#honestly that whole arc with Beatrice is very personal to me

[wiiwarechronicles]

Unrelated to anything ever i randomly remembered the churro monologue from bojack and now need to go die i can t sleep im always gonna be thinking about it forever. What the fuck

#there is no other show like it that reaches those same emotions for me #honestly that whole arc with Beatrice is very personal to me #the moment of clarity she has near the end. where bojack finds it in himself to be kind to her #they’re both just lying through their teeth to give her peace #and its so fucking sad #i love Beatrice. she was awful but she’s one of my favorites easily #what a tragic woman #maidsmess

[murasaki-murasame]

Thoughts on Higurashi Sotsu Ep15 [FINALE]

For better or worse I think Ryukishi achieved exactly what he set out to do with this series, and I guess everyone’s just gonna be forced to reckon with how they feel about his own perspective on this franchise versus how they feel about it, lol.

Anyway, thoughts under the cut, plus Umineko spoilers.

I’m not entirely sure where to even start with this, but I guess the TL;DR is that I honestly think Gou/Sotsu was ultimately just fine despite it’s issues, and part me of can’t help but be like ‘I told you so, lol’ about how this really did end with this episode, and also committed pretty hard to the Umineko prequel elements.

It’s not like all of my theories were correct in the end, but I at least think I was pretty spot on in my prediction last week that this would end with the miracle of them side-stepping the sword issue entirely and choosing the third option of forgiveness and reconciliation. And also them ending it with an epilogue where we go back to the Matsuribayashi timeline and get a happy ending for Rika and Satoko that provides a ‘non-magical interpretation’ for the story while also giving us an idea of how Bern and Lambda formally split off into their own entities and start the relationship we see in Umineko.

I didn’t quite expect them to go down the route of having them agree to just spend a few years apart and accept that they don’t need to literally always be together, but I think that was a really good way to wrap things up between them. It’s pretty much the healthiest compromise to their conflict that doesn’t come across like it completely invalidates one of their dreams. I get why it feels too anti-climactic and convenient for people, but when you pull at that thread you get into wider topics of what the entire story is about, since this was always going to end with Satoko being redeemed and forgiven. People might not have taken him seriously, but Ryukishi was 100% genuine about his regrets about Matsuribayashi’s ending, and how part of why he came up with this new story was to create a better ending, while also doing more with Satoko as a character.

Basically I think a lot of the fandom negativity towards this boils down to people fundamentally disagreeing with the idea that Matsuribayashi was even ‘flawed’ in this sort of way to begin with, or that Satoko was badly written. It’s valid to disagree on this stuff, but at the very least we all have to grapple with how Ryukishi has his own specific relationship with this series.

People like to focus on how he’s a troll who likes to mess with people, but I feel like this is a bit of a wake-up call for people about how he’s actually extremely sincere, almost to a fault, and he likes to use his stories as a vehicle for expressing his personal philosophies and ideals. 

This whole story is also a good example of how he just sees this as ultimately being a fictional story about fictional characters, and not literally a matter of real people who need to be sentenced for their crimes or whatever. As early as the original VN he was almost being outright preachy about the message that nobody is irredeemable, and that philosophy carries through to this. But to be more specific, nobody *in this story* is irredeemable. He’s pretty open about the fact that in practice you can’t apply this sort of ideal to real life, but fictional stories are their own separate matter.

I think this whole issue of how he views this as a story first and foremost is also the central reason why this ended in a way that comes across as Satoko being let off too easy for her crimes. One way or another, Ryukishi’s made it clear that he sees this as being no different to how other characters had arcs where they committed crimes but still got forgiven, or how Takano is basically a straight up war criminal who also got forgiven for her crimes.

Anyway, this episode at least committed to the Umineko stuff, so that was satisfying. Sure there’s people that still want to deny it, but at this point I think a lot of people are just being stubborn, so it’s not like anything would have really convinced them, lol. I’m also genuinely not sure what people even would have expected them to do beyond what we saw her, aside from having the two of them literally put on their gothic lolita outfits and turn to the camera and go ‘we are literally Bernkastel and Lambdadelta from the video game series Umineko When They Cry’. I almost feel like there’s some kind of misunderstanding from people who aren’t familiar with Umineko when it comes to the idea of what it even means for this to be ‘an Umineko prequel’, or ‘a Bern/Lambda origin story’. I mean, this is quite literally exactly what I expected and hoped for in that regard. It’s not like I was expecting them to incorporate anything related to, like, Beatrice or the Ushiromiya family.

I think this is also one of those things where you just have to decide for yourself whether or not you want to earnestly engage with the story that’s being told, or if you want to assume that there’s some level of malice or trickery going on.

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting them to literally have Rika and Satoko recite part of Bern and Lambda’s final conversation with each other word for word, lmao. Combined with the scene at the end where ‘Witch Satoko’ talks to herself about how she’s going to give her body back to Satoko while she goes chasing after Rika, it was literally just the exact origin story of their relationship as it’s depicted in Umineko.

I still feel like this would all only really be ‘worth it’ if we actually get something like a full on anime remake for Umineko, but at this point I can’t help but feel satisfied with this part of it all.

It’s not like I think Gou/Sotsu as a whole is perfect or anything, though. I don’t hate it as much as basically everyone else does, but I think Ryukishi’s the sort of VN writer who really struggles with the shift to writing for an anime. I think a big part of the frustration people have is just from how this is formatted as a weekly anime series spread across basically an entire year, instead of being something like a stand-alone VN chapter that you can read at whatever pace you want, even if it ultimately takes the same amount of time to read as it would to watch all of Gou/Sotsu.

There’s also the whole issue of this being a sort-of-remake, which snowballed into a whole list of structural problems. They absolutely tried too hard to have their cake and eat it too, and they should have just committed to it being made for old fans only, instead of trying to sincerely incorporate elements from the VN that old fans don’t care about anymore because they’ve gone over it already.

And as I’ve said several times before, it was a major issue for them to decide to put Nekodamashi in the middle of Gou and then spend like 20 episodes on flashback answer arcs until finally getting back to that cliffhanger. I’ve been waiting until this all ended to decide exactly how I feel about that, and now that it’s all over I still think it was a really bad idea. I don’t think it was an issue for them to reveal that Satoko’s the culprit that early, but having the gun cliffhanger specifically happen that early just gave people misguided expectations and tainted the answer arcs because people were just impatient to get back to the cliffhanger. And then the cliffhanger itself ended up being somewhat anti-climactic, which is what I’d been fearing would happen. It would have worked fine if they shuffled it around so that the cliffhanger happened right before Kagurashi and was followed up in the very next episode, or if this was a VN where you could binge your way through the flashback stuff, but spending like half of an entire real-life year to get back to that point only to have the resolution be ‘Satoko just shoots Rika and the death loops keep going’ just didn’t really work properly.

I’m a lot more generous towards the Akashi arcs than most people are, since I think they really over-estimate how much re-used content there is there, but they still suffer from the central issue of the show trying to be accessible for new fans. It could have been heavily condensed otherwise, without losing anything in terms of Satoko’s whole character arc.

On the other hand I think the first half of Kagurashi was awful specifically because it highlighted how bad of an idea it was to put Nekodamashi so early in the story. They still ended up having to go back to that arc and repeat it anyway, in the most 1:1 recap-y way in the whole show, but that wouldn’t have even been an issue in the first place if that was instead the first time that arc happened in the show.

I’ve been thinking a lot about how I would rearrange the story to make it flow better while still following Ryukishi’s intentions, and I think they could have condensed it into a 2-cour season with this sort of structure if they did something like this:

-First arc where Rika gets thrown back into the loop and quickly figures out that somebody intentionally caused this to happen, and it’s not Takano because at least in this idea of mine she’d try and investigate her only to find out that this version of Takano regrets everything and is planning to flee the village with Tomitake.

Basically I think this could tie into the idea of Satoko initially wanting to just concoct an idea world for Rika so that she won’t want to leave this time, but sort of like what I think happens in Saikoroshi, Rika would still reject it, and this time around there’d be the additional layer of her knowing that somebody did this to her for an unknown reason. Maybe they could even initially market it as a new adaptation or a remake of Saikoroshi, and then reveal that it’s a sequel, to keep that whole element to the series. Either way I think this would end with everything going to shit when Rika rejects that fragment and wants to go back to St. Lucia’s, and Satoko basically snaps and kills her, and that way the audience can find out about her being the culprit without Rika finding out about it yet.

Maybe there could even be some dramatic irony where Rika’s attempts to meddle with certain ‘trigger events’, and her displaying her looper side, inadvertently triggers people around her to get paranoid, and the whole fragment would start to spiral into tragedy from there. I think they could at least use the whole conflict in Tatariakashi about Teppei actually being good this time as a starting point for that sorta thing.

-Second arc, rounding out the first cour, which is basically just Satokowashi. I don’t think there’s much that you’d need to change here, but like I said above I like the idea of her initially trying to just invent a perfect world for Rika and her to live in, instead of jumping straight to murder. But maybe instead of her literally just watching Rika’s loops, she could instead just be stuck using her looping powers to try and figure out how to create that ‘perfect world’ in the first place, by personally investigating all of the different tragedies and how to prevent them.

-Staring the second cour, a third arc where we basically just get to see those loops Satoko goes through, and her whole process of solving the tragedies and ‘purifying’ characters like Teppei and Takano, until we eventually see her perspective on the first arc, and how she reacts to Rika ultimately rejecting the world she tried to make for her.

-A fourth and final arc which is basically just Nekodamashi + Kagurashi, where she just totally snaps and tries to just torture Rika into never wanting to leave the village again, and eventually Satoko gets exposed and they have their direct confrontation with each other.

With that sorta story structure, you’d keep all the relevant bits of Gou/Sotsu as it is now, while being more focused on Rika and Satoko instead of doing kinda half-assed reruns of the Rena and Shion arcs. It’d also push the big cliffhanger between them until near the end of the show, while still revealing to the audience relatively early on that Satoko’s the culprit.

I’d also like them to do more with Satoshi and Shion, so maybe like with how Teppei gets redeemed and Satoko almost gets to have a happy life with him in Tatariakashi, the central question arc of this hypothetical story could also involve Satoko making sure that Satoshi wakes up from his coma, and Shion also gets to have a good relationship with all of them. You could probably do something interesting with the idea of Satoshi and Shion being in the camp of not trusting Teppei and his whole redemption arc.

Honestly I could spend a long time talking about how I would have done things differently, lol. For one thing, I think the Akashi arcs would have been much better if they just changed it so that Satoko used psychological tactics to make people paranoid, and we completely cut out the whole syringe plot device. I get how it fits with Satoko’s whole certainty gimmick, but it made those arcs way too predictable. Even if we knew the outcome, it’d at least be entertaining to see exactly how Satoko might go out of her way to set up the different tragedies. We kinda got glimpses of that sorta plot point in Wataakashi when things seemed to go outside of her control, but they didn’t really do much with it.

Anyway, this is a whole lot of words to say that I think that in spite of the serious structural issues going on, I think Gou/Sotsu as a whole is fine, and was at least working with a lot of perfectly good ideas that could have been executed much better.

Also, on a side note, that one scene during their fist-fight at the start where the art-style changes a bit was kinda weird, but I really liked how it looked, and part of me almost wishes the whole show looked like that, lol. I like Akio Watanabe’s character designs, but I feel like that sort of stylized, almost TWEWY-ish art style would have been really fitting for this series, especially in the horror/action parts.

Oh, and the new rendition of You was so good it almost felt emotionally manipulative, lol.

#murasaki rambles #higurashi #higurashi sotsu #this got kinda long but I still feel like there's so much more I could say about this if I wanted to

[thewhitefluffyhat]

Thoughts on Gou Episode 17 Part II - Let’s Get Meta

(Part I is here!)

Speaking of witches and looper thunderdome, it's finally time to update my bingo board!

And discuss my current thoughts on Umineko-Gou connections.

Confirmed: Second looper, Satoko is also looping

Denied: That's St. Lucia, not the Rokkenjima chapel.

As for the other square colors: 

Pale red = I predict this won't happen.

Since that's not the Rokkenjima chapel, I highly doubt any of the Rokkenjima/Beatrice-associated Umineko cast or locations will appear. Gou will still likely fit in the timeline between OG Higurashi and Umineko, but I don't think we'll be getting any Umineko-specific prequel lead ins.

With how quickly Episode 17 ditched Takano, I also don't think she'll be very relevant going forward.

Pale yellow = it's complicated?

Episode 14 seemed to imply Rika's new loop is her own powers being augmented by Hanyuu's powerup. That means neither square is quite right or wrong.  I also think we're still going to get more information about Rika's side, so I'm not marking these squares definitively either way.

As for Featherine being an active player... see below.  I actually don't think she's currently a player, but I do think she'll be important for the endgame.

Pale green = fully on board the hype train!

Satokowashi-hen

Obvious pun on "Satoko" is obvious, and I'm sure we'll see plenty of Satoko's psyche getting destroyed when we learn whatever drove her to do this.

But Village-Destroying Arc, hm?  My guess is that we’re looking at... ahh, I forget the term, but I believe it's something like "narrative collapse." Basically, the story's universe is breaking down to the extent that it can no longer function as the setting for a story. Think the finales of Evangelion, Utena, Rebellion, or most comparably - Umineko Chiru. Fasten your seatbelts everyone, I think we're going meta!

Whether the village of Hinamizawa is left physically intact has ceased to be the point - the question is whether Hinamizawa as a setting will be able to withstand the postmodern screwery that looper thunderdome combat entails. Destroy the village to reveal the game board lying underneath, essentially.

...Though not going to lie, I’d be pretty hype for everything literally going up in a gigantic fireball too.

Choose your witch: Featherine

On the meta level, the biggest remaining question is "who is behind Satoko?" I feel like I've seen a pretty even split* between people theorizing Featherine, and people theorizing Lambdadelta. 

(*Tumblr seems heavily in Lambda's camp, but I'm accounting for Reddit too.)

To me, Featherine seems like the simplest and most logical answer. She's in the OP, and Satoko rants about a vision from "Oyashiro-sama."  Case closed

Ehhh...

As I said in my thoughts on episode 16, Featherine being this direct and cruel seems very unlike her personality or her playstyle. It also doesn't fit very well with what we know of any of the witches' backstories in Umineko.

But there are other, non-Umineko issues too.  If the real Oyashiro-sama wanted to convey a message to Rika, why choose such a painful and indirect means when Hanyuu's trace was still hanging around? And why would Featherine even be so adamant that Rika stay in Hinamizawa, when neither she nor Hanyuu even bother interacting with Rika?

Moreover, if it’s actually Featherine actively pulling the strings behind Satoko, then I almost feel like the missing H173 is a red herring.  If Satoko is literally in contact with a more powerful, more malevolent Oyashiro-sama, does she even need mortal means like a syringe?

Choose your witch: Lambdadelta

Featherine might be the logical choice, and yet, and yet... everything about this just *feels* like Lambdadelta.

That whole scene of Satoko lovingly tearing Rika apart? Her trying to keep Rika confined to a metaphysical cage?  That honestly sounds more like Lambdadelta than Satoko herself!

Now let's consider the Gou game board.  The characters and the setting are the same as Hinamizawa, yet the pieces are taking strange actions that while technically plausible, feel absurd and almost out of character.  Meanwhile the spirit of the mystery has changed to something more actively malicious, no longer a tragic puzzle but an exercise in revenge.

...How did I not realize this was Lambda’s game all along? It's exactly her playstyle as a game master!

(Once again, @murasaki-murasame​ beat me to this, but that another person had the same exact thought just makes me feel even more confident in it. :D

Is Gou a Lambdadelta origin story?

Thus far, Gou has very much held back on portraying witches as separate from their pieces.  We’ve been following “Rika” this entire time, when we had plenty of opportunities to show “Bernkastel” as her own existence in the Sea of Fragments. This suggests to me that we won't be seeing a separate “Lambdadelta” either.  So if Satoko is related to Lambda, it’s at a much deeper level than Lambda was related to Takano.

I’ve already mentioned that the timeline of Bernkastel’s existence makes no linear sense, so I suppose timeline contradictions are fair game for Lambda as well. If Bern can come into existence after Matsuribayashi yet write poems for Onikakushi, then perhaps Lambda can also be post-Matsuribayashi yet also have granted Takano her power. *shrug*

What actually bothers me more than the Takano connection is that it would be very strange for Lambda to become a witch after Bern. Pretty much every detail about their relationship in Umineko implies Lambda was the first to ascend. It's why she's so interested in Bern!

But... what if Satoko already became Lambda in the space between Matsuribayashi and Gou? Or wasn't from Matsuribayashi at all? 

A while back, @tsuisou-no-despair​ proposed the idea that a Satoko looper may have been trapped in her own, different version of Hinamizawa where Rika wasn’t looping. I'm starting to really like that idea.  It would explain Satoko already being so desensitized to the time loop violence, and it would potentially allow for her to ascend as a witch before Rika.

But if that’s true... then we may be looking not just at “Stealth Bern All Along” but simultaneously “Stealth Lambda All Along.”  Woah.

Still, even if Gou’s characters are more Bern and Lambda than Satoko and Rika, we might never actually get their witch names!  I could easily see the anime pulling something vague like:

Rika: Who are you? What are you? You’re not Satoko anymore!

Satoko: Oh? So what if I’m not? After all... you’re not Rika either.

Bern: *surprised pikachu face*

Wait, what about Bernkastel and the logic error?

Way back when I was making wild predictions to my younger brother after Episode 2, I had said that a "Bernkastel origin story" would be nice, but what I was honestly more interested in was the story of how Bern and Lambda met and went from enemies to lovers.

That this idea seems not only possible, but plausible now makes me incredibly happy.

But even if Lambda is behind Satoko, that still leaves a very conspicuous Featherine-shaped silhouette unaccounted for. As such, my "go for broke" prediction is: what if we're doing everything at once?

Hanyuu/Featherine's logic error was gnarly enough that it created both Bern and Lambda.  Lambda became self-aware first, and is the one currently in control of the board after Hanyuu abandoned it. Unfortunately, Rika still doesn't have a win condition - her surviving 1983 and escaping Hinamizawa just leads to whatever hell Satoko got trapped in.

Satoko/Lambda may be Rika/Bern's "opponent" now, but Hanyuu/Featherine is ultimately the one they’ll both need to confront.

Leaning so heavily on fuzzy Umineko implications is probably unwise, but I’m still struck by the gap in characterization between then and now.  Why does Bern seem to fear and dislike Featherine, yet love Lambda? I really can’t see Gou ending in any way but Rika and Satoko reconciling to some degree.

Even if it's after they've both run each other through with fragments of the Onigari. Hehe.

#when they cry #higurashi #higurashi gou #higurashi gou analysis #umineko #furude rika #bernkastel #houjou satoko #lambdadelta #furude hanyuu #featherine #nekodamashi #looper thunderdome #my ramblings #read more #umi-gou theories bingo #my higurashi gou sotsu meguri thoughts

[carewyncromwell]

Talbott, Barnaby, Penny and Skye for the song ask, please?

Talbott Winger ~ “Birds” by Imagine Dragons

“Sunsets, sunrises -- Livin' the dream, watchin' the leaves changin' the seasons... Some nights I think of you -- Relivin' the past, wishin' it'd last, wishin' and dreamin'... Seasons, they will change -- Life will make you grow -- Death can make you hard, hard, hard... Everything is temporary -- everything will slide -- Love will never die, die, die... I know that ooh...birds fly in different directions... Ooh...I hope to see you again. Ooh...birds fly in every direction... Ooh...so fly high, so fly high...”

Okay, seriously, the moment I first started watching the music video for this song, I associated it with Talbott and how he comes to grips about what happened to his parents. Talbott isn’t really an optimist, exactly, but he is very resilient and -- in my opinion -- he embraces Ravenclaw-worthy wisdom more than any of MC’s other Ravenclaw friends. He’s gone through a lot of rough experiences, but rather than just wallow his angst, he decides that he will act to make sure that other people don’t go through the same pain he did -- and yeah, that’s my absolute favorite element of his character. 

Barnaby Lee ~ “May I” by Trading Yesterday

“All I want is to keep you safe from the cold -- To give you all that your heart needs the most... Let me raise you up -- Let me be your love... May I hold you as you fall to sleep -- When the world is closing in And you can't breathe? May I love you? May I be your shield? When no one can be found, May I lay you down?”

