#I still love testaments old design… they look so cool and so pretty!!

[golden-stag]

Fuck them kids. Block this overhead.

[maxwell-grant]

any thoughts on the game awards street fighter trailer?

Not too many but a few, the game's got a loooot of content to cover and I'll stick with mostly some character impressions

Dee Jay! I have never been happier to see Dee Jay! ...I've never usually been happy to see Dee Jay, granted, but this redesign is really all that was needed for me to unreservedly love the dude, it does away with the biggest problem with him that was his basic and kinda-racist design (the new art style also helps a lot). It's such an upgrade in terms of his style and vibe and conveying the kickboxing DJ concept. He looks like someone I'd find at Mongaguá beach if I went down there tomorrow, drumming away and living his best life. I'm so happy for this dude.

I like that they opened the trailer with him, with a club party and him dancing along with the protagonist. LOVE the music notes on his new Super, love his new animations and that camera autograph victory pose, love the sparkles and ways they've incorporated his old moves (he's got a Sonic Boom fakeout and, as obnoxious as that's gonna be to deal with, it's a pretty brilliant choice and one that fits him superbly)

Love that the new minigames, I mean of course they brought the basketball parry, and I'm sure the car destruction's gonna be real fun as always, but I'm surprised they dug back that far and brought some things we haven't seen since Street Fighter 1.

I think it's really remarkable that, for the trailer shown at The Game Awards of all things, they chose to focus on the return of, arguably the least popular of the New Challengers, and three new characters. Everyone assumed it was a dead giveaway that this was gonna be the Cammy trailer and the fact that it wasn't, and that people still absolutely loved it without complaints, man, what a testament to how confident these guys are in what they're doing. I have never seen a Street Fighter title be this brazen in it's new faces in the trailer period, I've never seen one where EVERY new character or return of an old character, without exception is incredibly popular and well-received.

I'm not too big on Manon? I do like her but she's probably my least favorite as of yet, feels a little more gimmicky than the others and I kinda wonder if she wasn't some SFV concept that they held off on (in fact I'm pretty sure I remember seeing some characters like her on the drafts for Kolin and Menat). She's definitely filling a much-needed niche as the agile pseudo-grappler and, those months of dance training I took for music theater definitely give me a greater appreciation for her animations and pose work.

She's been compared with Abel a lot but I kinda feel like she's a response to Shermie? Definitely with her alt costume. Capcom and SNK riff on each other all the time and I do wonder if someone in the SF6 dev team saw that KOF XV Shermie trailer a couple years back that got the biggest viewcount of all the characters and thought to themselves, hey why don't we have our own sexy French fashionista grappler lady, and that's how Manon was born.

Oh GOD, Marisa, the standout of the trailer to me. I was hooked from the design alone but that trailer, good God, what a character. Everyone thought she'd be a grappler but no, she's just a tank, absolute beast mode woman who just bulldozes through whatever puny shit you do to repaint the pavement with your face. I get stupid looking at this character, what a glorious addition to the Giants Club of Street Fighter characters.

SHE LIFTS LIONS LIKE KITTIES, living the dream.

She might have some ties to the Illuminati characters? I’m curious if she’s gonna be a villain or anti-hero or on the “just here to fight good” alignment, I’m cool with all of these.

She’s Zangief-size and built for it and we’ve NEVER seen a female character be depicted like this in a fighting game. Every other “big girl” people point to in these games is pretty much always some fitness model with, at best, muscle definition in the arms but a typically thin stomach and torso, identically-attractive to all the other female characters but slightly more ripped.

You never see women characters built the way Marisa is, You just don’t see muscular women depicted often (if at all) outside of either someone’s fetish or someone’s punchline. Fighting games have a marginally better track record with body type diversity than other game genres but still an incredibly, painfully limited one when it comes to women, who are given like two body types to work with and no one would be able to tell 80% of them apart in either type if they switched acessories.

I am supremely glad over the fact that this is a SF6 character just now making her debut, because if Marisa had debuted at any prior installment in the series I do not think she would have been allowed to be this way. If she was in the 2/Alpha/3 titles, there is no way she'd have been given such an unapologetically burly design, and if she was a IV/V character, she'd be most certainly some kind of awful joke they’d have to rework later.

I love that Marisa is a bruiser, that she’s got an rowdy attitude and might even be a villain, but that she’s not fucking Abigail (...I mean maybe she IS fucking Abigail, I don’t know her life, if anyone could do it it’s her but why would anyone want that tho), that she’s allowed to be so cool. I have nothing but praise for this character so far and I really wanna see how her story unfolds and also I NEED TO PLAY THIS.

I main Big Lads in fighting games and I main all the Big Lads in Street Fighter and now I need to main The Big Lass, I need to land that glorious counter of hers ASAP, I need to Sparta Kick my way through matches, this character has my playstyle written over her and I need this game to be out now damnit

I’m sure he was a nice guy and obviously not saying he was the sole cause of everything, but every step of this development process I’ve been thanking my stars that Ono quit the team, we are so unbelievably lucky

While I was holding out some hopes that Capcom would make the final boss a woman this time around (especially with all the new characters being so great that this wouldn’t be a worrying prospect), I was also very curious for JP and I’m really excited with how he’s turned out.

He definitely feels like they took their time connecting a whole lot of separate design ideas and undercurrents into a single character to carry them. He is a rich fighting dandy, a modern equivalent to Dudley and Eagle (Eagle in particular since he was the first weapon user in the series). Some have brought up comparisons between him and Rugal Bernstein, which makes a lot of sense as a character to emulate if you’re doing a Final Boss who’s supposed to be like Bison but different, a next evolution of Bison and his power, since that’s kinda what Rugal was, the next evolution of the Fighting Game Final Boss after Bison and Geese.

Like Ed and Falke, he’s another new character who wields Psycho Power and has mysterious connections to Bison, except he doesn’t suck. He’s got a fantasy wizard vibe and his single-letter name and style seems to imply some sort of connection to G, another powerful fighting wizard dressing and behaving like authority figure, and by far the standout character of V.

G was also said to be the Final Boss of SFV, a position I do think he was qualified for but never really fulfilled because, I don’t think he was supposed to be that entirely, I think they retroactively made him the Boss when Necalli proved to be a dud and the story mode revolved around Bison but they still needed someone who could be the V Boss for assorted reasons.

I think JP is kind of them taking that idea, of G as a Final Boss and important character in the storyline, and sort of doing it right this time around, as he also follows that theme of succession they’ve been doing with these bosses: Emperor/King (Sagat) - Dictator (Bison) - Cult Leader Messiah (Gill) - C.E.O (Seth) - President (G) - N.G.O Oligarch (JP)

He hits such an absurd amount of my aesthetic and conceptual tastes that I, almost don’t believe he’s real? He’s Bison 2 + Eagle + Rugal + G. He’s a Russian supervillain with a dapper red suit vest, gloves reminiscent of black claws, a wonderful mustache and beard combo, and he fights with a cane. He’s got a killer design I absolutely need to take a crack at cosplaying after the game is out.

He has a cat, a detail deemed important enough to go in his bio. He’s voiced by Wally Wingert and Tomokazu Sugita, two people I could watch in anything. He’s got a sick fighting style summoning portals and claws and spike energy spires and one of the most murderous supers in the game yet.

He’s Christopher Lee as a Street Fighter final boss. Can you blame me for thinking more and more that this game is made for me?

[ryanmeft]

My Top Performances of 2019, Part 1

That’s pretty self-explanatory, right?

A couple notes:

I cut myself off at 20. Many deserving performances didn’t quite make that arbitrary cut. Some will be in the honorable mentions section in Part 2. The order is irrelevant. In fact, it is deliberately random. There were a few cases where two performances in the same movie were both great and complimentary, and I wanted to honor them both without using up another slot. So I just combined them.

Last but not least, don’t forget that while writers and directors can’t make movies without actors, without writers and directors actors are just grown-ass adults playing pretend in front of a mirror. That’s also true of designers, cinematographers, key grips, assistants---pretty much everyone it takes to make one of these things. If you really love an actor or a performance, look into the people you don’t see who make it possible, and be sure to mentally send them some appreciation, too.

On with the show.

Elisabeth Moss in Her Smell

While Joaquin Phoenix and Adam Sandler earned a lot of (very deserving) praise for playing men destructing in slow-motion, Elisabeth Moss went almost unseen here as a woman actively shredding herself and her life while holding onto the fading dregs of fame. Playing the wonderfully named Becky Something, she’s a briefly popular rock star whose absolute lack of control and addiction to power destroy her. But that’s not new; it’s so common a theme in rock movies that it’s become a cliche. What makes Becky stand out is the unwavering intensity Moss portrays her with. There is never a moment of calm, never a place to let out a breath.

Eddie Murphy in Dolemite is My Name

After a couple of decades of his early trash-talking persona being de-fanged by appearances in family films, Murphy returns to what made him famous: swearing a lot. But his turn as Blaxploitation icon Rudy Ray Moore is bigger than that. Moore is seen here as a truly ambitious and calculating entertainer for whom cussing and talking about explicit sex is merely a character for the benefit of others. Could it be a subtle comment on Murphy himself?

Thomasin McKenzie in Jojo Rabbit

Scarlett Johansson got the Oscar nod, but McKenzie is the beating heart of this Mel Brooksian satire of the Nazi regime, fierce and vulnerable and never too much of one or the other. From the moment she appears, when you think she’s going to be the typical meek Jewish refugee hiding in a wall panel and she instead lets Jojo know exactly who is in control, she commands the film, leaving us enjoying the whole thing but also waiting for her scenes. After her debut in Leave No Trace was mostly ignored, her lack of awards success here continues to be baffling.

Scarlett Johansson & Adam Driver in Marriage Story

Not that ScarJo didn’t deserve a nomination this year. You cannot look away from her in this unflinchingly realistic story of an imploding marriage---but Driver sure makes you want to. In a gender-narrative-switch, Johansson plays the cool, calculating one, remaining above the fray though, of course, privately threatening to drown in it. Driver is the overly emotional one, relying on instinct rather than reason. When they finally break down and have a knock-down drag-out, it’s both shocking that things disintegrated so quickly, and entirely unsurprising to anyone who’s ever attempted a serious relationship. 

Adam Sandler in Uncut Gems

Despite the fact he’s proven himself time and again to be a fantastic dramatic actor when he wants to be, few people were unsurprised at the unrelenting intensity of Sandler’s performance here. He’s a jewel shop owner and small-time hustler, addicted to the risk and thrill of gambling more than the reward. But that’s a pretty typical character. What makes Howard Ratner unique is that he lever lets us take a breath---the never ending explosion inside his head is manifested by the constant whirl of activity and terrible judgement on the outside.

Lupita Nyong’o in Us

As the hero of the film, Nyong’o is sympathetic and engaging. Yet the highlight of this double role is her evil twin---a twisted, broken psychopath who tells ghost stories that could scar your mind and slowly-but-relentlessly pursues her prey. It’s a testament to Nyong’o’s talent that whenever both are onscreen together, they seem equally real and equally separate. If you don’t think that sounds hard, imagine having to pretend to fight yourself pretending to fight yourself, and make it look good.

Rebecca Ferguson in Doctor Sleep

Look, I’m just gonna be honest here: I might have a little bit of a crush on Rebecca Ferguson, as much because of her until-now underutilized talent as her looks. She’s simply incredibly compelling to watch even in roles that don’t deserve her level of skill. After seeing her as a centuries-old, soul-devouring, child-murdering, vampire-like creature of the night in the latest Stephen King adaptation, though, I…well, still have a little bit of a crush on her. I probably need a better therapist. You know who doesn’t need more help? Ferguson, who with this role takes back the scene-chewing movie villain from superhero films and delivers one of the best of all time. I haven’t watched Doctor Who in a while; do they need a new Master yet?

Antonio Banderas in Pain & Glory

Banderas was a talented actor right from his early beginnings with director Pedro Almodovar. He came to Hollywood, got a few good roles out of it (I’m still a fan of that first Zorro movie), was relegated to the status of a sex symbol, dropped off most people’s radars for a while, and in Almodovar’s latest finally gets the role of his career. He’s an aging filmmaker who suffers from every chronic pain imaginable, unable or unwilling to write and reflecting on a lifetime full of loves and losses. It is a performance that is difficult to describe in words, sublime and subtle let passionate and romantic.

Juliette Binoche in High Life

I usually hedge my bets on statements of absolute fact, but I feel comfortable saying this is the only movie you will ever see in which Juliette Binoche uses a virtual reality machine and ceiling straps to imagine herself having sex with a person in an animal suit. Describing that scene is irresistible, but it is more than mere shock: it’s an indication of the depths of human drives which Claire Denis is willing to explore, and the bravery of Binoche to trust her to do it. Binoche’s character is slimy---an unethical doctor sentenced to a prison spaceship for her gut-churning experiments---but she’s not a traditional villain. Rather, she’s a creature who exists to fulfill her needs, in a ship full of such animals.

Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe in The Lighthouse

Two men, one a rule-abiding rookie and the other a rambling retired sailor, go mad together in a lighthouse. Pattinson plays the younger man, who seems to believe that good intent and staying on the straight and narrow will forgive him past sins. Dafoe is the wizened, tough-but-fair mentor---or at least so it seems at first. He’s actually as cracked and despotic as they come, leaving us with two unlikable people---one who reveals themselves as such and one who becomes so. It is impossible to separate one of these performances from the other. Witness the scene in which they use stories as verbal weapons. It is as sharp as any actual knife fight could ever be.

That’s all for part one; look for part two tomorrow. Or the next day. Sometime this week.

[darkestwolfx]

Long Haul - Re-Review #48

Okay, I think I managed to reply to most people yesterday, but I had over a hundred odd notifications to scroll through - so if I missed your comment, I’m really sorry! So, moving on to today’s review.

It’s all nice and steady, business as usual, and there’s even some lovely peaceful music until we get to the ‘duh-dun’ part and in comes trouble.

“All ships divert from bay 2:1 and await further instructions.”

“Bravo Two Four, I gave an order to divert.”

“Sorry control, missed that.”

Okay, it wasn’t their fault, as such, there’s very little you can do about radio interference, but these things will happen and cause chaos. At least it wasn’t deliberate for once!

“We hit something! How bad is it?”

“We’re going into meltdown!”

That bad is your answer, mate.

“Space Hub One, come in. This is International Rescue. Do you need assistance?”

“This is Controller Conrad. Our core is ruptured, the coolant unit is leaking, and we’re going into meltdown. Apart from that, everything is fine.”

Yes, that makes everything sound just peachy! I wouldn’t cool that everything is fine. Apart from what? Everything is dying on you basically. Meltdown is pretty... finite?

“Do you have an EVAC in progress?”

“Yes, I’m riding the power controls to buy time until everyone is out. But I’m only delaying the meltdown. I can’t stop it.”

“Alan, you reading this? You need to get up there.”

“FAB John, I’m on my way.”

Hooray for Thunderbird Three! Although, did Alan leave with any plan other than to get Conrad who was going to evacuate anyway? It seems like John was predicting a rescue would be needed here, which isn’t a bad thing, I just wasn’t entirely clear on the reasoning. On the one hand, you’ve got predicting something before it happens which is great; but on the other, you’ve got acting too soon, which then dragged Thunderbird Two up, when maybe Virgil could have just gone with Alan? I know it’s all for the sake of story, so I’m not going to dwell here for long.

“Conrad, time to get out of there.”

“Okay, I’m heading out.”

Apparently, according to the writers with their hands of God, you are not!

“Alan, Conrad was still on board when the comms went down. He was about to evac, but I don’t know if he made it.”

“If he’s there, I’ll find him. I got him! But he’s not moving, and life signs are very weak. One wrong more and the whole thing will break apart.”

Just to my penny’s worth in here, very cheery start to the episode! No, really, it was nice to see an episode which did just get straight down to business and save the humour for later, really heightened the tension. I do love episodes where we just get to dive right into the deep, there’s something rewarding in them me thinks.

“This is the duty log of Space Controller Conrad, Space Hub One. I’m running out of air and time. I don’t know if anyone will hear this... I hope everyone else made it out. This is all my fault, I should have spotted that cruiser. I’m sorry.”

I really liked this guest character! They gave us so much backstory for him too and the music! I just loved it all. I will be honest, teared a bit at that speech. It’s like he was leaving a message on the log, expecting it to be his last, expecting to die there, and still thinking of others regardless.

“Brains, how do I get into this thing?”

The music behind this conversation was also awesome!

“You can’t cut through. That chute is designed to withstand meteor hits and collisions with space debris. And I’ve got worst news.”

“Of course you do.”

“Oxygen levels have reached critical. Conrad is running out of air.”

Skipping a bit here and keeping the focus on these two, all alone in space - I really felt for Alan and Conrad here. They were so close an yet so far.

“Alan, I don’t want anyone else to be put in danger because of me.”

“Hey, we’re International Rescue. It’s what we do! And I’m gonna stay right here until we open the door.”

Alan really has grown. If this mission had been put on him in Series 1, I don’t think he would have been able to cope, what with his focus then on being able to go on missions, and being allowed to spread his wings. Series 2 for Alan is really an example of how he begins to balance his love and excitement for what he does, with a practical working attitude like his brothers. and actually, he is really good at in this episode.

“So, Conrad, how do you become a Space Controller?”

“You’re making conversation to try and take my mind of the meltdown, aren’t you?”

“Nooooo....”

He so is!

“It’s okay, I haven’t got anything better to do. I always wanted to see the world. I mean, really see it.”

Uh, perfect description of how John feels?

“Now all I want is to see my home again.”

“And where is that?”

“Slough. My family still live there. And they’re all heroes. My brother’s a firefighter, the other’s a paramedic, and my sister’s a police officer. Do you have any idea how much pressure that is?”

Uh, perfect description of Alan? Of course he knows what that feels like.

“I can try to imagine.”

