--did I seriously just take a three-hour nap, why did I do that.
IT IS A POST. I was going to do a very short review of the last four episodes of Monster, since I skipped last week (I have never been able to keep to a strict reviewing schedule, even with things I adore), and it was going to go "I am uncertain if it is facepalmy or completely adorable that Tenma's former patients form a fanclub", but then I had Thinky Thoughts and I decided to write those instead. So here they are! And they are unspoilery, since it is more the mood of the series than actual plot points.
TV Tropes cannot quite make up its mind where Monster falls on the Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism; it is a series where good people are murdered, children are abused, families fall apart, and in general horrible things happen to very nice people who did not deserve it at all, which would rather put it on the low end of the scale, but--it is also a series where people can form positive connections with each other because of all the nastiness, where most good people are still ultimately rewarded and most bad people are ultimately punished, where a freaking wild bird lands on the main character's arm because apparently he's a Disney princess or something I don't even know. I haven't gotten to the ending yet, and won't for some time, but I hear it's not a completely depressing one. And I do not know what to think! To be sure, this is a very serious series, and not particularly heartwarming--the latest two episodes were downright painful in that hurts-so-good way--but at the same time it's a terribly optimistic one. The theme is irredeemable evil vs. incorruptible good, and incorruptible good has a fanclub. (In fairness, so did irredeemable evil for a little while, but. They were kinda stupid.)
Less thinkily, The Beast Below was not a perfect episode but it still made me cry so I find it easy to overlook the questionable bits. Also Amy solving problems in her dressing gown is much better than Ten not-solving problems in a dressing gown (see: The Christmas Invasion), I have to say.
--I feel like I had something else to write about. OH YES! A meme!
Hetalia
01. The first character I fell in love with: Hrm. I don't think anyone in particular caught my attention right off the bat, but eventually I did form an attachment to Italy, so, him!
02. The character I never expected to love as much I do now: Germany, maybe? Not that I disliked him, I just wouldn't have pegged him as one of my favorites.
03. The character everyone else loves that I don't: I guess I am not as crazy about Russia as many folks are, but again, I don't hate him. A well-characterized Russia can be dead fascinating. It is just that there are not many of those.
04. The character I love that everyone else hates: See, this would imply that there are characters most people dislike. True, everyone has their personal tastes, and some characters are less well-liked than others, but I am not the only one who likes all of them to some degree or another.
05. The character I used to love but don't any longer: Seeing as I still love all of them, uh...
06. The character I would shag anytime: If Sweden weren't taken, I would climb him like a tree. Just saying. Also um there was that one recent official art of Germany in the black tank-top and--and yeah.
07. The character I want to be like: Ha ha ha none of them, they are all kind of crazy in their own ways.
08. The character I'd slap: ...er, most of them, I doubt there is any country in the world who has not done something horrible in the past. Except maybe Sealand. But give him time, his blood will run true.
09. A pairing that I love: England/America, Italy/Germany, Austria/Prussia/Hungary, Sweden/Finland...it's a mighty big cast and almost all of them have somebody, really.
10. A pairing that I hate: I am not particularly fond of ~romantic~ Russia/Lithuania, because it creeps me out, or romantic and long-lasting Russia/America, because it breaks my favorite ship; probably they both did happen, but definitely not in a love-of-my-life kind of way. YMMV, of course; everyone's headcanon is different.
11. Favourite character: The guy with the eyebrows, what was his name again?
12. My five favourite characters: England, America, Italy, Germany, and...fuck, let's go with Hungary, there are just too many.
13. My five least favourite characters: Again with this! No! I like all of them! Stop making me chooooose
14. Which character I am most like: I'm not like any one of them in particular, I think, but at least Hungary and I share the fujoshi thing, so let's go with that.
15. My deep, dark, fandom secret: ...Italy/Germany in that order, basically I am always in the minority opinion about such matters and I am learning to accept that.
Hanna Is Not A Boy's Name
01. The first character I fell in love with: Toss-up between Hanna and Zombie, probably. It is, uh. Hard to pick a favorite in this series.
02. The character I never expected to love as much I do now: Conrad! At first I was a little meh on him, but then he turned out to be my favorite vampire in anything ever, I am really not sure what is up with that. (If someone made a "Team Conrad" t-shirt I would buy it in a heartbeat I am just saying.)
