#Colors of Evil: Red Review

[afabstract]

Kolory zla. Czerwien - 'Colors of Evil: Red' Review

When a young woman's mutilated body is found on a beach, an honest law enforcement officer joins forces with the victim's mother to unravel a dark web of brutal murders in "Colors of Evil: Red".

Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram) Director: Adrian Panek Writers: Lukasz M. Maciejewski, Adrian Panek, Malgorzata Oliwia Sobczak When a young woman’s naked body is washed up on a beach, autopsy reveals she was brutally killed in the same manner as another murder victim from 15 years ago. An ambitious prosecutor begins to dig deeper into the case and teams up with the victim’s mother to…

[berzahoes]

manifestation, baby! | tom blyth

summary: fans find out tom’s girlfriend has an old youtube channel where she reviewed the ballad of songbirds and snakes (and she definitely manifested her life)

an: the way i thought about this idea and quickly wrote it down so i didn’t forget it. i used to have an app that made those fake tweets but i’m just tired to make fake profiles 😭 maybe i’ll change it later idk

for the purpose of this imagine, let’s pretend tbosas book was published between 2017-2019

liked by zeglerslove, 444_bri and 35,377 others

tomblythxsnow apparently tom’s girlfriend has an old youtube channel where she reviews books and she reviewed the ballad of songbirds and snakes and she literally manifested her future 😭

lucymygf WHATTT WHATS HER CHANNEL NAME

tomblythxsnow it’s yn’s book corner. she hasn’t posted since 2019 ngl i need her to review a little life because that book destroyed me

nat76_ omg i used to watch her videos!! i’m still subscribed to her 😭 i remember only buying and reading the books she liked because i wanted to be her so bad

j4ckaszlol “if someone ever makes a movie adaptation of this book and casts someone attractive to play snow then i am sorry for the person i become” REALLLLL

graybairdsmockingjay dude the part where she said “i’m calling it now whoever plays young snow will be my boyfriend. movie studios always cast someone attractive as the younger version of a character!” MY JAW DROPPED SHE NEEDS TO TELL ME HER WAYS

“guess what rachel just sent me.” you heard tom say when he arrived to your shared apartment.

“wedding invitations?!” you gasped as you almost stood up from the sofa since you were watching reruns of criminal minds, but tom stopped you.

“no, it’s better!” tom sat beside you and showed you his phone. “why didn’t you tell me you had a youtube channel?” on his phone screen was your review of the ballad of songbirds and snakes, which had become a very popular video over the past couple of days.

you hid your face with a pillow and groaned. “don’t remind me. i just wanted to talk about my books and my family didn’t care. don’t watch it! it’s embarrassing!”

“i think it’s cute. aw look, your dog made a cameo!” he pointed at your old dog you used to have that walked into the frame.

“indi! no, come sit right here. oh . . . and she’s walking away. okay, anyways.” your younger self said in the video

“indi? why Indi?” tom asked you even though you were still hiding from embarrassment.

“after indiana jones. my dad and i loved those movies and he gifted me indi as a birthday present.” you confessed.

“love, don’t be embarrassed. i think it’s cute that you manifested your life according to the comments on instagram,” tom paused the video then cuddled up to you. “i won’t watch it if you don’t want me to.”

“it’s fine, i just didn’t think anyone would find it. we can watch it together.” you uncovered yourself and sat down properly to watch the video with tom. before he pressed the play button and together you watch your younger self review the book.

“i’ve read all the hunger games books at least four times and this one did not disappoint. but i do hope whoever ends up being cast as young snow is someone hot. i’m sorry it’s the rules! and they will be my boyfriend, i’m calling dibs.”

tom smirked at you. “if only younger you could see you now.”

“she would definitely think ‘wow, how did we pull this beautiful man?’ then be confused as to why the hunger games and fnaf is trending in 2023.”

liked by tomblyth, rachelzegler and 1,377,389 others

ynlovesbooks told ya. love you tomblyth ❤️

rachelzegler she is THAT girl

ynlovesbooks no u

everdeenx12 bestie he’s EVIL

ynlovesbooks he’s a walking red flag but my favorite color is red 😍

chamaletproblems pls tell me how you did this

ynlovesbooks i figured out who they were casting and kept him hostage until he agreed to be my bf

tomblyth true

[walks-the-ages]

[ID: a screenshot from the Firefox Extension Shinigami Eyes, showing a 5-star review that says: ""transmascs" gotta be one of the most fembrained and sensitive individuals lmfao" End ID]

Once again, radical feminists are purely reactionary and showing their true colors lol.

Anyways, if you haven't heard yet, Shinigami Eyes has been under new management for awhile, and the moderators and developers are trans-inclusive radical feminists who believe in Gender Essentialism instead of Biological Essentialism, which is to say, the exact same thing, except they'll say that every single trans man is inherently an evil, privileged oppressor from birth "because they are a man" -- even if they did not come out of the closet for years, or even realize they were trans until later in life, or didn't medically transition, etc.

The moderators are also falsely-flagging Intersex activists and bloggers as "transphobic" purely for the crime of talking about intersex issues and not hating trans men.

If you get an ask that you're "marked red in shinigami eyes" its a spam message going around trying to demoralize trans men and intersex folk, if you get the message, and you're someone who's trans and inclusive of all trans people, you're probably considered "transmisogynystic" by the new moderators because they consider anyone who doesn't *exclusively* platform and worship trans women to be "inherently transmisogynyst" 🤦

you can help by leaving a 1-star review here, or if you left a 5-star review in the past, you can edit it into a 1-star review!

[ondeemand]

Transformers One Review

For the sake of convenience, I’ll be referring to the characters as their new names (Optimus Prime, Megatron, Bumblebee) instead of their old ones (Orion Pax, D-16, B-127).

Also, I didn’t grow up with Transformers, so this will be mostly from an outsider’s perspective. I can’t tell what possibly was or wasn’t a retcon or how accurate to the source material it was, but I think the background info on their world held up very well and they were able to explain it clearly to new viewers like me. It definitely would have hit harder if I grew up with Transformers and knew more than just facts from cultural osmosis, but I still enjoyed the movie a lot.

Notes/Things I’m Neutral On

Very weird to hear my name (Dee) being said throughout most of the movie by Chris Hemsworth’s bad American accent.

Also, I forgot that Megatron has transformed into ground vehicles before. I only ever knew him to turn into a jet, so I was kind of confused that he was a tank in this movie. I hope we get to see him get upgraded to a jet in the next one, but the tank is still cool.

Pros/Things I Liked

Simple but effective color theory with their eye colors. Main good guys have blue while Megatron has yellow, sitting between good and bad. Still a friendly color at first, but slowly turns closer to orange and then fully red as his anger and hatred consume him (and after he met the red-eyed Starscream, a cowardly man who ends up enabling Megatron‘s more violent/aggressive tendencies)

○ Also I don’t know if I was just seeing things, but it looked like Megatron’s eyes got more yellow whenever he looked at Optimus which is so sad and so gay.

I really thought they were gonna push a romance between Elita and either Bumblebee (goofy manchild x competent woman trope) or Optimus (male lead x female lead, blue x pink), but I was pleasantly surprised that they didn’t. Sadly, there’s still time for it in future installments, but I can dream.

Not to be gay, but spider woman sexy. Airachnid was so obviously evil that it was funny, but I can’t fault Sentinel for having her around because I, too, would want a deadly goth woman to be my right-hand lady. They felt like the evil, less developed versions of Mustang and Hawkeye. I am in love.

The animation is gorgeousssss. The environments, the character designs, the fight choreography, the transformations, the lighting, the texture, mwah mwah MWAH STUNNING!!!

○ Sorry, I’m never gonna stop talking about this. The way they were able to make square/blocky figures move so fluidly was fantastic (and proof of concept that a fully animated Minecraft movie would have worked). ○ The camera angles were also great for framing both the dramatic, intense, and/or high-action moments like fights or chase scenes, while also adding a lot to the comedic moments. Like when the camera stays tracking Optimus’ face when running through the forest, only for him to suddenly fall down a cliff neither he nor us saw coming, only to then zoom out to the perspective of the guards below, showing them stumbling and falling. ○ The contrast between the mechanical and organic elements on the surface were really cool, and the way it was introduced was able to convey this idea that organic life was this strange, alien thing. ○ The way the surface just rebuilds itself into these jagged, blocky terrains was really unique and interesting! It felt like a glitched computer model because of its rougher shapes which really added to the fear and hostility of the surface.

