#Paul is probably a failed hero

[jonsnowunemploymentera]

My spicy 🌶️ asoiaf hot take of the day is that if we look at his character arc in terms of what it takes and costs to be a hero, to the extent that one has to lose their own humanity and become something that can be considered monstrous to save thousands/millions, Jon Snow’s Dune parallel is actually Leto II. In this essay, I will-

[fantastic-nonsense]

I have a fun [citation needed] hypothetical for you. Say you have been granted the authority to make FIVE editorial directives for DC comics that will be followed for at least the next five years. What are you demanding?

No company events.

No major events with ten thousand tie-in comics.

No big crossover events.

No big gimmick events.

No event comics.

Okay, I kid, but only slightly. I'm actually going cheat slightly and give you five plus an extra one that needs a bit more explanation:

No company-wide crossover events or gimmick events that derail major ongoing stories in individual books shall be made. If an event comic is published, any tie-ins will be published separately from the character's ongoing/mini (for reference: like the Blackest Night tie-in specials).

Institute a lore consistency team within the Archives department. Mandate that every single creative team MUST read and utilize a character/story bible before writing any scripts. The scripts will be looked over by a member of the lore team as well as the book editor before being approved for publication.

The Young Justice generation is finally allowed to grow up and, where necessary, get new hero names. In particular, Tim Drake finally gets to age and stop being Robin. He picks 'Blackbird' as his new name, gets a cool new red-and-black costume, and stars in a rebooted Young Justice book alongside his friends.

Barbara Gordon has to formally retire from the Batgirl role and become Oracle full time again. This is handled in a way that is respectful of her character and her disability. Cassandra Cain will be Batgirl full-time again while Stephanie Brown goes back to Spoiler; Cass gets a Batgirl solo ongoing while Steph would join a rebooted Gotham Knights team book that includes her, Kate, Helena, Luke Fox, and Jean-Paul Valley.

Wonder Woman's established lore is acknowledged, respected, and re-emphasized. Diana is a clay baby again, Cassie is Zeus's daughter again, The Return of Donna Troy is acknowledged as the definitive explanation of Donna's multiple-choice backstory (while the fire origin stays the definitive origin), Artemis gets her original origin back, etc. Full acceptance of the Rucka Rebirth retcon to reset Diana's origins and childhood back to the post-Crisis status quo. No references to the Zeus origin or the New 52 Amazons are allowed to be made except in context of Rucka's "it was a lie" explanation.

In priority order, those editorial mandates probably fall out to be something like 2>1>5>3 and 4 in a tie; 3 and 4 are kinda interchangable since they collectively would fix a wide swath of what's wrong with the Bat books right now.

My "extra" mandate would be that writers must utilize existing characters where possible for their stories. No new "major" heroes are to be introduced unless a writer can prove that a book needs a new character to fill an identified gap. Prioritization should go to a) characters who used to be used on a regular basis in a given book but have not been seen in 10+ years and b) characters introduced within the past 5-7 years.

I'd want this one for two reasons: one, there's a ton of pre-existing characters who used to be staple or regularly recurring characters who have failed to get regular appearances since 2011, for a variety of reasons. Forcing writers to use them instead of creating new characters would allow DC to rebuild some continuity, bring back old favorites, and provide closure to lingering storylines that were cut short or never followed up on. Two, there's a hell of a lot of new characters have been introduced and discarded without actually building them out properly the last few years. I would honestly only put this one in place for around 3 years...long enough to force DC to actually flesh out the underutilized newbies and provide some closure and new beginnings for some old favorites.

[scarlet-ancunin]

♡You Love Me To♡

A/N: The song below inspired the fic for me

☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆

" I Care About you to"

Those five words rang through the vampire spawns head over and over. They really like me. Astarion was sitting alone in his tent thinking about it. Of course the events that happened after struck something he didn't think was possible... but was it.... Love... from such a simple moment between them such a simple hold.

It wasn't forced but gentle. It didn't have strings attached- wanting something in return... no it was a genuine feeling of love and care that came with that simple gesture of affection. He enjoyed it he wanted to feel more of that.

After 200 years of abuse from Cazador, locking him in the dark with nothing, feeding on rats and bugs he forced him to eat, trying to break his mind, using his looks and his body to bring him poor helpless souls to his lair. Like lambs for the slaughter. And he was the cause of it all. He had many lovers or rather flings but at this moment the only person who stayed on his mind was You. You were special in ways he couldn't understand and that probably is what led to his original plan of using you to fail miserably.

He realized while skimming through the same page in his book that more than anything he wanted to see you smile more because of him. Its probably what led to this sudden idea to walk towards the tent that occupied the "blade of frontiers".

'This is a stupid idea' the pale elf thought while approaching the man cradling a goblet of wine looking up. Astarion cleared his throat to catch the mans attention. "Oh? Astarion a rare occurrence to be visiting me at such an hour what do you need?"

Astarion also found wyll more annoying then he care to admit out loud but right now he was the only one he could... Trust with this little idea. "I...I need a favor I'll gladly pay you back later but i need your help can you help me?" Astarion says this with a vague motion and a simple wave of his hand.

Wyll ever the "hero" agrees "sure but what does this favor intel?" Astarion suddenly found the dirt on the ground more interesting avoiding eye contact. "Astarion?" Wyll asked softly but a hint of curiosity.

"Can you teach me... ugh can you teach me how to, well, dance" that was all Astarion said nothing more nothing less and certainly not sharing his reasons for this request. Wyll was surprised "Astarion you don't know how to dance?"

The vampire glares at the man suddenly "i wouldn't have ask for the damn favor if i did" seeing Wyll frown made him pause and look away with a huff. "I- never really got around to it.. can you teach me?" He sounded more calmer slight hints of plea.

Wyll nods smiling "sure a man shouldn't miss the opportunity to show off not only his skills with the blade but also with movements of his body" Astarion grimaced at this before rolling his eyes. "We can practice at nights while everyone is asleep" he said before walking away quickly. Wyll blinks before chuckling low and retiring for the night.

-

Astarion was surprisingly a quick learner he watched each move just like he watched his prey before feeding. There was one problem... the man wanted to learn something a little but more romantic and rather closer.

"Ah as much as i like to prance around all day i was hoping for something a little more on the intimate side of things" Wyll gives him a knowing smile "fancy wooing someone in particular?"

Astarion plays ignorant "oh please i simply want to learn because it is a good skill that's all" he crossed his arms and tilts his head up towards the night sky eyes closed. Wyll hums low "well i suppose i don't need to show you because i taught you the good skills already"

Astarion was quick to change his tone "alright, alright it is to flatter someone I suppose" "anyone I know of?" Wyll asked enjoying this to much. The Pale elf rolled his eyes with a huff he mumbles out a soft maybe.

"Its Y/n isn't it?" Wyll said matter-of-fact and it annoyed Astarion to no end. He doesn't meet his gaze but Wyll knew he was right. "They will like you no matter if you dance or not Astarion i see the way they look at you with adoration not many hold such a gaze to anyone they didn't care about."

Astarion sighs pinching the bridge of his nose. "I am aware my looks draws-" Wyll cuts him off "its more than that Astarion even Halsin knows this" Wyll pressed and Astarion red eyes flicked between wylls devil eyes and the small fire they made far from the camp.

"Just teach me...." he stares at the man before him for a moment "please"

~

Luckily Astarion had fed the night before so he was happy and was able to be useful for the team consiting Himself, You, Gale and Halsin. Every time you wasn't paying attention behind you it was fine because the sound of a fast ice, fire or lightning arrow whizzed through the air landing strong damage on them.

Back at the camp Gale and Halsin made it their mission to make sure everyone else especially Scratch stayed occupied to give Astarion a moment alone with You which meant going far from the camp and taking a wine bottle and some simple food to snack on but most importantly the fancy music box he stoled from that pompous man when he wasn't looking.

