#and he has this like special status with lego?? if that makes sense

[noisycowboyglitter]

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[keepyourlife]

Do people in a relationship still write porn on ao3 and regularly stuff on tumblr or are they boring?

Didn't know you've been in a relationship, congrats! I don't do tax either by the way!

uuuh depends on the person, i guess. my boyfriend knows that i write, although i haven't given him any of my written stuff as of yet. i have been MIA on tumblr for a bit bc of work, my upcoming USA trip and bc of my rather fresh relationship.

thanks btw!! 💚 yea it's the guy i've been talking about on here for a while, we're together now. he's,, pretty mature for our age (i'm 21, he's 22). the whole story is a bit of a mess bc of my cluelessness & even more so if you know a thing or two about lego and their retail stores vs the affiliate program.

[olivarryprompts]

Fanfic Friday #6

Welcome to Fanfic Friday! Each Friday I will post a new fanfic here and on A03. Enjoy x

Read and save it on A03 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/32370130

{Peter Parker’s Field Trip to Stark Industries}

Ships: peppertony, wandanat, sambucky

Warnings: mild anxiety, swearing

Status: married or dating

Wc: 3,281

“-and so that wraps up this lesson. Your homework is to do this worksheet, please hand a sheet back to everyone. I have a quick announcement, and it is very exciting. Given that this is one of the most advanced classes we offer, the school has arranged for us to have a field trip!”

Peter refocused on the word field trip. He didn’t have a good track record for those.

“We will be going to Avenger’s Tower! This is a very exclusive opportunity and you all should be very excited-”

No, no, no, no, this couldn’t be happening to Peter. Not now. Oh god. He had a suspicion this was set up by his basically-father. He was going to kill Tony. His teacher went on to blabber about permission slips and NDAs.

“Class dismissed. Please hand your forms in tomorrow as the field trip is on Friday.”

FRIDAY? How could it be so soon. Peter wanted to die. He headed for the door, but was stopped in his tracks by Mr. Blaze calling his name.

“Yes?” he said, turning around. The class had mainly cleared out by now.

“Peter, you're a good kid, and I understand not being the most popular student in school, but we need to talk about the lie you made up about working at Stark Industries.”

“But the internship is re-”

“This field trip is a great opportunity, and I do not want your lies ruining it for yourself or your classmates. Please do not mention it whilst we are there, or there will be serious consequences.”

“It’s a real intern-”

“Please Peter. You should know better than this. See you tomorrow.”

He was tired and fed up of school when he headed into the hallways to see his best friend.

“Hey,” Ned said, meeting him in the hallway.

“Hey,” Peter replied weakly.

“What’s up? Something happened?”

“Nah, just that field trip.”

“Oh the one to Stark Tower! It’s going to be so fun!”

“Right..”

“You’re not excited? I know you work there and stuff, but still.”

“Hmn uh yeah. No it was more Mr. Blaze being a bitch,” he replied, half lying.

“Still thinks you're lying about the internship?”

“Unfortunately.”

“Wanna come over to mine? Build some lego?”

“Nah, got to be home. Too much work to catch up on with all the patrolling I’ve been doing.”

“Gotcha. Well, see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah, yeah see you.”

Peter walked to the carpark expecting to find Happy in his black SUV. He was, instead, met by Black Widow.

“Nat?”

“Hey spider boy.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Figured I’d pick ya up and bring you home. Had a second free.”

He jumped into the passenger seat of the jet black convertible.

“How was school паук?”

“Не очень хорошо,” he said easily slipping into Russian. (Not very good)

“Зачем? что-то случилось? (Why? Did something happen?”)

“Да. У нас есть производственная практика в Stark Industries. Что было бы не так уж и плохо, но мой глупый учитель не думает, что я действительно проходил там стажировку, поэтому он отругал меня. Плюс мое паучье чутье сегодня сильно пошло на убыль.” (Yes. We have a field trip to Stark Industries. Which wouldn't be so bad, but my stupid teacher doesn't think I really have an internship there, so he told me off. Plus my spider sense were going off so much today.)

“бедный ребенок. Я могу чем-нибудь помочь?” (Poor kid. Anything I can do to help?)

“Убить Tony за это? (Kill Tony for setting this up?”)

“Нет, детка. Сожалею." (No can do kiddo. Sorry.)

“Разве ты не можешь рассказать другим Мстителям? Особенно папа.” (Can you not tell the other Avengers? ‘Specially Dad.)

“Я не обещаю.” (I won’t, promise.)

"Спасибо.” (Thanks.)

They’d arrived at the tower. There was more to it than he was telling. Ever since he’d moved into the tower, he’d been his safe space. It was his and his families. And he knew it was supid because so many people used it, but still. It felt awful for people from his school to come there. Peter pulled his security card out of his bag, scanning it.

“Peter Parker-Stark, clearance level Alpha 5, all access. Hi baby boss,” Friday, the building's AI called out, “Shall I tell Mr. Stark you’re home?”

“Yeah sure. I’m going straight to my lab, though.”

“Okay sir. Morgan would also like to inform you that she is looking for you.”

“Send her down to the lab.”

“As you wish.”

He hopped in the lift and allowed Friday to take him to floor 89. It was his personal lab. Oren, he’d reprogram Karen, allowed him entry through the glass door.

“Hello Peter, welcome back. What would you like to work on?”

“I’m going to do some work on my web shooters. Play my “workin after school” playlist on, please.”

“Yes, sir.”

He worked peacefully on his shooters design and mechanics for about 30 minutes before Oren alerted him that Morgan was coming up.

“Morgan Stark is requesting entry.”

“Granted.”

The door opened and revealed his basically little sister.

“Hey Mo,” he said, picking up the little girl, “Who let you roam around all on your own?”

“Mummy sent me up,” she smiled.

Peter nodded.

“What are you working on Petey.”

“I’ll show you,” he said, placing Morgan on his work table. He’d quickly made sure there was nothing that could hurt her.

“Web shooters?” she guessed.

���Yep. See I wanted to make them even more efficient so I changed the gears and trigger mechanism.”

She nodded knowingly. She was very smart for her age.

“Nice! Can we build our robot?”

“Sure thing. Oren, pull up the files for Petey-Pie and Morgana’s Robot.” He’d let Morgan handle the name for their creation.

Peter went and grabbed the box that had all their pieces in it. Being careful around the young girl, they continued to work on building the robot, Peter teaching her little things on the way.

So he had a normal evening. Did some fun work, some homework, ate dinner with the lunatics called the avengers, and went to bed.

“If it isn’t my two favorite small children!” Tony said, entering his lab.

“Daddy!” Morgan said, running into her father’s arms.

“Oren, I thought I told you to lock Dad out.”

“Unfortunately your father runs the building, so I could not follow your wanted protocol.”

“Love you too kid.”

“You set up the field trip.”

“Field trip?”

“Yeah. My school’s coming here on Friday!” Peter said, looking up from his work.

“Really? Nope wasn’t me. It was likely someone from PR, kiddo. You do go to one of the best STEM schools in the country.”

Tony had a point.

“Right...sorry.”

“It’s good, kid. What’s got you so wound up about it?”

“Daddy, I’m going to Mummy.”

“Okay kiddo, Friday take little Potts to bigger Potts,” he said with a smile.

“Yes sir.”

Once Morgan left, Tony asked again, “So wanna talk about it?”

“Just, just this is home. My home. And I know that’s stupid because it’s a fuckin 100 floor tower, but I know it. I know it so well, and I just don’t really want kids from my school here. I know I can’t gatekeep a building bu-”

“Hey, hey, it’s not stupid. It makes sense. This place is home and you don’t want them messing with any part of it. I bet most kids in your class wouldn’t love it if people came into their home for a field trip.”

“Yeah. And i-its my safeplace. From everything.” Everything being all the people he lost. His parents and uncle and aunt.

“I get it. Want me to have Pep cancel the trip?”

“N-no, no. All the kids in my class were so excited.”

“Always so selfless,” Tony smiled, “When is it again?”

“Friday.”

“Kiddo, I promise it’ll be fine. If anything, anything happens just get Fri to call me or Pep. Most of the avengers will be around too so you can call ‘em too.”

“Yeah. Thanks. They’ll just try to embarrass me, though,” Peter laughed.

“They will. Do I need to sign something?”

“I’m just going to have Mum do it because her signature is less recognizable.”

“Yeah, okay. Your teachers still don’t believe you?”

“How did you know th-”

“Come on kid, I’m Tony Stark.”

Peter smiled, “Fair enough. Yeah they don’t. I mean they will after the trip.”

“Yeah, that’s the bright side.”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, I’ll leave you to it then. Don’t stay in here too late.”

The night before the field trip he was so nervous. He ended up eating dinner in his lab. Pepper complained but Tony just told her he’d had a long day and deserved a break.

He knew he should have gone to bed but as each hour passed, he got more and more anxious about the trip. He needed something to take his mind off it, so he just kept working and working. Suddenly it was seven in the morning and he needed a shower. Finishing his eighth coffee of the eve, he headed to the 91st floor where he stayed. Hoping that neither of his parents would notice his all nighter he crept into his room.

After getting ready for school, he made his way back out of his room.

“Morning,” Pepper greeted him, “How was last night?” She wore a knowing smile as she continued to tap on her computer, presumably doing work.

“Fine,” he smiled, “Don’t tell dad.”

“I won’t. You're turning into him, though.”

“What else was expected?”

Pepper just smiled, “Sam and Bucky had loads of pastry delivered to the main kitchen if you wanna pop in there.”

“Yeah, sounds good. Thanks.”

“By sweetie, have a good day at school.”

“Thanks. Love you.”

“Love you too, hun.”

Peter jumped in the lift taking him up two floores to the Avengers hang out space.

“Spiderling!” Sam and Bucky greeted

“Old Man, bird boy,” he smirked.

“You look like shit, паук,” Nat said from the sofa.

“Thanks,” he said, putting a few of the delicious looking treats onto his plate. He also grabbed himself another cup of coffee. He plops himself down next to Nat on the sofa.

“Did you not sleep again? You look like hell.” Tony said, entering the kitchen to get himself another cup of coffee.

“Right back at you dad.”

“Fair.”

Steve entered, coming back from his run.

“Hey,” he said, addressing the room, “God kid, you look like yo-”

“OKAY NEXT PERSON TO TELL ME I LOOK SHIT IS GETTING IT!”

“Oh sorry,” Steve said, rolling his eyes. Clint came in with Pietro at his side, “What’s this about Peter looking shit?”

“I hate you all,” he said, finishing his last bite. He laid down on the sofa.

“Oh ah kid, something I needed to tell you. Right, you can stay here. No need to go to school and back. Pepper wrote a note saying you’d meet at the school because you had a doctor's appointment or some shit.”

“Why is spider boy here?” Sam asked.

“School field trip.”

“Only you Parker,” the White Wolf laughed.

“No embarrassing me, please,” he begged.

“Hell no, this is a great opportunity,” Sam said, looking over to bucky.

“I won’t,” Nat said with her hands up.

“I’m in, team embarrass Peter,” Clint said, high fiving Bucky and Sam. At that moment, Wanda walked in heading straight for her girlfriend’s arms. Nat happily let her fall into her lap.”

“What’s wrong with you?” Nat asked with some level of concern.

“Everything,” Wanda said.

“Drama queen,” Pietro scoffed. Peter closed his eyes and let the conversation happen around him. At some point, Tony had left. Clint had gone off to train with the Dumb and Dumber, and Steve claimed he had a mission brief.

Friday’s voice startled him, “Peter, I recommend you head downstairs as your class is arriving in 5.”

“Five what?” Peter questioned.

“Four,” The AI continued.

“A LITTLE MORE WARNING WOULD BE NICE!”

Peter grabbed his shit and jumped into the private elevator as fast as he could. Luckily, he was in the lobby mere moments before the class entered. He pretended just to be standing around.

“Peter,” Mr. Blaze called, “Please come and join the class.”

Peter nodded, spotting his best friend amongst the crowd.

“Hey,” Ned greeted.

“‘Sup.”

“Good morning everyone,” said the tour guild, “My name is Tamiko Hiroki and I will be taking you on your tour today. To start, I will be giving you all badges. When I call your name please step up and collect it.”

She made her way through the basket and by the time she was done only one student had not received a badge.

“Hey, Peter didn’t get a badge,” Cindy Moon, a kind girl in his physics class, called.

“Apologies, there doesn’t seem to be one in here for a Peter.”

“Uh I-i, I have m-my own. Thanks Tamiko.”

“Oh okay, cool. Please follow me to security.” The class seemed shocked. Was the kid telling the truth about his internship?

“So, there are many different levels of pass here. Guests get Beta levels 1-5 depending on what they are doing. Then there’s Omega’s who are interns and such. Next is the scientist and important employees with Zeta. Finally there’s Alpha for major important roles such as department heads. The top level, Alpha 5, contains the most important people like the Avengers who live in the tower and CEO Pepper Pots.

“Tamiko Hiro, Clearance level Beta 5.”

“Don’t worry everyone, that's Friday, the AI who runs the building. Just keep passing through.”

“Philip Maiko, Clearance level Beta 1.”

“Michelle Jones, Clearance level Beta 1.”

Peter headed towards the back, allowing all the students to go in front of him. He prayed they didn’t hear his security protocol. The rest passed through with Beta 1. Then, Peter came up.

“Peter Parker-Stark, clearance level Alpha 5, all access. Hi baby boss,” Friday, the building's AI called out, “Shall I tell Mr. Stark you’re home early?”

“I’m on a field trip, Fri. No need to tell D-Mr. Stark. Thanks.”

The class, once again, looked shocked.

“Why does Penis Parker have all access?” Flash called to Tamiko.

“I do not believe I have clearance to disclose that information, but Peter here may answer,” Tamiko said, glaring at Flash.

“I mean I’ve said it before. I am a personal intern of-”

“PETEY!” Bucky yelled, giving him a hug from behind.

Deflated, he responded, “Hey Buck.”

“Is that all I get?

The two settled on one of the many sofas in the lab. Pete’s head in Tony’s lab.

“Sorry about that, Pepper explicitly told all tours to stay off this level, but it seems as though her assistant made an exception because she thought it was okay as you were on the tour. Pepper fired her.”