90% of their jokes landed and they landed hard. The bit where Optimus looks like he’s about to transform and then just fucking books it is incredible. The audio and camera work help add to these as well, like the music building as Optimus pretends to transform, the camera zooming in close to different parts of him, only for all background noise to cut out as it shows Optimus running away. I won’t name every joke and quip I found funny or we’d be here all day, but they’re certainly a highlight of the movie.

I love Keegan-Michael Key, but I wasn’t a fan of him as the comic relief character of Toad in the Mario movie. When Bumblebee showed up I got a little nervous, but I really loved his performance of the character.

I really liked the midpoint pep talk about hope. That’s a really nice reason that Optimus is the leader despite not being as skilled as other people. He has the hope for a better future and it was a core part of his character from the beginning, and I really like the idea that a leader is someone who can envision a brighter future no matter what.

Alpha Trion transforming was SICK AS FUCK!!! I love that he was more animalistic when the rest of the cast become vehicles. His final fight was so cool, and it actually made me kind of emotional to see him at the end with the rest of the Prime ghosts.

The stabbings? The beheadings?? The branding??? The way Megatron tore Sentinel in half and then ripped his heart out on-screen holy shit???? This movie was incredibly brutal and I loved it. It’s such an interesting phenomenon that children’s media is allowed to be about as graphic as they want as long as it’s against robots, even incredibly sentient ones like in the Transformers series.

○ I watched the 1986 Transformers movie for a class earlier this year, and while it also had a lot of brutality in it’s fights, the new movie felt more intense. Part of this could be attributed to me watching the 2024 movie on a big screen vs the 1986 movie in my living room, but there are other reasons as well. The 1986 movie had more upbeat songs playing over the fights, specifically songs like The Touch and Dare, which helped keep the tone lighter and more exciting. The 2024 movie didn’t have anything like that, allowing the action, while still cool and exciting, to take on a more serious tone. This is also emphasized by the graphics of the movie being 3D instead of 2D. While the 2D 1986 movie is a stunning masterpiece, people still view it with the idea in mind that, since it’s a cartoon, the stakes and story will be less intense. The 2024 movie being 3D with very detailed graphics and lighting already has more visual intensity. The characters are still these bright, poppy colors, but they can come across more moody and dark due to the environments, lighting, and textures that the 3D medium more easily allows. And while the painted backgrounds and cell shading of the old movie are great, the CGI backgrounds are a lot closer to realism, so the harsher elements like metal and rock, which make up a vast majority of the environment and characters, look real too.

The way Megatron’s hate consumed him to the point where he started acting more villainous and, while not entirely similar to Sentinel, still ended up hurting innocent people was tragic. Trying to push away and deny everything about a person only to wind up being just like them. This was perfectly shown in the end credit scene where Megatron is branding himself and the new Decepticons with Megatronus Prime’s face. To him, it may be him reclaiming the traumatic experience and literally using it like a badge of honor, as well as thinking he’s honoring Megatronus Prime. But in reality, he’s just inflicting the same trauma done to him onto others, just like Sentinel. Such a cool way to show how every villain is the hero of their own story.

The doomed yaoiiiiii I’m never gonna get over them. The only other Transformers media I’ve consumed is the 1986 movie, which kills off Optimus Prime in the first 25 minutes and Megatron becomes Galvatron, so I never knew the depths of their homoerotic relationship.

I’m a sucker for “the hero and villain used the be friends (and maybe even lovers?)” trope, so Optimus and Megatron’s relationship and the general premise of the movie was already a slam dunk for me.

I’m also a fan of legacy stories like Avatar and She-Ra. While this movie didn’t get as in-depth with the concept, I enjoyed that they played with the idea of legacy and taking up the mantle of the former Primes.

I absolutely loved the end message that Optimus gives us. Hope, freedom, and autonomy are incredibly important things to learn, and as a trans person who very much wants to keep control over what I do with my body, I really resonated with that last one. I think it’s really cool that they included a message like that in this children’s movie about robots that turn into cars.

Regarding the message of autonomy, I love that it gives the term Autobots a new meaning. Auto meaning “automobile”, since they transform into cars, and Auto meaning “self”, as they are now fully their own bots with control over themselves.

Cons/Things I Disliked

Mid vocal performances from everyone except Brian Tyree Henry and Keegan-Michael Key. And as I mentioned before, it was hard not to focus on Chris’ attempts at an American accent, not to mention how recognizable his, as well as Scarlett Johansson’s, voices are.

The plot felt a little disjointed in the first 1/3-ish.

○ Good setup with the main characters being an oppressed working class with one dreaming of better things and the other hesitant to fall out of line or take risks. But then suddenly there’s a race, and then they’re in it, and then they lose, and then their leader wants to promote them. At first it feels like there are hints that he’s a scummy celebrity-type and that meeting their hero is what will spur on the disillusionment with their society. But then some random douchebag that doesn’t like them reassigns them which goes against their leader’s command, and that’s how the plot kicks off? ○ Also, Elita’s involvement felt kind of rushed/hand-waved. They all get stuck on the surface, but instead of trying to make her way back to report them like she was saying she would for the past few minutes, she makes a complete 180 and heads the expedition herself. ○ It all just felt a little strange, but once it got going the rest of the plot felt fine.

Megatron’s descent into “evil” felt kind of rushed. I understand that he feels betrayed and I really love where the character ends up by the end, but it felt like a real 180 without a lot of build up.

Some jokes fell flat or felt annoying and kinda cringe. That’s the territory of children’s movies though, so par for the course.

TLDR

Overall, this movie was a really fun watch and I’d love to go see it again. While some parts fall a little flat, the movie is lifted from mediocrity by its many Pros. From the stunning visuals, to the quick humor, to the tragic origins of two friends driven apart by their ideals, I’d recommend this movie to anyone interested in animation or the Transformers brand.

8.82/10

[wishjacked]

my webcomic's volume 1 kickstarter ENDS in THREE DAYS!!!!!!!! so I am telling you guys about my comic as frankly as I can HAHAHA!!

Cargo is about smugglers. They live in a version of Florida where, post zombie-apocalypse, the government went INSANE and made everything illegal... like they made "wearing excessive amounts of the color red" a fineable offense I'm not kidding around, EVERYTHING is illegal. More things:

Enter SJ Khan, a woman with a brain that can only invent rube goldberg machine style solutions to her problems. She enlists an old friend to help her start a smuggling company and the two of them round up a crew that's just seeping with soap-opera levels of drama.

This comic is based on a comic I drew a little over 1 decade ago. It's about living with strangers, about what you choose to look at or are allowed to look at, and most importantly it's about watching weird guys doing unpredictable things. It is funny. I am learning how to draw Florida for it, here, look:

I call it an "evil sitcom". Someone once described it as using "hey i'm not 100% sure you can have a main character do that" comedy... and that feels right to me too.

It's an ensemble cast, but the story centers around a team of smugglers. I love this cast so much, they're all so strange and it's so fun to write all their various quirks crashing into each other. Here's a (only slightly outdated) height chart of the entire extended cast.

You know the weird relationships you get with coworkers, where you're forced to be near them and cooperate with them on some level for most of your waking hours regardless of how you feel about them? That's what we're dealing with here. I had a review describe it as "not found family, but found acquaintances" which. Yeah. Exactly. 😂😂

Some characters and relationships you can expect to see in Cargo:

An absolute mess of a man who micromanages his entire crew but especially the FIFTEEN YEAR OLD (!!!!!!) INDENTURED SERVANT (!!!!!!????????!!!!!!!!!!) (HELP HELP HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) (AHHHHHHHH WHY DID I LEAD WITH THIS ONE!!!!!!!)

