On day two, I decided to venture out a little further. I went to the Schloss Charlottenburg, as I really like looking around stately homes. They make me feel like I've gone back in time. After that, I had less plans, so I ended up taking a bus to the Bundestag, which has many of Berlin's historical sites around, and isn't far from Potsdamer Platz.
Monday, 9 December 2019
Berlin, Day 1 - 14/11/19 - Flights and Hotel
Berlin is a place I've wanted to visit for a long time. I always found German an interesting language and Berlin has history like nowhere else. As this happened to be exactly 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, I decided to take the plunge and have a solo trip with some of my leftover holiday time from work.
Sunday, 29 September 2019
A Treatise on why Blue Lions is my Favourite House in Fire Emblem: Three Houses
In this blog post, I will examine why Blue Lions is personally my favourite house in Fire Emblem: Three Houses for the Nintendo Switch. Note that I am not doing this as a ranked list, as each house has things that might appeal to different people. I also would not like to denigrate another house in my post, as each provide a unique perspective on the story, and an interesting band of characters to get to know. This is why I am using the term favourite as opposed to best.
First, a quick rundown of the story. You are Byleth, a mercenary. In this world, your status in society is normally linked to your Crest, with most of those who bear one being nobility. While on a mission with your father, you run into three students from the nearby Officer's Acadamy at Garreg Mach. Edelgard, Dimitri and Claude are also the three house leaders, and future rulers of their respective nations. You are taken on to be the new professor at the Officer's Acadamy, and need to select one of these three houses to lead. Edelgard leads the Black Eagles, Dimitri leads the Blue Lions and Claude the Golden Deer. Mostly, which house the students go into is decided by their country, so there's no personality traits that define them. Black Eagles students come from the Adrestian Empire, Blue Lions from the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus and Golden Deer from the Leicester Alliance. But students can change houses if they desire, through the recruit students gameplay mechanic.
Blue Lions house feels like a combination of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, and I don't just mean on their sigil design. Many members of the house are would-be knights upholding the ideals of chivalry, and are brave as they come. They also happen to contain a large number of smarter, bookish characters. There's Annette, who studies hard, Ashe, who's very into reading legends and Ingrid, who works to be a knight. Even Sylvain, a ladies man character, has been shown to have intelligence that goes beyond how he normally acts. Obviously, Gryffindors can be into reading, but it is my belief that most of them fall somewhere between the two, with a little of the Hufflepuff hard work and Slytherin ambition thrown in. Do not be misled by this paragraph, as none of the houses in this game have a direct counterpart to a Potter house, despite the colour schemes.
The houses in this game are more decided based on where a student originates from, one of the three nations of the setting. This leads to a mix of personalities, and you can also recruit students from different houses, too. The joy with a game like Fire Emblem is getting to see all these different people interact in what are known as 'Support Conversations.' If you've never played a video game, but are curious about them, I'd highly recommend Fire Emblem: Three Houses to people who like reading.
Characterisation:
Blue Lions is a very character-driven route, overall. In fact, I would easily say that it has some of my favourite characters in the game. A lot of this will be revealed in the smaller support conversations, one reason why I try and recruit as many characters as I can, to find out more about them.
Dimitri will likely be the first character many people think of when it comes to the well-written character development of this game, and to go too far into it will really spoil a lot of it for others. He starts off trying to present that image of the perfect prince, but there's something dark simmering beneath his surface. He likes combat, but doesn't like that likes it. He is also very motivated by revenge. He does manange to reconcile both parts of his personality later on, but not before a turn for the far worse.
Dedue is very loyal to Dimitri - Dimitri saved his life during a massacre of his countrymen when they were both boys. This is both a blessing and a curse, as Dedue will support Dimitri even when he isn't thinking rationally. Dedue also loves gardening and cooking, despite his threatening appearance. He can come off as terse, but a lot of that is just not knowing how to interact with others, as he comes from a country (Duscur) that deals with a lot of racism in-story. Before he comes to the Officer's Academy, he rarely interacts with anyone in a way that isn't hostile.
Felix begins the story by hating Dimitri. He also has spent much of in trying to live up to the example of his older brother, Glenn, who was a knight who died in service to the royal family. He is very much driven by a desire to be the best swordsman, but his supports show that he begins to question why this means so much to him. And while he acts very hard-hearted, he can show a softer side around some of the sweeter characters.
