"A Tale of Two Sisters" Becomes "The Uninvited"

Okay, so I've now seen the trailer for the American remake of A Tale of Two Sisters, a 2003 Korean horror movie, and I've seen two different ads for it on TV a bunch of times. They're calling it The Uninvited, which really only has so much to do with the story, unless they've rewritten a bunch of it. I don't know whaaaaaaat they're doing with it, also because I thought that Emily Browning was playing the younger sister, and she's practically the only one I can see in the ads, when the older sister is supposed to be the main character. That said, I COMPLETELY prefer Emily Browning - who played Violet in the Lemony Snicket movie and who I think is great - over the other actress, Arielle Kebel, who was just annoying in "The Grudge 2". I don't have much hope that she won't be annoying in this one. Emily Browning did "Ghost Ship" when she was younger, though, and it was pretty freaky, and she was really good in that. I have faith in her.

The movie itself, I'm not so sure about. Everything is being spelled out for me in the ad, and this movie is supposed to be a LOT more subtle than that. You can't fully understand "A Tale of Two Sisters" after only watching it once; you have to at least read a lot about it on the internet, and then see it one more time to pick up on all the things you missed the first time. But they always dumb down Asian movies for American audiences. I'm hearing things being said in the ad that weren't found out until the very end of the Korean movie. And the trailer is advertising a major plot point that just plain didn't exist in the original. "The Ring" was a great remake, in my opinion, that had a different story from the original but took the source material and reinterpreted it in an awesome way. I fear that the people behind "The Uninvited" weren't able to do the same; I'm afraid of what they've done to one of my favourite movies of all time. Still, I screamed a little when I first saw the ad on TV and realized what it was. There's some excitement there, because like I said, it's one of my favourite movies of all time. I've never experienced the full process of watching an Asian movie, finding out it'd be remade, seeing preview stills for the remake, and finally seeing it come to release before, so it'll be interesting for me, if nothing else.

"A Tale of Two Sisters" is a truly intense movie; there's no better word for it. I'm always left staring at my television gaping when I watch it, and even just watching the trailer for it has a similar effect on me. For the purpose of making a fair comparison, I present to you the trailers for each movie, so any of you who have not seen the original can see for yourself the difference between the two trailers, at least.

A Tale of Two Sisters:


The Uninvited:

I'll be watching "The Uninvited", and hoping that it won't turn out to be a total disaster, because the gorgeous original film doesn't deserve that kind of treatment. But I'm not going to get my hopes up too high.

"Floating Coffin"

Anyone who I've talked to for long enough probably knows how much I love the Ring franchise, from the American movie "The Ring" to the Japanese movie it was a remake of, "Ring" (known to many as "Ringu" though that's kind of pointless...but I'm not going to get into a Japanese lesson now), and the novel that was based on, also called "Ring". There are a ton of other books, movies, and even TV series in the Ring universe; I've been in love with this stuff for three and a half years and I still haven't seen or read everything Ring there is out there. But it's okay, because I immensely enjoy every new piece of Ring media that I get my hands on!

I recently picked up the fourth installment of the Ring books, a set of three short stories that take place within the Ring universe called "Birthday". Of the stories in the book, the one I was looking forward to reading the least was "Floating Coffin", a story about the final hours of a "Ring" and "Rasen" (published in English as "Spiral") character's life as she goes through something that I don't want to explain here for fear of spoiling it for anyone interested in reading the books. But in any case, while the character's death was discovered and ultimately explained in "Rasen", it was never seen from that character's point of view. "Floating Coffin" brings that into play. Naturally, I was sure that it would be disgusting and morbid, and I didn't really believe that it would be a particularly pleasant reading experience.

All I can say is that it was kind of stupid of me to doubt that I would enjoy something written by Suzuki Koji, one of my favourite authors. I did not feel disgusted or disturbed while I read the 45 page long short story, though it is a disturbing read to an extent. I was extremely thankful for the fact that the entire story was not just a graphic, detailed account of the character's death and the unbelievable experience she has before her death, but also included background information on the character and her story, and an anecdote about her past that was mostly unrelated to the story but helped to set the mood as being less of a horror story and more of an almost matter-of-fact account of what happened to her.