Gentle laughter filled the air as Astarion mentioned how he stoled the music box giving a fake story of "how can you blame me I'm a victim to" and how gullible they were. Astarion smiles at you. A real one enjoying your laughter and company all the same. Its when he stood up walking to the tree truck with the misic box opened and ready. He gave the dial behind it a few twist and it started to hum to life.

You blush deeply when Astarion holds his hand out to you "may i have this dance" You stood up grinning like an idiot and nod taking his hand in yours "well i suppose you can" you teased playfully before you both slowly began to dance to the soft tune.

It was perfect you thought to yourself looking up at him getting lost in those crimson eyes of his. His smile was sharp and while he doesn't like when you mention the crease of his smile to him, it always made you admire him more. What he assumed was imperfect meant so much to you.

He twirls you slowly and then dips you smiling lightly "your full of surprises my love" you said softly smiling up at him then giggle before moving in closer and kissing him passionately.

"I love you very much" he said softly before leaning his head on top of yours when you rest your head against his shoulder. The music a soft background to the moment you both are sharing.

☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆

Narrator: hidden behind the trees and bushes silently observing the intimate scene before them was their loyal companions all supportive of their friends successful moment

As always i hope you like it, thanks for your support and requests are open for Astarion from BG3 😁❤️

[pluckyredhead]

I've been meaning to ask for a while, since you've read so much more Supers books than me, but what are your thoughts on Kon being retconned as Clark and Lex's lab grown love child? Asides from that one mind-controlled-into-shaving-his-head incident, did that ever factor into anything again? Is it even still canon? If it were up to you would you keep it and try to do something interesting with it or just sweep it under the rug and pretend it was never true?

I think it would be a great retcon if they ever did anything with it aside from one (1) incredibly stupid story.

Because the thing is, originally Kon's human donor was Paul Westfield, and genuinely, who the fuck cares about Paul Westfield? He was only relevant for, like, a year. He's a footnote at best.

But Lex? There's so much potential there:

How does Clark feel about it? Does he trust Kon less? Does he feel guilty about that? Does he defend him to people (Batman) who would question him?

What are Lex's plans? You can't tell me he would sic Kon on other heroes once and give up. Lex always plays the long game. He has to have other Machiavellian schemes. What if Kon gets the clone plague again and Lex has the cure? What if he built in a vulnerability other than kryptonite? Most interestingly, what if Lex cares?

And of course, most importantly, how does Kon feel about it? We've seen him ignoring it and then moping about it. And I think it was his Adventure Comics run where we saw him tracking his own behavior to see if he was more like Superman or Lex. But what if a story really interrogated the fact that Kon is a very different person than Clark? (Especially in light of Jon, Clark's mini-me.) Kon likes money; Lex is a billionaire. Kon loves attention; Lex is functionally a supervillain because he's jealous that people like Superman more. Kon is a sweet boy but he's not a shining paragon of virtue. Is that because of Lex's genes? Is everything good about Kon simply Superman's genes? Is Kon is own person with free will that exists beyond picking a donor to emulate? Is a clone a person at all? Let's get into it, DC!

If it was up to me, I would write two stories about it:

First is the story where Kon and Lex actually develop a relationship. Kon and Clark has never been close, and Kon has rarely had a stable home or consistent parental figures (Rex was untrustworthy, Dubbilex got written out a lot, Guardian died and came back as a child, Pa died, Ma lived but Kon died and then got retconned into another dimension...). Kon is primed to fall for lovebombing, especially if Lex is doing one of his regular "no, really, I'm Redemption Arc-ing for real this time!" routines. Especially right now with a trillion Supers Clark likes better hanging around Metropolis, and Lex swearing he's going to be Good...what if he stopped trying to convince Clark, and started trying to convince Kon? What if he spent time with him, and listened to him, and took his side against Clark, and let's be real, probably spent money like water on him? And what if Lex, despite himself, discovered that...he actually cared about his clone son?

Of course, Lex's self-interest would eventually win out. We see this over and over again, where he sacrifices his relationships on the altar of his ambition, where he just can't quite love anyone else as much as he loves being evil. And yes, Kon ends the story hurt, but also with another reminder that validation needs to come from within and not from a billionaire who wants something from you, even if he is your other dad.

(And maybe Clark is reminded that he has failed Kon. Again. Ahem.)

The second story I would write is the one where Lex goes to jail and Kon somehow inherits Lexcorp and many billions of dollars and is cartoonishly irresponsible with all of it. Lex gets out of jail and there's a giraffe in his office and all of his doomsday devices are full of Zesti Cola.

But yeah, instead DC does nothing with it. Literally a few months ago they had Clark and Kon and Lex all having a conversation about a villain Lex created and gave TTK to - so like, talking explicitly about how Lex created Kon, too - and aside from Kon being mildly snide, that was it. That was it! DC WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS. WHAT IS THE POINT OF SETTING UP SOMETHING SO JUICY AND THEN LEAVING THAT JUICE UNSQUOZE.

[hero-israel]

https://www.tumblr.com/hero-israel/758888478285119488/pro-palestine-attacked-democrats-in-harlem-last

If they do try to assassinate Kamala Harris, it's going to backfire badly on everyone, including them. They'll have irreversibly destroyed their reputation, and any chance of Israel and Palestine reaching any kind of peaceful agreement, AND allowing a dangerous monster into power.

But frighteningly enough, I have a really bad feeling in my gut that it's exactly what they want, because they're so convinced that everyone who isn't on their side 100% is "irredeemable trash and evil" that they WANT everyone in America and Israel and Palestine dead, while they get to relish in their "moral purity" after allowing everyone else to die.

That ask was from before the DNC; I'm slow! As we've seen, the protests turned out to be significantly undersized and overhyped.

Never forget that it is in the interests of the corporate, for-profit press to sell conflict. I certainly remember in 2008 all the disproportionate attention aimed at the handful of anti-Obama holdouts, who were supposedly going to swing the election.

I love how disappointed and disillusioned "Uncommitted" people are now. I love all the copium in that Times article. That they couldn't influence the Dem party platform or speakers at all. The most "out there" speaker was Keith Ellison and even he called for the hostages to be released.

Yes, there probably are some people in that mob who have the exact same reasoning and motives that Sirhan Sirhan did. But this was the Palestiners' big chance to make an impact, and they incontrovertibly failed. Hoping for that disillusionment to sink in deep and keep. Let them turn into the next Lyndon Larouche / Ron Paul crank army, peacocking around every 4 years and accomplishing nothing.

[shifterdomain]

Your favorite movie to watch together

A/N: I highly suggest watching (most of) these movies if you haven't yet. I also added in Tom Blyth from The Hunger Games A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and have added him to the previous preferences as well.

Jonah Hauer-King

The Lion King will be playing on repeat during movie night. Maybe the sequel Simba's Pride will also play once in a blue moon.

Be ready for a sing-along with Jonah blasting I Can't Wait To Be King.

Tom Glynn-Carney

Saltburn is a fun movie to have on on a Sunday evening.

He likes mysterious movies almost as much as playfully teasing his on-screen brother Ewan Mitchell by pestering him with theories of Mitchell's character. And let's not forget that him and Barry Keoghan also go way back to Tom's debut movie 'Dunkirk'.

Ewan Mitchell

The Mask of Zorro is one of those movies you can watch every week and not tire of.

He likes the idea of a masked man with a somewhat troubled past being the hero and will find a way to make it about his character Aemond Targaryen. Whatever you watch, there will always be a parellel drawn. He just loves him too much.

Matt Smith

Gremlins, especially the first installment, is just a whimsical movie that will always remain entertaining.

Die Hard would be a runner up, but he just enjoys the sillyness that Gremlins has. And it is even better knowing that it used to be a feared horror movie.

Joseph Morgan

Joseph is a big fan of scifi movies, especially Star Wars.

