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bardinthezone · 5 months

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Watching Making myself sit through Moffat's Who, trying to give it a decent chance and I can't stand it already. Y'know why?

The stupid fucking love triangle.

Because not only is it just generally annoying as a trope, but it is so poorly written here. It takes over the show in a really obnoxious way and completely flanderizes characters who, in the first episode, were decent people.

Rory is portrayed as a fool for being... concerned that his fiance is cheating on him with the not-actually-imaginary friend she's been obsessed with since childhood, who she ran off with and kissed (A normal thing to be concerned about!!). And just generally, he's portrayed as a bumbling idiot. As the one who just gets confused and makes one-liners about being insecure. And both Amy and the Doctor just brush him off, leave him behind! Mocked by the woman who's supposed to be there for him and abandoned by the Doctor who's meant to keep him safe. He's being reduced to basically just comic relief here, and it sucks.

The Doctor is so.. aloof. More so than 10 and DEFINTELY moreso than 9. He's a silly, childish man who often fails to recognize the emotional consequences of his actions. He has his emotional moments, yes, but a lot of his writing falls victim to what I call "Sherlock Syndrome." When Moffat just writes an aloof super genius and expects the audience to fawn over him because he has good outfits and witty one-liners. Matt Smith is a fantastic actor and he carries a lot of his run, but putting glitter on a turd doesn't stop it being a turd.

Amy is yet another victim of the "every woman falls madly in love with the Doctor" pitfall. Worked with Rose, got old with Martha and after that almost every one-off woman who flirted with him just made me roll my eyes. Her obsession and anger with the Doctor didn't have to be romantic, but Moffat just couldn't resist writing a "strong female protagonist" who's sexy and she knows it, who loves having all the boys fawn over her and flirts without a care in the world. Who's a brash girlboss in charge of her boys, but who also turns into a sobbing damsel in distress at the slightest sign of danger.

All three of these characters are so blatantly characatures of themselves right now that it takes me out of it. They're all just quippy one-liners of their smartness or their brashness or their insecure foolishness. Can these types of people exist in real life? Yeah. But the way they're written about here is just obnoxious. I'm willing to accept that later Moffat seasons might be better than this (at least on the interpersonal conflict side of things), but it's season 1 and he's already dropping the ball so hard.

We could've gotten something truly marvelous, with a PLATONIC conflict based on the Raggedy Man from her childhood finally coming back and offering her freedom from a boring adult life. She's enamored with him, but doesn't entirely trust him because hey, he massively fucked up once already. Maybe Rory is concerned about his place in Amy's life, and Amy tries to be comforting. Maybe she messes up, maybe she says the wrong thing. Maybe she says the wrong thing right before losing Rory to the crack in space and time. But she has to try, because why should I care about a relationship where one person doesn't care about the other's happiness, at least a little? And right now it just feels like she doesn't.

I'm not saying shows shouldn't have interpersonal conflicts and flawed protagonists. They should! But to pull that off well, you have to make us want to see these characters grow. You have to give us a reason to enjoy watching these characters interact, even at their low points. And revisting Moffat's run as an adult, I don't feel enjoyment. I just feel annoyed.

#also all the flashbacks to the cracks in time. like sir we're not stupid #we can remember that thing that happned two episodes ago without visual reminders #also we don't need the doctor and amy to exposition monologue about how scary the crack in time is every damn time they see it #we know that its a crack in space and time and that its scary #also i feel like he overrelies on the Epic Monologue #they can be really impactful and cool #but already they're feeling overused #matt and karen and arthur tried their damn hardest and i don't blame them #but wow moffat just wrote a really tropey muddled season #i see why i remembered rtd's run so much clearer #because there was so much more worth remembering #doctor who #new who #11th doctor #matt smith #amy pond #rory williams

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leo-arcana · 2 years

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And another thing!! Because it's almost 3am and Arcane is giving me emotions!! I don't care which game is better, in any aspect, I have no horse in that race. But the creative teams behind Arcane (and all of LoL's promo video stuff) beat the absolute shit out of Dragon's Blood. Like that wasn't even close.

Dragon's Blood is...fine. I think it really is depending on s2 to save it tho. The writers tried to pack too much in too short of time, and yes you could argue Netflix had a hand in that. It was produced so quickly, in a very basic/uninteresting art style, too many plot points introduced and therefore underdeveloped, very little character complexity and development, same for relationships. It wasn't anything memorable, I think it stands a real chance at dying with s2, despite DotA's popularity. If you ask me to tell you what happened in Dragon's Blood, I don't remember much even tho it was a few months ago. I don't even remember Dragon Knight's name. Honestly, if I didn't have friends super into DotA, I'd probably forget about it altogether.

