#it's fun it's memorable and it's perfect foreshadowing

[bookshelf-in-progress]

There's no moment of writing triumph quite like the moment when you've been struggling over a plot problem and you suddenly find the perfect solution that makes everything fall into place.

#adventures in writing #i've been riding this high since yesterday evening #i'd been wrestling with the 12 huntsmen opening #trying to figure out how to introduce the princess #i'd brainstormed a couple of limp and floppy ideas #bland talky scenes leading up to her coming on page and impressing everyone #and then a couple slightly more exciting ideas but ones that still felt like you were trying to force in a puzzle piece in the wrong puzzle #but then #i got an idea #that made me grin just imagining it #it's fun it's memorable and it's perfect foreshadowing #it's so perfect i'm almost afraid people are going to think this was the obvious idea and not understand the creative work this required #so i'm saying it right now: this scene was *not* obvious and required a lot of false turns before i came up with it #so please appreciate it

[citnamora]

Loonatics Unleashed is honestly nowhere near as bad as people make it out to be. I'm a big critic when it comes to writing but I mostly had no issues with it. The characters, at times, can be bland but they're not atrocious or annoying. The re used jokes can get old fast but it isn't a crime against humanity calling back to something. And sometimes loose ends are left untied (ex: Pink the Pug and Danger Duck) but it makes sense considering the show had a horrendous first impression which resulted in the hate sinking it. A lot of the problems the show has are a result of it being canned too early. It's clear from the second season that LU listened to its critics so I believe, if given the chance, a third season would have showed great improvement in all of the above.

So now that I've got my nitpicks- that are just that, nitpicks!- out of the way. One of my favorite aspects of LU is the animation. Which is, ironically, one of the more criticized aspects. Is it perfect? No. Does it have its wonky moments? Yeah. But does it do the job of portraying what needs to be portrayed? And does it treat us with cute little details sometimes? Absolutely! I might have skipped the season 2 intro every chance I got but it wasn't for the animation. The new clips they had were charming! The LU style in particular is reminiscent of anime, a common trend in shows at the time, but it's also got some twang to it that helps the characters really pop.

My favorite animation in particular is the final fight scene in the series. Intense, fast, with incredible choreography. And the shot moments later of Ace, sharp ears shriveled, weakly holding himself up with a smile as his teammates rush to him. It's full of so much character! You can feel the emotions in the scene!!

The backgrounds, too, are very gorgeous! The lush, subtropical forestry of the Apocalypso come to mind. That entire episode is an ethereal palette! It's also a great detail how well Lexi's pink and green blend so well with her environment- making her appear as if she belongs there, which can work as foreshadowing for her strong connection with the plant life.

And of course the cheesy dialogue with sometimes nonsensical reference but ultimately silly intentions. It's fun, it's snappy, and it's maybe a bit dated- but who said there was anything wrong with being a product of it's time? Maybe what everyone says isn't the most memorable but Rev's rambling, Tech's techno babble, and Ace's play on words are a distinct aspect of their characters. And distinction is very important with your cast- especially your main characters!

Lexi is Lola's descendant but not once in the show is she sexualized. She's a respected member of the team who is viewed highly by Zadavia and the other Loonatics- so much so that she took over for Ace as leader one time! She's the action girl who is kind and fierce and incredibly dedicated to her passions. And, it's a small detail but after watching lots of shows with the sole girl ending up with the main guy, it's refreshing that her relationships remain wholly platonic! She and Ace are more like best friends than future (romantic) partners. Small, I know, but for an aro like me who is sick to death of that trope it's such a cool thing!

LU is far from a perfect show. Everyone and their grandma seems to have slready swung a bat at it. But there's a lot to praise the show for! Moral of the story- WATCH THE SHOW!!!

#loonatics unleashed #yes it's flawed yes it's dated yes it's cheesy and cliche and arguably a bit of a mess. but it's far from the worst thing ever! #I enjoyed it and I hope you did too! this show needs more praise!! #feel free to add on if you'd like!!

[minijenn]

Jen Tortures Herself With Every Dreamworks Animated Movie Ever: Puss in Boots

So I remember seeing this movie in theaters, but I remembered fuck all about it until now. Of course, this is a weird case where the sequel in a side series is even more popular and beloved than the first one, and yet... the first Puss in Boots is actually pretty damn solid in its own right!

We focus on the titular Puss here, as he teams up with his estranged old friend Humpty Dumpty, and the alluring thief Kitty Softpaws, to steal the magic beans from Jack and Jill. All this is in the hopes that Puss can set a wrong right in the town he grew up in and clear his name by giving the town golden eggs from the golden goose.

A pretty simple setup, but it works well in the action/adventury tone this movie has. There's a lot of really fun action sequences, sword fights, chase scenes, so on and so forth, and they're all really well paced and flow really well. The plot is also pretty solid on emotions too, with some pretty poignant moments thrown in, especially between Puss and Humpty as we learn about their shared backstory and how things fell apart between them.

The characters are a lot of fun of course. Puss is great here, as usual, and works really well as a main character, with his confident, swashbuckling charm shining through. Kitty Softpaws is a delightful leading lady, spunky and whitty enough to prove a perfect romantic match for Puss. Humpty is also really fun, at first set up as a comic relief before being revealed as the twist villain, and I gotta admit, he's a twist villain done right. The movie actually foreshadows his turn really well and his motivation makes sense. He also ends up ultimately redeeming himself in a satisfying, if not bittersweet sort of way.

The animation is great here too. Maybe not as beautiful or stylish as its sequel is, but it's still very solid in its own right. I love how the world here has a spanish flair to it, something that shines through in the really solid score as well! It helps to set this franchise apart from the rest of the world of Shrek, making it feel like own thing while still paying homage to the fairy tales that world was built upon in the first place.

So yeah, the original Puss in Boots may not be as memorable or as much of a feast to the eyes as The Last Wish is, but I still think it's pretty good! I thoroughly enjoyed it all the way through, and I think, while it's not that connected to its sequel, it still feels like a really great way to establish Puss as a main character in his own subseries (the first Dreamworks subseries, surprised it took us this long to get to one). Check it out, if you haven't! It's pretty dang good!

Overall Rating: 7/10

Verdict: Get stalked by Humpty Alexander Dumpty for the rest of your life

Previous Review (Kung Fu Panda 2)

Next Review (Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted)

#jen watches #dreamworks watch #jen tortures herself with every dreamworks movie ever #puss in boots #dreamworks

[variousqueerthings]

I have watched the Christmas Special I am allowed back on the tumbls.

thoughts! nd a little feelings!

we're really starting in on the ideas of the season - magic and science as one, belief as a power, things somewhat to the left of conventional reality, tricksters (and eventually gods), and those are simply some of my favourite things!

on that note, the song that the doctor and ruby sing very similar to how donna beat that one part of the toymaker's maze

this may be the most of a musical episode we get, but I think we should still have a full one -- confirmed both ncuti and millie can sing so...

themes of family as not a biological decree, but as choice and luck and what you decide to call family

(how big is the ruby-is-susan's-child fan theory?)

I also note that introducing a companion with a mystery in this is different than back in m*ffat-era, when it was from the doctor's perspective of wanting to solve the companion, rather than be with the companion and have the companion involved in the mystery (companion as plot point rather than as character), whereas this time around it's ruby's mystery, and in fact the doctor stepped back from figuring it out which is... interesting

some things as foreshadowing: ruby's birth-mother as mystery, themes of family as mentioned - created, found, lost perhaps? - that tie ruby's past with the doctor as the timeless child possibly eventually in a very tangible way (susaaan), how easily one can change reality (mavity just came back, which feels like a small example of how easy it is, alongside the toymaker in the last episode, and the goblins going back in time and stealing ruby in this one), how different beings operate under different laws than ours...

ncuti is giving perfect doctor, as we knew, but I think it deserves to be said! also a tried and true doctor deflection moment of "I've got no one" and then Moving On -- because this episode (and I hazard a guess, season) is so family-focused, I assume there'll be a return to all of that. definitely giving benevolent trickster in a universe of malevolent trickster feel (right before he said that maybe he's the bad luck, I was saying that he's the good luck bringer, which was a fun coincidence...)

I like ruby. I think there's a lot of space to gauge still, as this episode did a lot to give us her background (and a bit of her personality, which is obviously very companion-type), but I'm not quite sure how much millie gibson sticks out to me on her own, especially opposite someone as Big as ncuti gatwa. I wasn't initially a fan of casting another young actor (and then I thought, oh she might be playing someone younger, like yasmin finney did, invoking characters like zoe or ace, but then they haven't done that either), so I'm still a bit on the fence in terms of how she's going to set herself apart from a majority of attractive young white women that play companions, apart from the backstory itself, because so far I'd say... kind of a shrug, yeah she's fine, but she's not super memorable. that being said this is early days -- her background is well-built, she's very much Of A New Generation, which I'm guessing is why they went with someone around this age and they've made sure to represent in various scenes, I like that she's Mancunian, I like the scenes between her and her family. so yeah, I like her, I think currently that she's sweet. also millie gibson has quite a bit of background considering how young she is, and specifically won awards for her work on coronation street, which, I always feel like rtd works well with bringing out the best kind of emotions from actors who've been on soaps, makes me hope for Bigger, which I think DW (and rtd) is good at getting from people

spire through the goblin king's stomach. brutal

on the flipside, the christmas-star death seemed a bit intense, so am glad the doctor saved davina mccall

oh yeah, and the neighbour woman... there was that too. mysteries

fun episode. I'm never expecting brilliance from a christmas special, just fun! and I had very good fun! and also mysteries...

#im watching nu!who #im watching gatwa who #the church on ruby road

[a-moth-to-the-light]

KARD Comeback Celebration: My Favorite Debuts

KARD's four-song debut project is one of my favorite debuts--not only does it remain a k-pop classic, but it also produced one of my favorite songs ever. As I'm checking out KARD's newest comeback, I wanted to reflect on the k-pop debuts that have stuck with me in the same way KARD's did.

[Rules: B-sides from the debut album count because I said so!! Also, I tried not to pick obvious ones--like of course ShinEE's "Replay" and Yena's "Smiley" are awesome, but I think most of us already know that!]

Hot Issue -- 4Minute: This can't be my favorite 4Minute track, since "Volume Up" and "Crazy" exist, but it's REALLY fun. It's catchy, and the members really lean into the concept in a way that foreshadows later greatness. With a debut like this, it's hard not to love 4Minute, I think.

I Will Show You -- Ailee: Since "Heaven" was just a single, I'm not counting it as an official debut (plus, I like this one better, anyway)! "I Will Show You" is a transcendent showcase of vocal power that hits me right in the heart and carved out a space just for Ailee in my memory from first listen.

Fight Day -- Bol4: I actually didn't know that this was their debut until I looked it up and checked, but it's always been my favorite from their first album. It's alt-rock with a little bit of bite to it, added mostly by Bol4's unique vocals, and it's still one of their best songs.

One of Those Nights -- Key: This was actually my favorite song ever for a solid year or so, though Phoebe Bridgers eventually knocked it out of the top spot. The chorus just never stops hitting for me, transporting me to the soft, sentimental world of my favorite Webtoons with just a few notes.

Yolowa -- GWSN: This does a great job of displaying their signature super-sweet sound while pairing it with maybe their most memorable melody ever ??? Too good to be a b-side, truly.

