred spirit in Pudding, much like Zeff did in Sanji all those years ago. That the sentiment behind his exclamation of the beauty of her eye was grounded in something deeper, something empathetic, and something…genuine. And given that we know Sanji is doing his best to model himself after the man he admires, maybe Oda’s intentions with that scene were to capture that same feeling. After all Pudding has basically been stuck in a situation similar to Sanji for far longer than he had without the possibility of escape. And given what we what we know of the Charlotte family, it would seem kindness is not a trait they value. So when seemingly confronted with someone that shows her something she has never experienced before what else would Pudding do? Especially when it’s directed at a perceived flaw that seems so trivial when compared to the whole.

It all seems so perfect doesn’t it? Sanji was born into a family that saw his kindness as a weakness until a man showed him that his perceived flaw was not something to be ashamed of but rather should be carried as a mark of pride. Then when he comes across someone in a similar situation to his he emulates the actions of the man he so admires to lift them up much like what was once done for him. All these pieces fit together so well it almost seems like WCI should be one of Oda’s better arcs. So why don’t I feel it? Well that’s probably because that while Totland, may seem like a Utopia from a cursory examination, a closer look would reveal all the hidden cracks and imperfections that mar its flawless façade. And what better place to begin examining its structural flaws then with one of its mightiest pillars: Sanj’s character arc.

You Are The Weakest Link! Goodbye.

Is Sanji shallow? I heard a fan ask once why other fans (mostly women) were bothered by Sanji’s preferences regarding women. Why were they trying to shame him for being physically attracted to a certain “type” of woman? Well…it’s complicated but I’ll do my best to give input.

One reason it’s so problematic is how Oda embraces a problematic cultural trend that has been emblematic of a societal problem that has plagued us for centuries. We have been fed a media diet that has conditioned us to recognize certain body shapes as being the model of attractiveness, and Oda has taken that to an EXTREME with his female characters. Any DESIREABLE WOMAN in the series has a certain body shape and they are almost always meant to be perceived via “The Male Gaze”. Chapter 898 being a perfect example, with all the Vinsmoke brothers being drawn in dynamic action panels and yet when we see Reiju attack it’s with a nice front row seat to her ass. Or even consider the infamous bath scene in Capone’s hideout. It is very telling that Oda only draws Nami/Carrot “naked” in the bath and has Chiffon sitting off to the side fully clothed. Saying “well Chiffon was holding Pez” is an excuse and an example of how good Oda is at illusion, and misdirection. He believes that Chiffon isn’t attractive like the others and so he shunted her off to the side. What does this have to do with Sanji? I wrote an entire editorial about this but to reiterate: What does Sanji love about women? Answer: He loves their looks.

Now I know fans will want to bombard with me all manner of “That’s not true” and “he loves Pudding” and maybe even a “So?” I’ll address the latter but with regards to the former the only question I’ll ask is: Does he really though? What exactly does he love about Pudding? I haven’t been as attentive to the events of this arc due to my lack of emotional investment and so maybe someone will prove me wrong, but off the top of my head I cannot remember Sanji ever stating what exactly he loves about Pudding. And I mean something specific apart from she’s sweet/kind. Mostly because that was a façade she was putting on but also because those are very generic character traits that can be broadly applied.

I am not going to judge someone for taking physical appearances and traits into account when choosing a partner (stones and glass houses as it were) because that’s how we’re programmed and it’s something we have had jammed down our throat for years. There’s a trend starting recently that’s starting to make a move away from that with body positivity but it’s hard to undo centuries of mental conditioning so easily. So I’m not saying Sanji is shallow for being attracted to certain kinds of women but I will totally call him shallow for that being the only DEFINING trait that he claims to LOVE about women. And it plays into one of the biggest problems I have with this arc: The pudding eye scene.

My question to fans would be: Would Sanji have reacted the same way if Pudding was not a conventionally attractive woman? What if instead of her it had been Chiffon that he was to marry? Would he still be able to convince himself that he would be happy? Would he still have reacted the same way to any potential third eyes she had? Yes? Bullshit. I don’t buy it for a second and none of Sanji’s actions throughout the series have convinced me otherwise or even given me cause for reasonable doubt. The reason that the Pudding eye scene falls so flat for me is that Pudding is GORGEOUS. There is no believable world in which Sanji’s reaction to her eye would be anything BUT positive. Especially given his reputation for being a horn dog and ESPECIALLY when considering the kinds of women he finds attractive. A cynical person might even note that maybe that’s the reason Oda has spent so much time this arc reiterating how Sanji is KIND.

I know some fans will justify it by saying that Sanji could have seen something in Pudding that gave him insight into her inner turmoil. After all we as readers are not privy to every single event that the Straw Hats are involved in because they aren’t relevant to the story. Something could have happened during all the time that Sanji was with Pudding while we readers were preoccupied with one of the other groups on Whole Cake Island. Fair. But it’s not enough. That scene serves as a central crux of this arc and its importance means that reading between the lines and general assumptions aren’t enough. And given everything we know about Sanji that runs counter to what we’re supposed to believe I don’t think it’s unfair to ask for more. Which brings me to the core of this editorial.

The Missing Link

I’ve been privy to a number of conversations recently regarding “villainous” characters and how fans don’t understand how or why someone could like someone so heinous. The prime example of this being Bakugo from My Hero Academia. I’ll provide a quick refresher/primer for those that are unfamiliar with this character. Bakugo was basically the golden child, that was naturally gifted with a powerful superpower and whose arrogance was fanned by the flames of admiration.

He develops a dislike for another child (Midoriyia) whom he perceives as weak (because he lacks a “quirk”) and he relentlessly torments him and bullies him for much of his childhood. Bakugo is seemingly an irredeemable asshole. That said a core part of the story focuses on Bakugo’s development as he comes to terms with his past behavior so that he can set himself on the path to becoming the person he wants to be. He’s a kid that’s some done some horrific shit because that’s what you do when you’re a kid. You’re focused on your wants, your desires, and your pain. It’s basically all what can the world do for me and I deserve this. But the lesson most people learn is that actions have consequences and some of them may unintentionally or ignorantly cause harm to others because you don’t know better. A person’s past should not define their future but neither should it be wholly discounted. And that’s one of the things that kind of bothers me about Luffy.

Fans have questioned before why Luffy never pays attention to the backstories of his crew or the people he befriends and I feel like it’s because he doesn’t care about their past. Luffy only cares about what actions a person takes now because what’s done is done and there really isn’t much you can do to change that. It’s even easier to ignore when you consider that Oda has written someone like Luffy to be able to instinctually tell (much like Sanji this arc) what someone’s intentions/personality are like. And much like Sanji that has NEVER backfired on him. But more than that it also means you either don’t want to consider what terrible things a person has done or you don’t think it’s important. And that is problematic.

I’m not going to go dive into speculation about whether the SH’s are good people or not because that’s a mighty big rabbit hole to fall down. So instead let’s focus solely on the actions of the characters on Whole Cake Island and how it ties into the broader theme of empathy.

Empathy at its core is simply the ability to relate to another person’s perspective. To put yourself in their shoes. It’s the basis for “The Golden Rule” i.e. treat others how you’d like to be treated and phrases like “walk a mile in her shoes”. It is also, as Mihawk so observantly noted during Marineford, one of Luffy’s greatest weapons. It was also brought up more recently when, during a flashback, Luffy told Rayleigh that he felt a person’s personality was important to him in regards to predicting the future and observation haki.

I’ve speculated on this countless times but to summarize: I believe the inherent power of Observation Haki is basically Oda turning empathy into a superpower. Consider all the most powerful observation haki users we’ve seen in the story thus far: Otohime, Asia, Coby, Madame Shyarly (potentially), Sanji, Luffy, Katakuri. When you consider all their personalities it would seem that they are all extraordinarily empathic/sensitive to other people’s emotions/auras. The sole “logical” and “powerful” argument in defense of the Pudding eye scene relies heavily on the reader’s assumption that this was why Pudding reacted so strongly to Sanji’s comment. The same could be said for the end of the Katakuri/Luffy fight when Luffy covered up Katakuri’s fangs with his hat. And I would further argue that we as readers are supposed to assume that since Luffy/Katakuri were both pushing their observation to the max, they gained some sort of insight into each other’s character that led to them developing “mutual respect”.

Empathy is so inherently important to so many of the events of this arc that I’m surprised that so many fans don’t bother mentioning it by name or acknowledging it’s importance. But here’s the thing about empathy. It doesn’t make you omnipotent. It doesn’t let you read someone’s mind. Observation haki may let you read someone’s aura/spirit/chi whatever you want to call it but in the end the observer is essentially making assumptions based on a number of minutiae (body language, tone of voice etc.) to determine how someone is FEELING. And thinking about it so much of this arc rides on the assumptions people are making without realizing how problematic that is. Cause here’s the thing about intentions/assumptions: they are flimsy. They are insubstantial. And we place far more weight on them than they can bear. Yet despite that they’re wielded like shields and swords to deflect or detract from a number of troublesome behaviors.

An argument I’ve heard repeatedly again and again is that “X character doesn’t need a reason to do Y” or my favorite “X character having a flaw doesn’t make them a bad person” or my favorite “X character’s flaw is part of their personality and you should learn to accept it because it makes them who they are”. And that last one especially is a doozy, but let’s start with the simple stuff first: reasons. Let’s take the example of two people brought in for the crime of stealing medicine. One because they can’t afford to pay for it and their child is very sick and one because they want to get high off the fumes. So does this mean:

a) Both of them should be charged and receive the same sentence or;

b) The one stealing medicine for his daughter should face a lenient sentence if any because of the circumstances around their actions?

Would reasons matter in this case? Should they matter? Can we even be sure either one is telling the truth or should we just take them at their word? The road that people pave during the journey of life is a complexly interweaved web of the choices they’ve made and the circumstances/situations they’ve faced that has made them whom they are. And empathy is an ability that allows you to untangle that web to try and understand the how and the why. It’s easy to judge a broad group of people by measuring them against a single standard. It’s much more complicated to judge a group of people individually and tailoring the judgement after considering all the divergent paths they’ve faced and the ones they’ve chosen that led them to where they are. It’s a problem that Sanji has and something I’ve addressed before in that he tends to tailor his actions towards groups of people rather than considering their individual merits. Hence why he treats an entire marginalized group so poorly and why he will not harm a woman regardless of how heinous the acts she has or may have committed. Pudding shot his sister, gloated about how she was involved in a plot to assassinate him and his “family”, mercilessly mocked him, and yet Sanji will not hold that against her. Why? Because he is “kind”.

But the thing about kindness is that it is none at all to turn a blind eye to someone’s heinous actions. There are any number of reasons that Pudding may have done what she did. She was scared of BM. She was made this way because she was bullied. She was “acting”. But none of that excuses the actions she took no matter what her intentions were. A true kindness would be to help someone understand why they act out this way and help them become the kind of people they want to be. And that brings me back to the point I made above regarding flaws. Because it’s one thing to acknowledge that you have flaw. A person may be able to look at an aspect of their personality and say “yeah this is my weakness” and as long as it doesn’t hurt someone that’s fine (for the most part). But what if your flaw is something dangerous that could put the people that you love in danger?

The thing that annoys me about Sanji’s “flaw” is fans accept it as part of his personality and they’re willing to ignore it because he’s got an exceptional group of friends that will help him. After all it’s like Luffy said: I’ll do what you can’t do and you do what I can’t do. Ah! But the key word there is can’t. As in I literally cannot physically/psychologically or whatever do this thing. Sanji doesn’t want to hit women. It’s not something he cannot do. Usopp does not want to place himself in danger. His cowardice is his weakness. And he could do the same thing and say that he can’t fight. And I don’t think the crew would ever hold it against him. YET whenever Usopp exhibits this cowardice and considers running away, fans are very quick to eviscerate him. Yet when Sanji was selfishly unwilling to fight a woman, when time was a critical factor, it was shrugged off. Fans are more willing to accept that Sanji will never hit a woman and that doing so “would ruin his character” and yet they get infuriated that Usopp is “still a coward”. And that’s likely because it’s been instilled in us that hitting women is not something a moral/noble person would do. But you know what? Refusing to acknowledge or even introspectively consider the actions of your weakness and instead relying on your crew to compensate for you is the most selfish and cowardly thing you can do. You know why Usopp’s moment on Arlong Park was one of the most goddamn powerful moments in the series? It’s because Usopp is brave enough to recognize his weakness and strong enough to overcome it because he wants to support his friends. He wants to become the kind of man that would be proud to stand next to them shoulder to shoulder, KNOWING that he has done everything he possibly could have to help them during their journey.

So let me present a hypothetical. What if all the SH’s were otherwise pre-occupied and Sanji was the only one that could have saved Robin? He can’t just pass it off onto Usopp/Nami saying I WON’T hit a woman. I know that Sanji is probably so attached to Zeff’s teachings because he wants Zeff to be proud of him. He want his mentor that he loves/respects more than anything to be proud of the life he’s lived and he doesn’t want him to think that saving Sanji was a mistake. But here’s the thing. Sanji isn’t living his life for Zeff and I don’t think Zeff saved his life because he wanted Sanji to feel obligated to him. Zeff made choice to take a chance on a kid that might achieve the dream that he never could. I don’t think Zeff is the kind of man that would blame/fault Sanji for not being perfect, or deciding that maybe he doesn’t want to find the All Blue after all. And I’m not saying that if Sanji kicks one woman that all bets are off and he should just go around kicking any potential female enemy they come across. See above where I said I want him to stop tailoring his actions to a broad group of people. If Sanji wants Zeff to be proud of him then maybe he should live his life on his own terms. Because at the end of the day that’s all that matters. Is Sanji proud of who he became? When he dies will he die satisfied that it was a life well lived? If he can stand next to Zeff one day and say yes to all of the former isn’t that all that matters? And if Zeff was ever the kind of person that judged Sanji for hitting a woman to save his friends, then maybe he’s not the kind of person he should give his respect to in the first place.