Only his mum, “She didn’t have to do that.”

“She was furious.”

“Oh I’m sure.”

“I know this is your safe space, so-”

“It’s okay. No one came in.”

“Yeah.”

“You feeling any better?”

“Just tired. Thanks.”

“Always kiddo. You wanna go upstairs? Take a nap?”

“Sure.”

[purplerose244]

My thoughts on Ninjago the Island!!! 🏝🏝🏝

So, gotta be honest... this is not a Blind reaction thing, I actually watched it in French first so I know most of the stuff already 😅 It's entertaining, it got great animation, but nothing more than that in my opinion 🤷‍♀️

Still there is stuff I liked or I want to point out, and finally I'm seeing the English version so I can actually understand what the HECK they are saying 🤩

Alright, nothing else to say, here we go!

UNCHARTED

I haven't actually seen anything Clutch Powers related before Ninjago, is he always like this? I love that he is a jerk honestly, just wondering 😂

Press F for respect for intern Dwaine (at least he seems to like being... used?)

Clutch: It's just a bunch of rocks! It's not alive!

Totem: I'm about to end this man's whole career

Wait, Misako is part of the explorers club? ... that would have come in handy in season 11 to get the scroll of Forbitten Spinjitzu from the club instead of begging uncle Powers for it... *sighs* I don't mind plot holes in Ninjago like most fans I think, but if you wanna make Misako relevant again at least pay attention to the details 😅

Wow, after the end of season 13 I would've thought Wu was going to go through a midlife crisis, not Misako 😂😂

Oww, everytime I hear I get 😢 Bless your soul Kirby, always in our hearts 🖤🖤🖤

Well hello Brian

Always nice to see you 😊

Twitchy Tim must have been pretty interesting to voice 🤔 I like him enough, he's fun and all, maybe not at the level of the characters we got last season

Okay, the place is called the STORM belt, there are LIGHTNINGS, and the sand of the beach is BLUE. Are we gonna address any of these similarities to our Bluebell here or not? 😅

Wait, Tim was giving a hot air balloon tour, does that mean other people where with him? What of them? Are they dead? Did he let them die on the island?... am I reading too much into this? Probably 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

Alright, the part of the boats? SO COOL 🤩🤩 I literally can't say anything bad about the animation at this point

Why did they think leaving Kai, Jay and Cole on one boat was going to be a good idea 😂 Also Zane just randomly doing sick tricks on his vehicle, love that nindroid

I'm guessing Nya is keeping her water abilities for her season 🤷‍♀️

Yep, yep, this is why the creators try to keep Pixal out of the adventures, with her everything is way too cool and easy to access to 😎😎

Twitchy Tim: There are statues that become alive!!

Lloyd:... so it's a season 2 stone army ripoff, we've seen worse

It's a cute episode overall 👍

THE KEEPERS OF THE AMULET

OKAY THE INTRO IS SO FREAKING COOL 🤩🤩🤩🤩

So Twitchy Tim has temporarily taken over Jay's role of spazzing out and complain about worse case scenarios... in another occasion they might have bonded over this, maybe 😂

Okay, survival position? MOOD

Nya: DRAGOOON 😱

Me: DRAGOOOOOOON 😍😍😍

Why am I not surprised that Jay was the one that named him Zippy? 💙 Also HE'S SO CUTE 💕💕💕 Love how in every adventure, we always get very different types of dragon in this show 👌 I'm a simple person, I see a dragon... 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩

Oh-oh, it's the "Lloyd's done with this crap"'s face

This means serious business... am I that used to LEGO characters that this way of crossing arms on the chest looks almost normal to me? 😅

Soooo, Master of the Mountain clearly gave Cole too much development... because now he got demoted to "the one who is always hungry" 🤦‍♀️ I'm all for Cole's endearing love for cakes, which is super relatable, but if you're gonna push it on his fun side, at least be coherent 🙃

Is it just me or it feels like the writing of this special was made by someone different from the one of season 13? Like, it's not bad, just less engaging and witty. For now. Maybe I'm being premature 🤷‍♀️

New way of nerfing powers, we got... weird, sucking power totem thingies... OKAY

My gosh I really can't say anything about the animation, look at that! It's all cinematic with such a light! YES!! 🤩

I'M SORRY

WHY ARE WE LOOKING OVER THIS??? IT LOOKS LIKE COLE'S LAVA PUNCHES BUT THEY ARE JAY LIGHTNING FEET??? IT'S A GREAT IDEA AND I WOULD LOVE TO SEE IT AGAIN??? WHY ARE WE IGNORING THIS??? 💙💙💙💙

So they at least addressed that lightning isn't a Jay's thing only anymore 😅

Alright, Jay having a mental breakdown because of a bridge because it always breaks, that's the Bluebell I know and love 😂😂 Nya telling him to keep moving was cute too 💙❤💙❤

Okay, I'm sorry but this really bothers me, what kind of lightning can instantly knock out the MASTER OF LIGHTNING??? Like, my gosh, really??? I hope they give us an explanation, like it's some sort of special lightning, because this really doesn't sit right with me. Jay is lightning proof, we've seen it in Skybound, we've seen it in Sons of Garmadon, I DON'T BELIEVE HE WOULD JUST BE KNOCKED OUT LIKE THAT 😡😡😡

Soooooo, storm amulet? Being one with the lightning? Is that the reason why Jay got to be the sacrifice? 😅

THE GIFT OF JAY

Alright, I am kinda looking forward for this one, what did Bluebell actually say or do to get him into trouble this time 😂😂

Oh, he just... introduced himself... well that was underwhelming

SENSEI👏YOU👏ARE👏A👏FREAKING👏GOD👏STOP👏GETTING👏KIDNAPPED👏BY👏RANDOM👏VILLAINS👏

Bring ooooon Lloyd Grills 💪

Okay I did like the little speech, definitely resonates with how Lloyd survived this long even though everything wanted him to give up, even his father... I'M NOT CRYING YOU'RE CRYING 😭

Jay out there making the real questions 😂

Awwww Edna used to call him gift of Jay? I can totally see it, so cute 💙💙 Makes even more sense if Libber actually left Jay at the Walkers' door...

Pff, Jay made the connection I would've done honestly 🤷‍♀️ Like, him being the master of lightning really didn't give these dudes any impression or inspiration? Any cool idea, full Road of El Dorado style? 🙃🙃

Lloyd out there abusing of the animation budget 💚💚💚

Somehow these ninja never actual sneak in, it's always a huge mess everyone knows about beforehand 😂 It's familiar though, I'm used to it and happy with it 👍

I might not be the biggest Misako fan, but you know what I am a fan of?

LEGO HUGS 😍😍😍😍😍

Dang it uncle Powers, you just got here to make a mess did you 😅

Not the first person of the fandom to say this, but Jay looks absolutely lovely with that flower crown 🌺🌺🌺

Oh poor greenie

Lloyd just has the worst luck 😓

Jay: Why would I be the gift?

Kai: Yeah who would want Jay?

Nya: Huh, me?? 😡

Got some very good Jaya for this little special, can't complain 💙❤💙❤

I mean, not matter how big of a snake Wojira might turn out to be, we've already seen the biggest and the second biggest snake of all so 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

Whoa, at last... IT WAS THE FIRST SPINJITZU MASTER THAT HAD SOMETHING HE SHOULD'VE TOLD WU A LONG TIME AGO!! 😱 Wu, you got pulled a Wu, how does it feel? 😂

Again, Jay freaking out, kinda my jam it's too funny 💙💙

Wow Kai way to be hominous offscreen 👏👏 I miss talking about my flame babe, this really isn't his time 🤷‍♀️

THE TOOTH OF WOJIRA

So when I first watched this I was genuinely, really excited about knowing the truth behind all this. It turned out very different from what I first thought, but at least in this case it's okay (besides I was pushing with the lightning meaning just to see Libber again 😅😅😅)

I feel like the guys get their powers stolen or blocked so much it takes them a minute to remember "Oh wait I can literally burn my way out" 🤷‍♀️

SPINJITZU YAY 🤩

I... forgot that Misako knows how to fight 😅 She knows how to do spinjitzu too if I remember correctly...

NYA BEING LIKE "OUT OF THE WAY IMMA SAVE MY BOYFRIEND AGAIN" ❤💙❤💙

Gotta love how they were all crazy worried about Jay, like, this is something that never changes through the show. They really care so so much for each other 💕💕💕

Ooohhhh, okay, so Wojira does seem to be the main villain of next season according to the story. I remember Tommy saying that we needed to have faith and this is probably why. The special was okay, nothing too much, and hopefully that too much we will see in Nya's season 😍😍😍

What the- pff, I didn't notice this the first time 😂

At this point I can't tell if that one short with the chicken of the movie carried a hate or a love for chickens in the actual show 😂😂

Nice to see Jay standing up for himself at least for a little while 💪 Also Lloyd being "He's our trouble", aww family 💜

THERE IT IS

MY BRUISE HEART IS SOARING 🖤💙🖤💙

Gotta give props to the voice actors, voicing an explanation while fighting must be pretty hard! WE ARE BLESSED WITH AN AMAZING CAST!!! 🤩🤩🤩

And there he is, our favorite jerk... shaved Ronin 😂 He does look a little weird, but it's fair, new animation and all. Not the weirdest until now 🤷‍♀️

I genuinely had to make a mental check to see where we are with Ronin now, like, he started as a villain, then a partner, he betrayed us, became an ally, he hunted the ninja, then joined them, that timeline was erased, he was around in SoG and... wow this man is chaotic 😂😂

Yaaaay, Twitchy's last minute redemption act! Lloyd is too good at motivational speeches 👏👏

A bit of Lava OTP/BrOTP

Cause it's good for the heart ❤🖤❤🖤

Okay, Scooby doo reference, why not? Also honestly, I'm confident Ronin has seen A LOT of jails and prisons... probably won't stay behind bars for long 😅

Mammatus: sorry for imprisoning you and almost killing your friend

Kai: no biggie, that's how we make friends in this show

Alright the "And Clutch Powers" gag made me chuckle 😂 ... wait where is he- DANG IT UNCLE POWERS

Okay, this is the last time I say it I promise, but I mean. I MEAN

THE ANIMATION GUYS 😍😍😍

Aaaaand sensei you jinxed it 😅 But you apparently awakened Nya's season so I'm gonna forgive you on this one 😉

FINAL THOUGHTS

There are a few little details that bothered me a little, and it wasn't as exciting as I maybe hoped it was going to be, but it was fine. Enjoyable still. These characters make me like the show, even when it got nothing too impactful 🤷‍♀️

But I got triggered about that lightning thing with Jay 😅 I guess I'll just fanfic whatever I had in mind...

Don't have to repeat myself about the animation *chef's kiss*

The writing was really less engaging, a little normal in a way? Idk just a feeling. Nice to see Ronin again though, I really like him. And nice to see Jay freaking out, I really like that too 😂

To be honest I wanted to put down my thoughts on this one because I REALLY wanna do the same with Nya's season 🤩🤩 I already know that Maya is gonna be there and I am so HAPPY already!!! 💙💙💙

So that's it from me! Thank you for reading me ranting, see you next season! 😊

[ohgodmyeyes]

hi! I was curious as to what are both your fav and least fav versions of anakin? (like aotc, rots, old force ghost, clone wars, etc)

This is such an exciting question, but I'll try to be succinct instead of long-winded and boring. (My stories are already there for that.) Here's a quick rundown of a few different Anakins, from my most treasured to the one (and only one) I tend to side-eye: 

ROTJ Anakin / Force Ghost Anakin - I'm grouping these guys together, because I love them all for the same reason, and that reason is that they DID it. ROTJ Anakin is the Anakin who finds himself again; who takes responsibility for his family, and a huge step toward atoning for the things he's done. He spends ROTJ slowly changing; we see it in how he regards the Emperor, and the way he regards Luke. The closest thing he’s ever going to do to getting his wife back, realistically, is saving his son and finally openly defying Palpatine. It doesn’t matter that anyone else knows Vader has been rescued from himself, or that he was really a good man all along. Luke knows, and that’s enough; it’s part of why their relationship is so special to me. Luke is the only living person who says a proper goodbye to Anakin: He knew all along that it was worth it to try to know him. That’s beautiful.

His journey isn't finished at this stage, exactly, but his he's in a better place than he's ever been, and I love him for it. He's hope personified, even for the very worst of us.

As an aside— physicality isn't a barrier to any of this; I love him all busted up and dying, I love him as a fully-healed Sebastian Shaw, and as a pretty, young Hayden Christensen.

Padawan Anakin / AOTC Anakin / Jedi Quest Anakin - In second place is a much younger iteration of him— a sad, lonely kid who's easily excitable, and dangerous, somehow, without being at all frightening. He's a mixed-up kid who's had a less-than-ideal upbringing, bound to an ancient prophecy no one knows enough about. He cries out constantly to be held and loved; he's got his heart in his hand, and he's always ready to give it away to the next person who shows him kindness— or who even just needs him. 

He's still so compassionate and well-intentioned at this point in his life, even when it doesn't benefit him. He can be petty and sensitive, although anyone would be, if they had to bear the kind of weight Anakin carries on his own shoulders at that age. His emotions sometimes run amok, but his heart is still so good... and more importantly than that, he knows it. He still has hope, for himself and for others, despite the overwhelming sense of 'otherness' he tends to feel. That's what sets him apart from Vader for me, even though I think AOTC Ani resembles the ultimate, 'suited' Darth Vader a lot more than the Anakin we meet at the beginning of ROTS. 

Plus— although this is fairly irrelevant— AOTC Anakin happens to be Anakin at peak hotness. No damn wig is going to change that, nor is the sad fact of my own rapidly-advancing age. :) 

Little Kid Anakin / TPM Anakin - The sweet baby version of Anakin comes in next for me. The altruism he struggles to hang onto until he finally falls is front-and-centre at this stage. He's tough by necessity (obviously, he's a fucking slave), but he isn't jaded yet— largely owing to his mother. Even when he loses Qui-Gon and gets to the Temple and struggles to integrate, his heart just stays enormous. God knows what he's already been through, but he never stops trying, and there's nothing fake about his confidence at this stage in his life. I love that; I think we could all stand to be a bit more like nine-year-old Anakin Skywalker.

