#with characters defined outside of being nerds

[loren91]

Young Royals and the three act structure, Part one

Seems like there was some potential interest in a full three-act story structure analysis, so I’m taking this opportunity to indulge myself by going full nerd. I’m going to attempt to make the argument that limiting the show to three seasons is actually perfect for Young Royals, by highlighting the pattern the story follows.

A few things to keep in mind before we start.

This analysis is not about the characters deep inner emotional lives. We are not here to pass judgment on their actions. We are simply identifying the beats of the story in a neutral and objective manner, for the purpose of analysing the structure of the story.

As you will notice, the points I have identified are all from Wilhelm’s perspective. That’s because he’s the point-of-view character, the main conflict is shaped by him and his emotional state. He’s the protagonist. Each subplot however, will follow the same pattern and has its own purpose, but I’ll get more into that another time.

I’ll be referring a fair bit to Lindsey Ellis’s video essay on the subject, because I like how she describes the structure pattern in sequences. So I’m gonna borrow some of her language. Also, note that the examples she uses to describe the tree-act structure are all feature films. Since Young Royals is a series, it’s gonna divert slightly from her description. But that’s what is so great about this structure, it’s flexible. It’s not meant to be set rules, but rather guidelines to help keep your story relevant and engaging all the way through. If you find this stuff interesting, I’d highly recommend watching her videos!

The three act structure is absolutely not the only way to tell a story. There’s many different formats that works just as well! It’s really about finding what structure works best to tell your story. The three acts however is the most common format you’ll find in more commercially viable works, such as Disney films for example.

And finally, I’m not a writer, but an animator, and I have studied film theory/structure. I’ll do my best to motivate the plot points I’ve identified, but if you’re a proper story expert and disagree with me, I’m happy to discuss!

Okay, let’s get to it.

A three-act structure is constructed of just that, three acts, and roughly looks like this. Essentially, a beginning, a middle, and an end. Or the set up, the confrontation, and the resolution. These acts may vary in length, act two usually being the longest and act three usually being the shortest. But what truly defines them is the tension of each act, meaning what drives the conflict forward at that point. A story will have a main conflict yes, but that conflict will take on many forms depending on where we are in the story. Lindsey Ellis describes each act as consisting of multiple sequences, and defines each sequence by its individual tension as well. Though all points of tension should always stay related to the main conflict! So the main points we’re looking to identify in the story are the main act tensions and the main sequence tensions. 

Let’s go through season one of Young Royals and talk about each story beat.

Act 1

Act tension - Wille has to attend Hillerska.

Sequence 1

We start with the Set up/Hook. The purpose here is to establish the world and the protagonist along with their internal conflict, such as their flaws and/or desire that makes them feel incomplete - The way Wilhelm’s character is introduced informs us that he is royal, but struggling with his role, because royals have set rules to follow.

“Why can’t I decide how the hell I want to live? I want to live a normal life!”

The thing that sets the story in motion is the point of attack. Something happens that is outside of the protagonist's control/knowledge - That would be the royal court deciding to send Wille to Hillerska without his permission. This gives the protagonist something to react to.

Sequence tension is established - Wille does not want to go to Hillerska. The rest of episode one reinforces Wille’s discomfort at the school.

Next, we get to the inciting incident. An event that disrupts the status quo, and our protagonist has to get involved - The initiation party, particularly when Wille and Simon almost kiss at the end. This leads him to acknowledge his attraction toward Simon and become more proactive in his pursuit of the boy. 

The sequence tension is resolved. Notice how in episode two, Hillerska is no longer the main focus for Wille, but Simon is. The seeds for what will become the central conflict have now been planted. The conflict is usually driven by character motivation. This is where we can consider the protagonist's Want vs Need. The want drives the main tension - Wille wants to be with Simon. But we’ll find want he needs later on in the story.

Sequence 2

The purpose here is to build up the creation of the main tension of the story. The main antagonist can also be established here -  August keeps getting on Wille’s nerves. Especially when he’s trying to hang out with Simon.

That’s our sequence tension - Wille is working to befriend Simon, but August keeps getting in the way.

The end of the sequence sees the first major plot point, the Lock-in. Where our protagonist makes a decision that changes everything. Usually, something they can’t come back from - In Young Royals that would be the first kiss. Wille and Simon’s relationship has fundamentally changed. The main tension is now established.

Act 2

Act tension -  Can Wille be with Simon, despite him being a prince?

Sequence 3

At the start of this sequence, the protagonist has most likely achieved some kind of milestone or learned something - He’s definitely like that.

To keep the story interesting, writers will add so-called pinch points in between the bigger plot points. These usually act as reminders of the antagonist or the pressure our protagonist may feel - Wille feels he needs to break it off with Simon because a prince is not supposed to be gay. As we established in the set up, royals have rules. 

Sequence tension - Can Wille deny his feelings for Simon? Queer pining ensues.

Sequence 4

The purpose of this sequence is to build up towards the midpoint. We see the protagonist making attempts to achieve their goal - The want never changed, Wille still wants to be with Simon, despite the pressure. Wille invites him to spend the weekend with him.

Sequence tension - Wille is trying to prioritise his new relationship with Simon, but August is still being annoying.

Then the midpoint hits. A major disruption, either from a character action or a force of nature. Can be positive or negative, just something that changes the aim of the quest without resolving the main tension - This time it’s literally halfway through the season. End of episode three, Erik dies and Wille becomes the crown prince. Everything has changed.

Sequence 5

Everybody has to adjust to the new world order after the midpoint disruption. We’ve reached another pinch point - Again we are reminded that royals have rules, and Wille makes another attempt to follow those rules. By embracing his new role, he breaks up with Simon once again, then sort of pursues Felice and joins the society.

Sequence tension - Wille adjusting to his new title while mourning his brother.

It’s common for subplots to advance around this time - Like Simon giving August the drugs to sell.

Sequence 6

Another plot point, where our protagonist may stop and reflect. Maybe have a heart-to-heart with another character, and perhaps make a decision - This is where we see the football field scene and the end of episode four. Wille reaches out to Simon for help, reconnecting with him. This leads them to pursue a relationship once again. They are put in a false sense of security. They are finally together, thinking all is good. BUT, we in the audience know that August has the video of them and the writers keep reminding us of him and the threat he poses. Even if Wille and Simon don't know it yet.

Sequence tension - Can this happiness last?

Sequence 7

(Here’s where the story leaves the classic structure for a bit, and adds an extra sequence for some more drama, as filler. In theory, they could have skipped this sequence and gone straight to the video being released. This part is mainly here to give motivation for August’s character, making his actions clearer)

So we are essentially given another pinch point, a reminder of antagonist or pressure -  August tries to break them apart by telling Wille about the drugs, which leads to the music room fight. 

Sequence tension - August is becoming more hostile.

Wille saving Simon from being framed for the drugs is more related to August’s money subplot. And the Lucia hug scene is mainly there for character building purposes. I’ll talk more about that stuff in part two.

The plot has advanced to the culmination of the main tension. The crisis that serves as build-up to act three - August releases the video. At the end of act two, the protagonist faces their biggest challenge yet. They’ve hit their lowest point - The aftermath of the video's release and Wille is totally lost. 

Act 3

Act tension - Can they save their relationship after the video?

Sequence 8

Begins with the protagonist making a big decision that creates the new act tension. The tension in act three will be different, but still related to the main conflict - Wille and Simon talk in the locker room, where Wille says he won’t do the statement. 

Sequence tension -  Can Wille avoid making the statement?

We’ve reached our last major plot point, located at the end of the sequence. Sometimes known as the twist in the third act - And what a twist, Wille does the statement anyway. This narrows down the tension further, to focus on a more character-driven intimate place for the next sequence.

Sequence 9

Sequence tension - Can they be together despite the statement?

Climax, the last big fight - Simon tells Wille off for being selfish and breaks up. Wille also finds out that both August and his mother betrayed him. The protagonist’s need has emerged from this journey and is now clear to us - Wille needs to decide who he wants to be. The want and the need should be different from each other, but still connected. Wille wants Simon, but in order for that to happen, Wille needs to break out of this cycle of self-preservation and stand up for himself against the royal court.

The climax will most likely lead to some kind of character growth - Wille is now pissed because he’s lost everything and realizes how corrupt the royal court is. As Lisa so beautifully put it, “A flame is ignited in him”. Hugging Simon in public is a display of his character growth.

And finally, Resolution. The point where the story is usually wrapped up neatly, but if left ignored, you get a cliffhanger - Which is exactly what happens in this season. Nothing is properly resolved at this point. Resulting in an open ending/cliffhanger.

Oof, that was a lot. How are we all doing? So these are the main beats of the plot. Makes sense? Let me know if you need any further clarification 😅 I was gonna get into how the rest of the show fits this format as well, but that’ll have to be in a separate post. Here’s part two! 

#young royals #prince wilhelm #young royals analysis #young royals season 1 #film theory #story structure #story analysis #young royals and the three act structure #wilmon #simon eriksson #august horn #my meta #my analysis

[oceanic-sunsets]

Mike Wheeler and Will Byers, Character Arcs explained by the Duffers and Letting Characters surprise you

I’ve been so excited to write this analysis because I love talking about character’s arcs, development, and storytelling in general. For this particular analysis, I’m going to focus mostly on Mike, the Wheelers, and Will, but I’ll touch on a few other important characters too to draw parallels/give examples. 

Once again, I’ll remind you that I believe Mike is gay, so my analysis will touch a lot on the subject. 

Now let’s get into it:) 

I’m going to start this off with a few notes from the Duffer’s Masterclass, lesson 7: Character Development. They tell us their creative process, how they come up with characters, what defines them, and later on, what their main arc will be. 

So as we can see, some names were changed, Will was Tommy and Mike was Joel. Something that stands out is that Mike, since he was named Joel, has always been intended to be Will’s best friend, the closest one of his friends. 

Now, for Sheriff’s daughter, the Duffers mention how she didn’t make the cut, and this is only me assuming, but it sounds like the role Max would later on have: she’s the new girl who two of the main kids are interested on. 

Next we are shown the following characters’ descriptions: 

The Duffers then explain how a lot of it “mostly stuck”, how some stuff didn’t make it into the show, and then we have characters whose name changed but their purpose stayed the same, or those who got some traits swapped up with a different character. For example, how the “Billy Flanagan” role was first represented by Steve back in S1, and later on by Billy, even with the same name. 

I’ll talk about a few characters, their old traits vs what I think (based on the show) they ended up changing. 

Karen Wheeler: She's first described as a great, overprotective mom, who suffocates Mike and tries to protect him from the evil around him. She hides from his husband. Projects happiness but actually very sad inside. This obviously didn’t stick. This sounds an awful lot like Joyce, word for word. See, instead: Julie Conley. We’ll get to that in a bit.

Ted Wheeler: Suburban, always busy with work, never around and not close to his son.  This is still pretty spot on. Ted Wheeler was always meant to be exactly who he is. But wait, could there be more to it?

Mike Wheeler: --introduce him with DnD-- shy, birthmark on his face and neck, which he is bullied for. No confidence outside his friend group. Ultimately coming of age, falls in love with El.  Mike’s connection with DnD and being bullied stayed. The rest, however? it all changed. Notice how Karen used to have a role more similar to what ended up becoming Joyce. Now, look at Mike’s first description. Sounds familiar, right? That’s because it basically describes our Will: shy, with an overprotective mom, no confidence outside his friend group and with the ultimately coming of age. Falls in love with El Mike. I’ll get back to Will in a bit, for now, let’s go back to Mike. The Duffers also mention how his character completely changed and it was influenced by Finn Wolfhard’s performance: the Mike we know isn’t shy, quite the opposite! he’s brave and fills up the group leader’s role. 