Bakugo has made some shitty choices as a kid either out of selfishness, ignorance, or arrogance. BUT he’s starting to learn. He’s changing himself and his approach to others. And I hope that eventually he makes amends with Midoriya for all the atrocious shit he puts him through. And Midoriya might not forgive him. And that’s okay too. Because the point of the apology is not to make yourself feel better that your intentions were good because you are defined by the actions you take. All you can do is understand how your actions hurt other people and then going forward work to make sure it doesn’t happen again (at least intentionally but again that’s a complicated issue for another time). But this is the big kicker and one of the storytelling elements that’s been weakest in Whole Cake Island. Like I said it’s one thing to acknowledge a flaw and another thing to overcome it. But can a thing really be called a flaw if never results in consequences?

It Ain’t Over Till The Fat Lady Sings:

I’ve always imagined that having the Grand Line being split into Paradise and the New World was reflective of the process of growing up. The first half is the journey towards adulthood where you make friends, set your sights on a goal/dream you want to reach, and learn what your values are. In the second half your CONVICTION in all those areas is tested. Is your bond with your friends/family based on something real or were the connections so tenuous and superficial that they were never there in the first place? Placed in a desperate situation where your values are tested will you still have the strength to hold onto them? What cost are you willing to pay to achieve your dreams? And how many people are you willing to step on to reach that goal if any?

Avid followers of my Twitter theory posts will note that I’ve stated this before but I want the Strawhats to be tested in ways they’ve never been tested before in the New World. After all they are in the big leagues now. We’ve seen how the New World takes in hopeful, optimistic, ambitious rookies and spit them out again as callous, hardened, broken men and women. One of the reasons I love Sabaoady and Marineford so much is that those arcs are the first time that Luffy has ever really tasted defeat. No amount of luck or skill could have saved him from those situations, even though he did his absolute best, because he was weak. In his case it meant that he wasn’t powerful enough and I don’t expect that to always be the case. But in a series like One Piece, where people’s convictions in their dreams are represented by their ability to overpower their opponents it’s something that can’t be ignored. So how do you push people past their limits? You attack their weaknesses (an idea I’ve explored in my other editorial “The Hero’s Dilemma”). If you want to test the strength of a person’s convictions and push them past their limit then you have to place them in a situation where they are FORCED to grow, change, and adapt. But you can’t just place the character at the precipice of the volcano and then pull them back at the ending and let them go on their merry way. It’ll instill fear in them for a little while but then they’ll forget about it because there was no CONSEQUNCE! And it’s something that is especially important in a series like One Piece.

One of the big problems I’ve had with this arc is Sanji’s general attitude and treatment of women. So you can imagine I was a little bit infuriated in a recent chapter when he so easily made light of all of Pudding’s actions up to that point, even thanking her for “playing the role of his bride”. It was first brought up in Water 7 when Sanji told chopper that “a man forgives a woman’s lies” and it’s been heavily played up this arc with Sanji calling out Pudding’s “acting” and questioning whom was she really fooling. Remember how I mentioned that empathy is a not a mind-reading power? Well Oda has been really heavy handed in treating it like one. We are to ASSUME that Sanji somehow has an intimate understanding of a woman’s true intentions because he is “kind”. And quite frankly that’s something that’s very easy for him to do when he is RIGHT EVERY TIME. And it’s even easier for him to do when there’s been no consequences.

Because that’s the thing isn’t it? It’s easy for Sanji to say that he believes in his captain when he has no real personal stakes in the matter. I hate that Oda made the bomb cuffs a red herring and then used the wedding as plot convenience to ensure that Sanji didn’t have to lose anything. . It’s bugged me throughout this arc that Sanji didn’t have any faith in Luffy or the crew being able to help him out of his hopeless situation but as soon as he’s free then he can start spouting all that nonsense again about how his captain will become the Pirate King. And what makes it worse is that Oda has repeatedly dropped hints about it throughout the series. Luffy wants to be the Pirate King because he wants to be a man with unlimited freedom. But that’s not something he can just have for free because other people will fight him for that same right. So he has to have POWER. It can be interpreted as you like: physical power? Authority? Alliances? Weapons? If he wants to be the Pirate King then he needs to ensure that he doesn’t have any weaknesses that can be exploited. And of Luffy’s greatest strength and his greatest weakness is his crew. He would do anything for them, including invading an underwater prison (his brother now crew but they are the same for this purpose), the HQ of a clandestine government organization, or the territory of an Emperor of the sea. But the thing is he can’t do it alone. And I don’t just mean that he can’t do it without the help of his friends (though there is that) but rather the person he’s saving has want to be saved. Fans like to compare Sanji’s actions to Robin’s during Water 7 and Nami’s during Arlong and that’s fair. Fans may not like the comparison but it stand that in each of these cases the lesson they had to learn was that they needed to trust in their friends. There are some challenges they might face alone that they can’t overcome but that there aren’t any challenges they can’t overcome if they work together and trust in each other’s strengths. And Sanji didn’t do that when he was at his lowest point. He only did that after he was unburdened from having to make the choice to lose something he valued the most. And I don’t want to hear arguments about Sanji’s self-worth and all that because it doesn’t matter. At this point in the series there is no excuse for Sanji to EVER doubt in the strength of his crew or his captain and the things that they can achieve for their love of one another.

One of my favorite panels from Zou is the one where Pekoms tells Luffy that Big Mom could have the heads of a loved one sent to anyone that declines her tea party invitation because that’s true power. And if Luffy ever wants to claim to be the Pirate King then he has to wield a similar level of power. The sight of his flag flying on an island should inspire the same level of respect that pirates had when they saw Whitebeard’s flag on Fishman Island. Luffy’s reputation should be so well know that no-one would dare harm anyone that claims his protection because the consequences would be DIRE. And that’s the thing I didn’t see Sanji acknowledge. Yes he was stuck in a seemingly impossible situation. He had the best of intentions when he did everything that he did because he thought he was protecting everyone. But he was being selfish. He thought he could/should shoulder his burden himself. He didn’t want to ask his friends for help because he didn’t want them to get hurt. But you know what? They did.

They invaded the territory of an Emperor and started a fight with her at a time they could ill afford to do so. Luffy was brutally beaten, almost had his hand chopped off, and he lost a tooth. The Sunny took massive damage. And Pedro is dead. Except…none of that matters does it?

Luffy almost got his arm chopped off and yet there’s no scar to show for it and it didn’t hinder him in his fight against Katakuri in the least. He lost a tooth, and while the gag was funny the first time, he grew it back again leaving no trace. And the Sunny? Well this isn’t like the first half of the series is it? The sunny will get repaired because they have Franky. Any “damage” it takes is temporary and there’s no reason to pretend that we’re supposed to care because the Strawhat’s do because we know better. We know that the good guys always win in the end. So how do you still make it FEEL like they achieved something? How do you make it look like they changes? That they learned a lesson? That there was a cost? You have consequences.

Empathy is one of the most powerful tools in a storyteller’s repertoire because the easiest way to get you invested in a story is to have you be invested in the characters. Having a sad backstory in One Piece is not something unique. Sure it may set your starting point on the path of life but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a straight one or that you are confined to its borders. And despite Oda being heavy-handed in his use of it during this arc it really feels like he’s just going through the motions. He’s given us a few panels of backstory for Pudding/Katakuri and used his characterization of Big Mom to justify their actions and make us sympathize with them. It feels like we’re supposed to feel sorry for them because they had a shitty past. But does that mean we just assume their actions are justified? That they’ve never once done a single heinous thing in the service of Big Mom. Or are we supposed to sympathize with them because we ASSUME Luffy/Sanji are good judges of character? How great would it be if they turned out to be wrong? If someone they trusted/admired betrayed them and they never saw it coming? Because that’s the thing about reading a series like One Piece. We know the good guys will beat out the bad guys in the end. But reading a story where they always win is boring. It’s more interesting to see them fail and get knocked down. Because then we get to see them climb back up again over and over and over. And each time they get knocked down they would learn something new about themselves. It’s why some of the most powerful moments in the series are just that: powerful. Whether it’s Zoro being cut down by Mihawk, Usopp confronting his weakness, or Nami/Robin learning to ask for help. All these little moments make us cheer that much harder for these characters because we know they’re going through hell but the moment they get their reward it’ll all have been worth it. And that is something I’ve been advocating for either through my criticism of the series or even via the theories I create. And that’s why I can only see WCI really ending satisfactorily in one way.

Because Whole Cake Island is about more than just Sanji learning that kindness isn’t a weakness (or whatever bullshit it was). It’s about learning what being a Utopia truly means, it’s about confronting your abusers and coming to terms with your past, it’s about shattering illusions, it’s about power and family and kindness. But more importantly it’s the beginning of learning exactly what the Strawhats role in the grand scheme of things is. But that’s a theory for another day. Whole Cake Island could be the start of a trend in the way One Piece approaches stories going forward. But it really depends on what Oda chooses to do going forward. I want to believe that Oda has good intentions but that’s just not enough anymore. Show me that you are the great storyteller I know you can be. One Piece has the potential to be the greatest story ever told and just know that no-one wants that to be more true than me.

#WholeCakeIsland Intentions Empathy

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fountainpenguin · 6 years

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Question Meme: (Ignore this if you don't want to answer all these....) 1, 2, 3, 28, 31, 33, 40 (sorry i couldn't pick one)

40 Questions For ‘Fic Writers Meme

#1 - Describe your comfort zone—a typical you-fic.

Gradual character development spread across a piece with deepened, believable worldbuilding. You know, I often say I’m not into romance, but here’s the thing: A nice long, serious slow burn does a person good. I’ll happily accept romance if an author can really get me into the minds of the characters and make me want their relationship to develop as much as the characters do.

It’s shallow romance that rubs me the wrong way. Give me two characters who honestly, truly care about each other to the point where they’ll sacrifice something they love, or even be willing to let each other ago if it means the one they love will be happy. I love that. But if you’ve got one character who will pitch a fit rather than let their love be happy with someone else, you’re really working uphill with me.

Worldbuilding doesn’t have to be as deep and complex as my ‘fics tend to get, but I do love to see how different authors expand the same world in different ways. I’m not a big fan of horror and for some reason I just can’t get into sci-fi. I enjoy fantasy and biology.

Really, I love anything that doesn’t contradict canon. AUs? Eh, sometimes, but they’re not my favorite. I like behind-the-scenes, between-the-lines, believable futures, and backstory pieces with some nice worldbuilding. And some complex characters who don’t always make the best choices and then have to suffer the consequences for their actions. Yes. ‘Fics like those are very nice.

#2 - Is there a trope you’ve yet to try your hand at, but really want to?

A queerplatonic relationship that’s happy, healthy, and long-lasting. You would think I would let my aro/ace children be happy, but alas, ‘tis not to be! You could say I like to squash zucchinis. I am self-projecting my own insecurities. I made Bennett a horrible person to show the “worst possible relationship with an aro/ace who wants a sexless marriage” so that the hopes and dreams of the other aro/ace characters look more reasonable by comparison. I do that a lot.

Okay, I lied. I can think of six “official” queerplatonic relationships we will see in my FOP works, and one of them actually does have a happy ending. I mean, probably. I haven’t written it yet, so who knows?

Spoiler alert: Mario and Peach are the OTQP and I’m going to milk it. What can I say? I call ‘em like I see ‘em and canon literally gave us a plumber who’ll collect 120 Power Stars in return for cake, and a princess who turned down his hand in marriage after all the times he’s rescued her, but adores him anyway.

#3 - Is there a trope you wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole?

“We pretend to hate each other but secretly we’re both in love and will one day in the heat of the moment spontaneously confess our romantic feelings and form a mutual, caring relationship without any further character development.”

I don’t know if it’s because I’m a very serious, honest, straightforward person (being INTJ and all), or if it’s because I’m asexual, or if it’s a combination of both (or neither), but I can’t stand huge plots about people refusing to admit that they like someone. Love has always been a logical thing to me. I was sixteen before I found out sexual attraction was a real thing. I don’t really understand it, but I guess it’s possible to have physical feelings for someone even if you don’t logically want to? And you can’t stop yourself or turn it off? I honestly don’t know how that works, which is why the “I wish I wasn’t physically attracted to you” trope has infuriated me since childhood. I just didn’t get it.

Even before I realized I was asexual, I would have discussions with my mom about how if I ever had a crush, I would openly admit this to my friends if they asked. I wouldn’t protest or deny, as I see so many media characters do. Then it turned out I’m incapable of feeling physical attraction and I get friendship squishes instead of romantic crushes, so that happened.

