#Not people giving a MAN the credit for her actions smh

[italictext]

2econd 2ight 2eer

[llama-milk-for-the-egg-nog]

Thoughts on Mulan (2020)

Ok so I had heard some stuff beforehand about this movie, but I didn’t wanna let that tint my experience too much, though it kind of did in the form of noticing western influence on certain things. Here’s a list of thoughts more or less in chronological order.  First I wrote these in a notebook, and now I’m putting them here.

The beginning sequence reminds me so much of Kung Fu Huslte

though honestly it might just be that stephen chow’s movies are pretty much the extent of chinese-made media that I watch

Rosalind Chao is here, I’m a Keiko O’Brien stan so she reminded me of DS9

Fa Zhou saying something about “emissary” also reminded me of DS9

The music where the rourans first attack is cool I guess

idk if the brass made the music of the imperial city sound kinda western or what, but it certainly did sound militaristic (which I guess it’s supposed to)

Why does mulan have a little sister instead of a little brother? to add more female characters to the story? she doesn’t really do much though

After mulan’s whole childhood sequence, it cuts to a shot of the witch in the desert, which if you didn’t already know the story, might make it seem like mulan grew up to be the witch

although this makes some sense too bc the movie likes to compare them

the witch twists into a hawk (?), neat!

I saw people earlier comment about both men and women in china (and other parts of the world) keeping their hair long, so when mulan’s hair fell out of place in the matchmaker scene it made me notice that both the men and women also wear their hair up, which in turn causes the part of the movie later when mulan emerges after the avalanche to make way less sense since how would they know she’s a woman?

ok this is the thing I’m upset about, its a small thing but still, Why don’t we get to see the sword form?? If you remember in the animated version, her father does this straight sword form. (It’s a real form, not just made up for the animated movie). So I was like “ok maybe mulan will do it later” and then it NEVER HAPPENED. (possibly she did it during the “make a man out of you” training sequence, but the odd camera angels and quick cutaways make it impossible to tell)

I also had heard earlier that the script was not subtle at all,,,y’all were right

oh look, a phoenix

mulan: “the phoenix”

yes, we know

Commander Donnie Yen Tung’s entrance is iconic

BAHAHFHDSK mulan’s reaction to seeing naked men skjfdk

uh oh,,only 40 minutes in and the forced romance is already upon us

although, in retrospect, the way they resolved it at the end didn’t make me cringe that much

I’m a slut for butterfly kicks

the scene where mulan bathes in the lake has a much more predatory undertone now, especially now that Ling, Chien Po, and Yao are missing

the trio made the scene funny in the animated movie

can the not-Li-Shang-love-interest Honghui please leave Jun/Mulan alone?? ffs

speaking of no Li Shang, I liked the Donnie Yen mentor character half better than the Honghui half

Honghui kind of comes off as a simp ngl

what’s with the witch’s makeup/outfit? are they based on something?

speaking of outfits, awhile ago, I saw a really cool doll alteration video for mulan 2020

Commander Tung’s monologue/ mulan’s and the army’s training sequence about Chi where the words “Tranquil as a forest, but on fire within” are spoken is actually my favorite part of the whole movie. As much as I would have liked a musical remake, I think they translated the visual elements and the words together well in a way that was different enough from the animated version, but still satisfying to watch (at least for me).

They also integrate the music of Reflection here really well imho.  In the animated version, there’s a point where mulan modulates to a higher key, but the live action version doesn’t do that, which further pushes it away from sounding like disney’s classic musical theatre style.  They also changed a few of the notes, and I think the overall changes to Reflection in this part of the movie really improve this montage.

Compared to the Spiderman where they changed the notes from harmonic minor to (normal) minor (idk if that’s the real term I’m not actually a music major) in the MCU opening sequence, the note changes in Reflection don’t actually upset me.

my brain: oh look!! flowers!! cool! whooshhhh (honestly I couldn’t even tell if she was doing flowers right in the first part of the movie until here)

Mulan/Jun is gonna marry Commander Tung’s daughter? Yeah girl!! Get it!

oh look at me I’m a rouran and I gotta turn around on my moving horse to shoot arrows let me just swoOP

1:01:56 WHY ARE YOUR FINGERS IN FRONT OF THE HILT oh ok they fixed in the next shot but its still annoying

Unsubtle phoenix imagery not subtle

I guess I was warned about it :/

oh look its my fav interval a major 7th, I wonder if that’s supposed to be like “the last step before rebirth/the octave” bc of how Jun “dies” after the witch throws a weapon that gets stuck in her chest binding

at least she’s not using ace bandages or smth but idk much about binding

WHY ARE YOU THROWING OFF ALL YOUR ARMOR WHEN YOU’RE GOING INTO BATTLE? ACCEPTING AND PRESENTING YOURSELF AS WHO YOU REALLY ARE DOESN’T MEAN YOU HAVE TO TAKE OFF YOUR ARMOR

ok I know it was so she would be visually distinguishable from the other imperial soldiers, but still

the soldiers doing the turtle thing with their shields reminds me of the “we irritating 😂😂😂” meme

brass to signify that mulan is going to have a heroic moment (causing the avelanche) seems western to me. Idk much about traditional chinese instruments but it seems like they could use more of those.