The story includes a brief recap of what led up to this point, which would help out a reader who picked up this book at random without knowledge of the previous books. It also includes the most background we've ever had on this character, and allows the character to become more thoroughly developed than she was in the past books. It allows the reader to get to know her just a little bit better, and that really does make you feel for her more, knowing what her fate is from the beginning (if you've read the other books, at least). I really appreciated this background on the character, as it made me connect to the character and her emotions more than I had while reading "Spiral". Aside from those features of the story, it describes what happens to the character in the final hours of her life and her feelings and thoughts during that time in a very matter-of-fact way, almost like a textbook explanation of what happened, instead of trying to create an atmosphere of dread or suspense or anything like that (at least, that's my interpretation of the story). While anyone who's read "Spiral" ultimately knows what's going to happen, actually reading it in this detail and finding out every little thing that happened is still surprising and a little amazing, in a gruesome way.

So, for making me feel that way and enjoy this story despite my expectations going into it, I am, as usual, happy to sing the praises of Suzuki Koji. I love the guy. I still have the other two stories in "Birthday" to read, as well as the short stories in the book "Dark Water" that I haven't read yet (I've only read two of them, one being the one the movie "Dark Water" was based on), his first novel "Paradise", his latest novel "Promenade of the Gods", and the short story book "Death and the Flower" which is coming out in February. With all that to read, I doubt I'll be reading much by any other author for awhile, but fortunately I have no problem with that at all!

Is Akimoto Yasushi an Elder from the Order?

Inoue Naru and Bree Avery: Trait positive girls.

Those familiar with the Breeniverse and the Hymn of One - who are all about finding your "eternal song" and a whole lot of bull that doesn't really matter since it's not a real religion anyway - has this song that they use in the background of all of their recruitment videos, and the first time I heard it, I instantly recognized it from a very strange place: the beginning of the AKB48 song "Ai no Moufu", from their Himawari 2nd stage. AKB48 are a Japanese pop music group featuring a large number of young girls. Considering I've never heard this song anywhere else, this is a surprising coincidence indeed, and it almost makes me wonder if it's more than just that. Could there be...a connection? Could Akimoto Yasushi, the man behind AKB48, actually be...A PART OF THE ORDER?

DUN DUN DUUUUUUN!

You can hear the Hymn of One music in a lonelygirl15 video here, or the song alone here. You can hear the AKB48 song "Ai no Moufu", with the music in question at the beginning of the song, here or here.

If you actually consider it for a moment, it starts to all make A LOT OF FREAKING SENSE. There is plenty of evidence to back up the idea of Akimoto being an Elder, and it's been right in front of us all along! How were those fighting the Order able to miss this? Allow me to lay out the evidence for you all.

Firstly, there's the song. How on Earth did the Hymn of One music wind up in a Japanese idol pop song? In addition to the fact that the use of the Hymn of One music, of all things, brings up questions, it doesn't even match the tone of the rest of the song, in which the girls where white wedding dresses and sing lyrics about caring for others to a calm, happy melody. The Hymn of One music has a very creepy feel to it. There is one explanation that I see: "Ai no Moufu" is obviously an AKB producer's eternal song. Not Akimoto's, because he doesn't have time for that Hymn of One crap; he just wants to get some trait positive girl's blood so he can live his otaku businessman idol machine life for 50 extra years. No, some poor producer of the girls' music who actually thinks the Hymn of One is a valid religion probably heard this song in a dream one day and suddenly felt total enlightenment, and, declaring it his eternal song, decided to throw in the Hymn of One music at the beginning, just to give a little advertisment of his religion to the idol music listening public. And the white dresses the girls wear while performing this song? Ceremony girls wear white dresses when the Ceremony is done. The whole "Ai no Moufu" aspect of this is quite easy to explain.

Now, let's take a look at AKB48. AKB is an all female idol group whose member count, including Teams A, K, and B, the research students not yet added officially to the group, and the members of SKE48 is now somewhere around 80 girls, or something outrageous like that. The Order is always in need of trait positive girls. Naturally, Akimoto, in need of a trait positive girl's blood, would want to put together a huge group of girls in order to catch any trait positive girls who the Order might've missed when they were born. It's the perfect plan! Finally, having all of those girls in one huge group makes sense.