ARCANE, HOWEVER. All of it is the opposite. It took years to make, it's been in works and studios for years. They could've, all this time, been making the same mistake on a grander scale (because of the time they had) of introducing so many plot points and characters. But instead!! They stuck with a small selection of characters and poured their effort into story and animation. These characters have depth, complexity, development, relate to each other beautiful, they feel real. And you can feel their realness, not just in the written dialogue, which has some slayer lines, but in the voice acting too, it's phenomenal. The interactions they have with each are deep and personal and they go for your heart. And it's a unique art style, it's not a generic american-anime style (not shitting on that, but by comparison...bruh), the blend of 3d with 2d accents and painted scenery is something alone, that if nothing is moving, it's seamless. And when things are moving, it's an engaging art style.

Arcane drives its story home with a sledgehammer, it kicks you in the back of the knees and slaps you. It had no right to go this hard, but it did and thank fuck it did.

This is a long winded way of saying even if you love DotA/shit on League, please please watch Arcane. Suspend your rivalry for a moment, detach from the games, and enjoy this art.

Dragon's Blood ended in a way that I don't care if s2 actually makes it to Netflix, I won't be upset and 52 started plot points that were barely vested in.

Arcane ended in way that if Netflix chooses not to pick it up I'll be upset it's still okay because the way it ended was so well done, it doesn't need a second season. We know what happens next, and ending on the note it did was tragically beautiful. A second may even spoil it if Netflix seizes control and demands a second be made in a matter of months.

#i could write this better if it wasnt 3am and i wasnt having emotions #arcane #netflix arcane #league of legends #dragon's blood #dota dragon's blood #dota2 #also pls dont message me shit about the games idc im here for the shows #leoarcana

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odanurr87 · 3 years

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My thoughts on... Scripting Your Destiny

Release date: March 16, 2021

Episodes: 10

Available on: Viki

Summary: Every human is born with a book that records each moment of their life and that we call destiny. Shin Ho Yoon is one of the many deities in charge of writing those books, known among the gods for his meticulous approach to his work. For his latest project, the destiny of the mortal Jeong Ba Reum, he intends to write a masterpiece, a perfect destiny, pairing him with his first love, Go Che Gyeong, a scriptwriter for successful, if over-the-top, makjangs like Marriage Pact and Sky Cash. However, when Che Gyeong doesn't fall for the fateful encounter that he wrote, he decides to take matters into his own hands and bluntly approaches her to find out how to get her to fall in love. As the two begin to develop feelings for each other, the perfect destiny envisioned for Ba Reum threatens to disappear and a new destiny between a god and a mortal begins to emerge. But can a god of destiny write his own fate?

Rewatch meter: Medium

WARNING: Spoilers beyond this point.

Characters

From left to right: Park Sang Nam as Shin Myeong; Ki Do Hoon as Shin Ho Yoon; Jeon So Nee as Go Che Gyeong; Kim Woo Seok as Jeong Ba Reum; and Gal So Won as Samshin.

Overall, I liked the leads and most of the supporting characters. As far as the leads are concerned, I think Ki Do Hoon was able to deliver a good performance of what a god of destiny might, or perhaps should, be like: standoffish, emotionless, uninterested in the mortal realm beyond the scope of his duties. As such, Shin Ho Yoon feels the more godly of the different deities in the show, what is curious considering he's probably one of the youngest gods of destiny, what is explained through his cycle of rebirth. I wish the writer and the actor had made full use of this cycle by having the character of Shin Ho Yoon grow more emotionless as a result, what would explain why he's different from other gods. Perhaps this was intended, but if so, the results are mixed. You can see he was more impulsive in the beginning of his cycle as a god of destiny than he was, say, at the beginning of the show. However, the last incarnation we're shown of Ho Yoon, in Episode 10, appears to be more upbeat than any of his previous ones, a fact that could've been used to feed into the notion that something has changed (more on that later) and that's why he's having fun at the expense of the "newbies."

Jeon So Nee as Go Che Gyeong was very good throughout, standing out from her male counterpart, perhaps due to the nature of her character that allowed her to show more range. I never found her to be over-the-top, and she was able to pull off the comedic and emotional scenes very well. She also passed off as a high-schooler better than Ki Do Hoon, despite the fact that she's five years his senior, but I guess that's the power of female hairstyles! My only complaint about her character is that I wish she had been a little more creative writing her own fate. I mean, she is a talented scriptwriter that even a god stole from.