Guys,,,I’m so fucking stupid I- .... it took me an hour and ten minutes to register the Lucky Cricket stand-in character,,,excuse me,,,,

the scene where mulan saves hongui and puts her hand over his heart gives me r*ylo vibes and I hate it

the witch, 1:14:40: “🎵yes I~ am a girl like you~🎵”

damn the music even reminds of the barbie movie a bit

The emperor’s voice reminds me of the mentor character from Kung Pow Enter the Fist which in itself was a western guy making fun of old cheesy martial arts movies (and how movies sometimes have a white male protagonist when they’re deadass set in asia and everyone else is asian)

the mentor characters voice was dubbed into english (and you can tell) but to me the emperor’s voice also kinda sounds like that

I’m disappointed that we didn’t get some kind of scene like the part in the animated verison where Mulan leads Ling, Chien Po, and Yao to cross dress to help save the emperor.

to me, that scene in the animated ver. is a reminder that it isn’t shameful for men to act/dress feminine

in general the animated version, to me, sends the message that it is ok to have both feminine and masculine traits, and that they don’t undermine each other or your identity, so they should all be embraced as a part of one’s personality (which tbh really helped me as a young kid)

the 2020 ver,, just doesn’t really send that message, instead its more broad like “be true to yourself”

I’m a slut for butterfly kicks

the witch taking an arrow for mulan really didn’t do it for me tbh, it made her seem a little wishy washy

like, I get that she wanted acceptance/validation, and that a part of her was glad that mulan found that for herself, but what about the rest of her motivation? Isn’t a desire for power or something what separates her from mulan?

Unsubtle phoenix imagery and dialogue is unsubtle

The music playing during the Mulan v. Khan duel reminds me of Duel of the Fates

actually the setting of the duel and other things really remind of of the Maul v. Ahsoka duel from Clone Wars s7

damn I really wanna watch the Maul v. Ahsoka duel cause the fight choreo is just,, so much more interesting

aww! Cricket is alive!

Around 1:34:39 , the music does not feel like it should be building up to Reflection here.  At this point, I think the melody had been reprised too many times and was getting to be overused (I still like it in the training sequence though).

I was happy to see Ming Na Wen!

Mulan is going home and ugh! Honghui! Don’t you know she’s betrothed to Commander Tung’s daughter? smh. homewrecker simp.

the matchmaker reminds me of Baron Harkonnen (Dune)

cheezy credits song is cheezy, even cheezier because they reprised reflection again

[shirtlesssammy]

9x22: Stairway to Heaven

Then:

Metatron!!!!

Now:

Dixon, MIssouri

A very particular mom orders ice cream for herself and then asks her son what he would like. He points to a girl eating a Ziggy Piggy all alone and wants that! She goes over to the girl to berate her not for eating something with a symbol of racism as decoration but for eating diabetes in a bowl. The girl says she’s an angel though and can do as she pleases. A man walks into the store--and pulls out an angel blade. The girl tells the woman to run as her eyes flash blue. Too late, the place disintegrates in a flash of white. 

Sam WInchester sleeps with his gun under his pillow in his own room. That breaks me a little. Dean, the Mark of Cain in full jerk mode, wakes him and even though they’ve only slept for two hours, wants to get going. 

Sam joins Dean in the library and Dean tells him that he talked to Cas and there’s something happening in Missouri. He couldn’t give details over the phone because (And mind you, Dean says this while looking wistfully upwards) “He’s a weird, dorky little guy.” smh. 

Dean grabs the First Blade and Sam questions whether it’s necessary. Dean insists they need it with them all the time if they’re going to take down Metatron. Sam thinks he should leave it in the bunker for this trip. Dean agrees. 

Once at the ice cream shop, the brothers learn their FBI covers are Agents Spears and Agulera. #BlessAndrewDabb. (Sidenote: I just LOVE Dean’s little plaid tie.) Cas is already inside. They meet up and Cas shows them a victim, eyes burned out. He doesn’t know what happened but six people died and one angel. Whatever Metatron is doing is abhorrent. 

Cut to Metatron trying on a trench coat in his headquarters. Someone knocks at the door and he quickly scrambles to take the coat off. 

Gadreel walks in. He wants to talk about their plans. Cas’s side of the war is winning. Metatron doesn’t understand why angels are choosing Cas over him when he can get them home. The Metatron admits THE TRUTH: He’s cute and he’s got charm. He counters that he --Metatron-- is lovable and funny, which gets an eyebrow lift from Gadreel. Oh Metatron, you’re the worst. Gadreel tells Metatron that they’re meeting with the last large faction of angels left. Metatron isn’t stressed, he has a plan! (It’s not the trench coat, no, nope)

At Trench Coat Headquarters, Cas introduces Dean and Sam to Hannah. There’s some light ‘he likes me better’ banter between Dean and Hannah. 

Hannah tells Cas an angel is missing. Josiah was a mole and now he’s gone. Dean and Sam set to tracking him. (Hannah’s little unimpressed attitude towards Dean is entertaining.) Two seconds later, Sam finds that his credit card was used at a Gas ‘n Sip in Colorado. Dean turns to Hannah and gets his ruler out to measure. 

Another angel has video of the ice cream shop attack. Just before the megasmiting, the angel, Orin, announced, “I do this for Castiel!” and stabs himself in the chest. Dean wants answers but Cas has no clue what that was. “I’m going to be sick.” Oh, bby. (Also, how is this not a reaction gif for fandom wank all the time?) In any event, Dean doesn’t seem to want to believe Cas, accusing him of running a cult and dredging up his little attempt at playing God back in the day. 

For I know Dean is Mad but This Sure Makes a Pretty Shot Science:

Interrupting Moose uses his powers for good and drags them into a private room to continue the conversation. 

Cas explains the Enochian sigil on the angel’s torso was something to draw energy and the stabbing unleashed that energy, atomizing the other angel. Dean tells Cas that he needs to stay back while the brothers investigate. Cas responds with a flat, defiant “No.” And let us never forget this dorky little guy is a BAMF. That prompts the plan of Cas and Sam heading to Colorado to find Josiah. 

On the road, Sam fills Cas in on what’s really been happening this season because Dean and Cas apparently only whisper sweet nothings and giggle on the phone.

Sam and Cas talk about how the Mark is changing Dean. Cas’s admission that Dean is “always a little angry” breaks me a little. 

Metatron is busy wooing angels at a bowling alley. They don’t want to go back to heaven. Life’s too good on earth. The smell of the bowling alley is enough to keep them here. (OMG and LOL) 

Metatron pulls out his blade. The angel laughs and tells him that if he dies, all his angels will side with Castiel. He’ll talk if Metatron out bowls him though. 

On the road, Sam and Cas have a lead on Josiah. 

