Elijah David

Welcome back for another Top 10 list! This month, I'm taking a look at my favorite animated TV shows (including a few anime). (I am only including shows that I've seen all the way through at least once, though I do have some honorable mentions that don't meet that requirement.) Without further ado, to the list! Gravity Falls One of the newest shows on my list, Gravity Falls is the story of Dipper and Mabel Pines -- twin tweens who are sent to spend the summer with their great-uncle Stan in the middle of nowhere. As the summer progresses, they encounter all kinds of strange creatures lurking in the woods around Gravity Falls, and eventually wind up taking part in a battle to save the universe. The series puts some clever and touching spins on preteen/tween growing pains tropes and features some gripping storylines. I highly recommend checking it out if you're unfamiliar with it (though some of the later episodes have some very weird/disturbing moments that younge...

For February's Top 10, I wanted to take a look at some fictional relationships in honor of Valentine's Day. But my favorite relationships in fiction aren't always romantic. As often as not, they're friendships and familial ties that exhibit a strength of love well beyond what romantic love offers. Also, this is less a Top 10 and more a top however-many-I-can-fit. I have lots of favorites in this category. So many in fact, I've got sub-categories. OTPs (or, the Romance Category) Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe (Anne of Green Gables) Belle and Beast (Beauty and the Beast) Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons (Marvel's Agent's of SHIELD) Simon Snowlock and Miriamelle (Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn) Riza Hawkeye and Roy Mustang (Fullmetal Alchemist) BROTPs (or, the Sibling Category) Edward and Alphonse Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist) Dipper and Mabel Pines (Gravity Falls) Abe Sapien and Hellboy (Hellboy) Arthur and Kay (Arthurian Legend) Sokka and Katara (Avatar...

Last Tuesday, Amanda Bradburn asked me about my favorite magic systems, so I thought I would talk a bit more here about what magic systems are my favorite and why. What do I mean by magic system? Basically, any book, film, or TV series will have its own take on magical or supernatural power and how that power works -- who can (or cannot) wield it, what can magic do (or not do), what a given power's weaknesses and limitations are, etc. This understanding of magic, in its totality, is what I mean when I say magic system.* Some systems -- for example, Allomancy in Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series -- are so thoroughly detailed that you actually have a systematic view of magic in play when reading the book. Others -- such as Narnia or Harry Potter -- leave far more to the imagination than they do to the schoolbooks; their focus is less on how the magic works in small details than in the larger story.** * It should be noted that (while brilliant in their own right) Sanders...

I'm a sucker for a good redemption arc. Heck, I'm a sucker for a redemption arc, period. There's something thrilling about a character turning from bad to good, from being a villain to being a hero (or at least on the side of the hero). It gets my story-loving soul stirred up in ways few other tropes can. I've been thinking about what makes a redemption arc powerful (and what makes a good one). My friend Mirriam has posted recently about good and bad character deaths and what makes a good story  and she's even shared her hopes for Hive to be redeemed on Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Another friend shared the news that Benedict Cumberbatch is voicing the Grinch in a new animated movie and that turned into a conversation about how the live action film basically destroyed the Grinch's redemption arc by making him the victim of the materialistic Whos. While there's nothing wrong with multiple redemption arcs in the same story, in that case, they jus...

My friend Mirriam  recently blogged about her top ten on-screen characters, and I was inspired by it despite not having seen most of them in action. Here, in no particular order, are my current* top 10 on-screen characters. Captain America/Steve Rogers (Marvel Cinematic Universe) – Steve Rogers is the man I wish I could be – so devoted to his ideals that nothing (not HYDRA, best-friends-turned-assassins, or even bullies on the streets of New York) can stop him from defending and realizing those ideals. He isn't perfect, but he strives to hold himself to his code of truth and freedom, seeking to punish bad guys and save good guys – and maybe even redeem a few of those bad guys along the way. He's not afraid to confront those he disagrees with, but he never quite crosses the line into showing disrespect (unless he's dealing with Tony Stark, in which case that's the only way to be heard). Merlin (various works, including Disney, Hallmark, BBC) – Merlin is my absol...