Sylvain is a ladies man - if you aren't on a Blue Lions route and try to recruit him as Female Byleth, he will join your house no questions asked. (It's nice to know where your loyalties lie, Sylvain!) But he doesn't think much of the girls he dates, believing them to be after his noble title or trying to bear his 'Crest Baby.' He does manage to take a good look at his attitude in some of his support conversations.
Mercedes has not had it easy in her life. She was actually born to a noble family in the Adrestian Empire, but then left and fled to Faerghus, where her mother married another noble, but then eventually she became the adopted daughter of a wealthy merchant. Since she bears a Crest, most of these families have been more interested in using her to up their position in society. But she herself remains a very kind young lady and one of the most devout characters in the game, with dreams of joining the Church of Seiros to help others like they have done for her. But she does find it rather easy to sway to others wishes.
Annette is Mercedes's best friend. Annette is a cheerful girl who is fond of singing songs to herself while she works. She's a hard worker, and got herself into the School of Sorcery through her studies. Many of her supports involves someone helping with her work, or imploring her to just take a break. She joined the Officer's Academy for a particular reason, searching for her father. She's also one of the first to try and cheer up characters when they have a bad time - she and Mercedes bake sweets for you, after a certain point in the story.
Ashe - I'd be remiss not to mention here that Ashe is my personal absolute favourite character in the whole game. He likes reading and cooking, so basically me in a medieval setting. He's a commoner feeling a little out-of-place in a place of nobles. His parents ran a restaurant, but when they died he was left to raise his brother and sister by himself. He stole to keep them fed. But when he was trying to steal from a noble one day, he was transfixed by a book, and the noble took him on as his adopted son, and taught him to read! Ashe still remains one of the kindest characters in the whole game, showing remorse over many deaths and insisting that petty criminals get a chance to improve their situation.
Ingrid is interesting, the daughter of an impoverished noble. Her father always made sure she got the best things to eat before he did. While he does love her, it's also in his best interests to keep her strength up, as she's been the only bearer of their family's Crest for generations. She was engaged to Felix's brother, and is still haunted over his death. Since the people of Duscur are thought to be behind this (although evidence in this game suggests that this is not the case) she holds contempt for the people of Duscur, which comes out in her supports with Dedue. However, this is never an issue in game, and by her later support conversations she appears to be changing her views.
Obviously, you can recruit and will gain other characters as the game goes on. But a full list would take forever, so these are the eight Blue Lions characters who are there from the start. And you can recruit most of these (all but Dimitri and Dedue) into another house, which is always a good way to see their take on a different side of the story.
Ties into the overall story:
Honestly, at first I thought the missions you get during the academy phrase of this game were unique to the Blue Lions. One of the earliest involves tracking down a Kingdom noble who is also Ashe's adopted father, likely earlier than most people would have recruited him out. This not only provides good dialogue during the fight for Ashe, but also Dimitri, who doesn't like attacking one of his own nobles. A little further on, one of them involves the brother of Sylvain. Annette's father and Mercedes's brother also play roles, too, and Mercedes's brother's isn't obvious at first.
In the second part of the game, the story does get much more personal, becoming the three distinct routes that this game is known for. You very much do get three games for the price of one, here. Even outside of their own route, if you don't recruit them, the Blue Lions get some pretty cool scenes and lines as enemies.
Gameplay thoughts:
I find that Blue Lions makes a very balanced house for battle purposes. We're meant to be slightly weaker on the magic side, but you still do have one black mage (Annette) and one white mage (Mercedes) given at the start. Mercedes learns a heal spell with a range that can heal your units from almost anywhere on the battlefield, and her ability heals her if she heals a friendly unit. She can also learn some more combat spells easily once you leave her Reason (black magic) skill.
Two of our members have a Budding Talent in Reason, and the main character can also learn black magic. You also get another white mage who can learn combat magic as the story progresses, and you can recruit from other houses to cover your weaknesses. I personally like Dorothea, as she is relatively easy to recruit from high charm skill, and gets some long-ranged black magic spells that the Blue Lions house does lack.