The girls are forced to maintain "pure" and "virginal" images, or else their reputations are tarnished and they can't be sold as viable products anymore. However, this primarily applies to relations with males. They're allowed to act as sexual as they want with each other in dance routines on stage, and...well, Ohori Megumi's allowed to...do what she does. On stage, and on TV, and in magazines, and wherever the hell else. But if it were to be found out that a member of the group had a boyfriend? It'd be all over for her. Just ask Kikuchi Ayaka, who got kicked out of the group after a picture of her with a boy that read "three months together" got leaked to the interwebs. Alas, with this new outlook on the group, the reason for these restrictions becomes obvious: the girls cannot break their purity bonds! If one of them were to be trait positive and run off and have sex with some guy, what if she got an STD and it was then passed on to the Elder who received her blood? That just wouldn't do! The purity bond rule is really in place to protect Akimoto and any other Elders who might receive the blood of any AKB members from sexually transmitted diseases. They don't really care what fans think of the girls dating.

You may ask if any AKB girls have, indeed, proven to be trait positive, and I have the answer for you: Inoue Naru. The Team B member graduated from the group suddenly this fall, announcing it to both her groupmates and the audience at the end of a show one night, never to appear on stage with the group again. After being absent from shows for a reason related to her "health" a number of times, she announced her graduation suddenly, stating that she wanted to take a new path in her life. Much as I don't want to believe it, it's too obvious for us to ignore: Naruppe was trait positive. No doubt she'd been on her carnivorous diet for some time by the time she graduated, and Akimoto was eager to suck her dry of her lifeblood. And poor Naruppe probably had no idea what she was in for, truly believing that the Hymn of One had bestowed upon her a great honour by choosing her to participate in the Ceremony, and that it would enlighten her and enrich her life in some way. Other members who've wondered why they haven't heard from her in awhile have probably guessed that she's in the mountains near Sedona. Little do they know that Naruppe, most likely, is no more...and Akimoto will be at this idol business game for a lot longer now. Oh, Naruppe, I'll remember you fondly!

Add onto all of that the fact that all of the members of AKB48 vlog - just like so many trait positive girls LG15 viewers are familiar with have done - and it should all be clear to us: AKB48 is a breeding ground for potentially trait positive girls. You know what, Akimoto probably tests their blood to see if they have "potential" when they audition for the group, letting them think it's some routine checkup, and only accepts girls with that particular kind of potential into the group. Trait positive girls are rare, hence only Naruppe having been sacrified so far at the time of this writing. Still, we cannot ignore or deny what happened to her. We, the wota must join forces with the Resistance to fight to save these girls' lives.

I see right through your lies, Akimoto, and I refuse to let you take the lives of any more innocent girls! We are the Resistance and WE WILL NOT BE STOPPED!!!

(Also, I am the Juju, and my bad sense of fangirly humor will not be stopped, either.

Disclaimer: Inoue Naru is not dead. Akimoto Yasushi is probably not a member of a fictional cult. Watanabe Mayu is not a cyborg. Okay, I'm lying about that last one. That'd be like saying Jonas Wharton doesn't drink, wear caps, angst in bathtubs, and look damn sexy when he gets mad, protective, upset, or...um, anything. But really, I just want to know why Akimoto tacked the Hymn of One music onto the beginning of "Ai no Moufu", and where he found it in the first place. Thanks.)

(Originally posted to Wings of My Heart here. Changes have been made to suit the content of this blog as opposed to the content of Wings of My Heart.)

Day of Atonement Vlog Responses by Moi

Throughout the day yesterday, I posted vlogs responding to what was going on in the 12 in 12 finale. I made a total of four.

The first responds to the 12:00 PM video, and Sarah kissing Jonas, which was DEFINITELY not the hookup I'd been waiting for.

The second - which won't kill your ears as badly, as my parents had gotten home so I'd had to stop yelling XD - features my reactions to Sarah's sudden turn to evilness, and Daniel's surprise video!

The third is my somewhat awed reaction to Jonas being trait positive, though at that point I'd misunderstood and was under the impression that he was the first trait positive male ever, not just in a millenium. Still, whoa.

The fourth and final vlog is where I express my excitement about the full-blown return of the Danielbeast (!!!!!) and the prospect of him working together with Reed to get Jonas and Maggie back. (I then briefly go into the fact that I twisted my ankle yesterday, but you can ignore that if you want to. XD I'm okay, anyway.)

My first 12 in 12 was all that I could have hoped for it to be, and I am excited as hell for the beginning of season two, with DANIEL and Reed!!! I wasn't happy at all about Sarah actually being evil at first, but when that made Daniel's return inevitable, I found myself 100% trusting the Creators' decisions once again. I still kind of wish Sarah will turn out to have been brainwashed this whole time, but it's probably not going to happen. I'm going to have to deal with it. But hey, this would make a return by Taylor REALLY interesting. And hell, who knows who might come back. I'm holding out hope that we'll see Emma again one day, because I really like her. Even if she's a year younger than me and played by an actress about eight years older than me. Whatever, Emma! She's cool. But for now, I'm just happy to have Daniel back! No doubt the second season of LG15: The Resistance is going to be amazing.