There's an Anakin & Reader story on ao3 by @itohan called 'Kuebiko', and it's a beautiful depiction of what it might be like to be a caregiver for a very young Anakin. It's headed for some pretty sad places, to be sure, but there's a lot of sweetness and lovely (sometimes chilling) little insights into his character that I don't otherwise get to see very often. Anyone else with a soft spot for child Ani should go and read it.

'Classic' Vader, between the end of ROTS and the end of ANH - This is an enormous chunk of time, but again, I think it's more helpful than not if I just group these iterations of him together, at least for the purpose of compiling this list. It's horrific and tragic and a devastating waste of potential, but Anakin really does spend a huge amount of time mired in a thick, dark cloud of grief and anger. He convinces himself of a lot of stupid shit during this period in his life: 'Anakin is dead, I'm fulfilling my destiny, I can get Padmé back, she'd love all this ORDER I'm bringing, blah blah blah'. Every ounce of his extraordinary control is purely surface-level; he's a raging wildfire inside for a longer period of time than I think nearly anyone else could realistically sustain (as in, Kylo Ren was always going to die at 30, and I'm surprised I didn't, too lol).

He's empowered by his shitstain of a 'Master' to hurt and kill people against everything that once made him who he was, and no one can know he suffers for it (or for the loss of his wife, or the family he wishes he could have raised with her). No one can know anything about him; he's a man playing a part who can't ever take off his costume. Everything hurts him, and the only places he can turn to for comfort are the battlefield, and the inside of his own head. He has profound disabilities of every imaginable nature, and receives no more than the most cursory physical maintenance to remedy them. He escapes into his missions, but every one of those is a slight against his own better nature. His personal pursuits don't benefit him either; for basically twenty years of his life, he's living in an emotional storm— it ebbs and flows, but it never lets up, and his entire existence is set up specifically to reward the most despicable of his behaviour.

He doesn't make very many genuine emotional breakthroughs, because he's not allowed— just tricked and lied to and manipulated and taken advantage of, even when he's the one ostensibly in 'control'. His life only starts again when Luke comes into it; again, one more reason their connection is so special to me.

I'm going to go ahead and recommend another Anakin/Reader story by a different author; it's called 'mrfiveohone' by DarthDoritos, and it's on ao3. It's a brilliant exploration of what a strange, budding relationship with a youngish Vader might look like, and just an overall beautiful portrait of escalating intimacy on top of that. Another one I would highly recommend (completion status notwithstanding) is called 'Afterimage', and it is by garnettrees, also on ao3. It's a very dark Vaderdala story that gets right inside Anakin's head in the most wonderful ways. He never stops loving Padmé, and in that, he never truly stops being who he is. 

This is the Vader I (admittedly somewhat dramatically) see the most of myself in. It puts us at-odds sometimes, but my urge to get up underneath that mask and make him feel worthy of his own name is insurmountable. I love him because if I didn't, I'd be in trouble. 

Which brings us to TCW Anakin… who is, perhaps, the only version of Anakin I can honestly say I don't care for. Which is fine, because the show itself really isn't my kind of thing. Suffice to say, that particular depiction of him departs so dramatically from any of the other ones I've known (or listed here) that I just can't get into it, no matter how hard I try. 

I'm going to end this with a shout-out to Lego Anakin! I've never seen a shitty version of Lego Anakin, whether in a cartoon or on my desk at home. :)

Thank you for asking, anon. That was fun to write out!

[signor-signor]

Trending 27th - January 2020

What have been your efforts in the campaign for SaveWOY and what are your upcoming plans to save WOY? Now this is a question worth answering!

In the past, I made a little list of the things I did to support SaveWOY and bring awareness to Wander Over Yonder’s existence and its third season plans. Since then, I’ve done a whole lot more from hand-drawn art to more intricate art. Some of them are almost as special as that signed poster @peepsqueak got from the WOY crew as a token of their gratitude.

Here’s an updated list of everything I did for SaveWOY so far:

Attended the SaveWOY picnic at Griffith Park, where I got to sign a banner.

Pointed out various higher-ups involved in the business of Disney television.

Sent several letters to the higher-ups, some of which had envelopes with an image of the downed space pod taped to them.

Started a weekly Twitter post series, SaveWOY Thought of the Week.

Made Lite-Brite art of Wander and Lord Hater, which Craig McCracken and Francisco Angones liked.

Attended D23 2017 with an Operation: FORCE drawing of Hater, a colored page of Wander and Sylvia and a few facts about WOY, and an orange pen with a green hat (I got the hat from the aforementioned picnic) - there, I signed a bench with Wander and the phrase, “Never hurts to help.”

Signed my name, drew Wander (and my own character, Jacken DeBox), and wrote, “Happiest place in outer space!” on the highest beam for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.

Wrote a letter (and drew Wander) for the victims of the Las Vegas tragedy with the message, “The darkest times call for the sunniest smiles!”

Got Craig to reveal the name of the ship (said to play a BIG part in S3, made a cameo in Future-Worm) when I commented that we’d have to figure out the name - his response: “The ship is called The Star Nomad.”

Wrote a couple of cards to two Disney higher-ups with the message, “A little nice makes naughty think twice!”

Drew Dominator in a situation that might take place several seconds after she passes the downed space pod, just in time for Noël Wells’s B-day.

Made the Star Nomad with LEGO Digital Designer.

Made three images in the style of the original Star Wars trilogy VHS set.

Posted 50 WOYS3PredictionPolls on Twitter.

Made an image of “The First 5 Years” with over 140 individuals (including the question marks for 3 new mains and 2 new regulars - I still want to know what they look like!) and one cleverly made Hidden Mickey.

Shared WOY-related images from my 1st 5 Years fan art on Twitter acknowledging the B-days of most of the voice actors (Charlie Adler, Kevin Michael Richardson, Ken Marino, Josh Sussman, H. Michael Croner, James Adomian, Jason Ritter, and Piotr Michael clearly noticed).

Typed a summary of how I think the S3 premiere would go.

Typed lyrics to “Let’s Go Soarin’ and Explorin’,” a song from my aforementioned S3 premiere summary. Wouldn’t it be great if Andy Bean used it?

Made a microgame with WarioWare: D.I.Y. where the player has to spin the fan to make the Star Nomad fly. Part of a chorus from “Let’s Go Soarin’ and Explorin’” included.

Started FanCharacterFriday on Twitter - more Tumblr users seem to like Dr. Otmar Vunderbar.

Made a short comic page of Lord Hater trying to break out of the DTVA vault plus a sly reminder that Disney owns the rights to WOY.

Shared a list of potential episode titles for S3.

Made an actual LEGO Star Nomad based on the model made with LDD. Hopefully, those who worked on WOY have noticed. In case you missed it, here’s a picture...

Now, the ideas I have in mind for further boosting support for the campaign. I may not be able to do most of them myself, but they are certainly for everyone’s consideration.

Provide updated information of higher-ups (if any).

As soon as we find out what Kid Cosmic looks like, expect fan art of him saying, “Watch my show and tell your friends so we’ll make that Mousey Company pay for what they did to my half-brother!”

Another SaveWOY picnic - if there’s one in my general area, you can count me in.

LP album artwork of My Fair Hatey.

A mural identical to that of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate consisting of not just characters from WOY, but also characters who were said to debut in S3 and characters who’d fit in perfectly, namely some of my OCs.

Pumpkin stencils of the main characters for Halloween.

Drawings of various WOY characters stuck on the ex-secret planet explaining why they need to leave said planet. Maybe I could also show how the galaxy’s villains would react if they learn that Lord Dominator’s been bested by Lord Hater.

Drawings consisting of SaveWOY-related messages spoken by the main characters from Disney shows that got at least three seasons (e.g. DuckTales, Fish Hooks), tons of love from the viewers and the executives (e.g. Gravity Falls), or both (e.g. SvtFoE, Mickey Mouse ‘13).

Example with Phineas and Ferb:

Phineas: “We may be creative and famous, but we’re not the ones who came up with the Star Nomad. It’s the ship powered by orbbles! Orbbles! I’d LOVE to see it take flight, wouldn’t you? If you let Mr. McCracken end the show his way, and not the executive way, which, truth be told, is the absolute worst, Wander will surely be elated!”

Ferb: “The Orbble Transporter was invented by conjoined twin brothers, voiced by the performers of the theme song.”

Irving (peeking in from the side): “Speaking of voices, the titular main character sounds JUST LIKE ME! How could you possibly resist?! And look, just because I’m the biggest fan of these guys (gesturing to P&F) doesn’t mean I have no interest in what’s planned for the furry orange fella!”

Since I’m a full-time Disneyland cast member, I should be able to make contacts with anyone who might have more clues about what S3 would entail. It might be a long shot, but if I’m able to convince Disney that WOY’s influence on my life boosted my chance at gaining employment at the company, they should understand.

A weekly Jeopardy-type pop quiz on Twitter - here’s the catch: you must refrain from finding information online when you read the answer (I bet you that the most hardcore fans of the most popular shows will get most of the questions wrong).

Example: This arachnomorph got his name from a dog tag he swallowed when he infiltrated a fish-shaped ship. He later became Lord Hater’s beloved pet.

-Who is Captain Tim?

Summaries of S3 episodes I made up myself a while back.

More fan-made characters - my most recent is an elected official of Cluckon, Mayor Spye C. Drumstick.

Conjuring a logo that best fits the status of S3/TV movie - Wander Over Yonder: The New Galaxy (the center would have the silhouette of the Star Nomad with Wander and Sylvia on it).

Brainstorming possible ideas for the three new main characters.

If all else fails, I suggest we make a web comic based on the hints we accumulated back in 2016 and what we learned from the cameo in Future-Worm’s finale. Team Sea3on has been taking that approach for SatAM Sonic the Hedgehog S3, though they are also making an animated version.

That’s about all I’ve got so far. In closing, I have several questions to ask as the new decade kicks off.

Disney executives: Are you even listening to us WOY fans? What more do you want? I’ve done so much for the campaign that I feel I’m entitled to know everything that was planned for WOY’s third and final season, especially now that I’m working full-time for your company. If you tell us what your demands are, we’d be happy to oblige.

@crackmccraigen: Are you aware of how hard the fans and I have been trying to talk Disney into giving you the chance for true closure? We’ll make sure we watch KC when it comes out on Netflix. If we’re lucky, we might see WOY get added to Disney+, where it should get that closure, assuming you’ll have finished KC your way before then.

@suspendersofdisbelief: I know you’re super busy with DuckTales and you love the plans for WOY S3 so much that you can’t bear to reveal it all in one post, but it’s been waaaay too long since we got any hints from you. Are there any other WOY S3-related facts you could describe in much greater detail? The campaign could do with more motivation.

Non-WOY fans: Are you convinced? Need I remind you what’s in the end tag of the “last” episode of WOY? You know there’s much more to life than tales from the land of Ooo, a blue middle school cat boy in a world of unusual individuals, adolescent twins in an Oregon town filled with oddities, a half-gem half-human protagonist, a coming-of-age princess of Mewni, a trio of ursine trend-followers in San Francisco, and all that jazz. If you’re not one bit interested in Hater’s origin story and all that was planned for S3, it’s your loss.

Pessimists: Will you please dispense with this unnerving “Wander is dead” talk? As a certain Popeye would say, “That’s all I can stands, I can’t stands no more!” You’re not trying to let the Disney bosses win, are you? You probably used to think previously canceled shows like Hey Arnold!, Samurai Jack, and Young Justice could never be brought back. The point is, all is not lost.

@peepsqueak and WOY fans/SaveWOY supporters: Have I been of assistance? Almost every remark I’ve ever made shows wit and perception. I mean, just think. Wander is still stuck in that vault where his goal of reforming Lord Hater remains incomplete, and he has no idea of what threat awaits him. He says, “Glorn, help us.” It’ll take something big and extraordinary to convince every Disney fan (and perhaps every Netflix fan) to talk some sense into the higher-ups. Not to mention the replacement/back-up voice actors we’ll have to find if Disney takes even longer (we already lost one - René Auberjonois). We shan’t rest until we get the answers!

@disneyanimation

[plush-anon]

tejoxys

I finally saw the Endgame spoilers clip

*rubbing my grubby little hands together bc I love a good roast*

Welp, if it’s a roast you want, a roast you shall receive!

(Note: I think I spoke vaguely enough about everything big in the Clips below NOT to warrant an outright Spoilers tag, so I’m leaving it with just an Endgame Leaks tag and a ‘Read More’ line. Message me if you’ve a.) seen the Clips/gone scrolling for more info in the Spoilers tag and b.) think it’s more spoilery than I try to vague it to be, and I’ll tag it post haste)

Christ Almighty, the Clips just make everything look like an enormous MESS.

Thor looks just... awful. In every scene. LITERALLY EVERY SCENE HE’S IN IN THESE SPOILERIFIC CLIPS, HE LOOKS TERRIBLE. There isn’t a single one where he doesn’t look like a mess. Everyone else gets a glow-up (new hair, tattoos, freshly shaved) and looks put together in general (which is admittedly baffling - really, EVERYONE looks good in the face of mass genocide and failure to stop it from occurring?) but Thor decided to whip out his Big Lebowski cosplay at their big ‘save the world’ get-together... why??? (seriously Thor, was a shower too much to ask for?)

Now, if we’d had ANY inclination that anyone else looked rough aside from Tony and Nebula a la the stuck-in-space teaser trailers we saw originally, that would be one thing. Everyone there lost a loved one, everyone there has probably had to come to terms with the fact that they FAILED TO STOP THANOS when they were all right freakin’ there! NO ONE SHOULD LOOK 100% OKAY HERE. Show me dishevelment, poor coping mechanisms, show them having to struggle for weeks (maybe even MONTHS) after the events.

But nope! They are ALL in perfect health according to the trailers we’ve seen before. Even Tony, after nearly dying in space multiple times, just takes a bath and appears to be in fine health after getting back (with some bags under the eyes). Everyone’s perfectly fine, except for Thor (and maaaaaybe Hawkeye, who looks to have gone full-on Frank Miller Batman in his quest for vengeance, but still had time to get a mullet and some sweet sleeve tats in between!).

Nice.

