#im terrible with the words but like the EFFORT and DEPTH put into this man is incredible and im desperate to uncover as much as i can | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sagemoderocklee · 2 years

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god what do you expect it’s me in ur inbox again with letters (F, J for Kado ooh what a surprise, N, U, V, Z) ok that’s one reblorb i’m gonna be back in 2 minutes with others

F: Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

snippet from the most recent chapter of Absolution:

this exchange im proud of because it's really charged and honestly it's just a challenge, but a good one, to write Lee so... well, mean. i think deep down beneath all that politeness and genuine kindness, Lee has a mean streak from a childhood of being bullied and told he was less than, but that's not often talked about in fandom and honestly it's not like he ever got to rlly have any depth in the series so it's fun to write him like this. difficult but fun. and there's something very delicious about lee and gaara having a verbal sparring match so to speak

J: Write or describe an alternative ending to [insert fic].

oh man an alternate ending to kado... that's a hard one cause i feel like any sort of alternate ending would have to be them like not getting together? but the whole purpose of kado was to have a sweet lil romcom with some intense miscommunication but an overall happy ending.

i guess a possible alternative ending could have been gaara making the arrangement lee had ordered but instead of going to the banquet for gai he just puts it in the shops window and lee sees it on his way to work after having not spoken to gaara for a while and he kinda dithers around looking at the arrangement, trying to decide if this was like gaara's way of telling him he feels the same or what???

like i forget exactly if lee paid for it right away but i know either way gaara wasn't gonna make him pay so if lee had already paid gaara would have canceled the transaction which lee would have seen and taken as gaara refusing his request as well as just a general rejection. so then he'd like see the arrangement he requested and there'd be a lil sign saying it wasn't for sale so he'd have to go in and confront gaara. he'd find gaara in back in the greenhouse and they'd just look at each other and then i dunno run towards each other as the misters turn on and they'd kiss. something super like romcom-esque.

N: Is there a fic you wish someone else would write (or finish) for you?

No. Absolutely not. I am incredibly possessive of my fics and very particular in how things are executed. I have very specific things I wanna see and I know that my niche of political dramas isn't like everyone's bag but it's mine and i would rather do it myself tbh.

U: Share three of your favorite fic writers and why you like them so much.

@ghoste-catte @jessicamiriamdrew

struggling to think of a third person mostly because im terrible at usernames, but both greyson and miriam are incredible writers, both inspire me a great deal (and spark a healthy dose of writer-envy!)

greyson's ability to churn out fics is absolutely incredible and they just have such brilliant ideas. and miriam... god what a fucking way with words. miriam can do more in 500 words than most ppl can do with 5,000, which is such an incredible skill to have. brevity truly is the soul of wit lol

V: If you could write the sequel (or prequel) to any fic out there not written by yourself, which would you choose?

i... cannot think of anything. honestly i think i just feel weird about the idea of writing someone else's fic? like even if it's a sequel to a fic and the author was like please write this for me, i think i'd just be like weirded out by it because it's not my idea and what they envision versus what i envision is gonna be different. i guess if it was like a collaborative effort i'd feel less weird about it.but i cannot think of any fics i'd jump at the chance to work on the sequel for.

Z: Major character death–do you ever write/read it? Is there a character whose death you can’t tolerate?

i have never shied away from character death and never will. like i get people who don't wanna write or read it or what have you, but it's just... not my bag. if a story needs death, a story needs death. it's a part of life and i think that culturally speaking there's a lot of unhealthy attitudes towards death and coping with death, and i'm less of a "fiction as escapism" person and more of a "fiction as a tool for conveying something and commentating on it" whether that's political or emotional or cultural. i think forms of art are the desire for human connection, for sharing yourself with others and creating community. it's an "i see you within myself, do you see me in yourself?"

you have an experience and you put it into art, and other ppl go "wow i feel the same"

and i think death and the way that the western world copes with death feels often very divorced from true acceptance. my mom died when i was a teenager from cancer, and i still struggle with that as an adult almost 20 years later. writing about death is a way to cope and figure out what her death means. it's a way to look back on the person it made me immediately after and the person i could have become vs the person i became.

so while i get everyone has like limits to things and death is traumatic and ppl don't always wanna read it, i think death is a part of life and must also be a part of art. we live and we die. a story cannot be without an ending, and sometimes that ending is death.

and no, at this point, there are no characters whose deaths i cannot tolerate. if the story necessitates a specific characters death, then that character will die. i will never, however, write death as a means of emotional torture porn or anything like that.

#ask game answers #long post

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legends-live-in-memories · 3 years

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I Have Too Many Opinions. ep. 1

lmao. i got encouragement to post my opinions on fandom things and now i want to make a miniseries doing just that. so here i am. doing just that.

im putting it under the cut cuz this was 4 whole pages including the disclaimer. yes i put a disclaimer and i explain why.

Anyways, here is the first piece in what inevitably will become fandom info dump, this time on thomas astruc’s writing on miraculous ladybug. but only some of my opinions cuz we would be here all day otherwise.

So… a disclaimer before I begin…

I do not hate Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir (yes i'm using their government name). I am quite a fan of the show actually despite its faults. I am also older than the intended audience but was obviously younger when the show first aired which is how my interest was piqued (the fact that its been 6 years and only 3 seasons says more about the show than me being a fan for that amount of time but also i never want to rush content creators cuz they're doing their best) and due to my age, there will be inherent bias in my approach of what i'm about to say as there is in EVERY opinion. The fact that it is an opinion should imply the presence of bias but most people tend to lack the critical thinking skills required to draw that conclusion ANYWAYS…

If I did hate the show I would not have this blog nor would I be even writing this because i tend to not give more than 2 seconds of thought to things i actively dislike (some of yall should give this a try) and i'm allowed to like things that are designed for an audience that i was originally a part of but grew out of. (I don't suddenly stop liking things because I'm older despite what many younger fans seem to believe about older audiences. I also don't need to be ‘allowed’ to do anything cuz i wasn't asking for permission anyways.)