Not quite the hookup I've been waiting for...

You know, it never registered with me that 8am meant 8am California time. =_= Looks like it'll be 11 at night for me before I get the final video of this season's LG15 finale. In any case, the first video will be posted soon, and I'm getting anxious, but excited. I can't wait to see what happens!

Sarah posted a video last night called "Tomorrow", saying that they're going to "go all Jack Bauer" and so Jonas told them not to talk about anything. She just wanted to say goodbye in case anything happens to them. Then she heard a noise and went to film a mirror reflection of Jonas and Maggie in another room, kissing. Maggie tried to take it a bit further, pushing Jonas's shirt up, but he stopped her and said they should get through the next day first. Then the video ended.

Now, Jonas kissing anyone is damn hot. I'm not going to lie and say I didn't enjoy that, because I did. But really, this isn't the hookup I want for the finale, a Sarah and Reed hookup is. I only liked the Jonas/Maggie pairing for a split second before I stopped caring about them and feeling like it just...isn't right. The fact that I'm kind of in love with the Beaumont/Maggie pairing now only makes me want that one even more. But in any case, Sarah and Reed MUST kiss in this season finale. I want that to happen so badly, seriously. They've been building up to it all season, so come on, let it happen already!

Anyway, the picture doesn't have much of anything to do with this entry, but it's a perfect prelude to the beginning of the Day of Atonement videos. The day of atonement is here! I'm so excited for my first 12 in 12! =DDD

A.F.I.'s "Decemberunderground" Poetry

One of the biggest reasons why I love A.F.I.'s music so much is their lyrics. When I get a new A.F.I. album, I like to just open up the liner notes and read the lyrics first, as if they were poems, before listening to any of the songs. I connect to a great deal of the words in their songs, and the untitled poem between the two songs in the final track of the album Sing the Sorrow is my favourite poem that I've ever read.

Recently I've been thinking about the lyrics to the song "Kill Caustic" from the band's most recent album, Decemberunderground. I looked up the song's lyrics online today, wanting to see exactly what was being said in a certain line, but found slightly different results on every site, so I pulled out my copy of the album and opened up the liner notes to check for myself. While doing so, I noticed that there are extra lines of text beneath the lyrics to each song (except for the last song), which I'm sure I read when I got the album but had forgotten about since. Reading those lines, I fell in love with the poetry of A.F.I. all over again, and found that some of it even sounds reminiscent of poetry I myself have written. So, for your reading pleasure, here are those extra lines, typed out by me (as close to as they're written in the liner notes as I can make out). Enjoy!

This wasn't for you. This wasn't FOR anyone. It's simply a remake of a classic. We held hands, we shared laughs, we shared beds. She told her that we were lovers Were we? But this wasn't for you really, what's the cat to do when the mouse is begging? ('02)

'areyouinorareyouout? youcan'twineitherway," he said. 'butthefallwillbefantasticandwhat'sleftisnothinglessthanperfection (date unclear)

it's freezing, but it is the desert. what to do? maybe we'll see a body. Maybe we'll see a few. I shook. did you?

Please, sit down.May I offer you something? Anything you wish..No, nothing. If you don't mind, this will be recorded...

They started far off...but they resound, as sharp as they sound. You can't mistake the sound.First the click, then the visible breath. both parting the biting cold of the night. They came. they come in time....

Is there something i should know or have i just seen too much?

We were once together, now i'm simply surrounded.

They were perfect, they were beautiful. They met in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of nothing, and kissed where everyone could see.No words. No before.No after. They kissed and it was perfect. It was beautiful. It was everything. It was nothing.

Eventually it all comes back to this. Eventually you have nothing else. Shame really. May I get YOU something? Give me anything

I saw you in the picture you took with them when you were with him and I took you from it and kept you for myself. Wait Flash Tape's still rolling.

