Sometimes a story comes along, and you become so invested that you just can’t stop until you reach the end. If it’s a series, that feeling can go even further. Maybe you’ve been following it for years of your life. Even the gaps between each subsequent addition can be filled with conversations online that maintain that series as a permanent fixture for as long as you let it.
But eventually that story comes to an end and you have to return to your own life.
Read MoreThe question of the whether ghosts are meant to be understood as real becomes incredibly relevant when looking at the series The Haunting of Hill House (2018). It’s a show that practically begs the audience to question whether the ghosts in it are real or metaphors, and then simply answers: Yes.
Read MorePower ups are a staple of shonen anime, and like anything else that becomes so ubiquitous in a genre, the specific way it is utilized can tell us a lot about what that series is saying. With this in mind, let’s take a look at One Piece.
Read MoreVideo games are a medium where repetition is fundamental, so let’s talk about how it’s used in storytelling.
Read MoreThere is an early scene in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse that I feel is worth taking a closer look at. This isn’t one of the big action scenes, or a piece that gets into all the lore. No, just a small quieter scene, that breaks down the thematic metaphors this movie is working with.
Read MoreToday let’s look at the pilot episode of Psych. Most pilots are just the average length of an episode for the specific series. Some are 2-part episodes. But then there are some, like Psych’s, with a runtime that’s about equal to an episode and a half.
Read MoreThis is the story of Tim Drake, Batman’s third Robin, having the realization that he’s bisexual. It’s a story of identity, and how much of a struggle it can be to understand what it is that you want when it is something that doesn’t fit with how you previously defined yourself.
Read MoreI want to take some time to talk about Digimon: The Movie (2000), its history, why I find it so fascinating, and why I think people who don’t even care about Digimon might be fascinated too.
Read MoreI Saw the TV Glow is a horror film that derives most of its horror from the idea of a trans person having the realization that they’re trans but fearing what it could mean to fully admit it. Instead, it uses TV as a representation of repression.
Read MoreLast year I played What Remains of Edith Finch for the first time, and this game has pretty much stayed on my mind ever since.
Read MoreAn introduction to the new Substack newsletter
Read MoreWhen talking about anime pilots so far, I have been sticking with the Shonen genre (with Fairy Tail and My Hero Academia). So, this time I wanted I switch it up a little and talk about an Isekai. More specifically, a video game Isekai, which feels like its own subgenre at this point.
Read MoreEarlier this year I replayed Assassin’s Creed Syndicate (2015) live on stream with one particular question in mind: How bi is Jacob Frye?
Read MoreEven a non-premise pilot is a pilot. And while it wants to be like any other episode, it still has work to do setting up the series. How does one balance these two seemingly contradictory choices?
Read MoreIn a series all about playing games, primarily Duel Monsters (the in-universe name of the YuGiOh card game), what’s purpose of this unbeatable monster showing up so early?
Read MoreThe Marvel Cinematic Universe currently consists of 29 movies and 6 Disney+ original series (and this isn’t touching on all the shows that are borderline canon). Needless to say, they’ve covered a lot of ground, and brought in a lot of characters. But there are always more…
Read MoreEmotional power tropes can be subcategorized into at least three more specific kinds of tropes. These include, but at not limited to, any literalization of emotions equalling power, the power of friendship, and kindness or empathy leading to power.
Read MoreWhat do the Miles and Mary Jane missions really add to Marvel’s Spider-Man? Well, quite a bit.
Read MoreWith this first collection of movies and series, there are a few patterns starting to pop up. I’ve already written about these patterns in one sense, talking about the theme that could be connecting the entire phase, but now I want to take some time looking at what hints are being dropped for future MCU projects going into Phase 5, or beyond.
Read MoreWhat began with cable, and has become common place with the rise of streaming services, is the type of show that has no commercials breaks. If network shows are built around mini climaxes to keep people engaged enough to come back after commercials, how are streaming shows done?
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