His favorites would be the old movies with Han Solo, but you also like to watch the ones with Anakin Skywalker, interested in the arc of him turning into Darth Vader.

Daniel Gillies

Fifty Shades of Grey.

You both love making fun of how bad the movie truly is, jokingly making headcannons about the story to try and make it better. But failing.

Paul Wesley

Deadpool is one of his favorite movies to watch with you.

Deadpool & Wolverine would probably be his favorite. He loves how unhinged they are and Ryan Reynolds is just a comedy legend. His favorite character would be Dogpool.

Ian Somerhalder

The Graduate is his favorite film, but he enjoys it even more when he watches it with you.

He likes the more classical and old movies and discussing them afterwards while finishing your snacks and tea, or Bourbon, especially because there is something nostalgic about movies made before Hollywood became as big as it is. He enjoys the simplicity of the old school.

Chris Wood

The Scream franchise are fun movies to watch, whether it's Halloween or early August.

He likes the first two because they're new and they're classics, but the first installment of the reboot is also up there, being more creepy and gory. He will also probably be performing songs from the parody musical.

Jensen Ackles

The Silence of the Lambs is a thrilling movie that with the brilliance that is Anthony Hopkins will never be a bad watch.

It's a little spooky, has some humor and shows one of the greatest characters brought to life by Hopkins. While other movies in the franchise are enjoyable, nothing can truly top the brilliance of the original.

Jared Padalecki

Good Will Hunting is a movie that means a lot to Jared, especially with the passing of Robin Williams (RIP).

The movie gives a good and well-read view into the psychy of Matt Damon's character Will. Especially the line 'Some people can never believe in themselves, until someone believes in them,' is a line that really hits home for him.

Matthew Daddario

Grown Ups (RIP Cameron Boyce) is just a fun-loving movie to watch in whatever mood you're in.

It is a campy and funny movie that doesn't require any deep thinking, which is especially good after a long day of work. You can just relax, grab a bite and cuddle up on the couch without worrying about anything else but each other.

Dominic Sherwood

James Bond might be a classic British franchise, but it's always fun.

There's plenty of movies in the franchise with plenty of actors stepping into the shoes of the titular character, so you can always pick another movie in the franchise and by the time you've seen all, you probably won't remember all of the one you started with. The ones that will probably be played most are those with Daniel Craig, Pierce Brosnan or Sean Connery (RIP). There will probably also be a lot of teasing with you trying to convince him to audition to be the next Bond.

Dylan O'Brien

Never Been Kissed.

Are you even surprised? It's Dylan's favorite movie as it's a funny and cute movie. He will however probably be mouthing along the words as you watch.

Tom Holland

Spider-Man has been Tom's favorite for almost all of his life.

Whether it is Andrew Garfield or Toby Maguire behind the mask, as long as it is not him because, like most actors, he doesn't like watching himself. But they're funny and have enough action to keep your attention.

Josh Hutcherson

Josh likes scary movies, but with you his favorite would be Saw.

It's creepy and bloody and has a hint of mystery to it. He especially likes the way you curl up against him and hide your face in his shoulder with the scary moments or the scenes that make your skin crawl.

Tom Blyth

An underrated movie that he loves to watch with you is the trilogy of Sissi, Die Junge Kaiserin with Romy Schneider as Elisabeth.

The original movies are old and mostly forgotten and skipped as they lack the sense of excitement in today's movies. But that old school feeling is one of the things he likes about it. It's romantic and very sweet and also brings out the romantic in him.

[rolandrockover]

Kiss - Von Phantomen Gejagt

… translates as Kiss chased by phantoms.

Personally, this title could appear a little peculiar to me, considering that the only phantom-like thing I've detected since I've been writing this blog has always been Kiss themselves, who I tend to chase after occasionally. With the small exception of this little infamous cinematic manifestation of the height of her popularity in the 1970's.

So, I've watched Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park (1978) aka Attack of the Phantom (1979) in its entirety three times in my life, beginning with the German theatrical version in 1983. As a seven-year-old, I was of course extremely impressed to experience Kiss, those rock giants, colorful, quirky and pretty much larger than life on the big screen to the strains of their musical extravaganza. In 1992, when I was 16, I longingly got to see the American TV version for the first time on an official VHS tape. The horribly cheap vintage TV movie look and Scooby Doo score it contained, on the other hand, was much less enjoyable.

And 2024, at, ahem, 48? Well, home alone last week, I felt incredibly drawn to the German theatrical version (1). After more than 30 years the time seemed right to finally see this potentially work of art with the right eyes again, with the support of a good bottle of red wine (2). And I have to emphasize, neither of my following two decisions turned out to be a mistake.

Whereby I would like to make my first admission, because Attack of the Phantoms certainly doesn't come across like a mixture of A Hard Day's Night (1964) and Star Wars (1977), as so often unerringly commented on by Paul and Gene, but rather like a light version of Westworld (1973) and Rollercoaster (1977), with a good pinch of The Monkees (1965) and Batman (1966) thrown in. And, big surprise, compared to the latter two, it doesn't come off too badly, too.

Speaking of bad, Devereaux the designated antagonist of this flick basically spends most of his free time in his supervillain headquarters filled with towering supercomputers and costumed robots, the only true equivalent of the Batcave, from which some artifacts were most certainly taken for this fabulous set. And it is from there that he hatches sinister plans against Peter, Ace, Gene and Paul (3).

However, it's not the robots or the fancy computers that are Devereaux's secret weapon, but the drama with which he fights against the script and the rest of the motley nonsense. After the originally intended director was fired for "organizational" reasons, Anthony Zerbe must have become aware of what he got himself into and is obviously trying to play his way out of this mess with his back to the wall and full of anxious urge. What he's doing is actually quite heroic.

And what about the actual heroes, Kiss? Oh yes, they act like some kind of celestial exalted beings who, when they condescend to ordinary mortals, like to speak in riddles. They are superior to us and they simply know more than we do, but they don't want to tell us. They probably just want us to know exactly that and nothing more. But you never really know with them, because sometimes they just fool around.

Apart from that, they prefer to spend their divine existence hanging out with each other, and don't mind an occasional spontaneous scuffle with a pack of albino space werewolves, which seems to be nothing unusual for them at all, because when it turns out their hairy opponents are "only" robots, that's the real surprise for them. I guess that's what kinda makes them tick.

Since I don't see much point in recounting the complete storyline, I could now tell you about the lead actress's fiancé, who has been turned into a mental robot by Devereaux and who, as Devereaux's personal assistant, is really good at taking Kiss personality shots with the camera (and beyond that even developing the prints), but whose fine motor skills really fail when he is ordered to search a cupboard for their superpower-giving talismans (4).

Or Peter's stunt double, who can actually be seen behind the drums during the Black Diamond solo sequence, could of course also be worth mentioning, but is not really significant, because all stunt doubles are given a generous 30% screen time (5), and Gene's double, for example, doesn't even resemble him from behind. And more than enough words have certainly been said about Ace's.

And so I could go on enthusiastically for half the day, but I think I've already put enough into the balance. Of course, one could still interpret a word or two about the final scene and the mysteriously aged Devereaux, who seems defeated, but despite his failure, he also seems to be fulfilled inside and to have found inner peace, as the subsequent counter-shot suggests. Perhaps Anthony Zerbe had finally resigned himself to the fact that this film would rob him of his last chance to win an Oscar. Wouldn't that be meta?

In any case, it's a Kiss world where things are the way they are, and pretty much everything revolves around Kiss and nobody is afraid to say their band name more often than necessary, and we all have the great fortune and pleasure of living in it.

But, there is still one more thing I have to get rid of urgently. Despite all my renewed fascination for this hell of a production, I would be thrilled to see it just once with AC/DC instead of Kiss.

