#but a comedy with drama elements is more like. the drama is a joke until it's no longer a joke. and then you go back to the joke.

[lazuliquetzal]

Hey speaking of fanfiction/writing asks, I have a weirdly specific writing question: How do you manage to balance comedy and drama so well in your writing? I've read other stories straddling comedy and drama genres, but I often felt that the comedy cheapened the drama, and the drama made the jokes fall flat. But I've never felt that with your writing? In fact, the drama often makes the jokes funnier, and the jokes make the drama more impactful. Maybe it's contrast? How do you do that?

OH BOY DO I HAVE THOUGHTS ABOUT COMEDY ALL THE TIME!

So the idea behind juxtaposing comedy and drama is kinda like putting coffee in your cake--the bitterness draws out the sweetness and makes it stronger. The contrast highlights the presence of the other. But if it's too unbalanced, you either get cheap drama or flat comedy, as you mentioned.

The first thing you need to decide what flavor (genre) you're going for. For example: I consider Dawn of the Fourth to be heavier on the drama than the comedy. I crack some hilarious jokes all throughout DotF, but the moments that I build up to are dramatic moments, even before the mystery kicks in! Ch1 builds up to baby Time screaming about the moon, Ch2 builds up to Wind lying to Time, Ch3 builds up to Wind being seriously suspicious about Sky, etc. The important, plot-moving moments are consistently played straight. So even though I crack a ton of Very Funny jokes, the thrust of the story is actually a mystery-thriller.

In contrast, I would consider Dinked Up to be more comedy than drama. The scenes are all comedic situations. Most of the moments of payoff are jokes. Every scene has a bit of sentiment to it, though (they all circle around Dink's very sincere teenage angst) which is why, when we hit the turning point, it's (hopefully!) not out of place. The drama hits harder in this case because ideally, the reader would have gotten used to the comedic flow, so when we swerve into drama, it's a surprise. Then we get to the climax, which is pushed along with comedy (Time being super nonchalant, Dink tripping and yelling super pathetically, etc). While it is running off of drama, it's a return to the comedy of the earlier scenes. I'm still ending the story with the same tone I established early on.

So basically: while I may be pinballing back and forth between comedy and drama, there's structural consistency going on underneath.

#asks #runaway-ramblings #writing #honestly i think it's easier writing a drama with comedy elements #than to write a comedy with drama elements #you can get away with shoving a LOT of jokes into a drama as long as the Main Moments are dramatic #but a comedy with drama elements is more like. the drama is a joke until it's no longer a joke. and then you go back to the joke. #but don't undermine the drama! #i hope this helps! #you should read my friend yellowocaballero she does the dramedy thing ALL the time. with more drama and more comedy than i do. #lazuli talks

[mdhwrites]

The Owl House's Problem with Genre

So this is more a general lesson of: You are supposed to set your expectations for something by the genre set forth by it. If you're consuming a tragedy, you need to understand that fundamental flaws in who a character is are going to doom the entire cast. That doom is inevitable for them by who they are as people. However, if a RomCom tries to pull the same trick for angst and sadness, that's when you get the Third Act Breakup in both its good and infuriating incarnates because, well, it's two genres about joy more than pain.

So what does this have to do with The Owl House? Well, it's something that I struggle with as a writer myself because I can blend genres some and that makes it hard to entirely quantify what genre a work is in. TOH has a problem where the genre will often shift between various episodes.

Like let's look at the first episode. Pretty firmly, that is a comedy adventure. It's got some fun jokes tying into the problem, the action is silly and the powers are a bit goofy to play up the comedy even as they're in danger and the show is telling a lot of jokes pretty rapidly.

Jump over just two episodes though and you have the first episode with a comedy B plot. Sure, Eda and King are having a comedy adventure of sorts but Luz? That one is magical slice of life. It's somewhat comedic but calling it an adventure feels a bit like a stretch. Yes there's a fight eventually but it's much more about the societal issue presented and making friends with some cute banter that you'd expect from a light hearted show. The fight is barely a fight and is over quickly so it just... comes across as something you'd see in any magical school show. Not necessarily bad but not in the genre TOH claims to be. Covention is very similar where there's not actually any real adventure element as it just does some world building until its fight scene mostly. Even then, besides a quip, the fight itself isn't funny.

And mind you, SOME genre blending is actually a good thing. A comedy knowing when to slow down for a serious moment is good. Times for a party to breathe in town can lead to great chances for sides of characters you otherwise wouldn't see. There's a genuine back and forth to be had there.

But it shouldn't ALWAYS be contrasting like that, especially with your main character. Luz actually has VERY little to do with the comedy side of the show. Almost always, there's a moment or two in an episode but the majority of the comedy is either through comic relief characters or explicitly through the B plots. She does just enough comedy to get her character across (which is part of why it fades from her so much in S2B) but no more. Sometimes, she's even gone from the adventure elements too because Luz is too caught up in romance or drama or slice of life stuff to even be put in peril, or isn't until the very end. Like Hunting Palisman has a couple cute jokes but it's mostly a serious affair... except for giving Hunter shit. Otherwise, the show honestly treats Luz mostly seriously. She isn't funny to me as much as she is cute when it comes to how she's trying to express herself which is fine for an adventure, much more questionable for something specifically branded as a COMEDY adventure.

But if it's not the greatest comedy, what genre fits TOH? Was it just listed wrong? Well, pretty much EVERY genre falls into this sort of problem with TOH. It's not a great slice of life because it's not inventive enough to make many of these situations interesting. It's most archtypical episodes are considered some of its worst. It's not a great adventure because the action is pretty meh most of the time and there is zero threat to the main characters so there's no tension. No threat/tension means it's also not good horror. It spends a LOT of time on romance but all of its romances are bland and samey and when they are together as a couple, they often struggle to do anymore than fluff. As a drama, there's never any consequences to anything so the angst feels hollow as it just makes an episode feel bad then moves on. And finally, as a fantasy show, its magic is really basic, kind of boring and there's nothing unique to its world or rules that don't make it feel like it's not just the modern world with more teeth and that's not great fantasy.

The best stories know what they aren't as much they know what they are. Genre blending is a good thing but there's a point at which you're just a composite sludge. Master at nothing, impressive at little.

And there is no genre TOH impresses with.

======+++++======

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

#the owl house criticism #toh critical

[psychewritesbs]

Any thoughts on the current Takaba vs Kenjaku face-off?

Hola anon! Yesssss I have thoughts. So many thoughts because, while not necessarily amongst my top 5 chapters in jjk, chapters 240 and 241 are sooooooo damn good in their exploration of both Takaba's and Kenny's sense of self.

Thing is... I already liked Takaba, but after this set of chapters, it's not necessarily that I love him more, but rather I appreciate how relatable he is.

In a nutshell, my reaction to this chapter this week was:

fucking Gege 😭👌

I taco'bout it under the cut!

Let's start with 240 though...

Chapter 240: Foolish Survivor, Live On—Battle of Equals

I think it's very relevant that Gege just gave us Gojo and Kashimo's death served on a cold platter of "I wanted to feel I belonged in a world where I felt no one could understand me" because I am totally loving Takaba's sense of self revolving around the same need and desire.

So I love that he found in Kenny someone who understood him so well, to the point that his jokes were rendered ineffective because Kenny could see right through the joke's weakness.

Similarly, I am loving what Takaba is doing for Kenny.

In chapter 239 Kenny mockingly asks Hanezoki to be friends...

... and specifically says that to be his friend, such a person must never bore him and must be his equal. This is also interesting in the sense that Kenny calls Granny Tengen his friend, so I'm curious to see Gege expand on this.

Now, this is relevant because Kenny is basically a 1,000 year old brain. When you've lived that long and you've seen everything there is to be seen in terms of human drama, I imagine life can get pretty boring. So what is it that drives someone who's seen it all to get up every morning and face yet another day in the world?

What is their raison d'être? Their reason for living and existing...

So I love Kenny's state of mind "being written all over his face" because it goes right back to the intellectual curiosity that drives his actions and Takaba is the one who is reigniting that intellectual curiosity that drives Kenny.

Kenny is smart and wants to laugh. The fact he knows so much about comedy shows he's found in comedy something worth exploring. I mean... imagine Kenny as Kaori, Yuji's mom, pregnant af, watching comedy shows to pass the time because it feeds her intellectual curiosity.

Similarly, think of how Kashimo asked Sukuna about what brings him enough satisfaction to turn himself into a cursed object to cross the ages, to which Sukuna's simple response is "the ephemeral taste of human flesh is enough to pass the time until death".

This is interesting in and of itself given the recent ask about which element each of the three big clans represents (mind/body/soul). It kind of feels like Sukuna represents body and Kenny represents mind. But I digress....

Chapter 240 then ends with Takaba having an identity crisis--that is, he's come face to face with the very source of his own woes the way it happened for Gojo.

If he is to go on living, Takaba needs to re-assess his sense of self.

Chapter 240: Foolish Survivor, Win and Remain—Bridging opposites

The chapter opens showing us a Takaba we hadn't seen up until now--harsh and critical, he takes things too seriously. Little did we know, this is part of his sense of self.

And I just loved this juxtaposition of these two conflicting parts of Takaba's personality (someone who takes things too seriously but who is also capable of being one hell of a goofy mf) because it showed that

a) two seemingly contradictory elements can coexist as one and the same, and

b) when we get out of balance (i.e. choosing to prioritize one of these contradictions over the other like Takaba being so focused on doing comedy right that he's forgotten that the spirit of comedy is being lighthearted), we lose sight of what's truly important.

So Takaba's trying to get back at why he became an entertainer in the first place...

... and the lengths he was willing to go through to be accepted and feel like he was understood by his peers... idk. It's so fucking real...

This is also the antithesis of everything Sukuna stands for.

But what I personally think is neat about Takaba is that, while he did act goofy so that others found him relatable, I really do think he's one hell of a genuinely goofy mf for a couple of reasons. First, an overly serious personality type has to be balanced out by an unserious personality (in Jungian psych it's all about wholeness by bridging opposites). Second, he seems to genuinely be interested in comedy and the craft of comedy.

Takaba's problem was then that his overly serious persona would kill all the fun out of comedy, while on the other hand, the part of him that wanted to be accepted did not want to take things seriously because it meant getting rejected.

It's almost like Takaba never got these two parts of himself to work together and so they worked against each other.

And can I just say that I absolutely loved this interaction between Takaba's current self and his child self? Representing Takaba in his younger years felt like Gege was writing about how this was the formative period when Takaba's conflict between his two personalities started. Gege already did something similar with Gojo in his teen years and this is just so masterful and beautiful because I don't even know how to put into words that Gege is writing about a process of healing through dialogue with the inner child.

I'm screaming in depth psychology nerd.

Above all, I love how this chapter in particular gets at the conflict we've seen repeated in other characters in jjk--i.e. Gojo felt isolated but did not realize that was partly because he built barriers around himself.

It's like Gege is showing us how we see ourselves (our sense of self) is the very source of our own tragedies because we're largely blind to anything that is outside of conscious awareness because we push it into the shadow.

It's just... *chef's kiss*

fucking Gege 😭👌

So I LOVED seeing Takaba own his need to be known and understood because that's so fucking human.

But even better was how he brought together that goofy mf he tapped into due to his need to be understood with his earnest and serious nature.

Also, his level of self-awareness...

And to bring it all back full circle...

Will Kenny laugh? Looks like Kenny is excited to see what Takaba has in store, so that's already a good sign.

idk, again, this isn't my favorite chapter ever and at the same time... man... what a fantastic character exploration.

There's something here about how Takaba may be the only one who gets this whole sense of self thing right.

The other thing I'll say is that Gege has a tendency to make his characters relatable in their last moments. There's something here that I can't quite put my finger on quite just yet that goes back to the idea that "how we live is how we die" and jjk characters have a tendency to go out in such a way that reflects how they lived their lives.

Whatever the case, I'm on #Team Takaba and am rooting for him from the sidelines.

Thanks for stopping by anon!

#jjk ch 240 #jjk ch 241 #god i love jujutsu kaisen #ask the mental gymnastics anime girl

[canmom]

yesssss, say more about everything everywhere when you can, please!

hehe sure thing anon!

so the first thing to say is, well, evidently this film lived up to the hype for me! I enjoyed it so much that I'm gonna screen it on Tuesday (copyright strike 2 incoming?) alongside some other of Michelle Yeoh's films. but hey, since you asked~ let's talk a little lot about Everything, Everywhere, All At Once!

it was a very, very tightly made film: one of those films where every element comes to reinforce the other elements, from the goofy Daniels physical comedy to the martial arts to the family drama at the centre. and of course the editing was as fantastic as you'd expect; absolutely tight sense of rhythm, excellent clarity in even the most chaotic action scenes.

between this and the Stephen Chow films I saw earlier in the week, it really underlines just how much martial arts and comedy are close siblings. I think the reason for this is well, you need some kind of short-term arc to make sure a fight scene is more than just a monotonous run of hitting each other until someone falls over. there are many sources of this tension. one is of course the ebb and flow of new strategems and small victories that put different characters in more or less advantageous positions (the bread and butter of shōnen). but a joke - the setup and payoff structure - is a perfect fit, just the right size to give a good little arc to a scene, especially when you overlap several in parallel.

so if you get good at combining humour and martial arts, both get stronger: the thrilling execution of the martial arts strengthens the joke, and the joke adds flavour to the punching and kicking. hence the immense success of someone like Jackie Chan.

the other element is well, the long term setup and payoff. this is a classic comedy plot structure; Hot Fuzz is a good example of a film which does it very well, where the first half of film, plenty funny in its own right, is essentially setting up jokes which all come back around in rapid succession during the grand finale.

but here it's a little more, because all the jokes are setup for not just jokes but beats in emotional arcs. I believe one of the Daniels said of the farting in Swiss Army Man "the first fart will make you laugh, the last fart will make you cry"; the idea is the goofy physical comedy comes to become a symbol of the two characters' relationship, so when Manny departs, it's not just a funny farting man but the end of something beautiful and transformative.

this film builds on that structure. in one of the early fight scenes, Evelyn is connecting to all these increasingly absurd universes in order to find powers relevant to the fight. however, every single one of these universes - even the one with the hot dog fingers or the Ratatouille parody - becomes tied in to the emotional climax of the film, in which just about a dozen different story arcs, including ones that seemed at first to be entirely jokes, fire off all at once in one glorious intercut sequence that tie back in to the central thesis.

hmm, does this remind you of anything?

