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dittomander · 4 years

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A Comprehensive Guide to Magic in Elena of Avalor

With Elena of Avalor coming to a close, I decided to compile a guide to every spell, enchantment, potion, magical creature, and artifact that appears in Elena of Avalor, including use cases, limitations, and other facets of magic. Some notes on notation:

italics - formal name and presumably canon spelling for an incantation. Spellings are based off how things are spelled in the iTunes subtitles except where noted

[transcription approximate] - cases where the subtitles were either vague, incomplete, or absent and I had to make my best guess based on other standard spelling conventions used in the show

“quotations” - spells that had backfiring or incorrect results, where its unclear if it’s truly a unique spell that just wasn’t intended to be used or just a mispronunciation of the actual spell in question

I’ll be updating the spell list as the last few remaining episodes air. Currently up-to-date through Día de las Madres. Spells are listed in order of appearance, with Elena and the Secret of Avalor being treated as episode 0. Follow the link to the Google doc or go below the Readmore to see the spellbook.

Let me know if you notice any obvious absences and I will update accordingly.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xbylfktNY2clqLpLadPALaK4RxBL0-vpwyhRpLtjWj0/edit?usp=sharing

EDIT JANUARY 3 2021: The spellbook is now complete, at least in terms of content, all the way up through the finale. I’ve also corrected some spellings and added a few more miscellaneous magic descriptions. I’m still trying to sort out some updates for readability and organization, as well as approximate translations, but verion 1.0 is effectively done.

SCEPTER OF LIGHT SPELLS

Blaze - Blasting spell. Can destroy objects completely. Has the capacity to kill (or at least trap someone inside the jewel of its sister scepter) but not its primary function. Can be sustained with concentration.

Glow - Creates a bright light that can temporarily blind others, and banish magical darkness and creatures that thrive in magical darkness.

Reveal - Allows the caster to see through walls. The viewport is one-way. With additional concentration, can see through multiple walls at once.

Envision <noun> - Illusion spell. Projects an image of the stated noun that requires concentration to maintain. Can create multiple images at once, and even moving images.

Illuminate - Reveals invisible text. Requires concentration to maintain.

Waili telitsli la wheili y cawea senyowoh tonamit - [Transcription approximate] Ritual spell to seal away the Jewel of Maru. Requires the Scepter of Light.

Farsight - Scrying spell. Can view people or places from a distance when concentrated on. Assumed that it can be used on someone the caster has never seen but has not been confirmed.

Vanish - Invisibility spell. Can turn objects and people invisible. The last Level 1 scepter power that Elena learns.

Bloom - Creates a beam of light that when maintained, causes plants (and coral, which technically isn’t a plant but actually an animal composed of colonies of identical polyps) to grow. Possibly a Level 2 power, since it isn’t brought up until after Elena learns vanish, which Quita Moz states to be the final Level 1 power.

Magic deflection - Extra ability of the Scepter of Light after being powered up by the crystal forge of Takaína. No incantation required; simply striking the scepter against the incoming magic will deflect it. Unclear if this works on any spell or simply on offensive magic.

Truesight - Shows a projection of a past event to reveal the truth. Nicknamed “tattletale vision” by Flo. A rare case where the name of the scepter power is not the same as the incantation used to evoke it. Instead, it is activated by asking a question or saying “show us.” Extra ability post Takaína.

Seal it - Creates nearly indestructible crystals while maintained. A sword cannot break through them but the Moyacu’s jaw strength can. Notably the one spell that doesn’t seem to have an obvious connection to light. Extra ability post Takaína.

Ignite - Starts fires. Only used post Takaína, but unclear if this is a new scepter power or just a Level 2 standard power.

SCEPTER OF NIGHT SPELLS

Demolish - A blasting spell, but apparently not the Scepter of Night’s equivalent of blaze.

Inferno - Creates dark fire. Can be counterspelled by blaze, though it seems to be more the equivalent of ignite. The Scepter of Night’s most powerful ability, but dramatically drains the user’s strength.

Obscure - Temporarily blinds targets with cloud of red smoke. Likely the Scepter of Night’s equivalent of glow.

Chaos - Temporarily disorients and confuses the target.

TAMBORITA SPELLS

Illuminara <Name> Wayohel - Summons the chanul of the named individual. Apparently only requires the individual’s first name. Possibly requires a degree of concentration on the specified individual, since although the name ‘Alacazar’ is reasonably unique, I find it hard to believe there’s only one ‘Mateo’ in the entirety of Avalor.

Tlahcuilolli apartad, Tlahcuilolli apareced, Tlahcuilolli vivid - Ritual to reverse the enchantment that sealed Francisco, Luisa, and Isabel inside a painting. Chanted while striking a tamborita in a rhythm.

Vetzi - Basic knockback spell. Strong enough to cause damage to terrain but causes no lasting damage when used on a living creature.

Llévaluq/llevaluq/levaluq - Levitation spell. Can be used to lift one or more people and/or objects. Requires concentration. Also used to catch falling people and/or objects and lower them gently to the ground. A note on spelling: the former two are the ones used in the subtitles, but the spell is consistently pronounced as if it starts with one ‘L’ instead of with the Spanish ‘Ll’. The root word of the spell can’t be reliably used to determine the appropriate spelling, either, since both ‘llevar’ (to carry) and ‘levantar’ (to lift) could make sense in the context of a levitation spell. For the sake of my sanity and consistency with Fanon spellings, I’ll be using levaluq for the rest of this document.

Mortoloz jaquirando - Mortoloz appears to be the standard prefix for illusion spells, since it’s used in tandem with other words later. This specific variety conjures one or more sparkly images of jaquins.

Akatok - Petrification spell. Turns the target into a stone statue, and they remain unaware of events around them until the spell is reversed. Supposedly permanent after the next sunrise following the spell being cast, but can be reversed after an indefinite amount of time with the Maruvian Spellbreaker potion. When cast improperly, produces an ecatuul like effect, for some reason.

Ximocu - Shielding spell. Creates a deflective barrier around or in front of the caster that can reflect magic and physical hazards.

Bajaluq - A lowering spell. The opposite of levaluq. Unclear what the specific use cases are since it’s established that levaluq can also be used to carefully lower things.

Meyázami - A spell to bring the targeted object to the caster. Exclusively used by malvagos.

Canaza - A spell to bring the targeted object to the caster. Exclusively used by good-aligned wizards. It’s never explained why this spell in particular has a good and evil version.

Boqato - A knockback spell. Appears to be a more concentrated blast than vetzi. Presumably meant to be the malvago equivalent of the spell, but Mateo casts it once while offscreen in “The Jewel of Maru.” We don’t get to see if the spell works for him or not, though.

Solaza - A blasting spell. Treated as a wizard’s rough equivalent of blaze. Can destroy objects or blast holes, but appears to be less destructive than blaze since it doesn’t destroy the weathervane it makes contact with in “Nothing But Blaze”. Unclear what its effect on living creatures would be, since so far it has only made contact with objects, unless you count water spirits as alive, because that guy got obliterated.

Talact - Completely immobilizes target. Unclear if they are aware while immobilized. Can be reversed by zanamo, but unclear if this is the only way to undo it or if it would wear off after a certain amount of time.

Zanamo - Standard reversal spell. Dispels magical effects set by the caster. Olivia claims that it doesn’t work on other people’s magic, but Mateo once tried to use it to dispel Chiloya’s magic, and was confused when it didn’t work. In the context of that episode, it’s stated to have not worked because the enchantment on Chiloya’s ship prevented the use of any other magic, but the fact that Mateo still tried it implies that he expected it to work, despite someone else having cast the spell he was trying to dispel. Seeing as that was still in season 1, it was possible he just wasn’t an experienced enough wizard to realize it wouldn’t work regardless. As an additional discrepancy, it’s used in the spell to reverse someone’s malvago transformation, despite the initial spell being cast by someone else.

[Unknown Aesthetic Spell] - A wordless spell that changes background for a song in “Navidad.” Seeing as other characters are also able to change the background without use of magic, it’s possible that this was just done for flavor and is not an actual spell.

Nochecer - Creates a dome of magical darkness. Can be dispelled by glow.

Chihufeti - Creates a controlled burst of fireworks. Apparently an “advanced spell.”

“Chihuleti” - The mispronounced version of chihufeti. Creates an uncontrolled burst of fireworks. Unclear if this was just a result of chihufeti backfiring or if chihuleti is its own spell.

Yotzi - Spirit spell. Necessary for making a yotzi potion for banishing spirits. Unclear what it does beyond that.

Mocachi - Abundance spell. Used to create more of the liquid it’s cast on within its container. Unclear if it exclusively affects liquids.

“Moyotzi” - Conjures a water spirit when cast on well water. Unclear if this is a spell in its own right or just a backfiring effect from Olivia mixing up the abundance and spirit spells. Unclear what its effect would be when cast on other materials.

Desparci - Vanishing spell with a limited strength. Not powerful enough to banish a powered up water spirit. Just punches a hole through it instead.

Conglari - Freezing spell. Freezes a target solid, provided the target is not more powerful than what the caster can manage. Reversible by some means, but we’ve never seen it reversed on screen. Possibly zanamo would work? When cast improperly, it picks up the fire effect of the anchimon and ricochets it around, for some reason.

Mortoloz imagenar - Displays a sequence of illusory images in a magical viewport. Presumably the images displayed are controlled by the caster via concentration.

Mortoloz chihimagenos - Creates an illusory adversary that can be dispelled by contact.

Mortoloz cahuimatla - Creates an illusory timer in the shape of an hourglass.

Cachoa - Generates a gust of wind. Can be sustained without direct concentration, or can be just a short burst. The sustained variant can be dispelled by zanamo.

Latopo - Similar to chihufeti, creates a burst of fireworks.

Grandeluq - Enlarging spell. Works on objects and on people. Possibly doesn’t work on food, since Mateo apparently needs to make a potion to enlarge apples, anoki berries, etc.

Esfumarse - Dispels the illusory images of Victor and Carla Delgado. Unclear what this spell actually is. Possibly the way to dispel mortoloz variant spells? Possibly another generic blasting spell? We may never know.

“Hualaca” - [Transcription approximate] A wake up spell. Turns the twin xolo statues into actual giant dogs. Apparently bears verbal similarity to a speed up spell.

Nitla abrax conzaportil - An unlocking spell. We never get to see it in action.

Quittiz - Reveals invisible text. Similar to illuminate, but the text remains visible even without active sustainment of the spell.

Zapota - Opens the sealed doors of a Maruvian temple. Unclear how it interacts with locks.

[Unknown Light Spell] - Nonverbal spell to light torches, but since it’s cast during a musical number, we don’t get to hear what the incantation actually is, and it hasn’t been used since.

Boqata/poctaka - Unclear if it is a vanishing spell or a teleportation spell, but it creates a cloud of smoke that renders the caster and those standing near them not obviously present. A note on spelling: the former spelling is used when Fiero casts it in “The Race for the Realm”, the latter used when Victor casts it in “Song of the Sirenas”. Seeing as the effect is the same, they’re being treated as the same spell despite the drastically different spellings.

En cualani en malvago, en acualli en malvago, en catzacti en malvago - Ritual to transform someone into a malvago. First case of a “double hit” spell, though the concept of those types of spells isn’t introduced for several more episodes. Can be reversed by a wizard using the same incantation but ending with zanamo. Unclear if the target has to be willing or if this could forcibly transform them. The transformation includes: creating a tamborita, even in the absence of a chispa, a clothing upgrade, and (presumably) bestowing dark magic that operates in some sort of fundamentally different way than standard wizard magic, since there are curses that require dark magic to undo. Despite the unorthodox creation of the tamborita, the tool itself is apparently not the source of dark magic, since Mateo briefly threatens Victor with Victor’s own tamborita in “Naomi Knows Best”, but was unable to simply use a malvago tamborita to undo the sealing curse on Ixlan in “The Lightning Warrior”; rather, a malvago was a specific requirement to undo the spell. However, the malvago tamboritas are not utilized by the good-aligned characters at any point after the capture of the Delgados, even when the spare standard tamboritas are destroyed and new ones are needed, so there’s likely still some magical taboo against a wizard using a malvago tamborita.

“Hualoa” - Makes horses and coach run in rapid circles. Unclear if this is a spell in its own right or if this was just a backfiring effect from a mispronounced mualoa.

Mualoa - Speed-up spell.

Calooz - Dispels mualoa.

Ecatuul/ekatuul - Creates a powerful tornado that disappears after a short time. Its direction can be directly controlled, or it can be allowed to fly off on its own.

Oncholoz - Some sort of levitation or flight spell. Only used once, by Fiero, during his fight with Mateo in “Song of the Sirenas.” Not the malvago equivalent of levaluq, since Ash uses that spell later in the series.

Cepayák - Conjures a snowstorm that can rapidly spread across large distances.

Cepayák yamanák - Dispels a snowstorm. A double-hit spell. If cast incorrectly, it causes the snowstorm to worsen and spread even further.

Anahun - Imprisons creatures (or evil vases) in the Creature Compendium created by Alacazar. Requires a potion to reverse.

Clausanda - A shielding spell that puts up a large protective barrier around an area and prevents exit from said area. Presumably prevents entry into the area as well. Can be dispelled by another repetition of clausanda, even by another spellcaster. Notably discovered on a page from a spellbook describing Orizaba and the Eye of Midnight.

Doblecazán - Duplication spell. Creates an identical copy of the targeted object. Unclear if there are size or material restrictions on the spell. Unclear how it would affect living creatures.

Calterra - Used to dispel a possession spell that was afflicting King Joaqín. Possibly the spell that was used to control him in the first place, but we never see that cast. Unclear what the degree of direct control the caster has over the target while the spell is active. The possessed speaks in a monotone and has awkward, stilted movement, but still has their own handwriting.

Bilicú - Immobilization spell. Differs from talact in that the target is still obviously aware of what’s happening around them and can still speak. Also, their body can be physically manipulated by others, such as lowering their arms or taking things out of their hands, which does not seem to be the case with talact.

Emenari - Causes the target to emulate the motions of the caster, at least from the waist down, so that as the caster walks away, the target walks with them. The target is still able to move their arms freely.

Despoloz - A destruction spell, similar to solaza. Destroys the jewel from the Scepter of Night, which not even the high-powered blaze that destroyed the rest of the scepter could do.

Contali - A powerful blasting spell that proves fatal if it lands a direct hit. Dissipated enough to be non-fatal if blocked with a tamborita, but destroys the blocking tamborita (though not irreparably) in the process.

Macaquentia - Takes the clothes of the targeted person and puts them on the caster. Size and body shape differences do not seem to be an issue.

Cochimoc - Sleeping spell. Puts the targeted person to sleep, and can affect multiple people at once. Duration unclear.

Talazia - Throws the targeted person or object. Can act like a powerful knockback spell or be used to lift and throw an object.

Quamoti - Creates a barrier wall that prevents passage through it. Presumably does not require active concentration to maintain, and only lasts for a brief amount of time.

Calanía - Another speed spell. Dramatically speeds up an individual or targeted group, to a degree presumably controlled by the caster. On the small scale end, can speed up an individual horse. On the large scale end, capable of allowing a group to cross oceans in a matter of seconds.

Pesari - Creates trail of fake footprints for an indeterminate distance.

[Unknown Animation Spell] - Animates a suit of armor to attack a nearby adversary. Unclear if it is acting entirely on its own, on a simple instruction, or being directly controlled, although the latter seems unlikely since Mateo is mid-musical number at the time he casts it.

Siletzi - Silencing spell. Covers the mouth of the target. It’s dispelled by the caster snapping, however it’s unclear if this is built into the spell or if that was just a nonverbal cast of zanamo.

Cahua - Shielding spell. Creates a single pane barrier that dissipates magic rather than reflects it.

Huyacalli - Enlarging spell. Unclear what the distinction between this and grandeluq is, but there must be something going on there since Mateo insists he would’ve needed a potion to achieve this same effect prior to learning this spell. Possibly intended exclusively for edibles?

Pantoto - Changes one kind of bird into another kind of bird. Unclear if the resulting bird is random or if the caster selects it.

Quixcapa - Flips a person upside down, except then it flips them right side up again and seems to function like levaluq after that point until dispelled.

Ixotaz - Reveals the Dalia Salida on its bush.

Vetzilli - A powerful knockback spell. Based on the root of the word, it is likely the next level up from vetzi.

Portaliz - A blasting/knockback spell. Fairly nondescript.

Cascamo - Covers the ears of one or more people and prevents them from hearing anything.

“Reversamo” - Spins the caster (or their tamborita) around. Unclear if this is an actual spell or just a backfiring effect from an improperly formed spell.

Reveloa - Presumably, a revealing spell. Clears the roots blocking the doors of Chatana’s sealed chamber and the water blocking the Shadow Gateway.

Tlalt-ilitzli - Some sort of showy levitation spell. Unclear what the distinction is from levaluq or quixcapa. It might also conjure music?

Ayamín - Blocks an area or group of people from being scryed on. Duration unclear.

Quicana - Removes bindings. At the very least, removes bindings made of spiderwebs. Some of these spells have excruciatingly specific use cases so it's entirely possible it’s limited to that.

Levoltario - Levitation spell, similar to levaluq. Unclear why there’s a distinction. Regional dialects of magic, perhaps?

Flotamío - Levitates someone to the ground, similar to bajaluq.

Velatzi - A pushing spell, likely similar to vetzi. We never actually get to see it.

“Levatzi” - A vanishing spell of some kind. It’s unclear if the affected area is invisible or gone completely. Likely the former, since it can still be struck by spells. Also unclear if this is an actual spell or just a backfiring effect.

“Colarci” - Color changing spell. Creates a polka-dot pattern on the affected area. Unclear if the color can be specified by the caster, or if this is even an actual spell rather than a backfiring effect.

“Mongarki” - Unclear what this spell does. Something gross and unpleasant to look at, apparently. Unclear if this is an actual spell or a backfiring effect.

“Vicarsi” - Turns the target into gingerbread. Powerful enough to affect the palace and everyone inside it. Unclear if this is an actual spell or a backfiring effect.

“Vamoosi” - Distraction spell. Creates a puff of smoke and sparkles. I filed this under the “possibly not an actual spell” notation because I’m pretty sure it’s just supposed to be a joke, but there definitely was a magical effect so it still made the list.

Choctli quatic - Creates one or more tamboritas by fusing a chispas with the physical drum-wand. Unclear if a specific shape is required or if a chispa could be fused with anything, or at least with any drum-like object. It’s possible regular drums can be used, since the very first chronological use of tamborita magic in the series is actually done with a drum rather than a drum-wand, though it’s still referred to as a tamborita.

Mitzomo ticarsi - The reversal spell to turn something back from gingerbread into its normal material. Unclear if this is the only use case for this spell or if it can be used to restore things from other materials as well.

Cahuetzi quicaniz - A dark magic spell that reverses dark magic encasing spells. Repeated three times for the whole ritual, though the tamborita is only struck once.

Campatic - Opens and holds the mouth of the Moyacu. Unclear what the generic intended effect is. Must be maintained by the caster, and requires obvious physical effort to do so, which is rare for tamborita magic.

[Unknown Light Spell] - Produces a generic glowing effect that swirls around in front of the tamborita for a second or so.

Quitanzi - Similar to farsight. It projects an image of a faraway scene, and though it can work around the cloaking spell that impedes farsight, it does not include any sound. Shows a more ¾ view of a wide scene rather than farsight’s eye-level viewport.

Pitzini. Coyoni. Cehualli. Yohalli. - Ritual to open the Shadow Gateway and free the Shadows of the Night. A multi-hit spell, although unclear how many times the tamborita must be struck. The words are chanted 3 times, and the tamborita is struck at least 5 times over the course of the chant.

Malatza - Rapidly spins the target around like a top, to the point where they can spin away.

Ayahut - Imbues the targeted object with a paralysis effect, so that anything it strikes is held completely in place. Unclear if it wears off after a certain duration or a certain number of strikes.

Hui tlalli yot - A triple hit spell designed to banish creatures to the Spirit World. Possibly the spell that wiped out the Maruvians long ago. Has a chance of backfiring and banishing the caster and their allies instead. Apparently difficult to maintain, this is the rare case of a tamborita spell taking a physical toll on the caster.

WAND SPELLS

Vadisima - Destruction spell that completely obliterates target. Capable of destroying the barrier conjured by ximocu, but cannot blast through it. Fatal on contact with a human, barring intervention by magical amulets.

[Unknown Youth Spell] - A nonverbal, topically applied spell that removes wrinkles and age spots at the place touched.

Obscura - Darkness spell that covers the sky in storm clouds.

POTIONS

Akatok reversal potion - A potion to reverse the effects of the spell akatok. Must be used before the next sunrise to be effective. Only a drop is required to undo the entire effect, allowing a single batch of the potion to be enough to restore an entire room of people. Contains extract of whistle weed.

Yotzi potion - Banishes spirits. We never see it used. Requires the spell yotzi to be cast on it. Won’t solve your mouse problem.