However, you might not need this so much, as physically this house is very strong. Dimitri has the highest attainable strength stat in the game, Felix wrecks things as a fast swordsman, meaning he can attack twice from very early on in the game. Ashe develops into an archer with a very high chance of a critical hit. Ingrid, once levelled, will become a badass Pegasus Knight who can fly to protect far locations on the battlefield. Sylvain became my first cavalry unit, giving him range at a point in the game where few others will have a range like this. Dedue comes in very handy in the early game to protect some of the units you need to level up, while they're still relatively weak.
While no house is obviously 'better' or makes for a Golden Ending, Blue Lions is the house where the highest number of main characters can be left alive at the end of it. This appeals as the way this game forces you to be attacking your friends is brutal, in the best way possible, showing how much the war really is taking it's toll on your allies. I even like to leave some of them as enemies and to support their main lord, for the story.
Criticisms:
One of the things that I will point out is that some of the hidden antagonists of this story don't come to the forefront. You don't learn the truth of the Church of Seiros, either. This does work as a way to encourage you to try out the other routes, however. There still feels like there is a lot of things left
unanswered on this route.
Oh, and you don't get Claude as a playable character.
Conclusion:
While Blue Lions appeals to me, playing into many character archetypes and storylines that I like, I can also see why people might prefer another house. Really, it's all down to personal preference.
First, a quick rundown of the story. You are Byleth, a mercenary. In this world, your status in society is normally linked to your Crest, with most of those who bear one being nobility. While on a mission with your father, you run into three students from the nearby Officer's Acadamy at Garreg Mach. Edelgard, Dimitri and Claude are also the three house leaders, and future rulers of their respective nations. You are taken on to be the new professor at the Officer's Acadamy, and need to select one of these three houses to lead. Edelgard leads the Black Eagles, Dimitri leads the Blue Lions and Claude the Golden Deer. Mostly, which house the students go into is decided by their country, so there's no personality traits that define them. Black Eagles students come from the Adrestian Empire, Blue Lions from the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus and Golden Deer from the Leicester Alliance. But students can change houses if they desire, through the recruit students gameplay mechanic.
Blue Lions house feels like a combination of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, and I don't just mean on their sigil design. Many members of the house are would-be knights upholding the ideals of chivalry, and are brave as they come. They also happen to contain a large number of smarter, bookish characters. There's Annette, who studies hard, Ashe, who's very into reading legends and Ingrid, who works to be a knight. Even Sylvain, a ladies man character, has been shown to have intelligence that goes beyond how he normally acts. Obviously, Gryffindors can be into reading, but it is my belief that most of them fall somewhere between the two, with a little of the Hufflepuff hard work and Slytherin ambition thrown in. Do not be misled by this paragraph, as none of the houses in this game have a direct counterpart to a Potter house, despite the colour schemes.
The houses in this game are more decided based on where a student originates from, one of the three nations of the setting. This leads to a mix of personalities, and you can also recruit students from different houses, too. The joy with a game like Fire Emblem is getting to see all these different people interact in what are known as 'Support Conversations.' If you've never played a video game, but are curious about them, I'd highly recommend Fire Emblem: Three Houses to people who like reading.
Characterisation:
Blue Lions is a very character-driven route, overall. In fact, I would easily say that it has some of my favourite characters in the game. A lot of this will be revealed in the smaller support conversations, one reason why I try and recruit as many characters as I can, to find out more about them.
Dimitri will likely be the first character many people think of when it comes to the well-written character development of this game, and to go too far into it will really spoil a lot of it for others. He starts off trying to present that image of the perfect prince, but there's something dark simmering beneath his surface. He likes combat, but doesn't like that likes it. He is also very motivated by revenge. He does manange to reconcile both parts of his personality later on, but not before a turn for the far worse.
Dedue is very loyal to Dimitri - Dimitri saved his life during a massacre of his countrymen when they were both boys. This is both a blessing and a curse, as Dedue will support Dimitri even when he isn't thinking rationally. Dedue also loves gardening and cooking, despite his threatening appearance. He can come off as terse, but a lot of that is just not knowing how to interact with others, as he comes from a country (Duscur) that deals with a lot of racism in-story. Before he comes to the Officer's Academy, he rarely interacts with anyone in a way that isn't hostile.
Felix begins the story by hating Dimitri. He also has spent much of in trying to live up to the example of his older brother, Glenn, who was a knight who died in service to the royal family. He is very much driven by a desire to be the best swordsman, but his supports show that he begins to question why this means so much to him. And while he acts very hard-hearted, he can show a softer side around some of the sweeter characters.
