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destinygoldenstar · 11 months

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Is Screen Time An Issue For A Character?

That’s a tough one.

I see quite a few arguments about some shows I’ve watched that ‘oh, this character is bad because they have too much screen time’. Or ‘I wish this character had more screen time to be interesting.’

Basically, too much screen time is now a valid critique to describe why a character is bad or doesn’t work for you. And to that I say…

Uh… no?

I’ll give some examples where I see this critique, but for now I want to state a case of examples where I expected to see this critique online, but didn’t, and I wondered why.

SPOILERS BELOW FOR THE SPIDERVERSE SEQUEL:

The main character of the Spiderverse movies is Miles Morales. Clear as day if you see ANY promotional concept art. The movies nail that home and give you a solid POV character among the Multiverse chaos.

The sequel begins with an over twenty minute backstory sequence involving Gwen Stacy, a side character in the first movie.

(Fun fact: When me and my dad went to see it in theaters together, he said that backstory was over twenty minutes long and that he thought they could've trimmed it down. Animated-phobia gives you weird opinions. He didn't watch Arcane with me and thought nothing of it because 'it was an animated show'. Not kidding.) (Both of my parents are like this, sadly.)

Now, in the context of the movie, it makes sense to include this to understand the full POV of her character going forward. As she is pretty vital to the story.

I tried imagining a version of the movie where we DIDN'T get this intro, went straight to Miles, and we just had to put the pieces together involving Gwen and her actions. And I don't think the movie would've worked nearly as well.

This brings me to another point involving Gwen Stacy in this movie: She's kind of become a protagonist as well, next to Miles.

Is this screen time theft? Under the screen time critique, it probably would seem that way.

And yet nobody I've seen complains. If anything, this solidified her as one of the best movie adaptations of Gwen Stacy out there. In my opinion.

Unlike the first movie, this one is not driven by the narrative of the main character, but rather multiple.

This is not uncommon. And it's an even bigger case with Arcane.

Yeah, this show is phenomenal everyone who says so is right Jinx is an icon Vi is my cartoon crush next to Petra I was crying so hard at the ending and for that alone this show deserves every ounce of praise it gets and I'm kind of an Arcane stan-

*Inhales*

I think I just have a thing for dystopian stories where characters walk through hell.

(Yes I consider TD a dystopian setting, that'd be a nice hot take to tackle one day.)

The Hunger Games is my favorite dystopian setting that I've seen, just because it's very memorable and inspiring. But Arcane is objectively the best dystopian story out there. If I fade out of my Total Drama obsession, this show might be my next target.

Cupcakes. El fin.

I could stop there, but lets talk about why we're here.

Arcane does not focus on the two main characters only as the driving force of its narrative.

Advertisement tell you that our main characters are the two growing war machines who go around calling each other sisters, Vi and Powder (Jinx. Idk how mad people get for which name I use for her. Sorry if I offend you). In fact, there's evidence to back that up. Other than they're the people with dyed hair, that's instant main character. They're the first characters we meet in the entire show. They're the characters with the final scene that closes off the season. EVERY ending to an act is with them. They're the main characters. Boom.

But wait. Nearly TWO THIRDS of this show doesn't even focus on them!

We have all the Piltover characters we keep switching back to. Jayce, Viktor, Mel, Caitlyn for Act 2 pretty much, Silco kind of becomes his own protagonist in Act 3. Really, the only people who remain consistent side characters are Ekko, and the two boys that get blown to pieces by Powder. And... some other people I'm forgetting the names of. (Sorry, I only had two watch throughs of this show so far and I know nothing about League other than the sisters become enemies.)

Now, why?

Why is this the case? I'm not saying characters other than our mains don't get fleshed out at all, but to the point where they're basically major enough to carry their own show? That SOUNDS like a detriment to the story if anything, especially how unfocused it kind of all gets until the end where everyone's in the same room.

Had Vi or Jinx interact with these characters, their fleshing out makes sense, and you definitely see that with characters like Caitlyn and Silco, who kind of need them to function.

But the Piltover gang? Jinx doesn't meet them at all, neither of the sisters meet Viktor, and Vi does meet Jayce, but in Episode 8 of 9.

Why does nobody complain about this? If anything, these guys are stealing screen time.

Well, it turns out, this is all done in Arcane's benefit, rather than fault. We are all the protagonist of our own story, and there are multiple POVs regarding the world.

It's basically if Hunger Games was third person instead of first, and we actually got a chance to flesh out the other rebels/children.

Me personally, and I know I'm not the only one out there, but the sisters were the most interesting thing about the show, and other characters that talk to them were how they caught my attention. That in no way means I don't care for anyone though, and it's COMPLETELY a PERSONAL thing.

So whenever we DO focus on the sisters and their story, not only do we get these other POVS on the scene that could clash with our view of them, but it makes it so that EVERY. SCENE. MATTERS.

No scene is wasted in fleshing out the sister's story. Everything has a purpose and drives it all to one heartbreaking simulation. There's no wasted space, there's no lack of attention to a certain detail, darn it, it's just right.

(I mean, I guess I would've liked to see what they went through in that time skip, like how Jinx was raised by Silco and processed her new identity, or better yet how tf Vi survived prison when it's heavily implied she beat people to a pulp and got solitary multiple times. But I think Season 2 is gonna cover it.)

Seriously, imagine a version of this show real quick.

Imagine a version of the show that took the Hunger Games approach, and used first person POV on one of the two sisters, doesn't matter which one, they'd both work. Cut out scenes not involving that sister. The other characters that appear revolve around scenes they're in with that sister.

Would that work nearly as well?

I don't think so.

Now First Person POV isn't necessarily a bad thing. Danganronpa is first person. Minecraft Story Mode is first person. Those are probably not great examples, but it can work. (TDDRI, a fic of mine, is first person, and I had to work around that to flesh out everyone else. It can work.)

This show is very hot topic and weirdly paced than what I'm used to. So take everything with a grain of salt as I am nowhere near an expert with this show. The show's story doesn't even get started until Episode 4, as the first three episodes are all flashback to explain where our characters are and why they're motivated to do what they do.

Again, I tried imagining a version of this show where we DIDN'T get those first three episodes, we started with Episode 4, and we just had to ASSUME all the backstory involving the sisters and the titular arcane and put the pieces together through Vi's words and Jinx's hallucinations. I don't think we would have been nearly as invested.

So with these two examples, WHY does nobody complain about screen time involving a character?

Is it because they're just really good pieces of media? Or is there a reason for this?

After all, Spiderverse and Arcane fall under the category of an 'ensemble cast'. A cast of characters in a story where there is no titular main character to drive the narrative, and everyone does instead. It's like if Harry Potter was 'Hogwarts' instead, or some title like that.

But lets take a look at some examples of ensemble casts where there's been a complaint of some sort with screen time:

Total Drama and RWBY.

Now I only like one of these two shows, so I'm gonna put that aside for now.

Total Drama. It has an ensemble cast. The show is about teenagers suffering-I mean competing for a prize, eliminating each other bit by bit as it goes along. Naturally with that setup, early boots are left to dry. But that doesn't stop people from complaining.

Ezekiel gets the most flack for too little screen time, and major fanboys say he should've had more focus. Personally I don't get that based on what role he's deigned to play. Caleb is a more recent example. I thought he was gonna have a bigger role and character than he ended up having, and him being a first boot gag makes even less sense than Zeke. Dawn is a fan favorite who isn't even in that many episodes. Axel is a ripoff of Shawn because of her lack of screen time. Scary Girl is... Scary Girl, who I don't see the fuss about her little screen time as she's comic relief, but the complaint is there. There is SO MUCH bashing about Noah's lack of screen time it is not even funny. So much so that he's sharing screen time with another person.

And who is to blame for this: Well, the characters who make it really far into the game, or course! How dare they steal screen time away from these guys!

I feel like Ripper is the most recent example of this. His character arc was about him breaking a world record. He broke it. It's Episode 5. Now he can leave the show, right-

Nope. He's around till Episode 8. Out of 13. And even then, in Episode 13, he's Millie's partner, which means screen time.

It sounds unjustified because it is. I'm not the biggest Ripper hater, but I definitely see the complaints. (Ripper and Damien swapping places are the only part of the elimination order I would change. Everything else is pretty spot on.)

We already have MK as a pre-merge antagonist and Julia as a post merge antagonist, we don't need this rando bully character as well as it adds nothing. Maybe Ripper would've been better liked if he wasn't a bully and just some morally average comic relief guy, but also... probably not.

But he's not the only fart based character in this show that gets complaints about screen time. Here's where I talk about the first gen.

For what I have seen, the ones with the biggest screen time complaints are Owen, Duncan, and Beth. I don't count Heather cause it's on purpose. I count Sierra because it's a personal gripe I have.

Owen was the original winner of TDI, came back on the show in the second season for a mole subplot nobody likes, and merged season three. He and Noah also got a spinoff.

Beth was the finalist of TDA.

And everyone hates it, including myself.

Then there's Duncan. Easily the character the show focuses on the most. Season 1? 4th place. Season 2? Winner. Season 3? Gone half the season so he's only in 8 episodes not counting what he didn't compete in, but he scored 5th overall. Season 5? Weakest performance, but he still merged. That's 8th place by the way.

By far, THIS is the character in this show that gets the MOST horrendous flack for his screen time. And from what I've learned, if you think this, you probably hate Duncan as a character.

Like, I haven't watched Winx, but I saw videos on YouTube that made fun of Bloom for getting too much screen time.

Somebody do those but with Duncan! I'm not a Duncan hater, but I would like to get a laugh!

So it'd just be easy to say the writers played favorites, it was an issue, and be done with it, right?

Except no.

My GF watched World Tour just recently. (And she was mixed on it.) Her comments regarding Duncan and Gwen were that she wished they had more interactions to sell them (she was routing AGAINST Duncney, basically) and it didn't help that Duncan was gone half the season. She said that it would've helped all the characters involved if he stayed to flesh that out.

To that I went: "Huh. That's interesting how you take no issue with this character's screen time."

But why though? She's not a stan of him, she's a casual viewer, so that can't be it.

And that's when it hit me.

Beth and Sierra. These two make it through an entire season each. And we both collectively hate them as characters. And we hate seeing them on screen.

That's because it's what the characters DO with their screen time.

See what I'm talking about:

Season 1: Duncan is an established character that develops relationships and friendships and learns to open up to people outside of his comfort bad boy zone.

Trent spends 16 episodes sitting still and looking pretty with a guitar. (Okay that's probably not a great example, and I don't hate Trent, but you kinda get it)

Season 2: Duncan is dealing with revenge on Harold for his spoiled relationship with Courtney where he gets abused by her, fights to hold his own, and dumps her.

Beth spends the entire season talking about a fake boyfriend and cheating on it.

Season 3: Duncan, again, is only competing in 8 episodes out of 26, but what does he do? He establishes a new relationship with Gwen, gets her cancelled, forms a friendship with Alejandro, and gets played.

Sierra is there the entire season sexually harassing Cody and passing it off as quirky. We hate to see it. (Seriously, you guys think the love triangle is worse than this? My GF and I agreed we would rather watch the love triangle ten times again, over Sierra being on screen at all.)

What's the difference here? STORY.

Certain characters have story to follow, that NEEDS that screen time to work. Ironically, the plotline of Duncan's that comes across the least genuine, is the season where he's on screen the least. (Not counting All Stars, but they're kind of equal in episodes Duncan's in.)

Again, imagine if we never had that backstory sequence of Gwen Stacy. Yes it eats up screen time, but without it? She would come across as an ingenuine traitor who supposedly ditched her dad for some cool spider society. We NEEDED that sequence.

Duncan is always doing something when the screen is focused on him.