This old guy who works for them has MASSIVE MASSIVE beef with the boss lady because 10 years ago she framed him for a crime he didn't commit which caused him to be in prison for years and years. But for some reason they still care about each other.

You know that tweet that's like "a job will have you..." wait I can just find the tweet and show you guys. This one

Well anyways. Cargo has that one. It's between a guy who is a medical celebrity because he got the zombie parasite and then got cured and a very nice very violent old lady. They are the ship goofballs they are also probably the two most actively dangerous people here LMAO

This kid who loves his cat and is doing his best to avoid give a single drop of his precious energy to engaging with the rest of these clowns.

One of the characters did something that made my readers say this.

I could go on but this post is so long already. So instead, links.

You can read it online on Comic Fury or Tapas!

And here's my Kickstarter link again!

Here's art I drew of the crew ~8 years ago. A sincere thank you for looking at this post, godspeed and goodnight!

[leonardcohenofficial]

as is tradition here are my top nine new-to-me watches of the year—in no particular order (l-r, top row to bottom row):

the african desperate (martine syms, 2022) not a pretty picture (martha coolidge, 1975) anatomy of a fall (justine triet, 2023) the girls (mai zetterling, 1968) network (sidney lumet, 1976) the year of the cannibals (liliana cavani, 1970) all the beauty and the bloodshed (laura poitras, 2022) straight on till morning (peter collinson, 1972) microhabitat (jeon go-woon, 2017)

i hit 150 total films and my continual goal of half of the films by women and nonbinary filmmakers, and still definitely need to keep up with deliberately seeking out films by directors of color! feel free to tell me your faves if you’ve seen any of these 🖤👀🎬🍿🎥

i'll tag @privatejoker / @wanlittlehusk / @majorbaby / @edwardalbee / @draftdodgerag / @lesbiancolumbo / @frmulcahy / @nelson-riddle-me-this / @firewalkwithmedvd and anyone else who'd like to share their top watches of the year!

full list of films for the year is included below, favorites are bolded in red:

Farewell Amor (Ekwa Msangi, 2020)

Hell Camp: Teen Nightmare (Liza Williams, 2023)

Blacks Britannica (David Koff, 1978)

New Year, New You (Sophia Takal, 2023)

Family Band: The Cowsills Story (Louise Palanker and Bill Filipiak, 2011)

The Color Purple (Blitz Bazawule, 2023)

The Apology (Alison Star Locke, 2022)

Close (Lukas Dhont, 2022)

Unintended (Anja Murmann, 2018)

Other People’s Children (Liz Hinlein, 2015)

Omega Rising Women of Rastafari (D. Elmina Davis, 1988)

The Gypsy Moths (John Frankenheimer, 1969)

Be My Cat: A Film for Anne (Adrian Țofei, 2015)

Insomnia (Christopher Nolan, 2002)

Chowchilla (Paul Solet, 2023)

Intimate Relations (Philip Goodhew, 1996)

Monument (Jagoda Szelc, 2018)

After Sherman (Jon Sesrie Goff, 2022)

Remnants of the Watts Festival (Ulysses Jenkins, 1980)

Network (Sidney Lumet, 1976)

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (Joseph Sargent, 1974)

Down Low (Rightor Doyle, 2023)

Our Father, the Devil (Ellie Foumbi, 2021)

The Zone of Interest (Jonathan Glazer, 2023)

Youngblood (Noel Nosseck, 1978)

Joy Division - Under Review (Christian Davies, 2006)

Being Frank: The Chris Sievey Story (Steve Sullivan, 2018)

Sun Ra: A Joyful Noise (Robert Mugge, 1980)

Fanny: The Right To Rock (Bobbi Jo Hart, 2021)

Depeche Mode: The Dark Progression (Alec Lindsell, 2009)

Kraftwerk And The Electronic Revolution (Thomas Arnold, 2008)

Blank City (Celine Danhier, 2010)

Oliver Sacks: His Own Life (Ric Burns, 2019)

Monster (Hirokazu Kore-eda, 2023)

Black Is Beltza (Fermín Muguruza, 2018)

Werewolf (Ashley McKenzie, 2016)

The Humans (Stephen Karam, 2021)

Relative (Tracey Arcabasso Smith, 2022)

The Believer (Henry Bean, 2001)

Lost Angel: The Genius of Judee Sill (Brian Lindstrom and Andy Brown, 2022) 

Animals (Collin Schiffli, 2014)

Scott Walker: 30 Century Man (Stephen Kijak, 2006)

Novitiate (Maggie Betts, 2017)

Hunger (Henning Carlsen, 1966)

Late Night With The Devil (Cameron Cairnes and Colin Cairnes, 2023)

The Stunt Man (Richard Rush, 1980)

New York Doll (Greg Whiteley, 2005)

The Iron Claw (Sean Durkin, 2023)

Your Fat Friend (Jeanie Finlay, 2023)

Scarred Justice: The Orangeburg Massacre 1968 (Bestor Cram and Judy Richardson, 2008)

Targets (Peter Bogdanovich, 1968)

Uptight (Jules Dassin, 1968)

Messiah of Evil (Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck, 1973)

Plastic Paradise (Brett O’Bourke, 2013)

You Hurt My Feelings (Nicole Holofcener, 2023)

Pretty Poison (Noel Black, 1968)

The Shout (Jerzy Skolimowski, 1978)

Shakedown (Leilah Weinraub, 2018)

Class of 1984 (Mark L. Lester, 1982)

Betty: They Say I’m Different (Philip Cox, 2017)

Beautiful Boy (Felix van Groeningen, 2018)

Anatomy of a Fall (Justine Triet, 2023)

Gimme Shelter (Albert Maysles, David Maysles, and Charlotte Zwerin, 1970)

The Beach Boys (Frank Marshall and Thom Zimny, 2024)

High and Low (Kevin Macdonald, 2023)

Brats (Andrew McCarthy, 2024)

I Saw The TV Glow (Jane Schoenbrun, 2023)

The Talented Mr. Ripley (Anthony Minghella, 1999)

Altered States (Ken Russell, 1980)

This Closeness (Kit Zauhar, 2023)

How To Have Sex (Molly Manning Walker, 2023)

American Commune (Rena Mundo Croshere and Nadine Mundo, 2013)

Look In Any Window (William Alland, 1961)

Private Property (Leslie Stevens, 1960)

We’re Still Here: Johnny Cash’s Bitter Tears Revisited (Antonino D’Ambrosio, 2015)

The Wobblies (Stewart Bird and Deborah Shaffer, 1979)

Last Summer Won’t Happen (Tom Hurwitz and Peter Gessner, 1968)

Goodbye Gemini (Alan Gibson, 1970)

Keyboard Fantasies: The Beverly Glenn-Copeland Story (Posy Dixon, 2019)

The Most Beautiful Boy in the World (Kristina Lindström and Kristian Petri, 2021)

The Passenger (Carter Smith, 2023)

The Boys Who Said No (Judith Ehrlich, 2020)

Synecdoche, New York (Charlie Kaufman, 2008)

Karen Carpenter: Starving for Perfection (Randy Martin, 2023)

...And Justice For All (Norm Jewison, 1978)

I Used To Be Funny (Ally Pankiw, 2023)

Badlands (Terrence Malick, 1973)

Straight On Till Morning (Peter Collinson, 1972)

The Same Difference: Gender Roles in the Black Lesbian Community (Nneka Onuorah, 2015)

Thanksgiving (Eli Roth, 2023)

Sorry/Not Sorry (Caroline Suh and Cara Mones, 2023)

Am I OK? (Tig Notaro and Stephanie Allynne, 2022)

Joan Baez: I Am a Noise (Maeve O’Boyle, Miri Navasky, and Karen O’Connor, 2023)

No Direction Home (Martin Scorsese, 2005)

Shutter Island (Martin Scorsese, 2010)

Water Lilies (Céline Sciamma, 2007)

The Strings (Ryan Glover, 2020)

The Crucible (Nicholas Hytner, 1996)

Woman of the Hour (Anna Kendrick, 2024)

The Platform (Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia, 2019)

Tabloid (Errol Mark Morris, 2010)

Will & Harper (Josh Greenbaum, 2024)