Stay Up -- Baekhyun: Another b-side, but this album is too good for people to just listen to "UN Village." This track is a very soothing combo of a catchy chorus and muted tones--in other words, it's a perfect intro to his later albums!

Bon Bon Chocolat -- Everglow: I know everyone thought "So Bad" was pop perfection, but I'm actually kind of meh on it--which is especially weird considering that StayC is my favorite k-pop group! "Bon Bon Chocolat" is my "So Bad," icy but full of flavor. I think a lot of people liked "Bon Bon Chocolat" when it came out, but I don't hear about it enough anymore, so I'm bringing it back as an act of public service!

Flowering -- Lucy: This may well be my favorite Lucy song, and they've released some absolutely BEAUTIFUL stuff since. Right from their debut, they've had the bittersweet sound perfected, and this track is a wonderful demonstration of that.

Swear -- E'Last: I still vivdly remember experiencing this debut--the title track is grandiose, even a bit too melodically complex for a pop release, which fascinated me and kept me attached listen after listen, trying to figure out all the pieces of the song. Their vocalists take the challenge well, though, giving a performance to remember. Still their best song!

Ponzona -- Purplekiss: I'm glad "Sweet Juice" brought orchestral Purplekiss back, because I think its lush instrumental is exactly what made their debut so great. Though I haven't loved too much of their music since, I think I keep tuning in because of just how much I enjoyed this one.

Glassy -- Jo Yuri: The best Jo Yuri--a musical balancing act, a stunt I can't look away from, with equally delightful sections of chaos and order. Sweet and charming, but just dangerous enough to keep me interested from start to finish!

A channel I like, kpop stuffs, actually released a video ranking fourth gen debuts while I was working on this post! It's cute you should watch!! "Glassy" is way too low I'm crying (/j), but it's FINE I'll live I guess...

#2ne1's fire was cut from my list at the last minute #but i still listen to it i love it !! #this also inspired me to finally listen to taemin's debut and OKAY WOW I WAS MISSING OUT #not as good as his later stuff but like #that's a REALLY high bar anyway #comeback celebration! #kard

[bowtiesnmusicals]

Here is my recap of the Boys vs Girls (Vitamin D) episode of the podcast.

This episode was very fun to shoot and very very memorable.

This was the start of the infamous glee mash-up.

The cast was starting to feel the effects of a show growing in popularity every week.

The cast got back from Australia and got picked up for a full season of 22 episodes.

The started filming the back 9 when they got back from Australia.

By Halloween of 2009 the cast backed up Amber singing the National Anthem at the World Series. They met Joe Biden.

In early 2010 they were on Oprah and performed at the White House.

The machine really started rolling in early 2010.

in late 2009 tabloids started writing crazy stories and fake things were being written about the cast in other publications.

They need to ask Adam Anders about the mash-ups. Whose idea was it?

They recap the episode and talk about each storyline.

The expectations for the boys was low.

They guys knew the girls would be amazing.

They loved Sue's journal.

This was the first time the glee kids got to work with Jessalyn (Terri).

We love continuity errors. They pointed out Sue says she doesn't have a uterus in this episode. Spoiler alert...Sue gets pregnant a few seasons later.

The scene with Finn storming in and being high off his ass on Sudafed was soooo good. It was so much fun to shoot the scenes when they were basically speed.

Cory was very underrated in his comedic prowess.

This episode was a perfect balance of kids and adult storylines.

Why were their cheerios in the scene with the glee kids getting the Sudafed in the nurses office?

This is the first time there weren't any solos. There were only group numbers.

The first time it was split into boys and girls.

Kevin has a terrible gag reflex and was trying not to vomit each take when he played the guitar and had the weird tube thing in his mouth.

Both mash-ups are great.

Good mash-up of song genre and eras. One current song and one older song.

Kevin felt like Kurt when he wanted to go with the girls. He wanted to do the girls numbers.

Kevin was worried about doing his part in the mash-off. Adam Anders had to do a bit of post work on Kevin's part.

Kevin started to throw little shout outs to friends starting in this episode.

This is the first time the entire wall with the dry erase board was taken out for filming.

This episode was nominated for Best Comedy Series Episode at the 2010 Prism Awards.

None could keep it together in the scene where Mr. Shue and Terrri get in trouble.

Iqbal had trouble saying methamphetamines.

The scene was a massive giggle fest.

It was hard to keep it together to get a shot of the scene where they weren't laughing.

Matt and Jessalyn are good at keeping a straight face so you know its bad when they couldn't keep it together.

They guys did great having everyone act differently all hopped up on vitamin d.

Heather and Jenna decided they were going to get crazy when they did the girls mash-up number.

Jenna gave herself whiplash during the girls number.

Heather and Jenna had 5 redbulls and a 5 hour energy shot. They also put icy hot on their back and they felt like their backs were on fire.

Jenna couldn't move her neck the next day.

The director of Spring Awakening visited the set the day the girls did their mash-up.

Around this time Lin Manuel Miranda visited the set. Matt would have Broadway friends visit the set. Kevin and Jenna don't remember meeting Lin.

A fan said this episode reminds them of the Saved By The Bell episode where Jessie takes caffeine pills.

Everyone is put into uncomfortable situations by Sue in this episode.

The end of this episode foreshadows the hallways scene between Emma and Will at the end of the season.

More irresponsible choices by the adults at Mckinley.

Sue becomes co-director of the New Directions

This was the first time the glee kids got to work with Jane.

This was the first time Jane was involved in a choir room scene.

By this point filming had become formulaic and the director for this episode shook things up. She tried new things.

She asked Kevin what he thought was important when filming the music numbers.

Dance needs to be covered wider.

There needs to be a balance between close shots and wide shots.

Everyone was still figuring things out.

By the end of the series things became more formulaic again.

It was fun but a bit jarring to have directors come in and switch things up.

Glee was an expensive show to shoot.

We got to see Howard Bamboo again in this episode. He is one of Jenna and Kevin's favorites.

Howard wouldn't have been able to get the Sudafed today because its locked up.

There is a weird continuity error with Terri wearing a pink shirt and it changes to a blue shirt in the scene where she is talking with Quinn.

Tartie Takes:

Cringe Moment: Emma/Ken proposal

Worst Dance Move: no bad dance moves...Jenna being injured

Best Song: Kevin- 50/50 on boys and girls mash-up songs. Jenna- the boys.

Amber in this episode was wild. She was the ringleader of the girls.

Best Line: Sue's entire journal.

Best Performance by a Prop: Kevin's mouth organ thing he used when playing guitar, Sue's journal

Shit We Found On Tiktok:

Trent Warble (Dominic Barnes) was going to Dalton and McKinley at the same time. There are clips of Dom in classes at McKinley. (I think the same thing can be said about Riker Lynch.)

Kevin texted Ryan and he said that Vitamin D was not inspired by Saved By The Bell. It was inspired by Ryan's love and addiction to Claritin D during allergy season.

Their was a water tank under the big stage they filmed on. The stage had been used to film the Ten Commandments. Ryan said it was moldy.

The mash-ups were Ryan's idea.

There are no bloopers because Ryan doesn't like to release bloopers for his shows out of respect for the actors.

No recaps during the holidays.

They added a bit at the end acknowledging the passing of tWitch (Steven Boss).

#and that's what you really missed #atwyrm #jenna ushkowitz #kevin mchale #podcast #vitamin d #glee

[corvidshipping]

something i have recently gained self confidence in is surprisingly my intelligence. which is like the last thing i ever expected to gain self confidence in, for two reasons.

those being that i’ve kind of lived most of my adolescent and adult life thinking of myself as pretty average intelligence at best (i kind of thought of myself as super smart as a kid but i honestly chalked that up to me generally having a big ego when i was young). and tbh that’s a common thing for ppl with adhd so that may be part of it bc my own adhd always made me think of myself as this lazy, unambitious, unmotivated, unintelligent person before i had the words to describe it and tbh even still having the words and knowledge to explain it. but it’s also an inherent thing. like people called me smart and stuff but i didn’t believe them bc i figured they said that bc i read a lot when i was a kid (as in i would literally get in trouble for reading TOO much when i wasn’t supposed to. and also why did i read the dictionary for fun), and i was good at english/language bc it came very easily to me and bc i could spout information but tbh that’s not being smart imo, it’s just remembering things. and ppl would be like you’re smart bc you learned japanese on your own without any tutor or anything, or bc you memorized jabberwocky when you were 10, or bc you would have full conversations when you were like 7 about the symbolism and foreshadowing in h*rry p*tter. but tbh? id always be like “thank you” but in my head kind of diminish it because like. it’s been a decade and im still not anywhere close to fully fluent in japanese, let alone even passing my JLPT5, and memorizing one seven stanza poem is honestly not exactly going to get me into mensa. and i always passed the latter off as me just spouting the things i would hear other ppl say back at my mom so i discredited it. and the other reason is that being very smart is just not my main goal. and holy shit please don’t take that as me saying being smart isn’t good or anything, obviously it’s valuable and a good goal to have and we should always seek to improve our knowledge and you should only stop learning when you’re dead. but like. while it’s something i value it’s just? not my main goal. if i had the ultimatum between being really really smart but not a very nice person, or being kind of dumb but being a good hearted person, i would always pick the latter. my main value is just Being A Good Person, seeking to do right even if you don’t always do perfect. being kind to people and being someone ppl can trust. i do think intelligence is a good, great thing to have but honestly it’s not even the thing i seek out most in other people. like i really would prefer anyone i hang around to have basic common sense but tbh? if you aren’t that book smart or maybe you kind of don’t make connections in your head all the time it is really not something i notice unless it becomes like, a genuine problem that prevents you from advancing or you somehow hurt other people. i really would rather hang with someone who’s at their core a kind person than anything else. so like it kind of hurt to think of myself as not smart but i really tried not to think abt it much bc in the end it is not my main goal or my foremost core value.

but like i’m kind of meeting more ppl lately. and i’ve been like, less sheltered for a while now like since i was 16 so idk why this is happening more NOW but ever since i moved states it feels like i’ve been realizing this more. i’ve been meeting a lot of different ppl especially at my job and like. given where i work you’d expect a ton of crazy smart people to come through and they definitely do, lots of fascinating conversations about culture and art and im realizing that i can actually hold conversations with them and i actually get what they’re saying even if it’s not about something i already understood. which is part of it. but also. oh my god this is gonna sound so mean. but i’m realizing that i am also… smarter than a lot of people i encounter. and i’m realizing maybe the reason i always thought of myself as not smart is because i only ever had smart people to compare myself to. because i said before i was very sheltered growing up, i didn’t really go to school (i cringe to imagine what it would have been like if i had, being neurodivergent. all the ‘smart but doesn’t apply themself’ notes id have gotten), i barely had friends (i had a few scattered playmates honestly, except for maybe one family in florida) and i never had a close one until i was 7 and never talked to them about serious things till i was 10 or 11. i didn’t know really any of my extended family. i pretty much only regularly interacted with my direct family from childhood till i was maybe 16 or 17. so like, laying it out. my mom is super fucking smart, quick as a whip and witty as fuck and she’s the reason i’m so good at language and had the forethought to speak french to me since i was a baby so even though i don’t speak it, that helped with my neuroelasticity and capacity to learn language even if she didn’t realize it. my dad is ALSO super fucking smart, spoke spanish to me like my mom did with french, knows a million instruments and always learning more and knows more coding languages than im sure of, good at math which i am very not, introduced me to a good third of my music taste (another third was my mom) which is absolutely why i listen to basically anything bc he taught me that any genre can be worth listening to, had deep philosophical conversations with me as soon as i was smart enough and old enough to start asking those questions and didn’t just tell me ‘you’ll understand when you’re older’, taught me to ask questions always even if people don’t like it. my older sisters are crazy smart in all the ways my parents are and i swear they pick up new skills the day they decide to try them. even the people i choose to hang around always tend to end up being super smart. my chosen brother is smart as hell, analyzes media like no one else his reading comprehension is off the charts. my best friend is almost through college in a fucking HARD major and every time she talks about her homework i am absolutely lost on what she’s saying and i love her for understanding it. so like. i was always thinking i was average at best because the only thing i had to compare myself to was also. other smart people. like of course i thought that. to me, my average WAS smart.

