#i heard somewhere that this might actually be satire but either way it's a work of art

[lesbiandemondaddy]

Florence + the Machine heritage post. Literally like this should be required reading for all of their fans it's so iconic

#i heard somewhere that this might actually be satire but either way it's a work of art #and very true #florence and the machine #florence + the machine #fatm #f+tm #florence welch #textpost #my post

[cloverthirteen]

Was Ace Attorney made as a satire on Japan’s legal system? -- An analysis

I wouldn’t really call myself an Ace Attorney fan--I’ve never played any of the games, the closest I’ve come being watching other people’s let’s plays. I do like reading about the series on wikis and interacting with fan content for it, though, so I do know a fair amount about it.

One thing I see being said pretty often by fans is that the series was intended as a satire/parody of the Japanese legal system, which is why the courts are ridiculously biased towards the prosecution, prosecutors often care more about perfect win records more than putting actual guilty people behind bars, etc. If you’re familiar with this, you’ve probably heard of Japan’s 99% conviction rate. This interpretation of the games and the way they work definitely makes sense.

But after hearing this many times I eventually noticed something. There isn’t a single actual source (creator statement, interview, etc.) that backs up this claim. Every time I see someone online say “the series creator made Ace Attorney to parody Japan’s actual legal system” there is never a link to an interview or anything that proves their statement correct. If someone has an actual, verified source from Shu Takumi or someone else who had significant involvement with the series, please prove me wrong and show it to me. But according to all of the creator’s statement’s I’ve read, there’s no evidence of the series being an intentional parody.

So, what do we know about the creation of the Ace Attorney series? Well, it was created by Shu Takumi, who wrote and directed the first three games. After working on the dinosaur survival horror game Dino Crisis for Capcom, he was given the opportunity to make any kind of game he wanted. He really wanted to make mystery and adventure games, and from that came Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney.

MC: Before developing Ace Attorney you worked on Dino Crisis. How does one go from dinosaur survival horror to virtual courtrooms?

ST: Dino Crisis was the brainchild of my then boss, Resident Evil creator, Shinji Mikami. Working on his projects taught me not only how to make games, but also how to think about them. After Dino Crisis 2 wrapped, Mr Mikami gave me six months in which to create any kind of game I wanted.

I was still pretty wet behind the ears, but as I'd originally joined Capcom with a desire to create mystery and adventure games, this was a huge chance for me to make my mark as a creator. In the end it took a team of seven 10 months to produce the first GBA Ace Attorney title. Having the freedom to create exactly the kind of game I wanted was amazing and it was a real pleasure to work on that project.

MC: Can you remember when the idea of Ace Attorney first came to you? How did your bosses respond to the idea of a lawyer-based adventure game when you first described it to them?

ST: It was in 2000 when Mr Mikami said I could make my own game and my original idea was a fairly typical adventure with a detective as the main character. Most mystery adventures have the player choose from a number of different dialogue options for their character in order to progress the story, but I wanted a new gameplay style that enabled players to deduce for themselves what was happening, rather than just selecting canned responses. I developed this into the concept of facing off against the suspect in a crime and exposing the contradictions in their statements.

I was sure my new idea would be a fun and original take on the genre, so I started to revise the main character, since a detective would be too traditional for such an original concept. I asked myself, "What kind of professional would face off against a suspect and expose their contradictory statements?" The answer, of course, was a lawyer and so the Ace Attorney concept was born.

(source, from an interview on the making of the series)

Takumi’s original concept for the game involved Phoenix as not a defense lawyer, but as a detective. The gameplay was to consist of “facing off against the suspect of a crime and finding the contradictions in their statements.” However, Takumi eventually realized that taking apart contradictions wasn’t really a detective’s job, and decided to change the protagonist to a lawyer and the setting to a courtroom instead. And thus, the game’s concept was finalized.

Janet: As you know, “Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy” is coming out world-wide this winter, and as I was brainstorming what to write about for this week’s blog, I remembered your tweets from 2010.

Takumi: Tweets from 2010?

Janet: …Well, it was a long time ago…

Takumi: ???

Janet: I-It’s OK if you don’t remember…

Takumi: …Oh, THOSE! Yes!

Janet: I remember reading them and being shocked by how different the original draft of the game’s story was – how Phoenix wasn’t even a lawyer, but a private eye!

Takumi: Yes, AA was originally supposed to be a detective game, so naturally, Phoenix was to be a private eye. But then, one day, I made a startling realization: the gameplay concept I was going for was for players to enjoy finding and taking contradictions apart, but that was hardly related to investigating or detective work at all. In that moment, I had it – I realized that the main setting for the game should be the courtroom.

Janet: That’s quite the jump, but you know, I can’t imagine this series being anything else at this point. 

(source, from an interview by Janet Hsu about the game’s early development)

During the development for the game, Takumi actually knew very little about the intricacies of the legal system--and in fact, he’s been very transparent about that fact in interviews. There’s even a story he talks about in a blog post where he was asked “shouldn’t we do some research on law before we make this game?” and agonized over it for a bit before deciding that being accurate about courtroom processes wasn’t important--what was important was that the game made the trials exciting and fun.

November, 2000. The characters were coming together, and I was working desperately on my first scenario (the current Turnabout Sisters). One day, I was asked about the one thing I didn’t want to be asked about.

“Mr. Takumi. Don’t we need to do some research on law?”

The knowledge I have about the law, pretty amounts to the one fact that in Japan we have the Roppō Zensho ('Complete Book of The Six Major Legal Codes').

“Don’t bother with that. This is a detective game. “

It should have been over with this one line, but…

“But this isn’t a detective game, it’s a lawyer game!”

“If it’s not going to be realistic, I don’t see why this should be about trials.”

“People who play this might get wrong knowledge from the game!”

“We might get sued by the Bar Association!”

“They’ll start complaining!”

…Gyakuten Saiban (Ace Attorney GBA) is simply a “mystery game.”　“Being realistic” is not what is important. What’s important is emphasizing, and recreating the unique “atmosphere” and “tension” of the courtroom. That is why the judge uses a gavel, even though no judge uses that, and why Naruhodō shouts "Objection!" even though nobody does that either.　This game does not need a “realistic courtroom”!

Chasing the true murderer down to the end, and then getting applauded for that in the courtroom. That feeling of thrill and excitement. It was only by February of the following year when we finally manage to recreate that in the game. The couple of months after this had happened, we looked around, got lost and troubled our minds in search for the answer of the big question of “How do we make a trial into a game?”.  Fall was passing by, and the cold winter was close upon us.

(source, from an archived blog post by Takumi)

So, realism and knowledge of law wasn’t important to Takumi during the development of the series. But there’s also the fact that Takumi has actually personally denied that the Ace Attorney series was an intentional satire or criticism of the court system at any point. In fact, according to a blog post (done as if Phoenix and Maya were reading the column and commenting on it), he actually dislikes people seeing his work this way, as he never intended the games to have any big political statements.

A major prerequisite for Gyakuten Saiban is it’s so simple “even my mother could play it”.  So there is only one point at the core of the game: “Seeing through lies”.

Naruhodō: It wasn’t even supposed to be a game about the trials at first. Mayoi: Eh! Really?! Naruhodō: “Simple” is basically all this game is about, according to TakuShū. Mayoi: What do you mean? Naruhodō: He didn’t want to add all kinds of elements for the player to think about, like alibis, tricks or about the culprit. It’d just confuse them. Mayoi: Really. Naruhodō: Basically, you can proceed in the game if you just think about where the contradiction is. He figured that with that, the controls of the game could also stay simple. Mayoi: But, but, why the trials then? Naruhodō: “A story about a detective seeing through lies” wouldn’t be any different from the other games out there. So that’s why he decided to have someone whose job is seeing through lies as the protagonist. Mayoi: So a defense attorney. Naruhodō: Occasionally  TakuShū sees magazines introducing the game as “a work that dared to take on the theme of trials”, and that actually hurts him. Mayoi: He never meant to be something as big as that…. 

(source, from the mentioned blog post)

Ultimately I see how easy it is, if you know a good amount about both Ace Attorney and Japan’s legal system, to come to the conclusion that the games were made as a dig against the latter. However, somewhere along the line, people apparently stopped seeing this as merely a theory and instead as a definite fact. Now, that doesn’t mean that the theory is entirely unfounded--given that Takumi focused only on making trials interesting and fun in the games, you could say that the games work as an light, comedic parody, not meant to make any political statements. And hey, maybe there’s something I missed--maybe there were other people working on the series who did have significant knowledge of law and wrote some parts of the games as intentional satire of the system. Again, if anyone has evidence of this, don’t hesitate to provide it. But with what I know, I don’t think going “well actually” to people who point out the ridiculousness and unfairness of Ace Attorney’s court system is necessary. It’s simply that way to make the games more fun.

#ace attorney #phoenix wright #this was actually kind of fun to research and write! #kinda felt like i was making a statement in a courtroom...

[wordsoflittlewisdom]

Watching bop again

I kinda forgot Cass was at the roller derby game. Love how all the characters are connected

Why does Roman’s voice...sound like that

Boss Bitch is weirdly nostalgic now

I like that the whole roller derby team is wearing like. team jackets. and harleys got her whole fringe sleeves thing going on

YES LOVE WHEN SHE THROWS THE NECKLACE AWAY

The chemical plant blowing up as fireworks was a very Harley choice

“So I’ll start where I fucking want” four minutes ago

huntress huntress huntress huntress huntress

I read somewhere that this huntress and Montoya scene was one take and they just changed the lighting to show the change

romans middle name being beauvais is probably the clearest clue they could have given that he was from a rich family

Love that Renee finds the necklace and knows Harley and the joker broke up. I like this idea that superheroes/villains are kinda like celebrities in this world

The egg sandwich scene is great what more can I say

Love that there’re cars and people just living their lives in this city

It’s a crime that we never see Harley wear this glittery fanny pack

The music is really good in this

It’s neat how the line between her narration and her dialogue is blurred, like how she’ll say the first part of something in narration and the second part in dialogue

Huntress’s little flute theme

And Montoya knows Cass; c o n n e c t i o n s

Montoya’s been going after Roman, too

And now we’re flipping back to the bertinelli massacre and diamond

Even if the whole missing diamond plot isn’t that unique, everything’s woven together so neatly

And now Dinah and Renee are on the phone about Cass and the diamond

It’s all connected

Harleys whole “I’m here to report a terrible crime”—she could have just run in there but she wanted to be Dramatic

I do wish the vocals were a little louder here maybe?