This will not be character bashing, astruc bashing nor fandom bashing cuz, again, that would imply i hate any of those elements and if i did, i would not dedicate brainpower to them. Analyses and criticisms of media are fun and engaging and required if you wish to produce good enjoyable content. Now most of this should be already assumed and self-explanatory but people on the internet like to play morality roulette roll dice on purity culture and I rather have documentation that I am in fact not bullying fictional 14 year olds or a grown man. But alas, people get trigger happy whenever someone has less than 1000000% positive opinions on something they like and will throw out words they can't define (gaslight, baiting, toxic, problematic, gatekeep etc) in an attempt to defend their blind devotion,

which is not needed, if you like something you never have to defend it, even if i don't like it. If you respond to anything I post saying you disagree with me, I will not argue with you. I won't debate back and forth and try to convince you that the things you like are wrong. Unless you are being absolutely tone deaf to what i'm saying, you wont get a negative reaction from me. So don't try to fish for a fight. Please. I got metaphorical hands for days and I'm mean, you don't want me hurting your feelings on the internet. Do yourself the favour. Difference of opinion is how we get diversification in media and is inherently a good thing. Now that that's out of the way, please don't ever let me have to say that again. I beg.

Now onto the fun stuff

I didn't know what I wanted as a first topic so my trusty internet friend @moonlitceleste suggested astruc’s writing…

AND BOI do i got some opinions on ole tommy boi. Again I don't hate the dude. In fact, he has worked on a few shows that had defined my childhood, including but not limited to W.I.T.C.H. (all eps available on youtube for those interested, 2 seasons, general fun time all around).

So I don't think he’s scum of the earth but I do think his approach to writing mlb specifically has more misses than hits.

The first big miss is that he has no idea how to write 14 year old girls. At all. Almost every girl he has ever written feels like some terrible archetype built entirely for marketability and childish projection and pubescent self-insert (kind of). He has never been a 14 year old girl. I have. In fact when the show first aired, I WAS around the (assumed) age of the mlb characters. The behaviour he passes off as quirky or awkward or just the character’s genuine personality tend to perpetuate harmful stereotypes of teen girls found in the media and are never actually addressed as harmful. they just get swept under the rug. Marinette’s exuberant collage of teen heart throb model boi Adrien Agreste and her very painful almost fan worship she has of him (which flip flops like a paper sandal in the rain) being portrayed as a cute school girl crush uwu, Chloe being the y7 Regina George, Alya being the token best friend of colour with her ‘sassy’ personality (i want y'all to imagine me eyerolling so hard i bust a vessel in my eye), Kagami being the very damaging Perfect Asian Child stereotype. And before y'all get on your dusty soap box and defend going on about “BUT IT'S FOR CHILDREN”,,,, know this.

i don’t give a solid fuck.

Not one.

Children arent stupid. Children are always going to remember the richy bitchy blonde who bullies the art kid, and the big kid, and the shy kid, and the non white kids, and was only nice to her equally rich white friend who she probably had a crush on or was only ever civil to her equally white lapdog. They're going to remember the half asian girl who was never allowed to actually be asian or the only black girl who existed solely as a soundboard for enabling bad habits or chastising the main character for the same habits she enables in the first place (boi aint THAT a topic for later). Like do i really need to explain that alya chastising marinette for taking max’s spot in gamer just to play with adrien rings absolutely hollow when she actively encourages her to sabotage the contest she’s in just so Kagami doesn't win?? Like I don't have to explain that right?? Again kids arent stupid and its quite something that Mari gets chastised for proving herself the best video game player regardless of her intentions just cuz it comes at the expense of max’s feelings/ego but is actively encouraged to sabotage not only kagami but herself by extension cuz kagami is ‘competition.’ Adrien is not a trophy to be won. And no I don't expect 14 yrs old to be perfect and to always make good decisions but these decisions are never addressed as being bad decisions. they get swept under the rug cuz those decisions were necessary for the ‘plot’ but astruc can barely keep characterization consistent and his characters suffer for it and it's the same children you preach are watching it that suffer as well. Cuz guess what? I KNOW 14 yr olds aren't like that cuz i've been there done that (this is the last time i'm saying that i promise) so I know astruc is just metaphorically throwing darts to figure out who says and does what without consideration for pre established personalities to drive the stalemate plot along. The same kids you say are watching this don't know that that's not how preteens work and will absorb and internalize those dynamics like baking soda and vinegar. Cata-fucking-strophically.

And I haven't even gotten to the boys yet. Which honestly doesn't require much explanation anyways cuz they suffer the same fate as the girls. Tired archetypes with nothing to give them life. Nino falls into Adrien’s person of colour token best friend who dates the female lead’s person of colour token best friend so they can have cute double dates uwu. Except the plot goes nowhere and we have no inclination of romantic development beyond moments that only act to actively convince me to anti ship the lovesquare (i don't want to do that so i self indulge in fanon that actually cares about the characters and plot. may i interest you in True Sight on AO3?). Max is the residential nerd but it doesn't matter (cuz he and everyone are dumbed down for the sake of ‘plot’), kim is the sports jock (which interestingly subverts the asian comedic relief stereotype but only barely) and luka is cute older guy ™ that wears black nail polish and is in a band. The point of all this is to say there is no depth in the characters. It's especially blatantly obvious with the characters astruc doesn't like (chloe). Again, it being a show for kids is not an excuse to be absolved of putting effort into the characters you make.