Potion to break El Guapo curse - Breaks the possession curse on the sword of El Guapo, at least insofar as allowing the afflicted person to release the sword. Does not completely destroy the curse on the sword. Apparently takes hours to brew.

Enlarging potion - Makes fruits bigger when poured on them. Makes creatures bigger when consumed. Unclear how it affects other items, but apparently has distinct use cases from spells like grandeluq. When made improperly, it shrinks things instead.

Reversal potion for enlarging potion - Restores an enlarged creature to normal size when consumed. Presumably not the same as a shrinking potion, since a normal-sized object doused in it does not seem to be affected.

Human shapeshifting potion - A horrible smelling potion that when consumed, changes the physical appearance of the drinker, including their clothes. Does not last for an indefinite amount of time and wears off gradually, with the drinker’s appearance slowly turning back to normal. The effect does not fool mirrors.

Ensmalling potion - Shrinks creatures on contact.

Disappearing potion - Causes creatures to vanish on contact. Unclear if they’re just invisible or if this functions like desparci where the creature is intended to be vanished to… somewhere else.

Maruvian Spell Breaker - Can reverse the effects of the spell akatok, even after an indefinite amount of time. Unclear if this is supposed to be the same potion as the original akatok reversal potion and the writers just forgot about the time limit (which seems like a weird thing to forget given that it was such a significant plot point in its introduction episode) or if it really is something distinct.

Jaquin shapeshifting potion - Transforms someone into a jaquin of a conveniently similar color scheme to their own when poured on them. They remain transformed for an apparently indefinite amount of time until the spell is explicitly reversed by another potion. Fools mirrors, unlike the human shapeshifting potion.

Jaquin shapeshifting reversal potion - Reverses the effects of the Jaquin shapeshifting potion and restores the affected person to human form.

Releasing potion - Frees a creature (or evil vase) from the Creature Compendium when dripped onto the corresponding page. Thankfully doesn’t seem to soak through to other pages when poured in large quantities or “Movin’ On Up” would have been a much more challenging episode.

Ungilding potion - Reverses the effects of the noblin’s golden touch when poured on an affected object or creature.

Book spell reversal potion - Reverses the spell that sealed Alacazar’s spirit inside of a book to restore him to human form. Requires jaquin eggshell, mist of butterfrog breath, an indeterminate amount of other presumably common ingredients, and a petal of the Dalia Salida. The ingredients must be placed in a pouch and shaken in a rhythm while the associated spell is chanted.

A potion to magically inspire magnificent singing - Spreads a curse that compels people to break out into spontaneous song and choreography with no discernable music source, with the exception of whoever drinks it. Contains spidervine sap, McGuffin oil, and a lock of the caster’s hair, and then must be consumed. Unclear if the resulting effect is the intended one of the potion; Mateo points out that Armando messed up in making it, but doesn’t clarify if the potion was made incorrectly and thus produced a result different from what Armando expected, or if Armando misinterpreted what the potion was for in the first place.

Reversal potion for singing potion - Breaks the spontaneous musical curse. Contains spidervine sap, and is activated when the caster of the original curse sings. Rather than being consumed or poured, the potion just absorbs the curse back into the bottle.

Smoke cloud potion - Creates a cloud of smoke that dissipates after a short time.

Color changing potion - Changes the color and pattern of the creature it’s used on. Unclear if it’s completely random or if the pattern is decided by the brewer.

EMOTION MAGIC

Happiness - Yellow dress. Possible effects include: conjuring butterflies, growing flowers, compelling others to sing and dance, bringing inanimate objects to life, conjure rainbows

Anxiety - Purple dress. Possible effects include: making objects spin, creating rockslides, bringing paintings to life, making people run around fast (after consuming magical chocolate, specifically), bringing statues to life, breaks objects, making people dance ballet

Anger - Orange dress. Possible effects include: making objects fly around, bringing inanimate objects to life, turning a faucet to spray someone, cause dreams to manifest, summons aggressive vines, summons Esteban, lift large chunks of the ground

Calm - Cyan dress. Possible effects include: calming enraged creatures, restoring anxiety-activated magic to normal

Love - Pink dress. Possible effects include: calming enraged creatures, restoring anger-activated magic to normal, conjuring flowers, shape hedges

Sadness - Blue dress. Possible effects include: turns fountain spray into rain, conjure localized rain, compel others to cry

Self-doubt - Grey dress. Possible effects include: shrinking surrounding area

Forgiveness - White dress, gold detailing. Possible effects include: Reversing the magic of the Four Shades of Awesome

ESTEBAN STAFF MAGIC

Teleportation - Transports a person or object from one place to another. There are a few variants on how this ability works. Tapping the staff on the ground transports the user and surrounding people to an alternate location, typically not within view, and if the user has poor control, they can end up in random locations nearby. It can also be used by pointing the staff at a person or object and then pointing to the desired new location. Has a limited range, but with two people using it, it can even reach the Spirit World.

Farsight-esque - Scrying spell. Presumably, similar requirements and restrictions as the Scepter of Light’s farsight power apply.

Canaza-esque - Likely just the teleportation power again but it seems weird that an otherwise instantaneous teleportation effect would result in a magical beam battle, so this gets a separate listing. Presumably more powerful than canaza, seeing as it was also dragging Mateo across the ground.

NONSTANDARD SPELLS

“I wish to be small” - A power of the Amulet of Avalor that Elena bestowed upon Sofia during the events of Sofia the First. Shrinks Sofia down and is reversible upon her command. Still works even after Elena is freed from the amulet.

Shapeshifting into mermaid - A power of the Amulet of Avalor that Elena bestowed upon Sofia during the events of Sofia the First. Transforms Sofia into a mermaid on her request.

Ritual to free Elena - Wrapping the Amulet of Avalor around the wand that was used to seal Elena inside of it, and then placing it upon “The Crown of Aziluna” raises the statue of Aziluna from below the water (though not permanently) and frees Elena from the amulet. Unclear if the statue is specifically required or if Aziluna himself could have reversed it.

Nonverbal, wandless spell to change writing - A quick hand gesture to add a small piece of writing to a document. Unclear what the restrictions are on the length of the writing, the duration of the addition, or other factors, but can at least add a five-letter word. Unclear if there is an associated incantation for casting with a tamborita.

Mázico quitemo pok - Cast with a mázico to forcibly send someone to the Spirit World. The caster presumably has no control over where the target ends up.

Mázico místico más - Cast with a mázico to bestow the target with spirit guide stripes and all their associated powers, including the ability to traverse between the spirit and human world and locate the people they’re meant to guide. Unclear what would happen if cast on something that isn’t a spirit.

Purun - Forces the target to dance. Cast with a feather. Unclear if this is also a valid tamborita spell.

Assorted Chiloya spells - Chiloya can also use his feather to dispel purun and cause items to vanish.

The immortality spell - Enchanted the Alegría so that all those on board remain immortal. Once a year, the ship can pick up new crew members that also fall under the spell. No other magic works on board the ship except for that of the Captain. Unclear if it’s possible to ever leave the ship once the spell has taken hold.

“Magic from the great beyond, turn this stone into a wand” - The incantation to turn a magic-infused gemstone into a usable magic wand. Fails if the stone does not have enough power in it.

Amaláy’s conjurings - Despite being a ghost, Amaláy can still make use of magical abilities; although it could be that these abilities are due to her being a ghost. It’s unclear which. She performs magic to conjure a windstorm and manipulate floating masks, and both these spells are unspoken.

Coyo mote tozaza - Reveals hidden writing on Commander’s Rock and opens (and closes) the door, provided a jaquin paw is in contact with the switch stone outside.

Nonverbal, wandless silencing spell - Briefly seals the mouth of the target so they can’t speak, although they can still make noise. Possibly a variant on siletzi.

Vaya raya mística - A spirit guide spell to transfer one’s spirit guide stripes to another spirit. Requires contact between the two spirits.

Regresa raya mística - Spirit guide spell to reclaim one’s spirit guide stripes from another spirit. Requires contact between the two spirits.

Cuan metzli alza el atl, mocentlalia mágica de cihupilli a mi - Incantation for a ritual to siphon away another’s magic. Performed by holding the jewel from the Scepter of Night over the spell’s victim at moonrise. The incantation is repeated at least twice for the full ritual, and the jewel must be exposed to the moonlight. Unclear if this ritual would only work on Elena or if it would work on other magical individuals or creatures as well. Potentially fatal to the target of the ritual. Unclear if the magic is siphoned into the caster or into the jewel.

Assorted Zopilote magic - Zopilote can shapeshift at-will into a vulture, summon items to him without a wand, and shoot blasts of magic without a wand. It’s unclear if these are abilities specific to Zopilote or if he is simply casting non-verbal magic. He does use a tamborita later to perform at least the latter two abilities.

Caja coyó hina loyá - [Transcription approximate] The incantation associated with the use of the book spell reversal potion.

Nahua cencama momaquá - Old Maruvian releasing spell to break magical seals. Translates to “magic word escape.” Can be cast with a tamborita, but can also be cast by just reciting the words. It’s unclear which situations necessitate a wand to be used with the incantation.

Nahua cencama cazá - Old Maruvian disempowering spell that both removes the Chiki-Chiki’s ability to curse others and reverts the curses it had already cast. Unclear if this disempowering spell is specifically designed for the Chiki-Chiki or if it would work on other magical creatures as well. Does not require a wand to cast.

Nahua cencama quazicá - Old Maruvian sealing spell to imprison creatures. Does not require a wand to cast. Unclear why this is different from just closing the door to the shrine it was cast on.

Chatana summoning rituals - “Legs of spider black as the night, wings of an eagle, a web woven tight, fast as the wind, sharp as a bite, conjure a creature to give them a fright.” Conjures arañaguilitas. “Jellyfish, grow kraken size, with mighty wings and opal eyes.” Conjures a giant jellyfish. “Tiburón teeth and dragon fire-” Presumably would conjure a shark-like creature. Presumably all require Chatana’s diadem to cast, but unclear if anyone else would be able to replicate this effect even with the diadem. Chatana can also shoot generic blasts of magic.

Assorted Bronzino effects - Bronzino produces multiple magical effects, often without a tamborita, making it difficult to gauge which are spells, which are sleight of hand, and which are just flavor for the musical number, so they’re all grouped here for simplicity’s sake. These effects include: conjuring flowers, appearing in a puff of smoke, voice throwing, conjuring and dispelling conjured lions, growing muscles, conjuring a tea set, conjuring a flying shark, turning a flying shark into flowers, conjuring money, conjuring a crowd of people, conjuring a horse, and making a fountain spray water in patterns.

Coyo nahua kalikwah - Old Maruvian revealing spell to expose a magically disguised passage.

“Toktlee choktlee hekuppah” - Likely supposed to be toctli choctli hekupa, given other standard spelling conventions. Restores a withered chispa plant to a healthy state.

Tlaso tonatu, tlaso mestli, tlaso tipak - Ritual to supposedly create a circle of peace. Chanted while pacing in a circle and shaking a bundle of herbs. Unclear if there’s an actual magical effect.

MAGICAL CREATURES/ENTITIES

Jaquins - Flying jaguars capable of speech that are native to Vallestrella. They lay eggs to birth their young and seem to have a consistent, species-wide preference for the taste of anoki berries. Young jaquins can fly and speak in simple sentences shortly after hatching. Jaquins are specifically the only creatures that can open the gateway between Avalor and Vallestrella, but it’s unclear if they have any specific supernatural abilities beyond that.

Chanuls - A type of spirit that acts as a guide to humans, providing them with advice when they’re struggling. Wizards can conjure and speak to their chanuls with a spell. Each chanul has multiple humans that they’re tasked to guide, but it’s unclear if there is a cap on the amount. Chanuls must train before they are granted the magic stripes that let them pass between worlds to advise their humans.

Noblins - Small, purple, bipedal creatures capable of speech and at-will shapeshifting into dogs. They can also blow large gusts of wind and turn objects and living creatures to gold with a single touch. This effect is not reversible by the noblins themselves, but can be reversed by other means.

Rocadors - Large creatures that appear to be made entirely of stone and live near volcano peaks. They have some sort of bond with their volcano of residence such that they can cause it to erupt when their tempers flare. They can also cool their bodies by calming themselves. Unclear if the species as a whole is prone to struggles with anger management or if it’s just a wacky coincidence that the two rocadors we’ve met had that problem. Unclear what the status of a rocador’s volcano is once it moves out.

The Yacalli - A very polite and powerful giant that guards the bujitos of Cordoba. He wakes up when their homes have been endangered. Unclear if he has any supernatural abilities beyond existing.

Duendes - Mischievous elves from another world that can turn invisible at will for an unclear duration. Three especially significant ones can use their jewels to form a key that opens the portal to their world. Speak in a jabber.

Marposas - Bright purple dolphin-like creatures that lay eggs on the shore and have very devoted parent/child relationships.

Orizaba - A moth fairy that lives in the spirit world and gains the ability to cross into the human world during a total solar eclipse. She is only able to stay as long as the sun is blocked, and light harms her by burning holes in her wings and stifling her powers. Her powers include flight, shooting blasts of magic, and conjuring swarms of moths, which can be used to bind others, snuff out torches, and form shapes.

Troyo - A talking coyote with super speed.

Zanies - A group of especially eccentric spirits that live in the Loop of the Spirit World. Prone to making random strangers their rulers.

Water Spirit - Large, humanoid entity made entirely of water. Grows stronger by absorbing more water and can shoot blasts of it at adversaries. Unclear if this entity was created or summoned from a different world.

Butterfrogs - Brightly colored frogs with butterfly wings native to Vallestrella.

Velociervos - Brightly colored, exceptionally fast deer native to Vallestrella.

Peabunnies - Brightly colored rabbits with peacock tails native to Vallestrella. They have an elaborate friendship ritual involving dancing.

Flaringos - Brightly colored, remarkably relaxed flamingo-giraffe hybrids native to Vallestrella.

Sunbirds - Large and powerful feathered serpents that live for centuries and have an assortment of supernatural powers, including shapeshifting, projecting illusions, and restoring power to magical items. At least one has proven capable of divination, and can listen to the flames to see visions of the past and predict the future. One other was reportedly a powerful magical healer, such that even a statue of him can break powerful magical curses.

Marimonda - A forest sprite with powerful nature bending magic. She can create vines, trees, flowers, and other plants at will and in large amounts. Very agile.

Chonopos - Mischievous creatures said to come out from the underground during thunderstorms after three consecutive lightning strikes. They play pranks on people, like stuffing mud in their socks, stealing their food, or putting rocks in their pillow. Unclear if they’re real creatures or not, since they’re never seen in the show.

Sirenas - Aquatic humanoid people with fishlike tails and the power to sing a hypnotic melody that lures sailors into crashing their ships. Certain sirenas can turn their tails into legs when they go on land, based on their parentage. They only eat seaweed and kelp. Unclear what their relationship is to the mermaids that exist in other parts of the EverRealm.

Cuco & Ocho - A talking hippocamp and octopus, respectively. Unclear if they have any supernatural abilities beyond that.

Malandros - Talking, shapeshifting river dolphins. Whatever they shapeshift into seems to always have the purple color scheme of the malandros.

The Macoco - A two headed, talking sea beast. A powerful swimmer, and also capable of walking on land.

Kupi-Kupi - A creature capable of cursing people so that they run backward for an indefinite amount of time. The curse is cast via eye contact. Very agile, and speaks in a jabber.

Anchimon - A small, fiery imp that starts fires wherever it steps. A powerful jumper. Speaks human language, but only in small, broken phrases. Created by Chatana.

Chatana - A winged sorceress with the power to create magical creatures of varying degrees of sapience. Gains her power from a golden diadem that she wears. Unclear what she is capable of without it. Unclear how others would be affected by wearing the diadem themselves, but presumably it’s usable only by Chatana, since otherwise there would have been no reason for Ash to recruit her once she had the diadem in her possession.

Dragallos - Fusion of a lizard and chicken that can eat disproportionately large amounts of food very rapidly. Capable of treating even typically inedible material, like rocks, as edible. Native to Vallestrella, and a rare case of a Vallestrella creature not speaking human language, instead just communicating in a jabber. They can move at fast speeds by rolling up.

Alpacamundis - Fusion of an alpaca and a coatimundi. Native to Vallestrella.

Snurtles - Fusion of a turtle and a snail. Very slow. Native to Vallestrella.

Chiki-Chiki - A small blue gnome created by Chatana that curses people with a never-ending laughing fits when it touches them. Can be rendered harmless by a disempowering spell, at which point any already cast curses break as well.

Pili - A talking weasel conjured by Chatana with the ability to spit small bursts of fire.

Sea Nymphs - Humanoid women with nature bending powers, specifically over water. They can raise and lower precise sections of it at will, even in areas where they themselves are unable to reach. They can also create and destroy barriers that can imprison other sea nymphs, along with magical, concealing fog.

Tziloco - A magical, talking bat with the power to shapeshift into other creatures. He can also use his wings to detect when he or someone near him is being scried on.

Arañaguilitas - Baby spider eagles created by Chatana. They fly in swarms and shoot entangling webs.

Kizin - A giant created by Chatana. Capable of speaking, but uses babyish speech patterns. His skin deflects magic, with the exception of a small patch on the bottom of his left foot.

The Moyacu - A giant sea beast that guards La Isla de Yalcatura. Large enough to eat small ships whole and has a strong enough bite to break the crystals conjured by seal it, making it the first thing we’ve seen powerful enough to break them.

Giant Jellyfish - A giant jellyfish created by Chatana. Has a powerful, electric sting and can float through the air.

The Four Shades of Awesome - Formerly known as The Shadows of the Night, this group of four powerful magical entities destroyed the civilization of Maru long ago before the Jewel of Maru was used to seal them away. The specific entities are detailed below.

Vuli - The Chaos Shade. With a single touch, he can cause the targeted creature to behave erratically. The affected creature seems to still have awareness and control of their actions, but their perceptions are skewed in such a way that they may attack their allies or take other abnormal actions.

Yolo - The Animal Shade. Can shapeshift at will into another animal or forcibly shapeshift another creature into another animal by firing a ball of blue magic at it. Implied that the resulting creature is random, even to Yolo, but that may be a choice on his part. His powers can affect the other Shades as well.

Hetz - The Weather Shade. Can conjure powerful, localized thunderstorms, and can be destroyed by his own power.

Cahu - The Time Shade. The most dangerous of the shades. She can slow down time in a localized area by turning her hourglass on its side, and she can freeze an individual or an object in time in the form of a stone tablet by striking them with a sand grain.

Grand Macaw - The eccentric ruler of the dark side of the Spirit World. Has a fondness for parties, olaball, and ambiguous promises. The only spirit that can allow a mortal that has fallen through the Shadow Gateway to return to the human world.

MISC

The Amulet of Avalor - A powerful Maruvian relic with an assortment of powers. It can draw its wearer inside of it to protect them, trap others inside as a prison, dole out powers and curses based on the will of someone contained inside of it, or acts as a more general wish granting artifact when someone is not inside. Bestows magical powers upon someone trapped inside for a long duration.

Wand - A type of arcane focus usable by certain spellcasters. Made from gemstones that have already been imbued with magic. Spells are cast by pointing the wand at the target and saying the corresponding word or words, but apparently there is some additional factor required to use one. Certain spells can be cast wordlessly.

Tamborita - A drum wand used by Avaloran and Maruvian wizards. Made from a variety of materials. A regular wizard’s tamborita gets its power from a gem called a chispa, but a malvago tamborita gets its power from another malvago casting a ritual on it. Spells are cast by pointing the wand, striking the drum, and saying the corresponding word or words. Some spells take multiple hits to cast. Presumably, a skilled wizard can cast certain spells without a verbal component.

Scepter of Light - A Maruvian arcane focus created by Amaláy, the final Royal Wizard of Maru, and powered up by a dip in the magical well of Takaína. In its original state, it could control light in all its forms, and had a finite list of spells revolving around that principle. Unclear what the extent of its powers are in its new state, but can now manipulate physical matter as well by creating crystals. Capable of destroying the Scepter of Night, but apparently not the scepter’s jewel. Only channels ‘good’ magic. Glows when in contact with someone with powerful good magic. Spells are cast by just pointing the scepter and saying the corresponding word or words.

Scepter of Night - A Maruvian arcane focus considered equal and opposite to the Scepter of Night. Never explicitly stated to have also been created by Amaláy, and depicted as being wielded by an unknown spellcaster on the walls of Tepet Muul. Presumably, it can control darkness in all its forms. Capable of damaging the Scepter of Light, but is ultimately destroyed by it. The pieces can be safely separated and put back together, but the parts are inert while separated, save for the jewel, which can be used in other dark magic rituals. Spells are cast by pointing the scepter and saying the corresponding word or words.

Magic cell bars - Enchanted, glowing green bars used to imprison the Noblins under Shuriki’s rule. Unclear what benefit they provide over regular prison bars, since they vanished upon Shuriki’s defeat.

Fountain of Youth - A magical spring located on the vanishing isle of Santalos. Drinking the water makes the drinker younger, presumably in rough proportion to the amount of water consumed. The effect occurs in fairly abrupt stages and does not kick in immediately after drinking.