Okay, yeah, obviously this is a love song, but I truly do think this suits Barnaby regardless of whether or not your MC is romantically attached to him. MC is Barnaby’s first real friend in the world, and he is absolutely willing to give up his stable place as Merula’s lackey to stand by his new friendship. To quote later in the song, “all that’s made me is all worth trading, just to share one moment with you” -- everything in Barnaby’s life before MC was worth giving up so that he could pursue being a better person alongside them, with them as their friend. And once Barnaby earns MC’s friendship, all he wants to do is be a good friend to them -- to physically protect and shield them from harm, because he knows that’s something he alone is able to do. Even the honest, shy aspect of this song, sincerely asking to support this person they care about, just comes across as very true to Barnaby. 

Penny Haywood ~ “Some Things Never Change” from Frozen 2

“Some things never change -- Turn around and the time has flown... Some things stay the same -- Though the future remains unknown, May our good luck last --  May our past be past! Time's moving fast, it's true... Some things never change, And I'm holding on tight to you.”

This song is the theme I associate with Penny after the character arc I’ve written for her after the whole Beatrice fiasco -- namely, Penny comes to grips with the fact that things change and that isn’t something to try to fight against or fear. She realizes that yes, some things change, but other things -- like how she feels about the people she cherishes most -- don’t have to. After going through a sixth year full of uncertainty and clinging to a past that can’t come back, Penny’s able to embrace a more nuanced sense of optimism, rather than just put a happy face on things and blindly cling to “a more innocent time” hoping she can force it back to life when it’s already dead and gone. And yeah, considering her graduation is coming up fast and she and her friends will have to go out into the world and live their own lives, that’s a great lesson to learn. 

Skye Parkin ~ “Don’t Rain on My Parade” from Funny Girl

“Don't tell me not to fly -- I've simply got to! If someone takes a spill, It's me and not you! Who told you you're allowed to rain on my parade?!”

...Do I even have to explain myself? I honestly think the words kind of speak for themselves! Skye is a loud, forceful, bold, and competitive personality who isn’t one to back down from a fight or a challenge and is completely unapologetic in being 150% herself. She doesn’t need to make long-term strategies like McNully or philosophize about her purpose or place in the world like Orion -- she’s a very “in-the-moment” sort of person who knows what she wants and will go after it, no questions asked. 

Give me a character, I’ll give you a song!

#song ask #talbott winger #barnaby lee #penny haywood #skye parkin #music

[isthemicon]

Writers really did Blair dirty in s5

*super long post because I’m angry as hell*

There was a time when I thought that season 5 is overhated. I’ve been telling myself that sure, Blair is acting unlike herself but that’s because this season is looking at her from more psychological angle and it’s looking at her character more deeply.

But then I’ve rewatched it and I’ve realized that they’ve ruined Blair completely. The depth that I was seeing is in maybe 3-4 episode and is often overshadowed by other things. And usually the deep moments are happening through other characters.

Blair in s5 is barley her own person, she does nothing that isn’t related to her relationships, she isn’t working on her status, position, career. Her whole character arc is regressed to her trying to figure out which guy should she choose or how to make the relationship she is in work.

I mean come on even Nate and Serena have bigger stories and actually do things outside their relationships.

Blair barley ever even makes her own decisions, someone else makes them for her or has to push her to make them.

In other seasons her love life is a big part of her story but in the same time she is doing something else as well.

In s1 she is trying to build her position in school, in s2 she is fighting for Yale and her position in school, in s3 she is trying to figure out her life at NYU and trying to build her position outside high school, in s4 she is going to Columbia and trying to start a career, even in s6 despite its ridicules soap opera like plot she is building her career.

And in s5? Let me tell you what Blair does in each episode of season 5

Recap of all of the episodes

05x01 Blair returns from Monaco, and the whole episode we see her trying to be able to plan the wedding. Wait is pregnant? No it’s Dorota, joking Blair is pregnant too

05x02 Blair is trying to hide her pregnancy from the royal family, while Beatrice and Dan are snooping. That’s all.

05x03 Blair is trying to figure out who is the father. Of course she can’t makw the decision on her own so Dan needs to force her to do it because of course she can’t do it on her own (still very nice friendship moment). I like ending of this episode, it’s deep and sad and emotional. And tells a lot about her mental state and what is going inside of her.

05x04 Blair is trying to convince Louis that Dan’s book is just a fiction, she is angry because the book threatened her relationship, not becuse it affected her career like in Serena’s case, not because she didn’t like the way she was portrayed like Nate and Rufus, it just that it made her fiancé doubt.

05x05 Blair and Louis tell their family about the pregnancy. Eleanor is unhappy (the only one that has a normal reaction) but then they have a beautiful mother and daughter moment but it’s a moment of Eleanor’s depth not Blair’s. Oh and also Blair is pawn in the battle called “where should they live? Which grandma will have more to say?”

05x06 Blair is trying to choose her bridesmaids (entertaining episode and shows her power, still resolves around her relationship). Probably one of the the very few were she is actually doing something.

05x07 Blair is trying to provoke Chuck to show that he hadn’t really changed. And Chuck and Dorota have to form a plan to make sure she believes he didn’t because she will be more comfortable with her relationship with Louis, again it’s not Blair making the decision someone else has to make it for her.

05x08 Blair has a bridal shower. The trouble is Serena is making it seem it’s not like Blair would like it so she is sad, but no it was a lie she has a perfect suprise party, oh and Louis is a jerk and wants to make her believe her friends aren’t her friends. She takes a break from Louis (good for you girl)

05x09 Blair is following Chuck because he had changed and she wants her fiancé to change as well. One of the lowest moments, Blair is absolutely heartless and selfish in her plan. (A very deep scene in the end but it’s coming from Chuck and just happening to Blair)

05x10 This episode I like it’s actually very deep. We are exploring her fear of being alone and her trying to figure out what’s the best thing to do. If she should listen to her heart and choose Chuck or if she should listen to reason and stay with Louis. We see Dan understanding her and trying to help her. That’s a real good episode.

05x11 Another deep episode exploring Blair’s trauma after the accident. Not gonna say anything bad about as I actually like it and here I think the focus on her being unable to stand on her own is important. And her losing her real self is actually very undrstandble here.

05x12 Blair has a bachelorette party and everybody is able to outsmart her and out plan her and Blair doesn’t see a thing. She needs others to save her because again she can’t do anything on her own. Oh and Chuck is following her.

05x13 Blair is getting married, this episode has some depth and action but again Blair does nothing on her own, Eleanor, Chuck, Serena, Louis talk to her and she just responds. But in end she wakes up and tries to run away. Finally she make her own decision.

05x14 Blair is running away from her wedding, Dan is helping her, Serena and Chuck are looking for her. But in the end Blair has one big moment when she takes responsibility and decides to stay in the marriage, doesn’t allow Chuck and her mother to buy her out.

05x15 Blair is back in the city for Valentine’s, goes to the party at Chuck’s place forcing him to leave his own party, she is followed by some woman with the most annoying accent. She is trying to play a cupid, Dan kisses her, Serena is mad, Blair is trying to explain it. The end

05x16 Blair is trying to convince Serena there’s nothing going on between her and Dan. She finds out what’s in a book and realizes Dan has feelings for her. So she decides she may want to start the relationship so she kisses Dan in front of Serena as her grandmother is dying. Sure Blair is doing things but that’s all relationship related, she is not even yet divorced and she is already thinking about going into another relationship.

05x17 Blair thinks she maybe able to get out of her marriage and be able to be in a new relationship, turns out no, she goes to Cece’s wake. She finds out about the video,Chuck and Dan fight for her, she tells Chuck she can’t be with him right now, photo of her and Dan gets out, meaning she will need to divorce and pay dowry. But Georgina says she might be able to help her out.

05x18 Blair tries to have sex with Dan and tries to be able enjoy it so she gets drunk. That’s honestly the whole plot of her story in this episode. (The worst episode in the whole show)

05x19 Blair is about to sign divorce paper, refuses to talk to Chuck, Dan is worried about the papers and tells her Chuck paid her dowry she accuses Chuck of trying to buy her, he tells her she was never meant to find out, she is sad because of the fact she will no longer be in the royal family. She doesn’t come to the conclusion that she can be strong without the title, she needs Dan to give her he fake princess moment where she is basically a tourist attraction.

05x20 Blair is trying to organize the party that will launch her and Dan’s relationship. Party is ruined because of the drama of other people. That’s it

05x21 This episode where Blair is actually doing something related to her social status. But she does it by trying to sabotage her boyfriend’s event? Very grown up.

05x22 Now we are getting to episode where she actually does something. She reunites with her friends as they try to figure out the whole Elizabeth and Jack thing. We finally see her do something outside her relationship. Of course at the same time Dan is worried and follows her outside the city. And lies to her about Rome.

05x23 An interesting episode, again Blair is actually doing something but it’s still connected to her love life. Blair is trying to help Chuck but at the same time she should be with Dan taking to the guy from the program. So she is torn. But at least she is scheming and using her talents.

05x24 Blair has to finally choose between Chuck and Dan while her secrets are being published on gossip girl and she tired or stop it. Finally she talks about her future outise love life but it’s Eleanor that starts the conversation.

That’s all she does, every single scene is related to her love life, she has no plans, no aspirations. Until the very last episode we don’t hear her talk about her work related plans and even then she talks about the matter of her heart. In season 5 Blair isn’t her best self, she doesn’t do a thing. Things are happening to her but she isn’t making them happen, she is just responding to them. And they related only to her love life. Gone is the girl that wanted to be a powerful woman, she doesn’t want a thing, even after she got divorced and is with Dan. She doesn’t talk about her plans, the closesest to her talking about future is when she talks about it is when she is wondering is she wants to go with Dan to Rome, on his writing program and when she decides to do it she is planning the trip, on where they will be eating and what will they be seeing. Not even for a moments she thinks about her future, about what she wants to do.

Blair in season 5 is a shell of a character, regressed to the love triangles, she is woman that does nothing outside her love life. So in conclusion, season 5 is the worst when it comes to the way Blair was treated. She is so much more than her love life and in s5 they completely they forgot that. And yes it’s a season of very big growth to her as she is faced with crushing realization that fairytales and movies are not real, that reality is brutal. But that’s not how you do it, multiple characters have a character growth in this season and yet we see them actually do something not just wonder which guy should she choose and not the end waiting for someone else to choose for her.

It’s an emotional season but again thoes emotions and depth are in few episodes and are usually are not really coming from Blair. More often it someone else’s growth and understanding of her that is creating thoes moments.

#gossip girl #blair waldorf #chuck bass #Dan Humphrey #serena van der woodsen #nate archibald #Louis Grimaldi #eleanor waldorf #overthinker #tv show #cw show #tenen drama

[galladerocksgamer]

I saw several other blogs passing this around and it looked fun so I decided I’d give it a shot and see if I can’t spread it around to some others to do too!

Pick 5 shows, then answer the following questions!  Don’t look at them first. Then tag some people.

Gravity Falls

BoJack Horseman

My Hero Academia

Trollhunters

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Who is your favorite character in 2?

Wow I’ve never really stopped to consider this one that hard before.  My gut reaction is to say Todd because he is simply wonderful.  But Diane is definitely up there too, she’s a character that I really connected to in ways I didn’t expect.  Princess Carolyn is in the running too, her series-long character arc was one of the most heartbreaking and heartwarming.  I’m not sure I can pick one fave, I just love the development of these three.

Who is your least favorite character in 1? 

Uh geez I’m not sure I really have a LEAST favorite, I can’t think of anyone that I particularly dislike.  I mean sure there are characters that I dislike because they’re jerks, like Filbrick or Preston or (duh) Bill, but in terms of like disliking them as a character?  I’m probably gonna say Priscilla Northwest, she’s as much of a rich jerk as her husband but is a lot less entertaining.  Or maybe Gabe Bensen, he’s the least amusing of Mabel’s various love interests to me.

What is your favorite episode of 4? 

A House Divided.  Just ... no contest, it’s A House Divided.  Haven’t seen much else that just stops my dang heart like the ending of that episode.  It just HURTS OKAY.  In all the best ways.  Jimhunters and Unbecoming are very close seconds.

What is your favorite season of 5? 

Overall I think it’s gotta be Season 3.  There’s a lot that I love in Season 2 especially, but on the whole Season 3 just has so much going for it.  There’s some fantastic character development and new moral issues explored within the Fire Nation itself.  There’s the invasion, Zuko joining the Gaang and having various life-changing adventures, the Boiling Rock, the freaking Ember Island Players, and of course one of the absolute best series finales in television. So yeah, it’s gotta be Season 3.

Who is your favorite couple in 3? 

Tbh I don’t really have that many ships for MHA (probably in the minority on that one).  There’s really only two couples I’m particularly into, and that’s Mirio/Amajiki and Yaoyorozu/Jiro.  Mirio is just so supportive of Amajiki and they’re just cute and GAH they’re fantastic.  And Yaoyorozu and Jiro, I think it was the first movie that got me attached to them, they’re just super cute too.  They’re both just pure adorable pairs, I love them.

What is your favorite episode of 1? 

Once again, no contest, because Not What He Seems is just, like, my favorite episode of literally anything ever.  It’s just SO GOOD.  The culmination of so much story and theory, the animation, the music, the tension of the climax, the ending reveal.  It’s just.  The best.  Gosh.  Weirdmageddon 3 is definitely close, the best finale in animation imo, but just absolutely nothing beats Not What He Seems.

What is your favorite episode of 5? 

Okay now this one is actually tough.  I’m probably gonna say Zuko Alone, it’s just brimming with heartwarming and heartbreaking material, between Zuko’s childhood flashbacks and his touching - and tragic - present story.  The Tales of Ba Sing Se is the other top candidate, of course it has the tearjerker Iroh story that is probably my favorite thing in the whole series, but I also love, well, the whole thing.  The Katara/Toph and Zuko stories are so sweet and pure, the Sokka story is hilarious, and the Momo story is also dang sad.  The Blind Bandit, Sokka’s Master, and The Southern Raiders are also personal favorites.

what is your favorite season of 2? 

I am surprised I have a definitive answer for this because the whole series is so transcendentally great, but I do in fact have an answer, and it is Season 4.  It’s my favorite story arc of the series, with BoJack for once not having a special project to center his life on, still reeling from what happened to Sarah Lynn, and having Hollyhock and Beatrice rather suddenly entering his daily life.  It’s about the closest we ever see to BoJack having some semblance of a family life.  The whole storyline of Hollyhock and Beatrice is just fantastic, and it’s the start of the real meat of Todd and Princess Carolyn’s character arcs too - and ends with the setup for Diane and Mr. Peanutbutter finally breaking their destructive cycle.  Plus it’s got my two favorite episodes of the entire series - The Old Sugarman Place and Stupid Piece of Sh*t.  Also Time’s Arrow is definitely top 10, maybe even top 5.  Also also love Hooray! Todd Episode!  And Thoughts and Prayers.  And Ruthie.  Yeah seriously no contest it is my favorite season.

How long have you watched 1? 

I started watching Gravity Falls really near the beginning.  The first episode I watched was The Inconveniencing, the fifth episode overall, and after that I was immediately intrigued and went back and watched the first four.  After that, I watched the whole series as it went.

How did you become interested in 3? 

I don’t tend to watch a lot of anime, and my experience with shounen before MHA was touch-and-go.  Like I’m a big fan of Fairy Tail and to a lesser extent Dragon Ball but I’m still heavily critical of both and would have a hard time recommending them without a heavy disclaimer.  So it was something I’d considered before but never really took the plunge into watching until, funnily enough, my anime-adverse girlfriend decided to check it out.  She’s significantly less anime-invested than me (well, she used to be at least) but lo and behold, we both wound up obsessed with it.  Color me surprised that this series wasn’t being overhyped and didn’t come with the glaring flaws of every other shounen I’ve watched.  So now this is definitely my big interest of the moment, and I am grateful to have it.

Who is your favorite actor in 4? 

Anton Yelchin, he just brought so much heart and emotion to Jim.  He’s a big part of the reason that Unbecoming just snaps my heart in two, my gosh.  As for comedic delivery, Kelsey Grammer absolutely kills it as Blinky, not that I’d expect any less from him.  He just has so many lines that completely crack me up and that’s largely because of his delightfully hammy delivery.

Which do you prefer: 1, 2, or 5? 

Oh my gosh they are literally my three favorite pieces of media in existence.  But it’s Gravity Falls.  Like I would just roll over and die without any of these three but it’s not debatable, the absolute #1 in my heart is Gravity Falls.

If you could be anyone from 4, who would it be? 

Probably Toby?  I think I’d be good in the “well-meaning dorky disaster-prone best friend” role.

Would a crossover between 3 and 4 work? 

Theoretically, maybe?  Magical troll warriors team up with superheroes to fight a wizard supervillian.  It could happen.

Pair two characters in 1 who would make an unlikely but strangely okay couple?

Hmm, not sure I have a good answer to this one.  I’ll just say Manly Dan and Tyler.  It’s not exactly an ODD pick because we see them together quite a few times and honestly they always look like a dang couple, but we never really see what their INTERACTION is like, so it’s kinda difficult to judge exactly how that relationship does/would work.  But I think it’s a nice one to think about.

Overall, which show has the best storyline: 3 or 5?

Oof.  Probably gonna have to say AtLA on this one, if only because MHA isn’t exactly that focused on a super-condensed story at this point?  Its progress tends to come through more world-building and character development than major plot beats, though it certainly has that too.  So yeah I’ll say AtLA.

Which has better theme music: 2 or 4? 

Oh absolutely BoJack, it’s one of my favorite theme songs.

Okay, I’m only gonna actually tag @immaplatypus for this, but if you see this and want to do it then absolutely go right ahead and do it!  I’ve had fun seeing some other people doing these and would love to see even more going forward.

#gravity falls #bojack horseman #my hero academia #trollhunters #avatar the last airbender #atla #mha #bnha

[coffeebooksorme]

American Royals ARC Review

GOODREAD’S SYNOPSIS:  What if America had a royal family? If you can't get enough of Harry and Meghan or Kate and William, meet American princesses Beatrice and Samantha.

Two princesses vying for the ultimate crown. Two girls vying for the prince's heart. This is the story of the American royals. When America won the Revolutionary War, its people offered General George Washington a crown. Two and a half centuries later, the House of Washington still sits on the throne. Like most royal families, the Washingtons have an heir and a spare. A future monarch and a backup battery. Each child knows exactly what is expected of them. But these aren't just any royals. They're American. And their country was born of rebellion. As Princess Beatrice gets closer to becoming America's first queen regnant, the duty she has embraced her entire life suddenly feels stifling. Nobody cares about the spare except when she's breaking the rules, so Princess Samantha doesn't care much about anything, either . . . except the one boy who is distinctly off-limits to her. And then there's Samantha's twin, Prince Jefferson. If he'd been born a generation earlier, he would have stood first in line for the throne, but the new laws of succession make him third. Most of America adores their devastatingly handsome prince . . . but two very different girls are vying to capture his heart. The duty. The intrigue. The Crown. New York Times bestselling author Katharine McGee imagines an alternate version of the modern world, one where the glittering age of monarchies has not yet faded--and where love is still powerful enough to change the course of history.

I was provided an eARC by Random House via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

Did I travel back to early 2000′s YA and read a book? Because I feel like I did. American Royals is definitely a fish out of water book that does not read like a book from 2019 wherein the YA community is awash in diversity, multi-faceted characters, and stellar writing. It’s similar enough to Red, White, and Royal Blue in that it follows the life of teenage/young 20′s royals in modern times but the similarities end there and woobuddy, do the vast differences spring to life.

There are four POV’s in this book: Beatrice, princess and soon to be first queen of America who’s not happy about it; Samantha, princess and Beatrice’s little sister who is jealous and bitter; Nina, token POC and Samantha’s BFF who’s secretly in love with Samantha’s twin brother Jefferson; and then there’s Daphne, token bitch who wants to be a princess, Jefferson’s ex, and will do anything to change that.  Those all seem like generic one liner ways to describe these characters but honestly, that’s pretty much it. They are all supremely one dimensional with barely any growth throughout the book. 

Nina is described as Hispanic in the book but there’s not a differentiation of how she’s Hispanic. Is she Cuban? Peuto Rican? What? There is literally nothing about her culture in this book. She doesn’t talk about how she was raised, apart from having lesbian moms, and there is no mention of her cultural background until it’s used against her. Strip the Hispanic descriptor from her and she’s another white character. It’s like someone told the author her story was too white so she threw the word ‘Hispanic’ in there to make it more diverse. The only other POC character is a Japanese girl named Himari who’s in a freaking coma!