Sylvain is a ladies man - if you aren't on a Blue Lions route and try to recruit him as Female Byleth, he will join your house no questions asked. (It's nice to know where your loyalties lie, Sylvain!) But he doesn't think much of the girls he dates, believing them to be after his noble title or trying to bear his 'Crest Baby.' He does manage to take a good look at his attitude in some of his support conversations.
Mercedes has not had it easy in her life. She was actually born to a noble family in the Adrestian Empire, but then left and fled to Faerghus, where her mother married another noble, but then eventually she became the adopted daughter of a wealthy merchant. Since she bears a Crest, most of these families have been more interested in using her to up their position in society. But she herself remains a very kind young lady and one of the most devout characters in the game, with dreams of joining the Church of Seiros to help others like they have done for her. But she does find it rather easy to sway to others wishes.
Annette is Mercedes's best friend. Annette is a cheerful girl who is fond of singing songs to herself while she works. She's a hard worker, and got herself into the School of Sorcery through her studies. Many of her supports involves someone helping with her work, or imploring her to just take a break. She joined the Officer's Academy for a particular reason, searching for her father. She's also one of the first to try and cheer up characters when they have a bad time - she and Mercedes bake sweets for you, after a certain point in the story.
Ashe - I'd be remiss not to mention here that Ashe is my personal absolute favourite character in the whole game. He likes reading and cooking, so basically me in a medieval setting. He's a commoner feeling a little out-of-place in a place of nobles. His parents ran a restaurant, but when they died he was left to raise his brother and sister by himself. He stole to keep them fed. But when he was trying to steal from a noble one day, he was transfixed by a book, and the noble took him on as his adopted son, and taught him to read! Ashe still remains one of the kindest characters in the whole game, showing remorse over many deaths and insisting that petty criminals get a chance to improve their situation.
Ingrid is interesting, the daughter of an impoverished noble. Her father always made sure she got the best things to eat before he did. While he does love her, it's also in his best interests to keep her strength up, as she's been the only bearer of their family's Crest for generations. She was engaged to Felix's brother, and is still haunted over his death. Since the people of Duscur are thought to be behind this (although evidence in this game suggests that this is not the case) she holds contempt for the people of Duscur, which comes out in her supports with Dedue. However, this is never an issue in game, and by her later support conversations she appears to be changing her views.
Obviously, you can recruit and will gain other characters as the game goes on. But a full list would take forever, so these are the eight Blue Lions characters who are there from the start. And you can recruit most of these (all but Dimitri and Dedue) into another house, which is always a good way to see their take on a different side of the story.
Ties into the overall story:
Honestly, at first I thought the missions you get during the academy phrase of this game were unique to the Blue Lions. One of the earliest involves tracking down a Kingdom noble who is also Ashe's adopted father, likely earlier than most people would have recruited him out. This not only provides good dialogue during the fight for Ashe, but also Dimitri, who doesn't like attacking one of his own nobles. A little further on, one of them involves the brother of Sylvain. Annette's father and Mercedes's brother also play roles, too, and Mercedes's brother's isn't obvious at first.
In the second part of the game, the story does get much more personal, becoming the three distinct routes that this game is known for. You very much do get three games for the price of one, here. Even outside of their own route, if you don't recruit them, the Blue Lions get some pretty cool scenes and lines as enemies.
Gameplay thoughts:
I find that Blue Lions makes a very balanced house for battle purposes. We're meant to be slightly weaker on the magic side, but you still do have one black mage (Annette) and one white mage (Mercedes) given at the start. Mercedes learns a heal spell with a range that can heal your units from almost anywhere on the battlefield, and her ability heals her if she heals a friendly unit. She can also learn some more combat spells easily once you leave her Reason (black magic) skill.
Two of our members have a Budding Talent in Reason, and the main character can also learn black magic. You also get another white mage who can learn combat magic as the story progresses, and you can recruit from other houses to cover your weaknesses. I personally like Dorothea, as she is relatively easy to recruit from high charm skill, and gets some long-ranged black magic spells that the Blue Lions house does lack.
However, you might not need this so much, as physically this house is very strong. Dimitri has the highest attainable strength stat in the game, Felix wrecks things as a fast swordsman, meaning he can attack twice from very early on in the game. Ashe develops into an archer with a very high chance of a critical hit. Ingrid, once levelled, will become a badass Pegasus Knight who can fly to protect far locations on the battlefield. Sylvain became my first cavalry unit, giving him range at a point in the game where few others will have a range like this. Dedue comes in very handy in the early game to protect some of the units you need to level up, while they're still relatively weak.