This is a MASSIVE problem with the MCU as a whole, and has been for a while: their repeated attempts to gloss over and sweep consequences of mental trauma and illness away under the rug until it suits them for plot convenience or for comedy. You see this in the Thor sequels a LOT (Selvig being institutionalized for comedy after being possessed, Loki being kept in literal solitary confinement for roughly 2 years, Valkyrie’s PTSD and alcoholism played for laughs, mocking Loki’s suicide attempt from Thor 1 and the actual death he survived in Thor 2, ALL of Odin’s outright dickishness as a parent a la narcissistic parenting, Hela being imprisoned in isolation for literal CENTURIES), as well as anything to do with Tony Stark and his thought process (everything he does is pretty much as a result of the trauma he endures, and everyone in the Avengers just??? doesn’t recognize it??? and attacks him for it without going ‘hey, maybe he’s got PTSD’ or something???? what the hell, man). GOTG does a MUCH better job of it with Rocket and Nebula, but Mantis is left woefully unrealized (thought they do touch upon it briefly, and handle it with relative seriousness). 

Either way, Thor concerns me a LOT, because he is the king of a very small group of Asgardian refugees (and given the scene that shows in the Clips, as well as the appearance of another Thor character later on, we KNOW there were multiple survivors), trying to find a new life on Midgard in the face of not one, not two, but THREE fcuking tragedies - the destruction of Asgard, Thanos’ attack on their ship, and the Snap. Why is he the way he is, in the location he’s in (which actually appears to be the apartment from Team Thor’s mockumentary)? He is the only semblance of leadership left for these people who have lost everything and he’s Like That. Where is a Thor stressed and fretting over being fully responsible for once in his life over the lives of his people, over what little remains of his kingdom? Where is a Thor struggling with guilt as he tries to build a new life for his people, struggling with rule and politics and trade? WHERE IS HE??? Bc right now, all I see is Chris Hemsworth auditioning for the remake of The Big Lebowski, having wandered onto the Avengers set instead of his audition location by mistake -_-

The scenes with Steve leave me absolutely baffled (and some of them just ooze cheese, and not in a great way), because how in the fcuk do we get to those?? His scenes feel the most disjointed here, bc they all have a similar vibe to his personality in Whedon’s Avenger movies. Kind of the ‘Boy Scout’ presentation, which is particularly odd in the aftermath of the Russo Fools’ two Cap movies and Infinity Fcuk Up, which made him more serious, less - bright? I can’t think of a good word for it rn. This is particularly highlighted in his big ‘save the world’ speech we hear - it feels kind of like an ‘okay team, time to save the world!’ speech, instead of something more serious. Is it to try to bring everyone’s hopes up? What else is missing here that we’re not seeing? Why does he feel like he’s back to this persona in light of all that’s happened? Is it to highlight how good and awesome he is in order to {SPOILER REDACTED} like we see in that final sequence? (Also, the imagery for SPOILER REDACTED, while meant to be badass and awesome, feels... kind of awkward, IMHO. Which is weird, bc I thought it would be more amazing and awesome. IDK, maybe I’m just super jaded with the MCU by now).

Carol Danvers’ scenes are actually pretty on point. She gets to be a badass in her fighting scenes and gets an awesome new look that pretty much only functions to further cement her Lesbian Status. The only way she would be more obviously a Lesbian is if her suit were in the colors of (one of) the Lesbian Pride flags and a Cyndi Lauper song was playing in the background (or maybe Joan Jett).

Hulk/Bruce Banner... I don’t even know how they’re going to swing this. Like, at all. I’m particularly baffled bc given how some of the scenes appear to be set early in the film, it resolves extremely quickly to get to that point, and after all the drama of Hulk not coming out in Infinity Fcuk Up, I just - who the fcuk knows at this point. Also, that one scene with the {SPOILER REDACTED} could be effective depending on how they set it up, but then... why exactly is he the one in the scene with the {SPOILER REDACTED} and not Carol or Thor, due to Obvious Plot Reasons?

Finally, Peter Parker. He’s adorable in his scenes, ‘nuff said.

Now, after seeing these scenes, I am left EXTREMELY CONCERNED for this movie’s tone. Granted, it was only 5 minutes of footage for a 3 hour movie. Quite clearly, there is a LOT we aren’t seeing. All the same though, it feels extremely disjointed. I know they’re trying to pull away from the dark and grim ending of Infinity War, but these clips make it all feel a little too casual, a little too ‘let’s go beat the bad guy!’ as opposed to ‘we have suffered a great failure and a great tragedy - as heroes, we MUST work to undo this for the sake of those we have lost, and everyone left alive who has lost the people they loved’. Idk, that may just be me on this one.

But you know the worst part of all of THIS? The worst part is that this is probably what we’re going to get on the release date. This isn’t a trailer Marvel released with deleted live-action scenes featuring minimal to no CGI, or sections clumsily edited over with explosion effects - this was a slew of scenes with a TON of special effects fully rendered in painstaking detail, recorded with a phone on its side in what looks like a movie theater, with foreign subtitles on the screen (I honestly don’t recognize the alphabet, but it might be Middle Eastern). That CGI is expensive and time-consuming as all hell to do, and considering how many of these scenes had it? Either they wasted a shit-ton of money on scenes they didn’t use (seriously, a number of them have Rocket in them, or Hulk - those aren’t the easiest characters to render, I would imagine), or these are in the movie, end of story.

Not to mention, TPTB clamped down on these Clips HARD - like, IMMEDIATELY - as opposed to the process behind deleting Reddit comments. The fast and heavy response from Marvel and the Russo Fools, COMPLETE WITH OFFICIAL TWEET LETTER, along with a Chris Evans tweet not to Spoil the Shit, was to chastise the ones who did (which is somewhat warranted here, given how extreme the security on leaks for Endgame have been).

This response, combined with the quality of the clips, and some of the plot threads that actually seem to be mentioned/referenced in the Lego sets, leads me to believe it’s real.

And I’m not really impressed.

On the flipside, I’m actually kind of relieved, knowing what I’m going into when I walk into the theater opening weekend. I’m not going to be completely shocked and horrified by what I see. This works well in breaking the ice, and also eases some of my anxiety on what to expect (bc I have had a LOT of it for this movie).

The downside to this is that at the end of the day, this is what 22 films ultimately amounted to. Something that feels a little too glib, a little too rushed. Something that doesn’t feel like it’s doing right by the characters who were left, and the characters we love (at least, not in full).

I understand that this is an insurmountable task - to bring to film, with limited time, a satisfying conclusion to so many characters. To arrange hundreds of people within thousands of hours on a set budget to bring this massive story, building for over ten years now, to a close that will resonate and sate with as many fans as possible. But I read fanfiction that does just that with less time, fewer moments, no budget - hell, there are 10k oneshots that rewrote Infinity Fcuk to make sense and treat the characters with the respect that they’ve earned over 20+ films.

This? Doesn’t feel like those.

I will happily admit, I am guesstimating a LOT here, based off of what essentially amounts to 3% of the movie (slightly more, depending on how long the credits are sans post-credit scenes, but still roughly 3%). There is a LOT that is missing, which could fill in these gaps successfully and make this whole post look completely pointless. If it does that, I will gleefully concede that it fooled us on this one. Maybe all of these scenes really ARE hoaxes (even if they were painstakingly subtitled in a foreign language and shown on a movie theater-size screen, but I digress).

But the framing of the scenes looks like it was meant to showcase what the movie would be as a whole, in terms of tone and what to expect. And from that, I’m not excited, or overjoyed. I’m just tired.

And I cannot WAIT for this all to be over, bc I’m fcuking exhausted just watching 5 minutes. Lord knows what 182 of them will leave me like in the end.

*peers up at massive unending ranty analysis post* ...ah. Well then. that happened again. Ah well. Hope you had fun reading my nonsense brain goop, kiddos.

[wits-writing]

Favorite Movies of 2017

If nothing else can be said for 2017 (and I’m not opening that can of worms), there were plenty of great movies released over those twelve months. I didn’t get the chance to see everything I wanted to, due to either lack of time or lack of access to everything coming out. Even without the prestige limited releases, there was a surprising amount of truly standout mainstream releases this year, with horror, sci-fi and superheroes all stepping up with big ideas that left audiences with plenty to talk about. This has also been the first year I’ve been writing movie reviews with greater regularity and started up this blog to keep everything I write more organized away from my main account. I’m going to try not to be redundant with what I’ve already said in my reviews of these movies and provide links to my original reviews where I can.

Honorable Mentions: Kong: Skull Island, The Lego Batman Movie, John Wick Chapter 2, Blade of the Immortal, Logan, IT: Chapter One, Dunkirk, The Disaster Artist, Thor: Ragnarok, Coco, The Villainess

Haven’t seen at time of writing: The Shape of Water, The Big Sick, Phantom Thread, I, Tonya, Logan Lucky, Okja

Now onto the list proper, in no particular order:

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Now here’s a couple things I didn’t expect, my regard for this movie being high enough to put it on my best of the year list and how divisive it’s become. The back and forth there has become a minefield, so I’m not going to touch it. This soon after release, I’m not sure how much new I have to say that I didn’t already go over in my review without diving into spoilers. So, I’ll leave this entry on the fact that it wasn’t the only space opera sequel to really catch me off-guard with how much it was able to impact me beyond being incredibly entertaining.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

It’s amazing how many great superhero movies came out this year. Even as some people continue to talk about the oversaturation of the genre, most of the ones released in 2017 felt vital and unique. If I had to narrow it down to one single entry in the genre this year to call my favorite of the bunch, I always end up coming back to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2. I expected to like this one, especially as a follow-up to a movie I already put on a previous favorites of the year list, yet it still caught me off-guard.

Even after seeing it for the first time and writing the initial review, I was consistently entertained and had a variety of compliments to pay towards James Gunn and company for the movie, but it didn’t quite hit me how much it affected me until subsequent viewings. There always seemed to be some other mini-arc, joke or bit of characterization I missed the first time on each re-watch and I know I’m not the only one who experienced this (check out Lindsay Ellis’s excellent video essay.) Nebula and Gamora’s rivalry coming to a head, Rocket’s growing self-awareness and Peter’s conflicted feelings over his different father figures among other stories all added up to something that dug into my core and wouldn’t let go. There’s a through line of image versus essence, relating to how we don’t always see the good things we already have.

“Surrender” by Cheap Trick being the coda that helps play the movie out over the credits is probably the best way to sum it up.

Wonder Woman

One thing people often say about superhero movies is how tired origin stories have become, since it feels like watching the same beats hit over and over as more of a checklist than a story. It takes a great movie to make you see a familiar formula with fresh eyes again and that’s Wonder Woman in a nutshell. No movie had me quite so nervous on my first viewing this year, but the second the movie flashed back to Diana’s childhood amidst the vibrant landscapes of Themyscira I started to loosen up. By the time the movie got to focus on the interplay between Diana and Steve Trevor, I was ready to go wherever Patty Jenkins’s direction was going to take the story. When that turned out to be the No Man’s Land sequence, I knew I was watching an all-timer.

My favorite moment in the movie, more than No Man’s Land or “It’s not about deserve”, is Diana telling Charlie not to leave them because then there’d be no one to sing. Of the people Steve gathered for their journey, Charlie was probably the one Diana judged the harshest at first because of him being a sniper, but she sees there’s more to him, lets him know the value of that and it gives him the fortitude to carry on to the next mission.

One thing I know is that a lot of people have problems with the final battle, but the way it builds towards delivering the movie’s thesis, “It’s not about deserve, it’s about what you believe”, any possible complaints melt away for me. One of the key things Wonder Woman represents is truth and the truth about people is that we’re not always our best. Diana learns through her companions; liars, murderers and smugglers, how there can still be beauty beneath the world’s ugliness expressed by the WWI setting of the movie. Wonder Woman is a movie that’s as superhero as it gets and that’s the reason it succeeds.

Hasan Minhaj: Homecoming King

Does a Netflix standup comedy special count as a movie?

Don’t care, because this one might as well for how much Hasan Minhaj is able to do in his time on stage. He relates his story about being the son of immigrants, dealing with prejudice as a Muslim teen in a post-9/11 world and social awkwardness in a special that has something a lot of stand-up comedy lacks, perspective. Usually perspective in standup comedy feels limited by the nature of the format, one person telling jokes to a crowd. That usually means not much consideration is given to the other people involved in the stories the performer is telling, but that’s exactly what Minhaj manages to do with regularity as the special goes on. The best example of this is the story of the girl that broke his heart in high school and the times he got back into contact with her after that. It’s all in the delivery and Minhaj manages to talk about these chapters of his life in ways that make it clear how much thought he’s put into looking back on these events before recounting them for the audience. If you managed to miss this special, go over to Netflix right now and watch it because it’s some of the most powerful, funniest storytelling to come out of 2017.

Blade Runner 2049

This is one I don’t want to give too much away about, because I know not many people saw it. Denis Villeneuve uses Blade Runner 2049 to tell a story about how we define ourselves on an interpersonal and societal scale. Ryan Gosling as K doesn’t feel the need to question his place in anyway until the concept of an alternative is presented to him. Something that could make him matter on a grand scale. He’s not alone in that as people he meets on his investigation all believe in some grander idea to define their world. Whether it’s a stable status quo or a possible brighter future. It all doesn’t ultimately matter as much as being able to truly accept that self-worth starts from within, no matter how it’s assigned or whether it ever gets acknowledged.

I can’t remember the source of this quote, but it sums up Blade Runner 2049’s relationship to the original movie perfectly: “Blade Runner is about how you don’t need to be human to be special. Blade Runner 2049 is about how you don’t need to be special to be human.”

Get Out

Jordan Peele’s directorial debut is easily the best horror movie of the year. The fact that there were some people trying to say Get Out somehow isn’t a horror movie probably says more about their worldview than they’d expect. The imagery from this movie that stuck with me the most was the entire concept of “The Sunken Place”, the dissociative hypnotic state Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) is placed in at different points in the movie. I was in a mostly empty dark theater when I first saw Get Out which amplified the effectiveness of the isolation the visuals are meant to convey. Peele manages to craft a sense of awkwardness that quickly turns into suspense as more signs become clear to Chris that there’s something he needs to get away from, even as the people surrounding him seem nothing but complimentary.