As a general rule of thumb, you should trust the characters I write if they say they aren’t attracted to someone. If they like someone, they’ll tell you so. If they don’t, they’ll tell you that too. And if they’re confused, then it will be very clear that they’re confused. No means no. I’m very strict about that. Don’t read into it looking for signs that they’re being secretive even to the reader. They are not. I emotionally cannot bring myself to do that.

#28 - Share three of your favorite fic writers and why you like them so much.

Oooh. I’m going to say that Shaddic takes the cake on this one. If you’re a Total Drama fan, or even if you’re not, then “Daddy’s Characters” will break you deliciously like very few fanfics will. “Before and After” is just a step behind it. The emotion captured by these ‘fics is incredible, and I highly, highly recommend them if you’re into evil villains who are undeniably and yet realistically cruel. Both ‘fics revolve around Mike and his multiple personalities (“Daddy’s Characters” revolving around adult Mike and Zoey, married with a daughter and with twins on the way, coping with something horrid that lands a distraught Mike in prison, and “Before and After” being the trauma-filled childhood backstory ‘fic).

Shaddic characterized everyone perfectly. So horribly, painfully well. Ugggh, I love it. My gallery has Identity Theft on the way, which will revolve around Foop and Hiccup and some multiple personality trauma, but it won’t be as beautiful as Shaddic’s work. They’re honestly worth a read if you ever have the time one day, even if you aren’t a Total Drama fan. You really don’t need to know the show to enjoy them. And enjoy them (and suffer) you will. In all my years, I’ve never seen an evil villain portrayed so… villainously. Love it.

I’m also a fan of SelanPike- partially for sentimental reasons, I suppose. I remember reading her Mario ‘fics over and over eight years ago, and I still read them today on a regular basis. Crazy how time flies. They’re just ones that I love going back to. As most of you know, I tend to fall in love with background characters. Fawful, Kamek, and Doopliss fit those qualifications- and coincidentally, those three are Selan’s favorites too! Technically, it’s because of her that the 130 Prompts project came to be. I always loved her 100 one-shot challenge, and that’s sort of how I eventually decided to write my own.

I really admire Selan for her characterizations. Her Kamek portrayal is my all-time favorite. So is her Fawful, her Doopliss, her Bowser, her Bowser Jr, her E. Gadd… she’s just a master of character. Even her freaking Jojora is spot-on. I mean, talk about background characters, am I right? Ha. Her writing is excellent and she has some fun plots. I always enjoyed drinking up her fanart and reading her comics on her deviantArt too. Still do. She has such a fun, bouncy art style. Her 8-page comic about Fawful attending school in the Mushroom Kingdom after Kamek hits him with the truant officer threat gets me every time.

I highly recommend “Until Tomorrow” (Her post-“Superstar Saga” ‘fic about Kamek and Fawful attempting to revive Cackletta so Kamek can kick her butt in a magic fight and Fawful can get the mother figure he refuses to call his mother figure back), and her famous ‘fic “On My Own” (about Fawful coping with Cackletta’s death and eventually working his way up the Koopa Kingdom social ladder). “Fragmented Spectrum” is a wonderful, tense, horror-ish ‘fic as well, with my absolute favorite Bowser Jr. portrayal. Plus, I love the rivalry between Kamek and Fawful seen in “F.S.” with Fawful trying to draw magic circles that he decided must be 100% perfect to count as circles, and Kamek not even knowing how to deal with him and his technology brain. Beautiful.

Check out the rest of her gallery too. Her two FFN fandoms are Mario and Invader Zim. She isn’t active there anymore, but her ‘fics are worth the read. I will say that I’m not a fan of her ‘fic “Everything You Ever” because I feel that Cackletta was way too sweet and nice for an evil villain in that one. But then again, I haven’t read it in years, so who knows. I’m not crazy about Selan’s Peach portrayal either, but that’s where my third recommendation comes in.

GuardianM1234 is a recent discovery of mine, and she does not disappoint. I’m a big fan of her ongoing ‘fic “Smoke” (which updates twice a month right now and is nearing its climax). It’s basically the story of Peach and Bowser growing up, and the development of their relationship from being fairly friendly as children to their complex relationship as adults. I’ve never seen Peach portrayed so perfectly, and I adore her. Never thought I would, but I do. Guardian also has a very unique take on Mario that’ll really make you squirm.

I love Guardian’s writing because she pits characters in emotionally-difficult situations and lets them learn and grow. They make bad choices, but she demonizes no one. Not even Bowser. Plus, Bowser has a little sideplot with Clawdia going on (the canon mother of the Koopalings if you know your deep hidden lore, though since the Koopalings were recently ruled “not Bowser’s children” by Nintendo’s “official” canon, I don’t know if she will be their mother in “Smoke” or where Guardian is taking this ‘fic). Basically, what I’m saying is, Clawdia and Bowser roastfest. Be there. They crack me up. And Guardian’s TOADSWORTH is perfection. Please give that old boy his gossip.

Plus, Daisy takes Bowser shopping for wedding dresses once and he bribes her with a six-pack of soda. Nice, short chapters with a few pleasant hints of worldbuilding slipped in, and a LOT of character. Guardian is still somewhat new to fanfiction, but she’s very sweet and she would adore some reviews if you do read her work. If you love her stuff, give her a shout-out! She’s great.

#31 - Do you take liberties with canon or are you very strict about your fic being canon compliant?

I fall halfway between this one. The answer is, sort of both! For my main fandoms, I have one rule: I don’t contradict canon, unless canon contradicted itself and I was forced to pick a side. Origin gets so deep into biology and Knots into culture that they feel more like original works than fanfics sometimes, because I’ll flesh things out as much as I want to. So that’s sort of a liberty I take with canon. But I never contradict canon if I don’t have to. I always comply.

It’s a puzzle. I love connecting dots behind the scenes. I love forcing everything that’s canon to be canon, even if it looks like it contradicted itself. If I can solve a plot hole, I try to. I will make ridiculous backbends to fit colorful Anti-Fairy eyes, Crocker’s ebb and flow of wealth, Miss Idaho’s “rare genetic condition that prevents her from aging,” Mary Alice Doombringer’s random abilities, and Girlfriend the cat’s sentience into Riddleverse canon, and I’ll love every second of it. I only cut a piece of canon out if I feel like I absolutely have to. It’s fun.

I can definitely enjoy reading ‘fics that stray from canon, and might even write them on occasion. But the reason why I write fanfics is because I loved the canon and I want to see it expanded, not taken away. I’d like to publish my original works someday, so if I’m not sticking close to source material, why would I write a fanfic that I could publish as an original work instead?

For the same reasons, I’d rather read a fanfic that expands on canon than eliminates it. When I fall in love with something, I fall in love with its world. I like ‘fics that blend worldbuilding aspects in with the plot they’re writing, even if it’s a short one-shot. I don’t love reading something that feels like its writer just inserted the names of popular characters into their otherwise original work so that people would read it. I want to have the little details and feel convinced that these are the characters (and the world) that I love. Personal preference.

In some cases, I default to realism over canon, such as by giving Cosmo the ability to recognize faces. In my psychology classes, I’ve learned that sometimes during investigations, police will show pictures to people and ask them to select the face that matches the one they were shown earlier. People pretending to be mentally handicapped in some way will often get the answers wrong on purpose in an attempt to maintain their facade, while those who are actually mentally handicapped will get them right. Just a nitpicky thing I do.

So I often favor realism over canon in certain ways, even if it possibly contradicts canon a bit. I respect canon and try to stay true to it as much as possible because I enjoy doing so, but I don’t consider myself 100% beholden to it, especially considering how many different contributors there can be to a project over the years. I do my best, but enjoying what I write comes first.

#33 - How do you feel about crack?

I can enjoy the occasional way-out-there thing, but I prefer serious stories in general.

#40 - Write an alternative ending to [insert fic title] (or just the summary of one).

Well, you didn’t give me a ‘fic you wanted to see an alternate ending to, but I do have a few short pieces I can share. You see, the “That Was Then” Prompt (the Jay Rhoswen and his studies about Anti-Fairies one) wasn’t supposed to end the way it did. Here is how it was meant to go:

Rhoswen scooted back hand over hand along the counter, his feet skittering in the vapor. What in the name of dust was he doing? He shouldn’t be looking at his wife’s counterpart more than at his wife! He shouldn’t be having these sorts of thoughts at all!

Anti-Shylinda placed her palms to his cheeks and gazed into his eyes. “No talk,” she whispered, and when she leaned forward, those burning lips closed over his.

As for whether that Seelie Courter chose to kiss the anti-fairy back once she’d started to draw away? Well… You ought to look to the term “Rhoswen syndrome” to answer that.

I didn’t like the idea of Anti-Shylinda being the one to make moves on Jay, so I scrapped it. Not only that, but the whole piece is written as snippets from Rhoswen’s journal now, so the voice here no longer fit the narrative.

At the end of the first chapter of Frayed Knots, “String Theory”, Anti-Cosmo cuts off the tips of his ears. I was originally going to expand the scene as follows:

Blood spattered the floor. With a hiss through my teeth, I withdrew the knife and dabbed the blood up with my sleeve. The stone might stain.

Recalculating, I dragged my stool over to the sink. The angle was awkward, but at least my blood would wash easily away. There, I slit off the tip of my ear, cutting carefully around my first canetis ring. Then I mirrored the action on the other side. Both rings bounced across the stone with a clink, click, clatter.

I uncurled my tongue and set the knife aside. Then I took the severed tips of my ears and held them to my head again. It took three agonizing minutes, but the smoke that filled my veins stretched out and wound around my fingers. It absorbed my ears and pressed them into place again. Full, soft, and whole. I fingered the gashes mother’s piercing clamp had left behind. Apparently, even regeneration couldn’t heal injuries left by an unenchanted tool. Useful information to know.

The canetis rings disappeared into my pocket. Then I got up and pushed open the window. I took a running start, dove out, and unfurled my wings.

However, I kind of liked leaving the chapter on the cliffhanger of “Oh my gosh, what did he just do to himself???” I also couldn’t include a sink in the castle in a time period when there is no indoor plumbing. Then I decided that I would rather give Anti-Cosmo permanent gashes in his ears he had caused himself, rather than ones caused by his mother, to always remind him (and everyone around him) of that day he stood against Anti-Fairy tradition. Kind of a shame to delete the scene since I like how it gave us information about smoke and Anti-Fairy healing right from the start. I might recycle it later.

Actually, if we’re talking about the original version of Knots, everything was supposed to be different than what it was. Here is another deleted scene that was originally planned to be the opening scene of Knots:

“Mum, I’m nine and a half minutes old. I’m not a baby anymore. Come on, please? You let Anti-Robin leave home to get his wand when he was only three!”

“You weren’t even born yet. How can you possibly know that?”

“He told me about thirty seconds ago, right before you came in here.” I grabbed my mother’s skirt in two tiny fists. “Mum, I’m going to be the only pup in the colony without a wand. What about our image?”

She wavered visibly, running her thumb along her staff. “Well…”

Father peered over his spectacles and frowned. “Now, wait just a minute here, Anti-Florensa. He’s just a pup. You can’t send him into the woods to gather the materials for his first wand all by himself.”

“But it has always been our family’s tradition,” she sniffed. “It’s not as though he’ll die. On the contrary, I’m more concerned about him killing valuable plants with his acid. Anti-Cosmo, you’re drooling again.”

I wiped my mouth. “Sorry, Mum.”

I really loved the “I’m nine and a half minutes old- I’m not a baby anymore!” idea, especially since there aren’t many times when you’ll have the chance to use it. As you can see, Frayed Knots was going to begin with baby Anti-Cosmo leaving his manor home alone to obtain his first wand.

But overall, in the end, I decided that it was more important to show the importance of smoke in Anti-Fairy culture, and we ended up with the scene we have now. Also, I really wanted Anti-Cosmo to grow up never knowing who his father was until several years after Anti-Robin had died, which meant I had to scrap or replace this scene in some way anyway.

The “Mama’s Boy” Prompt was actually written with the manor idea in mind, and I believe Anti-Florensa even uses the word “manor” in it. I added an author’s note to that piece several months ago mentioning that “Mama’s Boy” is semi-canon for now until Frayed Knots is finalized. A lot has changed.

Some other deleted scenes from the early plans of “Anti-Cosmo lives with his family in a manor near the Castle, and they are nobles but not royalty” include:

“I got something for you, kiddo.” Anti-Robin flicked an aluminum medal across the table that read #2 Son. I grinned.

“This is for me? Thanks! I love it!”

He tilted down his glasses. “You say, ‘Thank you, Father, for this generous gift.’”

I repeated the words, and he tousled my hair. “Now, go do second son things.”

“Yes, sir! I will! Thank you, Father!” With the medal swinging from my neck, I trotted happily off.

and

I clung to the frame of his office door, beating my wings to keep myself from staggering forward. I knew better than to cross the threshold, even though there was nothing I wanted more in the universe right then than to throw my arms around his waist and squeeze him in a hug. The bruise Mother had left on my arm hurt even more now than it did in the kitchen, somehow. My eyes slid back and forth across his desk.

“Where are you going?”

Anti-Robin calmly placed another folded shirt inside the suitcase. “Back to Anti-Scarlett’s.”

“With your other family?” I asked. “With her kids, Anti-Xavier and Anti-Tom?”

“Yes.”

“Why can’t I come with you? I want to meet them.”