What does this mean? It means his character arc can’t stay the same, because his fundamental traits, those that define him as a character and give him a drive, also changed. See one of Will Byer’s previous descriptions: More normal. Rings any bell?:) 

Lucas Conley: Nerd, dungeon master, dresses in black, glasses, LOTR and other fantasy books, videogames, unkempt. As the Duffers say themselves: this is nothing like our Lucas Sinclair. Instead, it sounds more like…

You guessed it, Mike! With his Hellfire t-shirt, long hair, more edgy look and interest in videogames and fantasy. This is not the only reason why I think Mike ended up filling this character’s role. Just wait until you read the next ones.

Terry Conley: Lucas' dad, disappointed in his son, makes him shave his head and hair, abusive with his mother. Very obviously not our Lucas’ dad. Instead, it’s a mix of both Ted (disappointed) AND Lonnie (disappointed and also abusive). Why do I include Ted, when you could arguably say he’s not disappointed, just never there emotionally? Because of the hair thing and his wife’s description. By saying he makes his son shave his head and hair, it’s implied that it’s because it’s long/not “normal”, or “adequate” enough. Ted Wheeler is an absent father, but he also represents conformity and traditional values: he would not support his son’s hairstyle choices. 

Julie Conley: Lucas's mom, very sweet, doesn't stand up for Lucas, should leave dad but doesn't. Again, not our Lucas’s mom. This is word for word the Karen Wheeler we know: sweet but doesn’t really stand up for her kids. Should leave Ted (see: the almost-cheating plot and their unhappy marriage), but doesn’t. 

This is the family that’s meant to represent normalcy, conformity and traditional values, but they happen to have a rebellious son. THIS is the role that the Wheelers ended up filling, you see it very clearly from the very start with Nancy, a little bit with Mike (who then retreats, trying to fill his expected role) and we start seeing a glimpse of rebellious Mike again in s4. 

Will Byers: Mike’s best friend, more normal, more shy, goes missing, killed by an entity.  He doesn’t have much of a description, but besides going missing, two traits stay: Mike’s best friend, and shy. As I mentioned when I talked about Mike, since his traits changed, so did his character arc. He’s still the shy, missing kid that drives the show, defined partly by this experience and the events that revolve about it. We just have to add the missing pieces to it: (see: Mike Wheeler’s original description) lacks confidence outside of friendgroup. Overprotective mother. Tied with DnD. Bullied. Ultimately coming of age. Falls in love with El Mike. 

Need more convincing, more proof? Let’s take a look at this section of the show’s bible. 

Now again, with my notes. The yellow highlighter represents what is true to Will’s character, and the blue one represents Mike (yeah, I know, I know). 

“He’s never had a first kiss, much less a girlfriend. [...] he will discover a courage he didn’t know he had. By the end, he will even kiss a girl.” This was meant to be Mike’s original character arc. You COULD argue that it’s only about season 1, but even then, it is not true to the events of the show. Mike’s s1 story was NEVER about his insecurities with girls, not having a girlfriend, and finding courage. The entirety of Mike’s actions in s1 (and therefore, his arc) are driven by Will’s disappearance and the goal of FINDING him. It’s NEVER, not even once, not even when other characters try to convince him of it, getting a girlfriend and kissing a girl, despite having kissed El by the end of s1. 

Instead, whose plot is intrinsically TIED with romance and a confirmed coming-of-age story about finding courage within yourself? 

Yeah:) And you KNOW what’s the logical conclusion the Duffers have written for this particular arc? “By the end, he will even kiss a girl boy.” That’s the resolution to this kind of arc. NOT rejection. It is a pretty clear example of “Taking a character from point A to point B”. 

The Duffers say: “you can’t give everyone an amazing, big arc. [...] We gave Mike the biggest arc in terms of him coming of age” and then explain how IMPORTANT it is to not try to explain everything all at once, instead, drop hints so you're telling the audience, "this is an important part of this character and we're going to continue to explore it, but we're just getting started you can't just include it all, reveal it all too soon”. You can’t make it too complex from the very beginning either, instead, simplify and slow down.

Then they mention how they like to take a character that's a stereotype, make the audience believe they know this character, make them believe it’s a comfortable portrayal, something they know. And then you flip it and reveal there's more to this character because no one can be so easily defined. However, just HINT it. The reveal will happen on its own, at the right time for the story.

So, based on all of this… What do I think that happened?

This might be an unpopular opinion, but I do not think they planned byler from the very start. I think they had an idea of what they wanted to do, of what message they wanted the show to send, but found out along the way a different, more natural, and groundbreaking way to accomplish that. And I think they realized as soon as early s1, when they knew they wanted it to become a several seasons show rather than a limited series. It’s no coincidence there are elements like Will’s sexuality, homophobia, and conformity present from the very beginning. But they also found a way to portray this in a subtle way so it made sense in both outcomes: if they didn’t get a s2, s1 could still stand on its own, make sense, and feel resolved enough. If they got more seasons, they had more time to hint at this story, get the greenlight, and develop it over the course of all the seasons.

I also think the characters themselves, despite being written by them, lead them to this conclusion naturally. As they say in their masterclass… 

“You can drive and throw obstacles at them, but they can become very real, and sometimes they end up doing their own thing, surprising you”.

To finish this analysis, let’s do a little exercise. 

What is Mike’s Overall Arc, considering the following? 

His family represents conformity, an upper-middle-class household that’s apparently normal and very traditional. 

Both Nancy and Mike are meant to be the Rebellious Children in their very normal, traditional family.

Mike goes from leader to comic relief, to the Angry-closed off-messes-up character archetype. This is so evident that he even becomes unlikeable to most of the General Audience.

The Duffers remind us that hints are important and addressed later. Seemingly ‘weird’ actions and off personality have an explanation: there’s something deeper going on with Mike. You cannot address it all at once, it has to be over the course of episodes and seasons.

More advice from the writers: sometimes you plan something but end up realizing it works out better in a different way. Sometimes your own characters surprise you, and take you to the path that is more natural for them, who they are, and their story.

Mike’s character arc was never getting the girl once the Duffers really established who Mike was. 

And with that, I conclude this analysis. :) Wait for the next one! Please tell me your thoughts if you liked this and read this far. I love reading your tags and comments.

#byler #mike wheeler #will byers #stranger things #st analysis #anti mileven #my analysis #mike wheeler is gay #i don’t like begging for reblogs and notes #but i’m really proud of this one and spend an insane amount of time on it #so just this once i’m on my knees begging #if u liked it pls share it and tell me ur thoughts…… #seeing that people are interested in my analysis is what keeps me going and reminds me i’m not alone in this

[re-bec-ca-ann]

Seeing You

(Through New Eyes) - Read on AO3.

Incredible art by @sachart​. 

Eddie only catches a glimpse because instead of being inside surrounded by the likes of Dustin Henderson, Mike Wheeler, and the rest of the Hellfire Club, he’s outside having a cigarette when Steve arrives for pick-up duty. The former jock parks his well-known burgundy BMW against the curb adjacent to the Wheeler’s driveway and turns off the ignition. Eddie watches from under his lashes and takes another drag, hoping the nicotine will calm the flame inside his belly that seems to grow whenever he and Steve come into one another’s orbit. A piece of Eddie is screaming at him to either take his smoke break to the side of the two-story house near the hedges or deem it a lost cause and retreat to the basement before he gets spotted staring and potentially labeled a creep. Sure, they’ve been through hell and back together, Steve quite literally carrying him back to the land of the living all those months ago, and Dustin is a solid judge of character, but who can really blame Eddie for having the urge to hide certain things from the once king of Hawkins High? He’s still a freak and Steve’s still from a royal bloodline.

The Metalhead lingers long enough for his curiosity to win out though when he gets a closer look at Steve’s face as he sits in the driver’s seat for longer than necessary and notices something unfamiliar adorning the other man’s face: glasses.

The frames are dark brown or maybe even black and somewhat square. Steve’s chestnut hair hides the parts that curl around his ears. When Steve turns, rummaging around in the compartments on the side of the driver’s side door with a frustrated scowl, Eddie takes note of how the frames all but disappear when they reach the apples of the man’s cheeks and the sides of his nose. His already prominent nose looks even sharper and more defined, drawing attention to the strong bridge and angular slope. And his eyes, even with the distance limiting Eddie’s visual appraisal, appear both bigger and deeper set. Unfortunately for Eddie, the flame burning in his gut seems to be fueled by the sight. His insides churn with regret, suspecting,  knowing, his affections are futile and so he shakes himself from his stupor, stubs out the forgotten cigarette, and makes a calculated dash for the door.  

When Steve enters the Wheeler’s basement about two minutes later, alerting Dustin that it’s time to pack up his nerd shit and go, his face is bare.

Eddie wonders sourly if he wears them only to drive, but all but debunks that theory when he spots Steve squinting at the character sheet Dustin is shoving in his face as he vents his frustrations about how Eddie is simultaneously pure evil and mad genius with his riddle-laden campaigns.

When Steve throws a look at him, Eddie knows he should grin wide or let out a devilish cackle, but his expression remains focused as he studies the jock’s face and tries not to think too hard about how much he appreciates the other man's jaw, eyes, and nose both with and without the glasses.

-------

It’s Friday night and Eddie’s plans are bordering on lame, still, he does have some. Wayne is working the overnight shift which means he’ll have the government-refurbished trailer to himself. He doesn’t like being alone per se, but he does bask in the glory of having the small space all to himself. So tonight it’ll include one or two freshly rolled blunts, some dollar snacks, Labyrinth on VHS, and a six-pack of beer that’s cheap but decent—a favorite combination of the Munsons. The last two things, the movie and the beer, unfortunately, hang in balance, depending on who’s manning Family Video and the corner gas station. He hopes for friends or at least friendly acquaintances to be found at each establishment.  

As the metalhead pulls into Family Video, van lurching to a halt when he slams on the breaks and puts the vehicle into park, he spots that burgundy Beemer he’s grown to associate with good things rather than annoyance and rage.

At this point, he considers Steve to be a friend, but he isn’t above buttering him up with an offer or two of taking over chauffeuring duties for a week. He won’t show his hand right away though. Maybe Steve will be in a giving mood. Maybe he’s got a date on the horizon and won’t give a shit about Eddie’s late fees, more focused on making it through the day and clocking out. And doesn’t that possibility just twist at Eddie’s insides a tad too much to be acceptable.

The door of the van creaks open, noise interrupting what appears to be a rather dull evening in Hawkins. And sure, it makes sense—more than half of the town left after the “earthquake”—but it still causes the metalhead to flinch at the possibility of drawing attention to himself. He’d been cleared of the murders, some guy named Owens had pulled a few strings on behalf of Jim Hopper, but an accusation like murder didn’t leave even the innocent unscathed, especially not an outcast.

When he reaches the glass door to the store, Eddie peers inside and finds Steve behind the counter entering data into the computer. He’s in his usual uniform, vest and all, but the suave-haired, broad-shouldered man is wearing the glasses again. Eddie feels like he’s seeing something he’s not supposed to. The retired king resembles more of a nerd with spectacles on—or at least that’s what his former friends, fans, and followers would categorize him as in this state. Eddie, however, is enamored more than usual. He’s surprised that a string of drool hasn't made its way out of his mouth yet, insides boiling with attraction and frustration.

The retired jock has yet to notice Eddie, leaving him to gaze freely for a bit longer at the endearing display of Steve Harrington appearing more human and flawed than god-like. But Eddie has enough sense to realize that he’s got about twenty more seconds before this crosses the line into weird and invasive territory. Reluctantly, he shoves the door in with his shoulder, and the bell above clangs violently against the frame.