This is one of the biggest misses astruc has. I haven't even gone into all the nuances of this particular miss. And i havent gone into how that works against him in the plot either. Mostly because the plot itself hasn't gone anywhere and partially because I wanted to go into the plot (or lack thereof) separately as its own miss.

AND BOI is it a miss.

SO home boy astruc wanted to reap the benefits of a serial show with ‘engaging’ plot without putting in any of the work to make a linear storyline and relying on the episodic format for, again, marketability. You can't have the best of both worlds, you are not Avatar: The Last Airbender. Which btw has a lot less episodes and a desired end goal that didn't involve top dollar. Legend of Korra did but that's not the point and it had its failings with that too. I challenge you, tell me how many episodes actually contribute towards a plot point or introduce new thematic elements to the show? Can you name them? I can and I'm going to include the plot points that moved the story in some direction if only temporarily. Yes only temporarily for some of these and i will explain later. (if you're in the server you already saw this list *wink*)

25/26. Origins- self explanatory, the beginning of the story,

24. Volpina- introduction of the grimoire and Master Fu (kind of) and no, Lila is not a plot point,

28. The Collector- proper introduction of Master Fu,

37. Sapotis- introduction of Rena Rouge,

41. Syren- introduction of new aquatic power ups,

44. Anansi- introduction of Carapace,

47. Frozer- introduction of new ice power ups,

48/49. Style Queen- introduction of Queen Bee,

51/52. Heroes’ Day- introduction of Mayura and mass akumatization,

66. Startrain- introduction of Pegasus,

67. Kwami Buster- Marinette wears multiple miraculouses,

68. Feast- backstory as to how the miraculouses were lost,

69. Ikari Gozen- introduction of Ryuko,

70. Timetagger- introduction of Bunnyx,

71. Party Crasher- introduction of Roi Singe and Viperion,

73. Chat Blanc- alternate timeline that essentially means nothing but got a reaction out of fans anyways (myself included)

77/78. Love Eater/Battle of Miraculous- Marinette becomes guardian and other heroes lose their miraculous,

New York Special- other heroes exist and there is an American miraculous box,

That's 21 episodes. 21 out of a heaping 78 plus 2 specials. Everything else was just your typical akuma of the day episode and everything that happened outside that had no lasting consequences on the plot thanks to the miraculous status quo. Was it entertaining to watch Lila stir the plot of the class dynamic? Hell yeah. Too bad it meant nothing by the end of the episode cuz we were struck with miraculous status quo. She literally doesn't appear again until Heroes Day. that is from episodes 25 all the way to 51, she means nothing and yet she is treated with the severity of a b-villain/rival thing. She means nothing by the end of Volpina if I'm being honest. She is only relevant for 20 mins of episode time she’s in then it's back to magic status quo that undoes any shift in dynamics and relationships. It's like Spongebob who can't get his driver’s license. The worst part is I actually like Lila and I wish the story treated her with the seriousness we as an audience are expected to treat her with. Despite being painfully inconsequential by the end of each of the 3?? 4?? episodes she’s in, it's entertaining to watch a character create drama just because.

Too bad it means nothing.

Astruc is constantly building up suspense to something ‘important’ only for it to not deliver and fans are constantly having the rug pulled out from under us. Oblivio teased us with a reveal only that gets undone cuz memory akuma. Chat Blanc teased us with romantic development but that gets undone cuz time travel bullshit. Feast introduced more miraculous lore and the history of the guardians but that means nothing by the next episode or ever (i'm not including any reference to the season 4 trailer cuz i've been around the block a few times and im familiar with this lil dancy dance). Heroes Day teased us with a possible future team of heroes but that gets undone in Battle of Miraculous cuz ????? why?? (here's why; astruc was having a jolly ole time letting us know how irredeemable Chloe is at the expense of shooting his own stagnant plot in the foot. Again, discussion for later.)

Too bad anything that slightly swerves off course from the akuma of the day gets undone or ignored. Too bad nothing has any lasting consequence. I mean, if anything did, the episodes would have had a consistent order and release schedule so im not scrambling to watch the leaked ep in Portuguese or something while the french dub is two episodes behind while the english version hasnt even been dubbed. I really wonder how he plans to conclude the show when he’s so afraid to step out of the corner he painted himself in.

Again, not going into nuances. If you want you can ask for more specifics (i doubt anyone would) but this is really just a slightly detailed general overview of my opinions on astruc’s writing.

I was going to include another miss in his approach to this show but imma save that for another time.

How’s that for a ‘first’ post?

#mlb #opinions my guy opinions #i dont wanna tag this as salt #but mlb criticisms and analyses #IHTMO #the hashtag for this series #thomas astruc #miraculous fandom #miraculous ladybug #miraculous: tales of ladybug and cat noir #yes the government name again #come get yall juice #miraculous

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nathalie-sancoeur-assistant · 5 years

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Emilie Agreste

(Note, I do NOT remember if I have made an in-depth post on this before and if I have my apologies but I want to put this out there)

Okay so I know I say that I hope Emilie is going to be a villain but this is my OFFICIAL post on it, and I'm going to call it right here, right now, in front of everyone, that Emilie Agreste is not only going to be a villain, but she's going to be a force to be reckoned with (I mean, you can't just have the main-bad of the series NOT be ruthless, cunning and hard to beat, right?)