Samantha reads like the whiny little sister who’s jealous that the older sibling gets all the attention. She’s the quintessential middle child. At first you think that’s all there’s going to be about her but as the book goes on you see more and more of her personality. She has distinct likes/hobbies: history, fashion, skiing, and traveling. She actually matures, grows up, and learns how she not only wants to contribute to the world but who she wants to be as a person.In comparison to the other characters, she’s the most fleshed out well rounded character in this book. I’d have rather read a whole book from her POV.

Speaking of history, you would think that a book that’s basically an alternate universe America would have a thriving history rife with interesting factoids that would suck you in. I should have known better than to expect that from a YA contemporary novel but I was highly disappointed that we didn’t get more history of this book’s America. The biggest thing that made me the most irate is there’s no mention of African American’s or Native American’s. Um...how? This country is built upon the degradation and slaughter of those peoples, how do you leave them out of your AU America? You could have totally flipped the script and given them a super prosperous history and story. I know it’s not important to the actual plot of the book but, damn. I would have really liked to have seen that.

Not only that but the book is super sexist as well. America doesn’t get her first queen until now, what I would assume is 2019 in the book, there’s no mention of any high level females who have any power whatsoever, Beatrice’s mother the queen is talked about as if she’s the essential right hand to the king but there’s no specific mention of how, AND at one point a man who’s the crown’s representative makes this comment:  “The crown can’t condone premarital relations.” Um, excuse me, what? There’s also snide remarks made here and there about hemlines, clothing choices, and girls being sexually promiscuous, but never any mention of that to the guys. It was very off putting and annoying. Again, it was a missed opportunity with the author where she could have totally flipped the script.

Plot wise this book read like a season of Gossip Girl. There’s a big bad secret about the only other POC character who’s in a coma. What happened to her? Did someone try to kill her? Who did? Why? It’s barely mentioned among the whining and raging hormones, but it’s there. You eventually find out why she’s in a coma by the end of the book and it sort of leaves it as a cliffhanger, too. As the first book in a series, this book really does a lot of built up to what I think will be the overall story arc to the series.

All in all, this book is a total miss for me. It didn’t scratch any of the itches that the description mentioned, none of the characters are interesting enough to make me pick up the sequel, the writing is average and there’s nothing in the plot line that I couldn’t already guess.

My Rating:  ⭐

Expected Publication: September 3, 2019

#booklr #books #book review #book reviews #american royals #katharine mcgee #bookstagram #mine #random house #bookworn #book dragon #bibliophile

[hallelujuh]

shay’s favorite tv shows from 2017

this has been in my drafts for.... nine months.... fuck.

Written in December 2017, updates are from September 2018.

Considering how many new, innovative shows are around these days, I didn’t get too adventurous this year, but I’m satisfied with the ones I did watch. I discovered new shows, I was impressed by the shows I’ve been following for years, and I learned to appreciate the work that goes into television more. Here’s my top ten TV shows..

10. Thirteen Reasons Why - In all honestly, this is only here because I haven’t been able to watch Peaky Blinders yet, and it’s probably too late. (UPDATE: Watched it in Jan and it was amazing.) This show received a lot of backlash, and for good reason, although it had its moments. The characters were well-written, the relationships were given depth that is often lacking in other high school-set narratives, and the tone was great. I’ve always loved watching things that make me profoundly sad, and this show did just that. (UPDATE: Season 2 was fucking garbage lmao.)

Standout episode: Tape 1, Side B. It’s a cripplingly depressing show, but this episode stood out as a moment of light in Hannah’s dark reality. Her friendship with Jessica and Alex was nice in the beginning - their banter, them having a spot in the coffee shop. I remember assuming Alex was gay (I believe his actor is, so I wasn’t too off) and thinking that’d be good for Hannah, to have a guy friend who wasn’t interested in her and wouldn’t add relationship drama to her life. Boy, was I wrong. Still, having seen the show at the beginning of the year, this episode is the only one I remember as enjoying, so it gets this spot.

9. A Series of Unfortunate Events - I read the books in elementary school, and they’re one of my favorite series of all time. I’m also a huge fan of the film, though I know most aren’t. So I was very excited for this series, and it didn’t completely disappoint. While I found myself longing for the actors from the 2004 motion picture, and some of the directing decisions weren’t choice, it was cool to see The Miserable Mill finally come to life, and I loved the Baudelaires just as much here as anyone else. I’ll be tuning in to next season, since I’ve very, very excited to see how they handle the next three books. I can’t wait to meet the Quagmire triplets, and Esme, and Jacques! It’ll be awesome. I hope they portray it well, but there’s no film to compare it to from here on out, so maybe it’ll be different.

Standout episode: The Reptile Room: Part One/Two. Like I said, I wasn’t a huge fan of how most of the characters were portrayed in this adaption, but I did love Uncle Monty. He was just as wonderful as he was in the film and books. Watching his interactions with the kids was really nice, and as always, made me wish they could’ve remained with him. Stephano wasn’t as menacing here as he is in the film (that knife scene is the point in the film where you go, “woah, this dude’s for real. he’s scary”), which was a bummer because I still thought Olaf was a laughably bad and incompetent villain by the finale, but I did like Poe’s hysteria, and I really loved the movie theatre scene.

8. Riverdale - Oops I never wrote this dfdsbfjdbfjds.

7. South Park - While we all can agree the last season was a mess, and this one was only a slight improvement, it did have it’s moments. I’ve been a fan for five years now, so at this point, they’ll never disappoint me, tbfh. 

Standout episode: Doubling Down. While Put it Down was wonderful, both satirically and because of Craig and Tweek’s adorable relationship, the eighth episode of the season was my personal favorite (UPDATE: Not sure why ‘cause I didn’t specify then and I’m not sure now.)

6. Dear White People - I didn’t do this one either damn. 

Standout Episode: Chapter V. While the show is a comedic take on racial relations, this episode is an emotional, serious change. The Barry Jenkins-directed episode shows us that the subject is no laughing matter, and it very clearly deserves this spot.

5. Rick and Morty - Yet another show I discovered this year, during the summer. I’d been meaning to watch it for ages, and I finally got around to it. While the fanbase is pretty much poison, the show is pretty damn good. Maybe not what it’s hyped up to be, but great none-the-less. I’m a big fan of adult cartoons, and RaM isn’t entirely satirical like South Park, and it’s not self-aware like BoJack, but it holds up. It’s probably so popular because of how unique it is.

Standout episode: The Ricklantis Mixup. While my personal favorite of Season 3 was The Whirly Dirly Conspiracy, because I adore Jerry, I think we can all agree that the was the best episode of the season, if not the series. Like, really. Holy shit.

4. Gotham - I began watching this show last year, and caught up to season three around halfway through it. It began to drag a bit, admittedly, like it couldn’t carry it’s own weight - but now the show’s on season four, and it gets a little wild sometimes, but it’s holding quite a bit better, I’d say. I was pretty fucking impressed, especially with the Nygmobblepot stuff.

Standout episode: A Dark Knight: Queen Takes Knight. Although Mad City: The Gentle Art of Making Enemies from Season 3 is a close runner-up, for all the loose ends it ties up, and so cleanly, too - the winter finale gets this spot. It had me on the edge of my metaphorical seat (since I was actually curled up in bed) the entire time. While Sophia’s character and her motivations had remained muddy since her introduction, her badassery finally came to the forefront, and it was awesome. The way she tore down Penguin from his throne? Incredible. We know he’ll return, as he has so many times, but really, that was so incredible. Considering he’s my favorite character, I should feel worse. However, Sophia executed her plan so well, I was too awed to hate her. Also, Jerome’s back! I’m extremely excited to see Jerome’s role in the upcoming episodes. (Update: Oh, honey, you got a big storm coming...)

3. BoJack Horseman - I binged the hell out of this show just before season four came out, because it was so creative and thought-provoking and hilariously depressing. The fourth season was notably wonderful in a lot of ways, particularly because of Todd’s sexuality arc (the first out asexual character in a TV show!) and how well it was handled, but also because of the mature themes they took on. Princess Carolyn’s miscarriages, Diane and Mr. PB’s failing marriage, BoJack’s struggle to forgive his mother, Beatrice’s own troubled upbringing, Hollyhock’s eating disorder. I watched the whole season in three days when it was first released, four months ago, and I’m currently considering re-watching it after rereading the summaries of each episode to refresh my memory. I’d forgotten how phenomenal it was. It’s on another level - it really is.

Standout episode: Time’s Arrow. Though there wasn’t a single weak episode this season, this one definitely stood out. Following the tradition of uniquely depressing eleventh episodes, Time’s Arrow focuses on BoJack’s mother and how her turbulent childhood affected her. Gorgeously executed, it makes us pity the woman who made our favorite alcoholic horse the way he is, and it concludes with BoJack making peace with his mother, who he had spent so long resenting. It’s just a gorgeous episode. I think I’m going to rewatch it right now, haha.

2. Mr. Robot - I’ve wanted to watch this show since it came out, but I finally began and finished the first two seasons just weeks before Season 3 came out. Since I’m discussing my favorites of 2017, I won’t be talking about those first two seasons here. I’ll be focusing on Season 3, which has been, in my opinion, incredible. What began as a modern, nerdy take on Fight Club has become so much more; a masterfully dark and suspenseful fictionalized look at the looming political state of our world. We’ve gotten new characters (Irving, who’s a gem), we’ve learned more about older but mysterious characters (poor repressed Dom), we’ve had to say goodbye to old characters (I’m still mad about ******), and best of all, this season has been Tyrell heavy, and we even got to see Elliot make peace with Mr. Robot.

Standout episode: S3/EP8, eps3.7_dont-delete-me.ko - The previous episode had already established a gorgeously melancholy setting through the use of Mac Quayle's gorgeous production 2.0_6-madame3xecutioner.oga, which, as a huge fan of film scores, I instantly fell in love with. The song is featured during a scene I watched several times - the scene when Angela repeatedly rewinds the explosion, unable to cope with the reality of it. It left me feeling similar to the way I had after watching American Beauty for the first time - like the world was a different shade. I thought this would be the only moment the show could invoke that response from me, but then the next episode came out. Unlike Ep. 7, Ep. 8 didn’t have a single moment. The whole episode brimmed with pain and sadness. The show’s already sad, but the lonely, isolated feeling is often overwhelmed by the suspense, drama, and excitement. This episode let the characters hurt without interruption, and it was wonderfully emotional.

1. The Get Down - I was so thrilled when I discovered this show in April, literally a few days after Part 2 had aired. I downloaded all the episodes for a road trip, and literally could not put it down the entire tme. It blended all my favorite things - the art of rap, the origin and evolution of hip hop, how battle rapping/deejaying came to be. The music was stellar, the cinematography was breathtaking, the acting was (for the most part) wonderful, and the cast was fantastic. I’ve seen some criticizing it, because of its occasionally choppy narrative and the fact that Baz Luhrmann added his usual whimsical take on something that was historically fairly dark, but I thought it was flawless. It was definitely groundbreaking in its amount of representation, and it was fun and colorful and emotional and, overall, just absolutely wonderful. Like many others, I was pretty devastated when they cancelled it. I understand why, but I wish it could get the Sense 8 treatment and receive a movie. There’s too many loose ends - it’s a real bummer. Still, I’m grateful we were blessed with this gem of a show at all.

Standout episode: S1/EP11, Only from Exile Can We Come Home - The final episode gets this spot for a single scene; the one where it alternates between Mylene singing “I’m my #1″ in the hotel room with Jackie and all the drag queens, and the scene where an unreleased Miguel song is playing while Dizzy & Thor paint on each other, and then Shao calls Dizzy his “alien brother.” That scene was easily one of my favorites I’ve ever seen in any show, in my entire life. If that episode was a film, that scene alone would guarantee it a spot on my favorite films list. It was that good.

#mine #txt #2017

[aros001]

First time read through light novel vol. 12. Random thoughts.

Right off the bat and I love this illustration

of the aftermath of Subaru's various deaths. Just at a look and you're able to tell which loop and death it was. From left to right:

After the Witch Cult slaughters Emilia, the mansion, and villagers and Puck goes out to destroy the world. Though not sure if this is the loop where Puck and Subaru got to talk or it this is a loop before that.

Rem tortures and Ram mercy kills Subaru, likely lying and covering up their actions afterwards to Emilia.

Rem dies from the Shaman's curse and Subaru commits suicide, unfortunately doing so right in front of Beatrice and Ram.

Elsa murders Subaru and Emilia. Subaru's very first death.

Subaru is possessed by Petelgeuse and has to be put down.

I wasn't sure about this one at first but later in the book seems to imply this is after Subaru killed himself after Rem fell into a coma.

Echidna speculated that Subaru's save points were based just on what'd help him be most likely to overcome whatever killed him and that Satella likely didn't care about anyone else in his life. But with the black shadow devouring everything, save for Garfiel, and seemingly heading for the mansion next, I wouldn't be surprised if Satella actually is choosing the points that get rid of others who are important to Subaru so she can have his love all to herself. Rem's in a coma and Subaru can't go back further to save her from that fate and the only reason Emilia is still around is because a lot of the events that kill her tend to also kill Subaru, like Elsa and the Witch Cult, so her death wouldn't exist in a timeline where Subaru also gets to live. In arc 3 Subaru's save point was set after he and Emilia had that big fight and went their separate ways. I wouldn't be surprised if Satella set that point specifically because the two were driven apart and she didn't want Subaru to get a do-over.

Watching Ram, Ryuzu, and all the other people he cared about get swallowed whole, vanishing within the shadow.

But even after so many precious people were stolen from him, Garfiel refused to use revenge as an excuse to throw all decency aside. He wouldn’t tolerate any talk about a victory that involved sacrificing Subaru.

I like to think this is a little bit of a callback to some of Subaru's loops during arc 3, specifically when he was so lost in his selfishness and later his rage at the Witch Cult's massacres that he was somewhat blinded to everyone else and was throwing away his decency; something Garfiel is refusing to do. Again, I don't mind that Subaru has had moments where he's not a good person and has very serious character flaws because the story is about him continuously growing into a better person.

“In this world, when I heard ‘I love you’ spoken seriously to me for the first time...it gave me, an unredeemable bastard, enough power to make me think I could become a hero.”

He was a piece of garbage, twisted down, broken, and ready to flee from everything, but those words had made him believe he could face the future head-on, never giving in—to challenge it once more, over and over, however many times that it took.

As sad as I am that Rem's not in the story anymore aside from being a near lifeless husk, I am glad that her importance on the story and Subaru specifically is still strong. Honestly, all shipping aside, I'm mostly upset that, because of the coma, all of Rem's character development has pretty much been put on hold. I was enjoying seeing her grow and the ways she was reacting to events in the story. For the audience, having her be in a coma is maybe worse than her being killed because there's that hope she'll come back and you're continuously waiting for her to do so; waiting for that part of the story to be allowed to continue.

What could he say, what should he say, that would rub the Witch the worst way? There was no one better armed to get under someone else’s skin than Subaru. So he knew.

Accordingly, Subaru gave a shallow, cruel laugh, turning a look of scorn toward the Witch.

“—I’d rather love Echidna and the other Witches than you.”

...Yeah, that oughta do it. Seriously though, I almost felt all the sound go out in the world at reading that line, that's how much of an "Ohhhhh shit." moment it was, with there being nothing Subaru could have said to piss the witch off more.

I suppose Satella (and Subaru) consuming and becoming one with everything can relate to envy. No need to be envious of what others have when you are both them and what they possess.

He had seen the Witch’s face in the moment just prior to Return by Death —and it was the same face as Emilia’s. After straddling death to come back, he had dragged along a fear of the Witch that stuck with him.

It's temporary but I do like this. For a moment Subaru is in a similar position as those who naturally live in this world. He knows that Emilia is not the Witch of Envy, just as most people in the world could obviously understand, but because of the strong resemblance (and Satella possessing Emilia's body) he can't not see Satella when he looks at her and feel that fear. Obviously it's still wrong to have that prejudice against Emilia and other half-elves whom have done nothing to harm anyone but having even Subaru feel that fear, even for just a moment, does make it very understandable why the people of this world have trouble letting go of it.

I know this is bothering me more than it should and it's not a criticism towards the series, but I always feel bad that Subaru has this perception around him of being a little bit of a crybaby, or at least easily upset and needing to be soothed. Don't get me wrong, I make no demands that the MC always be seen all ultra-masculine manly but from the perspective of others it does seem like Subaru breaks down easily. In the mansion arc with Subaru working himself sick and crying into Emilia's lap to the White Whale arc where Subaru gave up and asked Rem to run away with him to now where Emilia is needing to comfort him inside Echidna's tomb. We the audience know these breakdowns are VERY well deserved after the horrors Subaru has been through and he really needs the comfort, but the other characters don't know and it just looks like he's cracking over nothing. I like Subaru and it sucks that he keeps getting seen as a bit of a crybaby, especially in front of the woman he loves. Emilia doesn't make a big deal of it and Subaru has done plenty to prove his worth and bravery before, but I still can't help but feel a little bad for the guy.

I'm wondering if there's an implication that Emilia's doing better during this loop is because she now feels she's fighting/being strong for Subaru? Kind of like how Subaru has found strength in fighting for her and the others he cares about.

“I did think about it, so I asked Ram to keep him occupied. In the meantime, it’s a date between you and me, Ryuzu.”

“I am unsure what it is you mean by dayte...but I cannot defy you at this point, Young Su. You may do with me and the girl here as you wish.”

“That’s giving in a little too much!"

What is with people continuously thinking Subaru wants to defile them?! Is it the eyes? (It's probably the eyes)

I've heard tales before that Subaru comes to be known as the Lolimancer. Given he now has authority over Ryuzu and a practical army of replicas, I can kind of see that. And it's glorious. Nothing crushes your enemy quite like their opponent throwing a little girl that them...and winning.

Then, after a momentary pause, she slowly nodded and said, “—Ahhh, I understand now. Betty is probably entrusting you with her final moment because...”

Once he heard the answer, there was no going back. —He was certain of it.

And yet, his decision came too late. He had realized too late. It was too late for everything.

“—Sorry to intrude mid-conversation, but...”

A voice he should not have heard spoke. Hastened by a terrible chill, Subaru flipped around.

Then he saw her.

“—Is it all right if I become That Person for you, I wonder?”

Carrying a black curved blade in her hand—a kukri knife—the black- clothed Bowel Hunter stood at the archive’s entrance.

F**K! OFF! ELSA!

Crystal arrows were thrust through her entire body, half of it shattered like inorganic matter. Such was Elsa’s death.

THAT'S WHAT YOU GET, BITCH!

Beatrice’s eyebrows fell as she let out a breath of instantaneous relief, forming a thin smile in the process.

—The tip of a black blade was poking out of her chest.

“—My, what an odd feeling in the hand. A spirit’s belly really is different.”

DAMMIT!

“The letter...that’s right. I wrote a letter. I wrote everything on it, that’s why. I really meant to tell you about everything, but...”

“Tee-hee.”

Ohhhhhhhh no, that's never a good sign. Dark tomb dedicated to a witch, everything else outside going wrong, and Emilia just gives a little giggle like that, talking about how lonely she was and how much she loves him? She didn't even comment on how he's MISSING AN EYE.

Funny enough, for this part I am being reminded of a reaction I had while reading the Goblin Slayer light novels. "Oh, thank goodness this character was only severely beaten and about to be sacrificed to summon a demon old god into the world." "Oh, thank goodness. Emilia's not possessed or under some terrible curse. She's just cracked from mental strain and trauma." It's just one of those times where I have to take a moment and think about what kind of series I'm reading where I'm relieved a major character has only gone insane.

It is kind of cool how she's in a way going through a similar experience as Subaru has. Repeatedly going through a continuous loop of failures she can't overcome but feels she has to for the sake of others, until she finally just hits her breaking point.

I do like how even just Roswaal talking about RBD is enough for the witch to grasp Subaru's heart, even though Roswaal figured it all out on his own. I'm also glad I saw the "Memory Snow" OVA because it does add a nice (and really messed up) layer to Roswaal's manipulations. That even a happy and completely innocent time like that, seeming to exist for no other reason than to give the audience a nice breather before arc 3, was something he figured out how to use to his advantage. It makes him feel like even more of a devious bastard, that he'll be taking such a pleasant and pure memory and using it to get the villagers to fear Emilia.

“The current you is insufficient to bring about the future indicated in the text. Any discrepancy with that recorded requires a correction.”