Eddie’s just about to greet Steve when the other man’s eyes flash up in a panic at the presence of another soul, another set of eyes. He hears him mutter out a “shit” before he spins on his heels, rips the glasses from his face, and shoves them somewhere behind the counter. Eddie hopes he didn’t scratch or crack them in his haste—for self-indulgent and considerate reasons. Steve obviously needs them more than he’s willing to let on.

“Uh, hey, Munson.”

Eddie waves, trying to play it cool. He wants to tell Steve to put the glasses back on, reassure him that they don’t look bad and that there’s nothing wrong with needing a little help to function. But he notes the scarlet blush that’s gaining traction on the man’s face and pities him.

Don’t push, Munson. Don’t push.

“Just you here?” he asks plainly.

Steve nods and swallows, face morphing into a somewhat relieved expression.

“So you won’t mind turning a blind eye to some temporarily missing late rentals for a friend?”

Steve scoffs but it comes out more merry. “Friend, huh?”

Eddie tries but fails to keep his face from falling at the implication that Steve doesn’t consider them friends. His heart aches and his brain threatens to spiral even at the chance he’s still just a blip on Harrington’s radar.

Steve must catch on because he shakes his head and elaborates with an eager tone, “I mean, we are friends. How can we not be after everything? But, uh…”

Eddie’s head and heart need to know how that sentence is intended to end, so he presses forward. “But what?”

Steve cocks his head and sighs, shoves his hands into the back pockets of his jeans, and shrugs. “Friends hang out, don’t they?”

Although he’s internally wondering if this is all a joke, Eddie’s responding grin is feral and thrilled. “Shit, Steve. If you wanted to spend quality time with me, all you had to do was ask.”

He expects the jock to scoff and tell him to fuck off, but he does the opposite, leaving Eddie once again surprised by the man who’s worming his way into the metalhead’s heart at an alarming rate.

“Consider this me asking then.”

Jesus H Christ. He’s for real. Steve wants to spend time with me. This isn’t Gareth or Jeff or Dustin. It’s Steve Harrington requesting my time and attention.

Eddie wants to throw up and scream in victory at the absurdity of it all.

“All right,” he comments, schooling his voice into nonchalance as his hands twitch at his sides. “Tonight then. You, me, and Bowie.”

“Bowie?”

“Oh, right!” Eddie exclaims, dashing toward the new rentals and snatching Labyrinth from the shelf. He returns to his spot in front of Steve and shakes the case for him to see. “Bowie!”

Steve hums. Eddie can’t tell if it’s a good or a bad hum—or maybe a confused hum as he realizes that the jock is scrunching his eyes at the cover. He quells the urge to bring up the glasses and decides to tease Steve for his taste instead, not wanting to chance ruining their hang out before it’s even happened. 

“Wait, don’t—don’t tell me you don’t like Bowie?” he cries like a wounded animal, clutching the tape to his chest.

“I didn’t say that!” Steve retorts.

And while that’s true, Eddie is having far too much fun being the catalyst for Steve’s blossoming flustered state.

“Don’t say another word, Harrington,” Eddie counters. “I really don’t want to have to renege on our plans.”

“Well, sorry if I’m just too cool to—”

“Nope. Not listening. Zip it, Steve,” he sing-songs heading toward the exit. “I’ll grab drinks and snacks. Although I’m sure my selections won’t be ‘cool enough’ for you. But former kings can’t be picky, now can they?”

“Wait, Eddie! The movie, you can’t just take it before I scan—”

Eddie wiggles his fingers in Steve’s direction and darts toward his van. Before he hops in and slams the door shut, he yells out, “Bye, Stevie! See you at 8.”

As Eddie heads down the road toward Lou’s corner store and gas station, his gut churns in excitement and disbelief. He thinks about the two of them sitting on the worn couch, maybe side by side, watching Bowie in all his glory on the TV. The TV. The small and already hard-to-see TV. Shit.

-------

Eddie is all but pacing the short space of the trailer’s living room as he waits for Steve’s arrival. Steve Harrington is coming to his house because he wants to spend time with Eddie and like an already lovesick fool, he’s got beer in the fridge and a plethora of snacks on the dented and scratched kitchen counter. At the gas station, he had to talk himself down from having an all-out panic attack because instead of just asking Steve what he liked to eat, he chose to go the playful, put-on careless route which led him to entertaining two stressful guessing games down both the candy and chip aisles. So now he’s got more bags and boxes of sugary, salty, crunchy, and sour treats than his or Steve’s teeth and stomachs can handle. There are Twizzlers, Milk Duds, sour gum drops, plain potato chips, BBQ potato chips, Doritos, nonpareils, Gobstoppers, and those gross waxy rootbeer bottles that are filled with liquid that no one like—but maybe Steve does? Fortunately for Eddie’s pinballing mind, headlights shine through the window and the metalhead strides toward the door to confirm who it is.

Eddie can’t help the smile that forms on his face as Steve extracts himself from the car and brushes out the imaginary wrinkles in his shirt. His grin, however, falls into a frown rather quickly at the sight of the jock pulling the infamous glasses from the bridge of his nose, shoving them into a soft case, and pocketing them in his Members Only jacket. Eddie sighs at the humanizing display of Steve’s obvious discomfort at needing and wearing something not up to the standards of Hawkins’ royalty. It irks Eddie and he isn’t sure if he wants to shake Steve to knock some sense into him or dismantle all of society’s beauty standards with his chaotic energy and rage.

Steve raps his knuckles against the aluminum door before Eddie can decide which option to dedicate his life to.

“Welcome, my liege!” he says as he swings the door open and bows before the other man.

Steve’s responding scoff is littered with a lightheartedness that makes Eddie want to beam with delight.

“What? Isn’t that how all of the mere and mortal peasants greet Steve ‘The King’ Harrington?” Eddie questions with feigned shock.

The laugh the other man releases is amused. “Nah, just the freaks, it seems.” The supposed dig is becoming a tender nickname lately—especially when Steve uses it. No longer a weaponized or venomous word but an endearing term that Eddie has always worn with a hint of pride that has now doubled in size and continues to grow. It feels good to find people who see and accept him for who he truly is. And Eddie yearns to do the same.  

Eddie snags two beers from the fridge and tells Steve to grab whatever snacks tickle his fancy. When he turns back to face the counter, the Milk Duds and wax bottles are missing. He shakes his head, curls bouncing, and snatches the Gobstoppers and nonpareils. And they say I’m the freak?

They’re thirty minutes into the film, Steve’s arm draped across the back of the couch in an attempt to appear casual, while Eddie taps his fingers against the cardboard candy box where only half of the Gobstoppers remain. Eddie is trying to relax, he really is, but the way Steve is straining and rubbing at his temples every minute or so with his free hand is distracting. His instinct is to yell and go on an oddball rant about how glasses are actually metal as all heck and mainstream’s definition of style is a boring, capitalistic agenda, but he veers into the realm of soft deliveries in hopes of not scaring Steve away. “Hey, man,” Eddie starts, tone low and shaky. He waits until Steve acknowledges him to continue. “C-can you, uh, see the screen?”

“W-what do you mean?” Steve stammers and pinches his brow together. “I mean, of course. It’s right there,” he jokes, fingers pointing at the TV set.

Steve…” Eddie tries.

“Eddie,” Steve parrots back.

So much for the soft delivery, he thinks, standing up and leaning over the former jock to grab his discarded jacket and pull the case from the left-side pocket. He holds it up and declares, “I’m talking about these—” But the look on the other man’s face is embarrassed, maybe even petrified.  

Shit, no.

Eddie sits back down and tries again, setting the glasses still in the case between their thighs. “I saw you wearing them when you came to pick up Dustin from Wheeler’s house, and then again at Family Video. I wasn’t spying or anything…”

Steve’s exasperated chuckle is dark and quiet but there. “Liked what you saw? The cool kid isn’t so cool anymore, huh?” Steve flops back against the couch and squeezes his eyes shut. “Go ahead, take your shot, Munson. I deserve it.”

“What? You think I’m going to make fun of you?” It’s Eddie’s turn to laugh. “Man, you really don’t trust people, do you?”

Eddie’s verbal attacks are reserved for bullies and authority figures on power trips. And sure, Steve might have fallen into one of those categories in years past, but he no longer does. The metalhead wouldn’t have opened his space to him otherwise.

Steve’s face is now pinched tighter with pain and a weighted sadness. “Sorry, I just—”

“Force of habit? Conditioned to expect the worst in people?” Offers Eddie. Steve’s nod is tired and a little depressed. “Yeah, me too.”

Steve sits up, stares ahead, and starts to pick at the hem of his shirt. “So if you aren’t going to rag on me, what were you going to say?”

Eddie swallows, throat going dry at the sudden fork in the road before him: play it off or be stupidly honest. And the thing is, Eddie isn’t one to run away from much anymore…

“Well,” he blinks. “I was going to say that it makes sense you might need help seeing after all the hits and kicks to the head from the buffoons we once classified as classmates and the interdimensional creatures hellbent on crushing your skull…” He could end it there. Call it a night. Finish the movie and have a chance at doing it again in the future. Or… “I was also going to say that they look good on you.”

Eddie’s not running, but he is afraid to let his gaze meet Steve’s face. He forces his eyes to drag their way over and up until they land on the other man’s now flushed cheeks and wide eyes. The development gives the metalhead a burst of courage and his thin fingers are reaching for the abandoned case from where he retrieves the neglected glasses. He unfolds them with trembling hands and leans forward, knee pressing into the warmth and sturdiness of Steve’s thigh. He places the glasses on the man’s face, the bridge resting on Steve’s defined nose, ends hooked through thick hair and resting on the curve of his ears. He’s pretty sure both he and Steve are holding their breath.

When he returns to his former position on the well-used couch, perhaps an inch or two closer to the jock’s body, it’s Steve who breaks the charged silence.

“Thank you,” he whispers, voice disbelieving.

Eddie’s heart flutters and a rush of air pushes out of his straining lungs. “You’re welcome.”

He’s trying not to grin like a maniac, but he catches a genuine smile tugging at Steve’s lips and takes it as an encouraging sign. “Now, where were we,” he says, turning his attention back to the screen.

If their hands brush once or twice over the course of the next hour and Steve catches Eddie admiring his glasses and blushes under the attention, well that’s something worth investigating at a later date. But for now, Eddie basks in the weirdness and wonder of being actual friends with one Steve Harrington. Glasses included.

#steddie #steddie fic #soft steddie #eddie munson #steve harrington #steve harrington wears glasses #eddie x steve #steve x eddie #this is v fluffy

[shararan]

Visual kei, Anime & Arlecchino: a (light-hearted) design analysis.

While I haven’t talked much about it, Arlecchino has driven me crazy since the trailer for A Winter Night’s Lazzo dropped. Not only is she a welcome breath of fresh air to Genshin’s female cast, but her entire design and every single element of it speaks to one of my greater joys in life, that joy being Visual Kei. And so with the Fontaine trailer out I thought I’d do an attempt at going through what aspects of Arlecchino can be compared to common styling elements within visual kei, but also how they can be potentially attributed to the influence visual kei has had on manga/anime as a whole.

‼️ I want to proceed with the disclaimer that this whole post is only intended to point out elements of Arlecchino’s design which are common style elements in visual kei. I’m someone who has been into visual kei and its other related branches for about two decades, wore the style myself (among other japanese street styles) for a very long time, but ultimately I am also just one nerd raving about why this character design brings me joy. Visual kei as a style is by definition very hard to define as being any singular thing, and so my only intent is to compare for fun’s sake!

(I also want to point out that any potential errors, be they spelling or just wording, might escape my notice as an ESL-speaker with eye problems.)