Dean interviews other angels that knew Orin. One decides to poke the bear a bit, telling Dean that he doesn’t save lives. He forces her at the end of an angel blade to name names. One of them is Tessa. Yep, the reaper Tessa. 

Cas and Sam track Josiah’s car to a place that Cas can sense is radiating power. They try entering a door to a warehouse but Sam’s lock picking skills fail. Cas, ancient angel of infinite strength informs Sam that he’s “got this.” He slams the door a couple of times and tries the door, to no avail. “I don’t got this.” <Insert jensen with camera you’re doing amazing pic> 

Dean tracks down Tessa. And we learn that Dean Winchester likes Fiddler on the Roof. But really he’s wants to know what she thinks she’s doing. She tries walking away from him when he grabs her and sees something carved on her chest. He handcuffs her and demands she tell him where the other rogue angel, Constantine, is. 

Cut to the bowling alley, as Metatron huffs away from losing his game of bowling, an angel calls his name. It’s Constantine. “I do this for Castiel,” he announces and stabs himself. The world goes white. 

It’s now night and Sam and Cas are still trying to get into the warehouse. Cas reveals there’s a riddle in Enochian warding the place.

“Why is 6 afraid of 7? I assume because 7 is a prime number and prime numbers can be intimidating.” “It’s because 7 ate (8) 9,” Sam corrects, and the door opens. GOLD. Even more GOLD: Cas references Lord of the Rings. Yeah, Cas knows a thing about things now. 

Cas and Sam finally enter the building, walking through a shadowy concrete tunnel. Sam happens upon a message inscribed on the wall: “Only the penitent man shall pass.” Holy Indiana Jones, Batman! He shouts a warning to Cas, but Cas has already crouched below the whirling blades. (Thank god he’s pop culture saavy now. Pop culture saved his life! #Relatable)

Dean interrogates Tessa with Hannah lurking in the background. Tessa is adamant that she turned herself into a suicide bomber for Castiel - he assigned her that task, personally. Hannah is SHOOK.

Hannah wants to fight and Dean shoos her out the door to get her in line. They agree that Tessa believes what she’s saying. Yikes.

In the Raiders of the Lost Heaven, Cas strides towards a lit door at the end of the hallway and something in him seems to lighten and lift as he approaches it. It’s the door to Heaven! It’s calling him in. Cas approaches, ready to seize control of the door to Heaven. He opens the door and--

Soft music and valentine-hued rotating lights play across poor Castiel’s astonished face. The room is a total joke, set up like a party with little paper cupids and angels strung up alongside balloons and gold streamers. Fred Astaire croons “Cheek to Cheek” in the otherwise empty room. Sam finds a card addressed to Cas that reads: "Welcome to your own personal heaven, Castiel. Good luck finding the real one."

They discover a terribly burned body lying on the floor - an angel burned by holy oil. Sam looks up and spots a Home-Alone-style door mounted flame torch. Suddenly the body jumps and grabs Cas. He’s not dead yet! He says that Metatron promised that he could return home. But he’s not going with Cas now. He looks at Cas, and he doesn’t see an angel anymore. (Cas bby!)

Dean heads back in to talk to Tessa. He begs her for a reason for her actions. “I guess I just can’t take the screaming,” she says at last, her voice breaking. There are tons of lost souls wandering the Earth now who can’t get into Heaven since it’s been closed. She hears all of their torment and suffers, to the point where death is preferable. But now that Cas gave her a reason to die…

Dean, bless him (finally!) doesn’t believe her - not fully. It doesn’t sound like the Cas he knows. Tessa counters with the fact that he also didn’t know that Cas leading a super secret army and….fair, I suppose. Dean asks for names and then threatens her, pulling out the first blade. Tessa immediately freaks out over it. “What have you done?” she asks. “What I had to,” he responds. Dean. Bean. She grips him then and pulls herself onto the first blade, dying in his arms. 

Dean falls into a kind of lull after the kill, just barely snapping out of it as Hannah and another angel rushes in. 

Cut to Dean, handcuffed to a chair and his mouth duct-taped. “He put up a fight,” Hannah says testily as Cas and Sam rush in to him. Sam immediately lays into Dean about bringing the first blade. 

Cas interrupts their squabble, only to be interrupted by Hannah. Metatron’s calling…

On screen, Metatron talks about Castiel’s henchman’s attack in the bowling alley. Poor dead Titus’ followers have all joined Metatron’s team in retaliation. Cas protests that he sent nobody to kill Metatron. 

Metatron laughs at him, and then delivers his elevator speech. He’s only doing what’s best for the angels. 

Metatron delivers his offer: amnesty to any angel crossing to his side. Angels need to follow someone - so they might as well follow him. He tells them that Cas isn’t the bold leader they think. He’s sending angels out to die AND he’s sporting stolen grace that is fading quickly. (Some half truths and a lie!) 

Metatron goes a step further: Cas only cares about himself and the Winchesters. Cas tries for some damage control with a pissed off host of angels. He admits to the stolen grace and they assume the worst based on that. Cas’s defense is going...poorly. 

Hannah asks for proof. Cas has to punish Dean for killing Tessa. “You gave us order, Castiel, and we gave you our trust. Don't lose it over one man.” She holds up on angel blade while angels hold Dean and Sam fast.

Cas takes the blade, contemplating his choices, his army. He looks at Dean...and then looks down. “No, I can’t,” he says. He lets the blade fall to his side and just like that, his army leaves. Cas, Dean, and Sam watch them file out of the room. (Don’t mind me while I gabble on about all that wasted infrastructure they’re leaving behind.) 

In Heaven, Metatron gleefully chats on the phone to the first defector from Castiel’s army before chortling to Gadreel about how his plan is working. Gadreel is pissed, though. The “elite unit” (Tessa, etcetera) he helped recruit for Metatron’s team weren’t supposed to blow themselves up - but Metatron brainwashed them as soon as they came over. Metatron’s dismissive of Gadreel’s ire. “You start by building up a seemingly unbeatable enemy, like the death star, or a rival angel with a bigger army. That way, I look like the underdog. But then, oh, no! The competition gets greedy. He starts pushing things too much. With the help of my combustible double agents. And then, after a rousing speech, his true weakness is revealed. He's in love...with humanity.”