Miller’s Girl (Jade Halley Bartlett, 2024)

Give Me Pity! (Amanda Kramer, 2022)

Landlocked (Paul Owens, 2021)

Perfect Love (Catherine Breillat, 1996)

Not a Pretty Picture (Martha Coolidge, 1975)

Seeking Mavis Beacon (Jazmin Jones, 2024)

Renfield (Chris McKay, 2023)

Compulsion (Richard Fleischer, 1959)

An Angel At My Table (Jane Campion, 1990)

Longlegs (Oz Perkins, 2024)

Rare Beasts (Billie Piper, 2019)

Nightman (Mélanie Delloye-Betancourt, 2023)

The Changin’ Times of Ike White (Daniel Vernon, 2020)

The Substance (Coralie Fargeat, 2024)

The Year of the Cannibals (Liliana Cavani, 1970)

Fanatical: The Catfishing of Tegan and Sara (Erin Lee Carr, 2024)

The Loneliest Planet (Julia Loktev, 2011)

Marjoe (Howard Smith and Sarah Kernochan, 1972)

Witches (Elizabeth Sankey, 2024)

Angela (Rebecca Miller, 1995)

The Morning After (Richard T. Heffron, 1974)

Beach Rats (Eliza Hittman, 2017)

Last Summer (Catherine Breillat, 2023)

The Fits (Anna Rose Holmer, 2015)

Hold Your Breath (Karrie Crouse and Will Joines, 2024)

What Comes Around (Amy Redford, 2022)

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (Kurt Kuenne, 2008)

Priscilla (Sofia Coppola, 2023)

The Girls (Mai Zetterling, 1968)

Sweetie (Jane Campion, 1989)

Victim/Suspect (Nancy Schwartzman, 2023)

The African Desperate (Martine Syms, 2022)

Les Nôtres (Jeanne Leblanc, 2020)

A Sacrifice (Jordan Scott, 2024)

All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (Laura Poitras, 2022)

My Name is Not Ali (Viola Shafik, 2011)

Committed (Sheila McLaughlin and Lynne Tillman, 1984)

Chained (Jennifer Lynch, 2012)

The Hour of Liberation Has Arrived (Heiny Srour, 1974)

All Power To The People! (Lee Lew-Lee, 1997)

Night Moves (Kelly Reichardt, 2013)

Destroyer (Karyn Kusama, 2018)

Late Night (Nisha Ganatra, 2023)

The Year Between (Alex Heller, 2022)

Loved (Erin Dignam, 1997)

Girl In The Picture (Skye Borgman, 2022)

Microhabitat (Jeon Go-Woon, 2017)

Dear Ex (Mag Hsu and Chih-yen Hsu, 2018)

[lutawolf]

The Sign Commentary Review Ep 5

I'm going to link to my episode 3 commentary because I gave a lot of Thailand mythology information. While I will be watching the show for the first time now and giving you my commentary. I've been Ask a question that gave me heads up that a lot of mythology will show up in this episode. So let's go!

We start the series off with this guy who has a Naga back tat. Then we see the front with him dripping water down himself. I got to hand it to Saint, he really knows how to visually stimulate. Is he the killer?

Are we really gonna ignore that Tharn sees visions? 2. Phaya has gotten his period. I mean, I get it. Nobody wants the love of their life thinking they're crazy, but this has the hallmark of hormonal rage versus righteous anger. Maybe the lack of sleep is starting to get to him. 3. Where do we stand with the physical assault? Do we label this domestic or everyone else feeling that maybe something is off here? Like when a werewolf gets all testosterone before their first change. I mean, you can literally see the freak-out in his face after he realized he has hit Tharn. Which honestly makes me feel better.

Oh, so we now understand why Tharn saw the female and how she relates. And Yai proves once again just how special he is. He really put on that clown mask. That's just wrong.

There are two! Honestly, didn't see that coming. Ahh, well now it's more understandable why they were getting their ass kicked. It's Wit.

I mean, I'm having a hard time caring that he might be killed. Just go ahead and let him go. Tharn sees him getting hit by a truck. I'm so okay with that.

I mean, I get the logic of no vigilante justice. But... People who sexually assault rarely deal with serious consequences. Only about 6% of Sexual Offenders ever serve a day in jail. If an assault is reported (this is rare due to fear factors), there is a 50% chance of an arrest. If an arrest is made, there is an 80% chance of prosecution. If there is a prosecution, there is only a 58% chance of conviction. If convicted, there is only a 16% chance that they will go to prison.

Well, that was therapeutic. The parental guidance warning made me chuckle.

They found him! Now I'm nervous! Ahhh, don't save him Tharn, go save Phaya. Don't judge me, people. I'm a little blood thirty when it comes to this.

A Naga. Not good. He is using his power for the fight, and it looks like it's overpowering Tharn's. Surprisingly, Phaya is keeping pace though, despite the break out of power. Well, until he gets a rope wrapped around him, that is. I was in full support of you dude until you started hurting Phaya and Tharn. Now ya gotta go.

Shit! A lot happened fast!

Tharn steps in front of Phaya and gets stabbed. You can tell from home dudes face that he had never meant to actually hurt Tharn. Which means he knows he is a fellow Naga. Then why is he okay with hurting Phaya? Then we see combined powers. Both Phaya's and Tharn, with Tharn's being green, which is Naga colors. Golden red is a distinct color clue.

Garuda: Is a mythical bird-man creature that is the half sibling to the nage, but they are sworn enemies. The feud started when both he Garuda's mother and Nagas' mother married the same husband. The husband gave each wife one wish. The Nagas' mother asked for a thousand children, while Garuda's mother wished for two children superior to the Naga. The feud grew until Garuda's mother lost a bet ad became the servant of the Nagas' mother. Eventually she was freed, but her children swore vengeance.

The Garuda represents royalty, strength, and divine knowledge. With its fierce loyalty and warrior nature, the Garuda serves a protective function. It adorns shields, swords, and armor as a guardian symbol. The Garuda’s golden wings are believed to shine light on the darkness of evil and ignorance.

Soooo, right now I'm thinking our Phaya is a Garuda. It also explains why in their past life he rejected Tharn for being a Naga. There are some stories of Naga and Garuda that aren't enemy, though. These few stories are about devote Buddhist Nagas and as protectors of the faith, Garudas are unable to kill these particular Nagas.

Poor Phaya is flipping out while Tharn is very calm. You can literally watch Phaya's brain go into a "does not compute point." All because Tharn is glad his is safe and gently wipes his face. It's a stark contrast to the violence that Phaya has been giving him. This whole thing cools him down in the same way that a bucket of cold water would. Despite others showing up, they cling to each other.

Tharn is now cleaned up and very calm. Meanwhile, his other half is losing his shit. Dragging him away to try and get some answers. Finally, some much-needed communication and touchy-feely. I love the way Tharn looks at Phaya when he asks him not to leave him.

Look, he is all soft and gooey like a chocolate chip cookie. He might be talking about work, but his body language is saying something else. This boy is clearly touched, starved. Ahhh, I'm getting all the feels with this scene.

The nurses pausing and kind of turning back to them and then them breaking apart. Hahahaha!

This cute little micro smile. It means everything to have cleared things up with Phaya.

Guys... Someone on this show is an actual survivor. Cause this shit is too accurate. Yeah, they could have talked to a survivor but add it with other things, it's there. This is someone's therapeutic art. The writer? The scriptwriter? I haven't read the book, so I don't know.

Ohhhh, we're digging into his parent's case now.

Phaya staying the night with Tharn again. Slumber party! Yes, you absolutely should play a game of Doctor. Silly boy, he is cute though.

Oh! Another dream. Damn it! I want the real deal but... I mean, at least they are feeding us something. At least the dreams tell us that these boys clearly want each other. Oh, a daydream. Damn boy. Keep it together 🤣🤣🤣 He's trying so hard. I'm dead. I love these two. He is planning ahead, telling Yai to bring him lots of clothes. He'll probably have to crash there more in the future.