(I'm not even kidding honestly; the narrative preoccupations and sense of humour in this movie are really very very similar to Homestuck. I think this is entirely a matter of independent invention - there are plenty of other stories to tackle the multiverse concept, and from the sounds of things this movie has been cooking for quite a while - but I do think it's funny.)

so one of the things I love about this movie is its willingness to commit to the bit and develop each of these more or less goofy alternate universes into something more than a one-off joke.

ok, so, we adore the execution, what of what it is Saying? on the one hand, this movie is about some high concept scifi ideas - what if modal realism/Everettian many-worlds is true, and it were possible to make contact between branches in a kinda mystical way - but really the central narrative arc is about Evelyn herself and her relationships with her daughter and her husband.

(below: spoilers, and content note for talking about suicide and abusive family relationships, i know, juicy stuff)

Evelyn, played brilliantly by Yeoh, has a lot of unresolved issues, and rather than really deal with them, she tends to deflect, e.g. by attributing her own homophobia to her father, hiding in paperwork and cooking when her husband wants to express any of his own needs; by the time she really catches on it's almost too late to do anything about it and she's all but driven everyone away. not for nothing is the image at the centre of that final sequence a rock diving off a cliff in pursuit of another rock.

one thing I like, on reflection, is that Evelyn, for all the progress she makes, does not solve everything. when she desperately appeals to reconnect to Joy at the end, it's not that she finally fully understands her daughter (even if she's made some big steps on the immediate conflicts like actually accepting that she's a lesbian); she still fusses about things like Joy's weight. but she is at least able to be honest about where this is coming from and actually admit how important Joy is to her, which she hadn't done before. (this whole scene is a callback to a scene earlier in the film where Joy is about to drive away and Evelyn stops her, but doesn't manage to say anything but that she's fat; this time Evelyn actually manages to say what she should have that first time). this change of heart is enough for at least this Joy to decide to stay connected to her mother. we don’t see how their relationship evolves subsequently.

something that this film made me think of is an old essay on here by Kai Cheng Thom (@sintrayda), titled (and I suppose you can imagine why this has come back to me recently) Stop Letting Trans Girls Kill Ourselves. let me quote a couple of paras from that:

the predominant (white, colonial) queer/trans narrative of “proper” consent to being cared for goes something like this: someone expresses that they are in pain, or you happen to see that they are.  you offer them help.  if they refuse, you back off, no questions asked.  any further attempt to help could be a considered a violation.

this narrative holds a lot of resonance for me, but i believe it comes from a traumatized place: it is rooted in queer and trans experiences of abusive families and intimate partnership in which we are not allowed to refuse, we are not allowed to leave. our reaction is to swing the other way in the extreme: we encourage people to leave, we don’t question the refusal of love, even when it is clearly needed.

(...)

more often than not, these parents [of severely traumatised children who said they intended to run away] were concerned and loving but did not know how to respond. they asked me what they should say.  from my own place of both clinical training and queer narratives, i suggested that they tell their children that it was okay to be angry, that they were allowed to be angry, and that if they did indeed run away, that they would always have a home to come back to if they wanted.  i believed that this was consent, was the secure attachment that is so prized in child psychology. 

my supervisor (therapist instructor) agreed with my intervention, but also suggested that i had missed an important element: i should also tell these parents to say that if their child ran away, they would go out and find them and bring them home.

the emotional effect this had on me was profound.  this was not something i had been taught to believe in queer community – that love and care might mean following someone even after they have rejected you.  that it might mean reaching out, and failing, and then reaching out and failing, again and again.

that abandonment and rejection by a person in pain – child or adult – might be way of finding out just how hard someone is going to work to help you not just stay alive, but change your life for the better.

Thom is writing here about an ideological position that discourages intervention when someone is suicidal; one that is still painfully relevant, when your friends are far away and you have to weigh the possibility that calling an ambulance to ‘help’ them could very easily get them beaten and incarcerated. I don’t want to talk about this too much on this post; even though it was too late for my decision to matter for Fall, losing her has made me think of other times I’ve learned someone’s suicide attempt and had to decide whether to risk sending an ambulance.

Anyway, I won’t talk about that more. The more relevant factor is that there is a similar thesis at work in Everything, Everywhere for better or worse. In this case, it’s clearly right. Joy cares a lot about her mother, even though she’s increasingly estranged from her family; it is clearly very important to her that she can bring her girlfriend to the New Year’s party, and she is upset by the fact that she struggles to speak Mandarin as fluently as the older members of the family (the constantly switching languages, blending English and Mandarin even within one sentence, are another brilliant touch, it’s so natural and I’ve never seen that done so well). She just needs Evelyn to meet her halfway; appreciate who she actually is rather than worrying about her turning into Evelyn 2. So in this case, fleeing Evelyn was a way of expressing just how serious the situation was; she would rather not have this connection at all than have it continue in its current form. Evelyn, to her credit, figures it out and they’re able to continue on a better foot.

I am certain there are many cases like this, where the right thing to do may well be to ignore a hard rejection. And yet part of me still finds this idea difficult, perhaps for similar reasons as Thom. Not so much because of a blanket one-time ‘consent’ principle, but more because I feel like a relationship that categorically cannot be terminated is dangerous. An abuser who pursues someone across a country may well believe they’re acting out of love. I don’t think it is a failing of the film to not address such cases.

I suppose I end up thinking about my own life - a scale much less grand than ‘parent and child’ but still actually life and death. Fall spent several months at the beginning of this year keeping me at arm’s length, I was blocked on Discord etc., before we reconnected literally weeks before she died. I missed her, but did little to act on it; my general attitude in such cases is to give a person time if they need to be alone, and not be pushy, to make it clear that whatever relationship we have is something that they can choose to have or not. I don’t think that’s wrong. But how do you even recognise the times when what someone really needs is you to try anyway? Could I have made more effort to reach out to Fall without making things worse for her?

Who else am I failing this way?

Unknowable...

Moreover, are there times when the opposite is true: when I’m just making matters worse attempting to ‘help’ and I should back off, even if the person can’t bring herself to tell me? The short run, the long run... it’s an endless series of tricky high stakes judgement calls which will last until I die.

Which brings us to the other strand of Evelyn and Joy’s arcs and the whole premise of the film. This is the idea of the Everettian branching multiverse being true, and what that means on an emotional level. OK, they don’t actually invoke Everett’s interpretation of quantum mechanics; the film is actually inspired, a long time ago, by the philosophical stance of modal realism, which says that all “possible worlds” are real ‘in the same way that ours is’. What ‘possible’ means in this case is pretty broad, something like ‘logically possible’.

In this film, all the worlds are marked by some earlier or later point of divergence. The premise is that a technology allows you to connect your brain to the brains of ‘you’ in other branches. The actual mechanics are (appropriately) kept vague in service of jokes, broader themes etc.; thus a universe can exist where humans have evolved (somehow) to have floppy hot dog fingers but this world still recognisably contains Evelyn, her laundromat, and the woman from the IRS. And indeed in a universe where life did not evolve, there are two rocks which can nevertheless be recognised as Evelyn and Joy. So yeah it’s not hard sci-fi big deal lol.

Still, the impact of this is the question: if all these possibilities true, why is anything important? The film invokes the Copernican revolution, followed by (implicitly) the development of multiverse theories; Joy’s driving POV is a nihilistic one. She knows she can make anything happen in any world, so all of it loses significance.

Evelyn’s answer is essentially to commit to her relationships with other people. The final sequence of the film is not a fight scene, but (once again blending humour and character drama) Evelyn rapidly solving the emotional problems of a whole series of enemies by discerning exactly what they need using her multiverse powers. The life she returns to is actually the most mundane one: not the one where she’s a movie star but the one ‘this’ Evelyn began in, where she’s running a laundromat and doing taxes. It becomes a form of roleplaying: a framing narrative selected from all the possibilities in which she can enjoy the relationships with the people around her. That sounds dismissive, but I don’t mean it that way. What are ‘actual’ roleplaying games but that, after all?

We don’t get Evelyn’s power in reality, but we do get the power of ‘baseless speculation’, which can be paralysing as well! What if I had studied geology or even art instead of physics, would I have not had that mental health crisis? What if I’d been a better friend or partner to a number of people? Gotten an ADHD diagnosis sooner? What if, what if. The answer is obvious to say, but difficult to feel: those doors are closed and futile, so you can only commit to the possibility that you ended up falling down.

One thing the film kind of dances around, but then again maybe not really, is the fact that all the good choices that Evelyn makes at the end of the film, there is presumably a universe where she didn’t do that. A branch where Joy drove away, they never catch up to the raccoon, Evelyn’s rock stays on top of the cliff.

This is the problem of that old transhumanist cult leader Eliezer Yudkowsky’s attempt to draw out the ethical implications of Everett’s interpretation of quantum mechanics. He says, you must be very careful, because each small probability of something going wrong is an uncountable number of branches where it results in death and suffering. The problem is that any ‘decision’ you make is also subject to branching. There’s a universe where you talk Eliezer’s advice to heart and always wear a bike helmet, saving some billion versions of you from spinal injury; there’s also a branch where you don’t do that, so the spinal injuries happen anyway. Even if Eliezer’s essay reduces the proportion of death in some portion of universes, it’s matched by equally many where he didn’t write it. In short, it implies nothing at all.

This film, however, is much more focused on the personal experience than matters of ethics, and so perhaps it dodges this bullet. Having linked herself to all these possible universes, Evelyn chooses to subjectively experience the one where things go well for her and the people around her, rather than to give up and throw herself into a black hole everything bagel like her daughter attempts.

When I watched The Matrix Resurrections, which was a very frustrating and disappointing movie in general, one of the things that got at me was the lack of imagination of the ending. Having at last managed to escape the yoke of the Machines and make themselves gods of a virtual realm, Neo and Trinity don’t really do much to change the nature of their reality. But this doesn’t really bother me so much in this film. And sure, for one thing, of course, the fully ‘ascended’ Evelyn and Joy are not ‘really’ gods, since presumably any intervention they make is just another branching of the universe (though this isn’t really raised in the film). But more than that, it’s not relevant to the metaphor.

I feel like the connecting/dividing link is perhaps the view of Kyōsogiga, that one should not be afraid to ‘just be’: affirming the significance of those small moments and relationships. Evelyn, ADHDful as she is, figures out in the end that what matters to her is not all these projects that she has pursued or one time or another, but just taking time to enjoy these intersubjective connections. Which can certainly stand to be said again and again because I don’t really think I’ve internalised it lol.

All in all, fucking great movie, the Daniels outdid themselves, as did all the choreographers and cinematographers and actors and so forth involved. Can’t believe how long I slept on those guys.

#film #everything everywhere all at once #toku tuesday #we're gonna watch it on tuesday so let me put that tag on there now hehe

[homestuckrichard]

"Beau is afraid" is so strange movie. Unfortunately in the wrong way.

I went to see this movie not knowing what I really expected from it. I absolutely didn't like the poster but the concept was interesting, the trailer doesnt tell me much but again the reviewers I watch love this movie. Unfortunately, quite nice feelings turned negative after the first hour. Beau is pretentious. And it's a flaw in this film that strongly influences why I didn't like it.

The mix of comedy, drama and horror do not work here. When the jokes that were in the less serious moments, at which it was possible to laugh because they focused on a form of slapstick, end halfway through the film and are replaced by jokes mixed with the drama of the main character, focused on his mental problems and somehow tormenting him, we begin to wonder if it is moral to laugh. The problem is that the film doesn't try to make us think about it. Until the very end, the jokes are meant to make us laugh, all the horrible things that happen to Beau are written as at least half jokes. And of course, everything we see is filtered through a person with fear issues and most things are Joaquin Phoenix's visions and paranoia, which allows for unrealistic situations. The problem is that in dramas with elements of comedy (and in this case also horror), because let's not kid ourselves, that's mainly what BIA is, it's good to give "tasty" comedy, not fucking CGI monster-penis. This is not Evil Dead in which we can indulge in one-liners, Asha fighting with his hand and strapping a chainsaw to his arm.

When comedy doesn't work, it pushes out of the screening and often disgusts, drama as well as horror also come out poorly. All the acting display of all the actors is wasted, all the beautiful cinematography and the wonderful segment with the theatrical performance stop resonating, because a few minutes earlier we were supposed to laugh at the strange family and the ptsd guy who acts like a dog. I'd like to cry at the scene where Beau remarks that because of his fear, he's wasted his whole life, but why give some lame joke in the same segment. Not to mention how this movie doesn't know how to end.

This film is three full hours long. And it could have been much shorter, after few plot changes and cutting unnecessarily slow moments. What kind (bad) of pacing this film has is a secondary concern, however, because if the film had ended with the "first" ending, I would have been satisfied, a film that is tedious and often tactless with some really good elements, 6/10. Unfortunately, the existence of a "first" ending implies that there are more.

And the rest is much worse. From a dumb plot twist, unfunny sexual humor and information pulled out of nowhere, to an "artistic" metaphor with a court. It's sucks that by the end I don't really even care about Beau because everything, literally everything, is ridiculous.

Don't go to this movie. There are better movies in theaters.