Big fan of this fight choreography

Harley pausing on a frame where she’s making a weird face before rewinding to explain about the diamond—it’s so rare to ever get to see women like. making weird faces in movies. All the women in his this are gorgeous but they don’t always have to be; they look beat up after fights and get dirty and make weird faces and it’s great

Dinah singing? Exceptional

“Loans, liquidity, laundering” ah yes the three L’s of illegal business

I unironically listen to Black Canary’s man’s world.

I like that everyone just calls Dinah “Canary”

“I’m all on my lonesome. It’s great” Harleys even an unreliable narrator when she’s just talking

I’ve really never seen a movie that feel like it’s from the female gaze visually as much as this one—all the rings and earrings, the hair, the makeup, it feels like what women might fantasize about dressing like

Dinah yelling “you motherfucker!” While beating some creeps up is quality

What time of day is it? Dinah would probably be leaving early in the morning, but I Refuse to believe that Roman would be awake particularly early any morning

She either canary is leaving her nightclub singing gig in the late morning/early afternoon or roman is still awake from the night before and is going to go to sleep soon

Cass and Dinah in the same building. (Bernie voice): I am once again talking about the connections

I’ve riffed on this before but i refuse to believe that Roman can drive

This Dinah and Renee scene establishes character, backstories, and moves the plot along all at once

Jesus some of ewan mcgregor’s acting in this is painfully bad

I love that Cass has a big bomber jacket and longer, looser shorts

Jurnee’s abs wow

The lights from behind the hands with the eyes behind Harley, who’s surrounded by people and then Roman and Victor emerge from the back, whispering to each other? Beautiful

One of the grievances roman has against Harley is “constantly interrupting him, like I’m doing right now”

Harleys “you’re really not as complicated as you think” bit is almost satirical of this cult we’ve created of “complicated” white male movie villains who have massive fan followings (cough cough joker)

Interesting that Roman holds the knife to Harleys face but hands it off to Victor to do that actual cutting

Someone handed Roman a bowl of popcorn

Harleys pocket tampon

It’s diamonds are a girls best friend yeah babey!

The male backup dancers are wearing muzzles/masks (Roman has one too for a split second) is an interesting flip on the way women are typically the ones being silenced, as well as Harleys desire to silence the men around her and be the one telling and controlling her own narrative

“Hey! you’re that singer no one listens to!” “Hey! You’re the asshole no one likes!”

Harley with her glitter gun

Harleys reaction when the sprinklers go off is perfect—Margot makes her feel like a living cartoon

This cell block fight scene is a showstopper

I like that cass doesn’t immediately want to stay with Harley. It gives her some agency in a story where she’s mostly just following the curveballs life throws her

Harleys little stare straight into the camera when cass admits to eating the diamond

Harley at the grocery store really emphasizes that she’s a total weirdo

I think I heard somewhere that the pic of child Harley with the nuns is a pic of young Margot??? Not totally sure though

Cass not knowing who the joker is goes with the whole supers are like celebrities thing—cass probably follows a whole different group of them (like how most kids follow different celebrities than their parents)

Huntress huntress huntresssss

“Give me number 32. Mild”

This kid in helenas flashback doesn’t really look like she’s grow up to look like Mary Elizabeth Winstead

This filming in this flashback has so much style

Helena practicing in the bathroom mirror with her drawing and her multiple bottles of travel mouthwash

We’re in the scene where Roman makes the girl dance on the table and oh god it’s so uncomfortable

No no no no no not this hate this

Alright that nightmare’s done

“and that’s why you should never pay federal income taxes”

Harley offering to bring cass to Roman after hearing doc say “business is business is interesting

OH ITS HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT TIME

Dinahs car is yellow because it’s...canary yellow

Roman putting on the mask is cool and all but he’s just gonna have to take it back off to get changed

This Harley vs Renee fight is fun because they keep mirroring each other—they’re fighting each other, but they’re really on the same side

The way the women all kind of circle each other at first and don’t immediately get along

Cass popping up with the gun also gives her some agency—she’s at the end of her rope with the diamond and being betrayed by Harley

“I am nOT THE CROSSBOW KILLER”

The way Huntress sounds so uncertain when she says “...and now I’m done” Mary’s acting really popped off

Roman’s a bitch but I like his outfits

Helenas little smile when Harley says “you just killed his BFF”

I love how excited Harley is when they all agree to work together

Roman’s giving his little speech in the back of a pickup truck?

When all the guys turned around with masks on I got chills

“I love this chick she’s got rage issues.” “I DONT HAVE RAGE ISSUES”

Huntress stabbing the guy while going down the slide is peak cinema

This set lights up as the scene progresses and reveals more

I love love love that Helena is genuinely caring towards Cass and recognizing that children shouldn’t have to go through trauma like her

“When the fuck did she have time to do a shoe change?”

THE HAIR TIE YEAH

Forgot to mention this but it’s a stroke of genius for this place to be called the booby trap

Love me some canary cry

“Told ya she had a killer voice”

Harleys chase was a real group hurrah—the canary cry cleared the way and pushed her forward, Huntress towed her, Renee gave her the gun with one bullet

Cass and Roman are just sitting in the back seat. That must have been an awkward car ride

Cass pulling the gun away from Roman when he tries to shoot up at Harley when Harleys on top of the car is elite

Damn this is one foggy pier

When Harley starts with “your protection is based on the fact that people are scared of you” you expect her to say that it’s wrong or something but she says “I’m the one they should be scared of” this movie messed with tropes so much

That also includes the whole “one bullet” thing—Harley misses with her one bullet, and you don’t really know what’s gonna happen next

“I took your ring”

You can pinpoint exactly when Harley and Roman realize what Cass did

I’d put the entire taco scene here if I could

Renee moving the drink away from cass shows her caring side—she doesn’t want a kid to get into alcohol and make the mistakes she did

“Does she always talk like the cop in a bad eighties movie?”

Harley and Cass stealing the car is a fun way to show that she may be on the side of the good guys sometimes, but that doesn’t necessarily make her one

“Woman” by Kesha

Wow the outfits in this scene are iconic

I mean they are in the whole movie but I especially like these

Cass riding around with Harley and a hyena, wearing cute outfits and learning the ways of chaos

Harley got her sandwich!

The credit art for this movie is cool

Especially how they represent each character

In conclusion this is still my favorite movie

I know I’ve been kinda absent recently, but watching this again has really reminded me how much I love it. I got really busy but I’m going to Make An Effort to be a contributing member of the bop fandom again.

#birds of prey and the fantabulous emancipation of one harley quinn #birds of prey #harley quinn #huntress #black canary #Renee Montoya #Cassandra Cain #Roman sionis #Victor zsasz #words of little wisdom

[countdown-to-destruction]

Inuyasha Sequel: a rant

Put this up this earlier on a post I re-blogged, tried to edit a part or two where I didn’t like the way I had phrased it, and ended up messing up the whole format I wrote this in. Luckily I wrote this as a draft earlier anyways! So I did a some fixing and now I’m just copy-pasting it again and making it a text post instead. This will be very long and a little nit-picky but I wanted to make a post ever since I heard about the upcoming sequel to Inuyasha, Hanyō no Yashahime. I did put a TLDR at the end for those who don’t want to read everything. Not sure how many people in the fandom still follow me and will see this, as it's been a long time since I was actually active in the fandom, but it's hands-down both my favorite manga and anime of all time and I’ve been feeling nostalgic lately so I had to post something. Before reading this be sure to read all of the translated character bios for Towa, Setsuna, and Moroha so that this makes sense.

When I first heard that Inuyasha would be getting a sequel I was excited! But after reading up on it, to be completely honest I'm not feeling this sequel anymore. I know it’s an unpopular opinion but hear me out. Firstly, it seems like Rumiko is mostly involved in the character design aspect and the writing is up to Katsuyuki Sumisawa. The music will be produced by Kaoru Wada which is great! And from what I’ve seen and read online a number of others who worked on the original series will reunite so hopefully the story will go well. However, knowing Rumiko isn't personally writing and not knowing how much input she has or will give makes me unsure about watching. The original Inuyasha anime followed and was based off of the events in the manga, and there was no manga prior to this for it to be based on. Depending on what happens this could be an alright sequel or a total miss. Unfortunately sequels in general are known to be disappointing in some way. 