Aging flower - A magical flower located on the vanishing isle of Santalos. Eating petals of the flower makes the consumer older, presumably in rough proportion to the amount consumed. The effect kicks in much faster than the effect of the water from the Fountain of Youth.

Enchanted journal - A notebook formerly owned by Alacazar that has been enchanted to reveal clues that lead to the discovery of the hidden Codex Maru. Each clue is revealed as the former is solved, with the exception of the first, which is revealed by the Royal Wizard asking the book where to find the Codex. Probably a good thing it was Mateo that ended up in the position.

Eye of Midnight - A powerful Maruvian jewel that can freeze a solar eclipse in place when the jewel is placed atop the Sun Stone in the park. It can be destroyed by glow, and once destroyed, the frozen eclipse will end.

Alchemy - A process that seems to be somewhere between chemistry and potion making. Capable of turning liquids into solids and back without temperature changes. A beginner's form of magic, but unclear what its practical uses are.

Invisibility spell/potion - Something is used to turn the statuettes in Realm of the Jaquins invisible, but we never see if it is a spell, potion, or some other kind of magic. The objects themselves are rendered invisible, though they still leave shadows.

Quita Moz’s magic jars - Enchanted jars used to contain magical creatures. Anything that partially enters one is sucked inside and trapped when the jar is closed. It can be freed by opening the lid.

Cursed gecko statuette - A small golden gecko statue that transforms anyone who takes it from its pedestal into a giant gecko. The curse can be broken by returning the statue.

Coza Kex - An enchanted fire opal used by the Maruvians to punish wrongdoers with a “dose of their own medicine.” The curse is inflicted by contact with the stone, and undone by reversing the action that the stone deemed inappropriate. The stone can adjudicate these wrongdoings and curses on its own, without any input from a spellcaster.

Enchanted masks - A trio of full-head masks shaped like a bird’s head, a crocodile’s head, and a bull’s head. When worn, they partially transform their wearers into the creatures they depict. The curse is broken by removing the masks. Unclear if more of these masks exist.

Jewel of Maru - Supposedly, the most powerful magical jewel in the Kingdom of Maru. Powerful enough to drive back the forces of darkness that escaped from the spirit world, but also completely wiped out the Maruvians in the process.

Cursed sword of El Guapo - A sword that once belonged to a General that called himself “El Guapo”, and now contains his disembodied spirit. When held, Guapo’s spirit hijacks the wielder’s body and exercises a limited amount of control over it. He can control it in totality for unclear periods of time, but if the host’s and Guapo’s objectives are not aligned, they fight for control of the body, with Guapo having varying degrees of control over different body parts. The sword also returns to the new wielder’s hand regardless of measures taken to contain or dispose of the sword until the curse is broken. The curse can be broken with a special potion, though it only removes the spirit from the host body, not the sword.

Nico Quixo - A large, magical, Maruvian hammer than when held, hammers whatever is in front of it automatically. Can drag its user roughly around if they aren’t strong enough to control it.

Milagra - A special type of seaweed that acclimates people to the water. When wrapped around a person’s torso, it allows them to breathe underwater, and when wrapped around their legs as well, it transforms them into a sirena. The sirena transformation does not become permanent until the tail stops glowing.

El Escudo - A shield enchanted to block magical attacks. Operates like the spell cahua, where it stops the magic short rather than redirecting it.

Red Avari blossom - A plant that when eaten, can reverse a sirena transformation, provided that the transformed sirena’s tail has not stopped glowing yet. Grows on Isla Botigua.

Vidaflor - A dandelion-like plant with seeds that can temporarily restore youth to someone by blowing the seeds onto them. Very rare.

The breath of life - An enchantment obtained by touching the forehead of the statue of Aziluna. It manifests as a glowing orb of light that can restore life to the dying when they inhale it.

Grotto Metamo - A cavern in Vallestrella that contains a magical tree, capable of forcibly transforming people that come into contact with its roots. To transform a creature, one must say the name of the desired creature, and the next thing to come into contact with the roots is transformed permanently unless the one who called the transformation decides to turn them back. Direct contact is not necessary; simply coming into contact with water that the roots are in can also cause the transformation.

Sunbird Temple Curse - A chamber of a Maruvian sunbird temple enchanted to curse the people inside it if anyone raises their voice too much. The curse in question shrinks the occupants, and can be reversed by a simple enlarging spell.

Crystal forge of Takaína - A well of magic crystals underneath a temple in Tepet Muul. The crystals hold immeasurable power, and reportedly contact with just one is enough to grant a person powerful and potentially dangerous magic. Falling into the well grants an enormous magical boost, along with a costume change. The Maruvians made all their magical artifacts at this forge. Presumably can’t be teleported into.

Fire stones - Some type of magical reagent found only in Paraíso. Unclear what their specific use is.

Salma - A silver guitar that places people under a trance when they hear music played on it, with the exception of the one playing. The affected can be distinguished by an eerie blue glow washing out their regular eye color. While under its spell, they perform any orders given by the one playing, even to the point of attacking their allies.

Bolagro - A bag that’s enchanted to fit anything inside, regardless of size. The bag stretches around whatever it is trying to contain, and then shrinks back down to its regular size. Implied to only be able to hold one thing at a time.

Ixlan’s gloves - A set of gloves enchanted with powerful lightning magic that drastically enhance the power of the wearer’s blows. Unclear if they only work for Ixlan or if another wearer could utilize their full power.

Quita Moz’s closet - A pocket dimension used for storing magical artifacts like the crystal tamborita and sending people on Wonderland-esque quests. Either contains a myriad of magical creatures living in the pocket dimension, such as golden noblins, a talking jaguar, and tiny glowing ghosts, or just conjures elements as needed for the quests. Likely the latter given the presence of Peaches the guinea pig and the grumpy butterfrog.

The Shadow Gateway - A portal to the Spirit World located under the ocean just outside of Nueva Vista. A sigil on the wall of Nueva Vista lights the way to it. The portal is specifically used to trap the Shadows of the Night within the Spirit World, and a mortal entering through the Shadow Gateway can only be returned to the human world with permission of the Grand Macaw.

Potion-holding arrows - Arrows designed to hold small amounts of potions in the arrowheads, so that the potion can be activated on the arrow’s contact with a target.

#elena of avalor #eoa #disney #eoa spellbook project #praying that the readmore works bc this post is a doozy and it's my first time using one #this started as a personal reference but I got lost in the sauce #ditto original

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cinemavariety · 4 years

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The Director’s Series: Gaspar Noé

The director series will consist of me concentrating on the filmography of all my favorite directors. I will rank each of their films according to my personal taste. I hope this project will provide everyone with quality recommendations and insight into films that they might not have known about. Today’s director in spotlight is Gaspar Noé

#5 - I Stand Alone (1998) Runtime: 1 hr 33 min Aspect Ratio: 2.66 : 1 Film Format: 16mm

A horse meat butcher's life and mind begins to breakdown as he lashes out against various factions of society while attempting to reconnect with his estranged daughter. Verdict: A promising debut, and an extremely shocking one at that. Noé builds upon his short film Carne, and this is a fully realized extension. I Stand Alone is a nihilistic depiction of an unhinged societal outcast. It spews just as much as hate as all of Noé’s other works, but isn’t exactly something I ever cared to return to.

#4 - Climax (2018) Runtime: 1 hr 37 min Aspect Ratio: 2.35 : 1 Film Format: Ari Alexa Mini Digital

Young dancers gather in a remote and empty school building to rehearse on a cold and wintry night. The all-night celebration soon turns into a hallucinatory nightmare when they learn that their sangria is laced with LSD.

Verdict: One of Noé’s most admired works - both critically and with audiences. While I do consider it one of his lesser works, there is no denying the technical mastery instilled into every sequence. The first half of Climax is essentially a music video before the credits began to flash on-screen - that's when the truly interesting portion of this film begins. The camera work succeeded in being extremely nauseating and unsettling. All the while there is a constant barrage of wails and deep guttural crying that loops incessantly in the background. It truly does feel like a nightmare or the recesses of hell.

#3 - Love (2015) Runtime: 2 hr 15 min Aspect Ratio: 2.35 : 1 Film Format: Red Epic Dragon Digital

Murphy is an American living in Paris who enters a highly sexually and emotionally charged relationship with the unstable Electra. Unaware of the seismic effect it will have on their relationship, they invite their pretty neighbor into their bed.

Verdict: Love isn’t the first film to depict real life sexual intercourse instead of simulated intercourse, and it won’t be the last. Love is the type of film that a film such as Nymphomaniac wanted itself to be. Although the main character is pretty despicable, and sometimes pathetic, what else could we expect from a demented auteur such as Noé? Most of the neon splashed shots are static and don’t cut away as we watch the characters tug and toss and make love in bed. The images become hypnotizing and every frame looks like a painting come to life – oozing both color and various bodily fluids. Even though the sex scenes are extremely explicit in nature, they never really seem to be in bad taste. There is a great sense of tenderness in each of them.

#2 - Irreversible (2002) Runtime: 1 hr 37 min Aspect Ratio: 2.35 : 1 Film Format: 16mm & 35mm

Events over the course of one traumatic night in Paris unfold in reverse-chronological order as the beautiful Alex is brutally raped and beaten by a stranger in the underpass. Her boyfriend and ex-lover take matters into their own hands by hiring two criminals to help them find the rapist so that they can exact revenge. A simultaneously beautiful and terrible examination of the destructive nature of cause and effect, and how time destroys everything.

Verdict: One of the most impressive cinematic achievements of the 21st century - both on a technical and a storytelling level. I saw this film for the first time at sixteen years old, and I was forever desensitized to any other film that came after. Irreversible is one of the hardest films I have ever sat through in my life. I don’t even show it to friends who say they like extreme films. Benoît Debie’s camerawork is masterful and disorienting. Noé also makes some pretty genius directorial decisions with this project. Since the film is told in reverse chronological order, the ending is shown as the intro and the beginning is the last shot. This makes it a puzzle of trauma that needs to be fit together. Noé depicts sexual assault in an unforgiving manner by sitting on a static shot of the act for close to ten minutes. He wants to depict the act as it truly is - one of the utmost worst things you could do to another human being.

#1 - Enter the Void (2009) Runtime: 2 hr 41 min Aspect Ratio: 2.35 : 1 Film Format: 16mm & 35mm

This psychedelic tour of life after death is seen entirely from the point of view of Oscar, a young American drug dealer and addict living in Tokyo with his prostitute sister, Linda. When Oscar is killed by police during a bust gone bad, his spirit journeys from the past – where he sees his parents before their deaths – to the present – where he witnesses his own autopsy – and then to the future, where he looks out for his sister from beyond the grave.

Verdict: Enter the Void is without a doubt Noé’s finest work to date as an experimental filmmaker. It also holds the title as one of the most psychedelic films ever made, top five in my opinion no doubt. Regardless of the “trippy” label, this film is perfectly crafted in general. Very few filmmakers have dared attempt to depict a soul’s journey through death, and very few have actually been able to stick the landing. Noé took inspiration from the Tibetan Book of the Dead and crafted an experiential film all told from the main character’s POV. While not a “found footage film” in any way, instead the camera lens acts as the protagonist’s field of vision and we are with him every step of his journey. Enter the Void is a kaleidoscopic, mind-melting, disassociating journey of neon light through the abyss of Tokyo which is depicted as some sort of candy colored netherworld. Noé’s most human work he has ever made, and probably will ever make.

#gaspar noe #gaspar noé #i stand alone #climate change #irreversible #enter the void #love #benoit debie #the director's series #favorite directors #monica bellucci #vincent cassel

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imuybemovoko · 4 years

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I die inside while dissecting Jesus music

For this fun little exercise in self-torture, I’m going to find a weird worship song and dissect it. Today I feel like saying death-cult a distressing number of times so I’m going to find one that talks about how the next world is supposed to be better for this one.

I’m probably going to regret this. And probably cope by blasting metal while I do this.

I’ll go with a bit of low-hanging fruit for this first one: Even So Come. It’s attributed six ways to Sunday because like seven different artists/groups have a recording of it somewhere out public, but this lyric site thingy says Chris Tomlin. Some of these songs get wildly popular to the point where even as a church guitar guy (read: very large fan of this shitty music) I tended to find it a bit confusing to tell who originally wrote them. This is an example. I think it was probably Kristian Stanfill but uh... I can never be 100% sure. I’ve been wrong about ones I was way more sure about before.

This song is repetitive as fuck, like a lot of these, because what helps indoctrinate people more than literally singing the same words for 15 minutes?

Let’s get into this shit.

The song

I’ll spare you a few minutes of your life if you want to keep it. I already linked the lyrics, but I’ll give this a quick listen to make sure Stanfill doesn’t literally freehand some new lyrics during the video; if he does, I’ll discuss that too I suppose. The whole point of this is that I’m listening to this shit so you don’t have to. But if you really want to, then go off I guess. I can’t and honestly wouldn’t try to stop you. Unless this shit is triggering to you. In that case please don’t listen. It used to fuck me up hard when my brother would blast songs like this in the shower after I deconverted. I don’t want that happening to anyone out there. Tread with caution.

Okay. I wrote that while I was listening, and apparently he doesn’t yeet off into new spontaneous lyrics at any point. I think that’s more of a Bethel thing, but I don’t remember it being exclusive to them so I had to make sure.

Ok, let’s do this more or less in order. I’ll take it a verse at a time. But first, let’s talk formatting. The first two verses aren’t separated by anything, and the third is after the first chorus. After the third verse they play the chorus again, then the bridge. The AZLyrics entry under Tomlin lists it twice; Stanfill plays it twice. When I was on the worship team at a church, we’d typically play the bridge four times for extra drama. After this, they end with two tricks. First is that they play the first half or so of the chorus, then a whole chorus right after it. Again, this is for extra drama. The leader of the worship team at my old church would tend to point to one part of the song as the “climax” and we’d do a fair amount of this kind of shit leading up to it. In this particular case, it’s actually most of the chorus, leaving off only the “even so come” lines. The break is at a lyrically appropriate place more often than it’s just like “haha 2 bars into the chorus” or something like that because of course the message has to be consistent. After this, they fade the song out by repeating the last line or two, like, umpteen times to foster a contemplative mood. (It works. I’ve been on both ends of this dynamic. If you’re in a more charismatic crowd, my experience suggests that this final repetition is the most likely point where someone’s going to fall out and start speaking in tongues or something. Also, in those circles sometimes one of the vocalists, most often the team leader because of course, will give some kind of “word from God” to the congregation.) That’s the format, and it’s a very common one. At church camps and retreats and events like those, often they’ll loop choruses or bridges or ending tags or, sometimes (but far less often), verses and extend a song like this one to like fifteen or twenty minutes. In a typical church service they don’t really do it that way though because people might get impatient or something.

On to the lyrics of this song. I’ll address the verses in order, then the chorus and bridge, then talk ordering, because doing this chronologically would get annoying as fuck. The first verse is as follows:

All of creation All of the earth Make straight a highway A path for the Lord Jesus is coming soon

Notice the equivocation in the first two lines here. The author most likely believes this is an accurate thing to equivocate, and so do most of their audience.

The next two lines are a similar repetition, using both modern and more Biblically-flavored language, in reference to Mark 1:3. The particular language used is not altogether different from most English translations. These lines, both in the sense that the author intends and in their function in the song, are meant to prepare the listener for what follows: “Jesus is coming soon.” A reminder of the inevitable apocalypse most Christian sects teach and, in their view, the second chronologically of two most important events in the entire history and future of the world (the first being the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ). Every verse of the song ends with this reminder.

To boil the message of this verse down into one word:

(I have entirely too much fun with this image lol)

The second verse:

Call back the sinner Wake up the saint Let every nation Shout of Your fame Jesus is coming soon

“Call back the sinner” implies a return to origins and contains an implicit reference to the prodigal son in the parable in Luke 15. The implication is that being a “sinner” (and I’ll discuss the dichotomy in a second here) is a life of running away from God either by ignorance or by choice, and that they were originally with God. The typical narrative on the mechanisms of the fall of man seems to suggest otherwise because only Adam and Eve were technically originally with God and everyone else starts out separated because of that lovely little generational curse thingy, this is a bit of an odd take, but in light of the evangelical perspective that not only a god, but their god is so self evident that people have to make the active choice to not believe, this makes an entire hell of a lot of sense, and “calling back the sinner” could entail saying “lol stop wasting your energy running from what you know.”

The next line engages in a bit of common guilt-tripping. Saying “wake up the saint” implies that believers and churches have fallen asleep in some sense, and that’s actually a perspective referenced in the letters to the seven churches in Revelation, each church getting a different flavor of messaging like this. When churches and saints are called to “wake up”, it means to cease engaging in whatever behavior is apparently polluting their message, i.e. forgetting the original reason they’re doing this, normalizing “worldly” practices, bad leadership paradigms, etc. Thus, I’m inclined to read this line as something like “you’re better than the rest of humanity; act like it.

Also of note is this dichotomy established here between “sinners” and “saints”. This is, on paper at least, the only important distinction in evangelicalism. (In practice they have a lot of shitty perspectives on women because of Paul’s writings as well as some class and/or racial biases, unconscious or conscious depending on the particular congregation.) A “saint” is a “true” Christian, one who is “set apart” from the world by God. A “sinner” is literally anyone else. In addition to their entire laundry list of harmless actions that are considered sins, Evangelicals (and probably many other Christians honestly) will say that to be non-Christian is a sin. In my old church and its affiliates I often heard that to remain non-Christian for an entire lifetime is the only unforgivable sin, identifying it with the “blasphemy of the Holy Spirit” referenced in Matthew 12:31. There are a wide variety of perspectives on what this “blasphemy of the Holy Spirit” actually means, and I can really only confidently speak to Calvary Chapel’s perspective on that. In any case, this song makes use of the “sinner vs saint” dichotomy common in Christianity. I analyze it as a typical “us vs them” with an added twist that says “the ‘them’ can become us and that’s better”.

After this is a reference to the passages in the Bible that speak of the Gospel being spread to “every nation” and things such as that, and that every nation will come under Christ’s lordship at the end of time. Then there’s a reminder that the singer is awaiting this apparently fast-approaching end.

The third verse:

There will be justice All will be new Your name forever Faithful and true Jesus is coming soon

This third verse is mostly a reference to events predicted to occur after the second coming of Christ. In Revelation, among other places, there is a described sequence of events in which the world comes absolutely fucking unglued, falls under the thumb of a tyrannical world government run by some guy who lets himself get possessed by Satan, and then is yeeted by God and soaked in the blood of Satan’s armies at the final battle. A bit later, for some reason Satan has to be let go for a bit, but he loses hard once again. After this, God yeets the unbelievers into hellfire and makes a new world which he rules forever. In short, the collapse, battles, and Great Divine Yeet are what this “justice” describes. The remaining lines speak of this renewed world run by Jesus himself. Lastly, we have the reminder that this is all going to happen before very long here.

There’s a bit of a double-reference thing going on here and in the second verse too, and I’m honestly not entirely sure what to make of it, but it shows up often in contemporary Christian music. They’ll switch between referring to God in second person (Your name forever) and in third person (Jesus is coming soon). It seems ...most likely to be a matter of convenience, and I’m rather inclined to treat it as that because the other things I think of seem either counter-productive or very, very outlandish. Like, are they alternating between addressing God and addressing the listener? Maybe, but the message of this song is so much more listener-directed that I find that thought kinda weird.

In any case, that’s the verses.

Now let’s get to the chorus. This is repeated after the first two verses and again several times after the third, and it contains a lot of deeply cursed metaphors. I mean holy fuck.

Like a bride Waiting for her groom We'll be a church Ready for You Every heart longing for our King We sing Even so come Lord Jesus come Even so come Lord Jesus come

So the first two little couplets here refer to a metaphor found in several places in scripture where the church is the “bride” of Christ. This. is. CREEPY! In the old testament, the role of the wife is often analogous to that of property, so that’s deeply gross. Further, Paul says men are the head of women, i.e. have great authority over them, and women should be subservient. Jesus doesn’t honestly do a whole hell of a lot to resist this, and powerful women throughout most of the scriptures are either defined as attaining their power in “God-honoring” subservient ways like Esther or as dangerous demonic influences operating under the “spirit of Jezebel”. (”Jezebel” is literally a scriptural term for this kind of thing; one of the church letters in Revelation uses it. Many evangelicals/fundies add “spirit of” because of their borderline-animistic take on spiritual warfare. I might describe that in more detail in a later post. It’s a metaphor based on an old-testament queen who is presented as manipulative and narcissistic, taking the real power in the kingdom from her husband by manipulation and doing a great deal of damage with it.) Thus, in this context, I find the “bride” metaphors inextricable from a tyrannical, abusive relationship in which the man, or in this case Christ, is the absolute head. Biblical ideas on marriage and family life are an entire problem too, establishing what I feel very confident in describing as an abusive power dynamic. Thus, this song references a metaphor by which Christ is described as having abusive control over his people. @kristian stanfill thanks I hate it. @whoever the fuck wrote the bible thanks I hate it. The couplet in this song is describing a situation in which the church is waiting to submit to an abusive authority and it’s fucking disgusting and I hate that I used to live that way.