#beau is afraid #bread speaks #bread review #review

[marley-manson]

1, 6, 17

:)

ty!

favorite episode

Pending the complete rewatch, Dr. Pierce and Mr. Hyde takes it. It's the first real Hawkeye breakdown episode, it's a great blend of comedy and drama, it's solid satire, it has great character moments, one of the best gay jokes of the show, and Hawkeye on a delirious campaign. What more could you ask for?

Though I'll add a few other contenders: Follies of the Living, Concerns of the Dead which imo is just basically perfect in every way with a lot to chew on thematically, Dreams for what feels like mild validation of a lot of my takes on the late army stuff lol, Deal Me Out for just being Great, and Period of Adjustment bc I think it was great drama with a lot of interesting elements.

funniest moment

oh man I feel like I should rewatch all of the first three seasons at least before answering this lol. Maybe the Alcoholics Unanimous scene with Hawkeye, Trap, and Margaret all getting drunk? Or there’s a scene in Margaret’s Marriage where Frank runs away from Donald and trips over a rock and it was one of the funniest pieces of physical comedy I s2g, I remember dying of laughter. Also since I just watched it: Charlie’s l’chaim toast in To Market To Market. This answer is definitely subject to change as I watch more.

best quote 

also subject to change of course. Hawkeye’s carry a gun rant is iconic for a reason, I adore it. Also Weston in Follies monologuing about how “Maybe there are just some things you can’t do anything about. Maybe that’s what being dead is.” followed by Margaret saying, “I’m going to keep talking until someone listens, and if I have to, I’ll kick a few cans in there.” a+ thematic summation.

#ask meme #marley on mash #text post

[larkanderson]

LIVE 🔥 TOMORROW!! - 9 authors have come together to bring you the heart-stopping Rescue Me collection! These binge-worthy standalone romances are guaranteed to leave you wanting more. Professional Consult Lexi Dash has been many things throughout her life: America’s Sweetheart, Hollywood’s Golden Girl, Highest Paid Actress, Most Bangable Bachelorette. But she’s never been bad at her job. Until now. Forced out of her rom-com comfort zone and into a police drama, she finds herself out of her element and in deep trouble. If she can’t make the transition from fun and flirty to grit and steel, it won’t be just the show that's in jeopardy—it’ll be her reputation. As a last ditch effort to salvage the project, her production company sends her to train with surly Police Chief Luke Bastwick, who wants nothing to do with the starlet, but when a practical jokes makes him erroneously arrest Lexi, he must agree to take her under his wing or suffer legal consequences. She turns his world upside down, shining light in the dark recesses of his soul. Like magnets, they attract and repel until they can deny each other no longer. Two weeks. That’s all they have together because Lexi’s iron-clad contract demands she return to the spotlight. That is, unless she’s willing to give up everything to get what she wants. Professional Consult is a STANDALONE romantic comedy. Authors include: Lark Anderson, Ashley Zakrzewski, LC Taylor, Amy Stephens, Mary Morano, Tracy Broemer, YD a Mar, and Lux Miller! #authorsofinstagram #bookstagram #kindle#kindleunlimited #romance #romancebooks #romcombooks#romcom #bookish #bookworm #bookrecommendation#amreading #tbr #goodreads #booklover https://www.instagram.com/p/Cdon-ZprWOq/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#authorsofinstagram #bookstagram #kindle #kindleunlimited #romance #romancebooks #romcombooks #romcom #bookish #bookworm #bookrecommendation #amreading #tbr #goodreads #booklover

[bogleech]

 I think the reason we see so much 80′s nostalgia is just because new ideas were valued so much more. New things feel special and the pop culture landscape of the 80′s was absolutely packed with ideas so new it still feels hard for me to fully appreciate, and I was there! Imagine Super Mario being so new people were calling it “INSANE!” and joking that it was “ON DRUGS” because a plumber ran around jumping on turtles. Imagine people being wowed by the idea of both supernatural elements and sci-fi technology in the same franchise: that’s what Ghostbusters normalized and that too was so unusual at one time it was “crazy!!!” to reviewers. Toys that transform between robots and cars??? UNBELIEVABLE. Kids and adults couldn’t believe that a toy could possibly have moving parts that intricate and not cost an entire paycheck.

Imagine a world where even fucking *Garfield* is new. Garfield! Not just new but seen as almost EDGY for his sarcastic personality! People weren’t used to a cartoon cat smugly insulting his owner! That’s why he made a million zillion dollars, because people thought that was the freshest most hilarious shit in Sunday strips at one time!

You know why there’s a billion takes on a zombie apocalypse now? Because, while the concept goes back to the 60′s, the broader public had never considered the doomsday horror potential of a mass zombie outbreak scenario or the “survival fantasy” aspects until 1978′s “Dawn of the Dead.” Gremlins was the first horror-comedy about nasty little creatures running amok. Films like “Child’s Play” and “Nightmare on Elm Street” were some of the first mainstream cases of a wisecracking horror villain. E.T. was the first successful fantasy science fiction drama about child protagonists befriending a benevolent paranormal entity. 1979′s “Alien” on the other hand successfully wrung tense psychological horror from the concept of a “space monster” just when most audiences were dismissing the idea as corny and juvenile. The “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” though intended as parody characters, were the first mainstream case of anthropomorphic animals marketed as “cool” action heroes instead of completely jokey characters like “Mighty Mouse.” Nobody had ever seen a dark puppet fantasy like Labyrinth before. Nobody had ever seen anything like the Cenobites before. Little Shop of Horrors was adapted to a Broadway musical in 1982 and was such a hit they got the Rick Moranis film into theaters only four years later.

The 80′s feel like the last decade with such a ratio of new, novel concepts and bold decisions that actually took off to just endless remakes, sequels and homages. Shit came out in the 80′s that invented whole subgenres, character archetypes and everyday household concepts everybody just takes as a given now. This sort of slowed down over the course of the 90′s, and then Pokemon was possibly one of the last things that was like mind-blowingly world-changingly “different” in the eyes of the most audiences. Now I have a hard time thinking of any entertainment media from over the last 22 years that made half that big a difference, and even less over the last 10. :(

[kaisa-ryo]

Sukuna Ryōmen NSFW Alphabet

Warning: English isn't my native language!

☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*

A = Aftercare (What he likes after sex)

Lie on your back with your arms crossed under your head. Most of the time, Sukuna looks up at the ceiling and thinks about something; sometimes he talks to himself, asks himself if he really loves you or pretends to love you. But when you start to cuddle up to him, he looks at your sweet sleeping face and, smiling for some reason, gently squeezes your hand, which rests on his chest, and snuggles up to you.

B = Body part (His favorite body part)

At first you thought he was joking when you said he liked your whole body. But he was not joking. From the outside, he really admires your whole body, because for him you are the most perfect specimen in the world, and he was simply mesmerized by your perfection. Perhaps it will surprise you, but you began to realize your sexual attraction only with him. Before him, you had no idea how good you are. Yes, there were those types who said that your eyes should be mesmerizing and your hair should be long. Or that you must have big lips. Naturally, for a long time you considered your appearance as your biggest flaw. But against the will of fate, as in a typical love story, one possessive brute appeared and made you love yourself. You haven't confessed to him yet that you are grateful to him for teaching him to love yourself. And even if every day he notices some flaws in you, you still don't listen to him, because you know that he still likes your body, it's just that such an egoist has a habit of influencing you and the people around you.

C = Cum (Everything about sperm)

Anywhere, as long as it is your body.

Yes, inside, too, is no less horny, but hell, you seem so spoiled and dirty in his eyes when you are covered in his cum. He will not let you go to the shower right away, because he wants your body to be more saturated with his scent. And he doesn't care that you are indignant, that you are uncomfortable. If he needs it, he will do it.

D = Dirty secret

Public sex.

Sukuna moans at the thought of how he is leaning you as much as possible against the panoramic window so that everyone can see how you wriggle and groan. You feel his tense flesh, watch how he digs more and more into your buttocks, and feel how his penis, increasing in size more and more, pierces your pussy. It seems as if in the whole universe there is nothing but his rhythmic movements inside you. Everything else: people outside the window, cars, barking dogs - nothing compared to this powerful electrical discharge that escapes from your body at that moment.

E = Experience

It was several times before you. Only now, none of them wanted to start a relationship with him. As, in principle, he is. Yes, baby, sex without obligation is still in fashion. You yourself can no longer remember why it was you who decided to take such a brave step - to meet with the curse, and even with their king. Probably because even behind the veil of selfishness and dependence on power, you could see in him one pitiful, but still a drop of humanity. Naturally, Sukuna did not disregard this and even imbued with your enthusiasm. And this splinter is still amazed that you have not left him yet.

F = Favorite position

His most favorite is missionary and doggy style with a squeeze of your wrists over your head. So he can do whatever he wants: change speed, pace, bite, and you cannot stop him or push him away.

G = Goofy (Serious at this moment?)

No.

During the process, he can throw something dirty and humiliating. Can slap, bite or hit. He cannot stand it when it is quiet and only spanking and your moans are heard. He needs to create a whole performance, whatever, just to fill the room with something passionate other than silence.

H = Hair (Is the hair okay?)

Not at all.

The king of curses does not see the need for this at all. If you're uncomfortable with giving a blowjob, he doesn't care. He's not going to waste time making you comfortable. Only throws a short "bear with it." But one day you still managed to persuade him to at least try, smirking him with cute eyes. Then he “limped” for a long time and was angry with you, because it was as if his skin had been ripped off below him, and now everything became sensitive. You laughed at him until everything grew back again, and Sukuna vowed that he would never shave his pubic hair again.

I = Intimacy (Romance)

Oh, he has a problem with that. But don't be in a hurry to despair, he just started to learn!

Most recently, he stopped making a grimace of disgust after kissing you on the cheek or kissing the back of his hand. There were some compromises - now he began to inhale your scent into all his lungs. Then you asked why and why, and received in response what he liked, how you smelled, adding that for all the time that he was on Earth, he had never felt such a unique and intoxicating scent. Not to say that it did not bother you at all, then you really felt a pleasant feeling of goosebumps.

He has no money for gifts, but if you try, he can take you to any place. If you want - to the forest, if you want - to an amusement park, if you want - to a park of culture and rest, if you want - to a museum. In general, such a good guide. Lazy and does not immediately agree, but still a guide.

You push him to all these (however, there is no one else), forcing him to watch dramas, musicals, family comedies, throwing fleeting glances at him when the romantic scene begins. He will cast a second glance at you and guess your goal, sighing in disgust and rolling his eyes.

J = Jack off (masturbation)

It happened a couple of times. That same dirty secret.

To be honest, he didn't react in any way when you caught him doing it in the middle of the day. Unless he just wanted you to "help him." You rolled your eyes and slammed the door, leaving for another room. He grinned maliciously with such a predictable reaction. He was sure that you wanted it, it was just that you didn't have the courage.

K = Kink

If you only knew how languidly he sighs when you give yourself pleasure. Especially if you do it for him. The way you do it turns all his ideas about sex upside down. How you moan when you play with your nipples and stick thin fingers into your hole - it makes his mind melt in an ocean of pleasure. How he fidgets, waiting for your orgasm when you start kissing him. How do you hold his shoulders, snuggling up to him so that he can feel all your hidden virtues. He asks for more and more. And then suddenly he sharply grabs the hair and digs his lips hard into your mouth. He has very strong arms, it seems that even a pinch of effort, and your head will be ripped off. Yes, power and the elements of BDSM are also on his list of favorite things about sex, as are bites or wet sucks.

L = Location (Favorite places to have sex)

To be honest, he has no preference.

If he wants to fuck you on the kitchen table, he will. If he wants to fuck you on the couch, he will. In the laundry, he'll do it. It's no secret for you that he would not mind trying a couple more places and he will never get tired of coming up with new ones.

M = Motivation

He likes it when you suddenly start to dominate or suddenly rub against his cock.

He realizes that he has a competitor and this idea turns him on as hell. Sukuna naturally loves to compete, and you also add fuel to the fire. Naturally, he will not give in, because you are still a pitiful person in comparison with him, and your power must be defended. Therefore, do not be surprised if he begins to act more efficiently than usual in order to assert his own greatness. And Sukuna will try to show you how small and insignificant you are, unlike him.

N = No (Which will not do)

Greed and the desire to completely control the process, of course, is what he aspires to, but when he sees you suppressed and constrained by some thought coming directly from your subconscious, it worries him much more. Such vulnerability literally tears him apart. Under the pressure of circumstances, he turns, in a sense, into an evil, but caring mother. The king of curses first looks at you, as if expecting your gaze on him. Realizing that this is useless, he starts the dialogue first:

— Well, what is different?

Now you didn't want to answer him. I didn't even want to see him. This is not the first time he has shown waywardness. It started to exhaust you in order. The thoughts in your head were dark and your voice sounded cold and indifferent. I thought that it would be better to kiss you or touch you tenderly, but his hands at that moment were too persistent. It infuriated, but it was already impossible to leave. And he did not stop talking to you.

— Sor..m.. - the words from his lips sounded somehow strange. He seemed to have eaten the last syllable.

— What? - you responded.

— Sorrmm...!

— I don’t understand what you’re trying to say.

— Forgive me already, fucked up!

He rolled his eyes after you started either laughing or crying (you laughed and he realized it almost immediately).

O = Oral (Likes to receive or to give)

Receive. Definitely.

What else can you expect from a cursed spirit like him? He will definitely make sure that the blowjob is the longest process in sex for him. Moreover, he will do this persistently: winding your hair around your hand, forcing you to swallow the penis as deeply as possible, so that later as deeply as possible and finish. He doesn't care if you gag, cough or provoke a gag reflex. Sukuna insists that you have to endure, adding "for my sake" with feigned tenderness. You have no choice but to succumb to his pressure. After all, if you do not do this, do not expect that he will please you.

P = Pace

Very lively.