That makes me curious about how specifically the book works. Before Roswaal and Beatrice were making it sound like the book foretold futures that would happen no matter what, but this line implies that Subaru currently is unable to make that future come to pass, making it sound more like the book describes the specific ways required to make the foretold future happen. Then again, Subaru isn't from this world, so is he maybe somewhat exempt from the book's prophecies? Or is he a requirement for fulfilling them? Roswaal caught on to Subaru's looping because of the book, but how? Is the future changing every time Subaru loops and because Roswaal has read ahead he knew what the future originally was and thus noticed when it changed? Subaru also speculates that Roswaal has the ability to inherit memories like Echidna and thus he can remember the previous timelines, but I feel like he'd be able to understand that the loops were caused by Subaru dying then, since that's the common trait among all of them. Roswaal also says there's no point in talking about thing since he will not be the same Roswaal Subaru meets when he loops again, so I'm assuming that means he can't inherit memories or the new Roswaal, while not the same as the previous loop, would remember his and Subaru's conversation and be able to continue it.

So to recap:

Rem, Petra, and Frederica are murdered after Subaru sent them to the village to keep them safe

He has to watch as Elsa murders a suicidal Beatrice

Elsa cuts out his left eye

He's caught in a harsh snowstorm wearing only a ripped up tracksuit

Emilia, the woman he loves, has a mental breakdown

Roswaal murders Ram and Garfiel right in front of him and admits he deliberately drove Emilia into isolation

Roswaal tortures Subaru in order to try and get him to loop

Rabbits eat Roswaal alive right in front of Subaru and likely are doing the same to the rest of Sanctuary, save for those whom chose suicide by fire rather than being eaten

The replicas are killed defending Subaru under his orders and he still got half-mauled in the process

His first kiss was at the very moment of his death by an insane Emilia

All in all, today's been something of a bummer for Subaru, hasn't it?

In all seriousness though, SOMEONE GIVE THE MAN A HUG!!!

And let's just keep the pain train rolling with Subaru being shown the aftermath of his death after Rem fell into a coma. Seriously, that was heart wrenching, between Emilia's sobbing to Wilhelm's desperation to save him and unable to understand how someone he genuinely respected could take his own life like that.

I kind of suspected this already given the first trial made Subaru confront his past, or at least a version of it, but now with the second trial being "the unknowable present" I'm assuming the three trials are based around past, present, and future respectively.

“—Goodness, can you even stand anymore? Subaru.”

...

For she was the girl who knew Subaru was not strong yet had said to him anyway, “I love you.”

“—Rem.”

“Yes. I am Subaru’s Rem.”

REM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't care if it's the Witch of Lust trying to trick him, the story made me need that as much as Subaru did.

“If I was stronger, if I was wiser, if I was a man who could do more...no one would have to suffer, to be sad, to go through hard times like that...”

It would have been so much better if Subaru had been strong enough to do everything, all of it, alone.

Emilia’s sadness, Beatrice’s loneliness, the calamity befalling Petra and Frederica, the menace of the Great Rabbit, Garfiel, who was desperately protecting something... He should have been able to do...something.

Everything, all of it, every last bit of it was Subaru’s fault.

That was why, to balance out his weakness, Subaru had to pay by shaving away his life. —That was what he’d thought, and yet...

“Have I saved...anyone...?”

“Subaru.”

“If those worlds continued after my death, how many times I have I abandoned everyone to die?”

“Subaru.”

“How many times...did I make you die? How many times...do I have to kill you?”

Seriously, why do so many people hate Subaru? And I'm not talking about in-story, I'm talking about how often I see people online just crapping on the guy and really just having such firm dislike for the character. Yeah, he has a bad tendency to shove his foot into his mouth, especially early on, and he most certainly has been selfish and entitled. But he's continuously growing, continuously being made to face his faults and try to overcome them. Most important, at the end of the day he's just a guy who doesn't want anything bad to happen to the people he loves and he tries despite how utterly powerless he is, holding himself to his failures to the point of self-destructiveness. He's far from perfect but he's a good guy who's being continuously pushed to be a better one.

“I’ll show you my weakness. I’ll show you my vulnerabilities. I’ll even show you how I’m a petty, irredeemable bastard. —But the one thing I won’t show you is me giving up.”

Rem had once said...Subaru was her hero.

And Subaru Natsuki had decided to be Rem’s hero.

Again, I don't dislike Emilia at all. I don't even dislike the idea of her and Subaru as a couple, since I can clearly see why Subaru loves her and why Emilia is likely falling for him. But these books have most certainly done nothing to temper how much I love the Subarem ship. How important Rem is to him not only helping to pull Subaru out of his despair over his long string of failures but also how much he wants to be the man she sees him as breaking him out of the Rem-deception. I'm not sure if what I said makes any sense but it's beautiful nonetheless!

The funny thing about Echidna's idea for potential immortality, hopping from one body to the next, is that it's an idea I feel like I've seen many times in fiction and yet I'm drawing a blank on many specific examples. I'm curious if implanting memories into a new vessel is how her tomb works, like she placed herself literally into her tomb and thus why her dream castle exists even after her death?

I am really enjoying Echidna so far. You know Subaru probably shouldn't trust her but she's very good at making herself someone you kind of want to trust. While it's a bit grey to say if she is an outright villain, I think she makes for a very good one.

I feel like I may have a misunderstanding of how Beatrice's pact works. She's to guard the library of forbidden books and sometimes the story makes it sound like she can't leave it, or at least can't leave the mansion, but she has left it a few times now, the furthest being Subaru's suicide jump of the cliff. So is it the overall estate she can't leave or that she can only exit the grounds on certain conditions? Because she and Subaru did have a pact when he went to the cliff.

Next volume should prove interesting, given Subaru seems like he's going to form a pact with Beatrice and Satella just showed up for the tea party. Next volume comes on sale on July 21, so I've got a couple of weeks to wait, unless anyone is aware of any websites that've translated the light novels (not web novels) like Overlord and Konosuba have.

Original Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Re_Zero/comments/ho60yc/novels_first_time_read_through_light_novel_vol_12/

#re:zero #random thoughts #reddit repost

[necromancy-savant]

My opinions on every single Shakespeare play

Most of this consists of things I wrote down a while ago when I was reading a play a day so I could keep them all straight in my head, particularly the ones I’ve only read once. 

COMEDIES

All's Well That Ends Well – Forgettable and made me roll my eyes but still better than Love’s Labor’s Lost.

As You Like It – I’m left with a lot of questions at the end of this. Does Orlando know that Rosalind was Ganymede? If he’s friends with Ganymede now, won’t he wonder what happened to him? And shouldn’t he be friends with Rosalind knowingly before marrying her? Should a relationship be built on deception like that? I guess you could say the same about Twelfth Night, but Orsino finds out Viola was disguised before marrying her so actually no, you couldn’t.

Comedy of Errors – This might just be the silliest thing I’ve ever read but it made me laugh anyway. You’d really think they’d figure out they’ve been talking to different people by the end of Act 2 at the absolute latest, but whatever. The best line by far is: “If she lives till doomsday, she’ll burn a week longer than the whole world.” It’s because she’s really greasy.

Love's Labor's Lost - So boring and pointless I almost couldn’t finish it. Literally nothing at all happens the entire time and there’s no reason for any of them to like each other.

Measure for Measure – Having already read Henry VI Part 3 a couple of times, this was déjà vu in the worst possible way. Plus the ending was fucked up in a whole variety of ways. Also, I realized I have no idea who the protagonist is, though I guess I thought it was Isabella. Other than the malapropisms (at least one character in this play should definitely have a Twitter) and the marriages, it’s hard to see this as a comedy. The aforementioned marriages are all fucked up in their own ways, except for Claudio and Juliet who were already pretty much married so they don’t count. Isabella should have stayed a nun and stayed single, and the Duke is totally the kind of guy who wants to think he’s a good person when really he’s an irresponsible douchebag. Like just do your fucking job instead of fucking with everyone for the sake of fishing for compliments or playing the hero or whatever.

Merchant of Venice – I might be able to like this if it weren’t for the worst anti-Semitism I’ve ever been exposed to. I like Portia; I kind of wish she was in a different play. I think Antonio and Bassanio should just be together, and she could be perfectly happy being single. This is one pairing I actually think is convincing, but to be fair I’m usually not particularly invested in the idea of anyone ending up with anyone.

Merry Wives of Windsor – I had high hopes for this because Falstaff is in it, because apparently Queen Elizabeth specifically requested more Falstaff, so in that regard she knows what’s up (I disapprove of the fact that she wouldn’t let Shakespeare perform Richard II because Richard II is wonderful). This was very silly but I thought the part where Mistress Quickly mishears a ton of Latin words was funny. Also there’s this girl whose parents each want her to marry a different guy except she wants to marry a third guy who she actually likes and he likes her and stuff, and her parents are like “you can’t marry him because he hangs out with sketchy people like Prince Hal and Ned Poins” and I just think it’s hilarious that they have such a bad reputation. After Taming of the Shrew I almost didn’t want to read comedies ever again but I’m glad I stuck with it because most of them really aren’t like that at all.

Midsummer Night's Dream – I love this and I can’t even explain why and I don’t really have a good reason for liking it; it just makes me lol, especially Nick Bottom. My favorite line is “In ten lines it is too long, making it tedious.” That’s a beautiful thing to say.

Much Ado about Nothing – I actually liked this one. It’s a tiny bit like Taming of the Shrew if Taming of the Shrew wasn’t horrible. I like that the leads have a healthy relationship based on friendship and mutual respect. They say they don’t want to get married because they just don’t want to have to settle for someone they don’t like enough, which I think is a good attitude to have cause it means they take marriage seriously, and they’re too afraid to be made fun of by each other to admit they like each other. Plus everyone likes Beatrice’s wit and outgoing personality instead of saying how awful she is and that she talks too much (for the record, Kate in Taming has waaayyyyy fewer lines than I expected her to have so that’s something to think about). I like how Benedick believes Hero when she says she was framed which was a pleasant surprise since I was worried he’d take Claudio’s side. It’s the part where Beatrice says “I’d eat his heart in the marketplace” and Benedick is on their side and doesn’t question or doubt them. And he and Beatrice were good friends first without being disguised as other people, except briefly but she might have known it was him. I like that he takes the high ground at the end by saying that it doesn’t matter what he said before and he doesn’t care what anyone says because he’s happy. And I like that he’s really, really picky about what he wants in a girlfriend but her hair color doesn’t matter. That was really funny.

Taming of the Shrew – Worst thing I ever read. First it’s all rape culture, and then it;s all abusive marriage. It has everything I can’t stand about certain kinds of modern comedies.

Twelfth Night – I didn’t think I’d like this one but I actually thought it was funny and really entertaining despite the fact that I don’t care who ends up together, so that tells me it’s doing something right. I also realized I remember whole passages that I had no idea I remembered from 8th grade.

Two Gentlemen of Verona – I don’t really have any strong feelings about this except that Proteus does not deserve a happy ending and I wonder what’s going to happen the next time he sees a woman other than Julia. But I guess that’s why they call him Proteus.

HISTORIES

King John – The whole thing was kind of just a will they/won’t they with the armies of England and France, but I like how extra Constance is, and Eleanor is pretty great which is why I’m pissed that she randomly dies offstage. Philip the Bastard is also an interesting character, but I still don’t really get how he walked into court one day a bastard and left it a Plantagenet.

Richard II – Love it; truly beautiful and tragic and has some of the prettiest, deepest lines I’ve read in Shakespeare, and it’s a reflection on the meaning of kingship that’s not seen elsewhere in the Histories. Richard is also not straight and seems kind of non-binary in the versions I’ve seen and I like that. Maybe part of the reason I like both of the Richards is that I see them as not straight. I know he’s no good at being king but I love him anyway. I didn’t think he was going to die though and was rather upset; when Bolingbroke was like “convey him to the Tower” I was like “oh shit, that’s where people go to die!” I mean I know they moved locations to Pomfret castle first, but that’s when I knew what was going to happen.

Henry IV, Part I – One of my favorites. I admit that at first I didn’t like Hotspur. I admit the most offensive thing about him to me was that he says he doesn’t like poetry. He struck the kind of person I can’t stand: loud, angry, annoying, and cares about things I think are stupid. But I’ve heard some different interpretations of his character, and I saw a production where he was really endearing and that got me to really like him. He’s a true chaotic good: he cares about justice first and doesn’t care who gets in the way of it, no matter how important they are. He really doesn’t deserve to die at all. Hell, he and Hal could probably be good allies if the circumstances were different. There are some really funny parts in this and Falstaff is great, and it’s actually really insightful when he says honor is a scutcheon in a way I wouldn’t have expected from him. Prince Hal strikes me as kind of a bro but he’s definitely more sympathetic for me in this one than the other two plays he’s in.

Henry IV, Part II – Honestly not much happens in this one until the end and I’m not sure if I can forgive Hal for what he did to Falstaff. The dude was so excited to go the coronation and see him and he was just like “I know thee not, old man.” It was cold, and normally when I say that I mean it in a good way but not this time. He was basically like “fuck off and die” and that’s exactly what he did. I’m not happy about that.

Henry V – I saw a joke summary of this that said “70% armed combat, 30% jokes” and that is completely accurate. This has its moments for sure. The comic relief characters aren’t as funny as Falstaff though, and I really can’t stand Pistol and couldn’t when he was briefly in the preceding play either. There are things I like about Henry V as a character, but sometimes I question his decisions. He manages to pull it all off somehow though, and that’s impressive.

Henry VI, Part I – I love this whole tetralogy. Joan of Arc was in this and that was a pleasant and unexpected surprise. York comes off as kind of a dick though. He and Somerset are the pettiest people ever. Plus I started to get some of Margaret’s backstory, and knowing what I know now I get why she’s so done with everyone by the time of Richard III. I still don’t forgive her for everything she ever said and I still don’t think she’s 100% a victim in all of this, but to be fair it turns out she is mostly a victim in all of this, and I get that she’s a bold person who’s willing to do what it takes to come out on top and survive, and this can be both a positive and a negative quality depending on the situation.

Henry VI, Part II – This one is largely about how York and Somerset’s pettiness almost destroyed England. Aside from that, this solidified for me that I really don’t like Henry, although Margaret continued to really grow on me in this one, and I feel bad for her that she has to put up with him and basically do everything for him. In spite of this, I find their relationship to be extremely entertaining. I like the part where she punches out the Duchess of Gloucester in front of the whole court and Henry’s just like “it’s whatever, she didn’t mean it” and the part where some guy fakes a miracle and they hit him to prove he can run away and Henry’s like “how could God let this happen?” but Margaret’s like “I thought it was funny watching him run away” (and I was like SAME; she really spends this whole play saying exactly what I’m thinking at any given time, particularly when it comes to Henry) and the part where they’re running away from the battle at the end and Henry can’t keep up because of fucking course he can’t and Margaret’s like “could you be any slower?” and he’s like “maybe we should just sit here and accept our fate.” He is such a wet blanket. I spent the whole thing yelling “Henry, what is wrong with you?!” at my book. While he’s not a terrible person he is mediocre and painfully stupid and I really don’t see him as having any redeeming qualities.  Also Richard shows up for like 5 minutes at the end to collect Somerset’s head and be called an “indigested lump” by someone he just fucking met, which incidentally is the same exact thing Henry said to him. Update: I finally figured out what it is I don’t like about Henry. It’s not even what he says to Richard in the Tower (that is not even half the reason I don’t like him, but for the record even if it was the entire reason it would be an excellent reason). It’s that I see him as childish and to me that’s an extremely negative quality, though I expect it’s also what makes him endearing to some people.

Henry VI, Part III – 10/10 I love it so much, I have a strong opinion on nearly every scene. Margaret is a badass in this one, Henry continues to be an ignorant, damp slice of bread, Richard is in it, and it has my favorite scene in all of Shakespeare when he kills Henry in the Tower, and another scene I love when he says “speak thou for me and tell them what I did” and then Margaret yells at Henry and says “art thou king and wilt be forced?” and her finest moment when she kills York, and the best piece of foreshadowing I’ve ever seen when Richard says about Margaret: “why should she live to fill the world with words?” Also Edward is a fuckboy and a bad influence. I’m ashamed to share a name with him. I kind of think he died of a deadly STD; serves him right.

Richard III – Favorite Shakespeare play, best thing I’ve read in a long time, and definitely one of the top five things I’ve ever read, especially taken together with Henry VI Part 3. It’s everything tragedy should be, parts of it are extremely relatable to me personally, I’ve memorized more of both plays than I care to admit, and it’s a good thing it’s short enough that I can read it over and over because that’s exactly what I intend to do. I don’t know why reading something about someone who makes all the wrong decisions would make me feel better about my life, but I think this is exactly what Aristotle meant when he said that tragedy should be cathartic. Also Richard is definitely ace as fuck and I will fight anyone who tries to say otherwise.

Henry VIII – First of all, Katharine deserved way better. Second of all, I feel like it really glossed over the part where he created the Anglican Church just so he could divorce her. Also there was some really shameless plugging of Queen Elizabeth at the end, so I’m guessing this was written during her reign, which would explain why Henry VIII doesn’t look as bad as he does literally everywhere else I’ve seen him (update: turns out it was written later). I seem to remember that he ended up killing Anne Boleyn and that didn’t happen in this play though I was kind of waiting for it to. I’ve really never read anything this positive about him, and that’s even counting the fact that he tossed Katharine aside after seeing Anne Boleyn once at a party. And I did find out that Buckingham’s real name is Henry, although it’s not like I needed another Henry to keep track of.

TRAGEDIES

Antony and Cleopatra – I really didn’t care for this one. Cleopatra seems like kind of a stereotype to me and I’m not terribly invested in either her or Antony. Romance isn’t really my thing unless it’s super compelling for some special reason or unless I like both the characters individually. This has neither of those qualifiers.

Coriolanus – I didn’t like this very much, even though it’s about Rome. Coriolanus is not a compelling figure to me; the whole premise is that he’s good at fighting but he’s also an asshole, and neither one of those things is interesting to me. Honestly the only part of this that isn’t extremely boring is Volumnia.

Hamlet – I hadn’t read this in a really long time and didn’t remember any of it, and I liked it more than I thought I would. It’s kind of gothic in a wonderful way, even though I know that’s not an appropriate term to use for something written at the time it was written. Honestly though, my liking for Hamlet as a character was severely diminished when he started making dirty comments to Ophelia, and she seemed way more sympathetic than I remember her being. The common theme in many of these tragedies seems to be a protagonist who is lost and overwhelmed and ends up lashing out because of it. The speeches in Hamlet are the best part for me by far, but yeah. As someone who likes language and anything dark, I like it.

Julius Caesar – This I quite liked; I think Brutus is a compelling character and it raises some interesting questions. It also contains the most passive-aggressive thing I’ve ever read. Although, during Act I when Cassius is trying to convince Brutus to kill Caesar, all I hear is “Brutus is just as nice as Caesar. Brutus is just as cute as Caesar, okay, people like Brutus just as much as they like Caesar.” Honestly I think Tina Fey purposely paraphrased Cassius’s lines when writing Mean Girls, which is pretty cool. I liked it when I auditioned for it and I’ve come to really love it, having been in it. I want to see more productions of this one.

King Lear – It’s grown on me over time, I guess. I do have some strong opinions on why Cordelia is actually kind of awful. I like Edmund and Regan and Cornwall, and Goneril have their moments, but none of these characters really get enough air time for me to like the play. What there is a lot of is Lear who is just depressing on multiple levels and his fool who annoys me with his overuse of the word “nuncle” even though I know it’s fairly normal for words in English to lose an /n/ at the beginning due to our articles like how “apron” used to be “napron” until people thought “a napron” was “an apron.” And there’s a lot of Edgar and Kent and Gloucester, none of whom I’m convinced to care about even though I have nothing against them. So overall I still think it is confusing and needlessly depressing, but I am slowly warming up to it. Like, I already know life is pointless, I don’t need something to tell me that like it’s some kind of revelation.

Macbeth – I really don’t understand Macbeth as a character. You think he’d be able to say “no” to murder seeing as he has no real interest in it. I don’t find it romantic at all that he does whatever crazy thing Lady Macbeth wants. I find it kind of disturbing, and certainly not something that reflects well on him. At first it seems like Lady Macbeth should just get rid of him and do everything herself if she’s going to be like that, and I don’t understand why she can’t bring herself to kill Duncan if she wants him dead so badly, and then she loses it halfway through the play and that’s always a let-down. Also isn’t this the one that has the line where it’s like “your father’s been murdered” -“oh, by whom?” and “what, you egg”? As funny as that is it doesn’t exactly speak volumes to Macbeth as having the greatest dialogue all the time. In conclusion, I want to like this play but I really don’t get what’s wrong with either Macbeth or Lady Macbeth and so I can’t really get into it.