The next line, “every heart longing for our king”, indicates that it’s normative to strongly desire this power dynamic and expresses a probably-genuine (mine was) desire for more of Jesus on the part of the writer and the singer. So with these preconditions established, they say, “we sing, even so come, Lord Jesus, come”, repeating “even so come” and on twice for added weight. The chorus and bridge are, by the way, where this seems to get deathculty.

Remember that in referencing the coming of Jesus, they reference ideas that this world is shitty and being dead and in heaven/having the world destroyed by God and replaced is going to be a hell of a lot better. The Bible and many churches, particularly evangelicals, will even use language like “dying to oneself” to refer to the process of laying down one’s life for the cause of Jesus. Thus, death metaphors infiltrate their literal daily living. The general attitude that’s expected for people to have in those circumstances is one of “I won’t seek death actively but I will welcome it when the time comes”, and coupled with the way the other forms of abuse broke me, this had me fantasizing about dying in third-world countries for getting too annoying about Jesus. So that’s pretty wack, I suppose. This belief system is one that puts death on a very disturbing pedestal. This entire song is about preparing for the return of Jesus, which is going to bring a hell of a lot of death if it happens as they predict. This very deadly event is what “Jesus is coming soon” entails, and it’s one of two possible interpretations that I can think of to apply to these “even so come lord Jesus come” lines. The other is that they believe that Jesus is present with them when they worship (Matthew 18:20) and they seek to experience this presence. But the preparatory nature of this song, in my experience at least, puts very strong priority on the first sense, even though it can be, and in church settings often functions as, both. These lines are a plea for personal transformation and for the apocalypse. In the vanishingly unlikely event that the Christian version of the divine turns out to be true, billions will die in wars and disasters (some actively caused by God’s agents) and many of those same billions and many more people, including me, will be victims of the Great Cosmic Yeet and land in hellfire forever. And they want this to happen sooner rather than later. That’s literally the main point of this song.

So we wait We wait for You God we wait You're coming soon

This is the bridge. It’s typically repeated kind of a lot. Like, I mean holy fuck they repeat this. It’s literally just “we’re excited for the second coming of Christ”. You know, in case someone needed a reminder that they want billions dead, even more people yeeted into hellfire, and the entire world destroyed. Evangelical and fundamentalist strains of Christianity are literally a death cult.

So with that rant-filled analysis out of the way, let’s see if I can talk formatting without dying inside again or getting too pissed off.

On the lyric site I linked above (and I’ll link it again so you don’t have to scroll through whatever literal mountain of text and cursed images I’ve produced) this goes verse 1, verse 2, chorus, verse 3, chorus, bridge twice, weird most-of-chorus tag, chorus, the last two lines like several times over. Thus, already we have multiple repetitions of most concepts found in this song. Also, this two verses-chorus-third verse-chorus-bridge several times-chorus twice-ending tag format is quite common in contemporary Christian music, in the studio recordings, official lyrics, and chord sheets you’ll find out there. But I cannot stress enough that this structure, especially the bridge and latter choruses but the entire structure including the verses, is extremely modular. Anything can be repeated, or repeated more times. Anything can be re-inserted in another place. This is mostly a Bethel thing in my experience, but there can be instrumental breaks for one of the vocalists to yeet out entirely spontaneous lyrics. There can be massive empty instrumental breaks, or instrumental breaks with spoken words in them. And I’ve seen even less of that, but parts of other songs can be inserted just about anywhere too, and I’ve actually participated in that one on occasion. To an extent, any music can be handled in ways like this, but it seems to me like contemporary Christian music is consciously designed that way because its target audience goes nuts over long, “spirit-filled” songs played at church camps or an extra spicy church service.

It’s also worth noting, and if I end up doing a whole lot of these I’ll probably explain this in a great deal more depth, that these songs can get reasonably similar to one another. I think that’s because to a very large extent, the words and structure matter a hell of a lot less than the way they set the mood. You can get the same impact on a crowd of willing Christians from probably literally any combination of these songs. I always had my favorites but that didn’t seem to matter that much.

I’m inclined to say some of the same things about a lot of modern music, actually. It has common structures, a lot of music is interchangeable for certain moods, etc. But I can’t say a thing about the modularity of modern music. A song seems to be way more of a distinct unit in most environments. Mashups do happen, but massive repetitions of one piece of a song generally don’t in any context that I’m aware of. They’ll jam out on an instrumental for a while at concerts sometimes, but you really don’t get this, like, singing “Crawl on your belly til the sun goes down, I’ll never wear your broken crown, I took the road and I fucked it all away, in this twilight how dare you speak of grace” more than like the twice they do it in the studio recording from most groups like you do in very many Christian music settings. (The example chorus I put here was from Mumford and Sons- Broken Crown. It’s an amazing song, I totally recommend it lol it was the first one that popped into my head for this purpose.) Some other commonalities are present in a lot of modern music, but for the most part, that modularity would just come across extremely weird. I think just about every time I’ve either seen or been involved in the playing of Even So Come at a church, the musicians engaged in at least some degree of modularity, most often by repeating the bridge but sometimes uh... holy crap. Because of the extreme prolific use of these songs in church or retreat settings, I’m inclined to list the modularity as the single most important aspect of the formatting of this song and of many others.

#ex christian #contemporarychristianmusic #worship #i probably need therapy #dead inside

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karihighman · 4 years

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I love this job more than I imagined I could. The day I stop giving it my all is the day I walk away.”

–John Nolan (Nathan Fillion), 2×14 “Casualties”

The quote above really encapsulates the draw of ABC’s police dramedy (that’s drama-comedy) The Rookie. The Nathan Fillion led series was ordered back in spring 2018, and aired its first season from 2018-2019. It’s currently in its second season, with a new episode airing this Sunday, April 26. In light of that – and because I’ve since managed to get 2 of my friends hooked on it – I decided I’d write up a few reasons as to why you should definitely check out this show…if you haven’t already!

Reason #1: The cast

(ABC/Andrew Eccles)

Yes, Nathan Fillion of ABC’s Castle headlines the series, but there’s a whole slew of cast members that carry the show just the same. Not to mention, you’ve probably seen them on other TV shows or films prior to their appearance on The Rookie.

CURRENT CAST (as of season 2–onward):

Nathan Fillion portrays John Nolan, the 45-year-old “rookie” who decided to pack up and move to LA to join the LAPD after a robbery at his local bank in Pennsylvania made him question his life decisions. You’ve probably seen him on: Castle, Firefly, Two Guys & a Girl, and/or Con Man.

Alyssa Diaz portrays Angela Lopez, one of three TOs (training officers) at the Mid-Wilshire Police Department in Los Angeles, California. You’ve probably seen her in: As the World Turns, Army Wives, The Nine Lives of Chloe King, and/or Ray Donovan.

Richard T. Jones portrays Sergeant Wade Grey, who is the immediate boss of the TOs, and is also responsible for their rookies, as well as the remainder of the police under his command at the station. You’ve probably seen him in: Judging Amy, Why Did I Get Married?/Why Did I Get Married Too?, and/or Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

Titus Makin Jr. portrays Jackson West, the second in the trio of rookies. His father is the head of LAPD’s Internal Affairs, so he’s struggled some with having to prove himself outside of his father’s shadow. You’ve probably seen him in: Glee, Starcrossed, Pretty Little Liars, and/or The Path.

Melissa O’Neil portrays Lucy Chen, the 28-year-old hotshot who completes the trio of rookies in the LAPD. She decided to become a cop on a whim, but she loves it so much now, even though it’s the opposite of what her psychologist parents want her to do career-wise. You’ve probably seen her in/on: Canadian Idol, Dark Matter, and/or as a part of the Broadway musical Les Miserables.

Eric Winter portrays Tim Bradford, the second training officer under Sgt. Grey. He’s first seen as the no-nonsense type, but has since softened some during season 2. You’ve probably seen him in: The Mentalist, Witches of East End, The Ugly Truth, and/or Days of Our Lives.

Mekia Cox portrays Nyla Harper, a former undercover detective turned training officer. She’s quite a badass, and does whatever she can to excel at work, as it’ll earn points in her favor, because she’s fighting for custody of her daughter with her ex-husband. You’ve probably seen her in: 90210, Chicago Med, Secrets & Lies, and/or Once Upon a Time.

CURRENT RECURRING CAST (as of season 2–onward):

Image Credits: (ABC/Christopher Willard); (ABC/Richard Cartwright); and (ABC/Eric McCandless)

Ali Larter as Dr. Grace Sawyer, a former flame of John’s from his college days. She now works at Shaw Memorial Hospital, and while she and John reconnect as just friends first, they eventually ramp it up to dating.

Harold Perrineau as Detective Nick Armstrong, a new night detective that assists the LAPD with their case load after their regular shifts. He becomes involved more so when notorious serial killer Rosalind Dyer is brought to Grey’s station per a deal with the DA.

Shawn Ashmore as Wesley Evers, a lawyer that is currently dating Angela Lopez. The two have been living together since the start of season 2, and are now engaged as of episode 16.

Jasmine Matthews as Rachel Hall, a social worker who is one of Lucy’s best friends, and currently the girlfriend of Tim Bradford.

Daniel Lissing as Sterling Freeman, Jackson’s boyfriend who’s (ironically? meta-ly?) the star of a cop show, Hot Suspect.

Sarah Shahi as Jessica Russo, who is an FBI agent that was brought in to work a biological terror attack. She and John have a brief relationship, but break it off by episode 6 of season 2.

FORMER CAST (season 1):

Mercedes Mason portrayed Captain Zoe Andersen, who was the tough but fair captain of the LAPD. She believed Nolan’s life experience would be good for the department. She was killed in episode 16 by a gang member who made an attempt on Nolan’s life.

Afton Williamson portrayed Talia Bishop, Nolan’s former training officer. She came off as brash at first, but she did help John a lot during his first six months on the job. She left the LAPD for a job with ATF; Afton exited the series after season 1 ended.

FORMER RECURRING CAST (season 1):

Mircea Monroe as Isabel Bradford, Tim’s ex-wife. She was an undercover officer, but got hooked onto drugs which made her lose her job, and consequently, her husband. Tim tried to help her numerous times, but they’d been estranged for a year. She did finally get clean; but they decided it’d be best to separate, as Tim did not want to remind her of her old life.

Michael Beach as Commander Percy West, Jackson’s father who runs Internal Affairs for the LAPD. He and his son had their tough moments, but the two seemed to have reconciled in the season 1 finale after Jackson’s heroic efforts to stop a viral criminal.

*random fun fact: Mekia’s not the only one with a One Chicago tie-in. Alyssa Diaz actually worked with Chicago PD actor Jesse Lee Soffer on As the World Turns, and Michael Beach actually just finished a recurring role on Chicago PD as Darius Walker. Joelle Carter, who portrayed Shawn Christian’s character’s wife in the “Hawke” episode, has been on not one, but 3 One Chicago shows. Two of which portraying Laura Nagel (Chicago PD for 1 episode, and the spinoff Chicago Justice); she guested on Chicago Med this year.

Just wanted to toss that tidbit in there since quite a few fans of The Rookie have also been fans of the One Chicago franchise – at least that I’ve interacted with on social media!

Reason #2: The balance of dramatic cases with humorous banter between the officers

(ABC/Ron Batzdorff)

While The Rookie is no means a straight comedy, it’s also not technically a classic police procedural either. That’s a good thing, as the balance of the lighter comedic moments interspersed with the dramatic or sometimes gruesome cases is what makes the show so damn entertaining. Oh, and did I mention there are bloopers? Because there are bloopers, and they are hilarious. Click here & here to see those!!

Reason #3: The pairs (TOs & Rookies)

(ABC/Ron Batzdorff)

Ah yes, another reason why The Rookie works so well. The pairings of the training officers with their respective rookie is spot-on. In season 1 you had the new, upbeat, John Nolan paired with spunky Talia Bishop; and the two bounced off each other quite nicely. John’s new TO, Nyla Harper, is just as sassy, if not sassier than Talia, but in a way, she’s a little more grounded, as she has a young daughter to consider. That’s something they have in common, as John has a 20 year old son, Henry.

(ABC/Christopher Willard)

Another pair is Angela Lopez and Jackson West. Sure, you would think: oh, here are two ambitious, young, intelligent people, so they should feed off each other, right? Wrong…at least not at first. And that’s what was so refreshing about it. Was that you had the push-and-pull between them that made you wonder if West could really stick it out with Lopez. He eventually did get over his “stage fright” when gunfire was occurring, but it took time; and it was realistic to see Angela be tough, yet understanding with him when it came to things like that. Not to mention, Jackson’s helped her out on the relationship front a few times, as he’s listened to her issues with dating, and Wesley. He even was the one who put the idea of a proposal in her head when they were at a stakeout! The two are really jiving, and it’s fun to see!

(ABC/Christopher Willard)

Last but not least is the duo of Bradford and Chen. They couldn’t be more opposite from each other at first glance: you’ve got tough-as-nails Tim, who’s got to train positive, spirited Lucy. Sounds like a little bit of a clash, right? It seemed like it at first, as Tim was very tough on Lucy; but he’s since let down his guard a little, which has been cool to see. He’s balanced out Lucy’s energy, and the two have since been so in-sync, it’s a little crazy at times (but in the best way possible)!

Reason #4: The “ships” (couples) of the show

(ABC/Christopher Willard)

Image Credit: Twitter/TheRookie

Image Credit: IG @TheRookieABC.

(ABC/Christopher Willard)

Image Credit: IG @TheRookieABC

Ah yes, the part that a lot of fans (myself included!) love about our favorite TV shows: the couples that pair off in it! It’s also worth mentioning that fans usually get excited about “should be” couples aka: people that they think should be together/dating/a couple/etc.

As far as The Rookie goes, there are actually quite a few well-established couples on the show, especially in season 2! If you need or want a quick season 1 refresher: Tim was technically still married to his now ex-wife, Isabel; Jackson had a brief relationship with Gino; Angela and Wesley had begun dating; and yes, John & Lucy had a brief thing early on!

Now, for season 2, you’ve got: Jackson & Sterling; Tim & Rachel; Wesley & Angela; John & Grace (John was previously dating Jessica); aaaaaaand the fan-favorite should-be couple: Tim & Lucy. The final “couple” is actually how I got hooked onto The Rookie – thank you social media for all the #Chenford/#Tucy hashtags!!

Most everyone loves these relationships because they’re fun, endearing, dramatic, and sometimes even a little bit funny. It’s quite a nice counterbalance to all the death and destruction the LAPD encounters on the streets everyday, you know? Plus, who hasn’t found a couple on a show that they like a lot, right? It’s fun to interact with other fans about it too – which is part of the reason why “ships” are really effective.

Jackson and Sterling have that lovely push-and-pull dynamic, where, since Sterling’s a celebrity, and Jackson’s a cop, they had to keep it low-key at first. But now, since they’re technically out of the spotlight, they’re free to do as they please.

Tim and Rachel originally began as a bet, but, it turned into something more afterwards. Even though the two have had their little disagreements here and there, it’s been really interesting to see Tim open himself up to a new relationship after his wife in season 1. The fact that Rachel’s one of Lucy’s best friends is…beside the point. Although, for fans of Chenford/Tucy, it’s kind of comical, or ironic. I’m not quite sure which.

Speaking of Chenford, Tim & Lucy are the ones that fans have been clamoring to get together – even though technically, nothing can happen between the two until Lucy’s no longer a rookie (Tim’s her TO!). I’ll admit, I was originally intrigued by them because of their similarities to another “should-be” cop couple I ship: Upstead from Chicago PD; but, seeing how in-sync the partners are on The Rookie, I understand why everyone wants them to be more than that. I sure do!

Wesley and Angela have been steady since season 1, and his heartbreaking PTSD storyline in season 2 only brought them closer together, and showed just how strong of a relationship they have. Angela’s been super supportive, and Wesley’s always been confident in her abilities. They’re even the couple to beat in terms of major milestones: they’ve moved in together, and they’re engaged! YAY!

John and Grace were a little bit of a wildcard at the start, since they had a little bit of a history there. But, ever since they blossomed into friends, their transition into a relationship was relatively easy. It’s been nice to see John happy, and Grace seems to be really good for him right now.

Reason #5: The vibe behind the scenes

(ABC/Troy Harvey)

Last, but not least is the “vibe” behind the scenes of The Rookie. That includes the off-set antics the cast gets up to! It’s been really fun to scour social media and see their comments on not only The Rookie account, but on fan things too! The cast is also great about liking comments and posts that fans make, which is super-nice!

Not to mention, they’re just genuinely fun people – at least judging from their behind the scenes posts and on-set videos! From car sing-a-longs to random dance parties, there’s never a dull moment on The Rookie set! They’re such good sports. Not only does that camaraderie come through onscreen, but it helps the chemistry to translate nicely as well. Believability is part of what sells TV, and The Rookie has that skill down pat!

Bonus: Favorite Episodes So Far / Ones To Watch

Image Credits: (ABC/Richard Cartwright) and (ABC/Christopher Willard)

Note: this is just my own personal list, but if you have any more to add, feel free to comment! 🙂 PS: Season 2 is available for streaming on ABC.com or Hulu; season 1 is not, but there are a bevy of clips online (YouTube) which can help catch you up!

The Pilot, of course! 1×01, and then the kind-of-sort-of subsequent follow-up 1×02 “Crash Course”

1×04 “The Switch”

1×07 “The Ride Along” & 1×08 “Time of Death”

1×14 “Plain Clothes Day” and 1×15 “Manhunt”

1×19 “The Checklist” and 1×20 “Free Fall” (the season 1 finale)

2×01 “Impact” (picks up right after season 1 leaves off!)

2×03 “The Bet” and 2×04 “Warriors and Guardians” (which is Mekia’s debut!)

2×06 “Fallout” and 2×08 “Clean Cut”

2×10 “The Dark Side” and 2×11 “Day of Death” *you should definitely watch these back-to-back, as 2×10 serves as the midseason finale; 2×11 is the midseason premiere*

2×12 “Now and Then”; 2×16 “The Overnight”; and 2×17 “Control”

That’s all for me for now! 5 (or 6, if you count the dramatic episodes!) reasons to watch The Rookie! You can catch all-new episodes on ABC, Sunday nights at 10/9 c! Be sure you’re following the show on Twitter and/or Instagram so you can see fun behind the scenes content, not to mention live-tweet during tomorrow’s all-new episode! Hope ya’ll liked this post!

Credit: GIPHY/Google

Why You Should Be Watching #TheRookie (if you're not already!) I love this job more than I imagined I could. The day I stop giving it my all is the day I walk away."

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aion-rsa · 4 years

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Upcoming Movies in October 2020: Theaters, Streaming and VOD

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October looks a lot different than it did only a few weeks ago. As the month many movie theater owners were hanging their hats on with the hope of a weekly deluge of new movies , October has recently been vacated by high profile features that include Wonder Woman 1984, Death on the Nile, and Candyman.

Yet if you’re a cinephile or movie lover who is desperate for new stories and visions, it is not all doom and gloom. Between the streaming market of Netflix, VOD, and other platforms, as well as some smaller films willing to roll the dice on a limited theatrical release, there are still more than a few things to see in October 2020…

2067

October 2 (U.S. Only)

A high-concept science fiction setup if we’ve ever heard one, 2067 is the story of Ethan Whyte (Kodi Smit-McPhee), a young man born in a dystopian future where he learns that he might be the savior of humanity… at least that’s what people from an even more distant future are saying. In a plot twist that sounds, at least on paper, akin to a reversal of The Terminator, messengers from the future say Ethan is the key to saving the world and wish to transport him via time machine to an unknowable destiny. Chaos ensues. It’s a big idea, but we’re always game for someone swinging big in this genre.

Death of Me

October 2 (November 23 in the UK)

Darren Lynn Boseman, director of Saw II through Saw IV, returns to the horror genre again alongside Nikita’s Maggie Q and Westworld’s Luke Hemsworth. In this VOD release, the pair play a vacationing couple who wake up on an island with a horrible hangover. Yet a video on their phones seems to suggest the night before was even worse: Neil (Hemsworth) spent the evening brutally murdering his wife, as per the screen in their pockets. Nevertheless, here they are now, left with a lot of questions of what happened yesterday… and what can happen today.

Black Box

October 6

The first of Amazon Prime and Blumhouse Productions’ “Welcome to the Blumhouse” series, Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour’s Black Box has a tantalizing premise. Nolan (Mamoudou Athie) survived a car accident that took his wife, but it also took large swaths of his memory of her. So in order to regain his memory, and regain a sense of stability for his young daughter, Nolan undergoes an experimental treatment where his psychologist uses hypnosis to thrust him into his subconscious where he’ll be able remember his past and face his personal demons. Literally.

Like something out of Christopher Nolan’s Inception, this horror movie shows how scary being trapped in dreams really is if all that’s in them is the stuff of nightmares…

The Lie

October 6

The second Amazon/Blumhouse feature is more of a psychological thriller than a straightforward horror movie. Originally premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2018, The Lie follows a father (Peter Sarsgaard) who discovers his daughter Kayla (Joey King) accidentally killed her friend… until she admits she may have actually murdered her.

