#what’s most important is that the kids watching these movies can actually see themselves being represented

[seyaryminamoto]

Do you have any particular thoughts on Netflix Avatar Season 1? I haven't watched it myself but I would be curious to hear what you have to say.

I do indeed! I didn't watch it right away, but I have watched it indeed. I think there are merits to certain changes they did, I can see the sense in many of them, that doesn't mean EVERYTHING they changed was good, but it does feel like they were engaging with the original content in a far more creative way than a lot of people are willing to acknowledge or try themselves. No, it isn't a perfect remake of ATLA, but being the critic that I have been of the original show, nobody could ever convince me that the original was perfect, just as this new show isn't perfect.

I want to make a big post on the subject one day and try to get to everything it brought up... once I have more time on my hands, I'll try to do that. But, to give you a bit to chew on... I'll try to do one good vs. one bad on my part, of whatever I can remember right now.

GOOD: I actually do not mind the multiple prologues in the first episode, even though I don't think the changes were handled perfectly. I do believe that showing the genocide is not nearly as bad a choice as a lot of people pretend it is (the way it was portrayed is questionable mostly from a tactical point of view but that's just me being a freak about that... studying basic warfare really fucks up your suspension of disbelief when it comes to war scenes). Mainly, I think it IS important to show it due to the amount of people who are still convinced that Aang didn't suffer nearly as much as most other popular characters did -- that soooo many people have made these claims without a care in the world throughout the twenty years since ATLA first aired proves that the genocide was not treated with the severity it should have been by the OG show. I'm not even sorry to say it. It doesn't feel like a trivialization of violence, it feels like actually setting straight the degree of violence a genocide entails. People asking for a less intense version of genocide basically appear to be asking for the actual gravity of such events to be sanitized so they can chew on them more easily... and that's exactly what leads to it being trivialized, minimized and not taken seriously, if you ask me.

BAD: I don't particularly like the way Fire Lords are so... casual with commoners. Both Ozai and Sozin stood on the same level as a rebel/spy right before setting them on fire, no doubt it's meant to be some sort of flex, but... men of their ideologies and pride would not want to be up close and personal with anyone they consider that far beneath them. Odd choice there, imo.

MOSTLY GOOD: Aang does feel way more serious and has much more dramatic gravitas in everything he does. And this is not a bad choice, in essence. I don't particularly love that they tried to lessen it with occasional "Aang's a silly kid!" verbal reminders that don't actually have any proper visual evidence, because most the silly things he's up for are things the two older kids (Sokka and Katara) are perfectly fine with doing too, hence, he doesn't feel childish at all and it comes off out of place for him to talk about being more childish than he actually is. So... they really didn't need dialogue to try to emphasize his childhood if they weren't going to write him being a goofball. It's fine if he isn't one. He always could be a more serious character, it's only a problem when there's no further substance to him than just brooding (which is what I remember from the Shyamalan movie...).

WEIRD: Aang and Katara both had weird scenes of standing around doing nothing but smiling at their hometowns in episode 1. Maybe it was done as a parallel between them, but it felt a bit... overly theatric? If that makes sense? Like... I know we need to see their daily lives and the context in which they've lived... but it doesn't feel entirely logical for that to happen with them just standing in place and smiling fondly at their world. Most people do not do that in their daily lives...?

GOOD: ... Contrary to what a lot of the fandom seems to think, I actually like the suuuuuper slowburn Kataang here because any potential romantic payoff those two might get isn't nearly as in-your-face as it was in canon. The way their friendship is growing feels far more organic. And some of my favorite character moments in the show were actually between them. Which is not something I'd EVER say about the original show. There's a different sense of maturity for the characters here, and I like that.

BAD: I... do not like Sokka's changes. No, it's not about the sexism. It makes sense to me that this aspect of his character would be changed, updated in a sense: you can even still read him as sexist in some regards! It just isn't as simplistic and straightforward as it was before. But that's... not what bugs me the most. The show genuinely surprised me by taking him far more seriously as a character than I anticipated they would, but they absolutely picked weird choices with him in stuff like his family issues (... the Hakoda changes are just straight-up cringe for me, there's no justification for making him some sort of bitchy soccer mom who congratulates his son but then shits on him behind his back??), his insecurities as a warrior and the frequent remarks about how maybe that's not his path in life even though he does just fine at it, and... his romantic relationships. It's wild, because I actually think they did Sukka a thousand times better than it is in canon, and yet in doing so, they absolutely deadlocked themselves into a whole other problem: Sokka bonding that much with Suki and then hitting on a random Fire Nation soldier like two episodes later?? Then having the romance of his lifetime with Yue by the end of the season?? Ngl, it feels like we're watching one of those sitcoms where characters switch love interests in the blink of an eye. Changing this element of his character this way, when Suki's romance in particular was given new qualities and way more substance... may not have been a great call since it makes him come off insanely shallow, ready to get with any girl he comes across, and frankly, he didn't feel like that in the original show to me. He's also not really funny when he's supposed to be? Part of what made Sokka funny originally was his role as a voice of reason while everyone else ignored him. They occasionally tried to mimic that here... but in ways that didn't really work? Also, the Ron-Weasley-In-HP-Movies brand of comedy of "watch this guy scream, it's soooo funny" is... so trite at this point. Please, don't. Personally, this really feels like a whole other character who isn't Sokka. And some people might think that's great... I'm not one of them. Maybe I'm just experiencing the crisis a lot of people are over Katara with Sokka? But where changes with her do seem to go for things I actually wasn't fond of in her character, I don't really feel like they did better with Sokka in the least.

GOOD: ... "Katara learned waterbending too fast", they say: she did in canon too. A month of training under Pakku is not nearly enough time to justify her being deemed a master in canon. Complaining about how she didn't get that training at all here and still got deemed a master gets a "meh" out of me because I frankly do not see it being remotely as different from what canon did as people want to think it is. Katara was fighting Pakku with way too much power in the OG show for a kid who never got formal training to begin with, and somehow nobody minds that. I don't think someone who was on that level of power in the OG show was nearly as inferior to a seasoned master as a bunch of people want to believe. So... outrage about how they sped up her learning process when we in fact see a LOT more internal growth for Katara, and a lot more depth to her bending source here, makes no sense to me.

Along with that: bending has always been connected with a bender's internal energy, which is related to their peace of mind and internal balance. This show did not invent that. Firebenders are the ones who are most explicitly shown to be connected to their feelings that way, sure, but if you needed ATLA or LOK to non-stop feature characters talking about how a person's chakras had to be cleansed and their hearts clear and their every spiritual thread cleaned up in order to reach their best possible shapes as benders? You probably have bigger problems in analyzing this show than just whining over whatever the liveaction did. A straightforward connection for Katara with her emotions and bending isn't a negative choice in the slightest to me, more so with a character who has constantly been characterized as deeply connected to her emotions: it makes sense that her bending works and evolves the way it does in the liveaction to me. Sorry not sorry.

BAD: Zhao. Uh... I've seen people say they like him here? I felt like I was watching a con artist. It's not the actor's fault, clearly he was given this concept to work with and he did the best he could with it, but the idea of removing Zhao from all prior connection to the Royal Family, making him a total unknown who came out of nowhere and rises to prominence through conniving and scheming feels like they decided to merge him with Long Feng, maybe? And it might even backfire if they DO have Long Feng next season (... they should???) and he has a very similar profile to what they did with Zhao. I didn't enjoy his characterization at all, he was just... weird. So, not a change I was big on.

GOOD: Iroh. My god. I hate the fact that I'm saying this. But I will say it was insanely cathartic to watch that EK soldier beating him up. And that's not all: Iroh actually seems to be struggling actively with right and wrong here, showing hesitation over the war, and most importantly... HAVING A PERSONAL DYNAMIC WITH AANG??!!! I never imagined I would be that happy to see that, but I was. The few moments those two had together were damn solid, some of the best in the show (and the best for Iroh, sorry not sorry, I have never ever been an Iroh-Zuko obsessive fan and I genuinely find myself more intrigued by Iroh's potential bonding with other people, never thought about it with Aang but this show 100% blindsided me with it in a good way). It seriously made me mad that the OG basically never gave them that chance besides... that one scene in the catacombs that was very much just Iroh being a fortune cookie? Aang actually being an element that basically waters the seeds of doubt in Iroh's head is a GREAT change. I said it and I'll stand by it.

BAD: Hahn and not because of the usual reasons: their characterization rework of Hahn was fine. More than fine. The actor they cast was also very pretty! All of which makes it EXTREMELY questionable that Yue somehow has this perfectly decent guy and... uh... chooses the reworked Sokka instead? Like, I know that's how the OG story went, but when you turn Hahn from an opportunistic dick to a perfectly admirable warrior and individual, and feature Yue saying he's great but he's "not the boy of her dreams" (you... dreamt about him ONE TIME?? He's never been in the Spirit World besides that, so wuuuut...??), it makes her choice in romantic interests feel extremely questionable and weird. I'm all for Yue being given more to work with, but this seriously feels like she's... a little crazy. Hahn comes off waaaaaaay too decent for her not to be interested in him... ofc, as long as she's someone attracted to men, which, considering she picked ANOTHER GUY, it's to be assumed that she is?? Ergo nothing makes sense to me. Come to think of it, a lesbian Yue rejecting Hahn is probably the only way her rejection of Hahn would make sense... and it would also not cast such a questionable light on reworked Sokka if he and Yue weren't romantic at all, right after he had that big connection with Suki back when the show began?? So, heh, maybe lesbian Yue is the only thing that would've made sense if Hahn gets reworked for the better like this, sorry not sorry....

GOOD: The full-blown, outright display of Ozai's abuse on Azula rather than subtleties and insinuations. Again, much like in Aang's case with the genocide: PEOPLE DENY AZULA WAS A VICTIM OF ABUSE ALL THE TIME. People pretend Ozai actually loved her on some weird level or that she FELT loved, ergo she was fine and Zuko's the one who was abused. This is not new. We've been dealing with people barking that kind of nonsense since almost twenty years ago. And the backlash from that exact crowd when this show made it evident proves that they refuse to accept Azula as a victim of abuse to this day. Ergo, sorry not sorry: I'm glad they handled it as they did here because it makes it undeniable that Ozai is pushing Azula to extremes and she's pressured to deliver and become the weapon he wants her to be.