There is hardly a second when you can completely relax. He will hammer into you like a jackhammer, dig his nails into the skin, leaving red streaks on it, and whisper something viciously at the same time. In order to somehow soften these moments, you intensely squint and succumb to his tricks, allowing you to lull your vigilance and give an outlet to the accumulated tension. But you still feel a growing wave of excitement inside you. And Sukuna knows it, as if he reads your thoughts.

Q = Quickie

Immediately starts high. And if because of this you end up quickly, he will require a second round, then a third, and so it will continue until he gets tired of it. Your sex play can last for hours. His "come on, I know that you are already at the limit" will be repeated so often that you will not even be able to think about anything other than orgasm. And he fucking loves it.

R = Risk (Ready to experiment)

Always ready.

You have such compelling requests almost every day. You refuse the majority, because they sound too crazy, but he does not despair and continues to whisper details in your ear, if you nevertheless agreed. And this is, surprisingly, really a working method.

Did the baby suddenly want sex on the roof? Why not!?

On the director's desk? Oh, how can you refuse when you ask him so sweetly, moaning into the phone speaker and squeezing around the air, instead of which there should be yours and only your Sukuna.

S = Stamina

Fuck with him until the morning? Easy! If you are free all weekend, he will definitely find time for you to have fun (if you understand what I mean).

T = Toys

Bad attitude. It's just bad.

— This crap can't take and replace my dick like this! — shouted the King of curses, — Or do you think that she will be better!?

— No, that's not what I mean! — you yelled, — I just suggest you try.

— In that case, I'm against it.

He turned around and left.

You rarely managed to convince him, and this time he was seriously opposed to it. Well, if you want to try them, then you have to do it alone in secret from him.

U = Unfair (Does he like to tease)

It is already difficult to remember at least one sex in which he would not tease you.

Yes! God yes! He knows that you want him at any time of the day or night. Every minute ... He knows all this and feels as if it is a part of him, as if he was destined to constantly touch, squeeze, lick and caress you. Feelings are heightened more if you tell him this directly. For this, he is ready for almost anything. He is ready to give up and just melt between your legs. His skin is so sensitive to your touch that every movement of yours creates desire in him. And an ordinary "dirty slut" excites both of you no less than any other intimate intimacy.

V = Volume (How loud is it)

Loud.

The kisses that descend on your goose bump, lower and lower, turn into a marathon of moans and screams. Whichever of you tries to sound quiet, at times like this it becomes useless. Sometimes you even thought that Sukuna just wanted to shout you down. Such thoughts make you smile involuntarily.

— Why are you smiling? Are these days over?

W = Wild card (Random headcanon)

One neighbor lives next to you. Kind and friendly. Every day, there is a new gift for you - a cake, a cookie, or even a garden gnome. In general, he loves you very much and is constantly interested in when you will marry.

One night you were especially noisy: the bed was reeling back and forth, its back was banging against the wall, and you were screaming with pleasure so that the glass trembled. In general, it is not clear how the house sustained both of you, but you woke up in the morning as if you had slept for a whole month.

You were lying around, unable to even pick up your phone or go to the toilet. And then there was a knock on the door.

You quickly pulled on your panties, threw a robe over your naked body and with small steps ran to open the door. There was a neighbor at the door. It turned out that she had heard the noise from your house all night and decided that they were burglars or worse. The morning head, with difficulty digesting information, finally woke up and at that very second you felt so ashamed that you winced and closed your eyes.

— The guy and I had a fight a little. But it's okay. Rampaging is the norm for him.

She was a little taken aback by this answer.

— Was it me who was on the rampage? — There was a hoarse voice from behind, — Yes, you rode on me like a stallion! Although, to be honest, I liked such a filly...

The neighbor stares at Sukuna, dumbfounded.

You wanted to put it in a blender right now.

X = X-ray (What's under the clothes)

20 cm. During erection ± 2.5

Y = Yearning (How high is the sex drive)

As stated earlier, Sukuna is not good at compliments or gifts. And he himself constantly claims that this is not necessary at all. He acts on the following principle: good for you, good for him, then everything is fine and nothing else is needed. You want something romantic, not depraved. Sometimes he gets bored with his reproaches and requests to spend the evening in bed again. One gets the feeling that he is not capable of anything else.

Sukuna wants to change for you. Listens attentively when you say anything about the human world. What are the customs, countries, traditions, sights. He remembered everything that you said to him and remembers, too, what you tell to this day. He wants to prove that you were not mistaken by discerning humanity in him, towards which no one ever dared even look. She looks at other men, studies gestures and tries to repeat them. Now you do not understand this, but one day you will realize it, and you will love him like you never did before.

± 8/10

Z = Zzz (How quickly falls asleep)

He does not fall asleep and does not sleep. And he goes to his tomb and sits on the throne while thoughts of you visit him. The more he thinks, the more he wants to touch you. Take it and never let it go Any philosopher would say that you are the same as all people. She is as ordinary as millions of others, with her weirdness and naive dreams. Anyone would say, but definitely not him. He doesn't care if you’re ordinary or not, but he wouldn’t date you if he thought the same way. Even if you don’t live a thousand years like him, you’re ready to give you half of your life force, just to die with you.

He doesn't like such thoughts. They don't like the fact that you tied him to yourself, just once you smiled sweetly. He gets angry and screams that he allowed himself to get too carried away by you, and everything around, the whole world is just a pitiful soap bubble, which does not exist even in such a seemingly huge format as your most human soul of all.

☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*

#jjk #jjk imagines #jjk x y/n #jjk x you #jujutsu kaisen #jujutsu kaisen x reader #jjk sukuna #jjk ryomen sukuna #jjk x reader

[echoeternally]

Hi there! I have a bit of a strange request for you, if that's okay. I'm currently in the process of planning/writing a longer Star Fox fic that prominently features Panther, and by extension, the FoxPanth ship, and I was wondering if you could give any pointers on writing Panther and/or him and Fox together?

This isn't strange at all! I'm even delighted, like, someone asking me about a pairing that I originally thought almost no one else would enjoy, and so they can write it too? It's like a dream, my gosh!

Give me one more second, like, I'm so amazed that this happened with my rare pair for Fox/Panther. FOXPAN! Of all pairs, I'm thrilled!

Ok, ok! Let's see what advice I can scrounge up for you.

A lot of people are under the impression that Panther is a pretty clear cut character in one regard or the other, but he actually offers a lot of flexibility to write about. That's probably why I gravitate to using him so often for Star Fox content.

Writing him playing off of Fox has a surprisingly enjoyable kind of chemistry, but it depends on what you go for with them. Coming to me means that you're in for the shipping, so, that I can help with!

Kind of prefacing that a bit because I know this is going under a cut, which I'm adding in here. More below, of course! Also, it's going to be a lot longer than you're expecting, so...I'm hoping that helps!

...

~Panther's Background~

Ok, I'll start with Panther as a character, since understanding how you want to portray him is the first part to nail down right.

People kind of mistake Panther to be a flat villain and a basically a pervy flirt, nothing more needed to build his character. It's easy to write him off as such, given how little canon support the games give.

There are some very, very crucial elements that he's given with his appearances, however, and they tend to be overlooked.

First and foremost, a lot of folks like to lump Panther in as "just another Star Wolf crony," which is fair if you don't focus on him.

However! What's critical that too many people ignore is that, in Panther's debut appearance, that's a brand new Star Wolf too. With the story for Star Fox: Assault being what it was, Panther is part of the Star Wolf team that no longer operates as mere mercenaries for the main villain and the obvious rival team, but he's part of a team that becomes allies to Fox and friends by the endgame.

Anyone can take that any way they want, but Panther is basically part of the lightest and kindest, perhaps even the most fleshed out version of Star Wolf. So, people that gleefully like pairing Fox off with Wolf because he has those "hey pup" lines? They should very well like the roster from Assault, because that's the installment that gave the most credibility to Wolf even being capable of defecting.

There's a lot of ways that it could be explained, but notably, Panther is the new big member on the main roster. Sure, they could fill a seat with anyone, but look at who they chose: this lighthearted goofball that enjoys playing with his rivals as much as he does causing trouble. A far cry from the likes of Leon, Pigma, and Andrew, who were on the more ruthless side of Star Wolf.

Many like Panther to be along that side too, and depending on how you want to characterize him, that could work out.

My personal preference, however, is that Panther is part of the catalysts that helps Wolf defect from being fully evil.

He's less interested in hurting civilians and being some kind of hotshot assassin. There's no hard support that Panther's criminal record involves heavy war crimes and murder, and canon biographies about him state him to be an elusive criminal that troubled Cornerian army officials.

Rather, Panther is entertained by causing mischief and enjoys playing around. He's cunning, but in ways to further his goals and those of his allies, not to play as a pawn in another's schemes.

I like to create the background that Wolf and Leon got low and desperate when searching for new recruits, and after meeting up with Panther, they adopt similar traits from him, easing up on their rougher traits in favor of getting their work done.

Basically, I favor the idea that Panther helped make Wolf better. (Which is totally a fun basis for Wolf/Panther, something that I've wanted to write for a few years too, lol.)

~Characterizing Panther~

It really depends on what you're doing with writing him, because you can make him a criminal even still and have that work nicely. However, I tend to give him ways out of being locked into a shadier background, focusing on his lighter traits, and making him more of a "gentleman thief" type of character foremost.

(For reference, I made him that kind of a thief in my fanfic, "Your Thieving Heart," because I really enjoy the idea that Panther's a cat burglar, as opposed to...well, whatever other people prefer.)

If you're focusing on an action or adventure story, I'd recommend using his craftier traits to help him stand out. Panther likes to play head games, because he'll tease and taunt his opponents, baffling them silly until they're clueless to his true motives.

He's also a skillful shot; in Star Fox: Command, Panther is the only playable character that does not use a Lock system for his Wolfen, which means that he makes a single shot that pierces most opponents. And in Assault, he makes a good support to both Star Wolf, and later on, Star Fox, so he can coordinate well in dogfights and combat too.

A story that's geared less to fighting, such as a drama or a comedy, would focus more on Panther's playful traits. Obviously his flirting, which I'll get to in a moment, but also, tweak the way that his playful and cunning manifests.

His teasing can be used to hide other facets of his character (maybe he's actually hurting and lonely deep down) or otherwise his goals (maybe he wants to get flowers for a partner and jokes about missing a meeting to do so).

His smarts can be used to show a more analytic or thoughtful side to him; while Panther isn't the type that would be the smartest in the room, he's absolutely underestimated by everyone, and can get away with a lot of surprises as a result.

Character flaws are pretty simple. Panther can be arrogant, so he can go a little too far touting his prowess and skill, as well as take his joking a little overboard without realizing when to back down. Since he is a criminal, he definitely has a less than luster past, which can hold him back, depending on how you want to write his criminal history. Also, I tend to think of him as a type that comes across charismatic and social, but in reality wants something quieter.

That last bit has support from a profile description in Command, which states that while Panther proclaims himself to be a "ladies' cat," he actually is known to fall "totally and completely in love" with his partner.

So, where people tend to limit him to being confident and flirty, that's the short and simple version to Panther. The deeper way to flesh his character out is to make him a hopeless romantic type, who craves and wants to find someone special to help fulfill his life.

Because a large portion of Panther's character gets limited to flirting with Krystal in his two major appearances, he's not given time to really show off the depths of his feelings. (I think Command tried, but that story got botched in a few too many places.)

He's not a misogynistic type, if I remember correctly, because he doesn't make any crude comments to berate or belittle Krystal's character, but rather, makes strong efforts to prime up his character instead, doing his best to come across as enticing and viable to her as possible.

Panther is super desperate and longing for love, and he's not above trying whatever methods he can to get there.

~Shipping With...Fox!~

So, how does Fox come into play on that? It's pretty easy, since Fox is also a flexible character as virtue of being the main player controlled character for the franchise. In other words, you can project a lot onto Fox in manners however you might like.

There are specific traits to Fox that remain part of his core character, however. He's obviously a strong leader, leading the legendary Star Fox team. If we go by Star Fox 64's ending, he's pretty humble, given that he turns down joining military ranks (presumably greater glory) to keep his life in a freer style with his contract work. (This gets played up as the series goes along, though Fox was actually pretty cocky in Star Fox 64, and somewhat so in Star Fox: Adventures as well.)

Given how his personality matures by the time of Star Fox: Assault and whatever went on with Star Fox: Command, Fox is something of a type that does abide by rules and doing the greater good type of work, but still retains some of his "off the books" or "go it alone" type of work.

So, since he's a hero that dances close to more lawful work, though still manages to find ways to slide around for what his objectives desire, that does make him a mostly "no nonsense" type, though on the friendlier and nicer side, of course. Fox can be portrayed as pretty orderly, in other words, and doesn't favor causing more trouble than he can handle, even if he's not above it.

Does that sound like something of an inverse to Panther, who tends to get into trouble and be mischievous? I should hope so!

Because they have foiled personalities from one another, that gives Fox and Panther elements of "opposites attract," since Panther can be silly and troublesome, while Fox tries to be serious and respectful. Panther has a shadier history with the Cornerian Army and his past is riddled with mystery and lack of depth. Fox, meanwhile, has staunchly strong and heroic ties with the Cornerian Army, who rely and count on his efforts to help them out. Additionally, he has a fair amount of his background explored as well, especially so compared to the enigma that is Panther.

Going by how flustered Fox gets in Star Fox: Adventures, Assault, and Command, he's also a bit sloppier in the romance department. He's seen as a stammering type, and shier around those that show interest in him, namely how Krystal does in the former two installments. He ends up being too protective of her in the last game included for that group, and kicks her from the team thinking that it was the safer option, when it really did nothing to stop her.

Those that ship Fox with Falco can also write him in angles to being oblivious to love, since Falco tends to be a bit harsh with Fox, which many like to write as him being guarded with his true feelings. So, combined with the information above, Fox is something of a romantic novice or rather inept at it.