How far will he go to cover-up his daughter’s sins? Well, that’s the logline, and it seems to be a gripping one, albeit reviews from TIFF were less than kind two years ago.

Hubie Halloween

October 7

Last year Adam Sandler warned the Academy that if he doesn’t win an Oscar for Uncut Gems he’d make a film so bad that it’d make “you all pay.” Well, he wasn’t even nominated and eight months after the ceremony, here we are with Netflix’s Hubie Halloween. It remains to be seen whether this is actually the bad one—for starters it filmed before Oscar nominations went out—but it is still very much a Happy Madison production, complete with major supporting roles for Kevin James and Rob Schneider.

Movies

Uncut Gems: The Real Noir in Adam Sandler’s Classic

By David Crow

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Horror Movies on HBO Max: Hammer Films, It Chapter 2, Us, to Arrive in October

By Don Kaye

In the movie, Sandler plays Hubie Dubois, the town loser of Salem, Massachusetts. A lonely fry cook obsessed with Halloween, Hubie spends all year looking forward to decking out his home and town the same way Clark Griswold anticipates Christmas. But on this particular Halloween, the town appears besieged by actual supernatural forces, and finally Hubie will have his time to shine. Eh, it looks more amusing than The Do-Over and The Ridiculous 6?

Books of Blood

October 7 (U.S. Only)

Who doesn’t love anthological horror? Hulu certainly does, as they’re releasing Books of Blood, the latest adaptation of Clive Barker’s multi-volume series of short stories by the same name. Previous tales from Books of Blood have been adapted into movies as beloved as Candyman and as decidedly not as Rawhide Rex. In this film version, three stories are created for the screen by co-writer and director Brannon Braga. Here’s hoping it lands closer to the former?

Saint Maud

October 9 (UK Only)

The UK will be the first to get A24’s only horror movie this year. Lucky. The feature directorial debut of Rose Glass, Saint Maud follows an unhealthily repressed and zealous young woman: Maud (Morfydd Clark). Maud is technically a caretaker by trade, looking after people in hospice. But she also imagines herself to be something of an apostle, sent to save godless folks from their sins, particularly Amanda (Jennifer Ehle), the woman she’s living with as the in-home nurse.

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Best Modern Horror Movies

By Don Kaye

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Best Horror Movies on Netflix: Scariest Films to Stream

By David Crow and 2 others

It’s already a tense situation, even before Maud starts hearing voices and having images of ecstasy and Heaven, and demons and Hell. Rich with atmosphere and grueling anticipation of something horrible happening, Saint Maud is a great debut for Glass and a potential star-maker for Clark, who is skin-crawlingly pious as Maud, the young woman who’s wound up tighter than a jack-in-the-box.

The Wolf of Snow Hollow

October 9 (U.S. Only)

Debuting in theaters and on VOD, The Wolf of Snow Hollow is Jim Cummings’ follow-up to Thunder Road. That earlier, underrated movie was a delightful mix of comedy and drama that won the SXSW Grand Jury Prize. So the sophomore effort being a werewolf comedy-horror movie is intriguing. Indeed, Wolf of Snow Hollow is the rare lycanthrope yarn that’s told from the point-of-view of the would-be wolf hunter, Sheriff John Marshall (Cummings).

Following a series of grisly murders every full moon, the residents of Snow Hollow become convinced they have a wolfman on their hands, even if the frustrated sheriff refuses to accept the obvious. The film also marks the final performance of Robert Forster as John’s crusty mentor.

The War with Grandpa

October 9 in the U.S. (October 16 in the UK)

For most people, having Robert De Niro as a grandfather can be an imposing experience. But kids these days! That’s at least one amusing takeaway from The War with Grandpa, the delayed family movie that sees De Niro’s grandfatherly Ed enter into a prank war with his grandson Peter (Oakes Fegley) after upsetting the youth by moving into his old bedroom—Peter’s mom and Ed’s daughter Sally (Uma Thurman) forced them into the arrangement.

Movies

The King of Comedy: What’s the Real Punchline of the Martin Scorsese Classic?

By Tony Sokol

Movies

Al Capone: 9 Actors Who Played the Original Scarface

By Tony Sokol

Soon shaving cream reveals itself to be foam sealant stuck to De Niro’s face, and Peter’s oral report announces he is a louse. Oh, and there’s a dodgeball battle in which De Niro is aided by a squad of screen legends like Christopher Walken, Cheech Marin, and Jane Seymour, to squash the pups. Now things are getting serious…

Nocturne

October 13

The first of Amazon and Blumhouse’s next batch of original movies, Nocturne is the tale of a hellish rivalry between sisters. Genuinely. The feature debut from director Zu Quirke stars Sydney Sweeney as Juliet, the younger sister of fellow musician Vivian (Madison Iseman). While both young women are gifted pianists, Vivian is a prodigy and the center of Juliet’s envy. That is until Juliet finds the diary of another child prodigy at their prestigious conservatory who killed herself. The book includes all the late pianist’s hidden compositions… and symbols and incantations.

Ever heard the story of Faust? It seems like Juliet is about to get an up-close modern example.

Evil Eye

October 13

As the final Blumhouse effort to be released on Amazon Prime in 2020, Evil Eye hails from directors Elan and Rajeev Dassani and presents itself as both a psychological thriller and supernatural chiller. The truth of which it really is depends on how much you believe the eye of Usha (Sarita Choudhury).

Movies

How Jason Blum Changed Horror Movies

By Rosie Fletcher

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Jason Blum: No Plans To Restart Universal Monsters Universe

By Don Kaye

For this mother of Pallavi (GLOW’s Sunita Mani) is convinced her daughter is necking with a new boyfriend (Omar Maskati) who’s the spirit of an evil abusive ex Usha escaped in her youth. Is he the vestiges of a half-remembered curse or the potential victim of a mommy dearest prone to snap judgements? Tune in to find out for yourself…

The Trial of the Chicago 7

October 16

“The whole world is watching.” That’s the chanted refrain of protestors in Aaron Sorkin’s second movie as director, but it might also apply to the level of anticipation regarding this major Netflix release and potential awards season darling. The movie itself is an old-fashioned legal thriller like Sorkin cut his teeth on with scripts like A Few Good Men, but Chicago 7 feels urgently (and depressingly) vital.

Following on the heels of the Chicago riots during the Democratic National Convention of 1968—riots later deemed to have been started by the police—eight men categorized as “the far left” are rounded up for a show trial by Nixon’s Justice Department where they’re charged with conspiracy.

Movies

Aaron Sorkin: Donald Trump Made The Trial of the Chicago 7 Movie Possible

By David Crow

Movies

Quentin Tarantino Calls The Social Network the Best Movie of the 2010s

By David Crow

The film features the same blistering abundance of dialogue Sorkin has become famous for, as well as his penchant for breezy fast-paced editing. But the political heft of the subject matter and the movie’s deep bench of an acting ensemble that includes Sacha Baron Cohen, Jeremy Strong, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Eddie Redmayne, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Mark Rylance, and Frank Langella is what makes this one of the most thrilling movies of the year.

Honest Thief

October 16 (U.S. Only)

Liam Neeson plays a thief who wants a second chance. A bank robber willing to turn himself and $9 million in to be with the new love of his life. But then crooked FBI agents (Jai Courtney and Anthony Ramos) steal his money and frame him for murder instead. So he’s left with one thing to do: menacingly hiss over the phone, “I’m coming for you.” We imagine that trailer-ready threat was what Honest Thief was sold on during its elevator pitch.

Rebecca

October 21

Remaking Alfred Hitchcock remains a tricky proposition that has thwarted many filmmakers in the past. Readapting the only one of his movies to win the Oscar for Best Picture, Rebecca, appears all the harder. Yet everything we’ve seen from Ben Wheatley and Netflix’s luscious adaptation of the Daphne Du Maurier novel is highly encouraging.

With a winning cast that includes Lily James as the new Mrs. de Winter, Armie Hammer as her husband Maxim, and Kristin Scott Thomas as his menacing housekeeper Mrs. Danvers, the film opens with the young bride trying to step into the shoes of Maxim’s dead first wife, Rebecca. An apparent light of his mansion that has been long snuffed, Rebecca’s flame burns still if only because of Mrs. Danvers’ admiration for her late mistress… and maybe the ghost who prowls the house. This is archetypal Gothic horror, and with screenwriter Jane Goldman apparently keeping the novel’s original ending, we already feel seduced by the imagery.

On the Rocks

October 2 in the UK (October 23 in the U.S.)

Sofia Coppola and Bill Murray work together again. For the first time since their luminous Lost in Translation (if you ignore the ill-considered A Very Murray Christmas), the director and star are collaborating on this visibly intimate tale. It’s about an adult daughter (Rashida Jones) and her famous father (Murray) spending a weekend in New York City on an adventure after years of estrangement.

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10 Best Alfred Hitchcock Movies

By Michael Leader

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8 Essential Gothic Horror Movies

By David Crow and 1 other

The film, which also stars Marlon Wayans, premiered to a largely warm reception at the New York Film Festival and is already being written about as a spiritual successor to their original collaboration. Once more a woman in the midst of an existential crisis is aided by Murray between glasses of scotch. Who doesn’t want to pull up a seat and order another round?

Over the Moon

October 23

You probably don’t know Glen Keane’s name but you should. The longtime Walt Disney Animation Studios animator oversaw the design and animation of Ariel in The Little Mermaid, Beast in Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin in Aladdin, and Rapunzel in Tangled. With Over the Moon, he steps away from the Mouse and toward Netflix as a first-time co-director, alongside John Kahrs (an animator on Tangled and Frozen).

The trailer for the film is like a Georges Méliès fever dream from as a little girl named Fei Fei (Cathy Ang) builds a rocket ship to take her to the moon. But once there, Fei Fei and friends meet a mythical moon goddess (Hamilton’s Phillipa Soo) who takes them on a candy-colored odyssey through the cosmos.

Synchronic

October 23 (U.S. only)

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Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead are two of the most intriguing new voices in science fiction. If you don’t recognize their names, go watch The Endless right now. One of the strangest and cleverest sci-fi yarns of the last decade, that film is now being followed up by Synchronic, another original tale that stars Anthony Mackie and Jamie Dornan. The specifics of the film remain vague other than it is about two New Orleans paramedics who investigate a series of murders caused by a new, bizarre designer drug. But we already know we can’t wait to watch what horrible side effects come from these poor bastards taking it.

The Craft: Legacy

It cannot be Halloween without at least one more horror movie coming out the week of. Thus enters The Craft: Legacy, Sony Pictures and Blumhouse Productions’ legacy sequel to the original 1996 The Craft. Like its predecessor, this follows an outsider who is the new girl in school (Cailee Spaeny). She may be ostracized by the popular kids, but she befriends fellow students who have alternative tastes… like witchcraft.

The original is a touchstone for millennials and Gen-Xers of a certain age, and this reboot looks to push the story into a more complex understanding of friendship. And if it doesn’t, it’s still a Blumhouse effort so it should have plenty of spooky jumps!

Relic

October 30 (US Only)

Dementia is at the heart of this very eerie chiller where three generations of women convene in an old family home which seems to be rotting from the inside. Robyn Nevin, Emily Mortimer and Bella Heathcote star in a slow build drama which delves into the horror of losing your sense of self, as Nevin’s matriarch goes missing for days and can’t remember what happened while her house is filled with odd notes, black mould and snippets of a life slipping away from her grasp. This is the feature debut of Australian-Japanese director Natalie Erika James and it’s a stylish, chilling and confident first feature with a final act that veers into full blown horror. Out already in the States on VOD it has a UK theatrical release in the UK.

The post Upcoming Movies in October 2020: Theaters, Streaming and VOD appeared first on Den of Geek.

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megabadbunny · 5 years

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so after sketching out the doodle for this post upon the request of the lovely @chiaroscuroverse, I decided it was high time I finally got started on something I’ve been wanting to do for a while now. Thusly, I present to y’all the first installment of my sketch series New Who Companions in (Mostly) Historically-Accurate Period Costumes! :D

(clicky on the smaller images above to embiggen; clicky the read-more for costume history facts and assorted nerditude for each design!)

So long story short, I’m a big ol’ fashion history nerd, studied a good chunk of fashion history in the Western world during ye olde college days, and sometimes I like to think about what our New Who companions might have worn if they wanted to go mostly-historically-accurate in their old-world adventures. Below are some descriptions of what those costumes could have looked like, and a little bit of the historical context surrounding the ensembles. Thanks for joining me on this sartorial nerd-journey! <3

Fig. 1: Donna Noble, The Fires of Pompeii (Roman Empire, 79 AD)

So Donna’s original costume, while very pretty, is not accurate in any way; I can only imagine the designer was held back by some untold constraints (i.e. this costume is either constructed based on stylistic requests from Catherine Tate or it’s the product of executive meddling). Here, Donna wears a stola, i.e. a dress-like garment fastened with fibulae clasps and held in place with a girdle high above the waist. This garment would technically be worn by a married woman, to sort of show off her wealth and worth, but I figure Donna don’t give no shits about that, just give her the pretty dress already. She’s also wearing a palla, a shawl Roman women wore when going about their business outside. You would typically see the palla wrapped around the woman’s body to both accentuate her curves where desired, to hide her features when wanted (women might draw the hood close to the face to hide from unwanted male gazes), and to keep the material from dragging along the ground. The volume of fabric in the shawl signified a woman’s status; the more fabric, the wealthier the lady. Donna’s garments are fashioned from the finest material available, being linens imported from Egypt and silks imported from China.

Fig. 3: Bill Potts, The Eaters of Light (Scotland, c. 100 AD)

So, finding solid details on how women dressed in this time and place was fun,* but I did my best to sort of piece things together into a design that would make sense given the convergent influences and the materials (cloth/fibers, dyes, equipment) available in the area at the time. Basically, you’ve got a tunic cinched at the waist, and a woven cloak on top sporting a Pictish-type design, and simple jewelry fashioned from alloys that were commonplace at the time. Bill’s brooch and belt would definitely be met with approval from the other ladies; only peasant-women left the house without a belt.

* It was not fun. It was frustrating.

Fig. 2: Rose Tyler, The Stone Rose spinoff novel (Rome, 120 AD)

Rose’s garments and hair are intentionally sculptural in design, inspired by a series of Roman statues built around the time the story is set (I figured it was appropriate given the book’s plot!). Here she is wearing half of her Fortuna costume, on her way to save the Doctor (obv). Typically, a not-yet-married woman would only need to wear one layer (as unmarried women were, shall we say, low on the priority list in terms of Roman fashion), but here, on her way to being immortalized as the great Fortuna, an exception has been made for Rose; Marcia’s servants have draped, wrapped, and pinned some very fine material over Rose’s close-fitting tunica. Rose is also shown with a mantle, for covering her hair in public. Both Donna and Rose would have had their hair curled using a calamistrum, or an early curling iron, which varied in shape and style, but in this case likely would have actually been made of iron, and warmed over hot coals.

Fig. 4: Clara Oswald, Robot of Sherwood (England, 1190 AD)

Okay, so why did they make this look like a Halloween costume? It’s just, this episode clearly had a budget, the designer clearly did their homework, so who made what decision and where and when that led us to this? I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s a nice Halloween costume! Like, one you would have to rent instead of buy, because she is le pricey. But I’m curious to know why the designer ventured so close to the actual periodwear without actually committing to it. Like the sleeves—the flare at the elbow suggests the overdress, or bliaut, is of French design, except those sleeves ain’t near big enough, neither in terms of volume or length. Sometimes these sleeves were so long, women would have to knot them to keep them from dragging the ground. If you don’t wanna deal with big sleeves for your action heroine, that’s fine, just go with a more English design, which forewent the exaggerated trumpet-shape in favor of something more subtle. The current shape just looks weird—like, it’s halfway there, but got tired and gave up. Then you’ve got the front-lacing on the bodice; this is a nope, and only enhances the Halloween/fancy dress look. Dresses would fasten on the side or in the back; if you were upper-class, you might be looking at a modesty panel to hide the lacing in the case of the latter. The hair is another instance of halfway-there; the top half is pretty good, with its center-part and the wraparound braid, but the loose bottom portion and the salon-curls are a big no-no. Curls weren’t really in vogue in the area at the time; ladies’ hair was worn long and braided, both to keep it out of the way and to show off elaborate styles. And last but certainly not least, why the heck is Clara’s circlet shaped the way it is? It’s like they took a necklace, situated it with a bunch of slack in the chain, and stuck it to her forehead using spirit gum. Would noble ladies have worn circlets/coronets at the time? Sure! Would they have been shaped (or stuck-on???) like that? Nope! The original ensemble is full of potential but it feels like someone somewhere along the decision-making process looked at the original, better design, said, “Eh, can you modernize (read: sex) that up for me?” and then this was born. Again, it’s not horrible, just, it could have been so much more.

/rant

Fig. 5: Amy Pond, Vampires of Venice (Italy, 1580 AD)

So I realize there’s a class difference between what Amy wore in the show and what’s depicted here, but I figured the upper-class depiction made more sense, given the fashions of the other young ladies accepted into Calvieri’s school. (That being said, Amy’s original outfit still isn’t quite there; this shows an example or two of what a working-class woman would wear at the time.) On the right, Amy is wearing a velvet gown over a petticoat; even though the color and bodice-shape denote a heavy Spanish influence, the dress would have been referred to as a French gown due to its fitted shape. Were Amy to go whole-hog and give herself some true mid-sixteenth-century hair, the front would be short, and regularly wound into tight, compact little curls, while the back was kept long, for elaborate braids and updos. That’s right--the sixteenth century was technically full of mullets. Mullets everywhere.

Fig. 6: Rose Tyler, A Groatsworth of Wit spinoff comic (England, 1592)

ok but the design in the comic, just

I don’t even understand why the artist drew it this way. It doesn’t make sense, not from a costume history perspective and not even from a design/fudging-the-details-for-the-sake-of-modern-sensibilities perspective. (Also from a perspective-perspective; dude’s having some major issues figuring out how foreshortening works, but that’s neither here nor there I suppose.) It would actually be way faster to focus on what this gown does right instead of wrong. So, let’s see here: it has a lace collar, which was a thing. It has a structured, paneled bodice; also a thing. Full layered skirt, that’s good. And, that’s officially it. The rest of this design is garbage. Like, why the eff is she wearing a ruffle as some kind of low-slung belt? Is that supposed to be cartridge pleating? What century are those sleeves supposed to be from? (Do those outer sleeves even? Show up in any century to speak of, outside of my nightmares???) If you’re going to do a lace cuff at the end of the fitted sleeve, why not do it right (i.e. like the way they actually looked at the time, which was usually in a cone shape flaring out from the wrist to the elbow)? Why would the artist imagine that Rose would go to the trouble of pouring herself into this 80’s-teal monstrosity without bothering to do anything to her hair except for a ponytail? What the fuck is up with the fucking boob lace??? See, I know the artist can draw actual historically accurate outfits, because Shakespeare in this comic looks fine. His shit’s pretty accurate. But for some reason, when it came to Rose’s dress, it’s like the artist lost their goddamn mind. (Don’t even get me started on the jewelry and accents, not if there’s a loving god in this universe)

Fig. 7: Martha Jones, The Shakespeare Code (England, 1599)

So Martha has herself a lovely heavy brocade gown, trimmed in sable, accented with soft leather gloves, and topped with a cartwheel ruff round the neck. (Don’t worry; I imagine the TARDIS only carries ethically-harvested furs, like they’re grown in a lab somewhere or collected after critters have had a long and prosperous life or the hairs are vacuumed up and reconstituted by some futuristic device, etc. etc.) Elizabethan sumptuary laws dictated that folks had to dress according to social class, so depending on what your social class was, you may not have been legally permitted to wear things like silks, certain colors, certain furs, and more. Fashion was such a surging industry and indicator of wealth that, at the time, you had higher-ups selling huge swaths of land in order to have the money to dress themselves as well as possible--it was seriously that important to be fashionable. Martha’s garments indicate that she has pretty high social standing, given the materials used. Also, she wears a pretty bitchin’ hat.

Fig. 8: Yazmin Khan, The Witchfinders (England, 1612)

Yazmin’s dress sports a fashionably high-necked bodice featuring embroidered linen silk, topped with a standing collar and “wings” at the shoulders. The dark hues shown here were super-popular at the time due to a surge of obsession with melancholia in arts and literature. Yaz also wears a “Cavalier” style hat, accented with an ostrich feather. Her outfit is basically a riding-habit/hunting-habit, constructed with ease of movement in mind.