BAD: ... the Mother of Faces. That may have been the most egregious offensive and bullshit moments in the entire show. I was so mad when she was brought up at all. It was awful. I hated it. It really must be my most hated moment in the whole thing. UGH.

GOOD: Katara apologized to Sokka once. You know. One time. That, I think, marks the single time in any official Avatar content where she has done that. Call me a salty asshole, but I'm genuinely impressed that they did that, so they get a point for it.

BAD: Bumi. I know some people think the rework for Bumi is great... I could not disagree more. His treatment of Aang is really unacceptable, his behavior is very irresponsible but this time in a vindictive way... I was even reasoning with the fact that he knows Aang is the Avatar, which ALSO happens in the OG, without having known it in the past! The difference? It feels too arbitrary and random that he'd know that here, whereas in the OG show, he IS random and arbitrary, yet somewhere amid so many nonsensical ramblings, he shows insight and intelligence that makes you think there's more to him than meets the eye. I may need to rewatch episode 5 of the OG show in order to confirm this, but I also think that most of the implications there regarding his challenges is that they were actually harmless even if it doesn't look that way all along. Here? They're not harmless at all, he's basically vindictively trying to get Aang to either die for his "sins" or get himself killed through him and neither thing sits well with me at all with this character.

GOOD: Gyatso, expanding on his character and making him a much more straightforward equivalent to Iroh for Aang actually is really helpful, it makes him less of a "stock character" victim to the Fire Nation, it gave him more depth and it makes Aang's bond with him feel much more real. I am very sorry to all OG apologists, but I continue to believe Aang's cheerful behavior was written primarily to appeal to the children demographic that Nickelodeon was aiming for as their audience, which meant he could not be particularly human and truly grieve for everything he had lost. This show doesn't hide that pain at all, and it's particularly good that it does that by showing what a constant presence Gyatso was in Aang's life and by letting them have a manner of final farewell in that episode (... even if I didn't particularly like the episode, but still, it wasn't a bad idea to do that).

BAD: ... call me a consistency freak if you will, but I did not spend all these years obsessively trying to make sense out of the wobbly worldbuilding of the Avatarverse to be told that the entrance to the Cave of Two Lovers is within Omashu and that it leads into the arena within Bumi's Palace. Sorry. I can't accept that. I can't. I legit laughed throughout that whole situation because that's not where the cave of two lovers was, the badgermoles would be causing earthquakes non-stop through the city, and the sewers system would not even work because they'd constantly get fucked up by the creatures (as we know, there's a scene in Book 2 of the kids climbing out of the sewers, so either they won't do the pentapox or they'll forget about the badgermoles conveniently by then...). So. No. Sorry but no. Also, why did they kill Oma??? I know they turned both lovers into women, but... precisely because they did that, why exactly was there any need to change which one died?? Either one you kill is a woman now anyway so... what's the difference? WHY the difference?? Odd.

GOOD: ... Zuko keeps a notebook on his research and investigations into the Avatar. There were many changes to his character but that's the one that stood out the most to me. He actually seems a little bit more methodical, if not smarter, but you know? Kinda smarter anyway for at LEAST thinking that keeping a book with the results of his investigations could help?? Feels like he's actually trying rather than just whining about how rude the world is and how hard he has it. Which, in the end, might ALSO come down to him actually having some hope that Ozai didn't hate him irremediably... which, too, is a good change. I've talked about it before, other people have too: a firstborn firebending male prince has no business being discarded because of incompetence unless he's just THAT pathetic, and even in canon, Zuko wasn't as bad as to justify pushing him out and treating him as shittily as Ozai did without an actual, THOROUGH, exploration of Ozai's motives. You can elaborate, but the show never really did it, and if anything, it offered a bunch of conflictive information about why Zuko thought his father liked him. Here, it makes more sense that he thinks Ozai isn't as much of a bitch as he really is: the Agni Kai is a lot more interesting because they merged both Zuko vs. Zhao and Zuko vs. Ozai into one. The fact that Ozai actually burns Zuko and defeats him BECAUSE he was punishing him for not taking advantage of an enemy's weakness? It's a million times more telling about Zuko's character than what we saw in canon, where he was down to fight an old man out of hybris and then shat himself as soon as his father stepped up instead. So... I don't like this Zuko, which tells you they're doing him right anyway x'DDDD but I find there are a few elements about him that make him at LEAST a little more respectable than he was in the OG show. Among them? He's not constantly ranting about honor but actually lashing out at dishonorable choices out of principle, which makes it sound like he has a WAY better grasp on that concept than he does in canon :'D sue me. This is a Zuko rework too, and fortunately, not ONLY geared towards sanitizing him (even though there IS a fair amount of sanitizing too... which annoys me, but what else could we expect in the era of political correction).

BAD: ... Why the fuck did they decide the way to fix Iroh harassing June was to make her horny for him? Please? Of all things??? All they had to do was just... not make any romantic/sexual implications there. At all. Was that so hard to achieve? This is probably the second worst thing for me in the entire show, ngl. I do not understand the need for it at all. Most of all when they CLEARLY changed it due to knowing Iroh absolutely was a bastard in the OG with his behavior towards her. Isn't it easier to just NOT put any implications of attraction in there? I mean, I should be happy June didn't fully harass Iroh but the way they presented it, it felt like he wasn't even comfortable with it either! This... is not the way you take revenge for a character sexually harassing another one. Bad, bad take, I don't know what made them do this but they absolutely did not "fix" this, they overcorrected it and made it gross as fuck to me anyhow, most of all with the context of knowing that Iroh was the one being inappropriate as fuck back in the OG.

ALRIGHT. I know there's bound to be more, and I probably could think of more soon but I think I'm giving you this for now or else I'll end up making my major post here x'D

All in all, I don't think this show is unwatchable, I absolutely understand people who think it was fun, I also understand people who couldn't get used to the changes and outright dropped it. What I can't understand/accept is either pretending this show is the greatest thing ever (much like I don't think the OG ATLA is...), or pretending that it's the worst one either. This show engaged with a lot of elements in different ways than the original did: not all of it was a miss, not all of it was a hit. And I feel like it's a matter of fundamental, human decency and respect not to go completely berserk taking a ten-ton dump on this show, which to this date is the biggest production in Hollywood with a primarily Asian cast and crew of all time, from what I know, by pretending it has destroyed this franchise completely and that any support for it must come from brainwashed idiots or "not true fans". The gate-keepy attitude comes as absolutely no surprise in this fandom, ofc, but it's still disgusting to see. You CAN be critical of this show with dignity. You CAN do it while respecting other people who enjoyed it completely. It's not too much to ask. I may have learned that lesson the hard way with the ATLA comics, but even then, it wasn't my M.O. to jump into every single comics-positive post to tell people why they sucked and how dumb they were for enjoying them.

That's what I've got for the time being :'D hope it's enough for now.

#zuko-always-lies #natla #it's not perfect #neither is the OG #oh I didn't mention it in the final paragraphs but #I find it particularly hilarious when people rage at the new one #for things the OG did too #like I'm sorry here but you can't come to me and praise the OG for the exact stuff you hated the remake for #at least be consistent?? #anyway anyway there we are for now

[cursedvibes]

Hello, can I ask from this ask game :

https://www.tumblr.com/threecheersforinking/677824836625694720/anime-ask-game?source=share

For anime/manga : Monster and Jujutsu Kaisen.

Sure!

JJK

Favourite Character:

Kenjaku (big surprise)

Favourite Arc/Episode/Scene:

That's a tough pick...I pretty much like the entire Culling Game Arc (ch 159 - 220) and Perfect Preparation is definitely also a fave, but if I would narrow it down a bit more, I'd say it's the stretch from Kenjaku's negotiations with other countries in chapter 200 until the preparation to release Gojo in chapter 220. I just really like the focus we get on Kenjaku's character there, the extra world building and lore and I also appreciate how dynamic and spontaneous things were during that time. The plans of the protagonists where often completely overthrown and you never quite knew what to expect and what might happen next. (I really miss that energy) I'd also like to mention the Baka Survivor mini-arc, which was such a breath of fresh air and did so much to give Kenjaku's and Takaba's characters much needed depth. I never expected it to be so important when it started. Shows that Gege can make the most ridiculous scenario meaningful if they want to. I think for favourite scene, Kenjaku's one-sided talk with Tengen in chapter 222 before the static TV is still my absolute favourite. It's such striking imagery, showed a whole new layer to their character and relationship with Tengen (establishing that despite technically getting what they wanted they realize this has basically completely destroyed their friendship with Tengen and left them unsatisfied) and sets up what made the Baka Survivor arc so successful.

Character I Think is Underrated:

There's a bunch. Takaba, Angel, Tengen and I'd also count Kenjaku because despite being the main antagonist who drives the entire plot forward, many fans still completely overlook them and their influence and at best boil them down to a generic cold Mastermind a la Aizen 2.0 or just make jokes about them giving birth to Yuuji/fucking Jin. It has gotten a little better since the Baka Survivor arc, at least in the Japanese fandom there seems to be a bit more appreciation there.

Character I Think is Overrated:

Geto. His downfall was well-written in Hidden Inventory, but aside from that I don't think he's all that interesting or exceptional. Also Inumaki. He's basically non-existent and irrelevant in the manga, but for some reason always in the top 10 of most popular characters.

Favourite Ship/Pairing:

Tengen/Kenjaku - special mix of obsession, toxicity, codependency and vore

Something I Love About the Show/Movie:

The way jjk fleshes out side characters and gives them meaning with barely a chapter or less. I also like the way supernatural has been interconnected with the real world and history. That's what makes it so fascinating to me and makes me want to dig deeper. I'm not a big fan of high fantasy or "real world but everyone is magical" settings, so jjk struck a good balance there.

Monster

Favourite Character:

Johan Liebert. Generic answer, I know, but he's one of the few anime villains I actually found scary and threatening. I was always on edge while watching the show, wondering when he would show up and even if he was there, what he would do. Just seeing him standing next to a kid is so stressful, even if he doesn't end up doing anything (just means the child will kill themselves later). I also love his co-dependent, obsessive relationship with Nina and the entire mystery about their past.