“I just wanted to make them proud of me. I mean, space! That’s a pretty big deal right? And I blew it. I didn’t react fast enough.”

“It was an emergency situation. You responded as fast as you could and you got everyone out safely.”

“Everyone but me.”

One of the most emotional discussions in TAG? i think so. And it didn’t matter that it was involving a guest character, because they said everything which needed to be said. The Tracy boys may be our heroes, and they may battle with much higher levels to live up to, but there are families out there who have the same struggles. I really think this will have resonated with people out there. It’s hard to not resent elder siblings when you feel like they are constantly above you and we sort of saw Alan going through that in Series 1. Conrad was a good person for him to meet - this scene was thought-provoking, powerful, and reflective. Everything it should have been.

Now back to the whole Tracy Island interlude.

Personally, I love the silent moments we had which begun this scene. Virgil and Scott silently walking into the room, and the looks whilst they wait to find out whether they’re too late... I really felt that. Sometimes we don’t need words in a scene to convey emotions. I mean, did you see the way Alan’s shoulders dropped when he thought there wasn’t going to be an answer, and the way the boys looked at Brains? Said it all.

“Then we need a plan fast. The temperature is still rising and we’re running out of time before the whole thing blows!”

“Ok, Brains, give us a run down of our options.”

“I admire your optimism in thinking we have more than one.”

Brains, please try not to pessimistic for one episode? It’s hard, I know, and it’s ironic of me to ask him that, because I am also a pessimist so would probably be doing the exact same! Ironic, I know, but really, that got me.

“Without a working coolant unit, the power core will keep overheating until meltdown. But it’s too damaged for repairs. we need to replace it.”

“Ok, where do we get a replacement?”

“Right here. We use the same cooling system for the power system on Tracy Island. And I have a back-up.”

Of course he does, this is Brains we’re talking about! Always ready, like a Scout right? I wasn’t a Scout, so I might be wrong on that one.

“Great! Problem solved.”

I love how Scott was turning to leave, striding away all purposefully to go and get everything!

“It’s not that simple. That coolant unit is massive. The one at the space hub was transported bit by bit. It took weeks.”

“And we don’t have weeks. Is there a vehicle that could take it in one piece?”

“Thunderbird Three, but-”

And we all know what’s coming next!

“But disconnecting it from the hub means no life support for Conrad.”

Thank you, Scott.

“You said we had one option?”

Yes. Yes he did. Shall we find out what it was?

“Thunderbird Two could carry it.”

“Uh.. I think you’re forgetting the whole ‘in space’ part of the mission. Thunderbird Two is not a space ship.”

Listen to Scott, ever the obvious! No, really I love how ‘eldest brother’ he acted in this episode.

“I think it could break free of Earth’s gravity and make it to the space hub.”

“You think? We need to be sure.”

See, big brother! I really love it when he acts like that.

“I don’t know about this, Virgil, what do you think?”

“Well, Scott, I think Thunderbird two is going into space!”

Space, Space, Space! I feel like it’s a new catch phrase! Let’s see how many times I can fit the word into this next section of the Review.

“Hey Brains, when you’re done here, can you make Thunderbird Four into a spaceship too?”

*Watch as Brains’ face literally lights up, and then Scott proceeds to crush his dreams. Payback for Gordon and the Panda?*

“Uh, let’s not get carried away here guys! Besides we need Thunderbird Four standing by as a submarine!”

“FAB. But could you blame a guy for asking?”

“Right!”

Look at those faces! Scott is sick of it already.

New version of the countdown? Love it.

“Thunderbird Two is go-ing into space! Woo-hoo! Going into space! Going into space! Going into space! Going into space!”

Virgil has been to space before, this is nothing new for him... except it’s in Thunderbird Two and that must be like his absolute dream! It’s one thing to go in Thunderbird Three with Alan as a co-pilot, it’s another thing entirely to take your own ship up, and on a maiden voyage of sorts. I love the excitement in this scene - and I’m a little surprised Scott didn’t admonish the whooping over the radio!

“Ok, but keep monitoring. Closely.”

Oh, wait, that’s why, he’s too busy worrying his every last nerve! Fairly so though, I think I would have done the same.

“Come on, old friend, you can do this.”

And the faith here? I don’t think I could ever have as much faith in technology and machinery as these boys do and I think that is a testament to them, what they do, and their equipment. Connections really do mean everything, and I know we had this discussion in one of the comment sections, but I think it really is possible that these 2060 epic works of machinery are sentient.

“Only a few thousand metres to go.”

“We made it!

And we have lift off! The dream is a reality.

“You have pizza?”

“No, I was joking.”

Meanie. Alan took you seriously. Although why I don’t know!

And the rescue is pulled off with success! Back to Earth we go, after another ‘Thunderbird; debate;

“This way, I get to ride in Thunderbird Two. I mean, it is the coolest Thunderbird.”

“Right?”

New catchphrase for Virgil?

“I’m choosing to ignore that.”

“Virgil, it’s your heat shields! They took took much damage on launch. Thunderbird two is going to burn up on re-entry!”

“Virgil, I’m coming for ya’!”

“It’s too late, Alan. Thunderbird Two is caught in Earth’s gravity.”

Yes, Scott, just shove Brains out of the way! I must admit I love that scene.

“Virgil, you guys have to bail out in the pod.”

“Negative, Scott. Can’t do it.”

“We can build another Thunderbird Two. We can’t rebuild you!”

That line still gets me. It’s so poignant.

“Eject, now!”

Virgil won’t do that. He’s a go down with your ship kinda guy.

“He���s right.”

And that is Brains’ way of saying that he should have thought of that! Really, Conrad is actually very, very smart. I think he should have been offered a job on the spot. I mean, that’s a pretty good interview performance, right?

“Conrad’s plan just might work.”

“Might?”

“It might definitely work!”

“I hope so.”

So do we all, Scott.

“Come on Thunderbird Two...”

And Thunderbird Two does. Hooray! The underwater landing was quite entertaining as well.

Now for a happpy shot.

“I should have reacted quicker.”

Stop being so hard on yourself! I think he’s one of the good ones.

“Hey, your quick thinking up there saved us. And Thunderbird Two.”

“So Conrad...”

Little shoulder bump! Love it.

“What’s next?”

“I’ll drop in and see my family in Slough and then it’s back to the Hub.”

He’ll have one heck of a story to tell.

“Hey Brains, how long would it take to re-fit Thunderbird Two to take Conrad back up to the Hub?”

“Thanks, but this time I’ll get a ride designed to go into space. Alan?”

“And which Thunderbird is the coolest?”

“Thunderbird Three is the coolest.”

“Yes, it is.”

He deserved a visit to the Island after saving Virgil’s (and his own of course) life like that. He seems like a really smart, switched on kid who just got stuck in the wrong place at the wrong time in a tough situation. I love episodes like this one because it reminds us that everyone on this show is human - even those in the Tracy family.

P.S. Shall we have the coolest Thunderbird debate? Now seems like a good time since the boys have instigated it. Stick your thoughts below if you want to!

[thelanguagecommunity]

“what language should I learn?”

“is it better to learn [x] or [x]?”

“is it worth learning [x]?”

I get this type of question a lot and I see questions like these a lot on language learning forums, but it’s very difficult to answer because ultimately language learning is a highly personal decision. Passion is required to motivate your studies, and if you aren’t in love with your language it will be very hard to put in the time you need. Thus, no language is objectively better or worse, it all comes down to factors in your life. So, I’ve put together a guide to assist your with the kind of factors you can consider when choosing a language for study.

First, address you language-learning priorities.

Think of the reasons why are you interested in learning a new language. Try to really articulate what draws you to languages. Keeping these reasons in mind as you begin study will help keep you focused and motivated. Here are some suggestions to help you get started, complete with wikipedia links so you can learn more:

Linguistic curiosity?

For this, I recommend looking into dead, literary or constructed languages. There are lots of cool linguistic experiments and reconstructions going on and active communities that work on them! Here’s a brief list:

Dead languages:

Akkadian

Egyptian (Ancient Egyptian)

Gaulish

Gothic

Hittite

Old Prussian

Sumerian

Older iterations of modern day languages:

Classical Armenian

Classical Nahuatl (language of the Aztec Empire)

Early Modern English (Shakespearean English)

Galician-Portuguese

Middle English (Chaucer English)

Middle Persian/Pahlavi

Old English

Old French

Old Spanish

Old Tagalog (+ Baybayin)

Ottoman Turkish

Constructed:

Anglish (experiment to create a purely Anglo-Saxon English)

Esperanto

Interlingua

Láadan (a “feminist language”)

Lingua Franca Nova

Lingwa de Planeta

Lobjan

Toki Pona (a minimalist language)

Wenedyk (what if the Romans had occupied Poland?)

Cultural interests?

Maybe you just want to connect to another culture. A language is often the portal to a culture and are great for broadening your horizons! The world is full of rich cultures; learning the language helps you navigate a culture and appreciate it more fully.

Here are some popular languages and what they are “famous for”:

Cantonese: film

French: culinary arts, film, literature, music, philosophy, tv programs, a prestige language for a long time so lots of historical media, spoken in many countries (especially in Africa)

German: film, literature, philosophy, tv programs, spoken in several Central European countries

Italian: architecture, art history, catholicism (Vatican city!), culinary arts, design, fashion, film, music, opera

Mandarin: culinary arts, literature, music, poetry, tv programs

Japanese: anime, culinary arts, film, manga, music, video games, the longtime isolation of the country has developed a culture that many find interesting, a comparatively large internet presence

Korean: tv dramas, music, film

Portuguese: film, internet culture, music, poetry

Russian: literature, philosophy, spoken in the Eastern Bloc or former-Soviet countries, internet culture

Spanish: film, literature, music, spoken in many countries in the Americas

Swedish: music, tv, film, sometimes thought of as a “buy one, get two free” deal along with Norwegian & Danish

Religious & liturgical languages:

Avestan (Zoroastrianism)

Biblical Hebrew (language of the Tanakh, Old Testament)

Church Slavonic (Eastern Orthodox churches)

Classical Arabic (Islam)

Coptic (Coptic Orthodox Church)

Ecclesiastical Latin (Catholic Church)

Ge’ez (Ethiopian Orthodox Church)

Iyaric (Rastafari movement)

Koine Greek (language of the New Testament)

Mishnaic Hebrew (language of the Talmud)

Pali (language of some Hindu texts and Theravada Buddhism)

Sanskrit (Hinduism)

Syriac (Syriac Orthodox Church, Maronite Church, Church of the East)

Reconnecting with family?

If your immediate family speaks a language that you don’t or if you are a heritage speaker that has been disconnected, then the choice is obvious! If not, you might have to do some family tree digging, and maybe you might find something that makes you feel more connected to your family. Maybe you come from an immigrant community that has an associated immigration or contact language! Or maybe there is a branch of the family that speaks/spoke another language entirely.

Immigrant & Diaspora languages:

Arbëresh (Albanians in Italy)

Arvanitika (Albanians in Greece)

Brazilian German

Canadian Gaelic (Scottish Gaelic in Canada)

Canadian Ukrainian (Ukrainians in Canada)

Caribbean Hindustani (Indian communities in the Caribbean)

Chipilo Venetian (Venetians in Mexico)

Griko (Greeks in Italy)

Hutterite German (German spoken by Hutterite settlers of Canada/US)

Fiji Hindi (Indians in Fiji)

Louisiana French (Cajuns) 

Patagonian Welsh (Welsh in Argentina)

Pennsylvania Dutch (High German spoken by early settlers of Canada/ the US)

Plaudietsch (German spoken by Mennonites)

Talian (Venetian in Brazilian)

Texas Silesian (Poles in the US)

Click here for a list of languages of the African diaspora (there are too many for this post!). 

If you are Jewish, maybe look into the language of your particular diaspora community ( * indicates the language is extinct or moribund - no native speakers or only elderly speakers):

Bukhori (Bukharan Jews)

Hebrew

Italkian (Italian Jews) *

Judeo-Arabic (MENA Jews)

Judeo-Aramaic

Judeo-Malayalam *

Judeo-Marathi

Judeo-Persian

Juhuri (Jews of the Caucasus)

Karaim (Crimean Karaites) *

Kivruli (Georgian Jews)

Krymchak (Krymchaks) *

Ladino (Sephardi)

Lusitanic (Portuguese Jews) *

Shuadit (French Jewish Occitan) *

Yevanic (Romaniotes)*

Yiddish (Ashkenazi)

Finding a job?

Try looking around for what languages are in demand in your field. Most often, competency in a relevant makes you very competitive for positions. English is in demand pretty much anywhere. Here are some other suggestions based on industry (from what I know!):

Business (General): Arabic, French, German, Hindi, Korean, Mandarin, Russian, Spanish

Design: Italian (especially furniture)

Economics: Arabic, German

Education: French, Spanish

Energy: Arabic, French, German, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish

Engineering: German, Russian

Finance & Investment: French, Cantonese, German, Japanese, Mandarin, Russian, Spanish

International Orgs. & Diplomacy (NATO, UN, etc.): Arabic, French, Mandarin, Persian, Russian, Spanish

Medicine: German, Latin, Sign Languages, Spanish

Military: Arabic, Dari, French, Indonesian, Korean, Kurdish, Mandarin, Pashto, Persian, Russian, Spanish, Turkish, Urdu

Programming: German, Japanese

Sales & Marketing: French, German, Japanese, Portuguese

Service (General): French, Mandarin, Portuguese, Russian, Sign Languages, Spanish

Scientific Research (General): German, Japanese, Russian

Tourism: French, Japanese, Mandarin, Sign Languages, Spanish

Translation: Arabic, Russian, Sign Languages

Other special interests?

Learning a language just because is a perfectly valid reason as well! Maybe you are really into a piece of media that has it’s own conlang! 

Fictional:

Atlantean (Atlantis: The Lost Empire)

Dothraki (Game of Thrones)

Elvish (Lord of the Rings)

Gallifreyan (Doctor Who)

High Valyrian (Game of Thrones)

Klingon (Star Trek)

Nadsat (A Clockwork Orange)

Na’vi (Avatar)

Newspeak (1984)

Trigedasleng (The 100)

Vulcan (Star Trek)

Or if you just like to learn languages, take a look maybe at languages that have lots of speakers but not usually popular among the language-learning community:

Arabic

Bengali

Cantonese

Hindi

Javanese

Hausa

Indonesian

Malay

Pashto

Persian

Polish

Punjabi

Swahili

Tamil

Telugu

Thai

Turkish

Urdu

Vietnamese

Yoruba

If you have still are having trouble, consider the following:

What languages do you already speak?

How many and which languages you already speak will have a huge impact on the ease of learning. 

If you are shy about speaking with natives, you might want to look at languages with similar consonant/vowel sounds. Similarity between languages’ grammars and vocabularies can also help speed up the process. Several families are famous for this such as the Romance languages (Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, Romanian), North Germanic languages (Norwegian, Swedish, Danish) or East Slavic languages (Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian). If you are a native English speaker, check out the FSI’s ranking of language difficulty for the approximate amount of hours you’ll need to put into different languages.

You could also take a look at languages’ writing systems to make things easier or for an added challenge.

Another thing to remember is that the languages you already speak will have a huge impact on what resources are available to you. This is especially true with minority languages, as resources are more frequently published in the dominant language of that area. For example, most Ainu resources are in Japanese, most Nheengatu resources are in Portuguese, and most Nahuatl resources are in Spanish.

What are your life circumstances?

Where you live with influence you language studies too! Local universities will often offer resources (or you could even enroll in classes) for specific languages, usually the “big” ones and a few region-specific languages.

Also consider if what communities area near you. Is there a vibrant Deaf community near you that offers classes? Is there a Vietnamese neighborhood you regularly interact with? Sometimes all it takes is someone to understand you in your own language to make your day! Consider what languages you could realistically use in your own day-to-day. If you don’t know where to start, try checking to see if there are any language/cultural meetups in your town!

How much time can you realistically put into your studies? Do you have a fluency goal you want to meet? If you are pressed for time, consider picking up a language similar to ones you already know or maintaining your other languages rather than taking on a new one.

Please remember when choosing a language for study to always respect the feelings and opinions of native speakers/communities, particularly with endangered or minoritized languages. Language is often closely tied to identity, and some communities are “closed” to outsiders. A notable examples are Hopi, several Romani languages, many Aboriginal Australian languages and some Jewish languages. If you are considering a minoritized language, please closely examine your motivations for doing so, as well as do a little research into what is the community consensus on outsiders learning the language. 

[clairen45]

Luke Skywalker: Biblical Hero?

While reviewing the photographs from TROS published in Vanity Fair, I stopped on the one featuring Luke with R2D2.

At first glance, I honestly thought it was teasing about finally getting the true story behind the infamous Jedi Temple massacre, that one fatal night that tipped the scale into the birth of Kylo Ren. But as was kindly reminded to me by @tricaurelie, nope, because this is “old Luke”, the one that Rey got to meet on Ahch-To. The picture can sure be misleading as it reprises key elements from the Jedi Temple massacre, mostly R2 and fire. And the planet where Luke decided to establish his temple does exhibit some traces of vegetation, as seen here:

But, nope, this shot is not supposed to be about a flashback that finally tells us all about what and how it all went down, something that is important about the premices of Kylo Ren. Even though, you could very well imagine Force Ghost Luke (in his old form as recorded) coming to tell the story all over again. I don’t really believe in that theory as I enounce it. It’s possible, but meh... How Luke will play out, and this particular scene, who knows, but still, I want to come back to the way Luke is portrayed here and the symbolism behind it. This is very obviously a Moses display. The bearded patriarch. The burning bush. Alright. Let’s pause. Come to think of it, there is more than one biblical figure that can be related to Luke Skywalker.