“It’s a dad thing.” He closed the suitcase with two clicks and turned around. His eyes were steely calm, his frown very firm. “You’ll understand when you’re older.”

and

“ELEANOR!”

Anti-Robin and I grabbed our mouths and looked at each other, gaping with our eyes. Mother was over 150,000 years old. Her real name wasn’t supposed to be said out loud.

Father slammed a newspaper on the table, then stepped back and crossed his arms. “Might I inquire what the meaning of this is, ‘dear’?”

“Whatever do you mean?” she asked, not looking up from the end of her staff. She studied its base, then ran her polish rag across it again.

“Anti-Bryndin had the green fairy locked up, and I know you’re behind it.”

So, don’t feel too sad that Anti-Cosmo grows up without a dad in my works! It wouldn’t have been the best relationship anyway. Besides that, now that I’ve had time to think about it, this Anti-Robin portrayal isn’t that far off Ambrosine, and I’d rather H.P. and Anti-Cosmo had fathers with very different personalities.

If you have a really sharp memory, you may possibly remember seeing that medal around Anti-Cosmo’s neck when I drew my late-night FOP/Moana doodle dump that one time.

I also have oodles of scenes deleted from Anti-Cosmo’s visit to Winkleglint’s estate, since originally Scarletfeather was supposed to show up and Anti-Cosmo panicked when he couldn’t stop Scarletfeather from luring Mr. Thimble away. I could have filled another entire chapter with what happened during that study abroad week, but in the end I decided they were mostly self-indulgent and not important enough in the grand scheme of things to justify leaving in.

I’m skimming through my files of deleted scenes and I forgot I had this one too. Anti-Cosmo wasn’t supposed to have his intelligence test proctored by Ambrosine originally, as I was going to send him to this mental hospital facility. I decided against it, but here is a terrifying scene that we almost got. So, it’s technically an alternative ending too:

Dr. Gabriel handed me a piece of bark marked with the word Failed. “Don’t get cocky. Everyone has their limits.”

Failed? That lout outright failed me? I dropped the bark strip and looked up as Dr. Gabriel spread his wings. With a few sharp beats, he flew out of the pit. I chased after him, searching the platform above me with my eyes. So I couldn’t fly, and I was short, but I could make that leap-

“Oof!”

Or… perhaps not. I slid back down to the floor and landed on my rump. Never one to be deterred, I leaped back to my feet. Something to boost me, something to boost me… Oh! Snatching up his forgotten broom, I backed against the opposite wall, and then ran forward. I shoved the handle of the broom into the corner offered by the platform and the floor and launched myself into the air. Yes! Yes! Ahahaha! I hurtled out of the pit and went rolling across the ground. Dr. Gabriel spun around, his mouth falling open in surprise.

“Please,” I begged him, climbing to my feet again. My broken wings batted feebly behind me. “I want to gain a Fairy education. Level with me, doctor. You don’t want Anti-Fairies filling up your precious conservative school. And I don’t want Anti-Fairies filling it up either. True, we Anti-Fairies are known for our memories, but I like to feel special, and I shouldn’t want to chance anyone stealing my thunder away from me. You let me in, and I won’t breathe a word about your biases against my people.”

Dr. Gabriel studied me with idle coldness, clutching his tablets to his chest. He drifted a few steps backwards along the corridor. “Anti-Cosmo, your genius is entirely creative. You’re severely behind in your knowledge of technical skills, and you lack basic common sense as well as a sense of self-preservation. Because of this, we can’t recommend you be placed in any advanced programs. You’ll need to stay where you’re at.”

The corners of my mouth twisted into a frown. Then a sneer. “Frankly, Dr. Gabriel, I’m not particularly fond of that option.”

With that, I yanked out the can of forget-a-cin I’d nicked from his pouch when he’d been turned the other way. Dr. Gabriel had time to look horrified before I mashed the button down. My eyes were squeezed shut, but even so, the world around me lit with white. I let the empty canister fall to the floor and opened my eyes again to find the nervous fairy glancing around in bewilderment.

“There,” I said. “I’ve just put a block over this memory of yours. I do hope no one else would care to challenge me, or I will be forced to perform the same trick on them. Now, I demand that you, good sir, will have me enrolled in all the classes of my choosing. Is that understood?”

Dr. Gabriel’s wandering eyes finally latched onto me. His shoulders shivered, although he possibly didn’t remember why. He bobbed a bit lower in the air. Then his wings fell silent altogether, and he leaned his back against the wall. He slid down to the floor. “S-security! Security?”

His voice was too weak for anyone who wasn’t an Anti-Fairy to hear. I sighed. Covering my eyes again, I made a signal with my other hand. “Oh, dear. I do apologize. I really never do this, you must understand. It’s so messy.”

If he hadn’t been so hazy from the aftereffects of the forget-a-cin, I’m sure Dr. Gabriel wouldn’t have let me get away with as much as he did. As it happened, I walked right up to him and lay my claw against the karmic pouch on the left side of his neck. He yelped, but I knocked his clumsy hands away from me without any real effort. I braced my hand against my hip.

“I really never do this. It’s vile and crude. So sorry, I really am. But then again, well, perhaps I’m really not.” And with that, I sunk my fangs into his neck. Blech. He tasted of old mutton.

Dr. Gabriel screamed. He twisted, his shoulders rapidly seizing up. I rolled my eyes and kept my fangs embedded until his coughs turned to silence and he had frozen in place, as still as a stone statue. Only then did I wrench back my head, bringing the coils of his karmic weave along with me. Most of them were blue, but here and there a pink one surfaced, or a yellow. As the colourful threads of his life whisked above us, I stood back and traced one claw beneath my eye.

“Anti-Fairy tears consist mainly of sulfuric acid, of course. And I daresay you hurt my feelings quite a bit back there, didn’t you?”

Forcing myself to cry came as naturally as forcing myself not to cry always had. I captured the burning tear on the end of my claw and, very slowly, held it out towards the paralyzed fairy sitting against the wall. For several long seconds, I let him see it glistening there. Threatening to drip down on the place where I had bitten him. Which was still bleeding.

“I never do this,” I said again, truthfully apologetic. “It’s messy and you’ll be rather cross when you wake up, assuming you wake again at all. But it is true that I am crying, and here you are, lying so very still. We’re standing rather close, aren’t we? So close that I could touch you.”

Lacking the ability to move, all Dr. Gabriel could do was sit numbly, his mouth gaping. I lowered my claw towards his neck.

“But it’s only a single tear, isn’t it? Why should a fairy care if he made an anti-fairy child cry? No, a single tear cannot hurt your conscience. A single tear may sting your skin, perhaps, but it shouldn’t cause any long-lasting problem so long as no liquid in your body is particularly warm. Oh, wait…” Here I feigned surprise, and brought my claw a mere centimetre from his karmic pouch. Green liquid trickled down his neck. I smiled. “Why, internal Fairy body temperature borders on the boiling point, does it not? Oooh, I’d hate to see what happens when that acid comes into contact with your blood. I’ve heard it’s prone to such catastrophic explosions.”

There was, of course, no reply. Sighing, I withdrew my handkerchief from my pocket and wiped the tear from my claw.

“No, but I suppose I’m a gentleman, so I shan’t leave you comfortless. As I told you, I really never do this. I’m all boasts and bluster, really. That’s all I really am. Let’s get you cleaned up, lad.”

I was just wiping away the last drops of acid from his stunned face when the door opened behind me. I looked over my shoulder to find Anti-Jolene floating there with a clipboard in hand. She took in the threads of wild karma and my kerchief, and looked at me with her ears cocked forward.

“So… How is it going?”

I sighed and tucked the handkerchief away. “Dr. Gabriel and I have just finished, painfully. I say, are business deals with Fairies always so messy?”

She smiled a thin smile. “It would behoove us to find a neutral party who could settle things between our two races more easily, wouldn’t it?”

“I’ll be cleaning karma out of my fur for weeks,” I muttered, and went about gathering up his tangled threads so I could stuff them back inside his soul.

He was one messed up kid in this draft, that is for sure. Who knows? Perhaps I’ll find a place for this scene in the current version someday, if I ever need to send an older Anti-Cosmo to a mental health facility. For now, however, it’s deleted.

“This Is a Box” was actually supposed to end differently as well. And of course, so was “This Is Halloween.” Every once in awhile I’ll have a piece get away from me and end the way it wants, but most of them end the way I plan from the start.

Thanks for all your requests! I really appreciate your curiosity!

#Anon #asks #riddleverse mention #Ace Penguin #Mushrooms and more #FAIRIES!#Reading recommendations #130 Prompts #ridwriting #The bat with the hat #Bat cube and associates #Frayed Knots #Ask box games

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michams · 3 years

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VIXX “Scentist” analysis based on “Perfume”, by P. Suskind PART III – The tracklist

“Scentist” is definitely one of my favorite songs/ music videos/ concepts in kpop so last year, when I got to know it was based on a book, I went after and read it. Since then I’ve been wanting to share an analysis focused on more direct references to Suskind’s story.

In PART III, I’ll be giving my interpretation on how the tracks in the album fit the same concept.

*You can check “Part I” for my description of the story (or the book itself) to understand them a little better and also see my thoughts on the lyrics of “Scentist” on “Part II”!

*Sorry again for the long post (I talk too much lol)! :)

Some considerations i. I didn’t originally read the book in English, so I’m using my own translations – wich can differ from other editions.

ii. This is somewhat a personal interpretation; one could read the same book and have different opinions. Feel free to tell me your thoughts about it :^)

iii. Considering that I’m basing this off of a translation and that neither Korean or English are my first languages, it influences in my interpretation.

iv. As referred before, English is not my first language. Feel free to let me know about any mistakes.

v. Mind that this analysis contains SPOILERS of the book.

vi. This post makes reference to sensitive subjects (such as violence), like the book itself.

Intoduction As I’ve explained in Part II, it’s possible to find several references through the lyrics of “Scentist” that contextualize the story of the main character Grenouille, focusing mainly is some of the episodes. But, paying attention to all of the tracks in EAU DE VIXX, we realize all of them add on to work as a complement to the plot.

In my opinion, most of them were made based in themes that can be found as parts of the construction of the book.

I’ll try to explain what’s each of these central points (with exception to “Good Day”, “Navy and Shining Gold” and “Resemble”(닮아)).

◄◄ ▋▋ ►►….NOW PLAYING –VIXX 3rd ALBUM “EAU DE VIXX”….

TRACK 2: ODD SENSE – The title track wannabe

From a starting point, a thought I had about this song is that, if this album was not inspired by a dark story, and “Perfume” was about a sexy relationship based in scents, “Odd Sense” would have been “Scentist”. And this is one of best forms I can describe it! In a way it’s a kind of twin opposite to the title track.

While “Scentist” is focused on the dark side of his fixation, “Odd Sense” is about intense attraction, approaching more a way of satisfying that compulsion – as, in my opinion, the title track is more observative, more of a threatening idealization of his object of fascination.

It could be very well a representation of a closer look into Grenouille’s logic behind his actions or feelings. The way his extremely sensible ability of smelling (that “Odd sense”) causes him to be completely driven by a hopeless desire or passion.

Again, if we compare: “Scentist” is almost about how he suffers from that longing (and it’s methodical), while “Odd Sense” is about how he is delighted by that provocation (it’s impulse).

It is as if his addiction feeds on itself – which we can see through the lyrics, such as: “Shake hard, I just get more addicted”;

“I crave it, it’s fine if I lose my breath I desire it more, I’ll destroy it with you” or

“Fall into the light that only I can see Like an intense addiction keep breathing in”

Both lyrics go deep in the matter of desire.

But that’s also a self consuming way of living for him (just like the story in the book develops itself), the more he approaches his objectives: “Filled with your scent, I just go crazy You come to me, come closer to me Fill me with your scent, it’s fine even if I disappear”

The two tracks share some things: I believe both surround similar episodes of the book – his seclusion at the cave, where he “drinks up” his scent’s memories; his discovery and chase after the special fragrances (and its owner).

Also common to “Scentist”, there are several repetitions to the idea of permeation. There are also associations with color and light.

What’s interesting for me, is how we completely shift the emotion and impression of the songs by changing the melody and tone.

TRACK 3: SILENCE – The hopeless love

In my opinion, all of the songs can be connected to a fantasy inside Grenouille’s imagination motivated by his (longing for) love – even he says it’s only for the sake of getting the scents.

“Silence” seems to address a hopeless love, once the idealized person he desires “cannot” respond. After all, he’s the one obsessed with something they are not even aware of – in a disturbingly intense way. The love and attention he seeks gives of a sort of reflective feeling. Since he does not have a smell for himself, but keeps on being bewitched by these special fragrances, he figures that’s the way to be loved – to be just like them. And we must remember that, for him, what characterized something in the world as despicable or worthy of affection, was the smell. That’s his unique way of understanding the world. So he is lead to believe that’s a solution (which shows to be slightly true and impossible – due to his specific ability – throughout the book).

The lyrics seem to express the frustration in not being able to be part of this connection, as it looks like he’s wishing to worship that feeling but always ends up destroying it, driven by the pressure caused by his impulsiveness. “The silence suffocates me” and “I’m a Medusa there’s only silence left for my ears” (the idea he kills what he “lays his eyes on”, also interesting due to the repetion of “keep an eye on it babe”, during the song).