While no house is obviously 'better' or makes for a Golden Ending, Blue Lions is the house where the highest number of main characters can be left alive at the end of it. This appeals as the way this game forces you to be attacking your friends is brutal, in the best way possible, showing how much the war really is taking it's toll on your allies. I even like to leave some of them as enemies and to support their main lord, for the story.
Criticisms:
One of the things that I will point out is that some of the hidden antagonists of this story don't come to the forefront. You don't learn the truth of the Church of Seiros, either. This does work as a way to encourage you to try out the other routes, however. There still feels like there is a lot of things left
unanswered on this route.
Oh, and you don't get Claude as a playable character.
Conclusion:
While Blue Lions appeals to me, playing into many character archetypes and storylines that I like, I can also see why people might prefer another house. Really, it's all down to personal preference.
Friday, 7 June 2019
A Review of the Out Of The Hitler Time Series
These books are the best books I've read about the Second World War. The first book especially can be enjoyed by children and adults alike. These are the books I needed as a child, learning about the Blitz and evacuees. Children have a different perception of time, and history can feel like events that took place a long time ago to people you don't know at that age, and historical fiction demolishes that barrier.
They also have a different perspective on Nazi Germany from that which is normally seen. Anna and her family fled in 1933. That is very early in terms of Hitler's power, before the Second World War even started, towards the end of the decade. As such, you see the fear and uncertainty hanging over them but also optimism at the beginning, as they think they'll be back home in six months.
When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit is a great introduction to the horrors of Nazi Germany, and while the horrors of the Holocaust aren't discussed in detail, they aren't glossed over, either. The book has a remarkably light-hearted touch to it's subject matter, though. Much of this comes from the family's closeness, keeping each others spirits up. Happy-go-lucky Anna sees most of their travels as an adventure, like her hopelessly impractical father. But the difficulties of going from being an upper-middle class German family to penniless refugees are a driving force of the book, with Anna's mother being the one most often bearing the brunt of it.
Bombs on Aunt Dainty is most definitely more YA, focusing much more on Anna's personal relationships. She's at loggerheads with her parents more often than not. This book also deals with her relationship with a much older man. Sex is discussed. She's a teenager in this one, and it shows. She starts to get more in touch with her passion for drawing, while working to help her family. Many of the refugees from Europe in Britain at the time did not find it easy, with many of the public viewing them as the enemy. This book may not be suitable for children to read straight after reading When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, but that can depend on the individual.
A Small Person Far Away feels older still. Anna is an adult, visiting her mother in hospital in Berlin. Discussions on the ethics of assisted suicide even without an underlying medical issue are frequent in the book, and it has an air of nostalgia and longing for home that adults in particular will identify with. It hasn't quite got the tension of the first two that is inherent with being set during the war and is more of a quiet family story. It's also a vital look at how depression and suicide was misunderstood back then. Anna's mother's illness (explicitly named as depression in the narrative) wasn't caught or treated in the same way it might be now.
The question of ethical treatment of refugees is perhaps more relevant now than it has been at any point in the last 70 years. These books need to be pressed into the hands of everyone you know.
Sunday, 28 April 2019
Top 5 Marvel Movies
(Up to and including Endgame, but spoiler free!)
These movies have become a cultural phenomenon and defined my 20's almost as much as Harry Potter defined my childhood. In fact, it wasn't until recently that I realised they would have been a Harry Potter-like experience for many people, who started watching them at 10 would easily be 20 now.
I like positivity, so I don't rank all movies from worst to best. Instead, I like to pick my top five, the ones that stood out to me in some way over the rest. There are some movies in the MCU that I don't like as much as the others, but the fact that they all come together to make a cohesive universe is something to behold.
Also... this is my personal opinion on them! I shouldn't really need to say this, but if you think I left out a movie, write your own list. We all have different preferences, and that's okay, because that's what keeps life interesting!
5. Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol 2.
Surprised to see Vol. 2 on this list but not Vol. 1? I actually prefer it. I think that as we knew the characters better in this one, they could get right on with doing what they do best - cracking jokes and snarking at each other. I love the soundtrack for both of these movies, too. And the bright colour palette, too. Proof that not all sci-fi needs to be in muted tones. I love movies that use a lot of colours in every shot, I think it makes them a real visual treat. And speaking of...