Side Notes:

(1) The German theatrical version differs from the American TV version in some essential ways, which should of course be deciding factors for the film fan to enjoy it to the fullest. Apart from the '78 solo album score, the optimized picture format and color saturation, the better sound, a few extra scenes that honestly escaped my attention, it's above all the flippant dubbing that stands out.

Amongst the illustrious voice actors are the unforgettable Rolf Zacher, and hardly surprising no less than three veterans from the original German Simpsons cast. Reverend Lovejoy, Lenny and Homer himself (albeit only in a tiny supporting role), all of them lent their unmistakable voices to silly Kung Fu, Horror and other Trash films for some cash in the 70s.

Unfortunately, they fight the same battle with the dialog direction as Devereaux does with the unholy script, so that the result doesn't quite come close to dubbing gold, but is still good enough for an unpolished bronze medal. Especially as Ace has been robbed of his Acks! It would be hard to imagine if Rainer Brandt (R.I.P.) had taken up this cause.

(2) I can only say that for me, movies are like a bottle of wine. I can tell the difference between a good bottle and a not-so-good bottle very well, but I occasionally drink both, albeit to different degrees. You just have to know what you're getting into. And ultimately, both lead to a certain goal.

(3) That's right, the alphabetical principle of listing the band members' names alphabetically is carried through the entire film.

(4) But it's actually the super-low swinging beam of his laser pistol that really cracks me up, because it doesn't even have enough power to keep its own beam straight. How could it ever crack the force field of the Kiss talismans?

(5) Whether for the stunts, or as their evil robot doppelganger, or simply as a substitute if someone just didn't feel like it.

Test, test. Firebreathing works.

The Famous Four.

Evil Paul.

[spider-xan]

Okay, I'm not going to see Dune 2 for several reasons, but since there is Dune discourse going around right now, and as someone who has read both Dune and Dune Messiah, and knows what happens in Children of Dune even if I don't have plans to read it, and I am not saying anything new here:

Yes, Dune the book is a deconstruction of the white saviour and is critical of imperialism and colonialism - there is an explicit line about this in the book that the new film removed and replaced with an action scene, and there are no good colonizers in the book, unlike the same movie sanitizing the Atreides, especially Duke Leto, and the story is a very obvious allegory for Western colonization of the SWANA region for oil; Paul is not a hero, and both Herbert and Denis were inspired by Lawrence of Arabia (both the film and history), where a self-aggrandizing white British man elevated himself as some kind of saviour figure in the Arab struggle against the Ottoman Empire, only for the, not them be colonized by Western powers, which T. E. Lawrence was part of.

HOWEVER!

While it sounds like Dune 2 took things in a different (and possibly worse, by the sounds of it), the books do renege on Paul being wrong to turn his back on being a saviour and ultimately argue that he should needed to be even more of a saviour to save humanity's long term fate; there is also the fact that while yes, Herbert was deconstructing the saviour figure, he ends up failing at it bc the Fremen have zero agency, even if Paul doesn't actually save them as an outsider - the Fremen only believe he is a saviour bc of past outsider manipulation they were too stupid to question, and while Herbert probably intended for it to be a critique of white missionaries destroying non-Christian cultures, the fact that the Fremen all just believe it without question is bad; there is also the implication that without Paul's interference, the Fremen would have not succeeded at freeing themselves and not gone on to become violent jihadists, and aside from the obvious Orientalism there, that the Fremen couldn't even do bad shit as per a racist trope without the white guy enabling them is still a lack of agency.

[findafight]

here is the spotify link to Robin and Steve's Epic Platonic Soulmate Mixtape (vol.1) I'm going to say they made this version in the early spring of 1985. fic link

track list and explanations under the cut!!

Side A--the queer side

Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler: I'm gonna take a wild guess and say y'all know why this is here

Rainbow Connection by Kermit: also self explanatory. and a bop. AND about rainbows. what more could you want?

Bangkok/One Night in Bangkok by Murray Head (Original Chess Recording version): 1) a banger. 2) from a whole musical written by the Bs of ABBA 3) Steve likes to listen to musical while vacuuming his pool :) 4) queer vibes. "the queens we use would not excite you" "i get my kicks above the waistline, sunshine" also to note they DID probably shave off the first minute of instrumental, but not all of it. I used this version and not the radio edit because in my heart of hearts I believe Steve picked up the Chess concept album in the fall of 1984, vibed with it, (I've answered an ask about stobin and the musical chess where I talk more) and that's the version he has.

Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy by Queen: tbh always sounded gay to me, and it's such a fun song, I think they'd vibe with it and agreed it's a silly little nod to steve's previous rep.

Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard by Paul Simon: GAY GAY VERY GAY SONG "it's against the law...what their mama saw/it was against the law" HMM also it's catchy and has so much potential to be an angsty queer ballad too. (also Robin's dad is 100% a Simon and Garfunkle stan that's just. a fact to me.)

I'm Coiming Out by Diana Ross: iconic song claimed by the gays. for the obvious reasons. bit on the nose but this is for THEM.

Sunshine (Go Away Today) by Jonathan Edwards: About not letting someone control your life. It's catchy and heartfelt, dreams about the future. Steve's Vecna Song for me.

You Can't Hurry Love by The Supremes: stobin are losers in the love department, and it's a great and hopeful song about not rushing into things. The Supremes Version because Robin is influenced by her former Hippie parents, and Steve by his Aunt Evelyn and her love of 50's and 60's music. They have appreciation for the Oldie Goldies.

Lady Marmalade by LaBelle: Disco baby. I also feel this was a song for us queer folk. maybe because I'm queer and I like it. it's great, and robin loves hearing women sing about having sex.

Holding Out for a Hero by Bonnie Tyler: throwback to the first song on the mixtape Steve gave Robin at the very beginning! now with the Upside Down between them it means more too. it's also SO FUN to belt in the car. frantic and with a good beat. I don't think I need to justify this one haha

Believe it or Not (theme from Greatest American Hero) by Joey Scarbury: Robin LOVES this stupid show about a cringe fail teacher with his cringe fail life getting a super suit from aliens and then losing the instruction manual. It just feels like a show she'd like even though it's so silly. The theme song is actually great tho. I think it'd really tickle the part of Robin that feels overly average and a bit trapped in Hawkins, but feels those confines lessen when she's with Steve and getting to feel like there's more out there for her. Personally, I first heard it on cassette of top 100 tv themes (along with MASH, Law and Order, Hawaii Five-oh, Andy Griffith etc) sitting in a booster seat in the front seat of my family's motor home on a long summer road trip in the early 2000's, as my dad drove and told me what show each song was from. (Steve buddy I understand your dream so much ok. There's nothing quite like being a kid and going on a roadtrip with your family. magical.)

Side B--The Besties side

You're My Best Friend by Queen: Love song for your best friend me thinks yes :)

Stuck With You by Huey Lewis and the News: the only anachronistic song on the playlist, but I couldn't NOT put it on. lavender marriage stobin REAL. They're stuck with each other :) also look at Steve. He is a guy who listens to Huey Lewis. We know this. He heard this song a year before it came out and was like robin :') it's us....I'm stuck with you...I'm so Happy about it :))

Stoned Soul Picnic by The 5th Dimension: Robin's parents are former hippies. This song is fantastic. Pure vibes. Steve and Robin are going to get rescue cats that are bonded together and name them Sassafras and Moonshine for this song.

Video Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles: Bop and a half. Sing along song.

Both Sides Now by Judy Collins: 1)gorgeous song originally by Joni Mitchel but this version is a bit faster 2) Robin's former Hippie parents influencing her taste strike AGAIN 3) she tries to convince Steve it's about being "queer like him" and he doesn't buy it but "I've looked at love from both sides now/.../I really don't know love at all" and "Oh, but now old friends they're acting strange/ And they shake their heads and they tell me that I've changed/ Well something's lost, but something's gained" hit different for him

Only the Good Die Young by Billy Joel: I chose this billy joel song because it's 1) catchy as all hell 2) about having sex 3) mentions dying and stobin are like We didn't die!! hell yeah! Steve's a pianist and tbh he loves billy joel. who doesn't. it was between this one and piano man i guess, tho i love many Billy Joel songs that are "deeper cuts" ha. and "I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints/the sinners are much more fun" line is like. what are they gonna do. not be an emotional queer teen about it?

