OOC State of the Union?
Nodame
Don't get me wrong. I still love Nodame Cantabile with all my heart. But ever since Chapter 106 when Chiaki didn't show up to her salon recital, I feel like Nodame's been in kind of a downward spiral. I feel like she's been facing disappointment after disappointment and finally snapped with Chiaki not taking her "proposal" seriously. It's been so long since I've seen her really reveling in those simple joys and doing her wacky, Nodame-esque things a-and it breaks my heart a little... it also doesn't help that the new chapters are coming out at a slug's pace (which is not the fault of the mangaka at all! Yay, new baby for Ninomiya-sensei ♥), but it leaves me feeling kind of lost. And that's kind of silly, considering I've pulled Nodame from waaaaaay before that - from before she's even made it to Paris! - but the Paris-arc is my road map for her, and I just have no idea where she's headed right now.
Camp-wise, a lot of people that Nodame considers her good friends have left camp, plus I feel she's getting a little stagnant and that kind of distresses me. I know she has a lot of development left in her! Just look at the manga! But I have no idea how to tap into that in camp and it's making me more and more reluctant to pull her out. But Nodame is still my *~forever girl~*, so once things have settled down and I have more free time I'll try and plan some things for her.
Makino
Just when I'd recovered from the "Waaugh, HYD Final! Character assassination ;o;" phase, Korea's HYD came along! And they butchered Makino beyond all recognition! So this is less of a "serious" issue like Nodame, and more that I need to completely rinse that adaptation from my brain. Makino is really easy in that I always know where she's headed and what her goals are and the important things in her life. She's very much "what you see is what you get". I just need to focus more on the awesomeness of JDrama!Makino and stop letting all the other versions influence my play.
So. Some kind of big essay and chart comparison coming up on that, eventually!
Chuck
SPOILERS FOR THE SEASON FINALE!!!!
I'm in a really weird place with Chuck right now. Pushing Daisies got canceled - that sucked! And then the final three episodes that they managed to film were withheld from us - that sucked more! But some kind soul in Turkey uploaded the last three episodes with English tracks and I devoured them in one go. At this point, I'd had a few months to get over the fact that it had been canceled, that none of the storylines were going to be resolved, and that all-in-all, it wasn't really going to be a satisfying end. But I loved the last three episodes and - as someone who plays Chuck - I was glad that if it had to end anywhere, it ended with "Kerplunk!" And though nothing was resolved and it wasn't really an ending, that last little monologue by the narrator almost brought me to tears. Because - to me - it was everyone involved in the show, but especially the writers, who were going "we loved our audience and we want to do everything we can to give them even a little sense of closure". Did it seem like a hurriedly tacked-on last addition? Yes. Did it cover even half the things I wish it had? No. But I thought they did the best they could with the "official" warning they had (aka: practically none) and I don't begrudge them for that. I'm choosing to stick to the outlook that "I'm glad we got something rather than nothing!"
But more importantly, episode 13 was kind of a revelation for me. It was made very clear early on just how important the aunts are to Chuck. And as the seasons progressed we saw that being Alive-Again isn't always so easy for her and there's a lot of real pain that she's covering up with a veneer of chipper perkiness. So, I've kept these things in mind since I decided to app Chuck and made use of the differences in the flow of time to just keep her at an "oh well, there's nothing I can do about it" state. But in episode 13, Chuck threw something of a tantrum at Ned over her aunts leaving the country - leaving her.
Chuck: How could you let this happen?
Ned: I... did what you told me, I thought you'd be happy.
Chuck: Ned, they think I'm dead! The only way this has been bearable was because at least I was able to keep tabs on them - if they needed something I could help them or try and fix it, and while I'm completely removed I'm still part of their lives, and how can I be part of their lives if they're in Europe? This is a game-changer.
Ned: What game? This is not a game!
Chuck: No, it's not a game - it's my life. And now you decided to modify the rules, I've gotta re-evaluate which ones actually keep me here.
I was actually a little shocked at how badly she took the news and kind of mentally shook my head thinking "Chuck is being selfish again". But... while her being selfish is certainly a part of the problem, I think it comes back to the issue of how much she loves her aunts and how hard it's been for her to be Alive-Again without them. Because apparently the only thing that's made it bearable is that she could continue to be a part of their lives in some way, and being in camp where she doesn't even have that is so much worse than their being in Europe. I think I can still use the "time is stopped back home" thing to my advantage, but this seems like such a fundamental thing to how she deals with being "Alive Again" that I don't really want to... ignore it? Or gloss it over? But I also don't really know how to work it in now that she's kind of settled in camp pretty comfortably. So it's just something I have to think about, I guess.
Also, things are starting to get a little hectic again and my laptop is suffering all sorts of glitches thanks to malware, so putting my three on a semi-hiatus until things calm down a smidge!