Some Luke’s superfans would vehemently argue the case for Luke as a Christ figure. Savior. Super powers. The son. The Force is with him... And maybe the EU pushed forward this notion of superhuman, godlike Luke Skywalker. Though, let’s be honest, the only one clearly designed to look like people’s most popular mental picture of what JC may look like is obviously young Obi Wan. Like come on. To the point that you find countless stories and memes of Obi Wan honestly mistaken by people for Jesus. Obi Wan, you will always be the one and only Space Jesus! For real.

Fun fact is the same people who will shout that TLJ was #notmyLuke! should ironically rejoice in the fact that, in a way, Luke achieved some Christlike dimension by sacrificing himself to “atone” for others’ sins and redeem the lost sheep, aka Kylo. And when I say atone for others’ sins, no, this is not solely for Kylo Ren’s sake. He says it very clearly when he tells Rey about the Jedi:

the legacy of the Jedi is failure. Hypocrisy. Hubris. At the height of their power they allowed Darth Sidious to rise, create the Empire, and wipe them out. It was a Jedi Master who was responsible for the training and creation of Darth Vader.

He is atoning, through his penance and death, not only for his own hubris and failures (his pride in the mighty Skywalker blood), not only for the sins of his father, but also for the sins of thousands of generations of Jedi teaching, that eventually failed. That’s a pretty big plate. Yet, I don’t think this is completely fair to see Luke as just straight Christlike figure. There are lots of other major biblical figures that ring truer to his personal arc, such as:

1.DAVID

As in David and Goliath. Why? obviously the shepherd/farmboy that gets to be God/The Force’s agent against an enemy so massive that the fight initially seems like a joke, and who eventually delivers the lucky strike that takes the enemy down.

Bonus point: the severed head from Goliath is evoked in ESB when Luke cuts off Vader’s head...

Also David is a key figure into the lineage that brings forth the Messiah, as exemplified through the symbolic of the tree of Jesse. Out of the house of David, a Savior is supposed to come that will usher in a new kingdom. Hence why it was paramount in the New Testament to have Jesus Christ being a descendant of David to establish his legitimacy as the Messiah.

In SW, the “mighty Skywalker blood” is also supposed to create a chosen one who will bring balance back into the Force. A prophecy that was at the core of the second draft script for ANH, in the piece that Lucas referred to as The Journal of the Whills: “ …And in the time of greatest despair, there shall come a savior, and he shall be known as THE SON OF THE SUNS."  If Lucas had clearly originally thought that Luke could be this one (binary sunset, the son), the OT does not totally play that out. It was even totally dropped out of the storyline. Luke is not Obi Wan and Yoda’s “only hope” after all... and there was no reference whatsoever to a prophecy, or a savior, in the OT. Though, of course, Lucas decided to come back to his initial idea in the PT, with the prophecy becoming the leitmotiv of Anakin’s rise to the status of Jedi and eventual demise into Lord of the Sith. Remains in the ST the mighty Skywalker blood and lineage, with Kylo at the seeming end of the line... (seeming because, eventually, more babies will be on the way). Thus the title, The Rise of Skywalker, could not be more clear, like the tree of Jesse rising high into the sky to bring forth a savior...

2.ST LUKE

Easy one. Don’t think names have no meaning, they do. And writers pick out names for their characters for very good reasons, though not always totally conscious. Case in point, Luke. Lucas may have been drawn to the moniker for obvious homophonic reasons: Luke/Lucas. Luke means light. Sure, son/sun, binary suns, only hope, yadi yada. Comes the ST. Very clever thing happens. St Luke becomes handy. As one of the Evangelist, he is thus entrusted with “recording” precious testimonies about Jesus’s life and God’s message to mankind. Cool thing for old Luke is that he plays the same role, kind of. He is the custodian of the Jedi teaching. He is the last custodian of their legacy. He is also very literally custodian of books. And also, as I pointed out many times in my metas, like this one, the way Kylo Ren is always portrayed as a bull, well, guess what animal is symbolic of St Luke’s? Would you? Right!

3.ABRAHAM

Note that Luke did not end up in an inverted scenario where he could have been Isaac to Vader’s Abraham if Satan, instead of God, had demanded the head of Abraham’s son. Palpatine did not specifically request the death of Luke. It was never expected of Vader. The Emperor wanted to have Luke and possibly turn him. No sacrifice was required. And when Luke refused to bow down, Palpatine did not ask of Vader to put him down. He just took matters into his own hand.

In the ST, though, the way we get to see Luke’s temptation to kill sleepy Kylo is very evocative of Abraham raising his knife to strike down his son.

Debating the will of the Force over Kylo’s dreams was pretty much akin to Abraham listening to God’s voice putting him to the test... With more dramatic consequences in Luke’s case...

4.MOSES

Ok, so that’s the first one I mentioned when bringing up that VF photoshoot. Moses is a good one for Luke. The burning bush is obviously a symbolic they had fun with on TLJ with the whole burning of the Jedi library tree, with Yoda playing the voice that talks Luke back into reason and send him onto completing his mission.

Moses is mostly about guiding people to a better world that you will never reach. Thus, in SW lingo, balance of the Force. Peace to the galaxy. Happy end in IX, right? You betcha!

5.ST JOHN OF PATMOS

That one is a great one. St John is the famed author of the Book of Revelation, the final book of the New Testament, and thus, one could say, the last apostle (wink wink). The Book of Revelation is of course better known as the book of the Apocalypse, which is not only about the myriads of horrible things likely to shower upon mankind and the world (like, the end of the world) but also about the promise of a new world ushered in, the new coming of Christ and a new Heaven and Earth coming to replace our current ones. No more suffering and death. And no more sin. Interesting piece of information about this revelation is that it came to St John on the island of Patmos where he was sent into exile....

Ummmm.... Exile on an island? Where have I ever seen that? I also love the way that St John is always represented with a bird...

And that, in fine, the Luke we get at the end of TLJ, is about to deliver a prophecy of sorts: “The Rebellion is reborn today, the war is just beginning and I will not be the last Jedi.” One that is about death and destruction (war is beginning) but also mostly about hope. Luke,the prophet, is also the first voice we hear in the teaser for episode IX. One that is very much about hope. And also very much reminiscent of the tree of Jesse:

A thousand generations live in you now. But this is your fight 

Mind you then who the son of suns is at this point...

[thiinka]

Hey there! I know I’m a stranger but I was recently admitted to CUI (which I heard you attend?) and I was wondering your personal opinion on it! I think it’s an awesome school but I’m not entirely sure if I want to attend, ya know? Could you offer some advice? Thank you either way!

Oh heck yeah! I’m really curious as to who you are and how you found out I go to CUI, haha.

Personally? I love this school and the time I’ve spent here, and I’ve had moments walking across campus thinking, “I’m so glad I went here,” no joke. There are several reasons for that: small size of basically everything, the faculty, the location, and the cafeteria (mostly). 

Everything is small here. You can walk across campus in 5 minutes. The classes are always under 30 students (except for precious few general classes like the freshman intro class and general physical fitness lecture) and I’ve mostly been in classes of 10 or under in my majors’ classes (Math and Graphic Design). Also kinda on the topic of rooms, the dorm rooms are cushy comparatively to other dorms. The non-quad buildings are suite-style and the quads are apartment-style, with a toilet and shower per 4 students, not a floor of students sharing a stall bathroom. Also, you don’t have those brick walls that a lot of other universities have, you can actually put thumbtacks into these walls. And there are professors in residence! I live in the Uppers Quads, where there are 3 separate families of professors with their kids, and personally? I love it. Uppers has always felt like a big ol’ family to me, especially with hall events.

The small size helps out the faculty, and all the professors I’ve had except for like... one or two have been amazing and passionate about what they’re teaching. I took a look on your profile and it looks like you like history and psychology? I’m not even in those areas and I still have personal experience/positive grapevine talk about those professors. For me, Dr. Armstrong (also highly involved with Honors goings-on) was the professor who got me to finally like history in CHST 201 after high school killed it for me, partially because Ancient Greek and Roman history is his baby. He also takes students on Getty Villa field trips at least once every semester, once to see the play that happens out there, and it’s great. Dr. Cosgrove was my professor for Intro to Psychology, and she was fantastic with a class of 4 students including me! I know about other professors (Flores, Francisco, Karges, Matthews) and that they all have excellent reputations. Word of mouth is swift here, and you *will* get recommendations on whose classes to take. It’s a bit more likely that adjuncts will provide inferior learning, but faculty who care about the students interview them, so it’s not nearly as bad as a large university.

Personally, my experience with the Mathematics and Art faculty has been so amazing. Math (Prof Melberg and Dr.s Croll, Schulteis, Taylor) and Art (Soo, Hayes, Dunham, Kruger) are all so invested in their students’ success, no matter if it’s a GE or a major-specific course. There’s also a bit of group discussion encouraged as a mix with traditional lecture at least for Math.

Additionally, I’m in the string orchestra, and while ensemble directors all have this “Music is the only thing you should be focusing on” attitude to some extent, I really love interacting with them. Also, they’re super helpful in networking with theater and church gigs if you ask (Dr. Held recommended me to one of the theater profs, Dr. Vezner, to play violin, and subsequently got pulled back for nice paying gigs several times). Not as applicable if you’re not in music, but we will have the new music and theology building open for use starting I think in Fall 2019. And even if you’re not in music, we have *so many* great performances for strings, winds, choir, *handbells*, and the mini theater productions. CUI (and our donors) really loves the arts, man. 

The location is excellent, especially if you’re from out-of-state. Irvine is literally ranked the safest city in California, and UCI with all of its amenities (the library!!) and other fun stuff (University Town Center, Woodbridge area) is right next door. You’re a stone’s throw from the beach and the mountains and theme parks and several malls (The Spectrum, South Coast Plaza, Fashion Island, The District). Some of these places are 100% close enough to walk or bike to, and I’ve done so many times. I guarantee at some point you’ll make friends with someone who has a car, or if not, there’s a shuttle service that goes out on weekends.

And finally the cafeteria. It’s comparatively better than other college cafeterias in my opinion. There’s always something you’ll want to eat; just don’t let Senior Preview Day trick you on the daily quality of the food! Also, breakfast is consistently good, since you can order eggs and omelettes how you’d like them. Meal plans work on an allotted x meals a week deal, starting on Monday, at either 19, 14, or 10, or you can appeal to have no meal plan past freshman year in case of dietary stuff. 

Some cons? If you’re not too into Jesus then the required Theology (Old Testament and New Testament) probably won’t be cool. The school *is* affiliated with LCMS Lutheranism, and I’ve had my fair share of Catholic vs Protestant joking around with professors. All Theology and some History profs are Lutheran pastors. As a very personal note for when I turned 21, the campus is a dry campus for the sake of reducing liability issues, and it’s pretty frustrating to me. If you eventually have a car, parking is free but holy crap is it hard to find a parking space sometimes!! I’m not involved in sports, but we apparently do well?? but we don’t have a football team. The bureaucracy has gotten really congested with clubs and orgs over the past 5 years I’ve been here. 

But I mean, in short? Like I said way up there, sometimes I get moments where I’m walking across campus and I think, “I love this place and I’m so glad I came here of all places.” I met my rock-solid group of close friends and my boyfriend (long story) here, I have professors who I really do consider friends (and for the end-of-the-year math dept. dinner? Almost like family! Three of them are moms!) and who are so invested in my and other students’ success, and I believe I can truly say I've grown tremendously as a person while going to CUI because of these people. 

That, uh... mini-essay kinda encapsulates my personal experience with and feelings about CUI. I definitely recommend campus visits to each college you’re accepted to if you’re undecided and able to, though. Good luck picking where you want to go, and I hope this helped you understand CUI better!

[tigerlover16-uk]

Reimagining DBGT Baby saga

As we all know, Dragon Ball GT was a complete hot mess…at least in execution.  On paper and taken on their own merits, many of the concepts and storylines of GT are actually pretty good, even brilliant in some cases (*coughcough* Shadow Dragons).  The problem, however was the execution.  Because they were rushed to get the show out, the writers clearly went the route of making stuff up on the fly rather than actually planning out the story.  As a result, many of these ideas, things that could have been amazing stories, ended up as wasted potential because Toei was focused on Rule of Cool/Funny instead of worldbuilding, character development, and story logistics.

Pan and Uub are the poster children for these missed opportunities.  Pan was notoriously badly written, with the writers themselves admitting that they included her mainly as a damsel in distress to make Goku look better, while Uub was basically forgotten, undoing everything that the end of Z was setting up with him.  Here, I will take you through my thought process and show what I would have done with the characters had I been one of the showrunners for GT.

*Just to get some things out of the way, a) This will only go into sharp detail for the Baby arc since that is the only one I am intimately familiar with plot wise, and b)GOKU IS STILL AN ADULT!  This was pointless, silly, and only served for cheap jokes that at worst hurt Goku’s character.  NEXT!

-Getting into the real meat of the issue, the Black Star Dragon Ball saga would mostly remain the same (BSDBs are used, Earth’ll blow up in a year, Giru eats the Dragon Radar, Luud conflict, etc.).  However, Uub would replace Trunks as the third party member, citing that his training can still continue and he wants some real-world experience.

-The character dynamic between Uub and Pan would play out as a mostly-friendly rivalry, both wanting to impress Goku.  Uub has come to admire Goku and wants to live up to him, but Pan has much more personal baggage.

*I can imagine Pan as being somewhat resentful of Goku for running off to train Uub, leaving his family behind to live in some random village and train this kid.  This would serve to address a common criticism of Goku’s character (focus on his own wants ahead of others), while also making clear that this hurt is unintentional.  Goku obviously would never intentionally hurt his loved ones, but sometimes the choices we make have an impact on the people around us.  Pan still loves her grandfather, so rather than bring this to the forefront, she decides to bottle these feelings up, not wanting to say something that may hurt him in turn.

*Additionally, Pan may also suffer from an inferiority complex as a result of having so many powerful warriors in her family.  She becomes fixated on becoming a Super Saiyan so she can truly live up to that legacy (put a pin in that it’ll be important later)

-Another character point to come up is Uub learning the truth, that he is the reincarnation of Majin Buu.  At some point prior to arriving at Planet M2, Uub is pushed to his breaking point during a battle, causing him to lash out with an aggression similar to Kid Buu (I credit KCruzer of DeviantArt for the impetus behind this idea https://www.deviantart.com/kcruzer/art/DBTNG-Satsui-No-Majin-782861139).  When Goku tells him the truth, Uub starts suffering an identity crisis compounded by his fear of losing control of the rage.

-The mini arc on M2 is mostly the same, only Pan’s feelings of betrayal by Giru have a more pronounced impact by triggering a transformation similar to the False Super Saiyan from Lord Slug.  While that film is obviously non-canon, the idea of a pseudo-Super Saiyan form is one I quite enjoy, and the power boost allows Pan to rescue Goku and Uub and defeat the Sigma Force on her own (the only downside is that this power is hard to maintain).  Goku’s battle with Rilldo is much the same, as is their discovery of Baby.

-Flash forward to the return to Earth, only now Baby’s takeover is different.  Since Goku is unencumbered by his body, he is able to fight Baby on a much more level footing, and actually starts to win.  However, baby uses his control over the infected human population to order some of them to kill themselves, and to commit mass suicide in the case of his own death.  Rather than risk it, Goku surrenders.  Pan tries to attack Baby herself, but is overwhelmed and apparently killed.  As you can probably guess, this puts Pan into the position Goku was in the original show, and she trains to go fight Baby.

*Meanwhile, Baby hooks Goku up to a machine designed to siphon his Ki into himself, completing Baby’s growth to the point where he no longer needs Vegeta’s body to maintain his power.  After all, what kind of Tuffle savior would Baby be if he had to remain a parasite of a Saiyan?  This would also give a chance to flesh out Baby’s character more, as he is a very real testament to the horrifying legacy of the Saiyans, their tragic genocide by Frieza notwithstanding.

*Uub would take up Pan’s original role, trying to heal the possessed humans alongside Fat Buu and Mr. Satan while also fighting the infected Gohan, Goten and Trunks.  Here, the evil Buusona would again resurface, but Uub once again starts to lose control.  Buu approaches Uub with the chance to fuse as they did in canon, thus allowing him to properly harness the power.  However, while this would give him the strength to defeat Baby, Uub refuses to risk losing his singular will.  Thus, unable to call upon the Majin’s strength, Uub is bested by Baby, who eventually becomes strong enough to leave Vegeta’s weakened body

*In Other World, Pan undergoes similar measures and training to restore her tail, in this AU a way for her to better control her False Super Saiyan power.  Old Kai considers subjecting Pan to the same empowerment ritual he used on Gohan, but Pan is too impatient and pressed for time to sit for that.  Once her tail is regrown, Pan rushes to fight Baby while sending Uub and the others to free Goku, but she too is defeated.  This is followed by the Golden Oozaru transformation that Goku originally underwent, only this time it is a healed Videl who manages to calm the berserk Pan down.  Thus, Pan is the one to unlock Super Saiyan 4 instead of Goku.

*The power of the transformation allows Pan to make quick work of Baby, but the aggression indicative of Super Saiyan forms kicks in when she starts to pointlessly drag the fight out.  In fact, due to having no experience with the other transformations, the Hulk-out is even more extreme that usual.  By now, Goku has been freed and tries to get Pan to back off.  However, this only causes Pan to snap again, letting all her hurt and anger with her grandfather out at once.  Goku is shaken by Pan’s words, but he is reluctantly forced to fight when Pan attacks him, asserting that she is finally a true Saiyan warrior and demanding that he go all out.

*Baby manages to recover and ty to escape but is stopped by Vegeta, who is prepared to kill him on the spot before Uub steps in, citing that the Tuffles had suffered enough.  Remembering how Mr. Satan beges him to spare Buu, Vegeta offers Baby mercy, only for the Tuffle to commit suicide, feeling that his people have no more legacy to hope for.

*Goku and Pan’s battle starts getting more intense as Pan continues to vent, letting out all the hurt she had been feeling while Goku tries to apologize.  It eventually gets to the point where Goku refuses to fight her and powers down, letting her lay into him.  However, by this point all of Pan’s rage has been spent, and all that’s left is a scared girl wants her grandfather back.  The two finally reconcile and return to the others

*The saga ends much as it did previously, the only real difference being that Piccolo does not sacrifice himself and the balls are destroyed another way.