Boris and I are going to take a moment to burn in the fires of that last sentence. We’re FINE. 

Gadreel asks after Josiah and Metatron blithely describes him as a loose end, cleaned up by his booby-traps. 

Driving back, the Impala is silent. Cas sits in the back seat stoically and HOW symbolic is THAT? When they get back to the bunker, Sam confronts Dean again about the first blade. Dean snaps a little bit and says he’s the only one who can kill Metatron, armed with the blade. He’s in charge now. (UGH I really do dislike Mark of Cain Dean.) Sam heads off in a huff and Dean corners Cas, asking about his grace. Cas tries to deflect but Dean’s done with bullshit. He asks how long Cas has to live. “Long enough to destroy Metatron, I hope.” Cas bby ;_;

Cas asks again if Dean believes he would have ordered those angels to kill themselves. Dean finally, unequivocally says that he believes Cas would never do that - he just gave up his “whole army for one guy,” after all. 

Cas wonders if the three of them can prevail. Dean believes in Team Free Will. And then... Gadreel walks in. He tells them that Metatron is a problem and he’s willing to work with them. Gadreel begs for them to give him a chance. For a moment, everybody’s chill and I think...hey they’re gonna sit down, have a nice cup of tea, come up with a civilized battle plan. 

Instead, Dean approaches Gadreel slowly. Holds out his hand. And...hauls up the first blade to slice him across the chest. Dean snarls like a raging beast at Gadreel and the episode fades away.

______________________________

In Love with Quote-manity:

“They like to hear me say their names.” “I know a couple women like that.”

Yeah, I heard he had a real explosive personality.

Honey, there ain’t no other men like me.

I’m very pop culture savvy now.

He’s a weird, dorky little guy

I've noticed your aliases are usually the names of popular musicians

You’re such an...angel sometimes

I don’t got this

Why is six afraid of seven?" Now, I assume it's because seven is a prime number, and prime numbers can be intimidating

You’re Mother Theresa with neckbeard!

______________________________

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[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball Z 125

All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all those who wander are lost;

The old that is strong does not wither,

Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes, a fire shall be woken,

A light from the shadows shall spring;

Renewed shall be the blade that was broken,

The crownless again shall be king.

Every great saga has a beginning, and this one starts with a simple boar.   

Did our porcine friend realize what his actions would bring forth on this day?    Did he know that the Driver’s Ed episode of Dragon Ball Z would be born from his decision to chase after a woman walking home from the Mt. Paozu IGA?    Maybe, but I’m more inclined to think that he just wanted some of the potato wedges Chi-Chi picked up from the deli. 

Meanwhile, Goku’s training for the androids.   Well, not at this exact second.    Right now, he’s watching clouds sexually harass other clouds.   Cloud Master Roshi belongs in Cloud Jail.

As Chi-Chi hoofs it back home after narrowly escaping the boar, she sees the couple from the other mountain driving home in their car.   

When Chi-Chi gets home she’s greeted by her husband and son, who toss their filthy training gear in front of her and head for the tub.  

And that tears it.   She bawls out Goku for not driving her to the store like other husbands, and when he says he doesn’t have a license she tells him to go get one.  Oh, and he can take Piccolo with him, since his useless green ass doesn’t have one either, smh.  

Oh, and if they fail, she won’t cook for them.     I’m not sure why that should matter to Piccolo, since he only drinks water, but maybe Chi-Chi makes some really tasty water.   

So the next day the boys go to the “institute” to take driver’s ed.   Piccolo doesn’t know how he got roped into this, but he doesn’t seem too interested in backing out, either.  

What makes this episode a classic is that they’re both wearng civlian clothing for this aventure.   Goku is dresed in what I like to call “Stealth Fred Flintstone Cosplay.”     Piccolo, of course, is dressed  in blue jeans and two shirts.  One is purple with long sleeves, and one is yellow with the words “POST BOY” written on them.   

In the dub, Goku asks him where he got such a ridiculous outfit, and Piccolo replies “Your wife got them for me... out of your closet.”   That’s not in the Japanese version.     Really, it doesn’t make a lot of sense for Goku to own this outfit, since Piccolo’s at least 18 inches taller than him.    Then again, Piccolo has Clothes Beam powers, which could also be used to alter clothing to fit other sizes.  

Besides, we know he got the hat from Goku, since it has the word “GOKUU” written on it.  I think it’s safe to assume that the POST BOY outfit is definitely something Goku owns.

Here come the instructors.   They have Capsule Corp. logos on their coats, so I assume this means this whole institute is run by Capsule Corp.   

Somewhere in this episode, the old guy says he’s been teaching driver’s ed for 70 years, which puts him somewhere over 90.   Personally, I headcanon him as gettng into the driver’s ed game much later in life.   His wife divorced him at 53, and he struggled to find new purpose after that, until he got a taste of the driving school life, and he knew he would never be the same.    Oh, he tried to get out of this world.   But it kept calling him back like a siren song.    The fame, the money, the women.    He just couldn’t stay away.   And by 55, he became a full-time instructor.   Now he’s 125 years old.

I don’t know anything about this lady, except that I’m pretty sure she wants to fuck Piccolo in the backseat of a car while it speeds along a highway at 100 miles per hour.    I guess Piccolo could use the Multi-Form technique to steer while he does his business in the back, but she doesn’t know that.   

Piccolo-- excuse me... I mean Post Boy, has some dificulty with the seat belt. 

Did you think I was kidding about this lady?    Because I’m not.  Back seat.  100 miles per hour.    No one at the wheel.  

Unfortunately, this car doesn’t have a back seat, so she just floors it and drives really, really aggressively.   

EVEN POST BOY IS AFRAID

Meanwhile, the old man can’t even get the door open.     I like how the hair on his head turns red, but his mustache and eyebrows don’t.    