Panther, whether he's actually good at romance or just likes to think he is, still comes across as an opposite to Fox on that level too. Whereas Fox falters and hesitates in romantic matters, Panther boldly strides forward to do his best in a quest for love.

There are some tricks to helping Fox and Panther work even better than just playing off of their foil traits however.

For starters: Both can be portrayed as very lonely souls.

Fox is a character that lost his parents at a young age, with his mother being out of the picture in every game installment, and his father dead before he's even 18. That's rough stuff, at least in my book. So, I'd consider that Fox has some isolated sides to his character that not everyone knows about, and that he has a side that grieves for his loved ones, and a side that longs to find a way to be loved and cherished in some manner once more.

Huh, does that sound familiar again? Someone that desperately wants to find love to fill a void in his life?

Oh wait, that's literally part of Panther's core too!

See, both Fox and Panther are seekers of love. While Fox may not be as forward with his intentions, he cares deeply for his team, his allies, and his planet, if not the entire Lylat galaxy. While Panther may not have such grand showings for compassion, he'd be the type that would be impressed, if not charmed, by someone so compassionate and caring.

If you take the idea that Panther helped make Wolf and Leon better, then it's likely that he also has a good deal of compassion in him too, seeing the best in people that the rest of Corneria and Lylat write off as the worst out there. Finding the light in the darkness is a kind of hopeful trait that Fox would absolutely be drawn to, since he can struggle to do the same.

Of course, both Panther and Fox are also skilled pilots, so, they have at least that much in common. Fox's skills are something that have outright impressed Panther in canon, and he compliments Fox a few times in both Star Fox: Assault and Star Fox: Command, commending Fox as his personal rival. It's not hard at all to shift that from mere respect to a deeper admiration.

Both are also very loyal and willing to see their goals through to the end. Fox proves this repeatedly in the games, but Panther shows such qualities in his appearances too, sticking by Wolf's side in spite of the challenges they face, and committing to his goals until they either are toppled enough to stop him, or until they are fully realized in a capacity that satisfies Panther well enough.

Typically, I like to mix things between "opposites attract" and "like attracts likes," to balance them out. Both Fox and Panther want to not be lonely and fall in love, to share their lives with someone. They're both also types that would be lonely in a crowd, though none are likely to suspect so, since they both come across confident and social enough to prove otherwise. Fox may find Panther's slippery side somewhat alluring, since he follows a freedom that Fox may sometimes wish he had from his more uptight and legacied life. Panther, meanwhile, might find Fox's loyalty and noble traits very endearing, because that means he'd firmly stand beside anyone that he committed himself to, something that Panther absolutely wants.

Naturally, you can play around with how you might like to portray them, based on the choices you'd make with your story, but those are some elements that I noticed and liked to help build it up.

While a lot of it is fairly made up with loose ties to canon, that's kind of the point to many fanfics. And even still, there is enough canon support to characterize Panther and Fox in a way that could make them a harmonized duo, to the point of romantic involvement.

Phew! Even I didn't realize how much I'd have to write about them until I actually put it all down, lol.

I do hope that you find this helpful. If you want any more information with building the pairing up for writing, please let me know! I'd love to increase the support that FoxPan gets out there, haha!

Thank you for asking too! This was a lot of fun to write out.

#panther caroso #star fox #fox mccloud #foxpan #shipping #askecho #igniswrites #how to ship foxpan #nice #another for a shipping series lmao

[allofthebees]

Fic Masterlist!

Here’s a list of all my projects. Completed? Upcoming? Vague ideas in my brain that I wanna delve into? All here!

Mutatis Mutandis AU

This is an AU about Pixal and Echo inheriting the elements of time. A rather big project that I’m working on completely out of order because I’m attractive like that. It all started out as a lil theory I had about Pixal’s ability to use the Forbidden Scroll and I decided to actually do something about it up until I got Ronin brainworms. Also, now that the vengestone buyer has been revealed, I gotta add that this AU has a completely different idea as to who it is because I think my idea is cool and sexy.

Cherries

Oneshot; Romance

Pixane; Pixal character study

Post Season 10/Pre-Season 11

Rated T bc these robots are gonna make out

Late at night in the hangar, Pixal and Zane discuss their humanity.

(I promise this is in fact important to the main story sajkdadkj)

STATUS: OUTLINED 1/1

-

Mutatis Mutandis

Multichapter; Adventure/Drama

Pixal Focus; Pixal&Echo friendship; Pixane conflict, minor background Jaya and Scruff. POSSIBLE background Lava? We’ll see…

Rated T for Violence

Post Season 13/Pre-Island

When the Bounty is ambushed by Captain Soto, Pixal suddenly and unexpectedly unlocks her True Potential, revealing that she is the new Master of Forward Time. This causes a series of events that lead to question Destiny itself, and whether or not the Masters of Time should be allowed to have so much control over it.

STATUS: OUTLINED 1/?

 -

Echo’s Collection of Dads: The Trilogy

A spinoff saga based off Mutatis Mutandis that started out as a dumb offhanded joke I made about Ronin being the one to find Echo to it now becoming my sole duty for it to be a running gag that Echo keeps acquiring dad after dad.

Guess I’m a Dad Now

Multichapter; Found Family/Comedy/Adventure/Angst(?)

Ronin&Echo friendship focus; Extremely minor pre-Scruffshipping

Rated T for Heavy Swearing and Violence

Post Season 12/Mid-Season 13

Caught in a storm, Ronin takes refuge in an abandoned lighthouse.

STATUS: COMPLETE 7/7 (ALTERNATE ENDING IN PROGRESS)

 -

Shuriken

Multichapter; Comedy/Romance

Mixed Focus; Ronin&Echo, Dareth&Echo, Ronin&Skylor, Echo&Skylor, Dareth&Skylor, Dareth&OC friendships; Eventual Scruffshipping

Rated T for Heavy Swearing, Violence, Alcohol Use, and possible light Sexual Themes

Post Season 13/Pre-Island

Sequel to Guess I’m a Dad Now. For Dareth, it started out just paying back what he owed, but the guy just kept coming back. Finding yet another reason for him to be in debt one way or another. He doesn’t know what he did, but he’s starting to suspect this guy doesn’t like him… He couldn’t be more wrong.

STATUS: OUTLINED 8/10

 -

Okino Has Joined the Party!

Multichapter; Comedy/Romance

Okino focus; Okino&Echo friendship; Established Scruffshipping, eventual Dareth/Ronin/Okino

Rated ???

Post Season 13/Island doesn’t FUCKING happen LOL

Sequel to Shuriken. It’s been a year since he entered the real world, but Okino is still struggling to adjust. Learning that your tragic backstory was merely “written in” to “make your character more sympathetic” can really mess with a guy. He takes to visiting a bar.

STATUS: SWIMMING IN MY HEAD

 ---

Non-AU Works

All my other stuff that doesn’t relate to Mutatis Mudantis

We Nearly Drowned

Multichapter; Drama/Angst/Romance

Ronin&Nya friendship focus; Established Jaya, Eventual Scruffshipping

Rated M for Heavy Swearing, Violence, Alcohol Usage, and?????

Post Island/Pre-Season 14

Ronin is in prison for his crimes against the Island Keepers. He gains a regular visitor, and occasional others, but they’re all never the one he truly wants to see.

(I was literally drunk when I wrote this and I wanna do something with it so it’s sticking around lol)

STATUS: ?????? 1/?

 -

BODY

Multichapter; Adventure/Comedy/Horror(?)

Rated T for Heavy Swearing, Violence and Death

Ronin Focus; No Ships

Shadow of Ronin Novelization

Just when it was finally his again, he loses a piece of it, and now owes the rest to some dead con artist. Things are looking up, though, he's found a way to pay what's owed and save his skin. All that stands in his way are a bunch of teenagers. This'll be easy.

STATUS: OUTLINED 1/?

-

The Caretaker

Multichapter; Angst

Dr. Julien Focus

Rated ?

A series of oneshots starting with Dr. Julien’s revival, showing his ever-spiraling health, until his death before season 3.

STATUS: RESEARCHING (I wanna handle this subject as sensitively as possible)

 -

Miss Me?

Multichapter; Fluff/Romance

Glaciershipping

Rated G; Some Violence

It was a completely innocuous quip, but the genuine response to it ended up hitting him harder than he could ever imagine.

STATUS: FULLY OUTLINED AND IN PROGRESS 5/10

 -

Some Kinda Bootleg Batman

Multichapter; Action/Crimefighting/Comedy/Romance

Dareth&Pixal friendship focus; Eventual Scruffshipping and Samuraishipping

Rated M for Heavy Swearing, Violence, Alcohol Usage, and possible Sexual Themes

Post Season 7/Pre-Season 8

With the Ninja all busy searching for their Sensei, Ninjago City is now vulnerable. It’s up to The Brown Ninja, and his trusty sidekick Samurai X to keep the people safe.

STATUS: OUTLINING

 -

Press B to Till the Soil

Oneshot; Fluff/Comedy

Wu&Jay friendship focus

Rated G

Post Season 10/Pre-Season 11

Wu finds Jay up at an ungodly hour playing video games. Wu doesn’t get why he can’t just do this stuff in real life.

STATUS: OUTLINED 1/1

 -

Untitled (For Now)

Oneshot; Romance

Nya/Pixal/Zane

Rated G

It scared her at first. Even now, she gets questions about her love life; recieves "fanmail" criticizing her on her refusal to choose between Jay and Cole. If word about this gets out, she'll become the ninja known to have dated almost everyone in the team, the backlash will be insane.

It's nobody's business, she decides.

STATUS: SWIMMING IN MY HEAD

-

Copper and Tellurium

Oneshot; Comedy/Romance

Samuraishipping, Past Jaya

Rated G

Mid-Season 3, then Post Season 10

Nya is bad at flirting. Like, really bad.

STATUS: COMPLETE 1/1

 -

Kiss of the Arachnid Kind

Oneshot; Romance/Fluff

Samuraishipping

Rated G

Post Season 12/Pre-Season 13

Pixal has a request that she’s a little embarrassed to ask for. Nya thinks her girlfriend is adorable. These girls are SMOOCHING!

STATUS: COMPLETE 1/1

 -

You Can Learn Just About Anything From wikiHow

Oneshot; Comedy

Pre-Scruffshipping

Rated T for Ronin’s potty mouth

Mid-Season 7, Specifically during the episode “Scavengers”

Dareth helps Ronin with his broken leg, and they talk about stuff

(This fic is basically canon to all of my Ronin and Dareth related works)

STATUS: COMPLETE 1/1

-

This Canonically Happened

Oneshot; Romance/Humor

Scruffshipping

Rated G

Ronin tries ye olde distraction maneuver to make Dareth forget he just spent a ridiculous amount of cash to bail him out. It only works a little this time.

STATUS: COMPLETE 1/1

-

"When did I get on top of Dareth?"

Oneshot; Humor

Scruffshipping

Rated T for Swearing, Alcohol and Sexual Innuendo

The ninja throw a party after defeating the Oni. Dareth is feeling a bit overstimulated, and decides to take a break somewhere quiet. Only to find Ronin up to his usual antics.

STATUS: COMPLETE 1/1

#buzz buzz #my fics #just a lil organizing and to share what's on my mind lol #oh gee i hope this is readable

[lovee-infected]

hi hi!!! i love your vil analysis post!! just wondering though...why does vil force epel to do traditionally “cute, feminine” things. i get that it’s, like, to counter neige for the vdc, but it kind of goes against vil’s ideology? like, how i see it, vil advocates for people to express themselves how they want without being bound by gender roles. i feel like if epel tried forcing his manliness ideology onto other people, he’d be justified in his “forcing epel to do cute things” plan, but i don’t think epel has ever shamed feminine guys? he just wants to be manly himself. could this be an allusion to how the evil queen turned ugly just to fulfill her goals? vil going against his core ideals and becoming “ugly” just to win?

Glad you enjoyed it dear! As for your question, I believe that'll be better if I go into details because I've seen many asking similar questions regarding chapter 5, and I guess that's causing some misunderstandings towards both Vil and Epel. Well, we're soon getting the rest of the Pomefiore Chapter, so I guess it's the best time for an analysis on Epel and Vil's relationship and how Chapter 5 has been going so far

First off, let me state something really really important about the Pomefiore chapter, this arc has got pretty wild spirits that are quite new compared to the previous chapters. We've got Neige, the first RSA character to appear as a real rival of a NRC student, Vil and Epel's rough relationship, Ace and Deuce joining MC on the new adventure once again and finally, the VDC: an event with is potentially important to not only the whole NRC but also Twisted Wonderland!

While all fans are surely excited to see what we'll be going through next, there are quite a few of misunderstandings and wrong interpretations that are considerably important regarding the Pomefiore chapter. In order to avoid possible dramas and more misinterpretions between the fans, let's try to take a better look at this Chapter and important Pomefiore hints that we've got so far:

(1)Epel's feelings; the most important element of chapter 5

One of the quite brilliant facts about Chapter 5, is the unique presence of characters and their roles in the story. This might seem quite unrecognizable, but right now Epel's appearance is effecting the audience way more than Vil's! This arc is mainly focusing on making the audience feel his pain and hard time, and I can say that they're doing it pretty well! We'll talk about how his feelings are being presented in part (6). Now, you may wonder why his feelings are so important in the Pomefiore arc? Isn't it supposed to be mostly about Vil? Well of course, the story is most likely leading us to Vil's overblot so he's the heart of this chapter, but the important thing is too see how crucial Epel's role is here. Watching how Epel is in pain, silenty crying and forced into doing something that he doesn't want to by Vil is savagely effecting this fandom's interpretation of Vil, some are commenting on how he's the worst or how horrible he is or hundreds of not really friendly critiques which is awfully frustrating... We'd continue to talk about this point in part (5)!