The power went out. I turned on the radio. The power went out.I turned on the radio. The power went out.I turned on the radio.... I heard a voice

Betrayed

Back in the world of LG15: The Resistance, just when it seemed like Beaumont was the perfect knight to save Maggie and the Resistance was still alive, everything came crashing down in "Chapter 12: Journey's End". Last week, I was very nervous that Beaumont was going to say he was a part of the Hymn of One and claim that they would help Maggie, but when he said that he was part of a group fighting for girls like her, I believed that the Resistance was still out there. Apparently, I was both right to believe that Beaumont only wanted to help Maggie, and wrong to believe that this meant he was a member of the Resistance. The group Beaumont referred to was the Hymn of One, but he truly believed that they were there to help Maggie. They used him to get to her for their own motives, stealing her back from Lifesblood Labs as if she were simply an object, not a living, breathing girl. Beaumont was simply an innocent pawn, whose caring heart was taken advantage of and used to bring Maggie back into the Order's clutches.

I never saw this coming or thought of the possibility of Beaumont having been tricked by the Hymn of One, so my heart just sunk to the ground when I realized that that's what happened. In the end, Beaumont was forced to put Maggie in the back of the car and tie her up, though he put in one last ditch attempt at helping her to escape, telling her to run; she hit one of the car's doors and was hurt in the process. Beaumont's hands were tied before they had him get into the car, as well. Beaumont exclaimed that "The Hymn of One is supposed to help her," and this apparent end to his rescue mission became a heartbreaking moment of defeat, as we realized just as moment before he did how he had been played. Adding to this was the presence of Lucy, of all people. I feel downright offended by her presence...just from knowing what she did to Bree. What she allowed to happen to Bree. I checked the date on the security footage at the beginning of the episode just to see when this happened in relation to Bree's death, because for some reason I felt like I would be even more upset if it had happened while Bree were still alive. It appears to have happened near the end of last year, though, when Bree was already dead. Still, Lucy? Why is she always there when it comes to the trait positive girls we're familiar with, anyway? She's not the only freaking person in the Order who can work as a helper. I'm not criticizing the writers' use of her in the plot, if that's what it sounds like. I was just amazed to see Lucy get out of that car, and I hate her even more now.

(But I don't hate you, Amanda! ^__^ Congratulations on the baby, by the way!)

I'm furious at Lucy and the other guy in the car, and whoever else in the Order was involved in using Beaumont like this. I'm not worried for Maggie, because we all know that she's free now, we just don't know how it happened yet. I am, however, worried for Beaumont. If we find out that he's dead, I'll be heartbroken. He didn't deserve this! He just wanted to help Maggie! To save her! veelavaloom pointed out to me in a reply to my Youtube comment that the Hymn of One often brainwashes even their biggest enemies (ie. Jonas's parents) and holds onto them, so they might have just done that with Beaumont. Perhaps TAAG will be able to find him and save him, and he can join them in the fight against the Order. That would be brilliant. Even better, the Jonas/Maggie/Beaumont love triangle tension would be gold! Meanwhile, it would totally make sense for Sarah and Reed to be hooking up, in contrast to the relationship troubles of the other three...

I don't know if we'll get any more videos now until Friday, the day of the 12 in 12 finale. But either way, I'll sure as hell be looking forward to Friday, and seeing how this season will conclude. I believe that TAAG will bring Lifesblood Labs down, inspiring true fear in the Order for the first time. But I'd also be satisfied with just seeing Reed and Sarah make out. One track mind, okay?

No, but really, I believe in TAAG this time. They will have their victory. All we can do now is wait.

(Picture from LGPedia, here.)

'Twas the Night

Ever seen the 2001 Disney Channel movie 'Twas the Night? Family Channel, the Canadian cable channel that airs most Disney Channel shows and movies for us Canadians, shows this movie every year at Christmas time, and at some point I decided that it was my favourite Christmas movie. If I really think about the Christmas movies I've seen, I probably like the Home Alone movies more, but this movie still has meaning for me since I tend to see it on TV every year, so it's become something of a Christmas tradition for me. It's on this afternoon, and I only watched a little of it today, but I know I'll always have the chance to see it again.

The basic premise of the movie is that there's a family of three children and their parents, and the father's older brother, Nick. Nick owes money to these guys who are threatening to kill him, or some such thing, if he doesn't come up with their money and fast. Nick flees to his brother's house, using the excuse that there's no place like home at Christmas time. Anyway, it's Christmas Eve, and this year Santa has to use a computer to guide his sleigh, because all of the reindeer have come down with the flu. Santa isn't used to this technology and crashes, and Nick and the eldest brother of the family steal the sleigh and start using a gizmo of Santa's that temporarily freezes time for all of the people wherever he is so he can sneak in and leave the presents there, so they can go into rich people's houses and take their stuff. Santa and the two younger siblings, the middle sister and the youngest brother, spend the rest of the night trying to get the sleigh back and stop the uncle and brother. Of course, Nick sees the error of his ways, and everything works out in the end. Santa leaves Nick an electric guitar he's always wanted, and he plays a rocking guitar version of Jingle Bells (if I'm remembering correctly) for the family, getting totally into it. Christmas is saved, and all ends well.