She's going to be charming. How else would she get Gabriel Agreste to fall for her and practically worship the ground she walks on if he's going to not only tear Paris to shreds for her, but risk the life of, most likely, his only friend in the world and one true ally, Nathalie Sancoeur?

Lemme take some time to break this down okay. Now I've spent a lot of time on this, didn't even initially type it out on Tumblr, mkay? I took this baby to sticky notes on my laptop.

First we gotta look at Adriens past just to get a feel for the type of person she was.

Adrien spent his childhood alone, isolated from other people, homeschooled, sheltered beyond whats normal or, even what can be considered extreme and his social life....well, it wasn't even dead, because something that never existed can't die. His only friend was, of all people, the bratty, entitled, snobbish and selfish person we know of as Chloe Bougeoirs (not to anger any Chloe fans out there, she has her pros and cons and I know its a result of a bad childhood as well, but she still uses people, manipulates them and hurts others purposefully to get attention and I don't care how bad of a childhood you've had, that's not okay and she needs to mature because at this rate she's going to stay an ignorant child for as long as she lives). Now, any normal parent might want their kid to have someone their age who was a good influence- and Chloe probably would have benefitted from Adriens present if he wasn't such a...for lack of a better word, a pushover. The poor boy didn't know what friendship was until Nino came about, before that his expectations were probably very low and he had nothing to compare it to. He was isolated for 14 years. Socially, he's dumb as a pickle and it's not his fault. He fits the perfect stereotype that people who are homeschooled are socially inept. So really, his nature as a pushover is a direct result of his upbringing- he doesn't know how wrong it is sometimes.

Now tell me, what kind of decent parent- especially one that needs their child to be able to put on a good image- would be okay with this? They might think "Oh he has Chloe" but I can guarantee you as they got older they could see more and more how bratty Chloe was getting and what a terrible influence she could be on their son- so why did they not attempt to help him socialize? It's not impossible for homeschooled kids to socialize and have a bunch of friends. There are libraries, parks, churches, social gatherings, community events, etc. that you can bring your homeschooled child to for a healthy dose of social interaction with the possibility of making friends- and with how well off these guys are you know darn well they could have gotten him to one at least once a week. Why go to so much effort to keep your kid behind closed doors? It has serious psychological effects that I'm sure people who are smart enough to get so far would know about. Heck you don't even have to be smart to know it- human beings are social creatures, even if some of us are introverted as heck and never want to leave our house, we still need human interaction otherwise we will get sick in some way shape or form. Emilie had a huge say in Adrien's upbringing and could have easily gotten him out of the house- and the reason I say she had a huge role is because, as soon as she was gone, Gabriel started doing what Nathalie suggested. This man relies on the women in his life to help raise his kid, because he knows he's not good at parenting to a certain degree. He trusted that Emilie, as Adrien's mother, would be able to know what was best and likely went along with it because "She'll know what to do. She's his mother and I trust her. If she says it's what is best, then it's whats best and it's what I want." But then as SOON as she was gone, he didn't have that to fall back on and in comes Nathalie, the second best thing. She knows Adrien, she's helped raise him. She's been around for a long time, surely not all her suggestions are going to be wrong. So he goes along with it. (And note while I stated that SEEMINGLY as fact, it was less FACT and more OBSERVATION on my part. I could be wrong! But based off what I've seen and my own intuition, this is how I PERSONALLY have interpreted the situation). But to clarify- no decent mother is going to allow their child to be so out-of-touch. Its perfectly normal to want to protect them but when its to that degree....something just isn't sitting right. (Not saying that Gabriel is off the hook! He could have influence if he wanted too! He has the power to step in and say no- but he doesn't. He does deserve to be shamed for it, just don't forget that EMILIE IS NOT PERFECT)

Now we move on to her personality. We don't know a lot about it, at least we haven't been directly told, but at one point in Simon Says it is insinuated that she had a temper. What a strange first thing to reveal about how she acted, when she's supposedly the ideal mother and woman? (My own personal opinion is that she is going to have that temper, and be bold, intelligent, strong, cunning, charming, and eventually shown to be ruthless, but that is ONLY because I feel that those are traits that accompany a main villain well. I'm not saying that for a fact and I could be COMPLETELY wrong- I thought Duusu was going to be a bitter bipolar ball of sass but from the small clip we've seen she's sweet as a strawberry. So don't take this as fact, PLEASE.) What a strange trait to put any amount of emphasis on for someone painted as ideally as her.

Also- why was she interested in the Miraculous? She knew about them, we know that for a fact, because she gave Gabriel the book. She, I believe, is the one who started this whole miraculous endeavor. I mean, Gabriel by himself I doubt would have any interest in traveling completely out of the country on some off-chance that these so called "magical trinkets" might exist, would he? That doesn't sound like him to me. Not something he'd partake in by himself. Not to mention, we know the miraculous are directly tied to her coma, and without any villains to fight, why on Earth would she be using the peacock miraculous so much? I don't recall it ever being confirmed but we all basically assume it's canon now that Emilie is in a coma because of the damaged miraculous. What on EARTH could she have been doing that required her to use the broken of their two miraculous so frequently? And not even cause any past of sentimonsters in the city (we know that because of how surprised everyone is about the sentimonsters beforehand, how even Ladybug questioned it when we first saw one) And in the end, the book was her last gift to Gabriel. It was hers, not theirs, hers. So that leads me to question- did Gabriel even know about the book until Emilie gave it to him? And if that's the case, why would she wait until she was THAT sick to give it to him? Something just feels off about that.