➻ With all that out of the way, let’s start with a brief rundown for anyone who might not be familiar with the heart of this entire analysis: What is visual kei?

‘Visual kei’ as a term encompasses many things. While there are disagreements regarding the validity of calling it a musical genre, visual kei can nonetheless be summarized as an alternative musical genre and movement from Japan dating its origins back to the 80s. Influenced by contemporary glam rock, visual kei has since grown into its own distinct thing over the years with many various sub branches flourishing alongside it.

The ‘visual’ part of its name is the simple concept which defines it: The style is all about conveying the utmost possible of theatrics and extravagance, and it’s in fact just as important as the music itself. Combined these two things turn into the ultimate visual performance, an experience never to forget.

The factor which makes visual kei stand out from many other subcultures and genres is the way it deals with gender presentation. Given its theatrical nature, many looking in from the outside might be shocked by just how chaotically gender and expression is displayed.

Back in the old internet days you would occasionally stumble into memes poking fun at how you could never guess the gender of a performer at first glance; If it looks like a man it’s a woman, if it looks like a man it’s a woman and any other variety of that kind of notion. And it’s true! In fact, some of the most famous artists within the genre are also known for effortlessly turning gender expression on its head (Mana, Hizaki to name but two).

➻ So how does this relate to Arlecchino?

Not only has manga and anime sought inspiration from visual kei bands and artists for a very long time (and thereby influencing a lot of stylistic choices we typically associate with those forms of media), Arlecchino is also designed with that exact type of gender nonconformity all over her!

Let’s start with her hair:

Her hair is THE most obvious example to trace to visual kei. Not only is it one main color together with separated black sections (a very common dye combination), it’s also asymmetrically styled with typical spray straightened spikes and V-shaped/spiked bangs covering only half of her forehead.

Some were discontent to find out that she has a long ponytail, describing it as “feminine”. To me this only further strengthened her visual kei vibes, as it’s pulled back and down the back, separated from the shorter parts like a mullet. It’s not uncommon to see artists wearing hair extensions (both matching and mistmatching to the main hair color) in this exact manner, and the few but dramatic accessories she wears around the knot tying the hair on itself only serve to further enhance it.

Moving onto her face, Arlecchino might at first glance look just like any other anime styled character. However, I want to note that there’s a lot to the details here worth highlighting!

First off, she wears eyeshadow with very dark and sharp lashes and thin, upturned eyebrows. While there isn’t any one specific way of doing visual kei makeup, the fact remains that her eyes does resemble the typical key features that’s become commonly associated with the style since 00s. Her cross shaped irises also resemble the types of contact lenses some artists use.

As for her outfit, there are clear and obvious similarities to bands of the late 90s/early 00s: Ornate outer coat with ruffled sleeves, long pants with similar ruffle gathered around the shoes, waistcoat and fancy collar, as well as the highly decorated heels and claw-like nails on her gloves + rings.

While I couldn’t locate a specific picture unfortunately at the time of writing, gloves with metal claws or outright clawed gauntlets aren’t an unknown sight among very flashy visual kei bands.

This type of overall outfit silhouette displayed is, within the genre, obviously related to Elegant Gothic Aristocrat and western style Romantic Goth. Bands with this type of look might choose (but not always) to incorporate classical instruments and opera like vocals into their sound, as well as put a lot of emphasis on stage performances through the use of props, dancers and choirs. The first major bands to come to mind are Malice Mizer and Versailles, but I’m also reminded of ones such as Megaromania, Art Cube, Phantasmagoria etc.

However, in the case of Arlecchino there’s a somewhat “rugged” air to her overall look, which brings to mind bands during the mid 00s who would opt for a slightly trashier look, as well as a more chaotic heavier, sceamier sound. Leather and latex, shredded sleeves, chains, you get the picture. Bands coming to mind are the GazettE, (Old school) Dir en Grey, D’espairsRay, Born, Saruin, Exist Trace etc. If you combine the two types of flavours mentioned, I also want to mention UnsraW.

We also gain a peek of her ears between the spiked sections of her hair. While she has very simple style earrings, this of course is another common deliberate choice when styling the hair, particularly for artists whose ears are quite literally fully covered in jewelry.

While no particular look has any bearing on someone’s role in a band, this specific type of look is one I personally associate a lot with singers and front men. Highly fitting for Arlecchino whose presence demands your attention!

➻ Conclusion

Arlecchino mostly reminds me of bands that emerged and flourished during the mid 00s, but with strong 90s vibes as a cherry on the top. It’s also worth mentioning how aesthetically similar she is to the band Exist Trace, aka the arguably most famous female band in the genre.

It’s an extremely good mesh with the Fatui as the Tsaritsa’s theatre troupe, and its only more than fitting that Arlecchino debuts alongside Fontaine!

Obviously I cannot say for certain whether or not any of these points I made where deliberate design choices on Hoyoverse’s side (not just for Arlecchino but also other characters in Genshin who all have various degrees of the same influences) or if they’re simply a result of unknown influence. The influences visual kei has had on manga and anime cannot be understated, with many mangaka having drawn inspiration from visual kei bands and artists throughout the years (as well as other related but technically not visual bands such as BUCK-TICK and Guniw Tools) .

Many people assume that visual kei and other alternative japanese fashion subcultures drew inspiration from manga and anime, but it’s rather these styles that have served as the influence instead! Numerous bands have even lended their talents to create opening and ending songs to anime series. Kuroshitsuji/Black Butler is an obvious example of a series inspired by visual kei/ouji/lolita/aristocrat fashion and with visual kei bands performing for it.

All in all, this entire analysis is once again only meant to point out the various elements which makes Arlecchino so enjoyable to me personally as a character. Her look with the large coat in the trailer for A Winter Night’s Lasso made me super nostalgic to when I myself dressed that way on the daily, and when I styled it with a very similar jacket I had at the time. I don’t think people realize just how much contact they may have had with visual kei at first, and I tend to point this out often to people I meet when the topic comes up. I guess this was the essay format of that HAHAHA.

All in all, Arlecchino really speaks to me, both from a fashion but also (bi)gender point of view, and I literally cannot WAIT to finally meet her ingame once and for all!

#arlecchino #sharan talks #i wrote this in one sitting in like 4 hours i need to eat HELP #this is the most self indulgent ill be here for a while #this is a continuation of me getting my highest school grade ever from writing about when i went to gackts concert #and how his perfume is still burnt into my nostrils 12 years later #rare irl sharan lore #anyway #i might make a second post about this but going over others in the genshin cast #cause trust me there are quite a few that share these things design wise

[cogbreath]

i waint to hea r your bbt things

sheldon is also not the only one whos autistic imo. im not certain of who i all headcanon as such, but i feel its a fitting one for amy and bernadette actually. i think a lot of the problems with the way sheldon's autism is written is the fact that other characters don't *respect* him about it. like his needs and behaviors are often belittled or treated as nonsensical. overall i think everyone should be much kinder and understanding about it towards him seeing as they are literally his friends and all.

also probably a nitpicky thing and a matter of my own autistic sensory preferences but i feel it makes more sense for sheldon to NOT wear his sleeves rolled up for sensory reasons. whatever though im allowed to project. also i think they missed an opportunity to explore his interest in vexillology more? like there was maybe 1 or 2 episodes i remember about it but if youve ever met a vexillology enjoyer you know its a common topic they gush about.

speaking of gushing i think the dynamic between sheldon and amy would be like. two autistic best friends who love to infodump at eachother and do parallel activities. at most maybe they have some sort of queerplatonic thing going on? but im not actually super versed in what that means despite being aromantic myself xP

oh anothet thing that bothers me is how the female characters are written as not getting any of the geeky stuff??? it's stupid. like, yeah penny isnt a nerd, but she's an aspiring actress i think she would know what a star trek is. -_- honestly like, all of them would understand a lot of those things and are probably into similar stuff. bbt seems to think that like, these are Guy interests that all women dont understand or get when in reality like, dc comics n shit like that, literally your average person can follow along so i hate that they make the women seem as if they don't understand star wars references.

obviously this is probably one of the most common complaints about the show but id love to have made a lot of the pop culture references controlled and niche. we dont need a reference every other 5 minutes, id like to define each character's interests in a more sensicle way outside of just "haha guys look theres nerd stuff on tv hahah did you guys get that reference"?

also another problem is the way howard behaves. like some episodes his behavior is like, sexual harassment at times, which is met with a laugh track every time. not cool, and unnecessary, should be written to be more respectful. and then of course id like to make him have a better view of his mother, the dynamic in the show is one based off of antisemitic stereotypes about jewish mothers, and thats shitty. i wont retcon it to be a perfect mother/son relationship, like they would definitely still bicker, but i want to potray his mother as more than nagging and obsessive, like perhaps she does care too much and doesn't always treat him as an adult at times, but i dont find a lot of the overall nastiness that happens in the show between them to be funny or interesting.

raj is a pretty okay character imho, but definitely needs to be written more respectfully. He is a major example of the trope of characters of colour being sidelined. like the fact he was the ONLY character to be single in the end of the series? its kinda fucked up lol. obviously as mentioned before i think raj x howard should be the canon outcome. howeber both of them are bisexual, they both are potrayed as having interest in women; but i also think their interest in eachother is serious, or at least should be written as such. its also probably likely that the way he's written in terms of his culture should be improved but i havent gotten around to that just yet. i also think his anxiety issues should have been written with more respect, like the fact he was physically unable to talk to girls i think shouldnt have been an issue he had with *just* women. it seems they were trying to potray him as having selective mutism? but obviously thats not a thing that ONLY happens when one is a around ppl they r attracted to.

bernadette im actually rlly excited to write better because she reminds me of myself at times. i will dial her mischievous nature and her interest in microbiology up to 10. i will make her infodump about prions just i do.

also imho leonard is transmasc. i dont have any like, "evidence" or theory for why i think that other than just he feels that way to me. not that we even need justifications for transgender headcanons around these parts though.

also wil wheaton will NOT be existing anymore as a character in the narrative due to the fact he blocked me on tumblr for some dumbass shit. LOL.

uh i didnt expect to actually have all that much to say about this show... LOL.. enjoy my rambling!

[hxhhasmysoul]

Hi..... Can I ask your top 5 (or top 3) favorite characters from JJK? And why you loved them? And your top 5 favorite moments from the series (until now)? Thanks....

Characters:

Itadori Yuuji

I like to quote this post by @/lets-curse-each-other a like the starter explanation to why Yuuji is an absolute masterpiece as a character and also the best boi. This post not only shows the peak of the iceberg that is Yuuji's personality but it only hints who much attention Gege gives to his characterisation.

I also love Yuuji because he's written in quite a unique way for a protagonist of a shounen manga, ie. more like a shoujo manga protagonist, and I wrote more about that here. His character journey is absolutely stunning, at every point his teenage beliefs that he developed to deal with his loneliness and the loss he has suffered, get questioned, rhetorically and generally attacked. He constantly needs to deal with his worldview and coping mechanisms being shuttered. And he still manages to be caring, to retain so much of himself.

And lastly I like his character design, it works really well both when he's really cute and when he's taken to his limits.

Kenjaku

They are the absolute fucking worst. They are an amazing plotter, like on a reread it's absolutely stunning how well their plans are prepared, how we see them perfect said plans. I have massive, massive respect for Kenjaku as a villain. They are such a manipulative lair. During my first reread I started compiling a file with all their scenes where I wrote whether I thought that they were lying in that scene and how because my ADHD wouldn't let me sleep, I kept thinking about them.

I love their mad scientist vibes, it's so sad no one wants to listen to them explaining their evil plans, and no one wants to nerd out with them about cursed energy (I'm looking here at you Tengen and Sukuna). Though to be fair, they kill the person who'd've likely been the most into such nerdy conversations, namely Yuki.