but i’m realizing basically that was really skewed. not that other people are stupid cause jesus. no. and i don’t want to seem like im putting people down or anything. im just realizing like. average is not what i thought it was. honestly even common sense isn’t what i thought it was necessarily. a lot of ppl do not make the connections i thought everyone made, or extrapolate new information based on information already given like i thought they did. because. everyone i grew up around. is smarter than me. but that doesn’t mean im stupid. it doesn’t mean anyone else is stupid. it does mean though that i had a very very skewed perception of how smart i had to be to be considered smart, and it does mean that my average is very different from other ppls. and it does mean that i am never ever letting someone try to put me down and insult and discourage me by calling me stupid or treating me like i’m unintelligent ever again. never ever again. in fact i may laugh at them bc of this.

idk. my value in life is still being nice. i’m still always gonna put that first. it’s still more important to me to care for others and share and be trustworthy and helpful and make other ppl happy than to be smart. but like it certainly fuckin helps me care for others more effectively if i’m smart cause i’ll know what to do. so i guess like. maybe i am smart

#paperheart.txt #SIGH this is long #i can’t sleep bc i keep almost getting kicked off my bed. #just a lot of realizations. growing up with stuff can really really skew your idea of the world and yourself #and the only thing that can really change it is just. going out and experiencing the world and life. #and realizing that those are not everyone else’s experiences. #i rly rly grew up thinking i was stupid af bc i didn’t know what to compare myself to and bc of a few ppl i trusted who tried to put me down

[terramythos]

TerraMythos 2022 Reading Challenge - Book 8 of 26

Title: The Final Empire/Mistborn (Mistborn #1) (2006)

Author: Brandon Sanderson

Genre/Tags: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Post-Apocalyptic, First-Person, Third-Person, Female Protagonist

Rating: 8/10

Date Began: 04/11/2022

Date Finished: 04/23/2022

For one thousand years, the world has been oppressed by a living god known as the Lord Ruler. Ash constantly falls from the sky, and a mysterious mist blankets the world every night. Despite being the majority of the world’s population, a race of people known as the skaa live harsh, miserable lives as slaves under the wealthy noble caste.

Amidst this, a skaa half-breed named Kelsier manages the impossible; escaping the brutal Pits of Hathsin. With the newly awakened Allomantic powers of a Mistborn, Kelsier uses his experience as a thief and contacts in the criminal underworld to orchestrate the downfall of the Lord Ruler and his Final Empire. But Kelsier accidentally discovers another Mistborn: Vin, a teenage street urchin ignorant of her powers. Kelsier takes Vin under his wing, but soon realizes her aptitude for Allomancy far exceeds his own— and that she will be crucial to overthrowing the Lord Ruler.

“The trick is to never stop looking. There’s always another secret.”

Review, content warnings, and minor spoilers below the cut. 

Content warnings: Depicted-- Death, mass death, child death, slavery, violence, gore, abuse, underage drinking, police brutality, body horror, addictive behavior, dehumanization, PTSD, mild claustrophobia, mind control/manipulation, warfare.  Mentioned-- R*pe, sexual abuse, p*dophilia, torture, forced sterilization/eugenics, infanticide, genocide, suicidal ideation. 

The Final Empire AKA Mistborn is the first Brandon Sanderson book I’ve read. After hearing near-universal praise for his work, this was recommended to me as a good starting point to get into his overarching Cosmere universe. Overall I had a fun time with this first entry. It’s not perfect, but the things Sanderson does well, he does incredibly well. I look forward to reading the next two in this initial trilogy and hopefully branching out into others later, as I’m sure he develops significantly as a writer.

I noted several strengths throughout my read. The magic system is an obvious candidate; it’s very creative, and Sanderson clearly put a lot of thought into its design. “Allomancy” requires its users to ingest metals/alloys and “burn” them, which confers certain powers. These abilities are pretty standard fare— everything from levitation to super strength to emotional manipulation. But the core concept of how they work is believable. Most Allomancers can only use a single power. Only the titular “Mistborn” can use all of them. One neat detail is that scientific principles like physics play a role in how Allomancy functions. I’m intrigued about two metals (atium and gold), as they have big implications not fully explored in this entry. Finally, I love that Allomancy isn’t the only magic that exists. I’m a huge fan of fantasy worlds that have multiple magic systems, especially if they interact in unexpected ways (The Broken Earth trilogy by N. K. Jemisin is another good example of this).

The setting/worldbuilding is neat. While The Final Empire is pretty standard fantasy, I like how Sanderson incorporates post-apocalyptic and even horror elements into it. The ash-choked landscape blanketed by an eerie, nightly mist is both distinct and memorable. Sanderson also does a great job with foreshadowing/reveals about the world’s lore and characters. It’s a running idea in the story that there’s “always another secret”, and that’s no lie. While I figured out certain twists in the story, others totally surprised me. The final reveal about the Lord Ruler is something I actually speculated super early, but dismissed as unlikely. So it was a real shock when it turned out to be true. There’s still some enticing mysteries by the end. We don’t know where the mist really came from, what was up with Vin’s mother, and so on.

Leads Vin and Kelsier are both well-written, with solid development and character arcs. The surrogate father/daughter relationship between them is equal parts heartwarming and heartbreaking. I like how Vin goes from a timid, distrustful loner to someone who actively seeks out close relationships. It’s great to see her gradually heal from her traumatic upbringing; it still affects her, but she learns ways to cope with it and grow as a person. Initially, I didn’t like Kelsier so much because he seemed almost too perfect. But he gains nuance over time. In particular, I like that he and the Lord Ruler are deliberate foils for each other, but the meaning behind that changes throughout the story. An interesting thing to consider with both leads, but especially Kelsier, is how symbolic character traits become more literal over time.

I like the first-person excerpts before each chapter; they tell a separate story from the one starring Vin and Kelsier. It’s easy to extrapolate the identity of the narrator, and it adds a lot of context to the primary storyline. In particular, I like the ways in which the first-person story mirrors events in the Vin/Kelsier plot, even just in broad strokes or character comparisons. While the story would function without them, they add depth and a sense of history to the world.

Betrayal and faith are the two main themes I noted. Vin assumes that anyone she trusts will inevitably betray her, largely due to personal trauma. Kelsier was betrayed by someone close to him, yet deliberately chooses to trust others in spite of that. While reading, I kept anticipating direct betrayals; someone selling out another character for their own gain. But for the most part, the betrayals depicted in The Final Empire are indirect and emotionally complex, which defied my expectations. Faith is a little more spoilery, but we learn most religions of the world have been systematically wiped out by the Lord Ruler, and supporting character Sazed dedicates his life to documenting them in secret. There’s also an idea of godhood and what that means; the Lord Ruler is considered to be God, and Kelsier at his most egotistical has some disturbing parallels to him.

While I enjoyed The Final Empire, I do have a few criticisms. A pretty obvious one is diversity; there’s very little. Disability is probably the most represented group, as both leads suffer from PTSD and Kelsier in particular has chronic pain. Sanderson also gets credit for making one of the two leads in his fantasy epic a teenage girl. Vin is well-written and a compelling perspective character. But she’s pretty much the only (living) female character of note in the story. There’s a minor antagonist who happens to be a woman, but I hesitate to call her important, as she only shows up in a handful of scenes. There’s a few female characters who were important in the past, but are now dead or MIA (including a Tragic Backstory Dead Wife), so I can’t really count them. Considering the background of systemic sexual violence against skaa women, the lack of representation outside of Vin isn’t great. More broadly, it’s weird to read a book about an oppressed group rising up when said book features almost exclusively straight white men. Granted, The Final Empire was published in 2006, and representation standards have changed a lot. But after reading Le Guin, who went out of her way to depict diverse casts as far back as the 1960s, it’s a little disappointing to read the opposite.

My other criticisms come down to personal taste. There’s a romantic subplot between Vin and a noble named Elend. I didn’t care about it at all; it felt like some arbitrary “love at first sight” cliché. Elend himself seems fine, if a little underdeveloped, but there will be opportunity in the next book to correct this. My main beef is his role in the conclusion. Avoiding spoilers, he accomplishes something major that feels too convenient and unearned. I’m not against what happens with him, but I felt like we needed at least one more book of character development for it to make sense. I suspect Elend will be a lead going forward, so hopefully I end up liking him more.

Finally, the strongest points of The Final Empire are undoubtedly the first and last 20% of the novel. Personally I found the remaining 60% just okay. This isn’t a problem per se; the middle of the novel is perfectly serviceable. It just pales in comparison to the rest. I wish the sense of intrigue and excitement present in the beginning and ending felt more consistent. Again, this is very much my opinion, and I’m sure plenty of people disagree with me.

Despite the above criticisms, I do recommend giving The Final Empire a shot, as I can see a lot of potential in this trilogy. As a relatively early work of Sanderson’s, it’s possible my general complaints are handled better in his other novels. Nevertheless, I plan to read both The Well of Ascension and The Hero of Ages and see how they compare.

#taylor reads #8/10 #2022 reading challenge #book review

[greatqueenanna]

GreatQueenAnna Tid-Bits # 5

My Top Frozen Franchise Songs

I was watching MsMojo's Top 10 Frozen Franchise songs - and I was to make my own list of the top Frozen Franchise songs. The problem was, that I had too many songs I wanted to talk about, so I decided to do a top 20. Obviously, these are my opinions, and I'm encouraging you guys to make your own lists! Which songs are your favorites?

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20. Hygge (Musical) - What can I say but a guilty pleasure song haha. Completely silly and unnecessary, but very fun to listen to.

19. The Ballad of Flemmingrad (OFA) - I Honestly didn't care much for the music in OFA, but Kristoff's traditional song was very fun - especially the longer version.

18. Frozen Heart (Frozen) - I feel like I'm the only person who actually loves listening to this song and knows the lyrics haha. I love how it foreshadows the rest of the film and the cultural sounds.

17. Finale/Let it Go (Musical) - Frozen (and F2 for that matter) needed a finale song. This song brings me the joy of a conclusion that I always wanted for the films. It's also wonderfully written and shows great development for Elsa from her state in Let it Go.

16. What do You Know About Love (Musical) - Kristoff and Anna should've had a duet in the film, and this song really captures what a lot of fans wanted. Both display their chemistry and differences, it's very funny and ends on a positive note.

15. Making Today a Perfect Day (Frozen Fever) - This song sounds mysteriously like the deleted song Life's Too Short, but it was fun nonetheless. I loved seeing a less uptight Elsa.