Othello – This was always one of my favorites. I always thought Othello and Desdemona’s relationship was really beautiful and romantic in Act I but for some reason my liking of Othello never stops me from being intrigued by what Iago’s going to do next. There’s something appealing to me about being able to always say the right thing and having the self-confidence to make everyone do what you think they should do. That said, having now seen a Shakespeare villain who is manipulative (in an extremely different sort of way) but has motives and a personality, he seems really boring by comparison. I kind of get now how he’s just a plot device, and that does make Othello an even more sympathetic character. And it’s really heartbreaking how he thinks he’s not good enough for Desdemona and has to deal with his worst fears being confirmed after he’s had so much shit to deal with already. I think anyone would break.

Romeo and Juliet - I got tired of it a long time ago and honestly it’s not that good. It’s just kind of average. I get that people have to fall in love quickly in a play that can’t just go on for 10 hours but I still can’t bring myself to care about the characters. Juliet is mildly interesting but Romeo is just a boring person and I don’t care for him at all. Plus I feel like there’s a weird age difference between them considering she’s like 13 or 14 and he’s probably like 18. I’m probably just too ace for this play but I don’t get the appeal. (Update: I’ve now been in this play and I still don’t really get it. I don’t have anything against it but it doesn’t do too much for me either. I liked being in it a whole lot, but it wouldn’t be my top choice for something I want to watch).

Timon of Athens – I feel like there was the potential for this to be a good story about someone who kept giving people material things to get them to like him to the point of running himself into the ground (ha, literally) only to discover that doing that doesn’t actually make you real friends, but it never really came together for me. So good idea, not so sure about the execution, although my book thinks that Shakespeare only wrote part of it and Thomas Middleton wrote the rest so that probably has something to do with it.

Titus Andronicus – This has its moments but it’s not as violent as I thought it would be, which is not good for something that’s known for being violent. My first big problem with it is that Chiron and Demetrius get off way too easy. I was waiting the whole play for them to die horribly only to be let down. Being baked into pies hurts Tamora, not them, and I hate them so much that I’m out of fucks to give about her. My second big problem is that Titus is a selfish piece of shit. He fucking kills Lavinia because her condition is just too painful for him. He complains that he only has 5 children left but he kills two of them himself, on stage. I like Aaron in spite of myself, or at least I like a lot of his speeches; they’re a lot of fun to read. I was surprised that he wanted his child to live even if he couldn’t take care of it personally, but I have no idea how to feel about that because on the one hand I can see how it’s a redeeming quality, and so I like that there’s some effort to humanize him, but on the other hand I wish it was done a different way because that’s not something I have any basis to understand. All this said if I had the chance to see this performed, I admittedly would.

Troilus and Cressida – I’m confused because I spent most of this thinking it took place before the events of the Iliad when actually it was pretty much a different version of the same story, which is disappointing because as much as I love the Iliad, I already have the Iliad. As for Troilus and Cressida themselves, I was rolling my eyes when she thought she had to play hard to get, but then happy when he said that was never necessary and was just happy to be with her even though she thought she was embarrassing herself by expressing her feelings for him; he didn’t shame her for it and that perception was all in her head. But then she didn’t really have any choice but to go with Diomedes, so it’s not fair for Troilus to be mad at her. Plus they only just got together and they weren’t official or anything. He’s a bit of a dumbass, to be honest, even though he and Cressida have some sweet moments. I kind of like Thersites; he seems like my kind of guy. He hates lechery, doesn’t care for war, and thinks most of the Greek generals are full of themselves, which is pretty accurate. I like that he rejects the kind of masculinity most of them embrace where they just fight in order to get women. He thinks they’re the dumbest people ever for engaging in all of that, and frankly I think it’s pretty idiotic too. However, I don’t like that he makes fun of Achilles and Patroclus for being gay. There are already so many good reasons to make fun of Achilles.

ROMANCES

Winter’s Tale – I didn’t have any strong feelings about this until the end, but now I’m wondering where Hermione was for 16 years? I guess she stayed hidden somewhere, but how did she know when the right time to come back would be? Like that was some really good timing. I mean I guess I’m glad Leontes got his shit and part of his family together but to me that doesn’t really make for anything particularly memorable. And I don’t recall him actually apologizing to Hermione or Perdita, so he should really get on that.

Cymbeline – I wasn’t particularly expecting to like this, but I did. It had some of the same elements of the Winter’s Tale except it was way better and I liked the characters more – don’t get me wrong, it was still really…I’m not sure what the right word is, when all the male characters are assholes and they do awful things to Imogen and then she magically forgives them at the end, but at least I felt somewhat invested in her and her brothers, and there were some funny parts, but the part with the ghosts was really weird and I don’t know what to make of it. There are some weird parts in the Romances and I’m not feeling that.

Pericles – Not quite my cup of tea but I don’t hate it. I admit I don’t really like how it takes place over, what, decades? Plus I’ve never heard of this particular Pericles in my life. I totally thought it was going to be about the Athenian statesman. But I did like that it takes place partially in the Near/Middle East, even if it’s just the parts that were part of the Greek world (I’m guessing Hellenistic). But I liked the story well enough and I like that Pericles isn’t an asshole unlike Leontes or Cymbeline, and I like how Marina and Thaisa both were just dropped on a beach somewhere and by the time Pericles finds them they’re at the top of the societies they entered, and how the guy who was going to take Marina’s virginity was really embarrassed and gave her a bunch of money and was supportive when he found out she didn’t want to.

The Tempest – I actually enjoy this and I think it’s a fun play. Caliban is hilarious and I actually like that it turns out not to be a revenge story. Sometimes it’s nice to see someone be the bigger person and have everyone live, even if it’s not cathartic in the same way. There are some really cool interpretations out there but even on the surface I find it quite entertaining and I think there’s something to be said for something that makes me happy for no reason.

#shakespeare #I know people are going to want to fight me because I don't like Henry VI #but I can't with him #I shame to hear him speak #to be fair I've heard good things about him as a historical figure #and I know he was actually mentally ill #so everything I say is based solely off the plays I read #with no bearing on the real person

[kwonhozhi]

A Penny For Your Thoughts, £400 For Your Meal

its now been a clean 2 weeks since i posted the last thing so here we go i guess,,, next thing i post should be the angus thongs au so i hope this tides you all over xxx

my love to @alrightevans @alrightpotter and @prongsyouignoramus for helping me get it from the mess it was when i wrote it 18 months ago to this

AO3

8:50. Avery glances at the bill and goes down to his car to retrieve his conveniently forgotten wallet.

 8:59. Malfoy goes down to see what’s keeping him.

 9:29. Nott slips out to answer an important call.

 9:44. Mulciber dons his coat to take a piss.

 9:51. Severus excuses himself for a quick fag, and Lily is left sitting alone at their table with a growing sense of suspicion.

 9:53. Lily finally convinces herself to look at the bill, and her stomach drops to her knees.

 11:41. “Ma’am?” the waitress asks, and Lily was sure she’d seen the worst of the girl’s frown, but she was wrong.

 “A-another glass, please,” she mumbles, and the waitress’ eye roll and impatient huff says it all. There are eight or nine completely full glasses in a little grove in front of her already, and she doesn’t exactly have a plan of action, but at least this is buying her more time.

 She’s buying herself more time, with money she doesn’t have.

 “Of course,” the waitress spits, and sweeps away.

 This close to midnight, Lily’s fairly confident they’d like to shut up shop shortly. She tears her eyes away from the frankly excessive amount of wine sitting full in front her, and glances around the previously bustling dining hall. She almost, almost pegs herself as the last diner, but there’s a man about her age on the other side of the room. He has a dozen or so desserts scattered around him, each as untouched as every one of her wine glasses. He gives her a tight smile as they make eye contact, and turns back to his food, pensive. Lily does the same.

She could call Petunia, but the thought of being a further £250 in debt to her sister’s beastly husband is even less appealing than the prospect of management throwing her into a cellar and skinning her alive.

 The waitress returns with a glass of chardonnay or something else Lily has never quite liked, and places it down on the table with a little too much force. They both watch the spillage seep into the tablecloth for a moment, then the waitress strides off in a huff.

 A part of Lily still hopes for the return of one of her party, though she knows it’s a lost cause. She should have expected it – Severus’ new friends aren’t exactly the honourable type. This is, she realises with a horrific dawning, the only reason she was invited at all. Exams-are-over celebration my arse.

 She deserves this, doesn’t she? Mary and her used to do the exact same thing on double dates that went wrong. God, they didn’t even have to speak to know when to excuse themselves, they’d just share a look that said ‘oi, this is a bit shit, isn’t it?’ and they’d bolt.

 She’s been doing the maths over and over in her head for the last hour and twenty minutes, and even with the hundred pounds in her account, the seventy five in her wallet isn’t going to cut it. How the fuck did Severus’ mates manage to rack up the cost to four hundred pounds? Did they order their food laced with cocaine?

 “Miss, you need to pay. Now,” the waitress hisses, and she’s flanked by the entire serving staff.

 “Yes,” Lily agrees faintly. “Yes, of course, you’re absolutely right,” and the noose tightens around her neck, “I just – my friends all left, you see, they thought it was funny, I suppose, and I don’t have quite enough to cover the bill, so if you’ll let me call my sister so she can…” Whatever the opposite of convincing is, Lily is apparently it, because her waitress looks thoroughly unimpressed with the story. It’s true, Lily wants to yell, I’m not making this up!

 “If you won’t pay,” and Lily notes the use of the word won’t rather than can’t, “I’m going to have to call the police.”

 “Is there a problem?” and Lily just about jumps out of her skin as she whips around to see who it is. It’s the man with the desserts, apparently having made his decision, finally on his way out. “Are you short on your bill?”

 Lily gives a small nod, cheeks burning, trying not to let the gravity of the whole situation crush her. Her humiliation is up to her neck, her chin, her ears, she’s drowning, oh god is she drowning. They’re going to call the police, and she’s going to go to prison, and she’s never going to get hired, because what school’s going to hire a twenty-three year old with a criminal record?

 “I clearly can’t let you call the police on her,” the man says, and shoots Lily an honest to god winning smile. “Look, she’s distraught. Add her bill to mine.”

 “I can’t let you do that,” Lily says, automatically, and god, Lily, why can’t you let your morals go for twenty fucking seconds?

 She couldn’t see him properly from the other side of the hall, but up close he’s quite a looker, with rectangular glasses perched carelessly on his long, thin nose, and thick black hair that’s just begging to be played with, and stop it, Lily.

 “I’m not paying for your meal, I’m spotting you the money, and you’ll pay me back when you can. Add it to my bill,” he says to the waitress, and her expression softens at his insistence.

 “Of course, sir,” she says, and he could be made of sunshine by the way she looks at him.

 “I mean, it’s not your fault your friends dined and dashed on you,” he’s saying, and Lily snaps back to attention, “and I have the money.” His hazel eyes twinkle and maybe he is made of sunshine.

 “Are you absolutely sure?” She grabs his elbow as he begins to reach into his coat pocket, “One thousand percent sure?”

 “One thousand and ten percent sure,” he assures her, and she smiles despite herself.

 “Alright,” she laughs. “Alright.”

 “James,” he says, and she takes his long fingered hand, wondering vaguely if he’s any good at piano.

 “Lily.”

 “Excellent. Beatrice, add Lily’s bill to mine.”

 The server nods as she takes his credit card, and James turns back to Lily. “I say we down this wine as soon as, then we can get out of here before Bea sells us to some shoddy black-market op. What were you planning on doing with it all, anyway?” he says, taking a sip of whatever was closest to him, and grimacing.

 “Well,” and her face burns red, “I was sort of hoping if I stalled for long enough, one of them would come back.”

 “Not very good friends, are they?”

 “They’re not actually my friends,” Lily admits.

 “Ah yes, a phenomenon I know well. I get invited to dinner then everyone drifts out without me noticing because oh, James’ll pick up the bill. James is frankly quite sick of it,” and something in his tone pushes his accent from upper class to posh.

 “If you knew they weren’t coming back, why’d you order so many deserts?”

 “Ah,” he starts, his brown cheeks darkening considerably. “Yes, that. A friend of mine adores the desserts they do here, and I couldn’t decide which he’d like best. I’d just made up my mind to take them all, because I have another pair of friends who’ll eat the left overs anyway, doesn’t matter, I’m rambling. Anyway, I was on the way out, and I saw you were sitting alone, and, and I assure you I mean this in the least creepy possible way, I had to make sure you weren’t about to get arrested.”

 “Which I was.”

 “Which you were, so lucky thing I was here.”

 “Lucky thing,” Lily agrees drily.

 “I like to help out where I can. Beatrice,” he calls, and she reappears, holding his card. “Would it be possible to wrap up the desserts for Remus? Only he couldn’t make it tonight, unfortunately.”

 “Of course, sir.”

 “Excellent. Now, Lily,” and he hands her a glass of wine, “if you drink it fast it barely tastes awful. Assuming, of course, that you have no objections to a bit of mild intoxication.” Lily takes the glass, clumsily, and she might have jumped out of her skin when their fingers brushed against each other just now. “Quickly, quickly, before Olivia gets too cross.”

 They’re giggling when Beatrice reappears again, with an ornate box, which she refuses to hand to James, no matter how much he tries to grab it. “I’m sorry, sir. Olivia says I’ve got to personally deliver it to your car. She doesn’t want tiramisu all over the foyer. Again.”

 James snorts loudly, and Lily can’t help but laugh along. She follows James, who follows Beatrice, who leads them out of the dining hall, and they’re halfway to the garage before Lily stops dead in her tracks. James spins around with a frown. “What’s wrong?”

 “Severus drove me here.”

 “Oh. Do you want me to drive you home?”

 ��You’ve just had five glasses of wine,” Lily points out, and James gives her this really blank stare and oh god, did she just hallucinate the entire thing? But dawning makes its way onto his face in an instant, and he laughs, bright and clear.

 “I have a driver!” he laughs, and she smiles too, but it’s sort of like, what the fuck.

 “You have a driver.”

 “I don’t even know how to drive,” he says, frowning. This seems to be more for his own benefit than hers. “I’m twenty-three and I can’t drive. What if I’m being chased by the police and I need to get away? I can’t!”

 “You have a driver,” Lily says again, and he looks at her like he’s just remembered they were having a conversation.

 “Yes.”

 “You’re like, a prince, or something. Aren’t you?”

 “Or something,” he says, eyes twinkling even when faced with her scrutiny.

 “I don’t live that far away, honestly, I’ll just walk.”

 “You’re going to walk, alone, through London at half past midnight? No.”

 “No?” Lily asks, raising an eyebrow dangerously.

 “I’ll walk you. No, it’s fine! I’ll call an uber or something from your house. Settled, let’s go.”

 “You don’t have to,” Lily says, but she’s already reaching for his hand.

 “I want to,” and he’s leading the way onto the street. She turns to their left and he follows, dreadfully, tripping a wide arc to come back by her side. It’s almost a dance, would be a dance (if they were a little more sober).

 “How many times did that waitress call you sir? Like, fuck.”

 “Happens a lot when people know you primarily for the size of your bank account.”

 “How come you’re so rich, anyway? Everyone knows your mid-twenties are for being dirt poor!”

 “Blame my parents. They were rich, ipso facto…”

 “Were? What happened to their riches?”

 “Nothing. The riches are fine, they’re just dead.”

 “Right. Sorry.”

 “No, they were old,” he says quietly, and she squeezes his hand, “I mean, I wish they weren’t dead, obviously, but…”

 “My dad died too,” Lily offers.

 “Sucks, huh?”

 “Yeah,” she sighs. He doesn’t say anything for a while, just pulls her closer when a group of teenagers leers at them, and she smiles softly at him. “I never knew this walk could be so nice,” she whispers, and he smiles back down at her. “I’d never have spoken to anyone like you, never in a million years.”

 “Because I’m so intimidatingly handsome?”

 “Yeah, that’s it. That’s definitely it. “

 “I get it a lot. The only people who want to talk to me are other rich people and… well, I guess that is how I met my best friend, actually, so it mustn’t be a completely bad thing.”

 “You ramble, you know that?”

 “I’ve been told.”

 She laughs, and it strikes her that she’s done that a lot since she met him.

 1:21. “I’m on the left here.” She drops his hand, but it’s only because her front gate requires both of hers to be opened. She stands in her tiny front garden, and she can’t think of anything funny or cool or witty say. “You’re good company.”

 “Good you think so, because you’re going to be seeing a lot of me from now on.” Lily frowns, confused. James cottons on, and grins. “I know where you live, and you owe me about 400 quid. And, of course, you’re really quite pretty.” She kisses him without really thinking, but it’s right, him bracing himself on her gate as he leans forward to meet her, and her backlit by her porch light.

 They break apart when the most expensive car the neighbourhood’s ever seen pulls up to the kerb. “You had your car follow us?” she asks.

 He just smiles, a broad and honest thing, and steps backwards, reaching into his pocket. “This is going to be the worst thing I’ve ever done, but here’s my number.” He hands her a card.

 A business card.

 “Oh my god,” she says, turning it over in her hand. He kisses her again, and disappears into the car. She waves as he speeds off, and looks back down at the card.

 James Potter, Potter Industries

 She laughs – of course he’s James Potter. The laugh echoes down the now-empty street, and Mary’s light flicks on upstairs.

 “That you, Lil?” she shouts out the window.

 “Yeah!”

 “You alright?” Her head pokes through the lace curtain, concern apparent on her face. “You sound like a loon.” Lily just laughs, laughs as she pulls out her key. “Lil?” Mary calls down the stairs as the door clicks shut.

 “Yeah. Yeah, I’m great Mare. I’m on cloud fucking nine.”

#please send this to anyone you know who likes to reblog fic lol #jily #jily* #james potter #lily evans #hp #fic #my fic #mine #my writing

[drink-n-watch]

So maybe I haven’t left my house in over a month…Maybe it’s doing things to my brain and I’m latching onto any random little thing for intellectual entertainment. That could be the case. I’m just human after all. But it’s totally not the case for this post! This one is solid! And based on like the three show’s I’ve seen…

I think that in anime the girl with the long hair always gets the guy…

I couldn’t find a character with really long hair….

Admittedly I don’t watch many romance animes and love triangles tend to be one of my least favourite tropes so I haven’t seen that many shows where the male lead has multiple love interests and actually ends up with someone. Or at least shows an undeniable interest in one of the characters.

Off the top of my head, the ones I can think of are Toradora, Steins;Gate, Re:Zero, Yamada-kun and the seven witches, To Love Ru and In/Spectre. O.k. so In/Spectre is a bit of a stretch for this but both Saki and Kotoko do show a romantic interest in Kuro and he dated Saki until she cut her hair even shorter than Kotoko and now bam, he’s with the blonde even though he acts like she’s nothing but a pain in his rear end!

It’s difficult to blame Okabe for being smitten by Kurisu. I get it, most people would get it. But poor short haired Mayuri didn’t even stand a chance! Kurisu’s hair goes down past her…. cough…hips. Maybe if Faris took out her pigtails she could be of some competition but I’m not sure.

I’m not sure how many people have seen Yamada-kun. For what it’s worth I thought it was an entertaining enough harem show. Now Yamada has possibly the most extensive harem with his pick of a whole array of girls yet he only has eyes for Urara and she happens to have beautiful long blonde hair. There are other girls with long hair in the show mind you but the only ones with even remotely as important a role, and therefore that could be potential rivals, all have considerably shorter hair than her.

there’s a lot of gender swapping too….

You could argue that To Love Ru doesn’t actually have a canon couples resolution but c’mon, we all know Lala steals the show. To Love Ru and Toradora are actually the shows that really made me realize that something fishy was going on here. Because in both of these shows, the protagonist already had a love interest. In fact, in both cases, he was deeply smitten by a classmate he had known for some time (as such the relationship was built on more than passing fancy, and was trying hard to pursue a romance with that character. And in both cases, the young lady in question seemed potentially opened to those advances. The young short haired lady…. And then BAM, another girl with a fiery personality and a habit of putting our protagonist in physical pain swoops in and steals his heart. Another girl with very long hair!

I haven’t seen either but both leading ladies in Your Lie in April and Sword Art online have romantic character arcs and very long hair so I’m just going to go right ahead and assume they also prove my point.

Now you could just say it’s a romance trope. Romance heroines have had long flowing hair since the dawn of the genre. It’s sort of prerequisite. Anime is just following along with a formula. And it’s also what fans want out of their leading romantic ladies. That’s how clichés happen, it’s cause the public responds to them!