4. Black Panther
Every shot in this movie looks amazing. Many are shot in the daylight, and the night scenes are well-lit. I really like when movies show cities lit by several tiny lights. There's so much colour, too, in the clothing, the jungles of Wakanda, and even the Seoul scene. To add to that, this was the movie that gave us (Disney Princess) Shuri, Nakia and Okoye. And it does what sci-fi does best - becomes a way for us to reflect on our own world and the reality we live in.
3. Captain America: The First Avenger
I love historical fiction, and this is almost a WW2 movie with a little alternate history thrown in. Also a catchy musical number. I love Peggy, and Cap is my favourite Avenger, so maybe this is slightly biased. But you can also see a lot of thought and detail put into things like the fashions of the time (Victory Rolls!) and it also introduced us to one of the overarching plot points of the whole MCU, the Tesseract. And there's a World Fair in it!
2. Avengers: Endgame
To be fair, I think focusing on a smaller group of people benefited this movie compared to it's predecessor, not needing to have 3,000 plot threads going at once. But it tied up the franchise amazingly well, taking risks I wasn't expecting it to. While there are a few minor quibbles, I think it was my favourite Marvel movie since 2012's Avengers. It certainly felt more like it, and showing a few scenes from that movie was a treat. There were some epic moments in the final battle, and even with the bleak premise, they managed to keep humour going throughout. This rank may be liable to change as time goes on, since it's still fresh in my memory at this point, but as of right now, this is where it stands for me.
1. Avengers (2012)
I think this movie is an absolute masterpiece of a team movie, and is the one I will rewatch more than any other. It's one of my favourite movies of all time. We get to see the Avengers come together, with help from Nick Fury and Agent Coulson. After a rocky start, they really gel. The chemistry between the original six just clicks. And the humour is bang-on, hitting just the right notes at the right points. New York is a very personal place to see attacked for a lot of people (I get the same way in Thor: The Dark World) which just drives home how terrifying a threat like this would be in real life. The movie was epic in scope, but it wasn't trying to top anything else. It did that on it's own, and set the standard for the other movies in the MCU. What a movie, what a franchise, what a cinematic experience.
Honorable mentions to Captain America: Civil War, Thor, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 and Iron Man 2. (Yes, 2. Yes I know. This is my list.)
Now, if you need me, I'll be working out how soon tickets for Spider Man: Far From Home will be on sale.
These movies have become a cultural phenomenon and defined my 20's almost as much as Harry Potter defined my childhood. In fact, it wasn't until recently that I realised they would have been a Harry Potter-like experience for many people, who started watching them at 10 would easily be 20 now.
I like positivity, so I don't rank all movies from worst to best. Instead, I like to pick my top five, the ones that stood out to me in some way over the rest. There are some movies in the MCU that I don't like as much as the others, but the fact that they all come together to make a cohesive universe is something to behold.
Also... this is my personal opinion on them! I shouldn't really need to say this, but if you think I left out a movie, write your own list. We all have different preferences, and that's okay, because that's what keeps life interesting!
5. Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol 2.
Surprised to see Vol. 2 on this list but not Vol. 1? I actually prefer it. I think that as we knew the characters better in this one, they could get right on with doing what they do best - cracking jokes and snarking at each other. I love the soundtrack for both of these movies, too. And the bright colour palette, too. Proof that not all sci-fi needs to be in muted tones. I love movies that use a lot of colours in every shot, I think it makes them a real visual treat. And speaking of...
4. Black Panther
Every shot in this movie looks amazing. Many are shot in the daylight, and the night scenes are well-lit. I really like when movies show cities lit by several tiny lights. There's so much colour, too, in the clothing, the jungles of Wakanda, and even the Seoul scene. To add to that, this was the movie that gave us (Disney Princess) Shuri, Nakia and Okoye. And it does what sci-fi does best - becomes a way for us to reflect on our own world and the reality we live in.
3. Captain America: The First Avenger
I love historical fiction, and this is almost a WW2 movie with a little alternate history thrown in. Also a catchy musical number. I love Peggy, and Cap is my favourite Avenger, so maybe this is slightly biased. But you can also see a lot of thought and detail put into things like the fashions of the time (Victory Rolls!) and it also introduced us to one of the overarching plot points of the whole MCU, the Tesseract. And there's a World Fair in it!