Of course it matters to me that they're Yuuji's mum. That makes their character even more juicy and horrible. Their whole twisted connection to motherhood is chefs kiss.

Nobara and Hana

I'm putting them both here together, despite them never meeting in the manga, because for me they both embody the awkwardness of being a teenage girl just on the opposite sides of the spectrum. There is a lot of societal stigma put onto teenage girls. Starting from how they should be.

Nobara is trying to define womanhood for herself while also clearly not being versed in issues of modern feminism. it feels very fitting for a girl her age. Some of the things she likes that are appropriate for girls from the society's point of view and some that are not so much, so she lands at girlboss feminism.

I also love that her reason for joining the Tokyo school is very much not jujutsu oriented. She's not there because of the politics of the clans like some many other students, or because it was join or die.

I hope that Nobara returns, though I'd be also okay with Gege just letting me grieve her at this point.

Hana is trying to orient herself through a crush she has on a guy who saved her life long ago. A guy she doesn't really know but she has created an image of in her head, it's a purely parasocial relationship so many teen girls have. Now I think Hana will be on her journey to reorient herself, build her self image outside of Megumi.

I low key hope that Yuuji will pop Angel's soul out of Hana and set her free, Hana not Angel, that 1000yo selfish sorcerer should join her ilk in the dumpster of history where they are all hopefully headed.

Yorozu

She's a rabid Sukuna simp so like mega relatable ;) But more seriously I love her powers, how much thought she put into them. She's an amazing jujutsu nerd, another friend Kenjaku could've had if they put her in a different body, one Sukuna wouldn't want to kill.

I love her creepy wedding plans but most of all I love that she's pursuing Sukuna for status. The things she wants of him are so appropriate for a Heian woman to want. It's a really cool bit. And she has the classic het relationship energy of "I can fix him". That's why you don't indulge in heterosexuality, kids.

I wish she actually joined the villain cast and remained there longer, she had amazing energy.

Sukuna

Another jujutsu nerd, but he's like embarrassed of it or something because he pretends he's not one. He's very above that nerd shit but also that's how he is the strongest and how he wins fights. He's amazingly not self aware. It's the same with his being so detached when he's very clearly capable of having really healthy relationships with others like he has with Uraume. He just chooses not to. He does have a bit of an edgy teen vibe which is funny in a 1000yo guy. Maybe that's why he's so irked by Yuuji. ;)

I absolutely love how he fights. He puts on a feral demeanor but underneath he's full on analysis and calculation.

He also makes the second best faces in the manga second only to Yuuji.

And his original form is very scrumptious, very thirst-inducing.

#answering asks #thank you for the asks #i also like other characters a lot #like junpei #or kirara #and more but i already cheated putting nobara and hana together #jjk manga #jjk spoilers

[fairymascot]

also, another question (sorry for being annoying) but, how would you make harley a villain again? dc is being so dense with making her a hero and it's so boring 😭 like, what kind of plot do you think could be done to turn her into a villain?

this is a really interesting question! and not annoying at all. :) (you're more than welcome to message me off anon as well, if you'd like! always enjoy making new comic nerd friends.)

anyhoo! one thought i had when i started reading harley's 2021 solo series (which i no longer follow, so don't expect any kind of congruence with it here), is that it's actually really uncomfortable to watch harley bend over backwards to impress batman. to me, it looked less like an honest shift in her character and more just... perpetuating her same old patterns. think about it. she met joker when she was in a rough place in life (if you look at sejic's take in 'harleen'), working a job that eats away at her soul and bottling her issues up for years on end. he makes her believe things can be different. offers her an alternative. she's utterly enamored with the world he promises. throws out everything that's made her her, and takes on a new persona to win his approval and earn her place by his side.

years pass, she emerges from the abusive relationship with joker. various nonsensical dc universe shit goes down. she loses ivy (temporarily), loses her sense of direction in life, feels alone and desperate. batman makes her believe things can be different. she takes on a new persona to win his approval and earn her place by his side.

i don't believe stephanie philips ever acknowledged this in the series, but it's so easy to read harley as someone with a pattern of molding herself to please influential male figures in her life, in the hopes it'll grant her fulfillment and a purpose. if we follow that logic, her decision to redeem herself and become part of the batfam is less her 'finding her true self' and more just, harley being harley and having an incredibly flimsy sense of personal identity. if they ever choose to go down this route, the natural conclusion would be that harley needs a break from deranged men in tacky costumes defining her life for her, and that she should break away and find her own path, which would probably lead her in a more chaotic, muddled, morally gray direction. that would be ideal for her, in my opinion.

(i have a bunch more to say about this, actually, so i’m just gonna stash the remainder of this text behemoth under a cut.)

even setting that particular interpretation of mine aside, though, it would be incredibly easy to de-redeem harley, because she honestly sucks at staying on the straight and narrow. there have been countless instances of her turning good for like twenty minutes before flipping right back -- in older comics and btas, for example, she'd cooperate with batman under specific circumstances, but ditch his ass the second joker was threatened. in gotham city sirens, she was content to live with selina and ivy in their considerably healthier and more functional threeway arrangement for months on end, but the second joker reentered her life, she turned her back on them.

even without joker in the picture-- as he's hardly relevant anymore-- you can see in the harley's holiday episode of btas, for example, that she could barely spend 6 hours outside of arkham without relapsing into her old habits. it's not even out of malice or criminal intent, it's just that she's been living as a villain for a very long time, she has an innate distrust of law enforcement, she's used to using violence to get her way and resorts to it as a kneejerk reaction. she's flighty and has a hair trigger temper and doesn't think before she acts. it's incredibly difficult for her to break the cycle and act 'correctly', even when she's making a conscious effort to. her characterization in the harley quinn animated series is consistent with this, as well-- even when she's trying to do the right thing, her idea of 'the right thing' is often warped by her skewed perception of reality and loose morals. she decides to 'save' nora from mr freeze because she assumes he's lying about keeping her frozen to protect her, which ultimately results in his death and horrible heartache for nora. and on a similar but lighter note, in her 2014 series she decides to take on a day job as a therapist at a senior center, basically trying to 'go straight', and ends up kidnapping and threatening the family of one of her patients, a sweet elderly grandma who told her stories of their heartbreaking neglect. harley thought she was delivering justice and teaching them a lesson for abandoning grandma. turns out she didn't read through her file, and grandma is suffering from dementia, and doesn't remember her family has been visiting twice a week for years. even when harley is trying to do good, she's uh, not great at it.

and let's also just take into account that a lot of aspects of her personality, are, like... bad? straight up terrible? don't get me wrong, i mean this lovingly. her current run tends to ignore this, but there's a REASON she spent years as the joker's lover-slash-sidekick, and it's not because she's a pure baby bean who had been brainwashed by him. she has dark, violent tendencies. she's sick of abiding by society's rules. she's manipulative. she's selfish and greedy. in her 2000 comic run, there's an entire arc where she has to act as a bodyguard for an elementary school girl with a rare ability who's being hunted by very rich men for nefarious purposes-- and even though they form a connection, and harley comes to care for her, she ends up selling her out for the money. this is a very similar trajectory to her relationship with cass in the birds of prey film, where she ends up selling cass out despite their developing bond. she regrets it later, of course. but she still made that choice.

with all that in mind, i think the real question is, how on earth would you keep harley a hero? the answer to which being: through extremely shallow and forced characterization dictated by crappy executive decisions. the dc higher ups saw that harley has become incredibly popular, that she's seen as something of a feminist icon and role model for girls, and went 'oh shit... she's too problematic... gotta make her a hero to justify her fanbase', never mind the fact that her fanbase formed AROUND her flawed, morally complex character.

realistically, harley wouldn't last a week as a hero. put her around the batfam or the justice league for more than an hour and they'd all want to kill each other. it would become exceedingly clear she is not cut out for the role. she does not have the moral compass or the self-discipline to be a proper 'good guy'. i don't think it even makes sense for her to WANT to be one. that's not to say her only choice is to be a villain-- but like i said before, carving out her own path, trying to do good in her own well-intentioned but messed up way, without giving up her selfish, chaotic, law-breaking side... that's the harley i want to see.

#askbox #text #dc comics #harley quinn #meta #long post

[animehouse-moe]

The Knight Blooms Behind Castle Walls Volume 2: A World of Color

Yes yes, it's back for both the second and second-to-last volume. It's got all of what the first volume does, but adds some nice little pieces here and there and expands on the nature of being a knight outside of what you might "expect". It's still fun, it's still quite interesting, and it's still impressively accurate.

So I'll cut to the chase to make this a short one. There's nothing to really expand on here in terms of "story". Rosa is still a page for essentially all of this volume, and the day to day pieces still exist. It's more so what we learn from it.

I think the piece that really stands out, and is shown throughout is Rosa's approach to honour, chivalry, and knighthood. We as readers get to explore what she feels best defines a knight, and where she sets her sights on her future. Who she not only wants to be as a knight, but as a person.

It does a lot to express Rosa's character and her strong sense of duty and passion for what's around her through both implicit and explicit pieces. Dreaming of fighting off an enemy to save your home, or slumbering in a forest with nature, or standing up to an adult for what you think is right. Rosa checks off all the boxes to be a really outstanding person. And it's quite wonderful to experience, and in a sense hearkens back to her conversation with the Bard. There are an infinite number of ways to create the story of a Knight, and alongside its passion for history, this story endeavors to weave a tale of Rosa and Knighthood.

Also, if it wasn't already clear, this manga has some really pretty art. I think the character designs can are sort of neither here nor there, but the clothing and environment work is really well done and is very strongly driven by the author's passion for its history.

Now, moving on to more separated pieces that I like about the story! They don't paint knights as some ineffable existence. They retire, they get injured, they wander and misbehave and all manner of other things. Of course, we've seen Sir Hirundo as a great example already, but this volume introduces a new character: the baker, Grus. A rock hard man that many didn't believe would be able to move on from violence, but found passion and happiness in providing for and aiding the people around him through peaceful fashion.

Next up, we've got the dyer, Gardenia. She's a woman that took over the business from her father, which is uncommon at the time. As such, she lives a decent way away from the rest of the village to avoid any potential issues (but also for historical justifications). It does a really great job of balancing the point that anybody can do anything, but also makes sure not to misrepresent the time period. Within that though, it takes creative liberty and gives us one of the only real forms of art in the story so far. It's really pretty in that sense of pent up expression through calm avenues.

And I think I'll leave off with this last little bit. A simple doctor's visit that's handled really, really well. They don't make a big deal of it, they don't crack some weird joke, and they're incredible considerate. Right away, the Doctor waits for everyone else to leave the room before saying anything to Rosa, and from there tells her where to go regarding that info if she's uncomfortable with speaking about it to them. Clear cut, well addressed, and very appreciated.

The Knight Blooms Behind Castle Walls is really clear cut in what it wants: historical fiction with a romanticization of knighthood. And it's executed wonderfully on both of those. It's not going for some lofty story of goal or anything, but it wants to nerd out over it and show off how cool all this stuff is. It's a very passionate title, and it understands that. It's not trying to make it work for 10+ volumes, but rather, it seems to know just when to cut conversation on your favorite topic before people start to get bored. The pacing is brisk enough that you don't end up sinking when taking in all of the info, but it's not too fast that you can't relate to or understand Rosa. Just all the right notes for something simply enjoyable.

#the knight blooms behind castle walls #kishitan wa jouheki no naka ni hana hiraku #騎士譚は城壁の中に花ひらく #historical manga #anime and manga #manga review #manga recommendation

[priestessofcreation]

Kevin Conroy

This one hit me harder than I expected.