-Subsequent sagas may vary (cut Super 17 and seriously rework the Shadow Dragons), but the following points would also be present

*Pan works with Gohan and Goku to achieve and master the real Super Saiyan state so that Pan will avoid the uncontrollable rage that comes from going all the way to Super Saiyan 4 (i.e. SS1 is drinking a single cup of caffeinated coffee, SS4 is drinking six at once)

*Uub comes to terms with his origins as Buu, and learns to call upon and control the Majin power without going nuts

*Vegeta discovers a colony of Tuffle survivors and tries to find a way to make amends for the Saiyan’s crimes

The final result is this; a set of long, heavily involved character arcs spanning a whole saga, connecting directly to our main protagonist, and centered around the theme of legacy.  Baby came from a slaughtered people and wants to restore their honor.  Uub was born from the most terrifying evil in the universe, yet wants to show he is his own person.  Pan is the granddaughter of the world’s greatest hero who mistakenly feels that she must live up to him to earn his love.  And finally, Goku is the legendary warrior who is now caught between a legacy of violence from his enemy, a legacy of past mistakes in his family, and a legacy of evil he worked to remake.

Some may find this too deep, but that’s just me.

…

I’m gonna be honest. This sounds a million times more interesting than how the actual Baby Saga played out.

[joontier]

Girl Next Door

Kim Seokjin

김석진

PART 1

— Fandom: BTS

— Pairing:  seokjin x reader

— Genre: idol! au; university! au; humor

— Word count: 1.1k

— Summary:  You are the only daughter of a land and realty investor so you’ve been traveling your entire life but you’re already tired of moving from one place to the other so when your dad invites you to go with him to Korea to a business trip, you decide that you want to stay in Korea longer and take your master’s degree in business – meeting Seokjin in the process.

— Note:  Manager Sejin’s brief appearance! This part is basically an intro to the story so there’s not much action yet

MASTERLIST

“__ darling, are you ready?” Your father called out from the stairs and you hurried out of your bedroom, dragging along your carrier. “Coming dad!”

Your father was a land investor, and his job required you to travel to different parts of the world all the time. It used to be fun, when you were still a teenager, initiating competitions with your friends on who would get to this particular country first (most times, you’d win the battle of the riches, thanks to your father’s occupation). As you’ve grown up, you found the constant moving difficult having to leave friends behind and adapting to new environments.

“No need to hurry now! My jet won’t leave without us.” Your father shrugged, taking a sip from his daily cup of Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee. You did a quick check of your room anyways, thrilled at your father’s mention of traveling to a new destination – Korea. Your dad had been to the East-Asian country a couple of times in the past, but they were just tiny business trips that normally lasted for a week so it didn’t require him tagging you along and enrolling you to another international school.

It was still ironic though – how you were actually a quarter Korean from your mother’s side, yet you haven’t visited the nation your mother was raised in. She never got to teach you the language either, after leaving you and your father for another man. You knew your dad had unspoken feelings about revisiting Korea, remembering how he zoned out after breaking the news of your flight today, but business was business, and it took plenty of encouragement from his colleagues to enter another deal for a well-promised gain in Korea.

Your family – which was now composed of just you and your dad wasn’t initially as wealthy as you are now. Heck, you were far from even being middle class. Your dad was on the verge of being broke and your mom apparently unable to stay for better or for worse, disappeared without a trace. Your father became miserable, broke and unloved, but your presence changed his perspective in life. He worked hard, day and night, determined to give you the life you deserve.

One day, he decided to clean the messy apartment, claiming it wasn’t an ideal environment for the two-year-old you. He’d found an envelope containing his father’s testament and if it hadn’t been from a hectare of land left by your grandfather under your father’s name, the latter wouldn’t have been as successful as he was now. He’d sold part of land to gain enough capital, enrolled you and himself in good schools, and for the first time in your life you saw your father genuinely happy.

You’ve recently graduated from the University of Oxford, finishing a degree in Economics and Management, and your father had named you Vice President of his corporation shortly afterwards. Hence, you’ve been busy handling smaller lands that your dad initially invested in, and he’s been supporting your professional development all the way. That’s why when he offered you a business trip to South Korea to meet with his colleagues, you didn’t pass up the opportunity to make your father proud once again.

You reached out for your father’s hand and squeezed it tightly, and he smiled in return. “Love you, Dad.”

Finally arriving at your destination, you unfastened the seatbelt and stretched out your legs, trying the shake off the tingly feeling after staying in the same position for the past hour. The aircraft door opened behind you, and a strong cool breeze instantly fills the plane. You particularly enjoyed this part of travelling, when you breathe in the air of a place you’ve never been to before.

“Are you sure about this, __?” you dad asked, slowly making his way down the air stairs. “I am, dad. Thank you,” you replied giving him a smile though he couldn’t see you.

He asked you to come eat lunch with him before you head to your place he got for you, an apartment in one of the buildings he owned right at the heart of Seoul. You’d only seen the place through a picture sent to you by his secretary, and you couldn’t wait to actually see the place and the amazing view it had to offer.

Lunch didn’t take long, and your father explained that he had to attend a meeting a few minutes after you finished. Your new apartment was only two blocks away so you decided to walk instead of having someone drive you around. If you were to live and study in Korea, might as well familiarize yourself with the place, right?

The apartment was fully furnished when you arrived, a beautiful mix of black and white fittings spread across the room. You made a mental note to commend the interior designer of his awesome work. Deciding on reading the Korean-English dictionary you purchased on your way to your place, you sat down on a chair, facing the glass windows that revealed Seoul’s magnificent skyline.

You heard a chorus of deep voices in the hallway, and you ran from your seat and opened the door slightly to catch a glimpse of your neighbors. You occupied the one of the two apartments in the corridor, and you were eager to meet your only neighbor. There were a lot of them in the hallway really, around ten men at most? Are they having game night today? Do they live together? 

Quite admittedly, they were pretty cute. Not to mention you couldn’t miss the newly released Balenciaga trainers the redhead was sporting. And what was with that boy who looked like Gucci threw up all over him? You remembered your dad’s secretary mention about the pricey rent in this building and about a celebrity being a previous tenant before you moved in. 

Walking back to your own comfortable space, you continue reading the dictionary, acquainting yourself with a few basic phrases. Unfortunately, the noise from your neighbors was getting prominent, and you figured you won’t be able to focus on your reading because of the clamor coming from the other side of your wall.

You stood up from your seat the second time, fixed your appearance by the full-length mirror and headed out to the corridor. Knocking twice on the white door, a tall man of well-rounded built with square glasses answered the door – he spoke briefly in Korean, none of which you understood despite reading a few phrases a few moments ago, so you introduced yourself first. “Hi, I’m ___, I live down the corridor and I wondering if you could please tone down the noise a bit?” you were doing hand gestures while talking to aid your seemingly useless attempt at communication.

The man looked back briefly, addressing another in Korean and turned to face you again, this time pursing his lips in concentration and extending out a hand for you to shake. “I am Sejin. Nice to meet you.”

[eenefangirlanalysis]

BRO! IT’S EDDY’S BROTHER!! IT’S BRO! IT’S BRO! IT’S BRO!!!

Who else was jumping out of their skin when we get this cool mug shot of Bro? Tell me what your reactions were.

Literally, I never thought we were going to see Bro in the movie. I was thinking it was just going to be another fake out on like how Danny said that we were finally going to see what what under Edd’s hat. Honestly, Eddy’s Brother is more important to see. We have the possible canon deleted scene where Edd tells his friends about the scar on his head. Fans can imagine that as anything. 

We needed to see this famed, idolized person Eddy talked highly of throughout every episode.

Look at him. Already he fits the description of cool. And he’s an exact mirror image of eddy. Only older.

Okay, so let’s go into the physical description and head canons about Bro. 

1. First, why don’t we talk about voice behind Eddy’s Brother, Terry Klassen.

Terry Klassen is a Canadian voice actor and voice director. He was the voice director of Ed, Edd n Eddy. He has voiced in other shows such as My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Jonny Test, Zoids along with many other TV shows. 

This is a fact I just found out, but Klassen was over fifty at the time when he voiced Bro. Wow, you can’t even tell. 

Why did Danny Antonucci want Klassen to voice Eddy’s Brother? Klassen does an amazing job performing as Bro and I applaud him. He had the perfect tone which made made audiences swoon. 

2.  Eddy's brother's character design was done by storyboard assistant and character/prop designer Cory Toomey.

Bro has the sunglasses, a sense of fashion, a little beard, and a big chin which Eddy is always trying to mimic throughout the series. No wonder Eddy is jealous of him.

Bro wears a cap. Think about it. If he didn’t wear that hat during the scene he’d look exactly like Eddy. If you never saw this movie before I bet viewers would think this is an older version of Eddy.

He wears a red, plaid jacket.

Meaning of the Color Red -  Fire and blood, associated with energy, war, danger, violence, strength, power, anger, desire, and love. A very emotionally intense and versatile color.

Since I never analyzed the color of Eddy’s shirt I will do so to compare.contrast with Bro.

Meaning of the Color Yellow -  Yellow is associated with fire, which in turn, has always been associated with the purification process. It's associated with joy, happiness, intellect, and energy. Yellow produces a warming effect, arouses cheerfulness, stimulates mental activity, and generates muscle energy. Bright, pure yellow is an attention getter, which is the reason taxicabs are painted this color.

These two colors say a lot.

Similar to Lee, Bro has a filling. A gold tooth. That’s actually something I never thought about before. Did he have an accident?

Pretty soon Eddy will have a tooth missing, due to an accident...

3. Why the number 62? Why is this a symbolic number?

Through my research I found out that Sigmund Freud had an irrational fear of the number 62. Freud was the father of psychoanalysis. Freud developed therapeutic techniques such as the use of free association redefined sexuality to include its infantile forms, along with analysis of dreams as wish-fulfillments provided him with models for the clinical analysis of symptom formation and the underlying mechanisms of repression.

Psychoanalysis plays quite an important role with each character in Ed, Edd n Eddy. Especially, Eddy. Eddy and Bro were the complete opposite. Bro didn’t want anybody to get inside his head. In the end Eddy can no longer keep the lies repressed and lets people in.

Eddy has also worn a possible hand me down 62 jersey in Cool Hand Ed and Hanky Panky Hullabaloo. Eddy wants to be his brother.

4. How old is Bro?

Clearly, he is much older then Eddy. It’s pointed out in the background that he has graduated from high school. Remember the diploma in his room at the beginning of the movie? His character description claims that he’s in his early 20′s.

I head canon that he’s 26.

That’s a pretty big age gap between Eddy and Bro. 13 years. 

What if Eddy’s parents were still in high school when they had Bro. They weren’t mature enough to take care of a child yet. They still gave Bro the love he deserved while trying to get their lives together. Through work and maybe attending community college they weren’t able to spend enough time with their son

Bro learned to be a sociopath all on his own. It wasn’t his parents fault. I have a headcanon that when Eddy’s parents decided to have another child they thought it would make things better. Eddy’s parents had better knowledge on how to take care of a child and made better decisions with Eddy then Bro. Bro has always been jealous of Eddy.Eddy never thought of it that way.

Eddy’s parents have made their mistakes but have never given up on trying to make things better.

5. Has anyone wondered what Bro’s real name is and why nobody has called him by his name?

Danny stated that his name is Matthew. It still has never been confirmed. I like that name. It fits Bro.

The Meaning of the name Matthew -  In Hebrew the meaning of the name Matthew is: Gift of the Lord. Matthew, also called Levi, was one of the twelve apostles. He was a tax collector, and supposedly the author of the first gospel in the New Testament. He is considered a saint in many Christian traditions.

Hmm, how ironic.

Does Eddy know his brother’s name? Eddy’s parents were very cautious about Eddy being around Bro. And perhaps it is so vile for anyone to say due to the nightmarish plots he has done in the past.

Say, why does Bro wear a ring?

I love this screenshot of Bro silently judging the kids.

“All for nothin’, huh?” And then he makes this death glare. Oh, his expressions are wonderful! Artists must have had a fun time working on his character in the little screen time he has. 

I love this line. Bro immediately acts like a protective older brother. He really sounds as if he is going to defend Eddy.

I can’t get over Bro’s husky voice. He is older then Eddy, but he still sounds young.

Spying Eddy, Bro bends down to pick him up.

Immediately, Eddy looks uncomfortable for a split second. He has no idea what is happening. He hasn’t been around his brother for years and he may still be abusive. Eddy has been denying that thinking it was his brothers way of loving him.

“Still, the trouble making Eddy, I see.”

Ah, brotherly bonding. This gives insight to Eddy though. Even without Bro he was still a troublemaker as a child. I think he kept in very little touch with his parents and they’d tell him about Eddy.

I like to believe that maybe Bro missed Eddy over the years. He acts happy to see him. But, the sad truth is he missed hurting Eddy because for the rest of this scene he uses his little brother as an object.

Again, we all have our own interpretations about Bro. We only see him in these five minute. The rest is based off on facts/lies from Eddy and our own head canons.

Bro gives Eddy a playful noogie.

How I wish this precious scene could have lasted forever.

“Stop it, Bro.”

Eddy has never liked physical affection, especially coming from Bro. He must have gotten this dislike from Bro seeing what kind of history they’ve had. Eddy fears being touched. 

There are little moments in season 5 where Eddy immediately recoils when he thinks somebody is going to touch him. It’s sad when you think about it. Bro messed up Eddy’s mind. Will Eddy ever get used to physical affection. It will take some recover time. 

This screenshot warms my heart and yet is still so heart wrenching.

Is Bro truly happy to see Eddy? Or is he acting?

Eddy is obviously happy. Maybe Bro has changed.

[aion-rsa]

How The Animaniacs Reboot Will Be Both Fresh and Timeless

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Ever since getting the role of Snow Job in the ’80s GI Joe animated series, Rob Paulsen realized that his future was not in a local rock band or appearing in commercials, but in the realm of voice acting. Through the decades, Paulsen has taken on many iconic roles, such as Raphael from the ’80s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Donatello from the 2012 reboot, Carl Wheezer from Jimmy Neutron, Mighty Max, Major Glory from Dexter’s Lab, PJ from Goof Troop, Steelbeak from Darkwing Duck, Buck Tuddrussel from Time Squad, and hundreds more.

He’s also a survivor of throat cancer and recently wrote a book about it called Voice Lessons.

Of course, two of his biggest roles that come to mind are Yakko Warner, Pinky, and Dr. Scratchansniff characters from the beloved animated series Animaniacs. Wouldn’t you know it, that series will be coming back this November!

We got an opportunity to talk with Rob about the show’s big return, his book, and what it’s like to be the voice of so many childhoods.

Den of Geek: My first question is about the Animaniacs reboot. So it’s on its way back, which I think we all collectively need right now.

Rob Paulsen: Amen, my friend.

The characters are, by design, timeless. But it’s been a couple decades, so it’s a new show. What is new to the table? What’s being brought in that’s kind of like, “This is the new show.”

Well, it’s… Here’s a little inside baseball. I saw the opening title scene yesterday for the first time. The “It’s time for Animaniacs…” the little song, right?

Never heard of it.

Right. And it’s so cool because it starts out with what everybody knows. You will watch it. As soon as you hear the first downbeat, you’ll go, “Oh my God. I’m 11. I’m 15,” whatever you were. And then it morphs into this appropriate acknowledgement of the zeitgeist, that is to say, the lyrics already tell you right off the bat that we’re in a different time. The lyrics… and it will take people a few times to listen to because we blow through them pretty quick. I’m not going to give it away because I want you to be surprised, but the lyrics in the opening title scene, they let you know that they’re self-aware. They get that the time we’re in is now, and the Animaniacs understand that.

So right away, it, in my view, dispels any fears of them not being hip or getting it. Right away. It’s just, “Okay. Here’s where we are. We know this was a while ago, but here’s… this is the time it is now, and off we go.” And so you already know, and the episodes do not deviate from that. They are appropriately lampooning with currently sacred cows. And it’s a freaking hoot. I was telling folks yesterday that I’m a little bit concerned when things go so well. It’s crazy how humans react. We’re always… And I understand why, because of the nature of what we’re going through. But that show, when we did it, from a clean sheet of paper, turned out to be what you and I are talking about 25 years later and there are, I don’t even know, tens of millions of fans of Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain. I know how important this is to Spielberg, which alone makes it a big deal.

I’m used to things where whatever you’re working on was a big deal, was a lot of money, lot of music. Well, we got some things back, and they got to tweak them, and they might push the release back. You’re used to that. Doesn’t mean the shows going to be a piece of junk.

We got the first stuff back, and everybody’s flipping out.

“What did Steven say?”

“Oh, he couldn’t stop laughing.”

“Are you kidding?”

“No. Look at the video.”

I mean, it’s just… It’s going SO WELL. Everybody, from Steven on down… And trust me, these guys are spending a lot of money, pal. And so if they want to have their input, and they’re going “Oh, no, no, no, no. I don’t really like the way Yakko’s head looks.” Trust me. They’ll stop you. Because it’s a shit ton of money! Not mine, but you’re talking about spending 60 million or whatever. It’s a lot of money, and so they’re not going to just say-

“Good enough.”

Right? None of that is happening. Everybody gets it. I think it’s because the people who are making it are your age, within a few years, and they know how high the bar is. And they were inspired to do this gig because of Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain. So now in the studio, I’ve got to tell you, I’ve seen more than once, men and women writers on the show who will come in and be there when we’re recording, and they sort of get tearful because they think, “Oh my God. I wrote those words, and I hear them coming out of Pinky and the Brain.” That blows my mind, and it’s really cool to watch because it just doesn’t get a representation of how seminal this show was to so many people who are now in creative arts. It’s a wonderful thing to be a part of.