Watching the beginning of it now, I can't help but laugh at it a little, because it's as lame as any other Disney Channel movie. I've grown out of all of that Disney Channel stuff now, so I can't help but criticize the more foolish aspects of it. That said, watching it for what it is - a silly, fun kids' and family film for the holiday season - makes it a perfectly pleasant movie to watch on TV on a December Sunday afternoon. Plus, I still think the guitar solo at the end is pretty cool. XD So if you ever see this movie on TV and you're feeling festive, give it a try. It's pretty cute. =)

Reed's Back!

Maggie, Jonas, and Sarah combined their efforts and rescued Reed!!! =DDD It remains unclear whether this happened today or yesterday, as all that was posted yesterday was a blog entry simply stating "We did it," featuring the headlines "Phase 1 Complete" and "You Will Know More Soon." Kind of a maddeningly short contribution to the series for the day. The rescue video, posted today, definitely made up for it.

The video was great: Maggie stayed in a van speaking to Jonas and Sarah through headphones in their ears, and playing around with various aspects of the building's security system; Jonas pretended to be an intern taking coffee upstairs and talked his way into the building; Sarah followed Jonas into the building and had him hold the elevator door open for her. When the security guard accompanying them asked her what her job was, she brilliant replied that she didn't work there and was just there to sabotage them. Then Jonas got the guy unconscious and pulled his mic to talk to Maggie with out of one of the coffee cups. GO JONAS!!! And Sarah too, holy crap! They're pretty damn cool in this video, that's for sure. Maggie does a great job, too, turning off the lights in the building to disorient the people working there, warning Jonas and Sarah when they're about to encounter a guard and when the lights are going to turn back on, and unlocking a door for them so they could escape from some LBL guys pointing guns at them. Jonas and Sarah broke into the room Reed was being held him, and they all managed to escape the building, run into the van with Maggie and drive away. WIN!!!

Possibly the best part of the whole video was the brief Sarah/Reed exchange right as Sarah and Jonas broke into the room Reed was in. "Sarah, thank god!" "...That's my boob." And we see that Reed's hand has landed on Sarah's boob. "Oh, sorry." LOL!

This time, it took me a few moments to even realize that I'd started clapping at the end of the video. Hells yes I am a happy girl right now! They got Reed back! The obvious Sarah/Reed ship love continues! And I only have two classes on the day of the 12 in 12 finale, so it won't even be so bad if I can't afford to skip them. The end of the season is approaching, and with how good the last week of this series has been, it almost feels like Christmas is coming early for us lonelycrackers. What could be better than that? =) Every time I see Crystal Young (Gina back in LG15 seasons 2 and 3) in her Bluenotes ad on TV, I get a little more excited...just because. Hell, Gina's death will be avenged. Bree's death. All of them. It's only a matter of time now. All I hope is that it takes at least one more season of LG15 for the Order to be brought down, because I'm not ready for this show to be over yet. XD

I wonder if that Italian series is really going to happen, though.

The Harrowing Adventures of TAAG

Oh Jonas, oh that body...

I've been addicted to lonelygirl15 for maybe a month and a half now, and ever since I got caught up on the current series, LG15: The Resistance, I've been following it religiously every day. Each evening I'm eager to see what new video or blog post has been posted for the day, and on Saturdays I'm thrilled to check out the latest weekly episode. I've completely fallen for Jonas, Sarah, Reed, and Maggie, the current lineup of the Teen Angst Adventure Gang...though only two of them are actually still under 20. TAAG is all grown up! Kind of. Their fighting brings out their inner 15-year-olds, but they're working on it.

Anyway, the last few days of the Resistance have been AMAZING. In last Tuesday's episode, "Taken", Reed was kidnapped by a guy from Lifesblood Labs after leaving the group on Monday, and the others have been looking for him ever since. The previous Thursday, Jonas and Sarah had tried to break into Lifesblood Labs and were arrested, and Reed had to bail them out; this caused Reed and Jonas to get into a fight (and I have to say, Reed looked pretty damn hot punching Jonas out...) and both Maggie and Reed to flee, though Reed spoke as if he didn't plan on returning to them while Maggie said she needed some time. It's not surprising that LBL decided to make a move while the group was split apart and vulnerable, but taking Reed is the worst thing they could have done. Reed is still new to this life of being on the run and fighting the Order, and it's not exactly something easy to get used to.