I'm not going to claim I have the most profound connection to Batman as character compared to other people, for the sole purpose that I have not read the comics, I've only watched half of the media he is in, and most of the reasons I appreciate him as a character is because of how far more passionate fans describe him on Youtube.

The big one being, Batman is Compassionate.

If you watch the Watchtower Database on YT, there is an entire video essay on that channel about this concept and they finish off their essay by giving a glaring example of how the real-life man behind the Dark Knight in several different media dripped with compassion.

In this case, the host's (Mattie Washburn) grandmother was in a losing battle with Cancer and his partner reached out to Kevin Conroy on Twitter to see if he could say anything supportive. Not only did the man respond in kind, but he sent a full video of himself in his Batman voice sharing support, kind words, and advice for Mattie in this really difficult time. But he can tell the story better than I can - Watchtower Database, "Batman is Compassionate."

I didn't develop a liking for Batman because he was dark and brooding, badass, or suave, or a tragic figure. I developed a liking for the guy because he was compassionate. OG Batman is compassionate and you can't see that anymore readily than in the DCAU and in Batman The Animated Series.

In particular, when he is trying so hard to rescue his friend Harvey (Two Face) from a terrible fate that wasn't his fault... Batman said "Harvey! Noooooooo!" He wanted to help his friend.

The voice of that character? Kevin Conroy.

I remember another scene where Batman was "interrogating" some mook for information and while he intimidated the dude by punching the wall next to him or by throwing him, Bruce never actually hurt the person. In fact, all he did was intimidate the guy. He had never had intention of hurting him.

Then there is Epilogue from JLU, where he says he would "handle" Ace, but instead he holds her hand as she passes away.

It was all Kevin Conroy.

If you are a creative of any kind, you know that you put yourself into what you create. Despite the fact that the thing you made is going off into the world to grow and exist on its own... it's still a piece of you in the world. And those parts, where Bruce was soft, kind, even eager to help the person he was fighting with as the Batman?

That was definitely Kevin Conroy.

Maybe it's because this guy is a legend. Like Burger King, Disney World, and your parents... you expect him to stick around forever. And, you know. The guy who defined a part of our childhood, was incredibly kind, brought smiles and gasps to our lips, and was just as much of a nerd about Batman as any of us... is gone.

He was comfort for me. He portrayed a version of Batman that wasn't overtly touched by creators who chose to drown out Bruce's compassion for... the badass factor.

And don't get me wrong, I am aware that Kevin Conroy is a person all his own outside of the character of Batman. I mean no disrespect. But what I am saying is... he got Batman. He made Batman. And I love that character too and as a creative and lifelong nerd... loving characters is a different experience for me than it is for other people.

I'm definitely rewatching the DCAU after this. And I'm going to read the most well-known Batman stories. It's about time I did. As a tribute, maybe. I don't know.

But, damn. That news hit me hard.

To Kevin Conroy, everybody.

#kevin conroy #musings #batman #watchtower database

[mejomonster]

I've been watching The Vampire Diaries lately as a show to kinda relax to without needing full attention and:

Kinda ship Bonnie/Caroline unfortunately I doubt this show has lesbians (but buffy had willow/Tara in the 90s so I wish this 2000s drama does -.-; I'll see I guess)

Kinda enjoy Tyler and Jeremy's scenes post 1x10 which I'm surprised by cause before I'd been rooting for Tyler to die

Damon/Elena are eons more interesting to me as a dynamic in that their scenes together have less predictability and more interesting outcomes (I get why elena/Stefan is a thing, they're both book loving reading nerds who like to talk about that stuff for hours and write diaries and spend quiet nights kissing/sleeping together and chatting about stuff they fan over basically - without the vampire old issue/Katherine ex situation they'd basically be a normal couple with shared interests, but like... as tv entertainment that's just not as fun to watch as ppl who do not get along and slowly need to learn to understand/interact. It's like angel/buffy versus spike/buffy or faith/buffy I suppose. Except I do appreciate stefan/Elena actually fight over "yr a vampire damn! People are dying I need to get AWAY this is fucked" and "I look like your dead ex what rhe fuck is wrong with you/any other secrets??!!!" Because like while it's still teen romance show level "I love you" ridiculously fast and unrealistically with a yikes vampire usual age gap lol, at least Elena's and stefans reactions seem somewhat more like real people would actually do? Whereas like... idk I usually see a much less realistic reaction of "wow people are dying I need to get away from you and reevaluate my view of the world goddamn".)

Bonnie makes me feel like I'm watching Charmed

Watching vampire stuff I'm glad there's a lot of death in this cause what even is a vampire story without people getting their blood drank? Also this show reminds me I've got my own vampire story I eventually want to write ToT but mines more itwv level bloody than teen angst. That said, i appreciate the slightly outside of high school elements of the show which remind me of charmed or buffy and give the impression this show CAN grow beyond a high school setting as the plot ages out of it, like buffy did, which gives it space to possibly do some cool stuff later on (that say a show like teen wolf bound inside teen-life couldn't really move to)

Thank goodness the show has some horror scenes and fights I really Can't focus without my action scenes lol

Like buffy (tho idk How better the writing will get) I can tell that around mid season 1 the writing shifted from Teen Show Pilot usual to having a more solid idea of the angle it wanted to go in. Caroline went from a "could be any teen extra" to a character with a clear personality, Bonnie went from only magic-show-plot element to someone who's friendships and enemies in the show matters, Matt and Jeremy as plain humans get a more defined characterization driven by their internal values more than only what's happening to them externally, Elena once she finds out vampires exists her character acts much more idk Likable to me? She's an everyday girl stand in, but with the knowledge of vampires her personal bg as someone fucked up by tragedies in the family and feeling death is inescapable to her (vampires all around and looking like a dead ex katherine), her desire to not see anyone else die and personally try to help stop vampires who are hurting people in town (despite being very mundanely human) gives her a solid backbone of who she is when put in a hard position. I liked her trying to fight a vampire alone with pencils and a broken broom - she doesn't succeed as she's a completely untrained and regular strength human but it shows she's got future potential and a trajectory, her trying to stop vampires from killing, her willing to go into danger, her willing to confront anyone, etc. She's showing some interesting traits specific to her that not every character Would do. Even Stefan with as little as I'm personally clicking with him, is making lets say Relationship choices that are distinct from Edward type or Angel type or Spike type or Lestat lol, so at least he's feeling like His Own individual character in a vampire story instead of a copy of someone else. He communicates eons better than Edward, saying he'll leave before leaving for someone's safety lol, and just in general open to conversations when conflicts come up more, he's mopey sure but not to the level of emo Angel from buffy is (and not quite as creepy tho he also stalked for a year lmao) and Lexi coming into town showed he's really not Endlessly pessimistic the way Louis or Angel would be. He's got a distinction versus other leading romance vamps, and although his dynamic doesn't have the enemies/rivals to friends to lovers I enjoy in watching a romance (bellamy/Clarke, lexa/Clarke, lucifer/Chloe, spike/buffy, louis/lestat etc) I do like that he feels like his own character to me. So I'm hoping like buffy the depth of characterization gets a bit better as time goes on for everyone. And the plot expands past high school as characters age up.

Damon and Stefan remind me of Dean and Sam. Yeah I know what I said ToT if supernatural went on 150 years and they turned into demons or vampires or whatever, both fell for the same girl, who's to say what coulda happened. All IM saying now is a crossover when they'd both been airing would've been hilarious.

#lb #the vampire diaries #yeah bet u didnt expect legit tvd meta from me #tvd

[jinsai-ish]

In fact which I delve into some of the America/Alfred things I like, that others may or may not agree with.

Peace.

My favorite from Hetalia. I'm stuck on Canada and America as twins, with Mattie being the elder. I love Mattie as being the single most important person in his life. I like Mexico as their older half-sibling.

I love him as a giant nerd, and as Japan as (having become) his best friend. Brilliant, but also a bit of a ditz. Multilinguil. Outgoing, friendly, confident, but also with a lot of insecurities on the inside.

I like him having indigenous heritage, as well as European. I like his spirit animal being Rabbit, and his having a strong connection to his land.

I like him as a bottom, and I avoid reading almost all fics with him topping, though I am fine with gen fic of course. I also *le gasp* enjoy omegaverse works with him as an omega.

(Side note: most of my favorite non-straight male favorite characters I do prefer to read as a bottom but certainly not all of them. Crowley from Good Omens for example, I prefer as a top.)

If we're talking mpreg non-AU, which I do like, I like him as the mother of 50 states. It's adorable and hysterical to me the thought of him with so many kids. Yes, I understand some find the idea of certain states (Hawaii) problematic. I respect that but it's also fiction, so I hope they respect that I do enjoy it as such.

I like him as a bottom because I believe he is so open *ahem* and that he likes the attention on him, and the power that being wanted gives him. I like him as an Omega for some of the same reasons, but also because he is strong-willed, which goes against the submissive omega stereotype and creates drama and tension in the work. I enjoy reading about an omegaverse with social pressure to confirm that he resists; and I like the battle of will and instinct, and that while instincts can be good or bad, they don't need to define you.

I started reading UKUS, but quickly decided it wasn't what I prefer, though I will still read well-written fic with this pairing. I instead prefer a family relationship between England and America. France/America is a favorite of mine due to their history together. I am also okay reading FACE family. In fact, outside of FACE family works, I am meh on France/England.

I love America and Canada together. This could be just as brothers/twins, but I also enjoy AU and/twincest with them. It can be taboo, or okay with nations (with them having different taboos than humans); either is okay with me. I love geography kink. They are by far my favorite Hetalia pairing. I know many do not agree but also, fiction.

I am meh on Russia/America. I have given it a chance lately as most omega Alfred fic is Ivan/Alfred. I have enjoyed it in the case it's well-written but this applies specifically to these omegaverse AUs.

Anyways, those are things I like. If you share any, feel free to engage. If you do not, I respect that as well.

#hetalia #hws america #fandom #hetalia headcanons

[smokeybrandreviews]

Death of the DCEU or Chekhov's Gunn

Henry Cavill is no longer Superman and is off trying to be a Space Marine. Wonder Woman III is dead because Patty Jenkins can't take criticism. Jason Mamoa is in talks to be recast as Lobo. James Gunn is writing a new Superman film based around Clark Kent and skewing younger for franchise longevity. The Snyderverse is finally dead and I cannot stress how happy I am to see it go. It's no secret that I am a Marvel Apologist. I think The House of Ideas just writes better characters. There is an inherent reliability setting your vigilante shenanigans in the real world, and giving those heroes very human flaws. Spider-Man is my favorite because Peter Parker was a nerd as a kid, who puberty hit like a truck being driven by a radioactive spider. Wall-Crawling hyperbole aside, that's kind of my life story. I'm not some solar powered alien who can punch the planet to dust or a billionaire victim of violent crime. I'm just a guy and most of my power fantasies are rather sardonic, grounded in the reality of my life circumstances. I dream of being able to pay for an ambulance ride and not have to take out a loan to cover it. That said, I don't mind DC's take on the Greek Myth and always enjoy when those characters are executed correctly in media outside of print. The DCAU is the gold standard for creating an interwoven universe and that version of Kal is easily my favorite. There is a real, earnest, humbleness; a concerted effort at creating character over spectacle, which made those shows endearing. The DCAU made me like Superman, which is a feat because i don’t like Superman. The Snyderverse had none of that. In fact, Snyder’s take on Superman is almost everything i hate about the character. There is nothing subtle or nuanced about what Zack Snyder does and it crippled that entire burgeoning cinematic universe from the start.