Raspberry Beret by Prince: it's catchy, and whilst originally I had put La La Love You By Don McLean here, I like this one better. Robin is definitely a Prince fan. and a beret fan. happy coincidink. and its a fun song! about loosing your virginity to a hot girl in a barn!

Indiana Wants Me by R. Dean Taylor: okay originally I'll admit I put this on the masterplaylist because. obviously post-s4 Eddie running away angst song even if it's more folk-rock than metal. I think Steve and Robin would listen to it and really vibe with wanting to go home but not being able to. even if it's not literally. also they live in Indiana and like. you've gotta respect a song about where you live. ALSO the cop sounds in it. so good.

Born in the USA by Bruce Springsteen: a song? about being disillusioned with the American dream after seeing the institutional failures of the government??? very Steve. the whole album is great, and I know I've reblogged a post about Steve and the album (My Hometown hits different). It's angry, frustrated, passionate. Being queer in a small town where the government covers up it's human experimentation and alternate dimensions probably makes you feel a lot of things. All with the veneer of Americana.

Where Do You Go To (My Lovely) by Peter Starstedt: purely self indulgent of me. I adore this song. I think Steve heard it, and thought of Robin. The remembering, the deep knowledge of another person, the longing. When he told Robin that it's a song he always associates with her she tears up a bit, because it's so tender and loving, and a bit silly. Like. Steve knows she'll be amazing and can't comprehend anyone not seeing it. It's sooo tender.

Thank You for Being a Friend by Andrew Gold: Golden Girls didn't air their first episode until fall 1985, and obviously when it does Stobin are loyal viewers, (Steve is in love with Bea Arthur. as is right) but this song came out in the 70's. It's fun and cute and catchy! They love each other and are so, incomprehensibly grateful that they found each other.

[amazing-spiderling]

It was way too late to be my birthday... but we had a party anyway.

If I was to fail a personality test, it would probably be because my favorite movie is unironically the 1999 cult classic "Mystery Men" based VERY loosely on the comic of the same name. While I was aware of it when it came out, I was unable to see it until I snagged a copy out of a bargain bin in a K-Mart on a family vacation. It is an anomaly of a movie. A superhero movie before even Spider-Man had really made a mark. An all-star cast. An All Star soundtrack. No, really, the song All Star was written for this soundtrack. Captain Amazing was taking out bad guys in Neoprene before Ben Affleck was even approached to pull on the red suit. it made negative 87 billion dollars and was by all accounts a *terrible* film to work on, and the director never made another movie again. It is remarkable.

So when my friend said we should do a little something after Paul Reubens passed, I lost no time in putting together a little "not really my birthday anymore but I'll use it as an excuse" Mystery Men themed soiree. These were the results:

First of all, the menu. I love a theme party and coming up with fun food and drinks to serve. While there are a few specific foods featured in the movie, I decided instead to embrace the aesthetic of the setting while is like if a Cheesecake Factory was a city with a population of 3.5 million. I made pretty much everything from scratch, down to folding my own wontons and a lot of trial and error to make nori chips.

The spread! I have good friends so a lot of them helped me plate things as people started to arrive, helping to make sure the hot things stayed hot and the crispy things stayed crispy for serving.

My buddy is a trained baker, and makes specialty themed cakes as a side hustle. She's also a fan of the movie and was excited to try and tackle it as a theme- especially when she looked online and found zero (0) examples of Mystery Men themed cakes online. (Wonder why, haha.) She did an amazing version of Champion City around the sides with tons of detail, some All Star lyrics on top and even a nod to her favorite characters in the movie, the Disco Boys. The cake was yuzu flavored with fresh mango filling and super tasty! You can find her other cakes on Instagram @olive_bakes if you want to see some ADORABLE decorating jobs.

Keeping with theme, we had "Superhero Tryouts" and everyone had to come in costume as the most super version of themselves, complete with powers and origin story. We had several strong candidates, including:

Candy Cavity Crush: She uses her giant lollipop to knock people's teeth out… so they can eat more candy without fear of cavities

The Ranger: She discovered an alien crash site, since all of the aliens were dead she helped herself to their technology. She doesn't really know how to use it but that won't stop her. And she's pretty sure that when she powers up her bracelets she gets 20% stronger (with a 17% margin of error)

Unsexy M&M: Actually a supervillain with a single target, Tucker Carlson. (The application review committee considered her a hero by our standards.)

Star Soldier: He was abducted by an alien race to fight in their space war but during trading they deemed that he was too dangerous with a space blaster and equipped him only with his "star sword" before returning him to Earth. (He was only gone for about a week.)

Flamin' Hot: She received her powers at the Korean BBQ where she resides, has the power to overcook your meat. (The interview committee has considered pairing her up with a cannibal hero to better weaponize her powers)

The Zookeeper: More of a schtick than a superpower, he captures an imprisons animal themed superheroes on his home planet for the inhabitants to enjoy.

Cyber Wolf: With his sidekick "Rocket Dog", he has the ability to find just about anything on the internet… By accident. He would also like you to know that the correct pronunciation of GIF is "Jyeff"

The Real Commander Shepherd: To escape any conversation tree by using their favorite tagline. Also may or may not have left 20 rapidly breeding hamsters behind in my home

Tiger Claw: Born with his incredible tiger powers, like the ability to crawl on all fours (although it did require several months training). He is also capable of growing out his fingernails several tenths of a centimeter and using them to scratch anything. Remarkably everyone in his family was born with the same abilities.

Blood Skull: Formerly an accountant, he killed and drink the blood of his co-worker Jerry and discovered he could read the thoughts of any person at the time their blood was taken. (Generally those thoughts are, OW, which isn't actually that helpful, But the committee is potentially interested if he still has his license as a CPA)

Also these little guys who were automatically approved for membership on my super team. ^u^

(I forgot to snap a photo of myself, but I was also there, dressed as The Bowler, making me the only real hero qualified to review applications, haha.)

We watched the movie (with a pause midway for interviews, of course) ate a lot of food and had a good time. I'm really happy that I have friends who are not only willing to participate in my shenanigans, but embrace the silliness- I think it leads to a better time for us all. Looking forward to the next time we can all hang out like this. <3

[measuringbliss]

Spider-Man Read-Through 046: Night Fever (SSM 22-24)

MASTERPOST

In this post:

Hell yeah!

SSM #22 starts with Moon Knight failing to protect an informant and discovering that the Maggia may soon discover his secret identity.

Cue Peter Parker drawn by Mike Zeke.

He does the Monthly Aunt-May-in-Hospital mention (interconnectedness, woohoo!) and the bell rings. Betty's here! Remember how she left Ned, and Peter got kinda dumped by MJ? Well, they're off to the movies now!

Turns out Betty's already seen every big movie with Ned in Paris, so they go to a Chaplin festival.

Oh, I hate those faces. They look nothing like Peter and Betty have looked these past ~200 issues (not counting Team-Up). Why such harsh lines? They're in their 20-somethings!

By now, Flash and Sha-Shan are called regulars by the yellow box, which pleases me quite a bit. They seem to be doing just fine. Another regular is White Tiger, my beloved, who's angsting about the girl who won't date him because he's a super-hero. Yeah, we don't want another Gwen Stacy now, do we?

Anyway, thugs attack a coffee shop where Moon Knight (in his civilian identity) and Spidey cross paths, and we get a fun battle.

I love that kind of thing.

Of course, MK and SM have to fight, because talking isn't a free action in this world. And suddenly, someone storms in...