Goku starts dissociating in the parking lot.   

Meanwhile, the Brief family is still amazed by Vegeta’s insane training regimen.   I feel like these scenes are really trying to pressure Bulma into getting it on with the guy.    “Boy, those Saiyans sure do have tough bodies, eh, Bulma?    Such wonderfully tough bodies.   Oh, and he’s living in the spaceship now.    That’s how dedicated he is.    You know, that spaceship would be a great place to have sex in, just throwing that out there.    You could scream as loud as you wanted and your parents would never be able to hear it.”

Anyway, here’s Vegeta doing some pointless bullshit that isn’t driver’s ed.  Let’s move on. 

  I guess Gohan’s studying while the boys are learning to drive.    Of course, he can’t concentrate knowing that Piccolo’s running around in the Post Boy outfit.    Check out this sweet fan art Gohan drew for this episode.  

Then Icarus shows up and Gohan decides to sneak out of the house to watch his dad and Piccolo driving.    I thought Episode 118 was Icarus’ last appearance, but I guess not.    Pretty sure this is it, though.    

See, I told you this guy has been in the business for 70 years.     What’s got him flustered is that Goku can’t seem to remember anything he tells him.    I mean things like “Push the pedals to make it go,” and “Welcome to driving school.”

What’s with this guy’s neck?

I think he was trying to get Goku to back into a parking place, but he ended up zooming forward instead.   

Then they end up on the highway, and inside a tunnel going down the wrong lane.   Now, in the dub, the guy tells Goku to “give him the wheel” I think.  So Goku chops it off so he can give it to him.    In the original script, he keeps saying “Cut in the steering handle”, which seems like an odd choice of words.   

The end result is the same: Goku’s car flies out of control and lands in a body of water.    The instructor tells him it’ll take him three years to pass the course, and Goku protests that he can’t wait that long, on account of the androids.

Later on, Goku seems to have gotten the hand of shifting the gear, but he still doesn’t grasp going slowly.    Post Boy sees him zip past and thinks it’s a race.

Nearby, Gohan and Icarus show up in time to see this unfold.  

The lady seems genuinely impressed by Post Boy’s off-road driving stunts.   The tragic thing about this story is that Post Boy seems to have mastered this skill, but he never gets credit for it in the form of a license.

Anyway, one thing leads to another and now Goku and Post Boy are wanted for manslaughter.    Just kidding, the instructors are fine. 

Later, they have to drive around on public roads, and if they screw around again, they’ll get expelled.   

To their credit, both of them seem to be doing a lot better this time.

Goku waves at a bus full of school kids, but the old man deducts a point for taking his hand off the wheel.   When Goku protests, he takes another point off for taking his eyes off the road.  

Then Goku slams on the brakes, causing Piccolo to rear-end him.    Everyone’s confused, but the reason he did it is because...

The bus ahead of him got caught in... uh, an avalanche?    Of water?  

It’s going to fall off the road and over a cliff, is the point.   

Goku flies through the windshield of his car to help...

... while Post Boy elbows the door off of his car.    With authority!

They catch the bus,then Goku heads over to shoot falling debris so it won’t hit anything.

Post Boy helps too.   So, a second ago, both of them needed to hold the bus, and now Post Boy is holding it one-handed.    Why did Goku even leave the bus if Post Boy could hold it and shoot up at the same time?    This episode proves that power levels are bullshit.   

The instructors are astonished.  

Goku waves goodbye to the kids while Post Boy stands with his back turned, all stoic-like.   A watchful protector.   A silent guardian.   A Post Boy.  

Goku apologizes for the disturbance, but the instructors are all smiles.   Goku asks if they can resume their practice, but the old man refuses.   

As he puts it, Goku and Post Boy are such skilled men that there’s no point in them learning from a driving school.    They hardly need licenses when they can fly, right?   

Now, in the dub, they kind of take a different approach with the punchline.  The instructor praises their rescue of the bus, and their amazing powers, but he makes it clear that these two knuckleheads have no business behind the wheel of a car, so they’ll never get their licenses, ever.    But so what, right?  They can fly, so what difference does it make?

Either way.... I bet Chi-Chi won’t like this...

Yeah, I called it.  

Why is Icarus in the house? 

Sometimes, you have to have your heroes lose.    It builds character, and it makes them feel more like people.    It also makes it even more inspirational when they triumph.    That is the lesson of this episode.    Yes, Post Boy failed today, but he’s not going to dwell on his failures.   He’s going to pick himself back up and keep living his life.    

Anyway, Chi-Chi passes out from the shock of it.    No, seriously, why is Icarus allowed in the house but Post Boy isn’t?  

Anyway, from here, we flash forward three years and.... holy crap, I never noticed before, but they have a car in this shot!    A few dozen episodes after this, we’ll see Goku driving, and Chi-Chi explaining how he got his license, but I never noticed that this very episode made it clear that Goku went back and tried again.   That’s awesome.   

It’s the morning of May 12, and it’s time for the fateful Android invasion.   Chi-Chi offers the boys a box lunch for the day, but Goku declines.  

No, Goku’s taking an early lunch today, around 10am.    His meal: a couple of no-good androids.    Big, marshmallow-y androids.   

This is it.   The waiting is over, the future is now.   The Z-Fighters will either change history or they will become history.    Z stands for the end, but not yet.  

[pip-personalispolitical]

𝖙𝖍𝖊  𝖑𝖆𝖘𝖙  𝖙𝖆𝖗𝖌𝖆𝖗𝖞𝖊𝖓

The last female characters in the show have essentially been reduced to three houses; Stark, Baratheon, Targaryen. These houses hold considerable power by themselves, coupled with their remaining matriarchs (because let’s face it, Jon isn’t running anything other than away from his feelings) they’re a pretty formidable bunch.

Disregarding the pitting of powerful women against each other in a totalitarian struggle for the throne in the vein of oh so trendy, female power, this week’s episode was rife with misguided notions of women, power and madness. Patriarchal tropes clung to the once fierce and pragmatic women, altogether terrifying and brilliant, and reduced them to poor plot twists and insanity.