But those apparent complements are exactly what’s amiss, as the movie makes it increasingly clear that its finger of accusation is pointed squarely in the direction of white people trying to co-opt black successes and black culture. It’s why there’s a blind art dealer who’s only heard about what Chris is capable of as a photographer.

Baby Driver

Edgar Wright’s homage to the works of Walter Hill set to one of the most eclectic movie soundtracks of the year marks an artistic shift for Wright as an artist, with Baby Driver being the first of his movie’s to not mainly be a comedy. It’s a crime story about what happens once drowning out the worst parts of your life stops working. Ansel Elgort as Baby being at odds with Jaimie Foxx and Frank Grillo as the other criminals he works with as a getaway driver provides the framework for the year’s most unique action movie. It has the tight scripting that facilitates setups/payoffs that no one can do quite the way Wright does. As tales of love and crime go, Baby Driver is a symphony filled with killer tracks with music and actions coming together to create some of the year’s best sequences.

Lady Bird

One scene in Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird I didn’t talk about in my original review sums it up succinctly. Lady Bird (Saorise Ronan) is talking to her advisor at her high school about the essay she’s sending out for her college applications and says that it shows a great appreciation for their town, Sacramento, CA. Lady Bird, who doesn’t think she holds the town in any kind of high regard, replies that she simply pays attention to her surroundings. Lady Bird uses it’s coming of age tale to show how self-absorption can lead to missing out on the very things we value later in our lives. Sometimes all that matters is that we eventual grow mature enough to realize how much we’ve failed to appreciate as life passes us by.

Colossal

This is the movie that I’ve kept coming back to as my absolute favorite of the year. Colossal uses a central conceit that could’ve been a decent comedy and takes the effort to explore it in-depth until it manages to cover topics as varied as addiction, abuse, self-control and internet harassment. Director Nacho Vigalondo uses mixes the tropes of Kaiju films in with a very personal story about Gloria (Anne Hathaway) as she discovers her connection to a giant monster manifesting over Seoul, South Korea. If the movie was only about Gloria’s recovery spurred on by these fantastic events, it’d probably still be good, but then throw in Oscar (Jason Sudeikis) as one of the most terrifying villains on screen this year and how he gives into his toxic tendencies and it becomes truly incredible.

One sequence in the movie details a character trying to perform a magic trick while telling a long drawn out story to lead into it. Another character responds to this by saying if the trick is so impressive, it doesn’t need the preamble, so he just does the trick, which impresses the other one who admits is probably was better with the story attached. That’s Colossal in a nutshell, take a neat premise that can be used for some entertaining visual gags, but give it depth and backstory to make the payoff ultimately more satisfying. Gloria’s final actions in the movie’s closing moments go the furthest to exemplify this as Colossal paints one of the most powerful sequences of reclaiming lost control I’ve ever seen in a movie.

[123designsrq]

LEGO CREATIONS BY MASTER BUILDERS THAT SHOWCASE WHY LEGO IS NOT JUST A CHILDREN’S TOY!

LEGO’s are literally one of the constructing blocks of our childhood. Artists and designers, however, have elevated this easy brick and used it to create fantastic sculptures, moving models to even a drivable car. It is true, if we start a project, laying one brick at a time perfectly, no matter how complicated we need our masterpiece to be, you'll get there. So with all the ample time on our hands.This curated series will encourage you first of all this humble children’s toy and create a masterpiece that Lego Creations showcases your skills and takes your engineering abilties to the next level!

Using over 100,000 Lego pieces, clothier Ekow Nimako imagines the Kumbi Saleh 3020 CE a Ghanaian city a thousand years inside the future. This artwork is the center-piece for his exhibition titled Building Black Civilizations and showcases details like nothing you have ever visible before, almost paying homage to the Game of Thrones name collection! Oh, and if each person wishes a challenge, I virtually consider it would be extremely good to have a LEGO title sequence for Game of Thrones!   Tesla

Tesla-fan and LEGO-whiz BrickinNick created a scaled-down version of the Tesla Cybertruck made entirely out of LEGO bricks. The resemblance is really uncanny, so much so that I’m starting to think the automotive layout team at Tesla possibly used LEGO pieces to conceptualize the layout (I’m kidding!). Probably as indestructible as the real thing (have you ever ever seen a lego brick break??), the Cybertruck currently sits in LEGO’s Ideas forum, gathering votes from the public. If approved, LEGO can also just release their personal respectable kit, but until then, we’ve were given this outstanding construction by means of BrickinNick whole with a gap the front trunk and rear vault.   Iron man

Milan Sekiz combines his love for Iron Man, wearable designs, and all things LEGO with this Iron Man suit! The main challenge for Milan to build this Iron Man-inspired MOC was to find a way to improve his mobility while wearing it and of course make it visually appealing at the same time.

I locate it nearly impossible to say the words ‘Under the Sea’ without breaking into the iconic Little Mermaid song! But this complete shape created with the aid of Ryan Van Duzor (@the.Bearded.Pescador) has me in awe! Displayed at the LEGO House, this complex shape replicates the underwater life with beautiful details. Focusing at the littlest fish to a shark, all replicated to scale. It is true, everything’s better when it is wetter, under the sea!   Typewriter

UK LEGO Masters winner Steve Guinness decided to take us on a ride down memory lane with his LEGO typewriter assignment on LEGO Ideas. He originally designed and constructed the typewriter, made entirely of LEGO. At some point of the final a part of the LEGO Masters TV series. A British truth display where teams compete to build the best LEGO projects. The vintage layout is made absolutely from LEGO. Functions a working mechanism that is driven by using a hand crank. The typewriter turned into firstly outfitted with a power functions motor. But Guinness later determined to go with the old college hand crank. Showcasing the versatility and modularity of LEGO, this typewriter might be an lovable accompaniment to any office or home space!

Built from greater than a million Lego pieces, the Bugatti Chiron duplicate isn’t just a status model, it genuinely drives too! Weighing over 3,000 pounds, the automobile can boost up to barely over 12 mph. Which sounds even extra dazzling while you recognise that the auto’s engine is entirely from Lego too! Two batteries within the automobile function its overall energy source. And despite the fact that there isn’t a fuel. Or acceleration pedal (as the auto is driven by way of voltage level). There's a working pedal for the brake.

A absolutely working version of a Sheriff’s safe using best LEGO creations. It all commenced when designer Il Buono was looking a spaghetti western. Thinking how a safe aggregate lock definitely works. That sparked the concept of building one out of LEGO. Now, after countless hours of prototyping, refining, and perfecting. They may be assuring the end result will make any aspiring brick robber rethink their profession path. It’s compact, simple, dependable and smooth to operate. There are 24 viable combinations. You must pick and construct your own, preferred, secret code. And of course, it’s all constructed from LEGO – no custom parts, no cheating. Fast and Furious

Memorizing by Dominic Toretto in the Fast and Furious franchise. The 1970 Dodge Charger R/T is an iconic car to life in all its modifying glory. By this special LEGO creations Dodge edition!

And for all the LEGO creations portions mendacity round after you end building, Studio NINE’s LEGO like minded furniture aims at being a playground for your children. The furniture comes with a machined textured layer that’s all too familiar. Made from Corian, the polymer-primarily based marble substitute, the furnishings has a premium sense and a easy design… The cause of this easy layout being twofold. It can either blend properly into a residence with Scandinavian styling. Or can be infinitely embellishing by the use of pieces of Lego. That just sincerely snap onto the furniture’s dot-embossed surface. Read the full article

[ghost-of-bambi]

Questions

Thank you @myladyely for tagging me! 

Rules: answer these 85 statements and tag 20 people.

I’m going to be real, some of these questions make no sense but I had fun with it anyway. I’m tagging @aryasmeatpies @scullylikesscience @sansapotter @obiwan-katnobi @jilyevotter @sradepotter @witless-wonder @gabrielledelacour and that’s done

1. drink: tea, Coke, the tears of fuckboys

2. phone call: unsure if this is meant to be ‘last phone call’ or ‘person I prefer to call’ but the answer to both is Katie ( @obiwan-katnobi ) because nobody else likes me that much (this is a lie I am V. Popular)

3. text message: as above, the last person I sent a text to was my brother, the person I prefer to text is Katie, usually with Game of Thrones theory spam

4. song you listened to: okay again I assume this is the last song I listened to – Shape by the Sugababes

5. time you cried: I genuinely can’t remember, it must be a few weeks since I last cried, but when I do cry it’s for really dark and meaningful reasons, like a really touching IKEA advert, or I’ve remembered a sad scene from a TV show from years ago - actually no, I remember, I cried during Wonder Woman

6. dated someone twice: nope, unless this refers to going on a date with someone and then going on a second date, which I’m pretty sure I have done, otherwise how the hell have I made it four-and-a-half years with my boyfriend?

7. kissed someone and regretted it: forget kissing, I’ve banged someone and regretted it DURING

8. been cheated on: not to my knowledge but who the fuck knows?

9. lost someone special: Catelyn Stark S03E09. Also beloved family members.

10. been depressed: yer

11. gotten drunk and thrown up: yes, but sometimes a spicy dinner makes me throw up so we can never really know what to attribute that to

favourite colors

12. blue

13. pink

14. yellow

in the last year have you…

15. made new friends: I met Isaac Hempstead Wright at a gallery opening and he took a selfie with me so we’re basically best friends now

16. fallen out of love: I became pretty disillusioned after Cursed Child if you think that counts

17. laughed until you cried: basically every time I think about Twilight

18. found out someone was talking about you: I like to assume that I’m always being talked about by adoring fans, but also no (I assume this pertains to bitching?)

19. met someone who changed you: I am a big girl and can dress myself

20. found out who your friends are: yeah I went on a friend-finding treasure hunt and found all their names in a basket once I’d cracked all the clues

21. kissed someone on your facebook list: yeah, my partner

general

22. how many of your facebook friends do you know in real life: all of them, as no part of me is fictional

23. do you have any pets: not since my cats passed away, they were irreplaceable 24. do you want to change your name: no, my name is fine, and even if I wanted to, the cost and trouble involved is ludicrous

25. what did you do for your last birthday: I did an escape room with friends and saw Jack Whitehall live, I also aged up

26. what time did you wake up: 5 am, because I’d had a dream that my stepson grew to a height of 20 feet and his father blamed me

27. what were you doing at midnight last night: having the aforementioned dream, probably

28. name something you can’t wait for: Game of Thrones season 7, Trump’s impeachment, post-Brexit apocalypse, Chapter 16 of Playing the Hero by @fetchalgernon

29. when was the last time you saw your mom: January, because we don’t live in the same country and she can’t Facetime without inevitably blocking the camera with her thumb

31. what are you listening to right now: Howlin’ For You – The Black Keys, as well as the neighbourhood kids screaming outside

32. have you ever talked to a person named tom: Tom is my father’s name. So yeah. Occasionally. If I have to.

33. something that is getting on your nerves: Aidan Gillen’s repertoire of accents

34. most visited website: Currently, A03, FFnet, Twitter, Pornhub - one of these is a lie

35. hair colour: red

36. long or short hair: long

37. do you have a crush on someone: Andy Samberg, but he’s playing so damn hard to get

38. what do you like about yourself: hair, brain, hair again

39. piercings: one on each ear, but I also have a piercing stare

40. blood type: red

41. nickname: I don’t really have one that people know me by, but my mother calls me Nelly and my partner calls me sweetie. Dad occasionally calls me Damian/Regan/Carrie because love.

42. relationship status: I’m in one

43. zodiac: Pisces

44. pronouns: she/her

45. favourite tv show: Game of Thrones

46. tattoos: no, what would I even get?

47. right or left handed: right said fred

48. surgery: never

49. piercing: I just answered this question

50. sport: idk if going to the gym counts, but if it does, gym-going, I’m also an expert at my stepkid’s Lego assault course, which he likes to spring on you at unexpected times

51. vacation: what does this mean?? My favourite vacation has been Minnesota, my ideal vacation is Greece.

52. pair of trainers: what? Yes, I own a pair of trainers

more general

53. eating: cherries, wishing it was cake

54. drinking: water, wishing it was a virgin piña colada

55. i’m about to: write

56. waiting for: A STAR TO FALL/AND CARRY YOUR HEART INTO MY ARMS/THAT’S WHERE YOU BELONG/IN MY ARMS BABY YEAH

57. want: more sleep

58. get married: that’s the plan

59. career: currently I’m an IT technician/writer for Fansided

60. hugs or kisses: hugs can be had from anyone, so I guess hugs

61. lips or eyes: I actually have both

62. shorter or taller: shorter or taller than what?

63. older or younger: I’m older than some people and younger than other people

64. nice arms or nice stomach: ????

65. hook up or relationship: who with? Andy Samberg? Has he called? Did he, like, mention me?

66. troublemaker or hesitant: these are ideal job interview questions

67. kissed a stranger: I mean, they weren’t strangers to me, but they probably would be to you

68. drank hard liquor: how hard are we talking? could I take it in a fight?

69. lost glasses/contact lenses: I don’t have either

70. turned someone down: I’m a woman, so yes, I’ve had to turn someone down

71. sex on the first date: yes, with my current partner, he has kind eyes

72. broken someone’s heart: yeah

73. had your heart broken: I’ve had my heart severely pummelled, but broken’s going a bit far

74. been arrested: too much of a goody-two-shoes

75. cried when someone died: yes

76. fallen for a friend: obviously I am madly in love with Katie and am going to rescue her from Target on a white horse and in full Brienne of Tarth armour

do you believe in …

77. yourself: hell yes I do

78. miracles: no

79. love at first sight: I assume that’s what happens when you give birth, otherwise no

80. santa claus: I have a stepson so I AM Santa Claus now

81. kiss on the first date: why not?

82. angels: no, not even the Robbie Williams song

other

83. current best friend’s name: Katie

84. eye colour: I think my eyes are green, but everyone I ask has a different fucking opinion

85. favourite movie: Pride and Prejudice (2005), also The Erotic Misadventures of the Invisible Man (this one isn’t true)

[rajakolagatla]

Jaanu (Telugu remake of ‘96′) review

First things first - '96' is a cult classic - epitome of all the lego blocks of movie making, fitting nicely and resonating to provide the highest level of cinematic experience. Be it lyrics or music or screenplay, every technician has put in the complete soul, to provide their once-in-lifetime output. Icing them is the array of emotions exhibited by lead pair - charm, vulnerable, yearning, melancholy (esp Vijay Sethupathi) - you will fall in love with the odd pair at the first sight. I will discuss again about all these in detail in latter half of the review.