Literally. So we've got presumably French Moon Knight (and/or his acolyte, I don't know the lore and the way this is presented in this issues is confusing) and a French villain too. Yay, France?

On *another website*, readers are just as annoyed as me that Spidey keeps fighting potential allies before trying to talk to them. He makes the same mistake again and again!

In the letters, there's a very salty message I can't help but agree with.

Recent issues have been better about it at least, but it's telling that the "not enough Peter Parker" complaint has been held again and again. I do love White Tiger, and found Razorback fun enough.

Thankfully, for #23, Mike Esposito is back.

For what's worth, I like Cyclone for no other reason that I love his design. So I'm happy to see him!

Cyclone helpfully informs us that it's been a year since his first appearance in ASM #143 and #144! That's neat to know. He also kills someone on-page.

That's actually kind of surprising to see, and it does up the stakes. Anyway, he leaves, thinking he also killed the two heroes, and the latter finally talk. Spidey ends up going to Moon Knight's base.

Seems like our friend has been doing some work.

Meanwhile: we see a glipse of Hector's family, Holly's about to call him, MJ tries to call Peter but he doesn't answer and she goes to the disco with "Marty" (a proto-Paul?), and Betty also can't get a hold of Ned.

It's funny how in ASM, the Peter/Betty pair was recently quite outrageous, but then in SSM they dialed it back quite a bit. Just like the quick MJ appearance in a recent SSM issue, it seems like the writers are in conflict.

Anyway, SM and MK find a Maggia meeting and fight everyone.

What the heck.

Aside from (probably) Big M, everyone is taken care of.

As for #24...

Now, THIS is fun!

First page. We got the Monthly Aunt-May-in-Hospital mention, phew!

This issue starts with Peter being forced to fight thugs in a train. It's quite original, since he has to wait for a tunnel to obscure everything and use his powers.

Later...

So there's a lot to unpack here. First off, Mrs Muggins is much more friendly than in the past issues. Secondly, Peter mentions his "not so obvious" sex appeal and I have to laugh because COME ON. I don't know if it's a writer trying to rewrite history, or just Peter being clueless, but regardless, come oooooon...

This is also the first time in ages we see Harry, so that's also great. And Sha-Shan's part of the group, neat! By the way, where's Randy?

...Where IS Randy? For a few issues, a while back, it seemed like he was part of the group, but now? Who knows! Holly's here though. Without Hector, but still. But then... where's Gloria?!

Aaaah, they keep changing the cAAaaAaAaast!!!

Anyway, Peter says the place they're going to is fancy and he doesn't have a tuxedo, but Harry took care of that. Of course he'd know the measurements of his boyfriend!

Oh, they came out alright. I missed seeing the cast interact with each other, that's cool!

Elsewhere, the Maggia steals a big magnet or what not, but it's for the next SSM batch and I kind of don't care.

So this is kind of a disaster, but those interactions are delicious. See, when they try, Spider-Man can be really fun! Especially when Peter is dashing like that.

The Hypno-Hustler and his backup singers arrive on scene and hypnotize everybody, except for Peter, who quickly changes and beats him.

Anyway, in the reader's letters, someone is just as clueless as Peter:

"OUR Peter? Who really was never even very handsome?" who ARE you, Al Shroeder III?

I feel validated!

In the next SSM batch: more cloning! Can't wait.

[watching-pictures-move]

Movie Review | Jennifer's Body (Kusama, 2009)

I remember seeing this aggressively marketed during my last year of high school with a campaign that wanted to capitalize on Megan Fox’s popularity yet failed to distinguish this from any other horror movie being made at the time. To be perfectly honest, perhaps because Fox seemed to be pushed on us in a concerted effort with her Transformers movies, like the powers that be were dictating that this is the person we have to find hot now, I was maybe a bit put off by her at the time and ended up staying away. Now that she’s making DTV genre movies and no longer seems to be the “It�� girl, I’ve been able to overcome my anti-Fox prejudice and finally decided to check it out. I think I made the right call to wait, because I ended up enjoying it a good amount, which I suspect wouldn’t have been the case in 2009.

For one thing, this banks heavily on the viewer finding Fox attractive, so if you were put off by her at the time, it probably wouldn’t have entirely worked. If anything, with distance, one can appreciate that her casting is very much part of the movie’s satirical aims, as she represents the idea of a hot girl as much as she happens to be one. And to the movie’s credit, it does the legwork to sell you on her attractiveness. The gaze of this movie is arguably bisexual, training us to view Fox not just from the viewpoint of all the horny guys in town, but also her female best friend played by Amanda Seyfried. Fox seems to positively glow, even when she’s experiencing some version of vampiric withdrawal symptoms (that really just make her look gothy). And lest I chalk her role up just to stunt casting, I found Fox quite effective in the role. She’s effortlessly sexy, jaded and cruel, but also brings a nice physicality during the horror scenes. It’s interesting to think that she might have become a horror icon had this come earlier in her career, but that would likely undermine the movie’s satirical potency.

Now, you’re probably thinking that the characters played by Seyfried and Fox would not likely be friends in most cases, and the movie astutely fleshes out the imbalance in their friendship, that one is less important to the other but that some degree of codependency still exists. The dialogue by Diablo Cody on one hand is arguably a bit too written and too ready to wheel out uncharitable terms for other groups, but I think there’s an emotional truth to the dialogue. Teenagers say offensive things all the time, and think wittier than they are. This is the kind of dialogue they wish they could come up with.

Now I did just say that time has been kind to the movie (and its growing reputation seems to prove that), but a lot of its satirical power comes from its specific context. The movie is submerged in a Bush era atmosphere of performative, insincere mourning, with seemingly everybody in the town somehow in tears despite only loose connections to the instigating tragedy, characters being labeled as heroes despite a lack of heroic actions, 9/11 commemorative shots and benefit singles where a whopping 3% of royalties go to the impacted parties. If anything, this suffers a little from Paul Verhoeven syndrome, where the movie seems indistinguishable from the things it’s parodying, in this case, the kind of slick 2000s made for the multiplex horror movies that got no respect. (One of the movie’s few defenders at the time was Roger Ebert, who despite his notable aversion to horror, was always full of surprises.)

One last note: Chris Pratt appears in this for like a minute, and his casting plays like a joke on his future career. Another way in which time has been kind to this movie.

[adamwatchesmovies]

Sky High (2005)

If you’re making a movie about a high schooler torn between his friends and the popular clique, you’re not going to beat Mean Girls - so what can you do? Add an extra element to make it different. On their own, the high school and superhero elements of Sky High would be forgettable. Together, they make this the kind of movie you’d enjoy as a kid, fondly remember for years, revisit later on and be pleased to see that it holds up.

Will Stronghold (Michael Angarano) is the non-powered son of The Commander (Kurt Russell) and Jetstream (Kelly Preston), the world’s most popular superheroes. He hopes his first day at Sky High - a school for superheroes - will unlock his potential. Although he and his friends are relegated to the “Hero Support” (sidekick) department, he catches the eye of beautiful Gwen Grayson (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). When his powers finally manifest, he begins hanging out with Gwen and the popular crowd, just as Royal Pain - his parents' nemesis presumed dead for 16 years - reemerges.

You can probably see where this story is going. At the end of the day, the “cool kids” are not the people Will can depend upon; it’s his childhood friend Layla (Danielle Panabaker) who is secretly in love with him and can manipulate plants along, with the sidekick misfits: Ethan “Popsicle” Bank (Dee Jay Daniels) who can melt into a puddle of goo, Magenta Lewis (Kelly Vitz) who can turn into a guinea pig, and Zach Braun (Nicholas Braun) who glows in the dark. If Sky High deviated from the formula more, had richer characters, or took a few more chances, it would be a better film. The movie can tell us that sidekicks and heroes should be treated equally all it wants, but Puddle Kid won’t be saving the day anytime soon and the story fails to make him cool by showing him use his ability to crawl beneath doors to spy on people or combining his skills with smarts or martial arts. Similarly, it’s not like Will confronts his father and persuades him to apologize to Royal Pain for the anguish he made them feel while they were in school together; Royal Pain is just evil and needs to be dealt with the old-fashioned way. There’s another layer of depth and intelligence that could’ve been unlocked.