Fig. 9: Mickey Smith, Rose Tyler, and Reinette Poisson i.e. Madame de Pompadour, The Girl in the Fireplace (France, 1758)

Setting aside my many issues with this episode’s story/plot, the bugaboos I have with Reinette’s original costume design in the show are relatively minor, and I imagine can mostly be explained-away with stuff like “this is what the BBC already had on hand” and “goddamn that’s pretty.” Both pretty salient points! But I do think it’s interesting that the designer(s) went the way they did--Madame de Pompadour was actually famously not in favor of glittering gems (actually, she supposedly donated palace jewels to the French treasury more than once to help out during times of war); she tended to prefer fairly simple pearls as embellishment, instead. She also wasn’t really into big hair; obviously the styles shown here on Ms. Myles aren’t exactly Marie-Antoinette-big, but they’re definitely more voluminous and modernized than the styles the real-life MdP typically sported, which usually consisted of a slight pomp and fairly close-knit curls framing the face. (It’s also interesting that Moffat wrote her with such a heavy innuendo for sex/romance, because rumor had it she didn’t really actually enjoy things in the bedroom all that much, instead preferring to pull political strings, promote the arts, patronize motherfucking Voltaire!!!, help design architecture!!!, and keep the king constantly entertained and distracted so he literally didn’t royally fuck everything up. She was a very busy lady! Also she like. Paid contractors and artists on time? Instead of dicking them over with “credit” bullshit like other wealthy patrons??? Sorry she was just WAY more awesome than the show gave her credit for!) Anyhoo, long story short, Rose and MdP are shown here wearing gowns and hairstyles that are heavily inspired by those worn by the real-life MdP wore in some of her many many portraits.

Thanks for tuning in to my giant costume nerdfest; see you next time for part 2! <3 <3 <3

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kerbaldevteam · 5 years

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KSP Loading... Deep Dive on the Breaking Ground Enhanced Edition Expansion

Welcome to our official newsletter, KSP Loading…! If you want to learn about all the current developments of the KSP franchise, then this is the place to be!

Kerbal Space Program Update 1.9 on PC

The KSP team is so excited about the features being worked on for Update 1.9. Similar to the last update, 1.9 will focus on furthering the performance and graphical improvements to the foundations of the game. These improvements include: new textures and mappings for Celestial Bodies, new shaders, optimizations, additional revamps and much more. Our goal for update 1.9 will be to continue to build upon the foundations that make KSP great.

Terrain Revamp for Moho and Dres

We’re continuing to revamp our celestial bodies, and in 1.9, Moho and Dres are getting fresh high-quality texture maps & graphic shaders. Take a look!

youtube

KSP breaks ground on consoles!

As we announced recently, Breaking Ground, the second expansion of Kerbal Space Program Enhanced Edition is coming to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on December 5th and it will have 100% feature parity with its PC counterpart.

Kerbal Space Program Enhanced Edition: Breaking Ground is all about exploration, experimentation and technological breakthroughs. With this expansion console players will be able to discover mysterious surface features across the moons and planets of the Kerbolar System. Players will also have the ability to collect data with brand new deployable experiments and design complex crafts with the addition of robotic parts.

Deployed Science

This feature will allow you to deploy experiments on the surface of celestial bodies to take measurements over time. You will need to bring these experiments with you, unpack them from storage containers on your craft and set them up to run. In order to do so, you will need to place a central station, one or more power generating devices and possibly a booster antenna to get your science base set up. The experiments and power generators will run better if the right kind of Kerbal sets them up, thus giving you more reasons to bring Kerbals with different professions on an adventure.

Click here to see the different experiments that will be available in Kerbal Space Program Enhanced Edition: Breaking Ground

Surface Features

Surface features are items of scientific interest scattered across all celestial bodies. These features include meteorites, craters, mineral formations, and even stranger planetary oddities. Surface features vary in size and Kerbal astronauts will be able to pick up and return the smallest of them to study back at KSC. However, larger specimens will need to be scanned and analyzed on-site by the newly developed Rover Arms. The Rover Arms come in three levels that you unlock via Research and Development, each of which have more sensors and tools that allow you to collect more science from the same surface feature.

Click here to see more images of Surface Features and the Rover Arm in high-res.

Robotics

With Breaking Ground, you will see a number of robotic parts including: hinges, pistons, rotors, rotational servos, propeller blades and turbo-shaft engines. Available in a range of shapes and sizes these new parts operate under realistic physics, with real forces and torques, electricity consumption and even motor mass accounted for.

We are also including a controller part that will let you coordinate the behavior of many different parts on your craft. Use Hinges to provide angles of rotation between two parts. Pistons give you linear motion. Rotors will allow you to generate torque around their axis. Rotational servos will give you precise control of angular position. Propeller Blades and Turbo-shaft Engines will allow you to build helicopters and other blade-propelled contraptions.

The KAL-1000 controller can sequence the actions of all the robotics parts and a number of other fields. It gives you access to a powerful track editor tool which lets you plan how parts will behave over time. Using this controller, you can set up complex cranes, walking crafts, disco lighting or whatever you can dream up!

Click here to see the Robotic Parts images in high-res.

The New Suit

This futuristic-looking suit was designed to match the spirit of Breaking Ground. It not only looks great on Kerbals, but offers customization where players can choose what color the helmet and suit lights will glow when in a darkened environment.

Click here to see the Suits in high-res.

Free Update for Consoles

Coupled with the Breaking Ground Expansion, Kerbal Space Program Enhanced Edition is getting a FREE content-filled console-optimized update that will bring all improvements, features, color variants and part revamps we’ve added up to PC 1.7.3 to console. These updates include:

Altimeter mode toggle

A long-requested quality-of-life feature that will allow you to toggle the altitude mode from Above Sea Level (ASL) to Above Ground Level (AGL) by simply clicking on the new icon to the altimeter. The KSP Team is optimistic that this will lead to improvements in the KSC’s survival rates…

Delta-v per Stage and Delta-v Tool App

Plan missions better and find flaws in your ship staging setup with this long requested feature that will let you visualize the Delta-v values along with a range of other technical data for each stage and the vessel overall. Plus, a Delta-v app that will allow you to get the vessel environment for how Delta-v is calculated in the VAB and SPH. Players will find this very useful!

Improved Burn Time information

The improved burn time indicator will now calculate based on dV and not acceleration. Additionally, it will contain a staging indicator that shows which stages contain the dV needed to complete each part of the maneuver. This will show a red section at the end if there’s not enough dV in the current vessel to complete that maneuver. In the extended mode of the burn time indicator two extra lines are shown, allowing you to adjust how much time you want to spend burning before and after the node during the maneuver as well as showing you a countdown for when you need to start burning fuel to do so.

Extensions to the Action Group System

Along with those updates we’re also adding two extensions to our action group system. The first one adds another type of action group for controls that lets you bind input controls to fields - an axis group. The second adds Action Sets, which allow you to enable or disable sets of axes or action groups.

This extends what you can do with a limited number of buttons, allowing you to put your craft into different modes of operation. You can even override the base controls with the action set feature, furthering how you can fine tune the interface between you and your craft. We developed these extensions to give players more options to control their robotics, but it certainly will be useful for stock and modded players as well.

Revamped Parts

A large number of parts have been given a fresh new look since the last update. You’ll be pleasantly surprised to find over 40 new part revamps, including the MK2 Lander Can, which like many other parts, includes a new variant for you to choose at will.

KSP 2 Developer Diary

In case you haven’t read through our latest KSP 2 Developer Diary yet, we invite you to check it out! Included in the post is an early animatic for the concept of our KSP 2 Announce Trailer, which was illustrated and narrated by Star Theory’s Creative Director, Nate Simpson.

To learn more about the effort that went into creating this trailer and how every bump, hiccup and cheer of triumph led to the final KSP 2 Announce Trailer, be sure to read our latest Dev Diary.

youtube

Apollo 12 Challenge’s Stellar Stand-outs

Thank you to everyone who participated in the #KSPApollo12 in-game challenge to re-create the Apollo 12 mission. There were so many amazing posts and we wanted to highlight 3 stellar submissions here:

IG: ksp_space_agency

YouTube: Dronez

youtube

TWT: Punet Shrivas

Remember, you can share and download crafts and missions on Curse, KerbalX, the KSP Forum and the KSP Steam Workshop.

That’s it for this edition. Be sure to join us on our official forums, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Stay tuned for more exciting and upcoming news and development updates!

Happy launchings!

#KSP Loading...#Kerbal Space Program #ksp #ksp enhanced edition #PS4 #xbox one #Breaking Ground #update 1.9 #devnotes #ksp weekly

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cryptidcalling · 5 years

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It’s finally time to talk about college Wren!! I keep mentioning it and then never making a full post, so here it is!

So, Wren did have some pretty overprotective parents, which caused him to kinda build himself a shell emotionally in order to make them happy. This lasted all through high school and even a little bit into his adult life (just barely).

Wren didn’t actually start college until he was 20, taking a gap year when he was 19. He did this for two reasons. One, he wanted to save up enough money to be able to drive all the way out to Oregon for college (he was born and raised in Wyoming). Two, he was absolutely determined to get into Oregon State University. He received a number of rejection letters over the course of that year, and every new letter he sent put more on the table. He had a new work experience, a new leadership role, he was studying even now that he was out of school to make sure he could pass any entrance exam they threw at him. It took him a lot of time and determination, but the day he finally got that acceptance letter he was overjoyed. For once at that age he was truly showing his excitement and energy without feeling the need to hide it.

So, at the beginning of of 2004 Wren moved out to Oregon. He lived on campus in the dorms, and his shell lasted for maybe a few weeks at most. He had a very kind roommate, who was getting a BA in biology to become a botanist. He and Wren still call sometimes, though not too often.

Wren himself was there to get a BA in forestry, meaning he would graduate when he turned 24. Over those 4 years Wren became a completely different person, or more accurately he stopped pretending to be one. He grew into the Wren we all know and love now. He didn’t have very many friends before this, so he basically made friends with everyone he had the chance to. Wren fit in very well. He went to TONS of bonfires and parties and all sorts of hangouts. He didn’t really have one group of friends, he was just able to naturally blend into the people around him.

However, this tactic actually made it so none of his friendships were particularly close ones. It was a quantity over quality kind of situation, and he ended up being friendly with people he didn’t know much about. This caused a number of issues, most of which involving not so nice people taking advantage of Wren’s way too niceness. Wren just assumes everyone is good, and when he came out of his shell he didn’t build any new barriers to protect himself from bad people.

Wren ended up giving a lot of people money he never got back, getting roped into giving people free rides, would sometimes be the one to pay for an entire outing, and had multiple unwanted romantic/sexual advances which he had to decline. In many cases this caused the advancer call him a tease/flirt/accuse him of leading them on. It would leave Wren feeling extremely guilty, and if they still wanted to talk to him after that he would often over correct the mistake he hadn’t even made. Thankfully, Wren never ever accepted any advances from guilt or obligation.

Also thankfully, Wren did have plenty of good people who would stand up for him and help him out. For every bad person there were 5 good people ready to help. Wren never really vented or anything like that, but even if they didn’t really know how bad he was feeling they would make him feel better. They would invite him out with them, do study groups together, etc naturally, and that did wonders to bring Wren’s spirits back up.

Wren had 2 significant others in college. One was a man about the same age as Wren who had VERY similar vibes and interest to Wren. They went camping together over breaks or on weekend if they were both free, they would go to bonfires together, and he actually taught Wren how to play guitar. They had amazing chemistry except for one little problem; his boyfriend was super pretentious. He wanted attention from everyone around them, and he rarely gave the attention back to Wren. He was the type of guy who talked about how no one truly understood his mind, how he had found true enlightenment, and would give out flyers to his gigs or CDs/tapes of his music when no one had asked for them. He often times came off as insulting to Wren. Wren has never been the brightest bulb, even when he glows with all of his might. He would talk about having to “teach Wren the truth of the universe” and having to “turn Wren away from the rest of the flock so he would stop being a follower.” He was the type who loudly and openly proclaimed that he was a starchild.

Overall he wasn’t a bad person, he just had an inflated image of his own intelligence and importance. He and Wren actually did get along really well, and he made Wren very happy. In the end, he was the one to break up with Wren. He did it in an odd, backwards way, talking about how Wren was “really just the type who followed the mold” and how he couldn’t change that. He didn’t say it in a mean way, he seemed to be being genuine. He had liked Wren, but believed that he had somehow needed to “enlighten” him in order for them to truly be together. He had thought he could do that naturally, via encouraging Wren to change instead of forcing him to, but that just wasn’t going to work.

Wren was understandably heart broken. He felt like it was somehow his fault, that he should have been able to change for that guy. For weeks he felt like he had been wasting that guy’s time by not being able to be what he had wanted. Eventually he was able to move on, and though he doesn’t feel guilty anymore he does still worry about wasting potential S/Os time.

The other was a woman he met in his last year of school. Unlike his previous relationship, she was very different from him. She was getting a degree in economics, and was incredibly business minded. She was a numbers type, and was very much a leader. They still got along on plenty of things, and they could actually have decently serious conversations about conservation and the importance of both hunting and fish/game regulations. They went out a lot, going to shows and cheap restaurants, or even just simple walks around campus. They were a good contrast. She helped Wren keep a more level head, and would watch out for him when it came to bad friendships and poor decisions regarding them. Wren made sure she didn’t dive to far into her classes that she got overwhelmed, and he was a wonderful source of optimism for her.

Technically, Wren was the one who broke up with her, though they both consider it a mutual breakup. They were fine and happy in college, but their life plans really didn’t match up. Wren was a man who was happy to work a low paying job out in the mountains, wanting nothing more than to be in nature and to enjoy the planet. She had the mind and heart of a business woman, wanting to move to the city and start her own company. In the end, they couldn’t find a way to make thins work out where they would both be happy. Wren was the one to finally admit that things probably weren’t going to work, and though it hurt she agreed. It was hard, but it was the best for the both of them.

Soon after their breakup they both graduated and went on their separate ways. Wren spent about a year and a half just traveling. He wanted to see places, experience all sorts of things. It was like one really long, incredibly cheap road trip. He did odd jobs to keep the cash coming in, but really all he did was explore. When he was 26 Wren finally settled down in West Virginia, getting a job as a park ranger and finally finding the place that was truly, perfectly right for him. Ten years later and he’s still there as the Wren we all know today.

#HOOO this in loooooong jimny crimny #I hope it's not too long winded!!!!#long post #<- in case the read more isnt working #wren tag #if you have questions lmk!!

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chosen-42-blog · 5 years

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‘love you to the moon and back’

“I love you to the moon and back“, a quote from the children’s book "Guess How Much I Love You", meant to express that one loves another person more than they can imagine.

From ancient times to the present, MOON is always be seen as a symbol of beauty, romance and mysterious. Therefore, the curiosity and exploration to the moon have never stopped. On July 20, 1969, American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first and second person to walk on the moon. At the time, US President Richard Nixon was in the first place. They talked to them on a landline. In the televised broadcast of the call, Nixon told the astronauts that the whole world is proud of them. "Because of everything you do, heaven has become a part of the human world." Humans regard the moon as a wonderful symbol. It is both the goal of scientific inquiry and political expansion, as well as the source of romance and the desire of art. Common ambitions and desires have gone through thousands of years of accumulation, and humans have finally had a close contact with the closest neighbors of the Earth half a century ago.

In order to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Apollo's moon landing and to explore the complex and strong attraction of the moon to humans, the global art circle has also presented exhibition projects related to the "moon" to explore the human image of the moon and its importance and power of charming.

Firstly, the exhibition of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Apollo's Muse: The Moon in the Age of Photography, explores the visual performance of the moon from the beginning of photography technology. In addition to the photos, the exhibition also features a series of related sketches, prints, oil paintings, movies, astronomical instruments and cameras used by Apollo astronauts.

On July 20, 1969, 500 million viewers around the world watched the first moon landing photo uploaded by the American astronauts from the moon. The images helped humans remember this very historical moment in their unique way. The limit of human vision was pushed. To the new dimension.

▲ El Meyers, "Le Voyage dans la lune" film excerpt, 1902

This "moon landing"-themed film pioneered the sci-fi film, which made the film a platform for fantasy and a tool for entertainment. This year's exhibition in the West, which commemorated the 50th anniversary of Apollo's moon landing, almost all showed the film.

Another typical exhibition is the museum of the moon. The Moon Museum is an art installation project for global tours. British artist Luke Jerram replicates the moon at a ratio of 1:500,000. Through the image of NASA, he displays every corner and crack of the moon's surface on an internally illuminated 23-foot diameter sphere, representing 5 kilometers of the moon per centimeter. As Jerram said in an article: "I hope this project can reproduce a myth, inspire people's doubts and re-engage with the night sky." This installation of more than 30 museums, palaces and landmarks has been popular in Europe and the United States since two years ago. But it is not as simple as a photo location. Its popularity comes from the result of the common emotions, myths and narratives of human beings. When you stand in front of this huge moon, it seems to be surrounded and impacted by the charm of the vast universe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX6HrVdtC7A

OLALA 2018-The Museum of the Moon, Luke Jerram

Moon Museum, British National History Museum, London

As it travels from one place to another, it will collect new musical compositions and continue to collect personal reactions, stories and myths, as well as highlight the latest lunar science. The device combines a moon image, moonlight and surround sound, created by British composer Dan Jones. From the beginning of human history, the moon has become a "cultural mirror" of our way of faith, understanding and observation. For centuries, the moon has been interpreted as a god and a planet. It is used for timing, calendaring, and assisted night navigation. Throughout history, the moon has inspired artists, poets, scientists, writers and musicians all over the world. A round of the moon, a delicate new moon with the sun, or the mysterious dark side of the moon, the faint blue light that evokes people's passion and exploration. Different cultures around the world have their own historical, cultural, scientific and religious relationships with the moon. The Moon Museum allows us to observe and think about cultural differences and similarities around the world and to consider the latest lunar science. The meaning and interpretation of the work will vary depending on where the work is presented. New stories and meanings will be collected through local research on the artwork of each location. (https://my-moon.org/about/)

Moon Museum, Powerhouse Museum, Sydney

Moon Museum, Aga Khan Museum, Toronto

Moon Museum, Milano

Moon Museum, Water Cube, Beijing

For a long time, human beings have a long-lasting fascination with the fascinating spheres in the sky, so this exhibition shows various paintings, scientific instruments and contemporary art through interactive installations, displays and art installations to explore the moon in human faith and science. And the various roles played in the arts.

Talking back to the meaning of moon exhibition, those exhibitions aim to memorize the 50th anniversary of the first human landing on the moon. In today’s context of the United States’ “returning to the moon”, the establishment of a lunar space station, and other countries competing to explore the moon, people cannot forget the political, scientific, technological, economic, and life-like aspects of Apollo’s manned moon landing on human society. Even the great influence and promotion brought by the spirit.For the time being, the US “Return to the Moon” program will also draw heavily on the experience and technology of the Apollo manned moon landing project. Many of the programs and technologies of the year are not out of date even today. The Apollo manned moon landing project will continue to affect the global influence for many generations and affect generations.

| Celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing logo. The prominent two letters O nested the Moon and Mars, respectively, meaning that the two planets NASA has explored, from "Apollo" to the moon, to "return to the moon", and then to Mars in the future. The next huge overflight refers to the next era to explore the focus: Mars. Samsung represents the three stars on the Orion belt. This logo was designed by NASA graphic artist Matthew Skins.|

In the fierce space competition between the United States and the Soviet Union in the late 1950s and early 1960s, the Soviet Union successively won several firsts: launching the world's first artificial earth satellite, launching the world's first moon detector, and launching it. The world’s first manned spaceship... The United States deeply feels that this is an extremely serious political issue. Therefore, the United States has been eager to surpass the slogan of the Soviet Union and is determined to show the United States as the world’s number one superpower. Level and national strength.

On May 25, 1961, US President Kennedy announced to the world that he would implement a majestic manned moon landing plan. “I think that our country should achieve the goal of sending people to the moon and returning them safely to Earth before the end of this decade.” Thus, the implementation of the manned mission to the moon in the United States is a political decision. The purpose is to re-establish the technological leadership of the United States in the eyes of the people of the world and to invigorate the spirit of the United States.

| President Kennedy speaks on the "Apollo" project in Congress |

The project is named after the sun god "Apollo". Although it can be seen as an ad hoc plan to compete with the Soviet Union, it is also the first step in human expansion into the solar system. Its purpose is to achieve manned moon landings and human field visits to the moon, for manned planets and Probing for technical preparation.

The Apollo manned moon landing project has greatly stimulated the slow-moving space program in the United States. Various people from all walks of life have offered suggestions, and it took only eight years to get on the moon.

| Apollo 11 Badge |

The success and achievements of the Apollo program have great historical and practical significance.

Politically, it has finally established the United States in a leading position in many aspects of space technology, and has produced a great reputation. In science, it has made humans have the first direct research and understanding of the moon and near-moon space. In terms of technology, many breakthroughs have been made, which not only laid the foundation for the later aerospace program, but also widely used in the national economy.

In engineering management, NASA has thus gained a series of valuable experience in large-scale engineering planning and management. Economically, this is a more controversial issue, but according to the Zeiss report, the “Apollo” plan has increased the US economic growth rate by 2%, the price index by 2%, and created 800,000 employment indicators. The Zeiss report also believes that In 1958, the US national income was 406.2 billion US dollars. In 1968, it reached 864 billion US dollars. In 1970, it increased to 90.46 billion US dollars.