But nope, it's the stupid doctor. Who is clearly some kind of naga since Phaya's touch bothers him. He gives a strong kickback. So as I mentioned earlier, Garuda can't harm followers of Buddhism, but they can and will harm those that worship the serpent.

Nobody is buying your shit Phaya, but I'm with you on saying what ever you got to. This dude is creepy. He feels like he owns Tharn and I wanna know why. And we're playing doctor again! Which ends in cuddle time. OMG, I love Phaya so much. That is the fastest count to three that I've ever heard. Love it! Touch starved, Tharn is very handsy when he is sleeping. Phaya does not appear to mind.

Too cute!!!

Apparently, all that love goes out the window when he wakes up. 🤣🤣🤣

Ummm, home dude might be your adoptive dad, but he isn't a cop. Stop talking shop!

The precepts are rules or guidelines to develop mind and character to make progress on the path to enlightenment… The first precept consists of a prohibition of killing, both humans and all animals. The second precept prohibits theft and related activities such as fraud and forgery. The third precept refers to sexual misconduct, and has been defined with terms such as sexual responsibility and long-term commitment. The fourth precept involves falsehood spoken or committed to by action, as well as malicious speech, harsh speech and gossip. The fifth precept prohibits intoxication through alcohol, drugs, or other means.

Damn, Phaya over here tattling. Oh, no! Grandma is sick! Ha, he was tricked.

He is a cop. Of course, it's dangerous. This is why I'm oh so excited that two of my kids want to go into law enforcement. (said in complete sarcasm.) We do a tight focus of the eagle, he has wings on his back. I'm really thinking I'm right here. Damn, he is obsessed.

There is past life Tharn. Water and sky, the places where their other half reside. And there he is. Ahh, I get more and more excited with each one. I can't wait. 💜💜💜

[adobe-outdesign]

omg can you review the mighty poogle 🥺

The Poogle is one of those really abstract Neopets wherein it's just a Creature(TM). What kind of creature? Who knows. I guess they're meant to be vaguely dog-like (seeing as Poogle racing is a thing, and it does sound vaguely like "poodle"), but they really don't lean towards any one specific animal, which is always something I enjoy.

What makes Poogles appealing is undeniably how chubby they are; it makes them look extra cuddly and is part of what gives them their distinctive noses (or lack thereof) and double chins. It also comes with a bit of lore about them living primarily in cold-weather regions, kind of like how seals have blubber to keep them warm.

Beyond that, I also like their stripes; they break up the design just enough without feeling too distracting, similar to their underbellies. The shape of the stripes is also mimicked by their distinctive ears.

I will fully admit though: Poogles got the raw end of the deal when it comes to customization. Not the absolute worst conversion job, mind you, as for the most part they look pretty dang similar—same pose, same proportions, same markings, etc.

However, what got completely messed up is their faces. Originally, Poogles had a soft, fleshy snoot that had two sets of lines to indicate that it was mostly fat and that it went back in space a bit. Removing this upper line makes their snouts look hard, and also has the side effect of making their snout and even their entire head look too wide.

Likewise, the chin got messed up. The Poogle originally had a pretty distinct double chin/fat neck that, once again, showed how chubby they were. More importantly, their chin lines weren't closed off, so their heads bled directly into their bodies. On converted Poogles, they now just look like they have one weird normal chin instead of a chin and neck. The end result is actually kind of uncanny if you stare at them for too long. It's a shame, because like I said, everything else about the conversion works, and there was no reason to change the elements they did. They're still cute, mind you, just slightly less so.

Favorite colours:

MSP: Species-specific colors always tend to be iconic and a delight, and MSP Poogles certainly are no exception. They're basically the same thing as a regular plushie Poogle, except Evil(TM), with red eyes and a nasty set of sharp teeth (side note: canonically, all Poogles actually have sharp teeth; you just rarely see them). The unconverted version also is bipedal, unlike the regular unconverted plushie, which was quadrupedal.

Both converted and unconverted MSPs have a super fun chaotic gremlin energy to them, and both designs are good depending on which stance you prefer (I kind of like the converted quadrupedal, though granted, the loss of some stitching and extra softness is a bit of a shame.)

Toy: This color literally just released last month, but a toy Poogle based off of the good old iDog is just delightful. Even if you don't know anything about iDogs, the design is still good, with the eyes serving to complete a multi-colored hexagon that draws attention to the head, and the rest of the body considering of just a smooth off-white and black.

Zombie: The mindless eyes on this one are just absolutely delightful and give it a ton of personality. I also like the details, such as a few stitches here and there, a scraggly mouth, scratch lines against the usual stripes, and liver spots. As a bonus, it looks good both with PB clothing and without.

BONUS: I don't normally mention "recolor" Neopets as much on these reviews just because they tend to be mostly by-the-numbers, but the pastle Poogle is honestly gorgeous, with subtle gradients and a low-contrast blue and pink color scheme, helped by colored lineart. It's nothing fancy, but it's definitely one of the all-time best pastels out there.

[kittyoverlord]

Hoot! Growl!

Hoot! Growl!

Hoot! Growl!

Behold my finale nails (part one)!

This is only my second or third time using these nail post things, but they were super helpful in getting the stamps lined up for the lettering. And I was able to arrange the nails to be easily read instead of having to contort my hands.

Base polish is Red Licorice from Holo Taco. Stamping polishes are Evil Eye, Heart of Gold, and Bam! White from Maniology, stamping plates also from Maniology.

Rings are from Kinetic Color Foundry and are my favorite fidget. Full review post w/ shop link HERE.

-----

Dimension 20 Nail Art Masterpost

[k-she-rambles]

Peer Review

An old friend of the Drs Fenton eviscerates a draft of their latest paper. It's an extremely effective wake-up call.

Part Two | Part One

Jack's turn. Something he writes gets compared to an IRL evil scientist. He's not having a good time.

•

Jonathan Fenton was, by his own admission, not the most observant man.

He'd be the first to tell you that "doing a Fenton" was slang in his mother's family for tripping over air, missing something obvious, making a mess, and other avoidable, mildly embarrassing mistakes.

Still, Jack knew something was wrong as soon as he entered the kitchen.

Maddie had been crying.

They'd seen each other through some tough things. Maddie's father's dementia. The loss of Jack's Grannie, who'd helped his mother raise him. It was, thankfully, a rare thing to see her so...drawn, as if all the color had gone from her world.

Jack sat down across from her at the table and searched her face.

"No one's dying," said Maddie. "It's this."

She pushed a stack of paper across the table at him.

"Ray sent back our paper? Then what --" That sure was a lot of red ink. It got his hackles up, but...he trusted Rachel's academic rigor. It wouldn't be the first time a collegue shredded something he wrote in the interest of making it better, and it wouldn't be the last. They were in that kind of field. He bent to read.

Oh well that...huh.

Here was something he hadn't truly considered before: while he and Maddie knew that the reason their experiments were truncated was ghost interference, to everyone else it would just look like sloppy work. It was a fair point. And since ghosts were what they were studying, why hadn't they used the observations from the various catastrophes in the paper as well? Found a way to make it work without resorting to...well, she wasn't wrong that this looked like bad methodology. They were out of practice. They could have changed the paper. Changed the thesis. Allowed their field failures to BE the paper and let other scientists learn from their challenges.

Rachel was tearing this apart as the work of amateurs.

He'd been pretty proud of it, but would they have produced something like this twenty years ago? Were they that out of practice? Had they been deluding themselves, stuck in their own heads the entire time they'd lived in Amity Park?

Then Rachel started tearing into the ethics of the paper.

Jack almost rolled his eyes. Look, ghosts weren't alive, they were a natural phenomenon and --

--and she was right. They couldn't have it both ways. If ghosts were, say, animal at all their methodology was suspect in terms of harm to the natural world and simple mean-spirited cruelty. If they were beings, implied by his assumption that they were capable of emotions like malice, it was even worse. If they were just a phenomenon, this still was no way for a dispassionate researcher to act.

They'd been studying ghosts for more than two decades.

Was all their data tainted?

And.

Jack stood and left the room.

There was a glass of water waiting for his return.

"I wondered when you would get to that part."

Jack only shook his head. His hands were numb.