Secondly, if I hear anything about Rin being the mother of Sesshomaru's twin daughters I'm out. This part will be a SUPER long and in depth explanation on why I think this way, feel free to skip if you're not interested. Please don't come for me on this, I'm here to explain my thoughts and feelings on the sequel and the theories around it so far, not start an argument. I'm more than aware that there's plenty of controversy out there on this pairing and personally I do not support it. I never saw their relationship as more than a friendship, or something akin to child and guardian as Sesshomaru and Jaken are basically Rin's caretakers up until she goes to live in the village with Kaede. He definitely cares for her deeply but I can't see it in a romantic way, being that Sesshomaru isn't even a character focused on romance to begin with. He learns compassion through Rin's second death but that doesn't mean he loves her romantically. As a reminder his main goal is to seek power and be powerful, and it's stated that he needed to learn compassion and grief in order to mature. It's what helped him learn to wield the Tenseiga at its full potential. In addition, she was really young when they first met and still was when she went to live with Kaede. The idea of Sesshomaru (an adult) having romantic feelings for a kid under ten years old (around eleven at the end of the series, and still a literal child in all ways) and waiting for her to age with the intention of marrying her sits totally wrong with me. Age wise I realize that Inuyasha is decades older than Kagome and that his father was much older than his mother, Izayoi, as well. The difference here is that Kagome was a teen when she met Inuyasha (who not just physically, but more importantly mentally was also a teen) and clearly Izayoi was old enough to conceive Inuyasha and give birth. As far as the audio dramas (more specifically "Asatte") go they're generally considered as an outtake reel and are essentially parodies, or a form of satire. Some will debate on this but realistically there’s plenty of reasons this is true, and those who take the time to properly check them out understand that. For me I've always had a headcanon that at some point in her teen years Rin would inevitably develop a one-sided crush on Sesshomaru and that he would ultimately set boundaries and reject her, seeing her as more of a close companion than a love interest and wanting her to live with someone she can grow old with. He gave her the choice to follow him and it's most likely that she would, but I think that once she began aging he would want her to have somewhere to settle, given that he enjoys roaming and seeking out other powerful beings to battle. It's strange to me that they decided to give Sesshomaru hanyō/half-demon children in general but based on the artwork we've seen it's fair to guess that they might have made Sesshomaru and Rin a pairing in this sequel.

IMPORTANT NOTE: I want to clarify that if you ship them together I'm not writing this here because I want to hate on your ship for no reason, or in order to create an argument on if the pairing makes sense, these are my thoughts and opinions on the matter and I’m voicing them because it’s what I believe. I already know that somebody won’t like this and will take it personally. People usually say that once Rin is an adult the pairing is acceptable but I disagree. I find it quite creepy that someone would think it would be alright for an adult to wait around for a kid to grow up with the intention to marry and/or sleep with them. Watching from a distance is the same exact thing, after making an impression on the child... let’s not normalize this. In this situation it would be grooming. We all have our own opinions when it comes to our ships and fandoms and I try to respect that but I can’t get behind this one.

Next we have the apparent lack of parental figures for the heroines. Where are the original Inuyasha characters at? Moroha's character bio says she barely knows her parents (Inuyasha and Kagome, our former main protagonists) and has been alone since she was young! It makes me think either something has happened to them or some kind of bizarre event separated them. And sorry, not related, but why does she transform by PUTTING LIPSTICK ON?? That part threw me for a loop.

When it comes to Setsuna and Towa their parents are absent too. I find it difficult to believe that Sesshomaru wouldn't keep track of his children given how he treats Rin and reacts to her going missing in any capacity. Especially if he happened to be fond of whoever their mother is. One daughter works as a taijiya/demon slayer for Kohaku and the other mysteriously transports to Kagome's era and is raised by Sota (I thought we had finished with the time jumps when the well closed but apparently not. When the Bone Eater's Well closed after Kagome's return it gave a sense of finality and closure to the story, and showed that Kagome had chosen where she was most happy and felt she belonged. I think that bringing the theme of time travel back into the sequel makes it feel repetitive, like something right out of a predictable fanfic. Props to Sota for taking in and raising a child who showed up out of nowhere though).

Another thing that came to mind when I read these character bios was why Inuyasha and Kagome's daughter and Sesshomaru's daughters are the exact same age. Of course there's nothing wrong with that. It only struck me as odd because suddenly everyone is having kids at the same time. And so far there's no mention of other characters like Sango, Miroku, Shippo, Jaken, Kaede, or Miroku or Sango's three children or where they are. One might expect that a story focused on the children of some of the original Inuyasha's main characters would feature appearances from those who had important roles in the previous series and their children. Which brings me around to wondering what made twin daughters a trend? Two sets of twin girls is a unique choice (Sango and Miroku's twin daughters. For such a small group of parental characters, what are the odds of two sets of twin girls? Where is the creativity and again why the repetition?).

Lastly, Sesshomaru's daughters lack some of the common yōkai/demon characteristics we see on Inuyasha and other characters. Their ears are human, and they have no markings or otherwise (that I noticed) with the exception of Setsuna's mokomoko/fur which is similar to Sesshomaru's. So perhaps they take more after their human mother? Given that Inuyasha seemed to inherit strong genes from his father it's interesting that they did not. Their ages also interest me as they appear to age the same way as humans do. Yōkai/demons are known to have a longer lifespan than humans and appear to slow down or almost stop aging at some point. Perhaps this confirms that the slowdown in aging occurs once they reach the equivalent of a human teen? 

Overall Inuyasha was a fantastic manga and great anime on its own, and I never got the feeling that it needed a sequel. As a stand-alone it was everything it needed to be. I thoroughly enjoyed both formats of the original, though I do have a tendency to disregard certain parts of the anime. I always preferred the manga more when the anime dragged out certain scenes (Shichinintai/Band of Seven arc for example) or straight-up excluded, changed, and added others. Taking that into consideration the sequel might end up being the same for me in that way, but rather than one scene that plays out for too long or an excluded, altered, or unnecessary added scene, if it’s not any good I’ll simply disregard it altogether. When the anime comes out I certainly plan to try watching it out of loyalty to the fandom, and due to the fact that it's "technically" canon (without Rumiko being the writer I don't necessarily consider it canon, much like how some folks do or do not consider the movies canon) but I get the feeling that I'll wind up giving up on it in disappointment.

TLDR; Overall I'm left questioning if the sequel is worth watching (for me) given what I've read and heard so far, but nonetheless I will give it an optimistic try! I'm currently wondering how much we'll see of the original Inuyasha characters, if we get to find out what happened to them, if the number one pairing I'm not fond of will make an appearance (and cause me to drop the whole thing), and questioning parts of the character backstories and designs (why is there a repetitive and recurring theme of time travel and does it end up hindering or ruining the story, why do the protagonists all lack parents, and why do the hanyō/half-demon characters lack common yōkai/demon traits and does it make them more human than demon?).

#inuyasha #hanyo no yashahime #sesshomaru #please don't be sessrin #kagome #a feudal fairytale #internal screeching #my thoughts #my opinions #unpopular opinion

[madameinsomnia]

Why Jordan Peele is One of the Most Important Directors of our Generation

Intro:

Before the horror-comedy sensation Get Out was released in 2017, I’d never heard the name Jordan Peele before. Now, after seeing his most recent success, Us, I can’t see myself not perking up at reading his name in the credits.

Peele didn’t just appear magically out of thin air as a gift from the filmmaking gods, even though it seems like so. His career actually kickstarted in 2003 when he joined the cast of Mad TV in its ninth season. I’m not here to give you an entire biography of Jordan Peele’s life, but this does give some insight to just how long he’s been working in the industry. 

Get Out was Peele’s first job as a solo director, but with the amount of professionalism and mastery put into it, you’d never know it was his debut. Might I also add he was the sole writer as well?

Thrilling, with a premise as outlandish as The Stepford Wives, but with so many silly and satirical moments, Get Out feels very much like real life because of this perfect mix. As a screenwriter (wannabe), I must gush a bit about how well his characters are written and how natural their behavior feels given the situation. The protagonist of Get Out, Chris (played wonderfully by Daniel Kaluuya) feels like someone you could meet at a bus stop or in line at the coffee shop, point being he’s an everyman. Not every lead character has to overtly stand out to be noticable; we just have to be able to fit in their shoes.

But what really made Get Out work is how Peele wrote it as a horror movie, without the need of all those cliche horror tropes that our generation is so accustomed to. About to go off topic for a bit, but I assure you, it’ll all make sense as to why I made this article about Jordan Peele.

What is Horror and What WAS Horror?

Horror is, perhaps, one of the most enigmatic genres there is because what can be defined as scary or unsettling is entirely subjective. There are very few things that people are universally afraid of. Things that only seem more common today but really have always been around... what makes today different from then is that everyone talks about it.

Imagine it’s the 1960s, you live in a cookie-cutter neighborhood where everyone knows everyone. Everywhere you look is a friendly face. Then suddenly, down the road, there is a break-in. The parents left the baby with a sitter and she was brutally attacked. Well, the only way you’re bound to know is through the newspaper or word-of-mouth, but after a while, is anyone going to talk about it or want to? Not a chance. You’ll always hear: These things just don’t happen around here. Not in our town. When really, they do. They happen everywhere. Then of course this is how urban legends start. The Hook Killer on Lover’s Lane, the Boogeyman that creeps at night.

A documentary that goes more in depth on this idea is Joshua Zeman’s Killer Legends. He explains how the real-life stories that inspire these legends are far more scarier than the films they create... and that’s how it all started.

Let me explain: the ‘Horror’ genre was meant to showcase just what people didn’t want to talk about what was happening down the road or across town. There’s a man that lures people into his hotel to kill them? Our neighbor killed his wife in cold blood and is trying to hide it? My upstairs neighbors might be psycho Satan worshippers?! Nah. Let’s just ignore it and hope it goes away.

A lot of people think if we don’t talk about it, these issues will vanish. But Horror films reminded us that such terrors exist in the real world, and can only be stopped if we acknowledge that they’re there. That’s why such films like Psycho or Rosemary’s Baby were so revolutionary--the idea that the scariest things are not even supernatural (Peele understands this greatly, but I’m getting there).

Horror worked well as a unique genre for the creative minds of Alfred Hitchcock, Wes Craven, and Tobe Hooper. Then this happened:  

The Slasher Era:

HOLD UP. I’m NOT undermining the effect that these films have. Halloween is a classic, and there are plenty of other ‘semi-modern’ thrillers that work like this, but... 

They unintentionally got the ball rolling for marketing genius and filmmaking disaster. Halloween was far more effective in 1978, when it was released, than it probably would be had it been made today (No, we’re not talking about 2018′s Halloween. Now stop distracting me). With horror, timing is everything... as in, ‘what’s going on in the world’ timing. Babysitting late nights was far more common then than it was now, and teenagers didn’t have modern conveniences they do now should anything happen. Back then, they actually had to WATCH the children, ensure their safety as well as their own, not give them an iPad and watch TV for an hour or two.