He also indicates a belief that he needs that girl to be set free from that prison – and that he’ll for sure accomplish that. “I wait for you While turning round and round in this quietness”

“It seems like you have something too It seems like I’ll have it”

And, at the same time, he’s scared of showing the “imcomplete” and imperfect Grenouille he is without it: “Don’t look at me locked in darkness Imprisoned in silence”

TRACK 4 and 5: MY VALENTINE and CIRCLE – The idealistic love

As we must have realized by now, our main character has some serious problems discerning limits between wanting and getting.

I believe these two tracks stress the idea of how he thinks of these scents (and consequently, in a way, their owners) as complements to his existence. When brought in line with everything worked, that turns into a delusion for an idealistic love. It also revolves to his conception of making them/the girls eternal through a perfume, and his own temporal pace – which seems to operate a little differently, like “true love”.

Like shown in “My Valentine”: “Alone I’m incomplete, emptiness becomes routine”

“Say it one more time That I am everything, that you’ve never stayed In forever like this”

It’s also indifferent for him if they are real or kept in his inner kingdom, as memories (even more connected to idealization): “Whether my eyes are closed or open As long as you are somewhere in my world, it’s fine”

And, once again, that self consumption, that goes along with a similar line in “Odd Sense”, ans points, after all, to and absence of self love; which completes that cycle of needing something to reflect on – the girls: “It’s fine if I disappear while chasing after you”

“Circle” adds up to that conviction that they are a perfect match: “There’s no error when you add us together” and “I want to believe it It’s u and me”

It’s nice to note that the circle symbolism makes reference to perfection, totality, eternity, cycles and even God – which it’s a sort of image the boy had of himself.

TRACK 7: ESCAPE – Grenouille, the runaway by excellence

If we pay attention, Grenouille was, somehow, always on the run. He was getting away from the people who didn’t want him around (and the people he didn’t want around). And most of the book is based of on the story of his journey.

Some of the most remarking ways we see that are: when he goes on a trip in search for learning but, amidst his desperation to get rid of the suffocating human smell, self-isolates in a far mountain. After a long time in there, a need for running away from himself is evoked and he begins a new search in order to, ultimately, transform who he was. When he is targeted as the culprit and, at the end, again drowned is his own thoughts, from his existence.

The lyrics also brings us to think that the internal weight he was constantly under caused a desire to escape. A side of him that wants to get away from that domination he couldn’t control – which was still his inner persona as well. Grenouille’s biggest battle was against himself and the conflicts between his desires, his actions and sudden clashes with reality. The practical importance of his goal versus the limit he can endure.

“The memories we’ve gone through Have no special meaning to me But I’m not saying the time that I loved you Was a lie”

It also reveals his fear of showing himself and of failure – so it’s better to give up and flee: “But if you saw me like this, you would probably have left me”

TRACK 8: TRIGGER – The lack of self control

Lastly, “Trigger” also touches on the topic of the struggle with self. In this track, he assumes he is not the one in charge of taking choices. He’s guided to act by a foreign sort of force (or so he believes).

It also resonates with the concept of playing with desire, but also expecting for it to hit you. He wants to be “shot”, he challenges that force to provide him the feeling the keeps him focused on his objective, like a dangerous game, that requires a proper timing (because, once more, this is a self sufficient obsession). “Like when you have only one shot to hit a target I’m just waiting for you”

In another way, it’s about finding a motive that comes from outside to justify something that’s actually internal. “You stole me in one short moment I even helplessly surrendered”

and “Your focus on me, your choice of me”

Again, if we reflect on the notion of time in this work, “Trigger” strangely looks like, deep inside, in a fraction of second (maybe when he first started detecting the first fragrance in the streets of Paris), there was a part of Grenouille that foresaw what was coming in his way. This song sounds like a prevision of the future and an expectation of “destiny”.

This could have been caused by his unconsciousness, since that was one of the things he expressed aspire – a deeper meaning to being alive. “Our beginning is up to you” and “Shoot accurately at me, leave a trace of yourself So that it can’t be undone, so that I can’t deny it”

Concluding... In my opinion, EAU DE VIXX is a really impressing album when we stop to look at how everything was constructed and put together to form unity around the concept “Perfume” presents.

The lyrics and the vibe the songs express are always in sync with Grenouille’s dark mind, his inner conflict; but also the elegance, detail, nuances or intensity involving the world of perfumes and scents.

Thank you so much for reading! I plan on continuing with this and analyze the other aspects related to “EAU de VIXX”, so please wait for it!

References used: - Book: Perfume, the story of a murderer; by P. Suskind (2007 ed., Editora Record). - 빅스(VIXX) - ‘향 (Scentist)’ Official M/V (YouTube). - Film: Perfume, the story of a murderer (2006). - Translations by TRANSLATED VIXX team (translatedvixx.tumblr.com/lyrics).

#빅스 #vixx #Scentist #eaudevixx #eau de vixx #kpop #analysis #kpopanalysis

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copperhawks · 4 years

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Sav asks for a moment to think over everything Numair has said, promising he’ll make it back in time to dance with Numair later. As Numair leaves, though, he sees Don approaching and decides to quickly go change into a hawk to keep an eye on the confrontation.

Because he’s a nosy nancy.

Sav doesn’t greet Don particularly kindly, but it seems Don is making yet another attempt at reconciliation, though this time he’s trying harder to be kind himself, with Numair not actually in the room.

We have a lot of resentment built up, I guess, and it makes it hard to be sensible around you when I just want to lash out and hurt you like I’ve been hurt. That’s terrible. I’m terrible. We can’t keep doing this.

Don CAN acknowledge his own wrongdoings, as much as Sav seems to believe that he can’t. As much as Sav seems to believe Don is willfully blind about it all, this whole scene is an example of why that isn’t true. At least with regards to his relationship to Sav, he isn’t incapable of admitting to his own mistakes and at least claiming a desire to be better.

As Sav said to Numair back in chapter 21, apologies without action are manipulation. This might be where Sav’s experience with that comes from, as his response to Don’s apology and promise to do better is resounding disbelief in Don’s ability to even know what better is. Though Sav relates that assumption more to Don’s treatment of his own people and the laws on magic than he is talking about their personal relationship.

Sav, however, fresh off of Numair’s story about Ozorne and advice not to let Don drag him down, is not quite giving Don enough credit. We know from Constant that just before the assassins hit, Don had voted against further restrictions on mages, against the majority opinion. His reaction to Numair melting the courtyard also was mostly jealousy as we later see him inform Constant rather dismissively that Numair is welcome to come teach Constant things in the palace (though he obviously doesn’t know that the thing Constant is being taught is magic).

Don is not a wall, he is not refusing to see sense, as we have more than once gotten indications that Sav’s view of Don, or Elspeth’s view of Don, or even Daine’s view of Don, are not quite seeing the whole truth. The closest we get to that truth is through Constant, who through his somewhat unique view of the world, is a mostly objective observer. He is one of the few people we’ve seen Don calm and rational around. Everyone else he lashes out at, whether it’s because they treat him like royalty (Rain) or he feels they don’t respect him (basically everyone else). Everyone but Constant.

Things become awkward and Don tries to bring up things like Ossika and why Sav left so quickly after the assassins were subdued, which Sav uses as an opportunity to try to talk to Don about Ossika and warn him of the people in his midst who could be a threat. He even tries to bring up Numair’s discovery with the opals and his thoughts on what they’re doing to Don, but he doesn’t get much further than Numair’s name before Don is demanding to know if Sav loves Numair.

Does he make you happy? That’s all I came to ask. I mean, initially, I came to apologise for my behaviour this morning, but then I saw you were alone with him and I realised I couldn’t … intrude. Until he was gone. And now I want to know if you’re happy or, if you could be. Could you be? If he does, you should pursue that. We very rarely get happiness, people like us. It would be nice if at least one of us escaped that.

While Sav refuses to answer this question, this is a massive moment of growth for Don. Earlier in the scene he admits that he can’t quite bring himself to be HAPPY for Sav’s new relationship, but he also loves Sav enough to recognize that Sav has an opportunity here, one he’d be remiss not to take. He does want Sav’s happiness, but he’s honest enough to admit that he’d rather Sav found that happiness with him than Numair.

It’s a step closer to figuring things out, for Don. Just a step, a baby one. But making this choice, here, to let Sav go, to tell him that he should take any opportunity for happiness he finds because they’re so precious, is an important one for their relationship. I mentioned earlier that one of the biggest issues in their relationship is the sense of possessiveness that is inherent to their relationship to the imbalance of power in it. Sav was born to be an extension of Don, was handed over in order to act as such when he was just a baby, stripped of family and friends so that he could live the rest of his life belonging to his monarch. Don recognizing that that doing what’s best for Sav may not be what’s best for himself, realizing that Sav is genuinely happy with someone else and begging him not to restart the relationship as he did during the face painting scene but just to try to be friends again, at the very least to be CIVIL to each other for Constant and Daine’s sake. That’s important.

Equally as important is Sav’s response to Don talking about his impending nuptials and his worries about who he can trust, who he should yield to.

While your plight grieves me, it’s not mine. Fight your own battles, Don. I am not your sword anymore.

As important as it is for Don to let Sav go, it’s just as important for Sav to let Don go. They’ll always love each other, Sav’s admitted to as much, but that doesn’t mean they have to BE together. Sav doesn’t have to let himself be consumed by Don. Don doesn’t have to lean on Sav alone.

Sav NEEDS that distance between himself and Don, for his own sake. Sav seems to be aware that if he lets himself grow close again, if he gives even an inch, then he’ll likely just let himself get sucked back into old habits and old patterns.

But Don has been left alone because of this and recognizes that, personally and politically, he NEEDS someone in his corner. And for most if not all of his life, that person has been Sav. He doesn’t seem to have anyone else he can truly turn to, so time and again, when given the opportunity, he tries to bring Sav back.

Constant described the their relationship as isolating and all-encompassing. Neither of them could think about anyone else when together. Neither of them left ROOM for anyone else when together. They’re very co-dependent, to both of their detriment.

One of the things that allowed Jon to do as well as he did when he had to take over the throne at a very young age was his MANY relationships with the other noble sons he grew up with (and Alanna). Even if the older nobility had been picked off the way Galla’s nobility has been, Jon would not have been left entirely alone. He’d still have Raoul and Gary and the other boys he’d met and known and become friends with. Jon had a relationship with Alanna, sure, but his entire existence did not revolve around her. Alanna was not his only confidant or his only friend the way it seems Sav was for Don. And the same is true in the reverse, Alanna had friends outside of Jon, outside of their smaller page/squire friend group. Both of them had support outside of each other in a way Sav and Don didn’t. So when their relationship fell apart, it didn’t destroy them and it didn’t force Jon into a position where he was ruling by himself with no one to turn to but an ex who can’t stand to be around him.

Sav meeting Numair is the first step he’s taken to create a new network of support outside of Don. It provides Sav with someone to confide in and be vulnerable to that ISN’T DON.

Don doesn’t have that. Not yet, at least. If he’s going to be saved, if GALLA is going to be saved, he’s going to need someone to stand in his corner with him.

And it can’t be Sav.

#tamora pierce #tortall #the immortals #the immortals quartet #daine au lb #savigny de hartholm #king donatien #otp: king's rose #long post

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glenngaylord · 4 years

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ALL IN THE SCAMILY - My Review of KAJILLIONAIRE ★★★★

Are we forever fated to become our parents or is there a chance to carve out our own identities? This, the central question of Miranda July’s wonderful new film, Kajillionaire, takes an original, engaging route towards such a discovery. July, best known for her first feature, Me and You and Everyone We Know, in which she also starred, applies her distinct quirkiness to her new film, but also infuses it with such empathy and warmth. The film, which at first gave me Napoleon Dynamite vibes, erupts into such an unironic, gimmick free thing of beauty by the end, that I may have invented a new emotion, the “tear gasp”.

Evan Rachel Wood stars as Old Dolio (the origins of which get explained in the film), the 26-year-old daughter to a pair of small-time Los Angeles scam artists, Theresa (Debra Winger) and Robert (Richard Jenkins). An inseparable trio, they engage in petty theft, exchanging gift certificates for money, and anything else they can desperately conjure up in order to maintain their meager existence. They live in a cruddy $500 a month office space owned by the neighboring Bubbles Inc. With such cheap rent comes one tiny inconvenience. Two or three times a day, pink bubbles from next door spill over their wall, forcing them to face this Sisyphean task with buckets at the ready. Although it serves as a metaphor for their scavenger existence, always facing uphill battles, July presents it as a simple truth in their lives. Whether staking out a post office to steal a parcel as if it were a military drill, or contorting their bodies to avoid being seen by their landlord, the family may seem odd, but their struggles feel universal.

Old Dolio wears her long stringy mane just like her mother’s and knows nothing about life outside of their bubble. She speaks in a deep croak not unlike Winger’s famous one, and dresses in loose-fitting, gender neutral clothing. It seems as if her whole life revolves around serving her parents’ needs. One day, however they meet Melanie (Gina Rodriguez) on an airplane during one of their more elaborate schemes, and their new friend wants in on the action. They plan to collect insurance money from the airline by claiming they lost Old Dolio’s luggage. Needless to say, the family didn’t think through how long it would take to collect the money, so they quickly need to conjure up another idea. Melanie seems suited for this life when she admits she initially lied to everyone about her profession. She may be the audience surrogate, getting answers to questions we may have, but she also has a bit of the con artist in her as well.