(2) Epel's relationship with Vil

Let's review what we've got through the side stories. To begin with, Epel obviously doesn't really like Vil, (I'm trying to cooperate and not say that he hates him) he didn't appreciate having him as the dorm leader from the very beginning. But he's got some strong reasons to dislike Vil so we can't really blame him:

1)Vil slapped him all of a sudden just because of his poor posture at the dinner table 2)Vil almost crashed Epels head between his hands while teaching him some manners 3)Vil's idealistic are just the opposite of Epel's 4)Vil is trying to change Epel, especially during chaptet 5. It sometimes feels like Vil is treating Epel like his puppet and Epel doesn't appreciate this all.

At the end of his SR lab story Epel stated how he's going to study his hardest in magic and potions, so maybe at some point he'd beat Vil, which goes to prove that he considers Vil a rival.

"Why is it so though? Isn't this pretty risky for Epel to challenge Vil, especially as Vil is a dorm leader and Epel's just a first year who's still an amateur at magic?"

Farewell, let me mention something about Epel, he's got a really strong will to the point of not giving up until proving everyone wrong. He's often looked down on, is called to be useless and dumb, and is sometimes insulted for being innocent and naïve. True, he still has a lot he needs to learn and he's aware, but he won't take being underestimated easily.

Just look at him! He's been raised in a farm and he still found his way to this school filled with stunning students coming from noble families while Epel is a simple country boy! He proved the point to us once again in his lab coat story where Crewel gave him an impossible task just to push him into giving up and coming to apologize afterwards. When Epel realized that he was just tricked by Crewel, he felt quite frustrated and started to cry, yet he didn't give up and used his personal experiments and what he'd learned back in his farm life and paved his road to success and impressing everyone including Crewel!

This is why he isn't backing up now, he doesn't want and isn't going to lose to Vil. Another important reason might be how Vil seems to have control over Epel, his manners, his attitude, the way he looks and basically, the person Epel is. Epel has indirectly said that Vil may be currently bounding his actions and life, but someday this will change. He mentioned similar lines several times and you can see he really has a strong will to prove everyone, especially Vil, that he's not a cute apple boy to sit still and look pretty. And if he's been waiting for the right time to stand against Vil, chapter 5 has got it. In part (7) you'll see why.

(3)What is happening in chapter 5?

Okay before we continue, let's just focus on what we've got in Pomefiore chapter: This year's vocal and dance championship has an unbelievable amount of media focused on it , because two of the world-famous influencers,Vil Schoenheit & Neige Leblanche, are joining. Both are great influencers and talented designers, but recently Neige has been getting really popular through the social media and TV, thus Vil realizes that the time to face his well-known rival, Neige, has come.

The VDC is no joke to him because hundreds of people are coming to watch this competition between two Celebrities, and his career is surely at risk. If the VDC doesn't go as well as he's planned, that'll be an end to his fame and clout, possibly his whole career! Therefore he has to make sure that nothing is going to ruin his plans for the big day, and that's why he is going to use his ultimate weapon, the red poisoned apple. Note that this isn't just about Vil, it's about protecting NRC's clout against RSA as well, so losing the VDC would seriously effect NRC's picture throughout the whole twisted wonderland. So a really important part of NRC's future is relying on Vil's hands right now.

Look, unlike the previous chapters, Vil's story is about nothing fictional or exaggerated; it's something that's pretty normal to see in real life! Two famous fashion designers joining a competition, both are giving in their best, aren't planning to lose, are going to be awfully strict towards training their models and making sure that nothing would be messed up, and are SERIOUS about winning because losing it to the other side would end in losing their clout and having the reports of their unfortunate fall-down spread worldwide.

Unlike the previous overblots, Vil's strictness and seriousness has NOTHING to do with being evil or crazy, he's just doing what he's supposed to be doing, working his hardest to defend his career. Anyone else who were in Vil's shoes would've done the same, and nothing about it chaotic, heartless or mad. His being pretty strict towards Epel because he's his main hope, Epel is the perfect beauty material and is definitely capable of achieving all the best through the VDC, that's why Vil's counting on him. Just as a fashion designer is strict with training their model, Vil is all serious with his way of couching Epel. And it's just about being professional, not being evil!

(4) It's not about Vil, it's about Epel

This is more of a continuation to part (3), but let's talk seriously about how wrong chapter 5 is being interpreted. "Vil is the worst! Can't he see that Epel doesn't want this?" or "Ew gross! People like Vil who use others for their very own benefits are just horrible" are some of the aggressive comments I've recently heard about how Vil is doing in Chapter 5, which is mainly because of Epel. I mentioned that Epel's feelings are most important element of chapter 5 and this is why!! Vil isn't doing anything that savage or mean but his actions seem to be a lot more appealing to fans due to how Epel's frustration and pain is being focused on. It's not because of Vil, it's because of Epel. Vil had been just the same with Leona back in the fairy gala event and most of the fans considered the story to be much of a comedy, but when Vil's treating Epel just the same way it sounds mean, cruel, harsh and heartless. See what I meant? Epel's presence was crucial to give Vil an evil perspective and make him seem just as bad as Azul or Leona.

I'm not defending his action since Epel as well is surely under a serious pressure. He doesn't even want to be joining the VDC, let alone having to follow all these strict rules that Vil's been teaching him so far. But since Epel forcedly made the deal with Vil and promised to help him for the VDC, there's no turning back now. Vil is counting on him as his very last hope and is putting his hardest of work and effort into training Epel, just like any professional fashion designer would've done.

(5)Vil is NOT the Evil Queen!

As for Vil's biggest difference with the Evil Queen, I must say that Vil does really work his hardest for what he desires. Evil Queen simply wanted Snow White dead while we've got Vil, working his ass off preparing everything for the VDC. He isn't just going to get mad and envies of Neige because his becoming popular, he doesn't want Neige dead either. All Vil has been doing so far was working and working and working and getting to be called cruel and heartless in return, I mean can't you just feel the amount of effort and nerve he's giving into work?

See, a considerable majority of the fandom is exaggerating the story of chapter 5 while Vil hasn't even shown a simple sign of having any ill intentions or evil plans in mind! We don't know what is going to happen i the next episodes but let's say that he hasn't done a single evil thing so far.

Just take a look at previous chapters! Leona was openly planning to unfairly harm and injure other students and Azul fooled nearly 200 students, took away their magic and forced them to work for him in Mostrolounge until they graduate from the very beginning. Heartslabyul and Scarabia weren't as severe as these two but they still did have some sort of a visibly unhealthy aura. Vil's current impression as the villain of chapter 5 is high-kay normal and chill compared to the previous chapters as he literally has done nothing evil so far, NOTHING. Most of the fandom is currently giving him the malicious aura that he doesn't have, or at least he doesn't yet have. Look, Vil's just doing his job. This doesn't even have anything to do with the Evil Queen! Also, Vil's rival ship with Neige has nothing to do with beauty, it's about fame, net-worth and popularity.

We don't know if he'd come up with any ill plans or serious intentions to harm Neige or anyone else in the new episodes, but his current impression in nothing more than going hard on Epel as his coach which is just being overly exaggerated by the fandom. A real life fashion designer would've done JUST the same thing! I know that this story is most likely going to end in Vil's overblot and him revealing his inner villain but come on, he hasn't done anything horrible so far!

(6)How Epel is being presented through Chapter 5

This point is the cause of many misunderstandings and confusions regarding Chapter 5, many find the context of Epel being forced to do what he doesn't like so cruel, some on the other hand are confused becaused Vil has clearly stated that his terms of beauty are gender neutral, so why would he force Epel to do these in the first place? As I said before, it's because of Epel, not Vil.

When it comes to perspectives on beauty, Epel's idealistics are just the opposite of Vil's. Look, Epel hates being mistaken with a girl or being considered soft and cute, this is something that has been bothering him for quite a long time. Being misgendered because of his appearance all over his life has had some negative effects on his perspective toward anything cute or feminine, as it just reminds him as how he often gets misunderstood because of his unwanted appearance and cuteness. Epel is awfully similar to Deuce and wants nothing more than getting to reveal the manliness he's holding within, through not only tastes but also abilities.

This is why he's been feeling quite uncomfortable in chapter 5 because Vil's basically pushing him into doing what he hates the most, looking cute and, well, something that Epel would consider feminine. The thing is, Vil does not consider stuff like 'Being able to sing beautifully, performing eye-catching movements voice, wearing stunning clothes and applying makeup' feminine at all, to Vil these are gender neutral terms of beauty and he doesn't get why Epel might consider them girlish or feminine either. Epel's comment on not wanting to do girlish things sounded naïve and low key rude to Vil because beauty isn't bound to being male or female, and he doesn't appreciate the idea of these works being called girlish at all.

This is neither Epel nor Vil's fault, it's just the difference in idealistics.

(7) Vil's on thin ice right now

Let me tell you a secret, 'choosing Epel to become the red poisoned apple wasn't an accidental act AT ALL'. Vil has been watching over Epel ever since he entered NRC and this is why he was so strict about changing this "Mudded potato" into a well-behaved Pomefiore student. Vil knew Epel's name and had discussed his case with Rook right at Epel's first day, and this is why he treated Epel so harshly at the dinner table because his plan to turn Epel into his red poisoned apple had already begun. He was preparing Epel from the very beginning and was just expecting the big day to arrive, the day he'd need Epel to defeat his rival, Neige.

Remember that I said how Epel's been waiting for a chance to stand against Vil and how Chapter 5 would be his BEST opportunity to do this? Before we explain this point, let's have a review on how Vil has been effecting and changing him so far. During his first days in NRC, Epel was more comfortable with shouting, fighting and opposing to other students including Vil. He used to disagree until Vil slapped him but now in Chapter 5, he doesn't even say a word when Vil tells him to do something, he just silently obeys as tears fall from his eyes. He no longer fights back as much as he used to.

But right now, Vil's career, status and future is bound to Epel. Vil has been working harder than ever trying to turn him into the Red poisoned Apple he's been expecting him to become, and if Epel backs up or decides to ruin the show and stop letting Vil have control over him, that'll seriously make Vil explode. And if you think that Vil deserves to be hurt like this, I gotta say that he doesn't, he seriously doesn't deserve this after all he's been going through. Just imagine being on Gil's shoes, how would you feel about having the result of all that hard work and effort you've given into work for YEARS ruined like this? Look, we need to judge this situation nonetheless, even is you don't really like Vil it's important to realize the unfairness of this possible future to the story.

Epel now has the opportunity to BREAK Vil like no one has ever done, after all Vil has been going through to coach Epel, teach him manners, change his nature and prepare him for the VDC this would certainly be the worst thing that may happen to him and it'll make him mad, like really really mad. The Vil we've seen through the story so far was nothing more than Vil's normal calm self so we can't even imagine how it might be to see him mad. At this point he won't be bound to any manners or consderations, and keep this in mind: "We won't like it when Vil is evil, and we can't imagine how evil he can be,"

I'm honestly so excited and terrified at the same time to see what we'll get to see in the rest of the Pomefiore chapter, the atmosphere is so nerve-wrecking right now and I can't help but to pray that the rest of this story doesn't traumatize us as much as it can- “Yana please, have mercy on us”

#Twst #twisted wonderland #Twst x reader #twisted Wonderland x reader #vil Schoenheit #Vil Schoenheit x reader #epel felmier #epel felmier x reader #rook hunt #Pomefiore #character analysis

[mdhwrites]

The Take On The Owl House I Hate the Most

Kind of because I see it WAY too easily. I probably wouldn’t actually make a blog about this because I could see it landing me in hot water but... Well, I keep talking TOH not liking the fact that it’s a kid’s show, that it’s a fantasy show, etc. like that. It doesn’t like comedy of kid’s shows, it doesn’t like the moralizing, Dana explicitly chose Disney because they would give her 22 minute time slots unlike other kid’s shows right now. It does create a show that feels different but also feels like it’s not wearing the skin it wants to be wearing.

That’s not the take though. That’s all stuff I happily agree with and have talked about in the past. No, this take is one I wish I agreed with less but that the show possibly supports and I REALLY wish it didn’t at ALL. The show wants to be a CW-esque, teenage/adult oriented, drama. And if it were... Luz would be wanting to fuck Eda.

Now normally I would hear someone pitch me this and go “Okay, you can go do your edgy AU. Have fun.” I’m not interested but fandom will do as fandom does. It only makes me cringe and recoil into myself because... How else do you explain the complete and total worship and obsession over Eda that Luz has? The first episode explicitly makes it clear that if Luz doesn’t want to do something, she won’t. In fact, the first THREE episodes, all reinforce that. Someone tells her to do something mundane and she goes off to have her own adventure. To have her own fantasy. Meanwhile, Eda is CONSTANTLY shitting on her and belittling that fantasy and that doesn’t really stop until post Once Upon a Swap. EIGHT EPISODES IN. And Luz and Eda have ONE more episode that has them together in a major way, Adventure in the Elements, after that for the entire season. That is the basis for Luz deciding to throw away her mom and not only go save Eda but destroy the portal. That’s not who Luz is, even in S1. She is too self interested in her own fantasy. It’s part of the problem with the Found Family as I’ve discussed before.

So this raises the reasonable question of, if Luz doesn’t find Eda’s normal work interesting, won’t listen to her, isn’t getting properly taught and barely has anything to do around the house, why does she stick around? Well... In episode four, we get this.

And that comment isn’t really new for the show. Eda’s attractiveness is just a blatant fact. She is made out not only to be attractive, but sexually attractive, MULTIPLE TIMES in at least the first season. Her looks get more attention, including by Luz, than AMITY, who is easily the next character who’s looks are even mentioned or glorified. In fact, her being on the market is a topic that crops up more than once in the series. Hell, it’s one of the first things we know about her, that people want to fuck her, as it’s in the fucking pilot. Warden Wrath finds her SO ALLURING as to drop his job to get a DATE with her.