Park Sang Nam's Shin Myeong had good chemistry with Ki Do Hoon's Shin Ho Yoon, echoing the Goblin-Reaper duo from Goblin, what should come as no surprise as writer Kim Eun Sook is a producer for this show. They even paid homage to that iconic walking scene in the first episode. Unlike Ho Yoon, Myeong comes across as less devoted to his duties and more lazy. He himself admits to a disapproving Samshin that he copy-pastes destinies, but also makes an interesting point about only writing main events so that humans can fill in the gaps themselves. I'll let you decide whether this is really his intention or just an attempt to placate Samshin's anger. Consequently, his transition from a somewhat lazy god to a more serious one towards the end of the show was unexpected, but I guess it stands to reason given his worries about Ho Yoon, plus one shouldn't forget he's actually the older god. I do believe the show wasted an incredible opportunity to have Shin Myeong be the linchpin of our story.

Ho Yoon shields precious Samshin from Myeong's words on how to passionately express love.

As for the characters of Jeong Ba Reum and Samshin, I can say the former was functional to the plot and gets immediately sidelined once that function is completed, while the latter definitely stole every scene she was in (and she's 14!). I would've loved to have seen more of her, even though I feel her arc was a little disconnected from the overall storyline and could've been tied better if the last episode had gone in a different direction.

Execution

What if that something are meteorites?

The show has a lot of fun making fun of kdrama tropes, either through Che Gyeong's job as a scriptwriter or through the gods of destiny themselves, who take turns between being writers and viewers when coming up with the destinies of mortals. When Ho Yoon is having trouble understanding "the depth within humans which is beyond divine comprehension" (aka love), Myeong steps in to give him some advice on how "For love to happen you need to isolate them," stranding the pair in an island somewhere and having them stay in an inn with only one room available. Other gems from Shin Myeong include, "They got rained on, they're cold, their clothes are soaked. If they start a fire, we're 90% there." and "A woman always falls for a man who takes care of her when she's sick. Under one condition. He has to be good-looking." If you ask me, I think Myeong has been watching too many kdramas. Unfortunately for him, so has Che Gyeong, who makes her living writing them.

Are they gods or kdrama fans?

As you can see, there's a lot of comedy to be found in the gods' numerous, and failed, attempts to get Ba Reum and Che Gyeong together. However, as I mentioned before, the character of Ba Reum is mostly functional. We learn little to nothing of who he is, how his life has been, what his dreams are, what is a bit off considering he's supposed to be Ho Yoon's "masterpiece." With Ho Yoon and Che Gyeong slowly starting to get closer, as the former tries his best to understand the nebulous concept of love, Ba Reum falls into the background, what isn't really much of a shame as he doesn't contribute a whole lot in the second half of the show, to the point he could've been taken out completely with slight rewrites here and there.

The writing is similarly flimsy when it comes to the rules of the universe. For instance, early on it is stated that whatever gets written on a fate book cannot be erased, and yet when a character accidentally spills coffee on his fate book the ink on the page vanishes as if it were Voldemort's diary (there is also another instance of writing mysteriously vanishing that isn't explained). In another case, it is stated that anyone who knew a certain character got their memories of that character erased, yet one (very secondary) character still seems to be able to recall everything. These sort of plot contrivances are odd in that they are unnecessary and could've been worked around with relative ease.

It means we have a problem, that's what it means.

Another, more important, mystery that doesn't get explained is how Ho Yoon is able to "resurrect" multiple times. One of the rules of the universe states that any god who interferes with mortals, beyond the scope of their duties, and develops feelings for them, gets the Thanos treatment. However, it is eventually revealed that Shin Ho Yoon got the boot several times for this and yet was able to return every single time, with his memories erased. No explanation is provided for this and, instead, the show suggests, in the last scene of the last episode, that this is the case for all gods, as we see a couple of them return from extinction.

Personally, I feel there was a lot of potential left untapped here and this relates directly to my comment on how Shin Myeong should've been the linchpin of the entire story. If you'll recall the web drama One More Time, the reason why the male lead was stuck in a time loop was because of a contradiction that arose in the terms of the contract made between the female lead and the Grim Reaper. In a similar vein, I think the show could've suggested that Myeong first met Ho Yoon as a human kid and maybe wrote for him a fate that implied him falling in love or something similar. However, the human Ho Yoon died before that fate could occur and so became the god of destiny Shin Ho Yoon, destined to continuously "resurrect" until he could embrace his fate. A loophole such as this one could've neatly explained Ho Yoon's rebirth cycle.