Now we go on to think about everything Gabriel says when he talks to her. Now there have been MULTIPLE episodes, I can't give exact quotes or even tell you what episodes they were, where Gabriel said something about ruling the world...yeah nah someone like him isn't interested in governing a world of idiots, I've heard that that was simply bad translation and we can also just chalk it up to him getting carried away and less referring to actual world-domination and more just showing exactly how much power he'll have if/when he gets his hands on those miraculous and make his wish. But Gabriel has said things about "promises" they made and "Righting their mistakes"- there is obviously more going on here than meets the eye. There has BEEN more going on here than meets the eye since day one. And we're still in the dark as to the Agreste's full story. Obviously Gabriel and Emilie have made mistakes and his goal isn't just to wish her back, but I'm going to say to potentially wish away the very mistake that caused the miraculous to be broken and Emilie to go comatose in the first place. Perhaps there's more to it but that seems like the most logical route to me. Again, we don't know the full story yet, which just leaves open so many questions and leaves Emilie up to even more suspicion. What was she doing that needs wished away? What broke the peacock miraculous? What did they promise each other?( I think I've mentioned that before and someone said Astruc addressed it or something but I digress, unless I hear something solid and concrete disproving it Im going to wonder about it forever. )

It's been insinuated I believe that the whole reason Gabriel became Hawkmoth was BECAUSE he wanted to bring Emilie back and right those past wrongs. His whole motivation to keep going could be that once he gets those miraculous and changes the past, he will never have had to have even become Hawkmoth in the first place and therefore his current actions don't matter so long as he succeeds and erases that part of his life completely. The ENTIRE REASON he became the supervillain Hawkmoth is because of his wife. And if he succeeds he could potentially wipe it all away and have a clean slate at the expense of someone else taking his place, of course. That may be what he is relying on to keep himself going and justifying his actions for all we know. People didn't know about Hawkmoth before origins, they were all surprised, so that's more proof that...he wasn't really Hawkmoth until his wife fell ill.

Not to mention all the symbolism we see. In Adrien's post on Instagram with Nathalie helping him with his homework, we see Nathalie, working hard to be of service to the Agreste child and fill the role of a mother while his biological mother's portrait, in all its "perfect" glory (Also a picture that clearly idolizes her, making her look almost like some sort of Goddess) sits blurry in the background...watching. That is the best example I have right now but if anyone else has more, feel free to let me know! I'm sure there are plenty of things here I forgot to mention that can be addressed, and if anyone thinks of any, PLEASE, send an ask my way and feel free to discuss it. But this has been my argument, and official "called it!" post on how Emilie is not all she's cracked up to be.

Also a side note- I'm also calling Gabriel succeeding. I believe he's gonna get the miraculous. Its just the twist the show needs, the 'bad guys' for once seeming to win, but they're all pawns in Emilie's game....that last line may be a bit drastic but Im not going to say I don't believe it to some degree.

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mjm56-a · 4 years

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FUCK IT, IM TALKING ABOUT THE TAKOYAKI SCENE. been unsure if i wanted to talk about it for a while considering how short the actual scene is but it makes me feel so much and impacted majima to such a degree that if i didnt talk about it, id feel like a straight up fraud. this post also kinda expands on maji’s feelings towards makoto to a certain extent.

the takoyaki scene. where i do i even BEGIN, especially knowing how makoto and majima end up in the end. the instrumental piano in the background, the actual warmness of the atmosphere, and the genuine gratefulness and visible love makoto felt for majima just tears at my heart. the circumstances around their current situation and the overall softness and adoration for each other juxapose in such a way that it really did take me a moment my first playthrough of the game to take in what had just happened. yes, it was obvious from the beginning of makotos introduction that she would be playing the love interest trope this entire game, and to be honest, i wish there was more to her character more than just being the character with a tragic backstory that needs constant protection and to serve as the romantic interest of one of the main characters. but even then, given with how reluctant majima is this entire scene and how much mutual tension there is between them, it still impacted me AND majima incredibly.

majima truly thinks that he’s a horrible man. of course he would, given all that he’s done and what he knows he will do in the future. he isn’t a keeper, nor a gentleman, it’s all part of the role he was forced to play by his imprisonment, a persona he knew he would drop once his debts were paid. his quick utterance of “yeah, right” and a shift of the eyes away from the woman almost did make him feel like a deer in the headlights. it’s almost as if he’s afraid of admitting how much he really DID care about makoto. he’s been so vulnerable already emotionally, especially in regards to her, and to think that he’d want to show this at all would be like shooting himself in the foot. he’d already been entangled in the tojo clan’s mess and makoto was already a target for her ownership of the vacant lot. it would of been stupid of him to show interest in her, but he already was aware at this point that his entire involvement was all a part of shimano’s manipulation, part of his play to keep makoto alive and to use majima as some kind of proxy through emotional attachment. talking about shimano almost makes me want to write a whole-ass novel about how much of a piece of shit he was for not only what he did to majima, but also what he did to nishikiyama in kiwami, but not today. maybe one day though.

its obvious that majimas efforts aren’t worth it, given how he pretty much ‘snaps’ into that mad dog-esque rage at first with the three punks that beat him up, and then at tojo hq. he really does care for makoto, so much so that he let her go to pursue her own happiness without him for the sake of her safety (i know i’ve talked about this before, but he knows well enough that wanting to pursue anything romantic or close with her would be incredibly selfish of him; it would bite him in the ass and makoto would be a casualty of that. the last thing he wants to do is hurt her and this is evident through his entire escapade with makoto). he isn’t a keeper, nor a gentleman. and he doesn’t deserve to be seen as such, as shown by his quick defense of just begging the woman cooking their food, “less talk, more cookin’, lady!” with a worried expression.

but boy, makoto’s interjection of “he’s a keeper.” and the surprise, no, shock that majima shows. with their previous interaction on the rooftop, i would of been surprised as well.