Favourite Arc/Episode/Scene:

Prague arc. Like I said, the mystery around Johan and Nina's origins is a big appeal for me for the series and this is all that. It also shows just how versatile Johan is. They also captured the atmosphere of Prague as a city, particularly at night really well. Similar to that, episode 49 where the kids are trying to catch JohAnna and one boy gets send to the red light district is probably my favourite. I like it especially because the focus isn't so much on the adult characters, but you really experience Johan from the eyes of an innocent child who just wanted to play detective and accidentally ran into a real serial killer. The chase of of Tenma & Co. was nerve-wrecking to watch because they're always just a little to late. The scene where JohAnna talks to Milosh about how his existence has no meaning is the main reason why just Noto Mamiko in any other anime stresses me out.

Character I Think is Underrated:

None really. I think the fandom shows a lot of appreciation to every important or minor character.

Character I Think is Overrated:

Tenma. He's just...a little annoying. I got very tired of everyone treating him like a saint for the most basic human decency. Also him angsting over having to kill Johan and only he can do it etc. got old pretty quickly for me. I know what he's supposed to represent, but I just think he's not very interesting to watch.

Favourite Ship/Pairing:

Johan/Jan. I just have a thing for naive regular guys falling for murderers. Johan also had a chance to kill him or his mother, but instead he helped them, so...he treated Jan a lot better than most of his victims. Also in a platonic sense, everything about Johan and Nina drives me insane.

Something I Love About the Show/Movie:

The side stories we are taken on, which all are significant often in ways you didn't expect and they are what make the story feel so human and down-to-earth despite the wild stuff that happens. I also love the inclusion of the fairy tales. I still have trauma from the way Nina reads Obluda in the anime. Just hearing 昔々ある所に gives me chills every time. Bůh Míru/The God of Peace is my favourite of the stories. The open end, the implication of suicide is what makes it so frightening exactly because everything is left to your imagination, plus the knowledge that kids who heard the story went through with what is being implied.

#asks #jujutsu kaisen #naoki urusawa's monster

[grendelsmilf]

i would love any and all thoughts you’d like to share on your experience with nope

okay so.

personally, I found us to be absolutely terrifying. I cannot describe the acute fear I felt while and after watching us because I have never experienced such fear in my life, before or after. something about doppelgängers unlocked the deepest possible terror within me. the thought that some eyebrowless bitch is out there waiting w scissors is the scariest thing imaginable to me, and I can’t even fully explain why. in comparison, nope did not horrify me at all. yes there were tense and upsetting scenes, but they didn’t feel personal. it was all spectacle.

getting that out of the way, I am still in the process of truly Unpacking this gigantic fucking onion, peeling back layer after layer after layer. this post has been in my drafts for nearly a week now, because there’s just so much to say about this movie and I keep adding bullet points. also uh. spoiler warning, obviously.

to get the obvious out of the way: the Monster is a camera. chekhov’s gun (the well) is also a camera. the monster’s all-consuming mouth is also its all-seeing eye. the camera is a hole you put your money (the same coins that killed otis sr) and your suffering into. and the media has no regard for the blood and sweat and tears that go into capturing that perfect shot. but, through OJ and emerald, we also see that the Gaze is not inherently evil. being Seen is just as important as refusing to be consumed by the viewers.

in the climax of the movie, OJ and emerald are both asserting their haywood legacy: OJ, of course, as the black man on the horse, and emerald as the one capturing this revolutionary footage. even the way she takes multiple shots that can be put together to create a looping clip is reminiscent of the method used to create the first motion picture. while initially emerald is set up to be the performer and OJ the behind the scenes guy, it’s important that OJ is the one on the horse, because he Knows Horses, and emerald, who is far closer to being part of Hollywood as a culture, is the one using her camera for the right reason.

jean jacket consumed the horses jupe bought for it, exploiting OJ’s life’s work to try to appease the camera/viewers/consumptive gaze/whiteness/etc. each horse gets a name, the way alistair haywood did not. jupe wants to erase the legacy of these Black horse trainers, just as he wants to erase his own trauma for the consumption of the white gaze, but the haywoods refuse to deny their roots, refuse to sacrifice any more horses, refuse to let themselves be exploited without a say in the matter. jupe gets consumed by the camera shutter monster, but OJ stares it right in the eye after half a year of keeping his head down and going about his business, and it works because he is asserting himself against this wild beast, establishing his agency instead of trying to form a bond with a creature that cannot be tamed.

his cowboy hat is as white as he wants to be. he's a phony: not a Real Cowboy (most of whom actually poc irl regardless of what the western genre would tell you), not a Real White Man, not really Chosen. the bottom of his hat resembles jean jacket too, that white underbelly and the shadow of a hole. he sees gordy in "the viewers" and he thinks they are the same, that they have a connection. he thought he had a connection with gordy, too: the exploited chimp and the exploited asian kid (being the only minority as well as a child actor?? forget it) seeing each other, reaching out. but they're on a stage, there's a cloth obscuring their gaze. they don't really see each other, because jupe refuses to see anything. that’s how he’s survived this long in the industry, after all.

also, the fact that jupe’s “aliens” have chimp bodies and camera heads is just such a fucking DETAIL. fuck, bro !!!!!!

ok so the balloons right. they're what scare the chimp (btw, gordy: scaredy cat + gory?) when they pop under the studio lights – contained in a box (or a cage), rising to new heights and then bursting under pressure, just like him. antlets says that you don't wanna climb that mountain. that it's a dream you never wake up from. it's why he sacrifices himself, on a literal mountain, for the one perfect shot, in the first place. he wants to go out on his terms, not anyone else's. the jupe balloon rises into the atmosphere, meeting jean jacket – the camera. one eye open, one eye closed, straddling the line between exploiter and exploited, predator and prey. (otis sr also had one eye open one eye closed when he died.) jean jacket sees the balloon as a threat, so he consumes it. but the pressure gets to be too much. and it bursts.

the upright shoe. is it a bad miracle? yet another coincidence that only bodes ill? jupe believes he was chosen. or is the shoe jupes memory playing tricks on him, having stared at that shoe in the display box for so long that it’s now all he can see in his mind? trauma blurs the past and present, after all.

I think there’s also an argument to be made that jean jacket is a Colonizer. quite literally an invasive species, taking up undue space in this habitat. jupe is so desperate to appease it, whereas whereas em and oj reclaim their land and their family legacy by defeating it. the difference between gordy and jean jacket is that gordy was exploited, whereas jean jacket is operating on its own terms, sucking in anything that directly acknowledges its presence. where did jean jacket come from? we don’t know, and we never will. what we do know is that it shouldn’t fucking be here!!!

I’ve seen ppl divided over this one thing so I’ll insert my 2 cents now: at first i interpreted antlers’s shot as an act of irrational selfishness, putting all of them in danger due to his own white man ego, but the more i think about it, the more generous i am inclined to be towards his decision. risky, yes, but greedy? i think it was actually a grand sacrifice, proving that he’d risk anything for his art and its legacy. he knew that jean jacket would consume him, but the camera he used would be spit back up, allowing for the chance for the photo to remain intact. ideally, his perfect, impossible shot would outlast his physical body, and he would not be a real artist if he did not give everything he had to make that happen. he had to at least try.

humans cannot conceive of any creature being higher in the food chain. we exploit animals, and we exploit each other. anyone considered “less than fully human” in any way is fair game. that’s what makes OJ’s bond with his horses in particular so beautiful, so important. it’s the direct counter to the way gordy was treated, to the way animals and people of color alike are shown to be reduced and disrespected for the sake of spectacle. and it’s why OJ, against all odds, survives.

there’s so much more I could say. I haven’t even mentioned angel! but on my first watch, these are my initial impressions. pls feel free to ask me more questions about this movie though, bc there is SO much to unpack and I cannot stop digging thru the suitcase!!!

now for some absolutely meaningless thoughts:

when keith david appeared i was like "oh shit!!! i didnt know he was in this!!!" and then he immediately died and i was like "ok well that makes sense." still, loved the cameo :)

i appreciate the elusive gay sister (cow)boy brother pairing for a change. the only other example i can think of is ayesha and hassan from we are lady parts. we need more!!

jupe is such an insane nickname to me bc it literally means “skirt” in french. yeah I just needed to say that

keke palmer was so hot in this I loved all her dykey fits her energy her akira slide ugh. mwah mwah bellissimo

fucking CW

in “conclusion” —

what are the implications of the gaze?

how do we commodify trauma?

what is the price of spectacle?

#nope #nope spoilers #ask #anon #media analysis #100

[sad-endings-suck]

The Curse of the Main Character

Main characters. They’re the best, aren’t they? Except they’re not. Think of who your favourite character is from any number of pieces of entertainment media.

If you loved Lord of the Rings, it’s likely Frodo wasn’t your favourite character. No, it was probably Sam, Éowyn, Pippin, etc. Or maybe you prefer Star Wars, but let’s face it: Han and Leia were always more interesting than Luke.

Or perhaps you’re more into the MCU and side characters that never got their own solo stories like Natasha/Black Widow were your favourite, up until she got her own movie. Then she mysteriously fell into the same vat of main character blandness that Steve, Tony, etc had fallen prey to before. And now her sister Yelena was the side character stealing the show, like Natasha once was.

Hell, maybe you were a Nickelodeon kid who watched Victorious and adored Jade and Kat, but despised Tori due to the crime that she simply wasn’t as interesting or fun.

See, in any given story, (in my experience) your favourite characters are the ones that have the luxury of not being imprinted on by the author and thus are able to fully develop into more interesting beings with flaws and strengths that have nothing to do with the creator’s own personal perception of what it would look like for them specifically to be the protagonist. Or rather, how the creator(s) assumes the viewer/player/reader/etc would relate to their protagonist. Instead of just writing a character that would actually be effective within the context of the story.