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The ending itself was a little underwhelming and it's easy to understand why, as it it suggested that Ho Yoon and Che Gyeong are stuck in an endless loop of the former falling in love with the latter and vanishing, with Che Gyeong being the only one able to remember all of their interactions. As fates go, it's rather depressing so it doesn't really jibe well when the show's upbeat main theme starts playing at the end. When I did my episode recaps for the show I suggested that, with some rewrites, we could've made Episode 9 the series finale and the show would've been better for it. How?

Imagine at some point in the show both characters remember everything, perhaps at that wind/lamb farm where Che Gyeong desperately calls out for Ho Yoon who, instead of running to her, walks away out of fear of vanishing for good this time. I would've planted seeds throughout the show suggesting Ho Yoon is developing emotions yet isn't vanishing from some inexplicable reason, and there are already some seeds of this in place. Perhaps he has a talk with Myeong about how strange that is and decides to see how far he can take it. The show would end as Episode 9 did, with Ho Yoon returning to Che Gyeong and asking for a caramel macchiato, the most expensive item. They both smile at the reference to their past encounter and we cut to credits with the main theme playing in the background. Ho Yoon's actions could serve to inspire other gods of destiny to try and write their own fates, like how Samshin (even though she's not a god of destiny) follows in his footsteps and decides to attend school.

Music

If you've read any of my reviews, you know that, usually, all of my recommended shows are accompanied by a soundtrack that not only has good music in it but that is used at the right time. This show has some very good tracks that stand out from their more atmospheric counterparts, such as Lee So Jung's "Skyline" (the show's main theme), Jeong Sewoon's "Time Machine," and Yongmin Ryu's "Chaotic." As far as instrumentals tracks are concerned, the obvious standout bar none is "The Deity of Fate." Other instrumental tracks aren't bad but they just can't hold a candle to this magical piece by Yongmin Ryu that has traces of Hotel del Luna's excellent soundtrack.

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A couple of examples that prove how these tracks are expertly used include the end of Episode 7, that shows us how Ho Yoon and Che Gyeong first met through a flashback, with "The Deity of Fate" followed by "Skyline," and another scene in Episode 9, where Ho Yoon recalls his past and we see a quick transition between different days at Che Gyeong's coffee shop as she serves him a caramel macchiato, with "Time Machine" playing in the background. However, in the same way Ho Yoon conjures up a magenta pink moon to distract Che Gyeong, I do believe the show sometimes relies on such scenes to divert your attention from some of its plot holes or inconsistencies, hoping their beauty and poetic nature will thwart any deeper analysis that it might not withstand. It's up to you to decide whether you can let it slide or not.

Conclusions

In short, Scripting your Destiny is a fun show that doesn't take itself too seriously and that successfully creates a universe and characters I'd love to see more of, while trying to convey a timeless love story that has elements of One More Time, Goblin, and Angel's Last Mission: Love. I don't believe it succeeds in this respect, certainly nowhere close to the OTPs in any of those shows, in no small part because Shin Ho Yoon never makes that transition from deity to boyfriend that is present in shows like Goblin and Angel's Last Mission: Love. The romance between Shin Ho Yoon and Go Che Gyeong is one that looks good on paper and should've translated better to the screen. Having said that, their interactions are quite fun to watch and one could certainly envision a future where the two become a couple, provided Ho Yoon somehow manages to stop getting lobotomized. It's a shame but the series finale makes it lose several points as it doesn't make the most of the show's premise or message.

Would I recommend it? If you've watched and enjoyed the other shows I mentioned, yes, absolutely. Despite its flaws, which can be considered relatively minor to an extent (this is a web drama after all), Scripting your Destiny is still a much better investment than many kdramas and at a fraction of their time, and the comedy value of seeing how it makes fun of kdrama tropes again and again cannot be discounted. You're bound to have a good laugh for sure. Additionally, it features some gorgeous and creative (look at that last picture!) VFX-enhanced sets that rival fantasy dramas like Tale of the Nine-Tailed, which definitely had a larger budget and tried to recapture some of that Goblin magic but couldn't. And if you haven't watched the shows I mentioned watch this one anyway so we can have more good web or mini dramas (Handmade Love is an excellent one that runs the length of a movie) that give kdramas a run for their money. Until the next one!

#kdrama #scripting your destiny #kim eun sook #ki do hoon #jeon so nee #eun sun soo #park sang nam #gal so won #kim woo seok #review #kdramas

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phemonoi · 4 years

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Review | The Song of Achilles

I would never recommend reading this book before reading the actual Iliad. Why? Because it is not meant as a retelling of Homer: Madeline Miller's narration is, almost literally, fanfic. It's very good, but it is not a replacement of Homer. And it's okay, because this is not her objective. Madeline is writing an addition to Patroclus' and Achilles' story, just that.