On top of this, as much as we take it for granted, 911 wasn’t always around. Until 1968, US citizens had no way of getting in immediate contact with the police until they got the operator on the phone to connect you to them. So Halloween recreates that idea of what if the babysitter got into a terrible situation with no way of getting immediate help? But they also decided to make things a little edgier... better said, bloodier. Cue Friday the 13th.

Teenagers go to sleepaway camp all the time (No, we’re not talking about that movie either, so hush), so what would parents be like seeing this film about kids going to a sleepaway camp where there’s a murderer hanging around? A brilliant idea that sold tickets back in 1980 to young adults and grown-ups alike. That’s because these ideas were new and horrifyingly relevant and real. They’re reminded of the threats that are out there.

But here’s the catch that ruined everything: it sold tickets. Sure, it scared some people for a good while, but they didn’t always leave with the idea lingering in their heads. But the producers and writers don’t always care about the latter, once they realized how easily money can be made by movie-goers wanting a good scare and a ‘fun time,’ the Slasher genre skyrocketed, and the brilliance of horror got dumbed down... and down... and down over the years with few exceptions. Let’s not mention, marketing blew up with Slasher films. Did anyone ask for four Halloween sequels or seventeen more Jason films? Nope. Did it make money anyway? Yup. It’s all in the name, not in the art...

Come On In, Get Out!

(See what I did there?)

Repeating myself at the intro, for those who forgot that this is really about Jordan Peele, I’d never heard of him before I saw Get Out. Even then, I only really knew about the movie through everyone talking about its 100% Rotten Tomatoes score. I went into the movie blind, a little confused to what made it considered a ‘horror’ when it looked like perhaps a Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner? type film.

When I saw it for the first time, I was sinking back into my seat whenever I felt Chris’ (the lead’s) discomfort. Again, it’s because we all fit into his situation seamlessly, being somewhere you’re not sure you’re welcome (hence the clever title). The audience was cheering by the end, eager that our in-movie buddy had made it out safe (Spoilers, I guess, but c’mon. If you haven’t seen it yet, get out :D).

But what made Get Out stand out from other modern-day thriller films is that when I went back, I caught things I’d missed my first time through; small hints and cues that clue you into what’s really going on. Did they have to be there to make it more enjoyable, probably not... but Jordan Peele wrote them in anyway, combining it with his perfect set-ups and shots so that the more cerebral movie-goers can have those ‘ah-ha’ moments! It’s a horror film where, for once, you feel like a genius for getting those little hints and figuring out what’s going to happen next (We are all Rod, who pretty much kept a running commentary of the movie-watcher’s thoughts).

Again, all not required, but very necessary if your film is going to be effective. While Peele deservedly won Best Original Screenplay, I say he was next up for Best Director from the perfect pauses in dialogue, to the little awkward looks in the camera by the hypnotized victims.

Why was it so successful among audiences everywhere, of all nationalities and ages?

Intelligent Horror:

Jordan Peele himself stated that Get Out was from ‘an effort to master fear.’ Us, I think, is an extension of that idea. What made these two films so effective wasn’t that they were filled with scary moments now and then and called itself ‘horror.’

They were smart films.

Get Out has very real fears we as people have; being out of place, uncomfortably watched by people, being abducted and never heard from again which horrifyingly happens far too often here in the States.

Us offers similar real-life horrors. A home invasion, being separated from your kids (and in return, kids being separated from their parents, their source of protection since day one). There always seems to be something supernatural or paranormal at play here, but there’s nothing of such going on. In Peele’s writing, it’s all real-life. After all, is the real world not a scary place?

The only difference I noticed in Us is that Peele maintains his effective dialogue with subtle clues of what’s going on, while visually he kept some of his trademarks (the wide shot of a figure walking towards the camera, looking right into it with wide, terrified eyes) but with a lot less visual hints than Get Out (to me, at least, but I’ve only seen Us once and will definitely be watching again).

While Get Out’s message leaned more towards the race issues in the US (and the world by proxy), Us is more muddled in what the audience is meant to take from it... and that’s perfectly fine. Jordan Peele’s horror is that you might not necessarily leave the theater scared to turn your light off at night, but you’re up late thinking about it and what it all means. And those are the kinds of films that stay on Hollywood’s radar for generations to come and not just as Halloween-time fun. Heck, Get Out came out in February, 2017. Us came out in March, 2019. Normally we expect cheesy rom-coms this time of year; so when a movie claiming to be a thriller shows up on the ‘coming soon’ list, you bet people are going to raise their brows and see what’s going on.

Peele understands how to entice people, to make them feel comfortable with his characters and then worry for their safety, while at the same time being far too fascinated by what’s going to happen to even think about taking their eyes off the screen to check their phones while waiting for the next jump scare.

He knows how to bring out the actors’ most unsettling parts of themselves, actors we may be familiar with and are used to seeing them as friendly faces (Lupita Nyong’o managed to creep me out while being an amazing spectacle on camera)! Daniel Kaluuya became an Oscar Nominee from his performance as a man being held captive going into full survival mode.

Don’t we all worry about what we’d do if we were in the situations those people were in? Wouldn’t we hope to have the smarts or guts to fight our way out just as they did? That’s the idea of what horror really is meant to be. Not be that one idiot character that goes into the scary house that’s known to be haunted while your friends tell you no (or film you for snapchat, I dunno).

No, in Peele’s movie, you’re going somewhere that’s supposed to be safe, where something unexpected that you were unprepared for happens... and that’s scarier than any ghost story I’ve seen.

#Jordan Peele #Modern Horror #Filmmaking #Get Out

[consumingromance]

Pred and Prejudice: 3 In which the reader asks ‘wait is this weird furry vore yaoi or weird political satire?’

Where had he gone wrong? Between their first encounter at breakfast and the time that Roque  left, Alex hadn't been able to think of anything to say... or if he should say anything at all. He wanted to say something. It had been hard to even play his game, he was so distracted.

He got that asking Roque  out wasn’t exactly uncomplicated. Maybe his eagerness had made him move too soon. Asking a guy out right after meeting him when he knew he’d be seeing him again was a bad move. It was just, he knew he'd have to ask Roque  if he wanted to hang out when he wasn't working while they were alone in the house. He knew he'd have to do it before either of his parents got home. What if they decided to come home early? They did that sometimes, working from home for the afternoon.

His parents...that was another problem.

Alex suspected their unexpected telecommuting afternoons were because they didn’t trust him to be alone in the house. Like they thought he was gonna throw a party on a Monday or something. Or maybe they just wanted another chance to lecture him about the more productive things he could be doing with his summer.

‘I work for your parents.’ Yeah, Alex knew that. He also knew his parents might not want him dating a prey kid from the cleaning service.

They were all right with him dating guys. It was just he had to date the right sort of guys. They’d loved Slaine, his best friend since forever. Slaine had been his first boyfriend and his first ex. Slaine was the “right sort.”

They were different species, but they were both canines and he came from a good family with plenty of good connections. For his parents, everything came down to a sort of power-play game, and advancing your social or economic position was the only way to win. For them, it was a matter of practicality: There wasn’t any advantage in dating prey, especially not a penniless prey guy who scrubbed toilets for a living.

Alex hated that bullshit. He wanted to date people because he liked them, not because of what they could do for him. He just wanted to have fun, and his parents would never understand that.

Then again, his parents didn’t have to know about them dating. Alex was an adult, nineteen, old enough to do what he wanted without permission and Roque  was at least sixteen and not their concern.

He paused, thinking that over. Just how old was Roque ? Did he really want to date a high school kid? Well, maybe just for the summer. Three years max wasn’t that big of an age gap. Roque  might have been older, anyway. It was hard to tell since Roque so pretty he'd probably always look young. He was pretty short too, and not just because Alex was taller than average. So really, he might be even closer to Alex's age, and that wouldn't be a bad thing. They were both old enough to make their own choices and Alex’s parents shouldn’t matter.

But they did matter, Roque  had made it matter. " Keep things professional ." Right. That was the logical thing to do.

Alex knew where Roque ' worries were coming from. Who knew what his parents would do if they found out about a relationship-- if there even was a relationship? Fire Roque  on the spot? Kick Alex out?

Then again, even if they didn't care or overreact, it would be easy enough to make sure they didn't find out. As long as Alex didn't do anything while Roque  was working, or say anything in front of his parents, they'd have no reason to suspect anything. He and Roque  could figure something out around Roque ' work schedule.

He'd already managed to keep it professional this morning, trying to be considerate and remember that Roque  was, in fact, working. He’d secretly kept an eye on Roque , glancing out the theater room’s open door every so often to see what he was up to, waiting for the right moment to make his move. He wasn’t going to bother him, just wait until he was taking a break or finished up. Alex had hoped that if Roque  wasn't focused on his job, he'd be more receptive to his offer.

Alex had also put a lot of thought into what he would ask and how he would ask. He figured that Roque  had to be saving up for something, given that he'd mentioned working all summer, so a nice, free dinner would be tempting enough, right?

Wrong, apparently.

Was it the way he’d ask? He thought he'd been very careful and considerate by only saying ' take you out ' and not mentioning 'dinner' at all. If he'd accidentally said " take you out for dinner " for example, instead of " take you out TO dinner ," well, Roque  might've taken that the wrong way. ‘ I want to take you out for dinner' could easily become 'I’d love to have you for dinner, as dinner' if Roque  was being particularly sensitive. Maybe he should've mentioned the free dinner if it was, like over dinner. I’d like to get to know you, maybe over dinner. Somewhere nice? Your pick?