It was predictable, and awful, highly entertaining and I hated it. I hated it because this has a massive audience that has huge influence on Western society, it should be commented on, especially when the fanbase is so intelligent and loyal and when it’s such a huge part of our soecity (Sorry, it is.) 

𝔩𝔦𝔱𝔱𝔩𝔢 𝔡𝔬𝔳𝔢

I’m gonna get right into it. Full fledged, partially feminist but mostly just pissed off review of this episode and continuing storyline for The Mother of Dragons. 

Sansa and Ayra are the only two female leads left unscathed by bouts of madness. They remain in the show, they are quiet and astute, or emotionally void and impossibly silent. Above all else the crucial performance of their femininity is intact, they are well-mannered and unobtrusive and that is seemingly why they are still there. Some of their power steams from utilizing the tropes of femininity to ensure they have stability and respect and maintain the little power they have.

Sansa is not only playing the Game of Thrones but the tiresome Game of Patriarchy. Seemingly internalising her struggles and extending gratitude to traumatic abuse as a means of betterment seems, at the least, in poor taste and at most, horrifically ignorant and damaging. The implications are that because of what a man did to her, she is a better person for it. I think she is better, and not “still a little bird”, only because of what the show keeps telling us is that she’s smart now, not showing us. You might even go so far as to say that Sansa is only granted trust and smarts because she learnt it from a male peer.

Sansa Stark has swallowed internalised misogyny down with her favoured lemon cakes; yes, she has learnt how to manipulate those around her and use her strengths to gain favour, all whilst being very pretty and very quiet. Except when it allows heror her family more access to power. You all know what I’m talking about - snitches get stitches, little dove. All the while claiming The Dragon Queen is an untrustworthy threat (Jon asked you to keep how many secrets? One? The same one your Father kept for...how many years? Oh. Yeah. In the words of Sandor Cleagane, fuck off.)

Thus, leading me - a rabid feminist and Targaryen loyalist - to believe that unless you play by the rules in Westeros, whatever you want is unattainable and you are unworthy and frankly, too damn emotional. The only way for these characters to survive is to shut up and play along.

And let’s keep in mind that all of these characters are white, the people of colour on the show can be the sweetest, most benevolent characters in the universe and they still get decapitated. Characters who aren’t “nice” or “good” and are people of colour are portrayed as savages, emotionless killing robots that are above all dispensable and grateful to their white saviour. Someone who spoke about this more eloquently and in depth is Raine (SP – my apologise I can only guess at it based on phonetics), who wrote into the Pod-Cast: A Cast of Kings (S8E5, 7 minutes in.)  

Dany simply doesn’t play by these rules.

Being a Targaryen at heart, I wondered what it was that Dany was doing so differently to be considered such a threat, or a borderline mad queen, chasing after the impossible affections of the inhabitants of Westeros. Dany plays by Targaryen rules, she plays with fire and blood. Their trump card of entitlement (a hereditary bloodline that has mostly held male monarchs) that condemns her as power-hungry but serves male claimants as entitled.

Her overt assertions and unfiltered desire to reclaim this birth right, as many before her have, is suddenly chased by the idea of being deserving, a prerequisite that eludes the patriarchal figures in her family. This leads me to think it’s not what she’s asking for that is so unconceivable, but howshe’s asking for it that is so outrageous. Apparently, even Khaleesi can face issues of likeability[i].

𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔱𝔬𝔰𝔰 𝔬𝔣 𝔞 𝔠𝔬𝔦𝔫

These rejections of arguably patriarchal rules and the strong emotions of a woman are tediously wrapped up with notions of madness and hysteria, and prove disappointing for one of the most well written female characters in fantasy.

While we have to take into account the budget and time of the show, it feels breathless. The otherwise thoughtful and complex plotlines have been twisted to deliver shocking twists with little substance.

Dany’s previous actions in the show haven’t led to the web of whispers surrounding her, there is no reason for people to expect her to act like a mad queen up until this very last moment. To deny these people were doing so and lying to her face about it would be further gaslighting, so Tryion, in my book, did the right thing. Dany’s decisions have constantly been ridiculed, along with her sanity and emotional state.

In a defence of her actions, she has fought endlessly, scraped her way to the throne, sacrificed her time, her armies and her children to find herself left alone at the last moment? (Who can relate?) Her powerful allies have fallen, and those that claimed they would serve her do very little of what she asks. Seriously. Jon, you just couldn’t shut the fuck up for a second?! Starks and their honour, SMH. It is maddening.

Aside from it making no narrative sense (she has always avoided bloodshed and taken warnings about the mad king, her father, to heart) it just sucks seeing two of the best women reduced to Motherless tropes. Because Seven Hells, what is a woman if she is not reproducing? Insane!

As if the coin had been tossed and landed face down - Dany loses it within a split second. Hats off to Emilia Clarke because she sold it and the storm of emotions that ran across her face in milliseconds. This black and white contrast seems unfitting for a character that has faced each loss, personal and political, with tenacity, she has learnt from each of these losses. D&D have taken a survivor that has been gaslit, abused, groomed and baited and “made her mad with ambition.”

Additionally, it lends to the idea that women’s emotions are incomprehensible and irrational. We are told that in expressing anger we are inhibiting the ability to be heard - hello tone policing. This bout of madness is signalling her downfall, her failure to comply with a more docile femininity. Any woman with too much power will not be able to handle it and if she can she is mad and must be stopped. Period.

They failed to give her the credit she so deserved as she tried (and arguably failed) to grasp the politics of war. Worst of all, the scene played out so poorly that the audience had to be told this was her moment of “choosing violence,” like Cersei. The only way this was credible was thanks to Emilia’s performance and explanation in behind the scenes footage.

