#and it was also fun playing around with the sg cast and seeing where i could place them hehehehe

[pan-de-queer]

another day to use the last 15 mins i'm allowed (health-wise) to be awake on a weekday to think about the supercorp ph uni au [1 2]

thinking of how lena might join actual protests (slowly and just the Major ones) bc of kara and lillian finds out and is abso-fucking-lutely furious. she flies all the way to the philippines with the intention of dragging lena home but lena's two steps ahead. she's already changed her tuition payment from the luthor accounts to a student loan.

she's been working part time for a local lab (under recommendation from her professors instead of her family name, for once) and moving whatever money she could get from whatever lionel and lex had left or given her into investments and some small properties. she moved out of the place lillian had originally bought her and was living in a tiny apartment with a girl named sam and sam's two-year-old daughter, ruby.

by the time lillian arrives to try and bring her back home, she's practically financially free of the luthor chain. the only thing holding her back is the duty she used to feel for the people who raised her. but now? now lena has a family. she has sam and ruby, her roommates who force her to relax and watch reruns of batibot and sineskwela with them. jack, her fellow international student and favorite science partner who helped her sort her finances. brainy, her co-worker from ust who continuously betters and challenges her. alex, who, somehow, became her drinking buddy and confidante. nia, kara's underclassman who introduced her to the bahaghari organization. and kara, her best friend. her favorite person. the woman who stood next to her when lillian yelled and yelled and yelled in her twisted effort to get her to go back home.

but lena finds that she is home. the philippines has given her more than metropolis or the luthors have ever bothered to offer.

friends.

a family.

home.

love.

lena knows where she belongs now, and she won't let anyone take that away from her.

[firebunnylover]

LoSH S2 discussion

I love Legion of Superheroes. And i love season 2, but that doesn’t mean I don’t think about how it could have been improved. In terms of quality, it varies more than season 1. Some parts are top tier while others… eh.

Season 2 is darker than season 1. And there’s the inherent stigmatism that darker means better. But it’s not true.

A horror schlock film is not inherently better than an animated film.

I don’t blame the staff on all its shortcomings. Kids WB was on its deathbed, so they probably had less time to work and iron out ideas. And executive meddling.

The second season had a lot of good elements, but there are things that weighed it down. I am here to discuss how to improve said things.

Heads up: ended up editing part of this post after rewatching the episodes.

This first bit is more of a personal preference, but instead of the 41st century, maybe move the original source of conflict to a farther region of space, one that the UP doesn’t interact with, and has been growing in terms of turmoil until they finally resort to bringing the Legion over. In other words, it has just been put aside by everyone else to the last minute.

Parallel to Brainy’s relationship to Brainiac. He doesn’t want to deal with it. He never brings it up. But maybe if he did, he wouldn’t have gotten corrupted.

This place still has plenty of old documentation of the original age of superman, so Kell is disillusioned with the ideal glory days. Keep Kell Edgy.

Kell’s home and K3NT still gets destroyed - reflects Krypton’s own destruction.

SPEAKING OF KELL:

Make his story more apparent that it’s one realizing that kindness is not an inherent weakness. And neither is being soft. He was raised for fighting and killing Imperiex, and was taught to think that they were weaknesses. Have him realize his identity can be beyond the Clone of Superman made to kill Imperiex. Or rather, have him react more to realizing that he’s moving beyond his given identity.

To clarify; they do address his development in the show a few times, but I want more continuous development instead of the rapid nods we get. Have him try to interact in a more humane way with others. Especially with other members of the Legion. Where they have to take a double take in seeing him acting not that edgy. Maybe offer more flashback of him fighting Imperiex in comparison, and how he treated allies then.

Also put K3NT’s story under the microscope. I doubt Imperiex just came out of nowhere with his attacks. Plus the fact they went far enough to send a hitman after a fucking child? That screams yikes and maybe we need to double check the story.

And an overall issue to be addressed is what rights do robots have and what conditions need to be met? Because let’s face it, we make robots to do complex work for us. But Colu is a culture where the main people ARE robots. Like in Transformers. What line do we draw between non-sentient robots vs the sentient ones in the 31st century? And what about cyborgs/people who give up their original bodies for robotic ones?

Plus Imperiex himself came to be because of the perfected combination of organic tissue and robotics. This topic of robots and individuality/personhood could have been a fun topic to explore.

Don’t sideline the girls. Leave TG alone. 

Don’t put SG in a coma for nearly the whole season - seriously it’s the reason why the guys make one bad decision after the other. Although with that said, it’s because she’s not around we got the majority of s2 plots. She’s the goddamn mom of the squad. Just make her busier and unable to keep an eye on her idiot boys for the plots based on bad decisions to happen. 

Or have her deal with after-effects of what Esper did to her. Maybe after a whole season of being the emotional support character, have her be the one in need of emotional support or not being able to help directly, especially when the group needs emotional support. Emotional support paradox.

Maybe don’t make Cosmic Boy appear as much as a dick in the episodes where he does show up. He’s trying to hold this goddamn team together, and there’s a goddamn tyrant trying to conquer the galaxy. HE’S FUCKING TIRED AND STRESSED. AND IM SURE THERE ARE A BUNCH OF JERKS WHO WANT TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THAT TO DISSOLVE THE LEGION. Better yet, throw in some more backstory with him and his little brother Pol!

And in regards to Imperiex… The dude has a lot of potential. I like his voice actor, Phil Morris. The guy voiced Dr. Sweets from Atlantis.

But his writing needs help.

In the original DC comics, he’s the embodiment of Entropy. Anyone who’s seen Madoka is probably familiar with what that is. But if you're not, here’s a definition: “ the measure of a system’s thermal energy per unit temperature that is unavailable for doing useful work...” He’s the embodiment of that energy that cannot be used for anything. And Entropy grows over time.

Another definition of what Entropy is “lack of order or predictability; gradual decline into disorder.”

In the comics, he’s more of a cosmic being as a result of him being an embodiment of unusable energy. He’s been in existence since, well, the beginning. He had destroyed the universe and recreated it multiple times. Okay, so that lines up with how the show portrays him. And technically, he does get the universe to reset itself in the 41st century when he alters the 31st century enough.

But I personally feel that making him a cosmic being is kinda… meh?

I personally prefer more personal villains most of the time. Don’t get me wrong, an Eldritch being done right makes a great character, but I can’t see Imperiex as one. At least not LoSH’s version.

Plus I like it when the protagonist sees the villain has a point and has changed as a result for the better.

You know, over a year ago, I used to think that it was impossible to make a tyrannical villain who’s presented as real evil seem complex.

And then… I was introduced to TFP Megatron.

Now for you LoSH fans who haven’t watched Transformers Prime, Megatron was once Megatronus. A low caste member who worked in the mines and Gladiator games. He wanted to fix the growing corruption of Cybertron. To make things better.

But his worse personality traits took over, and he lost that good motivation. Now he’s just fighting to win and defeat Optimus Prime. 

But despite the change of goals and ideals, he doesn’t want to simply abandon his relationship with Optimus. He and Optimus, or as he used to be called, Orion, were fighting for the betterment of society. And they meant something to each other. Megatron doesn’t want to just get it over with. He wants fanfare for his victory over Optimus. And he doesn’t want anyone else to rob him off that. But he isn’t opposed to getting Optimus/Orion back on his side. It’s because of this you can still argue that there is a remaining shred of good in him.

They were the best young lovers anD NO I AM NOT CRYING OVER THEM!

Also, the fact we know he was part of a minority group in the form of the lower cast  that was enslaved can make us sympathize with Megatronus of the past, as well as understand how he came to be.

It doesn’t mean we forgive him for his actions - and he has done a lot of shitty things. And I mean a lot.

But his history is more understandable. TFP Megatron’s a fall from grace.

OK I’m done dissecting TFP Meg’s writing.

We know Imperiex was a slave, and was originally organic, who’s from a society where his purpose is literally just to fight, and was gradually stripped of his original body. He was originally stripped of any agency before then though.

But he says this was a good thing. Calling his original body a weakness. And refers to his old self as a pathetic slave.

He gave up whatever softness he had.

Also, this is where K3NT’s story needs to be reexamined. Imperiex was made during what K3NT described as “A Time of Extended Prosperity”. That time had freaking slaves. And K3NT says that when Imperiex did rise up, they were unprepared. So… they were prosperous, but lacked defense to prevent anything like that happening? Or perhaps those who were in charge were that unpopular that it was easy for Imperiex to start the war.

What made him decide conquering the galaxy was the next thing to do after he had every bit of his original self stripped away? Why go as far as destroy it?

What I’m trying to say is that they could borrow a few pages from the Megatron book. Maybe he was once trying to better the society he was part of, but he decides to play the violent card at some point. And somewhere along that strategy, he starts to lose sight of the initial goal. With that, being the victor and in control becomes the main one.

Or perhaps he has grown cynical of the galaxy as it is and decides it just needs to go all together, and then start from scratch.

Like the second definition of Entropy, he gradually declines in predictability and descends into disorder.

Maybe to juxtaposition the fact that Brainiac became the main threat at the end, make him the opposite or foil to him. Rationality or logic do not serve as first-or-second influences to decisions under pressure. Emotions and his own perceived ideas do.

Speaking of Brainiac, maybe offer more of the OG Brainiac. Give us more of that smooth-voiced Corey Burton. 

Or TFA Megatron.

Seductive Bastard.

I’m sorry I have fallen for the shady-business-mafia-boss-but-morally-grey robot.

Also, the members of the legion that only get one episode focus? Give them more screen time. You can’t just introduce superman’s new adopted son Karate Kid and just not bring him for another speaking role again!

Actually, that brings me to another point.

As @spandexinspace​ pointed out, his episode is not the best, and is arguably the worst written of the whole series. Things that are issues do get brushed off to the side.

So a proposal on potential rewrite:

First, have the legion look over its current rules and what exceptions/changes they need to make.

Explore the subject of kids having to participate in these fights.

To clarify, kid shows are meant to be escapism for kids.

Shocking, I know.

So it makes sense that some characters would be the same age as the viewers. 

But while this is good representation, as you get older, you find yourself going “WHY WOULD THE ADULTS LET THEM ENDANGER THEMSELVES?!”

Kids having to fight at that age does have consequences. Batman Beyond certainly addressed it. So did Steven Universe Future.

Steven ended up being responsible for so much, that when he no longer needed to take care of things, he was unsure of who he was. And then there’s the fact he ended up with PTSD because of him having to fight so much. Then you have the fact that Greg and Rose never intended to raise him like their caretakers did... but as good as their intentions were, they still caused damage. Rose for… all the gem stuff. And look, Greg is a great dad, but not enforcing anything for Steven when he’s growing up still has it’s cost.

With Batman, he’s obviously going to do his damn best to keep kids safe, including the Robins. But sometimes, it’s not enough. He wasn’t able to keep Tim safe in the event with the Joker in Batman Beyond. Where he was held captive and tortured.

But the Batkids are never expected to resolve this stuff by themselves. Because Batman knows how much you can get screwed up as a kid. He fucking cares.

And to be fair, in most continuities I’m aware of, the other sidekicks came out pretty okay overall.

Except Jason Todd.

So my proposal?