14. Iduna's Scarf (Frozen 2) - What? It counts! The scene where Elsa and Anna discover that Iduna was Northuldran, and then the Northuldra sing Vuelie to welcome them is very emotional - the fact that they connected the titular Frozen sound (inspired by Sami culture of course) into the story was such a wonderful addition.

13. True Love (Musical) - I really love the idea of Anna having a song where she reflects on her emotions after Hans' betrayal. Interestingly, this song reflects Elsa's Monster in a way - where both sisters, even at their lowest, still want to fight.

12. All is Found (Frozen 2) - I loved the warmth in this song, as well as the mystery and how it foreshadows a lot of the plot in F2.

11. Love is an Open Door (Frozen) - As I just wrote an entire analysis about this song, its easy to see why I think it's great—not only is it catchy but the fact that its a villain song disguised as a love song just make LIAOD unique and memorable.

10. Monster (Musical) - This was one of the first songs that I heard from the musical, and my goodness it was incredible. The tension in the song, the mature themes, Elsa choosing to try and save everyone—it really brought out her heroic side.

9. Lost in the Woods (Frozen 2) - What's great about this song is that it isn't about Kristoff being dependent or forcing Anna to behave a certain way for his emotional validation. Instead, it's about Kristoff being able to let his emotions out without feeling like he needs to put up a tough or perfect persona. This is a wonderful and fun song that tackles toxic masculinity and pushes positive masculinity.

8. Do You Want to Build a Snowman (Frozen) - This song is the very representation of Elsa and Anna's relationship. The way the song goes from bittersweet and goofy to tragic and emotional makes this song an emotional roller coaster from start to finish.

7. Let it Go (Frozen) - What?! Only number 7? Don't get me wrong, Let it Go is a staple of the Frozen franchise and an important and beautiful song for so many — but personally, I think there are just so many more beautiful songs in the franchise that stood out to me more. However, this song is incredible and the build-up of Elsa finally letting go is empowering to watch.

6. For the First Time in Forever (Frozen) - While everyone was going crazy over Let it Go and DYWBAS, I was always anticipating this song and its reprise. It shows us how polar opposite Anna and Elsa are — showing us how hopeful and positive Anna is, while Elsa is fearful and reluctant. It gives us a good idea of how the sisters complement each other.

5. Into the Unknown (Frozen 2) - The first song I heard from Frozen 2, I immediately loved this song more than Let it Go. It establishes a well-known fear that many of us have — the idea that we want to explore beyond our horizons, but we feel we can't. It is a full Call to Action plot in one song, and that makes this song so unique. Also, the inclusion of AURORA was a welcomed surprise.

4. Dangerous to Dream (Musical) - I love this song so much — I honestly wish it was in the film. This song helps us better understand Elsa's point of view and her true desires. That was one of the criticisms of the first film, that we never saw Elsa's desires aside from her fear of her powers, and this song helps with that and shows us a more empathetic Elsa. Not that she wasn't already empathetic, but her coldness and fear often times took over her entire character within the film, and having a song like this would've helped the audience better understand her emotions.

3. I Can't Lose You (Musical) - A while ago when I wrote a comparison between the Musical and Film, I said that while I Can't Lose You was a beautiful song, I felt it was unnecessary to switch it with FTFTIF (Reprise). However, now that I've listened to the song more and really took in the lyrics, I can't help but say that this song should've been in the film just as Dangerous to Dream - and this coming from someone who loves FTFTIF (Reprise). Not only does it better showcase the love that Elsa and Anna have for each other and their fears, but also their desire to reconcile.

2. Show Yourself (Frozen 2) - A hugely underrated song outside of fandom spaces, and one that deserves its praise when it is recognized. Show Yourself truly captures Elsa's struggle and final acceptance of herself and even gives us an emotional moment of Iduna helping Elsa gain that moment of clarity. From the moment Elsa says "Ahtohallan, is Frozen." I know this song was going to be an epic conclusion to Elsa's development.

1. The Next Right Thing (Frozen 2) - I think everyone knows this pain. What Anna feels here is realistic, relatable, and more impactful than anything within the franchise. With other songs we have to suspend our disbelief and apply our own personal interpretation, this song only has one — the pain felt after losing a loved one. It's everyone's worst fear and the thing that is the hardest to accept.

Notable Mention

Into the Unknown by AURORA (Cover) - Better than Panic! At the Disco by miles, and should've been the main cover song for the sequel. It's so beautiful and better captures the theme of the sequel. I recommend everyone to listen to it.

#frozen 2 #frozen #frozen fever #olafs frozen adventure #frozen the musical #greatqueenanna/tid-bits

[mandareeboo]

SU Music Rankings

Bc I can and I wanna start some Disk Horse rip. These are all in order of preference, with explanations, etc. It’s a long bitch. That said, I’m not counting little short jingles or small joke songs like Little Butler. This is the meat and potatoes of SU music- just under 30 songs. I might do the rest if people like my takes lol.

I scored it mostly on three bases- how dear it was to my heart, how much/often I relisten to it, and also what it means to the plot. That said, little fun songs don’t automatically go farther down than big, plot-heavy songs either! It’s a strange little balance.

Special Note: I don’t dislike any of this music! I love SU and that includes its bumps and glitches. I just pick favorite children lol.

1.) Change

Was there ever a more Steven moment than when he wiped the blood off his face and kissed it into sparkles? I think not. 

If “Be Wherever You Are” is an ode to young Steven, then this is teen Steven’s. Talking about change, and how much and how little it can do. How he holds his arms up for Spinel to hug him, so trusting. How he seems able to just. Break into soft tears at will, and not to be manipulative- it’s just his kind nature. The warmth in his voice. Fuck yesssss.

2.) Change Your Mind

This song is only fifty five seconds and it’s EVERYTHING to me. It really felt like someone was speaking the words I’d always held deep inside of me, unsure of how to say. It feels like a goodbye to someone who never really loved me. 

As much as I enjoyed Future, if this was the finale of SU, I would’ve been perfectly okay with that.

3.) Drift Away

This song gave me legitimate shivers the first time I heard it, and it still haunts me to this day. Spinel stayed, and waited, and all she got was a transmission thousands of years later. Fuck.

4.) Here We Are In The Future

THE MOVIE IS SU AS ITS BEST AND I WON’T BE SWAYED ON IT. Steven being a teen who loves his weird family but is growing just a bit sarcastic to their drama. The adorable love he and Connie share. His slow realization that he will always be working, always have things to do, is both somber and real. The Crystal Gems won’t be safe with one epic battle. They’ll be safe with years of hard work and love. HIS LITTLE HANDSHAKE WITH AMETHYST.

This is a helluva bop and a great way to summarize the main character’s backstories.

5.) Let’s Only Think About Love

Did ya’ll know that Zach Callison killed his throat with that last note? He gave his all for this performance in a vocal range he no longer comfortably do and by god did it SHINE. The FLAIR. The FORESHADOWING. All of the Gems all being awkward about Rose and Steven trying to bring them to the present. Peridot having a mini-existential crisis in a cute yellow dress. I love Zach Callison’s normal singing voice but man is that a fucking bop. Nothing will ever beat it.

6.) Here Comes A Thought

This bad boy helped me out a LOT with some mental issues I was dealing with in high school. I was unmedicated, unsupervised, and full of anxiety. I’d have break downs when I tried to speak about certain things. I couldn’t function. This song inspired me. It helped me feel okay with my intrusive thoughts.

And the episode! -chef’s kiss-. Once again bringing up the morally gray area of training child soldiers. Connie expanding her social group. Steven’s trauma hauling ass in that second half. The ANIMATION. Stevonnie’s gorgeous singing voice. GOD yes.

7.) It’s Over Isn’t It?

Just barely squeaking above Stronger Than You, this ballad is everything gorgeous. The whole episode is. I think Mr. Greg stands in the top five of my episodes for the entire show. It even got nominated!

There’s just so much about this song that I love. The gentle melancholy of Pearl’s voice. How the crew had to redo the shots for this bit bc Deedee went so fucking hard. The hard cuts between Pearl, remembering the love of her life, and Steven, who has begun to feel like he took her away. I’d recommend this song to anyone, regardless of what they do or don’t know about SU, simply bc it tugs so many heartstrings of love, loss, and responsibility.

8.) Stronger Than You

Did you realize this episode aired SEVEN years ago? This bitch was what got me into SU! Hearing about Ruby and Sapphire made my little gay heart so happy inside, and then getting a whole song confirming that they were a couple, that their love powered the strongest Gem on the team? Aaaaaaaaa

To this DAY I get excited when I hear Estelle start singing. This song is timeless. This song will live in media history. God I fucking love this song.

9.) Other Friends

I’m not the biggest musical person, so I hadn’t heard of Sarah Stiles before her casting as Spinel, but JESUS CHRIST the lady went hard. She went SO fucking hard. Sarah Stiles started on 100 and somehow just kept CLIMBING. You can just hear the sheer manic energy building in her voice, the anger and resentment. 10/10 Sarah Stiles is a queen.

10.) Independent Together

This made the list entirely bc the crew was like “you’re gonna get a himbo ass Steven-Greg fusion singing with Opal while Garnet flies across the moon on Lion while floating” and I am forever thankful to them for it

11.) Who We Are

Bismuth deserved more songs. ‘Nuff said.

12.) Peace and Love (On the Planet Earth)

It Could’ve been Great is EASILY one of my favorite s2 episodes. I love the entire concept of this song. Of Steven making music to reflect how much Earth means to him and his family. Of him teaching Peridot some self-care. Also Peridot’s singing voice is really cute and squeaky. 

I know it’s silly, but I would’ve really enjoyed a flip around of this in Future! Like Peridot reminding Steven how much he loves music, that he needs to take time to relax for himself, maybe with a new verse or just a remix of the original song!

13.) Something Entirely New

I watched this episode as it aired, and I legitimately almost cried. I love Charlyne Yi’s voice so much ya’ll- her raspy, not perfect singing voice against Sapphire’s deep soothing lull is great.

And to have Ruby and Sapphire’s meeting be the way it was- for Ruby to bemoan Sapphire losing Homeworld, to being stuck with a single Ruby, while Sapphire is a noble who has always been taught everyone in her “caste” is vitally important (and has, in her own mind, taken that to mean every Gem, as she should) and how they come together and make each other happy. Good shit good shit.

14.) I’m Just a Comet

The fact that Greg’s music career never really blasted off pisses me off to this day bc Tom Scharpling’s voice is fucking BUTTER. Also the song really feels like a jab at his parents now that we know the kind of dynamic he had growing up. “This life in the stars if all I’ve ever known” is definitely him wiping away their existence after reminding them (and himself) the things they used to say about him.

15.) Do It For Her

This episode. This fucking episode. This episode got me permanently hooked on SU. I’d just binged season 1 and was kinda meh about it overall after the bop of Stronger Than You. “Oh,” I thought to myself, foolishly, “I’ll probably just casually watch this from time to time.”

Like three days later Sworn to the Sword aired and that was it. I was hooked! Pearl’s gentle training song turning darker and darker, Connie’s accompaniment from nervous to determined to fully into such a toxic mindset. The fact that SU had the BALLS to discuss the repercussions of training child soldiers, now and later. This episode was everything to me, STILL is everything to me.

Six years and well over 100 fanfics written later, I think it’s safe to say this show swallowed me whole and never let go.