The implementation of the project has led to a large number of high-tech industrial groups such as liquid fuel rockets, microwave radars, remote control operations, radio guidance, ultra-high strength and high temperature resistant synthetic materials, new electronic computers, pharmaceuticals and bioengineering. Later, many technical achievements such as artificial intelligence, robotics and remote control operations of the project were transferred to civilian use, which promoted the overall development and prosperity of science and technology and industry. The benefits of secondary development and application far exceeded the Apollo program itself. Direct economic and social benefits.

In the last 10 years of the 20th century, the United States was able to maintain high-speed and efficient growth, thanks in large part to the thousands of application technology achievements or patent applications in the economic field derived from the Apollo manned moon landing project. The United States is ahead of the world. High-tech, such as information, biology, and new materials, comes from the digestion, optimization, and secondary development of lunar exploration technology.

In the implementation of the Apollo manned moon landing project, in order to cool down and ensure the safety of the astronauts on the moon, the liquid cooling suit was developed. The principle is to use the pump to deliver cold water circulation refrigeration. Later, this technology was directly applied to the army, navy and air force. The working conditions of tankers, submarines and pilots have also reduced the suffering for some special patients. For example, there is a little boy who has scalded scalpel disease and can't dissipate heat through the skin. Therefore, most of his time can only be kept in the air-cooled environment. Many daily activities can't participate. After the liquid cold clothes, he can Go out and play, save from illness and loneliness.

Another popular bar code for shopping pricing is one of the aerospace technology masterpieces that was originally invented by the United States to control the countless components of the Apollo program.

The intensive care unit was one of the important medical advances brought by aerospace technology. It was originally born in response to the Apollo program's need for health testing of astronauts on the moon.

The dried cabbage leaves in instant noodles are the dehydrated vegetables commonly used in aerospace foods. They are used to store, store, and transport excess water in vegetables. The Apollo program first uses this technology to allow astronauts to eat vegetables. Aerospace foods are now widely available in aerospace foods.

All kinds of fashionable sneakers are also the "products" of Apollo's achievements. The "air blow molding" manufacturing technology is derived from the Apollo plan for the production of space suits. At that time, scientists made a complete and uniform thickness. The large-pressure space suit liner invented a method of heating and softening a group of pressure-resistant soft materials, placing them in a mold, and then blowing high-pressure gas into the mold. After that, the sneaker manufacturer found that the process could Quickly and efficiently create a complete upper that is widely used.

In conclusion, human desire for space and resources is growing towards rationality with the advancement of technology. On September 5, 1977, NASA unmanned probe traveler 1 launched into the solar system. Voyager 1 carries a gold-plated bronze record with a diameter of 30 cm, trying to introduce humanity to the extraterrestrial civilization as completely as possible. The album contains 115 pictures of the earth's features, humans, knowledge and solar system celestial bodies; 55 kinds of earth language greetings, beginning with the Aka German used by the Sumerians 6,000 years ago, ending in Chinese dialects; Dogs, birds, trains, and other "voices of the earth"; there are also music from a variety of cultures, including Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, Chinese Guqin "Water", Chuck Berry's rock, African blows Music, the voice of New Guineans, and so on. When astronomer Carl Sagan presided over the compilation of the album content, people's expectations of discovering extraterrestrial civilization seemed to be a little higher and more romantic than now, unlike the calmness of more than 40 years. Today, the urban legendary craze of UFO and alien signs is over, but serious exploration is still in progress.I don't know if we can see the breakthrough in our lifetime. We don't know when humans can really leave the cradle and start the interstellar voyage. We don't know whether the form of life will exceed the range we are familiar with, or even whether human cognition is enough to understand the universe and itself. The only thing that can be determined at the moment is that as long as the human species still exists, there will always be some members who will be the pioneers of travel, extending the footprints of human footprints and thinking to farther places.

#museum of the moon

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sol1056 · 6 years

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three anons: what the hell was all that in S7

Picking out the three that are most to the point for this answer, but I’ve got another dozen or so that overlap. Not sure I’ll have time/energy to answer the rest individually, so hopefully this meta will be sufficient.

I mean it could be that they had different execs back then who were better at their jobs and kept Shiro around. No one disliked black paladin Shiro, even the DotU fans were ok with it, and the writing in s1-2 was mostly very good. Changing all that was a bad idea. I would have left on the spot if Shiro died or was benched, like now, I'm only around for closure. Maybe they were different execs with this decision & the EPs leaped at the chance. Well, we know who's also gonna be in trouble if that's the case.

With your theory on how storyboards were reused and characters shuffled around for cost cutting, might this not also partly explain the Adam flashback scene and how it was staged? I mean, they were originally supposed to be roommates and the scene was meant to appear in season 2 but got cut. What if they just reused the storyboard (or even animation, if it was already mostly done) the way it was and then just changed the dialogue? This could explain the lack of intimacy in the staging, too. Ezor and Zethrids interactions were more openly intimate maybe not (just) because they‘re villains who die immediately after, but because the decision to make them an item came before storyboarding was done, so the staging is more suggestive. I mean, if you think Shiro was mostly pasted in in the first half of s7, that might make sense.

If cost was the issue and they already had the black paladin Shiro version written, and got the greenlight to change it to Keith then things don't add up. Because they changed it once more! Which could have been avoided if they stuck to the Shiro one. And it goes without saying it would be better written to follow canon instead of the mess we got, like, I cant imagine this NOT discussed. So if it wouldn't be cost effective to change it again for Keith and it would be badly written, why did it happen?

Behind the cut: the most likely chronology of revisions, the clues in S7 as to its original form, and what this means for S8 and the Black Paladin position.

This is everything I’ve been able to figure out between interviews, podcasts, tweets, plus researching the industry and a few reality-checks with friends more familiar. As always, any mistakes are my own.

version 0: "five teenagers"

This would’ve been the first pitch after getting the green light, and probably only a loose synopsis, with just the pilot given a rough storyboard. A post-apocalyptic Earth conquered by the Galra, who are seeking Blue. The execs rejected JDS' mechanism for the discovery of Blue, in favor of simply having Keith ‘sense’ Blue. The execs also rejected the idea that Shiro would die only a few episodes in. This summary seems to be the basis of the "five teenagers" part of the teaser.

version A: "shiro kicks the bucket"

Timelines would've dictated moving onto an outline pretty quickly, detailed down to the episode level, including bits of dialogue, motifs, turning points or emotional beats. In this revision, Shiro dies/leaves at the end of S2 and does not return. This is the “originally we wanted him to kick the bucket” version, which the execs rejected.

version B: "shiro goes away for awhile"

If I'm interpreting the hints correctly, the "does Shiro die or not" question got tossed back and forth all the way into S1/S2 pre-production. Rather than rearrange everything, the easiest fix would've been to leave most of the story intact and write only a new ending where Shiro returns. The execs reject this rewrite, saying Shiro can’t be gone that long. This is the “we tried to just have him gone for awhile, but the execs said he had to come back sooner” version.

version C: "enter the clone"

Again, easiest fix is to insert Shiro/Kuron, remove Keith, and reverse that just before Shiro's return in version B. This impacts only the middle seasons (S3-S6); the clone compromise satisfies the execs. Kuron's characterization makes a lot more sense if it’s Keith, in visuals (ie Kuron leaning against the wall in Keith fashion), dialogue (fighting with Lance), and action (leaving without consulting the team). It's also why no one mentions Keith's absence. Because in the original version A, Keith was standing right there.

version D: "wtf is going on", aka Season 7

When JDS mentions having a full season written with Shiro as Black Paladin, it didn't make sense how they'd have a script and not use it. With @ptw30's visual detective work, I think I may've figured it out.

Technical notes: first scripts are all written for a season, then voices are recorded, and then the combined script+recording is used to storyboard. Production seasons are 26-episodes, independent of actual broadcast seasons; VA may be recording scenes across two 13-episode seasons completely out of order, since the recording schedule's going to be based on who's available, not chronology of the file numbers. The biggest staff changes are usually in April ('staffing season') when new shows get the greenlight and start sharking around to catch writers, designers, directors, etc.

In March of this year, S5 was released. At least some of the storyboarders were released in time for staffing season; in April, Hedrick moves to a new project. With S7/S8 being unchanged since version B, I suspect Hedrick delivered the scripts for S7 and S8 by winter of last year, at latest. Even that would be tight, since that's expecting animation to deliver 26 episodes in an 8-month timeframe. [edit: probably delivered much earlier, given the studio leaks show images we can recognize from S7/S8, so some amount of these seasons were in production by then.]

In June, S6 dropped, and a week later, Hamilton was announced as the new story editor via the Lets Voltron podcast. With the lead time required in production, there doesn't seem to be any reason to even need a story editor, at this point. All the pre-production work should be done.

In August, S7 dropped. Hedrick's editor credit is only for the first half of the season; Hamilton gets it for the second half. That means the last six episodes were written after Hedrick's departure. (May Chan's S2 script was reused in part, and she gains a belated co-writing script credit for that. Hedrick should've received the same; it's standard.)

Let's recap a few things we know (and a few we can intuit) about S7:

The season was already written with Shiro returning as Black Paladin, possibly also recorded and storyboarded.

S6 reversed the S4-S5 trend, lending strength to exec arguments that Shiro is necessary in the story.

After S6 dropped, the EPs said the wolf's name was a spoiler. See this post from @pwt30; tl;dr is that perhaps the EPs intended the wolf to be Shiro's spirit.

Despite Shiro's return, he's absent for the majority of the first half; when he is present, he barely speaks a half-dozen words, and none are plot-relevant. See @ptw30's post for more details.

There's a glaring incontinuity when Allura says the paladin armor protected the team, yet Shiro is frozen with the other non-paladins despite wearing armor.

Keith never offers for Shiro to pilot, nor mentions it, nor even seems to consider it an issue.

Not everything dovetails since I don't have the full picture, but here's my theory: S7 was originally outlined with Shiro's spirit in the wolf, rather than Black. I have no idea when/how JDS would've thought up the CA:WS parallels for his sole writing credit, but Shiro's "I died" and Lotor's psychotic breakdown are squeezed into S6E6, which was written by Josh Hamilton, Hedrick's later replacement. The only other Shiro-in-Black point is a few minutes at the end of S6's final episode. Shifting from Shiro-in-wolf to Shiro-in-Black really only affects one episode, with a bit of editing for another.

Anyway, S6 ends version C, and we segue to version B. For the first half of S7, the clone's body may have been in stasis while the team traveled through its various non-adventures. The episode we now know as S7E1 may have been the mid-point, with about six episodes of Shiro being unconcious. After watching the numbers drop from S3 to S6, the execs may've rejected another six episodes of where-is-Shiro and insisted he come back ASAP.

S7 only has two episodes that must be in order; the rest are pretty rearrangeable. All they had to do was insert Shiro into the background and record a few lines. (Several lines are pure voice-over, which also saves cost/time by not needing to animate moving mouth.) But the moved episode is only his memory/awakening, and the logical next episode would be Shiro's reconnection, and the rest of the season would roll from there. Without moving the entire second half of the season to the start, moving only his awakening episode would mean Shiro does nothing for 5-6 episodes and then abruptly reconnects.

In a recent interview, JDS said at first the execs weren't enthused until JDS talked up the new mecha they'd give Shiro to captain. Honestly, there's no way JDS got to be EP without giving a really good pitch, but there may've been another element to his argument: nostalgia. The EPs seem certain everyone suffers from their same nostalgia dementia, which if you do, then you probably have been waiting for any glimpse of that og!Keith. If Shiro returns at the start of S7, then Keith's time in Black has been limited to a few disastrous episodes in S3, and a single big battle in S6. The beginning of S7 is the only time we'd ever see the Voltron84 formation working as a unified team, and returning Shiro too soon would defeat the whole purpose of showing how the team has grown in his absence.

The solution seems to have been to remove Shiro's reconnection completely, and keep Keith in Black. That would mean re-recording Shiro's lines from the midpoint onward, and editing in Keith over Shiro. The savings would be that only half the seaon would have to be reworked, not all. The loose end of the space wolf --- an artifact of version B --- was left in place.

What I'm not sure of is whether the following are significant enough changes to warrant removing Hedrick's name and replacing it with Hamilton's. It could be, if supervising the revision process is enough to override the previous credits. I have no idea about that part of the industry, and it's the kind of edge case you're just not going to find a lot of blog posts about, so if you know, tell me. Otherwise, your guess is as good as mine.

Anyway, this would've meant Shiro was switched in for Allura, Allura was put back in a lion, and Keith was switched in for Shiro. This would explain why Shiro speaks as the leader of Voltron despite no longer being a paladin, and the uneasy sensations a lot of people got about the characterizations. It was most striking in the last three episodes: Shiro felt like Allura v2, while Keith felt like Shiro v2. And that further, the Altean-Earthian ship just 'lighting up' for Shiro --- and becoming that oversized white mecha --- may've meant as Allura's fourth (fifth?) deus ex machina.

I'd be willing to bet that mid-battle, Allura repeated her stunt from the end of S2, heading out to destroy Sendak's crystal by herself. She wouldn't need Sam to hack her brain, and then we'd also have a call back to when she got knocked down by the crystal-ball thing on Naxzela. If she was the one meant to go toe-to-toe with Sendak, that would explain the bizarre neutrality of Sendak's words --- he says nothing personal to Shiro, at all --- and the even more bizarre silence on Shiro's part. Allura's words wouldn't fit Shiro, so he's silent.

And lastly, it'd mean that the one leaping out of Black to cut down Sendak wouldn't have been Keith. It would've been Shiro.

Where would the story go from here?

If I look at the events of S7, the first half is terribly disjointed, really. If Shiro was supposed to wake at the midpoint, an episode (or two) is missing. One for him to reconnect with Black, and a second that would provide some minor conflict to settle him back into position. Those two episodes were likely replaced with the unexpected and frankly over-told two-parter of the Earth flashbacks.

Two problems with that, one technical, one structural.

First, the flashback two-parter has a lot of moving parts. Brand-new designs, characters, and backdrops. It's far too elaborate to be done in an ultra-compressed timeframe, not without several heart attacks and therapy bills on the part of the animation staff. (Plus, the US-based storyboarding team is already downsized, so fewer hands to do the work.)

Second, it doesn't make a lot of structural sense, especially against the big revelations in S6 of an existing Altean colony. Within the story, there's no reason to halt everything and travel across the universe to take however long to build a new castle, when the Altean colony question is far more pressing. Returning to earth also violates the structure, because it's really just a standard milieu: start on earth, head out to have adventures, and return home at the end.

But here, they're returning home and then possibly leaving again. That's just... a rather peculiar and imbalanced way to do it. It doesn't help that doing so means literally telling Romelle her people are just gonna have to rot, the paladins are certain they need the castle more. Why would you take one of the more compelling storylines you've come up with, only to background it again, and wreck the traditional bookending milieu structure at the same time? Especially if that means coming up with major set-pieces and brand-new designs in the space of several months, after a chunk of your core staff are already onto other things.

I think those two flashback episodes -- and the rewritten finale episodes --- may've been cribbed from S8. In other words, the second half of S7 was the original end of S8. That would mean repurposing already-created storyboards and animation artifacts, so there's a huge time savings there (not counting the need to re-record voices and edit the visuals to match the changed-around parts).

[note: if there’s anywhere you want to frontload introductions for the spin-off, it’d be in the final season, not the penultimate season. Here it feels like a big honking distraction, rather than an organic segue into the next iteration.]

That change necessitated that utterly bizarro mecha that appeared out of nowhere with the most ridiculously impeccable timing. There needed to be a reason to pull the team back out to space to deal with Haggar and/or the alt-Alteans and/or Lotor or whomever else it turns out to be.

So... where we go from here depends on when S8 gets released, because that’ll tell us how much they did (or did not) edit the episodes. Another clue will be whose name gets listed as head editor for an episode; if we see Hedrick’s name reappear at the top, we’ll know we’re dealing with episodes that are enough unrevised to qualify as being Hedrick-edited, that it’s a version B episode.

My expectation? They’ll move Shiro’s reconnection to the first part of S8, and add an episode or edit pieces of another, to blend it into what would’ve been the first half of S8 (probably with filler to mask the gap). Then add an episode to segue into the version B finale of S7, where we’d end with the original VLD lineup. With the time needed for animation, that’d be the easiest (if potentially awkward) way to repurpose as much as possible of existing artifacts.

If we don’t get S8 in the next 1-2 months, though, all bets are off, and there’s a much greater possibility that the entire final season is being redone from scratch. I’d expect Keith to stay in Black, in that case, but I’m always willing to be pleasantly surprised.

edited to add: see this followup for another detail that supports the reversed-seasons theory

#vld #voltron #analysis #story structure #television production #come for the sugar stay for the salt #sol thinks about stuff

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myhahnestopinion · 6 years

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The AARONS 2018 - Best TV Episode

Peak TV is tearing me apart trying to binge-watch every show that is epic, so defending individual chapters of these shows is a good way to remind oneself to not get so lost in the big picture. Here are The Aarons for Best TV Episode:

#10. “Captain Underpants and the Costly Conundrum of the Calamitous Claylossus” (The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants, Season 1, Episode 7)

Even more so than the fun but formulaic movie of last year, The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants embraces the irreverent spirit of Dav Pilkey’s children’s books. This charming childishness is no more prominent than in “The Costly Conundrum of the Calamitous Claylossus,” in which the latest vile villain brings the world of the Wedgie Warrior from its traditional genial 2D animation to 3D Claymation, threatening its survival... due to, as the characters note, the budget cuts to their show needed to maintain such animation. This meta-narrative proved that, when it comes to the colossal undertaking of retaining the joy of Pilkey’s series, the Netflix Series is certainly wearing the pants.

#9. “A House Divided” (Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia, Season 3, Episode 10)

Trollhunters rose above the basic tropes at the backbone of its story thanks to the creative spirit of creator Guillermo del Toro. For its final season, del Toro’s influence was felt harder than ever, particularly in “A House Divided,” which marks protagonist Jim Lake’s fateful loss of innocence, a common theme among the director’s works. Jim’s journey has left him with an impossible choice, which renders the viewer nervously unable to breathe for the duration of the episode, only to culminate in an unforgettable ending that features only the sound of breathing. While spin-off series 3 Below may be off to a good start, it will be difficult for any of del Toro’s planned Tales of Arcadia to match the heights of his subterranean world of trolls.

#8. “I’m Not the Person I Used to Be” (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Season 4, Episode 8)

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’s final season is off to an affecting start, but has suffered from a sense of place-setting in its first half, the blessing and the curse of its extended episode order this year. However, the series’ endgame seems to have finally begun in its tight-knit mid-season finale, which saw the return of season 1 mainstay Greg like you’ve never seen him before… literally. Skylar Astin gets off on the right foot as the recasting of the role, a backstage change used within universe to demonstrate and further develop Rebecca’s changing sense of self as she seeks happiness and reconciliation, noble pursuits that make for notable television. That doesn’t sound so crazy now, does it?

#7. “Winner” (Better Call Saul, Season 4, Episode 10)

If Crazy Ex-Girlfriend has made excellent television out of the pursuit of personal growth, then Better Call Saul’s moral decay can perhaps be designated its mirror image. As with all of the show’s season finales, “Winner” is a product of bad decisions on the part of the characters, and great decisions on the part of the show’s creators. The episode acts as a microcosm of a season filled with exhilarating schemes, striking cinematography, and poignant decisions, culminating in a turn of events that remains shocking despite being known as inevitable. The episode title says it all. This one’s a winner.

#6. “Legends of To-Meow-Meow” (Legends of Tomorrow, Season 4, Episode 8)

As noted in its ranking in the Best TV Shows of the year, there is a large assortment of gonzo episodes of Legends of Tomorrow that deserve distinguished praise, but the show might have snuck its most awesomely oddball episode in just under the wire for this awards show. A teammate’s transformation into a feline following a regretful change to history is but the cat-alyst of an episode that illustrates the multiple revisions to the Legends of Tomorrow (aka Custodians of the Chronology aka Sirens of Space Time) timeline via retro-TV-themed intros, explicitly mocks the comparatively tame nature of the concurrent running “Elseworlds” crossover, and, yes, teaches kids helpful lessons through the power of singing puppets. It’s an episode brimming with loveable moments, but all knit together with a touching story of a lost love that perfectly illustrates why Legends of Tomorrow has clawed its way up to the best of the Arrowverse.

#5. “Time’s Up for the Gang” (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Season 13, Episode 4)

Always Sunny has never shied away from addressing hot-button issues, tackling racism, abortion, and gun control with a biting satirical edge in just its first batch of episodes. Yet, it’s still shocking how much dark humor the show can unearth in the most unlikely of places, a delicate balancing act that succeeds because the show is keenly aware of where its jokes should fall. Written by series standout Megan Ganz, “Time’s Up for the Gang” puts its hilariously-horrible cast of characters through the ringer over their past behavior with rollicking gall and technical grace. There’s likely no other show that can maintain such quality and relevance thirteen seasons in, suggesting that Always Sunny’s time is far from over.