2. Avengers: Endgame
To be fair, I think focusing on a smaller group of people benefited this movie compared to it's predecessor, not needing to have 3,000 plot threads going at once. But it tied up the franchise amazingly well, taking risks I wasn't expecting it to. While there are a few minor quibbles, I think it was my favourite Marvel movie since 2012's Avengers. It certainly felt more like it, and showing a few scenes from that movie was a treat. There were some epic moments in the final battle, and even with the bleak premise, they managed to keep humour going throughout. This rank may be liable to change as time goes on, since it's still fresh in my memory at this point, but as of right now, this is where it stands for me.
1. Avengers (2012)
I think this movie is an absolute masterpiece of a team movie, and is the one I will rewatch more than any other. It's one of my favourite movies of all time. We get to see the Avengers come together, with help from Nick Fury and Agent Coulson. After a rocky start, they really gel. The chemistry between the original six just clicks. And the humour is bang-on, hitting just the right notes at the right points. New York is a very personal place to see attacked for a lot of people (I get the same way in Thor: The Dark World) which just drives home how terrifying a threat like this would be in real life. The movie was epic in scope, but it wasn't trying to top anything else. It did that on it's own, and set the standard for the other movies in the MCU. What a movie, what a franchise, what a cinematic experience.
Honorable mentions to Captain America: Civil War, Thor, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 and Iron Man 2. (Yes, 2. Yes I know. This is my list.)
Now, if you need me, I'll be working out how soon tickets for Spider Man: Far From Home will be on sale.
Thursday, 11 April 2019
A Review of The Princess and the Fangirl
I've never made any secrets about how much I love Geekerella, have I? However, if Geekerella was Poston testing the waters, this one is her cramming as much nerd culture in as she can, and it is glorious. One of the big reasons this works is because Poston knows her stuff, and her references are both varied and rather obscure, at times. I love seeing my favourite fictional things represented that normally never get mentioned in popular culture!
I'm starting to call this series my comfort read, like you get comfort foods. Seriously, it feels like friends. And I mean literally, I have a group of nerd friends who will debate sci-fi shows and quote memes at each other. Semi-ironically. This book feels like them.
Imogen and Jessica are two very different girls, which lets Poston get in two opinions and sides of the story. Imogen's experience with fandoms and conventions is very different from Jessica's experience with them. Imogen grew up in conventions but Jessica has only ever seen them as a work obligation that she dislikes. Imogen is impulsive, and Jessica can be aloof, coming across as mean. But they are both sympathetic individuals (the joys of a duel POV!) and with a great supporting cast around them. I would have sold my soul for more time with Imogen's family.
Poston doesn't shy away from representing the worst aspects of fan culture, too. If I could take one message away from both these books, it would be "love your nerdy fandoms with your whole heart, but be respectful about them." The big one that sticks out here is Jasper. He sticks out as an asshole from the first time we see him with Imogen, but he cements it when he meet-and-greets with Imogen-as-Jess. But it's also obvious that many of Jessica's cast and crew, the director especially, have little respect for her. Arranging a publicity stunt when it's her turn to speak is trash behaviour.
Vance Reigns is also asshole extraordinaire, cutting off Imogen opening up to him to tell her she is pretty, then proceeds to repeat synonyms for pretty during the rest of the conversation, since that's the only thing that he can ever imagine girls being, and the only part of her speech that he paid any attention to. However, Imogen is still on the naïve side, and doesn't notice the inherent condescension in how he brings it up, just her happiness about being called pretty. This is a realistic response for her situation, as girls are taught that being attractive to men is the most important thing they can be.
"Are you one of those girls who think girls who wear make-up are vapid?"
Yes. "No."
I'd like to talk about this response, from Imogen. And again, it is realistic! There are teenage girls who feel this way, I was one! To be fair, it was hugely hypocritical in my case, too, because it wasn't like I didn't wear some on occasion. And it is an attitude that needs calling out. Jessica points out that she wears her make-up as armour, and a lot of other women in the book are described as wearing it.