Then again, maybe somewhere nice would have been too much-- especially if the problem was that he moved too fast. But he wanted to give Roque  a reason to go, to give him a chance. Agreeing to dinner so Alex could prove that he was nice and just thought that Roque  was cool.

Alex headed to the fridge and pulled out a carton of chocolate fudge ice cream. He opened the cabinet to grab a bowl but thought better of it, instead just reaching for a spoon and taking the whole tub back to the tv room.

He sighed heavily as he sat down. He’d spent so much time planning their date it'd never occurred to him that Roque  would say no.

And maybe that was the reason it was so hard to just accept the ‘no’ and move on. He'd spent the morning planning where they'd go (out of town, so that no one they knew would cause a problem over the pred/prey thing), and trying to think of things they could talk about (school for Alex, maybe find out more about why Roque  was working).

But all his planning had come to nothing. He’d asked and Roque  said no. Then repeated it just to be clear. No number. Roque didn’t want anything to do with him….or did he?

The way Roque  had responded at first seemed so excited. “You would?” Like he was shocked Alex liked him, but it was the best surprise he’d had in a while. Alex could have sworn he’d seen him smile then. A dopy half smile that gave Roque  a sort of dreamy expression, before he’d quickly replaced it with his bland, professional expression. Alex ate another scoop of ice cream, thinking about that switch.

So, maybe Roque  actually was interested, but he wasn't willing to cross the line into 'probably not the best idea' dating habits. Maybe ' I work for your parents ' wasn't a convenient excuse, but a regretful explanation. Because even when he'd said no, he'd given Alex another smile, bigger and surer and most certainly genuine.

Alex sighed, remembering that smile. It could light up a room. Despite the sting of rejection, Alex had found himself grinning back like idiot. That smile made him feel like he could do anything, although he'd had enough self-control not to push his luck one more time as Roque  left. Roque  had, in no uncertain terms, turned him down. Alex didn’t want to turn into some stereotype pred lecher, stalking prey into the streets because they seemed like easy targets.

A sudden headache drove his thoughts to a crashing halt. Ugh, brain freeze. He looked down at the carton. There was enough for one, maybe two more spoonfuls, but he’d done a number on it. Shit, he hadn’t meant to eat that much. When his mom saw he was going to get a lecture on ruining his dinner and cavities. God, he hated when she acted like he was a pup. He was a grown man!

...A grown man sitting in his boxers while he played video games, eating ice cream out of the carton and feeling sorry for himself.

He had to let this go, or maybe make other plans for Friday morning. Except that would mean being up, dressed, and sometime before 8 am. He didn’t even do that during the school year, and he did not want to do it during summer. Maybe other plans could just mean sleeping in really, really late so there wouldn’t be any awkwardness.

He scooped out the last of the ice cream before setting the carton down and getting back to his games. Time to let it go and stop thinking about Roque  so life could get back to normal.

Hours later, Roque  was STILL on his mind.

He’d never considered before how hard it could be not to think about someone. Because if you made a conscious effort not to think about something, you ended up thinking about it as that thing you didn’t want to think about. Like, should he avoid Roque  for the rest of the summer? Not look at him not speak to him? Was that polite, or was thinking about NOT thinking about him and planning his day around trying not to bother him obsessive in and of itself?

One thing was for certain: it was more than a bit creepy to schedule his life around some guy he just met. Better just to act natural, and if natural for him was friendly and maybe a little flirty...well could anyone really fault him for being himself?

Ugh, why was life so complicated?

He was actually relieved when he heard the garage door open signalling his mother was home. They could talk about her day and he could help her with dinner, and that would take his mind off not having his mind on Roque . A day full of video games certainly hadn’t distracted him.

“Alex!” she called, “a little help please?”

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” he called as he turned off the system. He looked at the empty carton of ice cream...better put it in the waste basket for now and take that out to the garbage bin later, hopefully before she noticed it.

Alex found his mother in the doorway of the garage, holding the door open with her hip as she juggled groceries. He darted forward to take some the bags. “Here, let me get those,” he said.

“Thanks, sweetheart,” she said, giving him a smile. “Did you have a good day? Well, plenty of time to talk about that later. There’s more groceries in the car, plus some yard signs I need to put up.”

Alex nodded, letting her pass through to the kitchen so she could start putting groceries away. He headed into the garage to see what else there was to bring in. He hoped she’d picked up more avocados, or at least bananas. He’d seen an industrial-sized thing of protein powder in the pantry, but he needed more than that to make a decent smoothie.

He popped the trunk and saw a pile of yard signs. They were dark blue with thin red lines framing campaign slogans in bold white letters: “Carnivores First!” and “Great Again! As Nature Intended”. He rolled his eyes.

“Isn’t it a little early for yard signs?” asked Alex. He picked up the groceries. Obnoxious slogans could wait, better get anything that needed to be in fridge put away. Once he was sure he’d gotten all the food, he tucked the signs under one arm and carried them inside. He hoped his mom didn’t expect him to help put these up.

“It’s never too early, not once our party has a nominee,” she said. “Especially after such a divisive primary.”

Alex did not like politics. Alex did not want to really talk about politics. Why had he opened his mouth to say anything? “Well, at least you and dad won’t be fighting anymore,” he said. “Honestly, I’m kind of surprised you’re supporting this guy now. Didn’t you tell dad voting for him was an embarrassment last Christmas?”

“No, I said some of his remarks were embarrassing to the party, which could hurt us in the general election. Hopefully, now that he’s the candidate he’ll be more...presidential.”

“Right, yeah, somehow I doubt a reality TV star can manage presidential. Besides, no matter what he says, there’s no way he’ll win. He wants to legalize eating prey,” said Alex, “I don’t feel like anything he says will get him their vote.”

“Alex, don’t exaggerate,” scolded his mother.

Alex didn’t think he was exaggerating. His father had kept the TV on a constant stream of conservative news last summer and during Christmas break. Alex tried to think back... the speech seemed bit rambling (even just the snippet the news kept airing on repeat) but he was pretty sure it had included something along the lines of ‘ people are saying-- good people and I can see where they’re coming from-- they’re saying we should just go back to eating prey. Why not eat them, at least that way they’d contribute something. ’ Then something about crime and prey being responsible, but that some prey were good people.

“What Dognal meant was that prey have a lot of children, which means they have a lot of mouths to feed, which means that many of them turn to crime to support their families," she said. "And it's mostly preds' tax dollars that pay for all of it. I’m sure he wasn’t serious about actually eating prey, just that preds bear most of the burden and don’t get enough in return. That’s why your father likes him so much, he tells it like it is and our taxes are ridiculous.”

“So we should eat them,” Alex deadpanned.

“So they shouldn’t take advantage,” she corrected. “A lot of people can see the point he’s trying to make. That if we could eat them, at least our tax dollars would come back to us. But he’s not serious, it’s just political hyperbole. He’s just going to make sure preds are treated fairly. Besides, I don’t have to support everything he says to support him over that chinchilla woman. And it’s not about one issue, Alex. You’re not even old enough to really worry about taxes yet, I don’t expect you to understand.”

“Right,” he said. He really didn’t want to talk politics. As much as he didn’t want to be seen with the things, at this point he’d do anything to get away from this conversation. “So should I go put these out in the yard for you, then?”

“Thank you,” she said brightly. “I’ll start dinner. Ostrich or chicken? I got ground ostrich so we could do burgers or tacos? Or I could roast the chicken, do up some sides if you’d rather have that?”

“Burgers,” he called as he headed out to the yard. He moved quickly, stabbing the metal stands into the lawn and leaving without worrying too much about where he put the signs or if they were straight. Let his parents fix them if they cared that much.

When he returned to the kitchen his mother was shaping the meat into patties. “Can I have a fried egg on top and avocados?” he asked.

“Since when did you get so fancy?”

“Come on, I’ve been living on dorm food,” he said. “And I’ll help cook.”

“Do I want to risk a kitchen fire?” she asked, then laughed. “Kidding, kidding. Why don’t you start cutting the avocados while I finish forming the patties.”

“On it,” said Alex.

“And you can tell me about your day,” she said. “So, what were you doing?”

“Oh, you know, relaxing. I need to unwind a bit after finals, right?” he asked. “I met the cleaning guy, I didn’t know we had one. Where was that when I was still here?”

“ You were the maid service when you were still here and it was called chores. Now that you’re away, your father and I get a little help. He’s a nice boy.” Her voice was warm and approving, like Roque  was some sort of feel-good story on the news. “A real credit to his sort, you know? So hard working.”

“Yes, wouldn’t want him to lose his position just because I’m back for the summer,” said Alex. “So he can keep the chores.”

“He does a better job than you did anyway,” said his mom. “But you really should do something productive this summer, you know?”

Alex groaned. How did he keep falling into conversations he didn't want to be having? Well, at least they weren’t talking about Roque  at length.

“You haven’t told me about your day, yet,” said Alex. “I’ve been away for so long, and I miss hearing my darling mother tell me about her day.”

“Anything to avoid talking jobs, Alex?” she laughed, but then went on to vent about things at the office.

They continued to talk as they prepared the food, and when his dad got home and they sat down to dinner, he got an earful about his dad’s office and commute and the latest sports stuff. His dad asked him if he’d thought about getting a job but didn’t push it, and the rest of the evening went pretty well. Roque’s name never came up and Alex didn’t want to make it a big deal anyway. He was going to concentrate on not thinking about Roque, right? So probably best not to mention him again. That way, it’d be easier for everyone, Roque included.

#pred and prejudice

[nerdymovielover-blog]

“Troll Holiday” Novelization Review

Okay guys, MAJOR spoilers for the holiday special. I bought the novelization and finally caved and read it so I could write this review. Remember to buy the book yourself! Or buy the movie too when it comes out!

First off, I think this is going to be a wonderful short film to add to the Trolls canon, and fans are going to love it! Everyone’s going to see things they wanted and things they didn’t expect. The root of the story seems to be Poppy’s motivation to make the Bergens happy by giving them a new holiday. But can the Bergens find a Troll holiday to love when the two groups are so different?