The reason Beth and Sierra don't work despite having all the screen time in the world is that they do NOTHING with the screen time they get. Nothing of value at least. We could've learned a lot about their origins, Beth's underdog status, or Sierra's fanclub, flesh them out as dynamic characters to route for, with different sides of them that slip through time to time that gets the audience thinking.

Nope. Sexual harassment makes up for all of that. (I question why I put up with this show sometimes.)

That would be the case and that's the answer, just do something with your screen time and you're free to have as much as you want.

Except there's ANOTHER key to the puzzle here.

Duncan is in the top 4 of the TD cast for a reason.

He's a main character.

Something Jaune Arc is not.

Hello nemesis my old friend.

Look, I respect people who like RWBY. People can feel any way they want to about a show. Opinions are valid.

If you think Arcane is the worst show ever made, that's valid.

If you think Velma is the best show ever made, that's valid.

It's all VALID.

With that said I think this show is an absolute trainwreck when it comes to writing characters.

Now hold on before you say I hate everything about it, I don't. This show does have SOME merits to it. The music is stellar and I actually listen to the soundtrack from time to time. For a limited budget animation, it's impressive. The choreo is neat. I want these weapons. I actually like quite a few of the side characters. Keep in mind I said side.

But what I look for in a good show is a compelling story and interesting characters to follow.

Something this show just does not have in my opinion.

I keep saying I'll do an analysis post on why Team RWBY are awful protagonists, but I've been busy and my plate has not emptied. But one of my main points regarding them is screen time.

Keep in mind, I've only seen fully up to Season 8. I've only seen clips of Season 9, so whatever I say about 9 may not be accurate.

Team RWBY are the main characters of the show, and yet they have not done a single main character thing throughout EIGHT SEASONS. It's kind of incredible.

If I didn't know the name of the show but saw a clip, I'd assume the main character was Jaune, or Oscar, more on them later.

What have these girls contributed in the battle of Salem's forces?

Season 1: Blake helped stop a robbery. Not even all four of them, just Blake. (So did Sun and Penny.)

Season 2: They broke into the White Fang's secret operation and busted a train into the city to fight off some Grim, in time for Team CFVY to wipe them out. (Those characters appear TWICE in the ENTIRE show, this is the first time. Just to speak my point.)

Season 3: Yang got framed for assault which helped the bad guys. Ruby watched Pyyra die and she blasted an eyeball off Cinder.

Season 4: UH...

Season 5: They housed Oscar, they met Raven, and they took place in the battle of Haven where Yang got the relic. (So did Oscar, JNR, Qrow)

Season 6: They took the relic to Atlas. (So did Oscar, JNR, Qrow)

Season 7: They lied to the general about vital information that could've helped them get one on Salem, and doomed all of Atlas.

Season 8: They caused the death of a kingdom and fell through a hole.

Season 9: UH... (That's not me not knowing what happened in 9, they just climbed out of the hole, basically, as the season has nothing to do with Salem's forces.)

Now, because the main characters are not involved with the main plot very much, does that make them bad?

No. There ARE ways to utilize them outside of driving the external plot.

Some stories are Character vs Self, Internal Conflict. The basis of this show's story is that these kids who grew up to be military soldiers are learning that their lives and the world is not a fairy tale, and they're not the good guys. That SOUNDS like the show is all about internal conflict, right?

Well it's not.

I mean, they DO realize this and make a morally questionable choice with consequences they regret.

In Season SEVEN.

And even THEN, they're treated by gods themselves like they've done nothing wrong!

If you ask me, it should have happened a LONG time ago.

What internal conflicts do these girls have?

Ruby is a naive prodigy who wants to be a huntress and live out a fairy tale reality. And she lives out that dream. Then Pyyra dies and she loses that home. And then she's back to fairy tale land, just doing more crimes and hating authority. And I GUESS she learned a lesson in 9...? I just saw her as depressed.

Weiss is an heiress of a rich company trying to overthrow rule of her father, who hates her. She hates Faunus. She learns not to hate Faunus. And she gains a lot of powers.

Blake is part of a civil rights movement with Faunus and she likes assaulting her own kind and burning their homes. She also has an abusive boyfriend and kills him with a girlfriend by her side.

Yang lost her mommy and wants to find her. She loses her arm. She finds her mommy but doesn't give a s**t because plot. She also gets a girlfriend.

That's like Vi and Jinx's reunion, only they didn't care about seeing each other again after years, they just pointed fists and guns at each other and said, "Where's the arcane?! Where's Silco?! I'm not here for you, I have a police GF now!" "I'm not here for you, I just wanted an easy route to blast Piltover to pieces! Mwahaha!"

See where I'm going with that?

Internal conflict is a key to making characters screen time worth while.

But lets face it, Team RWBY not having very well established internal/relevance to the external conflict is not the full reason why this is a problem with their screen time.

It's their lack thereof.

Three quarters of every season, they're just sitting at some random place that's not even pretty to look at, and the SIDE CHARACTERS do all the plot relevant stuff.

See why I like the side characters better?

Lets look at that chart again:

Season 1: Sun and Penny stopped that robbery.

Season 2: Team CFVY stopped the Grim invasion.

Season 3: Pyyra's story and downward spiral to her death.

Season 4: Nora and Ren the season.

Season 5: Oscar. The tribe.

Season 6: Oscar again as he's responsible for the exposition involved in that season.

Season 7: Ironwood's descent into insanity AND Penny's descent into accidental heroism.

Season 8: Both those characters die. Everyone dies.

Season 9: ...okay, good point, there was no one else.

Okay so maybe Season 9 gets a pass, but the others? Can you really put Team RWBY in a plot summary?

And that's just external conflict talking, let's talk the MAIN CHARACTER with the INTERNAL conflicts throughout the ENTIRE show.

Jaune Arc.

A SIDE character, voiced by one of the writers, has some of the most plotlines to follow due to his internal struggle and conflict in this new war throughout the entire show.

He has something to do in MOST of the seasons of this show. Not unlike Duncan. The only time I think he didn't have anything going on was Season 7.

In the very first season, Jaune has an entire character arc surrounding him trying to find his inner strength with a one off bully character as an antagonist. That sounds fine, so what's the issue?

This character arc takes up FOUR episodes out of 16. A WHOLE QUARTER OF THE SEASON.

"Well, maybe those episodes cut away to other people at some points-"

No. They don't. It's all Jaune in all these episodes.

Season two is less so Jaune focused, but he has a little subplot surrounding letting go of his feelings for Weiss and finding another girl who would gladly take him. I guess it's priority respect because Neptune was into Weiss at the time? But those two wound up never being a thing, so...

The whole time I thought Weiss was just asexual, but then 9 came in to screw that idea.

Season three focuses on Pyyra, Jaune's love interest, and therefore he's vital to her story and her thought process, so much so that the big angst moment in the season is with him and their death kiss.

Season four and five are focused on Jaune's thirst for revenge on Cinder, a member of Salem's forces, for killing Pyyra. He learns about Salem's forces along the way, makes his own opinion about all this lore, and decides to help out due to his personal necessity.

Wow. He has an internal conflict going on, AND he's active with the external conflict. HMM...

Season six is him letting go of his grief after his moral failure from the Battle of Haven nearly getting Weiss killed. And also he pins Oscar to the wall because why not. It's brief but it's also a full on character arc.

Season eight, he kills Penny, a girl he has never interacted with before this point, and he's a grieving mess. So much so that season nine also includes Jaune dealing with MULTIPLE grieving instances and personal failures.

Everyone else got a seasonal break from the story, and yet Jaune could not.

Now, is this a screen time issue?

Yes.

But NOT for the reasons you might think.

Let's go off of Duncan again, a character with a major status in the show's story and conflict from day one. He was designed that way.

Jaune was not designed that way. BUT I don't actually hate his story for the screen time he gets. In fact, he's probably one of the most interesting characters in the show because there's so much time dedicated to his struggle and his story.

The elephant in the room isn't because Jaune has a story.

It's because the main characters don't have a story.

Again, Arcane, that show focuses on a LOT of characters that aren't Vi and Jinx. You could argue Jayce is the Jaune in their universe. But why does it work? Because there is NOT a neglect of characterization of the leads.

In RWBY, there's a serious neglect issue.

And it's not just Jaune. There are other side characters who've been stealing time away from the leads.

Oscar, ever since he debuted Season 4, has been devoted to screen time stealing, and stealing the main character status with a Chosen One narrative and a pretty offensive way of portraying Multiple Personality Disorder. He's the one with the chosen one story, he's the one who interacts with the bad guys, he's toe to toe with Ironwood, he's the one related to Salem, and he does all of it with the personality of a hollow pine tree.

I mean I guess he also has a crush on Ruby, but... I don't want to get into that.

Hell, CINDER, an ANTAGONIST of the show, has more conflict and screen time than the leads. And she's one of my least favorite characters in the entire show, isn't that sweet?!

On top of that, she's a VILLAIN. We shouldn't be routing for her!

Then there's the rest of JNPR. Nora and Ren have a season focused on them, that being season 4. Pyyra is the same case with season 3. Pyyra dies in that season, so she's obviously not getting screen time any further. But Ren and Nora are alive, AND they have a subplot in the Atlas arc. Having a subplot isn't a problem, it just becomes jarring when the main characters don't have an arc and they do.

Penny gets revived and dies in the Atlas arc. That's also a thing.

The fix here should be really simple! Swap roles! Have the side characters sit in the houses with their little arcs, and have Team RWBY on the fields reacting to everything. It wouldn't excuse their lack of inner struggle, but at least they'd be involved with the plot.

There are many ways you could fix this. Like Oscar's role of being related to Salem. Ruby's mom is dead, but like, what if her mom was Salem and was taken out in war and revived/corrupted into this monster figure? That'd be an interesting narrative.

And RWBY is not the only show, the previous season of Pretty Cure, Delicious Party, ALSO has this issue. And arguably they did it worse because I don't even care for the side characters there either. I'd be repeating myself with criticism there:

Yui, the supposed main character, has no character trait other than be a glutton and a stand in for her grandmother, the other Cures are also irrelevant to the plot and just spend their time eating. The boys of this magical girl show are the focus and have all the wishy washy plotlines, and none of them are even that interesting.

I will give RWBY this over Delicious Party to prove I can see its merits:

At least they only have ONE forth wall narration and do know boundaries to that stuff, as opposed to Delicious Party that thinks their viewers are IDIOTS, and needs a narrator to explain EVERYTHING. CONSTANTLY.

(What a new low for that franchise, am I right? At least we have Hirogaru Sky.)

So what have we learned here?

To answer the question: Is Screen Time An Issue For A Character?

No. It's not that simple.

It's what the character DOES with that screen time that matters. And their role in the story that warrants this screen time.

They need to have all the details of their story laid out for you to care about them.

They need every scene involving their story to matter.

They need to have a plotline that justifies the screen time, small role or big role.

They need to be involved with the main story if they are a major character.

They need an internal conflict to keep the time on them engaging.

They need to be doing something.

If they are a minor character, additional screen time is not a bad thing.

A minor character with a lot of screen time could be there to advance the world building, they could be heavily connected to major character, relationship or otherwise.

But the minor characters don't become favorites and neglect focus on the people the story is revolving around.

First Person POV is a difficult storytelling technique when it comes to screen time, but it's not a bad tool. It can be used as a certain perspective for every character involved if done properly.

And just... screen time alone isn't a valid criticism in my opinion. It's WAY more complicated than that.

What's your opinion? Reblog your thoughts, I'm very curious, especially with media with this issue I did not cover.