Elle's cameos were good to have. She's basically my literary best friend, so it was nice to see her. But there are a lot of cameos from other characters from Geekerella, and they did feel slightly gratuitous. This novel could have been a vaguely related standalone, but I would honestly have to say that you'll get more out of this one if you read Geekerella first, especially as this book spoils the first one slightly. To the extent that you can spoil a Cinderella retelling, anyway.
And, uh... didn't the first book confirm that Elle's father started ExcelsiCon when she was, like, 7? So how is this the 25th annual ExcelsiCon? Minor, but it bothered me. (Also, I picked Geekerella up to check this fact, and happened to spot that the Amara's original actress in that book was called Ellen North, not Natalia Ford. I'm sorry! I know this is such a picky complaint.) (And in looking it up, I did realise that my original memory was wrong, and the ExcelsiCon when Elle was 7 was just the first one she could remember. Maybe I just need to reread Geekerella!
Recommended for everyone who loves fandom and nerdy things. And please, give me a short story where Harper introduces Jessica to the original Starfield series.
Saturday, 23 March 2019
A Little Bit of Love for The Babysitter's Club
These book series, with many volumes, probably did more for literacy than people give them credit for. Getting teenagers to read and keep reading is a common topic, but these volumes were one in which teenagers could pick up voluntarily and read for themselves. My series of choice for this was The Babysitter's Club, facilitated by easy access to a large rotating shelf of them in my local library. I begged Mum if we could go into other libraries, just so I could see if they had any ones I hadn't read. I do remember reading at least one Sweet Valley book, and loving Nancy Drew when I could get my hands on them.
The Babysitter's Club showed a group of distinct, different girls being close friends, leaving aside a few books showing the sort of arguments you would expect from early-teens. Plus, they also ran a business requiring a huge amount of responsibility, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't think these had some influence on my work ethic now. Put aside whether this is realistic for 13-year-olds, and see them more as role models.
Each of the girls were so different that you could distinguish between them in writing. A Claudia book sounded nothing like a Dawn book sounded nothing like a Mary-Anne book. My favourite, the character I reached for primarily, was Stacey. I loved the descriptions of her clothes, and I also loved how they showed someone can be both fashion conscious and smart. I can also credit these books with teaching me that diabetes wasn't just "something fat people have."
Another big thing this series showed was different types of families. From divorces, remarriages and one of the earliest good portrayals of step-families that I can remember, all were represented. This was true for the Babysitters, and their charges, too. It also had it's fair share of issue books, some of them dealing with family issues like these.
The diversity in these books can be considered tokenist, but I wouldn't like to comment on it, personally. I have read comments from Asian-Americans who really identified with Claudia as a Japanese-American who wasn't a nerdy stereotype, and I wouldn't like to invalidate anyone's experiences there. I will say that it was more so than other series within the same time period, but 'better than the rest' doesn't necessarily mean good.
If you haven't read them for a while, pick up a few and spend a nice afternoon getting reacquainted with old friends. Most libraries still have several copies! If you have someone in your family at just the right age, why not introduce her?
The Babysitter's Club showed a group of distinct, different girls being close friends, leaving aside a few books showing the sort of arguments you would expect from early-teens. Plus, they also ran a business requiring a huge amount of responsibility, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't think these had some influence on my work ethic now. Put aside whether this is realistic for 13-year-olds, and see them more as role models.
Each of the girls were so different that you could distinguish between them in writing. A Claudia book sounded nothing like a Dawn book sounded nothing like a Mary-Anne book. My favourite, the character I reached for primarily, was Stacey. I loved the descriptions of her clothes, and I also loved how they showed someone can be both fashion conscious and smart. I can also credit these books with teaching me that diabetes wasn't just "something fat people have."
Another big thing this series showed was different types of families. From divorces, remarriages and one of the earliest good portrayals of step-families that I can remember, all were represented. This was true for the Babysitters, and their charges, too. It also had it's fair share of issue books, some of them dealing with family issues like these.
The diversity in these books can be considered tokenist, but I wouldn't like to comment on it, personally. I have read comments from Asian-Americans who really identified with Claudia as a Japanese-American who wasn't a nerdy stereotype, and I wouldn't like to invalidate anyone's experiences there. I will say that it was more so than other series within the same time period, but 'better than the rest' doesn't necessarily mean good.
If you haven't read them for a while, pick up a few and spend a nice afternoon getting reacquainted with old friends. Most libraries still have several copies! If you have someone in your family at just the right age, why not introduce her?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)