Maddie held his hand as he grimly set himself to keep reading.

Jack finished the last page, and wiped a hand over his mouth.

Faulty premises, dangerous methodology, ethically suspect conclusions.

Since...since when exactly, they'd have to review all of it, but all that work.

All that work.

"I never thought I'd say this, Jack, but we may be bad scientists."

"Scientists wasn't the word I was going to use," said Jack. "What have we been teaching the kids?"

[illuzijan]

Silo Game Notes

Silo is a resident evil ttrpg short. synopsis is for world building and plot points with friends (and anyone interested).

ch 1-1; the hill

It is late November, and the fall has been mild. In Texas, the fall smells and tastes like cottonwood. The lingering pollen is visible between the neon sign of the Lone Star Motel, a bright red cowboy riding a bucking bull, and the parked livestock truck taking up most of the space in the hotel's back lot.

The truck was once used to transport livestock, now refitted on the inside to host much more dangerous creatures.

Inside the hotel, four people meet in the lobby with drinks. Bertholt Pennbrooke and his assistant, ambassadors of the Silo Sugar Industry, reviewed and offered a contract to the members of the paramilitary group, The Guild. The Guild, an anti-BOW specialist group, offered an assessment of the situation at first, offering to locate and return the missing person Bertholt was concerned for, Oliver Ward.

Oliver Ward, a televangelist worth more than 500 million as an estate holder, made his living preaching the prosperity gospel in Silo. His influence and status grew, and poured money and interest into the little Texan town. Ward's sermons were like concerts, prioritizing the spectacle and energy of the masses.

Pennbrooke suspected that a BOW was involved with his disappearance, hence The Guild's involvement.

The two Guild members receiving the contract were unusual, to say the least. Sitting on the opposing couch to Bertholt, was an androgynous and quite lean person in a black turtleneck and black pants despite the promise of Texan weather. They had long black hair, and almond shaped eyes, resembling the person sitting beside them in a familial sense.

The other woman was a scream of color in comparison. She wore an ultramarine blue bolero and a deep red halter top, her neck tightly wound in a ratty look scrap of bright red fabric.

Bertholt passed an agreed upon contract to the two Guild members, first, to Ebajalg, who spent their time appraising words that to them, meant nothing. Ebajalg, a Gnezdo mutant of the C-Virus who had taken a solid form, passed the contract to Carla Radames for review.

Carla took a look at the expanded contract Pennbrooke was interested in having the Guild agree to, and Carla asked for the contract to be sent to "The Guildmaster" to be reviewed instead of signed by her. As they agreed prior, Carla would take a team in to find this Oliver Ward on behalf of Silo Sugar.

She left without signing the contract, Eba close behind her. Eba and Carla began the long seven hour drive to the town of Silo.

While Penbrooke had told The Guild there was the potential for this incident to be entwined with a bioterror incident, he was unaware that he had hired a group of actual monsters to rescue Ward.

In the back of the truck were four monsters. C-Virus had twisted the humanity out of all of them, yet for the "Commander", they were the most gallant and knightly beings.

All of them had chosen names in the years that she had been in hibernation.

V, an Ubivisto that had been turned into a fighting gladiator for others' entertainment in her absence, watched the world pass by through the slats of the truck's body.

Yume, an ex Neo-Umbrella J'avo and loyalist, waited in the corner of the truck, pulling her red headscarf tightly over her features.

Erie, a Napad victim of the Tall Oaks attack by Derek Simmons, hid further under the tent tarp that had been stuck to his shell.

And Damascus, a centipede-like C-mutant, slithered along the top of the truck, dreaming of the kind of game they would be able to hunt when they arrived.

The truck encountered the local police department manning a road block into Silo, and after an argument about whether or not they were allowed to cross, Carla proceeded to lead the party into the town.

When they crested the last hill into the town, there was a shrill sound and with a deafening explosion, the truck was hit by anti vehicle ammunition, blowing it up. The truck caught fire and jack-knifed, sliding down the hill.

The monsters in the back of the truck burst free, and attacked a sudden rush of people that came armed to attack the vehicle. The C-monsters cut down what appeared to be dozens of Plaga infected, before another artillery round hit the spot, and sent the monsters to 0 HP.

Our monsters awoke an hour later to find their commander gone, and blood spattering where had fallen earlier. They dispatched the group of Plaga infected that they found and resolved to immediately track down their commander.

[wawamouse]

Oz Rewatch 3: S6E01: Dead Man Talking

Plotlines

Jeffrey Keane guest narrating

McManus creates his gay and stupid meditative maze after attending a “new age seminar”; McManus opens a box left behind by Augustus, discovering his book and sharing it with Said and Redding

Pancamo comes out of the hospital an regroups with Morales

Redding has been in mourning over Hill; Said tells him to get it together

Solitary case review day; Omar falls ill in Solitary and is hospitalised; Miguel is recommended to be let out; McManus forces Miguel and Chico to make up

Rebadow is still depressed about little Alex; McManus transfer him to a library job; Stella arrives as the new librarian

Kirk arrives on Death Row; Mukada returns to Oz and initially refuses see Kirk; Kirk wants an exorcism, angering Mukada further. Monsignor comes to see Mukada about SA accusations by Kirk and Mukada is temporarily suspended from the priesthood

Suzanne is putting on Macbeth;

Shupe flashback; Ryan threatens Shupe about giving testimony to Cyril’s lawyer but Shupe isn’t a credible witness

Peter Schibetta accuses Ryan of killing his father; he goes to see his wife; Schibetta comes to join the play and says some stuff about the Evil Eye; Meehan talks to Ryan about becoming a better person; Meehan dies in the middle of the night

Beecher is now in Unit J for his safety until his parole hearing; Schillinger is released from Solitary and returned to Unit B; Winthrop wants to move up from prag status by killing Beecher’s father; Mr Beecher visits Beecher and then Keller to help with his case; Winthrop kills him as he is leaving

Mayor Loewen arrives at Oz amidst chaos outside and inside; SORT discovers Mr Beecher’s body

Sister: Did his brother die yet? It’s been six months since last season apparently… Me: You think they’re not going to milk that out?

Sister: What, he can’t hear that screaming?

Sister: Jesus, lady, is no time sacred?!

Sister: He looks like he's been getting facials. Me: W-what? Sister: Chico’s skin looks better this season, and his hair is nicer looking. They both seem younger this season, too. Less greasy overall. Miguel finally can afford sleeves. Ooh, fancy. Cotton~ Impressive.

Sister: Hate makes one bald. Me: Did you say ‘hate makes one bald’? Sister: Yeah, he shouldn’t do that. He’s going to stress and lose all his hair. Just let them be… Don't try and get in their way!!

Sister: She definitely got fired from her last job.

Sister: Back from Jurassic Park…

Sister: Didn’t they already have this conversation last season? …Do you think they’ve been doing this same song and dance every night for the last six months? 'Cause, I mean, surely the Father prays every night… Me: I like to imagine that whenever there are time jumps in this show, they all just stand there in spooky stasis and nothing actually happens.

Sister: (drumming on knees eagerly) Let’s see that wife! I wanna see the wife! Is it Shannon? Me: Girl, Shannon is not in this place. Sister: (booing because there’s no Shannon) (booing because Schibetta’s wife never gets a close up)

Sister: Put him in the play. Handsome Man. Handsome Man #2.

Sister: (snorting deeply) I don’t know what he’s talking about. [Ryan] has the same poopy face with everyone.

Sister: (tutting) No wonder Shannon left him…

Sister: Who shall be his roommate now? Schibetta? Me: (wistful sigh)

Sister: Didn’t that guy used to have hair?

Stray thoughts

I wonder who told Peter about Ryan killing Nino

We rewinded to investigate the color of Meehan’s shitty underwear because Sister could’ve sworn it was red so she thought it was another eating glass story line

We also rewinded to check out Peter’s wife

Sister: The priest storyline and the mayor storyline are very topical… disgraced mayor Eric Adams… the Archdiocese (of Los Angeles) announced they were paying that billion dollar settlement for sexual abuse…

Torres is played by an MMA fighter named Frank Shamrock??