Have Val originally with Grimbor, as a sort of Protege. But have the legion capture him, only to go “uhhh this is a child with no powers”. And Superman, being the good, wholesome paragon we all love, takes him under his wing.

In all honesty, I want Superman pulling a batdad for Karate Kid in his intro episode the whole time. That was the best part of the episode for me.

Plus after the events of “Cry Wolf”, the Legion should examine the no-killing rule. Because they do need to kill Imperiex to save the universe. But that goes against the code. But they can argue it’s a necessity. But Mar Londo is also a monster. He’s the everyday monster some of us have grown up with.

When do you need to make exceptions to kill someone?

And my final main suggestion:

Add more Mekt.

What the heck were you guys expecting? You all KNOW me by now. I LOVE MY GARBAGE BOY.

Joking aside, here’s what I would do.

Have the Chained Lightning episode pushed back, but have Mekt with Imperiex earlier. Most of us would yell “Why the heck would you join the guy whose main goal is to destroy the galaxy?!” But this is one of the easiest things to address.

Explore more of his past. Use the comic sources with him being outcast for being a solo on Winath. With that in mind, him deciding to side with Imperiex can make sense.

Why try protecting something that has done nothing but hurt you?

There’s actually a pretty good reason why he would side with Imperiex, as seen in Champions and Lightning Storm. Remember, Mekt was willing to cheat to get ahead of the sports competition he was introduced in. And also was thrilled when fighting Garth and was beating him on his own. He likes being in power.

Imperiex offers him that.

As for why Imperiex would bother with Mekt? That’s a little harder to answer. He knows that Mekt has a soft spot for his brother, and in turn sister, which proves to be the reason why the Tachyon Cannon fails. You’d think Imperiex would remove a huge fatality.

But he doesn’t.

Maybe he could hold another type of value for Mekt. Perhaps... nostalgia?

I’m still sold on the idea that they were sleeping together.

Also, give us a conclusive answer on where Mekt stands with the LSV. In the comics, he was the leader, but that role was given to Tyr in the cartoon more or less.

OK I think this has been polished enough for me to post now. What you guys think? Feel free to add on!

[stranger-who-writes-fiction]

So 5x18...

...Well hot d*mn.

Man when Supergirl fires on all cylinders...HOO BOY.

Case in point: *gestures to all of 5x18*

To be clear: I liked this one.

A WHOLE LOT.

Not that I disliked 5x17, necessarily. It’s just that 5x18 was more... Entertaining? ...I dunno. I dunno how to explain it.

...Okay yes I do and that explanation is: Someone remarked on Kara’s use of language and Kara overcompensated on the ‘NOooOOooOO I’m totally 100% normal!’ AND there was a musical quote AND it was WHILE TEAMING UP WITH ALEX TO FOLLOW A LEAD.

But I’m getting ahead of myself let’s backtrack...

TO THE TOWER! WITH ALEX! NIA! KARA! AND M’GAAAAAANNNNN!!!!!!

June Foray voice: WOULD YOU LIKE TO STAY FOREVER?!?!?!

I know I’m not the first person to make that reference but it’s always fitting and, for real, recurring character status WHEN. (I mean. Obviously I would prefer series regular but that feels like a big ask considering that all future TV production is...uh. Ah. Erm....

...Up in the air. At the moment.)

And then we check in with the Luthors and Non Nocere isn’t working???

I am shocked! Shocked, I say!

And then we’ve got Obsidian doing something ill-advised which is basically the company’s MO at this point but KELLY AND WILLIAM ARE ON THE CASE REGARDLESS.

(So that’s kinda the one thing I’m sad about re: the Crisis reset; Andrea’s character development. But she’s sticking around for next season so I’m not too upset that she remains...kinda...one note for now.)

And THEN the library scene. 

It was so gooooood.

Then Leviathan and okay. Alright. Okay. Huge points in this episode’s favor: Rama Khan feels like a far more significant threat. And I feel like 80% of that is the fact that they just let him wear normal clothes. Thank you, show. Thank. You.

Also the rock effects were way better in this episode because they weren’t footing the bill for a giant crossover episode this time around

I am a little confused, though, by what has and has not happened with regards to Rama Khan on Earth Prime. Did the pre-Crisis stuff...happen? The dialogue...kinda made it hard to decide one way or the other. ‘He hasn’t been seen on this Earth for 100s of years’ but then also, ‘a chilly place you know quite well.’ So...he...did go to the Fortress. And fight Kara? But...all that stuff before Crisis...???

...Not gonna bother with that right now.

POINT IS...Leviathan is finally like...invested in killing Supergirl* and menacing in a very real way which both raises the stakes and makes it personal and that’s way more interesting than ‘nebulous evil organization that must be stopped.’

*I know they kinda sorta already did the whole, ‘let’s kill the Kryptonian!’ and invaded the Fortress but I don’t know what to tell ya, it was just lackluster.

J’ONN AND M’GAAAAAANNNNN

I am firmly in camp: I don’t care if they’re never green again I love seeing them in the super suits with their human faces IT’S GREAT.

Love that Nia’s snoring interrupts the moment.

Also love the deck of Rama Khan playing cards, that must’ve been a fun project for the graphic designers.

Then we’ve got William and Kara at CatCo and it’s baked goods! A hilarious line delivery by Staz! A ridiculous fabrication involving a shy, violent cat!

...Now I want Alex to actually own a shy, violent cat!

“Cats love me, for some reason.” “Of course they do.”

Side note: Love Kara’s blazer.

And then it’s ALIEEEEEENS TO THE RESCUE!

WHAT A TEAM UP, FOLKS.

We love to see it.

The interrogation scene is good n’ tense and ramps up to a very impressive showdown in the DEO (but BEFORE the sparks really start flying we get that rad shot of Kara leaping through the window and doing the superhero landing and it’s just

Perfection.)

Also perfect? Lex playing a game of transmatter pickle with the prisoners.

Then we jump back to the DEO where things are not going well!

Like, really really bad! 

But J’onn and M’gann save the day! If not the building!

RIP DEO. 2016-2020

Obituary: The DEO headquarters is survived by its elder sibling, the DEO desert base.

Look none of the favs work there anymore save for Kara and Brainy and they’re both gonna be better off working freelance for J’onn but I do expect Brainy to at least pick up some additional cash by working as a Lyft driver next season.

Me, watching the characters struggle to make it in the gig economy: I feel so seen.

The final portion of the episode is just ALL ACTING and I must say...good stuff.

Like. This cast, man. They take the plot points I’ve been ‘meh’ about all season and they turn in some stellar performances and suddenly I’m like STANDING OVATION, CAN’T WAIT TO SEE WHERE THIS GOES.

Also, reason #342 I love Jon Cryer’s Lex: that scene with Lena.

Terrifying.

Full disclosure: I went in to this episode fully prepared to be really annoyed with whatever was going to happen with Lena and I still don’t...love the trajectory of this season, being so tied up in her personal drama but. 

But.

Katie McGrath’s performance...went an awful long way here. In making this...not as bad as it could have been.

Like tearfully admitting she was hurt? And that hurt was the basis of all the nonsense she pulled? Finally owning up to the fact that this was never truly about the greater good but that it was all rooted in some personal issues and OUTRIGHT STATING SHE WAS BEHAVING LIKE A VILLAIN????

I am. Extremely impressed.

EVEN MORE IMPRESSIVE THOUGH: Kara remaining distant both physically and emotionally throughout that scene! Not in like, a cold uncaring way, but in a, ‘I have emotions and I have a right to feel them and set boundaries in regards to my trusting you right now given all that has transpired’ kind of way.

GOOD. YES. GOOD.

(Lex’s outburst has that kind of same Nice Guy undertone--albeit more pronounced and rage-y--as Lena’s in the Fortress. Like, ‘I supported you and you still rejected my plot to take over the world’ and ‘I was kind to you and you still messed up my mind control’ which...I dunno I might just be digging in too deep here in order to further justify the character turn but I think Cryer’s performance regardless is a really sobering wake up call for Lena, different than Lex stuff we’ve seen before. It’s close and intense and uncomfortable in a way that really sells the motivation.)

“You’re a monster...but that doesn’t mean I have to be one too.”

Wow. Might be...the first time I’ve liked Lena all season.

...whispers: might be the first time I’ve liked her ever at all

For real: credit where it’s due, that was an excellent line read.

*insert applause here*

CUT TO ADORABLE J’ONN AND M’GANN MOMENT 

D’aaaawwwwwwwwww

But, look, it’s a little undermined by the fact that they both gotta try and embrace in those bulky super suits, I’m sorry, it’s true

...Maybe it’s more endearing that way?

HEY remember how I foolishly assumed that the now-unemployed Alex would simply continue to work with J’onn in an investigative capacity and, ya know, NOT jump straight back into costumed badassery? 

HA. HAHA HAHAAAA.

Those leaked set photos make sense now.

OH NO, WILLIAM!

Real glad Staz confirmed he’s returning. Otherwise I would not be able to DEAL WITH THE STRESS.

I already talked a little bit about the loft scene but some additional points! Beautiful lighting. Wonderful score. Excellent performances all around.

A truly great end to a truly great episode.

Like, it makes me retroactively sad, that we’re only getting 5x19, as opposed to 5x19 and 5x20 because I wish that the crew/writers/actors had a little more space to let all of this good work they’ve done settle and breathe. 

(But also, it was good that they stopped production, from a safety standpoint, so. Can’t be too upset.)

And, regardless of how the next episode goes down (b/c I’m gonna be real, SG always does really great set-ups for their season finales and then kinda...rushes to the finish line and that can only be further exacerbated in this particular case) I’m just really impressed with this effort here.  

...but also LET’S TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE SOME WILD GUESSES. Specifically, what is Alex’s vigilante name gonna be??? 

...

Alright I generally try to avoid addressing specific fandom complaints in these things b/c I generally try to avoid the fandom itself but of course some stuff has already leaked through all of my blocks/muting so:

‘Lena didn’t apologize!’ The words ‘I’m sorry’ were not said, sure, but 1.) season’s not over and 2.) for Lena, admitting she was wrong is huge. HUUUUUUUGE. It’s solid character growth and I really wish various subsets of fandom would recognize that it’s not fun, when fans hold on to negative stuff from characters’ past and refuse to acknowledge that the characters have changed.

‘Brainy should have seen this coming!’ This one is kind of more down to personal preference I guess but I feel like they’ve established that Brainy’s got a bit of a blindspot due to his feelings about his friends, so I don’t take this as a knock against his intelligence so much as him being stretched fairly thin because he’s playing all sides, and worried about the people he loves. YMMV, though. 

All the ‘fix-it’ stuff re: the last scene, by making Kara immediately forgive Lena. Lose me with that nonsense, bleh. 

[rijurambles]

Storytime!!

So - I'm into RP, not necessarily on here but I love doing it.

I thought I'd share one of my favorite RPs of all time to you guys. The Secret Grove!! Also known as SG. Still ongoing so if anything big happens then I'll put it here. This one was organized by yours truly, starring my best friends: Ashcan, Minish, Toony, and most recently old friend Bongo!!

This took place in the usual zelda verse, in some made up forest called the Secret Grove. Basically the plot was that everyone got stuck here and now has to work together to get out. Pretty simple, but this ended up being the most fun I've had with a concept in a long time.