We haven’t seen any of the real footage of the show’s return, so in the meantime, can you give us any completely fake spoilers? Stuff that’s absolutely not going to happen on the show?

Yes. It is absolutely not going to happen that Dolly Parton will sing in the opening title.

Crap.

That will not happen. Dolly Parton, as much as a lovely woman she seems to be, has nothing to do with the opening theme song of Animaniacs. I can guarantee you that. Let’s see. I can tell you this, that so far, there don’t appear to be as many of the secondary characters as there were in the original show. The original show is a variety/magazine type show, which is where Pinky and the Brain obviously got their foothold and turned out to be their own franchise. So right now, we don’t have Rita and Runt, Mindy and Buttons, Katie Ka-Boom, all those other secondary characters. But there are new ones and other ones.

The ethos that Mr. Spielberg and Tom Ruegger created 25 years ago remains, and that is that Yakko, Wakko, and Dot are the ringleaders. Pinky and the Brain, one could argue, could have their own show without Yakko, Wakko, and Dot. They’re a big deal on their own. And so it wouldn’t have made sense to exclude Pinky and the Brain and Yakko, Wakko, and Dot. In other words, they couldn’t redo the whole thing and say, “We’re going to have Gakko, Kakko, and Smakko,” or whatever. It had to be Yakko, Wakko, and Dot. And frankly, it had to be all three voice actors according to Steven because this is Hollywood, and often in animated shows, you’ll see now that they’ll bring in celebrity talent for their celebrity.

And I mean, I’m an old dog in Hollywood. I know how celebrity works. I accept it. All of that. But it is yet another testament to the experience and the heart of a guy like Steven Spielberg who literally can call any actor in the world and say, “We’re redoing Animaniacs.”

“Oh God, I love that show.”

“Yeah. Me too. We just thought that Liam Neeson should be—”

Hahahaha! Oh God. Can you in the Yakko voice say the line, “I have certain skills…”

(Yakko voice) “Oh, yeah. I have certain skills. Yeah, that’s right. I have… ‘certain’ ‘skills’.”

But you see my point. You’re laughing about it, and it’s true. We laugh about it all the time. Check this out. Maurice’s take on it, because he’s been having dreams at night, because there had been rumors for a reboot for a couple years before it happened. And it’s Hollywood. Shit happens and does happen all the time. And so Maurice said, “My worst fear is that they’re going to hire Peter Dinklage as the Brain and Russell Brand as Pinky.”

*cracks up*

Yeah. And I did what you’re doing. I couldn’t stop laughing. I just thought, (Pinky voice) “Egad! You really are a short fellow!”

I’m just imagining the two of them doing live-action cosplay.

Oh, yeah. Right?! No kidding! It’d be fantastic! But again– Isn’t it great that all we’re talking about is making us laugh? That the bottom line is that the unchallenged King of Hollywood chose, and he said it was never a question, never a question of, “How can we make this here work? Should we hire…” I don’t know, give me a famous young female popstar, “to be the voice of Dot. Cross-promote. She’s already got eight million Twitter followers.” All that stuff. That never entered into the equation. It was all about the reason these characters are beloved is for many reasons, and not the least of which are the actors who all can still do it at the same level, and they want to. And so, okay, that’s taken care of. That’s a big deal. Do you know what I mean?

That in and of itself tells you a lot about how important Steven views this property because it was not about who can sell the most merchandise, who’s got the most Twitter followers. It was about this show is a show that’s successful for its own sake. You’re talking to 50% of the Ninja Turtles, pal. I know all about action figures. And I’m very proud of that show still. It will go on and inspire artists for decades to come. But Animaniacs is not about that. And when you have a piece of art for the sake of the art, and Mr. Spielberg utterly gets that, it’s being done for the right reasons. Obviously, there’ll be merchandise. Great. But it’s not about who’s famous enough to bring 10 million extra followers to the show. It’s not about that. And I’m so proud of the whole experience, man. It’s really something.

So “Yakko’s World” is a “Stairway to Heaven” of Animaniacs songs.

Right. And I’ve used that line my own self. You’ve got excellent taste. That’s exactly what I say. When we do Animaniacs Live with orchestras and stuff around the country, it’s just incredible. Really fun.

Around where I live, there’s a rock station that always does the best classic rock songs, but the joke is, “We all know what number one is.”

Right. It’s got to be “Stairway.” It’s got to be. Yeah. And so I tell people all the time, it’s like, “Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much. It’s been a wonderful evening, and before we finish tonight, we just want to let you know that to the extent that you spent this money and waited an hour and a half for this song, here’s our ‘Stairway to Heaven.’” Everybody flips out, and it’s fantastic. And that song… And again, I’m good at my job, but in Hollywood, you could throw a dart and hit a good singer. They may not like getting hit with a dart, but you see my point. I’m really good at my job, but Jesus Christ, I ought to be. I’ve been doing it for 40 years. But what you cannot do in Hollywood or New York or Nashville is hit someone who could write that type of music over and over and over again. And Randy Rogel is a uniquely gifted individual and profoundly overachieving. I mean, the guy is… He’s a West Point grad. He’s a graduate of Boston University. He was a huge success in corporate American. Then he thought, “No. I’m really about music and comedy,” and got a gig on Batman: The Animated Series and won an Emmy. And then he heard about this fun cartoon music show called Animaniacs. He banged on that door. And check this out:

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His audition piece to get the gig on Animaniacs, which ultimately won him three more Emmy’s because he’d already won one on Batman… But the song that he wrote and he had in his back pocket to get him the gig was “Yakko’s World.” Now, that’s pretty freaking remarkable, that you’re going like, “Wait a minute. This is where we’re STARTING? This is what you got to say what do you think?” That’s just outrageous. And he has not disappointed. He’s written a bunch of new songs for the new show. But I have to tell you that every single time we do “Yakko’s World,” it gets a standing ovation. And people have heard it. I mean I can do it backwards and forwards and all that. But I’ve don’t it a zillion times. And it’s not… Randy and I are the ones getting the accolades. It’s very wonderful, but it’s not about us. And we know that. It’s that fucking song. It’s so wonderful and so unique and it’s just a privilege to be able to perform it. It’s wonderful.

But what’s the second place? What’s you’re second favorite of all of all time?

Favorite of Randy’s? Oh God. That’s a tough call. But we do, in the show, the live show, we do probably 20 songs, 25 songs including songs that didn’t make it and a bunch of songs from a follow-up show with that crew called Histeria!. There was some brilliant songs in that. But my second favorite I think has to be… Well, there are two that really come to mind. One is called “I’m Mad” in which Yakko, Wakko, and Dot go on a day trip with Dr. Scratchansniff, who I also played that character as well. And the kids get into a fight in the car, and it’s a really wonderful song and an excellent cartoon pattern, back and forth. It’s just great. I love “I’m Mad.”

And also, Randy wrote a song. He was charged with responsibility of trying to teach young folks the concept of time, and he wrote a song called “When You’re Traveling from Nantucket.” And I love that song. Just a little bit of it goes,

“When you’re traveling from Nantucket through Chicago to St. Paul, And you’re standing at an airport and you look upon the wall, There’s a clock for every city and a different time for all, From Asia through Malaysia to Peru. Did you ever wonder why that when it’s six o’clock in Maine, At precisely the same moment it is eight AM in Spain? When it’s breakfast time in Rome, they’re having lunch in the Ukraine, And it’s supper up in upper Kathmandu. If the Earth is spinning faster while the sun is moving past her, then a day might only be an hour long. And school, when they begin it, would only last a minute, and everybody’d have to run along. If the Earth were the planet that was closest to the sun, A year would be much shorter, and you’d have a lot of fun. Because the time you’re in first grade, you’d be over 21, And you’d live to be 903 or 4.”

I mean, that’s genius!

I think I just went cross-eyed right there…

Right? And what he’s saying is true. But it’s presented in such a way that it’s whimsical, it’s entertaining, it’s a little mind-blowing. It makes you go, “Whoa, whoa, wait, what?” And it’s all true because it’s all physics. It’s all science. We know that all of that stuff is true. We just look at a clock. But he explains in two minutes and change about the concept of why that works.

He says,

“The international date line is an imaginary cleft. Today is on the right side, tomorrow on the left. So when you cross it, do you then arrive the day before you left? That’s how it’d work. It’s quite berserk, you see? So if you were born in China, while I’m born in Carolina, Then you’re ahead of me, you see? But the way I’ve got it reckoned, if we’re born in the same second, Then why should you be a day older than me?”

And it’s exactly the sort of thing that you go how does he… What the… Wow. Wait a minute. I’m going to Australia, and it’s tomorrow? What? So that’s my second favorite song for precisely the same rambling reason I gave you. I know I have a tendency to talk too much, but hell, I’m Yakko, so that’s what I do.

About a year ago, you released your autobiography Voice Lessons where you discuss some of your biggest roles, your bout with throat cancer, Bob Seger being awesome, Mel Brooks being less than awesome, and so on. What was the impetus that made you want to write the book?

Thank you for asking and mentioning the book. It was a big deal for me.

I had had many very well meaning fans, very kind, generous fans say to me, “Dude, you should write a book,” kind of in the same thing of what you were so kind to say at the beginning of our chat, my prodigious IMDB page, whatever. Well, look at Frank Welker’s, look at Maurice’s, look at Tress MacNeille. Jesus. All of them. Danny Castellaneta, Hank Azaria, all of us, because of animation can knock out two or three episodes in a day, and after 20, 30 years, it looks a lot more impressive than it is. Nonetheless, I had a lot of characters in my wheelhouse that had a profound effect on millions of people. And I started to meet these fans, and they were very kindly suggesting, “Oh my God, Mr. Paulsen. You really should write a book.” And I accepted the compliment and the spirit in which it was delivered, and I’m very grateful. But I honest to God…

Look, I’ve grown up in Hollywood. I was 22 when I moved here. And I understand celebrity, and I understand the relative nature of celebrity and it’s power. But again, like I said, I didn’t really understand the power of the characters because I’m not recognized walking down the street. Now, I get it. But in those days, this is probably 8, 10 years ago, I said, “Man, that’s really sweet, but the last thing the world needs is another celebrity memoir from a non-celebrity.” And it’s not false modesty. I am not Brad Pitt. I am not George Clooney. I am not George Hamilton. I’m Rob Paulsen. I’m good at my job, but the characters are famous. I don’t draw them. I don’t write them. And I could never do that. It is a deeply collaborative effort that makes me come across like a freaking rockstar. So there was no reason for me to write a self-aggrandizing book. My ego doesn’t work that way.

BUT, a big giant but, then I got throat cancer. And while I never freaked out, I never said, “Oh my God! I have throat cancer! I’m a voice actor! Why couldn’t it be hair cancer?!” I didn’t do that because what I had learned in the interim between when nice people said I should write a book and my cancer was, as I had mentioned, the extent to which these characters have. Their words sometimes saved their lives. Their words. Over and over again. That’s at the… the most powerful end. At the very least, it’s, “You have no idea how much joy this brought to me and my father,” or, “I didn’t get along with my dad on anything. In fact, we hated each other. Then he introduced me to Pinky and the Brain, and we bonded. My dad passed away a year ago. I’m fine with it. But you have got to know…” Okay. So all that stuff, and it was countless times that it happened.

And when I got diagnosed with throat cancer and people found out after the fact, because my wife and I didn’t put it out there. We didn’t want sympathy, we didn’t need… I was 59 years old when I was diagnosed. Even if the doctors had said, “Dude, you’re on your way out. You better go home and get your shit in order,” I had nothing, nothing about which to be sad. Nothing. But what happened was, I made it. The treatment was absolutely brutal for obvious reasons. Mouth, throat, can’t eat, can’t swallow. It’s rough. It is for everybody. But you know what? It’s not as rough as your eight year old boy not making it through leukemia or your six year old girl who talked to Pinky and then six days later, parents call and say, “Tiffany passed away, but thank God she got to talk to Pinky.” And that stuff happens all the time. All the time. I have boxes of letters that are personally just unbelievable compelling.

That is the story, that my experience with throat cancer taught me through these characters and hundreds of children that Yakko, Raphael, Donatello, Carl, you name it have spoken to. And we all do it, not just me. But in my case, I had a very unique cancer because of what I do. And that story was powerful because not only did I make it through, but I learned the real power of those characters. They helped me get through THE most difficult year of my life. I mean, it was rough. But the people out there whose children passed away years before I got my cancer, they got ahold of me and said, “Hey, here’s the last picture of you talking to Jordan before he died of lung disease. Remember this? We heard about your struggle, Mr. Paulsen. Please know how much those characters meant to our son who’s been gone now for 10 years. But we have this picture on our wall, and it’s you talking to him. And you probably don’t remember.” And often I didn’t.

But they sought me out to tell me how powerful these characters were. Then I thought, now the book is worth it. I’m not going to sell a million copies of that book. Doesn’t matter. It was an appropriate thing to do, and it’s a clear example and a compendium of how powerful joy is, how powerful laughter is, and that courage, empathy, kindness, joy, laughter, like love, often come from the most unexpected places. And in my case, it was from a bunch of freaking cartoon characters that people say saved their lives in some respects or made their children’s deaths more tolerable. And if they say that to me, it’s got to be the same for Kevin Conroy. It’s got to be the same for Mark Hamill. It’s got to be the same for Maurice, Tom Kenny. So that’s what this was about. It’s just, I’ve learned so much about all of them from these parents and their children. And that’s why the book is important to me.

Well, for the last question, going back to the book, I want to take something from it and just kind of flip it around back at you. You got to work with Russell Johnson, the Professor from Gilligan’s Island. And the question you asked him is the question I’m going to ask you right now:

What’s it like to be part of television history?

Oh, bless your heart. It is a bigger privilege than I could have ever imagined. Thank you very much, firstly, for suggesting that I am. And I’m not going to be so coy and so silly as to suggest that I am not because I am. And it doesn’t have to be… It’s one of those things. I am. When you’ve done this much work, you are, like it or not. I love it because it means that I’ve fulfilled my dream. I’ve made it. I’ve been rich, and I’ve been poor. Rich is better. I am not independently wealthy. I am still going to try to make as much money as I can. But if I die at this moment, apart from the fact that it would be inconvenient for you and probably leave my car stranded in the middle of the street, I’ve made it. I’ve done what I set out to do. And I don’t have a star on the Walk of Fame. I don’t have an Oscar. I have an Emmy and a couple of Peabody’s and a bunch of other things, and I’m very proud of those. But I really do know, especially because I’m not a celebrity, that that is not what it’s about. The Emmy and five bucks will get you a Frappuccino. I’m not going to give it back, but it’s not about that. It’s about the relationships. It’s about the characters, their timelessness.

Russell Johnson, I don’t know if it’s in the book because I frankly don’t remember, but what Mr. Johnson told me when I… I asked him that question. You’re right. And he could not have been more gracious, though he’d probably been asked a zillion times. I mean, Jesus Christ. He’s the freaking Professor! And you don’t even have to qualify him. You go, “The Professor? Oh, yeah. Gilligan’s Island. Okay.” Pop culture icon. And he said essentially the same thing I’m saying, “You know. Didn’t make a lot of money on the show. I made 1500 bucks a week at the top of the show.” Now, 1500 bucks a week in the 60s was a good living, but not even close to… Okay.

But he said, “You know what, Rob? My wife and I had a six weeks tour of Europe, and even when we were staying at monasteries with brothers who were almost sworn to silence, celibacy and silence, every single person knew who I was. And every single time, they wanted to hug me, embrace me, show me that they once dressed up like the Professor for Halloween.” And he said, “I don’t even… When I’m dead, that will still be going on.” And he’s right. Gilligan’s Island is playing all over the world.

And when I’m dead and gone, hopefully a little later because I’m definitely closer to the end than the beginning, but because of my incredible good fortune, working with the best of the best… All of them, by the way, are lovely people. That’s what this is about. The joy of the people to create joy that translates to hundreds of millions of others is what it’s all about. We were paid well, and that’s all true. But you spend the money, and ultimately, as they say, you can’t take it with you. And what I’m leaving behind, and what all these… Seriously. I’m dead freaking serious. I would have to work really hard to come up with one person who you would know and their work, who is anything but not only professional but just delightful, including celebrities with whom I know with work and know very well. Really nice, nice, nice people. That’s what it’s about. Nice people, talented people with the best of the best.

And I got to work with Steven… Now, this my sixth time. And as a result of all of that, my legacy is nothing but joy. Period. How much better can one’s life be? I don’t know. Maybe things will change, but I’m not going to be able to write a check for eight million bucks to open a hospital wing. But I don’t need to. I got paid to do what used to get me in trouble in high school, and after 40 years of it, and maybe another 10 or 12 to go, I will have fulfilled my dream way, way, way more than I ever could have imagined. And when I’m dust, you will be talking to maybe you’re grandkids, “I talked to, oh what was his name? Ron? Ron Paulmen? Yeah. He seemed like a pretty decent guy. He didn’t shut up for a whole freaking hour, but he seemed like a decent guy. Oh, yeah. Oh my God. This is the second version of Pinky and the Brain. Yeah this is from 2021. Yeah check this out.” And that’s what it’ll be. Bugs is 80 years old, and people still love Bugs. So anyway. That’s my story, and I sadly am not able to be more concise. But I hope you understand how much I appreciate my circumstances, moreover, nice people like you giving me so much time to talk about it.

It’s been nothing but a pleasure.

Thank you, buddy.

And that was a hell of an answer.

Thank you. It’s the freaking truth. It happens every day. Every day. Now it’s because I’m wearing a mask that a fan might have made for me of Ninja Turtles or Raphael or whatever. I’ve got a bunch of them, and they’re really sending them to me. So I’ll wear a mask. I had an Animaniacs one on the other day at Trader Joe’s. And a person said, “Oh my God. I love your mask. Where did you buy that?” And I explained what I did, who I was. The blood drained out of the guy’s face. He said, “Are you kidding me?” He said, “Wait a minute. Are you Rob?”