She explains how hurt Dany is, how angry and alone she is, and these feelings have culminated at a time she has gotten exactly what she wanted, and realised it’s not what she thought it would be. With liminal time, Dany grieves. Her grief is sorrow turned anger, anger turned dragon fire, dragon fire turned ash. It looks different to any other characters on the show and she has allowed it to kill her. And when you put it like that, it’s fucking traumatic.

It’s not like it’s nothing that pushes her over the edge, but in diagnosing Dany with madness, her agency is stripped from her. Dismissing her actions by saying it’s in her blood is implying it’s inevitable despite the great character growth and progress she has made. While the books clearly hint at this, the show does not...well, not successfully. It’s feasible and I’m not at all against the idea of her going mad, but the connotations of it seem reductive.

Daenerys could have been the most beautiful mad queen we’ve seen since Maleficent, reigning her vengeance on us with fire and blood, but D&D wrote off her brilliance with 30 minutes of relentless slaughter. Her power has always been something to fear, she plays the game she need not play to gain favour and credibility as a leader, and when playing by their rules fails her and she doesn’t feel like playing anymore (as it’s gotten her nowhere – does this remind you of anything? Patriarchy? Internalising misogyny?) she’s crazy.

The most irritating aspect of this all is that it has been written to further the narrative of do-gooder MoodiBoi of Westeros, Jon Snow. To add insult to injury, her sacrifices are motive for madness while Jon’s make him a martyr; an unwilling hero bound by the same strain of honour that has gotten both him and his uncle killed. Like, I’m bored?

𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔴𝔬𝔩𝔣 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔡𝔯𝔞𝔤𝔬𝔫

It’s undeniable, Ayra is a badass. She killed the fucking Night King. But for some reason, Daenerys isn’t granted the same nuance she is. Ayra is unforgiving and gritty, she is cloaked in darkness and weaponry and this darkness is welcomed. While Dany’s darkness is terrifying - perhaps simply due to the scale of devastation she is capable of - whereas Ayra’s is welcomed and accepted. Maybe it’s just too easy for Dany to sit the throne with dragons and is considered unfair? Like, I dunno, any white-het-cis man trying to attain a position of power and control.

Perhaps it is because Ayra’s power is overtly masculine, her power is demonstrated solely in her physical skills and capabilities, whereas Dany’s overt power is dragon fire, and flows, sometimes in reverse, between decision making, politics, emotions, bloodlines and betrayals. This is a character arc, it isn’t a clean narrative and that is why it’s so compelling. (Sidenote: let’s not disregard the ability to raise, bond with and fly fatherfucking dragons.)

Ayra undergoes numerous inescapable traumas, all early in life, but so does our darling Dany. The only difference is Dany strays from physical demonstrations of power. Her focus is not individualised, it’s pinpointed to political hotspots.

No, not all female characters have to express their power and emotions in the same way, nor should all female characters be powerful, but in a show with dragons, is it so far-fetched to have more than one successful female ruler?

𝔄𝔷𝔬𝔯-𝔞𝔥𝔟𝔶𝔢 

It seems as though the show has room for only one type of ‘empowered’ woman: the power hungry one. Whether she uses cunning, childless violence or fire and blood, they all seek power. Enough to hold what they consider their claim, two of them have already paid with their lives for their loud and unrelenting anger, the third is most likely going to sit the throne, quietly, thankful for the years of gaslighting and abuse. Looking at you, Sansa Snarky.

The only praise I can sing is that this is actually a testament to her power and great restraint, it has taken 8 seasons of abuse, disbelief, dehumanising, control and betrayal for her to reach this point and use this force that she could have used moons ago. Which, judging by everyone’s shitty ideas and plans, she should have done anyway.

While Daenerys Stormborn isn’t perfect (er, hello white saviour/messiah complex) she is compelling and pivotal in the series. This woman isn’t inherently good or bad. The character is made of grey, shifting uncertainties and wavering moral, struck by tragedy and bloodlines - she is simply made of magic - Dany is, after all, the Mother of Dragons, and she deserved better.  

𝔯𝔢𝔣𝔢𝔯𝔢𝔫𝔠𝔢𝔰

1] Likeability: I define Likeability as a set of performances that are highly gendered, and ensure the maintenance of the feminine by condemning behaviours exerted by non-males; typically being loud, having a sexuality (lol seriously) opinionated, successful and ambitious. I believe likeability sits on the axis of heteronormativity and femininity; or rather within the heterosexual matrix. They rely on each other for their respective maintenance. The highly feminine woman is more respected and well liked. It is a social currency women have to pay in order to attain certain things, such as respect or power. 

2] https://www.bitchmedia.org/article/its-time-embrace-feminisms-anger

3] https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/09/how-pop-culture-tells-women-to-shut-up/502187/

4] A Cast of Kings: Available on all streaming sites. S8EP5 Review. 

[sans-mots]

captain america civil war is on netflix, my tummy hurts and it’s my day off so time to watch it for the first time since I saw it in theatres (I hated it that much tbh, still have only seen age of ultron once)

time to see it again

i like how they custom made a fancy red leather star notebook for the winter soldier’s operational codes

two white ladies wearing shades/baseball cap and drinking coffee not ten feet from each other and talking into thin air?? it would have been much more normal to have them be in a conversation, like expat friends meeting up for coffee, then they’d be noticeable but not weird. geez

steve just stole a dudes gas mask that’s hardcore as all hell. aint give a shit rogers

Nat’s stupid fckin flowy hair she would for real just have a pixie cut, or even her short bob from the first avengers if she actually fought like that all the time. wanda’s makes sense because she’s a long range combatant 

ok i get that rumlow’s mad at cap but wouldn’t his real beef be with sam because sam was the one who literally let a building drop on him

sam is literally the only normal acting person with his little drone I love him

i’m really glad that they actually showed human casualities as important and not just being like oops we blew up some random people who don’t matter like in every other action film

ah yes here’s where it turns into another avengers/iron man film and suddenly tony is the main character ( i love u but go back to your own franchise pls)

tony you do realize just because someone goes to mit that doesnt mean you should fund their project (weapons testing is a thing hmmmm)

alfre woodard being in marvel tv+movies a+++

steve looking beautiful and feeling guilty. wanda too. 