Our Characters:

Riju/Me: Twilight (TP Link)

Ashcan: Princess Hilda, Yuga, Zant

Minish: Time (Oot Link) and Navi

Toony: Aqua (Blue Link from Triforce Heroes)

Bongo: Marin (but he hasn't really done anything yet so he's not here)

All relationships here are platonic(except for vague mentions of midlink)!! We're about found family.

OKAY SO-

I start us off with Twilight setting up camp, and he gets found by Windy (WW link,who sadly left the rp, but he was only active for like two months) . More like Twi finds /him/ but whatever. The two team up for a bit, because their only knowledge of this place came from a creepy vague signpost that implied that they might die here.

Meanwhile, Hilda shows up and is very, very confused. Aqua is there also and is so confused that he just - /screams/? This man just straight up yells. He misses his friends, okay? So right now it's nighttime, and Hilda has made a fire, and she happens to be in sight range of Twi and Windy. Twilight decides that they need as much help as they can get, so he proceeds to metal gear solid his way into her camp, pops up from behind a tree and offers vaguely to join them which either confuses Hilda more or pisses her off. I'm still not sure, but this is the moment where these two become rivals. Hilda refuses, but she still kind of sticks around.

I'm not entirely sure if I remember how Aqua joined the gang, but I think he just walked into our camp. So Twi is mostly group leader (much to Hilda's chagrin), starts assigning the gang roles so that they can get a camp running. Aqua goes off to get water, Twilight is in charge of finding food, and Hilda needs sticks for a fire. Also, we get nicknames!! Hilda never tells the group her actual name so Twi called her Dark Duchess one time and the name stuck. To fire back, Hilda called him dark lord. Aqua got called Turquoise Tunic once but gave them a lecture on how his clothes are sky blue and not turquoise.

Hilda ends up finding Time and Navi passed out in the middle of nowhere, and she trusts him because he mentioned that he's friends with Princess Zelda, so she tells Time her actual name. Time is a nice enough guy that he keeps the secret. Meanwhile, Twi places a deku nut trail to find his way back after discovering a decrepit mansion deep within the forest. Sure, it's not food, but it's better shelter than staying out in the wilderness.

The gang regroups. Twilight /swears/ that he recognizes Time but will never admit it. Eventually, just before they leave to go to the mansion, Time and Twilight have a bonding moment where they learn about each other's histories. Twi tells him about the whole Hero's Shade thing, which is a shocker to the younger Time (who has just completed the Spirit Temple), but he promises to make sure to still teach him since it's essential to his journey. This makes Twilight trust Time more than anyone else in the gang.

So everyone heads to the mansion.  Upon arriving and heading to the second floor, Twilight senses a Poe and is forced to go into wolf form to fight it. To the others, it just looks like Wolf Twi mauling air while levitating. Hilda is a little late to the party so she never got to see wolf Twi, and he explains this to the gang.  Aqua is still hecka confused. Hilda also takes off her heels, finally. The room with the Poe is actually a bedroom,  and so Twilight uses his lantern to light the room up a bit. They're all pretty tired. Twi hasn't slept since they got here, and who knows how chaotic his sleep schedule was before this.

After making sure everyone has blankets, Twilight passes flat out onto one of the beds. Everyone is pretty shocked by this since they haven't seen how much of a rough sleeper he is. He keeps mumbling things to himself and rolls around, falling off the bed at some point. Time plays his ocarina to help them sleep. Twilight wakes up in the middle of the night,  heads downstairs to try and clear his mind. 

He explores the mansion,  coming into a hallway with a sort of Darknut. Twilight fights it because  of course he does,  and like hell he's gonna let anyone else get hurt.  A thing about Twi: he will ALWAYS dedicate himself to protecting other people as a defense mechanism after losing a lot of his friends. He succeeds,  but also ends up waking up Hilda. Hilda is cranky because she didn't get her beauty rest or something,  and Twi makes the argument of "Uhm, I just save your life??". The two bicker a bit before Aqua and Time get up.

Deciding to explore the mansion,  the gang stumbles into another room. Twilight gets crushed by a wall master which is /ow/ but manages to cut his way out of it,  killing the thing.  This also leaves him covered in blood and slime and generally ew things,  which makes Hilda panic until Aqua uses the waterfall rod thing to clean him off. They end up finding themselves in the kitchen, where they meet the ghost of a little girl named Clarice. 

You might be thinking, what harm could this little kid possibly do? A lot. A lot is the answer. So basically, Clarice is bound to the mansion and can't leave. All she wants to do is explore the world outside so she can have some playmates. Hilda tries to use her magic to unbind her. This does not work, Hilda messes up the spell, and now Clarice is flying away and Twilight is following her in wolf form. The gang chase Clarice until they get to the top floor; a magnificent ballroom. Twilight goes back to human form and sees who else but Princess Midna, the girl who left the light world for good. Or did she? If she's here, then he thinks that things are going to be alright.

Twilight rushes up to hug Midna, after all, he hasn't seen her in nearly two years. Hilda catches up and sees a different story- Ravio. Holding Lorule's triforce. Not realizing that her triforce has already been restored, Hilda sprints up to go hug Ravio. This causes problems with Twi, who was kind of having a moment there. They start to argue for a bit. Aqua comes in, he sees Blaze (red link from Tfh), the friend that he hasn't seen since he got here. He's of course happy to be there, and also goes up to him.

And then Time comes along. He's the only one who sees the /real/ person. A horrifying monster. And all three of them think that this is someone dear to them. When Time fires an arrow at the corrupted Clarice, as you can expect, PROBLEMS OCCUR. Because you basically just stabbed Midna right in front of Twilight, which by the way, the last time that happened, he nearly had a coronary. Because you basically just stabbed Ravio right in front of Hilda. Because you just stabbed Blaze right in front of Aqua.

All hell breaks loose after that.

Twilight is reasonably pissed and pulls out the ball and chain. Time panics and cast's Nayru's Love to protect himself. Hilda wants to hurt Time first so she tries to trip Twi with magical vines. Twilight doesn't give a crap and runs himself over to Time, getting into a sword fight. After a while of arguing, Time manages to convince Twi that what he saw wasn't the real thing. Meanwhile, while Hilda and Twi are busy trying to give Time hell, Aqua rushes up to try and get Blaze out of the crossfire. Perhaps they could escape together and forget all this. He's about to make a run for it when Twilight comes up and starts telling him what Time said while Time fends off Hilda.

Aqua is SO confused and doesn't know what to do until Twilight says "That's an illusion " and everything starts making sense to Hilda. Lorule's triforce is fine. They don't even need this. Ravio isn't here. This isn't real. Having used up her magic, she falls down and nearly passes out. Time stabs Corrupted Clarice, which also nearly traumatized Aqua.

The fight is over, and everyone is mentally and physically destroyed.

They all recuperate, Hilda finally tells the group her real name and now has intense self doubt, Twi and Time patch themselves up with the help of Aqua. They start sharing stories to pass the time. Hilda talks about the beauty of Lorule, Aqua talks about his adventures with Forest and Blaze, and also sings a song. Twilight takes a deep sigh before finally talking about Midna and the Twilight Realm. Everyone is surprised to hear about all this and he seems genuinely distraught about it.

Everyone is mostly okay until an arc that me and Ash planned happens - a Kargoarc bursts through the window. Aqua had gone down to get their blankets, also. Twilight notices that it's from his Hyrule and gets up to fight, but Hilda is stubborn and wants to help too. Twilight aims a bomb arrow, Hilda uses a fireball.

BOTH miss.

The mansion is on FIRE.

Both of them panic. Hilda just wants to stay here and burn after all the things she's done but even though Twilight hates her he's not leaving her behind to die. They argue again, Time tries to reason with them but their fight escalates until they're both screaming their lungs out at each other. At one point - Twilight just /breaks/ and shifts into the mind of a little kid, which is really all he is, a kid that grew up told fast. He's crying. He asks if Hilda hates him and Hilda is about to scream at him before Time interrupts and knocks her out, having Twilight just carry her out. Time sends Navi to go help Aqua, and now it's a race against time to get out.

Twilight rushes down to the lower level, makes it to the second floor before the fire blocks his exit. He's trapped in a room, and has to make a split second decision to use a bedsheet as a rope to get them down from the window. He ties himself and Hilda together, ties an end to the windowsill, and jumps. It catches them the first time, thank Hylia, but then the sheet catches on fire and Twi is forced to untie themselves before they get burned.

He holds onto Hilda as much as he can, and then they fall.

Twilight hits his shoulder on a rock, shattering it on impact. Ow.

Hilda is mostly unharmed. That's all he needs to know before he passes out.

Time also jumps out of a window, but doesn't get hurt. Aqua finds a door and runs out, shielding Navi before passing out from the smoke.

These guys have been through some shindizzle, and it'll only get worse.

[okay-j-hannah]

My Life is a Mess Without You

Smosh : Prompt

Damien x Reader

Word Count: 1968

Warnings: Just the most classic Damien Haas fic scenario... but I made it ENTIRELY in his point of view

Request: “20 with Damien Haas” - @caswinchester2000

Prompt:

20. “You are the least subtle person I know. Your ‘I have a secret’ vibe is literally visible from the moon.”

A/N: Damien just didn’t get it - what could he have done that would make you ignore him for so long?

Damien sighed, moving his eyes from the TV to the phone in his hand, his fingers hovering over the keyboard.

He was completely disheveled – his hair unkempt and the blue streaks fading. He had reverted to only wearing old sweatshirts and faded jeans, his glasses worn more frequently as the task to order more contact lenses seemed daunting compared to other problems.

His house was incredibly untidy with plates stacked by the sink, movies and games littering the living room floor, and piles of miscellaneous garbage speckled every surface. 

Even his cats had noticed the decline in activity as Damien remained more sedentary, normally retreating to the couch upon return from work.

The Smosh Family helped with what they could, also noticing (Y/N)’s avoidance. Damien could hardly manage to keep up with filming and script reads when all his focus was residing on her.

(Y/N) wasn’t talking to him. And it was wrecking him.

Pushing his glasses back in place, he scrolled through his unanswered text messages, a pain in his chest. It had been weeks since their last sincere conversation, a moment he had replayed in his mind over and over.

It sat at the forefront of his mind as if it was yesterday. Something was definitely wrong with (Y/N), that much he was sure of.

With their daily carpool to work together, she didn’t say a single word that day. She normally was running on slight caffeine adrenaline or singing at the top of her lungs to the morning radio.

Today? Absolutely nothing.

She just stared out the window, her arms folded very tightly across her chest. It was apparent that she hadn’t been getting her caffeine; her eyes were dark and heavy from the possible lack of sleep.

Damien even attempted at a conversation, “No new ‘Ian did this’ or ‘Monica said that’ this morning?” He had a smile on his lips even if concern was consuming his gaze, flickering from the road to her turned head.

She vaguely muttered a dull response, “Haven’t seen them. Been very busy.”

“You’ve been busy? Is that why you look so tired?”

Something clicked in her brain and she finally faced him, “Hm? Oh, my coffee maker sparked a few days ago – haven’t been able to get my morning fix.” She attempted at a makeshift smile, but Damien saw right through it.

Why in Heaven’s Above would she try to hide something from him? He hated it when she felt like she had to hide from him.