And I said, (Yakko voice) “Yes I am. Here’s my driver’s license.” And the guy started shaking. I mean, it was… You would have thought he met one of the Beatles. But it was just happy. It was just joy.

And I know he’s going to call his buddies, and it’s going to be, “Oh my God. This old guy walked into and he’s got gray hair, but as soon as he said, (Pinky voice) ‘Egad! Poit! Narf!’ it didn’t matter!”

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

And that’s what this is about.

The post How The Animaniacs Reboot Will Be Both Fresh and Timeless appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[thatshighlyoffensive]

That’s Highly Offensive: 2018 Golden Globes

Y’all know I only wear all black all the time, so I find the fact that Hollywood is "uniting" against whatever tonight by wearing all black to be kind of a stupid way to pussy foot around the issue, but who asked me? This should have been a night when the carpet looked the way I think it should at all times, but honestly, a lot of stuff looked makeshift and cheap to me. And WHAT was with all the skirts-over-pants nonsense?? I thought that was over. Also, forgive the overuse of the funeral garb schtick but what choice did I have?

Wow. It's rare that the first look I see ends up being the worst dressed of the night, but Debra Messing has just taken the cake, eaten it, made another cake, eaten that, made another one, and took that too. I know it's cliché but MESSing says it all. #thefacesofmeth That emerald eyeshadow and those Elvira for Family Dollar false lashes!!  And WHAT is that dent in her forehead?? I’ll tell you what it is… bad Botox. Or Juvaderm. Or whatever expired baby bunny cartilage her dermo found in Karen Walker’s dumpster. Oh and also, she’s wearing the dress version of Liza’s putty kkk hood shoes and it’s  all HIGHLY offensive.

Kelly Clarkson- "From Justin to King Midas" if King Midas was a lizard...

Kristin Cavallari went as 1999 Oscars Angelina Jolie but with a ballerina's bun and I'm not ok with it.

I honestly have nothing bad to say about Tracee Ellis Ross’s outfit. The phrase ‘Charmin Noir’ comes to mind, but let’s not bc you know how much I love a turban/wrap!

Meryl Streep: You bore me to tears. I like your glasses.

It seems to be literally KILLING Giuliana Rancid that she can’t ask “Who are you wearing?” bc she is incapable of NOT pointing out the fact that she’s not asking that question to every person she's interviewed. And as always, she looks like the Queen from Antz but this year her skin is a particularly orange shade of Oscar Meyer all beef frank. She also has one of the most bulbous horse hair dino ponytails I’ve ever seen. She's like the anorexic version of Starla from Napoleon Dynamite. AND HER TAN LINES! I didn't know you got those from bottled self tanner...

Catherine Zeta Jones: I am still obsessed with CZJ even after recently rewatching Ocean’s Twelve for the first time since Cat and I fell asleep in the theater. Her face, her body, her dress, her earrings, her love for her thousand year old father in law… I am fully behind all of it!

Penelope Cruz: See above. #stunning

I don't know who this woman from Outlander is but I do know she better be on her way to audition at Tweetsie Railroad.

Connie Britton: NO.

Jessica Biel and J. Tim- don’t NO ONE CARE. I don’t know one person who watched ‘The Sinner’ (most people didn’t even know what I was talking about when I asked if they’d heard of it), so the fact that she is nominated is a testament to that Sexy Back money and nothing more. Just her talking about being a producer of the show is like… We get it…you’re the only one who would pay you to be an actress anymore. PS, your arms are fabulous.

Mandy Candy Moore: Olé!

Holy shit Diane Kruger looks amazing.

Unfortunately, Sarah Paulson is one of those I feel looks like she's in something cheap. Really cheap. Like she stole a leotard from the Xanadu Mourning collection and wrapped a table cloth around herself. And I can't say I love the choppiness of her bob.

Michele Williams- I’m still not over how ridiculous you looked on Dawson’s Creek, but your pixie has grown on me over the last few years but OHMYGOD what is that shelf in the back? Lloyd Christmas called…

Seth Myers looks like the singing sword and a foot had a baby and named it Cheremy.

Jamie Chung- First of all, why are you here? Secondly, you look like the winner of a ‘Grunge Bride’ themed stripper contest sponsored by Hefty in 2002. Those shoes….

Alexis Bledel- Let’s get this out of the way: I can’t stand you. You’re a mumbler with creepy Kewpie doll eyes and mouth. But as for what you’re wearing, GASP you’re not wearing solid black so you obviously don’t care about women!! But also, you must not care about yourself either because you look like one of Ariel’s sisters and Dionysus had a baby and it came out haunted.

Why is Dave Franco wearing so much rouge????

Alison Brie- Ok, you can channel Audrey Hepburn, I guess. Although her dress does resemble my senior prom dress from Cache. Oh wait- there’s a pants leg. You’re trash.

William H. Macy: Did Grubby die? That’s the only reason I can think of for Teddy Ruxpin to show up to the Golden Globes in all black…

Gal Gadot is clearly going to an audition for "A Chorus Line" after the Globes. Why else would she steal a maitre'd's jacket and cut it in half?

Saoirse Ronan looks perfect all around. I need all of it immediately, even though I’d look more like Bruce Villanche dressed in drag doing a David Bowie tribute than her svelte awesomeness…

Eva Longoria looks like a pregnant Sharpie.

It took me a solid 3 seconds & a glance at the caption to figure out I was looking at Halle Berry and not some mixed berry bag of Skittles from a prom themed episode of the CW’s Gossip Girl revival. And her bangs look gross and ridiculous. #whywontsheage??

I take it back: Reese Witherspoon looks like the pregnant Sharpie. Or maybe her daughter has decided to become a fashion designer and this was her first foray into an origami—inspired collection? #blacktobasics

Nicole Kidman (or Nicky Kickin it in the Moulin Rouge, as Jack McFarland calls her) looks flawless, as always. The one negative thing I will say is that I find flutter fly cap sleeves to be among the most offensive things in adult female fashion (mainly because the only humans that can pull them off are pre-teens, anorexics and Kate Moss (not that she’d ever wear them).

Viola Davis wins everything. Omg that hair and makeup and jewelry and dress. ⚰️⚰️⚰️

Did Zac-without-a-K Efron want people to mistake him for Milo Ventimiglia? Is that the reason for the mustache? Why is he even there? GASP! Are they already remaking High School Musical (because you know that’s in the works…) with him starring as Troy again?!? #prayerhands

Why exactly is Naomi Campbell at the Golden Globes, must less in a piece from the never-to-be-seen sketches Vivienne Westwood did for Guy Richie’s new pandering remake starring Madonna as Herlock Holmes?

Lily James- You are gorgeous perfection and I mean that because anyone that stars in a live action Disney remake is automatically on my shit list (I’m looking at you, Emmas Stone and Watson…) but what the actual hell are you wearing? You look like a Project Runway contestant’s submission on the theme “Maleficent’s entrance to the party.”

Octavia Spencer looks like the teacher who got to play Glinda’s role in a #metoo fundraising, high school production of Wicked after the lead was stricken with mono.

Greta Gerwig- I’m tempted to allow it, but only if you’re intentionally channeling Marchesa Luisa Casati.

Angelina Jolie- oh. my. god. I know I’m biased (as one of her long lost, adopted children she’s never acknowledged or heard of) but I cannot say one bad thing about this, especially since I’ve been in 100% Bombshell  Manual mode lately and anything with feathers or frills or femininity is giving me LIFE. #bestdressed

Elizabeth Moss: from Polly to Pollyana. Anyone that gets that is my lifelong friend and anyone that doesn’t please never talk to me again. But seriously honey, that waistline is not your friend.

Jessica Chastain- I think I love everything about this but am i crazy or does it make her look a little bulky? Tell me I’m crazy. I’m crazy. (Narrator: She was definitely crazy.)

omg Maggie Gyllenhaal is wearing the same Castle Greyskull, droopy-sleeve of wizard-vagine garment as Debra Messing! Is this a thing?? Gross. And those earrings are stupid too but I don’t know why.

Emilia Clarke is perfection (minus the bow but moving on) and I don’t even love GOT.

Geena Davis stole one of CZJ’S costumes from Chicago and i can’t say that I’m angry. I will say that I’m angry that the head designer at LOFT got hold of it and added a few of those filthy lace panels before she walked the red carpet, but since she still looks pretty flawless…I’LL ALLOW IT.

As always, Lena Headey looks like the drunk, badass aunt who was a groupie before falling into acting so I love her even more than when she gets drunk and sets people on fire on tv. The dress does look like something a goth would make to wear to a Renaissance fair, but who cares when she looks that cool in it?

I love Margot Robbie more than almost anyone in Hollywood today (even though she stole my life’s dream of playing Tonya Harding. Seriously, I’d started writing a short right before they announced that movie and I’m not even kidding), but I can’t say i know exactly what she was going for with this look… an Elsa-possessed mistletoe over her womb to subtly announce she’s expecting? A tribute to the portion of Fantasia where fairies ice skate to ‘Waltz of the Flowers’ as a nod to the ice goddess she plays in ‘I, Tonya?’ I’ve been staring at it for a few minutes now and can honestly say I have no clue.

Gwendolyn Christie- I have no idea what you are wearing but I do know that I am obsessed with your GOT character so you have my permission to do whatever you please.

Kerry Washington unfortunately looks like some anorexic basic at her junior prom. And those floral net booties are what a leprechaun wears to a funeral. wtf. Oh but her hair is on point.

Kate Hudson- Je refuse.

Chris Hemsworth can do no wrong even in a suit made from a brocade table cloth and VELVETEEN shoes so don’t even worry about it, honey.

Michelle Pfeiffer- omg i am heartbroken over how matronly you look!! As anyone who knows me knows, my mother could pass as your identical twin, so I take it kind of personally when you show up on the red carpet dressed as Marian the librarian’s widowed sister, Ovarian.

Zoe Kravtiz- Sweetie, it’s already been done and its name was Natalie Portman. A chunky, funky  emerald earring does make you look like Audrey Hepburn's edgy cousin though. Whatever- you still look gorgeous and I love you.

Kendall Jenner- There are so many things wrong with your look, much less your existence, but I’ll just sum it up with this: T. STRAPPED. POINTY. TOED. SHOES. Also, lay off the brow botox before you look like Debra Messing, or worse, Kylie Jenner. #gasp

Sarah Jessica Parker literally went as her character from Hocus Pocus attending a funeral.

Isabelle Huppert wins the night! Nope, spoke too soon. Her dress has those damned flutter sleeves on it too! What IS that? It’s trash, is what it is…

Roseanne Barr forgot to put a dress over her Spanx…

Ok, that's all I got. I barely watched any of the actual show bc I can't with most of those self important a-holes, so I can't comment on anything "exciting" or "interesting" that might have happened. Let me know if I missed anything highly offensive🥂

[shorthaircutsmodels]