74 notes · View notes

veliseraptor · 1 year

Note

I'm interested in your thoughts about the different way the show vs the novel cuts the timeline, and specifically in terms of how Jin Guangyao is framed. With the show, we're first introduced to Meng Yao as a young man making heart eyes at Zewu-jun and there's a very slow build up of suspicion over time, which allows viewers to get to know and like him more at first before...*ahem*... putting the villain hat on him. In the novel on the other hand (assuming I'm remembering this correctly), we're basically presented with Jin Guangyao as the antagonist almost from the beginning, setting him up for the reader's suspicion and dislike. On the other hand, there's a much more nuanced portrayal of his crimes (e.g. he's not responsible for Every Bad Thing Ever like in Untamed) and the reasons behind them, and an even more clear parallel with WWX as the protagonist. What are your thoughts?

Ohhh this is a super interesting ask and I actually found it an interesting counter to the prevailing Jin Guangyao narrative about his framing in the drama, which holds that he is straightforwardly being painted as The Villain, and while I don't think that's incorrect I do think in some ways it overstates its point. however, I actually think that something specifically about narrative framing (as in, not taking any content changes in mind) here might, perhaps unintuitively, contribute to why the Jin Guangyao of the novel is a more sympathetic figure than The Untamed (tries to) make him.

(once again I came out of CQL like Jin Guangyao Made Many Valid Points, Was If Not Right At Least 75% Justified so like. I actually don't think The Untamed was as good at making Jin Guangyao a Straight Up Villain as it was trying to be. I have thoughts about Zhu Zanjin actively acting against script and how you can feel him pulling against the prevailing narrative and I have thoughts about how that actually interacts very nicely with the way Jin Guangyao in every version of the story is pulling against a prevailing narrative that wants to relegate him to the margins in one way or another. but that's a major sidebar.)

holy hell I wrote an essay so putting the rest of this under a read more.

The point is that I think there's a few things happening here - I will note, first of all, that I don't think we actually are introduced to Jin Guangyao as a villain in MDZS. I believe the first mentions we get of him are actually fairly positive. I went back and checked, and he's mentioned a couple times early on just to note his position as Chief Cultivator (in pretty neutral to positive terms), then identified as the person who gave Jin Ling Fairy, and a few other times including the explanation that he executed Xue Yang to "show that things were going to be different." Pretty shortly after that is the scene where Wei Wuxian finds the kids playing Sunshot Campaign to see how Jin Guangyao is portrayed there (because that's a solid proxy for perception more broadly) and it's pretty complimentary!

"In these types of games, the role of the now-grand-beyond-measure Chief Cultivator, Lianfang-zun, was naturally very popular. Though he had come from a background that most people found too embarrassing to even mention, it was for this very reason that they sighed in admiration over how he'd succeeded in climbing to the top of the cultivation world. [...] He fully deserved the title, and could even be considered a legend of his time. If Wei Wuxian had been playing this game, he also would have wanted to try being Jin Guangyao." (Dew, Part 5)

I do think that's worth remembering, that it's not an immediate jump into "Jin Guangyao bad"; it happens pretty fast but not immediately.

However, it is true that by the time we actually meet Jin Guangyao on page he is under pretty heavy suspicion, and pretty shortly after that is the Empathy sequence, which involves a lot of heavy judgment on Wei Wuxian's part (a very unbiased narrator! of course!) of Jin Guangyao's badness. though that's also the sequence that reveals Jin Guangyao's involvement in saving Lan Xichen, his maltreatment by cultivators in general and Nie Mingjue in particular. So it's...complicated.

But in general, this kind of arc (starting with a character who seems fishy/suspicious or even evil, gradually revealing later on the more sympathetic aspects and drawing a fuller, more nuanced picture of them that's very far from a blanket condemnation and also gets a lot of sympathy from the narrative) is very characteristic of MXTX. She does it all the time, in all three of her books, with pretty much all her antagonists.

(SPOILERS FOLLOW: Shen Qingqiu in SVSSS starts out as a lecherous scum villain who deserves his horrible death and ends as a decidedly tragic and fairly miserable figure that even his #1 hater feels pity for, Tianlang-jun in same is an all-powerful demon lord, terror of the cultivation world -- and he was wrongly accused because the Old Palace Master coveted Su Xiyan. Xue Yang is introduced as a mass murderer and closes as a hand clutching a treasured candy. Jun Wu in TGCF receives the bamboo hat after Xie Lian's beaten him in a truly remarkable gesture of compassion.

Wei Wuxian himself, who is introduced in the first lines of the novel as a terrible evil that has been defeated - this one gets quickly overturned but the fact that it begins there is still significant. I could keep going.)

and while I feel like that's led to some problems in the discourse (namely, people make up their mind about who Jin Guangyao is right off the bat and then dismiss anything that doesn't suit that initial assumption as either false or irrelevant), I also think it's a pretty compelling way to lay out her characters, and does some very interesting things in terms of...challenging the reader to be willing to overwrite some of those early assumptions, being willing to make that change in how they assess a character (or person). I mean, that's a big part of the plot of SVSSS, actually: many of the problems are caused by Shen Qingqiu's unwillingness or inability to see that Luo Binghe is not the character he knew him as from PIDW - that Luo Binghe has changed because of Shen Yuan's decisions. The misunderstandings after Luo Binghe's plunge into the Abyss stem, in a lot of ways, from Shen Qingqiu continuing to assume that Luo Binghe is thinking and acting exactly as his counterpart would, instead of looking at the person who is actually in front of him.

So too, I think the reader is meant to do those same kinds of reassessments in MDZS as character details are parceled out. Notably, the information about Sisi and the Guanyin Temple statue is only revealed after Jin Guangyao is already dead. Everything has already happened, so why put that information in the text? It's one more signpost that says you thought you knew everything but there's still more to complicate the picture and make this even more of a tragedy. You see the same thing with Jiang Cheng and the golden core reveal at the very end - everything has already happened, the great confrontation has already gone down, but here's one more thing. Maybe it doesn't change anything in terms of the narrative, but it's there, it's important.

Now, the problem comes, I think, when people are unwilling to flex on that initial unfavorable impression, and I feel like particularly right now in general a lot of people are unwilling to...change their minds? on things? or to admit they were wrong or maybe making a judgment prematurely? And most obviously this is an issue irl all over the place but I think it happens in fiction, too. The irony here is, of course, that it's replicating exactly how cultivation society in-text responds to Jin Guangyao, namely by taking one thing about him and deciding that says everything about him, regardless of what he does.

To turn to CQL, now...I'm going to be talking about narrative structure from an Anglophone perspective because that's what I know, and that's the part of fandom I primarily engage with, recognizing that what I'm going to say about story patterns may not hold true in Chinese literature; I've read too little of it to say.

I actually think it's interesting that I actually think, while CQL is on the face of it presenting a more sympathetic look at Jin Guangyao to begin with, by putting it in a linear order where the viewer more or less knows what's going on with him through the course of the whole story in chronological order is actually in some ways a villain edit in and of itself without the extra dumping of all the bad things ever being his fault. I say that because that's actually, as a narrative arc, a very familiar one in terms of the path it follows. "Innocent young man falls into villainy" is a classic villain creation trope - and while often it can make for a sympathetic villain it is very much a story that arcs from good > bad > dead.

When it's set up in that linear sort of way, aligned with that sort of familiar path, the reader (viewer) is almost set up to expect what comes; as soon as episode 10 rolls around and Jin Guangyao does something questionable, there's an easy and immediate jump to "oh, so he's going to be one of those" and from there everything he does must be, by the logic of that familiar story, part of that path. He can't get better from there; that's not how it works. He can have a redemptive moment before death, perhaps, but overall once that downward arc begins, the expectation isn't that it'll reverse, and it's a challenge to convince people not to view the rest of the character's story - and potentially back-read into their previous actions - in a suspicious light at best or an actively hostile one at worst.

(Interestingly, I have thoughts/feelings on the way that Wei Wuxian's arc interacts with that sort of story path, which is to say as I've talked about before Wei Wuxian's first life is classic villain origin story. "A smart, clever young man with a healthy dose of hubris acquires sinister powers, gradually gets more unstable and separated from society, and ultimately goes full villain" is the basic outline of Wei Wuxian's story before his resurrection, and that is, I want to emphasize, a villain story. Obviously it doesn't end up framed that way, but viewed from outside that's what it is. The fact that he's extricated from it and gets another chance doesn't actually unwrite that - it gives him another chance.)

So CQL!Jin Guangyao might start out as a more sympathetic-seeming figure than MDZS!Jin Guangyao does, but by virtue of the linearity of his arc on screen (following a familiar narrative path to an inevitable end), I think he's pre-set up to be intractably cast in the villain role, where MDZS!Jin Guangyao, because the reveals of information about him are non-linear, wobbles more. Because the reader doesn't have all the information it (potentially) forestalls making final judgment, or at least calls for a reexamination of judgment. That interrupted arc, with its side trips and detours and glimpses of another story in which Jin Guangyao could've been the protagonist (the brothel flashback occurs to me), makes it potentially a little less easy to mark Jin Guangyao in the villain box and keep him there for forty episodes.

I would say, in general, that the novel encourages a more sympathetic read of Jin Guangyao. But I do think what you've noted here is worth remembering: CQL doesn't present him as a villain or even as sketchy from the start, and the difference is clear in the form of two characters who project "I'm a bad person!" in every scene they're in from the beginning: Wen Ruohan, and to a lesser extent Jin Guangshan.

#conversating #flamingwell #jin guangyao #lise does meta #the sad queer cultivators show #thanks for giving me the opportunity to spend FAR too long writing this and looking up quotes and shit #much appreciated way to spend my afternoon #instead of working

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nancydrewwouldnever · 1 year

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Pushing It (Boston Globe, 1 Feb 2009)

In Hollywood, where everybody grabs at success, Sudbury's Chris Evans has made it to a starring role in the new film 'Push' - and he doesn't mind saying what it took to get there

By Rebecca DiLiberto, Globe Correspondent / February 1, 2009

LOS ANGELES - Meet Chris Evans: oversize hoodie, unassuming posture, well-washed chinos, freshly scrubbed skin, rosy cheeks, $10 haircut, willing to make eye contact with strangers. Hanging out over coffee at a suburban strip mall, you wouldn't figure him for a movie star.

That's exactly how the Sudbury native likes it.

"I think when I first came out here I was very hungry to get to the top," says the actor, who stars as a young telekenetic on the run from authorities in "Push," opening Friday. "Now I'm kind of at this middle road, and I'm looking around like, isn't life pretty much as great as I want it right now? If you get too far, there's no off switch. Once you're Brad Pitt, you can't not be Brad Pitt."

At 27, Chris Evans is the model of how to go from being a high school drama geek to claiming status as a successful working actor. While his career hasn't necessarily exploded yet, he's had a critically acclaimed turn as an astronaut-slash-engineer in Danny Boyle's "Sunshine," and a commercial windfall as the human torch in "Fantastic Four" franchise - notches on a resume that anyone aspiring to work in Holly wood would envy.

How did Evans get to here from there? At the beginning of his career, he paid his dues in some barely seen films.

"Luckily, my first couple of movies were really terrible," he says. "There was 'Not Another Teen Movie' not a blockbuster, and then 'The Perfect Score,' which was gone in a New York minute, and then I did a movie called 'Cellular,' which was gone, then 'Orphan King,' which never even made it to theaters.

"Your first movie, you think, 'This is it! Look out world!' And then you're like, 'Oh. . . back to the drawing board, I guess.' And then three or four times in you're like, 'All right no one sets out to make a bad movie, but there are a lot of them.' "

Evans is not one of those leading men whose ego you have to stroke. In fact, he won't let you. Complimented on his performance in "Sunshine," he credits director Boyle: "He could make this coffee cup give a brilliant performance." Congratulated on the natural relationship he shares with costar Dakota Fanning in "Push," he says, "Dakota is unbelievable. She could be acting with a sneaker."

While Evans and Fanning indeed demonstrate a real connection in "Push," the movie itself is a bit uneven, and Evans is the first to admit it. With compelling action sequences and charismatic actors, "Push" is a respectable popcorn flick, but its story has trouble hanging together.