“he’s been through terrible things for my sake, yet he’s still trying to help me. if not for him, i’d never have made it this far.”

it’s true: the amount that majima had done to keep her safe, risking his own life on multiple occassions for her sake is astronomical. as fuzzy as this morality is in the later games once he takes on his persona, majima can be quite reckless when it comes to protecting those he cares about. well, yeah, at first he felt like protecting her was out of obligation; her murder would of just been an act in selfishness of the corruption of the yakzua, in his eye. she wouldn’t of deserved what had happened to her, nor does she deserve the current hardships that she’s been forcibly put through by mere circumstance. the only way sagawa knew that majima would take the job instead of slaving away once more at the cabaret grand would be to make up some story about makoto being the leader of a trafficking ring in order to butter majima up into feeling better about killing her. her entire predicament is tragic and majima is well aware of this, but even if she wasn’t already a victim, he would of still felt obligated to keep her safe and not do any harm to her. he doesn’t believe in the slaughter of innocents; he’s made it very clear that he’d only murder those who are truly evil or deserved it, e.g. lao gui and dojima sohei, and he would of murdered them if it weren’t for sera to step in and bring majima down from his violent high.

it isn’t just the premise of this scene that makes me go absolutely batshit. he’s so soft and gentle for her. it really does hammer in home the bittersweet ending they got both in y0 and in kiwami 2 when they parted ways permanently, makoto still not knowing majima’s name after all of these years. never has majima cared for a person to this extent, excluding saejima, which i DO plan on writing something about them in the future. i could go into depth about why i dislike majima’s k2 karaoke song “shiawase nara ii ya” to an extent, as i don’t feel like the song was for majima (because if it was, saejima would of been included somewhere in those cutscenes; it wouldn’t make sense for him not to be) and more as a fanservice-callback to y0 without any real reason other than to hammer in makotos reappearance, but i won’t.

anyways, there’s just something about this scene that makes me both awestruck and emotional, knowing how majima ends up. makotos final words regarding majima in y0, “his eye was so sad”. yeah. it was.

#sex trafficking mention //#long post //#META / NO MORE OF MY TRAGIC ASS BACKSTORY #holy SHIT this is long but GOD i have a lot to say

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writingguide003-blog · 5 years

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'I completely lost it': the movie scenes that made our writers weep

New Post has been published on https://writingguideto.com/must-see/i-completely-lost-it-the-movie-scenes-that-made-our-writers-weep-2/

'I completely lost it': the movie scenes that made our writers weep

From Toy Story 2 to Under the Skin, writers pick the cinematic moments that made them cry and explain why. Spoilers ahead

Aunt Lucys trip, Paddington 2

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On the face of it, Paddington is a fairly broad kids film franchise about the hijinks of a CGI bear, and so probably shouldnt make a grown human cry hot, salty tears. But that description ignores the fact that Paddington is a really, really well-made kids film franchise about the hijinks of a CGI bear, one that completely gets the pathos of its central character, a little lost immigrant searching for something resembling a family. Both films ably tug at the heartstrings, but the second film got me sniffling as early as 15 minutes in when Paddington imagines giving his only living relative, Aunt Lucy, a tour around London, something that in reality is impossible as shes stuck thousands of miles away in darkest Peru. When at the end of the film spoiler alert Aunt Lucy arrives on the Brown familys doorstep and she and Paddington hug, I completely, unapologetically lost it. Lord knows what surprises Paddington 3 has planned for my tear ducts. GM

When She Loved Me, Toy Story 2

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Just before writing this, I put When She Loved Me from Toy Story 2 on YouTube once again, just to check. Yep. Just as always, I choke up, in the same abject, lip-wobbling, head-bowed way. It still has that terrible power.

When She Loved Me is the song written by Randy Newman and sung by the devastated toy cowgirl Jessie and in fact performed, beautifully, on the soundtrack by Canadian singer Sarah McLachlan. The song is Jessies way of telling Woody why she has grimly decided to submit to the airless world of the toy museum, because it is better than the inevitable heartbreak and delusion of loving a fickle human child. She reveals her anguish that her owner, Emily, has fallen out of love with her outgrown her, in fact. As Emily entered the world of adolescence, pop music and boys, Jessie was left under the bed and finally dumped.

When I first saw this scene and misled by the size disparity between toy and owner I thought it was a parable for a childs anxiety over being abandoned by the parent. But now that I am a parent I can see the truth which is completely the opposite way around. It is about the parents fear of being abandoned by the child: the terrible fear, actually the terrible certainty, that the kid one day wont want to play with you. They will grow up and want something else. This song is utterly devastating. It is modern cinemas equivalent of the Vesti La Giubba aria from Pagliacci the tragic clown smiling on the outside but crying on the inside. Im afraid to watch it too often. I dont want to break down over and over again. But I also want to preserve its power over me. PB

Ruths death, Fried Green Tomatoes

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In many respects, Fried Green Tomatoes is not a movie for the modern age. It is a story about racism in the deep south told largely by way of eliciting our sympathies for wealthy white characters; it is a story about a lesbian relationship that had to slide its lesbian relationship in unnoticed, by presenting it as a very close friendship fulfilled by food fights, poker games and heads leaning meaningfully on shoulders. But I am deeply fond of this 1991 Sunday afternoon classic. Ive seen it more times than is healthy, and so I know exactly what is coming and when, and yet am still unable to resist the inevitable guttural sobbing that comes with the death scene.