Well ladies and gentlemen, I submit to you my last piece of evidence: Rem! Rem is a fan favourite. I mean Beatrice is queen and we should all bow to her, but there’s no denying that powerful yet fragile Rem captured the audiences imagination. Countless fan artists have devoted hours to trying to do her justice. I don’t know if it’s the fact that she has a twin sister or the ultra sexy maid outfits she wears… we may never know the secret of her popularity but at the very least, all the polls I found put her squarely ahead of Emilia.

To add to that, Rem actually has feeling for Subaru. She might be the only character in all of these shows to have actually confessed and she did so after getting to know the young man and after saving him a number of times. Honestly there is no reason for Subaru not to choose to be with Rem. There is ample reason for him to agree. except of course, Emilia has much longer hair!

See! SEEEEEEEE!?!

It’s not the will of the public and it’s not for the sake of narrative integrity. In many cases it doesn’t make any sort of obvious logical sense for the protagonists to turn down one girl in favour of another. These are all different shows with different genres, themes and intended audience and yet they all have one thing in common! The hair!!! And if it’s not just a question of we have ingrained troglodyte instincts that make us see long hair  as romantically desirable in women (because again Rem is beloved and if that fan art is anything to go by, a lot of people see her very…cough…romantically, indeed), then there’s really only one answer. Illuminati!

OK, maybe not the actual Illuminati, those don’t exist (please don’t come for me). But clearly there is an underground shadow organization controlling the anime industry to have long haired ladies get the guy. I’m not entirely sure if we want the guy though. In a lot of those cases the guys are sort of not as impressive as the girls. I’m not sure if the point is to make ladies want to have long hair. I think it may be to make people want to be and/or be with ladies with long hair. And who would profit from that?

wikihow is terrifying

You guessed it, the wig industry!

The big shot Wig Lobby has gotten their hooks into our beloved anime industry and are trying to brainwash us all. There is no such thing as a short wig… And it’s working! I’m looking up wigs on another tab right now! We can’t let this happen. We do people have to fight back against this injustice!By continuing to create really amazing fan art of short haired anime ladies, and possibly sending it to me. Because that’s uhm..how we win. Yeah, that sounds about right.

I think I’ve made my point. If I disappear in the coming days, you know who did it. Do not trust your local wig salesman. Keep fighting the good fight, together we’ll get them!

  Conspiracy Theory! Long Haired Anime Girls Get The Guy! So maybe I haven't left my house in over a month...Maybe it's doing things to my brain and I'm latching onto any random little thing for intellectual entertainment.

#anime #character #InSpectre #irina is weird #re:Zero #Steins;Gate #ToraDora #yamada-kun

[murasaki-murasame]

Thoughts on Higurashi Gou Ep22

All of this ‘the culprit’s motives are super shallow and they’re just unhealthily obsessive’ discourse is giving me war flashbacks to . . . . basically every other part of the entire When They Cry franchise, lol.

Thoughts under the cut. [Plus spoilers for Umineko]

I feel like at the end of the day we’re all just gonna have to agree to disagree about how we feel about how Ryukishi is handling Satoko as the culprit here, since I don’t really think any amount of social media posts detailing our interpretations of her character are gonna change anyone’s minds, lol. But I’m still gonna give my thoughts on her anyway because it’s fun, even if I’m basically just preaching to the choir.

To be honest, this feels pretty much in line with how Ryukishi already wrote characters like Takano and Beatrice, in terms of them having unhealthy obsessions that lead them to mass-murder. The amount of violence Satoko has caused is arguably worse than either of them, but they’re all pretty awful if you think about the reality of what they all did as villains.

Sorta like with how a lot of the old-school Umineko discourse went, I think people are too focused on the whole idea of Satoko hating studying, and ignoring everything else about her character and her circumstances. Although even then I feel like people are being kinda unfair toward Satoko about how strongly she feels about academics, but maybe I’m just biased because of my own history with schooling and the intense levels of anxiety and self-hatred that can go along with it.

Plus the fact that Satoko already has a long history of sever abandonment issues, and has basically always had HS that amplified her feelings of paranoia and persecution. It’s pretty obvious at this point that she never really got ‘cured’ in the first place, though it’s less important to think about HS as an in-universe fictional disease with it’s own rules, and more important to just think about it as a representation of real-life mental illnesses which aren’t bound by the rules of made-up brain-worm parasites and aliens or whatever.

Also, the Satoko that started all this looping in the first place was one who never dealt with Teppei returning to the village, and thus never went through her whole character arc related to that. The series is kinda ambiguous about how it handles the idea of people’s character development carrying over between loops, but it explains a lot about Satoko’s attitude here if you go with the idea that she never really had to overcome any of her trauma or coping mechanisms in the “good ending timeline”, and this is the consequence of that taken to it’s logical extreme. The idea of her view of the world being skewed by the fact that she only remembers the “good ending timeline” is also kinda lamp-shaded by the part where she hears about Rika’s looping and is like “oh yeah, that’s the month where we had that cool action movie stand-off with the Mountain Dogs :)”. By the time she really got to understand exactly what was going on beyond the specific timeline she had experienced, she was already way over the edge.

I get why people don’t like the idea of Gou ‘tainting’ the VN’s happy ending, but I honestly like the idea that it’s examining the consequences of how Matsuribayashi was such an overly-specific timeline where basically nothing bad happened and everyone just banded together to beat Takano. It kinda glossed over a lot of the personal problems that the main cast had in the rest of the series, and this really goes to show the effects of some of that stuff not getting properly addressed. It also reminds me that Minagoroshi is a timeline that even in the VN, Rika completely lost her memories of, so I can see how even post-Matsuribayashi she might have never let Satoko know about the details of that one timeline where she overcome her abuse.

I also feel like it only really got to this point because of Featherine’s meddling. In the original Matsuribayashi timeline, Satoko just started drifting away from Rika and ended up wandering into the Saiguden and meeting Featherine before anything actually serious happened in that timeline. I think that if she had just been left to her own devices and that timeline had just kept going, Satoko probably would have either found a way to reconnect with Rika, or they would have just slowly drifted apart for good. But then Satoko got given the power to time travel, and only started going off the deep end after going through another five years of identical suffering.

And on that whole note, it reminds me of how in Umineko, Lambda had a whole conversation about the idea of an abused person becoming an abuser themself if they’re given the power to lash out. Which is basically what’s happening here. Satoko is being given the tools to completely detach herself from reality and try as many times as she likes to get what she wants.

Which also reminds me that this episode in particular REALLY lays the Umineko parallels on thick, lol. Particularly the whole ‘Satoko is turning into Lambda’ thing, which feels just about 100% confirmed now. They straight up have Featherine bring up the exact same ‘monkeys using a typewriter’ analogy to explain Rika’s situation that Lambda uses in Umineko to explain Bern’s situation.

I know a lot of people don’t like the increasingly blatant Umineko tie-ins, and that a lot of people still think it might just be misdirection, but considering how much stuff in Gou has been surprisingly straightforward and predictable, I think it’s pretty much exactly what it seems to be.

Though to be more specific, this is probably more about the start of Lambda and Bern’s relationship, and their appearances in Umineko, rather than the very first origins of them as individuals, if that makes sense. Obviously the concept of Bernkastel as an identity has been around since Higurashi itself, and we’ve known for a long time that Lambda was the one who originally gave Takano her blessing of certainty, but we’ve never known the full details of how those two started their relationship, and Featherine’s whole series of name-drops in the last episode makes it seem like Lambda as a meta individual more or less already exists, with Satoko being an iteration of her. So I think they both technically already exist, but this is how the two of them come into contact and start their whole unhealthily obsessive relationship.

I guess it’s still possible that, even if she’s already existed for a long time as a meta individual, she hasn’t actually come up with the name ‘Lambdadelta’ for herself yet, and this might be where she does so. Even with the list of names Featherine referenced, she didn’t technically bring up Lambda’s name directly. So in that sense this might be ‘Lambda’s’ origin story, even if she already exists.

Considering how basically the entire story at this point seems to be acting in service of setting up the whole LambdaBern relationship dynamic no matter what, I’m becoming increasingly convinced that this will end with Satoko and Rika fully embracing their codependency and mutually ascending to the meta plane so they can stay together once and for all. There might still be human versions of them that stay behind in the real world and continue living normal lives, though.

At the very least, it feels like that’s the logical outcome of the whole Chekov’s Sword Fragment plot device that’s been hanging in the background for ages now. I think it’ll just be the in-universe explanation they use to show the mechanics of how exactly that process works. It’ll probably be used to ‘sever’ Satoko and Rika’s meta consciousnesses from their physical bodies and allow them to basically become witches.

Mainly I just can’t really see this having a ‘happy ending’ at this point, aside from the whole idea that maybe the severing process leaves behind ‘normal’ versions of the two of them who stay in Hinamizawa and go back to their normal lives. I dunno if that’d make people happy, but it’d at least be a way for Ryukishi to have his cake and eat it too, lol.

I just don’t think that there’s any real chance of this ending with them just talking to each other and agreeing to put an end to all this, though. For one thing that’d just feel kinda anticlimactic and honestly make Gou’s story feel even MORE pointless, if it just ends with literally the exact same ending as the VN with nothing really being changed. But I also feel like Featherine wouldn’t be willing to just let Satoko ‘give up’ without having one of them definitively win their current game. In general I just feel like Ryukishi should just commit to the story he’s setting up at this point, instead of just backing out at the last minute and circling everything back to the same ending we already had like nothing in Gou ever happened. If we’re gonna have this whole new story to begin with, it should at least have some lasting consequences.

Anyway, I think in the next episode we’re finally going to loop back to the Damashi arcs and see how they played out. At this point I don’t care too much about getting answers to the ground-level mysteries of those arcs, and I doubt the story will spend much time on that, but I’m curious to see how it progresses Satoko’s whole development through these loops, since I think she goes through some changes with her motives and methods over the course of them.

Specifically I think that the actual experience of being physically present in her own set of loops and causing so much pain and suffering started to get to her, and she might have almost given up in her own way during Tataridamashi and wanted to just stay in that arc, but things went south anyway. Maybe, if that’s what happened, Featherine basically let her know that she won’t let her give up, and will force her to keep looping until one of them ‘wins’ no matter what. Either way, I think that arc was a turning point for her. Like how she asked Featherine to arrange things so that Satoko can make sure that she and Rika’s loops are synced up, she probably asked Featherine after that arc to change the rules again so that Rika will start remembering the details of her deaths. At this point it’s pretty obvious that the Hanyuu fragment Rika was talking to earlier in Gou was more or less just Featherine putting on an act and manipulating her, so the scene of Hanyuu giving her the power to remember her deaths was probably just Featherine telling her about the rule change.

And going by how the Nekodamashi arc went immediately afterward, I think that rule change was related to Satoko becoming increasingly desperate to put an end to the loops as soon as possible. And considering how she was willing to spend so much time reviewing Rika’s hundred years of looping just to prepare for this, it’d make sense to me if she becomes desperate because she basically gives up, but realizes that she isn’t actually allowed to give up, so she has to try and make Rika give in as fast as possible. Either way it’s pretty obvious that Satoko’s methods start becoming more violent in that arc, and she basically tries to brute-force Rika into submission, leading up to the loop where she just spawn-camps her and straight up starts screaming at her to just stay in the village while tearing out her guts. It’s still possible that her attitude in that loop was just one big act, but I think that was the result of her being genuinely desperate to just have Rika give up once and for all, and her starting to crack under the pressure of doing all of these things with her own hands across so many loops. 

So now we’ll just have to see how the confrontation between them at the end of Nekodamashi plays out once we get back to it. In the long run I just think it’ll lead to the ending I talked about before, with them using the sword on each other. The exact nuances of how that sorta ending might play out are up in the air, though.

Either way, I think there’s probably enough time to wrap up all that in two more episodes, but there’s still reason to believe that there might be some kind of sequel in the works. I don’t really want to bet on it, though, so I’m just gonna assume that there’s two episodes left and base my theories on that. In which case I think the next episode will go over the Damashi arcs and end with Rika and Satoko’s confrontation at the end of Nekodamashi, and then the final episode will wrap everything up. Considering that they both more or less know exactly what’s going on with each other by that point, there isn’t really that much that needs to be wrapped up. I think that will be the final loop we get, so it’ll all just come down to how their confrontation plays out, and what decision they come to about how to handle each other.

I honestly don’t really know how I think a full sequel would go, if it’s at least one cour long. Assuming that it’s not just a new Umineko anime that more or less continues Rika and Satoko’s arc via Lambda and Bern, but is a straight up ‘Higurashi Gou Season 2′. It just feels like there isn’t really that much that needs to be done to wrap things up, now that everything’s being laid out in the open, and Rika and Satoko are both aware of each other’s looping. They might switch it up so that they both end up teaming up to take down Featherine, but I kinda doubt that’ll happen.

I’m still hoping this is leading into some kind of new Umineko anime though, lol. That feels like it’d be the main reason for putting so much effort into this whole elaborate LambdaBern origin story we’re getting here.

I’ve heard rumors that there’s been listings for a 25th episode of Gou, so it’s possible that rather than another full season, there’s just one extra episode at the end. I’m not exactly sure what the point of doing one extra unannounced episode at the end would be, though. It might end up being a bridge between Gou and a new Umineko anime.

At the very least, if it’s just ‘Satokowashi Part 8′, it makes me wonder why they haven’t announced it yet, and why they didn’t just split that arc into two BD volumes with four episodes each, instead of having it be one big volume with seven episodes, and one random episode at the end for some reason. But if it’s more of an epilogue or a bridge of sorts between Gou and something else, with Gou’s story concluding with episode 24, then I guess it’d make some sense to do it that way.

We also know there’s gonna be a panel for Gou at a convention around when ep24 comes out, so if anything gets announced it’ll probably happen there.

Anyway, this whole episode can be summed up as “Satoko does a gay little psychological torture that pisses Rika off”, in the most morbidly entertaining way possible, lmao.

#murasaki reblogs #higurashi #higurashi gou

[recentanimenews]

THE GREAT CRUNCHYROLL RE:ZERO REWATCH Endures Heartbreak In Episodes 11-15

Hi people! I'm your host for this week's GREAT CRUNCHYROLL Re:ZERO REWATCH, Carolyn Burke! Time has been really flying by during this particular rewatch venture as we zero in on the last two weeks the Re:ZERO rewatch! Last week's episodes 6-10, we saw the revelation of Rem's demonic nature and Emilia and Subaru grew a little closer as he sought emotional comfort in his friend... and all of that is about to come crumbling down in this week's episodes 10-15. Let's just say we're about to build on commenter Pure6Evil's disdain for Subaru. Ready or not, let's go!

  Before starting this rewatch we heard a lot of things about Rem being Worst Girl. For a while there, it wasn't too hard to see why. But this block of episodes has shown a gentle, very loyal side of Rem. How are we all feeling about her at this point?

  David: I have to disagree with this premise. The season this show aired, she was essentially the most popular character of the season, if not the whole year. One of my personal Discord servers has a whole channel dedicated to posting Rem fanart. To properly answer the question though, yeah, I like Rem.

  Joshua: People were saying Rem is worst girl? Just who's been spreading these lies and slander? Why, I oughtta give em a piece of my mind!

  Rem's sweet, adorable, and her willingness to stand by Subaru no matter how much he degrades himself is admirable, but she's also a truly tragic figure. She has no sense of self-worth and cannot see the qualities in her that I described, because shes always comparing herself to Ram, and shouldering the blame for what happened. I know how hard it can be to watch talented siblings succeed while you flounder, so I can empathize with Rem. I like her and want her to be happy, but falling for a guy with his heart so set on another, also makes me feel sorry for her.

  Paul: I don't want to see Rem end up as Subaru's doormat. Their relationship is deeply unhealthy, imbalanced, and rooted firmly in Rem's internalized sense of worthlessness. Much as Subaru fixates on Emilia and frames his own selfish behavior as self-sacrifice, so too does Rem fixate on Subaru, and I don't see much good coming of that.

  Jared: I'd always assumed she was the popular one of the twins. I think she has a good deal of complexity of growing up and feeling inferior to Ram, which was something I wasn't expecting. Nothing about her seems offensive. Although, like Paul says, I don't like the way the relationship between her and Subaru is heading. You can do so much better than him Rem!

  Rene: As much as I would love this to be a reality, Rem really is far away from being categorized as Worst Girl (except by people like me who dunk on her for fun). I do strongly agree with Paul on her unhealthy relationship to Subaru and have always had a problem with how her entire backstory was basically shoved into one flashback episode as almost every other character gets a much more natural development. And while she does get one of the most beautiful scenes in the show later on (if viewed in a vacuum), my main point of contention with her is that she feels somewhat artificial and too much of a wish-fulfillment in a show that otherwise revels in denying exactly those positive feelings to its protagonist and the viewer. While I did find her intriguing in the beginning, but she devolves too much into idealistic waifu exhibit A for me. Maybe if she weren't so heavily defined by Subaru, I would find her far more interesting and likable.

  Noelle: People really say Rem is worst girl? Really? Why? I think Rem has her flaws, but those flaws are part of her character, and honestly make her more interesting. She isn't my favorite type of character, but I think if they explore her co-dependency with Subaru and her internalized poor self-image, she could be really interesting? She has a lot of potential.

  Kevin: Ever since the first time I got to this point in the show, I was definitely a Rem fan. I can see Emilia's appeal, but I realized over time that her and Subarus relationship brings out the worst in each other, and is largely based on making up excuses to disobey the other. Meanwhile, Rem and Subaru's relationship is generally built on mutual trust and tends to bring out the best in both of them. Also, Rem can kick ass on her own, while Emilia needs a spirit whos only awake during business hours.

  Kara: I mean, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't calling Rem Worst Girl just because she is the fave, but I wasn't impressed with her early on. While Ram is still my fave, the show really has redeemed Rem for me and now I think she deserves better than Subaru to be honest.

  Austin: Worst girl is news to me. I honestly like her a lot, even if I do like a lot of the other girls more. I think her admiration towards Subaru is cute and touching in a lot of ways even if it does get to be a bit much at times.

  Danni: I think that was kind of just us goofing on her being by far the most popular. After this batch of episodes, though, I think it might actually be the case. Now that she's in love with Subaru she's basically affirming Subarus actions as the show is trying to discourage them.

    There's a lot of contention (and prejudice) around this royal selection. Who would you choose and why?

  David: Crusch. She seems like the most level-headed candidate, the one that would be able to deal things out fairly. Everyone else has some inherent biases I wouldn't trust.

  Joshua: I'd swear my loyalty to Beatrice, but as she isn't a candidate, I'm also Team Crusch. She has an air of maturity around her that the other candidates appear to lack, and she's already shown not just humility, but how committed she is to her word. Not only did she take in Subaru, an ally of her political rival, but she gave him counsel, and upheld her contract even after Emilia had left. She definitely strikes me as someone who could be trusted to lead a country. I like Anastasia's design and dialect, but she strikes me as a bit of a warmonger!

  Paul: I don't know what the royal election really is, and I don't trust the information that's been provided so far, so I can't in good faith pick a candidate. When I realized that every contender is female, and that they were referred to as dragon priestesses, it set off every dramatic irony alarm bell in my brain. Why did the original royal family go into hiding? What hold does the dragon exert over the nation of Lugunica? The whole thing smells like a set up for human sacrifice, like the lottery in the 1981 movie Dragonslayer, and if this were my Dungeons & Dragons campaign, that's how I would script it for the big mid-story twist.

  Jared: Felt, because hell yeah let's tear down the idea of nobility and commoners and cause absolute chaos.

  Rene: The thing I love about the royal selection is how it doesn't have a right answer. While my allegiance obviously belongs to Team Emilia. if you look at it from the outside, everyone has their up- and downsides. Emilia has idealistic views in abolishing goals in abolishing racism and while she has a sense for what is appropriate to do in royal politics (as Subaru contrasts beautifully) but she can push that to the point of naivete. Krusch is certainly the most level-headed but seems to not have as strong a humane side to her. She's far from cruel but give off too strong of a military vibe. Anastasia has a similar aura around her, just that she is more focused on monetary concerns instead of the military. Felt doesn't want to rule and doesn't have the experience to do so but you could argue that not egotistically striving for power is a good quality of a leader in itself. The only real contender that seems to be exclusively on the negative side is Priscilla - but she has the fact going for her that there seems to be some reason why Al is such a loyal servant of hers. It is a mystery that makes her far more interesting than she should be. Its really great how each contestant is balanced out in a way that you don't automatically expect Emilia as the main girl to win because logically speaking, every one could rule the country in their own way and still work as a ruler that doesn't result into pure awfulness.