In the film's own production notes, Evans is quoted as saying, "We're not sending any deep messages. This is a pure entertainment film, like a lot of my favorite movies."

While Evans is careful not to say anything specifically negative about "Push," his shrug and tone suggest that he's chalking this one up to experience. "This process was one where I had to learn a little bit. It was the first time I've ever worked on a movie where there was no rehearsal, and that just felt crazy to me. But. . . everyone likes to do things differently, and you've got to be ready for that."

Evans says he has learned that the key to turning in a performance he's proud of lies in trusting his director. "At the end of the day, you're handing your performance over. And so if a director says, after a take, 'You know what, try it just really angry. Just get furious.' And you're like, 'Well I don't know if I want to give you that, because I don't know if I trust what you're going to do with it."

The director Evans has trusted completely so far is "Sunshine" director Boyle, who has been receiving accolades this year for his work on "Slumdog Millionaire." Evans attributes the performances Boyle gets out of his actors to rigorous rehearsal. "He's a theater guy, and the actors he hires are all of the mind-set that preparation is the key. We were in London about a month before we started shooting and we ran it every day, like a play. . . . I got to the point with Danny where he could've been like, 'Do the next take in Spanish,' and I would've been like 'All right, I will do that Danny, I trust you so much I'm ready to be vulnerable and explore and take risks.'

"Danny Boyle's a ninja. I don't know if I'll ever have a better performance, he's just so good," Evans says.

Evans is brimming with anticipation for his next project, "Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World," which co-stars Michael Cera and will be directed by Edgar Wright, late of "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz." "I would trust [him] with my finances; I would trust [him] to organize a party. He's just smart. I can't wait. . . to give [him] whatever [he] wants and let [him] run with it and then hopefully kick out a good product. It's an exciting process to feel safe."

Film sets aside, the place Evans feels safest is at home in the Boston area where he has extended family. His uncle is US Representative and former mayor of Somerville Michael Capuano. Growing up, he performed at the Concord Youth Theatre - his siblings are also alums, and his mother is now the artistic director - and was obsessed with going to games at the Garden, eating pizza at Leone's, and sledding in Sudbury. And let us not forget seeing nature films at the Museum of Science's Omni Theater. "I haven't been in like five or six years, so maybe the screen isn't even that big, but I remember it being huge. They always have such great movies. 'Polar Bears'! Or 'Deep Caves!' "

Last year, Evans got to settle back into his old ways when he took a three-month sabbatical at his childhood home. "No one talks about movies, and no one [cares] about acting, and they'll give it to you straight," he says of connecting with his old circle of friends. "You come out [to LA], and every single conversation you have at a nightclub is, you know, 'Hey, I saw your trailer! What are you working on? You know what I saw? You know who I met? You know who knows you?' "

#interview #2009 #push movie #chris evans

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formulaorange · 1 year

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Fall 2022 Anime Reviews/Ratings

Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War It's been a good while since I've enjoyed and anime this much. Bleach was one of if not, the first anime I ever watched and I could not be more stoked to have been able to watch its continuation now, 10 years later. This was actually a bit of a surprise. The first half honestly felt like an artists serious depiction of a historical drama and the music absolutely set the tone throughout the whole half. The themes were on point, the art style was out of this world and it definitely hit hard. The second half has was much more classic bleach and easily brought up the mood but also had a solid balance of important story arcs that really filled in some pieces of the world that I didn't know I needed. I loved every second of this season and this is the kind of quality this show deserves. 10/10 - Masterpiece

Chainsaw-man This was a manga that I personally didn't enjoy, just wasn't for me, but damn the anime is solid. While I still didn't feel too attached to the characters, I thoroughly enjoyed the way they did the story. The animations were god honest next level. I can't imagine anything past the quality we have in this series and man I wish MAPPA applied this much tlc to other series like JJK. (Maybe season 2 🤞) Overall a solid action, sci-fi? punk?? series. 9/10 - Great

Blue Lock - (Still airing - 12/24) Another highly-anticipated series. I only recently picked up this manga and low-key it sucked that the english releases were so far behind. Volume 3 released after the anime already aired the same content. Besides that, this series is an absolutely amazing sports series. It hits all the checkboxes for a standard quirk-based sports show but also outdoes it with stellar animations. I love the style so much and I'm looking forward to what other series this studio picks up. (Same studio that did Tensura) 9/10 - Great My Hero Academia - Season 6 (Still airing - 13/25) This season is honestly what I've been waiting for. I feel that each season has it's peaks, but we're definitely hitting the climax of the story here and I'm loving it. The series has really come into it's own and has some serioulsly solid action and super-hero sequences. I genuinely enjoyed this season the most out of the series and high hopes for the future of this show. 9/10 - Great

Spy x Family - Cour 2 I have been waiting for the tennis arc to be animated. My god, I love this show. It really just hits everything I need from a shonen series and makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. Never a moment without entertainment and I just love the characters so much. 9/10 - Great The Eminence in Shadow (Still airing - 12/20) I was genuinely surprised by this show. Its concept isn't anything crazy but I feel the writing is really well paced and is just generally very entertaining to watch. 8/10 - Very Good

Bocchi The Rock This is definitely the slice of life of the season. I had a lot of fun with the characters in this show and low-key related to a lot of the awkwardness bocchi emanates. I felt it was just overall such a simple and wholesome series. A good one to watch for fun. 8/10 - Very Good Mob Psycho III I'm a huge fan of ONE's works. One punch is easily one of my top 5 series. While I really enjoyed the first two seasons of mob, I found I just wasn't as into this season. The first half was slow and really didn't feel special. The second half, while it was awesome to see and is definitely amazing, there was really just nothing of note to spark it. Like this all happened in one episode. In the end, the animations and story are still far better than many shows out there is definitely worth watching. 8/10 - Very Good I'm the Villainess, so I'm Taming the Last Boss I actually loved this one. It took a trope that's typically seen in fantasy novels and turned it into an anime. I really like the different stories and arcs that took place in the series and I ended up getting quite attached to all the characters. 8/10 - Very Good To Your Eternity Season 2 (Still airing - 10/20) I've heard a lot that this series really falls off the further you get into it. While I do agree that it's nowhere near as good as the first half of season 1, I still really enjoy the progression of time and Fushi's evolution. I think the story so far is interesting enough to continue watching but definitely less hook than the original concept. 7/10 - Good More than a Married Couple, but not Lovers This series was a lot of fun. I think it walked a really fine line between the right amount of ecchi/spice and wholesome. Again with this one, I really like the different scenarios the characters were put in and while I did enjoy the series, it still felt like it lacked something for me. Either way, definitely a fun little non-standard romance series. 7/10 - Good The Bibliophile Princess I didn't think that I was going to keep watching this show after the first few episodes tbh, but i'm glad I did. I felt that it was a really nice genuine romance that addressed a lot of things in their world. They just did the genre well and I enjoyed the series. 7/10 - Good

Reincarnated as a Sword I know the LN readers have been waiting for this one. I think what i've found recently is that I really enjoy the concept behind these kinds of isekais but I've been preferring to read them rather than watch it. The series kinda felt mid. I did like the characters and the stories but didn't feel like anything special. I'm sure the actual novel is probably more entertaining and worth a read. 6/10 - Fine

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darkwithasharpenededge · 6 months

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A "I Can't Believe I Finished This Book This Fast" Bitch's Review of Magician: Master by Raymond E. Feist

Rating: 70/100

Summary: Finally deviating from its tropes, Magician: Master brings the plots set up in Magician: Apprentice to their rather too tidy conclusion.

Remember how I said yesterday that I wasn't going to read this book for a while? Yeah not even I really understand what happened to that. I read one chapter last night, and I picked it up to read another chapter this evening, thinking that I might as well get through it. And then I got through it. Review contains spoilers, blah blah blah.

Plot: Pug: Pug is the reason I read this book as fast as I did. It was my interest in Pug's plot that kept me going, and the scene where he was being trained to be a Tsurani Great One was the best scene in the entire book, and was singlehandedly responsible for this book receiving a 70 instead of a score somewhere in the high 60s. As much as I hate to admit it, it fucked.

Plot: Tomas: More on this in the romance section, but I had mixed feelings about Tomas' plot. I thought that some of the worldbuilding with him having to merge himself with a long-dead member of an ancient violent race was pretty neat, but the actual resolution of the plot was not to my liking, especially with how much it tied into other aspects of the unsatisfactory ending.

Plot: Politics: The politics stuff was shit. It had some really interesting bits with the feeling of the civil war from the first book finally possibly coming to fruition, but I was sorely disappointed. The king died, he named a "good guy" his heir, there was a bit of brief succession drama at the end with the bastard brother to one of the main characters, it was all extremely convenient and sucked. Tempted to go back and knock my score down two points just because of how much I hated the politics stuff.

Plot: Resolution: Extremely convenient and everything worked out for everyone with no bad consequences. I have a feeling that if I end up picking up any romance this year as part of this challenge, I'm going to have this same problem again.

Pacing: I didn't note this in my previous review, but this problem was also prevalent in my read of the first book: The book often had extremely large timeskips that made it difficult to gauge how much the characters had changed in the offscreen time. For example, at the beginning of this book, we're told immediately that four years had passed, and then later in the book, another four years passed? The reader is told that it took nine years in total for the events of the first and second book to transpire, but I'm not sure that the time scales all add up.

Also the book often felt slow, but that was partially down to writing style. Prose Quality: I didn't pay as much attention to it this time, partially because I was reading noticeably faster. Still serviceable, still fairly heavyhanded in some places, with a tendency to spoonfeed the reader that I don't care for.

Characters: My attachment to Pug as a character kind of dwindled after the two giant timeskips, and as Tomas mutated my attachment to him dropped as well. I liked Amos (the pirate captain), he had some extremely funny lines and brought some much needed comic relief, but I didn't find anyone new to latch onto.

Worldbuilding: The Tsurani are imo pretty clearly Asian-coded, and honestly I find that a sign of weakness in an author. Imagine being so uncreative that the most exotic thing you can think of for your invading army from another planet is just "what if they were Asian". Boring. What if your main characters were Asian and they were invaded by Stock Standard Medieval Fantasy World, that would be WAY more entertaining.

But I will give some credit to the worldbuilding for Pug's scene where he learned the entire history of the Tsurani in one go. That scene was in fact really good and I really enjoyed it. Best scene in the entire book. No I won't shut up about it.

Action Sequences: The combat sequences in this book were still pretty meh, but there were some decent chase sequences, one on land and one on sea. And if Pug's scenes where he was learning the Tsurani ways of magic count as action sequences, well, then, this book can get some points back for that too.

Romance: Awful no good very bad evil. I wrote in the margins when I reached certain scenes between Tomas and the Elf Queen that every day I respected Paolini more and more for having Eragon and Arya not get together at the end of the story. Awful horrid choice. Hatred forever. We love to see a thousand year old queen accept emotional abuse from her boyfriend. /s. Also the whole "oh what if he becomes king by marrying her" plot is INSUFFERABLY stupid. Just don't get married! Not getting married was always an option!

Female Characters: What female characters? Every woman who appears on the page is someone's romantic interest.

Gay?: I wish.

Was It Worth It?: Yes, if only for that single chapter where Pug was attending Tsurani wizard school. That was the good shit.

Will I Continue The Series?: Nope.

Final Verdict: If something freakishly similar to Pug's scene in Tsurani wizard school appears in my own writing, well, you didn't read this review, shhhhh. The conclusion of this story was kind of awful and full of extremely convenient events and manufactured succession drama that nobody had any reason to give as much of a shit about as they did, but whatever. I did it. I have knocked this one off my list in record time.