Snyder fell into the same trap so many other people do when they write Supes. He made him Jesus. It's a common error because of how powerful the character is. Dude is a literal god in comparison to us mere mortals and it’s easy to lift him into the heavens. Easy and lazy. Super-God is the cheapest way to approach the character and completely misses the point of Clark Kent. Superman is the alias. That’s the visage he chooses when he does his hero work. Contrary to the very poignant monologue in Kill Bill, Clark is not the costume. Clark is the person. Superman is the version of Clark he thinks the world needs, not the person he is. Kal-El crashed landed on earth as basically a newborn. He was raised in Smallville, Kansas by Jon and Martha Kent. He is a corn-fed, middle American, white boy, through and through. Kid can just spew plasma from his eyes. Like, let’s be clear; Clark still looks like Superman, even when he’s Clark. Dude is over six feet tall, and built like a straight up circus strongman, but he’s still JUST Clark. The core of Superman are those values Jon and Martha instilled into him as they raised him on their farm. It’s that humanity given to him, by his very human parents, which define the character and not his insane power set. Snyder never understood this. He never let Clark be Clark, he was always Superman. Clark blended in with human society for decades before donning the cape and none of that was ever really conveyed, even in Man of Steel. He was immediately this Savior figure, uplifted into the hallowed realm of deified legend. The DCAU Superman canonically still believes in Santa Claus, man! Zack Snyder would never! Something like that isn’t benefiting of his Jesus Allegory. It’s not tortured enough. It’s not edgy enough. But that’s the thing; Superman is soft as f*ck. Mans is straight ten ply, bud. You need those little character moments to make Superman relatable and Snyder never delivered those to us, which is kind of the entire problem with the Snyderverse.

I grew up in the Nineties. Batman: The Animated Series was a huge part of my childhood. It launched an entire, interconnected, television universe and it did it by telling compelling stories, riddled with spectacle, but based around characters and relationships. WonderBat is one of my favorite pairings but even the platonic interactions of Hawkgirl and Flash made for dope ass television. These heroes have powers that exceed reality and, somehow, they felt grounded. They felt relatable. They felt like people. Nothing about the Snyderverse is relatable, outside of Aquaman, and that's just because Jason Mamoa is playing himself but wet. People hate when I say this, but you build a cinematic universe the way Marvel did. That's how you make it a success. Iron Man was popular because Tony Stark was dope. It wasn’t about the armors, it was about the human piloting them. The best versions of Superman are dope because of Clark. It’s almost always the secret identity that makes the character, It’s what we, as the audience, can identify with. If your hero or whatever, has an alias, then it’s just that; An alias. It’s not who the character is, it’s just a means to an end. The only time this rule doesn't apply is with Batman. That asshole is always Batman. There is no Bruce Wayne but, even then, you can find a happy medium a la Kevin Conroy, rest in peace. Snyder is terrible at this sh*t. None of the films he's written, have a character focus. It's all juvenile, edgelord, spectacle and convoluted, superficial, allegory. Every one of them. Sucker Punch is a perfect example of this sh*t. None of those plot devices has a character. There is no growth in anyone. There is a resolution but, at the end of the day, they are the same exact people on the last page of that "script", as they were on the first and WB gave the reins of their greatest character IPs to this man? Snyder does do decent work when he has a focus. When someone is there to rein him in, hes a fantastic creator. hat did not happen with the DCEU and it shows. Basically this entire franchise is Sucker Punch but with Capes.

When the narrative isn’t his own, Snyder can deliver a glitzy, if vapid, product. Think 300 or Watchmen. Left to his own devices, we get sh*t like Batman versus Superman: Dawn of Justice or Army of the Dead. The worst thing about this, though? The Snyderverse could have still worked if they just took the time to build it out properly. I am no fan of Zack Snyder, at all, but his films are very much technically sound and, if I'm being honest, man has great ideas. It's in the execution of these ideas that Snyder fails. He can't get out of his own way, which is why he should have never been the Feige for the DCEU. He doesn't have the clarity of vision for that, which makes building a decade long narrative nigh impossible. Snyder can't see the forest through the trees and WB thought he could. I don’t understand why, his entire catalog of personal projects is a clusterf*ck of bloat and feature creep, but whatever. All of that is changing as the franchise has a new steward. Two, actually, but we’re only talking about one: James Gunn. James Gunn can write characters. That’s his biggest strength. Guardians of the Galaxy worked because those characters were strong as f*ck. The Suicide Squad worked because those characters were strong as f*ck. Tell me you knew who Ratcatcher II was before this film. Tell me you gave two sh*ts about Polka-Dot man before Gunn wrote him so well. Gunn can make Superman feel like a proper character and, more to the point, make Superman feel like Clark. Gunn is everything the DCEU needed and now he has the opportunity to prove it. The Snyderverse is dead. Long live the Gunnverse.

#DC #DC Comics #DCEU #Snyderverse #James Gunn

[ggchamo]

How I learned to love Mess: my Kingdom Hearts III review

These past few weeks, I’ve learned that sometimes you have to love what a piece of art is trying to do, and love the spirit behind it. Can intention and spirit be more important than execution? Kingdom Hearts III taught me to stop caring and embrace the mess. I think what’s important to define about mess is that it feels like it needs to be organized or in some way fixed. Whether it be Marie Kondo giving you the tools to organize your life, or in how many people video games, movies, and TV as pieces of content that could be improved through criticism and feedback. I’ve been in that world a lot, trying to organize my own life through self-help videos and also learning how to give and receive criticism at work and other spaces. While well-meaning, I’ve learned that it can potentially make it hard to enjoy certain things.

To say that there was hype for Kingdom Hearts III for me, would be oversimplifying the unique experience of being a young video game nerd that has always done more watching than playing. When the original Kingdom Hearts games out in the early aughts, I didn’t have the resources to play the big fancy 3D console games, but I did have Disney Adventures. 

My young old self picked up the February 2004 copy of Disney Adventures in the Walmart checkout and was whisked away to the fantasy of having a PS2. Kingdom Hearts was my GOAT game - a large scale adventure game set in all my favorite Disney movies. As a young immigrant, all I knew of American pop culture was cartoons and Disney movies.

Cartoons were everything to me when no one else at school could understand me - I even learned English by watching SpongeBob and Disney Channel. Kingdom Hearts was the epitome of what I was into back then, and I was obsessed. There were no prospects for me getting a PS2, that shit cost like $300 and no way my parents were gonna go for that. So I fantasized, read reviews online and watched people play video games like that for most of my young childhood. Over 10 years later, privilege has gifted me the opportunity to buy the sequel 10 years in the making, Kingdom Hearts III.

So if you don’t know what Kingdom Hearts is, the only way I can describe it is a multi-layered and complex universe in which somehow there are some fantasy characters who go to Disney worlds. Knowing nothing, I tried (with absolutely no success) to prepare by watching one or two summary videos on the complex, multi-tiered, Disney universes that the 13 different games had created.  Of course, they made no sense so I ignored that shit and booted the game up on Day One. 

So after five hours, I made the unconscious decision to move on to something else. 5 months later, I gave the game a second chance and played almost 30 hours in two weeks. What changed? I started loving mess.

____

Playing the game for the first time:

The game is drop-dead gorgeous - it starts with this beautiful opening cinematic featuring these perfectly animated extremely-good lucking Anime bois playing chess (okay…..) and has some of the stylish menus I’ve ever seen. This is when the mess started - I start a save new file and then watch a cutscene for about 20 mins. Dope, I am ready. I then take control of Sora, who controls like a gun on a scooter, and am given a text pop up with details on mechanics without context. Sweet.

Then, I am then thrust into another 20 minutes of exposition on the complicated lore of the game through referencing characters outside of the scene, as well as recapping things that just happened. Alright.

After about an hour of exposition and set up, I can choose to go to one the most iconic Disney worlds ever - Toy Story! OKAY. - the 10 year old me is screaming.

As soon as it starts, I am shocked to see that the gorgeous level is mostly empty and very confusing to navigate. I decide to take a break because something felt wrong. I come back and the confusion kept coming “Where do I need to go? Why did they just interrupt me mid-fight for a long cutscene?” After another 3 hours, one of which was getting lost in the Tangled world’s lifeless green world, I put the game down for four months. 

I left with a bad taste in my mouth, and perhaps even worse - a super forgettable experience! I had so much to complain about: incoherent cut scenes, uninspired and confusing level layouts, and literally dozens of half-baked mechanics that felt like boring when compared to the much more flashy and exciting combat. 

Flash forward 4 months. After watching Season 8 of Game of Thrones, a rushed and disorganized end to what I used to consider the perfect TV show, I started to understand that sometimes you have to let go of expectations.

_____

After my realization:

Once I turned my critical brain off and started enjoying the animations, the story, and the environment, I found myself looking past the game’s obvious flaws, learning to love the intention and spirit as opposed to only focusing on what could be improved. Controlling the main character is a guessing game as to where the game’s camera will go and where my hits will land, and enemies (specially big bosses) sometimes teleport around and reappear behind you, which makes fights feel like DBZ-esque fights that feel like the tides could turn at any moment. While annoying from a gameplay perspective, the fights look like gorgeous chaos, with complicated animations and flashy graphics. 

Of course, I have some legit criticisms that can’t be wished away by being nicer to the game - levels are boringly linear and sometimes have unclear objectives. Oftentimes, the worlds feel empty and "samey" throughout, which makes the game feel like a relic of the past but with today’s technology - a PS2 game made for the late PS4 generation.

 There are some forced elements in the game that seem frustrating and out of place for today - i’m thinking about the gummi ship, the linear levels that look so fucking samey (Arendelle and Corona worlds) and the aspects of getting control of Sora for a moment and then all of a sudden being in another cut scene. But the game has so much charm, polish, and heart - it’s almost as tho they forgot to check if the game all worked together before shipping it. 

___

Overall, this game might be the best example of a super polished game that had so much effort and love put it into it and still came out like a mess. It's almost as tho two different teams made the game and they forgot to talk until the last moment, when it was way too late to make any significant changes. Looking through the credits, I saw that they had separate directors for Story, Presentation, Combat, Levels and so on… but playing the game felt as though all these directors never really sat together when developing the game. The lack of cohesion made a game that was much greater than the sum of its parts, where focusing on any individual part of the game e.g. graphics, gameplay, music, is not particularly engaging, but as a whole it makes a game that really resonated with me and tugged at my heart strings.

#kingdom hearts iii #khiii #kh3 #sora kingdom hearts

[aman-acan-andacityplan]

Is it Time to Retire Cyberpunk?

Welcome to THE FUTURE, same as the old one.

As an aging sci-fi nerd, one quality you have to deal with is that sooner or later the vision of the future you grew up with will no longer apply and become a novelty, a retro fad employed for its interesting visuals. Recently I’ve gotten that feeling with cyberpunk. With a new Matrix movie, a Bladerunner TV show, the Cyberpunk 2077 video game and a Cowboy Bebop remake all premiering within the past year or two, if feels like cyperpunk is undergoing a mild revival in mass culture. Of course while science fiction isn’t defined solely by its ability to predict the future, the genre is generally at its best when it can touch upon some cultural nerve affecting people now. However, in order to critique these new cyberpunk offerings I think it would be helpful to define some key tropes within the genre:

- One overriding concern present in the genre is a pervasive fear that the blind pursuit of technology will result in environmental ruination. Overpopulation, smog and volatile weather are all tropes commonly deployed in the genre.

- Man’s relationship to technology is a dominant area of concern within cyberpunk media. Cyberpunk tech breaks down the barriers between human reality and digital reality. How does someone retain their identity in a world where memories may be manufactured or the barriers between public and private have dissolved completely?

- Cyberpunk protagonists are typically outsiders who get drawn into a bigger conflict. Hackers, detectives and rogue criminals are all basic character tropes.