With that said, the movie has a good number of jokes and when the high school and superhero genre are blended, it works well. Bruce Campbell has a small role as Coach Boomer. He provides some big laughs as he puts the new recruits through trials and comments on their potential - or lack thereof. Equally funny are the scenes in “superhero support” class. The teacher, All-American Boy (Dave Foley) is so lame he deserves no respect. The dubiously useful skills he teaches are showcased in a couple of montages that prove this movie knows the superhero genre and has fun both referencing it and poking fun at a few aspects too.

Sky High is at its best when it’s making you laugh but the teenage drama stuff works fairly well too. In the cafeteria, Will has to contest with Warren Peace (Steven Strait) who holds a grudge against the Stronghold family for imprisoning his supervillain father. The story by Paul Hernandez, Bob Schooley & Mark McCorkle makes him more than just a bad guy. Not that the one-dimensional bullies (played by Will Harris and Jake Sandvig) are bad. Actually, they’re fun in a Bulk and Skull kind of way. I just wish the film blended its two genres more consistently in the second and third acts. There is substance in the scenes of Will and his father talking. His heroic abilities are our world's equivalent of being a star football player but the further we go on, the more detached from reality the characters and the story becomes. There are some twists along the way that make the conclusion quite a lot of fun, however.

While Sky High lacks originality, it uses its tried-and-true elements well. It’s good, family-friendly entertainment with a fair number of smartly written bits and some good character moments. (January 8, 2021)

[signor-signor]

I posted 70 times in 2022

40 posts created (57%)

30 posts reblogged (43%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@signor-signor

@mp-knight

@owner-of-wendys

@leahdolphin6190

@scrumptiouslyimpossiblecat

I tagged 59 of my posts in 2022

Only 16% of my posts had no tags

#wander over yonder - 48 posts

#savewoy - 18 posts

#kid cosmic - 16 posts

#woy season 3 - 15 posts

#star force enforcement force - 12 posts

#save wander over yonder - 10 posts

#predictions - 9 posts

#craig mccracken - 9 posts

#the powerpuff girls - 8 posts

#foster’s home for imaginary friends - 5 posts

Longest Tag: 35 characters

#foster’s home for imaginary friends

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

June 27, 2022.

Six years ago, The End of the Galaxy (the SECOND SEASON finale) premiered. We viewers were on the edges of our seats wondering what would happen to the main four and the rest of the inhabitants after Dominator seemingly laid waste to the galaxy. Of course, we found that Hater triumphed and put an end to her onslaught once and for all. He’s the hero in the eyes of those who joined in the fight against Dominator (and perhaps those who simply sat it out), but that’s not to say he had no intentions to conquer the galaxy afterwards like he and Peepers mentioned earlier. Plus, he still denies being Wander’s buddy, so his journey to becoming a full-fledged ex-villain like Major Threat is far from over. And who could ever forget the elephant in the room that is the downed space pod with green lightning and simian screeching in the end credits? This is clearly indicative of unfinished business. It’s enough to motivate me to take action and also to make me ask Disney time and again, “Are you sure 2 seasons are enough for this show?”

Three years after the show got kicked to the curb, Lord Hater already had it with more popular shows getting all the love and with the fact that the show from which he originated didn’t get enough love to compel Disney to give it a third and final season. So what did he do? He tried to escape with futile, yet humorous, results. Today, he has gotten more bitter every time a show that came after Wander Over Yonder exceeds two seasons. If he had one reason for letting the show get one more season, apart from getting the chance to conquer a galaxy of recovering planets, it would be so he could rub it in the faces of the other villains, especially Emperor Awesome, all of whom never appeared in the season finale. He’d be more than willing to give Disney’s higher ups a piece of his mind for giving shows like Star vs. the Forces of Evil, the Tangled series, revamped DuckTales, the Big Hero 6 series, Big City Greens, and the recently concluded Amphibia at least 3 seasons in the streaming era regardless of their premiere ratings and failing to do the same for WOY.

Let’s scope out what’s going on inside the DTVA vault, shall we?

For those who are completely unaware, Craig McCracken and his WOY crew made a pitch for S3 in early 2015 (around February, I think). Craig knew exactly what was planned, as did @suspendersofdisbelief, @benbalistreri, @owner-of-wendys, @atalkingmagpie, and more. They were excited about it and so were the bosses of DTVA and Disney XD. Apparently, the love WOY got from its fans, including me, just wasn’t enough to convince the “higher up bosses of bosses of bosses” there was a need for a third and final season, so they rebuffed it and decided to cancel the show one week before S2 premiered.

Furthermore, the new characters who make up Star Force Enforcement Force remained under proverbial wraps for years until Craig mentioned them when he talked about Earth Force Enforcement Force from S1 of Kid Cosmic. The team name and the number of characters (3) are known, but not their appearance, which is why I depicted them covered in sheets. You probably don’t know how long Hater’s wanted to do away with characters from popular/lucky shows, including Paul Rudish’s take on Mickey and his friends. Fortunately for those characters, SFEF are there to keep him in line while WOY is still incomplete. If there’s something I learned from being part of a fandom, it’s not right to blame popular shows for the misfortune of other shows. It’s not their fault.

The takeaway from my comic: Don’t attack other shows no matter how popular they are and be knowledgeable like Peepers (without the pessimism) and persistent like Hater (without the violence). Believe you me, Hater would not have violent tendencies if WOY had that third and final season. That, and Peepers would burn the book by Phan “Dizz” Gnee, We’re All E.A.R.S. (Executives Against Reviving Shows).

Also, here’s my portrayal of SFEF in case anyone missed it.

See the full post

41 notes - Posted June 27, 2022

#4

Wander fans will have to wait again because Craig is now revisiting two familiar shows at his alma mater. What he said earlier is true. Studios want pre-existing IPs. Still, even if he doesn’t return to Disney for WOY’s 10th anniversary, we fans will support his work all the same and we’ll have more time to keep sending the message to Disney until we get the answer to the 6-year-old question: What is S3 about?

More details here (the author foolishly misspelled Wander in this article, but you get the idea):

https://www.animationmagazine.net/tv/hanna-barbera-studios-rebooting-craig-mccracken-classics-the-powerpuff-girls-fosters-home-for-imaginary-friends/?fbclid=IwAR37iSNIRsu7v1Cq1Et6g7A0_Ruvgqn_q8EGGseZ7nKmNFhKlZYEueblxKU

47 notes - Posted July 18, 2022

#3

Welp, this is the week when Kid Cosmic returns and comes to an end on the same day.

To all you Wander fans out there, unless you have comments that have NOTHING to do with bringing back WOY, you’d best keep your mouths shut. We wouldn’t want anyone whose hearts are in the right place to be pelted by flaming sacks of can’t do-do, now would we?

If the finale has any Easter eggs like @owner-of-wendys said, we’ll just analyze them.

56 notes - Posted February 1, 2022

#2

*Please disregard this post*

As previously established, Kid Cosmic’s third and final season comes to Netflix this February on Thursday the 3rd.

Don’t think Craig McCracken will have WOY’s third season on his mind after KC is over, ‘cause the faith he had in the show’s return probably got pounded out of him in the past few years. It happened to Craig Bartlett and Genndy Tartakovsky, but look at what happened to Hey Arnold and Samurai Jack after years of negligence.