Review Word Count: 969

#Void's 2024 reads #book review #genre: fantasy #author: Raymond E. Feist #Magician: Master #publication year: 1992 #score range: 70s

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agentnico · 8 months

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Flora and Son (2023) Review

Flora and Son - sounds like a name for a barber's or a chippy. "Chippy"....my-my, I'm becoming more British by the day!

Plot: Flora, a single mother who argues with her son Max in an attempt to find him a hobby, retrieves a guitar from a dumpster and discovers that one person's rubble can be a family's salvation.

John Carney's musicals aren't really musicals. Having brought us such treats as Sing Street and Begin Again, all his projects feature original songs, however, they are never flashy staged sequences, but instead very simplistic and calming moments. Carney uses music as a connective tissue between characters who otherwise struggle to click. So with his new Apple TV+ indie feature Flora and Son he sets the events in Dublin, Ireland, and its another feel-good heartwarming experience,. The best parts are the musical moments, with the song lyrics and acoustic guitar sounding delightful, however despite good intentions and solid moments, the film itself fails to fully hit the mark.

The thing with most John Carney movies is that they all feature flawed characters, with individuals going through some serious issues such as divorce or loss or being outcasted, however, that never stops these characters from being likable people whom we as the audience can root for and have that interest in seeing them get their happy ending. With Flora and Son, however, even though the story is structured in that same pattern, the characters are all really unlikeable and at times horrible. Flora (played by Ewe Hewson) is a terrible mother who rarely gives her son the time of day. She steals, is mean to everyone and overall just enjoys living her miserable life by feeling sorry for herself. We are supposed to wish good things for her character, but by acting so self-centered and unpleasant throughout most of the movie honestly made me not care for her. Only in the last 20 minutes, she makes the sudden decision to develop a consciousness, however, even then there isn't really any build-up in her character arc to get her to that stage. She just suddenly decides "Okay, I'm going to be nice now". The son too, though you do feel sorry that he's not got a solid parent figure, also is a bit of a prick, excuse my French. Weirdly it's the ex-boyfriend who we're supposed to hate, who actually comes off as the more reasonable one at times. Naturally, it doesn't help that he's played by Jack Reynor who is such a lovely man, so no matter how dislikable he tries to act I just see him as the sweet Irish-talking brother Brendan from Sing Street. In reality, the only character that seems to have a solid moral code and is actually a nice person is Flora's online guitar teacher (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt), but again, that connects to the main musical moments of the film, which again are its stronghold.

The cinematography is fairly bland, with the only noteworthy moments being when Flora helps her son film a music video, which results in a very amusing piece. The narrative itself is standard cheesiness which is to be expected in a romantic comedy drama such as this, but the storyline is pretty basic and more tame than usual compared to Carney's previous works. Again, within the last 20 minutes, it does come all together nicely even if the ending itself is a tad anti-climactic, but overall it is a well-intentioned little indie flick, with a great acoustic soundtrack, and enough heartwarming moments to make it worth a Saturday night watch with your partner.

Overall score: 6/10

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gideonbulletin · 2 years

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RED STRING OF FAITH PT. 1

SCENE 1

SEQUENCE 1

Setting: Norhall Town, Nightingale Theater (Poston vividly depicts a trailblazing social experiment in rural community development in the 1940s, introducing to the public a ground breaking strategy for civic self-knowledge and action through "community drama," in which citizens research and dramatize the past and potential future of their town).

(CLAYTON, the poet man enters quietly in the

practice room, flabbergasted)

NICK

(a production crew, directing the whole stage play, displeased) HEY, stick to the script! (NICK squints his eyes when each light at the stage spotlight flashes at the member

delivering their poets that has written by CLAYTON) Downhearted Ludwig – (Giving all his momentum and his solo stage while full heatedly gets into his Character) Can I see another's woe, and not be in sorrow too? Can I see another's grief, and not seek for kind relief? (As LUDWIG give his final bow and NICK closes close the curtains)

(CLAYTON, the poet man has wiped his fake tears and clap loudly)

CLAYTON

Bravo! Excellent choice of play but the drama is extraneous needed to have call the tune of sorrows and conduct onto my level of expectations into it for the communal hierarchy and the audience will get attached to it (CLAYTON jocular behaves as his impersonal nature teasing NICK to enrages him.)

NICK

(NICK’s face falls, shocked not knowing CLAYTON is around) For the love of God, you are again. If it weren't for your genius in creating a wonderful poem and plays in town, I would have long since drove you off a cliff. You constantly feel the need to irritate me while we are working together on these shows. (sighs) Glad my patience was stronger... (NICK’s face frowning.) But I will miss it....

(CLAYTON’s Unable to think clearly due to confusion Uncertain of what he’s talking about.)

CLAYTON

What exactly did you say? You'll miss me making fun of you, Hahaha How pitiful! (CLAYTON grew aware that his behavior was odd) I'm sorry for teasing you earlier, but what's on your face is making you frown. (CLAYTON began to wonder as NICK shrugs)

NICK

(placed his hands on his hips then breaths heavily, walks up to CLAYTON, tell him the words he's been holding onto for a while.) Hey, Listen Pal, let me get this to you straight, this show... (NICK hesitate to answer) um...

(CLAYTON’s intriguing to listen)

NICK

(NICK cuts his words) Nah too much overthinking, never mind (NICK, claps his hand as he gathers the people on stage to get a break for rehearsing the entire play) Please take a five-minute

break before continuing the drill, everyone. Please assist me in bringing these documents through my office, Clayton. (NICK nervously speaking)

CLAYTON

(flustered) Wait, would you mind explaining to me what you are referring about earlier? I’m not assisting you to your office unless you tell me what is.

NICK

Hey you really want to know, (grasp some air as he steps out onto the stage and look around) fine, it is hard to tell you, but this is our last show kid.

CLAYTON

What do you mean by that?! You’re tricking me, right? This show is a hit this can’t be our last I can’t lose my job?!

NICK

Shh... This is secret between you and me, you’re the first one I have not told this to anyone (NICK looks around and whisper to CLAYTON) Your right kid. All of us will lose our hard It may come as no surprise that the motion picture and sound recording industries were heavily hit by job losses given that theaters closed, and entertainment production efforts stagnated around

the area. I hate to break the news to anyone, but after this last show, employment will be down from a month earlier. If no one will support us financially, we're doomed. (digress) Now can you please help me with the papers were going to arrange the papers to my office.

(CLAYTON is too ineffable, it is challenging to put into words ideas and emotions.)

SEQUENCE 2

Nick’s office. December 28, 1940. Norhall Town, Nightingale Theater.

(CLAYTON and NICK is banging away on the way to office)

CLAYTON

There is something that we must do, we can’t just let them know about what is happening their life depends on us we can’t just one hook of swing let it down like nothing happen?! Nick please,

NICK

Have you figured it out yet, when I said it is over then it’s done, we can’t do anything about it young one. (NICK stumbles placing the paper on his desk) Oh... ops, now will you excuse me I have more things to be done in this hour I can’t let any time waste for this argument. (NICK seat in his office chair and productively working)

(CLAYTON left the office of NICK walking down to an empty hallway, scowl)

SEQUENCE 3

Maidenhair Park. December 28, 1940. Besides Norhall Town, Nightingale Theater.

CLAYTON

(mumbling) What a jerk, He can’t tell his whole situation to the whole production he keeps up with himself this whole time, If I can save the whole production wait for, I shall be back?! With handful of money (thinking; figuring on how he can make money to support the Nightingale Theater production)

What if I make a successful book about stuff I've written in the past or sell some of the poems I've written? What will... I’m going to do...

(LUDWIG stopped biking enters the scene

and saw CLAYTON making faces, puzzled)

LUDWIG

(a blithesome theater kid, holding a squeeze esoteric poster) Clayton, my man, (LUDWIG put his hand on CLAYTON shoulders) wanted to mention that the play that was written was really

fantastic. Have you received any weird inspiration for writing it? (Notice CLAYTON not attentively listening) Howdy, are you all ears my man? is there, hmm... something bothering you at this moment?

CLAYTON

(CLAYTON lies, omit) Oh Ludwig Yes, I’m listening, (He muses for a moment, trying to recall the question that LUDWIG had asked him.) I genuinely did need money. Do you have any extra cash I could borrow or any job listings you might suggest? These past few days, I really wanted to work more hours because I felt like I was doing nothing, rather than providing theatrical poets and scripts to perform in this town.

(LUDWIG, pull up the esoteric poster that he had

at his hand, smizing)

LUDWIG

Right time! I have got you covered. I recently saw this poster on a wall, and it piqued my curiosity. I grabbed it because I knew it would astonish you. (Excitedly showing it to CLAYTON)

CLAYTON

Well, what will you show me (intriguingly

waiting for LUDWIG’S answer)

LUDWIG

(LUDWIG reads the poster out loud) A wanted entertainers and performer was required for the Longoria Palace's scriptwriting and theater event for the Defender of the Realm. Nothing compares to the shout of the people supporting their knight. We enthrall audiences with innovative tale that features a majestic Queen and the unrivaled royal revelry of times. We bring the enchanted experience to life by transforming every excursion into a high-caliber event. (CLAYTON can be seen listening intently.) Reward is at twenty thousand dollars and a support

from future occasions from Majestical Highness

at the Longoria Palace.

CLAYTON

That’s windfall of money Ludwig?! How can I get the job hiring what are the requirements to enter?! (Tempting to join)

LUDWIG

(Scans the poster) Nothing written here, do not lose hope wait for a second, (he simply flipped the poster, more examination was done) Oh... Simply go to the palace and prove them that you are worthy can entertain them by showcasing some of your works and projects. You should also exhibit positive characteristics and be free of any criminal records. My mistake is in the back of the poster. (Exclaimed LUDWIG)

CLAYTON

Where can I find this palace? (Absorbing the information)

LUDWIG

Only a few kilometers separate it from our town, in Northeast Harrington Town. The Longoria Palaces are located about 40 miles east of Ellsworth on Route 1 as you pass through the tranquil fishing and agricultural community of Harrington. (Hands the poster to CLAYTON) Here you go you might actually need it more than I do.

CLAYTON

(gets the rumple poster) This is really helpful

Thanks Ludwig. (Smiles of genuine gratitude)

LUDWIG

Well, I'm delighted it's informative, and I spoke with you for a while. I owe you this considering you gave me the job of my dreams. (Tears fall down As LUDWIG gently closed his eyes and mesmerized his solo role in the theatrical performance, LUDWIG patted CLAYTON’S shoulders while having an unfeigned glint in his eyes and a genuine smile.) See you at the Nightingale Theater. I can't wait to play one of your pieces in front of a sizable audience that will be wildly applauding and clapping throughout the entire play.

(LUDWIG noticed that it is getting late at night,) It is getting dark here, (phew) I will leave now goodbye Clayton! (waves)

(LUDWIG get his bike and started riding it and him out of sight leaving CLAYTON alone.)

CLAYTON

(Sitting on a seat after spotting one, talking to oneself.) Can’t crush this man’s dream; For none other than you If I had woken up from this lovely dream; There was a theme. Too strong

for fantasy for reason, in light of this, you wisely woke me up, but You didn't break my dream, but instead kept it going.

#one- act play script #shemarie valencia

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marta-bee · 2 years

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i just saw your comment on the One Thing you don't like about the PJ movies, and I was wondering... what's wrong with Denethor?

(For context: I know the books inside and out, but I haven't watched the movies, so you can expect me to know everything in Tolkien but this is also an honest question. I'm scared. What did they do to Denethor??)

What an interesting vantage-point! Usually I see people only familiar with the movies asking how the book is different, but I don't think I've ever discussed him with someone only familiar with the books. Not that there's anything wrong with not knowing the book version, but this is new.

You may want to go to the bathroom, or pour yourself a drink, because we're going to be here for a while. Deep breath. :-)

Let's start with the family drama.