16.) System/Boot.pearl_final(3)

I debated putting this on the list because it’s not anything crazy important, just a way to show things are Wrong, but I had to do it entirely bc Pearl is so damn SALTY.

Like telling us about the Gems makes sense, she felt like she was given a duty, but she went so damn petty. WHY is that Ruby alone. Gross. This Amethyst is a trash dump. Wtf are you people.

17.) Full Disclosure

This episode really feels like a turning point for SU. Before, the show had its dark moments- but now we’re in the thick of it, and it’s not going away. Full Disclosure felt like an rebuff to the idea of returning to any normal we’d established in season 1. Gems are actually a giant species now. Gems tried to kill us now. There’s this Yellow Diamond bitch who got namedropped. Something about a Cluster. 

The song itself is BALLER, with its ingenious use of Steven’s ringtone and photos as he tries to decide whether to clue in Connie on all this nonsense. Meanwhile we, the audience, already know damn well Connie about to yeet some common sense into him.

18.) What’s the Use of Feeling Blue?

I’mma admit it- I’m a Yellow Diamond stan. I’ve always loved her- her anger, her poise, her hardworking nature. I actively argued against the “Yellow Shattered Pink” theories back in the day. But, man, when this arc leaked? I got so overexcited I was too jittery to watch it for like two days. It’s easily my favorite arc of the series. The sheer alien nature of the zoo, the Famethyst, and absolutely Patti Lupone’s beautiful ballad. Goddamn. Yellow singing to Blue to try and help her regain her old status, the warble in her voice as she reminds Blue she misses Pink too, the movement of the bubbles as she talks about attack. It gives me shivers to this day. FUCK.

19.) Tower of Mistakes

This is, fun fact, that only SU song I have completely memorized. The story itself is kinda funny! See, we lost internet at my house for a solid 5 to 6 months when these episodes aired, so I only got a very brief window to view them all. But this was the first Amethyst song in a long while, and I didn’t want to forget it! So I keep replaying it in my head for ages. And that’s still definitely a thing.

Anyway will never not be sad that this entire song was about making it up to Garnet for Amethyst’s perceived slights with Sugilite (which was a two-way road), only for Garnet to pressure her into fusion later when pissed and never discuss it again bc Garnet probably never thought twice about it and Amethyst has the emotional openness of a clam that’s just been told its ugly. Helluva way to make someone feel like shit, G. Helluva way to bottle that shit, Ames.

20.) On the Run

I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times: Amethyst! Needed! More! Songs! 

The dichotomy between Steven’s play and Amethyst’s honest desire to run away from home is so well-done, especially when you consider a lot of Steven and Amethyst’s actions are playing together. The song is also near and dear to me simply bc it’s my favorite Amethyst episode to exist (well, maybe second to What’s Your Problem, but not by much). Moments like these are all the proof I need that they were right to fuse first.

21.) Be Wherever You Are

This tune really just feels like an ode to who Steven was as a kid. Trapped on an island with no way home, and he’s just happy to be with his friends. The stars are beautiful and not oppressive. Also that one animatic with Lars and the Off Colors playing in the Homeworld Kindergarten to this music was iconic and made this song get stuck in my head for a solid month.

22.) Familiar

I ADORE how the crew use bright neon colors to show how alien Homeworld can be. And Steven recognizing that the Diamonds treat him how the CGs used to, and how prepared he is to “fix” a broken family. It’s a soft, gentle tune about melancholy. Also the Pebbles are beautiful.

23.) Let Me Drive My Van Into Your Heart

Such a cute little love ballad, but every time I listen to it now I just imagine the heart attack Rose must’ve had at the line “And if we look out of place/Well, baby, that's okay/I'll drive us into outer space.” like there’s a Vietnam war flashback if I ever heard one

24.) What Can I Do?

I’m kind of neutral on this one? Rose and Greg both have great voices, but the song itself lacks many lyrics. I think it was definitely a good way to show Rose’s flaws in thinking.

Also, I’m shocked they managed cram that much vaguely sexual innuendo into two minutes, followed by how Not Hetereo that dance between Rose and Pearl was, and not get their asses chewed by it. You go guys.

25.) Cookie Cat

I love a lot of the vibes this song has. The lyrics are so damn prophetic, but they also sound like the kind of weird 90s commercials I grew up on. It’s been like two decades since I saw the Shirley Temple commercial but I’ll be damned if I don’t remember “Animals crackers in my soup! Monkey and rabbits loop-de-loop.”

26.) Giant Woman

I am. NOT the biggest fan of Steven’s original singing voice. I feel bad saying that, since it was just Zach Callison as a kid, but he never jived well with me for some reason. So I wouldn’t listen to this on the fly. 

The song itself is still really good though, with all sorts of fun animation of Amethyst and Pearl being bitchy to each other. It’s a bit sad in hindsight to see tiny Steven trying to get his moms to get along. Ahh, season 1.

27.) Strong in the Real Way

This song has SUCH a strong start. Pearl reflecting on Sugilite’s problems, but the show making sure to show us that Pearl’s lack of enthusiasm towards her also lends itself to jealousy as well as just general malaise. How much she cares about Steven, and wants him to grow up strong. 

And then Steven just kinda. Ruins it? I appreciate his enthusiasm for tryna bulk up but to take what was starting as such a rich, personal song and broadcasting it to random strangers just makes me a bit sad. Almost a bit angry on her behalf?

28.) That Distant Shore

I KNOW this is gonna create some discourse, but I’m just not the biggest Lapis stan. I love her voice. I love the visuals of the song. And I get why she felt afraid and needed to flee.

But Lapis never got to take responsibility for her own actions. And, in the end, the song feels hollow to me- because we all know she’ll never talk to anyone about it, know she’ll burst back in and destroy the barn, and no one will ever question it. I like Lapis a lot, but I feel like her arc never was fully finished. She never got help. She never learned to feel safe.

29.) Dear Old Dad

I’ve yet to meet a single human being who likes this episode tbh. There’s some great discussion about what kind of parent Greg is from it, and what kind of dynamic he has with the Gems that he felt he had to fake an injury to hang out with his son. Honestly the first half was fine and dandy. It’s just that then they Greg just went out of his way to drag Steven away from missions and such. It never jived well with his character before or after.

Also, is it just me, or does Zach himself sound like he hates the song as he sings it? There’s no passion or heart in his voice. It sounds like they told him to read off cue cards and he did. Tom Scharpling’s best attempts didn’t save this one for being a skipper. But the episode, unfortunately, isn’t, so it gets a spot on here.

#Steven Universe #Steven Universe Future #SU Analysis #(I guess????) #Music #Steven Quartz Universe #Amethyst #Garnet #Pearl #Yellow Diamond #Blue Diamond #Blue Pearl #Yellow Pearl #Greg Universe #Bismuth #Spinel #Lapis Lazuli #Steg #Opal #Rose Quartz #Lars Barriga #Sadie Miller #Sapphire #Ruby #Stevonnie #Falc talks

[ladyloveandjustice]

Spring 2021 anime overview: Quick Takes

Now for my Spring 2021 anime thoughts! I’ve decided from now on if a season’s like, 20- to-24 episodes I’m just going to wait ‘til it’s done to review it unless I feels super passionately, so though I watched To Your Eternity (it’s good!) and MHA (eh), I’ll comment on them next time. Also, for the record, I watched the first eight eps of Joran: Princess and Snow of Blood but I dropped it because it had clearly crossed the line from entertainingly dumb to boring dumb. 

I will probably give Supercub and some other stuff a shot later, this was a stacked season! May give updates on all that later, but this is what I have for now.

ODDTAXI

Quick Summary: A mild mannered middle-aged walrus taxi driver is drawn into a case involving a missing girl, yakuza, Youtube clout-chasers, manzai comedians and idols with big secrets.

It’s rare to walk away from media and be like “that is a singular experience I will definitely never see repeated again” but ODDTAXI is definitely one of those. A tense noir thriller murder mystery starring cartoon animals that spends an entire episode detailing the one (cat)man’s very fall into darkness triggered by addiction to gacha games and an online auction for a novelty eraser? Also there’s a porcupine Yakuza who speaks entirely in rap? Also there’s tons of meandering conversations about stuff like manzai comedy and the struggle to go viral on Twitter?

Admittedly, I had a hard time getting into the first episode, the dry meandering humor not being enough to hold my attention while I was sitting still, but once I watched this while I was working out at the end of the season, I found it an easy binge. A ton of characters with dark secrets or dangerous ambitions, each with their own part to play in a tableau of intersecting events- and it all actually comes together really well.(As for the female characters, it’s a pretty dude driven story, but they do get nuanced characterization and even some good heroic moments from one of them.)

 It’s a great example of a carefully planned narrative paying off, with all the twists appropriately seeded and foreshadowed to reward viewers who paid attention. Even when it ended on a perfect “OH SHIT” moment and denied me closure, I couldn’t help but respect it. If you that all sounds interesting to you, definitely check out the first couple episodes and see if you like it- you’re likely to have a memorable, satisfying experience!

Shadows House

Quick Summary: Emilyko is a ‘living doll’ who’s told she was created to act as the ‘face’ of her shadow master, Kate. The shadows and their ‘dolls’ all reside on the mansion and are required to pass a ‘debut’ to prove they’re a good pairing. If they don’t pass, they might be disposed of. And so the mystery of the Shadow mansion grows...

This slice of gothic intrigue was my favorite of the season, tied with ODDTAXI. With an interesting premise, slightly tense undertones and a strong focus on character building and relationships, it kept me hooked the whole way through. And for any squeamish fans put off by the hype about it, don’t worry, while there are some suspenseful elements, I wouldn’t qualify it as horror. I thought the relationship between Kate and Emilyko might end up being a completely sinister one, but it’s thankfully a lot more complex than that and it’s really interesting to follow how both their characters and relationship grow. The focus of the show is, unsurprisingly, on the “dolls” slowly discovering their autonomy and personhood as they struggle under the rigid system imposed on them by the mysterious elders of this weird Victorian mansion. Can they develop a more equitable relationship with their shadow “masters” (who are also shown to suffer under this system)? There’s a lot to dig into there, and the show has the characters develop through learning to understand and appreciate each other, which is pretty heartwarming. Our hero, Emilyko, is the typical plucky ball of sunshine (they even nickname her sunshine), but she’s also shown to be clever in her own off-the-wall way and she bounces off the far more subdued and cynical Kate well, not to mention the other ‘dolls’ she ends up befriending. 

What’s more, the show spends plenty of time to developing several other character pairings and combinations, and they all have their own interesting dynamic that makes you want to see more of them. Same-gender bonds are at the forefront of this show, and many of them are ripe for queer readings (I definitely appreciated the healthy helping of ladies carrying ladies), but even outside that it’s nice to see a show where a strong, complex bond between girls is at the forefront. My only real complaints about the show are the anime original ending is noticeably a bit rushed (though it’s not too bad, and leaves room for a season 2) and I wish the animation used the whole “shadow” theme more strikingly (like the opening and endings do)- instead the colors are a bit washed out which makes the shadows blend into the background sometimes. The “debut” arc also drags a bit in places, but it makes up for it by having a lot of good character integration.

I hope to check out the (full color)! manga soon and see more of this quirky, shadowy story. There’s some physical abuse depicted, sad things happening to characters and naturally the whole “oppressive familial system” thing, but otherwise not much I can think of to warn about. I give this one a big rec, especially If you’re a fan of gothic fairytales and stories of self discovery.  