Sister says she’s willing to take on guardian angel duties for Schibetta but she’s still on the fence because she’s “not sure he’s learned his lesson” and she “can’t be representing losers—what will that do to my reputation”?

Final Thoughts

Sister: Cyril’s got a very strong demon voice now… Probably because he’s rooming next to Satan.

Sister: I’m surprised [Howell] hasn’t gotten an STD yet

Sister: I didn’t get to see [Schibetta]’s wife’s face fully, which made me sad. Although she kinda looked more like his mom from what I could see…

Sister: Someone was trying to be crafty with that [scene where all the Solitary inmates say their little piece at the window]. Like Chicago… Did they announce before this season that it would be the last? Me: Oh, huh. I'm pretty sure they knew. Sister: Because I feel like they’re trying to be more cinematic… And they got like a higher budget or something. Like Chico and Miguel both have better clothes. And Chico looks better. Me: So based on this episode, do you have any predictions on where the storylines will go? Sister: I mean, I don’t know it can go where it shouldn’t have gone in the six months that supposedly passed… They didn’t really have anything for Said this episode… He was just doing his spiritual thing… And [Redding] was still grieving six months later, which was juxtaposed with Rebadow and his budding romance this season to carry on his family name, haha. I don’t know, did that librarian seem hostile to you? I feel like it was supposed to be romantic tension, but she kind of seemed like she was planning on killing him. Me: Any thoughts on Kirk and Mukada and the Satan thing? Sister: I’m just surprised that they haven’t found the Reverend yet. And he even mentioned the dude disappearing this episode but there still wasn’t any follow up like “yeah, where did he vanish to?” Also, when they were doing the Solitary voting thing, I feel like someone wasn’t voting very seriously. Like only Sister Pete was a dissenting vote against Schillinger getting out? McManus didn’t vote against him? Me: Any thoughts on the play? Sister: I wanna see what their budget it is. Because they had a really large background and paint is expensive… And they were doing props? Me: Well, they were probably using tempera paint… And those big school tubs are probably like $20. Sister: Yeah, but they have multiple colors… I guess we’ll have to see what other props they get… (gasp) What if the skull is real?! Me: (for the nth time in our viewing conversation) They’re not doing Hamlet!!

[kimberlyannharts]

some notes on Ranger Academy #11 -

= I might save full discussion of this for my overall review, but I think this final arc is where my big criticism of how the Ranger Academy's weakest point is, ironically, the Academy itself, comes to a head. Saving the magic school from the big final threat is another check in the magic school formula, but again, I feel like I don't really know or care enough about the actual school to really feel what's happening. I care about the main cast, sure, but the unnamed professors and students that are possessed? eh. Like sorry but if Headmaster dies i'm certainly not going to care lol

= I do like how this book does the Dark Specter infection thing way more than how Darkest Hour did it, though. I like how it's initially subtle and gradually takes over the victim more and more, like an actual INFECTION, rather than just DH's strategy of [morph] [zap] [immediately evil]. I wish the cover hadn't spoiled Mathis's infection, because it would have been a good twist

= I do kinda wish Rhianth's Ranger form had some Rogue Red details, oops. At least let him keep his coat

= The Nika/Rhianth scenes.....soon Sage will have three dads. Four, I guess? I keep forgetting her biological parents

= I think things are pretty well set up for the final issue - I can't even be mad at the final cover for spoiling Sage's team colors, since it's easy enough to assume a book like this would end happily with Sage's team finally coming together and defeating the final threat. I think the only unanswered plot point is whatever's up with this.

Hopefully we've remembered it exists, as I don't think it's been brought up by the characters since its first encounter (we see it in the background of Sage and Tula's fight, but they don't notice it and it doesn't do anything.)

[chalkeater]

I think you need to have a serious read of this post:

http://undertale-science.tumblr.com/post/137797519093/ive-settled-the-issue-of-frisks-design-once-and

This is a racist post?

The reason yellow is used because the first “smiley” was made to boost moral,so a bright yellow color was used as a green face often represented poisoning or sickness, a red face was evil or angry, and a blue face was sad. Black on yellow stands out the best compared to other basic colors. It’s why our school buses are yellow, so they are easy to find and see. Because of this and the historic use of yellow for smileys, that shade of bright yellow gold is what is considered the standard for race neutral.

I was talking about how Frisk being drawn with yellow skin is way too close to racist propaganda. I am talking about Yellow Peril and Yellow Face. The color theory of SYMBOLS and graphic design in Logos is a stretch when talking about HUMAN representation.

The yellow face has nothing to do with Asians, or with race at all.

In emojis it wasn't meant to present any one Asian at all- this is especially because there is more than the -_- emoji. When I talked about yellow face I'm talking about yellow peril and how yellow face was used against Asian people. Asians never PICKED yellow, it was assigned by racist people.

Instead of making a bunch of options and eating up coding time to make it so you can customize the sprite to look as much like you as allowed by the options, Frisk’s design relies on something far stronger: your imagination. such a blank face can be interpreted in a number of ways. It’s a default poker face, watch poker, people actually make the real life version of that face, squinting a bit, trying to have relaxed eyes, flat mouth.

No one is saying to make Frisk customizable BTW!

I bolded "squinting a bit" because this is where this post admits that people will interpret it this way. And I never said that people were even inherent malicious for seeing it this way-- it is racist, but it's INGRAINED into our society to read stuff like this AS Asian. Just like how Goblins and what we associate them with are so normalized to us and we don't see it as anti-Semitic even though it is.

Frisk cannot be a caricature of any race, because by design, they are as close to raceless as possible while still maintaining a form instantly recognized as human, which is important considering the monsters versus humans story of the game.

There's a reason why POC have said that Frisk is heavily implied to be POC, even if they're bright yellow. Since this post mentioned Color Codes, I'm going to point at the difference between Frisk and Chara.

Chara is literally closer to white. I bring this up because I've said before that Chara being pale-skinned next to Frisk is ODD and can imply that that Frisk is a POC! Especially matched with their face/eyes design. If Chara is white-skinned (how humans classify white skin colors) then it's odd that Frisk, who literally in the color codes is darker than Chara, is colored in yellow.

Asian people are nowhere near that color. Just like how Native Americans are not actually naturally beet red, Africans are not actually pitch black, and Caucasians are not actually printer paper white.

Yeah, Asian people are not yellow! And while I know this post is not directed at me, you sent me this post to review carefully. I'm happy to tell you that yes: obviously Asian people are not yellow. I look at the mirror and don't think I look yellow at all. that's the point of what I'm trying to say, too! Asian people aren't yellow. Trying to explain that "Frisk being drawn with yellow skin and closed/squinted eyes has weird coincidences with yellow face and yellow peril" does not mean I think Asian people are yellow or that Asian people are literally yellow.

I don't think white people are Gesso-paint white, either.

But here's an article that briefly mentions how Dr. Seuss had to have his work edited to remove the yellow skin because it was racist to depict this.

According to the facial muscles, the “-_-” face is about the closest way you can depict the resting face when you only have 6 pixels.

Not really. I'll add on to this in a bit.

you are at the base “neutral” face that most people have when completely unconscious.

So is this an argument for Frisk is unconscious? I'm not saying it's a bad headcanon or that no one can use this. I think it's a fun idea that Frisk might be unconscious the whole time, but I'm not sure why this was mentioned.

Your eyes do not actually squeeze shut all the way when sleeping, some people even have eyes that do not squint as much and appear to be sleeping with their eyes open.

Yeah, this is the kind of thing asians, especially east asians get made fun of for, and it's been a long-time issue. "Can you even see?" "Are your eyes even open?"

"Appear to be sleeping" "appear to be closed when it's actually open" in order to excuse Frisk's face design? People with monolid eyes or epicanthal folds are not closed.

This is racist! Hope it helps.

Going for such a neutral character, Toby would not go and give the character a canon iris color. The only way the eyes could be changed is to make them 1X1 black pixel with no white pixel sclera (white part of the eye) to avoid making it appear like they have black colored irises.

There are people out there who have REALLY dark brown eyes that it looks basically almost black. There's nothing wrong with that. Also, as pixels, like this post suggests, we as humans have seen black colored irises in media ALL the time, and make our own interpretations.