Denethor is a really bad father to Boromir and Faramir, Faramir especially. He flat-out tells Faramir he'd wished he had died instead of Boromir, which is a very twisted reading of the parallel book conversation (where Faramir asks if Denethor wishes Boromir's and Faramir's roles had been reversed). Denethor comes across as uncaring and even cruel.

But more than that, because they really did away with the lord's council other than Denethor and Faramir, the strategy debates leading up to the Battle of Pelennor Fields get reduced to a father-son squabble. When Denethor asks who will ride out to defend the Rammas Echor [though in the movies it's Osgiliath], he's not saying it to a group of commanders. Faramir's the only person there to hear him, so it comes out as very passive-aggressive. That means Faramir's decision to lead the charge isn't so much a commander doing his lord's doing as a son trying to prove his worth to his father. The revelation Faramir let Frodo and Sam go doesn't come across as a treasonous decision or an earnest disagreement on how best to handle it, but a son betraying his father. It all felt so pitifully small to me, and lacking the gravitas and thematic weight of the book exchanges. I don't doubt Jackson thought it was more relatable but for me it really hollowed out Denethor's character. It also made him manipulative, and that's even before you get into the whole Pyre sequence.

Second: as a ruler, he's really ineffectual.

There's no Beregond and Bergil, no well-organized evacuation, no him wearing armor under his clothes and working diligently to the point he barely sleeps, no rebuilding of the Wall or bringing in troops from Dol Amroth and all the rest to boost the city's defenses. Minas Tirith is much more ready to defend itself in the books than (say) the Rohirrim at Helm's Deep, and Denethor's great failure is he's so focused on Gondor's defenses it's committed him to too narrow a view of the war. But he's a remarkably good ruler on those narrow terms. In the movies he's just a doddering old fool and Gondor is not only unprepared, it's not actively preparing for war until Gandalf kicks people into action.

Part of that comes down to every movie having to limit its plot points and the details it gives. And I suspect PJ wanted to show why Gondor needed a king, why Aragorn was so important. But in the process he completely failed to show why Gondor was worthy of Aragorn; I remember thinking at the time that if it was me I'd rather have ruled over Rohan. And Denethor himself is just a humiliating shell of a man, let alone of a ruler. There's one famous scene set in the Court of the White Tree where he's raving about how Mordor has come upon them and they're all doomed and Gandalf just... conks him in the head with his staff. There are guards standing on duty, but they completely fail to react to his histrionics but also Gandalf's assault on him. And it's just pitiful.

That scene's actually a recasting of another book scene, the one where Denethor releases Pippin from his service and says they should all go find their death in whatever way seems best to them. But it happens much earlier in the movies, and without any explanation for why Denethor is SO given in to despair. Which leads me to my third reason why Jackson did our steward so wrong.

The movies also take away a really central explanation for Denethor's despair: the palantir. They do have palantiri, but really only the Isengard one recovered by Gandalf and Pippin. If Denethor had one it's never mentioned. Why Denethor used it is also never mentioned, so he doesn't come across as a man who'd fought valiantly but in the process exposed himself to "truth" too heavy to bear up under. It also doesn't explain why he's so sure they were all going to die, and why Faramir was as good as dead. He's just unraveling and comes across as weak and a poor ruler, never mind person.

That's frustrating enough in the scenes leading up to the siege, but you can only imagine what it does to the Pyre episode. More than a decade later, just thinking about that whole sequence just hurts. So I find I don't want to dwell on the details, but I do need to talk about one thing: shorn of any context for why he's so certain Gondor is about to fall, his move to immolate Faramir takes on a much more controlling --even abusive-- tone. There's an element of that in the books, but without any real grounding of why he thinks their destruction is so certain, it just seems like he doesn't want anyone taking control of Faramir away from him.

(He's also denied his stately end: instead of barring the doors and the tomb of the Stewards collapsing upon him, he turns into a fireball and runs all the way back to the Citadel and jumps off the stone outcropping. To say Jackson was showing his Harryhausen influences would be an understatement. :-) )

I try to remind myself that while Denethor may well be my Blorbo, he's actually a fairly minor character in the context of the larger story, and a lot of this may come down to where Jackson needed to center his storytelling. I can appreciate that. But a lot of it was just unnecessary, and robbed him of this high tragedy that made me so love the book character. I wept at the inevitability of book-Denethor's fall; with movie-Denethor, I just groaned.

#tolkien #lord of the rings #denethor #marta blathers #long post is long

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kitkatpancakestack · 3 years

Text

In response to this. I am replying in a new post bc I have the "no sense of brevity" flavor of ADHD so I know this is gonna get long.

@yramesoruniverse thank you so much for asking, as a matter of fact I do have some thoughts *cracks knuckles*

Let me preface this by saying I am not going to sit here and pretend I don't spend 90% of my waking hours ruminating on this. We all know what we're doing here. That being said, I have considered several variations on how I would love the 9-1-1 team to deliver this:

1. Let's call it the "Two Trapped Dads" scenario:

I implore you to consider the ANGST and POETRY of Buck and Eddie getting trapped somewhere, as civilians, and being forced to depend on each other in order to survive. The serve of this hypothetical scenario would be made more rich set in the context of them having had an argument, or just there being some kind of withstanding tension between the two that has been ignored and left to build to a nauseating degree.

(Side note: I love Buck and Eddie because when they fight it's never with any real animosity. It always stems from the terrifying magnitude of their Love for each other. It's not arguing, it's just them caring about each other very aggressively. Absolutely iconic.)

ANYWAY, in this scenario they careen into disaster over Christopher, as I see it playing out that for some reason they believe only one of them will be able to 100% make it out alive. I imagine the tension has been building since the guardianship bomb and Buck regresses to what he believes he does best, which is being a sacrificial lamb, which shoves their moment from 4x14 back into the forefront. It would force Eddie to not only seismically double down on what he said, but literally spell out to Buck what he means to Eddie, not just Christopher.

Example:

Buck: Obviously you're the one that's getting out, you have a son waiting for you.

Eddie: Screw that, you mean just as much to him as I do.

Buck: I'm irrelevant unless you're dead, Eddie, and there is no way I'm letting you die here today.

Eddie: You're such an idiot, Buck. How can you still not get it?

Buck: Get what?

Eddie: We're a family. All three of us. What did you think that whole will thing was about, anyway? Christopher and I . . . there's no us without you.

jfc someone stop me before I write an entire script, but I think you get the gist of this one.

2. Next we have the "Just-Tell-Me-What-You-WANT" scenario:

The Drama Queen in me is obsessed with this one. It would, unfortunately, require a significantly laid foundation between Buck and a love interest (Taylor ig? It's not important, tbh). Originally, I had this scenario flipped, but since we as a fandom have collectively established Eddie as the Pining Idiot in Love, we're gonna switch it up.

So, again, Buck would be progressing significantly in his relationship with [insert intentionally poorly-defined love interest here]. In the fallout of the guardianship scene, I can still see him struggling with how to untangle his Feelings about what Eddie said to him, and losing himself in the disingenuous familiarity of "Buck 1.0" (I am with Eddie in that I hate his software updates but it's canon material so there you go). The escalation of this hypothesis results in Buck contemplating taking the next step with Taylor or, more realistically, contemplating moving out of the city with her as she's been recruited for a promotion elsewhere. I could see Eddie coming over to Buck's place and them discussing this, because they discuss everything, and Eddie just getting more and more exasperated because Buck doesn't look happy but he won't stop and think, he's just barreling ahead as usual. And so Eddie calls him out.

I think it would be something like Eddie going, "What are you even doing? You obviously don't want this."

And Buck being like, "I'm not discussing what I want with you."

and Eddie just exploding, "What? What do you want, Buck? You never express what you really feel so just . . . what do you really want?"

And Buck just going fuck it and grabbing him and pressing years of want and need and love into Eddie's mouth and yeah *fans face* I'm FINE.

3. Finally, the "Wait-For-Me-To-Come-Home" scenario:

Ideally a season finale moment, paralleled to the other couples on the show. The episode would feature a series of calls relating to couples/families experiencing some degree of separation but always finding their way back to each other. At the end there's a montage of Bathena, Madney, Mavid, Henren etc. reuniting after some sort of contention and then it would stop on Buck alone in his apartment, sitting at his table identical to what we saw in Tsunami Pt. 2, completely overwhelmed by how quiet it is and how alone he feels. And maybe Buck is considering something he heard on one of the calls. Whatever the situation, it ends with him heading to Eddie's house and it's late, like two in the morning late, and the final scene is Buck knocking on Eddie's door looking wild-eyed and desperate and there's no dialogue, just them. And Eddie opens the door wider and steps back as Buck steps in and they just stand a breath's distance away, just staring at each other, and then Eddie closes the door and everything fades to black and *flings myself off a cliff*

Bonus: I call this the "Fever Dream" scenario because I dreamt it when I was, in fact, feverish and hallucinating after my second COVID vaccine:

Buck is out running an errand before going into work and ends up in a robbery situation where he obviously intervenes and ends up getting hurt. The episode would open with the 118 being unable to reach Buck and ragging on him, and the first call they respond to is, indeed, Buck on the verge of death. The rest of the episode would then show the sequence of events leading up to that moment and finish with Buck and Eddie in the back of the ambulance, and Buck just touches Eddie's face, or wraps his fist around the St. Christopher necklace hanging around Eddie's neck, and Eddie is Not Handling Things and then Buck flatlines in the back of the ambulance and jfjdsaldflja somebody stop me before I write a fic *flings myself off another cliff*

As you can see I haven't thought about this much at all. Also, you deserve a fucking award if you made it to the end of this.

I have buddie brainrot! They're actually ruining my life! I have lost control! I'm doing GREAT!!!

#buddie #somebody take my brain away from me #I would like to put it away for a few days and be free from this endless cycle of violence #evan buckley #eddie diaz #idiots in love smh #greatest love story of all time though #buddie meta #long ass post #speculation

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ayankun · 3 years

Text

Ok so I might have gone a little overboard but I watched HSMTMTS S1 again today and noted down all the talking head segments and the in-scene 4th-wall breaks (which I'm calling "Halperts") and then I made some graphs.

Gonna do S2, too, 'cause this started because I wanted data on whether there were more Halperts in S1 than S2, and whether Miss Jenn was generally the butt of those jokes, but the results may surprise you!!!

Ok so first off, in S1 I counted 74 talking head segments and ONLY FOURTEEN times someone mugged for the camera in a scene.

My counting criteria for talking heads was that the "interview setting" had to be unique; this means that the several cuts to the Nini and Ricky segments at the top of the pilot only counted as one each.

Also, any time a segment contained more than one character, that counts as a segment for each one. Not a super accurate way of doing it for the overall total, but in S1 it only happened one time, where Carlos walks behind Ashlyn, and I'm using it to balance out the truly bizarre one where Ricky starts Halperting but then he actually starts talking to the camera even though he's in a room full of people and it breaks my brain.

Also, I gave Gina a combined point for trying to look at the camera while she wasn't fully in frame (but we made eye contact, I assure you), and in that same episode she mugs directly into the camera but it's diegetic that she's not looking at the camera but rather at the Homecoming poster so there's that.

Below you can see that they lead hard with the mockumentary shtick, and it truly fell off almost immediately as the heavier storylines started landing. 1x4 is the one where Ricky finds out his mom's moving to Chicago, for example.

Next up answers the question "who had the most segments?" I was actually kind of surprised to see Ricky won by a small margin, as I do believe that the showrunners intended to split the difference between its leads in Nini's favor (as opposed to the 80/20 Troy/Gabriella split of the films). I think, though, that both characters are approached slightly differently by the narrative, where Nini is more even-keel natural and Ricky swings either full sitcom or full prime-time drama.