#4. “Jeremy Bearimy” (The Good Place, Season 3, Episode 4)

Written by the bearer of one of Twitter’s best accounts, and the mind behind last year’s eclectic entry “Dance Dance Resolution,” Megan Amram, Jeremy Bearimy brought The Good Place’s third season roaring to life in wild fashion. Kickstarting with the reveal that our universe’s true nature is more “Jeremy Bearimy” than timey-wimey, the episode features a slow descent into existential crises that is, despite the show’s wonderfully heightened reality, presented in the most relatable of fashions: a truly, truly disgusting bowl of chili. The episode’s major resonance lies in the credo cultivated in its final moments, a commitment to doing good in the face of inescapable punishment, but it’s also an unbearably funny journey to get there.

#3. “Free Churro” (BoJack Horseman, Season 5, Episode 6)

BoJack Horseman’s most remarkable episodes, such as previous Aaron winners “Fish Out of Water” and “Stupid Piece of Sh*t,” have been those that have toyed with its animation format. “Free Churro” breaks these conventions in a completely different manner, isolating the entire action of the episode to a single monologue via eulogy delivered by Will Arnett’s BoJack. This striped-down focus parallels the striping down of BoJack’s psyche through a rambling, soul-churning soliloquy that lays bare BoJack’s tragic backstory. As it goes on, the monologue leads the protagonist and the viewer to the harrowing realization that perhaps there will not be a happy ending waiting at the end of all this. It’s heavy stuff, but the cherry on the top of a great episode is the comedic pay-off to the piece, in case you were afraid that “Free Churro” was entire free of cheer.

#2. “Party Monster: Scratching the Surface” (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Season 4, Episode 3)

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, like BoJack Horseman, is a show that address a history of abuse in unexpectedly uproarious ways, and, like BoJack Horseman, produced one of the best episodes of the year by breaking its Unbreakable formula. Framed as an expose documentary on Kimmy’s once-captor, the Reverend Richard Wayne Gary Wayne aka DJ Slizzard, “Party Monster: Scratching the Surface” is at once a staggering assortment of long-running gags, a painfully precise mockery of documentary formats (including riotous instances of narrative tangents and stock footage), and a scathing lampooning of how misogynistic radicalization takes hold. The show has always been fueled by a righteous fury, but with the fourth season’s no-holds-barred approach to its darker material that never sacrifices the rapid-fire humor, it’s sad that Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt will be ending this year, when it seems like it’s still just scratching the surface.

AND THE BEST TV EPISODE OF 2018 IS...

#1. “Teddy Perkins” (Atlanta, Season 2, Episode 6)

Unexpected even in a show that’s routinely impossible to predict, “Teddy Perkins” is undoubtedly the strangest episode of TV all year… and certainly the best. Fulfilling, and perhaps exceeding, the bizarreness of Atlanta’s oft-cited inspiration Twin Peaks, the episode follows Lakeith Stanfield’s Daryl quest for a particular piano that lands him in the decrepit mansion of the peculiar eponymous Teddy Perkins, an eerie, ersatz late-in-life Michael Jackson, played by star Donald Glover in extensive make-up. It’s surreal without sacrificing structure (in fact, the episode aired unbroken by commercial to enhance the immersion) or the show’s social commentary. For the entire extended-length of the unnerving and unforgettable episode, viewers are rankled by the horrifying possibilities of a show that has so unequivocally shattered all boundaries of television, including the possibility of a fateful end for a beloved central character. A standalone dreamlike masterpiece strengthened by its relation to a superb show, “Teddy Perkins” will undoubtedly perk up your ears if you’ re not already all in on Atlanta.

Yes, I know my puns got worse as the episodes got better.

NEXT UP: THE 2018 AARON FOR BEST TV PERFORMANCE!

#tv #TheAarons2018 #TheAarons #TheAaronsTV #bestof #bestof2018 #atlanta #teddyperkins #unbreakable kimmy schmidt #bojack horseman #thegoodplace #alwayssunny #legendsoftomorrow #bettercallsaul #crazyexgirlfriend #trollhunters #captainunderpants #epictalesofcaptainunderpants

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eddycurrents · 6 years

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For the week of 11 March 2019

Quick Bits:

Age of Conan: Bêlit #1 expands Marvel’s Conan franchise further with the beginning of this limited series featuring the early days of the notorious pirate Queen of the Black Coast. Tini Howard, Kate Niemczyk, Jason Keith, and Travis Lanham deliver a compelling story setting up the tragedy of Bêlit’s early life and her one-track mind for adventure on the high seas.

| Published by Marvel

Amazing Spider-Man #17, after two preludes (one branded, one not) and a simmering sub-plot of Taskmaster and Black Ant kidnapping the villains running for months, finally gives us part one of “Hunted” from Nick Spencer, Humberto Ramos, Victor Olazaba, Edgar Delgado, and Joe Caramagna. And it’s essentially more set-up. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still great, building anticipation for the hunt to really start in earnest, but it’s a slow build.

| Published by Marvel

Animosity #19 starts trying to pick up the pieces after the fall of the Walled City. There’s some very interesting questions raised regarding survival and existence from Marguerite Bennett in this one, as both the animals and humans try to figure out a way to bridge the divide.

| Published by AfterShock

Asgardians of the Galaxy #7 concludes this arc with Sera and the Ravagers, as they team up to help refugees and Ego, the Living Planet. I still think it’s weird to see essentially the movie version of Yondu in present day 616 continuity, but Cullen Bunn keeps this fun. I suspect that Sera/Angela fans will still be disappointed, though.

| Published by Marvel

Assassin Nation #1 is the exciting debut of this action thriller, somewhat in the vein of Skybound’s other title Die!Die!Die! mixing elements of extreme violence, action, and a bit of humour, from Kyle Starks, Erica Henderson, and Deron Bennett. It’s a damn good set up, immersing us into a world of assassins jockeying for a number one spot, screwing one another over and turning on them for the highest bidder, with two interesting hooks of “Chekhov’s Gun” trying to figure out who’s trying to kill him and Bishop searching for who killed his husband. Phenomenal art from Henderson, with some very inventive death sequences.

| Published by Image / Skybound

Avengers: No Road Home #5 takes it up another notch as the Avengers continue to battle against Nyx and her children, this time narrated by Scarlet Witch. The fight on Nightmare’s front gets particularly interesting as we see how scary Hulk has really become, along with a humorous fight between Hawkeyes. Sean Izaakse and Marcio Menyz really turn in some incredible artwork here. And the final scene is pretty savage.

| Published by Marvel

The Batman Who Laughs: The Grim Knight #1 isn’t something I was going to pick up, but I saw some gushing about it from people I trust and decided on a last minute purchase. Like the rest of the Batman Who Laughs mini-series, this is dark, giving us a “Batman” who picked up the gun that was used to murder his parents, and, though technically proficient, isn’t really for me. What I do really appreciate, though, is the artwork from Eduardo Risso and Dave Stewart. It is gorgeous, with Risso continuing to explore some of the softer, painted style that he’s used in Moonshine and Hit-Girl. It really is worth the price of admission.

| Published by DC Comics

Buffy the Vampire Slayer #3 continues to be one of my favourite comics each month. Jordie Bellaire, Dan Mora, Raúl Angulo, and Ed Dukeshire are presenting a story here that so perfectly captures the spirit and fun of the television series, while also just being a great original tale. It’s fun to see the old faces in new situations, but it’s also an enjoyable story in its own right, introducing us to the characters and tossing them into the chaos.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

By Night #9 gives us Jane’s mom’s history with Charlesco and more or less the origin of the portal and the experiment. It’s particularly interesting as John Allison, Christine Larsen, Sarah Stern, and Jim Campbell tell the story in the visual style of an early ‘90s comic. There’s even a nice little nod to the Marvel Bullpen in there.

| Published by Boom Entertainment / BOOM! Box

Calamity Kate #1 introduces us to Kate, Vera, Jade and a world of monster hunting in this debut from Magdalene Visaggio, Corin Howell, Valentina Pinto, and Zakk Saam. Between this, The Girl in the Bay, and the forthcoming Dark Red, I’m loving the higher profile that Howell is carving for herself. She’s a great artist with excellent versatility.

| Published by Dark Horse

Catwoman #9 is a fill-in issue from Ram V, John Timms, and Josh Reed that’s one part revenge tale and one part heist, resulting overall in one hell of a good single issue. There’s a nice sense of rhythm and pacing to the story that fits with the theme of the heist, with some great artwork.

| Published by DC Comics

Cover #6 brings what has been one of the most unique, ambitious, and inventive uses of the comics medium I’ve seen in a long time to a close, with a bit of conversation and some gorgeous art from Brian Michael Bendis, David Mack, Zu Orzu, and Carlos M. Mangual. It get even more meta this issue, along with the usual multi-layered storytelling that delves into the comics world.

| Published by DC Comics / Jinxworld

Cyber Force #9 more or less completes the gathering of the team, presenting a bit of a quiet moment to collect themselves before setting up a confrontation with Cyberdata. There’s some interesting soul-searching between Dominique and Ripclaw on whether or not with the change they’re still them. And, as usual, the art from Atilio Rojo is pretty much worth the price of admission on its own.

| Published by Image / Top Cow

The Empty Man #5 has some gorgeous artwork by Jesús Hervás and Niko Guardia, especially among the repeating cycles of the opening and closing scenes.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

The Flash #66 brings back the single issue Rogue profile format for an origin story of the original Trickster, James Jesse, from Joshua Williamson, Scott Kolins, Luis Guerrero, and Steve Wands. Great art from Kolins and Guerrero.

| Published by DC Comics

The Freeze #4 concludes the first arc, with a very satisfying reveal of the serial killer and confirmation on a few other ongoing plot threads that nicely serve as a hook for future arcs. I’m really enjoying this one. Dan Wickline, Phillip Sevy, and Troy Peteri are telling a very compelling story here about essentially rebuilding society from a very different form of cataclysm, with some wonderful character-building and enough intrigue to keep you on your toes.

| Published by Image / Top Cow

Grimm Tales of Terror #13 is one of the better recent issues, with Joe Brusha, Umberto Giampà, Fran Gamboa, JC Ruiz, and Fabio Amelia diving into the story of a true crime writer investigating a serial killer in Detroit utilizing the signatures of other famous serial killers. There are a few really nice twists throughout the tale.

| Published by Zenescope

Gunning for Hits #3 throws a few wrinkles into Martin’s plans for Stunted Growth and Brian Slade as Slade’s bodyguard, “Mr. Gladstone”, causes problems while trying to extort Martin. This continues to be a dense, but satisfying, read every month. It feels like Jeff Rougvie, Moritat, and Casey Silver are just packing in as much content as they possibly can.

| Published by Image

Hawkman #10 features a larger than life confrontation between Hawkman and Idamm. Bryan Hitch, Andrew Currie, and Jeremiah Skipper deliver nicely on that widescreen epic feel of the assault on London.

| Published by DC Comics

Hit-Girl Season 2 #2 gets up close and personal with the uglier side of Hollywood as Kevin Smith, Pernille Ørum, Sunny Gho, and Clem Robins continue their arc featuring the adaptation of Hit-Girl’s side of the story from Kick-Ass by the film industry. Things get a little complicated.

| Published by Image

House Amok #5 concludes what has been an excellent, mind-bending series exploring truth and delusion and the power of family, from Christopher Sebela, Shawn McManus, Lee Loughridge, and Neil Uyetake. This finale doesn’t give any easy answers and actually raises a few more questions, all with some gorgeous artwork from McManus and Loughridge.

| Published by IDW / Black Crown

James Bond: Origin #7 begins “Russian Ruse” with Ibrahim Moustafa and Roman Stevens taking over art duties, joining Jeff Parker and Simon Bowland in this tale of essentially piracy in the Barents Sea. Nice set up of the Russians’ duplicity here and an inept Commander not listening to Bond’s observations.

| Published by Dynamite

Justice League Dark #9 unleashes the Lords of Order against pretty much everyone, causing death and destruction as they try to “cleanse” reality of the chaos they think infests it. Between them and the Otherkind, things aren’t looking particularly cheery for existence. Incredible artwork from Alvaro Martínez Bueno, Miguel Mendonça, Raul Fernandez, and Brad Anderson.

| Published by DC Comics

Little Bird #1 is an experience. Darcy Van Poelgeest, Ian Bertram, Matt Hollingsworth, and Aditya Bidikar launch a dystopian future where a theocratic America seems to rule with an iron fist and a pocket resistance holds out in the Canadian Rockies. There’s a bit of a feel of Akira here, and Grendel: God and the Devil, maybe even a little Martha Washington, but still with its own unique elements and some seriously awesome art from Bertram and Hollingsworth.

| Published by Image

Livewire #4 concludes the first arc with a nice bit of soul-searching as Amanda comes to terms with what she did during Harbinger Wars 2. Between this, Age of X-Man: Prisoner X, and this week’s Shuri, Vita Ayala is definitely on fire right now. They’re doing some great character-driven work and it shines in this finale. Also, Raúl Allén and Patricia Martín can do no wrong. The layouts on this book are stunning.

| Published by Valiant

The Magnificent Ms. Marvel #1 is the beginning of a new era for Kamala Khan from Saladin Ahmed, Minkyu Jung, Juan Vlasco, Ian Herring, and Joe Caramagna. Using a kind of fable narration, setting up something new for the future while dealing with a continuation from Kamala’s current status in the presents, is a nice approach from Ahmed. It also marks a good jumping-on point for new readers as it recaps more or less what you need to know about Ms. Marvel’s history. Beautiful art from Jung, Vlasco, and Herring.

| Published by Marvel

Murder Falcon #6 is an epic, face-melting issue. Daniel Warren Johnson and Mike Spicer give us a bit of a tearjerker as Anne comes to terms with her situation with Jake and finally finds her voice. It’s really incredible. Also, giant monsters and metal.

| Published by Image / Skybound

Oblivion Song #13 jumps ahead three years for a new status quo, a few shuffled faces, and new situations for many of the cast of characters, providing an excellent jumping on point for new readers. There are some interesting bits about harnessing the flora and fauna of Oblivion for medical advances and the growing mystery about what the Faceless Men are doing. Gorgeous art as always from Lorenzo De Felici and Annalisa Leoni. De Felici really does some amazing reaction shots.

| Published by Image / Skybound

Old Man Quill #3 advances the Guardians’ story a bit further as they celebrate what little hope they’ve brought to the Wastelands, while hell in various forms circulates around them. It certainly pretty bleak, even in the good times.

| Published by Marvel

Outer Darkness #5 drops hell on the crew’s head as they crash on a relatively inhospitable ice planet with an ancient evil prowling and the crew at “Each Other’s Throats”. Also, naked cat girls. John Layman, Afu Chan, and Pat Brosseau are doing an incredible job with this mix of sci-fi and horror and the stakes seem to have been raised this issue.

| Published by Image / Skybound

Shuri #6 begins a two-part guest arc from Vita Ayala, Paul Davidson, Tríona Farrell, and Joe Sabino as Shuri travels to New York in search for the Lubber. Great art from Davidson and Farrell and Ayala has a wonderful feel for Miles and Shuri’s voices.

| Published by Marvel

Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider #6 continues to suss out a new role for Gwen now that her identity is public and she’s returned to her own Earth. The character building that Seanan McGuire is doing here is pretty spectacular, especially given how strong the interpersonal relationships in the series were to begin with under Jason Latour and Robbi Rodriguez. Also, the art from Takeshi Miyazawa and Ian Herring is perfect.

| Published by Marvel

Star Wars: Age of Republic - General Grievous #1 is the last of these Age of Republic one-shots from Jody Houser, with Age of Rebellion coming next from Greg Pak and a rotating team of Chris Sprouse, Marc Laming, and others. This one focuses on Grievous and is a nice look into what he traded of himself in order to become the even worse monster that we see in the prequel trilogy and Clone Wars.

| Published by Marvel

The Stone King #4 concludes what has been a wonderful light fantasy adventure Comixology original series from Kel McDonald and Tyler Crook. There’s an interesting throughline in the story of responsibility for family versus responsibility for the greater society that comes to a head here, along with misunderstandings continuing to cause conflict. It’s not exactly a happy ending, but there is a set up for something more down the road that I’d love to see. Beautiful artwork from Crook.

| Published by Kel McDonald

Supergirl #28 concludes her jaunt with the Omega Men and the Supergirl clones, opening up more questions about The Circle and the destruction of Krypton. I’ve enjoyed the circuitous route Marc Andreyko has been taking us on to advance Supergirl’s mission, tossing bits of side adventure in growing out of her search, but it feels like we’re going to get down to brass tacks soon. Great art again this issue from Eduardo Pansica, Julio Ferreira, FCO Plascencia, and Chris Sotomayor. Pansica does some great horror and creature work and it shines through in the Kryptonian monstrosities.

| Published by DC Comics

Superman #9 tells of Jonathan’s ordeal trapped on Earth 3, tortured at the hands of Ultraman. Great art from Brandon Peterson and Alex Sinclair during the Earth 3 sequences. It’s also interesting to see that dream still haunting Superman.

| Published by DC Comics

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder in Hell #2 continues to be revelatory. Mateus Santolouco, Marcelo Costa, and Shawn Lee are doing some incredible work as Shredder continues to be plagued by nightmares, demons, and the undead as he tries to figure out his way through hell and his status as a vessel for the dragon god’s spirit. Over the years, Santolouco has grown exponentially as a storyteller and this is just a masterpiece.

| Published by IDW

Titans #35 continues the team’s nightmare excursion to Unearth, fighting a possessed enraged Beast Boy, Raven’s angry aggressive side, and Mother Blood as we head into the series conclusion next issue. This is a very entertaining story from Dan Abnett, Bruno Redondo, Christian Duce, Marcelo Maiolo, and Dave Sharpe, really putting the team behind the 8-ball wondering how they’re going to get out of this mess. If they get out this mess.

| Published by DC Comics

Tony Stark: Iron Man #9 continues the “Stark Realities” arc, nicely advances Controller’s assault on Stark Industries, the eScape users causing havoc, the mole within Stark, and the corruption causing Tony’s current simulation, from Dan Slott, Jim Zub, Valerio Schiti, Paolo Rivera, Edgar Delgado, and Joe Caramagna. Some really interesting possible revelations about Tony during this issue.

| Published by Marvel

Transformers #1 begins a new continuity, a new universe, a new era for the Transformers, from Brian Ruckley, Angel Hernandez, Cachét Whitman, Joana Lafuente, and Tom B. Long, as we start off some time in the past of Cybertron, before Autobots or Deceptions, as Bumblebee watches over a newly-forged Cybertronian as he makes his first decisions. We also get bits of an uprising of “Ascenticons”, though their ideals and motivations aren’t really explained, just showing a disagreement between longtime friends Megatron and Orion Pax (not Optimus Prime yet). It’s not bad, with some nice bits of humour, and there is an interesting mystery for a cliffhanger, but it is slow. The art is nice, but like the story there’s nothing flashy about this right now. I’ll certainly give it a few more issues, but there’s really nothing “bold” about this new era. Don’t expect something radical out of the first issue, this one plays it pretty safe.

| Published by IDW

Winter Soldier #4 delves into RJ’s father, Richie, attempting to get back into his life. It’s heartfelt and bittersweet, with Kyle Higgins, Rod Reis, and Clayton Cowles delivering a gripping tale with one hell of a set up for the final issue. Reis’ art remains absolutely incredible.

| Published by Marvel

Wonder Twins #2 is more fun from Mark Russell, Stephen Byrne, and Dave Sharpe. There’s some nice commentary on the state of corporate run prisons in the United States in amongst a humorous send-up of z-list villains in the Legion of Doom’s farm team, the League of Annoyance. Great art from Byrne.

| Published by DC Comics / Wonder Comics

Other Highlights: Accell #19, Auntie Agatha’s Wayward Home for Rabbits #5, Blackbird #6, Dark Ark #15, GI Joe: A Real American Hero - Silent Option #4, Go Go Power Rangers #18, The Goon #1, Head Lopper #11, House of Whispers #7, LaGuardia #4, The Life and Death of Toyo Harada #1, The Long Con #7, Marvel Action: Spider-Man #2, Marvels Annotated #2, The Maxx 100 Page Giant, Prodigy #4, The Punisher #9, Radio Delley, Rick & Morty Presents Jerry #1, Riverdale: Season 3 #1, Runaways #19, Spider-Man/Deadpool #47, Star Trek: Discovery - Captain Saru, Star Wars: Han Solo - Imperial Cadet #5, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #42, Wonder Woman #66

Recommended Collections: Astonisher - Volume 3: Black Hat, Batman vs. Deathstroke, By Night - Volume 1, Defenders: The Best Defense, Infinite Dark - Volume 1, Mata Hari, Moonstruck - Volume 2, Rick and Morty vs. Dungeons & Dragons, Shadowman - Volume 3: Rag & Bone, She Could Fly, Sleepless - Volume 2, Star Wars Adventures - Volume 5: Mechanical Mayhem, Strangers in Paradise XXV - Volume 2: Hide and Seek, Trout - Volume 1: Bits & Bobs, Vampironica - Volume 1, The War of the Realms Prelude

d. emerson eddy knows a muffin man.

#This Week in Comics

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