  Noelle: Crusch, absolutely. A leader who is able to take advice from their subordinates, but also has the ability to apologize when they genuinely make mistakes and work on assumptions is very important. Although, I find her the most inspiring leader from the group; the others definitely have their moments and things worth bringing to the table. Social change, economics, and criticism of the class structure are all issues and challenges that the general populace would face, and having goals oriented in that direction is important. The only one I can't really see ruling is Priscilla, but that's more because she seems to be a reflection of the current aristocracy. Her aim, if I'm reading this correctly, feels like keeping the norm, and that in itself is a position to take.

  Kevin: At this point, I don't think we really have enough information to be able to choose a side. We've followed Emilia, but have almost no idea what she wants to do when in charge (the most specific we know is that she wants everyone to be equal, and her sponsor wants to kill the dragon), and Felt doesn't even want to be there. The other three, we have even less to go on. So for now, I abstain from picking, but let's revisit this in a week or two.

  Kara: Give it to Anastasia, she sounds like she knows how to party.

  Austin: Felt! Emilia may be my favorite girl in the show but I desperately want to see how far her running mad with power would go, as bad as that may sound.

  Danni: Team Felt all the way. Burn it all down! I could also be swayed towards backing Crusch, if only because Felix is now my husband.

    Subaru and Emilia's relationship came into focus a bit more during this arc and he seems to have messed things up pretty badly with Emilia. Do you agree with her choice to walk away or do you understand where he's coming from? Do you think hell set things right in his next life or move on with Rem?

  David: Ignoring the questions about the future, nothing Emilia said or did was wrong. Subaru has gotten a lot in his head and needed to be metaphorically clocked at this point.

  Joshua: The worst thing Subaru did was double down when he should have back-pedaled. I cringed as he raved about how everything worked out because he was there, which was the breaking point for Emilia too. He shouldn't have disobeyed her orders in leaving the inn, and he shouldn't have made a fool of himself at the Royal Selection, but if he had owned up to his mistakes and apologized to Emilia, he could have saved himself.

  I get why Subaru was so incensed though. One of the rulers of the land went on an unchallenged, racist rant aimed at the woman he loves. I'd probably have made a fool of myself in the heat of the moment too, but I agree with Emilia that his reason for not following her orders, was his own selfishness.

  Paul: Subaru screwed up big time. He betrayed Emilia's trust at every opportunity, and he exhibits a really shitty sense of entitlement over her that has ballooned from troubling to downright unhealthy. She was right to cut him loose, just as everyone he clashed with was right when they told Subaru (in various ways) that he was way out of line. I don't want to see him run away with Rem, which I know they do in a set of alternate reality spin-off novels, because Subaru needs to fix himself first before he can even begin to consider pursuing a healthy, romantic relationship.

  Jared: Emilia has every right to walk away from Subaru at this point. His delusions of grandeur, self-entitlement, and arrogance causes him to break her trust by not listening to her and then embarrassing her at the royal selection. Plus, with how he acts afterward, he's the epitome of toxicity. So, I hope he doesn't try to just run off with Rem or anything like that. I think where we leave things in this set of episodes makes it so it's going to be extremely hard for him to try and set things right, but at the same time, I'm at the point where I'm rooting for none of the girls to have anything to do with him.

  Rene: This is the scene that made me completely fall in love with this show and ascended it to the next level for me. Its a fantastic payoff after 13 episodes of buildup. Subarus repeated failures/deaths and him being saved by Reinhardt, Rem & Roswaal may have laid the ground that this isn't a regular Isekai show in which the protagonist is the all-mighty superhero but this scene really cements that the world does not, in fact, revolve around him - which is something so many Isekai anime don't get right.

  What I love about this scene is the revelation of how Emilia cant understand what he has (seemingly) done for her. It should be obvious if you think about it for one second yet many Isekai have primed us to think that the protagonist obviously has the ultimate viewpoint - but how could Emilia possibly understand it? She does not know of the time-loop and from her point of view, Subaru just randomly showed up in her life one day, helped her find her crest (after which he had to be rescued by Reinhardt) and then forced his way into her life by becoming her butler, all while lauding her as an angel despite her never having done anything that would make it understandable to get this attention.

  And now this guy, after having seriously jeopardized her chance for the throne, expects her to be grateful! How could she possibly do that? If someone showed up in your life and ruined something you have been working YEARS for, anyone would react that way. The fact that she entertained him for so long really underlines her patience and willingness to get along with anyone.

  But while Subaru is a jackass who needed to be put down a notch, we can also see where he is coming from as we went through all the loops at his side. This makes the scene so powerful and recontextualizes the unhealthy wish-fulfillment fantasy that Isekai can really be if not written or executed well; Subaru even declared his joy about becoming the protagonist of such a story right after his arrival in Lugunica. So while I won't theorize about the future, as I have already seen the show, its really great to see the main character of a genre that can be notorious for only delivering simple power fantasies being put down for seeking exactly that and neglecting the perspectives and emotions of the people around him.

  Noelle: I adored this scene, because it's been a long, long, LONG time coming. Emilia was 100% correct, and that she still wasn't extremely harsh on Subaru is a testament to her heart. Emilia's part in the royal selection is a way to prove herself in a public setting to the military and the nobility. It's her chance to prove the strength of her ideals, to show what she has been planning and what she wants for the new government shed create under her rule. It's her chance to shine, not anyone else's. Subaru, in wanting to save her in the royal selection, is actually just putting a spotlight on himself. It's not helping her out at all, it's proving his loyalty and tenacity, but it doesn't show anything about Emilia's qualifications as a ruler. Subaru doesn't treat her like someone to serve, he shows that shes someone that he thinks should be coddled. In both putting himself in the forefront and not even supporting her that well, all he's doing is undermining what Emilia has been working for.

  Subaru has never once seen Emilia as a person. He has seen her as a prize to be won, one that he deserves because he is the protagonist. He's pretty frank in it this episode, and I love how he's finally honest about what he actually wants-- that the girl he's crushing on should feel grateful to him because he put all this work in for her. He did these nice things for her and so he should get rewarded with her love. He does things, so she should fall for him. Its what he deserves as the protagonist, naturally, because heroes should be rewarded with girls at the end. All Emilia wants is to be treated humanely, like a person, not as something to be feared or as a candidate, but for who she is. And Subaru sure is completely against ever seeing her as an individual and not as a trope, as a prize, as a heroine. You do deserve to get kicked to the curb, Subaru.

  Kevin: I think part of the reason the scene resonates so well is because we understand Subaru due to seeing his viewpoint for so long, but I don't think we're supposed to agree with him. He's basically saying that he deserves to be with Emilia because of how many times he's died trying to protect her, and that's not the basis of a healthy relationship. You never deserve a person, so I totally agree with Emilia leaving. As for how things will go in the next life and with the choice between Emilia or Rem... Begins laughing in spoiler-ese.

  Kara: She was completely right. I get that Subaru's circumstances are unimaginable. I really do. I can't imagine having to survive watching people you care about die over and over. But if he really loves her, then the number one thing he should be able to do is keep a promise to her. He doesn't even have the excuse of having gone through a loop where the meeting went badly without him. Subaru needs to check himself, and then check himself again... At least this explains the cagey reader comments. Up until now.

  Austin: Emilia is 110% in the right for walking away. As much sympathy as I have for Subaru, he took one step too far and started seeing himself as a bit too much of a hero that even death couldn't conquer and screwed up big time. I don't take back any previous comments of feeling bad for him whenever he dies horribly or breaks down under the stress of everything, but that doesn't mean that I don't think he needs to do a little self-reflection. That all said, when I first watched this I really hoped there would be a chance for Subaru to make things right with Emilia in a way that didn't undo the importance of the scene where she leaves him.

  Danni: DUMP! HIM! She was totally in the right without question. There's no interpretation of that scene that doesn't make it clear that he's in the wrong. I've been rooting for Subaru, which made that scene harder to watch than any of the gruesome scenes that followed it. It is refreshing to see his selfishness in self-sacrifice punished after I was just complaining about it last week. That also happened to be before his latest save point, so there's no way he can ever make things right. That doesn't mean he can't regain her trust, though, and I truly hope he reflects on it next week and they're able to patch things up.

    As always, what are our highs and lows for this week?

  David: The ENTIRE scene where they introduce the candidates, culminating in Felt simultaneously being introduced, rejecting the idea, and accepting the concept all at essentially the same time. That's some lore-as-plot being used at its height. While I don't dislike anything here, my low would be how abysmally Subaru treats himself and everyone he loves after the Emilia moment. It's very important to his character arc, but it really, really hurts to watch.

  Joshua: I really appreciate the first episode of this batch, where we learn of Rem and Ram's past. Watching Rem's insecurities manifest as twisted visages of her parents was hard to watch, but it was fascinating to see how even innocuous pleasantries made over the dinner table can, unfortunately, have the opposite effect. Her conversation with Subaru at his bedside was also really touching, with Rem's smile feeling so sincerely peaceful. If only Subaru had acted that cool in all of this week's episodes.

  Subaru's first return to the Roswaal mansion is also a great example of why less can be better than more. Seeing only the trail of blood and trinkets like Emilia's pin on the floor makes me wonder what exactly happened to her, what she had to experience, and what went through her mind. This uncertainty is worse than actually seeing it play out, which I think only added to our understanding of Subarus pain, because of the blame he carries.

  I do worry if the impact of deaths is being lessened by their repetition, though? While the series is doing a great job of showing their impact on Subaru, we've only just cleared the first half and Rems already died three times. How many more will it before I just think "Oh, not again"? Also, Beatrice didn't appear at all! What's up with that?

  Paul: This set of episodes was full of emotional highs, but if I were to pick my favorite moment, it'd be when Subaru after getting the crap kicked out of him by Julius in a fight that Subaru started lets the mask drop and essentially admits without realizing it that his affection for Emilia is one-sided and warped. It's rare that you see the ostensible hero for an anime be so reprehensible and so drunk on his own ego, and I appreciate that degree of candor. My low point would be the latest plot wrinkle with the witch cult. All of these threats are coming so fast and so furious that I don't really have a chance to digest them.

  Jared: The introduction of Felt into the Royal Selection, while I inadvertently spoiled myself on that earlier, was still fun and interesting with how much she was not having it. I've been also pleasantly surprised with how the show has tackled issues with prejudice and racism with regards to Emilia, as while we've heard rumblings about that, they really ramped up with this set of episodes. Low points were the witches' cult stuff which just felt hokey to an extent. Plus it is starting to seem like the numerous times we see someone die is becoming normalized. I'm curious how the series will try to introduce any sort of finality given that wed expect at this point that it'd just get rewritten and not matter.

  Rene: As I already wrote an entire essay above, I'll keep it short and concise: My High was (obviously) Emilia's breakup with Subaru while my low was the way Rem's backstory was handled. If she had forgotten a more fleshed out arc over the entirety of the show, maybe I would've ended up in a better place with her ...

  Noelle: My absolute high of this entire show so far was Emilia cutting Subaru off and his tantrum about it. I'm honestly glad that the show is shining a light on just how entitled this sort of attitude is. Watching that scene felt so, so satisfying. I think it's my favorite moment of the show overall so far? Also, seeing the candidates for the royal selection, and what each wants to bring to the table. That was pretty cool.

Low point is the witch cult, because while it could have a lot of potential, it feels more like they came out of nowhere?

  Kevin: High - Can I just say the entire last episode? Every moment wasn't necessarily the highest point, but everything coming together and leading up to Subaru carrying Rem out of the cave is one of the first things I recall when I think back on Re:ZERO. Low - Really hard to pick something I didn't like this week, especially with how strongly it ended. Maybe Rem struggling off of Rams back to save Subaru? I'm not sure if they ran out of animation budget or it was just a bad perspective, but it never looks like she really struggles, more like Ram just falls over.

  Kara: Gotta agree that my High Point was Emilia just having enough. Good on her. I'm not sure I have a low point, but my WTF Point is that credit roll at the end of episode 15. That entire sequence is now my sleep paralysis demon, complete with the intense orchestral music.

  Austin: The scene that introduces Betelgeuse is excellent. From how easily it paints how absolutely nuts he is to the complete emotional turn around that Subaru made it extremely unforgettable, even with it a bit hard to watch after Rem gets mutilated by the unseen hand. It also seconds as a great display of how powerful the Witchs Cult is in a way Subaru can understand and makes them as an antagonizing force a lot more interesting than just the reason Rem and Ram work for Roswall. As for lows, it's difficult to pick something, but I must say I wish Rem had a bit more self-worth since its a bit sad to see such a cute muffin sacrifice herself so much.

  Danni: My high and low points are pretty much all the same scenes this week. All the gruesome scenes and the sequences of Subaru selfishly centering himself were both hard to watch and important for the point that Re:ZERO is trying to make. All that being said, at this point, it's bordering on becoming simple torture porn, like when the camera and art make sure to emphasize Rems bloody, injured breasts. On a lighter note, they introduced a lot of great characters this week. Even Betelgeuse made me laugh out loud while being incredibly disgusted at everything going on. No Beatrice this week, though, so that alone means my entire week is shot. Thanks for nothing, Re:ZERO.

    COUNTERS:

Week: Barusu - 5 Subaru Deaths - 2 Methods of Death - Freezing, Beheading

  Overall: Barusu - 24 Subaru Deaths - 9 How Subaru Died - Disembowelment, Disembowelment, Stabbing, Curse, Combination (Curse+Dismemberment), Slit Throat / Torture, Suicide, Freezing, Beheading

Wow, what a heavy week! If you're dying to find out what's in store for Subaru and his friends, join us next week for episodes 16-20. If you're new, feel free to catch up on Re:ZERO and join us!

  Here's our upcoming schedule!

  -Next week, on October 11th, David hosts our penultimate week with episodes 16-20

-On October 18th, Danni will finish out with the final episodes 21-25

  CATCH UP ON THE REWATCH:

Episodes 6-10: From Apples To Demons

Episodes 1-5: Starting Life in Another Rewatch

Re:ZERO Introduction Questions

  What are your answers to the above questions? Were you spooked by the creature at the end of episode 15? Let us know in the comments!

-----

  Carolyn also writes for Bunny Ears and Cracked. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: [email protected]

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

[aros001]

First time read through light novel vol. 3. Random thoughts.

The Six Witches had made the world scream, but this witch wiped them out in one fell swoop, ushering in a calamity that destroyed half the world.

A hero had sealed her flesh within a crystal, where she continued to sleep, even then, in some corner of the world.

I'd say Satella is like this world's Voldemort with how much people hesitate to even talk about her, but honestly she seems like she'd slap the back of his bald head and call him a bitch. Honestly, she's the character I'm looking forward to getting to know more about than the rest of the cast, even Emilia, whom I've heard gets a lot of her development after where the anime left off. Given how plenty of "witch" stories go in fiction and even Ram telling Subaru that the country naturally has a bias against the witch because of its connection to the dragon that helped seal her, I could totally see this being a situation where Satella was just trying to stop evil (the Six Witches) and ended up being persecuted and called a monster by history. ...But I wouldn't be opposed to her just being f**king evil. I love me a good villain.

I already liked Rem and Beatrice from the anime, but while I never disliked Emilia and Ram, I am finding myself a lot more into those two through these books than I was before. I can't quite put my finger on what's different. I suppose knowing where things go helps a bit but the narration and going at my own pace gives me better focus on their interactions and relationships with Subaru. I don't think I got as good a feel for Emilia's character in the anime and while I still don't know a lot about her, I do think she has a bit more reaction here. She can get angry, pout, and does seem to genuinely enjoy Subaru's company, where maybe she felt a little too one-note sometimes in the anime? I don't know. And Ram is just the best. I live for her attitude and she does give off a bit of a big sister vibe when she's with Subaru. Like Roswaal noted in the first loop in his and her private chat, Ram does seem actually fond of Subaru. Not in a romantic way. She just seems to have fun with him, especially with all her little jabs and slight bullying.

“My specialty is ice, but it’s actually fire mana. Fire relates mainly to temperature, so cooling that which is hot is classified as part of fire, apparently.”

I'm apparently a f**king nerd because I love getting rules for a world's made-up systems like magic and this is a pretty unique style compared to what I'm used to. The elements are not constrained just to what something literally is but rather how it relates to something. Ice is water but what forms ice is temperature. Water is more related to healing.

The right hand went for his heart; the other caressed Subaru’s cheek like it was fond of him.

Again, I'm really looking forward to knowing what the deal is with Subaru and Satella (assuming the hands are hers), especially since he comments that the hand on his cheek brought a sense of warmth and relief (while the other was squeezing his heart). Consciously or not, he's feeling some kind of connection to her.

I'm a big fan of superhero stories, and while there's nothing better than seeing the hero win after a hard fought battle, there is one trope I really like, where what defines a hero isn't just the battles they win but what they do when faced with a battle they can't. Credit to Subaru, he knew he had little to no chance of beating the shaman and its hordes. He was terrified, drained, badly injured, and even crying for his parents...and he still fought anyway. I think the narration implies that's part of what impressed Rem too when they were working to save the kids; Subaru doing everything he can to help in spite of his uselessness.

For some reason, when her fingers gently grazed his mind, Subaru wanted to weep. The wave of strange emotion washing over him suggested that he had always been waiting for her to do so.

He had an instinctive desire for the wriggling shadow to embrace him, to swallow him whole—and then it stopped. Something had stopped it.

Subaru’s mind realized that there was another shadow, its white fingers embracing him from behind.

Two shadows? I'm under the impression one of them is Satella but I'm curious who the other is? Given Rem was holding Subaru's hand when he woke up I'd think it was her but the narration talks about the shadow coming from behind him, nothing to do with his hands.

She had short blue hair. Her face was more the “lovely” than “pretty” type. At first, he thought she showed little emotion on her face, but she was coming around on that bit by bit. He wasn’t afraid of her. He wasn’t afraid of her at all.

There was a Rem who had made Subaru loop more than once, but here was a Rem happy from the bottom of her heart that he had come back alive. It was all by chance.

There was the Rem who ran amok for her sister’s sake, the Rem who acted rashly to protect Subaru, the Rem who ran off before switching to Berserker Mode so that she wouldn’t cause friendly fire—

One suggestion I've seen before about why Subaru might not ever be able to return Rem's feelings in full, beyond his own love for Emilia, is because he'll always have those past memories of Rem torturing him. That no matter how much he grows to like her their relationship will always be held back because he subconsciously still associates that horrible experience with her. I'll have to see how if the books ever bring that up, because while I can buy that being a thing, Subaru seems to view the Rem that tortured him and the Rem he knows as two different people, acknowledging how mixed up she is. His feelings for Emilia are definitely stronger, given that she's been his rock and oasis throughout all his lives and horrible experiences; the one consistently good thing he could always count on. But I'm not sure how much he holds it against other people. Only the three thugs and Elsa have been consistently awful to him.

Also, I'm don't know what's funnier: that they tied Emilia to a chair to keep her from going after Subaru, or that it was Beatrice's idea and Puck helped her with it?

Roswaal and Ram is going to be interesting going forward, especially because I'm not sure yet whether to trust him. Roswaal is a very fun character and has helped Subaru a few times...but he's definitely shady. And that comment that the hornless beasts obey whoever cut off their horns...so does that apply to demons like the twins as well? I'm not saying Roswaal had anything to do with Ram losing her horn, it easily could be just a situation he took advantage of.

I always found the source of Rem's guilt complex really interesting because it's such an extreme reaction but it also feels oddly realistic. She felt happy, just for a moment, about something terrible and spent the next several years of her life feeling so guilty over it that she gave up practically everything about herself to try and make up for it. There's no doubt in my mind that the sisters love each other and that's probably why it hit her so hard. If Ram was just some pompous bitch who didn't deserve any of her strength and skill it'd be one thing, but Ram did take care of Rem and Rem did admire and love her, thus why she feels like such scum being momentarily happy about one of the worst things possible happening to her beloved sister, just so she'd never have to live in her shadow again. You spend enough time obsessing and beating yourself up over something like that, of course you develop a complex. I don't blame Ram for not trying to straighten Rem out sooner either. She was also just a kid when it happened and while she told Subaru the loss of her horn doesn't bother her anymore (or at least doesn't bother her as much as it did), then that implies it was a major blow to her back then. I don't think she ever took it out on Rem, more likely that she was just depressed or felt empty/incomplete and Rem picking up the slack and always helping out probably made that time a little easier to deal with. By the time Ram is old enough to realize the complex her sister's developed Rem's too far down the spiral for her to simply be talked out of it. The only adult figure left in their lives who could have stopped all of this was Roswaal and he's made pretty clear he has no problem using Ram as a way to keep Rem loyal. I don't know his character well enough yet to say where his morality lies, but he doesn't strike me as the type of guy to sit a young Rem down and try to talk her through her guilt; not when it can be used in purpose of his great goal, something to do with when a dragon (assumedly the one from the Witch of Envy story) dies.