As soon as they parked in the Smosh Office lot, Damien turned to give his full attention to one of his best friends.

“What’s wrong?”

She seemed taken aback, “Nothing.” She tried the handle of the door, finding it continuously locked.

“Something is obviously wrong, and I don’t think you should bottle it up.” He was leaning towards her, almost hovering over the seat compartment between them.

“I told you, I’m busy and stressed and tired,” she sneaked a half-way smile, shrugging her shoulders. “I’ve had a lot on my mind.”

Damien raised a suspicious eyebrow, “What kind of stuff?”

She seemed strained between answering and jumping out of the vehicle, “Sh-Shouldn’t we get inside? We still have work today, you know?”

He sighed at the humor she was forcing through her teeth, “You’re worrying me, (Y/N).”

“And I’m telling you there’s no reason to be.” She met his gaze but swallowed hard. Was that a blush creeping onto her face?

“And I’m telling you that I know you better than you think. And I know that something is bothering you! You can trust me – I’m your friend.”

Her gaze immediately dropped from his face at that statement. Her hands were starting to fidget in her lap, “Well… there – there might be something.”

Damien bit the inside of his cheek, anticipation consuming his worrying thoughts, “I told you I knew it.”

She let a small laugh escape, “How do you always know?”

“You are the least subtle person I know. Your ‘I have a secret’ vibe is literally visible from the moon.”

“I – I might… there’s th-this boy. And I can’t s-stop thinking about him.”

He tried to have a relaxed reaction, his focus on her continuously fidgeting hands, “A guy? You have a crush on a guy? Do I know this guy?”

She resisted a smile, “Maybe. He’s a friend.”

“Hm.” He wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about this. Something pushed him to make a retort, that she didn’t need to like another boy because she already had one right there, “Is he a good guy?”

She nodded a little more enthusiastically than he liked, “He’s very sweet and very kind. He’s always a gentleman and always does whatever he can to make me smile.”

Damien found himself holding his breath, “Do you hang with him often? Like does he consider you guys friends?”

“Oh, yes,” she sighed, keeping her gaze away from Damien’s. “I see him every once in a while and we always have so much fun. We surprisingly have a lot in common – we both like filming, we both like reading and playing games, we even have similar views on less partying and more movie nights.”

“Sounds like a great guy,” Damien gave a close-lipped smile, he had to decide between this strange feeling of jealousy and his fierce friendship with (Y/N). “You should definitely go for it – I mean, if that’s what your dilemma is. If you can’t stop thinking about him maybe you should make your move.”

He chose to be her friend first.

“I don’t know,” she bit her bottom lip, “I don’t think it’d work out – I don’t think he sees me like that. I guess I make a better friend than anything else.”

Damien scoffed, catching his genuine reaction to her words. This caused her to whip her eyes to him, confused.

“What are you talking about? Any guy would be lucky to have you! The only reason he would ever turn you down is because he’s too blind to see the perfect package right in front of him. And if that ends up being true, then good riddance because you deserve someone who thinks about you just as much as you’re thinking about him.”

Damien found his hands flailing around slightly as his smooth conversation turned a little heated; but the expression on (Y/N)’s face softened him again.

“You really think that?”

He found her wide eyes staring at him with desperate confirmation, “Why would I ever think otherwise?”

But very quickly he realized that there was still something incredibly wrong. Ever since that conversation (Y/N) had made it a special mission of hers to completely dodge every advance Damien made.

Their usual friendly greeting with the crew? She was excusing herself for the bathroom.

The walk Damien made to see how her directing was going? Matt Raub said she asked to help with editing.

The spot he always saved for her in the meeting room? Neglected as she sat far from him.

Their frequent lunch breaks together? She was nowhere to be found.

The hours they spent recording Smosh Games? She ignored his smile, plastering on an expressionless face.

The special treat he got her to cheer her up? She found him coming towards her office, so she skidded off in the opposite direction.

It was a pattern that continued throughout the entire week, something Damien was fed up with. What could he have possibly done to drive one of his best friends away?

Now as he sat on the couch sulking and dismissively scratching behind Zelda’s ears, he kept his mind trained on (Y/N).

First a confession about a boy. Days of consistent avoidance. And now it was like she hadn’t ever existed.

Damien never realized how big of a part she played in his life, staring at these past text messages with more and more regret:

III AT&T LTE 5:58 PM 23% 🔋

Mon, Aug 5, 11:26 AM

“You felt like editing today?”

1:40 PM

“Hey, are you feeling okay?”

“Is it about that guy? 😉”

 Tue, Aug 6, 10:14 AM

“Has your coffee maker been fixed yet?”

3:52 PM

“I was thinking we could hangout this weekend, you down? 😊”

6:51 PM

3 Missed Calls

“Are you ignoring me?”

 Fri, Aug 9, 11:38 PM

“No, seriously, (Y/N). Are you ignoring me?”

“(Y/N), if Shayne and Mari put you up to a practical joke like this, it’s not funny anymore.”

12:22 PM

2 Missed Calls

“I couldn’t find you for lunch, so I left something on your desk. Your favorite. ❤”

Wed, Aug 14, 5:09 PM

“You seemed off in SG today. Did something happen?”

7:44 PM

“I applaud your efforts in pranking me, but can you please talk to me?”

Sat, Aug 17, 10:31 AM

2 Missed Calls

“(Y/N), where are you?”

1 Missed Call

2:15 PM

“I bought you a little something to cheer you up – I left it by your bag. Will you please tell me what’s wrong? I miss you.”

 There was a knock at his door – something not uncommon recently. Courtney would usually bring over some Chinese take out or Wes would drop off an early release of a game Smosh received.

So Damien thought nothing of it as he reluctantly shuffled to the door, opening it carelessly.

And there was (Y/N) – wringing her hands and cautiously looking into his shocked gaze.

“Damien,” she muttered, her face blotchy and obviously raw from crying.

He didn’t even let her a second to explain before he ran over to sweep her into a bone-crushing hug. He wrapped his arms around her, lifting her easily off the ground and hiding his face into her shoulder.

“I thought… I didn’t think…”

She pulled away, heat rising to her face as she cast her eyes down, “I… I didn’t know what else to do. I didn’t know what to say or how to say it. So I just ran. But I – I’m trying something here.”

“(Y/N),” he felt his tired eyes burn, his glasses askew. “What did I do? Where have you been? I feel like I haven’t seen…”

“I’m in love with you.”

She had whispered it so quietly that he was afraid his ears didn’t hear correctly, “What?”

She swallowed hard, “I am utterly and completely in love with you Damien. And I didn’t know how to tell my best friend that I wanted to be more than just that with him. So I avoided you in hopes I’d stop getting so flustered being around you, but that only made it worse. And honestly, running away sounded like a pretty good idea until about ten minutes ago when Joven gave me an awesome pep talk – and I just…”

They stood there in silence for a few seconds, (Y/N) wringing her hands and Damien’s limp at his sides.

“This might have been the most pointless mental breakdown I’ve ever hand,” Damien finally muttered, replacing his shocked expression with a slight smile. “Did I really neglect getting more contacts because of secret feelings we have for each other?”

She didn’t seem to process what he said, “You know I’ve always liked your glass… wait – did you say…?”

“I’m in love with you too, (Y/N).” He grinned, taking a few steps towards her, “Please don’t you ever try to hide something like that from me again. I thought I’d just lost the greatest thing that ever happened to me.”

She let out an unexpected giggle, wiping at her eyes, “Greatest thing that ever happened to you?” She reached out and ran her fingers through his hair, bumping his glasses into place, “But you’re looking kinda rough.”

He reached up and grabbed her hand, holding it tightly in his, “Because there were four weeks and three days where I hadn’t talked to you once.”

“I had to bunk with Mari for a week just because I couldn’t stand not coming over here every other day,” she responded, laughing.