Zombie Land Saga Revenge

Quickest summary: In this sequel season, everyone’s favorite zombie idol group must claw their way back into prominence after a disastrous show- the fate of the Saga prefecture LITERALLY depends on it!

This was a fun follow-up to the first season- if you liked the first zombie-girl romp, you’ll probably enjoy this one. In fact, there were a couple areas it improved on- namely, Kotaro failed, ate crow and embarrassed himself a lot more this season, which made him more likeable (as did the fact the girls gained a lot of independence from him). This season also shed more light on what the ‘goal’ of this zombie raising project is and what kind of shit Kotaro got involved with to make this happen, and it’s appropriately off-the-wall and ridiculous. We finally got some backstory for Yugiri too! I wish it had focused on more of her interiority, but she got to be a badass in it, and it was a treat to see this zombie idol show turn into a period piece for a couple episodes (also her song ruled).

 Tae also got a cute focus episode and there was a particular SMASHING performance early on! Also That revelation last season that had the potential to turn creepy hasn’t yet, and hopefully never will. The finale was heartwarming with big hints of more drama to come- I’m definitely down for more zombie hijinks!

Vivy: Flourite Eye’s Song

Quickest Summary: A songstress AI named DIVA (nicknamed Vivy) is approached by another AI named Matsumoto, who says he’s from the future and they must work together to prevent AI exterminating all of humankind 100 years from now.

This show is absolutely gorgeous visually with some really nice action scenes, but when it comes to the story my feelings basically amount to a shrug. It’s fine! I guess! Vivy starts out as an interesting layered character- and I guess still is by the end- with her stoic but stubborn determination bouncing off her fast-talking bossy partner Matsumoto well. She never listens to him, which is delightful. The way the show took place over the course of 100 years was an interesting conceit as well. However, it bought up a lot of themes and then sort of... dropped them. For instance, Vivy interprets her mission (PRIME DIRECTIVE if you will) as protecting humans at all costs, no matter how destructive said humans are or what their fate is supposed to be, and is perfectly willing to murder her fellow androids to do this, showing she inherently thinks of androids (herself and her own people!) as less worthy. Which is a little alarming! There’s a very dramatic point in the show where they bring this up as a potential conflict for her character but then it’s sort of...dropped. Pretty much.

Actually, despite the premise, the show doesn’t dip into the “AI rights” as much as you think it would with the main theme being more about Vivy’s search to find her own creativity and discover what it means to ‘pour your heart into something’. Vivy herself doesn’t actually care if she has rights or anything. Which is in some ways fine, because ‘AI as an oppressed class’ has been done to death, but IT’S ALSO KIND OF IN THE PREMISE, so that means that the show just shrugs really hard at a lot of the questions it brings up  basically just going “humans and AI should work together probably” and that’s it. There’s a lot that feels underexplored. The antagonists in the show also either have motivations that don’t really make sense or have boring hackneyed motivations. In the finale in particular, it feels like a lot of things happen “just because” and it falls a little flat.

I also have to warn that one of the arcs focus on a robot ‘pairing’ where the dude-coded robots actions toward his partner are straight up awful and rob her of her autonomy, but it’s played like a tragic love story. I suppose you could read it differently too, but it definitely made me go ‘ew’ the story seemed to want me to sympathize with this robo dude,

Overall, I wouldn’t anti-recommend this show, it’s an all right little sci-fic romp (and definitely SUPER pretty). My favorite element was definitely the episodes where Vivy develops an entirely new (an loveable) personality, because it played with the idea of of an AI getting “rebooted” really well and interplay between her two “selves” was done really well. But there are a lot of other parts of the show that just feel...a little underexplored and empty, making me have an ‘eh’ feeling on the show overall. It’s definitely an ambitious project, and while it didn’t quite stick the landing, there’s something to be said for a show that shoots for the stars and falls short over a show that just languishes in mediocrity.

Fruits Basket The Final

Quick summary: The final season of that dramatic drama about that weird family with a zodiac curse and the girl who loves them.

It’s very weird that after not cutting a lot out, they kinda sped through some material for, you know, the finale. I guess they thought they couldn’t stretch this final arc to 26 episodes? Or weren’t cleared for another double cour? However, though there were a couple places that felt awkward, despite being a bit condensed it mostly held together pretty well for a D R A M A T I C and ultimately heartwarming conclusion. I was really disappointed they kept the part where Ritsu cut their hair for the ‘happy ending’, I thought  their intro episode not showing them in men’s clothes meant the anime had decided their presentation didn’t need to be “fixed” but WELL I GUESS NOT. That was the only big upset for me though, otherwise the adaptation went about how I expected, sticking to the source material. Furuba has a lot of bumps, from weird age gap stuff to ...gender, but it also has a lot of important feels and great character arcs. It was a gateway shoujo for many and has its important place in animanga history, so I’m glad it finally got a shiny, full adaptation.

#anime overview #spring 2021 anime #shadows house #oddtaxi #zombie land saga #fruits basket #vivy: fluorite eye's song #zombie land saga revenge #fruits basket the final #anime #my reviews #long post

[kanohivolitakk]

Since its 3Hs anniversary some really cool things I like about the game that aren’t talked about enough because the fandom is too busy arguing who is right and who is wrong

The worldbuilding just. 3H has honestly one of my favorite fictional settings. Its just both expansive but also genuinely interesting. I have spent HOURS thinking about the world and made so many ocs its not even funny. I love thinking about the setting of the game so much.

I LOVE the puzzle like way the game explains its world and story. Like I know some people don’t like it because it makes the game a bit too convoluted but personally? I LOVE 3Hs way of not telling everything but rather giving hints and clues the player has to piece themselves. It makes the games world feel more interactive and feels so satisfying. Then again I enjoy that kind of approach to worldbuilding

In general I love 3hs fragmented story and the way how the story is placed in many different fragments. It is geniunely rewarding to replay the game from another storypath and notice the foreshadowing Would’ve the story been probably better had it been just one storypath? Honestly yes. But 3h is ambitious and one of the ways it is is with its fragmented story structure.

The structure of White Clouds is criminally underrated honestly and gets way more hate than it deserves. I love how the first few chapters set up the world of Fodlan and show injustices/conflicts of the world with chapters like the chapter where you face off Lonato for instance. Then the next few chapters are spend in deepening the mysteries such as the conspiracy against the church and the mystery regarding TWSITD. Then Jeralt dies and the last few chapters are spent as “beginning of the End” so to speak, as things clears to the intense climax.

On related note I LOVE how the game handles perspective and how the lords are the respective ways we view the story. I know so many people say “WHite Clouds is same on all paths” but I do feel that’s kinda the point. The story is the same but there are differences that come from the way each of the lords is strongly characterized and has different values, worldviews. The subtle changes on what are focused on in each route also foreshadow what will be focused on each route, which I think is super cool.

Even beyond the lords and routes the game does explore the idea of perspective well. I do think 3h has this very “everyone is the hero of their own story” type of approach to perspective and it shows it well. Each character believes they’re in the right and you can get this view that they view themselves as right. Even Agarthans who are the designated villains have this sense they think they’re in right and that the Nabateans were evil.

The way how games routes being divided into having a different focus is very cool. I love how AM is a smaller scale personal tragedy, how CF is a battle of ideals and how VW explores the world and reveals deeper mysteries. I also love how all of these are related to the lords ideals and worldviews: Dimitri is the most conflicted of the lords so he gets the most characterfocused story focused on . Edelgard is the most ideologically driven so her path focuses on her ideals and battle of wills against Rhea. Claude is the one who is the most freespirited and wants to know the truth so his route focuses on revealing the mysteries.

Also the way the houses characters reflect their respective routes storyline and central themes: Black Eagles are nobles that have conflicting relationships with nobility reflecting Edelgards goal, Blue Lions are all united with the trauma of Tragedy of Duscur, and Golden Deer are a house of misfits who give this “ragtag group who will save the universe with POWER OF FRIENDSHIP and this cool gun I found” vibes which fit the route PERFECTLY

I LOVE how the game plays with and subverts a lot of Fire Emblem tropes. While it does play some tropes straight (dad death and evil cult manipulating behind the scenes) it does do a lot to break from series conventions and playing with ideas to make a more ambitious story. The way it either subverts expectations (The evil emperor being female well intended extremist, Rhea being the Gharnef/Medeus instead of the Nyna archetype she’s presented as), twists familiar tropes to their natural extreme (Dimitris arc is basically the natural extreme end of stereotypical FE lord) and other similar things make the game feeling so planned out, like the writers understood FE stories and wanted to make something that challenges FE while still feeling like it.

The way how every major player acts as foil/pararell to another player is so GOOD. Every faction leader can be compared to the other somehow and that just makes the game SOOOO fun to analyze, trying to find all the similarities and differences and pararells is so rewarding.

A more specific example on this is how i love how the game plays with the idea of holy/sacred weapons. While normally these weapons are artifacts from goddess that defeat dragons, here the holy weapons are bones made from dragons and just???? HOW METAL IS THAT????????? It’s just such a neat way to subvert the idea of sacred weapons. Rather than being blessed creations of the goddess, they are weapons of destruction made by the villains.

I ADORE THE GAMES science fiction elements. I know people say they feel out of place but personally, they make the game memorable for me. I still remember the first time I saw that scene with nukes. I especially love the heavy implication that Sothis isn’t a goddess but rather a powerful alien. It makes her character much more interesting

I know a lot of people don’t like Agarthans but can I just say their backstory being “forced to hide after their land got conquered and desiring it back” making them a dark mirror not just 3h lords/Rhea but FE lords as whole is SO FUCKING METAL. This is what I mean with 3H writers knowing their tropes like back of their hand.

I love how in Part 1 sometimes you’d talk to two characters in Monastery at once instead of just one. It’s something I miss in part 2 honestly.

I love the small sidequests such as the fishing tourney and White Heron cup and wish Part 1 had more of them, it would’ve made the school part feel more alive.

I LOVE how some missions (esp paralogues) have subgoals that you can clear to get better rewards. I wish the game had been more clear with them or even made them main goals of maps sometimes.

I LOVE THE WAY Paralogues act as small gaiden stories that show more of the games world and characters. Its a neat way to let the sidecharacters shine and reveal some neat secrets of the games world and story.

The gameplay loop is honetly fun and satisfying. It is rewarding and while it gets tiring towards the end overall its a good gameplay loop.

I ADORE the aesthetic of Shambhala. Its just so sleek and sinister. The cyrillic letters spelling different words is so cool. Shambhala is my favorite map in the game and the aesthetic is a big reason why.

The games soundtrack is so good!!!!!!!!!!  But not only that I LOVE the way its electro elements subtly hint of Agarthans being in control behind the scenes. This is especially cool in Road to Dominion where the electro parts are barely noticeable yet present. but other tracks have subtle electro vibes as well.  The other way the games music tells the story (such as use of leitmotifs or how the monastery music changes once Jeralt dies) is great as well.

I love how 3h can be read as an allegory for reformation era and reneissance. Its such an interesting way to read the games events and compare it to a real historical periods there’s quite a bit of f

In general I ADORE the cultural references of the game. There’s surprisingly lot of way the games world is based on real life and the details are just *chefs kiss*

THE GAME IS DENSE WITH THEMATIC IDEAS. Besides the perspective the game tackles ideas of how trauma can affect a persons psyche and worldview  (as well how a persons trauma affects the way they interact with the world which in turn can affect the world as well), grief, societal values, historical revisiniosm and so much more. The game tackles SO MANY topics in an interesting manner, it is thematically just as dense as it is storywise as well.