I’m dubbing this phenom the Main Character Curse. It applies to so many different forms of media. Think of your favourite romance novel series such as Immortals After Dark or even Addicted/Calloway Sisters, in which every instalment is a standalone story in the same world and each book focuses on a new couple. Now, which book in that series is your favourite? Because I can almost guarantee it’s not the first book.

The first book that focuses so heavily on the couple that was clearly meant to be the magnum opus of greatness but fell short compared to almost every other book/couple in the series. Due to the fact that other characters in the series had to earn their stories. The couple from the first book didn’t need to be interesting or even particularly likeable. They just needed to be two people the author could fantasize about.

Whereas all of those other side characters in the first book had to earn their right to sequels and spin-offs by being the funniest, meanest, smartest, most fun, etc. They needed to prove themselves to the reader, when the protagonist did not.

Main characters don’t have to do anything (as of the writing of the story) to be worthy of being protagonists of said story. However, side characters have to earn their place in the story by actually serving the plot or developing in a meaningful way themselves.

The protagonist just needs to be a vessel for the consumer, no matter how dull or bland that vessel may be. Any other character in that same story has to be important or impactful in some way. Thus, they have the ability to develop, grow, shrink, or change drastically without it affecting the story to the point that it shifts away from the original plot-line completely.

Because even if that character dies or changes completely, the story will go on. The same cannot be said of the main character. Who has to be relatively stable and grounded enough throughout the whole story to remain the conduit for the reader/viewer/player/etc.

The side character has the luxury of being untethered to expectation and thus their journey is only limited to whatever the plot can throw at them.

So, why is the main character that way to begin with? The simple answer: the author can’t help but want to be the main character themselves, so they put too much of themselves into that character. Which limits what that protagonist experiences to what the writer themselves can relate to.

Which then immediately restricts the protagonist to a rigid box of typical self-insert godliness, or worse: boringness. Which is also likely why so many heroes/heroines seem too similar to cringy fanfic Y/N for comfort.

I know when I was around twelve years old I got the Divergent trilogy boxed set, and I noticed something a little odd. In the first book, the heroine Tris has long hair, and lo and behold; the author in the photo at the back of the book had the exact same hair style. Then, in the second book the heroine cuts her hair short, and oh! The author so happened to now have the exact same haircut in her updated author photo at the end of the book. The heroine’s hair changes a little bit again by book three, and (shocker) so does the author’s hair.

It’s almost like the creator was projecting onto the protagonist and accidentally constructed and ultimately hindered her main character in the process.

Are there circumstances where this doesn’t happen? Absolutely, but they are few and far between. Protagonists such as Percy Jackson and Aelin Galathynius prove that the main character of a story can be the best character in that same story.

However, these protagonists are few and far between, and we definitely need more of them. Though as stated above, this is complicated and difficult for a multitude of reasons.

Perhaps a temporary goal is to feature multiple main characters at once with no clear outlier, such as the Umbrella Academy. That remedies the issue of the protagonist being a typical hero/heroine by making every main character weird, strange, and fully fleshed out.

Or the Legend of Vox Machina. Which also has no definitive main character, because it has the unique luxury of originating from a tabletop RPG campaign in which every character was role-played by a different individual who was trying to be the main character in their own distinct and original way.

A different twist on the multiple protagonist approach involves something like what The Boys tv show does. Which highlights Billy, Hughie and Homelander as main characters, but gives plenty of other characters the main character spotlight during various different story arcs and episodes.

Regardless, sometimes I just want a story that has a single definitive protagonist. And every once in a while I’ll stumble upon an absolute treasure of a story, like Ted Lasso. In which the main character is amazingly written and portrayed, but all the secondary and tertiary characters are every bit as likeable and riveting.

Because it is so rewarding when stories can fully deliver on every bit of their potential instead of leaving you wishing they fulfilled what they teased.

All in all, I want less writers to live vicariously through their protagonists, and more writers to consider writing more bravely, oddly and complexly. Even if that means their protagonist isn’t the most beautiful or powerful or special.

Because no matter what, I’ll take a character that is the most likeable or interesting over the character that is the most special, any day. What about you? Let me know your thoughts!

#writing #reading #romance writer #fantasy writing #writers #film writing #tv writing #novel writing #protagonist #side character energy #main character #main character energy #villain era #character traits #character tropes #writing advice #media analysis #entertainment media #film and tv #film analysis #novel analysis #worst character #author advice #character archetypes #tua #the legend of vox machina #ted lasso #Percy Jackson #tlotr #aelin galathynius

[angelamzs]

Thank you so much for tagging me @anaid-arghem 🫶🏼

Are you named after anyone?

No, my mother was thinking about calling me María, Carmen or Angela so she asked my dad and he said that Angela was better than the others.

When was the last time you cried?

Three or four days ago, I cry even when I’m happy.

Do you have kids?

Nooo, I'm very very young for that. However, I think that I would never have. I love kids but I don't think I would be a great mother and I don't see myself having a family. I rather focus on my future job and my own dreams and happiness than being married with kids.

What sports do you play/have played?

I did rhythmic gymnastics and I tried to play rugby as my father is a former rugby player but my mum didn't allow me to do it. Nowadays I use to go to the gym, although I’m not going so much these last months.

Do you use sarcasm?

Yes, but it’s not my strongest point.

What's the first thing you notice about people?

Physically I notice their eyes (mainly their gaze) and their smile. For me the gaze and the smile are one of the most important things and can tell a lot about someone. As personality and mentality, the most important thing for me is intelligence, so one of the things that I like to notice first is how they communicate and express themselves, because I think that it can show their intelligence and their personality.

What's your eye color?

Green (hazel).

Scary movies or happy endings?

Happy endings, scary movies don't scare me at all.

Your talents?

I don't really know if these are talents at all, also when I have to talk about these kind of things my mind becomes empty, but here you have some rare things about me: I know all the F1 drivers champions in order and I also know all the F1 race winners; I know how to say “I love you” in a lot of languages; and I’m really good at spatial intelligence.

Where were you born?

In Madrid, the best city of the world✨

Any hobbies?

Listening to music, dancing and watching films and sports as motorsport, rugby, american football, snooker and football. I also love to read things related to history (also history about F1), politics and just a few novels.

Do you have any pets?

No, in fact I'm that person that doesnt like animals, although I have tried so many times and I actually find them cute. I prefer the plants and I have a potho, that is like a little tree and its called Dino.

How tall are you?

158 cm, all my friends make fun of this and they call me sausage dog😭

Favorite subject in school?

Math and physics with difference, I also like history as I’m really into the Industrial revolution and the 20th century.

Dream job?

My dream is to become an engineer in motorsport. I would also love to inspire and help kids to become engineers as it is being a difficult path for me and I would love having someone to help me. I would also love to create a website, books or even documentaries about classic F1, I just feel that I have a duty with all these people and I also feel that I have been created to honour their memory.

I won’t tag anyone because all the people that I know here have already been tagged😭

#tagging game #first time talking about myself here #hope you liked it #🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼

[matan4il]

I really love how you point out the importance of Buddie choosing to raise Chris together as important LBGTQ representation because it's so close to my heart I need to see it. We never get that kind of representation for gay fathers but also gay men who are not into "gay hook up" culture as it's been labeled in Hollywood. Listen I loved Boys as much as the next and loved seeing a side not always portrayed in the mainstream...

But we never get soft gay boys choosing to start families. Wanting the family life and being like all the other soccer families you know?

Maybe it's easier for writers to portray women that way? I often joked it's because women are more naturally tactile. You can put 2 women best friends together on screen and easily blur the lines where an audience member can take the leap you know. Beaches, Fried Green Tomatoes, heck even Rizzoli and Isles.

But writers haven't seem to be able to Crack the code IMHO with men. It's one of the reasons I don't want a slutty Eddie Era. It's not my story but I don't see the need. Eddie is soft for 2 people in the world. Evan and Christopher. Can't I just have that you know??

And let me backtrack we did get Schitts Creek, but I think we can all agree that was an exception to the rules in gay storytelling. Even to the small point that the gay couple got the HEA, the straight couple realized their dreams lied elsewhere, and the straight bestie got to go live their best version of life.

Hopefully that made sense???

Hi Nonnie! Awwww, thank you for the kindness! I’m so happy to hear we’re on the same wavelength when it comes to what I said in this ask reply!

And I agree, there is so much more diversity in the real life queer community than in its reflection on screen. A part of it is not showing enough the more domestic couples, the older-when-coming-out men who don’t go through a phase of reliving the gay version of their adolescence, the ones who aren’t as colorful and who are not looking to party, the ones who want to be partners and parents and not party-goers. And who are still into sex! Just... domesticated sex. This isn’t to say that there’s an issue with any of the queer (especially male) characters that are often being portrayed, but for obvious reasons (they’re perceived as more interesting and drama-inducing), TV and movies tend to favor one over the other, rather than showing us a fuller range of the gay experience with love and acceptance for all. And EVERY kind of queer person deserves to see a reflection of themselves on our screens. And to not be sterilized if domesticated. 911 has done this so well for the lesbians with Henren, I am so hopeful it can do the same for gay men with Buddie, and to give us a breakthrough for queer men with a proper mlm slow burn.

And TBH, I would have actually really loved to see Buck and Eddie, after getting together, not only raising Chris together, but some time after they get together, also choosing to bring another kid into the world as a couple. We were almost gonna see it with Henren, but then the show took a turn with that storyline. The few times when TV and movies do portray queer couples, and especially male ones, as becoming parents, it’s almost always due to circumstances... I think I’ve only ever seen one such couple (on Modern Family) going through adoption, or choosing one of the other ways in which MOST same sex couples in REAL LIFE become parents. Again, that’s just a piece of representation that’s MISSING. It would be amazing to see Buck and Eddie doing THAT. Or Chris getting to be enthusiastic about being an older brother.

Oh man, I still need to watch Schitt’s Creek, I heard only good things about it. I know I’ll love it once I watch it. But from what I’ve gathered, they didn’t get to the stage of parenthood on the show, right? So yeah, they got to be soft and domestic, but not start on that next stage of building a family together?