“We’re gonna have to change that.”

~~~

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@wierdlywonderful

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[facepalming-since-chernobyl]

What David said... (submission)

So I’m going to do another submit to reply to some of the comments in the thread about what David said:

First off, generally speaking “watch this space” is just this way of saying here that if you want news about anything, stay tuned.  It doesn’t really definitively answer a question a particular way.

hillshollow:   It would be even more hysterical if they did bring him back because a certain character was leaving like the rumors that were floating around. 😂🤣😂. Though I’m assuming we’ll see Mon-el eventually. It might depend on what type of bump Chris gives Legacies. And possibly the talk about the Legion coming to TV is true or not.

A few things about this comment, first off, I want to know where the rumors of her leaving came from because I never saw a concrete source reporting this.  But if anyone saw anything from a reliable sources, please say so - I would even take word of it from the secret spoilers Twitter or a pap since they’ve been proven to be trustworthy in the past.  Second, it doesn’t matter whatsoever in the least how Chris’s Legacies episode rates, I’ve said it a billion times now that ratings don’t matter to the CW and even if they did, the actors are never blamed or credited for them or that info used to cast them on shows.  Yes, in the good old days when networks had sweeps weeks and did stuntcasting and used big stars, then it mattered but those days are long gone now.  The next war is the streaming war, not the ratings war.  As for the Legion show, I was under the impression it was for HBO Max, a miniseries (maybe even animated) and there’s no guarantee Mon El would even be on it or if so, that Chris would be playing him.  

iamac01: But I maybe this means Mon-El might get mentioned in the ep. I don’t hope for more from SG at the moment…Also a few weeks back right after the 100th ep party, David posted a pic with Chris saying “not out” or something.

I could see this happening maybe.  Or they could keep pretending he doesn’t exist but a mention of him is far more likely at this point than an actual appearance.  As for the picture, I think he captioned it “not done”? and he and Chris were pointing to the words ‘100 episodes’ on the SG poster so I’m sure they were referring to the show, not Mon El.

iamac01: Also if by any chance Mon get mentioned in David’s episode, I’d be even more curious to see if Melissa would sneak in a Mon mention in her episode. I know it’s not up to the directors but the writers but it would be so much fun, not to mention seeing the reaction of “some fans”. Oh, wishful thinking…

Directors do not write the show or change the scripts (to my knowledge, any changes are always from the writers) so this would not happen under any circumstances.

I think at best, maybe there will be a mention of him at some point.  After that, it really depends on how much longer the show is lasting.  Provided David isn’t trolling and didn’t want to say yes or no to the question asked, to me the most logical answer is perhaps there’s been talk in the writer’s room of bringing back Mon El (in what capacity, I don’t know) so instead of saying yes or no, David said to watch this space which is generally a way of saying, stay tuned for any further updates and if there are any, they’ll be posted there.  Basically just his way of saying that for now he doesn’t know but if there’s something to post, he’ll post it.  The end.

***

As always, we will see. On this point I’m super MEH about it all.

[billcm]

Im kinda new to the CR discourse scene but like I just want to say what you view as obvious character development and dismiss as ignoring canon is very easily flipped around for people who don agree with you.

I don’t think it’s fair to dismiss people’s interpretations of media, especially around shipping content bc it’s all viewed through our own personal lenses. So like, while I don’t ship beau and jester, I don’t think it’s fair for me to say “you have the wrong view of media”. For me, their relationship mirrored close friendships I had and no lie I was very blind sided by beau’s confession to veth. I was kinda on board bc jester’s personal top table harem anime was such a silly and fun concept to me but I also just appreciated the ship for what I saw to be a very one sided love. Personally, I feel like Marisha handled it well, since she is literally in the character’s mind, in her reasoning in choosing yasha over jester. And so I’m left kinda confused when people say “this goes against canon” or smth along those lines bc to me, in my interpretation, the things that go on are very in character. A lot of people disagree with my personal ships of BY FJ and SG and like,..that’s fine lol. We all can interpret and criticize media how we want, and when things aren’t canon, that’s where fanon comes in to fill that void. Beaujes has some of the best and most sweet art I’ve seen, and I appreciate the love people see between them but at the same time I literally don’t see it and I don’t think it’s ok for someone to insult me bc I don’t see what they do in the media.

I guess all this to say that I think it’s very unfair for people who are anti-beaujes to decry others for their ship since, despite the fact we’re watching the same show, we all have different take aways based on individual perspective and experience. Similarly I don’t think that it’s fair to say “they’re ignoring canon!” when, for all intents and purposes, this is their game and they understand their characters better than any of us. This isn’t a written show that can be criticized over how the writers ignore character development, it’s a giant game of improv done by people who keep their cards close to their chest. From your tags where you said “this isn’t how media improves”, it’s not a show that is constantly improving for the sake of its audience’s satisfaction, we’re suplementary to that experience and have to understand that our criticisms of character motivation mean little when the cast is playing as their own characters who we are much less familiar with than they are. It’s not ok to come after people for something as stupid as shipping and it’s ridiculous that it’s been happening, apparently a lot, to beaujes shippers. But at the same time media is meant to be interpreted differently based on its audience, so don’t confuse your own perspective for the absolute truth, regardless of what side of an argument you’re on.

god now that i can literally see it happening to other people it really is astonishing watching people just crawl out of the woodwork to demand answers from someone who’s expressing legitimate frustration about beaujester and not only ignore what the post said but like. staunchly portray canon as flatly and inaccurately as possible, ignoring really obvious developments and behavior and expecting op to answer according to the version of cr they’ve essentially created for the sake of the argument.

it’s really unacceptable and regardless of whether or not you agree you have to at the very least understand that someone discussing how they and other people feel hurt by something is not an invitation to demand that they fully explain why in a way that you would somehow accept, even though you have no intention of doing so.

for some reason it seemed more okay when it felt like it was just me, but god, y’all. this doesn’t even get into the kind of anons i’ve gotten.

[otakunoculture]

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Fan Expo Vancouver (FXV) is eight years old! This event began in 2012 and over the years saw plenty of ups and downs. It shifted from a February event to November, and now it’s back in its mainstay of late Winter. The latest event took place a few weeks ago, during this province’s Family Day last month and attendance was quite good. Pairing this event with a long weekend felt good, and to have this event run from Saturday to Monday may seem unusual to some, but it’ll become a norm for this event’s future. Children and parents had a place to play in! A corner was sectioned off for young wizards to sort Harry Potter style. There were bouncy balls and even a small area for costumed tykes to show off their best superhero pose.

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Ideally, the family section should be in a room of its own (cosplay contest included). When the organizers behind this show seem to be settling on using the biggest singular room possible, maximizing the space will be a challenge in the future. The huge food court area may get shrunk. Thankfully, sandwiches, doughnuts and sodas will keep attendees appetites sated. Wild Bill’s Old Fashioned Soda is looking to make a dent in the convention scene with its flavourful root beers. I couldn’t resist and picked up a souvenir cup ($40) which was freely refillable for a day. For $5 on other days, I could remain on a carbonated high. However, for those wanting something more hearty have restaurants outside the convention center to eat in, like the Tap & Barrel. Since this space stretches out to cover both stages on opposite ends, the choice is sound for those not needing a good seat for the panels offered.

Meeting comic creators in a pop culture expo is always a highlight. To name a few of the most well known talents, Todd McFarlene (creator of Spawn), Art Adams (Longshot), Michael Golden (The Micronauts), and Mike Grell (Green Arrow) appeared. McFarlene was only here for a day and he was the most popular! He signed comics (2 only) for free and truly spent time interacting with his many fans. It was a pleasure to learn McFarlene has not forgotten his Vancouver Island roots (where his family lives now) and visits on occasion. Previous years had wonderful talents which also included Bruce Timm! I felt sad that the table given to him was next to the 501st Legion, so he did not get the foot traffic he truly deserved. The variety changes every year, and some talents enjoy returning to the Pacific Northwest (they have booths at Emerald City Comic Con too).

Overall, the vibe is very different when compared to past shows. This year, new sponsors came on board. London Drugs is gone and I think this decision is for the best. Although I miss LEGO, I understand the marketing perspective of when they don’t have a new product to sell, there’s no point in being present. Hewlett Packard is gone in favour of local reps MSI and The Gaming Stadium for proper representation of e-sports. Even to my surprise was space for SHUX, a board game convention which takes place in October. This year, Fan Expo Vancouver offered pretty much everything this city has in fandom in its various aspects.

Representation from nearly all the past television shows and present was generally well received. They had Madelaine Petsch from Riverdale. From Star Trek: The Next Generation, Marina Sirtis and LeVar Burton made appearances. There was even Oscar Nuñez and Brian Baumgartner from The Office. Giancarlo Esposito from The Mandalorian was perhaps the biggest surprise, and he offered hints at what’s to come for season two. Most of that information has been speculated on, and we will learn how his character obtained the Dark Saber! He said filming is done and now in post-production; perhaps a tease will be ready in time for San Diego Comic Con!

Nearly a third of the cast from The Flash and Battlestar Galactica were present during the three days. Lineups to meet the stars were modest. Some seemed to have struggled, almost suggesting X-Files is past its prime but that did not deter talents like Nicolas Lea, Mitch Pileggi and William B. Davis from sitting back and seeing what the fandom is like now when compared to when their shows were really popular.

One convention attendee I spoke to said that when film/tv crew also attends these events, they would rather see other talents who are not local. They can see and talk to them when at work, mostly in technical matters of recording, and I can see their point. I’m impartial, since I’m still waiting for more Stargate to appear in non-Creation Con shows. Not everyone can afford the “higher costs” of tiered seating just to see and meet their favourite actors/actresses. FXV teased fans last year with stars from Stargate: Universe, but to get the SG-1 crew may be tough. Richard Dean Anderson is a family man now. Amanda Tapping is working hard behind the scenes, directing a lot of fan favourites in Vancouver. Michael Shanks and Lexa Doig have their respective shows to be in, and as for where Teryl Rothery is, her work in the new Nancy Drew series will eventually bring her back. These days, Christopher Judge is lending his voice to the cartoon world.

Local television personality Thor Diakow served as host for the panels with the celebrities. He asked a few what are you doing now type questions before turning the remainder of the time to the lineups by the microphone. Nothing new could be gleaned about the latest projects, but one big plug was definitely with Brendan Fraser and Tom Welling‘s The Professional. It’s described as A-Team meets Oceans 11. Of the two, Welling was very personable and a fun spirited, enjoying the show. Fraser was in top form with his humour on stage. Fans remember him more for his early career and I’m sure he wants his current projects to be in the forefront. He doesn’t want to be typecast and nobody can blame him!

Bruce Campbell returns to Fan Expo Van with really nothing to promote this time around, and fans loved him still the same. Corey Feldman is still a dream and Chandler Riggs of Walking Dead fame has really grown up! Hearing Jesse Rath talk about getting the role of Brainiac V was the panel I had to investigate for Monday. A surprise appearance by Nicole Maines (Nia) made a lot of fans happy, and I knew there was a reason I had to be present for this day!