I was looking forward to Jaanu for multiple reasons: the lead pair - Sarvanand who is one of best actors in younger crop of current generation and Samantha, who has upped the acting quotient with all the recent outings (Rangasthalam, Oh Baby and Majili). Time and again, it was proved that it will be suicidal to attempt cult movies in other languages, the tighter integration gets lost when remade in other languages (proved with '99' in Kannada). But this movie is spearheaded by original crew itself, produced by 'Dil' Raju (who is known by his penchant for good scripts and output) and centered around universal theme of 'Love'. Comparisons with original are inevitable, puts weight on the team, making them falter. I will reserve the comparisons with original in later half of the review.

The movie belongs to director C.Premkumar, who has brought in the poetic feeling right from the title cards. Though you see only two characters in the second half, you don't feel bored, because of the writing. In fact, you are drawn into world of Ram and Jaanu, that you feel the friction that runs between the two lovers, who get united after 17 years. The reason for separation looks silly, as well Ram hasn't moved on despite knowing that Jaanu is married and settled with kids. But the utopian love story is make-belive by the director with light hearted conversations, interspersed with lead pair revealing the reasons for separation. Placement of three scenes in second half (coffee shop scene, hotel room scene, yamuna tatilo song) shows the director's uncanny ability to keep the viewers hooked. Long pauses, deft touches and teasing the audience with metaphors, all aid to story telling - adding more details will be spoiler to movie. Director is aided by top notch photography by Mahendiran Jayaraju, helping the mood, even elevated the silence in the movie. Music deserves special mention, which I covered later.

Samantha excelled in author backed role yet again - the transformation from 'Jessie' to 'Jaanu' is complete and this will remain as one of her best movie, irrespective of the result. Only glitch in her acting, in some scenes, was when she looked up to Trisha's performance to mimic. When she was her natural best, where she brought in 'Rangasthalam' flavor, she got into the skin of the character with ease. Her adoration and yearning for Ram was palpable, her eyes light up when she sees Ram in clean shaved look, her eyes tease Ram to divulge the details and she portrays the break down so naturally (extension of ‘Majili’). In fact the movie elevates to new level, when she makes an entry (again like ‘Majili’ and ah, the superb background music). She will walk away with the most awards for sure, this year.

It was an bold and interesting decision from Sarvanand to accept the iconic character portrayed by Vijay Sethupati in tamil - Sarva looks much younger compared to Vijay, where as the character requires much matured look and couldn't match the charm and emotions displayed by Vijay from original. Weight of expectations to match Vijay put him down. Despite these shortcomings, it was the earnest acting displayed by him and his chemistry with Samantha makes the movie stand out from regular rom-com movies, we get to watch every other Friday. He deserves special appreciation to let Samantha take the limelight, but he isn’t left behind either. The grief exhibited in his eyes for the lost love, introvert emotions, shy smile for Jaanu’s grilling questions will create impression on viewer. This will remain as one of the best portrayals for him (Prasthanam still being the best). All the supporting actors did fine job.

Child crew, especially who reprises the lead pair, were good and believable. But the biggest blot in the movie is to shift the timeline to suite the younger lead pair and setting the movie in Vizag. School portions looked bit of out of place, seem like happening in village. It's hard to believe flash back portions depicted to happen in 2004 (internet, cable tv was pervasive then and students drove better cycles then :)). It was the director's inflexibility to make changes, leaves bad taste in the mouth. And the dialogue for some scenes is a big let down - they look like direct translations from original.

The major driving point for ‘96′ is the soul stirring music by Govind Vasnatha. The lyrics and the metaphors used were tightly integrated with the director's vision, making you to yearn for them. Whenever you listen to the songs, you are forced to visualize the exact scenario from the movie - that’s the reason movie earned cult status in Tamil. In Telugu, Govind faltered, again by his own high standards, may be because of language barrier. Prime example is the mediocre music for the Song 'Life of Ram'. Sirivennela garu once again provided wonderful lyrics highlighting ram hasn't moved on and leading lone life, with baggage of Jaanu's memories.

 "Na Ventapadi Nuventha Ontari, Valanoddu Anoddu Dayunchi Evaru, Inkonni Janmalaku Saripadu, Aneka Sruthulni Itharulu Eragaru"

Lyrics resembled the 'Enthavaraku Inta paragu' from ‘Gamyam’, but are prefectly apt for the introduction of Ram's character. Metaphors used for 'Pranam' and 'Intena' differ from Tamil, but lyricist Srimani succeeded in retrofitting the lyrics to original music. Govind brought in subtle changes for 'Komma meedi' ( ‘Iravingu Theevai’ in original 96), but it was Srimani who deserves accolades for coming up with poetic and excellent fresh lyrics. It seems like Sirivennela sir's pen which was used by Srimani for this song:

“Manam Manam, Chero Sagam, Chero Dishalle Marina, Oke Svaram Yekakshanam, Chero Padham Lo Cherina”

Not everyone can come up with heavy lyrics, for retrofitting to original hit music. This was one of the songs which seamlessly harmonized with the narrative, despite moving away from metaphor of nature & night in original. Same thing can't be said about 'Ananthame' and ('Anthaathi' in tamil)- Srimani has completely let down with sub-par lyrics, which looked like rhyming words are stitched to suit the music. Original one compares love with all 5 elements of nature, puts love above them and asks us to wait for the last - last stanza of song or last scene of the movie - leaving for our imagination. This is completely lost in translation. 'Anthaathi' was one of the reasons for pre-release buzz around '96' in Tamil. In Telugu it was the last song to get released - it was evident that 'Dil' Raju sensed the mediocre output. 'Oohale' has better lyrics in comparison, although no match to original 'Kaathale, Kaathale'.  For the record, all the songs in original '96' draw comparison or parallels to nature, highlighting the melancholy and friction between the lead pair. No wonder, director thanks 'mother nature' in title cards.

To sum it up - 'Jaanu' is a refreshing movie in isolation, aided by superb acting by lead pair and will make you leave with heavy heart. For those who had a similar journey at some point of life, this movie will make you yearn for it and the songs will grow on you. For generation Z, who move-on after breakup, this is a big yawn. For those who have seen the original, it's a bit of let down with misplaced timelines, non-exciting dialogue and the blame squarely lies on the original crew, which has helmed '96'.

[jenniferasberryus]

Morbius: Jared Leto's Spider-Man Movie Explained

Most of the time, vampires are the villains in Hollywood movies. They're portrayed as soulless bloodsuckers who pose an existential threat to all humanity. But sometimes even a vampire can be a hero. That's the case with Morbius, a Marvel hero who's set to be portrayed by Jared Leto in Sony's upcoming Spider-Man spin-off movie. Now that the first trailer for Morbius has arrived and revealed an unexpected Spider-Man connection, here's everything you need to know about the man they call "The Living Vampire."

Morbius Explained: The Basics

Dr. Michael Morbius was a respected biochemist suffering from a rare and fatal blood disease. Desperate for a cure, Morbius performed dangerous experiments on himself using vampire bat DNA and inadvertently transformed into a "living vampire." While he wasn't actually bitten by one of the many vampires that live in the Marvel Universe, Morbius' condition has many of the same symptoms. He has a never-ending thirst for blood and must forever live apart from human society. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/01/13/morbius-official-teaser-trailer"] Despite the cruel hand life has dealt him, Morbius does his best to use his knowledge and his vampiric abilities for good. He's proven himself a hero many times over, both as an ally of Spider-Man and a member of teams like the Midnight Sons. But even so, his dark side always threatens to consume him.

Morbius' Powers and Abilities

Though Morbius isn't a vampire in the traditional, supernatural sense, he has many of the same abilities. He possesses superhuman strength and speed, limited flight and the ability to hypnotize others. He also has a Wolverine-like healing factor that allows him to recover from otherwise fatal wounds. Morbius can sometimes infect his victims with "pseudo-vampirism," though this only happens in rare cases. Morbius also possesses some traditional vampire weaknesses. He has a constant need for human blood, a need that he does his best to satisfy through the use of serums rather than taking human victims. Morbius has developed a special formula using Spider-Man's blood that quenches his thirst for longer periods of time. His skin is also susceptible to burning in daylight, though not to the extent of most vampires. Morbius also lacks traditional vampire weaknesses to crosses, garlic, holy water, etc.

Morbius: Origin and Background

Morbius was created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Gil Kane and debuted in 1971's Amazing Spider-Man #101. That issue was actually the first not to be written by co-creator Stan Lee.

The character was conceived after the Comics Code Authority lifted certain restrictions on the use of vampires and supernatural creatures in comics. Morbius' status as a "living vampire" both made him unique and helped make him more marketable as a hero. The character was inspired by Thomas' love of classic science fiction films, while Kane specifically modeled Morbius' appearance on actor Jack Palance. Initially, Morbius was cast as a tragic villain figure. His own story became intertwined with that of the Lizard, another Spider-Man villain who inadvertently transformed himself into a hideous monster while trying to cure a physical ailment.  However, it wasn't long before the character branched out on his own. He became a recurring player in '70s-era anthology series like Vampire Tales and Adventure Into Fear. The latter series established Morbius' long-standing feud with the vampire hunter Blade. [widget path="ign/modules/recirc" parameters="title=Explained!&type=articles%2Cvideos&tags=explained-recirc&count=6&columnCount=6&theme=article"] It wasn't until 1992, though, that Morbius gained his own solo series in Morbius the Living Vampire. That series was one of several supernatural-focused books to launch out of a crossover called "Rise of the Midnight Sons." During this period, Morbius' adventures became closely intertwined with those of supernatural heroes like Ghost Rider, Hellstorm, Jennifer Kale and Werewolf by Night. Following the end of Morbius' solo series at issue #23, the character continued to play a recurring role throughout the Marvel Universe. For instance, he appeared in Marvel Zombies 3, working alongside other heroes to prevent his universe from becoming infected by the zombie plague that had ravaged other universes. He also appeared in a Punisher storyline called "Frankencastle," where he helped bring the Punisher back to life as a Frankenstein-like beast following the character's fatal clash with Daken.

More recently, Morbius played a pivotal role in writer Dan Slott's Amazing Spider-Man run, where he was revealed to be secretly working at Peter Parker's new place of employment, Horizon Labs. Amazing Spider-Man and Superior Spider-Man paved the way for another short-lived Morbius comic in 2013, written by Joe Keatinge and drawn by Rich Elson.

Morbius: Beyond the Comics

Given his vampiric trappings, Morbius has proven to be a difficult character to adapt to Marvel's other multimedia projects. The character made his animated debut in 1994's Spider-Man: The Animated Series (voiced by Nick Jameson), where he was depicted as a scientist transformed after being bitten by a vampire bat that had drank Spider-Man's irradiated blood. Because of strict censorship standards, this version of Morbius was only allowed to be depicted as draining blood through suckers on his hands, and his dialogue emphasized his need for "plasma" rather than blood. [caption id="attachment_1983533" align="aligncenter" width="702"] Morbius gets a "family-friendly" animated makeover.[/caption] Morbius later appeared as a recurring character in the animated series Ultimate Spider-Man vs. The Sinister Six (voiced by Benjamin Diskin), where he was re-imagined as a Hydra scientist who specializes in symbiotes. Morbius eventually transformed into his living vampire form on the series, with the main difference being that he absorbed the life force of others rather than consuming blood. Morbius has appeared in several Marvel video games, including as a supporting character in 1993's Maximum Carnage (based on the comic book storyline of the same name) and certain versions of 2007's Spider-Man 3. He's also appeared as a playable character in Marvel: Avengers Alliance, LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 and Marvel Super Hero Squad Online. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=a-visual-history-of-spider-man-costumes&captions=true"] Morbius has yet to appear in live-action form, though there have been rumors of a Morbius movie for most of the last two decades. At one point the character was considered for the lead villain role in 2002's Blade II. In fact, an alternate version of the ending for the first movie features a masked character who was intended to be revealed as Morbius. Instead, the character will make his film debut in Sony's upcoming Morbius movie. Jared Leto has been cast as Dr. Michael Morbius, with Daniel Espinosa directing and Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless penning the screenplay. The movie is presumably set in the same shared universe as 2018's Venom and its 2020 sequel. Thanks to the first Morbius trailer and a cameo appearance from Michael Keaton's Adrian Toomes, it appears all these movies are now taking place within the Marvel Cinematic Universe (albeit their own, private little corner). We'll no doubt learn more about Morbius and Venom's connection to the wider MCU when the film hits theaters in July 2020. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=morbius-trailer-58-images-from-the-jared-leto-marvel-movie&captions=true"] For now, check out our exclusive interview with Leto for his thoughts on this iconic Marvel anti-hero. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter, or Kicksplode on MyIGN. from IGN Video Games https://www.ign.com/articles/morbius-movie-explained-who-is-jared-letos-spider-man-spin-off-character via IFTTT from The Fax Fox https://thefaxfox.blogspot.com/2020/01/morbius-jared-letos-spider-man-movie.html

[daziran1]

Disney Zootropolis Single Duvet Cover Set

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Create More, Consume Less: A Surefire Way to Feel More Excited About Life

“Creating means living.” ~Dejan Stojanovic

We live in a consumer culture. We love to eat, drink, and be merry—while binge watching whatever’s trending on Netflix and getting a dopamine hit for every item added to our cart on Amazon Prime.

We love to take it all in—information, entertainment, status updates, news reports, substances, and an endless array of stuff. There’s never a shortage of things we can consume, often to keep our minds distracted and our feelings silenced.

Now don’t get me wrong. I love a good meal, a Jim Beam or two, and an afternoon spent zoned out on my couch, Penn Badgley haunting me hour by hour as his stalking escalates from creepy to criminal.

And I’m all for staying educated and updated, on issues both important and inane. I’ve spent hours obsessively researching all things health-related, and I’m embarrassed to admit that my search history reveals more than a healthy number of celebrity websites, if such a number exists.