You made perfect sense, lovely! I hope I did too. Thank you so much for this and have a great day! As always, here’s my ask tag. xoxox

#buddie #911meta #buddie meta #911 meta #9-1-1 #evan buckley #eddie diaz #edmundo diaz #evan buck buckley #henren #911 #ask #anon ask #fandom love #hen wilson #karen wilson #kindness #thank you! #<3333 #911onabc #911 on abc #911abc #911 abc

[queenofbaws]

taking a quick break from flash fiction to have dinner and to ask myself an incredibly (un)important and (not even a little) serious question:

is it too late for me to completely change the plot of like wringing blood from a stone, because replaying ud has me thinking the only thing worse than jack being involved in the mess at hackett's quarry is the hackett brothers being in blackwood the night of the fire

just

just.

just...

imagine.

jack has. so much to do that night. we see him all over the mountain, and let's be real, he's a middle-aged dude - a monster hunter sure, but that snow is DEEP and you KNOW ya boy is getting tired out there. he's following sam, he's sneaking up the mountain, he's following mike and jess to the cabin, he's saving emily in the mine, he's delivering ominous messages at the lodge, he's getting his head cut off and dying, it's a FULL! NIGHT! FOR! HIM!!!!!

so what if

for (mumbles) reasons, the hackett boys have been up on that there mountain with him the whole goddamn time too and they're just. worse versions of themselves adkslfjsldjfasdfjasfkl

jack keeps to the mines for the most part because that's his thing. he's the one of them who has the best hang of hunting, is able to stay the stillest, and just plain isn't as scared of what's down there. emily still bumps into him, and later he's able to help find jess and matt because he knows those tunnels like the back of his hand.

chris starts off at the base of the mountain and is the one to watch the kids coming in. he reports it to the others, keeps them on their toes, but he doesn't join them up on the summit until he has to. he hates it up there. he's more the face of their operation, mostly hanging around blackwood township, so he is less than pleased to actually be dragged into a hunt. he's the supplies guy. he supplies the supplies. he doesn't actually hunt, are you kidding me?! the other three can do that crap.

bobby sticks around the lodge itself because he's not very good at being QUIET or HIDDEN out in the open, but he knows how to get in and out using the sanatorium tunnels, and if anyone's making sure nothing's getting into the lodge through the basement, well, it's him. he is. UNBELIEVABLY CONFUSED when he starts finding dead pigs and old sawblades piled up in the old resort. CONFOUNDED. every time he reports back to the others, they're just like "bobby, jesus christ, no there's not a saw movie happening down there, you're being dramatic." he is not being dramatic.

travis, of course, is the one to slink after mike and jess - at least until disaster strikes. next to jack, he's the best at staying out of sight and disappearing when he needs to. is there a NOTABLE silence that falls over the walkies when he immediately volunteers to be the one to tail them? yes. does that silence make him immediately very angry? yes. does that anger make his motives any less transparent? no. BUT NO ONE'S LAUGHING AT HIM WHEN YOU-KNOW-WHAT HAPPENS AND HE BUYS MIKE 5 EXTRA SECONDS TO KEEP JESS'S FACE ATTACHED TO HER HEAD.

mostly though

mostly

i'm thinking

about the moment

where after escaping the mines and the conveyor belt, emily rejoins sam, ash, chris, and mike in the lodge. you know. the moment. where we usually meet jack. only this time

this time

there's a very authoritative knock on the door. and someone with a very official voice calls out that it's the blackwood pd. and everyone in the group is so relieved

except for emily, who just barely gets a chance to remind everyone:

"they told us they wouldn't be able to get here until dawn"

before mike and chris tentatively open the door

and chris (hackett) kicks it the rest of the way in because he's just so fucking glad to be back inside instead of out there with those things, and travis oozes in with him, and the gang is suddenly very, very, very tense again because who the FUCK are these guys?! one is being very friendly and the other is being very unfriendly, and neither seems too worried about any of what's going on.

this tension only gets worse when one of them yells "how's it goin' for you, b?" and bobby comes up from the basement, twice as big as usual given his winter clothes, and suddenly the gang realizes no, whoops, oops, oopsie daisies, they haven't been alone all night. someone has been watching them. a few someones in fact.

a few someones who have spent too much time living in a blasted-out sanatorium in the middle of a deserted mountain to understand or appreciate the importance of personal space.

im just saying

i think

for how fun it is putting jack in hackett's quarry and making him the (extremely begrudging) voice of reason, i am suddenly STRUCK with how fucking hoRRIBLE IT WOULD BE IF THE SHOE WERE ON THE OTHER FOOT AND THE HACKETT BROTHERS WERE ALLOWED TO DEVOLVE INTO THE VERY WORST HORROR MOVIE VERSIONS OF THEMSELVES, BEING RAISED MORE LIKE FIDDLERS KLJASDKFJASLKDFJASLKDFJ

chris being all chummy and pretending he can't tell how deeply nervous he's making the people around him

bobby just grabbing people to keep them from running off

travis smelling the girls' hair

im just saying.

i am just.

saying.

i think that scene in the lodge would just be. so much more awful. and tense. and nerve wracking. if the kids were more or less matched with hunters vs. it being the five of them and jack.

i love the hacketteers, i do, but with the exception of laura, none of those kids were looking to commit a felony that night. the blackwood kids, though????? the blackwood kids?!?!?!?!?!?!??!!!

youre gonna look me in my eye and tell me if the blackwood kids suddenly thought this was a hostage situation, they wouldn't just fuckin go for it? sam cracks chris over the head with a lamp before making a break for it. ashley stabs whoever's closest (she deserves it). in a concerted effort, mike and emily almost knock bobby down the stairs. chris keeps getting confused when someone yells "chris," as does chris! they're both too keyed up to realize it's a same hat situation.

jack finally walks in after climbing up out of the mines and ages 20 years when he sees everyone fighting

hannah shows up and everyone starts screaming instead

THE! POSSIBILITIES! ARE! ENDLESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#queenie rambles about supermassive #the hacketts #frantically adds this to my ever growing list of things i will now angrily daydream about but never get to writing #idk if im at a place where i can start making AUs of my own AUs but if i did. man. alive. #as im getting deeper into like wringing blood ive just been. thinking. a lot. about how diff things mightve been #if jack had really grown up w the hacketts or if the hacketts had grown up with the fiddlers #neither option is GOOD #but MAN i think if the bros had grown up in blackwood like jack theyd be. a lot. to handle.

[lesser-mook]

GARO: The Animation (anime recommendation) - Action, Dark Fantasy (Shonen Elements done right)

(light spoilers)

I saw this once a few years ago, didn't leave much impression at the time.

After a re-watch (Autumn 2023); Surprisingly character driven, character development was well paced (so well paced for some, It left room for a lot of remaining exploration for others)

The show technically has more than one mc, and it works because instead of NPC's hijacking the story from the mains, the mc's are given focus, thus time isn't wasted or robbed from the characters that should have priority. And the extras serve to world-build, & some filler I found myself enjoying.

Well executed action. (Not a fan of some of the CGI)

Music production is from Monaca, Keiichi Okabe's studio (NIER Game series).

Story isn't deep, it's simple.

The setting fits the tone well. (Dark fantasy, Medieval)

Sub is better, Dub is satisfactory. Both good.

Likable core cast, Ema is the Goat. Alfonso the Legend, Leon the beast. Germán the OG Playa.

Again, the side characters fit appropriately to give some world building, everyone isn't contrived to have the same level of importance despite being NPC's.

No, when it's the extras time to shine, they shine, then they bow down as they should. And the main characters are the main characters.

The fanservice didn't overstay it's welcome, didn't annoy me:

(Translation: Not a lot of stock jailbait/schoolgirls getting bent over, ya know, for the "kids"*), majorly it's played casual, it's just women that look sexy for the most part.

Not like a *Camera ZOOMS in on cleavage with bounce animation, sparkle filter, with Anime "WOW" sfx** (holds shot for 5 seconds+)

[Look look! Breasts! You like those right?! Give us a 10/10 please!] Shonen schtick.

As for GARO:

It has gags, comedy, but overall it's executed where it works, and when it's go time, it's go time. I was waiting for Ema's turn for the obligatory lingering, 5-8sec crotch shot while she's talking mid-sentence, followed by goofy sfx.

Just a 2 frame closeup you could miss if you blinked, Fanservice that flows with what's going on organically... Imagine my disappointment.

The situation doesn’t STOP________ To make sure you fully absorb the artistic significance of her crotch in the camera.

There was an occasion where the crew would've been stuck in an illusionary world if it weren't for Ema and her skills, so how she played into the events was unexpectedly not typical.

I didn't expect her to pop off the way she did at times. Heavy Femme Fatale energy. A professional. The only one in the show that can do what she does.

(I prefer her over Gina *Garo: Vanishing Line*)

Her (Spider-Woman) wire swinging scenes is some of the best content in the series.

So this anime is one of those weird series that for the most part treats their characters seriously while having sexy, but not oversexualized characters. (Again: Imagine my disappointment)

The characters read like characters with a stake & purpose, a story; Not caricatures with lines and a weekly scheduled cliche.

The movie, is decent, the plot wasn't the best but it was also well paced, doesn't drag or waste time, served as nice sendoff.

Recommended, I didn't get to see it the first time around, so watching it after the series served the anime to be more of a full package story.

Similar to (Kamen Rider x Kamen Rider Drive & Gaim: Movie Wars Full Throttle) technically being the sequel, true ending to Gaim.

My gripes would be the CGI look of the Knights themselves, that aesthetic is almost exclusive to them, almost. Clunky at first but they actually look surreal with how flexible and masterful they fight.

A lot of the monsters are 2D, but the Knights themselves are almost if not always CGI, this is my headcanon but I see it as an artistic choice to maintain the illusion of them being an interdimensional force. So they stand out the most in a sense.

It grows on you, eventually.

The villain, for me, was not interesting at all. I did like his stake in everything, the man was a menace, he just wasn't interesting (to me).

German's decision to not save Anna, when he had to power to do so? (In one scene it's shown she's alive when he retrieves the baby, so unless she was technically dead & her looking at him was just an aesthetic decision, I don't see why he doesn't try to take her too). Never understood that. Not a lore breaking gripe, obviously she was as good as dead but still, smells off to me.