03. The character everyone else loves that I don't: ...there are characters I don't love?
04. The character I love that everyone else hates: ...there are characters everyone hates?
05. The character I used to love but don't any longer: Are you sensing a trend yet because there is a trend here.
06. The character I would shag anytime: Ahaha, I know better than to get involved in any of their particular brands of crazy, but Toni seems like she's got it together, so, Toni!
07. The character I want to be like: Ha ha ha no.
08. The character I'd slap: Wasn't there a poll about this on Tessa's DA? I think either Casimiro or Abner won, but that was only because--WAIT WAIT VESER'S DAD, she admitted he would have won the poll by a miiiile so she didn't put him on there. So there is a character everyone hates! But I hate him too, so. (The Veser option for that poll was kind of horrible, I am dismayed that he came in fourth. What is wrong with you people.)
09. A pairing that I love: If we're talking platonic, Hanna + Zombie = bros 4 (un)life, yo. (The lack of blood circulation would make anything further than that...difficult.) Folks I can actually picture having sex, though, ummm Veser --> Lee is in my headcanon and I am kind of really looking forward to seeing what happens with Veser and Ples. Basically, I can only think about sex in this series if it involves Veser. I am really not sure what that says about me.
10. A pairing that I hate: Mostly I just scroll down really quickly or hit backspace, so thankfully I do not have much experience with pairings I don't think I'd like. Everyone has their own tastes! Just don't get them on me.
11. Favourite character: --see, I was going to just put "..." as an indicator that I could not think of anything, but uh then I remembered that is actually the name of one of the characters, hah. SO UH let's pretend there's an equivalent of that that does not look like I have actually picked somebody.
12. My five favourite characters: Uhhhh in no particular order let's go with Hanna, Zombie, Conrad, Veser, and fanon Ples, since we do not actually know very much about Ples yet. BUT I STILL LOVE ALL THE OTHERS.
13. My five least favourite characters: why do you do these things to me
14. Which character I am most like: God, none of them, I hope.
15. My deep, dark, fandom secret: I don't think I have one! I am pretty open about all of my opinions.
Avatar: The Last Airbender
01. The first character I fell in love with: Probably Zuko; I remember looking back on all my old Avatar posts and being amused that I had apparently declared him interesting as of episode eight. So yeah.
02. The character I never expected to love as much I do now: Sokka really did not have a very good start, did he? But once he got going, oh my...
03. The character everyone else loves that I don't: Um, maybe Jet? But it's more that I just don't have any strong feelings about him one way or the other, really.
04. The character I love that everyone else hates: There are people who dislike Mai. Those people are fools.
05. The character I used to love but don't any longer: Nope! If I loved them to begin with, I still love them now.
06. The character I would shag anytime: --okay, I was looking up references for that Avatar pic I drew for help_haiti a while back, and I'd kind of forgotten that S3!Zuko's shirt had a kinda low collar, and--look, he's only a little underage, and I'm only a little overage, it's totally okay, right? Right.
07. The character I want to be like: Katara's got her shit together. Let's go with Katara.
08. The character I'd slap: Look, Zuko, just because you are my favorite does not mean I have never wanted to punch you in the face.
09. A pairing that I love: I'm not really in the fandom, but Mai/Zuko is pretty adorable, I gotta say. Also, canon! It is nice when things are canon. Unlike...
10. A pairing that I hate: Katara/Zuko, what, no, why is that so popular, they both belong to much better pairings and it would mean that he was redeemed by ~love~ rather than by genuinely working his ass off and I understand that everyone has their own tastes but why do the Katara/Zuko people have to be so very vocal about it.
11. Favourite character: Best redemption arc I've seen on television, yo. Plus the prettiness once he starts growing his hair out, there is that also.
12. My five favourite characters: Zuko, Toph, Sokka, Mai, and probably Iroh.
13. My five least favourite characters: Don't really have any I disapprove of as characters; there are of course ones I don't like, but in a "you are a villain and you do bad things" way rather than a "you annoy me on a fundamental level" way. (Those mostly being Zhao and Ozai.)