- Cites are dark, oppressive and cesspools of crime. Those with money often live elsewhere or in heavily fortified towers removed from city street life.

- Power is distributed among a few large mega-corporations, which shape and mold society.

- Many cyperpunk movies and shows are structured like police procedurals with a mystery to be solved or a criminal that needs to be caught. A cyberpunk protagonist may also have questions about their own humanity and purpose in life.

- The digital net is a dangerous place that only a few people have the skills to navigate. Those that choose to navigate the digital net are often augmented with cybernetic prosthetics to be more compatible with the digital world.

The New Face of Cyberpunk

On the surface it would appear that some of these tropes still seem to be quite relevant. In a world dominated by Amazon and Apple, the power of a few megacorps feels quite real to us today. Fears about climate change still drive visions of a future defined by environmental ruin. These tropes are not unique to cyberpunk though. What is unique to cyberpunk are ideas and concepts about the blurring of lines between man and machine. Any good cyberpunk needs to be judged on its ability to speak to man’s ongoing relationship with computers and the digital world and I think this is where new cyberpunk media falls short.

The newer cyberpunk offerings to me seem awash in 80′s futurism and lack any present-day relevance. William Gibson, writer of neuromancer, has been critical of the video game Cyberpunk 2077 as “GTA skinned over with a generic 80s retro-future”, which might describe a fair amount of the new media I’ve stumbled on. The New Bladerunner show, Bladerunner: Black Lotus, is especially guilty in this regard. There’s a vague message of perseverance in the face of tech tyranny, but the villains are so cartoonish and over the top that it loses any connections it might have to our own anxieties about personal agency in the digital world.

Even when new cyberpunk media is very good, its attempt to ground the story in present-day concerns are found wanting. Bladerunner: 2049 is a beautiful sci-fi film that adds tons of storytelling depth to the original film’s setting. Ultimately though the film ends up being more about the future of Bladerunner world than about the future of humanity. There’s a nice story thread involving Ryan Gosling’s character and his relationship with an AI hologram. This story thread does touch on concerns surrounding AI and whether the digital world can satisfy deep emotional needs.

In the end though, Bladerunner: 2047 can’t help but feel a bit superfluous, a sequel to a story about a world in freefall. The world of Bladerunner is an evolutionary dead-end, and when you attempt to expand the lore of Bladerunner with movies and TV franchises it tends to trivialize the underlying concerns about technology that made the first film fresh and engaging.    

In some instances Cyberpunk media has effectively gone backward in its ability to tap into modern social currents. One of my favorite shows is Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. When it was released in the early 2000′s the show was a breath of fresh air as it brought cyberpunk into the 21st century. The first season was especially relevant with its commentary on meme culture and how politics might be transformed when it becomes another product of internet culture. The last two Ghost in the Shell series: Arise and Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 are mainly templates for sci-fi action and they lack any meaningful exploration of present-day tech. Aside from an episode in Arise, which mentions Autonomous Vehicles in passing, there is very little that hints at the technological changes made in the years between Stand Alone Complex and the two new shows. 

The Romance Behind Cyberpunk

In a weird way, the world of cyberpunk, which was a dystopian vision of technological hubris, ecological disaster and the intrusion of technology on human freedom seems almost quaint and romantic by today’s standards. For example, Bladerunner with its flying cars, off-world colonies and cloning technology is a technological wonderland and a vision of a world where mankind is still capable of major strides in technology. This still feels fresh and exciting compared to the mundane technological offerings of today, which consist of a few social media platforms, drones and virtual reality headsets you use to play Beat Saber.

Cyberpunk also has strong emotional resonance for the tech-obsessed wonk or programmer who lacks power in the real world. Many cyberpunk heroes such as Case from William Gibson’s novel Neuromancer are experts at navigating new technology and the digital system. The Matrix romanticized this image even further as Neo starts as a rogue programmer and ends up a kind of digital Messiah. This image of the rogue programmer, the person embedded in the system who will ultimately save the system from itself is a potent one in our increasingly digitized world. Any NFT trader would love to envision themselves as a tech savant, someone pooling their knowledge with other like-minded people to tear the system down from within. Its a vision where we don’t have to give up our tech toys and can remain confident in the hope that we can retain our individual agency in a world saturated with tech.     

While I’m not implying that any random cyberpunk media has more artistic merit than Bladerunner 2047, I think its a worthwhile question to ask whether cyberpunk still speaks to present-day concerns. Though I’m a still a fan of cyberpunk, both good, bad and in-between, I am cognizant of the fact that this probably has more to do with personal nostalgia and clever visuals than it has to do with cultural relevance at this point. While the term cyberpunk is still deployed to describe tech changes that seems creepy or borderline authoritarian, the reality is that the stories devised in new cyberpunk media don’t correspond to tech realities in 2022, and if anything they serve as a form of sci-fi escapism. 

[avatar-state-kate]

Can’t believe people were heralding Big Bang Theory as the sitcom for nerds when Futurama was right there

#like has jokes about nerd culture wrapped within high sci-fi concepts and classic homages #with characters defined outside of being nerds #and one of the few good will they won’t they het romances #like seriously Freela is in the same league as Jim and Pam #only thing Jim and Pam have over them is actually being married for most of the show #but fry and Leela have literally gone to the ends of the earth for eachother so... #evens out #futurama #big bang theory

[katyobsesses]

Katy my darling <3 I have a very fun ask for you!! What method of arts do each glee characters prefer and what is their favorite thing to create?

oooooo this is a fun ask!

I'm gonna do S2 New Directions for now, but may add S3-6 ND or other characters later 💛 (warning... this is LONG)

Artie: Film. 100% film. He loves using visual media to tell a story, he also really gets into the sound design side too when he learns it in College. He loves making music videos and after Uni that's mostly what he does. He also directs a lot of movie musicals and musical TV shows. Basically he loves making visual media for songs.

Blaine: Performing - mostly singing. He also love writing songs, which we never see in the show but I can imagine him learning about songwriting in NYU and loving it as a way to express his feelings. it's like a step up from using someone else's words to express them.

Brittany: Obviously dancing! I like to think that after marrying Santana she either goes to college for Dance, or maybe owns a dance studio/goes on tour with Mercedes a lot (with Santana as a guest singer) She really loves teaching little kids how to dance, she knows how to interact with them on their level and the kids love her.

Finn: Singing? I honestly can't think about what he likes. Like singing is the closest thing. He sings in the shower a lot and obviously he loves singing on stage. But he's not that much of an art person outside of that. He likes consuming it but not making it.

Kurt: Sewing, obviously, as well as sketching clothes. He loves making accessories for friends - scrunchies for the girls, bow ties for Blaine, a dog bandana for Sam's golden retriver (because you know he gets one) etc. - but he also loves designing and making costumes for small productions. Maybe he volunteers/works with a small theatre troop and makes & designs all of the costumes while also performing.

Mercedes: Mercedes likes making cards for everyone for Christmas and Birthdays. It started because she'd forgotten to buy a card for someone but had some card and pretty pens on hand and it spiralled from there. She now owns a fancy die pressing kit and lots of card toppers and pretty glitter pens and washi tape and all of that. She has a small kit she brings on all of her tours, it helps relax her after a show - making cards for the crew as a thank you/maybe selling some for charity because she makes so much? When she finally gets back together with Sam they both work together to make Christmas cards from them with cute pictures of themselves in terrible christmas jumpers and their golden retriver in a Kurt made bandana and later their kids in matching outfits.

Mike: Like Brittany he's a dancer first and formost. That's his art. He later goes on to be a professional on Dancing With The Stars where he reconnects with Matt on set (maybe they even get together in the end and the DWTS fans love their relationship and their jokingly competative instagram stories) He loves creating a story with only movement and music. Mike also really likes doodling.

Puck: Photography. I don't know why but I see Puck loving to take pictures of places he visits in his travels. He also scrapbooks but only Quinn knows that - he has a whole scrapbook of pictures of Beth that Shelby sends them and later makes them for all of his other kids too, and he has, like, travel journals and scrapbooks of roadtrips he's been on. Basically he's a Bullet Journal guy. He really likes washi tape and pretty papers and stickers and what-not. He will never admit this.

Quinn: Quinn's a writer. In my head she goes on to write a book that's losely based on her high-school years and it becomes a best seller and is later adapted into a Netflix series directed by Artie. I just like the idea! Maybe Rachel plays, like, the Miss Pillsbury character... or Terri! Or maybe Shelby? I dunno one of the adult characters.

Rachel: Obviously her art of choice is performing. It's singing and acting and standing on a stage or a set and making the words in her script her own. Also scrapbooking/moodboard making.

Santana: Santana likes knitting. She won't admit it but she likes knitting little plushies for Brittany, her favourite is a little bi flag coloured bunny. She makes knitted plushies and blankets for all of her friends when they have kids but she never tells them she made them - everyone knows though, they're too perfect for the couple/person (a cat in a scarf or a toy poodle in a bow tie for Klaine, a teddy adorned with gold stars for St. Berry etc. etc.)

Sam: This could be an essay for me (and kinda is opps). Sam is the Art nerd of the group and tries every type of art he possibly can. Macaroni art, illustration, digital art, traditional art, crafts, pumpkin carving, glass blowing, handlettering, graphic design, knitting, crochet, rag rugs, sewing, card making, pyrography, etc. He will try everything he can in terms of visual art. He doesn't, however, write because dyslexia, and he can't wrap him mind around, like editing and film stuff - he does try though because why not. He also really likes songwriting and music arranging.

All of this i'm trying to do as close to canon as i can but going off of canon let's say Sam goes to Parsons for illustration because he's so good at art, he stays with Mercedes in her brownstone and they never break up, after graduating he becomes a comic book illustrator (which i believe is literally a minor at Parsons, so let's say he does a Major in Fine Art/Illustration with a Minor in Comic illustration) and illustrates a run of Young Avengers comics and becomes a fan favourite artist.

In canon, however, he loves teaching the new generation of New Directions but he misses art because he doesn't have that much time anymore (because being the teacher of the new directions is a full time job, apparently, judging by the lack of adult friends or hobbies Will has lol) he loves loves loves arranging music, however, and that becomes the type of art he does the most. He does doodle a lot during faculty meeting (also he does a music teaching certification during his first few years of coaching the nNDs) and goes all out with pumpkin carving at Halloween, and loves decorating his apartment and the choir room at Christmas. He loves doing sets for the musical (and has a lot of fun staging it too) and helps out with the decorations for Prom.

Basically Sam loves to be creative in any way he can. He loves making things, whatever they may be.

Tina: Tina writes fanfiction and draws fanart. She's a nerd 100%, she watched Supernatural, she was a SuperWhoLockian, she loves Merlin, she's loves Twilight but more ironically than, say, Mercedes, and prefers books like Morganville Vampires or PC Cast's series that I've forgotten the name of. She loves the Hunger Games and Firefly and Star Trek and Star Wars. She definately has a tumblr. She mostly writes all sorts of fanfiction and is a huge name in the Supernatural fandom. Only Sam and Blaine know about all of this becuase they found one of her Star Wars fanfictions and in an authors note she said something that they recognised - idk she ranted about Santana or Rachel or something.

This was so much fun omg, thank you for the ask Myle 💛

#myle 💛 #awkwardcaterpillar #long post #glee #glee headcanon #artie abrams #blaine anderson #brittany s. pierce #finn hudson #kurt hummel #mercedes jones #mike chang #noah puckerman #quinn fabray #rachel berry #santana lopez #sam evans #tina cohen chang #I don't think i forgot someone... #and yeah i may add more #like Marley's art of choice is obviously songwriting and maybe poems #jake is dance too #etc. etc. #katywrites #katy writes #katy headcannons