uh why is vision dressed like an accountant

rhodey! but also the close up being on him for new york is ambiguous-sad that ppl died or reminded tony almost died?

god zemo. this plot was so fckin convoluted and stupid. 

th fckin sharon carter speech that didnt make any sense to say at a funeral but only served to further plot

nat+steve hugging a+++

sharon and steve are so awkward there is zero chemistry. and what a waste in an overly packed film. like honestly if they had screentested someone who really had chemistry with him it would at least be worth it

sam and steve’s matching baseball caps and aviators. zero percent subtlety

“I don’t do that anymore.” so defeated oh godddddddddddddddd

“it always ends in a fight” fckin hell

bucky using steve’s shield when its still on his arm a++

tchalla’s claws tho. also i wonder if german special forces would be firing on him if they knew he was the king of wakanda lol

TIME FOR THE MOTORCYCLE FLIP

so turned on by the motorcycle flip. just as good as I thought it would be

rhodey “Congratulations, cap, you’re a criminal” 

“dude shows up dressed like a cat you don’t want to know more?” yess sam

IT LITERALLY MAKES NO SENSE THAT NAT IS ON THE ACCORDS SIDE AND SO SMUG ABOUT IT “technically [the shield] is the government’s property” fuck that writing

“my name is bucky” <3

zemo’s plan is still way too fckin intricate

tony you literally need a suit to fight don’t fckin try to go toe to toe with the winter soldier

the looooove helicopter (lens flare, biceps)

whats with them and falling into bodies of water.

lets use 12 mins of a captain america movie to introduce spiderman... ughhhhh 

how did tony already have a suit for peter parker without knowing the specifications of his powers?

CLIIIINNNT thank you. 

the “move or you will be moved” lady yesssss

ughhhh more sharon and the kiss. WHY YOU KISSIN PEGGY’S NIECE RIGHT AFTER SHE DIE YOU NASTY

that car is not low profile, it’s old.

ummm isn’t antman a convicted felon? isn’t he supposed to like not leave the country?

ughhh nat would so be on steve’s side i hate this arbitrary assignment of her to the accords side

“barnes is mine” tchalla that’s steve’s line

“I don’t know if you’ve been in a fight before but there’s not usually this much talking” I love you sam wilson

ew vision on his fckin high horse again.

“Arrow guy” “tic tac”

ew the fcking new york talk murder me 

YOU ARE PLAYING HOPEFUL MUSIC WHEN IRON MAN’S TEAM IS WINNING AGAINST CAP’S IN HIS OWN MOVIE AND SAD WHEN CAP WINS??? LIKE I KNOW IT’S ALL MORALLY AMBIGUOUS BUT JESUS this is supposed to be CAPTAIN AMERICA: civil war (just like, a reminder, the avengers is supposed to be about all the avengers, not jsut tony)

also t’challa’s kind of an asshole to clint like damn if you wanna be friends with nat you gotta be friends with clint 

OOOO I forgot about nat letting them get to the quinjet

also why does peter parker not know star wars??? isn’t he a loser who goes to science high school???

okay and the whole rhodey thing??? vision was literally going to drop sam out of the sky which could have also potentially killed him--rhodey just got hit instead. you can be upset about it but it’s literally not sam’s fault for NOT WANTING TO GET BLOWN OUT OF THE SKY. in fact vision should have been the one apologizing but his amygdala is synthetic so waaha wawhaa

literally the only conversation steve and bucky have is in the quinjet for five seconds and they had 12mins of spiderman backstory??? smh

honestly this movie is such a mess. zemo’s plot, the whole winter soldier(s). this should have been an avengers movie(it basically is with a cap subplot) because literally NO ONE’s motivations are clear which makes it way too hard to empathize with either side. 

i wonder if you calculated all the minutes of different people’s screentime what it would be

smh i can’t believe tony fans think it’s reasonable to get mad about steve fans acting pissy about civil war when steve was basically demoted to second lead in his own film. obvs there are some unreasonable steve/bucky peeps out there but the amount of whining tony fans do is kind of ridiculous when tony has literally such an intricately written emotional arc and steve and bucky both have diddly, as I have said before IN THEIR OWN FILM. (bucky is going to be cap one day might i remind y’all)

eww yes dolores. because all steve/bucky stories must be about bucky being a ladies man. not like he had any other defining character traits, that would be like... decent writing.

ah yes the intricate unfolding of zemo’s storyline ughh spare me. 

lol those are the best security cameras ever for roadside 1991

literally zemo just told you “empires that fall from within never rise again” and you think the best decision is to give into his eeeeeevil plan? be mad, don’t be stupid

like tonys known for being a hothead but all this manpain is so gratuitous.

“he killed my mom” tony your weapons have killed hundreds of thousands of innocents and you weren’t brainwashed when you made them. if you hadn’t had multiple chances to repent, where would you be?

“my father made that shield” yeah for steve. it wasn’t a conditional fckin offer

rhodey is literally the best person. Tony Stank

i still can’t believe the fckin straightjacketed and collared wanda it makes me so mad

good thing the end credits are of shadows and rubble cuz THAT’S WHAT THIS MOVIE IS

oh right I TOTALLY FORGOT bucky’s fate is relegated to a end credits scene ebcaues he’s not goddamn important enough it seems

the white outfit tho

“let them try” thank you tchalla for being the only person who listens to reason and actually has defined principles

i really don’t hate tony he literally dominates every film he’s in so this shoudl have been an avengers or iron man film to write such an intense storyline for him. 

they literally don’t let cap emote at all. like if you look at clips of the film its just blue steel all the way--he never gets a chance to break down and be upset. not like tony does.

tony fans need to imagine if steve came into an im4 film and just became the sole focus of the film, how they would feel that their fave character’s film was usurped. 

anyways---in conclusion i still hate this movie. unlike the first two cap movies I can’t separate my critical aspect from it enough to love or even like the film. alas.