(Also Seb only had the one, as well. The graph decided not to include his label because it's homophobic I guess)

The above notwithstanding, I also was sort of interested in who spent the most time talking to the camera in each episode, and then who ranked highest among that group. And here finally Nini comes in first! She had four episodes, nearly half of the season, where she had the highest number of segments in the episode.

EDIT: I was looking at my S1 data and realized I hecked up a formula in the spreadsheet, and correcting it unfortunately removed Nini’s big S1 win for having the most episodes in which she had the most talking heads. This blog apologizes for publishing erroneous data; the real results are that Natalie, Nini, Ricky, Big Red, and Ashlyn are all tied with one episode each. The other five episodes are ties. The graph below is a lie.

Ok now we're going to look at the in-scene 4th-wall breaks. This is when a character does something oddball and another character expresses that they found the behavior odd by giving the camera a look.

The numbers don't lie. This doesn't happen NEARLY as often as I thought it did. And it really only happens in "comedy" scenes; as insinuated by the drop off of talking heads, the style of the show follows its content into more serious waters pretty early on, and then sort of stays there. What I mean is, 1x6 has more musical dramedy in its DNA than mockumentary.

Ok, so it's not happening all that much, but who's doing it when it happens? Spoilers: it's Ricky.

And basically only Ricky! That's sort of what I mean by him being more sitcommy. Outside of him and Miss Jenn, who is specifically the most cartoonish character of the entire cast, no one else does it more than once. Even Big Red just has the one fearful look into the camera!!! Nini has NONE!

So, final thought, what are they reacting to when they need to share their experience with the audience. Here's where I got results I Could Not Have Predicted:

That Miss Jenn is more often than not the butt of the joke was a data point I totally expected, what I didn't expect was that every time Miss Jenn has an aside with the camera, she's not reacting to anything. She just knowingly breaks the fourth wall for no discernible reason. The only other character to do this is Lucas playing Lucas referencing that he played Ryan*. I think there must be something meta going on here, with the non-teen performers descending on this high school with all kinds of worldly wisdom -- like Ricky will look at the camera because it's funny for him to do that; Miss Jenn will look at the camera because she's aware she's a character on a tv show.

Oh, the only other sort of surprise about the who and what is that, yes, this cinematic trope is generally played for humorous, mildly-intolerant reasons, but the exception to this is twice Ricky shared a kind of "yikes!" reaction with us -- first when the Gina/EJ drama boiled over at Homecoming, and later when he was overwhelmed by his own behavior. These were not jokes! We were not meant to laugh with him or even at him! So interesting.

Super interested in seeing how the structure/content of S2 compares. Without the hard data, my reckoning was that S1 was way more jokesy and S2 way more earnest, but honestly now I bet they'll be about the same. Will have to wait a couple weeks for the season to wrap up, though. Catch you then, Wildcats!

*EDIT2: Also realized today that I probably should not have included Lucas-as-Lucas’ S1 Halpert since it occurred within a dream sequence and things that happen in dreams don’t really follow the same diegetic/non-diegetic rules. I will do a cleaner, more nuanced data analysis for both S1 and S2 once the season wraps up, and link it here. In hindsight, this one was a little slapdash.

#hsmtmts #spoilers #needless graphs on trivial data #I had a good time #aya's hyperfixated #HSMTMTS:The Analysis

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old-crabapple-mckinley · 2 years

Text

unfocused reaction to Path of Daggers

I finished Path of Daggers and hoo boy. not a lot happened. but kinda did. a bunch of stuff was set up for the next books but not a huge amount happened in this one. we're in the slog now babey!!

i can imagine reading this in like 1998 and being dissatisfied and having to wait another year for more story. i kinda feel like that and i can just roll on to the next book.

there were bits and bobs where i was interested, particularly about the aes sedai, but it seemed like this was the filler to get to the major plots later. which i get, but that basically happened for every single character and that's frustrating.

okay lets get into it story by story.

elayne, nynaeve & aviendha:

they use the bowl

they transport the kin and sea folk to andor and make a nuke accidentally

they travel to camelyn

very cool 7 second scene with dark friend reveal in the party

elayne claims the throne, nynaeve bones down but doesnt want anyone to know, aviendha is kinda there, birgitte is a bamf for takin all them arrows in the begining.

writing this out, i'm struggling to remember individual scenes with them, which is a bummer cos i like this crew a lot. the bowl was very cool in the beginning, the magic nuke was cool* how affected the plot later (*v confused as to what actually happened to the power here tho, they didn't explain it more in rand's part)

egwene, siuan, and aes sedai rebels:

they're on the move from salidar

egwene struggles to carve out her authority, siuan coaches her about amyrlin badassery

eggy asserts herself v publicly when gathering their forces with the nobles, declares war on elaida, all around wins

salidar forces move on tar valon (but doesn't show us the battle? is it over in the last chapter? i was confused), siuan tragically has fallen in love with gareth bryne (rip to moiraine), TUNE IN NEXT TIME FOR THIS PLOT.

This one had more meat than the other wondergirls, so i was into it, but it was a little slow in parts. i wish the siege of tar valon was something i got to see, cos if not, that fuckin sucks. its a huge moment and if its offscreen, im gonna be bummed. love siuan, but damn these romances.

honestly i wish that bryne and morgase would be reunited. that's a stronger plot for them than being paired off with the next person they see after breaking up. like morgase publicly shamed and exiled bryne while mind controlled! there's good story and character moments there. they had been together like 15 years! wouldn't morgase feel guilty and want to make it right? wouldn't bryne think something was fishy but was too hurt to trust her again? that's way better than having morgase rob a cradle and whatever bryne & siuan are doing. anyway.

perrin & faile:

get to where messima is, accidentally find morgase (comediè)

elayas comes back (tragediè)

meets messima for 1 scene

faile gets kidnapped by the shaido

oof this one. this was a lot of wasted time. that scene with messima should have been halfway thru the book, more drawn out, more drama! i don't get why people like elayas, perrin already accepted the wolves help at dumai's wells, it seems to me he has already come to terms with that, what is elayas bringing to the table. he felt out of place in the first book and here too. berlaine hate is tired, i don't dislike faile but jordan is doing everything he can to assassinate any of my good faith with her. come on.

rand and that whole thing:

he did something between getting ilian's crown and attacking the seanchan, but i'm totally blanking

kinda whiffed that attack on the seanchan

wtf is up with cadsuanne? she's kinda the worst

captured aes sedai swore fealty to him

very confusing end sequence where some ashaman tried to kill him?

honestly, im tired of rand's story at the moment. i get he's under stress, i get he's being forced to do things he hates, but i don't care about him. im sorry i tried! but i've realized im not reading the book for him, i have other favorites. a lot of it's the same angst and im ready for something new from him. the idea he wants to tap nynaeve to help him clean saidin is a neat idea. yes, do that. give it a rest lews therin.

the only parts i really liked, no reservations was the stuff in the white tower. Dark friends babeyyyyy!!

tl;dr lots of set up for next book made this one unsatisfying on its own. bits of cool stuff here and there, but overall a bit of a bore.

#wheel of time #wheel of time books #wot book spoilers #i kept calling it path of daggies in my head #i've always had a contentious relationship with this series but i was never bored with it until now :/

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notbecauseofvictories · 4 years

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Hi Sarah! My friend and I are starting a bookclub (as much as you can with two people who aren't pressed for deadlines) and I was wondering if you have any recommendations? (That is if you have time to rec anything!) We're starting off with Deathless and have Fitzgerald next in line somewhere but I def want to try to expand the genres we read and tbh from years of following you, I trust your judgement

I don’t...like giving recommendations? At least not directly, it seems like too much opportunity for getting it wrong. Everybody has their own tastes, after all, and even the best of friends don’t necessarily vibe with what you vibe with. (I’ve experienced this with multiple friends, so I know what I’m talking about.) Truly, one of the reasons that my whole “I’m going to get back into reading for pleasure!” push has been so successful is that I only bother with books that interest me, and stop reading when they fail to catch my attention.

But I’ve now read at least 60 books in 2020, which is approximately 60 more than I’ve read in the years prior, so I’m happy to share that. Below is my list of recent reads, beginning to end, along with a very short review---I keep this list in the notes app on my phone, so they have to be. Where I’ve talked about a book in a post, I’ve tried to link to it.

Peruse, and if something catches your interest I hope you enjoy!

2020 Reading List

Crazy Rich Asians series, Kevin Kwan (here)

Blackwater, Michael McDowell (here; pulpy horror and southern gothic in one novel; come for the monster but stay for the family drama.)

Fire and Hemlock, Diane Wynne Jones (here; weird and thoughtful, in ways I’m still thinking about)

The Secret History, Donna Tartt

Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn (here; loved it! I can see why people glommed onto it)

Swamplandia!, Karen Russell (unfinished, I could not get past the first paragraph; just....no.)

Rules of Scoundrels series, Sarah MacLean (an enjoyable romp through classic romancelandia, though if you read through 4 back to back you realize that MacLean really only writes 1 type of relationship and 1 type of sexual encounter, though I do appreciate insisting that the hero go down first.)

The Bear and the Nightingale, Katherine Arden (here)

Dread Nation, Justine Ireland (great, put it with Stealing Thunder in terms of fun YA fantasy that makes everything less white and Eurocentric)

The Haunting of Hill House, Shirley Jackson (VERY good. haunting good.)

Tell My Horse, Zora Neale Hurston (I read an interesting critique of Hurston that said she stripped a lot of the radicalism out of black stories - these might be an example, or counterexample. I haven't decided yet.)

The Rose MacGregor Drinking and Admiration Society, T. Kingfisher (fun!)

St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, Karen Russell (some of these short stories are wonderful; however, Swamplandia's inspiration is still unreadable, which is wild.)

17776, Jon Bois (made me cry. deeply human. A triumph of internet storytelling)

The Girl with All the Gifts, M. R. Carey (deeply enjoyable. the ending is a bittersweet kick in the teeth, and I really enjoyed the adults' relationships)

The Door in the Hedge and Other Stories, Robin McKinley (enjoyable, but never really resolved into anything.)

The Hero and the Crown, Robin McKinley (fun, but feels very early fantasy - or maybe I've just read too many of the subsequent knock-offs.)

Mrs. Caliban, Rachel Ingalls (weird little pulp novel.)

All Systems Red, Martha Wells (enjoyable, but I don't get the hype. won't be looking into the series unless opportunity arises.)

A People's History of Chicago, Kevin Coval (made me cry. bought a copy. am still thinking about it.)