To note, the tenth anniversary is not that far away! As whether something big will take place or not, the organizers have not made an official statement. All I can hope for is complete use of a building rather than just one space in the building.

#FanExpoVancouver 2020 In Pictures & #Convention Report #yvr #yvrevents #popculture in the #pacificnorthwest #comicbooks #thecw #theflash #battlestargalactica #startrek #themandalorean By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest) Fan Expo Vancouver (FXV) is eight years old! This event began in 2012 and over the years saw plenty of ups and downs.

[buddyrabrahams]

Each NBA team’s most important player

The mother of all NBA seasons is nearing. So as you finalize your League Pass subscriptions, complete your fantasy drafts, and prepare the guacamole for your watch parties, take some time to ponder the true meaning of the season — specifically, the benevolent stars who make such a joyous holiday possible with their prodigious athletic talents.

Here I present, each NBA team’s most important player heading into 2017-18:

Atlanta Hawks — Dennis Schroder, PG

“All my friends are dead,” said Schroder in his best Lil Uzi Vert voice as he gazed upon his roster following the respective exits of his last remaining All-Star teammates in Paul Millsap and Dwight Howard this summer. Yes, the Hawks are now as thin as a toothpick, and the incentive for them to “Do Badly for Bagley” or “Make The Fans Puka for Luka” will be enormous. But somebody has to lead this JV squad, and their resident German is as good of an option as any. Perhaps we will see Dennis the Menace gun for 20 and 10. Maybe he develops some nice pick-and-roll chemistry with new additions Dewayne Dedmon and rookie John Collins. Perhaps he finally bleaches his entire head blonde. Anything to give this team a modicum of watchability this season.

Boston Celtics — Kyrie Irving

After selling an arm, a leg, and a hip for him this summer, the Celtics will hope that Irving’s performance in his first season with them does not fall flat. The outside noise in Uncle Drew’s ear will be deafening — mockery of his decision to ditch LeBron James and go off in search of his own empire, jeers at the perceived stagnation of his playmaking skills, pervasive meme treatments of his unorthodox views on astronomy. But Irving is here for one reason and one reason only: to ball out. And that’s what he’s gonna do. Just remember kids, there’s no such thing as distractions when you’re very much woke. [mic drop]

Brooklyn Nets — D’Angelo Russell, PG/SG

If the Nets were a Harry Potter novel, Russell would definitely be the Golden Snitch. Banished from the Magic Kingdom in Los Angeles, the former No. 2 overall pick now finds himself in a situation where he could easily go 20-5-5 this season. Playing next to Jeremy Lin gives Russell the dynamic offensive threat and extra penetrator/creator that he has lacked in the backcourt to this point of his career, and there’s little doubt that D-Lo will be serving as Kenny Atkinson’s go-to scorer as well. His halfcourt skills are divine, his court vision is superb, and his opportunity is now limitless. [points to solid water in veins]

Charlotte Hornets — Kemba Walker, PG

Nicolas Batum is down for the count, so that leaves Walker as the Charlotte Tune Squad’s only true playmaker for now. Fear not though, for this 6-foot-1 slayer of giants is certainly up for the task.

Walker was in peak form last season with 23.2 points a game on 44.4 percent shooting and 39.9 percent from deep (all career-bests). Whether he’s bullying your ankles or stepping back and splashing from outer space, Kardiac Kemba is the Hornets’ cash cow (which is somewhat ironic given that his four-year, $48 million deal marks one of the best bargains in the league today), and he is definitely here to stay.

Chicago Bulls — Zach LaVine, PG/SG

Congrats to LaVine for narrowly beating out the lesser Lopez brother, Michael Porter Jr., and Fred Hoiberg’s polo shirt. A cornerstone of the franchise-resetting Jimmy Butler trade, the two-time Dunk Contest champ is all Bulls fans really have to be excited about in a clear rebuilding year. Even so, LaVine is coming off an ACL tear and might be out a few more months. So the worst-case scenario is that the Bulls are a flaming tire fire, and the best-case scenario is that the Bulls are a flaming tire fire interspersed with some LaVine rim-rockers towards the latter part of the year. Make Chicago basketball fun again.

Cleveland Cavaliers — LeBron James, SF/PF

14 years and over 50,000 minutes later, and The King’s Court remains in session. That troublemaking court jester Kyrie Irving is now exiled, his best knight Dwyane Wade has returned to his side to put the shine back in his crown, and his new cast of noblemen (Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Derrick Rose, and more) are pleasing. The reviled Golden State empire is a mighty rival indeed. But King James, now aged 32 but with all his physical faculties still intact, will rise from his throne once more and lay down his scepter in preparation for battle. And I fear for all who are forced to stand in his midst.

Dallas Mavericks — Dennis Smith Jr., PG

The Mavs are near-unanimously seen as a non-playoff team in the demonic West, and that likely won’t change no matter how many 20-point games Harrison Barnes drops or how many heartwarming moments our beloved Dirk Nowitzki graces us with. As such, the name of the game for them will be player development and the excitement factor. Enter DSJ and that batty athleticism. The NC State product is one of the rare rookies (ultra-rare when you consider head coach Rick Carlisle’s track record) with the opportunity to start and make an impact right away. Smith Jr. will touch the moon and walk amongst the comets this season, and we will all be better people because of it.

Denver Nuggets — Nikola Jokic, C

Jokic exists in the space where basketball and romanticism intersect. Every post-up is a dance recital, every delivery to a cutter is a precise work of art, and every fast break is a case study in musical theory. Now paired with a like-minded frontcourt partner in Paul Millsap, the Serbian big man has a strong chance to build on his 2016-17 averages (16.7/9.8/4.9) and become the suave slaughterer he was always meant to be. Don’t rain on my parade with cries about his defense, for this is a celebration: a celebration of the man who is making slow and unathletic fashionable again, Mr. Nikola “Big Honey” Jokic.

Detroit Pistons — Andre Drummond, C

Drummond probably came along a dozen or so years too early for his own good. The reality is that a big man stiff who has zero range, possesses limited ability to either protect the basket or switch onto opposing ball-handlers, and shoots like Sheldon Cooper from the free throw line has minimal value in the modern NBA game. But here’s the good news: Drummond is still just 24 years old and his rebound-gorging, rim-assaulting ways at least give him a decent floor as a starting center. With another year of maturity, he will look to become less of an enigma and more of the basketball bully he was born to be.

Golden State Warriors — Draymond Green, PF/C

[jumps into vat of liquid introgen due to the smoldering heat of the take] Truth be told though, this might not even be that bold of an opinion, as Green is legitimately indispensable to everything the Dubs do. Lose one of Stephen Curry or Kevin Durant, and they still have one transcendent bucket-getter who can punch you right out of the scoreboard. Lose one of Curry or Klay Thompson, and they are still capable of raining human suffering on you from long-range. Lose one of Thompson or Durant, and they can still lean on the 3-and-D attributes of the other. But lose Green? Their best distributor, best screen-and-roll player, best team defender, and emotional leader all wrapped up in one? Not great, Bob. Yes, Green is the most vital part of what’s arguably the greatest team in hardwood history, and you gotta get a kick out of that.

Houston Rockets — Chris Paul, PG

James Harden already knows Houston’s personnel and head coach Mike D’Antoni’s offense as well as the back of his beard, which leaves the majority of the adjusting in this relationship to be done by the newcomer Paul. CP3’s methodical, walk-the-ball-up style is in direct incongruence with the up-tempo principles that D’Antoni preaches (and to an extent, Harden’s own ball-dominating tendencies), so a middle ground will definitely need to be reached. Still, with his defensive activity, his subtle strokes of pick-and-roll genius, and yes, his leadership, Paul should provide a hard-hitting yin to Harden’s yang as the Rockets vie for the title of best non-Warriors team in the West.

Indiana Pacers — Myles Turner, PF/C

With Paul George peacing out of Indiana, the springy 21-year-old suddenly has the opportunity to be the biggest Turner on this side of Desiigner. While he could still use some improvement when it comes to rebounding and overall consistency, Turner otherwise has an ideal skillset for a young centerpiece to build a team around. Step 1: manufacture an elite defense using Turner’s shot-blocking and mobility. Step 2: construct a top-tier offense centered on his versatile scoring arsenal. Step 3: profit. OK, maybe it won’t be quite that easy, but it should still be a pleasure to watch Turner raise Hickory Hell in 2017-18.

Los Angeles Clippers — Blake Griffin, PF/C

“The Blake Griffin Show” is not only my favorite new primetime television series of the fall, it’s also the new reality for the Clippers in the aftermath of Chris Paul going ciao. The usual health disclaimers are inescapable with Griffin, whose availability could be the difference between 47 wins and the playoffs or 37 wins and the lottery. But for all you beleaguered point-forward enthusiasts, have I got a new god for you. Should I be institutionalized for believing Griffin has a chance to go LeBron Lite this season with a stat line somewhere in the range of 22-8-7? Probably. But what stands in the ex-top pick’s way in his debut season as Lob City’s sole breadwinner is neither talent nor circumstance: it’s his own body. Are you the gambling type, Clipper fans?

Los Angeles Lakers — Lonzo Ball, PG

It’s time to find out what Big Ballers are really made of. The eldest Ball bro may seem more like a reality star than a professional hooper and his signature shoe may be priced like it’s made of diamonds and caviar. But look beyond the funky jumpshot and the constant negative LaVar covfefe, and you will find a truly special talent. May his passing be so contagious that Adam Silver has to call in the CDC. May the conventions of the sport be turned further on their heads with each full-court outlet pass from his angelic triple-B fingertips. And may the Showtime Lakers bend at the knee and make way for a superior new brand of basketball: The ZoTime Lakers. Tell the haters to stay in their lanes.

Memphis Grizzlies — Mike Conley, PG, Memphis Grizzlies

It’s a point guard-driven league, and by golly, if the Grizzlies are paying Conley over $30 million a year, he darn well better be driving. Fortunately, that the dynamic southpaw did in 2016-17, doing whatever the exact opposite of the big contract blues is by putting forth a career-best year in production. Memphis seems to be going nowhere fast, especially with the untimely (or depending on your perspective, overdue) demise of Grit-N-Grind. But at least we’ll still have Conley getting us lost in the sauce with his two-way exploits.

Miami Heat — Hassan Whiteside, C

Goran Dragic’s nightly 0-to-100 act is enticing, as is the glow of that beachfront property on Waiters Island. But Whiteside’s areas of expertise remain the most irreplaceable on the Heat as he continues to prove his worth as their highest-paid player. The 2K rating has been up for awhile now, the block parties remain the most lit, and the midrange jumpers off glass are a quality wrinkle to what many once believed was a strictly one-dimensional offensive game. Now the focus for Young Whiteside should be on how to effectively match up against stretch-fives a la Kevin Love and Al Horford while still asserting his birthright over the painted area. Open up my eager eyes.

Milwaukee Bucks — Giannis Antetokounmpo, PG/SG/SF

My large, basketball-playing son is here to turn every day into Freaky Friday, bless his heart. Few superlatives could articulate the season Antetokounmpo put together in 2016-17. Embodying the spirit of Oprah Winfrey herself, he pointed at each of his major statistical categories and shouted, “YOU’RE GETTING A CAREER-HIGH! AND YOU’RE GETTING A CAREER-HIGH!” When the dust settled, Antetokounmpo finished with 22.9/8.8/5.4/1.6/1.9 and dragged a Bucks team that missed an entire season combined between Khris Middleton and Jabari Parker to the 6-seed. He’s a monstrosity no matter what end of the floor he’s on, and if he ever starts hitting his jumper with any consistency (which we’re already seeing glimpses of), not to be overly dramatic or anything, but we’re probably all dead. O Giannis, my Giannis.

Minnesota Timberwolves — Karl-Anthony Towns

There’s a reason why our young three-named emperor recently topped the 2017-18 NBA GM survey of which player they would most like to start a team with. True, he may still be a net liability as a defender. But 25.1 points per game on 54.2 percent from the field and 36.7 percent from three is special for any player, much less a 21-year-old pupper. Towns is equal parts physical and finesse, and while the buckets of St. Jimmy Butler and the all-around vigor of the newly-extended Andrew Wiggins will be key for the Wolves, what will truly bring the Western Conference to its knees is when KAT gets its tongue.