I also love how the games thematic parts work in harmony with the story rather than one overshadowing with the other. Its super refreshing honestly where a games themes and story are both rich and I don’t have to pick one over the other.

Lastly I ADORE the games central message (or at least what I see as the central message anyway): The world’s fucked up and most people want to fix it, but what they deem fixing differs and because of that they go into conflict or outright war rather than trying to find a common ground. Everyone wants a better world but no one can agree what a better world truly means  so they fight over it. It was a theme that not only resonates with my personal values but also hit me REALLY hard when I first played it as it’s a theme that I found incredibly relevant and reflective of our own world during the time I played the game for the first time.

So yeah. I made this post since there’s SO MUCH neat things about the game, its gameplay and story that sadly get swept under the rug in favor of either arguing  which lord was right/wrong or complaining how the game is an unfinished, rushed and overambitious mess. Is 3h perfect? Hell no. But it’s a game that I hold near and dear to my heart and does genuinely SO MANY THINGS RIGHT, I’m sad no one talks about the genuine strengths the game has anymore, instead just complaining.

I’m not even joking when I say that 3h should be up there as heralded as one of the best, most ambitious and complex JRPGs alongside Xenogears, the first Xenoblade game, Suikoden and Trails series as whole along other such games. Its a shame the games reputation is less like those games and more like Persona 5s where everyone focuses more on its flaws and the fans being annoying than the fact the game does geniunely A LOT right. It’s just that good, ambitious game I love so much.

#Kirika Talks #Fire Emblem #FE3h #Fire Emblem Three Houses #Fire Emblem Meta

[jasminesgardens]

Preparation

Set Up

Musical Episode Mechanics

Conclusions and Links

Heavily inspired by the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Musical Episode: Once More, With Feeling, I put together a Musical Episode for my own players that went down beautifully and here’s how you can too!

Preparation: 

1. Have your players (whether subtly asked or not, up to you) send you a playlist of songs that relate to their character, their relationships and scenarios they’ve been through in the past. Sort through these songs into “Main Plot” and “Scenarios That Could Happen”. 

Prompt Examples from my Musical Episode:

Main Plot: Prologue/Opening Narration, First Song (Morning Sequence), The Whole City is Singing, Figuring Out What is Happening, NPC Karaoke Songs, Player Karaoke Songs, A Call to BBEG, Battle Songs, Reveal of BBEG, Revealing Deepest Darkest Secret, Aftermath, End Credits and After Credits.

Scenarios That Could Happen: Dream Sequences (What Ifs, Foreshadowing or Nightmares), Reflection on their Pasts/Families/Homes, Attraction/First Kiss/Getting Together/Examining the Relationship/WooHoo Moments, How the Party is Seen, Arguments/Make Ups, Praying to their Gods, Positivity/Negativity, Stress/Learning to Relax, Fight Training, Opening Up/Confessing Feelings (Romantic, Friendly, Truthful), Cheering Up, Anger/Protests, Celebration/Drunken Songs, Death Saving Throws and Continuing the Fight.

The playlist is public so just search up DND: The Musical Episode by Princess Jasmine Flies Away.

2. Ask your players, if you haven’t already, for their deepest, darkest secret. The secret they would take to their grave. A secret about their lives or a fear they have could be the prompt. (This is what will be revealed later to the whole Party!)

As I was heavily inspired by the Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Musical Episode, I used the episode to dive board my idea of what my “Main Plot” would be and explore the themes of secrets, speaking your truth and aftermaths. So even after my Musical Episode, my players and their characters were still thinking of what was revealed and what to do going forward with their relationships and themselves. That’s what will make your Musical Episode fun but also thought-provoking and memorable.

Examples from my Musical Episode:

“I’m going to die in six months.”

“I fear I’m on the path to becoming my step-father.”

“I fear my mission from my Goddess is to simply be the sidekick.”

Set Up:

1. Curse your Party. 

Example (taken from DNDSpeak and tweaked, warning a little gruesome): I sent my party on a mission to rid the City’s Sewers of the Oozes and Slimes that lived down there as the previous adventurers sent had not returned. While giving hint, and a child NPC who asked them to look, that recently a lot of pets had gone missing in the area around the Sewers. 

With every Ooze and Slime encounter, a voice would call out asking the adventurers to leave, getting more and more angry, desperate and threatening as they approached their hiding place. 

In this evil Bard’s hidden lair, they discovered the Bard had been stealing pets and using them to make into instruments. Not allowing the Party to leave, they fought and the Bard lost but just before he did, the Bard cursed my party. 

The players killed the Bard with fire so all the set up and hints in his lair burnt with him but if they hadn’t, they would have gotten hints of his worship to a certain demon and how he was planning to give his instruments as a gift to them.

I let my party spend the rest of the day doing whatever they liked and waited until the next day for the curse to take affect (which I recommend).

2. Setting Up Music

As I DM on Skype, I used JQBX for everyone to be able to hear the songs at the same time live but you might find other platforms or just be able to bluetooth to the speakers and use Spotify as you play in person (lucky sod).

Then completely shock your friends by awakening them to a performance. Start with a dream sequence or a morning montage or a title sequence! Have fun!

Musical Episode Mechanics:

1. When to Sing:

After the initial shock of the Opening of the Musical Episode, the party will believe the Musical Episode is a curse inflicted on just them (If you’re like me, it isn’t. It’s the whole city because that’s hilarious.) but unaware of when they will start to sing again.

I recommend it every time a party member gets emotional, reaches a perfect opportunity for a scenario song or simply plot development. These songs hint towards characters’ feelings for themselves, other characters, certain scenarios and maybe even their deepest, darkest secret so every time it happens, play the song that incredibly reads them to filth and ask them to roll a constitution saving roll, needing to beat 13. If they fail, write a tally mark for which player and wait for your finale to reveal what for.

I rewarded my players with 10XP each song as it gave them confidence to perform, improv and just get silly!

2. BBEG:

Through researching into what this curse could possibly be, introduce the demon Kacophony the Musical. They’re dramatic, crave entertainment and force people to sing for them with fiery magic, which can lead some of their victims to become Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru in Star Wars: A New Hope. The party will know Kacophony is responsible as you’ll sprinkle in the hints of burnt victims after each Musical Number, the same amount of bodies as the tally marks you’ve been collecting.

Now in my Musical Episode, I put Kacophony the Musical in the place they were cursed. My players went earlier than I would have liked so don’t be afraid to say “not the right time” for Act 3 and help them circle back to there later, after a full day of singing and dancing.

Example: I had a singing woman lead the party back to the Sewers ominously after quite a hearty song.

When discovered, Kacophony is waiting there with their goons for the “cast of today’s musical”, revealing that the person who cursed them gave a huge sacrifice to troll the city with this ridiculous curse, give Kacophony a few souls and to embarrass the party.

Example: My Evil Bard offered all his gruesome instruments and his own life to Kacophony. 

Kacophony the Musical will reveal two things.

First, what all the constitution saving rolls have been for. Every failure (a roll under 13) has led to someone’s end aka the burnt victims they have seen throughout the day. Tell your players how many people they have each ended with their rolls and if your party is as morally good as mine, you will have people ready to fight. If not, embarrassing them through song is enough for one.

Which brings me to the second reveal, Kacophony the Musical is a Musical Demon (obviously). Musicals reveal what characters are really thinking to their audience; their hopes, their dreams, their deepest, darkest secret. 

Have your party fight this demon only to be unable to not say their deepest, darkest secret to one another (it’s up to you if its based on roll or unescapable), causing a ton of big reveals, suspense and tension, which Kacophony can use as a getaway. 

It’s up to you if you want the party to defeat Kacophony the Musical. I didn’t as I preferred the idea of Kacophony being a showman who hides behind their spells and goons, reads the party to filth and then just leaves when it gets boring, leaving them on the mind of the party long afterwards but if you do want your party to defeat them, then make it so. 

Kacophony the Musical’s Character Sheet: Inspiration from Rahadin from Curse of Strahd and Cantus by u/Jacknerik

3. The Curse and Aftermath:

Finally, the curse lasts for 24 hours, so when your players awaken the next morning, the curse will be gone but no one will forget how yesterday changed their lives and how flipping awesome your session was. 

In the aftermath, my players had a lot of role-play heavy conversations which led them to build up their relationships and their own storylines and a city of people who either were trying to remember the awesome lyrics they sang yesterday or are now afraid of music (possible Footloose inspired sequel adventure).

Conclusion:

Either way it was a lot of fun and certainly went down as one of my best sessions as a DM.

Thank you so much for reading, my name is PrincessJasmineFliesAway on everything else and my credentials in DMing can be described as Wizarding World 2.0, Shifting into the Star Wars Sequels and Barbie Mermaida the Campaign. Goodbye.

#dnd5e #dnd #dnd 5e homebrew #dnd 5e campaign #dnd storytime #dndstories #dnd ideas #dnd musical episode #jasmines gardens dnd ideas

[pluviophile-imagines]

am I too late for the memorable line/scene thing? because if not it's the hand slam on the window in the photos. Like in that moment it just seemed natural for Izuku to just.. react like that but then it's shown later that it was a deliberate action? was very good. fawning over his eyes too was also 👌👌👌

not too late at all!!! never too late!!! i love getting asks tbh ask games never rlly stop on my blog lmfao

this is a rlly fun one bc ngl as i was writing i was like "hm is this Too obvious combined w the title & summary & warnings???" but im glad i got the right amt of foreshadowing w it! my aim was to make it just obvious enough that readers would b like "ohhhh thats what that was abt" and also be a lil giddy abt it on a second read-through n it sounds like i achieved that!!! izuku's a hard char to write for a number of reasons tbh and i rlly do adore how i characterized him in that fic.... a lil stumbling n awkward but ultimately vv attractive and p protective/capable 😳 i think the hand slam is the perfect example of the latter

what is the first thing you think of when i ask what the most memorable line/scene ive written was?

#ask.🌧 #crystalstellar #event.🌧 ask game

[champagnesuperhoeva]

Seasonal depression is on its way back, so why not analyze another scene from Red Dead Depression 2???????

I’ve been meaning to do another screeching ramble about one of Red Dead Redemption 2′s many incredible scenes, but just couldn’t put my finger on which one. So I threw a rock and hit the Saint Denis bank robbery, that’s the story

strap in, motherfuckers, it’s time to regret the concept of empathy

It is such a missed opportunity that we weren’t able to chaperone the girls as they went about putting on their various bullshit personas to gather reconnaissance. I want to see Tilly reading a newspaper with glasses, a fake nose and a mustache

Something Red Dead Redemption 2 spoiled me on is just how much ROI they squeeze into every last line of dialogue. Not a single word feels generic or hamfisted. Every sentence, every twitch and blink, adds up to a greater whole. The more I watch, the more I unearth. There are several AAA titles that frequently get painted with the ‘Good Dialogue’ brush like Uncharted that don’t hold a candle to Rockstar’s work here. 