Last Thursday, Maggie posted a blog entry saying that she'd be in touch with Jonas and Sarah, as she had an idea of where Reed might be. He'd been forced to make a vlog telling them he was fine and not to look for him (it was very obvious that he was being forced to say those things), and when forced to make a blog entry also stating that he was fine, he included a fairly obvious code in it that spelled out "Help me." So on Friday's episode, "Lost and Found", the other three reunited, and went looking for Reed in the facilities Maggie was held in during her time as a test subject for Lifesblood Labs.

This episode was absolutely brilliant. Kidnappings and rescue missions are nothing new in the Breeniverse (it feels weird calling it that when she hasn't been on the show since 2007, though), but this episode features a great plot device in taking Maggie back to the setting of her painful memories. The seriousness of the situation hits you when you see Maggie standing in front of the building looking at it, determined, even while Jonas tells her she doesn't have to do this. In a truly creepy moment, Sarah brings the camera over to Maggie to reveal that she is standing at the doorway of the room she stayed in during her time at LBL, the bed stripped of its sheets and the room brighter than it looks in any of the LBL security camera footage. "This isn't you anymore, Maggie," says Jonas as he joins her. She replies, "Then why...why am I so scared when I see this place? I need to know." Then we see her frantically searching through a dark room, yelling in protest when Jonas tries to tell her they should go, until she finds some object and replies to Sarah's "What is it?", "Answers." All set to Tokyo Police Club's "The Harrowing Adventures Of?", complete with its own music box effects that might even remind one of the Hymn of One music.

BRILLIANT!!!


I love the way he's looking at her.

Saturday's weekly episode, "Chapter 11: We All Fall Down", only made me even more excited. In the pre-escape Maggie security footage, the great escape continues, and Beaumont speaks more lines than he ever has before. AND I FALL IN LOVE WITH HIM JUST A LITTLE. He's doing everything he can to help Maggie, and when he puts his hands on her face I could care less about the Maggie/Jonas pairing. And THEN, THEN! He tells Maggie that he is part of an organization fighting to save girls like her. When he said "Come with us," and Maggie said "Us?", my computer shut down and I had to turn it back on and reload the video, but I was on edge for those 10 minutes, not wanting to get my hopes up about what he was going to say, but HOPING he would say what I wanted him to say. And then, he said it. Exactly what I'd wanted to hear.

IS THE RESISTANCE STILL ALIVE, AFTER ALL?!?!?!

Many people aren't quick to believe this, as we've been led to believe that the Resistance was out there before, only to find that it was a trap. But someone else pointed out that they probably wouldn't reuse a plot element like that, and I agree that that makes the most sense. This would be the first time that we've heard anything of the Resistance still being out there, and this series being LG15: The Resistance, a development like that only makes sense. And what a freaking exciting development it is!!! I got so excited when I watched the episode that I started babbling about it in caps lock to a friend who's never watched a single episode of LG15. The Resistance is alive! I have to believe it.

So, after the usual Sunday break, we got the awesome video "All Eyes" on Monday. This video features clips of Sarah, Maggie, and Jonas watching Dr. Alderman of LBL in his home and leaving in his car, with text coming up on the screen that reads "How does it feel to be watched? How does it feel to know we're so close?" They continue to follow him once he's reached his destination, as well. At the end, there's this epic shot of the three of them from behind, and then you hear Maggie's voice: "We see you." The music, Celldweller's "Birthright", makes it all that much more epic. God, we've watched TAAG be followed ever since 2006, whether it was Bree and Daniel being followed by Watchers from the Order, or Reed being followed by the "creepy van man" from Lifesblood Labs this past fall. It's terrific to see TAAG doing the following, for once. They may not be following an Elder from the Order or anything, but LBL is an enemy worth bringing down, and succeeding at doing so would sure send a message to the order that the Resistance is stronger than ever, now.