Grandpa and those goddamn seeds (If you know, you know), the needless outcome of that situation drove me nuts the most.

---------------------------------

Overall, well produced, decent writing, no masterpiece, naturally; Better than I remember. Underrated.

Medieval Kamen Rider-esque but with Wolf Armor, my favorite of the GARO series trilogy.

The other 2 were OK (Vanishing Line could've been so much more if they focused on the better characters instead of Sophie) but the first, "The Animation" had a better execution about it.

#garo the animation #garo #anime #anime recommendation #recommendation #lessemrook #2024 #medieval #dark fantasy #action #tokusatsu

[valetinas]

SPOILERS

I just watched the Fnaf movie and I just wanted to share some opinions about it with hopefully little to no spoilers!!

Like any good movie it’s pretty normal at the start and gradually gets more interesting as the story develops and you learn more about the characters, their personalities, and of course their backstories.

The characters themselves were pretty well written you can see their personalities and how their backstories plays into how they act for example in the spoiler we’ve all hopefully seen of Mike beating up some guy you later learn the reason for his action as well as realize why he did it and how exactly it affected him. For the other characters such as Vanessa the policewoman, Abby the little sister, and the animatronics you see their reasons for the way act and everything and portray themselves.

The plot twists in my opinion were honestly a little predictable I figured some out a bit before they happen but if your not as big a fan or anything then it’ll be different. There are references to the game Spoilers?? ((Like chica in the kitchen, bonnie leaving first, looking at the camera, and being in the closet. As well as foxy humming and an it’s me message written somewhere )))

The acting is pretty good they show emotions and everything as they are good actors.

The storyline doesn’t line up with the games or anything so It’s most likely separate from the games and books.

Blood and gore there wasn’t a lot of there was some scenes with a little bit but it’s not like excessive also there is mostly suspense and jump scares which was expected cause it’s five nights at Freddy’s .

Certain scenes which are important in the game do come up a little unexpectedly which in my opinion is great.

The way the animatronics behave is explainable and honestly not all that predictable

SPOILERS

((The animatronics which are possessed by kids do actually act like the kids they are in some specific scenes and when there’s a threat they act in order to protect the place even if it means death. They are children and in basically an illusion that the rabbit is their friend and assume that what he says is true so they attack but when they realize the truth they do what is know is necessary even if they know what will happen. I know what I’m saying is very vague but this is to have as little spoilers as possible))

There are differences as in family relationships and backstories from the game which is what makes it separate from the games and books.

Besides from the suspense, little jumpscares, and certain scenes it’s actually not as scary as I expected but of course it’s different for everyone my sister, who I watched it with, thought it was more suspenseful and more anxiety inducing and for my mom she thought it was more scary for the certain scenes I don’t want to spoil for you.

Overall it’s a pretty good movie I don’t regret watching I would totally watch it again.

Me 10/10

My sister (not a Fnaf fan) 4/10

My mom( also not a Fnaf fan) 1/10 (she doesn’t like horror)

#fnaf #movie #review #opinion

[haasegawa]

Random thoughts after Free!-The Final Stroke-

Soooo I watched the rinharu love confession movie again (aka The Final Stroke part 2) and I'm having a lot of feelings and thoughts I need to externalize (not just about rinharu). Since the only friends that might understand what I'm going to say are you, my lovely people on tumblr, here it goes (inserting read more because possible spoilers):

Part 1: supporting characters

Starting with some quick thoughts of things I would love to see being more explored but that I'm more than happy with the little moments we got because they're precious anyway (and it leaves space to our imagination which is amazing too):

Nagisa being the most upbeat person to ever grace this planet This boy is the most happy and adorable and angelic creature on earth! Seeing more about Haru's childhood and his friendships touched unknown places of my heart and a big part of it was because of little Nagisa. He's just so caring and intuitive even as a child and manages to lift up everyone around him it makes me warm (we specially see this by the way nobody can ever be actually annoyed with him giving them nicknames and just being overly affectuous all the time, kid's getting away with murder in this group and I find that amazing). JUST LOOK AT THIS LITTLE BEAN

The girls' friendship Gou, Isuzu and Ayumu are amazing on their own and the moments we have of them together are so refreshing??? I'm not sure I can even describe it but it just makes me really happy to see that the girls interact by themselves without the presence of the guys specially Isuzu and Gou (which I might ship but not really 'cause their friendship being totally platonic is important to me?) (I never said my thoughts would make completely sense so keep reading at your own risk) (but also don't give up on me ༼ つ ಥ_ಥ ༽つ). Either way, I do love the fact the anime is centred around men's swimming and the boys' growth together, but the women here are really important to that growth too (without Gou helping with the club I don't think the story would developt at all) and it's great knowing they have their own things and plans together even if not all of it happens on screen.

Kisumi, Sousuke and Rin's friendship Personally, I love Kisumi! I love how extroverted and cheeky and supportive of his friends he is (even Haru and their relationship is really funny to me but I might talk about it at some other point). The focus here is the fact Kisumi, Rin and Sousuke met in primary school and they might not have really kept in touch during their lives before meeting again later in high school/university but I love how every moment we have of them together we just know they've known each for a long time. I particularly found the last scene of Kisumi and Sousuke in Final Stroke really good because it's not a long scene at all and the others boys (Ikyua, Hiyori, even Kinjou) are present but they just bring me "we were little kids when we met and now we're adults we still manage to ambarass each other with the things we say" vibes. Love it, love them, I'd love to see more of the Sano trio.

And yeah this is longer than I thought it would be already and I got into rinharu fanfic mood so I'll just split my comments and babbling in parts. Next one will be about people's relationship with Haru in the movie probably (this one wasn't really descriptive, but the spoilers might appear more heavily in part 2).

#free! final stroke #free!

[guardianspirits13]

Let me rant about Moon Knight for a bit!

(It’s about the acting. Just the acting.)

So I’ve been thinking a lot about Moon Knight recently…

For some context, I watched the whole show about 2 weeks ago and it has become a pretty typical obsession. One problem with this, however, is that ADHD has a tendency to turn my piqued interests into hyperfixation, wherein I enjoy a piece of media and my brain gets very excited about its new source of dopamine and tries to leech it for all it’s worth. This means that as long as the thing continues to give me dopamine, it will consume my waking hours as I think, watch, draw, write, and do just about anything else I can with it. Normally creating art and analysis are the best ways for me to combat hyperfixation so I have something to channel this extra excitement into, and so I’ll eventually run out of things to draw and write so my brain can chill out and get back to its normal life. However, within these hyperfixations, there is usually one element that I will cling on to that becomes the center of my interest. Usually it’s a character, sometimes a specific episode or scene. In Moon Knight, it was Steven…at first.

But as I’ve continued to explore the interviews, behind-the-scenes, and an ungodly amount of edits and scene compilations for this show, I have realized that my interest has shifted a bit off the content of the show itself, and onto something different. What is it?

It’s the acting.

The f u c k i n g acting. In this fucking show. Specifically Oscar Isaac.

It absolutely baffles me how the characters of Marc and Steven were distinguished in the most subtle of ways, and the immense focus demanded by this level of a performance just blows me away. Like let me explain- I knew little to nothing about Oscar Isaac when I watched this show. I knew he was the guy from Star Wars that I kinda liked when I watched one of the newer movies like three years ago. It took me two full episodes of Moon Knight to un-confuse him with Rami Malek (I saw museum and Egypt and my brain was like hey that guy looks similar. Sincere apologies). Since watching Moon Knight I’ve seen a variety of interviews with him and I still struggle to wrap my mind around the fact that this is the same guy that played Steven. And Marc. (And Jake). Looking at any given frame of Steven in particular, I have to squint just to see the resemblance. And I know you’re thinking, ‘oh it’s the hair, it’s the outfit’ yeah. Sure. That contributes something, but nope. It’s the acting.

As a kid I thought 80% of being a good actor was memorizing your lines and expressing emotions you didn’t actually feel. As an adult I’d toss in character studies, posing, and staging. But it is only after watching this show that I have realized how damn important mannerisms are, and how much utter focus it takes to not only memorize and deliver lines in a believable way, but to be aware and in control of every part of your body down to the muscles in your face. Maybe it’s just my ADHD speaking, but having so much control and awareness of yourself that you can quite literally become the character you are playing, to the point where the actor’s own mannerisms and personality become barely discernible, is just astonishing. Like the scenes when Steven and Marc are switching back and forth and they change into the other before your eyes and yet still look so distinctly like their own self? Wow. And perhaps this degree of acting is more common than I realize, and it just stands out to me more in this instance due to the nature of the show, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that I not only noticed how good the acting was, but the performance left a lasting impression on me. Even more than the characters themselves- the emotions, expressions, and mannerisms connected with me on a level deeper than I care to admit.

Slight detour (you can skip if you want) but I have a theory about audience awareness of acting ability- it’s an inverted bell curve. Stick with me now. When you’re watching something with bad acting, you know because it lacks immersion. You lack investment in the performance so your brain goes meta and is like ‘haha these actors are so bad’. For most movies and shows, the performances fall in the middle. They’re good enough that they feel natural, believable, and fully integrated into the scene, but nothing about the acting particularly stands out. Now on the far end of the spectrum, there are things along the lines of… Midsommar? Get Out? (I don’t watch the Oscars but you get the idea). And of course, Moon Knight. This might just be me, (thus the theorizing) but if a performance is almost so good that it becomes uncomfortable to watch, my brain checks me out of the immersion so I can sit back and realize that it’s not real, and is just in fact some damn good acting. It’s kind of like the uncanny valley. I’m now realizing that this does primarily apply to sad/scary/intense films that stretch the limits of human emotions, but my point still stands. Kinda.

Anyways- back to the main event!

Perhaps even more incredible to me is the entirety of episode 5, where Marc and Steven are in separate bodies and bouncing dialogue off each other. First off, hats off to the special effects team and whoever else was responsible for the editing because that was just about seamless. Second off , I repeat myself yet again: the a c t i n g. In one of the interviews I watched Oscar did briefly discuss the extensive planning that had to go into those scenes, such as figuring out which character to film first, but I cannot imagine how much focus and just plain skill it takes to act out both characters in these scenes individually, not to mention the emotional intensity written into most of them. Even with someone reading off opposing lines offscreen or acting as a stand-in, the chemistry between these two characters in the final release is flawless. Episode 5 probably had some of the best directed, written, and performed scenes in the entire MCU- they hit you hard and stick with you long after they’re over. They give you food for thought. They certainly gave me food for thought.