New Orleans Pelicans — Anthony Davis, PF/C

I’ve run out of clever eyebrow-related puns, so let’s just look at Davis for what he really is: the biggest walking mismatch in the league today. His trusty 18-footer makes him a tougher cover than a Giannis Antetokounmpo, his 6-foot-11 frame and his 8-foot wingspan make him a more unique hell than any shorter player, and graceful strides make him harder to guard going to the hoop than a Karl-Anthony Towns or a DeAndre Jordan. Now that Davis has hopefully gotten over his growing pains with fellow All-NBA big and ex-Kentucky Wildcat DeMarcus Cousins, the 30-point-per-game mark, the Defensive Player of the Year Award, who knows, maybe even Most Valuable Player honors are all hypothetically within the reach of his octopus-like grasp.

New York Knicks — Kristaps Porzingis, PF/C

Au revoir to the Melodrama at long merciful last. With Carmelo Anthony finally making like an egg and beating it, ’tis a new day for the Knickerbockers. And who better to lead them into their next chapter than Mr. Three Six Latvia? Sure, Porzingis will have some help from a Suicide Squad of sorts: Tim Hardaway’s overpaid son, rookie guard Frank last-name-pronunciation-unknown, and of course Woke Michael Beasley. But the people are finally getting what they want: a 7-foot-3 fairy-tale creature finally getting his moment as the focal point of an offense. All rise for the honorable Porzingod.

Oklahoma City Thunder — Russell Westbrook, PG

I don’t know about you, but I’m still out of breath from the rampage that was the Brodie’s 2016-17 season. His breakup with Kevin Durant left Westbrook free to release his earthly tether and spread his wings to live a war-hungry life among the dragons. Now, an MVP award, a scoring title, and basically every triple-double in NBA history later, Westbrook’s short-lived but nevertheless unforgettable solo career is over, and a new superteam has arisen before him. The equally stunning acquisitions of Paul George and Carmelo Anthony pose as many chemistry concerns as they do title upside, and now the onus in on Westbrook to be the gracious host who welcomes them into his house.

Orlando Magic — Aaron Gordon, PF

The poster child for the #NotMySmallForward movement that I just started literally five seconds ago, Gordon has nowhere to go but up this season. The talented 22-year-old endured a bitter 2016-17 campaign that saw him forced out of position in Orlando’s sardine-like frontcourt and left with an egg on his face after his dud of Dunk Contest follow-up act in what was an overall discouraging year for his growth as a player. But Serge Ibaka and Jeff Green have since gone bye-bye (albeit with rookie big man Jonathan Isaac saying hello), leaving Gordon to (hopefully) see more minutes in his natural habitat as a multi-position defensive padlock and energetic north-south presence from the power forward spot. Don’t blow this for us, Frank Vogel. Not again.

Philadelphia 76ers — Joel Embiid, C

“Live by the Process, die by the Process” -Matthew 26:52. With Philly committing a full five-year, $148 million max extension (albeit with some injury protections) to Embiid after just 31 career games, they are not just taking a leap but an entire skydive-out-of-a-C-182-aircraft of faith. The Cameroonian is well-worth the dice roll though — when he’s on the court, Embiid is a conqueror of galaxies who dominates every aspect of the game from paint to paint and often extends his reign of terror to the three-point line as well. To put it simply, Embiid’s health will be the singular defining factor for the Sixers’ trajectory as a team these next several years. No pressure, bro.

Phoenix Suns — Devin Booker, SG

Fact: Devin Booker scored 70 points in a game last season. Also fact: Michael Jordan’s single-game career-high was a mere 69. I don’t know about you, but I personally require no further convincing that Booker is the greatest basketball player of all-time. In all honesty though, it’s absurd how many different ways the Kentucky product can score the ball, and he’s still not even old enough to get into the club yet. Booker will stunt on you running the high screen or coming off it, and while the crux of his development needs to come on the defensive end, Phoenix has found their meal ticket for the next decade-plus.

Portland Trail Blazers — Damian Lillard, PG

Fresh off the hottest album drop in the history of either hip or hop, what exactly can we expect from Dame D.O.L.L.A. as we enter into a new season? Well, he went 27-5-6 last year and missed out on every major accolade before getting swept in the first round, so he probably has an entire bag of potato chips on his shoulder at this point. But Angry Lillard remains best Lillard, and thus, here’s looking forward to another year of him firing cannonballs from the three-point arc and delivering an assortment of inside-out dribbles to leave your knee ligaments in the abyss. From (number) zero to hero indeed.

Sacramento Kings — Buddy Hield, SG

No, this is not Vivek Ranadive’s alt-account. But as the Kings search for a new savior in their first full season post-Boogie Cousins, the smart money is on His Majesty Prince Buddy ascending to the throne. Hield is thoroughly marvelous at scoring and attacking off the dribble, and the 15.1 points per game he scored as a rookie after being traded to Sacramento provided a momentary glimpse into his offensive upside. And as we enter into the new NBA season, I’d like to propose a toast to the best basketball-playing Buddy since Air Bud himself.

San Antonio Spurs — Kawhi Leonard, SF

Not since the 2001 Sixers have we seen a team rely so heavily on a head of cornrows. With everybody on the Spurs aging and LaMarcus Aldridge getting some major style points for his Houdini act, Leonard in all of his stoicism may be the only thing preventing San Antonio from descending into a state of uncharacteristic chaos. There remains no better player alive if you need a stop on one end and a score on the other end, and as he looks for his third straight 60-plus-win season as the lead singer of the Spurs, expect Leonard’s stone-faced and iron-fisted rule to be front and center in the West once again.

Toronto Raptors — DeMar DeRozan, SG

“I’m just like DeRozan, if I shoot it, it goes in.” While that lyric might not be entirely statistically accurate (DeRozan’s career FG percentage is 44.6, so odds are if he shoots it, it probably won’t go in), his importance to the Raptors is no less. Though he took Toronto the bank over the summer, Kyle Lowry will turn 32 this season. Thus, the burden could increasingly lie on DeRozan to do most of the heavy lifting on offense.

After finishing fifth in the league last year with a personal-best 27.3 points per game, he is clearly fit for the job. But efficiency will always be an issue for No. 10, and it’s probably time to give up on the dream of him ever developing a reliable three-point jumper. So at the end of the day, if Toronto has any further growth to make with this current core, it will almost certainly have to come from DeRozan’s end of the equation.

Utah Jazz — Rudy Gobert, C

Raise thy hand if thou art ready for Rudy Gobert to go St. Anger on the National Basketball Association. Gordon Hayward is no more, but fear not Jazz fans, for The Stifle Tower remains to defend your honor, both literally and figuratively. There’s still a lot to like in Utah this year with Gobert set to catch lobs from fellow Euro stud Ricky Rubio as he and the rest of the team sop up the shot attempts that Hayward leaves behind. Meanwhile, the defense he anchors could potentially prove even more suffocating with the arrivals of rock-solid one-on-one stoppers like Thabo Sefolosha and Jonas Jerebko. Yep, this season especially, this Rudy should be anything but regular-sized.

Washington Wizards — John Wall, PG

With the vivid image of Wall catching the Holy Spirit and sinking a game-winning three in front of his home crowd in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Semis still crisp in the minds of many, he enters 2017-18 with a lot more work ahead. It will be tough for Optimus Dime to build on a season where he flirted with a 23-11 line while playing in 77+ games for the fourth straight year and finishing top-ten in the NBA in usage. But he is embarking on the fabled age-27 season and will be running it back in a feeble conference with virtually his entire supporting cast still intact. All in all, it’s just another brick in the Wall.

from Larry Brown Sports http://ift.tt/2xCvia3

[barre2barresg]

Barre 2 Barre SG Interview Series: Ahilya (Part III)

Now you see her, now you don't! Many of you barrerinas have asked about the "new" instructor on the schedule, Ahilya.

Ironically, Ahilya was actually the first Barre 2 Barre (Singapore) instructor but left to Israel for four months to further her dance practice.

Needless to say, this barrerina has the poise, grace, and strength that all of us would only love to have! Read on for part 3 of our interview 3 series where we interview the resident barre-Dancer, Ahilya.

What does wellness and being healthy mean to you?

While wellness and being healthy means exercising regularly and mindfully as well as choosing to nourish my body as nutritiously as possible, a huge aspect of health and wellness to me is also mental. It includes having positive thoughts, being open minded and adventurous, being supportive of loved ones and strangers alike, doing things that make me happy and taking care of myself, and constantly remaining curious and developing myself as a person.

When it comes to exercise, a significant part of growth and moving forwards physically is mental. Our minds love to give up on us at the earliest signs of fatigue, but it is hugely rewarding when you allow your mind to drive you and challenge yourself to push past previous limits. In barre and dance, we always talk about awareness, having a mind-body connection, and moving with purpose and intention. To me, barre, dance, or other exercise is a microcosm of an individual’s place in life and their relationship with the world; if you can work thoughtfully and not give up here, you can apply these thoughts to daily life and always strive to be a more productive and motivated person. Acting deliberately, and choosing to do what serves me and others is what being healthy means to me.

Share with us a funny story related to barre.

It is always a fun time when we have photo shoots for Barre2Barre marketing or social media, because the barre teachers and staff get to put on some music, beautify ourselves, and have a lot of laughs while trying out intricate poses and shots.

One of the funniest days was when Jessica and I decided to attempt a very complicated position, somehow thinking it would be a breeze to achieve. It involved Jess lying on her back and propping each of my legs up with each of hers, while I would be in some sort of split position with my right leg coiled around hers, my body turned to one side, and my arms floating in the air. Executing this was a hysterical failure, and it ended up with me clinging on to our social media intern for dear life as I tried to get into position. All of us couldn’t stop laughing and we abandoned this shot. We’ll work towards it.

How did you get into BarreAmped and what are your future plans for barre?

I first started barre right after completing college in LA because it sounded like a fun and complementary workout to my dance practice. I tried it and was immediately hooked. I was amazed by how challenging it was for the whole body, how much coordination it required, and how strong and feminine it made me feel.

Barre became an important part of my morning routine at a time when I was freshly graduated and lacking structure in my schedule -  it was both mentally and emotionally grounding which encouraged me to achieve things the rest of the day (I was a freelance dancer at the time).

I missed barre after moving to Singapore, and was really excited when a common friend introduced me to Jessica and Mylene before they opened Barre 2 Barre. I had already been thinking of getting certified to teach barre and was happy to be the first teacher hired by Barre 2 Barre when the studio opened last year.

Recently, I got certified to teach the higher levels of BarreAmped, which I’m enjoying doing these days. In the future, perhaps I would like to become a teacher trainer myself or open my own barre studio wherever I move next!

What is your favorite way (aside from barre) to keep fit and find some downtime?

Outside of barre, I am a contemporary dancer, dancing with T.H.E Second Company in Singapore. I also work on my own choreography projects and travel frequently to Israel to train and work on projects there. I also run regularly and love trying new exercise classes that challenge my body in unfamiliar ways. 

Besides that, I find it both therapeutic and stimulating spending time outdoors (I especially love going to the beach and hiking when I’m in slightly cooler climates!), watching movies, cooking, painting, singing, reading, and working on any kind of creative aesthetic project, whether it’s photography-related, interior designing my room at home, and so on…

List your 3 dinner party dream guests, what would you talk about and what dish would you prepare for them?

J.K. Rowling – I grew up reading and loving the Harry Potter series; I was six when the first book came out and my mom starting reading it to me. She continued to read the entire series to me and my little brother aloud (even as we entered middle and high school!) because we enjoyed experiencing the whole story together.

Rowling, to me, is just a brilliant and incredibly articulate, sensitive, funny, and imaginative author. Plus, she’s a role model because of how she overcame monumental adversity in her life, as well as her outspoken nature and views on politics, feminism, and social issues. She has the most powerful yet elegant way of making a point.