As Old Dolio gets to know Melanie better, it opens her up to the possibility of a life beyond her immediate family. When the quartet agree to go in together on a scam to bilk elderly people of their possessions, things take a turn. Their idea, to carry on as a family, pretending to eat dinner and fuss around the house as their victim listens from their death bed, allows them to scope out various antiques they can steal and sell. This role-playing awakens something in Old Dolio as she sees a family unit she never really had. Theresa even admits later that if she wanted parents who showered their child with gifts, made pancakes, danced around, and spread joy, then she signed up for the wrong family. You see, Theresa and Robert are who they are, and they make no apologies for it. Old Dolio, in a sense, is trapped, feeling the need to always satisfy them. Melanie’s intrusion into their lives, however, gives Old Dolio pause about this situation. Melanie has an assured personality and a confident gait. She’s direct, unflappable, and always knows how to calmly get out of tough situations. As Old Dolio sees this, it makes her question everything.

Along with the bubbling foam, July uses earthquakes as a metaphor, with frequent tremors reminding us of the fragile situation. As I describe this, I understand the film may sound more bizarre than it actually is, because, in truth, it has a truly touching, heartfelt tone. Sam Lisenco’s lived in production design and Sebastian Winterø's natural cinematography make their world so believable. Emile Mosseri, who did such a beautiful job with The Last Black Man In San Francisco, delivers a fascinating, understated score which seems attuned to this family’s insulated world. I also enjoyed a small supporting turn by Da'Vine Joy Randolph, the scene stealer from Dolemite Is My Name, as a befuddled bystander to one of Old Dolio’s cons.

All of this enriches the revelatory performances by Wood and Rodriguez. Wood finds such depth in a character which could easily have just been played for laughs. As lame as it may sound, you really do feel like you’re watching a caterpillar transform into a butterfly as she discovers new sensations such as touching, hugging, kissing, and caring. Rodriguez sails through her role with an unerring sense of positivity. She senses the trap Old Dolio is in, and just takes charge. After her comedic stint on Jane The Virgin, Rodriguez shows she can slow things down and let her character breathe. She oozes charisma and intelligence here and more than holds her own next to her formidable cast mates.

Top of that list are Jenkins and Winger, who make a fantastic pair, lost in their own little worlds. Witness Winger’s reaction to airplane turbulence or Jenkins trying to feign normalcy when we know he’s always itching to con someone. One may think of them as flawed people or narcissists, but they undeniably know who they are and how they want to live. Since Winger is my favorite living actor, I only wish we could have had more of her in this film. Although essential to the story, I would have liked more time with the parents, especially when portrayed by two greats. They present such an interesting dichotomy as terrible parents who somehow love their child in unexpected ways. Their somewhat short screen time feels like a minor quibble in a film packed with such punch and originality. One scene, following a much bigger earthquake, astounded me with July’s bravery in choosing to cut to black over two characters forming an intimate bond.

Kajillionaire also surprised me with its queerness, first as a story of often overlooked outcasts and second as a beautiful exploration of a queer relationship. The less said about the latter, the better, as it gets revealed in such unpredictable ways. As it shows us the struggles of leaving the nest, it also shows us those first steps towards evolving and growing. That it does so without ever losing sight of the heist storyline, which plays out right until the very end, is a testament to July and her talented cast and crew. It proves that a movie can co-exist as an edgy comedy and as something more sentimental without compromising either.

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quixoticry · 6 years

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☾ cute character questions ☽

THE BASICS.

NAME : Geneviève “Ginette” Pontmercy AGE : 22. ZODIAC SIGN : Aquarius. ONE GOOD TRAIT : independent ONE BAD TRAIT : inflexible

HABITS.

ONE BAD HABIT : She’s disorganized, in the sense that she will know where everything is, but no one else will be able to guess. Her quarters always appear to be a mess. She simply has better things to do with her time than keep things tidy; there always seems to be something more important. The records of her own travels are the only thing with some semblance of order— she needs quick access to those in case someone else wants to look up something. There are general sections devoted to painting, drawing, writing, and reading but they overlap each other and are more suggestions than rules. ONE GOOD HABIT : In spite of her otherwise head-in-the-clouds impression, she is very good at remembering peoples’ birthdays... on the day itself. Whether she’s thought to get anything ahead of time is more hit and miss, but she’ll find a way to acknowledge it. ONE HABIT THEY CAN’T BREAK : She daydreams, and as an extension of this she talks to herself to help her work out intellectual problems or develop ideas. She is aware this doesn’t do much for her social life, but she’s decided not to try breaking it. By now it’s a permanent part of her process. ONE THEY’VE BROKEN : She developed an addiction to laudanum after her grandfather died. Through great effort and the support of her family— especially, somewhat to her surprise, her father— she crawled back out of the abyss and took up traveling instead. WHAT THEY’RE AFRAID OF : Her biggest fears revolve around being ordinary, dull, and conforming. She also doesn’t like sickness and being dependent on other people; she would hate to lose her intelligence or her freedom.

FAMILY.

THEIR PARENTS NAMES : Marius & Cosette Pontmercy THEIR SIBLINGS NAMES : subject to discussion of course, but my personal headcanon gives her an older brother Jean-Georges and a younger sister Mélisande (whose name I credit to ye olde Twitter RP, shoutout to y’all). FAVOURITE CHILDHOOD MEMORY : Her grandfather’s visits, especially when he’d read her to sleep with Captain Cook’s adventures or a story of his own creation. FAVOURITE CHILDHOOD TOY : First it was a simple straw-and-coconut doll that was left in her shoe one Christmas. When she was older, she got a spyglass for examining wildlife in closer detail and she was never parted from it. EMBARRASSING STORY : She didn’t think so then, but that one time when she burst in on her parents thinking they were dying. They... weren’t. FAVOURITE FAMILY MEMBER : Her maternal grandfather. And her sister, once she was born. A STORY ABOUT THAT FAMILY MEMBER : When she was little, she could only say her sister’s name as “Gigi” and to this day she’s the only one allowed to call her that; now it’s a joke between them and Ginette gets her own back with “Mémé.”

WHAT THEY PREFER.

COFFEE OR TEA ? Coffee, but she does know how to make good tea and likes it occasionally. SHOWERING IN THE DAY OR NIGHT ? what is shower. She bathes at night though. TAKING BATHS OR TAKING SHOWERS ? baths, obviously. Although she has used small waterfalls like showers and loves that. TV OR MOVIES ? What is this. WRITING OR READING ? both— her reading is much broader in subjects than her writing, which is mostly devoted to chronicling her adventures. PLATONIC OR ROMANTIC LOVE ? Since she hasn’t really experienced a great romantic love, she would currently say platonic. Even after she has, they would be approximately equal weight in her estimation. ICED TEA OR LEMONADE ? Iced tea. ICE CREAM OR SMOOTHIES ? Ice cream. CUPCAKES OR CAKE ? Cupcakes are easier to eat on the go and it is possible to make them just as good. BEACH OR MOUNTAINS ? She loves anything outside, but mountains have more of an adventurous air and are less likely to include human company.

FAVOURITES.

SONG : Her mother would play the piano when she was young (this tapered off with the addition of another sibling) and Ginette was particularly enamored of a sprightly folk tune popular at the time. She didn’t know until much later that Cosette had learned it from her father, and to this day she doesn’t know what it was called. However, she has all the words memorized and will sing it to herself as an amusement or to boost her mood. BAND : this isn’t really a thing yet?? OUTFIT : She prefers simple clothes because of her active lifestyle; her absolute favorite style would fit in well in the Regency, loose and unfitted dresses, though of sensible cotton cloth rather than silk, which somewhat spoils the drape and the Grecian effect. This isn’t to say she scorns more ornate dress entirely— in the city, at events, she will dredge up her mother’s fashion sense and don something with more flair. It is, after all, another way to display her differences setting her apart from the rest. Which also explains (in addition to her general artistic nature) why she favors the Artistic Dress movement’s style even when back among high society. In terms of specific colors, she favors what might be called autumnal: deep reds, soft greens, and various shades of gold, though she can also turn to the other side of the color wheel with sunset-like colors of blues and purples. Like anyone else she has her moods and the differences can be quite stark. PLACE : A little corner of Père-Lachaise cemetery, beneath a yew tree, among the tall grass. As much as she loves adventure, it means a great deal to visit the grave of the man who’s inspired her so directly. She has her mother’s wild spirit, but Cosette never did anything so wild with it as to escape prison, fake her own death, etc. (Luckily she never had to.) To a young child in her formative years his tales— doled out, of course, in age-appropriate batches— combined with his interest in the world at large was hugely influential. MEMORY : While visiting the Galápagos, she got to see everything she’d read about in Darwin’s travelogue, which was very meaningful to her, but the one that she’ll treasure most is the discovery of a new species of butterfly. She managed to capture one and bring it back to show experts, and they confirmed it, so Valjean does have a permanent place in history after all: Leptotes valjeanae (squinting at the Latin... but you get the idea). PERSON : Still living? Her sister. They’re best friends, thick as thieves whenever Ginette comes back to Paris. MOVIE : Again, not a thing. SHOW : See above.

TAGGED BY : stole it. TAGGING : @asklemaire @scepticiism @pontificalandwarlike @livingsouloflove @namcdesire @therapardalis @murroyilodel & anyone else that fancies it!

#|| G. Pontmercy : hc.#|| queue.

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savrenim · 7 years

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So I got a whole lot of awesome questions about ifmlam from, I’m assuming the same anon? They contain spoilers through ch 27, and thus are appearing under the cut.

So in the universe where timeline 2 happened what were Seers essentially for? Were there more wars happening due to their advantages? Did scientists follow after Franklin's footsteps and ask questions about their research to the Seer in hopes that they would say something that might confirm or further the theory? Also I couldn't help but think that the hypothetical Hamilton play in that timeline focused a lot on Alexander being the reason for Aaron's death but what about Phillip's death?

Si, so I was scroll down your page and I stumbled upon the 'timeline 2 happened in this universe' post and I was wondering what Seers are universally known to have as an ability? You said that Aaron was 'one of the more powerful Seers' which implies he's not the most powerful Seer? So I was wondering what the most powerful Seer is like and what abilities do they all share? You emphasized a lot on versatility and so I'm assuming that Seers with weaker abilities can't adapt very well?

P.2 What determines a strong Seer? Or how a Seer gets their abilities? Is it a random scramble of powers mixed together and slapped onto them by God? Or is it carefully chosen due to some higher power deciding that 'ah yes, this will surely suit them the most. let's give them the power to predict nature diasasters but not human ones', etc,etc,etc?? And since you labeled Aaron as the first Modern Seer, does that mean he's the first Seer to display his power in such a successful and powerful way?

So to preface this all. There is a…big problem to answering fully pretty much 50% of the questions asked here? And the problem is “what are Seers, what are they for, why do they exist, what are the implications of the rules of a universe that works this way” are pretty much the plot of the tentatively-planned sequel that would be set ~250-300 years in the future and deal with both society dealing with the consequences of Burr’s actions as well as with both the consequences and figuring out the rules behind what makes Seers tick.

I want to be very careful not to promise a sequel that may or may not ever exist, there are just A Lot Of Cool Ideas That I Have and stuff that I’ve outlined that, like, for now as there seems to be a fairly reasonable chance that they might get used are something that I’d rather keep close to my chest, you know? Especially because the way that they’re set well in the future and based only on the ideas of the fic and not really the actual musical, I think I’d just write as original novels, and while I’d definitely post them online for free because I think it’s really shitty to take a story that people have been excited about that’s just been online for free and then go “so if you want to know how this story continues you have to pay,” because at this point they’re novels I don’t really want to be posting novel ideas online just to have the concepts stolen and somebody else write said novels.

That being said, here are the answers to all of your questions.

What were Seers essentially for? That’s one of the things that takes a couple hundred years to figure out.

Were there more that were happening due to their advantages? In terms of history going differently? Um, yes. Very much so. Except because I am not a history major and dear gods historical speculation is hard I’m leaving a lot of that up in the wind and mostly only have been charting the progression of science and technology that’s been different because those are the things that I solidly do know inside and out because that is my actual field of study. (Well, math and physics are my actual field of study but I try to learn alongside the important discoveries, when they happened and what led to them happening, because that’s fun to know..)

Did scientists follow after Franklin's footsteps and ask questions about their research to the Seer in hopes that they would say something that might confirm or further the theory? Yes, yes they did.

Actually, the biggest thing that Burr contributed to any timeline so far follows from round 2/the first repeat that is the offhand comment that Aaron Burr makes when Franklin tries to explain the light particle vs wave argument and Burr throws his hands in the air and goes “can’t there be both.” Pretty much the biggest revolution in science and technology in our world came at the cusp of the 20th century in this order: Maxwell figures out the equations for E&M waves and it implies that the speed of light is constant —> Einstein does relativity; at the same time, light=particle vs light=wave theories are having trouble explaining all phenomenon and there are things like the blackbody radiation problem, to which Planck figures out that if you restrict energy levels to specific quantities, it gets solved. —> Einstein also works off of this and quantum physics is born. All of this is helping create models of the atom and tests and being done and Einstein from general relativity figures out the mass and energy are basically the same, which leads eventually to the nuclear bomb being developed.