And yes, Raine exists. Does Raine make sense with how Eda is portrayed in the first season, as someone who is happily on the market but also tired of how many assholes she meets on it? No. Admittedly, Eda’s relationship with... Relationships doesn’t make a lot of sense in general but she absolutely doesn’t feel like a character who is mourning the loss of their soulmate, which is absolutely how the show tries to portray it in S2.

She feels a lot more like she fucks around and finds out a lot of guys are assholes. There’s a reason why it was REALLY popular to ship Gruncle Stan and her when S1 was all that was out.

Worse yet, if you want to say Amity proves Luz isn’t into older women or the like, we get this chestnut from fucking First Day.

“And maybe meet a hot, yet vulnerable, upperclassmen.”

There’s... A lot of problems with this line but it also would fit WAY better in, you know... A CW drama and not a kid’s show. Especially from your MAIN FUCKING CHARACTER. She CANONICALLY, because TOH doesn’t think about its jokes WHATSOEVER, has unhealthy, fucked up relationship fantasies. Especially with school. After all, if it was to make them better, she could have said angsty, hurt, troubled, etc. But it’s VULNERABLE. Vulnerabilities are explicitly to be TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF.

*eye twitch*

Now, I do want to say that Eda did take her in and gave her a chance. Luz doesn’t do well with that chance, it’s less than one episode before she tells Eda to shove it for not thinking she’s not special enough, but you can maybe make a case there. She also gets with Amity. So if you wanted to, I dunno, prove that Luz was written in a way that made her seem more interested/cared about Amity more than Eda, especially since S1 does not earn that sort of interest, are there examples of that?

*dead eye stares the camera*

“Don’t you want to go save your girlfriend?” “I do but I’d rather be here and be prepared for if you guys need help.” This is from Clouds on the Horizon. Admittedly, her fear is warranted... But she literally would rather do NOTHING in order to support Eda, because she is explicitly not a part of this plan, than go help unstick her girlfriend. This is also the episode where Luz blatantly ignored Odalia threatening Lumity’s existence so that she can focus on saving the white boy there and get into a position that better, you know, helps. Eda. With the specific motivation that Eda is in trouble, despite the fact that she hasn’t made a plan for how they’re not all about to DIE! Like if Alador didn’t step in, Luz’s plan didn’t mean SHIT. At least Amity was actually dealing with the current problem while Luz was only focused on “Eda is in trouble. I need a way that gets me to Eda.” I personally vouch that the fact that it saved Hunter was tangential as Gus is MORE than powerful enough to make Hunter disappear and replace him with a clone and that’s an even less complex plan than what Luz made up on the fly.

Don’t like that? How about her desperate need for Eda’s approval, to be seen as a peer of hers, STILL, instead of being willing to talk to her, in Titan Where Art Thou? Or that Luz specifically needs to make sure Eda is okay in King’s Tide while her friends, who do not know the human realm or have connections there, are being forced through a portal? Including her girlfriend. How about the simple fact that Luz is WAY more honest with Eda than she literally ever is with Amity?

It’s all just REALLY awkward. But in the context of a CW show, it’s still not good writing, but it’s in line with those absurdities WAY more than with a kid’s shows absurdities. In fact... That’s kind of true in general for TOH. Having the twist that a relative ruined your life because you were better than them and they only became successful because of that choice? That’s in line. The comedy styling leaning more on either pure misery of a couple characters that the writers obviously hate and have there to make mean statements on? Yeah, that sounds right. The refusal to resolve plotlines, especially happily, when it could instead be milked for drama for the next three seasons? The fact that it obviously set itself up to go on for eternity? That sounds about right too. And I will admit I could be wrong. I don’t watch CW shows. Degrassi, Glee, Riverdale? They hold no interest for me because I don’t like mean spirited they often feel. But... with time, TOH absolutely feels more and more mean spirited. And even early on, that ridiculing of other media and fantasy and wanting to have fun all feels in line with that sort of spirit. Including the lack of interest in its fantasy elements.

Eda and Luz aren’t even the only ones that frankly make more sense like this. Lilith’s break with reality almost, and constant need for validation (including from Luz, including as a teacher which is uncomfortable in Escaping Expulsion in general, LET ALONE IN THIS CONTEXT) fits more in line with the sort of ‘insanity’ that those shows might give a character who’s life collapses. To add a chaotic element. Speaking of, that also fits the Bad boy of Hunter, who gets shipped with all the girls who are his age. Not in fandom BUT IN THE SHOW. All three of his introductions to Luz, Amity and Willow work as the start of a relationship arc, INCLUDING WITH THE LESBIAN. And... You know... Luz is Bi... And there are TERRIBLE plot lines you can do with that. *shudders and gags*

Meanwhile, characters like King, Gus, Willow, frankly Belos and his regime, and all the one off villains that other kid’s shows would embrace... Are kind of pushed to the side. Pushed to the side for characters who would feel entirely at home on something far more adult oriented. Something that was trying to be edgy and shocking and constantly have twists that prove how terrible these characters are. It even commonly sets it up. All of the reasons why Lumity WOULDN’T happen were part of why Lumity was so interesting between S1 and 2. But a lot of those plotlines admittedly felt more like this. Tackling racism, classism, Amity’s need to be the best, Luz’s flighty personality, etc. like that. Not helped of course by the fact that Hunter IS older than Luz and so IS a “hot yet vulnerable upper classman’ as he’s really only missing the BIG muscles of the dude Luz thought was “questing in all the right ways” back in episode TWO.

And if you’re wondering why this take has lingered with me... It’s because I keep asking why creative choices were made for The Owl House. Why are characters like this? Why is it a kid’s show when it obviously doesn’t like that it’s a kid’s show? Why is Luz so obsessed with Eda when they spend such little time together? Let alone POSITIVE time together?

And the idea that at one point it was meant to be an adult oriented cartoon, like Helluva Boss or Hazbin Hotel, but was just jammed into a kid’s show sized hole so it could be on broadcast television does help explain some of it. Do I think it’s actually true? NO! God no! Absolutely fucking not. Not for a second. Or bare minimum, I REALLY hope not. Also, I do want to point out that I don’t think the show would be GOOD like this, just that it leans weirdly on these sorts of tropes and writing styles and that it accidentally gives really awkward ways to interpret these characters, especially when what we’re told doesn’t match what we’re shown.

But ever since the concept was introduced to me, I could never quite get it out of my head. And I guess I just needed others to suffer with me. I’m sorry.

=========

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead, If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

And finally a Twitter you can follow too!

#the owl house criticism #TOH Critical

[destinygoldenstar]

Total Drama: Refilming Action, will be coming soon!

So, Total Drama:

A show about teenagers being tortured on reality TV for the vague promise of being paid for their suffering.

Believe it or not, I didn’t grow up with this show, it was around the time I started making rewrites of media in my spare time that I watched the first three seasons, and…

Holy ****, this was far more into crazytown than I thought it would be!

Like, do you KNOW how much grotesque imagery, sex jokes, and downright porn this show contains? And this is PG rated!

Okay, that’s besides the point. This show feels very nostalgic, as a parody of various kinds of reality shows, with insane and illegal challenges that can kill people, drama such as love, betrayals, and eliminations until one contestant wins a million bucks, and of course characters that initially are meant to be stereotypes, becoming far more relatable, funny, and people to route for, than I initiated going in.

The first season, Island, and the third season, World Tour, are great seasons in their own ways, and absolutely sell on this leaving such a memorable show…

But then we get to the second season, Total Drama Action. And this season just… frustrates me. YES, even more so than All Stars! I’m not saying it frustrates me because the season is bad, kind of a strong opinion to use if that’s the case, but this season has so much great potential that it only really scratches the surface of, and it’s the season I’ve not only devoted THE most of my time to than ANY Total Drama season, but it’s also the one I have the most mixed feelings of.

For a brief review, it really seems like this season should be a slam dunk for me, right? Returning a lot of the best characters in the previous season and putting them in various filming careers while parodying Hollywood. I live for film, I live for drama, I live for roasting Hollywood! I should LOVE this season, right?

Well, I really, REALLY want to, but every time I watch it, something just feels… off.

I initiated this rewrite as a cute exercise at first, but the more I actually dove into this season, the more I saw how complicated everything is. Like haha, it’s a kids comedy with edgy jokes and murderous stunts, right? What’s so hard to write about that?

A lot, actually.

See, in this season, because there’s the fewest amount of contestants out of the three seasons, it allows Action to rely less on jokes to carry the season and more so focus on the character’s stories and their respective arcs, how they each cope with their situation of being trapped in a never ending cycle of reality show torture, and the pressures that come with their relationships, and even their sanity. That’s why there are less episodes with characters being eliminated than in Island.

On its own, that’s a smart idea, and a really neat change of pace! Cartoons aren’t all about jokes, even edgy adult ones, and don’t just have to be made for entertainment, but have substance, plotlines to follow, even in a show like this where there’s barely any lore. As someone who values characters and their storylines, yeah I live for this.

The problem though is not only with several pacing issues, but HOW these characters' storylines are executed. I will say that pretty much all of these plotlines are good ideas on paper (with the exception of the Owen Mole thing), but the executions of them all in the final product are a massive ray of mixed bags.

Some of these plotlines are actually really engaging and solid, and fleshed out a lot of things, dare I say IMPROVING elements from Island that didn’t have time to flesh out some of this stuff. But other plotlines are executed in such an abysmally poor way that they obviously drag the whole season down. These elements are actually SO bad, that they damper the whole season, causing pacing issues, a lack of momentum for a good portion of the season, and actually affect the great plotlines, by robbing them of the satisfying conclusion that they deserve.

The sad thing is that this season is the least talked about of all the Total Drama seasons. Even All Stars is talked about more than this season! So yeah, and I feel bad for this season, and I believe that it does have potential to be as well written and as well remembered as Island and World Tour. And that’s what I’m doing.

And after going on and on about how this season in particular annoys me, I think it’s time I rewrite the season entirely, show you guys how I think this season should have been done, because if I put this much energy into something, it goes to show that I truly do care for it…

How this will work

I will say right now, that because this is a 9 hour long season, I’m not going to address the entire season in one go. Instead, I’ll be splitting this rewrite up to four separate parts. This is because I’m NOT just going to address what I would change and what I would not change, but rather retrospect this rewrite from as much detail as I can, that’s how I usually do things. Plus I think it’ll flow better.

I won’t go into as much detail with stuff that I didn’t change, but still address them for the story’s sake.

And if you’re wondering about the context with Island, I’m keeping the canon story of Island the same, and applying it to this rewrite. What logic from Island was carried over to Action, will apply, the same elimination order mentioned in Island, the same logic as to why some characters are in certain relationships with each other, everything. Not saying I wouldn’t tweak some things with Island, but overall that season was pretty great. There’s only one thing about Island that I’m changing to carry over to Action, and I’ll get to it later.

For Action, I am going to keep the core aspect and rules of the challenges in each episode, unless it really REALLY doesn’t make sense, and I’ll address that. But the core themes of each will be the same, is what I’m trying to say.

Like, episode 1 is a monster theme, episode 7 is a prison theme, episode 17 is a superhero theme, etc, just like in the canon, so that everyone KNOWS what episodes I’m talking about, even if they’re not familiar with the titles of each episode.

The only major thing I’m going to change with this, and might as well say it now: Episode 25 will NOT be the finalist challenge, but rather the semi-final challenge with the final three, and the finalists will be put to the test in episode 26 in Aftermath before the voting for the winner takes place.

That’s another thing I’m going to address. The elimination order in this rewrite is NOT the same. In this first half, there’s not a lot of change to that, but as the season progresses it’ll become more blatant that this elimination order is not the same as in the canon. So really, this is anyone’s game, and who the finalists are will be a mystery!

This is going to be a VERY rough overview, and I’m going to be going in as much detail as I can to the changes I made to the original canon.

However, there will be some brief lines or background details from canon that I won’t touch on, because it would be pointless, and unless I say it’s cut out, or if I don’t mention the scene it’s in at all, it’s probably still in this version.

(For example: “Nope. Call 911” won’t be mentioned)

A lot of those kinds of details could be fleshed out in the episode script. But if I go into THAT much detail, this rewrite will be WAY too long, and take like, 5 years to produce!! So please cut me some slack if I don’t mention some of your favorite details of the season!

If you don’t think something quite adds up, or if there’s any important stuff you think I missed, please, PLEASE, reply down below, I’d love to hear it! (Friendly notes, constructive criticism, and speculations for the rewrite are all welcomed!)

So, with all of this out of the way, there’s one last important detail I want to mention:

While the original contestants in the season: Owen, Gwen, Heather, Duncan, Leshawna, Geoff, Izzy, DJ, Lindsey, Bridgette, Trent, Harold, Beth, Justin, and later Courtney, are all in this rewrite as well, I’m going to ADD two characters to this cast.

Tyler.

And Noah.

Why do this? Why these guys?

Well with some certain plotlines of the season, I genuinely think these two will be the best of aid to spice them up. Plus with how many non-elimination episodes there are this season, I think adding eliminations for them won’t be so hard.

So, in a 16 way tie, campers are taken to the film sets for a whole new season of Total Drama, in a fight for $1,000,000. Who will come out as the finalists?

Well, pretty soon, you'll see!

There's no particular schedule for these parts to come out, so be on the look out for when they come!

#Total Drama #Total Drama Action #Rewrites #Total Drama rewrite #Teaser #Td Owen #Td Gwen #Td Heather #Td Duncan #Td Leshawna #Td Geoff #Td Izzy #Td DJ #Td Lindsey #Td Bridgette #Td Trent #Td Harold #Td Beth #Td Justin #Td Courtney #Td Tyler #Td Noah

[deltaengineering]

Spring Anime 2021: Embarrassment of Riches

So this current anime season absolutely stinks, which just makes the last one look even more impressive. Well, maybe not all of it...