SPOILERS START HERE

Everything about this story is so cute. Poppy and Bridget are like the embodiment of “BFF Goals.” They have adorable nicknames for each other, do cool handshakes, and are overall just share this powerful bond of sister-like love.

Speaking of nicknames, Bridget calls Gristle “Grissy” and Gristle calls her “Bridgie” and “babe.” Isn’t that the cutest?!

Not only do we see Poppy and Bridget’s sisterly love, we see Branch trying to fit in as a troll. The writers seem to recognize that moviegoers fell in love with Branch’s sarcasm and satirical paranoia. We can’t have just an overly happy peppy Branch who has his colors. We need a sarcastic and mildly pessimistic Branch who has his colors. We’re going to see plenty of that and also hear his angelic voice. Win-win!

Now, Poppy’s presentation of Troll holidays is going to be messy and quite over-the-top, based on what I read. It’s going to be hilarious and possibly cringe-worthy to watch, but it’s still perfectly in-tune with Poppy’s personality. She’s the type of partier who goes all-out and puts her heart and soul into everything she does. I honestly can’t wait to see the holiday presentation, even if I do cringe for poor Bridget, Gristle, and Barnabas.

The one part I’m not so sure about is the scene where the Trolls go through a wormhole while on a Caterbus (driven by Cloud Guy). It’s a very strange, quite bizarre scene that implies references to the original Good Luck Troll dolls. I feel like this was either two things: an attempt at over-the-top, satirical humor or the storytellers got a little tipsy while writing and the animators just rolled with it. Either way, it should be fun…….I think……

More of my commentary is attached to my favorite passages, also listed in this review. I can’t wait for the special to come out so I can compare it to the image I have in my head thanks to this wonderful novelization.

Enjoy some of my favorite passages below! And remember to buy the book! I only included a select few, and the novel is so worth the buy.

Passages I loved:

Pg. 2: Super-Scrapbooking Day was jam-packed with fun activities. Harper, who loved art, showed the Trolls how to make their scrapbooks more artistic. King Peppy told young Trolls thrilling stories about the adventures of scrapbooking heroes in the olden days. Guy Diamond showed everyone how to dance new steps while they add the sparkle of glitter to their creations.

First off, Super-Scrapbooking Day sounds so much fun! And when Trolls celebrate, they go all-out (there’s even a parade). I love it! I mean, Peppy is telling little ones about “scrapbooking heroes.” I just love all of it already.

Pg. 3-4: “May I see your scrapbook?” Poppy asked. Branch hastily hid it behind his back. “It’s not done,” he said. “It’s actually my first scrapbook ever.” “Aw, c’mon!” Poppy said, grinning. “Gimme a sneak peek!” “Well…….okay. But promise you won’t laugh!” “I won’t laugh—no way! What’s the theme of your scrapbook?” Poppy asked eagerly. “Rainbows? Cupcakes? Rainbows made out of cupcakes?” Branch rolled his eyes. “Rainbows made out of cupcakes? How is that even possible?” “With scrapbooking, ANYTHING is possible! So what’s your theme?” “Rocks.” “Rocks?” “Yeah. Rocks.”

Aww, look at our little Branch! He’s trying so hard to be happy and fit in with the other Trolls now that he has his colors back. But he still has some of that leftover greyness. In this special, I feel like we’re going to see quite a bit of Branch trying to figure out who he is: what is Blue Branch and what is Grey Branch?

Pg. 6-7: Not that the Bergens never had fun nowadays. They weren’t nearly as miserable as they’d been before the Trolls helped them find the happiness inside themselves. They were perfectly capable of being happy. They just weren’t very good at it. One Bergen’s idea of fun was to organize a picnic at a mud puddle. Nobody came. In fact, even the Bergen who’d invited everyone didn’t show up. Another Bergen thought it might be fun to play soccer with a wooden cube. She ended up in the hospital.

The Bergens are all undergoing changes and learning new things. They spent so much time thinking that true happiness came from eating a Troll. Just because they know they have happiness inside them doesn’t mean they know how to feel it. It must be such a big change for them to lose their only holiday and have no idea how to feel happiness without the Trolls.

Pg. 9: In Troll Village, Cooper walked around collecting mail. After he’d gathered it all, he quickly delivered it. This was easy, since most of the time he only had to walk over to the next pod and hand its owner a card or a party invitation.

This seems like a reference/throwback to an early concept design for Cooper, where our favorite giraffe-like troll was a mailman for the village. Very clever, Dreamworks.

Pg. 13: Poppy turned and saw Branch looking at himself in her mirror. He was making a face that looked tense. Painful, even. “What are you doing? What’s happening with your face? Are you about to barf?” Branch shook his head. “No, I’m practicing my smile. You know, I’m new to this whole being happy thing.”

I see some discussion about Branch’s dulled colors in the special. This further proves some of the theories that Branch as PTSD-like symptoms. He’s trying to be happy and be like the other trolls, but those are two different things. I think he’s definitely happy, especially when he’s with Poppy. But he’s not just like the other trolls, not anymore.

Pg. 25: “Wait a minute,” Branch said. “Making his own echo? Where have I heard that voice before?” Then he remembered! “Oh, no . . . not him.”

Poor Branch still doesn’t like Cloud Guy very much, which I find hilarious.

Pg. 35: Branch pointed toward the meadows. “Well, that way looks friendly and inviting, but you just know it’s going to turn out to be horrible and terrible once you get there.”

Aw, there’s our cute little pessimistic Grey Branch. Honestly, I’m glad the writers kept some of Branch’s sarcastic, sometimes-pessimistic personality even when he has his colors. After all, I think most of us fell in love with Branch because he contrasted so much against Poppy.

Pg. 39: Gigantic snowflakes fell from the sky and stuck into the ground on their sharp points. Each flake stood twice as high as a Troll!

See, what stands out to me here is that I recognize this as a brief scene from Trolls during Poppy’s song “Get Back Up Again.�� Once again, the writers show how they recycle things used in the movie or concepts scrapped from the original cut. That’s the great thing about writing and filmmaking. Something that doesn’t work in one place may be awesome somewhere else in a related field.

Pg. 44: “Uh-oh,” Biggie sighed. “Who’s good at untying knots?” “Pirates?” Cooper guessed.

I’m sorry, that was like an awesome Dad Joke. I actually laughed out loud.

Pg. 52-53: Cloud Guy had an amazing voice. But he was loud. Really loud. In fact, he was so loud, several critters’ faces scrunched up. Others covered their ears with their feet. Some fell to the ground. As the critters writhed on the ground, tortured by Cloud Guy’s thundering vocals, the Trolls slipped away.

Oh geez. I’m not sure I’m looking forward to hearing that.

Pg. 56: “Cooper,” Poppy said, “pyrotechnics.” “Huh?” Cooper said. “I thought I was doing the fireworks.” “Pyrotechnics are fireworks,” Branch explained. “Oh,” Cooper said. “In that case, ready!” He gave a confident nod and a welding mask fell own over his face. he raised a gas torch, which was already lit and flaming.

Um………is anyone else concerned by that image?

Pg. 62: “On Tickle Day, we all get tickled by . . . SPIDERS!”

Okay, this is the part where I start to question the Trolls’ way of life, no matter how cute it looks. I respect all living creatures, even spiders, but I don’t want to be tickled by one.

Pg. 76: Bridget took a deep breath. “I guess what I’m saying is none of this really means anything to us.” “Um, okay,” Poppy said, not exactly sure what her friend meant. “But I just want you to have something to celebrate.”

Serious moment at last after all the craziness of the holiday presentations. This is significant. Trollstice was the Bergens’ only holiday, the only time they could be happy. Bridget has a point: none of the Trolls’ holidays mean anything to the Bergens. They don’t have any emotional attachment to said holidays. But Poppy also brings up a good point: the Bergens need something to celebrate. They need a way to exercise their new happiness, and what better way than a special, annual occasion that they can share with each other?

Pg. 80: Branch approached the pink shrub. “Poppy, I know you’re hiding in your hair.” The pink shrub sudden turned around and howled. It was a strange pink-haired critter! “Not Poppy! Not Poppy!” Biggie said, clutching Mr. Dinkles protectively. “Sorry,” Branch said. “Wrong hair.”

Major LOL! I hope we actually see that scene in the movie!

#dreamworks trolls #trolls holiday #book review

[the-desolated-quill]

The Beast Below - Doctor Who blog

(SPOILER WARNING: The following is an in-depth critical analysis. If you haven’t seen this episode yet, you may want to before reading this review)

Remember those awful social satire episodes RTD used to write during his tenure? Episodes like The Long Game and Bad Wolf with social commentaries so obvious it feels like being hit on the head with a two ton anvil wearing concrete slippers and carrying an anchor? Thank God we don’t have to put up with those now Moffat is in charge, right?

...

Oh.

The Doctor and Amy arrive on Starship UK in the 29th century where solar flares have roasted the Earth and now the human race is searching the stars for a new place to live. But something is not quite right. How can Starship UK be flying without an engine? What monstrous creature dwells at the bottom of the ship? Who is the hooded woman in the mask? What’s the deal with those Smilers? What exactly happens inside the voting booths? And why the fuck should I give a shit about any of this?

In case you missed the oh so subtle political allegory that Moffat has cobbled together here, The Beast Below is supposed to be a satirical jab at the UK’s electoral system by way of The Matrix. No seriously. The whole Forget and Protest stuff is a direct ripoff of the red pill/blue pill scene from The Matrix (and it wasn’t very good then). The problem Moffat runs into is the same one RTD continuously ran into whenever he tried these types of episodes. Too much focus is given to the glaringly obvious satire and not enough goes toward actually developing the setting, giving us a reason to care about the characters within that setting, or explaining how the mechanics of this world actually works. If anyone who presses the Protest button just gets fed to ‘the Beast,’ why bother giving them a choice at all? Why not just erase their memories and let them live their lives in blissful ignorance? And why do the voting booths let you record messages to yourself? Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of forgetting?