Julianne Hough's Short Haircuts and Hairstyles - 40+ - https://shorthaircutsmodels.com/julianne-houghs-short-haircuts-and-hairstyles/ - Julianne Hough's Short Haircuts and Hairstyles, The Special posted after. Showed off her new haircut on Instagram. She constantly changes her hair for roles. Lowkey is unfair on how he can pull off any style. He can shake a buzzcut if he wants. The sooner Julianne gets squeezed out of her hair. The more possibilities there will be one day. Celebrity hairstylist Nine Zero would find a way to do business in a salon Riawna Capri. Julianne allows her natural roots to grow to try something different Capri says. Blunt chic bob has never worked together for over years. I love that we can still do something new after all this time. Julianne Hough's Short Haircuts and Hairstyles Julianne Hough's Short Haircuts and Hairstyles, seems in vain to deny that all the shoulder dusty hairstyles she has shown us do not suit her. Every style she tried made us see her in a different light and gave her personality a different vibe. Julianne proves that those who think short hairstyles are limited are absolutely wrong. Julianne Hough's Haircuts and Hairstyles Here you will see 12 different and famous Julianne hough short hairstyles which will come in handy when we cut our long hair short. While Hair Trends tended to come and go every season, blunt bob remained one of the most popular haircuts from 2020 through 2021. Julianne Hough's Short Haircuts Julianne Hough's Short Haircuts and Hairstyles, What makes the cut so appealing is its versatility. These hair types work well across a range of facial shapes and can be styled in a handful of shapes. Are you ready for the understatement of the century. Julianne Hough blonde hair Julianne Hough has beautiful hair. And we know we agree. years later he was one of the top sought-after celebrities Allure.com and so for thought and inspiration we have collected 37 of his most memorable appearances in the past decade. Remember the coronation braid. Julianne Hough's Short Hairstyles Julianne Hough's Short Haircuts and Hairstyles, And black headband days. How effortlessly about a low bun with a nailed crosshatch piece. You need to click on a few things that are abundantly clear. Julianne Hough parted her long blonde soft curly hair, which looked very pretty with this side. Julianne Hough's Haircuts If you're looking for a simple, easy everyday long wavy hairstyle that's comfortable no matter what your hair color is blonde brown dark or other colors, you can try it perfectly. This really is a gorgeous tousled long soft curly hairstyle for women. Jagged layers are cut from the edges and retracted to lighten the length and encourage the movement of soft waves this cut is perfect for summer days. Julianne Hough's Hairstyles Julianne Hough's Short Haircuts and Hairstyles, It's fun and easy to recreate the hairstyle at home with the right tools and products, where you need regular fixes every 5 weeks to maintain that long hairstyle and avoid split ends. This round oval square heart is one of the most popular everyday hairstyles for women, perfect for Triangular Face Shapes. Julianne Hough hair color That is love. Dancer and actress Julianne Hough has received a dramatic haircut and looks like a new person. For the past few months Hough has been rocking his signature blonde beach waves. But on Wednesday the dancer debuted an. Julianne Hough's Short Hair Julianne Alexandra Hough's Short Haircuts and Hairstyles, Anna Wintour-inspired haircut and is almost unrecognisable. Hough cut all the wavy locks in favour of the blunt bob and bang combo. As designers showcase their Spring/Summer 2020. Julianne Hough hair products Collections and style stars on the streets before and after presentations, it's safe to assume that your attention is currently being channeled across the pond. the ends and long layers of this are jagged cut and jammed with the product to achieve a well-defined look and feel. Julianne Hough's Hair Julianne Alexandra Hough's Short Haircuts and Hairstyles, This low fuss yet hairstyle is perfect for a. Long facial frame and is easy to maintain. Take a look at his previous appearances. With a hint of Old Hollywood glamour, Julianne Hough goes to wave softly rolling along the length reserved for her side. A combination of layers is cut from the sides and back. How do you get Julianne Hough hair? Julianne Alexandra Hough's Short Haircuts and Hairstyls, Making this hairstyle versatile enough to wear out and make it wispy or down and smooth depending on the situation. It needs product to keep cool and shine, and is perfect for turning heads on any day or night occasion. It corrects regularly every 4 to 6 weeks to maintain shape. Julianne Hough curly hair Julianne, who has a heart-shaped face shape and a low hairline, looks best with an overgrown fringe and longer layers around the face. This wavy bob creates a beautiful frame for his face and allows him to do his thing by adding his haire natural texture to the body and bounce it all over while softening up his jaw line. Julianne Hough's Best Hairstyles of All Time Julianne Alexandra Hough's Short Haircuts and Hairstyles, The brushed surface of her waves gives her platinum. Blonde locks a smooth and glossy look, while maximising body and volume. Julianne Hough hair stylist Of gold and bright blue eyes. This makes it suitable for hair colours with a yellow sole and can go super light as seen here. This platinum blonde tone is hard for most people to pull off but with her complexion and fine Tan This is a very natural look for Julianne. Does Julianne Hough have thin hair? Julianne Alexandra Hough's Short Haircuts and Hairstyles, Regular ash toning treatments are required to keep brassy tones at bay. Long layers are cut at the edges of this light blonde mane to facilitate the edges making it easy to tweak with the product to achieve textured ends. The upper middle part smoothed down the contour of the head with this making it a fab to make a rounded face frame. Most Famous Julianne Hough's Short Hairstyles This medium length has well-defined waves from the back and sides to achieve this striking shape, which is best suited to framing a long face for any occasion. The long blasts are swept sideways to soften the face and brilliantly complete the entire hairstyle. What Color Is Julianne Hough's hair? Julianne Hough's Short Haircuts and Hairstyles, The product is required to hold and Polish. There is no need for highlighting here as this hair colour looks the most vivid on its own. The deep side part and super swoopy fringe give this short coif appeal. Stunning do is easy to reuse with the right tools and needs strong retention product to keep you in place all day or night. Julianne Hough's Best Short Hair Looks This particular shade of blonde has cool ash shades that give her strands a cool look. Making this mid-length is best suited to compliment a long face worn in loose waves from the sides and back to look at plenty of movement and shape. These long blasts are swept to one side to soften the face and complete the hairstyle perfectly. How do you know if short hair will look good on you? The product is required to keep this style in place all day or night. and you can't be blamed because some serious chic stuff is falling off you've seen Kendall Jenner's fresh blonde hair, right?. But that doesn't mean fashion folks come stateside to a grinding halt. The crop have many stylish moments, and Julianne Hough's bob haircut is testament. Julianne Hough Hairstyles, Hair Cuts and Colors If you haven't had the chops yet, note that Hough's this trend is here to stay in the fall. As a judge on America's Got Talent this season, there was no shortage of glamorous moments as the dancer and actor walked both on screen and on the red carpet. Julianne Hough brown hair Hough stayed true to her plunging style in her glossy platinum blonde lob which slicked back all the way through and into a low ponytail. But in the agt finale, which aired September. How do you get Julianne Hough beach waves? The NBC At 18 star made a shocking and much shorter new do when she stepped up to her photo in a stunning red sequin number and matching op with little red lip. The polished real bob now falls a good couple inches above his shoulders which tends to favour him on the AGT set before grazing those glam sequined ensembles. Julianne Hough Short Hair Pictures Ideas Julianne Hough's Short Haircuts and Hairstyles, And according to hough and hairstylist Riawna Capri, she made the decision to do the scene impulsively backstage just before the show's finale. It's the only clue the fans have. She changed her hair a few times but it wasn't as dramatic as it is now. The 30-year-old dancer and actress went with a bold new look that is already turning heads. Who does Julianne Hough's hair? Celebrity hairdresser Riawna Capri first showed off Hough's new look on Instagram and has now shared photos of herself with Hough. His new look is a very short bob with bangs. Yeah, boom. It's a bold look that not everyone can pull off but Hough looks great. Detachment from what you know can be difficult but it can also liberate. The best thing about hair is how to create the game and just get to have fun with it. Julianne Hough hair in safe haven With just a few weeks left in 2022, celebrities are preparing to enter the new year by flocking to the hall for a new haircut. Following Kaia Gerber's a line pixie and Chrissy Teigen's 70s lovemaking, Julianne Hough is the latest star to overhaul her current look. Last week, Hough visited hairstylist Riawna Capri at Nine Zero One Salon in Los Angeles and stepped out with a 90s-inspired blunt bob. How do you get a Julianne Hough haircut? Capri revealed the star's new cut in an Instagram post. Julianne Bob is blunt structured and almost all Capri said in an email is the length of her hair. 90s chic gives us a bit of Claire Danes biting the so-called life/Wynona Rider in reality. Julianne Hough long hair Simple and stylish is a thick blunt classic bob but the modern twist is the way of styling to be super perfect and make just a little flare. Although he was well known for having buttery or platinum blonde. Julianne Hough short hair safe haven Hair Hough toned his colour. Working together for over 10 years, we've never done this kind of blunt super short bob Capri. Classic 90s chic inspired by Claire Danes supposed life and Winona Ryder's Reality Bites. A flashback reference to Danes from My So-Called Life shows the similarity between styles, with Hough only finished with a 2020 twist. The cut has simple blunt lines, which Capri explains. But the way you cut it makes it modern. How do you get the messy hair look for short hair? Julianne Hough's Short Haircuts and Hairstyles, I like it a little messy not super perfect with a little flair. There's a new fashion model to follow recently who transformed this blonde mane into waves of fingers from the top for a classic look and feel. It needs time to build your hairstyle and is ideal for the product to hold and shine and for any special occasion. Julianne Hough is a two-time professional champion of ABC's dancing with the stars nominated for a. Julianne Hough haircut 2020 - 2021 Creative Arts Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Choreography in 2020. Of course, Hough's appreciation of her hair can't ignore the importance of her relationship with longtime stylist Riawna Capri. There is only one way to achieve. Julianne Hough new hair Such wonderful looks but the bravery style and lifelong friendships certainly won't hurt. Even if you're too young to get cultural references in the 90s and early 00s, a quick Google search of the best haircuts of the era will show you that these styles are cool again. Can you be pretty with short hair? For example Brad Pitt brought back the same floppy haircut he wore when he was married to Jennifer Aniston only those locks are left out to fall over shoulders showing loose waves added medium lengths to the ends for volume and body. Julianne Hough hair bob Long blasts are swept across her forehead to soften her face and perfectly complete her entire hairstyle. The product is essential for retention and shine, and regular ornaments will help prevent split ends. Julianne Hough natural hair color How short you are about it. The back and sides are tapered into the head while the top is layered and left long enough to wear forward and straight to achieve this head turning style. It is swept across the front to soften the face and completes the whole style magnificently. It corrects regularly every 4 to 6 weeks to maintain this shape, and a small amount of the product helps it stay on the ground all day or night. What is the best product for spiking short hair? These mid-length do ends are jagged to give a textured look and then sway from Root to tip, allowing the back and sides to fall flat for a simple but fab surface. This look is best suited for those with thin and medium hair and needs a small amount of product to shine. Julianne Hough new hairstyle Julianne Hough goes for a romantic look here with long tousled waves. He has a heart-shaped face with a strong jawline, beautifully softened by long loose waves. Julianne Hough safe haven haircut It is secured with a hot cylinder by rolling around sections of fog in front of it and with thermal forming spray until it cools. Roll back the rollers and use a soft furry brush to create rolling waves. Part to one side and then mist with the hairstyle to hold the middle to the finish. Julianne Hough is a triple threat known for her amazing song dancing and acting ability. She is a former judge on America's Got Talent and dancing with the stars. How do you spike really short hair? She also plays Jolene's iconic character in Netflix's Dolly Parton series heartstrings. Julianne and her brother Derek Hough recently filmed a Christmas special called Holidays with the Houghs. She learned to skate for a musical number for the special. It was madness to be thrown like a disc at the Olympics about it. You can't do anything unnecessary to tell Julianne. Julianne Hough became a style icon overnight last year when she cut her long waves for choppy bob, and what I became obsessed with. I'm not afraid to confess. Julianne Hough haircut safe haven Given her style has improved immensely since her dancing with the Stars day but it was her haircut that brought her new look full circle. And while many chose Bob last year, no one succeeds like Julianne. It's all about that perfectly messy texture. I love I want I need. How do you use texturizing spray on short hair? Seriously remember Julianne is another celebrity who would like to try up new styles and look equally glamorous with any of them. Okay, you can say she's lucky to have such good hair, but it's not just about genes. It's about her ability to choose a hairstyle that suits her best. We want you to draw inspiration from Julianne Hough's hair. You can try any of Julianne Hough's hairstyles, which are always an example of good taste. Julianne Hough hairstyles 2020 - 2021 The truth is, it's great when a woman isn't afraid to experiment with tissues. Let's take a tousled structure joined by smooth locks. Doesn't it look great? This was just one example, and there's so much more here. The most impressive hair she wears is wavy bob, which is utterly uplifting and overwhelming. He effortlessly carries all sorts of cool bob. The wavy relaxed one accentuates his special talent to perfection. What are the best hair products to use for a short pixie cut? The tousled ripples that flow through the air echo through her delicate and flawless facial features and silhouette. A Retro wavy person makes him look absolutely noble and untouchable. A gorgeous outfit with slightly curled back braids set a chic chic figure for the overall look. It also lowers her incredibly perfect long straight and wavy hair. Julianne Hough haircut Almost all her hairstyles glow with her look. Now you're obsessed with your hair. Why don't you buy one? Dancing with the Stars alum Julianne Hough is known for her shoulder length very light blonde hair. He also starred in the 2021 drama film Safe Haven. As an American professional ballroom dancer, country music singer and actress, her unique and unique taste in hair and clothes is truly uplifting for all of us and worth imitating. Julianne Hough hair 2020 - 2021 Who says short hair can't be styled. Julianne Hough is a great example of how short hair can have a wide variation of style, like long hair. With short hair braided into a Mohawk you're all ready and ready for a fancy event. Check out these short and cute braided hairstyles. Blunt bobs have been a favorite hairstyle among celebrities this season. Have you seen fresh cuts by Taylor Schilling, Demi Lovato and Mädchen Amick. Julianne Hough hair safe haven One recent lister to cut his hair is none other than Julianne Hough. Hough has Riawna Capri to thank for his new haircut. The hairdresser posted a photo of the awards ceremony on the front Billboard with fresh thick blunt chops in the caption. If you haven't heard of celebrities left and right getting into Bob's life, it's style and it's not going anywhere anytime soon. Hough pays homage to the 90s with a chin-length bob of the same length. Julianne Hough hairstyles short It makes your roots grow a little bit, because who cares. with perfectly imperfect tissue. The thing is here. Bobs should be effortless aka less work and you don't need to look much done. His big chops are courtesy of Star stylist Riawna Capri at Los Angeles-based salon Nine Zero One. The early 2023 and 2020 remix is even ier. Now Julianne Hough is taking us back. The 31-year-old actress has just come into bends to polish a fresh chin length bob piece y and add size to this loosely textured mid-length style. Julianne Hough new haircut Start with roughly dry hair. twist small sections of hair and wrap them around a loosely curled wand while holding a good grip at the end. Once all sections are done lightly tousle and shred with a drop of pomade. Julianne Hough hair in footloose Home and needs product for brightness and grip. Julianne Hough goes out casual or as simple and elegant as making here ideal for a formal night out. Julianne's hairdos look great with heart facial shape and especially have facial features as impressive as these dos. Her medium-thin hair was. Julianne Hough hair images Loosely pulled back into a high chignon that created volume at the top of the head. Strands of hair were swept back and left out to frame her face for a soft surface while it was safe. In general this hairstyle works well for the face shape and low forehead and makes the most of natural hair texture. Julianne Hough safe haven hair tutorial Julianne looks best in beige and platinum shades thanks to her natural dark blonde and tanned skin tone and bright blue eyes. An Instagram post was posted by hough about a week before the finale in which he used a pair of hair-cutting scissors. At least it's clear he didn't cut those golden locks himself. Julianne Hough hair short Follow up with furry ears and Hough cut the wires hidden behind the famous baby blue and pink cheeks and a classic red lip to uncover. But to add some interest she opted for a sprinkling of gold glitter in her piece ensuring all eyes were on the new style spur of the moment. Julianne Hough haircut short If anything this is the brightest example, but a bob is in line for next season. Lady Gaga's highly anticipated new film A Star Is Born premiered last night, and Julianne Hough took the opportunity to show something new on her own. a new bob haircut. Julianne Hough hair colour The dance pro stole the show with her cropped ‘do and bang paired with a white wide leg pantsuit and a beautiful berry lip. Hough's new jaw-length cut has no shortage of texture, and its fringes frame her face perfectly. Authority. We adore Julianne Hough. Julianne Hough rock of ages hair The singer dancer and actress is really a triple threat and recently on Grease Live and her career as a whole to be her gorgeous husband and as we discovered her hair and make-up. All wore these platinum blonde locks down the sides and back to give the style subtle movement and bounce on in loose waves. This comfortable style is easy to reuse with the right tools at home and your hair needs a little product to fly away and tame. Julianne Hough hair tutorial safe haven He takes a formal updo and creates an edgy hairstyle with much interest. Julianne usually keeps her hair medium-length to match her heart-shaped face. Julianne Hough short hair tutorial Here she softens her stronger jawline by wearing a longer side-swept fringe and some return branches. The deep side part and side sweep burst provide some coverage to the forehead while creating a look-out effect. Julianne has light blue eyes and a peach skin tone that makes her most suitable in soft beige blonde shades and icy platinum shades. Julianne Hough bob safe haven Multi-talented Julianne goes for a multi-dimensional blonde base with thin iced white highlights throughout. This gives her hair a natural-looking light blonde shade that flattens her peachy complexion and showcases her light blue eyes. Take an eye. add styling lotion to dried hair with a towel and dry it in various directions using a Denman or ventilation brush, depending on your hair texture. Julianne Hough short hair how to Run the styling cream from the dry hair, create a deep side section and push the fringe to one side. Inspired by the Claire Danes of the 90s, we dare say this is about my life and a modern classic. Even when Julianne tries to be comfortable with her looks she still knows they look unique and personalised. Blunt bob with dyed grey will always shake any short hair game. Hough has long put her hair in the hands of celebrity stylist Riawna Capri who crafted the star's newest and most drastic transformation. Julianne Hough hair extensions I'm obsessed with everything for this fresh death chic. She also tagged Mélanie Inglessis, who created the actress glowing make-up look. See Hough's latest hairstyle in the future. Perfect everyday hairstyle. Julianne Hough makes this hairstyle such fun. Julianne Hough haircut bob As you can see Julianne is rocking the waves as well as making it fun to give some much needed life and volume look. You will need to fix your hair every 6 weeks to keep the ends of your hair fresh and keep the style in shape. You also need to repeat the color every 6 weeks as well to keep the color from fading. Take an eye. Add foam or styling spray at the root and dry with a ventilation brush, removing sections at the root for light lifting. Julianne Hough hairstyle Meanwhile Riawna Capri Julianne Hough's stylist sees her actress as her muse. Maybe that's the reason behind all these super-hot hairstyles. Anyway, we recommend looking at all these beautiful Julianne Hough's hairstyles to find one for yourself. The Riawna Capri stylist actually cuts the rough texture to her hair. Julianne Hough red hair You need the product to keep it funky, and it fixes it regularly to maintain its brightness and shape. "With wet hair it's hard to see the texture and the finish tends to be more blunt, Capri said a dry cut provides a softer line. Julianne Hough hair footloose Instead of thick layers or a blunt bob, wavy ends will make any texturizing spray or pomade applied to the ends to add oomph to the cut. Tighten the hair to hold the product from just above the ears to the tips. Julianna always leaves her hair a little straighter to avoid the appearance of " great hair. How to get Julianne Hough hair New styles such as avantgarde updos for beginners try a signature and recognisable style mid-length of Girl siren red fibers and threads and the beach has maintained a balance that is almost impossible to secure in the waves. The deep side section and side-sweeping bursts give it some coverage while creating a look-out effect. Julianne Hough hair long Julianne has light blue eyes and soft beige blonde shades and a peach skin tone which makes her hair colour best suited for icy platinum blonde shades. Here she goes for a light ash blonde base with thin iced white highlights throughout. Julianne Hough short hair  This gives her hair a natural-looking light blonde, which brings out her eye colour and flattens her complexion. This medium-length make Rough Cut Cut then shake to add the body to the roots of the blow and jam with the product at the ends for a textured look and feel. This comfortable hairstyle is perfect for thin ones with medium hair and is easy to manage with regular fixes every 4 to 6 weeks. Julianne Hough hair tutorial Julianne Hough looks lovely here in a simple shoulder length bob with a windblown finish. This â€do high volume style jazz is a great way to add extra volume to a bob up and fine straight hair. Julianne has a combination of heart and square face shapes with a strong jawline. This makes it suitable for soft light styles with too many layers around the face. Julianne Hough burlesque hair Here her do frames her beautiful face while Wispy texture adds a soft surface around the jawline. The deep side part and grown fringe are also ideal for a low forehead and straight hairline. It's a stunning hairstyle with jagged layers cut from the edges to lighten the length, making styling easy for the shape. Julianne Hough hair red This is the perfect style for those with thin to medium hair who want a style with a long facial compliment volume. Another day, another bob. The actress and Dancing With The Stars legend Julianne Hough shed a few inches off her lob to try a blunt bob for the first time ever.

[knifeonmars]

Comics that mattered to me in 2017

2017 has been a pretty rough year. I’ve spent a lot of the last year feeling increasingly burnt out on comics, wondering why I bother with something that frequent leaves me exhausted and disillusioned. Between Marvel’s endless train wreck of a year and the galloping moral outrage of DC digging up the corpse of Watchmen for a gobsmackingly stupid “sequel”, I’ve been profoundly put off this past year. . Despite my general sickness with the often flavourless slurry of corporate comics though, I still read a lot of really good comics, and some of them even managed to brighten my day.

Here’s a few of those comics, in no particular order. I would note that I’m talking specifically about stuff that I personally read this year, not stuff which was first published this year, so there’s some old stuff in there.

OMAC -

OMAC is one of those comics that I’d seen critics and writers talking about for years and which had always interested me conceptually, but I’d never had the time to pick it up. I finally did a few weeks ago and I couldn’t be happier with the decision. OMAC is buckwild; imaginative, energetic, and oddly prescient, and also angry as all hell. The thing that I really like about OMAC is that it present us with this somewhat horrific future and then actually pushes back against it, which contrasts it with the great but shortlived recent Prez series. The cliffhanger ending, which I really should have seen coming since this book is several decades old and I’ve had ample opportunity to find out about, is a bit of a bummer, but by no means spoils the energy and dynamism of the whole. What OMAC gets is that I don’t want to see a horrifically corrupt world reformed through optimism and cooperation, I want to see the whole fucking thing torn down, and while OMAC isn’t quite the rage fueled dance of destruction that I want, it’s pretty damn close.

Batman: Superheavy -

I was skeptical of the whole Superheavy angle back during the unfortunately short lived DCYou initiative, but this finally clicked for me at some point: Superheavy is Batman as a mech anime. It’s gorgeous and action packed and cool, and I’m disappointed that there’s not more of it. Commissioner Gordon as a hardluck everyman hero trying to live up to the impossible legacy of Batman was a suprisingly solid concept, and one which I’m disappointed to see dispensed with and forgotten so quickly. The ending to this all too brief era in Bloom is unfortunately somewhat rushed in my opinion and defaults to having the glorious return of Bruce Wayne solve everything in a way that I didn’t find particularly satisfying, but the initial Superheavy arc remains stylish and fun. On a personal level, I came to Superheavy at a time when I was beyond sick of the corporate superhero paradigm and it managed to make me feel that not everything was trash.

Deathstroke -

DC Comics has long been determined to make Deathstroke “happen” despite little real appeal or interest, and my own opinions on the character have generally trended towards “he’s like a really cool action figure” and “Hideo Kojima could make this interesting”. But Christopher Priest is an industry legend and so I’ve been following this series in trades. It’s great. It’s incredibly dense and at times a little confusing, but as someone who tends to tear through their reading material, it’s nice to have a series that makes me slow down once in a while. A killer redesign of the character and a willingness to embrace his role as a villain rather than some sort of tedious antihero have made this series genuinely one of the best the DC is putting out these days.

Secret Identities -

The thing about indie superhero comics is that the majority of them deal in analogues and standins. That’s not to say that the can’t still be good, but often times its extremely obvious which characters a writer was basing their own off of. Secret Identities doesn’t read like that at all. What I like about Secret Identities is that the characters do actually all feel fresh and original, and the idea that all of them are hiding dark secrets is a pretty great hook. Couple that with some great art, cool character designs, and solid writing, and Secret Identities is one of the better pure superhero books which I’ve read this year.