Another blog entry from Reed yesterday said that he was fine, but it seemed as if the entry wasn't even written by him at all, but by someone from LBL who simply got Reed's password from him. There were no codes this time around, from what I can see, and the entry actually denied that there had even been a code in the last one, though it was completely obvious. This also makes me believe that someone from LBL wrote the entry, as they may have discovered the code in Reed's last entry and decided not to trust him to do anything any more. I just hope they didn't...hurt him. And I hope that they don't if they haven't already. God, I just want Reed to get out of this okay. And uh, make out with Sarah. But yeah.

Finally, we come to today's video, "We Are the Resistance". Much like "All Eyes", this episode could be viewed as something of a trailer for the series. Some fans seem to be disappointed that nothing's really happening in this week's videos, also saying that nothing's really happened at all so far in the current series, and that these videos would have been better at the beginning of the series as a way of promoting it and getting us excited about it. Maybe I'm just easily pleased due to being new to the fandom, but I don't really mind this at all. (If anything, the only time I was frustrated with a lack of things "happening" was on the day of the Boston live event, when there was no auction and all Sarah found was a note telling her to go back to L.A.) For one thing, today's video is pretty much as epic as Monday's was. With Jonas standing front and centre and Maggie and Sarah on either side behind him, our three non-kidnapped current TAAG members speak to the camera, threatening the Order, Lifesblood Labs, and anyone who stands with them, telling them that the tables have turned and their power will only decrease from now on, and indicating that this will all start tomorrow. There's a good chance that something moderately big is going to happen tomorrow, and I can't wait to see what that may be!

The one funny thing about today's video is that it obviously had to have been filmed by someone else, unless they set the camera on top of something in a different position for all three of the main shots. I can't help but picture them pulling some random, timid guy off the street and having him film them, and his expression turning to one of confusion and fear as he listens to what they say about the Order and the threats they make. XDD But this video is great nevertheless. While Maggie doesn't stand out much here, Sarah really grabbed my attention as she talked about the Order taking people's family and friends. Her sister Taylor's life was threatened by their own father, him being a member of the Order, and while Taylor is okay now, Sarah knows what it feels like to have a loved one's life threatened by these people. Being desperate to save her sister drove her to go so far as to help the Order, betraying TAAG, even though she didn't want to. I believe that she has redeemed herself, and that her actions were justified in that she had to try to save her sister and she did try to secretly help TAAG even while she was being forced to give the Order information, though I don't believe even Jonas has forgiven her yet. In any case, I liked watching Sarah say those lines.

And, Jonas. I keep falling in love with him a little bit more with every video where he does something amazing, and he sure had his amazingness going today, that's for sure. But this is no sweet, caring Jonas moment. Jonas is a man who's life has been destroyed by the Order. There's nowhere safe for him to go anymore; people are after him. The Order has tried to take everything from him, and to a large extent, they've succeeded: He couldn't save Bree. His parents were taken from him and he was left to believe that they were dead, and to this day they don't even remember him and want nothing to do with him. Emma was almost killed more than once, though she is safe now. Gina jumped in front of Jonas when a gun was pointed at him, sacrificing her own life to save his. He wound up discovering that his aunt Alex was working for the order when he, Daniel, and Bree stayed with her, although she wound up helping them later on, prior to Bree's death. He couldn't even save Nadia, the ceremony girl on the boat this past August, despite how badly he wanted to stop another ceremony from happening. (The effectiveness of his line "No, not again!" as he sees Nadia lying on a stretcher is chilling.) An early video from the current season in which Jonas tells the then unidentified Hymn of None Youtube poster "You don't know what I've lost," says everything. The Order has been hurting Jonas in one way or another since he was 13; he has a right to want them all dead. Each time he gets angry, all of his pain shows through his anger, and it's a downright powerful sight to behold.


"We are the Resistance. We will not be stopped." I believe in them. I have complete faith that TAAG are going to bring down Lifesblood Labs, and soon. And after that, the Order will know that they're in trouble now, and that it's only a matter of time. The only way this could get more epic is if our Resistance finds the bigger Resistance and joins them, and the group Jonas's father was once a member of ultimately succeeds and brings down the Order. This, along with the constant references to LG15: The Resistance's season finale as "the season one finale", has me sure that there will be at least one more season to come, if not more, so I am not too worried about the fate of the series after the 12 in 12 finale, "Day of Atonement" on 12/12. (So exciting!!!) Hell, there might even be time for Sarah and Reed to finally hook up.


Plz to be happening soon, thx.

The Resistance will not be stopped! The day of atonement is coming.

(All pictures taken from either inside.lg15.com or lg15.com/lgpedia)