AND DID I MENTION IT’S THE SAME FUCKING ACTOR???

Ahem. Let me breathe here for a second.

As previously mentioned, it might well be the case that all of the particular things I’m citing that make this show so great appear more frequently than I realize in other media, and the structure of Moon Knight just happens to allow them to shine more brightly. I don’t care. This is the one that stuck with me, and that’s all the difference. The production, writing, direction, and editing on this show is all phenomenal and in my opinion some of the best use Marvel has ever gotten out of their practically infinite budget, despite barely being half the CGI-fest of their other properties.

Incredible job to everyone who made this show a reality, as I will be revisiting it for years to come.

ALSO GIVE OSCAR ISAAC HIS FUCKING EMMY YOU COWARDS!

#cowards (affectionate) #moon knight #moon knight meta #oscar isaac #analysis #rant #so anyways i have a lot of thoughts #talk to me about this show please i will love you forever #marc spector #steven grant #jake lockely #umm also i know i kind of excluded the other cast members #may calamawy my beloved #she was incredible #ethan hawke played a very punchable villain #uhhh voice actors for the gods? iconic #thats all from me lol #mypost #mymeta #marvel #mcu #acting #adhd #hyperfixation

[uncloseted]

Do you think Tim Burton someone that we shouldn't support? I was hyped seeing the Wednesday Addams trailer but when I looked into Burton I found he's said a few racist things in the past. Now I'm not sure if I can watch Wednesday in good conscious or not despite the fact I adore the Addams family

I think there's a real difference between someone who has "said a few racist things in the past" (or said things that we retroactively consider to be racist) and a person who is actively being racist. People fuck up. They're often ignorant and uninformed. Sometimes they say things that aren't perfect. I think we need to make space for "yikes, friendly reminder that this isn't a good look" without defaulting to, "that person is racist and cancelled, nobody interact with their content ever again."

From what I can tell, the accusations of racism seem to be mostly over Burton's lack of diversity in his films. Which is accurate, but... he casts the same four people in everything he makes (Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Christopher Lee and Michael Gough). There's literally a lack of diversity in his films at all, because there's a lack of diversity in the actual individual actors that he hires. So it's kind of unsurprising that his films lack diversity and that he doesn't have great insight on the subject of diversity at large.

Specifically, when people accuse Burton of racism, they point to a 2016 interview with Bustle, in which he said he said that,

"Nowadays, people are talking about [diversity] more. But things either call for things, or they don’t. I remember back when I was a child watching The Brady Bunch and they started to get all politically correct. Like, OK, let’s have an Asian child and a black. I used to get more offended by that than just... I grew up watching blaxploitation movies, right? And I said, that’s great. I didn’t go like, OK, there should be more white people in these movies."

Is that a great take? Of course not. Movies made by white people that only include white people aren't the same as movies made by Black people that only include Black people. The Brady Bunch was doing important work by diversifying their cast, even if their moves towards diversity felt shoehorned to white kids in Burbank in the 60s. But is it a cancelable offense that proves he's always been secretly racist and that if we watch his works, we'll be supporting racism? I don't think so. I think he's just, you know, a white guy who grew up in Burbank in the 60s who has cast the same four people in his movies since 1988.

It should also be noted that in the same Bustle article, they interview Samuel L. Jackson about Tim Burton's perceived lack of representation in his films, to which his only response was, "I had to go back in my head and go, how many black characters have been in Tim Burton movies? And I may have been the first, I don’t know, or the most prominent in that particular way, but it happens the way it happens. I don’t think it’s any fault of his or his method of storytelling, it’s just how it’s played out. Tim’s a really great guy."

Also, the new Addams family TV show is actually pretty diverse. It stars Jenna Ortega, who is Mexican and Puerto Rican, as well as Luis Guzmán, who is Puerto Rican. It also features Fred Armisen, who is Venezuelan-Korean. An attempt to rectify the lack of diversity in Burton's works is being made here. If anything, this is the work of Burton's that's the worst to boycott, because Netflix has a history of cancelling shows that are led by Hispanic and Latin actors.

On a bit of a side note, I also want to say that the more I have these conversations, the more I feel like our increasing cultural focus on whether the media we consume is "ethical" or not is a red herring that's distracting from more important issues. Is a racist comment Tim Burton made in 2016 really the biggest race related issue we're facing right now? Fuck no. But by focusing on that, people can pat themselves on the back for "fighting racism" without actually having to contend with the messy, complicated, nuanced discussions that are necessary to solve the more pressing issues at hand, and without actually having to meaningfully change their lives. Even if literally nobody watched this new Addams family show, Tim Burton would still have an estimated net worth of $100 million. Even if literally nobody watched the new Addams family show, Tim Burton still got paid to make it. So in this case, even if his comments were totally unforgivable, I think boycotting it has very little worth. If he gives you the ick now that you've read that he's said racist things in the past, it's your prerogative not to watch it. That's totally fine, and I get feeling that way. But that's a personal decision, not a political or ethical one.

[jzixuans]

i love your school for good and evil posting because i was also obsessed with the series and had the same thoughts about the movie. for something that was built up for so many years i felt like it fell a bit short. if you haven’t read the series it’s probably fine (except for maybe the nemesis but cause that was terrible) but when you have it’s a bit. bad. also the thing about the wolves and fairies being from the schools was so meaningful in the books and i was excited to see it but they didn’t have it at all :/

YEAH

like. disclaimer disclaimer disclaimer etc i have no hill to be a novel purist when i'm like 60% of the time a primary cql-er. that being said,

i know that often the easiest route for novel-to-movie adaptations is to just take the main pairing, the next most prevalent side characters who inform the main pairing, and the villain, then Only keep the scenes/arcs that are relevant to getting them from point a to b. this is all well and good, and i was perfectly fine accepting this for tsge, but honest to god for a novel that contains as much as tsge has, a movie is a terrible constraint to put on it.

off the top of my head, there was a lot of symbolism to be had in agatha's own reflection being the one to keep her from crossing the bridge/forcefully separate her and sophie. this i can see being taken out because it's minor and they can adapt it other ways! same with say, the sidekicks/henches!

BUT one thing that i cannot forgive them for taking out (amongst the many other things i can't forgive them taking out) was the relegation of forest survival to a good-only class because it was a major emphasis that both evers and nevers had to survive the forest in order to get their own story in the first place. it calls to the common fate of all men (death) that poets love to ruminate on, because nobody can get glory if they die before doing so. not only that, this class was the vehicle for so many plot/character-important scenes. i can forgive the pumpkin/troll/casket blind tests as well as the whole cemetary digging scene, BUT the biggest thing that came out of it (pardon my memory) was yuba teaching them the things good does vs the things evil does and this set the parameters for every good v evil interaction/altercation to follow. i liked this because yuba was an unaffiliated third party who was neither Good nor Evil, and professor dovey teaching this to the girls kind of detracts from this being something sophie knows as well, especially since she says that iconic line at the nevers' no-ball.

similarly! the nemesis thing! it was 1) the subject of envy and later abject horror for the coven to watch sophie undergo this transformation and 2) the cause of pure unadulterated glee for lesso to learn that one of her students finally had potential to win, survive their story, and turn the tides. not to mention the secret third 3) again, pardon my memory: one was only evil enough to be worthy of a nemesis if they committed murder. this was so representative of how the nevers were all bark and no bite and that they were KIDS because at the end of the day! even hester and anadil were horrified that someone was actually murdered on school grounds and even more so when they learned that it was sophie who did it!

this was supposed to be the cue to the audience that sophie truly was on her way to becoming irredeemable evil and that we were supposed to root for agatha to overcome her (when one has a nemesis, the story does not end until one of them dies) and get her happy ever after! that's how the stock story goes!

and from there, to return to your point abt the wolves and the fairies, this is where it got SO MUDDLED. the wolves were actually failed good students, the fairies were failed evil, both parties were letting themselves get hurt so they could protect the kids. and then the ball, and then the no-ball, and then and then and then. this is what truly flipped that aforementioned predictable stock story on its head. which, to refer to my post abt the school master, was soooooo so good about the whole question of what does it mean to humanize fairy tales? and then returned to the novel's earlier point (as spoken by yuba) that only the best evil can disguise as good! how were we supposed to tell now!

which like, i'm not about to hem and haw about how the movie removed a chunk of grey/nuanced morality because again, i'm a cql-er, but the thing is that the movie really felt like it was going for that grey space that the novel was (agatha very explicitly shouting "why can't you see beyond the black and the white they're forcing you into!" and again, the "you're human" line) but then in the same breath the big bad at the end of the movie is the literal manifestation of Pure Evil. because everyone gets to be grey except rafal apparently (mind, again, been years since i've read the novels i don't remember what happens in the second and third books but i recall rafal being indecisively portrayed in sympathetic vs unsympathetic lights which ate my brain). so like. hard flop on that front.

#biiiiiiig word barf im just so full of Things today #but yeah the movie seemed kind of indecisive too but like derogatory. #also like again gestures to everything lady lesso #she was so good in the novels #both just in the first one and then the secret lesso lore that came after #ask #thank u for indulging my worms please feel free to leave more in my inbox i'll get to them tomorrow in between class :) #also one more to the list of things i wish we could have seen: the golden goose preferring death over giving literally anything to sophie #as indicator of her being evil was so fucking good #and if i recall that was the true parallel to agatha's wish fish but i'm not sure

[acelezz]

A Look Into My Life: Thoughts on Marcy Wu from Amphibia

Can we please talk about how important Marcy’s character development and backstory has been in Amphibia?

In “The Beginning of the End,” we see a brief backstory scene with the three girls at a sleepover back on Earth, obviously before the main events of the show. It was absolutely upsetting for me to see Marcy get ignored and for her friends to insult her interests like that. I have been in Marcy’s shoes before, in middle school actually. I can go on and on with how Amphibia really understands middle school friendships. It’s a time where you are straddled between the end of your childhood and the beginning of your adulthood. Around this time, kids tend to develop more unique and intricate personalities and their own interests. Suddenly, friends find themselves being different from each other and liking different things, which can lead to those friendships ending sometimes.