There are plenty of teasers for it, too: Buddy on the train tracks, even Mrs Threadgoode talking about the death of her adult son. Nothing, however, can prepare the viewer for Ruth asking Idgie to tell her the old story about the frozen lake thats now somewhere over in Georgia. It doesnt so much pull on heartstrings as play a full symphony on them, and its devastating. As Sipsey puts it, a lady always knows when to leave. RN

The rooftop dance, Eat Pray Love

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While I was repelled by the mere existence of the Eat Pray Love book, I found something strangely charming about its big-screen translation. It was a mixture of glossy food porn, glossy travel porn and glossy Julia Roberts emoting porn (she remains one of the best fake criers in Hollywood) all wrapped up in a rather unique tale of a woman trying to unshackle herself from the men in her life. But while that all provided mostly surface-level enjoyment, one scene cut deeper and the extent to which it cuts surprises me still.

As is often with the case with movie tears, these were tied to a real-world experience that had happened not long before I sat down to watch. I was dumped by a long-term boyfriend without much of an explanation and without any sort of warning. I was heartbroken and seeking some form of closure that was kept cruelly out of reach. I didnt understand why it had happened and it was the not knowing that felt harder than the break-up itself.

In the film, Roberts character has left her flighty husband and remains haunted by the heartbreak shes caused. On a rooftop in Delhi, a vision of him appears and they dance to Neil Youngs heart-grabbing Harvest Moon, the song that was supposed to accompany their first wedding dance. She reminds him that she did love him. He tells her he still loves and misses her. They cry and continue to dance. At the end, she tells him that it wont last forever, nothing does. Its a short scene but it hit me like a bus, it still does now. My tears are for the film but theyre also for something deeper: the sting of loving someone who stopped loving me and the ache of an ending I was never allowed in real life. BL

The thunderstorm, Click

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Adam Sandler can make me cry harder than hes ever made me laugh, the true test of a clown. Yes, even in the underappreciated comedy Click about a dad who finds a magical remote control in the Beyond section of Bed Bath & Beyond.

Sandlers workaholic architect fast-forwards through the worst parts of his day the dull weeknight frozen dinners with his family, the repetitive arguments, the gross times everyone gets knocked out by the flu in order to get to his next promotion so he can buy his kids whatever they want. His plan doesnt go well, of course. But whats shocking is how gut-rippingly painful it is to see Sandler hit play on his life only to realize hes skipped past everything that matters. His bodys been present, the bills have been paid, but his emotional engagements been staticky a trade-off too many of us can understand.

In the climax, old man Sandler sobs in a thunderstorm as he arrives at his daughters wedding only to learn shed rather her stepdad walk her down the aisle, and his son has grown up to mimic his job-first, family-second example. I rarely cry at unavoidable tragedies where no ones at fault. My weakness is characters regretting choices they cant rewind. Click isnt Ingmar Bergman Sandler gets a happy ending but I barely saw his relief through the rainstorm on my face. AN

The courtroom, Kramer vs Kramer

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By all accounts, Robert Bentons film Kramer vs Kramer skews heavily toward Dustin Hoffmans Ted, whose wife Joanna has left him and their six-year-old son Billy. Billy and Ted make french toast together, or argue about eating ice cream before dinner, or visit the nearby jungle gym. Were it not for Meryl Streep and the trenchant, intuitive way she humanizes a woman who, in the 70s, would have otherwise been made to seem mawkish and unstable Kramer vs Kramer might be just a schmaltzy panegyric on fatherhood.

But leave it to our greatest living actor to turn a film on its head with a single scene. You know the one: Joanna, during the custody hearing, is subjected to a string of sexist questions about her failure as a wife and a mother. When asked why shes seeking custody of Billy, she blinks three times, beginning the monologue Streep herself wrote in an effort to redeem her character, who she initially perceived to be an ogre, a princess, an ass.

Billys only seven years old. He needs me, she says, reciting the word need with a whispery uptick as she glances at her ex. Im not saying he doesnt need his father. But I really believe he needs me more. After catching her breath, she becomes more emphatic: I was his mommy for five and a half years. Since I was about Billys age when my parents got divorced, ergo, too young to understand or even care, Ive always been astonished and, by proxy, moved by how compassionately Streep plumbs the depths of Joannas truth. JN

The beach, Under the Skin

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Little focuses the mind more effectively on human distress than the arrival of your own kids; scenes in films which I might once have snoozed through now induce boggle-eyed terror OH MY GOD, DONT LEAVE THAT BABY NEAR THAT COFFEE TABLE, IT HASNT GOT A CORNER PROTECTOR! But nothing has topped at least, not yet the scene in Under the Skin where Scarlett Johansson murders a swimmer and drags him off to eat him.

Its not the murder thats so epically upsetting, though its gruesome enough: Johansson, playing an alien visitor permanently on the lookout for human nutrients, simply bangs him over the head with a large stone as he lies prone and exhausted on the beach. Its what goes on in the background that is so awful. A woman goes into the water to try and rescue her drowning dog, and her male partner instinctively rushes in after her, leaving their toddler alone high on the shore. Johanssons chum the only other adult on this lonely Scottish beach goes to help too.