Now, take into account that “light being both particle and wave” plays massively into quantum stuff because electrons let out light when going down from energy levels and what-not, as well as it would potentially speed up the discovery of Maxwell’s equations and just all of this theory that led to the creation of the nuclear bomb. Possibly by the time WWI rolled along, which, like. Just would vastly reshape pretty much the entire political map and now can you see why I really, really, really hate doing historical speculation it is freaking CHAOS to track all of the things and come up with how the hell politics would have gone just going forward a century.

Also I couldn't help but think that the hypothetical Hamilton play in that timeline focused a lot on Alexander being the reason for Aaron's death but what about Phillip's death? I actually wrote a post about this! http://savrenim.tumblr.com/post/154913162666/wheeee-mkay-latest-anon-so-i-am-paranoid-about

Si, so I was scroll down your page and I stumbled upon the 'timeline 2 happened in this universe' post and I was wondering what Seers are universally known to have as an ability? That’s one of the things that takes a couple hundred years to figure out. Actually, that’s pretty much the single fact that all other things revolve around.

You said that Aaron was 'one of the more powerful Seers' which implies he's not the most powerful Seer? “Powerful” in this context means “how much did they affect global politics/ how much did their abilities allow them to affect global politics.” It also means “to what degree are their abilities directly testable and consistent.” Burr has an incredibly specific and consistent power, he is the first person that the world was able to prove was a Seer since Joan of Arc, and pretty much the entire fic is about look how much Aaron Burr can affect American and global politics, so that one speaks for itself.

So I was wondering what the most powerful Seer is like and what abilities do they all share? You emphasized a lot on versatility and so I'm assuming that Seers with weaker abilities can't adapt very well? Oh god so I mostly haven’t decided what the most powerful Seer was like, simply because there is a heck of a lot of non-Western culture that I am not that familiar with and Seers have popped up around the world. I kind of wanted to leave this open-ended so that people could pick their favorite historical figures from their own cultures or cultures that they love and have studied, and headcanon them as Seers in this world, and who am I to tell you that they weren’t.

(For anyone doing this, the single rule is that there is only one and always one Seer alive on the planet at any given time. Otherwise, headcanon away.)

Seers with weaker abilities tend to never be identified, or to be thought of as crazy and depending on their location and the people around them, either live a quiet life as the local crazy person or are thrown into a madhouse. It really sucks.

What determines a strong Seer? Or how a Seer gets their abilities? So there is the single overarching ability that all Seers have and that links all Seers, which is not figured out for a couple hundred years and is what the sequels are about. How the Seer gets the abilities that they naturally manifest are pretty much “they express themselves in whatever way best suits the Seer’s psychology and personality.” Hence why there are a lot of religious Seers in the Western world in the last couple of centuries (mostly John Calvin and his whole predestination thing, and Joan of Arc and her whole visions of angels telling her about battles thing.)

Is it a random scramble of powers mixed together and slapped onto them by God? Or is it carefully chosen due to some higher power deciding that 'ah yes, this will surely suit them the most. let's give them the power to predict nature disasters but not human ones', etc,etc,etc?? There is no evidence in the universe as of the time of ifmlam or the sequels to suggest the existence of a God or higher power. There is also no evidence against the existence of a God or higher power. The fact that Seers exist and what they see can be somewhat explained by science in this universe, and eventually is. Whether or not people still choose to believe in things, and whether or not those things are true, is entirely up in the air, much as I at least personally consider it to be in the real world.

And since you labeled Aaron as the first Modern Seer, does that mean he's the first Seer to display his power in such a successful and powerful way? Nah, first Modern Seer very specifically refers to the fact that he is the first post-Enlightenment (or at least co-current with the Enlightenment) Seer and thus pretty much the first real proof at the same time that (Western) science is rapidly advancing that this is actually a thing to consider in terms of trying to map out how the universe works, as well as pretty much the first Seer that anyone ever got to ask questions of “how in the world does this work” to.

#my fic #these are some really freaking good questions so if you like world background these are cool to read?#ifmlam

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Personal Ballot for 2017: Score, Costume Design, Production Design, Visual Effects, and Makeup

Hi all! I’ve begun the slow but steady process of writing out paragraph-long entires for my favorites of 2017 in 20 categories. I pray it’ll all be up by this time in April, if not before then, and the long list without write-ups is definitely susceptible to changes (for instance, Get Out is very likely to take the slot in Score that I’ve given to writing about Dawson City: Frozen Time), but there’s no time like the present to write about last year’s movies. So, without further ado, here are my five nominees (plus a few runners-up) in these five categories.

Best Original Score

Dawson City: Frozen Time, Alex Somers - It’d be hard, if not unbearable, for any kind of film to evoke a sense of awe in the miracle of its own existence. Imagine most films trying to do this for their entire hour and forty minute run time and not trying to bash your head in. But Dawson City: Frozen time pulls it off gloriously, partially because the film builds such a convincing case that the survival of its subject - hundreds of rolls of silent film footage previously thought lost recovered in 1978 - is a genuinely impressive achievement borne mostly from dumb luck, but also because it does a great job flexing its central themes and melodies to suit the tone of its current scene. The score isn’t derived from period tunes, instead taking on ethereal and atmospheric qualities that never tilts into opera, guiding us through complex histories in Dawson City. Yes, there’s a lot of awe, but also panic and terror and discovery, keying in to the developments of the town through its relationship to cinema, helping us grasp the idea that immortality and survival itself is so precarious under circumstances like these. In large part, the work here reminded me of what Angelo Badalamenti’s score accomplished for Twin Peaks - using emotional and mood-appropriate chords to guide us through heady, unusual material

Dunkirk, Hans Zimmer - More wall-to-wall scoring, though almost the inverse goal of what Dawson City: Frozen Time is attempting to do. Here the primary objective is delineating between all manner of suspense and fear as Dunkirk’s characters try to survive amidst their own inhospitable conditions. And since those characters are so intentionally blank, his score basically acts like a piece of opera music, a series movements charting the story more than an accompaniment or accent on the film’s scenes. Hope is strung out as chances for escape seem more and more dire, but the score lets the men’s belief that they will be rescued hit as passionately as their fears that whatever latest hell has sprung out of the sky will surely kill them this time. It also has the sense to submerge itself, adding quieter tensions to downbeats as the characters wait for danger to return and search for means to avoid it. Zimmer runs a decathlon based in exhaustion and the very real possibility that these men will die without growing stale or overbearing, keeping the terror lodged in our guts like a bullet.

Good Time, Oneohtrix Point Never - So accomplished in its sonic textures and moods that calling it exhilarating feels like I’m just scratching the surface. With its reprisals of 80’s synth and electronica, Oneohtrix Point Never’s score maintains all kinds of tensions as the film’s narrative barrels forward. From the opening heist that’s doomed to go wrong (and does, spectacularly so) to scenes of the people orbiting Connie getting trampled as collateral damage, the score finds ways to maintain tension in downbeats while ratcheting it up when necessary, flexing and stretching its motifs to flesh out the psychology of the film’s characters. Buries itself deeply under the audience’s skin without falling prey to any of the pitfalls its musical style entails, and manages to be completely enthralling while fitting perfectly into Good Time’s grotty aesthetic.

The Lost City of Z, Christopher Spelman - Admittedly, I’m unfamiliar enough with the pieces Christopher Spelman cribbed from for his score here to have known off the bat that some of his operatic flourishes were actually operas. So, maybe not 100% original. But! It’s still pretty original, and smartly incorporates works from other composers that fully contribute to the already-operatic nature of his score for Z. Throughout, Spelman avoids accenting obvious rises or falls in the narrative in favor of applying a continuous sense of motion, suggesting simultaneous beginnings and endings without pointing where it could all be going. This simultaneity also allows for the score to play to multiple moods and ideas at once, like the melancholy inside a joyous reunion between husband and wife, or finding a great discovery pointing towards an unknown civilization you have no tools to investigate. Just as Percy’s relationship to the jungles, to glory, and to enlightenment all change in themselves and become more enmeshed in each other, Spelman’s score helps us track these shifting mental and emotional pathways in him and his companions.

Wonderstruck, Carter Burwell - Like everyone in Wonderstruck, Burwell has to communicate between two time periods using totally disparate musical eras while including melodies and tunes that can work for both protagonists. He also has the additional challenge of scoring Rose’s scenes like a silent film, complimenting Millicent Simmonds’s performance without overshadowing her own subtle work. And, without succumbing to period clichés or overplaying the “wonder” in Wonderstruck, Burrell delightfully meets the challenges of the film on both sides. He gives both the 20’s silent pastiche and 70’s funk modern accents, keeping in tune with what’s dangerous about this adventure as much as what’s exciting and exhilarating about it. Wonderstruck indeed.

Best Costume Design

I, Tonya, Jennifer Johnson - Who’s to say about degree of difficulty when having such publicly available/iconic outfits as reference for its real person lead character to wear, but that doesn’t mean Jennifer Johnson’s recreations of Tonya’s outfits are completely dazzling to look at. She’s completely in key with the gaudy charm behind Tonya’s costumes, making them convincingly homemade and lower-class rather than using nicer fabric to beef up their dazzle. That energy is given to the background skaters, though when Tonya starts getting “nicer” outfits she still lets the costume retain their unsightly flair. Supporting characters are dressed in broad, colorful strokes that invoke character details without tilting into caricature. Julianne Nicholson’s coach get lots of soft floral prints, while LaVona always seems to have different versions of the same fur-trimmed coat, blossoming into the pelt she’s wearing in her interview scenes. Tailored to accentuate Janney’s imposing height, their length and flatness makes her look even more physically imposing than she already is. The sweaters Jeff wears are more form fitting than the ones Shawn does, but they’re both cozy-looking and character appropriate. A color ensemble of looks that fits the colorful ensemble of characters.

The Lost City of Z, Sonia Grande - Can we just take a second and appreciate how gorgeously dressed Sienna Miller is at all times in this movie? Decked in full-body dresses, gloves, and glorious hats, her looks are eye-catching and elegant without calling attention to themselves or immobilizing her. All the outfits of the explorers look suitable to their environment and grow convincingly tattered as their expedition continues, and Grande avoids exoticizing the Indian tribes while keeping them specific. More than that, the line about Percy only seeing the lack of medals on his uniform at the opening ball helps clue us in to how the film will insert character details through the baubles they’re wearing, such as the medals decked on the men’s breasts and the jungle-themes ascots Percy begins wearing after coming home from his second trip. Unshowy, unfussy period costuming that’s executed to a tee. Bonus points for the soldier’s uniforms, the fortune teller, and all the suits of the menfolk.

Personal Shopper, Jurgen Doerig - Gives Phantom Thread a real run for its money as the 2017 feature whose central character’s life revolves most around their film’s outfits. Maureen’s near-invisible boss sure is fashionable, with a taste for chic (sorry Reynolds) and, to put it lightly, suggestive outfits. We certainly get some idea of what Kyra is like through the dresses and accessories Maureen picks for her, and it’s almost a plot point that this woman is so unconcerned with her employees that she’d hire a personal shopper that’s also her size. But damn does Stewart wear those outfits well, using them to bolster Maureen’s self confidence as she enjoys the high of those incredible dresses, doing a better job expressing character via fashion show than Jackie. Just as amazing is the character’s own outfits, layers of sweaters and t-shirts underneath the same leather jacket, somehow a coherent look despite clearly being thrown on at the last minute, or at least chosen for function and comfort when sleeping in them over appearance. A sturdy collection of outfits that all reveal something different about the woman wearing them.

Phantom Thread, Mark Bridges - Look, all I’m saying is that I was a woman of means in 50’s London, I’d hire Reynolds Woodcock to make as much of my wardrobe as possible. Every outfit he designs for his clients is completely ravishing, but also somewhat regal and ornate, giving the House of Woodcock a rigid style that’s so far away from chic it’s understandably becoming outdated. It’s a portfolio anyone would be proud to hang their hat on, and Mark Bridges gives equal attention to what the three main players in this game are wearing. Cyril’s black-on-black-on-black looks are too modern in their elegant simplicity to have been made by her brother. He also makes repeat looks count for a lot, as when Alma goes to the New Year’s party - whose other attendees have their own, distinctive style - wearing that green and yellow dress Reynolds made so early in their amorphous relationship. The film simply wouldn’t work if Bridges wasn’t at the top of his game, and he hits a bullseye with every look.

Roman J. Israel, Esq., Francine Jamison-Tanchuck - From the start, Roman’s outfits are noticeably out of place next to the other lawyers we see, not just because the fabric is considerably cheaper but because they don’t seem quite tailored to his size. But they also seem pretty comfortable, and pieces like his magenta suit help him stand out next to the other members of the law firm he’s reluctantly sucked into. After acquiring a good bit of money through illicit means, his new and expensive outfits lose some of that individuality as he gets more in line with a cynical version of the law firm even as it changes itself to meet Roman’s idealism. As the head of that law firm Colin Farrell’s suits are tailored as fine as he is, even accentuating his fineness, while he and his associates go through the exercise of sporting “personalized” ties. The outfits of Carmen Ejogo’s activist leader are believably thrift store but as casually elegant and quietly worn as she is, and it’s exciting to examine the array of protesters meeting with her to see who’s wearing the same kinds of clothing or the imitative, expensive versions of it. Every costume pulls double duty, importing narrative significance and unexpected fashionability to story that didn’t seem to invite it on its face.