14. Which character I am most like: Not anyone in particular, I don't think.
15. My deep, dark, fandom secret: Again, I am pretty open about my opinions, although I do not have the opportunity to express them very often.
Comment and I will give you three fandoms of your own! Or don't, you are allowed to do that too.
TV Tropes cannot quite make up its mind where Monster falls on the Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism; it is a series where good people are murdered, children are abused, families fall apart, and in general horrible things happen to very nice people who did not deserve it at all, which would rather put it on the low end of the scale, but--it is also a series where people can form positive connections with each other because of all the nastiness, where most good people are still ultimately rewarded and most bad people are ultimately punished, where a freaking wild bird lands on the main character's arm because apparently he's a Disney princess or something I don't even know. I haven't gotten to the ending yet, and won't for some time, but I hear it's not a completely depressing one. And I do not know what to think! To be sure, this is a very serious series, and not particularly heartwarming--the latest two episodes were downright painful in that hurts-so-good way--but at the same time it's a terribly optimistic one. The theme is irredeemable evil vs. incorruptible good, and incorruptible good has a fanclub. (In fairness, so did irredeemable evil for a little while, but. They were kinda stupid.)
Less thinkily, The Beast Below was not a perfect episode but it still made me cry so I find it easy to overlook the questionable bits. Also Amy solving problems in her dressing gown is much better than Ten not-solving problems in a dressing gown (see: The Christmas Invasion), I have to say.
--I feel like I had something else to write about. OH YES! A meme!
Hetalia
01. The first character I fell in love with: Hrm. I don't think anyone in particular caught my attention right off the bat, but eventually I did form an attachment to Italy, so, him!
02. The character I never expected to love as much I do now: Germany, maybe? Not that I disliked him, I just wouldn't have pegged him as one of my favorites.
03. The character everyone else loves that I don't: I guess I am not as crazy about Russia as many folks are, but again, I don't hate him. A well-characterized Russia can be dead fascinating. It is just that there are not many of those.
04. The character I love that everyone else hates: See, this would imply that there are characters most people dislike. True, everyone has their personal tastes, and some characters are less well-liked than others, but I am not the only one who likes all of them to some degree or another.
05. The character I used to love but don't any longer: Seeing as I still love all of them, uh...
06. The character I would shag anytime: If Sweden weren't taken, I would climb him like a tree. Just saying. Also um there was that one recent official art of Germany in the black tank-top and--and yeah.
07. The character I want to be like: Ha ha ha none of them, they are all kind of crazy in their own ways.
08. The character I'd slap: ...er, most of them, I doubt there is any country in the world who has not done something horrible in the past. Except maybe Sealand. But give him time, his blood will run true.
09. A pairing that I love: England/America, Italy/Germany, Austria/Prussia/Hungary, Sweden/Finland...it's a mighty big cast and almost all of them have somebody, really.
10. A pairing that I hate: I am not particularly fond of ~romantic~ Russia/Lithuania, because it creeps me out, or romantic and long-lasting Russia/America, because it breaks my favorite ship; probably they both did happen, but definitely not in a love-of-my-life kind of way. YMMV, of course; everyone's headcanon is different.
11. Favourite character: The guy with the eyebrows, what was his name again?
12. My five favourite characters: England, America, Italy, Germany, and...fuck, let's go with Hungary, there are just too many.
13. My five least favourite characters: Again with this! No! I like all of them! Stop making me chooooose
14. Which character I am most like: I'm not like any one of them in particular, I think, but at least Hungary and I share the fujoshi thing, so let's go with that.
15. My deep, dark, fandom secret: ...Italy/Germany in that order, basically I am always in the minority opinion about such matters and I am learning to accept that.
Hanna Is Not A Boy's Name
01. The first character I fell in love with: Toss-up between Hanna and Zombie, probably. It is, uh. Hard to pick a favorite in this series.
02. The character I never expected to love as much I do now: Conrad! At first I was a little meh on him, but then he turned out to be my favorite vampire in anything ever, I am really not sure what is up with that. (If someone made a "Team Conrad" t-shirt I would buy it in a heartbeat I am just saying.)