Then there’s the Smilers. Immensely creepy at first, but... what’s the point? Things briefly get exciting when they suddenly get out of the booths, but they don’t actually do anything other than shamble very slowly toward the protagonists. What threat do they actually pose? What's their purpose in this society other than to admonish small children? Same goes for the guys in the hooded cloaks. The reveal that they’re in fact half Smiler, half human was nicely executed, but again... what’s the point?

But my biggest question mark is on Liz 10, aka Queen Elizabeth X. I loved Sophie Okonedo in the role. She possesses a lot of natural authority and charisma, and I really like that in the future we have a black, Cockney monarch.

Liz 10: “I’m the bloody Queen mate. Basically i rule.”

Unfortunately Okonedo is let down by Moffat’s writing. What do we actually learn about Liz 10? She cares about her country? Okay. Not exactly a startling revelation, is it? The problem is, as I’ve said numerous times in the past, Moffat can’t seem to write women. It’s as if the only way he knows how to write a ‘strong independent woman’ is to make her a sassy, gun toting badass. Not that there’s anything wrong with women being sassy, gun toting badasses of course, but it does get a bit boring after the 25th time you’ve seen it, plus there’s more to being a sassy, gun toting badass than just being sassy, gun toting and... badassy? (Is that a word?) How about an actual backstory? Some light and shade. Offer us something that’s more emotionally complex and thus more captivating to watch. As much as I enjoyed Okonedo’s performance, her character is incredibly one dimensional.

And I haven’t even mentioned how she factors into the plot. It’s revealed that she’s actually over 300 years old and that her body clock has been slowed down so that she looks nearer 40. Why? What’s the point? Why keep her alive for so long? She’s investigating the possibility that the government is conspiring against her, but the only reason she knows is because the government itself keeps dropping little hints every 10 years. What for? And then she’s given the choice to either Forget or Abdicate, which brings me to the same question I had with the voting booths. Why give her a choice in the first place? You’ve already got the Star Whale chained up and flying your ship. It’s a bit late to start having second thoughts.

Ah yes. The Star Whale.

Now I’m not going to comment on the idea of an alien whale living in the vacuum of space because it’s Doctor Who. If I were to comment on all the scientific inaccuracies in this show, we’d be here all day. I will however comment on the wasted potential here. There’s a tricky little moral dilemma taking place in this episode. The last Star Whale has been chained up and tortured for hundreds of years. That’s horrible obviously, but it’s either that or letting everyone in the UK die. Whose life is more important? The last Star Whale in existence or millions of humans? It’s a good ethical conundrum. Pity they don’t bother to explore it. Nope. The Doctor just marches in and says the humans are more important. Wait, hold on a minute! Let’s not be too hasty! Obviously nobody wants to kill millions of humans, but it’s not like Starship UK houses the only humans left in existence. There are other starships out there somewhere. There’s only one Star Whale left, but there’s still billions of us. Is it really worth making a species extinct to save one spaceship? RTD kept running into similar problems during his tenure too. There’s the potential to have an interesting moral debate, but it’s abruptly cut short because the Doctor is the so called ultimate authority and what he says goes.

And then of course Moffat proceeds to let all the air out of the debate entirely when it’s revealed that the Star Whale wasn’t captured against its will at all. It volunteered to help because it couldn’t stand to watch children crying (from space. It can see children crying from space). So it turns out the humans were the bad guys all along and it was never that morally complex to begin with. Thank God. For a moment there, I thought things were going to get interesting. (On a side note, I’m surprised the Star Whale is still willing to keep flying Starship UK after all the torture it endured for centuries. if it was me I’d have fucked off. Also is everyone just going to ignore the fact that the government has been feeding people to it? Under Liz 10′s orders I might add. Don’t forget this was all her idea before she pressed the Forget button).

Which brings me to the final climax. While it’s nice to see Amy put the pieces together by herself and work out what to do, couldn’t we have done it in a way that doesn’t involve reducing the Doctor to a complete blithering idiot? How come he didn’t notice? It’s not as if the children crying reveal was some obscure thing. That guy said to his face that the Star Whale doesn’t eat children. How come the Doctor didn’t put two and two together. And don’t get me started on his bloody solution. Having decided the humans are more important just because, he then decides the best course of action is to fry the poor whale’s brains out and make it a vegetable so that it won’t feel the pain of its torture. Well first of all, people in vegetative states can actually feel pain, and second of all, this sounds like quite possibly the most unDoctorly solution I’ve ever heard. Moffat, what were you thinking?

And then things just went from bad to worse when Amy starts making painfully obvious comparisons between the Doctor and the Star Whale. They’re both old and the last of their species. All that pain and misery and loneliness and it just made them kind. Add Murray Gold’s overly whimsical soundtrack over the top and I was practically on my knees begging them to stop.

Somewhere buried in this compost heap of pointless satire and underdeveloped concepts lies the seed of a good idea. Unfortunately Moffat just doesn’t have the skill to nurture and develop it. Outside of Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Sophie Okonedo’s performances, there’s not much to like about The Beast Below. 

I vote to Forget.

#the beast below #steven moffat #doctor who #eleventh doctor #matt smith #amy pond #karen gillan #bbc #review #spoilers

[badwasabi]

Writing Advice: Shut out shout-outs

Due to the subject matter, I included a larger-than-usual number of references in this one, just for fun. You probably won't find all eight, unless you happen to watch a certain podcast about a certain red-masked superhero and his nubile ginger sidekick partner.

Okay, so you're watching the latest Game of Thrones episode. There's tension, there's shouting, it's very dramatic, you're on the edge of your seat. What next? you think, shoveling popcorn into your mouth.

And suddenly the characters start acting out the "What?" scene from Pulp Fiction.

Your hand stops. Your brow furrows. You mouth hangs open.

This doesn't make sense. The writers just...gave up. They made no real effort to integrate the reference into Westeros. Where'd that paper bag come from? Why is the Mother of Dragons is pulling a Big Belly Burger out of it? What is this? 

I'll tell you what this is. Your hypothetical self has just encountered a bad Shout Out. 

Fanfics, especially by newbie writers, often have this classic blunder. You like Thing, you like Other Thing, you want to put them together like it's peanut butter/jelly time. Let me ask you a question; you might like a nice warm fire. You might like libraries. Would you start a nice, warm fire in the middle of a library? If I needed the insurance money. A public library. Oh. Then no. So you've added the gratuitous reference, you post the chapter, and go on your merry way. Some time later, your reader encounters the reference, and it stops them cold, completely breaking immersion. You were so worried about whether you could that you didn't ask yourself whether you should. One Mass Effect fanfic I read had the bad guys capture Garrus, hang him from a hook, and torture him. Normal enough, right? Well, it was a direct ripoff of the torture scenes from Firefly. Y'know, that "War Stories" episode. Was someone wearing Jayne's hat? Someone was, in fact, wearing Jayne's hat. In a certain Halo fanfic, one of the characters make a crack about how they hadn't seen incompetence like that since the Bush Administration of 21st century Earth. For those of you not familar with the setting, that's be like a  2016 character making a joke about some politican from 1466. Seriously, name someone from the 15th century. Christopher Columbus? Anyone else? Besides Queen Isabella? ...No. You see my point. I bought a cheap watch a year ago. Before the ants ate it*, it looked like a G-Shock. Except that it didn't have the logo, the backlight was more of a frontlight - a bad one - and none of the buttons did what the labels said they were supposed to. Shoehorning in a reference can be like that. It looks good, but the charade falls apart the second you take a closer look. A lot of shoehorned references come without the context that would make them "work" properly. It's not a big problem with individual lines, but when you have to bend the story's universe into a pretzel just to make the reference "fit", you should probably reconsider. And even individual lines can get tiresome if they're intrusive enough. Remember that ME fic I mentioned? The characters often reference popular Firefly lines. It wasn't just the one scene. Which brings me to my next point. References are a crutch, if you rely on them. And in case you're wondering, there's a difference between a pastiche or parody or satire...and an outright ripoff. Also, some works are light-hearted enough to have shedloads of references. Take Deadpool (any medium), Friendship is Magic, or Discworld. And they usually cut back on it when things get heavy, doc. Except Discord, of course, by definition. 