I also understand the instinct to shut down for a while. Our minds can get intolerably loud, and sometimes, external demands can be overwhelming. A little disengagement can be a good thing in a world that often requires us to be on.

But there needs to be some kind of balance. If we spend our whole lives ingesting information and scarfing down an assortment of stuff meant to soothe us, we’ll never have the time or space to connect with ourselves and create the things we want to create.

I’m not talking just about artistic expression, though I personally feel more alive when I’m bringing some type of creative vision to life. I’m talking about filling the void inside with our own curiosity, passion, and awe instead of constantly stuffing it with external pleasures.

It may not seem like it in the moment when our shows, social media, or shopping carts beckon, but often the greatest pleasure stems from actively working toward a life that excites us.

What are some things we can create?

1. A mission statement

Many of us go through our days without a sense of purpose. We have no idea what we value or what we stand for. We have no idea what we’re really doing with our lives, or why.

Nothing feels exciting when nothing is fueled by passion or intention.

In order to feel alive, we need to be connected to what matters to us most individually. I’m not talking about a specific career direction, though that could be a part of it. I’m talking about creating a blueprint for how you want to show up in the world so you can be the person you want to be and make decisions that feel right for you.

For example, my current mission statement is:

To live with wonder, courage, compassion, and integrity, prioritizing family, freedom, adventure, and creative expression.

Knowing what I value, I’m better able to decide which opportunities to pursue and accept and which ones to politely decline.

This doesn’t have to be set in stone. Mission statements change over time as we grow and evolve. So write, revisit, and revise, as often you deem necessary.

2. Art

This is the low-hanging fruit for this list. Yes, art is something you can create! Big shocker! But it clearly has a place here nonetheless.

Especially if you’re tempted to consume to avoid your feelings, why not channel them into a creative project instead? Creativity is not only calming and healing, it’s a journey back to the simplistic joy of childhood—when you had countless Lego castles, doodle-filled pages, and chalk street art masterpieces to show for your time. And the possibilities are endless.

You could color, sketch, paint, sculpt, sew, crochet, knit, make jewelry, build something, or write a poem, short story, or song. You could art journal, scrapbook, create a magazine collage, try origami, or make something with unconventional materials (duct tape, wine corks, doll parts from your childhood).

If you tune into your feelings and curiosity, you’ll find endless inspiration, and if you look around, you’ll find endless materials to use and recycle.

It’s worth noting that quite frequently, consumption fuels creation. I can’t tell you how many scripts I read and films I watched when preparing to write my first screenplay. Every movie helped me learn and sparked ideas for my own story and its execution.

Though it’s also wonderful to enjoy art for the sake of it, there’s something thrilling about consuming with a purpose. Not just to be entertained but also to be inspired—so you can create something personally meaningful to you that will hopefully move and inspire other people to live and a love a little louder.

Little feels more exciting than chiseling a piece of your heart into something beautiful that will endure, while simultaneously motivating other people wake up and live more fully.

3. A medium for self-expression

We live in an exciting time for self-expression. No longer do gatekeepers get to decide whose words deserve a platform. Anyone can start a blog, vlog, or podcast to share their thoughts and views with the world.

The beautiful thing is, it’s not too hard to get started. You don’t need a fancy site or special equipment to get going—though those things are nice to have, and they’re things you could always acquire in time, if you like the medium you choose and decide to see how far you can take it.

With a little googling you can easily find a way to get set up today, for free, so you can move out from the shadows and share what’s in your heart and on your mind.

Not only will you give yourself an opportunity to express your feelings and feel truly seen, you’ll likely also help other people through your honesty and vulnerability. Yes, you.

If you think your voice doesn’t matter, consider this: a blog can reach only one person, and yet be the one thing that saved or changed that person’s life. You never know who you’ll help or inspire by finding the courage to speak up.

4. Memories

At the end of it all, when we look back on our lives, we won’t take a mental inventory of the dollars we earned, followers we gained, or items we checked off our to-do list. What we’ll see is a mélange of moments—times when we loved, connected, got outside our comfort zone, and engaged with world with wonder and enthusiasm.

These moments generally don’t just fall into our laps. We have to actively create them. And sometimes that means stepping outside the realm of our routine and actually doing the type of things we daydream about.

There’s a scene in the movie Stepmom (spoiler alert!) where Susan Sarandon’s character, Jackie, knows her cancer is getting worse and her time with her family is limited. So she does something out of character and beautifully touching: She wakes her daughter Anna in the middle of the night and takes her horseback riding, in the snow.

Anna says she’ll never forget this moment, and how could she? She’s nestled close to her dying mother, on a horse, in nature—when the night’s at its most peaceful and she’s usually asleep and unable to see it. Together they feel completely present and alive in this magical moment of connection and awe.

We can all create these kinds of moments. We can create magic for ourselves, someone else, or both, if we’re willing to prioritize it and put in the effort.

5. Possibilities

I suspect a lot of us feel pretty discontent with our lives. Perhaps Thoreau conveyed it best when he wrote “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.”

Most of merely survive and think of thriving as a luxury unavailable to the majority. I’m not going to lie; it’s easier for some to thrive than others. Some of us are born into more ideal circumstances, and some get more advantages.

But perhaps the problem isn’t just that not everyone gets the same chances, but also that not everyone takes the same chances.

If we settle into a pit of discontentment and do the same things every day, nothing will ever change.

The only way to make our lives any better is find and seize opportunities instead of waiting for them to come to us.

Make the call. Send the email. Sign up for the course. If you can’t afford it, research scholarships or free or cheap alternatives. Do something to create a new possibility for your life, whether it pertains to your work, your hobbies, or your relationships.

Then the next purchase you make might be something you need for this exciting new path, not something you want because you’re miserably unhappy with the status quo of your unfulfilling life.

6. New connections

We live in an increasingly disconnected world. We spend more time holding devices than hands and look into more screens than eyes, as the Dulce Ruby quote suggests. This is such a lonely way to live. But it doesn’t have to be like this. Not if we prioritize forming and maintaining relationships.

Of course this isn’t easy. It can be challenging to pull ourselves away from our usual indulgences, get outside our little bubble of comfort, and get present in the world beyond our own door. But it’s oh so worth it.

One day last year I was a feeling a little down about my limited social circle where I live near LA. I’ve moved a lot, I travel a lot, and I work from home; and I haven’t done a great job prioritizing relationships where I live.

I was scrolling through my Facebook feed on this afternoon, trying to distract myself from the sadness in my heart, when I decided to do something different: I navigated to a group for Highly Sensitive People, that contributor Bryn Bamber had actually recommended in a post about sensitivity, and I introduced myself, asking if there was anyone near LA.

Several people responded, including one who’s become a great friend—someone I can relate to on a deep personal level. Someone who gets me, who I get back. And not only did I make a new soul connection, I also opened myself up to new possibilities: because of her, I began volunteering at a nearby community theater, where I hope to volunteer again in the future.

It can feel awkward to initiate conversation with someone new. Or at least it feels that way for me. But as Frank told Don in The Green Book, “The world is full of lonely people afraid to make the first movie.” Make the first move. You just might change two lives.

—

In the words of Ferris Bueller, life goes by pretty quickly. Friendships evolve or fade, jobs run their course, kids grow up—and before you know it, we’re looking back at our years, either feeling proud of everything we created or wondering how and why we squandered our time.

I don’t know about you, but I want to prioritize the things that truly matter to me and fill my hours with purposeful actions that fill my heart with peace, passion, and excitement.

I want to make beautiful things, share empowering ideas, and collect more moments of awe than there are grains of sand on the beach.

I also want balance.

I want abundant movie marathons, occasional retail therapy sessions, and Sunday morning mimosas.

I want trashy magazines in the tub, an endless rotation of used true crime books, and a full Netflix queue that seems to scream, “I know what you like, Lori, I get you.”

But I want to consume those things intentionally. Not to avoid or escape anything, but just because they’re fun.

I think that’s a reasonable goal for all of us. To be a little more intentional, a lot more engaged, and in the end, far more excited about the lives we’re living.

About Lori Deschene

Lori Deschene is the founder of Tiny Buddha. She’s also the author of Tiny Buddha’s Gratitude Journal and other books and co-founder of Recreate Your Life Story, an online course that helps you let go of the past and redefine yourself. An avid film lover, she recently finished writing her first feature screenplay and would appreciate advice from anyone in the industry to help get this made. You can reach her at email (at) tinybuddha.com.

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5 Ways Disney Can’t Stop Screwing Up Star Wars

Star Wars. You love it! You think it’s great. But what if Star Wars stopped being great? That would be bad, right? And bad things aren’t great! Everybody knows that! Seeing as how we’re all in agreement here, let’s talk about the possibility that Disney’s entire strategy for Star Wars might be, as a whole, actually madly deeply verifiably bad. I know it’s painful to fathom such a terrible possibility — I mean, The Last Jedi looks just bonkers — but I can’t help to notice a few glaring red flags. Bad flags. So without further ado …

5

So Far, The New Movies Seem Afraid To Take Chances

For staunch Star Wars nerds burnt out by years of jackass Expanded Universe stories, adding to the Star Wars canon sometimes feels like writing new chapters to the Bible wherein Jesus comes back to fight ISIS with the aid of a talking car. And seeing as how the folks in charge of Star Wars are the ones who grew up on it, the new films feel a smidge unadventurous at times.

Read Next

5 Insane Answers For Questions You Didn't Know You Had

It’s no secret that The Force Awakens mirrors every character and plot point from the Original Trilogy. But what I find staggering is how every new character also geeks out over the old cast. Kylo Ren worships Vader. Poe and Rey know all about the adventures of Han and Luke. It’s as if the screenwriters wanted to make “relatable characters,” and so naturally wrote them as Star Wars fans. The filmmakers aren’t blind to this. Rogue One director Gareth Edwards has spoken multiple times about the balance between writing an original story and keeping to the Star Wars tone. But with Rogue One, Lucasfilm’s definition of “original story” was “the movie takes place literally a few days before A New Hope.”

And remember Ass-Face Roy and Joe Walrus from the Mon Eisley Cantina? Hooray or something, they came back in Rogue One!

LucasfilmTheir plot arc is: “Get drunk and wander around the Galaxy.”

This scene is similar to one later in the movie, when we see C-3PO and R2-D2 on Yavin, watching the fleet roll out.

LucasfilmJust in case you’d forgotten what franchise you were watching.

This is weird, considering that they’re in that very fleet in A New Hope. Fans have already done the mental gymnastics required to fix this obvious mistake (“They must have taken a shuttle later into the war zone, because that totally makes sense!”), but the obvious answer is that Lucasfilm simply wanted to shove these characters into Rogue One and didn’t bother to think about it too hard. And hey, when this kind of nostalgia callback inevitably wears off, people will have to confront the merits of the writing itself, y’know?

And let’s talk about the spinoff movies (like Rogue One) for a second. These could explore enigmatic side characters like Boba Fett, jump forward or back centuries, or even completely switch genres. Who wouldn’t want to see a Star Wars noir-style detective film? There are so many amazing options …

BBCOh.

Or make a Han Solo origin, I guess? Hey, wasn’t A New Hope already the Han Solo origin? See, there’s a reason that film began when it did: It was the most interesting point to start. We didn’t need to know what Han was up to before saving the fucking Galaxy any more than we needed to see how Leia got the Death Star plans. These are footnotes to a bigger story. Devoting films to them is like if Peter Jackson made a two-hour Lord Of The Rings spinoff adventure about Aragorn hitchhiking to the Prancing Pony.

What frustrates me here is that it’s not like there aren’t popular Star Wars characters that it wouldn’t be awesome to see the origin of. (Yoda has no doubt seen his share of adventures and/or psychic goblin orgies.) But I think the reason we’re getting Han Solo is because it’s safe from a writing perspective. He’s a beloved character, a known quantity. His “origin” will undoubtedly be a series of unbearable callbacks to minutiae from A New Hope. In other words, brace yourself for a nail-biting “Kessel Run” sequence in which the prize is a vest.

4

Forcing A New Star Wars Every Year Means Rushing Out Crap

Everyone knows that classic I Love Lucy bit in which Lucy’s wrapping chocolate on a production line, and the conveyor goes so fast that she gets desperate and starts eating the candy to keep up, but Lucy still makes billions worldwide, because people will eat chocolate no matter how sloppy and slapdash it is.

If you haven’t puzzled out my brilliant analogy, Star Wars is the chocolate and Lucasfilm is the hilarious 1950s comedienne. Disney has decided that the world deserves a new Star Wars film every 365 days, because nothing says “quality” like deciding the release date before knowing what you’re making. (That’s why restaurants always bring your meal out in exactly five minutes, no matter how undercooked it is.)

The moral of the story is “rushing is dumb.” It’s why back when most TV shows had 20+ episodes a season, we’d get hogwash like clip shows and that one X-Files where the villain was a clowder of cats. We learned over time that it’s better to have a smaller amount of high-quality things than a large amount of poor-quality things. This applies to 99 percent of everything humanity has ever created. And if you don’t believe me, look at the small library’s worth of articles about Lucasfilm’s current production problems.

As The Hollywood Reporter notes, Lucasfilm’s schedule is so nuts that they’re hemorrhaging writers and directors. The script for A New Hope took three years and four drafts to complete, but the process for Rogue One was so zippy that they were writing pivotal scenes during post-production.

So if you’re wondering why these new films seem to borrow so much from the originals, it’s because who has time to think of something new? Who has time to consider plot holes or character inconsistencies when you’re barreling toward a release date? This is the kind of dumb idea that forces you to panic and fire your directors five months into filming.

So yeah, slow the fuck down, Disney. No one is going to forget Star Wars exists if you skip a year. The world once went, like, 16 years without a new Star Wars movie. Those were some wild days.

3

And, Uh, Stop Hiring Indie Directors

Let’s talk about Colin Trevorrow. For those unaware, Trevorrow got his start with a low-budget film called Safety Not Guaranteed, which was based off of a funny fake ad in the newspaper. It’s a perfectly existing movie. So how did he go from that straight to directing Jurassic World? Well, the studio originally wanted Brad Bird (The Incredibles) to direct, and when Bird declined, he referred them to Trevorrow because he liked Safety. In a world full of qualified sci-fi and action directors, this one reference boosted an indie comedy guy to Spielbergian status. And Hollywood being Hollywood, Trevorrow also got a Star Wars out of the deal, because why the hell not.