For me, specifically, I remember when in middle school, all of my friends started to watch reality tv shows like the bachelor. I still watched kids shows on Nickelodeon and Disney Channel (and never completely stopped) and suddenly, I felt like I couldn’t talk about the shows I liked anymore since all of my friends were watching these adult shows. I often felt excluded from these conversations, never really getting to add anything because I didn’t know what they were talking about. 

Oddly enough, there was someone recently in my life who made me feel like Marcy. And I say oddly because for most people, sometime during high school is when most fully realize that there is nothing wrong with liking something “different” as this is when I became more open about my interest in kids shows, and I was genuinely shocked by the amount of friends I had in high school who also liked the same kinds of shows and movies as me. With this specific person, I briefly mentioned how I watch the Owl House. They were weird about it and were like, “but it’s a kid show.” And when I tried telling them how they hurt my feelings, they told me that I cannot be so attached to shows and depend on them for my happiness. When I tried to tell them that wasn’t the case and that I was just tired of having my interests insulted by others, I was told I was being childish... Honestly, can we please make it mandatory for people 18 and up to watch kids shows again? Because apparently two 13 year olds know how to recognize their wrongs and take accountability for them than a fucking adult.  

Anyways, here is where I am different from Marcy. Instead of making my friends watch or hear about things they weren’t interested in, I just didn’t talk about my interests. I was ignored in a different sense because no one made sure I felt included in the conversation. It is perfectly fine to talk about something that someone is not interested in, but to have it be almost every conversation to the point where someone feels excluded is not okay. I wish someone would have noticed and changed the conversation more or asked what i wanted to talk about. But I was the stereotypical quiet and shy kid so my silence was not unusual, and you cannot expect middle schoolers to have that much emotional intelligence to always realize when someone is being excluded.

With that being said, I don’t think Sasha and Anne meant to ignore Marcy. They were just being middle schoolers who don’t have the most self-awareness. Still, I know what Marcy went through hurts. It hurt when I went through it. But when you’re in middle school, friendships literally mean everything. If a friendship breaks up, it literally feels like the end of the world. I think Marcy could feel the friendship slipping apart. Perhaps she felt herself slipping away in particular as her interests seemed to be different from Anne’s and Sasha’s. So when she found a music box that could supposedly transport them to another world, she decided to take it so that way, as the only beings of their species in this new world, they would be forced to stay friends forever. 

So in “All In,” I was thrilled when Marcy realized that the versions of Sasha and Anne were not real. It was very clear that she was pushing back her thoughts of Sasha and Anne ignoring her as this is something that could ultimately end a friendship, which she would never want. I am so happy that she recognized that she cannot hide from reality in this fantasy of her vision of a perfect friendship. Not only am I glad that she finally admitted that Sasha and Anne had been ignoring her interests, she realized that she cannot change them and make them like everything that she likes. I am so happy that she realized that she needs to find this happy medium where her interests aren’t being ignored and where she is not taking up the entire conversation or hang out with something that only she is interested in. Earlier, it is mentioned how Marcy made them watch that movie a bunch of times although she was the only one who was interested in it. While it is not fair for Sasha and Anne to ignore Marcy’s interests, it would also not okay to make them watch something they clearly aren’t interested in in an effort to force them to like it. 

Now with my instance with my one friend, I would have completely understood if it was the only thing I ever talked about and they were like, “Hey, you kinda talk about this a lot. The Owl House seems cool, but it doesn't sound like its for me. I feel like you don’t leave me enough room to talk about my interests enough.” But I literally only mentioned it once and they automatically insulted me for having that interest. Believe me, I have known people who can talk for hours about one thing and it sucks when you aren’t interested and they don’t leave any room in the conversation for you and your interests. That is why it is so important that in a friendship, to make sure that everyone’s needs and interests are being met. It is fine for someone to have a different interest, as long as their friends aren’t insulting or ignoring that different interest and they aren’t taking up whole conversations and hangouts with it. 

This ended up being way longer than I would have liked. I just love Marcy so much and saw so much of myself and things that I have went through personally in her. 

#amphibia #the owl house #toh #marcy wu #marcy amphibia #disney channel #disney #disney xd #cartoon #a look into my life #all in amphibia #the beginning of the end #amphibia spoliers #text post #disney animation #animation

[thefanficmonster]

Hello Vy!<3 Can I get a some hcs of Connor Walsh (after he graduated and became a lawyer) and him and fem reader being the “rich husband and spoiled housewife that sits on her husbands lap wearing all designer while he works and their children who are with their nannies all day” couple? So sorry if the request sounds weird😭

Oooh that dynamic would suit Connor and his partner so well! Enjoy the headcanons dear 💕

Pairing: Connor Walsh x Reader (Female) [How To Get Away With Murder]

Warnings: None :)

Genre: Romance, Fluff

Summary: see request above

The picture of the ideal American family, living the American dream lifestyle

That's the best, most accurate way to describe your life with Connor and your two kids

Living in a gated community - check!

Owning several vehicles - check!

Entirely designer wardrobe - check!

Always a walking million bucks, both of you - check! check! check!

Living in this gated community had given you both a great insight on the life of the rich people who seem to be exactly like you

But couldn't be more different in actuality

They deem themselves to be on your level and at first glance they are with their lavish mansions, cars, well-kept gardens, numbered house staff etc.

But unlike you, they have a moldy façade to mask what their home life is actually like

You've beared witness to their petty fights and screaming matches

You've seen how distant the family members are towards one another, always busy with things they deem more important than their family

That's never been the case with you and Connor

Yes, you and Connor are busy people, but you'd never sacrifice time with your children to get more work done

In fact, you have a strict rule of no working past a certain time - aka when the babysitter leaves your house and the kids rush to you

Although they spend a good portion of the day with their nanny, they've never been exposed to a shortage of love, attention and affection from you and Connor

Your little ones are your world and you never let them forget that

With all that said, it's also important to note that although having family time as a whole is of great essence to the both of you, sometimes it's just as crucial for you and Connor to have time for just the two of you

This includes but it's not limited to: drinking a bit of wine and watching movies together after the kids have gone to bed; going on dates every two weeks; longing out by the pool early in the morning or at odd hours in the night - going swimming too.

You've never allowed your intimacy to grow dim, even after almost a decade of marriage, and that's how it's going to continue being

Fights are rare between you but even when they do break out, they're snuffed out just as quickly

After all, a grudge against someone you love can only be held for so long

And that's why practically all your neighbors envy you - because what for them is a play-pretend façade, is a beautiful authentic lifestyle for you and your husband

#how to get away with murder fanfic #how to get away with murder #connor walsh #connor walsh fanfic #connor walsh x you #connor walsh x reader #connor walsh x y/n #connor walsh fic #connor walsh fanfiction #connor walsh headcanons #connor walsh imagine #htgawm #reader #x reader #fic #fanfic #fanfiction #request #headcanons

[keeganhogan]

            Ozu Yasujiro’s I Was Born But… is the first silent film I have watched. It’s easy to look at the silent film era and assume that they are not as valuable as “talkies” as that technology and possibility in filmmaking was not available to them. However, I found that watching a silent film really forces the emphasis on the characters’ mannerisms, movements, and facial expressions to determine the context of a scene. This emphasis on the visual over the auditory aspects of the film did more for the immersion I experienced than I was anticipating. Of course the music in this film reflects the happenings on screen and auditory aid is not absent, but watching these children go about their everyday lives and how they deal with the world of children their age was so much more engaging than I expected a silent film to be able to be. It also gave me a different perspective on the quality of an actor’s performance in a movie, only being able to see and not hear them. The performances in this movie were very impressive, especially from the child actors.

            In terms of the plot of the movie, it starts off as a very comedic look into the lives of Japanese children in this time period of the late 1920’s and early 1930’s. Our two main characters, Keiji and Ryoichi are new in town and immediately face the local bullies before even going to school. Thus the first central issue of the film is presented: how do they deal with the bullies? This seemingly trivial and typical plot trope actually serves to reflect the main point of the film that is introduced later on. They try to simply skip school, but that doesn’t last for very long. Since they cannot avoid the bullies, the only other option is to conquer them. They can’t beat them up themselves, but they make a deal with the older delivery boy to beat up the main, large bully that leads the group. Succeeding in this means that they can now be the leaders of the pack. Given the overarching topic of the importance and impact of social standing and how people of different social standings interact with each other, this fun, comedic story of kids dealing with their bullies is put into a different light of how those in varying positions of power interact with each other on a day-to-day basis in this society (and really in our present society still). Just like their father, the boys seek to move up in the social hierarchy, so that they won’t be bullied anymore. However, in a position of no power, they must seek leverage from someone who does hold power. A mutual deal gives them the upper hand that they need, but they have essentially cozied up to the delivery boy to get what they need, much like their father. Finally being rid of their bully, they now enjoy the friendship of all the boys who scorned them before, as those at the top of society enjoy as well, as well as the wealth that comes with it.

            This all comes together when they eventually are ashamed upon the realization of their father’s social standing among the father of their friend Taro. Now out of the position they were in before and arguing with their friends about whose father is the most important, they are angry that their father cannot simply ascend the social hierarchy as they just have. This fun film about childhood now becomes a film about the eternal struggle of everyday people to make do for themselves and their best efforts to ascend that ladder. At the end of the day, a father like theirs simply wants to be able to provide for his family to be able to set them up to do better than he has. That realization that life is not as simple as it seemed as a child and that all we can do is wish for a better life for our children is a bittersweet one. On the one hand their father accepts the fact that he sucks up to his boss despite hating it and that this is where he stands in society, but also that even though that’s the case, his family that he loves is better off because of it and that what really matters to him is that his sons can have a better future than himself. Those powerful themes of social and economic struggle tied in with immense love for your family and the future of your kids is a poignant combination that serves for a very relatable film not only back then when it was released but still today, as we today face very similar struggles in our everyday lives.