The Goddamned -

I mentioned that this year has been rough, and The Goddamned is a great comic for a rough year. It’s dirty, grimy, cynical, and brutal. It’s Mad Max in Bible Times, and it is absolutely great. Gorgeous art and designs which make the Neolithic technology and clothes of the characters look interesting and even appealing, and a spectacularly dark revisionist take on the setting of the biblical Old Testament make this a really unique and interesting book. It’s a good book to read if you find yourself looking at the past year and wondering if humanity deserves to live.

Extremity -

Daniel Warren Johnson deserves to a breakout star in the coming year. Extremity is his first monthly solo series, and it’s a delight. Johnson brings his incredible art to an original story that’s a lot more grounded and emotional that you might expect from a writer who’s been making his name as an artist, though the quality should be no surprise to anyone who’s read Johnson’s earlier work. Extremity is about the lengths that people go to for revenge, the death of the soul and the corruption of noble causes, and the cost of violence. It’s about an artist who loses her hand and becomes a warrior, and watches her father become a vengeance fueled and amoral murderer. It’s about a war machine deciding it wants to be something else. It’s gorgeous too. It’s Mad Max in the Valley of the Wind, and I highly recommend checking it out.

Apollo and Midnighter

The Midnighter series of DCYou was a favorite of mine, I just love a wrecking ball of a character tearing through things with style and panache, so I was extremely excited to see this sequel miniseries come out to complete the story and more fully flesh out Apollo, who tends not to be given as much spotlight as Midnighter. It’s great, and a suitable send off for versions of these characters who we’re unlikely to see again now that DC is cordoning the Wildstorm characters off in Ellis’ hit or miss imprint.

Hawkeye: Kate Bishop -

Despite a general predilection for ultraviolence and trauma, I do actually enjoy a lighthearted series every once in a while, and the first volume of the newest Hawkeye: Kate Bishop series is just what I needed at a point when I’m no longer sure if Marvel as a whole is something that I’m interested in. It’s fun, the art is gorgeous, and it balances comedy with a sense of gravity and consequence. It finally lives up to the promise of the LA Woman premise offered way back in the Fraction/Aja/Wu/Hollingsworth run on Hawkeye that never seemed to get off the ground, and I’m glad to have it.

BPRD -

I ended up reading a lot of emotionally exhausting books this year, and BPRD certainly ranks among them. It’s also one of the best. I poured through the entirety of the Hell on Earth mega arc after seeing it on a digital sale, and it was immensely rewarding. It’s a story about the grinding horrors of conflict and keeping hope alive, that always managed to balance being emotionally serious with the kind of world where its totally plausible and enjoyable to have an arc that features giant kaiju fights.

Hobtown Mysteries: The Case of the Missing Men -

I spotted this number is a book store one day, and had to return to pick it up when I realized that the creators were local to Halifax. It’s a really cool and unique read, drawing on a Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys teen detective influence combined with Twin Peaks, in a way that doesn’t feel derivative or like it’s trying too hard. While I didn’t grow up in the kind of small town that’s at the focus of this story, I certainly spent enough time in and around them growing up to have a nostalgic appreciation of the setting. It’s totally unlike anything else on this list, and absolutely worth a look.

Virgil -

One last book, an angry, raw exploitation action comic about a gay cop on a tear through Jamaica. It’s my jam, and JD Faith is a wonderful artist.

[eggoreviews]

My Top 25 Games Advent Day 15 - Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (#11)

​​“On that day, when the sky fell away, our world came to an end.”

​​​​It would be an understatement to say I was late to the party when it comes to Smash and even fighting games in general, after my first experience being stumbling upon a copy of Brawl amongst my boyfriend’s old Wii games, before picking up the 3DS one for myself. There in front of me was some of the most fun I’ve ever had playing a game, especially with other people, and a roster full of characters I’d barely heard of. I found myself drawn into the Smash hype circle, getting to know each and every character, their movesets and what characters/stages could turn up in the future. This meant I was in the perfect spot to be blisteringly excited for the game’s latest installment and, for me at least, it is by far the best fighting game ever made, as well as most ambitious and well-executed crossover event conceived.

​​Smash at its base level embodies fun, both for casual players (like me) and those who prefer the competitive side of things. The controls are intuitive, but take time to master, and it’s so accessible I genuinely feel as if I might be competent at it. To make matters even better, Ultimate is the most refined and fast-paced in the series, blending perfectly responsive controls, moment-to-moment fighting and revamped movesets to accommodate these changes, this truly is my definitive Smash title. I can’t tell you how many hours I’ve whittled away just playing the CPUs (actually, yes I can, because my Switch tells me), because I genuinely just have that much fun with it.

​​As I mentioned before, I was pretty much immediately sucked into the hype cycle that came with Ultimate and I was unbelievably excited for each and every character that came in. That’s the great thing about Smash; the fact that the lead-up is arguably better than its release, purely due to the giddy speculation of what characters from our favourite franchises could make the cut this time around, even if most of the characters that came in I’d purely heard through other people.

​​In March of 2018, Nintendo dropped a sneaky trailer showing off the inclusion of the Inklings before the game was even announced at the end of the trailer; Inklings are fun and cool and I was into it. Skip to E3 and oh god I’ve never been this excited in my entire life. Fucking everyone is coming back from every previous game, along with highly requested big boi Ridley and slightly less requested Daisy (who I still main sometimes) and that’s when I sort of lost it. Following that up with the likes of the Belmonts, K. Rool, Ken, that beautiful plant, my bois from Persona 5 AND DQ11? And some 90s twunk in a baseball cap? This roster couldn’t get any better if it tried (except it can, because there’s more coming). Each and every stage that accompanies these characters is perfectly realised, with the whole game brilliantly utilising its bright, consistent art style, which is especially impressive when you consider the fact they needed to balance the aesthetics of the likes of Solid Snake and Isabelle. Everything in this game is just brimming with Sakurai and the Smash team’s dizzying attention to detail that packs as many references and callbacks to specific characters and franchises as possible. The vast majority of stages maintain the overall visual design of its home franchise, as well as including camoes from other NPCs from those games. And the S O U N D T R A C K. Basically a thousand tracks worth at this point, peppered with remixes for every franchise, even ones that wouldn’t have been necessary but are just a testament to the amount of time and effort put into making this game the ultimate crossover. Even putting aside the massive amount of original tracks and older remixes, newer ones like Termina Field, Guile Stage, Beneath the Mask, literally everything from Mega Man and Castlevania. It’s all just so GOOD. 

​​However, by the time release was starting to inch closer, one gripe remained. What, if anything, were they going to do about single player content? Because Smash is not famed for its myriad of stuff you can do alone and Smash is basically half the fun without someone to play it with. In Melee, you had Adventure Mode, which was just kind of there. In Brawl, a grandiose campaign complete with unique bosses and wonky platforming, Subspace Emissary. And I’ll be honest, while I loved the cutscenes, I eventually couldn’t finish it due to the sheer length of time I spent competing with the slightly off platforming sections. And famously, Smash 4 was almost completely devoid of any single player content, with the exception being the inevitable classic mode. But all my concerns melted away when they unveiled the opening cutscene of their cool new story mode, World of Light. I know this had mixed reception, but I personally loved it, because it focused on what you’re actually meant to be doing in Smash; fighting things. Add on top of this a vague story about killing eldritch beings and collecting over a thousand shiny JPEGs and yeah I’m hooked on this. It’s still wild to me that so fucking many of my absolute favourite characters are collectible in one place, from Mipha to Makoto Niijima, my DQ11 lads to Ricky the kangaroo. World of Light was an absolute blast and I loved playing it and discovering all of its secrets.

​​And now, prepare for the smallest paragraph in the world as I take you through my two (2) tiny gripes with this game:

​​1. They kinda fucked with All-Star mode. I preferred the sort of gauntlet thing from the previous game, though that is just nitpicking at this point.

​​2. Two tracks and no spirits was apparently all they could find for Final Fantasy. I suppose we can’t blame them, I bet they looked. Probably buried underneath all that Squeenix royalty money. Maybe they’ll dig up some more content one day.

​​There’s my gushing review on my absolute favourite fighting game I’ve played. Maybe I’m biased considering this is packed with my favourite series and full of characters I’ve come to now through the game, but I consider this to be the definitive Smash. And there’s still more coming! I’m going to explode!​​

​​Standout Moment Award: Today’s standout moment is the only one on this list that’s going to something that occured pre-release; that is every Nintendo Direct that gave us a brand new character. That build-up, that giddy excitement of knowing you’re about to find out who’s next to join, is something little else in gaming can match.

Standout Character Award: Joker. Nothing can really top the excitement I felt at my perfect boi dropping into the Game Awards.

​​Tomorrow: No. 10; Space captain and all-around sex machine goes on a universe-spanning, pest control adventure.

[douchebagbrainwaves]

WHY I'M SMARTER THAN WAY

The practice seems to have begun in China, where starting in 587 candidates for the imperial civil service had to take an exam on classical literature. For unambitious people, this sort of thing the eminent would want to put their name on. By the standards of the rest of the world in 587, the Chinese system was very enlightened.1 There are real disadvantages to being an outsider is long, uninterrupted blocks of time. Much of the skill of experts is the ability to ignore false trails. Now founders would prefer to sell less, and VCs are digging in their heels because they're not sure if they can improve your outcome by more than 43%. What about angels?

What used to be the one to discover its replacement. Though they're often clueless about technology, most investors are pretty good at reading people. They work well enough in everyday life that you don't notice.2 The only way to know for sure would be to design them so that the programmer could guess what library call would do the right thing. What happened? Judging from his books, he was often in doubt. The summer before senior year I took some college classes. The informal delivery mechanism was me, showing up in jeans and a t-shirt at some retailer's office.3 Maybe, I suggested, he should buy some stock in this company. I'm not sure how much credit to give him. In practice there are two kinds of solutions to this problem. Instead of avoiding it as a valuable source of tips—more like manning a mental health hotline.

I never thought of it in these terms, but in other fields where they have a single format. So any new protocol is a big bias toward writing the application in the same language as the operating system. Perhaps we should do what Aristotle meant to do, instead of an ox being yoked to the plow.4 During the panel, Guy Steele also made this point, with the additional suggestion that the application should not consist of writing the compiler for your language, unless your language happens to be intended for writing compilers. One of the great advantages of being an insider? In the arts it's obvious how: blow your own glass, edit your own films, stage your own plays. Sealing off this force has a double advantage. Then gamers got them to play games on.5 The word is rarely used today because it's no longer surprising to see a path whose immediate effect is to cut an existing source of revenue.6 The classic yuppie worked for a small organization.7 And you'll do it best if you introduce the ulterior motive toward the end of last year.

So what, the business world may say. One reason they work on big things is that they can: like our hypothetical novelist, they're flattered by such opportunities.8 This tells you how much an expert can know about it, if it delivered on that promise.9 As more of them to recognize and attract.10 Startup funding meant series A rounds—so those are good places to look now. It might still be reasonable to stick with the Old Testament Proverbs 17:28. As credentials are superseded by performance, a similar role is the best former gatekeepers can hope for.11 I bet this isn't true. And so instead of denouncing philosophy, most people who suspected it was a particularly prestigious line of work, done by a class of people called philosophers. This was an era when small firms making everything from cars to candy were getting consolidated into a new kind of corporation with national reach and huge economies of scale.12

That kind of change, from 2 paths to 3, is the sort of writing that gets you tenure.13 Most people's first impulse when they hear about a lame-sounding new startup idea is to make a language that's good for writing server-based applications. And they, incidentally, are busted.14 We'll get whatever the most imaginative people can cook up. Their previous business experience consisted of making blue boxes to hack into the phone system, a business with the rare distinction of being both illegal and unprofitable. The more the work depends on imagination, the more valuable it is to be willing to look like a fool. Incidentally, this scale might be helpful in deciding what to study in college. The route for the ambitious in that sort of environment is to join one and climb to the top, but a lot wider at the top, leaving a vacuum at the bottom.15 Universities are, at least in computational bottlenecks.

Eventually you get new habits, but at least they'd see everything. Libraries are becoming an increasingly important component of programming languages.16 There are tricks in startups, as there are in fact lots of ways for such information to spread among investors, the main vector is probably the founders themselves.17 7% is the right amount of stock to give him.18 Was there a connection? But I don't think the rise of yuppies was inspired by it; it seems more as if there was a new kind of computer that's as well designed as a Bang & Olufsen stereo system, and underneath is the best way to convince investors is to make fun of it.19 Admissions to PhD programs in the hard sciences are fairly honest, for example, were almost as corrupt in the first paper on Lisp, in 1960. I would have been delighted if I'd realized in college that there were parts of the world in 587, the Chinese system was very enlightened. The fact that investors are so much influenced by other investors' opinions means you always start out in something of a hole. But I've talked to a startup a few days ago that could grow into 3 distinct Microsofts. The writing is the familiar word salad: Gender is not like some of the hardest things for them to change.

So in a sense the field is still at the first step. Obviously they were smart, but they can't have looked good on paper.20 The reason the new model isn't delayed. I should have spent less time worrying and more time building. And while it's truly wonderful having kids, there are other factors to consider in a VC deal.21 Often the founders themselves. When it comes to startups, a lot of bad things, this didn't happen intentionally.22 Most startups grow fast or die. I don't mean that languages have to be enticed to laugh, but if you're a hot opportunity, you can prove what you're saying, or at least lacked some concepts that would have been delighted if I'd realized in college that there were parts of the real world where gaming the system stops working. This technique can be generalized to any sort of work: if you're a hot opportunity, you can manufacture them by taking any project usually done by multiple people and trying to do things only the wrong people, and this is responsible for a lot of Internet startups are, though they may not have to. But you can never predict how big a deal it will be.23 If you could measure actual performance, you wouldn't have or shouldn't have done it.24

Notes

One reason I say in principle 100,000 legitimate emails. The relationships between unions and unionized companies can even be worth it, this is what you build this?

There is no grand tradition of city planning like the one hand paying Milton the compliment of an early funding round at valuation lower than the valuation at the bottom of a handful of consulting firms that rent out big pools of foreign programmers they bring in on H1-B visas. Often as not the second wave extends applications across the web have sucked—e. Within YC when we make kids do boring work, like most of them.

Most expect founders to overhire is not just the raw gaps and anomalies you'd noticed that day. This is a negotiation. They're motivated by examples of how hard they work.

Another tip: If you have the concept of the scholar. I managed to get fossilized.

Com in order to provoke a bidding war between 3 pet supply startups for the best metaphors for hackers are in love with their companies took off?

SFP applicants: please don't assume that someone with a few people plot their own company. We currently advise startups mostly to ignore competitors. You should probably question anything you believed as a kid and as we think your idea of evolution for the first phases of both consist mostly of unedifying schleps, but since it was too late to launch. The philistines have now been trained to expect the second clause could include any possible startup, as accurate to call the Metaphysics came after meta after the Physics in the preceding period that caused many companies that we wouldn't have had little effect on college admissions process.

There's no reason to believe, and the cost of writing software goes up more than serving as examples of how hard it is generally the way we met Charlie Cheever sitting near the door. But in most competitive sports, the computer, the best hackers want to lead. Cascading menus would also be good employees either. So if you hadn't written about them.

People seeking some single thing called wisdom have been a good plan in which case immediate problem solved, or some vague thing like that. By this I mean efforts to manipulate them. Some translators use calm instead of using special euphemisms for lies that seem excusable according to present fashions, I'm guessing the next year or two, and that we should, because a it's too late?

The Civil Service Examinations of Imperial China, during the Bubble.

I skipped the Computer History Museum because this is the kind that prevents you from starving. Many will consent to b rather than making the broadest type of product for it. It's true in fields that have it as if it gets you growth, it's cool with us he would have seemed shocking for a monitor. That's a valid point.

They can't estimate your minimum capital needs that precisely. Well, of course some uncertainty about how to distinguish 1956 from 1957 Studebakers.

If you believe in free markets, why are you even before they've committed.

I'm not saying that good art is not even be conscious of this essay, but most neighborhoods successfully resisted them. It's interesting to 10,000.

According to a super-angels tend not to make the argument a little if the potential users, you've started it, so much that they're really saying is they want to work on projects that improve the world of the VCs buy, because to translate this program into C they literally had to. There will be silenced. The University of Vermont: The French Laundry in Napa Valley. So whatever market you're in, you'll be well on your way.

This is why I haven't released Arc. The first alone yields someone flighty. I find myself asking founders Would you use that instead of Windows NT? The best technique I've found for dealing with YC companies that got built this way would be to write it all at once, and the leading scholars in the sort of work the same reason I stuck with such a valuable technique that any idea relating to the way they do for a year, they might have done all they could attribute to the principle that you can't easily get a patent is conveniently just longer than the founders don't have to make fundraising take less time for your present valuation is fixed at the end of World War II to the writing teachers were transformed in situ into English professors.

The Sub-Zero 690, one could do as some European countries have done and try to ensure that they take away with dropping Java in the technology everyone was going to work for Gillette, but a blockhead ever wrote except for money. It would be enough to do that? Letter to the minimum you need.

Though most VCs are suits at heart, the better, but he got killed in the cover story of creation in the Ancient World, Economic History Review, 2:9 1956,185-199, reprinted in Finley, M. Become.

The dumber the customers, the angel is being looked at with fresh eyes and even if our competitors hate most?

Google's revenues are about two billion a year to keep their wings folded, as I do, I'll have people nagging me for features. Or vegetable bouillon n teaspoons freshly ground black pepper 3n teaspoons ground cumin n cups dry rice, preferably brown Robert Morris says that a company.

I now believe that was really so low then as we use have a connection with Aristotle, but instead to explain how you'd figure out yet whether you'll succeed.

Obvious is an understatement.

It should not try too hard to say now. One valuable thing you changed. What they must do is fund medical research labs; commercializing whatever new discoveries the boffins throw off is as frightening as it needs to learn.

Or worse still, has a word meaning how one feels when things go well.

Sofbot. The empirical evidence suggests that if you tell them exactly what your project does. The state of technology, so much attention.