Zombieland Saga Revenge

First off, you don't need to tell me that the following is a severe outlier opinion. We good? Ok. ZLSR is, in a word, subpar. I liked S1 back in the day, but it was already in the process of getting lazy towards the end. S2 continues this trend and is basically just another idol show. And as someone who actually does watch other idol shows I have to say that it's not a particularly good one of those either. The zombie gimmick has mostly stopped mattering and we're just doing what every idol show does, only with the odd occasional sight gag. The alleged subversive qualities mostly amount to a flashback for Yuugiri, which is admittedly the best part of the show but feels like it barely has anything to do with anything. Apart from that, it's a bunch of generic idol plots, rehashed character beats, shoddy attempts at twists (while not connecting to any setups from S1), and the obligatory "idols give us hope" ending, which is terribly hackneyed and flat out bad. Tae gets further memed into the ground, because of course she does. And there's stuff that was simply never good to begin with, like Kotarou and his comedy schtick, which gets truly insufferable now that there's no qualities to distract from it. It really makes me think that S1 wasn't even all that good to begin with and seems like an attempt to turn this surprise success into an easy money longrunner with no edge and no ambitions. "The idol show for people who don't watch idol shows" indeed, but not the way you mean it. 4/10

Bakuten

But not to dwell on the failures, with the second show we're already above the cut — barely. This one got my attention with its really impressive performance scenes early on and it totally sticks to that, which is even more impressive. But besides that? Well, this is by far the most predictable show in a season where I watched an unambitious Kiraralike and put ZLS on blast for having no ideas. The characters are a mixed bag, some are cool (Shida, Asawo), some are very annoying (Mashiro), but those are the supports. The main cast is extremely one-dimensional, which is fine until they try to heap a ton of pathos on their lead, which doesn't go well. But I guess execution matters, and Bakuten is slick enough to get by. Writing this down in stark daylight I feel like I overrated this show somewhat (I actually put it over the next one originally, which definitely doesn't hold up when thinking about it), but I was indeed mostly entertained. 6/10

Yakunara Mug Cup mo

Yeah. Of course Mug Cup definitely doesn't invent or subvert anything either, but it's a pretty good Kiraralike that's always entertaining to watch. Explaining the qualities of such a nothing genre is as difficult as ever, but it mostly comes down to me liking the characters and it having nothing to annoy me. It's shorter than normal, which is a plus for slim shows like this. And yeah, you can make an excessive amount of dick jokes with the clay fondling. That helps too. Looks are just fine, pleasant but nothing out of the ordinary. Comfy low-effort anime. 6/10

Vivy: Fluorite Eye's Song

This one is decent, but sadly still a major letdown. Because the first few episodes of Vivy were excellent and kicked ass, but then it became increasingly clear that the writing can't cash the checks the ideas wrote while the action starts running into severely diminishing returns. Vivy just keeps slowly getting worse and worse as it goes on, not by a huge amount each episode but by the end there's a pretty sizeable gulf between potential and result. Going into detail would probably be a little much for this venue because there's a lot, but from the top level view the issue is that while Vivy has good fundamental ideas and steals at the right places, it just isn't a smart show — it's schlock, and by the end, poorly thought out schlock that tries to smooth out every problem with liberal application of the big feels hammer and le epic twist at that. Yeah, couldn't tell that the Re:Zero dude was aboard here, for sure. That said, it still works pretty well as entertaining schlock that is not to be taken too seriously, and the characters are generally just very fun to watch even when they're doing stupid things. Still, I can't in good conscience rate this higher than Beatless, a show that looks like butt but properly executes on its ideas. 6/10

Super Cub

So this is 100% a Honda commercial, and I got really mad a Yuru Camp last season for being a blatant shill. Yet I'm feeling this, what gives? I think the main difference is that Super Cub is specifically a commercial for one product (and a very iconic product at that), while Yuru Camp is so all over the place that it ends up mostly a commercial for consumerism in general. And when Super Cub goes too hard on the product (which it does), it's at least pretty entertaining. That's something about Super Cub in general: It goes hard. Your regular Kiraralike this is not, because it's uncommonly slow, focused and moody - yes, it almost measures up to Yuru Camp at its best and demolishes it at its worst. Also, it's just extremely amusing to see sadblob Koguma grow a huge grizzly biker beard and become a badass outlaw dad to her goofy wife and cute daughter, all thanks to the power of afforable personal transportation. Needless to say, that can get unintentionally silly, but Super Cub has so much charm that it doesn't matter — it's great when it's good and still funny when it's not. 7/10

Shadows House

Shadows House turned up with a lot of potential, and I have to say it at least delivered on most of it. It has some problems; notably I'm not a fan of how the entire middle turned out to be a tournament arc of sorts that seems curiously inspired by Resident Evil memes, crest-shaped intentations and boulder punching included. I also think that this is a show that would be perfectly fine without explaining much, but I guess it is a shounen manga after all so we got dumped on eventually anyway. At least that came late - close relative Promised Neverland didn't show that much restraint. Shadows House is generally well written though, with great characters, interesting interactions and a great hook. But what really makes it memorable is that it's exceptionally good at the cute/creepy contrast, something that is often tried but rarely works as well as here, with great character designs and very appropriate production. I hope this gets a sequel, because it seems like it's just getting started. 7/10

SSSS.Dynazenon

Coming in with a fondness for Gridman, Dynazenon didn't have to do much to convince me. The surprise though is that it's not a rehash even if it's basically the same show, a character drama where occasionally huge and goofy fights break out. Dynazenon is Gridman done better, and the interesting part is how it accomplishes this - mainly by being far more conventional. I do appreciate that Gridman went for something weird and almost experimental, but that only really paid off towards the end while most of the show was a distraction/holding pattern. It just didn't feel like there was enough material for a full series there, more like a movie maybe, if even that. Dynazenon fixes this by just being a TV show, with an actual cast of characters that each have their own arc. And by spreading the material this way, Dynazenon ends up having a lot more nuance than its intensely focused predecessor, while having the same themes and not actually being any deeper. In a way, Gridman ends up looking like the spinoff in retrospect, while Dynazenon is the full package. 8/10

Thunderbolt Fantasy S3

So how good was this season? So good that Thunderbolt Fantasy doesn't end up at the top, that's how. And all the elements that made Tbolt such a sure thing are still there, big hammy puppets doing stunts and scheming never gets old. However, I do have to note that at this point, the writing appears to have gotten too comfortable. I don't expect it to ever top the amazing S1 ending, but at this point it's like Tbolt has stopped trying to deliver on endings at all and seems in the process of retooling itself into a longrunner instead. Barely anything gets resolved in S3 (the climax is that the climax of S2 is resolved again, for good this time... maybe), and everything else is just setting up plotpoints for the next season. Tbolt is truly lucky that it doesn't actually need to resolve anything to be a great time, but at this point I have to say that I'd appreciate it if they wrapped it up with S4. 8/10

Nomad: Megalobox 2

Speaking of sequels to shows I liked, Nomad doesn't so much improve upon its predecessor but steamrolls right over it. This is a tall order, since Megalobox was surprisingly good for a sports shounen and had a real nice, heartwarming ending that Nomad instantly negates for purposes of drama and everyone being extremely miserable. That sounds like a pretty terrible idea - and it would be, if Nomad wasn't as excellent as it is. To call it not the same show would be an understatement, because it's a true sequel, not just the same characters doing their thing some more, or new characters doing the same thing as the old ones did. Indeed my biggest problem with Megalobox was that it still closely adhered to its genre template and was very predictable; Nomad fixes this issue thoroughly. Nomad is about questioning what being a hotblooded shounen protagonist eventually leads you to, and how to fix everything you screwed up by being one. You could call it a deconstruction, but that term has been so abused for cynical, edgy "thing you like actually sucks" takes that I feel like it doesn't really fit here. Nomad isn't cynical at all, it's just a character drama about some boxers past their prime, and it being a sequel to a show that is indeed rather formulaic just enhances the experience. My biggest issue with it was that I really like what they did with Joe in this story, so the big focus on Mac's backstory felt like a distraction for a long time. But in the end that turned out to be absolutely necessary to make the ending work. The ending's just great, by the way, and I shall say not more about it. 9/10

Odd Taxi

Yeah boy, here's the show that has apparently become somewhat of a "greatest show you didn't watch" meme, which I can feel smug about because I don't need YouTubers to tell me what's good and followed this from day one. Anyway, Odd Taxi is indeed great, the greatest show in a few years even. What starts out as seemingly a relaxed hangout show in the vein of Midnight Diners quickly turns into a psychological murder mystery while never losing its quirky humor. The character writing is outstanding, with even small bit players being on a level that the average anime wishes it could have for leads. And the rollout of the mystery is exemplary, with answers given and new questions raised every episode with a satisfying and logical payoff in the end. This is also the rare anime that has rock solid production from the first to the last second; it's never really flashy but excellently done and highly consistent nonetheless. And the music just owns. I have a few complaints, mainly that there's a few logical weaknesses in the story (which wouldn't even register in a lesser show, but sticks out here since the rest is so immaculately constructed) and that the ending overextends on the emotions when the rest of the show is so reserved and dry in comparison. But those are only the reasons why I didn't give it perfect marks, and I almost did that anyway. 9/10

#Zombieland Saga #bakuten #yakunara mug cup mo #vivy: fluorite eye's song #super cub #shadows house #ssss.dynazenon #thunderbolt fantasy #nomad megalo box #odd taxi #anime #review #spring2021

[that-thing-that-feeling]

Few things. Re: Jonathan’s breakdown, I disagree abt it being played for laughs. Emotional breakdowns are only funny when the reason the person is having the breakdown is funny. Compare for example, Charlie Day’s funny “Pepe Silvia” breakdown in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia to Brad Pitt’s serious “What’s in the Box?” breakdown in Se7en. Both played with same level of intensity, but the IASIP breakdown is the funny one bc the subject matter is ridiculous whereas the Se7en one is more dramatic bc it’s the subject matter is sad and horrifying. Not saying that Jonathan’s breakdown will be horrifying, but there’s not a lot of comedic wiggle room when Jonathan’s breakdown is bc he thinks his gf has forgotten abt him, he realizes he’s essentially had to give up his teenage years to become a second parent to his sibling(s), one of whom just got kidnapped assumedly on his watch. Also not dying there won’t be anything comedic abt it, but Charlie’s performance will be rooted in drama. He’s been waiting to do this scene for 5 years, he’s not gonna let it be played off as a joke.

Re: Joyce vs Hopper, I think the biggest reason audiences seem to focus more on Hopper is bc of his relationship to El. Joyce got a lot more attention than him in s1, but it shifted the next season after Hop became El’s parent. El is the main character and biggest fan-favorite of the show, of course the fans will focus on those who she is closest with. And I think there is probably a slight element of unconscious (or maybe conscious as well) sexism and anti-mom bias. Hopper is a bit more free in his storylines bc he’s not rlly tied down, even after he takes in El, they were more like roommates at first anyway. It wasn’t until the end of s2 rlly that he “settled down” with El and let his story be limited that way. Meanwhile Joyce has always been deeply connected to her son’s storylines, it wasn’t until s3 that she got a storyline that wasn’t abt her kids at all. As a result, there’s less they can do with her in that way. I hope that kind of makes sense. It’s obvs unfair, Joyce is just as a compelling character as Hop and hopefully s4 will give her a chance to prove that.

Re: Finn’s comment, I think you guys are taking his words too literally. Finn means that the Hawkins storyline is horror-based (Vecna, possession, murder, etc) while the Cali storyline is comedy-based (road trip, stoner character, bickering, etc). That doesn’t mean Cali won’t have any serious moments, or Hawkins won’t have any funny moments. Just means there are diff bases, just like always. Think back to s3, it rlly had 5 diff storylines at first that could be summarized as: buddy-cop comedy, investigative drama, possession horror, teen romcom, and I guess crime-comedy. But Jopper had some serious moments, Jancy had some funny moments, etc. ST always draws from diff genres but imo they usually do a good job of blending them all together. Cali will def have some really dramatic scenes what with El being kidnapped, Jonathan’s potential breakdown, and Will’s jealousy, but it just means at the end of the day the end goal of this storyline is to make you laugh not make you cry or scream or freak out, even if those things do happen as well.

Re: Jonathan kinda having a breakdown and if it’s played for comedy; I think that’s really on the script and what they’ve given Charlie to do (or not do). We don’t tech even know if it will be played as a breakdown (even tho it feels like it should be one bc Jonathan is due for that and we know Charlie thought Jonathan was due for it and Jonathan smoking weed alone before school def feels like the pressure getting to him and him responding in a v diff way than we’ve seen on the show). I think the point was more will they acknowledge any of the stress and trauma he’s been under to explain how he’s adjusting to Cali or not. There’s so much they could write for him with all of that, but they’d have to want to.

Re: Joyce, true abt El and Hopper, but I think it’s also them caring more about masculinity and the antihero trope than wanting to do nuanced writing with Joyce as they did in s1. A way they could have given her more of her own plotline was to show more of why she wanted to move and the decision process of that back in s3. And then in s4, I hope they show her adjustment to Cali, her new job, how she’s handling the rest of the family’s adjustments before she leaves, who she tells about leaving, and the family dynamics there. They could also show the tension within her of being worried about leaving while needing to leave, for instance. If Lonnie had called or something, that would have kicked up a lot for her as well that could have given more plotline before leaving for Russia. There’s all kinds of character writing they could do with her—maybe flashbacks would have even worked for her after the move, remembering some of her times in Hawkins.

Re: Finn’s comment, yeah def think there will be a blend in all plots and there’s clearly more supernatural horror in Hawkins, it’s just I maybe wouldn’t expect all of the Cali plot to be summarized as comedic, so still curious how much of it is—def could see it in Mike’s interactions with Argyle, bickering, parts of the road trip, ig some Jargyle etc.

#jonathan byers #joyce byers