With the speed of falling dominoes, a nice little day out unravels: the mother and father are swept away to who knows where, and the alien takes her chance to acquire their would-be rescuer as a food source. Meanwhile, the suddenly abandoned kid is shrieking in terror as the night closes in. Another, less astute film-maker, might cap the scene with the alien scooping the kid up and adding him to her dinner menu, but what Glazer contrives is absolutely horrifying. Johansson-alien simply ignores it, and leaves it alone. The film moves on, this incident consigned to the past.

I have to confess I was absolutely blindsided by the scene; mostly, I think, because of the its sheer unexpectedness. I think I was gripped by a kind of internal hysteria: shock, hyperventilation, a feeling the back of my head might explode. (I cant say I actually cried though I may have, but in the confusion I cant really remember.) I certainly had to hold on to the seat to stop myself bolting out of the cinema then and there. I am aware theres a some degree of self-indulgence here: the fact that my daughter was about the same age as the kid in the film undoubtedly super-sensitised my reactions. But everyone has their weak spot; this is very much mine. AP

The birth, Cheaper by the Dozen 2

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Cheaper by the Dozen 2, if you havent seen it you probably havent, why would you have? is the sequel to the remake of family comedy Cheaper by the Dozen, and Im sure it was made because Steve Martin, the star of the franchise, needed to pay his mortgage. The main gist of the movie is that Martin and his wife, played by Bonnie Hunt, have 12 children who get into various japes. Its asinine. But during a time in my life when I was making a lot of transatlantic flights, Cheaper By the Dozen 2 was always an option on the British Airways seatback televisions, and one day I found, because of the frequency of my flights, I had watched all of the other films.

What choice did I have? At the climactic scene, where the oldest daughter, played by Piper Perabo, gives birth, and then names the baby after her father because he has shown her that there is no way to be a perfect parent, but a million ways to be a really good one, I cried so much the man sitting next to me regarded me with what appeared to be real concern. There may have not been enough cocktail napkins on the whole plane to dry my tears. Was it the recycled air? Was it the two miniature bottles of white wine? Or was it that a joyful childbirth scene can warm the cockles of even the coldest of hearts? JHE

The accidental reunion, Manchester by the Sea

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Weve got a real talent for repression back in Massachusetts. Kenneth Lonergans searing Manchester by the Sea plays out a 15-minute drive from my childhood home and, true to life, the characters all struggle to articulate the perfect storms of emotion raging within them.

When Lee (Casey Affleck) has a chance encounter with his ex-wife Randi (Michelle Williams), the shared history between them is literally unspeakable. They sputter out fragments of sentences that act as a shorthand for vast reservoirs of guilt and self-loathing they cant bear to express, and because they know one another so intimately, they can intuit all the meaning they have to. Theyve both shoved a lot deep down inside just so they can look at themselves in the mirror, and when in the presence of the only other person on the planet who understands what theyve been through, some of it has to come out. Randi does most of the talking, inviting Lee to lunch so they can get some closure, and he ends the conversation by walking away. Shes ready to face her past and be fully present in the new life shes built for herself. Lee, a North Shore boy born and bred, feels more comfortable starting a bar fight as his form of therapy. CB

The hotel, Unrelated

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Joanna Hoggs first film, Unrelated, has had something of a second life on account of being the debut of Tom Hiddleston, and set during a Tuscan summer, which means swimming pool, which means toplessness, and lots of it. Its nice to imagine the Loki-lovers streaming this masterpiece of English upper-middle-class excruciation. As its ending shows, specificity is no barrier to emotional oomph.

The story sees a woman in her early 40s, Anna (Kathryn Worth), holidaying with old friends and their teenage children. She finds she prefers the company of the kids, especially the charming Oakley (Hiddleston, then 26, playing eight years younger). The holiday implodes. Anna goes to stay at a grim airport hotel. Her friend visits, crossly wanting to know whats behind her behaviour. Anna explains that, quite recently, she thought she was pregnant but no, in fact, it was an early menopause. Shell never be able to have children. She sobs and bends double on the bed. It is shot in one take, from the middle distance, acted with a banal frankness which feels like eavesdropping.

When I saw it a decade back, it floored me: a twist I hadnt foreseen, a pain I could only imagine. A few years ago, I began consciously avoiding the film, fearful a similar fate awaited me. Now I can safely watch it again or, I thought I could, but Hogg is much too superb and mysterious a film-maker for that. It isnt simply the information which is terrible, it is the dreadful catharsis of its expression, coming after so much obfuscation. The stifle has gone; instead there is the most awful sadness. Buttoning up is often the bravest way. CS

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us

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writingguide003-blog · 5 years

Text

'I completely lost it': the movie scenes that made our writers weep

New Post has been published on https://writingguideto.com/must-see/i-completely-lost-it-the-movie-scenes-that-made-our-writers-weep/

'I completely lost it': the movie scenes that made our writers weep

From Toy Story 2 to Under the Skin, writers pick the cinematic moments that made them cry and explain why. Spoilers ahead

Aunt Lucys trip, Paddington 2

youtube

When She Loved Me, Toy Story 2

youtube

Ruths death, Fried Green Tomatoes

youtube

The rooftop dance, Eat Pray Love

youtube

The thunderstorm, Click

youtube

The courtroom, Kramer vs Kramer

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The beach, Under the Skin

youtube

The birth, Cheaper by the Dozen 2

youtube

The accidental reunion, Manchester by the Sea

youtube

The hotel, Unrelated

youtube

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us

0 notes