The Sol Majestic, Ferrett Steinmetz (charming, a sf novel mostly about fine dining)

House in the Cerulean Sea, TJ Klune (immensely enjoyable read, for all it feels like fic with the serial numbers filed off)

The Au Pair, Emma Rous (not bad, but felt like it wanted to be more than it is)

The Night Tiger, Yangsze Choo (preferred this to Ghost Bride; I enjoy a well-crafted mystery novel and this delivered)

The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula Le Guin (unfinished, I cannot fucking get into Le Guin and should really stop trying)

The Ghost Bride, Yangsze Choo (enjoyable, but not nearly as fun as Ghost Bride - the romance felt very disjointed, and could have used another round of editing)

Temptation's Darling, Johanna Lindsey (pure, unadulterated id in a romance novel, complete with a girl dressing as a boy to avoid detection)

Social Creature, Tara Isabella Burton (a strange, dark psychological portrait; really made a mark even though I can't quite put my finger on why)

The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins (slow at first, but picks up halfway through and builds nicely; a whiff of Gone Girl with the staggered perspectives building together)

Stealing Thunder, Alina Boyden (fun Tortall vibes, but set in Mughal India)

The Traitor Baru Cormorant; The Monster Baru Commorant, The Tyrant Baru Cormorant, Seth Dickinson (LOVE this, so much misery, terrible, ecstatic; more here)

This Is How You Lose the Time War, Amal El-Mohtar, Max Gladstone (epistolary love poetry, vicious and lovely; more here)

The Elementals, Michael McDowell

Gideon the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir (didn't like this one as much as I thought I would; narrator's contemporary voice was so jarring against the stylized world and action sequences read like the novelization for a video game; more here)

Finna, Nino Cipri (a fun little romp through interdimensional Ikea, if on the lighter side)

Magic for Liars, Sarah Gailey (engrossing, even if I could see every plot twist coming from a mile away)

Desdemona and the Deep, C. S. E. Cooney (enjoyed the weirdness & the fae bits, but very light fare)

A Blink of the Screen, Terry Pratchett (admittedly just read this for the Discworld bits)

A Memory Called Empire, Arkady Martine (not as good about politics and colonialism as Baru, but still a powerful book about The Empire, and EXTREMELY cool worldbuilding that manages to be wholly alien and yet never heavily expositional)

Blackfish City, Sam J. Miller (see my post)

Last Werewolf, Glen Duncan (didn't finish, got to to first explicit sex scene and couldn't get any further)

Prosper's Demon, KJ Parker (didn't work for me...felt like a short story that wanted to be fleshed out into a novel)

The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett

His Majesty's Dragon, Naomi Novik (extremely fun, even for a reader who doesn't much like Napoleonic stories)

Three Parts Dead, Max Gladstone (fun romp - hard to believe that this is the same author as Time War though you can see glimmers of it in the imagery here)

A Scot in the Dark, Sarah MacLean (palette cleanser, she does write a good romance novel even it's basically the same romance novel over and over)

The Resurrectionist, E. B. Hudspeth (borrowed it on a whim one night, kept feeling like there was something I was supposed to /get/ about it, but never did - though I liked the Mutter Museum parallels)

Stories of Your Life and Others, Ted Chiang (he's a better ideas guy than a writer, though Hell Is The Absence of God made my skin prickle all over)

Gods of Jade and Shadow, Silvia Moreno-Garcia (fun, very much a throwback to my YA days of fairytale retellings, though obviously less European)

Four Roads Cross, Max Gladstone (it turns out I was a LOT more fond of Tara than I initially realized - plus this book had a good Pratchett-esque pacing and reliance on characterization)

Get in Trouble, Kelly Link (reading this after the Chiang was instructive - Link is such a better storyteller, better at prioritizing the human over the concept)

Gods Behaving Badly, Marie Phillips

Soulless; Changeless; Blameless, all by Gail Carriger (this series is basically a romance novel with some fantasy plot thrown in for fun; extremely charming and funny)

Black Leopard, Red Wolf, Marlon James (got about 1/3 of the way through and had to wave the white flag; will try again because I like the plot and the worldbuilding; the tone is just so hard to get through)

Pew, Catherine Lacey (a strange book, I'm still thinking about it; a good Southern book, though)

Nuremberg Diary, GM Gilbert (it took me two months to finish, and was worth it)

River of Teeth, Sarah Gailey (I wanted to like this one a lot more than I actually did; would have made a terrific movie but ultimately was not a great novel. Preferred Magic for Liars.)

Mexican Gothic, Silvia Moreno-Garcia (extremely fun, though more trippy than Gods and the plot didn't work as well for me - though it was very original)

The New Voices of Fantasy, Peter S. Beagle (collected anthology, with some favorites I've read before Ursula Vernon's "Jackalope Wives", "Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers" "The Husband Stitch"; others that were great new finds "Selkie Stories are for Losers" from Sofia Satamar and "A Kiss With Teeth" from Max Gladstone and "The Philosophers" from Adam Ehrlich Sachs)

#from the bookshelf #Anonymous

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buddha-in-disguise · 4 years

Text

This is how it's done

Episode 5.15 at last.

While the emphasis has been on Nia's story in this episode, the synopsis made it clear Alex, Kelly and J'onn had a secondary storyline running as well. So again we were eager to watch knowing they were finally getting more than a token few minutes together.

Did it deliver?

Oh hell yes.

You just have to look on Twitter to see the praise being heaped on it by fans.

But first let's get the elephant in the room out of the way. William.

The opening sequence as Kara is fighting with Nia, and Nia has to be the one reminding Kara she has a date? Already covered by me and others, but to reiterate: that does not give a vibe of someone excited to be going on a first date. You can't even use the excuse of her mind was on the fight, because so was Nia's.

As to Kara at her apartment with Alex prior to the date?

Those words, "Cancel it for me."

Lets say (for arguments sake) it is nerves again speaking. Maybe it is, but that she is even having those thoughts? That she completely forgot about the 1st date, and needed reminding? If Kara can't get invested in the date, how are the audience expected to become invested?

As for the date itself. Kara arrives.... having been told by Alex to wear the blue top because .... well reasons .... and she is wearing the purple? So, not wanting to go with the best look then?

I didn't mind the date per se, although I did wonder if Kara was simply trying to not show pool skills, because I can't believe for a second, with Alex as a sister, and the control Kara now has on her powers (worry over lack of control would be the only other reason for her hesitation that I can think of), Kara hasn't been pulled into playing many times.

Did I get a date vibe? No. I felt more bonding yes (like why has it taken until now to even vaguely have that much), but date? Nope. Still not feeling it. If any of the above was a one off instance, you could shrug it off. But all of them? Sorry but as I say, if Kara isn't that invested in a first date, then we can't be expected to be as invested. However, that isn't to say that William annoyed me. In truth having him more on the sidelines was a relief as it finally allowed others to get some much needed screen time.

The Nia storyline.

This is obviously one extremely close to me, as my husband is transgender, and we have other family who are also transgender.

Nicole's input was definitely felt. Some of the lines she spoke were ones we have said ourselves almost word for word.

This is a topic that is one I've been extremely vocal about, and one in particular I have spoken about (in the William and Kara at CatCo scene) is the figures for transgender people killed in the last year alone in the USA, but more importantly that this number is likely not a true representation as many who die are misgendered after death.

It was so important to show just how bad for the transgender community it is. And no, it wouldn't necessarily be a fact Kara would know. Even those in the LGBTQ community aren't always aware of these figures. As for William being the one stating the figures back to Kara, again in the context I had no qualms about it. In fact having a CIS straight man write the piece and be a supportive ally is an important message in it's own right. I was worried that wouldn't come across, but I felt it did.

If ever there was a line that spoke volumes in this weeks Supergirl episode it was this:

"They want us to be invisible because of their own fears, they want to erase us so...... we need to shine even brighter." - Nia Nal

And shine Nicole Maines (and Roxy Wood, because the additional line about being a Black transgender woman - take my heart, stomp over it, then expect me to function), did. Both deserve so much praise on the way they delivered their performances.

I genuinely cried at some of this weeks episode, because the experiences have been ones we have faced as a transgender household. Being white does afford us a privilege that Black transgender people (especially the women) don't have. But as I say, it has been something I've been vocal about for a long time.

Lastly Kara and Nia on the balcony. Holy mother of god (or goddess), tears. Again. Nicole and Melissa once again were so good it felt like a punch to the gut. Kara wiping that tear off Nia's cheek. Big ugly sobbing from me. Gah! Just ....

Now Alex and Kelly. While I'm still craving a nice intimate atmosphere at home with them, having had so little of Dansen (and Kelly) it was a relief that for once Kelly wasn't given diminished screentime. Not only that, she was instrumental in helping Alex navigate through the VR world.

Alex having that PTSD flashback to being in the tank. Whoa, finally acknowledging it affected her and obviously still does. I loved how Kelly is so good at helping Alex maintain her equilibrium. You could tell it wasn't just because of her training or profession, but as a girlfriend who knows and understands how to communicate to Alex in that moment of stress, much like Alex was able to realise Malefic was manifesting as Kelly in the earlier part of the season, simply because she knew her girlfriend well enough.

Watching Alex train to get used to the Martian weapon, felt very reminiscent of S1 where Alex was training Kara early on. It was good to see her off balance for once in her training, as she has always shown a confidence in her ability until now. For those who complain she brought up wanting to be back at the DEO, as someone who has heavy military presence in our family (for at least 4 generations on my maternal side), I can safely say, going from military (and remember the DEO is recognised and spoken about in canon as being a military operation), and suddenly and unexpectedly thrown back into civilian life is one heck of an adjustment. It's an adjustment for most even when they know it's coming. To be so abrupt, so unexpected? Alex is going to want that structure back, and have that support around her. It is absolutely not unrealistic for her to feel this way or to talk about it. I would've been more surprised if she hadn't.

"And this is my gun."

Alex giving no crap. The whole rescue sequence was a joy to watch.

If I had a complaint, as I mentioned, I would've loved just a moment of real quiet intimacy between Kelly and Alex. We've barely seen anything of that sort. I hope we get something next episode (which also looks amazing from the trailer).

I could go through the episode and pick up so many times on how good it was. It was so much, I know I will have forgotten something I wanted to say. But I'm exhausted (almost no sleep will do that to you, damn being in the UK and these stupid o'clock viewing times), and it was so much to unpack.

Brainy, was barely in the episode but damn, so lovely (& heartbreaking) to see him give the information to the NCPD to help against transphobic attacks.

Onto a side plot, but finally we have more about Leviathan.

Leviathan have those bodies suspended.

What if William dies in 5.19 and becomes one of those suspended bodies for 5.20 or was supposed to, as Nicole mentioned on her Instagram story they still had scenes to film, and a couple were pretty amazing? With Staz back, would it have involved him, possibly as a sleeper agent? I've touted this idea before. While I would prefer that a MOC isn't cast into being a bad guy again, or killed off, I would more than happily see him simply go back to London and The Times. But I guess we wait to see what happens there.

But if, like Russell in 5a, he becomes an unwitting agent of Leviathan & a bad guy, cue fight scene, possibly in a VR setting? Maybe? Who knows.

Last but by no means least - they killed off Jeremiah. Since we're not entirely sure if Cadmus operated in the same way on Earth Prime as they did on Earth 38, we don't yet know the circumstances behind his death.

Will we get more explanation about it? Honestly I'm not overly bothered unless it helps serve a current storyline. Merely because episode numbers are running out, and it does at least bring us closure on his character one way or another. Something a lot of us have questioned for so long now.

As for complaints, the only ones expressing any real disappointment have been fans who have either regularly attacked other fans (especially those of in the SC or Dansen fandoms), or the outright transphobic users (I won't call them fans), who as the episode makes clear, are everywhere. The transphobes come out in force everytime with Nicole, so it isn't a surprise to see them again. As Nia says, it what transgender people face on a daily basis.

Plus with no Lena in the episode, it helps show that fans didn't need a Lena/Kara centric episode for this to garner such positive reactions, particularly from the LGBTQ fans. In some ways, as many have been saying (yes even SC fans), this Lena drama has long since gone by its sell by date and not having Lena once more stuck in her laboratory wasn't missed. And god, I say this as a huge Lena fan. I still want her on screen of course, but we need progression on what is happening with her. Both Lex and Lena have felt stale of late, and while I know it changes as we get into the last few episodes, I can truly say neither was missed this time. And before anyone jumps in, no this isn't bashing SC (I still ship both Dansen and SC, as well as Brainia), or saying SC shouldn't happen, or Lena is evil, or not needed. I don't think that at all. I merely am getting tired of a merry-go-round on Lena in her laboratory that we've had of late, & the only interaction has been with Lex. Time to break her out of that cell!

I don’t know what they were putting in the water in Vancouver when they did the Batwoman and Supergirl episodes this week, but they both had me simultaneously laughing & crying! It looked ugly for a minute there.

Both were outstanding episodes.

As much as I've had my criticism over some of this season, when Supergirl get it right like they did here, they soar! This was one of my top episodes for the entire series.

And despite all the news in the world right now, Supergirl trended on Twitter again.

Gif courtesy of @ Daily_danvers on Twitter.

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