03. The character everyone else loves that I don't: ...there are characters I don't love?
04. The character I love that everyone else hates: ...there are characters everyone hates?
05. The character I used to love but don't any longer: Are you sensing a trend yet because there is a trend here.
06. The character I would shag anytime: Ahaha, I know better than to get involved in any of their particular brands of crazy, but Toni seems like she's got it together, so, Toni!
07. The character I want to be like: Ha ha ha no.
08. The character I'd slap: Wasn't there a poll about this on Tessa's DA? I think either Casimiro or Abner won, but that was only because--WAIT WAIT VESER'S DAD, she admitted he would have won the poll by a miiiile so she didn't put him on there. So there is a character everyone hates! But I hate him too, so. (The Veser option for that poll was kind of horrible, I am dismayed that he came in fourth. What is wrong with you people.)
09. A pairing that I love: If we're talking platonic, Hanna + Zombie = bros 4 (un)life, yo. (The lack of blood circulation would make anything further than that...difficult.) Folks I can actually picture having sex, though, ummm Veser --> Lee is in my headcanon and I am kind of really looking forward to seeing what happens with Veser and Ples. Basically, I can only think about sex in this series if it involves Veser. I am really not sure what that says about me.
10. A pairing that I hate: Mostly I just scroll down really quickly or hit backspace, so thankfully I do not have much experience with pairings I don't think I'd like. Everyone has their own tastes! Just don't get them on me.
11. Favourite character: --see, I was going to just put "..." as an indicator that I could not think of anything, but uh then I remembered that is actually the name of one of the characters, hah. SO UH let's pretend there's an equivalent of that that does not look like I have actually picked somebody.
12. My five favourite characters: Uhhhh in no particular order let's go with Hanna, Zombie, Conrad, Veser, and fanon Ples, since we do not actually know very much about Ples yet. BUT I STILL LOVE ALL THE OTHERS.
13. My five least favourite characters: why do you do these things to me
14. Which character I am most like: God, none of them, I hope.
15. My deep, dark, fandom secret: I don't think I have one! I am pretty open about all of my opinions.
Avatar: The Last Airbender
01. The first character I fell in love with: Probably Zuko; I remember looking back on all my old Avatar posts and being amused that I had apparently declared him interesting as of episode eight. So yeah.
02. The character I never expected to love as much I do now: Sokka really did not have a very good start, did he? But once he got going, oh my...
03. The character everyone else loves that I don't: Um, maybe Jet? But it's more that I just don't have any strong feelings about him one way or the other, really.
04. The character I love that everyone else hates: There are people who dislike Mai. Those people are fools.
05. The character I used to love but don't any longer: Nope! If I loved them to begin with, I still love them now.
06. The character I would shag anytime: --okay, I was looking up references for that Avatar pic I drew for help_haiti a while back, and I'd kind of forgotten that S3!Zuko's shirt had a kinda low collar, and--look, he's only a little underage, and I'm only a little overage, it's totally okay, right? Right.
07. The character I want to be like: Katara's got her shit together. Let's go with Katara.
08. The character I'd slap: Look, Zuko, just because you are my favorite does not mean I have never wanted to punch you in the face.
09. A pairing that I love: I'm not really in the fandom, but Mai/Zuko is pretty adorable, I gotta say. Also, canon! It is nice when things are canon. Unlike...
10. A pairing that I hate: Katara/Zuko, what, no, why is that so popular, they both belong to much better pairings and it would mean that he was redeemed by ~love~ rather than by genuinely working his ass off and I understand that everyone has their own tastes but why do the Katara/Zuko people have to be so very vocal about it.
11. Favourite character: Best redemption arc I've seen on television, yo. Plus the prettiness once he starts growing his hair out, there is that also.
12. My five favourite characters: Zuko, Toph, Sokka, Mai, and probably Iroh.
13. My five least favourite characters: Don't really have any I disapprove of as characters; there are of course ones I don't like, but in a "you are a villain and you do bad things" way rather than a "you annoy me on a fundamental level" way. (Those mostly being Zhao and Ozai.)
14. Which character I am most like: Not anyone in particular, I don't think.
15. My deep, dark, fandom secret: Again, I am pretty open about my opinions, although I do not have the opportunity to express them very often.
Comment and I will give you three fandoms of your own! Or don't, you are allowed to do that too.