I would prepare a sophisticated North Indian Mughalai meal for Rowling, because of its distinctive, refined aromas and because it is the cuisine my family is most associated with. It would feature raan (slow cooked lamb pot roast), peas simmered in a turmeric milk sauce, and fragrant rice flavored with saffron. Mango and vanilla ice cream for dessert. I would thank her for creating the world of Harry Potter, and we would discuss some insider wizarding intelligence, stories from her life, and current affairs.

The Obamas (Can I have Michelle too please?) – I think Obama was a fantastic president of the United States. I find both him and his wife gracious, graceful, intelligent, empathetic, and charismatic individuals.

I would cook them a Mediterranean-themed meal, including some savory pan-fried halloumi with sweet roasted figs, lots of bright and fresh salads with ingredients like mint, cucumber, and parsley, a hearty, lemony hummus, and a delicious shakshuka with sides of warm pita and tahini. Something involving pomegranate and mint for dessert. I would want to hear Obama’s most impactful stories from his time as president, and discuss ways people can do more for the environment and social causes.

Woody Allen – It is my dream to somehow be in a Woody Allen film one day. Allen is definitely my favorite director. I just love how signature his aesthetic is, starting from the moment his opening credits roll and cast members’ names are listed alphabetically, in the same font every time, like in a play program. I love the existential questions he grapples with, his offbeat sense of humor, and his stylistic choices – everything from characters’ wardrobes, to the picturesque locales his stories are set in, to the romantic soundtracks he implements (notably all the beautiful jazz).

Since he’s neurotic and could possibly be made anxious by peculiar foreign foods, and since a lot of his films are set in Europe, I would make him a French Provençal meal I once made my family in the south of France with ingredients from our garden. It would constitute pan-fried chicken marinated in an olive oil, lavender, and rosemary mixture, haricots verts and finely-sliced mushrooms cooked with butter, white wine, and caramelized shallots, a country salad, hot fresh bread, and red wine. Maybe some decadent chocolate cupcakes for dessert with buttercream icing that I learned how to swirl on in roses. I’m sure we would have some philosophical conversations and discuss ideas for his upcoming films.

List your 3 favorite travel destinations, and list 3 more that you want to travel to and why.

Tel Aviv, Israel – Tel Aviv is one of my favorite cities in the world. I visit primarily because it is a mecca for contemporary dance and home to many fantastic dance companies including Batsheva Dance Company, whose director developed a hugely popular and revolutionary movement practice called gaga. Taking gaga classes in Tel Aviv while getting to savor divine, fresh market fruits, veggies, and cheeses, swim in the turquoise Mediterranean Sea, and roam many beautiful artsy streets and neighborhoods are a few reasons I love Tel Aviv.

Los Angeles, USA – I lived there for five years so it has a special place in my heart. I love exploring all the distinct neighborhoods – enjoying a beach vibe in Venice or Santa Monica, driving along the Pacific Coast Highway to Malibu, having city experiences in Beverly Hills or West Hollywood, doing artsy things downtown, hiking in the Hollywood hills, or feasting on the best Korean barbeque in Korea-town.

Barcelona, Spain – I took a solo trip to Barcelona for the first time this year, and fell in love with the breath-taking and conceptual Gaudi architecture, delicious tapas restaurants and four-euro sangria, museums, and wide, beautifully manicured streets.

Iceland – I keep seeing pictures of mesmerizing and ethereal looking hot springs, ice caves, and geysers in Iceland! I would love to swim and hike there and soak in all the natural beauty.

Morocco – I would love to have some desert adventures in Morocco, stroll through bustling bazaars, and visit beautiful mosques.

Brazil – Brazil is such a huge, vibrant country, and I’ve always wanted to visit to enjoy the beaches, visit the Corcovado Christ statue, and perhaps learn how to samba. I also love and sing Bossa Nova, so listening to live music there would be a treat.

[stranger-who-writes-fiction]

Everything Awesome about COIE Hour 3

MANY THINGS OCCURRED!

This one is Long, guys.

Also a more accurate title would be Everything Awesome and some Less So about COIE Hour 3

But I wanted the posts to match, so.

So I never watched Birds of Prey because I never knew it EXISTED when it was on, but as a fan of the Birds of Prey team in general, and the characters Huntress and Oracle...not gonna lie, t’was sad to hear Helena desperately calling out to Barbara before they were destroyed by the anti-matter wave. So I give that cameo a thumbs up.

How is it only just NOW occurring to me that the Waverider (Wave Rider?) is serving the same function as the Monitor’s Satellite from the comics????

J’onn!!!! I’m so glad he’s here! Bearing news about the supporting cast of Supergirl! And the entirety of Earth-38!

So glad that they’re alive! And safe! And not dead! And that they are sure to remain that way, for the rest of the crossover! XD

And then J’ONN IS THE PARAGON OF HONOR! 

It’s what he deserves.

And then like four different subplots are set up in short order: They gotta to to Purgatory to get Oliver’s soul; they gotta get Ryan Choi; they gotta go to the cave where the Anti-Monitor was hanging out until fairly recently; Kara’s gotta be talked out of using the Book of Destiny.

It’s...a lot.

Also Vibe is back!

“Maybe you didn’t hear me under those voluminous mutton chops of yours--!”

Another nice Iris/Barry scene, BUT, for my money, it’s the second one, later in the episode, that really tugs at them there heartstrings.

All the Pariah stuff is as accurate as the Arrowverse could possibly MAKE a Pariah. Good, solid, good.

Then the British Fellows Ham it Up for a few minutes, before The Soul Searching group goes to Lian Yu, because of COURSE it’s Lian Yu, as if Oliver would allow his soul to languish anywhere else. 

Then we’re back in the Anti-Monitor’s room domain and COSMIC TREADMILL! AW YIISSSSSS

All of the good treadmill jokes have been made already so I’ll just move on.

This is very comic-y! The Anti-Monitor used Barry to power his Anti-Matter ray in the comic, and he ultimately destroyed it as well, dying in the process.

HERE, we discover that when Earth-90 Barry vanished last year, he was captured by the Anti-Monitor, and then CONDEMNED TO A FATE WORSE THAN DEATH; HE WAS TO RUN, FOREVER, ON A TREADMILL.

(...Pretty sure that joke was made on the after show, but I couldn’t help it. IT WAS RIGHT THERE.)

So they bust Earth-90 Barry out with the help of Jefferson!!!! 

I love that he’s got his line in there, the, ‘whose life is this’ line. Good, yes, good.

(Listen: there is no greater proof that the Arrowverse will go back to some version of the multiverse model, than Jefferson’s inclusion here.)

I’m getting a little ahead of myself...BACK TO THE OTHER SUBPLOTS!

Ryan Choi is great! I don’t keep up with Legends, but it’d be cool if he stuck around, since Ray is leaving.

ALSO GREAT???? Routh Supes’ explanation of the black shield. ‘Hope cuts through the darkness.’

(And the Superman theeeeeeeme I never tire of hearing it)

There’s some Kate and Kara stuff here but I wanna cover that later so FIRST...

The Oliver reunion on Lian Yu happened way too fast! But then, many things happened way too fast! But this one REALLY FELT WAY TOO FAST.

Like: He’s ready to kill us! But no? YAY, OLIVER IS COMING BACK! But No? Wait, he’s Spectre now????

But also...SPECTRE!!!!!!

Spectre is the deus ex machina of the Crisis comic, so it’s fitting that he’s just. A sudden thing that pops up out of LITERAL NOWHERE and is apparently vital.

So I guess Oliver’s final form ISN’T Team Dad, it’s Mysictal Green Hooded Guy.

(Man we should have seen this coming.)

(I like that Oliver is Spectre, just to be clear.)

Iris’ pep talk with Ryan was lovely.

(And then there’s the moment I mentioned earlier, where Barry’s like, ‘I might die’ and Iris is like, ‘I don’t want to go, I want to be with you.’)

(I will admit...that part got me a little.)

HEY FLASH FANS, HOW DO WE FEEL ABOUT THE FACT THAT LITERAL YEARS OF TEASING LED UP TO A BAIT AND SWITCH, HUH????

I honestly don’t know if I’m impressed or annoyed by this cop-out.

I will give them props for the inclusion of the original Flash show footage, that was very nice.

(And I say that as someone who has but a passing familiarity with the original TV show.)

The disintegration effect, as well as the Flash emblem being the only thing left, are really great direct homages to art from the comic.

I’m gonna talk more about this part LATER so let’s jump back toooooo....

Oh! The Barry and Jefferson scene!

It was so niiiiiice.

Very emotional, and a nice bonding moment, and this bit:

“I don’t think Henry and Alvin raised quitters, so we should rage against the dying of the light.”

FEEEEEEEEELIIINNNGSSSSS

Another Kate and Kara bit, which again, I wanna get into in a minute, BUT, before we do, I will say that: this buddy dynamic is very nice, but it takes the place of the Kara and Alex stuff from crossovers past, which I might have been okay with...if not for the severe LACK of Danvers Sisters content in the SG season proper.

Here’s hoping 5B gives us...something.

(Also I know it’s very much because Kate is like, the lead of one of the five main shows being crossed over so obviously they’re teaming up instead of Alex and Kara hanging out but I just. Love the Danvers Sisters, okay?)

(Related side note: Really glad this crossover isn’t so focused on romantic pairings! It’s a nice change of pace! I mean we’ve got Iris and Barry obviously, as well as Lois and Clark but I’m just recalling the Double Wedding nonsense of Earth-X and...*shudder*)

(This is an improvement, IMO.)

OKAY OKAY HARBINGER’S BACK HERE WE GOOOOOOOOO

MIND CONTROL! BETRAYAL! DEATH! THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ENTIRE MULTIVERSE!

And crashing on this Vanishing Point because technically we’re HooOOooOOomeless!

Aw man I was so sad to see Routh Supes go...and be replaced by LEX, ugh. 

(But it’s very Lex, so.)

And Kara’s desperate, ‘Kal, Kal! What do I do?’

:C

OKAY so I kinda wanna talk about the Kara stuff, the Barry stuff, and the Kate and Kara stuff.

This crossover does some interesting things, re-contextualizing the two ‘Big Deaths’ from Crisis. 

In the comic, both Kara and Barry die, and their deaths are kind of like...thesis statements, on their brand of heroism.

They’re willing to give up everything--even their very LIFE--to ensure the safety and survival of others.

And both are treated as kind of remarkable things, even among their peers, who are other, selfless superheroes.

Which is WHY...the Barry thing is kind of...a massive let down. 

In the after show, Marc Guggenheim talked about how they could have their cake, and eat it too, because Barry was ready to give up his life, but was denied the opportunity.

And...I get that logic, but man, they spent all of season 6A dragging out that ol Barry-Dies-Angst.

And last season too! The WHOLE SEASON LONG PLOT with Nora was centered on Barry’s disappearance during Crisis and thus, her growing up without him and now...

That’s all just out the door? Because a different Barry decided to take his place? AN ELEVENTH HOUR LOOPHOLE?

It’s so audacious...that’s why I’m also kind of impressed, as well as annoyed.

And they don’t quite do the same thing with Kara, since they haven’t so much as TEASED anything resembling her comic death--I kind of assumed they might with the Book of Destiny stuff, but she didn’t even open the thing.

(And ultimately this is GOOD because if they’d done something similar to Barry--a last minute bait and switch--HOO BOY. There would have been...WORDS. OF STERN DISAPPOINTMENT.)

Instead, the crossover frames living as the more heroic option, because these heroes are Paragons, and thus are needed for some...other purpose, put in motion by the Monitor.

So if they die, they’re actually DOOMING the multiverse.

As mentioned! It’s kind of an interesting inversion, and until we know being a Paragon fully entails--it is difficult to say if it’s a positive or negative change!

(Still love that Kara and J’onn are Paragons, tho, cause they’re my Favs.)

OKAY so that’s the Kara and the Barry stuff. NOW, for the Kate and Kara stuff!

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE KRYPTONITE, MY DUDES.

Yeah, you thought we were DONE talking about Supergirl-specific plot lines...BUT THINK AGAIN!

LET’S TALK ABOUT HOOOOOWWWWW Kate was gonna use that Kryptonite...BUT DECIDED NOT TO, AND THEN WILLINGLY HANDED IT OVER TO KARA because she knew that 1.) SHE WOULDN’T NEED IT and 2.) Kara deserved to have the deadly poison THAT IS ONLY POISONOUS TO HER AND HER SINGLE SURVIVING BLOOD RELATIVE to decide how to dispose of it.

AND THEN...Kara tells Kate to keep it, and I thought, for one HORRIFYING MOMENT, that Kara would insist that she might someday NEED it, should Kara ever go rogue, thus VINDICATING every stupid pro-Kryptonite debate ever BUT...

NO! Instead she’s like, ‘I know you won’t use it!’

And folks.

Folks.

If nothing else. If nothing else. Please. PLEASE. Let this fun week of death and destruction be a learning moment for Kara, that she both HAS and DESERVES better friends, than a woman who casually subjected her to Kryptonite to further her own ends.

PLEASE, SHOW, PLEASE. 

Anyway! That’s hour three! And now we have to wait an ENTIRE MONTH to see how this plays out! XD