I really liked the book, although. I read it when I finished rereading Iliad for the second time, and at the beginning it truly trapped me. Madeline's narration is simple, quick, lively. She is able to portray complex things in an easy manner and that's what a good writer does. Patroclus' moral development is well done, and his psychology is too —and most of the mistakes can actually be excused by the fact that he's narrating the story.

It is a soft retelling of his love for Achilles. He's the protagonist and the story revolves around him and his feelings, and he's able to exclude the entire world around him to focus just on this, which is both beautiful and tiring. I enjoyed very much the romantic parts of their love, how they grew up together, how their devotion towards the other started to build up. This is a very easy, fast paced, summer reading. It's emotional, lovely. But it has its mistakes, many of them—

The first problem I found was Thetis' hate of Patroclus just for the sake of trouble. In Iliad, it is shown that Thetis is a loving mother, a sweet goddess. She knew of Patroclus' death, but when he dies she cries for him and Achilles, and expresses her grief towards the situation. This implies that the goddess was completely fine with his son's choice of love, you know why? because this was something common, it wasn't strange at all to have a male lover. why would she care? However, I recognize that Madeline's characterisation of her is based on other authors and not just Homer.

Another thing that I found annoying was Patroclus being completely obsessed about Achilles. I really liked the idea of his jealousy and anger growing into love and devotion, but it seemed to me that Madeline modernizes their relationship very much. Patroclus is portrayed as a stereotypical effeminate lover, rather than a loyal comrade-in-arms whom Achilles was deeply in love with. There's parts where their relationship is written as a commitment, and I disagree with that. When Achilles is taken to Scyros and Patroclus is panicked with the idea of Thetis taking him from her son's side because she hated him that was difficult to read. After all, Thetis is Achilles' mother. Patroclus often compares his love of Achilles with her love of her own son, and that was just... completely unnecessary.

Madeline also makes the mistake of erasing Achilles' bisexuality, which I kind of hated. While I completely adored Patroclus' and Briseis' friendship and her silent crush on him, I was kind of disappointed that Achilles lacked regard for her. In Iliad, and in many other sources, it is attested that Achilles did love Briseis. It would have been fine for Madeline to develop at least a friendship between them, but I hated that Achilles just doesn't even bother to look at her. In some passages, I interpreted a type of misogyny. Let me quote Robert Fagles' translation on Achilles' love for Briseis:

Why must we battle trojans, men of Argos? Why did he muster an army, lead us here, that son of Atreus? Why, why in the world if not for Helen with her loose and lustrous hair? Are they the only men alive who love their wives, those sons of Atreus? Never! Any decent man, a man with sense, loves his own, cares for his own, as deeply as I —I loved that woman with all my heart, though I won her like a trophy with my spear... But now that he's torn my honor from my hands, robbed me, lied to me —don't let him try me now. I know him too well! He'll never win me over!

(Book 9: The Embassy to Achilles, 311-39, line 410)

Another thing was Achilles being shocked by Iphigenia's death, and three days later killing Trojans without blinking once. I just think that the passage between both stages of mind could have been better put. Another thing that bothered me was Achilles losing his connection to Athena. I understand that Madeline wanted to portray the religion differently, but religion was a very important part of the Iliad, and she seemed to forget that while the Trojans had Apollo and Aphrodite by their side, the Greeks had Athena and Hera, specially Achilles.

A thing I liked was her kind of tricking us into thinking Patroclus wasn't trained in war. I did feel confused that he rejected Chiron's offer of training him, but when he battles in the last part of the book and proves worthy of being called the Best of the Myrmidons, that's when I realised Patroclus is not a reliable narrator at all. However, I do think his skills could've been better performed at other moments.

It was sad for me to read time passing so quickly in the novel because I enjoyed it a lot and I wanted it to last longer. I loved Patroclus' empathy and gentleness, and I fell in love with him very hard. I would've liked to be shown other characters' psychological traits and interactions too, but I understand that the novel has a more subjective, introspective tone. Achilles' mourning broke me down, Patroclus' death is written in such detail it thrills me, you feel it. Madeline makes it hard to believe he's dead, he's really not there anymore. And when you realise is it makes you cry. The novel is rushed at the end, however.

So in conclusion, it is a great novel and probably one of my favorites, but it is not perfect. It's understandable. Madeline's sudden changes in narrative times gives away her lack of experience, and that justifies many of her mistakes. It is totally a novel I will come back to many times in the future.

#Patrochilles #Patroclus x Achilles #Achilles #Patroclus #Iliad #Classics #Homer #Madeline Miller #Ancient Greece #Book Review #Trojan War #Circe #The Song of Achilles #greek mythology

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