Best Production Design

Blade Runner 2049, Dennis Gasner - How can one call something unshowy even if so much of the film seems devoted to showing of its technical elements? My biggest complaint with Blade Runner 2049 is how so many scenes start at the earliest possible moment only to end as late as possible. In moments like K walking past those broken statues of giant, nude women, it seems as though the scenes have no point except to gawk at the physical environments and design elements that Dennis Gassner created. But damn if the sets aren’t something to marvel at. Not only that, but the flat, gray, angular style of these buildings and drawers and junk-sorting tables look as though they were designed with only function and space-saving in mind. Yes, the casino an important character has been hiding out at for decades is very much old and abandoned in the middle of nowhere, but it has round(!) tables, and the remains of some kind of charisma that would’ve made customers spark to the place if it was an active business. The roundness of there and Dr. Stelline’s lab stands out in contrast to practical flatness of everywhere else the film has taken us. Gassner finds a way to make 2049’s sets absolutely stunning, utterly serving the film’s story and the characters inhabiting those spaces without courting tropes of outright dystopia or any obvious visual charisma to make them easy eye-candy.

It, Claude Paré - Repeat watches of It have keyed me in to the criticism that the film suffers a real trade-off between scene-by-scene conceits being fully realized while larger ideas about growing up and more aggressive King themes aren’t so much left for the audience to fill in as much as avoided or vaguely implied. But even as the film petters out, the production design remains indelible and attentive in every scene. The kids’ rooms are individualized with clutter and personal objects - love the circus wallpaper in Georgie’s room - and Pennywise’s lair feels like its own, unique haunted house, even into the sewers. Derry itself is believably 80’s, grounding the town and playing to its normalcy rather than a rotting host for an unspeakable evil it’s turning a blind eye too. But the real achievement here are the film’s props, from the MISSING CHILD posters piled on top of each other to the history book Ben reads at the library about the Easter tragedy, evoking a bloody and haunted history even as the town continues to ignore it, brutally emblematized in the endless tower of mementos in the sewer. Bonus points for the army of clown dolls and the dummy in the coffin Richie encounters.

mother!, Philip Messina - Right off the bat mother! wins points for creating a house that’s convincingly rustic while also balancing ornate flourishes. It’s big but internally coherent, and has a creepy basement without being a creepy house, though it certainly suits the spooky atmosphere and unraveling narrative Aronofsky is going for. But the real kicker comes in the second act, as the house grows and devolves into a place of worship and war in honor of Him and his poetry. The transformation of so many rooms into war zones and actual altars is utterly remarkable and unfussily done despite the immense work it must have taken. It even looks as well-made as it should given the short, dream logic time frame that all of this is occuring in within the film, as though a stage crew is swapping out sets with every new scene of a play, wrecking this carefully built world in only a matter of minutes. Perhaps the least showy and most immaculately constructed part of an aggressively combative film.

The Lost City of Z, Jean-Vincent Puzos - Yes, a lot of the action takes place in the lush jungles of the Amazonia. But those jungles are believably rendered at every step of the way, teeming with life without falling into exoticism. And the manufactured majesty of the “natural” doesn’t diminish the quality of the homes and communities we get to see. It’s fascinating to see the homes of the colonizers living in those jungles, sturdily made outposts with surreal flourishes and decadent wealth pouring from its most scourigible parts. There’s also the communities built by the Indians that Percy encounters, each clearly their own tribe, as well as the attention paid to wartime trenches and the grand mansions and meeting places of the Explorer’s Guild. The homes he returns to after every journey help illustrate his growing obsession with Zed and his shifting place in English society, going from an upscale house with vine-covered exteriors and leaf-print wallpaper in the bedroom to a cottage practically drowning in the trees surrounding it.

Wonderstruck, Mark Friedberg - Between his miraculous outings with Todd Haynes on Far From Heaven, Mildred Pierce, and now with Wonderstruck, plus his gargantuan work on Synecdoche, New York, can someone please get Mark Friedberg a Wikipedia page? Hell, his work on Wonderstruck alone should’ve qualified him for that, let alone any awards recognition at all. There’s more applause here for deeply specific bedrooms and homes, but there’s even greater praise for the attention he gives to shops and museum dioramas and the way he, along with every other technician, juggles making aesthetics 50 years apart internally cohesive while finding avenues for both timelines to speak to each other, even outside of shared locations. Friedberg may even have a greater challenge in including objects older than both time periods, like the book advertising the Cabinet of Wonders or the impersonal but captivating dioramas and galleries inside the museum of natural history. But damn does he pull it all off, ending the film with its richest achievement in the deeply personal map that this mysterious father of Ben’s created, a diorama that’s as much a diary, and a story told with non-diegetic sets.

Best Visual Effects

Blade Runner 2049, John Nelson and Co. - Easily the film that has been in every incarnation of this category since I first saw it, and the one I’ve had the hardest time starting a write-up about beyond asking “How did they do it?!?!?!”. But reader, I have to ask. The blending of CGI landscapes with the film’s already-impressive production design is smooth and unobtrusive. Joi, in all her incarnations, is a pretty incredible achievement. Fluctuating in transparency and functionality, moving in and out of spaces and characters, in skyscraper and human-sized incarnations, the character is fascinating to watch, the constant reminder that she’s an object making Ana de Armas’s warm, emotionally rich and humanizing performance all the more interesting. Dr. Ana’s Stelline’s manufactured memories coming together is practically a short film onto itself, and the ghostly singing holograms are as affecting as the decrepit casino Deckard himself haunts. Consistently breathtaking work that keeps finding new ways to surprise you.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Christopher Townsend and Co. - I’m still amazed by how fully I’ve come around to Marvel’s side after their 2017 output, but without a doubt I’m still most impressed by the visual style and deliciously saturated color palette that Guardians so perfectly manages. Without ever tipping over into Wonderland garishness, the film indulges in practically every color imaginable in creating its sets and environments and weapons. The hot, neon pink of Yondu’s whistling spear-thing is easily my favorite, as is the blueness of the sky and orangeness of the ground as Gamora sits outside after fighting with Peter, completely unaware of Nebula soaring behind her. Meanwhile, the creation of Ego’s planet and his palace is a truly massive achievement, as are the dioramas detailing his long, hilariously sexy travails across the universe. And they find a way to make Kurt Russell young again without creeping into the uncanny valley. Yes, there’s that one effect in the big climactic fight that weirdly makes it look like Ego and Peter are apparating at each other like in the Harry Potter films, but it’s only a slight bump in a film that’s otherwise full of visual wit and bursting to the brim with as much color as possible, practically daring you to look at it and not enjoy yourself.

It, Nicholas Brooks and Co. - It’s absolutely ridiculous that the campaign team for Warner Bros. couldn’t even muscle It into the VFX shortlist. If repeat watches have cooled me on Bill Skarsgård’s performance, the graphic impact of Pennywise still hits as hard as that first showing in a packed theater. The many ways that Pennywise contorts his limbs, changes size, takes on new and equally terrifying forms, are as terrifying to me as they are to the kids. Seeing him unwind from that fridge to scare Eddie is still one of the most indelible sights of the year, as is his Meshes of the Afternoon arm reaching out for Georgie. Bonus points for the detail given to the dead kids, particularly the headless Easter Egg casualty and Betty Ripsom.

mother!, Tamriko Bardadze and Co. - Compared to the scale some of these other teams are operating on, I keep thinking of mother!’s achievements as being somehow smaller. Effects like the burning wound on the floor where a man is killed, the blood from the dying man himself, the beating heart of the house, that pulsing, spindly Thing hiding in a toilet, all are brief but completely impactful. But then I think back to larger spectacles like the house beginning to rot when Lawrence’s character is at her most distressed, the occasionally barren and occasionally lush Outside we get only glimpses of. Then, even bigger spectacles, like every single way that her house is blown apart, and the charred but living and talking body of a character who has instigated its greatest destruction, and I have a hard time calling its achievements small in any way. Supporting, maybe, but as fully realized as it needs to be, and as mad as everything else that mother! is doing.

War for the Planet of the Apes, Joe Letteri and Co. - I’ll admit upfront there’s a ceiling to how much I can be in awe of a third incarnation of digitally remastered apes, the look of each film improving with technological advances even if I don’t see anything as inherently “new” here as some of my other nominees. But even with that caveat in place, there’s no question that the apes have never looked better. Compare the trailer for Rise in 2011 to what we get in War, and it’s even more obvious how much effort the VFX team has put into making Caesar and his tribe look as realistic as possible. Their faces have never been so expressive; their fur looks so real you could practically touch it, or at least imagine how it feels and smells as they hop between increasingly inhospitable ecosystems, caked in snow and mud and dirt and blood. Even if I’m not as wild about the series as its most ardent fans, their adoration is completely earned with the knowledge that this trilogy has gone out with its most auspicious technological achievement to date.

Best Makeup

Atomic Blonde, Paul Pattinson - A shout out first to the wonderful styling of the minor characters, from the punk hackers working under Bill Skarsgård (and Skarsgård himself) to the functional Russian antagonists, individualizing members on both sides where it counts while knowing who to keep relatively anonymous, even after repeat viewings. John Goodman and Eddie Marsan stand out among the suits dealing with this case, though all the mysterious officials wandering around the story are fantastically groomed. James McAvoy seems to have lost all morality along with his hair, legible as either “disastrous” or still pretty foxy, depending on who’s asking. Still what most interests me are the wigs that Charlize Theron and Sofia Boutella’s characters wear throughout the film, wigs that are undeniably wigs to the audience that are treated like actual haircuts in the film. Both of them, Charlize especially, wear the kind of wigs that spies would usually wear to disguise themselves as other people, something only highlighted in how the actual wigs Lorraine wears seem more plausible as real haircuts than her typical bleach-blonde cut. It’s the first real sign that everyone in Atomic Blonde is playing more roles than they let on, and that the film is willing to be far more ambitious than you’d expect from the setup.

The Death of Louis XIV, Antoine Mancini and Lluís Soriano - There are wigs, and then there’s the magnificence resting on Louis XIV’s head, some kind of lion’s mane passing for a cloud that, like the king, is ready to float off to the beyond at any moment. The gradation of his physical health is the spectacle the whole film is premised upon, and it wouldn’t work if the makeup team wasn’t doing their job so marvelously, oscillating between wilting wigs, full white wigs, or unbelievable and youthful brown wigs. His physical decline is more subtly rendered than my comments on his hairdo let on, and the gangrenous splotch on his leg is appropriate unsettling. Equal attention is given not just to Louis but also to his aides, consorts, and doctors, delineating who is and isn’t bothering to maintain appearances while tending to their king. The Sun God is disintegrating before their eyes, everyone doing their damndest to keep him alive, and still some people have the time to put on makeup and maintain their wigs? Every look is utterly in tune with Serra’s unusual tone and wildly ambitious aesthetic, across a whole host of characters.

The Lost City of Z, Juanita Santamaria - Boy are Charlie Hunnam and Sienna Miller put together with period appropriate glamour that could easily pass for movie-star shine. Robert Pattinson’s facial hair is wildly unkempt but still well-trimmed and completely convincing, far more than whatever died on Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo’s faces in Foxcatcher. Even better is watching the wear and tear of the jungle taking hold of these men’s bodies, smearing them with dirt and sweat, as well as the infections ravaging their bodies, appropriately painful-looking and and revolting without overdoing it The various menfolk of the Adventurers guild are properly groomed and shaved, and the multiple native tribes are given individualizing looks that avoid broad caricature or blurring them all into one large, amorphous tribe. And all of them are gracefully aged as the film progresses, which is frankly as tough an object to find in most movies as a lost civilization.

Phantom Thread, No Credited Head - There’s been a lot of well-earned praise about how gorgeous Phantom Thread is, from its costumes to its cinematography to that ornate, endless house. But how about a round of applause for how stunning those actors look? Daniel Day-Lewis and Lesley Manville are immaculately assembled, from their hair (his naturally graying, hers a wonderfully dyed dark brown) to his eyebrows to her lipstick, all without covering up the age and weariness on their faces. Both look a little gaunt around the edges. Vicky Krieps gets that no-makeup makeup look too, with no attempts to make her look more conventionally or exotically pretty, keeping her gorgeous and comparatively plain next to the other models and muses of Reynolds’s that we see. The background players are given their fair share of attention too, but there’s no denying the main attractions here.

Wonder, Arjen Tutien - Much in the same way that Wonder is a tougher film than I expected but still a remarkably sweet one, I admire the way that the rendering of Tremblay’s disfigurement neither overdoes the surgical scars and deformities nor softens them to the point of being “cute” or “cool”. There’s plenty of room for Tremblay to give a performance underneath all that makeup without simultaneously flaunting the fact that Tremblay is acting under all that makeup the way Darkest Hour so frequently does. The makeup team also does right by the rest of the cast, especially in giving Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson careworn, normal-parent looks better than most films with superstars in those roles manage to pull off. It neither condescends to the normalcy of the characters nor sneaking in ways to remind us that hey, isn’t Julia Roberts friggin’ beautiful. Maybe not as ambitious as Darkest Hour or It, but it’s more consistent across a host of characters while perfectly managing a tricky central character than both films are without showing off or dropping the ball, nailing its assigned tasks to a perfect tee.

#my posts #2017 ballot #personal ballot

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