That’s when things got stupid. After being personally hired by Spielberg for Jurassic World, the newbie director asserted himself hard during the production process and reportedly became difficult to work with. And while a good director is supposed to lead the charge, his lack of experience contrasted with his overconfidence and created a toxic mix, not unlike electing a reality TV show host to be the president of the United States.

And so when his next film, The Book Of Henry, proved to be a confounding disaster, Trevorrow was hastily dropped from Episode IX and replaced with the much more experienced J.J. Abrams. Look, I have nothing against Trevorrow as a director, but the guy was, well, two movies into his career when they hired him for this massive task. And yet for Star Wars, this is a painfully common practice that almost always leads to problems (which I have pointed out again and again).

When Lucasfilm hired Chris Miller and Phil Lord — directors known for improv-heavy comedies like 21 Jump Street and The Lego Movie — one would assume they were there to bring that element to the Han Solo film. And you know what? Neat! Considering what I’ve already said about that premise, a Han Solo comedy about improv space shenanigans would have been kinda awesome. But it turns out that wasn’t what Lucasfilm had in mind, and the directors’ slower shooting style and frustration over lack of creative freedom led to them being replaced with smilin’ Ron Howard.

See the pattern yet? Lucasfilm inexplicably hires inexperienced or unique directors, refuses to let them express themselves, and ultimately has to shitcan them. I’m gonna go ahead and call it “Trank Mania” after Josh Trank, whose troubled times directing the 2015 Fantastic Four reboot reportedly led to him losing the Boba Fett solo movie. (Also, “Trank Mania” sounds like an awesome WWE special, so there’s that.)

2

There’s No Single Person In Charge Of The Story

While he didn’t direct two-thirds of the Original Trilogy, George Lucas did oversee the writing and production of all of them. Today we have similar “George Lucases” for other series — Zack Snyder and the DC Extended Universe, Kevin Feige for Marvel, J.J. Abrams for the new Star Trek films, and Peter Jackson for the Lord Of The Rings trilogy.

And so here’s my question: Who is in charge of these new Star Wars films? Is it Kathleen Kennedy, the president of Lucasfilm? Not really. By her own admission, she and Lucasfilm “haven’t mapped out” the direction of the new trilogy, and have been largely leaving it up to each director to figure it out. And that’s kind of insane, isn’t it? Most film trilogies are championed by a single artist keeping track of the details. And without that, you run the risk of setting up plot points with zero payoffs, or adding twists that contradict previous scenes.

To give you an idea of why this is important, when Alan Rickman played Severus Snape, he was made aware (before anyone else) that his character always had a thing for Harry’s mom. That knowledge dictated the way he played the role long before that twist was revealed. Imagine how less effective that performance would have been if he was told, “Oh, by the way, we decided you’ve been good all along!” at the very end.

And right now, the directors of Star Wars are absolutely making those kind of last-minute decisions. You know the ending of Force Awakens, when Rey and Chewie and R2-D2 show up on Luke’s island of Jedi guano and bring him his lightsaber?

Well, it turns out that J.J. Abrams originally planned for BB-8 to be there, and swapped droids at the request of Last Jedi director Rian Johnson. We don’t know why Johnson needed the switch, but it sure seems weird that they’re doing stuff like that. Meanwhile, J.J. is coming back for the final film, and who knows if his plans will match up with what Johnson has set up?

In fairness, both of these directors are good at what they do. But the whole process still seems like they are flying blind with one hand tied behind their backs. And the oddest thing of all is that no one seems to know exactly where it’s all heading, or really why we’re making these films beyond the fact that people love Star Wars. And that brings me to a pretty dark question …

1

Maybe Star Wars Was Never A Repeatable Premise?

There was no fucking way the Hobbit trilogy, or even a Hobbit solo film, was going to be as good as the Lord Of The Rings films. Tolkien wrote Rings as an epic sequel to The Hobbit, and by reversing that order, the movies lowered the stakes. This is the same problem I’m sensing with Star Wars.

The first films were about the saving the entire goddamn Galaxy from tyranny. They were a definitive, standalone series that highlighted the most important event to happen in that universe. Anything else is supplemental and pales in comparison. The prequels worked (on paper) because they didn’t attempt to tell that same story, and focused more on one man’s transition to the Dark Side. (The delivery did have some issues.) But these new sequels seem unable to do much save repackage the same threats from the original films. “They had a Star Destroyer? Well, we have a Mega Star Destroyer!” “You thought the last Death Star was big? Well, ours is even DEATH-IER!”

Look, I’m honestly not certain I’m 100 percent right about this, but I think somewhere down the line, we overestimated how repeatable of a premise Star Wars really was. The originals were a self-contained trilogy, and after they came out, even George Lucas attempted to pivot off of them and find the next big franchise. (Unfortunately, it was called Willow and failed hilariously.)

But Lucas still continued to spend the next decade searching for original stories for his company to tell, eventually giving in and re-releasing Star Wars in the late ’90s. When Titanic knocked the re-release from the #1 box office spot, he went full tilt and dug up his idea for the prequel. And after that, the world’s never stopped wanting more.

But I believe that through all his attempts to revive the franchise, Lucas knew in his heart that the most important, most epic, and beloved part of Star Wars had long been told.

He knew, deep inside his hirsute gullet, that it was time to move on. That Star Wars would never be as special as that first time.

Unfortunately, it might take the rest of us a bit longer to figure that out.

If you’re George Lucas and wanna vent (or maybe just hang out sometime), contact Dave on Twitter.

The new Star Wars movies may be flawed, and we know porgs are just marketing gimmicks. But goddamnit we want still want porgs.

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Jennifer Riel and Roger Martin on integrative thinking: Part 2 of an interview by Bob Morris

Jennifer Riel is an adjunct professor at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, specializing in creative problem solving. Her focus is on helping everyone, from undergraduate students to business executives, to create better choices, more of the time. She is the co-author of Creating Great Choices: A Leader’s Guide to Integrative Thinking (with Roger L. Martin). An award-winning teacher, Jennifer leads training on integrative thinking, strategy and innovation, both at the Rotman School and at organizations of all types, from small non-profits to some of the largest companies in the world.

Roger Martin is a strategy consultant and business professor who was just named the #1 management thinker in the world in the 2017 biennial ranking by Thinkers50. He was Dean of the Rotman School of Management for 15 years. His passion is exploring mysteries related to the ways we think about or model our world. He’s examined, for example, for common patterns in the way successful leaders tackle difficult “either/or” dilemmas. He’s also explored how it is that corporations drive out innovation — even as they desperately seek it. Moreover, Roger has examined the way in which theories that are meant to help corporations achieve financial goals and make shareholders rich actually produce the opposite results. In each of his books, he attempts to understand a particular way in which our thinking can get in our own way, and provides specific advice for addressing that challenge. In addition to Creating Great Choices, Roger is the author or co-author of these books: Getting Beyond Better (2015), Playing to Win (2013), Fixing the Game (2011), The Design of Business (2009), and The Opposable Mind (2007).

Here is an excerpt from Part 2 of my interview of Jennifer and Roger.

* * *

When and why did you decide to write Creating Great Choices, and do so in collaboration?

Riel: Roger published The Opposable Mind 10 years ago, and as he was in the process of writing it, he asked me to work with him on translating his theory of integrative thinking into an MBA class. Since then, we’ve learned a great deal about what it takes to learn integrative thinking and to engage in it productively. In essence, the highly successful leaders that Roger wrote about – like AG Lafley, Isadore Sharp and Jack Welch – engaged in this way of thinking organically. No one had taught them how to do it.

So, we needed to codify a process for the rest of us – to help those of us for whom this way of thinking doesn’t come naturally to do it ourselves. As we tested and learned, we became more confident that the process we had developed was worthwhile, and worth sharing. That is what the book is all about.

Martin: Yes, the admonitions from my long work with Chris Argyris rang in my ears from 2007 onward. He taught me that knowledge on which the recipient is incapable of taking action is not knowledge worth having. If you are a basketball player, I can do the math and figure out that it would be better for you to be taller. However, telling you to grow four inches isn’t particularly helpful if you are past puberty. So as I watched readers of The Opposable Mind struggle to put its content into action, I realized that I needed to give them better and more actionable advice. I worked on that with Jennifer and others for a decade and Creating Great Choices is the actionable product of that work.

Were there any head-snapping revelations while writing it? Please explain.

Martin: I was blown away when I figured out that none of the great integrative moves that I studied came as a result of starting with a blank sheet of paper – as many innovation coaches suggest. Integrative solutions came directly from mining the existing models for the best of their nuggets. So I never start with a blank sheet of paper anymore.

Creating Great ChoicesTo what extent (if any) does the book in final form differ significantly from what you originally envisioned?

Riel: I think most of the revelations came in the 10 years before we started writing the book. We learned that, while stories of superstar CEOs are motivational, they are much more difficult to translate to other contexts than we had imagined. Students really struggled with applying the way of thinking they had read about to their own lives.

We also learned that we were pushing back on a lot of what students learn in secondary, post-secondary and MBA education. It was a real struggle, in some cases, for students to accept that there was no single right answer to the problems they were trying to solve. They really wanted a way to know when they’d cracked it! In terms of the actual writing, though, most of the changes were related to flow and clarity. The final book has much of the same content as our initial draft – just in a different order.

In the Preface, you suggest that people “are biased toward data that is immediately available.” So what?

Riel: Our bias toward immediately available data is limiting. We come to conclusions and make choices based on the data that we choose to pay attention to, usually the data that is easiest to find and fits with our existing world view. But is some cases, the data that really make the difference are the data that are more obscure, that challenge our assumptions, and that has the potential to reframe our thinking. It is in part why the media eco-chamber we hear so much about is problematic. If we only watch CNN or Fox news, we are only exposed to the data that already fits our political perspective and that is easy for us to assimilate. But that kind of data stops us from truly thinking, from challenging and extending our perspective on the world. It means we aren’t learning anything new.

Why is it so difficult to get rid of bad habits while strengthening good habits?

Martin: The status quo is more tenacious than anyone would ever imagine. The human mind prefers continuity rather than change. So it really has to be committed to eliminating a bad habit to even start down that path.

Riel: Our existing models of the world, and our existing ways of being in the world, are very sticky. We like to feel certain. We like closure. Doing things differently is hard work. The human brain is quite lazy, so it takes real effort to engage in the consideration of new ideas and to try new things. Plus, we like to do what we’re good at. Trying new things brings with it the very real possibility of being bad them and even failing at them. For some of us, that can be threatening to our sense of self, to our identity as highly competent, smart doers. All this makes it hard to establish new habits in place of the old ones.

You draw connections between design thinking and integrative thinking. Please explain a bit about design thinking, and how you see it connecting to Creating Great Choices.

Martin: The fundamental purpose of design thinking is to produce something that does not now exist. And so it is with integrative thinking – in the face of conflicting models, it seeks to generate a creative resolution of the tension in the form of a model that contains elements of each but is superior to both. So the goals are aligned completely.

Riel: There are a few big ideas that are typically associated with design thinking. 1) It begins with real people, with human beings, aiming to solve the problems they face and meet their unmet needs; 2) it involves divergence, the generation of multiple different possible solutions for consideration and 3) it requires taking those possibilities and engaging in rapid prototyping, which is iterative testing of early, rough prototypes of the solutions with the aim of learning and improvement.

In our process for integrative thinking, we were particularly inspired by the idea of generating multiple possibilities, to reduce the dependence on any one solution being perfect, and on the idea of testing those ideas early, while we can still learn and make them better. Those are the two biggest connections, though we would argue that design thinking and integrative thinking are two complimentary thinking tools, with a shared mindset – a desire to solve old problems in new ways.

What is the relevance of integrative thinking to behavioral decision making?

Riel: The field of behavioral science has been hugely significant in helping us understand how we think and how people make choices. Most traditional business educations starts with the principle that people are rational value-maximizers.

Behavioral science tells us that we are far from rational, and that we have predictable biases that impact how we think and how we choose. The implications for integrative thinking are two-fold: 1) we need to be aware that these biases exist (both for ourselves and for other people) and 2) we need to get much better at thinking about our thinking, questioning what we believe and why we believe it. It is why so much of our process us about articulating exploring and questioning our thinking about the world. If we can unearth our biases, we can start to challenge them consciously, as opposed to unconsciously reinforcing them.

Martin: Integrative thinking attempts to take into account the fundamental biases that behavioral decision-making theory has uncovered. One is anchoring – we anchor quickly on the model that we know and tend to look for data that supports our existing view. That is why was encourage people to sequentially fall in love with two opposing models. The game of falling in love with the opposite model is an attempt to help the participants escape the clutches of anchoring/confirmation bias.

In your opinion, what are the most valuable lessons to be learning from the making of The Lego Movie?

Riel: I love the story of The Lego Movie. Briefly, the Lego leadership team faced a challenging trade-off when they were approached with the idea of making an original film. There were two competing desires at odds with one another: On the one hand, we want to protect and bolster the Lego brand. On the other, we want a great movie.

These don’t seem so incommensurable until you consider how we typically think about getting to those outcomes. To protect the brand, we would insist on strict creative control, giving Lego sign-off on every decision. To get a great movie, though, we need to hire the very best talent and give them room to create. How can the filmmakers do that if Lego Group has ultimate creative control? And how can Lego Group protect its brand if it gives up its creative control? That’s just irresponsible.

To resolve this trade-off, then-CEO Jorgen Vig Knudstorp accepted that he had to give creative control to the filmmakers as a base assumption. But how might he still protect his company under those circumstances?

Here, he decided the best way to protect the brand was to help the filmmakers truly fall in love with Lego, so that protecting the brand would become second nature. He asked them to spend time before starting the film with Lego’s biggest fans – kids and even adult-super fans. Once they did, the filmmakers had become insiders; they were super-invested in doing right by those fans. This helped Jorgen achieve his goal – a film that was great as entertainment and great for Lego.

*     *     *

Here is a direct link to the complete Part 2.

To check out Part 1, please click here. 

Jennifer and Roger invite you to check out the resources at these websites: Roger’s link Rotman School of Management link HBR link

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