So how do I know when to use shout outs? The same way you get to Carnegie Hall; practice. Get constructive criticism from somewhere. Let readers tell you what works and what doesn't. Read it out loud. Ask yourself if the scene works for readers who don't get the reference. How would you fix the torture scene? Oh, that's easy. Dolores Umbridge. From Harry Potter? Yep. Wouldn't that just make the problem worse? Allow me to explain. Torture scenes are a dime a dozen. Torture scenes where the torturer has some sort of crazy philosophy are a dime a dozen. Religious conviction, punishment, intelligence gathering, Mengele knockoff, dime a dozen. You know what we don't see very often? What? Passive-aggressiveness. Think about it. Umbridge's core personality traits are cloying, syrupy sweetness over an absolute conviction that she's doing The Right Thing. This is a woman who created a brand-new way to torture people - her special quill - and used it on a child. The book said she looked like a toad, but in the films, Imelda Staunton's completely normal appearance is arguably worse. She looks like someone's mum or grandmum. And she's evil. Remember in the forest? The part where she may have been trying to kill Harry and Hermione, and she's still rationalizing? Imagine that with a torturer. She's levering your fingernails off with a scalpel, and still saying that it would really be so much easier if you would just cooperate. Do you think she enjoys hurting you? Why don't you just tell her what she needs to know? Brrr. But enough about my mother. So, in this case, remixing two references is better than using either of them alone. This has to be done well; if you had a generic torturer, but he's actually a woman wearing pink, that's not going to make much of a difference. In fact, it would be jarring for your readers, unless you're in a light-hearted work, or pink is an important color in your story. Maybe it's about "The Flamingo Killer", who always leaves their victims with a pink rose, or pink fibers have been found on the bodies, or something. Which brings me to the last piece of advice; good artists copy, great artists steal. Pretty sure I've heard that before. But what it doesn't say is that mediocre and bad artists also copy. So what's the difference between copying and stealing? Glad you asked, Timmy! Copying is imitating. Stealing is understanding, making it your own. It's the difference between tracing a piece of art and drawing it freehand. Wait. Isn't tracing really useful for learning how to draw? Yes, it is. To a certain point. Then it's better to strike out on your own. If you don't understand why something works, you can't really integrate it into your work. You won't be able to take the parts of it that work and leave the rest, you'll probably just keep ripping it off wholesale. If I may humblebrag; in my fic Ferris, the XCOM team decides that they're going to have to do something really dark. There's a regular soldier nearby, and he's horrified. He says he could never do that type of stuff. The XCOM trooper he's responding to says "That's the idea. We do it, so you don't have to." ...Is that...? Yep. The Nostalgia Critic's catchphrase. Altered and integrated. Now, if I had written "I fight aliens, so you don't have to," that would've been a lot more blatant. Did anyone notice? No one said anything, so...not as far as I know. Then what's the point? To increase the emotional impact of the scene. Instead of forcing a reference to a popular review show that would ruin the emotional impact of the scene. Executive summary: References and shout-outs can be fine, if used sparingly, or in a work where they fit the tone. If not, they'll cut the legs out from any drama you're trying to build. Try and understand why something you're trying to reference works, so you can alter it to fit the new context, instead of plopping it in your story like a scoop of chocolate ice cream on a cheesecake. What type of cheesecake? Boysenberry. Oooh! I love boysenberry pie! Good hunting, Jon PS: Let's talk about obtrusive fandom jokes. For example, take all the RWBY fics that substitute "Monty" for "God". If you don't know who Monty Oum was (creator of the series), it's just a weird joke or some kind of reference you don't get. If you do, then it's a fandom joke with worrying theological implications, since Ren was voiced by Monty. Does that make him Remnant's Jesus, or some kind of avatar of their Creator? Either road, it completely destroys the seriousness of a scene. Imagine if Frodo and Sam swore "by Tolkien", or Captain Picard by "Roddenberry", or Marvel characters by "Stan".

Actually, let's dig deep. You know all those Stan Lee cameos in the MCU? They all fit in even if you don't know who Lee is. You could replace Lee with a bunch of random actors, and with maybe one exception (Avengers), they all make sense. They're funny by necessity, because you can't do something like that without tongue in cheek. I can only remember one dramatic cameo, and that was in Incredible Hulk. The "Monty" joke doesn't have any of that. It can't be justified in the context of the series, unlike a bunch of random old guys throughout the universe who happen to look like Stan Lee. TL DR: If your fandom references don't fit unless your reader knows the context, change them or get rid of them. If you're trying to use an injoke in a serious scene, change it or get rid of it. * More precisely, the watchband. They'll eat anything rubber. 

[ My writing advice posts | Chronological order ]

#writing #writing advice #rwby #fanfiction #bad writing

[ideahat-universe]

Humor musings.

I wrote a variant for humor because I guess I needed to really think about the concept of humor for some reason. I don’t know what was going on at the time but if I had to guess I was probably quite depressed. I spent a very long time in depression and the only thing I wanted in 2007 was to stop going to school. 

Humor: the misunderstood form of happiness

 Why do people laugh? Is it just am impulse to the brain? Does laughter make you live longer or the ability to be able to laugh contribute as well? Is there little difference between a laugh from a newborn baby and a laugh from an evil homicidal killer? As a person who likes to make people laugh I ask myself these questions all the time. I hear so many people make other people laugh when they themselves lack the happiness in there hearts to even smile. I however am not one of them. I do not know about others but the way my heart works is that just seeing you happy makes me happy. I bask in others people’s moments simply because they are happy which may be rare for them. Now I have lived at least 16 years and because of my enriched life of humor and my sacred moments of bliss I know how to make people laugh using my own brand of humor and even though many jokes sometimes fall on dead ears and I’m not so keen about that happening but just because my joke doesn’t make that person laugh does that mean its not considered humor? So many that seems like a silly question but you’d be surprised on how close-minded people can be.

 Just like art people make the all too common mistake of believing what they think is funny is considered funny to be what humor is. Humor is far too broad to be but is such a constricting position. There are more common forms of humor. There is the kind seen often in TV which often uses crude humor, satires, slapstick, and parodies as a source of amusement and these seem to go well with most people. For some even morbid or horrid events such as mass killings deadly diseases and other horrible situations make it to the humor fold this is called black humor and it’s the most controversial of them due to the people who find it funny often lack a sense of humanity or at least are very creepy. Does that make it humor? Yes its humor. It’s kind of creepy and unsettling but its humor nonetheless.

 Among comedy central a certain form of humor has taken form and it’s called racially charged humor. Now I have addressed racially charged humor in the past and I tend to overlook the fact that it might be racist under certain circumstances which to me and some others may seem reasonable. 1. It tends to be true for most people. 2. Its sometimes tends to be well thought out and delivered in a way that you just have to laugh (though whether or not you actually do is put into question). And if it’s not racially charged humor its simple one liner. Which are nice if once again well thought out, though they ironically tend to lack the creativity of the racist ones who tend to get popular much faster. Comedy central has cashed in on the fact that people like racially charged comedians. Though the honest non-racist comedians are every bit as good as the vaguely racist ones, they are left to dust and rarely mentioned by those who do not frequent comedy central. Does comedy Central’s ignorance at the other forms of humor mean they are stating what is and is not considered humor? No not at the very least however they are stating what people find funnier and as misfortune would have it would be humor that feeds on our inability to get along as a nation.

 The Sunday papers have two sections that feature comic’s one that’s usually one strip featuring a satirical piece of artwork that expresses the current events (usually political ones) and makes a less than obvious joke about the subject in question. The thing that sets them apart from normal comic strips is the fact that the reader must be well read in current events and he must be able to deduce what the pictures are saying in order to make it to the point to where he/she decides on how funny it was. Funny or not the ability to understand it shows how well rounded you are and possibility how high class your taste in humor might be. the average comic strip ranges from deadbeat humor to one liners to even satirical jokes and parody’s(sometimes of other comics) although comics have all sorts of forms of humor that are made for different ages most people consider humor in comics strips to be rather limbless and lost and mostly never being funny. Is this true? Sometimes but that’s once again still humor, and seeing as those comic strips exist today people who read the Sunday funnies enjoy Garfield’s more relatable and practical humor than the racially charged and heavy political agenda of the boondocks but both are considered humorous in there own field for what they know how to do.

 Of course even though a lot of humor can only be done by certain people. There are certain forms of humor that are somewhat public domain and what I mean by that is that anyone can use it, and for the most part it turns out okay. The types of humor I am talking about are the everyday practical joke and the knock knock joke. Even today the practical joke reins supreme as the most vindictive way to get a laugh, by simply pulling a trick on a person you can get a laugh at there expense. Now even though it usually guarantees laughs from whoever involved in screwing that said person over, it causes social damage the more you use it the more the people who you have done that too will begin to despise you. Now unless you’re okay with that you should always leave these jokes to be on people who also enjoy practical jokes otherwise your better off just watching someone do that to someone else on TV. Knock knock jokes are the grandfathers of humor. A long time ago there were an easy way for an average Joe to tell a joke and make lots of people chuckle however time has passed and almost any angle that you could exploit from a knock knock joke has pretty much been heard before or has lacked the ability to make people laugh either way. It’s passed its prime as a way to make people laugh but that doesn’t mean its not humor, it just means it doesn’t make you laugh anymore. Now instead of judging whether or not it makes you laugh you should rank it on just how clever it is. Trust me there are knock knock jokes that were genius but never made me laugh.

  Last but not least is the ever well known inside joke. Now these jokes are funny and even downright hilarious the only problem is you have fit a criteria actually get the joke. Whether it be a reference to what happens in your favorite video game or just a powwow you share with your friends after school inside jokes are only funny to those inside the circle. Now these are easily humor but there not for everyone and very few people seem to pickup on that. Inside jokes should stay in places where they can be understood and only then can we get to the part on whether or not there funny.

 An honorable mention is sarcasm you’d think it would be considered humor as well by the way you laugh at someone’s sarcastic comment but the only loophole to sarcasm is that its not intended to be funny its usually a passive aggressive way of letting out your feelings of disdain for something that has been heard, said, and seen and on rare occasions Sometimes even smelt. It for those involved in the sarcastic comment it’s usually no laughing matter. It’s not funny for the people involved nor is it for the person, place or thing it was directed too. Not even the person who said it found it funny nor is it usually intended to funny. The only exception to this is if the sarcastic joke indeed was made for the simple option of other people to laugh then its humor.

 I have stated all sorts of humor some more mainstream than others. Now you’re asking what about ranting? It’s really more of a way to express your hatred of the subject in question. Now a rant can be funny but it’s usually it’s very spiteful and sometimes contains things that might hurt the reader’s feelings and make them uncomfortable. I used to read a web comic called exterminatomous now but I started getting bored of just reading the comics and went on to read there comments and there rants and that’s what I like to call mistake number one. Not only did I initially find there unreasonable rantings funny but I garnered for more. The line in the sand was drawn when they did a fill in the caption contest and tastelessly berated there fans to the point to where I never wanted to read there web comic ever again. Well that’s all of them I don’t think I missed a single one and if I did I probably lumped them into a certain group i.e. sex, porn, cursing, farts, and things of those natures are all considered crude humor. Now at the end of the day there all humor and nor I or you or anyone else is going to find the same exact thing funny but its all humor and somewhere its making someone’s day a little better.

#devblog