I've only seen the anime once so I can totally believe I probably missed all the parallels this arc draws between Subaru and Rem and I love them.

And seeing him struggle so hard to produce results in spite of inferior ability reminded her of someone, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.

Both of them working themselves frantically, bottling up their feelings as their thoughts are running so fast that they're about ready to crack from all the pressure and guilt they're placing on themselves. When Subaru is attacked by the dogs upon pushing Rem out of the way she flashes back to when Ram got her horn cut off saving her, practically doubling her guilt complex. My favorite comes at the end after Subaru and Rem's talk. While she's not in his lap, her crying and letting her emotions flow while he gently strokes her hair is a great callback to when he was crying in Emilia's lap. While it's not exactly a dignified way you'd want to look in front of the person you love, making you seem a lot like a child, for Subaru and Rem's own mental health it was definitely what they needed. At the very least, in Rem's case, while he didn't hear the full story because he didn't want her to tell him, he'd heard enough to piece together her breakdown was over feelings of guilt and inferiority towards her sister. With poor Subaru, he can't tell Emilia the real reason for his breakdown. As far as her perspective goes, Subaru was so frantic and pushing himself way too hard simply because he was afraid of having to leave them, which technically is true, but she'll never know how real it is to him the possibility that he might just lose everything or how many times he's already gone through that.

“So I mean, you said you were a substitute, but Ram has no substitute for you, does she? I mean, if you weren’t there for her, can you imagine the state she’d be in?”

I love that line. It's a great callback, as while Rem will never know it, Subaru himself has seen how deeply Ram loves her and the state she'd be in if Rem died. But if I'm remembering correctly how the later arcs go, it's another nice parallel between Subaru and Rem. In this case, him being so lost in his devotion to Emilia that he doesn't consider her side of things, but I'll talk more about that if and when it does come up in the story.

Original Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Re_Zero/comments/gmek8z/novels_first_time_read_through_light_novel_vol_3/

#re:zero #random thoughts #reddit repost

[recentanimenews]

The GREAT CRUNCHYROLL Re:ZERO REWATCH Loops over Episodes 6-10 with a Shocking Revelation!

Welcome back the GREAT CRUNCHYROLL Re:ZERO REWATCH! I'm Kara Dennison, and I'll be your host this week as we make our way through Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-. Last week we traveled with Subaru to a magical new realm in episodes 1-5, and this week we're picking up from a rather gory cliffhanger and getting a few mysteries solved in episodes 6-10.

  Despite covering Re:ZERO-related news constantly over in the news room, I never actually knew a lot about it. A few reveals got to us early by way of things like special-edition Rem figures, but—for me, at least—Subaru's Return by Death power and its implications were a complete surprise. With this week's batch of episodes, we got to see the toll this takes on him emotionally and how he recovers from it. There's a lot I still want to know about his life prior to the series, especially regarding how quickly he took to his new company and how little he thinks of his original world.

    We're still watching Subaru evolve and, as commenter BlackRose0607 pointed out, he's "starting from zero," as it were:

  That's the thing though, Subaru ISN'T a hero. He's an ordinary guy who got transported to another world and thinks he has powers right away, but really his only power is coming back to a certain point after he dies, to try and redo things and make them work for him and those around him to keep himself and everyone else alive.

It looks like we've got some viewers who gave Re:ZERO a try before and never finished, but are picking it up as we do. Welcome aboard... and now, let's see what the Crunchyroll Features team has to say about this week's episodes!

    This is a very busy batch of episodes! For starters, Subaru seems to be coming to terms with his "new normal" after some really rough restarts (and a literal emotional breakdown). Has your view of him as a character changed at all from last week?

Kevin: I really like seeing the sheer emotional toll that the time loops take on him. Even if he tries, he literally can’t tell anyone about how he knows that terrible things are about to happen. In the first set of episodes, we saw how that can make him plan things out and try different methods, while this time we got to see how the constant fear and frustration leave him a step away from insanity almost constantly, especially when he knows that he’s in a loop.

  Joshua: Since watching Okabe in Steins;Gate 0 and Marvel Studios’ Doctor Strange, I’ve been fascinated by the potential mental impact of repeating so many traumatic timelines. So at the risk of sounding like a sadist, I really liked Re:ZERO’s direct approach, and seeing the emotionally vulnerable side of Subaru unfurl out of his forced bravado.

  He’s died repeatedly in brutal, painful ways, before having to act like nothing happened. It’s understandable he’d be traumatised, which makes the fact he can’t even confide in anyone, a cruel stroke of narrative genius. Despite all the pain, and occasional blips in his fight-or-flight reflex, he’s shown an admirable selfless resolve in situations where I’d sympathise with just wanting to run away though, so I’m starting to respect Subaru a bit more, I suppose.

  Paul: I'm not entirely sure what to make of Subaru. He keeps taking credit for saving the day when really it’s the more powerful characters (Reinhard, Rem, Ram, Beatrice, etc.) who do all the heavy lifting, and even his seemingly courageous acts seem to be borne out of cowardice and desperation. It makes him a complicated and interesting character, but I'm not sure whether I like him or merely pity him.

  Noelle: I’m still on the fence with Subaru. On the one hand, the time loops and constant deaths are extremely cruel, and having to reconcile that people he might have possibly become close to would happily see him dead. On the other hand, he hasn’t really improved as a person; he still reeks of entitlement. These are fine character flaws, but it’s not very palatable to me. Still, I don’t think he’s a bad person. Just not a type of character whose story I see as having a need to be told.

  Jared: I’m still very unsure about him. Sure, he did some things that could be seen as good in this set of episodes, but I still feel like this isn’t done just because he’s a good person. There’s still parts of him that seem highly suspicious.

  Carolyn: I’m really liking this minefield that he has to navigate every time he is rebooted. It’s very interesting to watch him put pieces together but then constantly seem to be three paces behind anyway. I’m not certain he’s my favorite character, I think Emilia holds that title right now. But the whole premise has me intrigued.

  Austin: If anything, I've become more sympathetic towards him. His emotional breakdown in Emilia's lap really hit me for this rewatch and honestly makes it a bit difficult for me not to feel sorry for him.

  Danni: For the most part, yes. I think he’s really likeable and has a great rapport with the rest of the cast, but characters with uninterrogated martyr complexes irk me. To his credit, there’s a logic to it given he knows death isn’t permanent for him, but that doesn’t negate how ultimately self-destructive and harmful it is. I guess that’s not so much his fault (he is just a fictional character, after all) as it is a qualm I have with the writing as a whole.

  David: Unfortunately in this case I am tainted by having seen the show before. Given all of the criticisms of him, I am extremely interested in what everyone’s take on where his character arc goes in the next couple weeks, though.

  René: I think that this batch of episodes really drives home how Subaru isn’t your run-of-the-mill overpowered isekai protagonist and is also a big part why Re:ZERO became so popular so fast back when these aired. It’s really hard not to sympathize with him through all this suffering and builds a really good emotional basis for what is yet to come.

Was the revelation of Rem as Subaru’s attacker a shock? Similarly, what about the revelation of Ram and Rem’s demonic nature?

  Kevin: When I was watching for the first time, I don’t remember predicting either. On a rewatch, I don’t think there was any real way to guess the outcome, since we had never seen either maid show fighting ability and didn’t know that oni were an actual race in this world. Despite that, I really like how both are handled, since it fits with the logic of the world. Also, Subaru’s story about the red and blue oni was a nice hint.

  Joshua: I think anyone watching for the first time would’ve been shocked - I certainly was back when I was a newcomer. Up until then, we hadn’t really seen Rem as more than Ram’s cute sidekick, so the reveal that she’s more than capable of a little cold-blooded murder was a shock, to say the least. Their demonic nature was less of a surprise to me though, as the seeds were quietly sewn when Subaru and Rem visited the village in last week’s episodes. Although, perhaps I picked up on that hint due to already knowing, I suppose?

  Paul: This plot detail was spoiled for me long ago, and so the reveal itself wasn't a surprise, although the sheer violence of Rem's rampages was pretty shocking. I want to know more about their background and how they came to be employed at Roswaal Manor.

  Noelle: I was surprised by Rem, honestly, mostly because there were… almost no clues that she could have been the attacker? Suspicion doesn’t translate into murder, and we don’t really get any proper hints about why she would want to have him killed. So it’s not really a mystery, is it? The demonic nature was hinted at with the red oni blue oni story, so that didn’t come as much of a surprise… although I was expecting that to be metaphorical instead of literal.

  Jared: In hindsight, it makes a ton of sense since you wouldn’t normally point the finger at her, but it was a bit of a surprise. It does seem weird that she was going after him just because he seemed shady and had the witch’s scent on him, so hopefully that whole thing gets explained at some point. The demon reveal again is something that you can look back on and see how they made a trail to that reveal. Although Rem being a violence machine wasn’t what I was expecting when she turns.

  Carolyn: I already knew because spoilers. But had I not known, I don’t think I would have been terribly surprised. We are led to believe the whole castle is full of strange people who could murder Subaru at any moment. The entire vibe is just bizarre during his first few days there. I was surprised about the demon part, however.

  Austin: On my first watch I was really surprised about Rem being the killer! I remember thinking about why she might have attacked Subaru for the whole week leading up to the next episode and initially even thought she killed him in the first loop. As for Ram and Rem’s demonic nature, Re:ZERO unfortunately wasn’t the first time I’ve seen Naita Aka Oni, the Japanese children’s story about the red and blue ogres, referenced so that wasn’t as surprising.

  Danni: I had honestly expected it to be Ram, so it was a bit surprising to see Rem in the end. Their nature wasn’t a surprise, though. They telegraphed it from a mile away last week while the two chatted on the walk back from the village. I did feel pretty dumb for not noticing the red ogre/blue ogre motif given how often it seems to pop up in different anime.

  David: I had no clue at all, but the show doesn’t really give you any chances at guessing it could be her before the reveal, so I think the intrigue is more in the “why” than the “who”.

  René: I have to unfortunately second a lot of the previous comments. I tried to approach it like a proper mystery but there wasn’t nearly enough adequate foreshadowing to point towards Rem so logic-wise, it wasn’t as satisfying. It did provide us cool action, though.

      There’s a lot of intrigue (and a lot of murder) surrounding Emilia’s claim to the throne of Lugnica. Subaru’s newfound knowledge and trust aside, is there anyone in Roswaal’s household you still consider suspicious? If you’ve already seen the series, which character were you suspicious of the longest?

  Kevin: To this day I’m not sure what’s up with Roswaal and Beatrice. I don’t think anyone ever mentions what specifically Beatrice is, but she is clearly extremely powerful but also bound to Roswaal’s mansion, and we have already seen that Roswaal himself is pretty powerful, magically. We’ll get some more detail about him later, but I’m still not convinced I know his entire motivation.

  Joshua: Mach 1 Mary Poppins, without a doubt. His design is unusual to say the least, but the way he stands with an imposing presence, and seems to always be looking through Subaru when he talks, makes me suspect that he knows a lot more than he’s letting on. The problem with Roswaal though, is even when you put aside his makeup and exaggerated voice, he’s impossible to read. We also know he’s supposed to be incredibly powerful, which could make this mystery all the more important for the struggles to come, I suppose.

  Paul: Roswaal himself is completely shady. I have no idea who he is or why he supports Emilia's claim to the throne, and I doubt he's acting out of a sense of philanthropy. How does he benefit in all of this? Does Emilia trust Roswaal, or is she merely using him out of convenience? I'm eager to find out.

  Noelle: Roswaal, for sure. Granted, I like him (and his voice). He’s a fun character for sure, but I have no idea what he wants. I don’t think I’m particularly suspicious of him, but I do want to know what his objectives were.

  Jared: At this point, I think it’s better to be suspicious of everyone since they could certainly pull out a surprise turn at the drop of a hat.

  Carolyn: Roswaal seems like he’s up to some stuff every time he does, basically, anything.

  Austin: Despite everyone being so suspicious of Roswaal, I actually kind of stopped seeing anyone in the household as suspicious after the reveal that they could smell the witch on Subaru… That said, I am beginning to put that initial dismissal into questioning.

  Danni: I’m still suspicious of Roswaal, just because we’ve seen the least of him. He’s always come across to me as pretty menacing, but that might just be because of the clown makeup.

  David: Yep. Roswaal. We’re not given almost any information about his thought processes or motivations at this point, so it’s only natural he is the most suspicious character.

  René: Honestly, how could you not find Roswaal suspicious? I still expect him to be revealed as someone mischievous later on who at least tries to get favors out of Queen Emilia once she has ascended the throne as payback for his support, in a Rumpelstiltskin-kind of way.

    If you had Subaru’s Return by Death power and a blue-haired oni maid with a morningstar killed you tonight, about how long ago do you think you’d wake up?

  Kevin: I bought some apples about a week ago.

  Joshua: I’d hope it would be before I had to make choices that were a little more life defining, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I returned to something more mundane. Last week, I was standing in an aisle contemplating which toilet seat to buy, so maybe then? I went for the middle priced of the three options, so perhaps my destiny would change had I went for the cheapest or more expensive, I suppose!

  Paul: Hopefully far enough back that I could reconsider some of my current career choices. Working as a clerk in a public library may be a soul-crushing and monotonous job, but it beats being a starving artist.

  Noelle: Similar to Kevin, I did go apple picking two weeks back-- I’m kidding. It’ll probably be at my desk at work, or on the bus.

  Jared: I’d probably get unlucky and it’d send me back a year and I’d have to go back to school again.

  Carolyn: Oh, boy. Probably stuck in the land of Naruto filler.

  Austin: It’d probably get sent back to watching a virtual YouTuber’s stream since I’ve been doing that a lot recently.

  Danni: I don’t know. With my luck I probably saved two seconds before my head caved in and would just be caught in a death loop until the console bricks.

  David: At my desk watching anime, naturally. Thinking of which, Return by Death would be a convenient tool for catching up on seasonal shows…

  René: Hopefully, not too far back. I’m close to having an empty email inbox for the first time since April. I would hate to lose all that finished work ...

    And finally, highs and lows of the week?

Kevin: High - Subaru and Rem’s fight scene. From the choreography to Rem and Subaru exchanging trying to save each other, leading in to Rem wandering the forest as a demon to try and save Subaru, I really like the sequence. Low - Subaru figuring out that the puppy was the shaman. It took a rewatch or two for me to realize it, but Beatrice only tells him about the curse requiring physical contact before Subaru had the entire village touch him. He got every single person to touch him somewhere unique, so he knew that he would be cursed, but only later learned that when removing the curse he would be able to see where the shaman touched him. It’s a minor plot hole, but I really like these episodes, so I have to look pretty deep to find a low point.

  Joshua: I adored Beatrice this week. Her constant irritation towards Subaru was adorable, and her snappy comebacks gave me life. She also shown incredible loyalty and resolve to stand by her word when she opposed even Mach 1 Mary Poppins and Ram when Subaru was accused of killing Rem (which was a really cool sequence too!).

The compassion Emilia shown in the lap-pillow moment was wonderfully pure, allowing Subaru to let his guard down and finally offload the feelings eating him up inside. Rem’s demonic outburst was tantalising to watch, and then there’s little things like the absolute heartbreak in Ram’s mourning cries (Rie Murakawa did a great job there!), and the perspective of Subaru’s pacing around making it look like Beatrice was spinning on the spot!

  Frankly, these episodes were so good that I’ll have to get a bit nitpicky to find a fault, but I’m a little confused as to why everyone trusts Subaru so much? Their world is politically volatile with Emilia a likely target, yet when Rem dies of weakness only a day or so after Subaru asked Beatrice about the same subject, she still stood by her contract to protect him? I can’t exactly fault Rem there, to be honest. That’s a small detail compared to the bigger picture though, I suppose.

  Paul: My high point was when Beatrice entered a contract to protect Subaru and followed through with it even though it set her against her employer and his entire household. I wasn't expecting that, and I think it hints at interesting (maybe even fiendish) possibilities for her character. My low point is the reveal of the shaman's true identity. I felt like I'd somehow missed two or three important chapters of a book when the story pivoted to focus on a minor mabeast invasion. I had assumed the curse was related to Emilia's election (and maybe it still will be), but the shift to a concurrent but unrelated threat struck me as jarring.

  Noelle: High point, Rem fighting, both in her wailing on Subaru and brutally handling hordes of monsters. Now that’s what I’m talking about. Low point, wow, that dog was 100% not hinted at all to be a monster, huh. I thought it was interesting, because of course we suspected the humans first and not that the culprit could be a monster instead, but I wish there was more leadup to it. We got a lot about curses, I wish that infodump also contained things about monsters too, so we could at least guess that.

  Jared: High points for me would be the fight scenes which were really well done and Beatrice just being a ton of fun throughout these episodes. Low point might be the shaman reveal because I thought it was a bit too obvious it would be the dog. Since Subaru learned it was through physical contact, I immediately thought back to the dog bite and figured that’s where it’d end up going. Plus, if Sailor Moon has taught me anything, it’s that pets that have “bald” spots are not what they seem to be.

  Carolyn: I actually really liked the scene with Subaru crying into Emilia’s lap. That was very sad and emotional. The kid just needs a break and a friend. I’m not sure I have a low point. I liked this set of episodes quite a lot.

  Austin: Gosh, there were so many highs. I actually cried when Subaru broke down in Emilia’s lap and “Houya no Yume yo” started playing, every single reason I really liked Beatrice on my first watch came rushing back to me when she formed a contract with Subaru, Rem’s anger filled questioning before killing Subaru after the reveal and Ram’s blind rage towards him after Rem died both hit me like a truck (voice actors and actresses sure are amazing!) -- I could honestly go on for longer than I probably should about everything I really liked about these five episodes.

  As for lows, it felt a little too easy when Subaru won over Rem’s trust to the point where she’d risk her life to rid him of his curse in the tenth episode. Also, Subaru’s emotional turn around after Ram chased him and Beatrice down felt a tad “unrealistic”, for lack of a better word. Ultimately, those are pretty minor nitpicks, though.

  Danni: This was a really strong selection of episodes in what I’ve found to be a real great show so far, so it’s hard to pick any single favorite moment. Beatrice continues to be my favorite character in the entire show so every moment with her is a treat, especially her honoring her contract with Subaru despite it pitting her against her employer. Subaru telling Ram the story about the two ogres was a pretty touching scene, as was Subaru breaking down in Emilia’s lap. Those kids are pretty cute together. I can’t think of any ultimately low points, really. Those CGI dogs didn’t look that great, I guess?

  David: High is absolutely the scene where Beatrice defends Subaru, hands down. Probably one of the best moments in the whole show, too. Low is just in general how many times Subaru had to die to figure this one out. Gets surprisingly tiring to see the same days play out over and over!

  René: I absolutely love the lap scene with Emilia, so that’s definitely the High for me. It’s not only a beautiful character moment but also really hits me as a wonderful anti-toxic masculinity moment as Subaru is just not able to keep up his facade as the strong hero anymore and needs to let it all out. I’m always a sucker for moments like this.

  There weren’t really any Lows this week, so I’d have to go with the Shaman reveal, as well which is still not THAT bad. I’ll have to wait for next episode to have something for this segment~

COUNTERS:

Week:

"Barusu": 7

Subaru Deaths: 2

Methods of Death: Slit throat/torture, falling/suicide

  Overall:

"Barusu": 17

Subaru Deaths: 7

Methods of Death: Disembowelment, disembowelment, stabbing, curse, curse and dismemberment, slit throat/torture, suicide

  And that's everything for this week! Remember that you're always welcome to join us for this rewatch, especially if you haven't watched Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- yet!

Here's our upcoming schedule!

  -Next week, on October 4th, Carolyn takes us past the halfway mark with episodes 11-15

-Then, on October 11th, David hosts our penultimate week with episodes 16-20

  Thank you for joining us for the Great Crunchyroll Re:ZERO Rewatch! Have a great weekend, and we'll see you all next time!

  CATCH UP ON THE REWATCH:

Episodes 1-5: Starting Life in Another Rewatch

Re:ZERO Introduction Questions

  Have anything to say about our thoughts on the episodes watched? Let us know in the comments! Don't forget, we're also accepting questions and comments for next week, so don't be shy and feel free to ask away!

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Kara Dennison is a writer, editor, and interviewer with bylines at VRV, We Are Cult, Fanbyte, and many more. She is also the co-founder of Altrix Books and co-creator of the OEL light novel series Owl's Flower. Kara blogs at karadennison.com and tweets @RubyCosmos.

By: [email protected]

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