See: Adventure Time, Gravity Falls, Loud House, etc. Adventure time doesn't need a white sclera to be seen as eyes, and Something like Gravity falls are still seen as eyes even with a sclera. If you look up Fanart of any of these media, a lot of people make their own interpretation of eye colors even if their irises are black.

A 4x4 eye is too big for that size head, as we see when Chara shows that look with their creepy face. 2 tall by 1 wide eyes would look too surprised and awake. When making a neutral face, this was the best way to go while still looking relatively human.

There is no mention of 2x2, so I feel like this is an unfair argument. Below I edited their eyes to quickly show how even this part isn't so hard.

If someone draws Frisk yellow with slanted eyes, just imagine them with whatever race, sex, gender, and emotion you have in your “headcanon”.

If people draw Frisk with yellow skin and slanted eyes, I think we should be upset, or at least tell this person not to do this.

Here is the image Dr. Seuss illustrated, again. This has gone through several revisions years after it was first published because of the racist depictions.

There is no true race or gender or sex or emotion or age or body type. It’s done on purpose.

This ignores one of the most widely spread headcanons and/or analyses of Undertale: which is that Frisk is their own person (which Flowey and Chara reinforce), and while we start the game by projecting ourselves on them, we literally learn through the pacifist route, that Frisk is NOT us. We play AS Frisk. Especially because no matter what name we give the True Name, Frisk will always introduce themselves as Frisk when asked by Asriel in the end of the game.

Again, we are NOT Frisk. We play AS Frisk. As we play the game through Pacifist, we learn more about Frisk- they like to Flirt, they are the ones who choose to call Toriel "mom". Players might just not associate these with being Frisk traits, because we originally project onto them until the reveal.

"No true gender" is also frustrating to see, because this is going to be the same argument to say that Frisk does NOT use They/Them, and that we shouldn't advocate for people to use They/Them for Frisk.

I also saw in another post on their blog that they believe that Chara does not necessarily use They/Them either (that Chara is also someone to project onto), even if Asriel uses it for them during the epilogue. "[Name] wasn't the best person."

Source: Undertale, images derived from this dialogue dump.

When it comes to Deltarune, if this argument was used for Kris as well it would be incredibly false due to the fact that it's even more so canon that Kris is NOT the player, and that the player is NOT Kris.

That's all! Thanks for the post. It was frustrating to read.

Here's some sources I also looked at to make sure what I'm saying made sense; some of these are repeated links that I mention earlier just for reference.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/dr-seuss-got-away-anti-asian-racism-long-rcna381

https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691140315/becoming-yellow

https://caata.net/yellowface-what-it-is-why-its-bad-and-action-steps-to-fight-it/

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/09/asian-eye-surgery-and-media-racism/279770/

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-newzealand-passport-error-idUSKBN13W0RL/

https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article249528800.html

https://digitalgallery.bgsu.edu/student/exhibits/show/race-in-us/asian-americans/asian-immigration-and-the--yel

https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/fox-eye-trend-asian-cultural-appropriation-trnd/index.html

[concook20]

Wild Kratts Headcannon! (Villain Edition)

Zach/Khris Cratt/Donita/Dabio/Gourmand

Villain: 1/5

Zach Alexander Lee Varmitech

Age: 23

Gender: Male

Sexuality: Gay (Closeted but...come on)

Birthday: September 18th

Zodiac Sign: Virgo

Height: 5' 8"

Weight: 135 lbs

Body Shape: Skinny, almost like a stick or toothpick

Favorite Color: Gray, Black, Red, and Green

Verts: Introvert

Phobia: Myrmecophobia (Fear Of Ants) and Alektoropobia (Fear Of Chickens Or Hen).

Hobbies: Playing piano, organizing, and playing chess.

Family and Relationships

He thinks he's an orphan, because he doesn't remember much of his parents, siblings (if he even has any), or any relatives

Even if he built Khris, he loves him as his best friend, and he enjoys his presence, even if he didn't programmed him with combat skills

Donita was the first person he met in college, and they hated each other, the typical popular rich girl and the nerdy weird kid, but after that, they began to hang out, even becoming besties

He hates Aviva in middle school, after all, she ranked herself as valedictorian, where he was salutatorian, so he wanted to one up her or beat her in something she can't win

Even if he despises the Kratt brothers, he actually...favors Chris, due to him being the only nice one, even when he does evil shit, he can't stop thinking about him... So yeah, he has a HUGE crush on Chris (Yes, I ship Chris x Zach, DON'T JUDGE!)

Zach ADORES every single Zach bots, they're like his own personal family, to the point he names all of them, celebrates birthdays for them, and worries for them when they break

Facts For Zach

Zach just doesn't hate bad movies, he makes many fake accounts to write HORRIBLE reviews on those bad movies just cause he can!

Zach only enjoys most of the musicals' music, which he sings either out loud or to himself, even if he's bad at singing.

Even if he gets mad, upset, or stressed, Zach NEVER cusses. EVER!

Zach never has any matching pairs of socks, which makes him stress and upset.

Zach suffers with OCD and stimming.

Zach doesn't know how to show affection, due to him being nervous or scared, so he leaves love poems around Chris's window.

Zach has weird dreams about there being two of them, and how he was made in a lab, but it sounds weird and stupid...👀

Zach is Megamind as a goth, PROVE ME WRONG!

That's all for now! If you have any questions, please comment down!

[schibi12]

Descendants we meet again

So yesterday I watched Descendants The Rise of Red twice and it's not great but surprisingly entertaining I can't explain it

Starting with the good stuff, I liked the songs they don't go as hard or iconic as the first movies but they're good I've been listening to the soundtrack nonstop, I liked Rita Ora as the Queen of Hearts how she portrayed being an tyrannical ruler, an abusive mother and a hurt resentful person she was the one who surprised me the most honestly (her outfits and makeup 10 outta 10) , Bringing back Brandy and Paolo Montalban as Cinderella and Prince Charming was such a great idea and their scenes where so nice,I did like our main leads and their story arcs specially Chloe's they finally give a kid of a hero something, Bridget was adorable, I love her she was so sweet and deserved better and last but not least I did like Cameron Boyce's tribute it was sweet and heartfelt and sad that Carlos's also gone in the descendants world.

And nooooow to the bad stuff oh boy.

Visual effects mediocre like always in this franchise come on Disney you can throw a couple of bucks to the budget you have the money, so the story and logic in this movie is whack and makes no sense I won't repeat them here but if you seen any reaction or review you know that there are several plot holes in the conclusion of the story, what was the point of introducing all these younger versions of the villains of they are not gonna do anything with them??? The only one who gets a modicum of depth was Uliana and even then her motives are just laughable when she was the cause of her own humiliation. (Also the level of disrespect they do to Maleficent's character being a lackey to a lesser known villain like what happened to her being the most evil villain?!?)

They bring back Uma and she only gets like less than 10 minutes of screen time I was excited to see her as the principal

Why do the heroes and their kids now have colored hair?!? I only thought that the VK got the anime treatment and it doesn't work on them, like what was that random blue streak on Prince Charming (me and my cousin were laughing when we noticed it), younger Ella's hair was just tragic and they had a lot of inconsistencies with the volume of Chloe's hair.

Couldn't we get a flashback to the infamous prank I wanted to see it so badly,could have been like Carrie made us understood better Bridget's turn to evil and how she stopped being friends with Ella.

This movie out of nowhere ends like the pacing was good and with the buildup of castle coming you think the main characters are gonna be in it and see history change but nope they go back to their time and everything is good like what?

It feels like they ran out of budget while making this and had to hastily do some rewrites to the ending so they can have a movie.

Even though this movie has many many many issues I had a good time, it was entertaining I was jammin to the music, the characters were good (well the main ones at least) but the story was so so bad it has potential and like any descendants it ain't the end so hope they learned their mistakes for the sequel or bring back Kenny Ortega.

Can't rate this movie it has me so dumbfounded by how bad it is but at the same time how much I enjoyed it maybe because I have a soft spot for Wonderland who knows.