Take Hosea grilling Dutch here, for example:

Dutch acquiescing to Hosea’s justified criticism is depressing in its hindsight. Sir Spam der Linde is an arrogant blowhard that could give Dr. Gregory House a run for his money...and yet he still mumbles and bows his head when being told he needs to get his shit together. Compare this to earlier in the game, when he was snipping at both Hosea and Arthur for all their doubts and questions. Double that for the camp interactions you can find where Dutch and Hosea argue about the Blackwater Heist. 

Is reality finally sinking in a little for our manic pixie dream man? Does he just have a hard time bullying Hosea, who’s around 5,000 years old and doesn’t give a fuck? For every answer you get, you get another question...and I fucking love it. This character -- and the series at large -- toes the razor-thin line between transparent portrayals and thicc layers of intrigue. This kind of carefully sewn subtlety is sorely lacking in not just videogames, but mainstream media in general. Sometimes I still can’t believe I got to experience this game.

This little scene is just one of many ingredients to make you wonder that, if the bank job had turned out all right...if Dutch really would’ve started changing for the better. 

Arthur clutching his belt buckle like he clutches my neck in my dreams

So the plan is made and the cowboys are off to Sand Penis, and I bet nobody in the history of the world has made that joke before

Just the build-up to the bank sends goosebumps up my arms. 

Even with apprehension in the back of your mind, it’s hard not to get sucked into the whirlwind of adrenaline here. You have each member playing their part, from Abigail as the helpless damsel to Charles and Bill as crowd control. Great back-and-forth dialogue as characters anticipate what’s about to happen (with some delicious doubting from John). It’s like a group project, except you don’t want to slap your partners!!!*

*except micah ‘I Haven’t Scrubbed My Nailbeds In Fifty-Three Years’ bell

Fun fact: if Dutch hadn’t said ‘one last time’, the bank robbery would’ve been a success. Should’ve browsed TVTropes.

The direction of this game remains impeccable. 

This is a simple shot of a few dudes riding their horse...and it’s made just that much grander by the camera angles, slung low to the ground to create a stronger sense of scale. With the tense drums in the backing track and the sudden quiet that’s befallen our beloved anti-heroes, this provides the perfect finishing touches to one of the most memorable and stressful parts of the game:

The runway.

We start off this display of cowboy couture with Dutch Fam Der Linde, well-known in the West for wearing crushed velvet while hiking the open trail. Dashingly long coattails make up the bulk of this iconic look, with a sexy pop of red to round it all out. A complimentary red bandana lined with a hint of gold brings out the buttons, chain and belt buckle. Very regal. Much fucky. Still want to slap him for future crimes, so 9/10

A surprising comeback from the man who invented skid marks. Lavender pinstripes add a splash of character on an otherwise minimalist black ensemble. Complimentary silver bow on the hat and dark bandana makes me uncomfortably wet, so 9.5/10, would leer again

A classic suit with just a touch of more. A wide velvet collar with matching velvet cuffs create a refined softness, contrasting the gold buttons and dramatic coattails. Shoes shiny. Skin moisturized. Even his everyday ponytail looks fancier than ever. 15/10, if Javier kicked over my sandcastle I’d thank him

What are those????????? I think Bill got pranked by Uncle while out shopping for robbery gear. That, or he confused one of Susan’s tablecloths for a three-piece. The topmost layer of dust is so thick it could be peeled off and donated to charity. 3/10, could probably still pass for a picnic table

Shameless. Unacceptable. Walking around like a bootleg Egoraptor with a crinkly suit that looks like that oil-stained pizza napkin you keep forgetting to toss. Why did I take a screencap that makes it look like Dutch is jacking him off. Micah’s even jutting his beer gut out in an ominous foreshadowing for the Guarma chapter. ThereIsn’tANumberLowEnough/10

Arthur strolling in with that slow, confident walk that gets me pregnant in both legs, someone please fetch the plan B

Dutch calls a Hosea an artist and is most certainly one himself. He speaks with the affect of a poet, even as he’s holding a pistol in people’s faces and making them shit themselves in slow-motion. This man redefines stage presence. Why would he want anything less than the best, when this is the final hurrah of his iconic, infamous career:

THE RUNWAY: PART TWO

Bill out here just confusing everyone’s laundry for low-level loot. 5/10, may or may not be susan’s granny panties

charles: “is my iron giant cosplay valid robbery wear”

dutch: “no, charles, iron giant cosplays are not valid robbery wear”

dutch: “gorons from legend of zelda aren’t valid either”

JAVIER IF I GIVE YOU A 10/10 WILL YOU LEAVE

Here’s a little detail I didn’t notice (even after several viewings of this scene): Charles over in the corner looking like a dweeb.

Notice how awkwardly he holds that rifle: two-handed and with his knees bent, suddenly looking like he’s never handled a weapon before. This is such an odd contrast from the unapologetic badass we know. Remember, this is the same man who can wield a sawed-off shotgun one-handed like it’s nothing. One of the most adept physical fighters in a gang full of cutthroat motherfuckers. 

This detail on top of his dorky robbery gear? It’s actually a peek into just how out of his element he is. 

Charles has been with the gang for less than a year at this point. Even then, he’s usually helping with tracking, hunting and scouting. Whenever he goes off with Arthur on a mission, he’s always the first to suggest a peaceful route. This is not someone who’s used to robbing people for a living and it shows in the most adorable way. What you see here is a man putting on a persona of what he hopes looks like a bloodthirsty robber.

This whole scene is a fucking blast. Herding the upper-class elite into the far rom, figuring out the combination key under codenames, listening to the banter of the squad in the background. It doesn’t help I’m a slut for baroque-styled architecture and half my attention was on the pastel decor. Yeah, yeah, I know we have three thousand dollars on the line, but look at that gold filigree

These outlaws move like a finely oiled machine, not a detail out of place...which makes the ensuing mess all the more tragic.

...and this post is getting too long, so I’m going to post the second part separately. Ain’t I a stinker?

#red dead redemption #red dead redemption 2 #RDR #RDR2 #arthur morgan #john marston #dutch van der linde #javier escuella #bill williamson #hosea matthews #micah bell #charles smith #shitpost #analysis #TEDTalk #meme #my post #I want to see javier preparing that outfit at the camp #just adding blush to his mask and making tilly double-take while eating her stew

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Book Review: Foreshadow: Stories to Celebrate the Magic of Reading and Writing YA

Title: Foreshadow: Stories to Celebrate the Magic of Reading and Writing YA

Author: Emily X.R. Pan and Nova Ren Suma (Editors)

Genres:  Anthology, SciFi/Fantasy, Contemporary

Pages: 352

Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers

Review Copy: ARC from Publisher

Availability: Available Now

Summary: Thirteen Short Stories from Bold New YA Voices & Writing Advice from YA Icons

Created by New York Times bestselling authors Emily X. R. Pan and Nova Ren Suma, Foreshadow is so much more than a short story collection. A trove of unforgettable fiction makes up the beating heart of this book, and the accompanying essays offer an ode to young adult literature, as well as practical advice to writers.

Featured in print for the first time, the thirteen stories anthologized here were originally released via the buzzed-about online platform Foreshadow. Ranging from contemporary romance to mind-bending fantasy, the Foreshadow stories showcase underrepresented voices and highlight the beauty and power of YA fiction. Each piece is selected and introduced by a YA luminary, among them Gayle Forman, Laurie Halse Anderson, Jason Reynolds, and Sabaa Tahir.

What makes these memorable stories tick? What sparked them? How do authors build a world or refine a voice or weave in that deliciously creepy atmosphere to bring their writing to the next level? Addressing these questions and many more are essays and discussions on craft and process by Nova Ren Suma and Emily X. R. Pan.

This unique compilation reveals and celebrates the magic of reading and writing for young adults.

Review: When I first learned of the concept of Foreshadow that Emily X.R. Pan and Nova Ren Suma developed, I was so excited. I found the concept intriguing and was glad they were choosing to highlight marginalized voices. When I learned of the print version my excitement bubbled over again.

And what editors Pan and Suma have done with the anthology is a love letter to amazing stories and the craft of writing itself. Each story is introduced by an established YA author that gives just a hint about what the story is about. Each story also includes an author’s note at the end where we get a glimpse at what inspired each author to write their short story. It’s at this point is where this anthology becomes unique. After each story either Pan or Suma give a brief reflection on what each story excels at from a craft issue. Reflections include topics such as Voice, Mood, Plot Twist, Romance, Imagery, and Motif. From a teacher’s standpoint I loved these craft insights as I could see using them in the creative writing classroom as discussion lead ins. And as a writer, it allowed me to really look at a particular craft technique that the writer excelled at and digest the story differently. After some of these craft reflections we are gifted with some amazing writing prompts. My favorite one was called “The Ending of the World” which encouraged writers to craft a piece about a character’s world ending either figuratively or literally. The prompt reminded me both as a teacher of teens and a yet-to-be published YA writer that small moments in a teens life can be “world ending” and we have to give space for those moments. But the craft goodness doesn’t end here. At the end of the anthology, Pan and Suma give space to the editors of the anthology to discuss the editing process and their approach to cultivating an author’s voice. For me, this was an insightful glimpse at the editing process of not just an anthology but of a novel. (full disclosure: I submitted a short story to Foreshadow and was rejected of course. However, I received lovely feedback from the editors/readers to help improve the piece, so I can attest to the care they all took in uplifting emerging authors.) The anthology ends with a writing prompt that so lovingly wraps everything together with a prompt of inspiring words that will hopefully spark a story in a writer. Foreshadow is a perfect anthology filled with beautiful stories that will touch a reader, while at the same time inspire others to take up a pen and write.

I can’t wax poetic about this anthology without mentioning some of the stories that I really loved. Mayra Cueva’s “Resilient” broke my heart as the story is about Marisol and her cousin Rosita who leave Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria for a job at a turkey processing plant in South Dakota. The story really brought home how Hurricane Maria completely upended the lives of everyone on the island and how our government failed them. The story ends on a positive note with Marisol changing her state of mind and deciding that being resilient will be what gets her through her time in South Dakota. Another story that I loved was Gina Chen’s “Fools”. Chen’s story is a fantasy where the magic came alive and I fell in love with all the characters. Fanny is a teen without a heart, literally, but she is the heart of the story in her relationships with her grandmother and the other magical girls who live on the island. Her world is changed when a demon, named Sidoi/Dimen, crosses into her realm. The two develop a fun push and pull relationship that challenges Fanny to grow in ways she couldn’t imagine. I would totally love to see a novel with these two as the main characters going on adventures. Lastly, Nora Elghazzawi’s “Solace” was a touching story of a teen overcoming her grief. Laila is on the verge of adulthood but is directionless as she is still dealing with the death of her younger brother. She is being encouraged by school counselors and her parents to move on, while also cultivating a relationship with Gabe Briar who has also experienced loss. The story also hints that Laila might have been teetering on a food discorder due to her grief and I like that the story focused on her healing, how her gardening helped her heal, but was also in a sense what was holding her back.

In addition to being moving stories, all of the works in Foreshadow are beautifully written. There was so much thought and care that was put into this anthology and it comes through to the reader. If I were teaching high school creative writing I would definitely use this anthology in my classroom. Readers will enjoy this anthology for the richness of all the stories and the insight into craft. Writers will appreciate the chance to dig a little deeper into each story to help them improve their craft. Emily X.R. Pen and Nova Ren Suma put their heart and soul into Foreshadow and we are all the richer for it.

#book review #weneeddiversebooks #ownvoices