What I’m saying is, now that Craig is all done with Kid Cosmic (third and final season comes out on February 3rd), let’s take this opportunity to bombard Disney with politely-written letters and emails convincing them to let him work on that third and final season of Wander Over Yonder (or maybe just a TV movie) exclusive to Disney+ so he can finally wrap it up the way he and the crew intended.

Sure, he may already have recently pitched a number of projects to Netflix, but there’s probably a small likelihood that Disney will ask Netflix to borrow him for just a short while before the next Netflix project gets put into production, in which case it couldn’t hurt to send messages to Netflix. Besides, Wander’s 10th anniversary is next year, and since it takes 15 months to make an 11-minute cartoon, somewhere between February and May would be an excellent time to put the plans for S3 into effect.

This is where we make our stand and let Disney know there IS still a need for just a little more “sunshine banjo face.” After what this country and the rest of the world have been through in the past 22 months, we Wander fans deserve to know what happens after S2. One more season or TV movie is all we ask for. To see the show have its cliffhanger resolved. To let Craig reveal what he planned for S3. To get a sense of closure. That’s the gist of SaveWOY.

65 notes - Posted January 9, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

As of today:

The Powerpuff Girls: 100% complete

Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends: 100% complete

Wander Over Yonder: 70-75% complete

Kid Cosmic: 100% complete

162 notes - Posted February 3, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

How about that! Even numbers!

Now, you’re probably wondering why I keep talking about Wander Over Yonder. It’s still both underappreciated and incomplete story-wise. Also, if I gave up on talking about it, who will keep it from being pushed further into obscurity by overappreciated shows? Basically, Wander without Star Force Enforcement Force’s introduction or Lord Hater’s history is like Kid Cosmic without Papa G’s past, Fantos’s fate, or (spoiler alert) Mo’s Oasis Café becoming a hot spot for the visiting extraterrestrials. KC, by the way, won two Emmy awards - one for background design (kudos to @skulptduggery) and one for character design. Craig McCracken himself couldn’t be any prouder. I’d tag him for the character design part, but for some reason he stopped using Tumblr years ago.

This coming year will see not only Craig continuing to develop the revival of The Powerpuff Girls as well as a retooling of Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, but also the 10th anniversary of Wander Over Yonder (talk about a missed opportunity). To those of you fans who are still sticking around and those of you who gave up and moved on, I realize the SaveWOY campaign’s efforts have been nothing short of fruitless, but we don’t want the higher ups to think we stopped caring and we don’t want to give them the impression that WOY is better off stopped after two seasons, not while that cliffhanger is still unresolved. Still, I suppose it’ll take Craig about 2-3 years to finish his CN shows, and if that’s the case, we should have a shot at persuading Disney to let Craig finally end WOY his way. If that happens, we’ll probably have to find replacement voice actors for those over the age of 70, including June Squibb (Stella Starbella), who is a NONAGENARIAN. April Winchell and Tom Kenny are currently in their early 60s, but we don’t know how much longer they have to live, so time is of the essence.

This year, we must do what we can to acknowledge S3’s existence and make Disney and social media more aware. Remember, when the 10th anniversary comes up, go big or go home.

[mywifeleftme]

45: Félix Leclerc // ...et sa Guitare No. 3

Félix Leclerc et sa Guitare No. 3 Félix Leclerc 1959, Epic

Félix Leclerc was an iconic figure in Québec for the better part of four decades. Like a lot of folky, “regional” Québécois artists of the era he was a giant in his home province but received relatively little notice out of the francosphere. Among French artists, he is most comparable to a Georges Brassens. Among North Americans, while neither comparison is perfect, he is probably closer to a Woody Guthrie than a Pete Seeger, more noted for his original songs than as an interpreter of an existing folk tradition. He composed prolifically, not only as a songwriter but also as a poet, novelist, and playwright, and his work contributed significantly to a culture that was in the process of defining itself in opposition to both France and English Canada. Like Guthrie he was a leftist, aligned with the left-wing of the Québec separatist movement, and his frequently aphoristic prose leaves little doubt as to his opinions about the government in Ottawa and cultural critics who dismiss art oriented towards the working class.

Even as a young man, Leclerc had a gusty, grandfatherly voice—he was probably capable of delivering a really satisfying “ho ho ho” sort of a laugh. It’s easy to imagine him sitting on a stone bridge in a small village called Sainte-Hyacinthe-sur-les-Quatorze-Montagnes-des-Neiges or something, a troubadour narrating day-to-day life as he sees it. Seldom sexy but often soulful in an earthy sort of way, he had a feathered touch as a vocalist, crooning and sighing in the French chanson tradition.

He began recording in the 1950s, when singles were the principal outlet for pop musicians, so his LP discography is a mess of quickie compilations with a lot of overlap. On some early recordings, like his uncharacteristically cool debut “Le Train du Nord,” his producers made some primitive attempts to replicate the innovative delay effects being popularized by Les Paul, but within a few years he’d settled into the simple arrangements he’d rely on for the rest of his career: vocals and acoustic guitar out front, often supported by accordion, occasionally by clarinet or strings.

The disc I’ve got here is 1959’s Félix Leclerc et sa Guitare No. 3—confusingly, both …et sa Guitare No. 1 and No. 3 are typically listed as studio albums, whereas No. 2 is evidently a compilation. Comme mon français est exécrable, I asked francophone correspondent, friend-of-the-podcast and Leclerc fan Mea to give me a general idea of his affect (the earlier stone bridge description is hers). She described a stolid everyman, given to penning anecdotal fables with a clear moral in a tradition not far removed from the English murder ballad. He’s more matter-of-fact than theatrical, but not without wit (sample lyric: “If you think I love you, you’re stupid as a pigeon�� but if you left, I would die”).

While many Français de France (French-from-France) people feel a passionate cultural pride in someone like world-historic-sex-pervert/horny ashtray Serge Gainsbourg, it makes sense that someone with Leclerc’s specific characteristics, in his particular time and place, could come to embody something more fundamental to the people of Québec. On the cover of …et sa Guitare No. 3 he has the grin of a man being held at gunpoint, but from about 1960 onward he looks endearingly like someone who either does not know or does not give a shit that he is being photographed.

Squinting, rumpled, hair matted like he just woke up on a beach, old man Leclerc is not looking to impress, and for the most part the wider world failed to look past his apparent provincialism to see the major talent he was. But this is precisely what makes a folk hero: Félix Leclerc was for Québec and, in his time, Québec was for him alone.

45/365

[onihcinimkcin]

@benevolentvoid tagged me for a five songs i've been listening to meme and i started a response last night when i couldn't sleep because my head was killing me (and my GI tract was getting in on the act) so what better time? but didn't finish so here we are now:

Not sure there is a funnier/better couplet than

I gotta take a whiz test to my P.O./ I know I'll fail, 'cause I done smoked major weed, bro

Shearwater are great to begin with but I especially love their not-quite-covers. "White Waves" is their "Gimme Shelter" and this is their "Heroes." Probably I've said that before on here.

Based on their previous album I called Narrow Head "Great Value Hum" which still amuses me even though I don't expect anyone else to find it funny. The new album almost has more of a Deftones vibe, except that you can hear in the Deftones how much they love Depeche Mode and that's not apparent here…but I'll try not to hold that against these guys.

The "Kate" in question here is Kate Bush; this track is Sharrock's variations on the "Wuthering Heights" chorus. I've definitely posted this before and it's the first track on a playlist that after several years shows no signs of evolving into a true "mix[tape]" but which i listen to reasonably often, never on shuffle. The Luniz and Shearwater songs are also in that playlist.

Leave it to DJ Paul and Juicy J to take a break (pun not intended) from the god Willie Hutch to sample the synth bloops from the intro of the second-longest song on the mean-spirited Marvin Gaye double album about how much he hates his ex-wife for a song that—casual homophobia of Bun B's intro notwithstanding—is much less unwelcoming.

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no pressure but if you are reading this and i follow you i want to see your version so consider yourself tagged!